Download or read book Set Adrift Upon the World written by James Hunter and published by Birlinn Ltd. This book was released on 2015-10-15 with total page 426 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winner of Saltire Scottish History Book of the Year They would be better dead, they said, than set adrift upon the world. But set adrift they were - thousands of them, their communities destroyed, their homes demolished and burned. Such were the Sutherland Clearances, an extraordinary episode, involving the deliberate depopulation of much of a Scottish county. What was done in the course of that episode was planned and carried out by a small group of men and one woman. Most of those involved wrote a great deal about their actions, intentions and feelings, and much of it has been preserved. There are no equivalent collections of material from those whose communities ceased to exist. Their feelings and fears are harder to access, but they are by no means irrecoverable. In this book James Hunter tells the story of the Sutherland Clearances. His researches took him to archives in Scotland, England and Canada, to the now deserted straths of Sutherland, to the frozen shores of Hudson Bay. The result is a gripping, moving, definitive account of a people's struggle for survival in the face of tragedy and disaster which includes experiences which have not featured in any previous such account.
Download or read book Set Adrift Upon the World written by James Hunter and published by Casemate Publishers. This book was released on 2015-10-15 with total page 416 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This true story of a mass eviction in nineteenth-century Scotland is “a moving, gripping, definitive account of a struggle for survival (Scots Magazine). A Saltire Society History Book of the Year They would be better dead, they said, than set adrift upon the world. But set adrift they were—thousands of them, their communities destroyed, their homes demolished and burned. Such were the Sutherland Clearances, an extraordinary episode involving the deliberate depopulation of much of a Scottish Highlands county. What was done in the course of it was planned and carried out by a small group of men and one woman, seeking a more profitable use of the land. Most of those involved wrote a great deal about their actions, intentions, and feelings, and much of it has been preserved. There are no equivalent collections of material from those whose communities ceased to exist. Their feelings and fears are harder to access, but by no means irrecoverable. In this book, James Hunter tells the story of the Sutherland Clearances. His research took him to archives in Scotland, England, and Canada, to the now deserted valleys of Sutherland, to the frozen shores of Hudson Bay. The result is a story of a people’s struggle for survival in the face of tragedy and disaster, covering experiences not featured in any previous such account. “Detailed and unsparing . . . . [The author] is careful to present the evidence for all he records.” —London Review of Books
Download or read book The Appin Murder written by James Hunter and published by Birlinn. This book was released on 2021-09-01 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On a hillside near Ballachulish in the Scottish Highlands in May 1752, a rider is assassinated by a gunman. The murdered man is Colin Campbell, a government agent traveling to nearby Duror where he’s evicting farm tenants to make way for his relatives. Campbell’s killer evades capture, but Britain’s rulers insist this challenge to their authority must result in a hanging. The sacrificial victim is James Stewart, who is organizing resistance to Campbell’s takeover of lands long held by his clan, the Appin Stewarts. James is a veteran of the Highland uprising crushed in April 1746 at Culloden. In Duror he sees homes torched by troops using terror tactics against rebel Highlanders. The same brutal response to dissent means that James’s corpse will for years hang from a towering gibbet and leave a community utterly ravaged. Introducing this new edition of his account of what came to be called the Appin Murder, historian James Hunter tells how his own Duror upbringing introduced him to the tragic story of James Stewart.
Download or read book Insurrection written by James Hunter and published by Birlinn Ltd. This book was released on 2019-10-10 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'A gripping, heart-breaking account of the famine winter of 1847' - Rosemary Goring, The Herald Longlisted for the Highland Book Prize When Scotland's 1846 potato crop was wiped out by blight, the country was plunged into crisis. In the Hebrides and the West Highlands a huge relief effort came too late to prevent starvation and death. Further east, meanwhile, towns and villages from Aberdeen to Wick and Thurso, rose up in protest at the cost of the oatmeal that replaced potatoes as people's basic foodstuff. Oatmeal's soaring price was blamed on the export of grain by farmers and landlords cashing in on even higher prices elsewhere. As a bitter winter gripped and families feared a repeat of the calamitous famine then ravaging Ireland, grain carts were seized, ships boarded, harbours blockaded, a jail forced open, the military confronted. The army fired on one set of rioters. Savage sentences were imposed on others. But thousands-strong crowds also gained key concessions. Above all they won cheaper food. Those dramatic events have long been ignored or forgotten. Now, in James Hunter, they have their historian. The story he tells is, by turns, moving, anger-making and inspiring. In an era of food banks and growing poverty, it is also very timely.
Download or read book The Making of the Crofting Community written by James Hunter and published by Birlinn Ltd. This book was released on 2018-05-17 with total page 542 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book has been seminal in bringing to the fore the injustices that have been inflicted on the Highlands in the name of government and landlord – injustices often lost in the name of dry statistics and academic balance. Written by a man who has gone on to become both an award-winning historian of the Highlands and a leading figure in the public life of the region, The Making of the Crofting Community has attracted praise, inspired debate, and provoked outrage and controversy over the years. This book remains necessary to challenge standard academic interpretations of the Highland past. Having long been one of the classics of Birlinn's John Donald list, this revised and updated new edition includes a substantial new preface and an extensive reworking of the existing text.
Download or read book World Set Free written by H. G. Wells and published by E-Kitap Projesi & Cheapest Books. This book was released on 2024-02-10 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: THE WORLD SET FREE was written in 1913 and published early in 1914, and it is the latest of a series of three fantasias of possibility, stories which all turn on the possible developments in the future of some contemporary force or group of forces. The World Set Free was written under the immediate shadow of the Great War. Every intelligent person in the world felt that disaster was impending and knew no way of averting it, but few of us realised in the earlier half of 1914 how near the crash was to us. The reader will be amused to find that here it is put off until the year 1956. He may naturally want to know the reason for what will seem now a quite extraordinary delay. As a prophet, the author must confess he has always been inclined to be rather a slow prophet.The war aeroplane in the world of reality, for example, beat the forecast in Anticipations by about twenty years or so. I suppose a desire not to shock the sceptical reader's sense of use and wont and perhaps a less creditable disposition to hedge, have something to do with this dating forward of one's main events, but in the particular case of The World Set Free there was, I think, another motive in holding the Great War back, and that was to allow the chemist to get well forward with his discovery of the release of atomic energy. 1956or for that matter 2056may be none too late for that crowning revolution in human potentialities. And apart from this procrastination of over forty years, the guess at the opening phase of the war was fairly lucky; the forecast of an alliance of the Central Empires, the opening campaign through the Netherlands, and the despatch of the British Expeditionary Force were all justified before the book had been published six months. And the opening section of Chapter the Second remains now, after the reality has happened, a fairly adequate diagnosis of the essentials of the matter. One happy hit (in Chapter the Second, Section 2), on which the writer may congratulate himself, is the forecast that under modern conditions it would be quite impossible for any great general to emerge to supremacy and concentrate the enthusiasm of the armies of either side.There could be no Alexanders or Napoleons. And we soon heard the scientific corps muttering, 'These old fools,' exactly as it is here foretold.These, however, are small details, and the misses in the story far outnumber the hits. It is the main thesis which is still of interest now; the thesis that because of the development of scientific knowledge, separate sovereign states and separate sovereign empires are no longer possible in the world, that to attempt to keep on with the old system is to heap disaster upon disaster for mankind and perhaps to destroy our race altogether. The remaining interest of this book now is the sustained validity of this thesis and the discussion of the possible ending of war on the earth.
Download or read book Feathers Floating Through Ember written by Trinity Ddunn and published by Trinity Dunn. This book was released on 2021-12-18 with total page 612 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Finding himself stranded in the water after a devastating plane crash, Chris Grace helplessly watches the raft which holds is wife float out of his reach. Clinging to a stewardess's life-jacket to remain afloat, his life will be forever changed. When rescue comes in the form of an old wooden ship, he is forced to question the world around him, realizing over time that the storm that struck their airplane was no ordinary storm at all. Under the protection of the name she shares with a well-known duchess, Chris and Maria navigate their presence on the ship carefully while forming a plan to find his wife and return home. Adventure, mystery, and tragedy unfold as he sails the Pacific alongside an infamous world traveler. Along the way, he will have to face his inner demons and choose between the love he is bound to and the love he cannot control. Can he get them home? And if so, what will home mean after all they'd been through?
Download or read book The Highland Clearances written by Eric Richards and published by Birlinn. This book was released on 2012-11-05 with total page 463 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Highland Clearances stands out as one of the most emotive chapters in the history of Scotland. This book traces the origins of the Clearances from the eighteenth century to their culmination in the crofting legislation of the 1880s. In considering both the terrible suffering of the Highland people as well as the stark choices that faced landowners during a period of rapid economic change, it shows how the Clearances were one of many 'attempted' solutions to the problem of how to maintain a population on marginal and infertile land, and were, in fact, part of a wider European movement of rural depopulation. In drawing attention away from the mythology to the hard facts of what actually happened, The Highland Clearances offers a balanced analysis of events which created a terrible scar on the Highland and Gaelic imagination.
Download or read book The Great Convergence written by Kishore Mahbubani and published by Public Affairs. This book was released on 2013-02-05 with total page 330 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An influential policy thinker and "muse of the Asian Century" ("Foreign Policy") illuminates the contours of our new global civilization, and shows why power must shift to reflect the new reality.
Download or read book Seaworthy written by T. R. Pearson and published by Three Rivers Press. This book was released on 2007-06 with total page 280 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Chronicles the unusual adventures and misadventures of eccentric extreme sportsman William Willis, known for taking lengthy, frequently ill-prepared rafting trips across the major oceans of the world in his sixties and seventies. Reprint. 20,000 first printing.
Download or read book Silence on the Mountain written by Daniel Wilkinson and published by Duke University Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 396 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written by a young human rights worker, "Silence on the Mountain" is a virtuoso work of reporting and a masterfully plotted narrative tracing the history of Guatemala's 36-year internal war, a conflict that claimed the lives of more than 200,000 people.
Download or read book Cut Adrift written by Marianne Cooper and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2014-07-31 with total page 315 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Cut Adrift makes an important and original contribution to the national conversation about inequality and risk in American society. Set against the backdrop of rising economic insecurity and rolled-up safety nets, Marianne Cooper’s probing analysis explores what keeps Americans up at night. Through poignant case studies, she reveals what families are concerned about, how they manage their anxiety, whose job it is to worry, and how social class shapes all of these dynamics, including what is even worth worrying about in the first place. This powerful study is packed with intriguing discoveries ranging from the surprising anxieties of the rich to the critical role of women in keeping struggling families afloat. Through tales of stalwart stoicism, heart-wrenching worry, marital angst, and religious conviction, Cut Adrift deepens our understanding of how families are coping in a go-it-alone age—and how the different strategies on which affluent, middle-class, and poor families rely upon not only reflect inequality, but fuel it.
Download or read book Adrift written by W. Michael Gear and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2022-06-28 with total page 513 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The fifth book in the ... Donovan sci-fi series returns to a treacherous alien planet where corporate threats and dangerous creatures imperil the lives of the colonists."--
Download or read book Beyond Courage written by Robert Aros and published by Shore Publishing. This book was released on 1994 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rarely does a book come along that is so absorbing that the reader cannot put the book down. Such a book is BEYOND COURAGE. Robert Aros, along with veteran writer Rob Ternan, has aptly recorded the action packed story of himself, his wife Margaret & their 17-year-old son Christian being shipwrecked & set adrift in a tiny rubber raft for 26 days in the South Pacific. They survived unbelievable odds as El Nino crazed seas, strange winds, fateful blunders & bumbling rescue efforts conspired to strip them of food, water & even hope itself. A family tale of conflict, survival, faith & love. REVIEWS: "it is definitely the type of book that once you start, you cannot put it down. The variety of emotions, fear, anxiety, love, & hope saturate every page. Definitely not your typical 'LOST AT SEA STORY', but a true adventure."--David Underwood. "I read the first chapter & was hooked. It pulled me right in. It was not overly wordy, & didn't beat around the bush, but got right into the action."--Carol Jackson, Librarian. "Terse honest account of an extraordinary human experience. It steers clear of sentimentality & heads straight for the stronger emotions, fear, desperation & ultimately joy."--Vivian Reed, Librarian. Shore Publishing, 239 Nieto Ave., Suite A, Long Beach, CA 90803. (800) 655-8689.
Download or read book Unbroken written by Laura Hillenbrand and published by Random House Trade Paperbacks. This book was released on 2014-07-29 with total page 530 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE • Look for special features inside. Join the Random House Reader’s Circle for author chats and more. In boyhood, Louis Zamperini was an incorrigible delinquent. As a teenager, he channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics. But when World War II began, the athlete became an airman, embarking on a journey that led to a doomed flight on a May afternoon in 1943. When his Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean, against all odds, Zamperini survived, adrift on a foundering life raft. Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will. Appearing in paperback for the first time—with twenty arresting new photos and an extensive Q&A with the author—Unbroken is an unforgettable testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit, brought vividly to life by Seabiscuit author Laura Hillenbrand. Hailed as the top nonfiction book of the year by Time magazine • Winner of the Los Angeles Times Book Prize for biography and the Indies Choice Adult Nonfiction Book of the Year award “Extraordinarily moving . . . a powerfully drawn survival epic.”—The Wall Street Journal “[A] one-in-a-billion story . . . designed to wrench from self-respecting critics all the blurby adjectives we normally try to avoid: It is amazing, unforgettable, gripping, harrowing, chilling, and inspiring.”—New York “Staggering . . . mesmerizing . . . Hillenbrand’s writing is so ferociously cinematic, the events she describes so incredible, you don’t dare take your eyes off the page.”—People “A meticulous, soaring and beautifully written account of an extraordinary life.”—The Washington Post “Ambitious and powerful . . . a startling narrative and an inspirational book.”—The New York Times Book Review “Magnificent . . . incredible . . . [Hillenbrand] has crafted another masterful blend of sports, history and overcoming terrific odds; this is biography taken to the nth degree, a chronicle of a remarkable life lived through extraordinary times.”—The Dallas Morning News “An astonishing testament to the superhuman power of tenacity.”—Entertainment Weekly “A tale of triumph and redemption . . . astonishingly detailed.”—O: The Oprah Magazine “[A] masterfully told true story . . . nothing less than a marvel.”—Washingtonian “[Hillenbrand tells this] story with cool elegance but at a thrilling sprinter’s pace.”—Time “Hillenbrand [is] one of our best writers of narrative history. You don’t have to be a sports fan or a war-history buff to devour this book—you just have to love great storytelling.”—Rebecca Skloot, author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Download or read book One D O A One On The Way written by Mary Robison and published by Catapult. This book was released on 2018-09-11 with total page 177 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Robison's minimalism is more like a slap in the face: it's short, it stings, and you wonder who in tarnation did that to you." —The New York Times Enter Eve. Based in New Orleans, she's a location scout for a movie production company and complacently married to Adam. ""Now you know,"" she says. ""Our names really didn't bother me that much until the mail started arriving addressed to 'Adam and Eve Broussard.'"" He's just been diagnosed with a grave illness and gone back to the palatial family home where his parents reside. It's all just fine with Eve—or so she tells herself at the beginning. But standing left of center in this still–prosperous but mortally wounded family does not get easier as the weeks wear on. As she negotiates her way around the anger of Adam's despised twin brother Saunders, maintains her friendship with his beautiful and volatile wife Petal, and protects what's left of the innocence of her niece Collie, Eve finds more than the Louisiana heat oppressive.
Download or read book A Hologram for the King written by Dave Eggers and published by Vintage Canada. This book was released on 2013-06-04 with total page 260 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A National Book Award Finalist, a New York Times bestseller and one of the most highly-acclaimed books of the year, A Hologram for the King is a sprawling novel about the decline of American industry from one of the most important, socially-aware novelists of our time. In a rising Saudi Arabian city, far from weary, recession-scarred America, a struggling businessman named Alan Clay pursues a last-ditch attempt to stave off foreclosure, pay his daughter's college tuition, and finally do something great. In A Hologram for the King, Dave Eggers takes us around the world to show how one man fights to hold himself and his splintering family together in the face of the global economy's gale-force winds. This taut, richly layered, and elegiac novel is a powerful evocation of our contemporary moment--and a moving story of how we got here.
