A smartly guided romp, entertaining and enlightening, through Europe's most charismatic and enigmatic cityIt isn't Europe's most beautiful city, or its oldest. Its architecture is not more impressive than that of Rome or Paris; its museums do not hold more treasures than those in Barcelona or London. And yet, when citizens of "New York, Tel Aviv, or Rome ask me where I'm from and I mention the name Berlin," writes Peter Schneider, "their eyes instantly light up." Berlin Now is a longtime Berliner's bright, bold, and digressive exploration of the heterogeneous allure of this vibrant city. Delving beneath the obvious answers--Berlin's club scene, bolstered by the lack of a mandatory closing time; the artistic communities that thrive due to the relatively low (for now) cost of living--Schneider takes us on an insider's tour of this rapidly metamorphosing metropolis, where high-class soirees are held at construction sites and enterprising individuals often accomplish more without public funding--assembling a makeshift club on the banks of the Spree River--than Berlin's officials do.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux; First Edition edition
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9780374254841
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Hardcover
Prickly Pears of Palestine
By Reilly, Hilda
An account providing a human face to the realities of life in Palestine The Palestinian–Israeli conflict is one of the most widely reported and long standing struggles in the world, yet for many, misunderstanding is rife about its most basic issues. Hilda Reilly volunteered to work at An-Najah University in Nablus in order to spend time among many ordinary people, living under extraordinary circumstances. She lives among students, and relates the many conversations she has with a wide range of Palestinians about their thoughts on Hamas and Fatah, Yasser Arafat, bin Laden and Hussein, Blair and Bush, bringing readers an insight to the people behind the politics.
Eye Books; 2nd Revised edition edition
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9781903070819
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Book
Geek Sublime
By Chandra, Vikram
The nonfiction debut from the author of the international bestseller Sacred Games about the surprising overlap between writing and computer codingVikram Chandra has been a computer programmer for almost as long as he has been a novelist In this extraordinary new book his first work of nonfiction he searches for the connections between the worlds of art and technology Coders are obsessed with elegance and style just as writers are but do the words mean the same thing to both Can we ascribe beauty to the craft of writing code Exploring such varied topics as logic gates and literary modernism the machismo of tech geeks the omnipresence of an Indian Mafia in Silicon Valley and the writings of the eleventh-century Kashmiri thinker Abhinavagupta Geek Sublime is both an idiosyncratic history of coding and a fascinating meditation on the writers art Part literary essay part technology story and part memoir it is an engrossing original and heady book of sweeping ideas.
Graywolf Press
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9781555976859
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Book
Sgt. Reckless
By Hutton, Robin
New York Times Bestseller!From the racetrack to the battlefielddauntless, fearless, and exemplar of Semper Fishe was Reckless, pride of the Marines. A Mongolian mare who was bred to be a racehorse, Ah-Chim-Hai, or Flame-of-the-Morning, belonged to a young boy named Kim-Huk-Moon. In order to pay for a prosthetic leg for his sister, Kim made the difficult decision to sell his beloved companion. Lieutenant Eric Pedersen purchased the bodacious mare and renamed her Reckless, for the Recoilless Rifles Platoon, Anti-Tank Division, of the 5th Marines shed be joining. The four-legged equine braved minefields and hailing shrapnel to deliver ammunition to her division on the frontlines. In one day alone, performing fifty-one trips up and down treacherous terrain, covering a distance of over thirty-five miles, and rescuing wounded comrades-in-arms, Reckless demonstrated her steadfast devotion to the Marines who had become her herd.
Regnery History
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9781621572633
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Hardcover
One Million Steps
By West, Bing
Battalion 3/5 suffered the highest number of casualties in the war in Afghanistan. This is the story of one platoon in that distinguished battalion. Aware of U.S. plans to withdraw from the country, knowing their efforts were only a footprint in the sand, the fifty Marines of 3rd Platoon fought in Sangin, the most dangerous district in all of Afghanistan. So heavy were the casualties that the Secretary of Defense offered to pull the Marines out. Instead, they pushed forward. Each Marine in 3rd Platoon patrolled two and a half miles a day for six months--a total of one million steps--in search of a ghostlike enemy that struck without warning. Every day brought a new skirmish. Each footfall might trigger an IED. Half the Marines in 3rd Platoon didn't make it intact to the end of the tour.
Berlin Now
By Schneider, Peter
A smartly guided romp, entertaining and enlightening, through Europe's most charismatic and enigmatic cityIt isn't Europe's most beautiful city, or its oldest. Its architecture is not more impressive than that of Rome or Paris; its museums do not hold more treasures than those in Barcelona or London. And yet, when citizens of "New York, Tel Aviv, or Rome ask me where I'm from and I mention the name Berlin," writes Peter Schneider, "their eyes instantly light up." Berlin Now is a longtime Berliner's bright, bold, and digressive exploration of the heterogeneous allure of this vibrant city. Delving beneath the obvious answers--Berlin's club scene, bolstered by the lack of a mandatory closing time; the artistic communities that thrive due to the relatively low (for now) cost of living--Schneider takes us on an insider's tour of this rapidly metamorphosing metropolis, where high-class soirees are held at construction sites and enterprising individuals often accomplish more without public funding--assembling a makeshift club on the banks of the Spree River--than Berlin's officials do.
Prickly Pears of Palestine
By Reilly, Hilda
An account providing a human face to the realities of life in Palestine The Palestinian–Israeli conflict is one of the most widely reported and long standing struggles in the world, yet for many, misunderstanding is rife about its most basic issues. Hilda Reilly volunteered to work at An-Najah University in Nablus in order to spend time among many ordinary people, living under extraordinary circumstances. She lives among students, and relates the many conversations she has with a wide range of Palestinians about their thoughts on Hamas and Fatah, Yasser Arafat, bin Laden and Hussein, Blair and Bush, bringing readers an insight to the people behind the politics.
Geek Sublime
By Chandra, Vikram
The nonfiction debut from the author of the international bestseller Sacred Games about the surprising overlap between writing and computer codingVikram Chandra has been a computer programmer for almost as long as he has been a novelist In this extraordinary new book his first work of nonfiction he searches for the connections between the worlds of art and technology Coders are obsessed with elegance and style just as writers are but do the words mean the same thing to both Can we ascribe beauty to the craft of writing code Exploring such varied topics as logic gates and literary modernism the machismo of tech geeks the omnipresence of an Indian Mafia in Silicon Valley and the writings of the eleventh-century Kashmiri thinker Abhinavagupta Geek Sublime is both an idiosyncratic history of coding and a fascinating meditation on the writers art Part literary essay part technology story and part memoir it is an engrossing original and heady book of sweeping ideas.
Sgt. Reckless
By Hutton, Robin
New York Times Bestseller!From the racetrack to the battlefielddauntless, fearless, and exemplar of Semper Fishe was Reckless, pride of the Marines. A Mongolian mare who was bred to be a racehorse, Ah-Chim-Hai, or Flame-of-the-Morning, belonged to a young boy named Kim-Huk-Moon. In order to pay for a prosthetic leg for his sister, Kim made the difficult decision to sell his beloved companion. Lieutenant Eric Pedersen purchased the bodacious mare and renamed her Reckless, for the Recoilless Rifles Platoon, Anti-Tank Division, of the 5th Marines shed be joining. The four-legged equine braved minefields and hailing shrapnel to deliver ammunition to her division on the frontlines. In one day alone, performing fifty-one trips up and down treacherous terrain, covering a distance of over thirty-five miles, and rescuing wounded comrades-in-arms, Reckless demonstrated her steadfast devotion to the Marines who had become her herd.
One Million Steps
By West, Bing
Battalion 3/5 suffered the highest number of casualties in the war in Afghanistan. This is the story of one platoon in that distinguished battalion. Aware of U.S. plans to withdraw from the country, knowing their efforts were only a footprint in the sand, the fifty Marines of 3rd Platoon fought in Sangin, the most dangerous district in all of Afghanistan. So heavy were the casualties that the Secretary of Defense offered to pull the Marines out. Instead, they pushed forward. Each Marine in 3rd Platoon patrolled two and a half miles a day for six months--a total of one million steps--in search of a ghostlike enemy that struck without warning. Every day brought a new skirmish. Each footfall might trigger an IED. Half the Marines in 3rd Platoon didn't make it intact to the end of the tour.