How would these people feel when their prophecy remained unfulfilled? Would they admit the error of their prediction, or would they readjust their reality to make sense of the new circumstances?"We've all experienced the futility of trying to change a strong conviction, especially if the convinced person has some investment in his belief. We're familiar with the variety of ingenious defenses with which people protect their convictions, managing to keep them unscathed thru the most devastating attacks. But human resourcefulness goes beyond simply protecting a belief. Suppose an individual believes something with a whole heart; suppose further a commitment to this belief, suppose irrevocable actions have been taken because of it; finally, suppose evidence, unequivocal and undeniable evidence, that the belief is wrong: what will happen? The individual will frequently emerge, not only unshaken, but even more convinced of the truth of such beliefs than ever before. Indeed, s/he may even show a new fervor about convincing and converting others to this view. How and why does such a response to contradictory evidence come about? This is the question on which this book focuses. We hope that, by the end of the volume, we will have provided an adequate answer to the question, an answer documented by data."When Prophecy Fails is a classic text in social psychology authored by L. Festinger, H. Riecken and S. Schachter. It chronicles the experience of a UFO cult that believed the end of the world was at hand. In effect, it's a sociopsychological study of a modern group that predicted the destruction of the world & the adjustments made when the prediction failed to materialize. "The authors have done something as laudable as it is unusual for social psychologists. They espied a fleeting social movement important to a line of research they were interested in and took after it. They recruited a team of observers, joined the movement & watched it from within under great difficulties until its crisis came and went. Their report is of interest as much for the method as for the substance."--Everett C. Hughes, The American Journal of Sociology.

    Once again, Lemert has revised and updated Social Things, a best seller that is admired by teachers and students.

    When she sees her cousin’s betrothed for the first time, her life is besieged by a mixture of dread and excitement... While ready for his much-talked-about engagement party, Jasper Munro, Duke of Gillingham falls madly in love for the very first time. The object of his desire is not his intended but, rather, her utterly ravishing younger cousin… A romance doomed by the Fates before it even starts, meant to drown them in longing... Suspicious murders around the Dukedom see the wedding postponed, and Jasper realizes that betrayal starts with little lies and wears a smile. Standing before his very own nemesis, Jasper must make a choice: save himself or the one he loves most...

    Based on the remarkable story of `The U-boat that lost its Nerve'(formerly a radio play by James Follett) , U-700 is an account of the surrender of a U-boat (actually U-570) to an RAF Hudson during World War II and the subsequent illegal court martial of the U-boat's first officer by his fellow officers in a POW camp.

    The heroics of a small team of Australian Special Forces commandos in Timor who tied down a far superior Japanese force for most of the critical year of 1942.

    In these conversations with Tariq Ali, recorded in Edward Said's Riverside Drive apartment in New York in June 1994, about a decade before he finally lost his battle with cancer, Said brings his considerable intellect and deep personal engagement to bear on some of the most troubling and volatile issues of our time as he ranges back over his own dislocated existence, his initiation into politics, his involvement with the Palestine cause, his approach to the study of culture and his pervasive love of literature and music. Intimate, personal, thought-provoking and absorbing, these conversations capture Said as political activist, cultural historian, professor of literature and music aficionado -- and confirm his position as one of the most passionate and thoughtful intellections of our time.

    His latest work for Radio 4 was Letter to Daniel, an emotional message to his newborn son.

    The implications of this revolutionary scientific paradigm extend into virtually every aspect of our psychology, our history and culture, our religion -- and indeed our future.

    Tome was born in 1782 near present-day Harrisburg and lived on the upper Susquehanna for much of his life. He tells colorful (and mostly true) tales about his hunting exploits in the Pennsylvania wilderness, as he tracked elk, wolves, bears, panthers, foxes, and other large animals through the state’s north-central mountains, earning wide renown among his contemporaries. His stories contain suspenseful chase scenes, accidents, and narrow escapes, inviting the reader to view a still-wild Pennsylvania through the eyes of one who “was never conquered by man or animal.” Pioneer Life, originally published in 1854, has since been reprinted several times. This classic hunting memoir includes the following chapters: I. Birth and Early Life II. Hunting the Elk III. Capturing a Live Elk IV. Face of the Country V. Face of the Country — Continued VI. Danger From Rattlesnakes VII. Wolf and Bear Hunting VIII. Another Elk Hunt IX. Elk-Hunting on the Susquehannah X. Elk-Hunting — Continued XI. Nature, Habits, and Manner of Hunting the Elk XII. Elk and Bear Hunting in Winter XIII. Hunting on the Clarion River XIV. Hunting and Trapping XV. The Bear, Its Nature and Habits XVI. Hunting Deer at Different Seasons XVII. Nature and Habits of the Panther, Wolf and Fox XVIII. Rattlesnakes and Their Habits XIX. Distinguished Lumbermen, Etc. XX.. Reminiscences of Cornplanter XXI. Indian Eloquence This book originally published in 1854 has been reformatted for the Kindle and may contain an occasional defect from the original publication or from the reformatting

     The scandal is too big and the mission only one: bring the girl back and get revenge from the untamed Highlanders. The leader of the expedition is none other than the sworn enemy of clan MacGowan...and Georgina’s betrothed. Marcas, torn between his fascination for Georgina and his vengeful brother, quickly realizes that when the choice between freedom and love becomes crucial, a single moment is all that it takes to change one’s destiny. *The Highlander's Secret Maiden is a Scottish historical romance novel of 80,000 words (around 400 pages). No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a sweet happily ever after.

    But in the last decade, as the real estate market boomed, Americans’ fascination with homes turned into a frenzy. Everywhere we turned, people were talking about, scheming over, envying, shopping for, refinancing, or just plain ogling houses—in the process, we’ve transformed shelter from a basic necessity into an all-consuming passion.In House Lust, Newsweek’s Daniel McGinn travels the country to explore the roots of this mania. Even as the real estate boom has turned to bust, Americans remain obsessed with houses—many of us are still trading up, adding on, or doubling down to buy vacation property. But for others, this zeal for housing has carried a painful price, one that’s evident in the soaring foreclosure rates and mounting despair as millions of homeowners (and their lenders) realize they’ve stretched too far to buy the home of their dreams.In a compelling narrative that takes us inside the homes—and psyches—of the House Lust–afflicted throughout the nation, McGinn examines the forces that turned housing into the talk of dinner parties. He explores the arms race for square footage and introduces readers to a menagerie of characters from the real estate world—from “renovation psychologists” who treat remodeling-addled clients to a guy who trades vacation time-shares the way kids trade baseball cards. McGinn also jumps into the fray himself by enrolling in real estate school and buying an investment property, sight unseen, over the Internet.House Lust shows us just how contagious the ideal of owning the best home on the block can be. And as the real estate boom recedes into memory, McGinn offers cautionary tales to help us curb our lust when prices start rising again.From the Hardcover edition.

    From the blue-blooded pockets of old-WASP New England to the vast tribal lands of the Navajo, Bryan Sykes takes us on a historical genetic tour, interviewing genealogists, geneticists, anthropologists, and everyday Americans with compelling ancestral stories. His findings suggest:• Of Americans whose ancestors came as slaves, virtually all have some European DNA.• Racial intermixing appears least common among descendants of early New England colonists.• There is clear evidence of Jewish genes among descendants of southwestern Spanish Catholics.• Among white Americans, evidence of African DNA is most common in the South.• European genes appeared among Native Americans as early as ten thousand years ago.An unprecedented look into America's genetic mosaic and an impressive contribution to how we perceive race, this is a fascinating book about what it means to be American.

    With dishy detail, Joseph Epstein skewers all manner of elitism in contemporary America. He offers his arch observations of the new footholds of snobbery: food, fashion, high-achieving children, schools, politics, being with-it, name-dropping, and much more. Clever, incisive, and immensely entertaining, Snobberyexplores the shallows and depths of status and taste -- with enviable results.

    Having no other option, she takes up the position of the cook at the townhouse of the Duke of Northpeak. When the former Duke's solicitor, Mr. Ferguson, offers Sophie a way to earn additional income if she spies on the Duke, who will she trust, when all she sees in the Duke is kindness? To her surprise, she will soon find out that the charming Mr. Ferguson schemes to dishonor the Duke in the hope of claiming his title. With this in mind, will she be able to keep herself distant to his affection?Lord Marcus Kingston, the Duke of Northpeak is a kind man who inherited his title at a very young age. The Duke has always longed to achieve his own happiness, but finding a perfect match to his beloved sister, Margret, must come first. What will happen when his forbidden feelings for his new lady chef are about to explode? How will he be able to resist this undeniable passion, and stay true to his plan at the same time?They have discovered their electrifying connection under very peculiar circumstances, but what will happen if he finds out about her secret identity? Being conquered by two men, will she be able to make the right choice? Was it fate that these two passionate souls would meet?"The Double Identity of a Seductive Lady" is a historical romance novel of approximately 80,000 words. No cheating, no cliffhangers, and a guaranteed happily ever after.

    And yet, we are the safest and healthiest humans in history. Irrational fear seems to be taking over, often with tragic results. For example, in the months after 9/11, when people decided to drive instead of fly—believing they were avoiding risk—road deaths rose by more than 1,500. In this fascinating, lucid, and thoroughly entertaining examination of how humans process risk, journalist Dan Gardner had the exclusive cooperation of Paul Slovic, the world renowned risk-science pioneer, as he reveals how our hunter gatherer brains struggle to make sense of a world utterly unlike the one that made them. Filled with illuminating real world examples, interviews with experts, and fast-paced, lean storytelling, The Science of Fear shows why it is truer than ever that the worst thing we have to fear is fear itself.