As a volunteer at a local orphanage, Bratt witnessed conditions that were unfathomable to a middle-class mother of two from South Carolina.Based on Bratt's diary of her four years at the orphanage, Silent Tears offers a searing account of young lives rendered disposable. In the face of an implacable system, Bratt found ways to work within (and around) the rules to make a better future for the children, whom she came to love. The book offers no easy answers. While often painful in its clear-sightedness, Silent Tears balances the sadness and struggles of life in the orphanage with moments of joy, optimism, faith, and victory. It is the story of hundreds of children and of one woman who never planned on becoming a hero but became one anyway.

    Following Franz Oppenheimer and Albert Jay Nock, Rothbard regards the state as a predatory entity. It does not produce anything but rather steals resources from those engaged in production. In applying this view to American history, Rothbard makes use of the work of John C. Calhoun.How can an organization of this type sustain itself? It must engage in propaganda to induce popular support for its policies. Court intellectuals play a key role here, and Rothbard cites as an example of ideological mystification the work of the influential legal theorist Charles Black, Jr., on the way the Supreme Court has become a revered institution.

    Tour the Edinburgh Castle, walk the Royal Mile, visit the Glasgow Cathedral, or look for Nessie in Loch Ness—you'll get tips on the best tours, museums, festivals, and more. Rick offers firsthand advice on the best sights, eating, sleeping, and nightlife, and the maps and self-guided tours will ensure you make the most of your experience. More than just reviews and directions, a Rick Steves Snapshot guide is a tour guide in your pocket.Rick Steves' Snapshot guides consist of excerpted chapters from Rick Steves' European country guidebooks. Snapshot guides are a great choice for travelers visiting a specific city or region, rather than multiple European destinations. These slim guides offer all of Rick's up-to-date advice on what sights are worth your time and money. They include good-value hotel and restaurant recommendations, with no introductory information (such as overall trip planning, when to go, and travel practicalities).

    Lavishly planned with a downtown center and newly minted antique homes, and front-loaded with an ultraprogressive school, hospital, and high-tech infrastructure, Celebration was to offer a fresh start in a world gone wrong. Yet behind the picket fences, gleaming facades, and "Kodak moment" streetscapes, Ross discovered a real place with real problems, and not a theme park village cooked up by the Imagineers. Compelling and wide-ranging in its analysis, The Celebration Chronicles provides a startlingly fresh perspective on the link between contemporary urban planning and corporate bottom lines.

    . . from Plymouth Rock to Pearl Harbor-the history of America in bite-size chunks How did the conquistadors first stumble across America-and what were the Spanish looking for anyway? What was the Dred Scott Supreme Court case and how did it affect the Civil War? And while some of us may indeed remember the Alamo, why were we once urged to "Remember the Maine"? Here, in chronological order, is a rollicking tour of American history from Columbus's arrival through Nixon's resignation, including details about the early colonists, Manifest Destiny, the Civil War-from Southern secession to the surrender at Appomattox-and the nation's plunge into World War I and the end of U.S. isolationism. It's the perfect refresher for all the things we learned in school but may have forgotten since. In concise, highly readable chapters, Remember the Alamo!""tells the most exciting story in the world: the story of America-home of Ben Franklin and Al Capone, Abe Lincoln and Rosa Parks, a nation with a passion and a gift for making history to this day.

    Tracing the global history of inequality from the Stone Age to today, Walter Scheidel shows that inequality never dies peacefully. Inequality declines when carnage and disaster strike and increases when peace and stability return. The Great Leveler is the first book to chart the crucial role of violent shocks in reducing inequality over the full sweep of human history around the world.Ever since humans began to farm, herd livestock, and pass on their assets to future generations, economic inequality has been a defining feature of civilization. Over thousands of years, only violent events have significantly lessened inequality. The "Four Horsemen" of leveling—mass-mobilization warfare, transformative revolutions, state collapse, and catastrophic plagues—have repeatedly destroyed the fortunes of the rich. Scheidel identifies and examines these processes, from the crises of the earliest civilizations to the cataclysmic world wars and communist revolutions of the twentieth century. Today, the violence that reduced inequality in the past seems to have diminished, and that is a good thing. But it casts serious doubt on the prospects for a more equal future.An essential contribution to the debate about inequality, The Great Leveler provides important new insights about why inequality is so persistent—and why it is unlikely to decline anytime soon.

    No, membership is not dead, argues author Sarah Sladek. But associations do need to change their thinking and their models. In The End of Membership As We Know It: Building the Fortune-Flipping, Must-Have Association of the Next Century, Sladek offers practical, proven ways that associations can respond to changes affecting participation such as the generational shifts in the workforce, social changes, and technology-eased access to content and community.The End of Membership As We Know It explains:How niche the new competitive advantage is Why organizational culture has an enormous impact on recruitment and retention What emerging member-prospects value and want Why and how to focus on member ROI instead of program ROI How to craft and deliver compelling benefits rather than features How to extend your reach Which emerging models are taking root and showing promise Providing numerous real-world examples along with specific guidance, The End of Membership As We Know It is a must-have guide for moving your membership model into the future.

    Pearson Moore goes to the heart of LOST, uncovering and explaining the fascinating core concepts: Faith versus Science, the Numbers, the nature of good and evil, and the struggle between free will and destiny. He will lead you to ideas and conclusions you never imagined, opening the world of LOST in fresh and exciting ways.Whether you understood LOST or were completely baffled, whether you loved it or hated it, Moore will show you concepts and ways of thinking about LOST you will find nowhere else.Moore's innovative thoughts and vibrant prose will keep you engaged as he explores the Island and its characters. He approaches LOST from four "nonlinear" points of view: Disorientation, Metadrama, Literary Analysis, and Chaos Theory. This is in-depth analysis that never lets go, keeping you immersed in the LOST world from cover to cover.There's no filler here. No interviews with stars about the cars they drive or the planes they fly. No weird theories. Just solid, thoroughly-researched, rapid-fire analysis from one of the most cited LOST authorities on the Internet. You may feel exhausted after a chapter. You may be shocked. You may become upset. But you will never be bored.This in-depth exploration spans nineteen chapters across roughly 350 pages. The first chapter sets up the problem, focussing on the complexities of LOST and identifying the means Moore will use to make the concepts accessible. The second chapter defines the thesis of LOST, which acts as a guide to understanding the major themes. Chapters Three through Nine cover major "linear" topics.The heart of the book begins with Chapter Ten. It is here that Moore unleashes the four "nonlinear" tactical devices to reveal the hidden meanings of LOST. He discusses the need for disorientation, and how this is essential to understanding LOST. He proposes the idea that LOST is metadrama, and he explains how understanding LOST in this way is useful to unraveling its secrets. He makes fresh use of literary theory, in ways never before applied to LOST. Finally, Moore brings an astounding, completely new perspective on television analysis with his concept of the Strange Attractor, an idea borrowed from chaos theory. It is here that Moore's analysis shines, allowing a depth of understanding never before achieved.For less than the cost of a cup of coffee, you can explore the stimulating world of LOST with an animated, engaging, thought-provoking guide. The Island awaits. Prepare to get LOST.

    But how much do you know about the real Korea; the locals' take on their amazing country? That's where this illuminating culture guide comes in, shining a light on Korea’s compelling history and stunning geography, its unique customs and the quirks of daily life. The mainstays of Korea’s vibrant cultural life and style are covered in detail, giving you the lowdown on the country's burgeoning film industry, Korean's unique take on fandom, the quirky fashion scene and the innovative hubs for art and design. If you ever have wanted to learn how to date like a Korean, know where the locals hang out in Seoul, honeymoon like Korean newlyweds, discover the correct way to eat Korean food or use the art of nunchi to improve your emotional intelligence, this insider’s guide to the heart and soul of Korea is not to be missed.  From the How To Live... series of insightful guides to some of the most intriguing cultures and locations on the planet, other books available include How To Live Japanese, How To Live Icelandic and How to Live North.

    This is Rich's account of his personal search to find sense in the juxtaposition of his life and theirs.Young black men in cities are overwhelmingly the victims—and perpetrators—of violent crime in the United States. Troubled by this tragedy—and by his medical colleagues' apparent numbness in the face of it—Rich, a black man who grew up in relative safety and comfort, reached out to many of these young crime victims to learn why they lived in a seemingly endless cycle of violence and how it affected them. The stories they told him are unsettling—and revealing about the reality of life in American cities.Mixing his own perspective with their seldom-heard voices, Rich relates the stories of young black men whose lives were violently disrupted—and of their struggles to heal and remain safe in an environment that both denied their trauma and blamed them for their injuries. He tells us of people such as Roy, a former drug dealer who fought to turn his life around and found himself torn between the ease of returning to the familiarity of life on the violent streets of Boston and the tenuous promise of accepting a new, less dangerous one.Rich's poignant portrait humanizes young black men and illustrates the complexity of a situation that defies easy answers and solutions.

    That was, of course, an oblique reference to the mind-bending drugs that clouded perception--yet time has proven an equally effective hallucinogen. This book revisits the Sixties we forgot or somehow failed to witness. In a kaleidoscopic global tour of the decade, Gerard DeGroot reminds us that the Ballad of the Green Beret outsold Give Peace a Chance, that the Students for a Democratic Society were outnumbered by Young Americans for Freedom, that revolution was always a pipe dream, and that the Sixties belong to Reagan and de Gaulle more than to Kennedy and Dubcek. The Sixties Unplugged shows how opportunity was squandered, and why nostalgia for the decade has obscured sordidness and futility. DeGroot returns us to a time in which idealism, tolerance, and creativity gave way to cynicism, chauvinism, and materialism. He presents the Sixties as a drama acted out on stages around the world, a theater of the absurd in which China's Cultural Revolution proved to be the worst atrocity of the twentieth century, the Six-Day War a disaster for every nation in the Middle East, and a million slaughtered Indonesians martyrs to greed. The Sixties Unplugged restores to an era the prevalent disorder and inconvenient truths that longing, wistfulness, and distance have obscured. In an impressionistic journey through a tumultuous decade, DeGroot offers an object lesson in the distortions nostalgia can create as it strives to impose order on memory and value on mayhem.

    For many, it involves dramatic changes of everyday routines and personal habits.Davidman bases her analysis on in-depth conversations with forty ex-Hasidic individuals. From these conversations emerge accounts of the great fear, angst, and sense of danger that come of leaving a highly bounded enclave community. Many of those interviewed spoke of feeling marginal in their owncommunities; of strain in their homes due to death, divorce, or their parents' profound religious differences; experienced sexual, physical, or verbal abuse; or expressed an acute awareness of gender inequality, the dissimilar lives of their secular relatives, and forbidden television shows, movies, websites, and books.Becoming Un-Orthodox draws much-needed attention to the vital role of the body and bodily behavior in religious practices. It is through physical rituals and routines that the members of a religion, particularly a highly conservative one, constantly create, perform, and reinforce the culture of thereligion. Because of the many observances and daily rituals required by their faith, Hasidic defectors are an exemplary case study for exploring the centrality of the body in shaping, maintaining, and shedding religions.This book provides both a moving narrative of the struggles of Hasidic defectors and a compelling call for greater collective understanding of the complex significance of the body in society.

    Based on interviews with 120 uninsured men and women and dozens of medical providers, policymakers, and advocates from around the nation, this book takes a fresh look at one of the most important social issues facing the United States today. A new afterword updates the stories of many of the people who are so memorably presented here.

    From politics to the media, from education to the arts, liberals seem to be completely in control. It's no wonder, then, that so many prominent conservative traditionalists are hopelessly pessimistic about the future of Western Civilization. But what if this is just one side of the equation? What if it turns out that brewing beneath the surface, a renewed Christian age is rising? In this thought-provoking book, Dr. Steve Turley argues that there is in fact two revolutions concurrently taking place: a demographic revolution and a political revolution, both of which suggest a significant conservative Christian resurgence. HERE’S A PREVIEW OF WHAT YOU’LL LEARN ………. Why scholars believe that the fertility discrepancy between conservative Christians and secularists means a far more conservative future How Europe is already reversing its demographic decline with a nationalist baby boom How conservative Christianity is on the rise in the US Why scholars believe there is a resurgence of Christianity in Europe How these demographic and religious trends are already reshaping much of European society And much, much more! Drawing from scholarly studies and current events, Dr. Turley's study will inspire you to reject the naysayers predicting the twilight of the West, and instead embrace a hopeful vision of cultural renewal and the coming Christian majority. Get your copy today!

    Seeking to understand both what happened to middle-class America and what it will take to achieve a "new New Deal," Krugman has created his finest book to date, a work that weaves together a nuanced account of three generations of history with sharp political, social, and economic analysis. This book, written with Krugman's trademark ability to explain complex issues simply, will transform the debate about American social policy in much the same way as did John Kenneth Galbraith's deeply influential book, The Affluent Society.