Best of
Research
1956
Give Us This Day
Sidney Stewart - 1956
Army enlisted man, was captured at Bataan. For nearly three and a half years, until he was liberated by the Russians in Manchuria, he remained a prisoner of war. Here is his account of this long and terrifying captivity. "It is one of the most harrowing and debilitating chronicles that I have read. . . . He describes the ordeal brilliantly; he harbors no resentments apparently, and he has emerged from an inferno of bestiality with utter serenity." — Maxwell Geismar, Saturday Review "An impressive and moving book." — David Dempsey, New York Times "His is no ordinary prisoner-of-war story; better written than most, it contains no tales of swashbuckling defiance. . . . The force of this book is its testimony to the indomitable strength of the human spirit." — Manchester Guardian "The plain narrative of this story would by itself have been fascinating, but this book is far more than a story, it is a work of art." — André Siegfried, Academie Francaise "Sidney Stewart's composed narrative is one of the most noble documents ever penned by a prisoner of war. The companions he writes about remained men to the end, until at last only one man remained; he survived to write this unforgettable, this magnificent story." — George Slocombe, New York Herald Tribune [Paris]
The Forge and the Crucible: The Origins and Structure of Alchemy
Mircea Eliade - 1956
In The Forge and the Crucible, Mircea Eliade follows the ritualistic adventures of these ancient societies, adventures rooted in the people's awareness of an awesome new power.The new edition of The Forge and the Crucible contains an updated appendix, in which Eliade lists works on Chinese alchemy published in the past few years. He also discusses the importance of alchemy in Newton's scientific evolution.
The Peculiar Institution: Slavery in the Ante-Bellum South
Kenneth M. Stampp - 1956
. . . Mr. Stampp wants to show specifically what slavery was like, why it existed, and what it did to the American people."--Bruce Catton
Dialogues
Paul Valéry - 1956
Many consider the prose masterpieces Eupalinos and Dance and the Soul as the fullest and most characteristic expression of his genius. The dialogue form, "the most supple of the forms of expression, " was natural to Valery. "I found I was talking to myself in two voices, and began to write accordingly, " he said. His imagination and his philosophical mind found in his major dialogues the common ground they were always seeking. In the present volume, all the formal imaginary dialogues are brought together for the first time.
Malta: Spitfire Pilot: Ten Weeks of Terror April - June 1942
Denis Barnham - 1956
Denis Barnham, a young and inexperienced flight lieutenant, spent ten hectic weeks on this indomitable island; he left a well-ordered English aerodrome for the chaos and disillusionment of Luqa. His task was to engage the overwhelming number of enemy bombers, usually protected by fighter escorts, and shoot down as many as possible. The Spitfires were bomb-scarred and battered; often they could only get two or three in the air together and the airfields were riddled with bomb craters, but they managed to keep going and they made their mark on enemy operations. The author has written a powerful account of his experiences in Malta starting with his trip out in an American aircraft carrier through the ceaseless battle and turmoil during the desperate defense of the island, until his departure by air back to England, having seen the reinforcements safely landed and the tide of battle turning. His descriptions and illustrations of the air action are thrilling, but terrifying. It is at times a very grim story but told with humor and compassion to bring, arguably, one of the best firsthand accounts of aerial combat ever written.
The Fighting Cheyennes
George Bird Grinnell - 1956
Through they course of the nineteenth century they became involved in some of the bloodiest conflicts to occur in the heart of the American continent. They were swift in the adoption of horse culture and quickly became skilled and powerful mounted warriors. Men would gain rank within their society by performing and accumulating various acts of bravery in battle, known as coups. George Bird Grinnell charts the development of the Cheyenne people through the course of the nineteenth century and how they were forced to become increasingly militaristic, both with other tribes and the ever-encroaching United States government, in order to protect themselves and their culture. Although Grinnell states that “This book deals with the wars of the Cheyennes”, he spends a great deal of time explaining their culture more deeply to provide a more complete picture of this fascinating tribe. Rather than simply relying on the words of various United States troops who had fought the Cheyennes at various encounters such as Washita River and Little Bighorn, Grinnell interviews many aging Native Americans to allow them to tell their own stories in their own ways. “Mr. Grinnell has always shown a deep personal feeling for the Indian of the Plains, in contrast to the mere professional attitude of many anthropologists. This is particularly true in the present work.” Clark Wissler, American Anthropologist “The principal events in Cheyenne history … are sketched in interesting fashion, chiefly from Indian reminiscence, with occasional reference to other sources of information. … we get the Indian viewpoint and incidentally much valuable light upon Indian belief and custom.” James Mooney, The American Historical Review “In his books… Mr. George Bird Grinnell has portrayed [the Native Americans] with a master hand; it is hard to see how his work can be bettered.” Theodore Roosevelt This book is essential reading for anyone interested in Native American history and one of the most famous tribes to have lived on the Great Plains. George Bird Grinnell was an American anthropologist, historian, naturalist, and writer. Grinnell wrote many of the first articles dealing with conservation, the protection of the buffalo, and the American West. His book The Fighting Cheyennes was first published in 1915 and he passed away in 1938.
The Stress of Life
Hans Selye - 1956
Annotated references are also included.
Partisan Diary: A Woman's Life in the Italian Resistance
Ada Gobetti - 1956
From the German entry into Turin on 10 September 1943 to the liberation of the city on 28 April 1945, Gobetti recorded an almost daily account of events, sentiments, and personalities, in a cryptic English only she could understand. Italian senator and philosopher Benedetto Croce encouraged Ada to convert her notes into a book. Published by the Italian publisher Giulio Einaudi in 1956, it won the Premio Prato, an annual prize for a work inspired by the Italian Resistance (Resistenza). From a political and military point of view, the Partisan Diary provides firsthand knowledge of how the partisans in Piedmont fought, what obstacles they encountered, and who joined the struggle against the Nazis and the Fascists. The mountainous terrain and long winters of the Alpine regions (the site of many of their battles) and the ever-present threat of reprisals by German occupiers and their fascist partners exacerbated problems of organization among the various partisan groups. So arduous was their fight, that key military events--Italy's declaration of war on Germany, the fall of Rome, and the Allied landings on D-Day --appear in the diary as remote and almost unrelated incidents. Ada Gobetti writes of the heartbreak of mothers who lost their sons or watched them leave on dangerous missions of sabotage, relating it to worries about her own son Paolo. She reflects on the relationship between anti-fascist thought of the 1920s, in particular the ideas of her husband, Piero Gobetti, and the Italian resistance movement (Resistenza) in which she and her son were participating. While the Resistenza represented a culmination of more than twenty years of anti-fascist activity for Ada, it also helped illuminate the exceptional talents, needs, and rights of Italian women, more than one hundred thousand of whom participated.
We Were There With the Mayflower Pilgrims
Robert N. Webb - 1956
New Testament Christianity
J.B. Phillips - 1956
His work translating the New Testament made him one of Britain's most famous Bible communicators. He talked of the revelation received as he translated the New Testament, describing it as ""extraordinarily alive""--unlike any experience he had had with non-scriptural ancient texts. He referred to Scripture speaking to his condition in an ""uncanny way."" Phillips was a masterful apologist and defender of the Christian faith. He upheld the basic tenets of the faith, and was able to present them as fresh to the modern reader and hearer, much as he had done with his translation of the New Testament."
The Triumph of Grace in the Theology of Karl Barth
G.C. Berkouwer - 1956
Structural Forms of the Feminine Psyche
Toni Wolff - 1956
The Functions of Social Conflict
Lewis A. Coser - 1956