History Essays

Everybody Loves a Good Drought is the established classic on rural poverty in India. Twenty years after publication, it remains unsurpassed in the scope and depth of reportage, providing an intimate view of the daily struggles of the poor and the efforts, often ludicrous, made to uplift them. An illuminating introduction accompanying this 20-anniversary edition reveals, alarmingly, how a large section of India continues to suffer in the name of development so that a small percentage may prosper.

Martin Luther King Jr. may be America's most revered political figure, commemorated in statues, celebrations, and street names around the world. But despite his stature, the significance of King's writings and political thought remains underappreciated. In To Shape a New World, Tommie Shelby and Brandon Terry state that the marginalization of King's ideas reflects a romantic consensus history that renders the civil rights movement inherently conservative - an effort not at radical reform but at "living up to" enduring ideals laid down by the nation's founders.

What is art? A mere imitation of life or something far greater—an act of creation that reveals the soul of the universe? Ralph Waldo Emerson, the philosopher-poet of American transcendentalism, elevates art beyond the canvas, beyond words, beyond form itself. In this essay, he explores the divine spark within creativity, arguing that true art is not bound by technique or tradition but flows from the spirit of the artist, a force both mysterious and essential.

A groundbreaking collection of essays by celebrated international writers bears witness to the human cost of 50 years of Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza. In Kingdom of Olives and Ash, Michael Chabon and Ayelet Waldman, two of today's most renowned novelists and essayists, have teamed up with the Israeli NGO Breaking the Silence and a host of illustrious writers to tell the stories of the people on the ground in the contested territories.

This essay, short via only 17 Kindle pages, but in no small measure, points to the egregious and continuous act of the U.S. Government not honoring its documented promise to distribute reparations (Military # 15) to the descendants of African Slaves since the end of Civil War, 1865 AD. For your convenience, I pose a short litany of questions that points to the compelling argument for 'Reasonable Cause for Reparations' for the Descendants of African Slaves: 1. What were the two-legal slavery periods in America? 2. When was the 1st Freedom document issued for the [overground] White Slave ...

Some of the greatest names in naval history, Admiral Horatio Nelson, commodore Stephen Decatur, Admiral Erich Raeder, and many others fill War at Sea in a way that not only educates but entertains any listener interested in the story of naval warfare. From the Chesapeake Bay to Jutland, from the River Plate to Guadalcanal, from Hampton Roads to Leyte Gulf, here are the most compelling and memorable accounts of the days of sail and steam, of wood and iron, and of duels to the death on the waters.

Mark Kurlansky, winner of the James Beard Award for Excellence in Food Writing, leads us on a mouthwatering culinary tour around the world and through history and culture from the fifth century B.C. to the present day. This wonderful collection contains essays by Plato on the art of cooking, Pablo Neruda on french fries, and many other writers on the passions of cuisine.

In this collection of natural-history essays, biologist Joan Maloof embarks on a series of lively, fact-filled expeditions into forests of the eastern United States. Through Maloof's engaging, conversational style, each essay offers a lesson in stewardship as it explores the interwoven connections between a tree species and the animals and insects whose lives depend on it - and who, in turn, work to ensure the tree's survival.

Fun, bright, and playful, power pop is a sometimes adored, sometimes maligned, often misunderstood genre of music. From its heyday in the '70s and '80s to its resurgence in the '90s and '00s, power pop has meant many things to many people. In Go All the Way, today's best and brightest writers go deep on what certain power pop bands and songs mean and have meant to them. Whether they love or hate it, Go All the Way is a dive into the Beatles-inspired pop rock of the last five decades.

A Classic Collection of Philosophical Essays: Spinoza, Immanuel Kant, Schopenhauer, Herbert Spencer, Friedrich Nietzsche, Bertrand Russell and Many Others by Will Durant offers an insightful and comprehensive anthology of essays on some of the most influential philosophers in Western thought. This collection captures the essence of each thinker's contributions to philosophy, making complex ideas accessible and engaging for a broad audience. Spinoza: Durant explores Spinoza's pantheism and his view of a universe governed by natural laws, presenting his ideas on ethics, politics, and the nature of reality.

From adventure to indenture, martyrs to merchants, Partition to plantation, from Kashmir to Kerala, Japan to Jamaica and beyond, the many facets of the great migrations of India and the world are mapped in India Moving, the first book of its kind. To understand how millions of people have moved - from, to and within India - the book embarks on a journey laced with evidence, argument, and wit.

Acclaimed historian Stephen Ambrose begins his examination with a glance inward - he starts this book with his brothers, his first and forever friends, and the shared experiences that join them for a lifetime, overcoming distance and misunderstandings.

When artists and athletes age, what happens to their work? Does it ripen or rot? Achieve a new serenity or succumb to an escalating torment? As our bodies decay, how do we keep on? In this beguiling meditation, Geoff Dyer sets his own encounter with late middle age against the last days and last works of writers, painters, footballers, musicians, and tennis stars who’ve mattered to him throughout his life. Throughout, he stresses the accomplishments of uncouth geniuses who defied convention, and went on doing so even when their beautiful youths were over.

As any fan of Jo Walton's Among Others might guess, Walton is both an inveterate reader of SF and fantasy, and a chronic rereader of books. In 2008, then-new science fiction mega-site Tor.com asked Walton to blog regularly about her rereading—about all kinds of older fantasy and SF, ranging from acknowledged classics, to guilty pleasures, to forgotten oddities and gems. These posts have consistently been among the most popular features of Tor. Now this volume presents a selection of the best of them, ranging from short essays to long reassessments of some of the field's most ambitious series.

Si bien el ensayo emplea un narrador ficticio y la prosa para explorar a mujeres (tanto escritoras como personajes de ficción), y el manuscrito preparado para las conferencias se tituló "Mujeres y Ficción", el ensayo está considerado no-ficción. Generalmente se clasifica como un texto feminista, y su argumento gira en torno a un espacio literal y ficticio para escritoras que se encuentran dentro de una tradición literaria dominada por hombres.

John Stuart Mill (1806-1873) had a profound influence on the shape of 19th-century thought and political discourse. His view of liberty justified the freedom of the individual in opposition to the unrestricted state. Mill favoured decentralised forms of socialism because he thought that a centralised model would discourage competition, neglect talent, and disregard freedom.

Welcome to "Fascinating Stuff that will Tickle your Brain"! In this book, which is part of my 50-volume "Get Smarter One Book at a Time" series, I take you on a captivating journey through 30 intriguing topics spanning science, nature, history, and the mysteries of the mind. Throughout these pages, we'll explore the remarkable communication systems of ants, uncover the learning process of freshwater otters, and discover the age-old struggle between predator and prey, like wild goats evading their fast pursuers. We'll also travel back in time to examine the roles and challenges faced by ...

Famines are becoming smaller and rarer, but optimism about the possibility of a famine-free future must be tempered by the threat of global warming. That is just one of the arguments that Cormac Ó Gráda, one of the world's leading authorities on the history and economics of famine, develops in this wide-ranging audiobook, which provides crucial new perspectives on key questions raised by famines around the globe between the 17th and 21st centuries.

An essay analysing the impact and importance of the War of the Spanish Succession.

The power, anger and fluency of Liang Qichao's writings make him one of the towering figures in modern Chinese literature. He saw his great, almost unmanageable task as an attempt to write China into the new era - to provide an ancient country, devastated by civil war and foreign predators, with the intellectual equipment to renew itself. This selection of pieces shows Liang's extraordinary range and the burning sense of mission which drove him on, attempting to galvanize and refresh an entire nation.