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Lone wolf : walking the line between civilization and wildness / by Weymouth, Adam,author.;
Includes bibliographical references."In 2011, a wolf named Slavc left his home territory of Slovenia for a wide-ranging journey across the Alps. Tracked by a GPS collar, he travelled over 1,200 miles, where he would mate with a female wolf on a walkabout of her own -- the only two wolves for hundreds of square miles -- and start the first pack to call the Italian Alps home in more than a century. A decade later and there are more than a hundred wolves in the area, the result of their remarkable meeting. Now, journalist Adam Weymouth follows Slavc's path on foot, and in doing so, interrogates the fears and realities of those living on land that is being repopulated by wolves; a metaphor for economic, political, and climate upheaval in a region that is seeing a centuries-old way of life being upended. Weymouth journeys to understand how wolves -- vilified throughout history in literature, art, and folklore -- are slowly creeping back into our forests, woods, and sometimes even our towns, and what that deep-rooted terror at the back of our minds really means. Slavc serves as the ultimate symbol for the outsider, journeying through places that are now wrestling with an influx of immigration, a resurgence of the far-right wing, and the steady decline of the environment due to the rapid advance of climate change; the question of how we see the other and treat the earth becomes paramount in everyday lives. Examining the political dimensions that this individual animal's trek brings to light, Lone Wolf tells a newly resonant story -- one less about fear and more about the courage required to seek out a new life, as well as the challenge of accepting the changing world around us. Sharply observed, searching, and written in poetic and precise prose, Lone Wolf explores the thorny connection between humans and nature, and indeed between borders themselves, and presses us to consider this much-discussed creature anew"--
Subjects: Slavc (Wolf); Weymouth, Adam; Gray wolf; Gray wolf; Human-animal relationships.; Gray wolf;

Life as we made it : how 50,000 years of human innovation refined--and redefined--nature / by Shapiro, Beth Alison,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Humans seem to be destroying nature with incessant fiddling. We can use viruses to insert genes for pesticide resistance into plants, or to make the flesh of goldfish glow. We can turn bacteria into factories for millions of molecules, from vitamin A and insulin to diesel fuel. And this year's Nobel Prize went to the inventors of tool called CRISPR, which lets us edit genomes almost as easily as we can edit the text in a computer document. The potential for harm can seem both enormous and inevitable. In Life as We Made It, evolutionary biologist Beth Shapiro argues that our fears of new technologies aren't just mistaken, but they miss the big picture about human history: we've been remaking nature for as long as we've been around. As Shapiro shows, the molecular tools of biotechnology are just the latest in a long line of innovations stretching back to the extra food and warm fires that first brought wolves into the human fold, turning them into devoted dogs. Perhaps more importantly, Shapiro offers a new understanding of the evolution of our species and those that surround us. We might think of evolution as a process bigger than humans (and everything else). To the contrary, Shapiro argues that we have always been active participants in it, driving it both inadvertently and intentionally with our remarkable capacity for technological innovation. Shapiro shows that with each innovation and every plant and animal we touched, we not only shaped our own diets, genes, and social structures but we reset the course of evolution, both theirs and ours. Indeed, although we think of only modern technology as capable of gene editing, she shows that even the first stone tools could edit DNA, simply by changing the world in which all life lives. Recasting the history of biology and technology alike, Life as We Made It shows that the history of our species is essentially and inevitably a story of us meddling with nature. And that ultimately, our species' fate depends on how we do it in the future"--
Subjects: Biotechnology; Biotechnology; Nature;

Beyond the trees : alone across Canada's Arctic / by Shoalts, Adam,1986-author.;
"A thrilling odyssey through an unforgiving landscape, and the rich history it reveals. What does it mean to explore and confront the unknown? Beyond the Trees recounts Adam Shoalts's epic, solo crossing of Canada's mainland Arctic in a single season--the first in recorded history. It's also a multilayered story that weaves the narrative of Shoalts's journey into accounts of other adventurers, explorers, First Nations, fur traders, dreamers, eccentrics, and bush pilots to create an unforgettable tale of adventure and exploration. Interspersed with his stories of navigating mazes of shifting ice floes, facing down snarling bears and galloping musk-ox, and portaging along knife-edge cliffs above furious rapids, are the fascinating legends, historic persons, and incredible anecdotes that make up the lore of the North. They include the saga of the Mad Trapper, a man whose feats of endurance and ingenuity were almost as legendary as his violent end; the story of the controversial Vilhjalmur Stefansson, a redoubtable dreamer but also one who was blamed for the deaths of his companions; the tale of the "Lost Patrol" of Mounties who perished in a blinding blizzard; the formidable Tyrell brothers who together charted much of Canada's North; the eerie ruins of Fort Confidence that was built nearly two centuries ago on Great Bear Lake; and the decaying remnants of gold prospector David Douglas's cabin overlooking the Dease River. The North is indeed a perilous place. Also told in the book is the tragedy of John Hornby and his two companions who starved to death on the banks of the Thelon River; their bones are still resting just above the riverbank in shallow graves. Beyond the Trees also discusses folklore about wendigoes, strange lights, and the mystery of Angikuni Lake, where in 1930 an entire Inuit camp supposedly vanished without a trace. These mysteries and wonders are Shoalts's only companions as he sets out on his own path through the adventure of a lifetime."-- Provided by publisher.
Subjects: Shoalts, Adam, 1986-; Travel.;

Wicked Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West [electronic resource] : by Maguire, Gregory.aut; cloudLibrary;
The New York Times bestseller and basis for the Tony-winning hit musical, soon to be a major motion picture starring Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande With millions of copies in print around the world, Gregory Maguire’s Wicked is established not only as a commentary on our time but as a novel to revisit for years to come. Wicked relishes the inspired inventions of L. Frank Baum’s 1900 novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, while playing sleight of hand with our collective memories of the 1939 MGM film starring Margaret Hamilton (and Judy Garland). In this fast-paced, fantastically real, and supremely entertaining novel, Maguire has populated the largely unknown world of Oz with the power of his own imagination.  Years before Dorothy and her dog crash-land, another little girl makes her presence known in Oz. This girl, Elphaba, is born with emerald-green skin—no easy burden in a land as mean and poor as Oz, where superstition and magic are not strong enough to explain or overcome the natural disasters of flood and famine. Still, Elphaba is smart, and by the time she enters Shiz University, she becomes a member of a charmed circle of Oz’s most promising young citizens. But Elphaba’s Oz is no utopia. The Wizard’s secret police are everywhere. Animals—those creatures with voices, souls, and minds—are threatened with exile. Young Elphaba, green and wild and misunderstood, is determined to protect the Animals—even if it means combating the mysterious Wizard, even if it means risking her single chance at romance. Ever wiser in guilt and sorrow, she can find herself grateful when the world declares her a witch. And she can even make herself glad for that young girl from Kansas.  Recognized as an iconoclastic tour de force on its initial publication, the novel has inspired the blockbuster musical of the same name—one of the longest-running plays in Broadway history. Popular, indeed. But while the novel’s distant cousins hail from the traditions of magical realism, mythopoeic fantasy, and sprawling nineteenth-century sagas of moral urgency, Maguire’s Wicked is as unique as its green-skinned witch. 
Subjects: Electronic books.; Romantic; Literary; Contemporary; Media Tie-In; Epic; Fairy Tales, Folk Tales, Legends & Mythology; Horror;
© 2009., HarperCollins,

Near abroad : Putin, the West, and the contest over Ukraine and the Caucasus / by Toal, Gerard,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."Vladimir Putin's intervention into the Georgia/South Ossetia conflict in summer 2008 was quickly recognized by Western critics as an attempt by Russia to increase its presence and power in the "near abroad", or the independent states of the former Soviet Union that Russia still regards as its wards. Though the global economic recession that began in 2008 moved the incident to the back of the world's mind, Russia surged to the forefront again six years later when they invaded the heavily Russian Crimea in Ukraine and annexed it. In contrast to the earlier Georgia episode, this new conflict has generated a crisis of global proportions, forcing European countries to rethink their relationship with Russia and their reliance on it for energy supplies, as Russia was now squeezing natural gas from what is technically Ukraine. In Near Abroad, the eminent political geographer Gerard Toal analyzes Russia's recent offensive actions in the near abroad, focusing in particular on the ways in which both the West and Russia have relied on Cold War-era rhetorical and emotional tropes that distort as much as they clarify. In response to Russian aggression, US critics quickly turned to tried-and-true concepts like "spheres of influence" to condemn the Kremlin. Russia in turn has brought back its long tradition of criticizing western liberalism and degeneracy to grandly rationalize its behavior in what are essentially local border skirmishes. It is this tendency to resort to the frames of earlier eras that has led the conflicts to "jump scales," moving from the regional to the global level in short order. The ambiguities and contradictions that result when nations marshal traditional geopolitical arguments-rooted in geography, territory, and old understandings of distance-further contributes to the escalation of these conflicts. Indeed, Russia's belligerence toward Georgia stemmed from concern about its possible entry into NATO, an organization of states thousands of miles away. American hawks also strained credulity by portraying Georgia as a nearby ally in need of assistance. Similarly, the threat of NATO to the Ukraine looms large in the Kremlin's thinking, and many Ukrainians themselves self-identify with the West despite their location in Eastern Europe."--
Subjects: Geopolitics; Geopolitics; Geopolitics; South Ossetia War, 2008.;

Having it all : what data tells us about women's lives and getting the most out of yours / by Low, Corinne,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index."A Wharton economist's radical framework for empowering women to design a life that goes beyond the work-life binary to create true joy, balance, and fulfillment. To be a woman in America today is to be chronically tired. We face unsustainable demands on our time and efforts in every sphere. Traditional advice urges us work harder, optimize better, and, when all else fails, "self-care." The implicit message is that it is our fault that we are overwhelmed, that we must be doing something wrong. This, says economist and professor Corrine Low, couldn't be further from reality. At Wharton, she studies the decisions that shape women's lives and the economic and societal constraints they face when making them. And what her research has demonstrated, time and again, is that unseen economic forces have created an environment that is openly hostile to the needs of women. Indeed, her research highlights just how many additional factors women must consider as they navigate a future. Because of a few biological realities, and a lot of imbalanced cultural and institutional norms, women face a unique level of complexity and potential repercussions when making decisions such as whether or not to obtain an advanced degree, what type of career to pursue, when or whether to get married and/or have kids, or even where they should live. Now, in Having It All, Low poses a radical new framework for navigating these decisions. For too long, Low says, women have been expected to accept labor-intensive, unsustainable deals in all areas of work and life. This book asks the question: What would it look like if we stopped assuming the problems in women's lives are caused by women's choices, and started looking instead at the structural, economic, and biological factors that are forcing and constraining those choices in the first place? And what if, in doing so, we could learn to negotiate new deals that don't leave us feeling so depleted? In the same way that behavioral psychologists like Daniel Kahneman and Dan Ariely have sought to understand the hidden factors and biases that cause people make mistakes at the bank or the grocery store, economist Corinne Low investigates how the most significant decisions in women's lives are shaped by overlooked internal and external factors. The result is a book that offers readers a guide to getting the best deal for their lives and careers in a world full of constraints. It is also a call to action for firms, policymakers, and anyone else with an iota of power to get to work on the tough job of changing these constraints instead of the easier one we seem to default to: criticizing women. This book is not about optimizing. Women are already optimized. Consider it the essential economic textbook for life as a woman-but hopefully, a little more fun"--
Subjects: Quality of life; Self-actualization (Psychology) in women.; Women; Work-life balance; Women;

A history of France / by Norwich, John Julius,1929-2018,author.;
Includes bibliographical references and index.Chronicles the history of France, from Julius Caesar's conquest of Gaul in the mid-first century BC to the end of World War II.

A devil is waiting / by Higgins, Jack,1929-;
"A devil is indeed waiting. The President is coming to London, but not to an entirely warm welcome. A fanatical mullah is offering a blessing to anyone who will assassinate the President, and though most London Muslims think the mullah has crossed the line, a few think otherwise. Urgently, Sean Dillon, General Charles Ferguson, and the rest of the small band known as the "Prime Minister's private army" are called in, augmented by an extraordinary new recruit, an intelligence captain and Afghan war hero named Sara Gideon. She has her own deep contacts, but the more she investigates, the more she discovers herself in a very dark place indeed. For the assassination plan is only the beginning."--Provided by publisher.
Subjects: Suspense fiction.; United States. President; Americans; Terrorism;
© c2012., G.P. Putnam's Sons,

Le brahmane et le tigre ingrat : une histoire / by Horsfield, Alan.; Mancini, Rob.;
LSC
Subjects: Brahmanes; Tigre; Contes; Brahmans; Tiger; Tales;
© c2005., Groupe Beauchemin,

L'homme sur le dos d'un tigre / by Randell, Beverley,1931-; Reynolds, Pat.;
LSC
Subjects: Céramistes; Tigre; Contes; Potters; Tiger; Tales;
© c2004., Groupe Beauchemin,

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