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Children of radium : a buried inheritance / by Dunthorne, Joe,author.;
Includes bibliographic key to online citations and index."In the tradition of When Time Stopped and The Hare with Amber Eyes, this extraordinary family memoir investigates the dark legacy of the author's great-grandfather, a talented German-Jewish chemist specializing in radioactive household products who wound up developing chemical weapons and gas mask filters for the Nazis. When novelist and poet Joe Dunthorne began researching his family history, he expected to write the account of their heroic escape from Nazi Germany in 1935. Instead, what he found in his great-grandfather's voluminous, unpublished, partially translated memoir was a much darker, more complicated story. "I confess to my descendants who will read these lines that I made a grave error. I betrayed myself, my most sacred principles," he wrote. "I cannot shake off the great debt on my conscience." Siegfried Merzbacher was a German-Jewish chemist living in Oranienburg, a small town north of Berlin, where he developed various household items, including a radioactive toothpaste called Doramad. But then he was asked by the government to work on products with a strong military connection -- first he made and tested gas-mask filters, and then he was invited to establish a chemical weapons laboratory. Between 1933 and 1935, he was a Jewish chemist making chemical weapons for the Nazis. While he and his nuclear family escaped safely to Turkey before the war, Siegfried never got over his complicity, particularly after learning that members of his extended family were murdered in Auschwitz. Armed only with his great-grandfather's rambling, 2,000-page deathbed memoir and a handful of archival clues, Dunthorne traveled to Munich, Ammendorf, Berlin, Ankara, and Oranienburg -- a place where hundreds of unexploded bombs remain hidden in the irradiated soil -- to reckon with the remarkable, unsettling legacy of his family's past"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Family histories.; Personal narratives.; Merzbacher, Siegfried, 1883-1971; Merzbacher, Siegfried, 1883-1971.; Chemical weapons; Chemists; Gases, Asphyxiating and poisonous; Jews;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Did everyone have an imaginary friend (or just me)? : adventures in boyhood / by Ellis, Jay,1981-author.;
"What to do when you're the perpetual new kid, only child, military brat hustling school-to-school each year and everyone's looking to you for answers? Make some shit up, of course! And a young Jay Ellis does just that, with help from every child's favorite co-conspirator -- their imaginary best friend. Born in the perfect storm of especially ferocious rain and a sugar-fueled imagination, Mikey, his imaginary best friend, steps in to figuratively hold Jay's hand through various youthful shenanigans. A testament to the importance of imagination, trusting oneself, and making space for your creativity, Did Everyone Have an Imaginary Friend or Just Me? is a memoir of a 90s kid who confided in his imaginary sidekick to navigate everything from parallel pop culture universes, like watching Fresh Prince alongside John Hughes movies or listening to Ja Rule and Dave Matthews, to a lifetime of birthday disappointment (being a Christmas season Capricorn will do that to you) and hoop dreams gone bad. Mikey also guides him through greater tragedies, like losing his teenage cousin in a mistaken-target drive-by and the shame and fear of being pulled over by cops almost a dozen times the year he got his driver's license. As imaginary friend morphs into adult consciousness, Ellis charts an unforgettable story of looking within yourself for guidance to some of life's biggest (and smallest) challenges, told in the roast-you-with-love voice of your closest homie"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Autobiographies.; Personal narratives.; Ellis, Jay, 1981-; Ellis, Jay, 1981-; African American actors; African American children; Imaginary companions.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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MBS : the rise to power of Mohammed bin Salman / by Hubbard, Ben,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index.MBS is the untold story of how a mysterious young prince emerged from Saudi Arabia's sprawling royal family to overhaul the economy and society of the richest country in the Middle East--and gather as much power as possible into his own hands. Since his father, King Salman, ascended to the throne in 2015, Mohammed bin Salman has leveraged his influence to restructure the kingdom's economy, loosen its strict Islamic social codes, and confront its enemies around the region, especially Iran. That vision won him fans at home and on Wall Street, in Silicon Valley, in Hollywood, and at the White House, where President Trump embraced the prince as a key player in his own vision for the Middle East. But over time, the sheen of the visionary young reformer has become tarnished, leaving many struggling to determine whether MBS is in fact a rising dictator whose inexperience and rash decisions are destabilizing the world's most volatile region. Based on years of reporting and hundreds of interviews, MBS reveals the machinations behind the kingdom's catastrophic military intervention in Yemen, the bizarre detention of princes and businessmen in the Riyadh Ritz-Carlton, and the shifting Saudi relationships with Israel and the United States. And finally, it sheds new light on the greatest scandal of the young autocrat's rise: the brutal killing of journalist Jamal Khashoggi by Saudi agents in Istanbul, a crime that shook Saudi Arabia's relationship with Washington and left the world wondering whether MBS could get away with murder. MBS is a riveting, eye-opening account of how the young prince has wielded vast powers to reshape his kingdom and the world around him.
Subjects: Biographies.; Āl Saʻūd, Muḥammad bin Salmān bin ʻAbd al-ʻAzīz, Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, 1985-;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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10/7 : 100 human stories / by Yaron, Lee,author.; Cohen, Joshua,writer of afterword.;
"The definitive account of the 10/7 attacks through the stories of its victims and the communities they called home. On October 7, 2023 -- the Sabbath and the final day of the holiday of Sukkot-the Gaza -- based terror group Hamas launched an unprecedented assault on the people of Israel. Crashing through the border, attacking from the sea and air, militants indiscriminately massacred civilians in what became one of the worst terror attacks in modern history, and the most lethal day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. A radically passionate work of investigative journalism and political critique by acclaimed Haaretz reporter Lee Yaron, 10/7 chronicles the massacre that ignited a war through the stories of more than 100 civilians. These stories are the products of extensive interviews with survivors, the bereaved, and first responders in Israel and beyond. The victims run the gamut from left-wing kibbutzniks and Burning Man-esque partiers to radical right-wingers, from Bedouins and Israeli Arabs to Thai and Nepalese guest workers, peace activists, elderly Holocaust survivors, refugees from Ukraine and Russia, pregnant women, and babies. At a time when people are seeking a deeper understanding of the history of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and how internal political turmoil in Israel has affected it, they predominantly encounter perspectives from the powerful-from politicians and military officers. 10/7 takes a fresh approach, offering answers through the stories of everyday people, those who lived tenuously on the border with Gaza. Yaron profiles victims from a wide range of communities-depicting the fullness of their lives, not just their final moments-to honor their memories and reveal the way the attack ripped open Israeli society and put the entire Middle East on the precipice of disaster. Each chapter begins with a portrait of a community, interweaving history with broader political analysis of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to provide context for the narratives that follow. Ultimately, 10/7 shows that the tragedy is much greater than the violence of the attacks, and in fact extends back through the entire Netanyahu era, which propagated a false image of Israel as a technologically advanced, militarily formidable powerhouse so essential to the region that it could continue to ignore and undermine Palestinian statehood indefinitely"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; Ḥarakat al-Muqāwamah al-Islāmīyah.; Ḥarakat al-Muqāwamah al-Islāmīyah.; Arab-Israeli conflict; Israelis; Jews; October 7 Hamas Attack, Israel, 2023.;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Anansi's gold : the man who looted the west, outfoxed Washington, and swindled the world / by Yeebo, Yepoka,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."The astounding, never-before-told story of how an audacious Ghanaian con artist pulled off one of the 20th century's longest-running and most spectacular frauds. When Ghana won its independence from Britain in 1957, it instantly became a target for home-grown opportunists and rapacious Western interests determined to snatch any assets that colonialism hadn't already stripped. A CIA-funded military junta ousted the new nation's inspiring president, Kwame Nkrumah, then falsely accused him of hiding the country's gold overseas. Into this big lie stepped one of history's most charismatic scammers, a con man to rival the trickster god Anansi. Born into poverty in Ghana and trained in the United States, John Ackah Blay-Miezah declared himself custodian of an alleged Nkrumah trust fund worth billions. You, too, could claim a piece--if only you would "invest" in Blay-Miezah's fictitious efforts to release the equally fictitious fund. Over the 1970s and '80s, he and his accomplices--including Ghanaian state officials and Nixon's former attorney general--scammed hundreds of millions of dollars out of thousands of believers. Blay-Miezah lived in luxury, deceiving Philadelphia lawyers, London financiers, and Seoul businessmen alike, all while eluding his FBI pursuers. American prosecutors called his scam "one of the most fascinating--and lucrative--in modern history." In Anansi's Gold, Yepoka Yeebo chases Blay-Miezah's ever-wilder trail and discovers, at long last, what really happened to Ghana's missing wealth. She unfolds a riveting account of Cold War entanglements, international finance, and postcolonial betrayal, revealing how what we call "history" writes itself into being, one lie at a time."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; True crime stories.; Blay-Miezah, John Ackah.; Fraud; Swindlers and swindling;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Spitfires : the American women who flew in the face of danger during World War ll / by Aikman, Becky,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."The heart-pounding true story of the daring American women who piloted the world's most dangerous aircraft through the treacherous skies of Britain during World War II. In 1942, a few months after the United States entered the second world war, a trailblazing band of 25 American women traveled to England to ferry planes for the British Royal Air Force. Despite their skill, these women were not permitted to fly for the United States military. But Great Britain, desperate for a steady supply of warplanes in a fight for survival, accepted ferry pilots regardless of gender, race, or nationality. These "spitfires" were risking their lives in one of the deadliest jobs of the war. They flew new, barely tested fighters and bombers to air bases and shot-up planes back for repair, never knowing what might go wrong until they were high in the sky. Many died in crashes or made spectacular saves. But ferrying was also the women's opportunity do their patriotic duty, excel, and revel in adventure. Before the war, they were crop dusters or debutantes, college girls or performers in flying circuses. But in wartime they lived like women decades ahead of their time, choosing the identities they wanted. Some shocked their British hosts with their thoroughly modern behavior. With cinematic sweep, Becky Aikman follows the stories of nine of the captivating women who served, drawing on intimate unpublished diaries, letters, and records, along with her own interviews, to bring these forgotten heroines fully to life. Spitfires is a vivid, richly detailed account of war, ambition, and a group of remarkable women whose lives were as unconventional as their dreams"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; Great Britain. Air Transport Auxiliary; Spitfire (Fighter plane); Women air pilots; World War, 1939-1945; World War, 1939-1945; World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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In the blood : how two outsiders solved a centuries-old medical mystery and took on the US Army / by Barber, Charles,1962-author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."The incredible true story of how an absent-minded inventor and a down-on-his-luck salesman joined forces to create a once in a generation lifesaving product--and were persecuted for it by the U.S. Army. At the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, dramatized by the popular film Black Hawk Down, the majority of soldiers who died bled to death before they could even reach an operating table. This tragedy reinforced the need for a revolutionary treatment that could transform trauma medicine. So, when Frank Hursey and Bart Gullong--who had no medical or military experience--discovered that a cheap, crushed rock called zeolite had blood clotting properties, they brought it to the military's attention. The Marines and the Navy adopted the resulting product, QuikClot, immediately. The Army, however, resisted. It had two products of its own being developed to prevent excessive bleeds, one of which had already cost eighty million dollars. The other, "Factor Seven," had a more dangerous complication: its side effects could be deadly. Unwilling to let its efforts end in failure--and led by the highly influential surgeon Major John Holcomb--the Army set out to smear the reputations of the inventors whose product, they claimed, had its own risk. Over the course of six years, Hursey and Gullong engaged in an epic struggle with Holcomb for recognition--until a whistle blower inside the Army exposed Holcomb's financial ties to the pharmaceutical company that produced Factor Seven, a discovery that led to a massive lawsuit filed by the U.S. Department of Justice. By withholding QuikClot--which would later become the medical miracle of the Iraq War--and using Factor Seven with its known, life threatening risks, Holcomb imperiled countless American lives. Using deep reportage and riveting prose, In the Blood recounts this little known David and Goliath story of corruption, greed, and power within the military--and the devastating, fatal consequences of unchecked institutional arrogance"--
Subjects: Biographies.; Personal narratives.; Gullong, Bart.; Hursey, Frank.; Hemorrhage; Medicine, Military; Surgical dressings; Wound treatment equipment industry;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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All that glitters : a story of friendship, fraud, and fine art / by Whitfield, Orlando,author.;
"A dazzling insider look at the contemporary art world and the meteoric rise and fall of the seductive, charismatic, utterly amoral young, American art dealer, Inigo Philbrick, told through the eyes of his former partner and set in London, New York, Miami and Vanuatu Orlando Whitfield and Inigo Philbrick met in 2006 at Goldsmiths University where, though total opposites, they became best friends. By 2007, they were art dealing together having formed I&O Fine Art and two years later, upon graduation, were looking for a gallery space. While they continued to work together, Inigo was also taking on work for the prestigious London Gallery, White Cube. Orlando would set up his own gallery with a partner and watch as Inigo quickly immersed himself in a world of private jets, lavish trips, and close multimillion-dollar deals for major clients. To those who did not know, Inigo seemed a brilliant art world hotshot. But underneath the extravagant façade, his complicated financial schemes were unraveling. Monthly interest installments of $150k were left unpaid; calls were dodged; letters from auction houses faked. With debt, lawsuits, and court summons piling up, Inigo went into an inescapable tailspin of lies and subterfuge. By 2019, things had spiraled enough out of control for Inigo to flee to the remote island of Vanuatu, 300 miles off Fiji. There, in 2020, he was arrested by US Marshals and flown to Guam where he was arraigned in a military court and eventually moved to Brooklyn where he was denied bail and sentenced to seven years in prison for over $86 million in fraud. This unique, shocking, and page-turning story is compulsively readable as it sweeps you up in both adventure and downfall. A close-up of two very young players in the contemporary art world who would each pay a big price, in very different ways, make it an irresistible cautionary tale"--
Subjects: Biographies.; True crime stories.; Personal narratives.; Philbrick, Inigo.; Whitfield, Orlando.; Art and society; Art dealers; Art; Fraud;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The astonishing general : the life and legacy of Sir Isaac Brock / by Turner, Wesley B.,1933-;
Includes bibliographical references and index.The War of 1812 created heroes and heroines on both the Canadian and American sides, and Sir Isaac Brock was the best-known, although his military role lasted less than five months. Surprisingly, he was admired almost equally by both sides, and his succcess in winning the support of Tecumseh and his army for the British added to his reputation. This book tells of his life, career and legacy.LSC
Subjects: Brock, Isaac, Sir, 1769-1812.; Generals;
© c2011., Dundurn Press,
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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The indomitable Florence Finch : the untold story of a war widow turned resistance fighter and savior of American POWs / by Mrazek, Robert J.,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."When Florence Finch died at the age of 101, few of her Ithaca, NY neighbors knew that this unassuming Filipina native was a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, whose courage and sacrifice were unsurpassed in the Pacific War against Japan. Long accustomed to keeping her secrets close in service of the Allies, she waited fifty years to reveal the story of those dramatic and harrowing days to her own children.Florence was an unlikely warrior. She relied on her own intelligence and fortitude to survive on her own from the age of seven, facing bigotry as a mixed-race mestiza with the dual heritage of her American serviceman father and Filipina mother. As the war drew ever closer to the Philippines, Florence fell in love with a dashing American naval intelligence agent, Charles "Bing" Smith. In the wake of Bing's sudden death in battle, Florence transformed from a mild-mannered young wife into a fervent resistance fighter. She conceived a bold plan to divert tons of precious fuel from the Japanese army, which was then sold on the black market to provide desperately needed medicine and food for hundreds of American POWs. In constant peril of arrest and execution, Florence fought to save others, even as the Japanese police closed in. With a wealth of original sources including taped interviews, personal journals, and unpublished memoirs, The Indomitable Florence Finch unfolds against the Bataan Death March, the fall of Corregidor, and the daily struggle to survive a brutal occupying force. Award-winning military historian and former Congressman Robert J. Mrazek brings to light this long-hidden American patriot. The Indomitable Florence Finch is the story of the transcendent bravery of a woman who belongs in America's pantheon of war heroes."--
Subjects: Biographies.; Finch, Florence Ebersole Smith, 1915-2017.; United States. Army. Forces, Far East; United States. Coast Guard. Women's Reserve; Prisoners of war; Prisoners of war; War widows; World War, 1939-1945; World War, 1939-1945; World War, 1939-1945;
Available copies: 1 / Total copies: 1
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Results 91 to 100 of 125 | « previous |