At the start of the American Civil War (1861) some of the most powerful torts in the country were located in the secessionist states & many of these fell into Confederate hands. Although a handful of key sites remained in the Union the remainder had to be won back through bombardment or assault. Forts such as Fort Sumter Fort Morgan & Fort Pulaski formed the centerpiece in the struggle for control of the Confederate coastline. This book examines the stone forts that played a crucial part in the course of the Civil War covering their design construction & the way they were armed & manned. ...

This hugely successful text provides students of American studies with the perfect background & introductory information on contemporary American life. Thoroughly revised this fifth edition covers all the central

Dimensions of American society from geography & the environment government & politics to religion education media & the arts. American Civilization" covers all core American studies topics at introductory level contains essential historical background for American studies students at the start of the twenty-first century analyzes gender class & race & Americas cosmopolitan population contains photos case studies questions & terms for discussion & suggests websites for further research. With new illustrations & case studies this edition of " American Civilization" also examines the 2008 election US foreign policy activities the impact of climate change & the shifting economic situation. An invaluable online resource the " American Civilization" companion website features a wealth of material including biographies of major historical & contemporary figures links to key primary sources worked answers to essay questions & suggestions for classroom activities & discussions."

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American Desperado" is possibly the most jaw-dropping event-filled adrenaline-soaked criminal autobiography ever written. Like a real-life Scarface Jon was born into the upper levels of the Gambino crime family & witnessed his first murder at age seven. He became a one-man juvenile crime wave before joining an assassination squad in Vietnam. He returned to New York at age 20 to become one of the city's top nightclub promoters then journeyed to Miami where he became the de facto transportation chief of the Medellin Cartel & along with a tech-wizard partner created some of the most sophisticated smuggling technologies ever. With a hulking 6'6" bodyguard always at his side & a rural fortress protected by mortars tear-gas cannons & a gold-fanged attack dog Roberts was brutally effective at what he did. To law enforcement he was known as the " Bearded Gringo" a spectre they could never touch. To United States senators & CIA officials he was "the guy who can get things done". He eventually formed a clandestine alliance with the US government & in the end found personal late-life redemption." ...

Taut tense & terrifying
- AMERICAN DEVIL marks the thrilling debut of an outstanding new talent. The Progression of Love: his ultimate
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Some places are too good to be true. Under a pink moon there is a perfect little town not found on any map. In that town there are quiet streets lined with pretty houses houses that conceal the strangest things. After a couple years of hard traveling ex-cop Mona Bright inherits her long-dead mother's home in Wink New Mexico. & the closer Mona gets to her mother's past the more she understands that the people of Wink are very very different... From one of our most talented & original new literary voices comes the next great American supernatural novel: a work that explores the dark

Dimensions of the hometowns & the neighbours we thought we knew.

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Through her very personal telling of the story behind the White House Kitchen Gardens First Lady Michelle Obama examines how increased access to wholesome affordable food can promote better eating habits & enhanced health. Mrs Obama describes how her daughters Sasha & Malia were the catalysts for change in her own familys eating behaviour & inspired her to plant a vegetable garden on the South Lawn
- the first of its kind since Eleanor Roosevelts Victory Garden. Illustrated throughout with more than 200 photographs many never seen before the book reveals a year in the life of the garden. It

Includes:: practical advice from the White House Kitchen Garden Team for growing a whole range of produce from herbs & salads to squashes aubergines & berries whatever sized space you have. There are also delicious seasonal recipes like Spring Pea Salad Sweet Potato Quick Bread & Braised Pork Shoulder with Butternut Squash & Greens. With inspirational top tips for developing community & school gardens advice on how to get involved in your local farmers market & ideas for planting your own Michelle Obama shares the pleasures & endless benefits of home-grown food.


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This brief history of America will span the earliest migrations to the present reflecting Paul S. Boyer's interests in social intellectual & cultural history including popular culture & religion. It will reflect his personal view of American history in which a sense of paradox & irony loom large. While noting positive achievements-political economic social & cultural-he will also discuss the United States's failures to live up to its oft-stated ideals; although America has figured in the world's imagination (and its own self-image) as a land of opportunity" offering "liberty & justice for all " the reality has often fallen short. For example the establishment of the North American colonies had very different meanings for colonists from the British Isles & Europe for Native peoples & for enslaved Africans brought against their will. The late nineteenth century saw not only impressive industrial expansion & the creation of vast fortunes but also appalling conditions in urban-immigrant slums & a degraded exploited labor force. The twentieth-century emergence of a suburban society of consumer abundance meant a better life for many & laid the groundwork for impressive cultural creativity yet left behind crime-ridden inner cities & spawned a stultifying mass culture. The immigrants who have renewed & revitalized the nation have also stirred hostility & resentment. While American popular culture has demonstrated global appeal the projection of U.S. military power abroad from the Philippines early in the twentieth century to Iraq early in the twenty-first has sometimes failed in its purpose & damaged the nation's international standing. Although this book will not be a muckraking expose or anachronistic moral tract neither will it be a celebratory panegyric or a bland recital of facts. ABOUT THE SERIES: The Very Short Introductions series from Oxford University Press contains hundreds of titles in almost every subject area. These pocket-sized books are the perfect way to get ahead in a new subject quickly. Our expert authors combine facts analysis perspective new ideas & enthusiasm to make interesting & challenging topics highly readable." ...

For four hundred years--from the first Spanish assaults against the Arawak people of Hispaniola in the 1490s to the US Army's massacre of Sioux Indians at Wounded Knee in the 1890s--the indigenous inhabitants of North & South America endured an unending firestorm of violence. During that time the native population of the Western Hemisphere declined by as many as 100 million people. Indeed as historian David E. Stannard argues in this stunning new book the European & white American destruction of the native peoples of the Americas was the most massive act of genocide in the history of the world. Stannard begins with a portrait of the enormous richness & diversity of life in the Americas prior to Columbus's fateful voyage in 1492. He then follows the path of genocide from the Indies to Mexico & Central & South America then north to Florida Virginia & New England & finally out across the Great Plains & Southwest to California & the North Pacific Coast. Stannard reveals that wherever Europeans or white Americans went the native people were caught between imported plagues & barbarous atrocities typically resulting in the annihilation of 95 percent of their populations. What kind of people he asks do such horrendous things to others? His highly provocative answer: Christians. Digging deeply into ancient European & Christian attitudes toward sex race & war he finds the cultural ground well prepared by the end of the Middle Ages for the centuries-long genocide campaign that Europeans & their descendants launched--and in places continue to wage--against the New World's original inhabitants. Advancing a thesis that is sure to create much controversy Stannard contends that the perpetrators of the American Holocaust drew on the same ideological wellspring as did the later architects of the Nazi Holocaust. It is an ideology that remains dangerously alive today he adds & one that in recent years has surfaced in American justifications for large-scale military intervention in Southeast Asia & the Middle East. At once sweeping in scope & meticulously detailed American Holocaust is a work of impassioned scholarship that is certain to ignite intense historical & moral debate. ...

THE INSIDE STORY OF THE EPIC TURNAROUND OF FORD MOTOR COMPANY UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF CEO ALAN MULALLY. At the end of 2008 Ford Motor Company was just months away from running out of cash. With the auto industry careening toward ruin Congress offered all three Detroit automakers a bailout. General Motors & Chrysler grabbed the taxpayer lifeline but Ford decided to save itself. Under the leadership of charismatic CEO Alan Mulally Ford had already put together a bold plan to unify its divided global operations transform its lackluster product lineup & overcome a dys-functional culture of infighting backstabbing & excuses. It was an extraordinary risk but it was the only way the Ford family--America's last great industrial dynasty--could hold on to their company. Mulally & his team pulled off one of the great-est comebacks in business history. As the rest of Detroit collapsed Ford went from the brink of bankruptcy to being the most profitable automaker in the world. American Icon" is the compelling behind-the-scenes account of that epic turnaround. On the verge of collapse Ford went outside the auto industry & recruited Mulally--the man who had already saved Boeing from the deathblow of 9/11--to lead a sweeping restructuring of a company that had been unable to overcome decades of mismanage-ment & denial. Mulally applied the principles he developed at Boeing to streamline Ford's inefficient operations force its fractious executives to work together as a team & spark a product renaissance in Dearborn. He also convinced the United Auto Workers to join his fight for the soul of American manufacturing. Bryce Hoffman reveals the untold story of the covert meetings with UAW leaders that led to a game-changing contract Bill Ford's battle to hold the Ford family together when many were ready to cash in their stock & write off the company & the secret alliance with Toyota & Honda that helped prop up the Amer-ican automotive supply base. In one of the great management narratives of our time Hoffman puts the reader inside the boardroom as Mulally uses his celebrated Business Plan Review meet-ings to drive change & force Ford to deal with the painful realities of the American auto industry. Hoffman was granted unprecedented access to Ford's top executives & top-secret company documents. He spent countless hours with Alan Mulally Bill Ford the Ford family former executives labor leaders & company directors. In the bestselling tradition of Too Big to Fail & The Big Short American Icon is narrative nonfiction at its vivid & colorful best." ...

Make Positive Thinking" a thing of the past! For David Samson is " The Recognised Master of poor Performance". Donald Trump Bill Gates & Oprah Winfrey all havent consulted with him -- but you should! So defeat those terrible feeling of optimism! Achieve the inertia & stagnation you deserve! & remember those two little words that will forever set you free: WHY BOTHER?" ...