Non Fiction > Giveaways

[close] Signed 4th Edition 2013
Award winning author

An essential and inspirational work that conveys the inexpressible truth of existence — “We are pure awareness at centre, human in appearance.”

Abiding in the very heart of humanity is the key to true peace and happiness. Each of the twenty-five chapters presents a voyage toward our inner, universal self, bringing a deeper and wider perspective along the way. Exploring the shores of human-beingness ever more deeply, we realise, “soul is the lighthouse—the light that guides us safely home.” By simply experiencing ourselves without distraction of mind, we see through personal drama to our true nature.

Illustrated in color by Amanda J. Clark, an international artist and illustrator deeply influenced by myths, fairy tales and folklore, her use of colors enchants the viewer with their celestial beauty.

Pure awareness is an art that requires practice to quiet the surface of mind and still the moving waters of our emotional seas. Awakening is recognising all appearances are illuminated from the light that shines in our heart.

We stand at the bow of our ship. The sky is clear, the sea is calm — "...Now voyager sail thou forth to seek and find." —Walt Whitman

Discover more at http://peliguin.com [close]

[close] Eating Right in America chronicles the dietary reform movements that have shaped ideas about good nutrition and public health in the United States for more than a century. Charlotte Biltekoff's narrative begins in the late nineteenth century and culminates in accounts of two early-twenty-first-century phenomena, the alternative food movement and the campaign against obesity. Analyzing the history that she relates, Biltekoff contends that despite their scientific origins, dietary ideals are also cultural, subjective, and political. The primary aim of teaching people to "eat right" may be to improve health, but the process inevitably involves shaping certain kinds of subjects and citizens, a dynamic that is often overlooked because of our focus on the scientific aspects of dietary advice. [close]

[close] Frank Mintz’s classic study of collectivisation and economic experimentation during the Spanish revolution is available here for the first time in English.

This is the chronicle of the anarcho-syndicalists of Spain, who—with and without the help of their own organizations—fought and built a new world alongside everyday labourers in the chaos of revolution and Franco’s fascist coup. Participants in rural and industrial collectives totaled over 1,800,000—within an overall population of 6,000,000 in Republican Spain. Their experience as the backbone of revolution resonates still in today’s global anticapitalist movements.

Frank Mintz is a retired professor of Spanish who lives in Paris, France and is active with the CNT labor union. He is the recent author of Histoire de la mouvance anarchiste 1789–2012.

Includes a prologue by Chris Ealham, who is a specialist in Spanish labour history and movements and author of Anarchism and the City: Revolution and Counter-Revolution in Barcelona, 1898–1917. Translated by Paul Sharkey, who has made a vast body of anarchist texts available in English. [close]

[close] A concise history of the significance and global reach of mass organized anarchism, tracing its syndicalist origins to Mexico in 1869, then Spain, spreading to Egypt and Uruguay by 1872, then to Cuba and the United States by 1883, its dramatic rise to labor dominance throughout Latin America, and its radicalizing minority influence in Asia, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Oceania and Sub-Saharan Africa. Historian Michael Schmidt identifies five "waves" of labor militancy that define anarchist organizing over the past 150 years, explaining the central features of each. He also explores the industrial and social foundations of anarchism/syndicalism, and during each of the "waves," interrogates key documents debating the vital relationship between the militant minority and the working and poor masses.

Praise for Cartography of Revolutionary Anarchism:

"Part history, part manifesto, Cartography of Revolution is a succinct and insightful polemic. Michael Schmidt has distilled a vast literature on anarchism to demonstrate that anarchism is a historical movement with deep roots in the working class and continuity into the present. The book is lively, with equal measures of pragmatic judgement and hope; it is plainspoken, powerful, and thoughtful. Activists and scholars interested in anarchism will find here much to contemplate and debate and take to heart."-Mark Leier, author of Bakunin: A Biography

About the Author:

Michael Schmidt is Executive Director of the Institute for the Advancement of Journalism and Administrative Secretary of the Professional Journalists’ Association of South Africa. An active participant in the international anarchist milieu, he is an investigative journalist, a researcher, an amateur song-writer and a tireless advocate for journalistic freedom. With Prof Lucien van der Walt, he is the author of Black Flame: The Revolutionary Class Politics of Anarchism and Syndicalism, published in 2009 by AK Press. He lives and works in Johannesburg, South Africa [close]

[close] Based on the author’s twenty-five years of experience as a veterinarian and veterinary behaviorist, The Soul of All Living Creatures delves into the inner lives of animals – from whales, wolves, and leopards to mice, dogs, and cats – and explores the relationships we forge with them.

As an emergency room clinician four years out of veterinary school, Dr. Vint Virga had a life-changing experience: he witnessed the power of simple human contact and compassion to affect the recovery of a dog struggling to survive after being hit by a car. Observing firsthand the remarkably strong connection between humans and animals inspired him to explore the world from the viewpoint of animals and taught him to respect the kinship that connects us.

With The Soul of All Living Creatures, Virga draws from his decades in veterinary practice to reveal how, by striving to perceive the world as animals do, we can enrich our own appreciation of life, enhance our character, nurture our relationships, improve our communication with others, reorder our values, and deepen our grasp of spirituality. Virga discerningly illuminates basic traits shared by both humans and animals and makes animal behavior meaningful, relevant, and easy to understand. Insightful and eloquent, The Soul of All Living Creatures offers an intimate journey into the lives of our fellow creatures and a thought-provoking promise of what we can learn from spending time with them.
[close]

[close] With a foreword by Neil Patrick Harris and David Butka, Raising My Rainbow is Lori Duron’s poignant, heart-breaking, and at times hysterical memoir of her and her family's adventures of raising a gender creative child. Whereas her older son Chase is a Lego-loving, sports-playing boy's boy, her youngest son C.J. would much rather twirl around in a pink sparkly tutu, with a Disney Princess in each hand, singing Lady Gaga's "Paparazzi."

C.J. is gender variant or gender nonconforming, whichever you prefer. Whatever the term, Lori has a boy who likes girl stuff; really likes girl stuff. He floats on the gender variation spectrum from super-macho-masculine on the left all the way to super-girly-feminine on the right. He's not all pink and not all blue. He's a muddled mess or a rainbow creation. Lori and her family choose to see the rainbow.

Written in Lori's uniquely witty and warm voice and launched by her incredibly popular blog of the same name, Raising My Rainbow is the unforgettable story of her wonderful family as they navigate the often challenging but never dull privilege of raising a slightly effeminate, possibly gay, totally fabulous son.

"Lori Duron, a writer of extraordinary generosity, has given us a guide to parenthood both gentle and revolutionary. Raising My Rainbow is a valuable resource not only for parents of gender-nonconforming children, but for readers everywhere who seek the courage to stand up for the ones they love. Fierce, wise, and illuminating."
—Jennifer Finney Boylan, author of She's Not There and Stuck in the Middle with You

“A powerful book at the right time.”
—Andy Cohen, author of Most Talkative: Stories from the Front Lines of Pop Culture
[close]

[close] Sons of Thunder is a high-octane anthology that brings together the best in motorcycle writing.

This unique collection includes seminal pieces from Hunter S. Thompson and Robert Pirsig. Melissa Holbrook Pierson and Thomas McGuane offer probing reflections on the relationship between rider and machine. Roald Dahl waxes poetic on the second-hand Ariel 500cc he bought as a sixteen-year-old. There are classic dispatches from the road including T. E. Lawrence’s travels on his Brough Superior, Alberto Granado’s storied rides with Che Guevara, and Theresa Wallach’s overland journey with Florence Blenkiron from London to Cape Town. This anthology also offers hidden gems, such as Mike Carter’s midlife meditation “Uneasy Rider” and Jim Perrin’s “Travels with a Harley.” Facing more than just the elements of the road, these riders simultaneously take physical and emotional journeys, surrendering to the mental release a bike brings. Danger lurks around every bend, but above all is the rider’s desire for speed, the constant craving to go faster and further than one has ever gone before.

At times literary and lyrical, at others tactile and thrilling, Sons of Thunder takes to the road with an all-star roster of writers who delve into the pleasures and perils of motorcycles and celebrate the emotional bond between rider and machine.
[close]

[close] Summer Reading Give Away

Do you want to know God’s plan for your life? Would you like to know what God wants you to do in a specific situation? How can you use the Bible to help you navigate through this life? Then enter to win your copy today! [close]

[close] Look into the lives of ordinary Relief Society sisters as they share 50 stories of love and service. Whether it is facing a new calling or dealing with the sickness or loss of a loved one, these
stories testify of the very real power of women devoted to God and His work. In trial and doubt, in faith and in joy, sometimes all it takes is a circle of sisters to change a life for the better. [close]

[close] Win a signed copy of this ground-breaking new book (1st edition)

A book that asks the big questions facing today's generation

DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR is part dark and humorous memoir, part relentless cultural critique. How can a people who have so much still feel dissatisfied? How does an educated but jaded society reconcile what they know with what they see happening around them? These and other big questions are examined and updated for today. If you have ever felt that more should be happening – in your life, in this culture we give ourselves to – then this book is for you.


Using a familiar backstory and well-known cultural examples, revisiting our history to better see where we came from, DELUSIONS OF GRANDEUR is a passionate and personal examination of that “something” that is missing in our lives, why this something continues to eat at us, and why we need a different approach to how we deal with it.

In a modern and fast-paced style, a compelling and common sense argument is presented for the next stage in our cultural evolution.

A must-read for anyone who's ever felt sure that there must be more than this

“Reads almost like a poem . . . An earnest, soulful book about the world’s woes.” — Kirkus Reviews
[close]

[close] GALLEY GIVEAWAY

The author of The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England takes you through the world of Shakespeare and Queen Elizabeth I

From the author of The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England, this popular history explores daily life in Queen Elizabeth’s England, taking us inside the homes and minds of ordinary citizens as well as luminaries of the period, including Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe, Sir Walter Raleigh, and Sir Francis Drake.

Organized as a travel guide for the time-hopping tourist, Mortimer relates in delightful (and occasionally disturbing) detail everything from the sounds and smells of sixteenth-century England to the complex and contradictory Elizabethan attitudes toward violence, class, sex, and religion.

Original enough to interest those with previous knowledge of Elizabethan England and accessible enough to entertain those without, The Time Traveler’s Guide is a book for Elizabethan enthusiasts and history buffs alike.

For more information: http://www.ianmortimer.com/ [close]

[close] Win an advance copy of A House in the Sky: A memoir by Amanda Lindhout.

At the age of eighteen, Amanda Lindhout moved from her hardscrabble Alberta hometown to the big city—Calgary—and worked as a cocktail waitress, saving her tips so she could travel the globe. As a child, she escaped a violent household by paging through National Geographic and imagining herself in its exotic locales. Now she would see those places for real. She backpacked through Latin America, Laos, Bangladesh, and India, and emboldened by each experience, went on to travel solo across Sudan, Syria, and Pakistan. In war-ridden Afghanistan and Iraq she carved out a fledgling career as a TV reporter. And then, in August 2008, she traveled to Mogadishu, Somalia—“the most dangerous place on earth”—to report on the fighting there. On her fourth day in the country, she and her photojournalist companion were abducted.

An astoundingly intimate and harrowing account of Lindhout’s fifteen months as a captive, A House in the Sky illuminates the psychology, motivations, and desperate extremism of her young guards and the men in charge of them. She is kept in chains, nearly starved, and subjected to unthinkable abuse. She survives by imagining herself in a “house in the sky,” looking down at the woman shackled below, and finding strength and hope in the power of her own mind. Lindhout’s decision, upon her release, to counter the violence she endured by founding an organization to help the Somali people rebuild their country through education is a wrenching testament to the capacity of the human spirit and an astonishing portrait of the power of compassion and forgiveness. [close]

[close] Organize The Nancy Way is the low-cost, fun, creative way to get your life in shape. This book provides you easy and practical advice for organizing. You’ll find: step-by-step instructions; suggestions for reusing items already in your home; hints offering you valuable information; ways to save you money; personal tips from the author; and achievement checklists to record your accomplishments. This book’s goal is for you to become an organized individual in a fun, creative way. [close]

[close] A charming and passionate exploration of cheeses in France. From pastures peppered with Salers cows to a centuries-old monastery in the French Alps, The Whole Fromage is Kathe Lison’s homage to France and one of its culinary treasures. Lison was born a “Cheesehead” in Wisconsin and her reverence for cheese and for France leaps from the page as she tells of her early experiences with dairy (including an attempt to make cheese from sour cream and nylons). Through Lison’s adoration, you will meet cheeses scattered throughout France like the blue-flecked Roquefort, velvety Camembert, and gooey Mont d’Or, which is best eaten with a spoon.

"Reading The Whole Fromage is like enjoying an illicit raw-milk Brie. Kathe Lison follows her nose across France to explore the country's wild obsession with cheese…If Joan Didion had fallen tastebuds over heels for French cheese, then she might have written this book." —Tenaya Darlington, author of Di Bruno Bros. House of Cheese [close]

[close] Enter to win and add this stellar collection of writing by Vermont authors to your "to read" list!

About the book: A woman spots her dead mother in Hong Kong. A writer struggles against social media distractions. A grandfather, along with his grandson, ponders the question of the origin of consciousness. These stories and more make up The Best of the Burlington Writers Workshop 2013, a collection of stories, essays, and poems by Vermont writers.

We're giving away three to improve your chances of winning. We want to show the world what Vermont writers can do! [close]

[close] The definitive guide to the cloud computing revolution.

Hailed as “the most influential book so far on the cloud computing movement” (Christian Science Monitor), The Big Switch makes a simple and profound statement: Computing is turning into a utility, and the effects of this transition will ultimately change society as completely as the advent of cheap electricity did.

"Magisterial…Draws an elegant and illuminating parallel between the late-19th-century electrification of America and today’s computing world."—Salon [close]

[close] When Rain Hurts is the story of one mother's quest to find a magical path of healing and forgiveness for her son, a boy so damaged by the double whammy of prenatal alcohol abuse and the stark rigors of Russian orphanage life that he was feral by the time of his adoption at age three. Bizarre behaviors, irrational thoughts, and dangerous preoccupations were the nor--no amount of love, it turns out, can untangle the effects of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. More people are coping with and caring for those affected by Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders than individuals living with autism, but because there is a stigma associated with this preventable, devastating birth defect, it is a pandemic of disability and tragedy that remains underreported and underexplored. When Rain Hurts puts an unapologetic face to living and coping with this tragedy while doggedly searching for a more hopeful outcome for one beautiful, innocent, but damaged little boy.

** The winners will receive a galley/advanced review copy of the book. [close]

[close] The Sunday Times Number One bestseller - and Radio 4 Book of the Week - in paperback for the first time.

What is the actual connection between disgruntled and gruntled? What links church organs to organised crime, California to the Caliphate, or brackets to codpieces?

The Etymologicon springs from Mark Forsyth's Inky Fool blog on the strange connections between words. It's an occasionally ribald, frequently witty and unerringly erudite guided tour of the secret labyrinth that lurks beneath the English language, taking in monks and monkeys, film buffs and buffaloes, and explaining precisely what the Rolling Stones have to do with gardening. [close]

[close] This is systematic, layered approach to writing characters that is based on psychology and archetypes.

In this guide, you will discover:

- The secret to writing multidimensional characters
- How to develop your character's unconscious motivations
- Four ways in which characters interact with their worlds
- Five formative relationships that shape your character
- Nine mythic archetypes and how to use them
- The difference between proactive and reactive protagonists
- Ways to define a character through dialogue and physicality

The guide also includes a detailed worksheet that walks you through the stages of character development. [close]

[close] “I’ve often thought that eating, writing and living well required similar qualities: creativity, daring, the ability to savor the good stuff and learn from the bad. Blue Plate Special is the memoir of an utterly original thinker, a free-spirited gourmand, and a great American writer. It’s an expert guide on inspiration, ingenuity, heartbreak, buoyancy, home, love, family, screwing up, bouncing back and perfecting the bacon-cheddar biscuit.”
— Gillian Flynn, author of Gone Girl, Dark Places, and Sharp Objects

“Kate Christensen’s prose has always been dazzling and brilliant even as it amuses and entertains. In Blue Plate Special, she applies her formidable talent to a memoir about the role of food in her (not always easy or kosher) past and present. The result is a glorious feast of meals, prose, and life from one of our finest writers today—a banquet of a book about eating, loving, and overcoming, to be devoured as fast as one’s fingers can turn the pages.”
— Cathi Hanauer, author of Gone and Sweet Ruin, and editor of The Bitch in the House [close]

[close] Enter for the chance to win a copy of "Tales of a River Rat" by Kenny Salwey.

In "Tales of a River Rat," famed storyteller and self-described hermit Kenny Salwey informs and entertains readers as he weaves his life story on the Mississippi River. Salwey knows the river ecosystem with an intimacy unavailable to most. Here he shares his love and knowledge with the mighty river in an accessible manner sure to appeal to all ages.

Kenny Salwey is the last of a breed of men whose lifestyle has all but disappeared in this fast-paced, high-tech digital world. For thirty years, this weathered woodsman eked out a living on the Mississippi River. Today, Salwey is a master storyteller, environmental educator, keynote speaker, nature writer, and advocate for the Upper Mississippi River. [close]

[close] Enter to win a copy of "Let Them Paddle" by Alan S. Kesselheim.

When paddlers Alan S. Kesslheim and his wife were starting a fmily, each of their three kids unintentionally experienced, before birth, a major river expedition. Later, Eli, Sawyer, and Ruby grew up on other river trips, joining their parents in canoes as infants and toddlers. Recognizing a unique opportunity to celebrate their childrens' transition to adulthood, the family returned to those "birth" rivers and repeated each of the three original paddling trips.

"Let Them Paddle" is a captivating tale of a fmily coming of age and a moving testimonial for allowing children to experience nature firsthand.

Alan S. Kesselheim is the author of ten books and hundreds of magazine articles in a handful of publications. [close]

[close] When writer Terry Nation created the Daleks for the fledgling British TV series Dr. Who in 1963, he unleashed a villain that would haunt and delight fans for generations to come. As recently as 2010, the Daleks were voted the #1 “Favorite Monster” in a poll conducted by SFX Science Fiction Magazine, beating out Godzilla, Gollum, and Frankenstein.

Once described as looking like “a Welsh James Bond” Nation was one of the writers who defined British television in the 1960’s and 70’s, penning scripts for such hits as The Avengers, Blake’s 7, and The Saint. In "Terry Nation, The Man Who Invented the Daleks," author and cultural historian Alwyn W. Turner reveals the man behind the mechanical monsters - an extravagant, humorous, and a manically gifted writer at the epicenter of Britain’s golden age of television.
[close]

[close] Are you an aspiring author? A writer working on your next book? Enter to win a paperback copy of this invaluable guide. For fiction and nonfiction writers.

--

Editing is integral to the writing process, but its role is often misunderstood. What if editing could make writing less stressful and more enjoyable? What if it could help you write sharper, more compelling prose?

'The Editor's Eye: A Practical Guide to Transforming Your Book from Good to Great' shows you how editing can help you write your best book. In this no-nonsense guide, book coach and editor Stacy Ennis takes you through the ins and outs of the often bewildering book-editing process. As you begin to understand how writing and editing complement each other, you’ll become more confident as a writer, finish your book faster, and move toward the ultimate goal: publication.

Published and would-be authors will discover how to:

• Master the basics: Understand the four core editing stages and when they should take place.
• Write with an editor’s eye: Streamline your writing with self-editing techniques.
• Hire and work with editors: Learn where to look, what you can expect to pay, and how to collaborate.
• Revise painlessly: Implement editor and reader feedback with ease.
• Learn from the pros: Get advice from 20 publishing experts, fiction and nonfiction authors, and editors.
• Get free resources: Download a FREE style guide, editing checklist, and more.

View a sample at: http://www.nightowlspress.com/e-book-... [close]

[close] D-Passage, is a unique book by the world-renowned filmmaker, artist, and critical theorist Trinh T. Minh-ha. Taking as grounding forces her feature film Night Passage and installation L'Autre marche (The Other Walk), both co-created with Jean-Paul Bourdier, she discusses the potentials and impact of new technology on cinema culture and explores its effects on creative practice. Less a medium than a "way," the digital is here featured in its mobile, transformative passages. Trinh's reflections shed light on several of her major themes: temporality, transitions, transcultural encounters, ways of seeing and knowing, the implications of the media used, the artistic practices engaged in, and the representations created. In D-Passage, form and structure, rhythm and movement, and language and imagery are inseparable. The book integrates essays, artistic statements, in-depth conversations, the script of Night Passage, movie stills, photos, and sketches.
[close]

[close] What are some of your childhood memories? Could they be things like a special birthday party, a family trip, a reward for an achievement? Sarah had her own set of childhood memories, a boy tied to a hair, a dark leather belt, forgotten birthdays, being hungry, vacant eyes, and lost innocence. These are the memories that put dark clouds on her days, and
caused her to cry out in her dreams. These are the memories of a child living a life enveloped within child abuse.


"I Love You Baby Girl", is the true story of the adversity and triumphs one
girl faced as she fought against those that threatened her very survival. Cry
with Sarah as her pain is described, wonder how she could survive the constant abuse, cheer her on as she fights back, and rejoice with her when she finally breaks through to freedom from a life of heartbreak.
[close]

[close] A countless number of new, renamed, and variations of sport supplements flood the market each year. Many of these are accompanied by slick marketing campaigns promising too-good-to-be-true results. For athletes seeking a safe, effective edge to their training and performance, supplements can be a confusing and serious matter.

The Athlete’s Guide to Sports Supplements separates fact from fiction, provides quick answers to the most common questions, and delivers information you can trust.

Sport nutrition and supplement experts Kimberly Mueller and Josh Hingst provide concise descriptions for 120 of today’s most popular supplements. For each entry, you’ll discover what it is, how it works, potential performance benefits, research studies and outcomes, dosage recommendations, and possible health concerns. You’ll also find recommendations for master’s athletes, those competing in extreme environments, and those with special dietary needs, such as food allergies, diabetes, and vegetarian.

Best of all, each supplement is listed alphabetically, providing quick and easy navigation throughout the book. Alternatively, use the supplement finder to locate supplements for a particular purpose, such as recovery, endurance, and strength. And for ease of searching, many of the supplements are thoroughly cross-referenced by scientific and popular names.

With more than 120 supplements, recommendations for all athletes at all levels, and expert advice that you can immediately apply, The Athlete’s Guide to Sports Supplements is the one training and performance resource you’ll turn to again and again. [close]

[close] From acclaimed playwright Ken Ludwig with an introduction by John Lithgow, How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare is a delightfully engaging guide to helping your children (and you) fall in love with the works of William Shakespeare. Ken Ludwig developed his methods while teaching his own children, and his approach is friendly and easy to master. Ludwig delves into each play with an eye to revealing the invaluable lessons behind Shakespeare’s characters and stories. Colorfully incorporating the history of Shakespearean theater and society, How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare guides readers on an informed and adventurous journey through the world in which Shakespeare wrote.

“Don’t be fooled by the title. This book is for anyone who wants to brush up on Shakespeare… Don’t buy this book to teach your children; take them along as you commit these beautiful speeches to memory.” –Kirkus [close]

[close] A journey into the modern life of an ancient virtue ­– bravery – and a quest to understand who might possess it and how

With The Society of Timid Souls, or How To Be Brave, documentary filmmaker Polly Morland sets out to investigate bravery, a quality that she has always felt she lacked. The book takes inspiration from a vividly eccentric, and radical, self-help group for stage-frightened performers in 1940s Manhattan, which coincided with the terrifying height of World War II and was called The Society of Timid Souls. Seventy years later, as anxiety about everything from terrorism to economic meltdown continues, Morland argues that courage has become a virtue in crisis. We are, she says, all Timid Souls now.

Despite a career in which she has filmed in rebel-held Colombian jungles and at the edge of Balkan mass graves, interviewing convicted murderers, drug-traffickers, and terrorists, Morland herself has never felt brave. Often, the very reverse. So she sets out to discover how and why courage is achieved in an age of anxiety and whether it might even be learned. Drawing on her interviews and encounters with soldiers and civilians, bullfighters and big-wave surfers, dissidents fighting for freedom and cancer patients fighting for their lives, Morland examines bravery across the spectrum: from the first childhood act of defiance by Bernard Lafayette, a leader of the civil rights movement who later faced down the KKK in Alabama, or the reflexive will-to-survive of Vjollca Berisha, a Kosovo Albanian who endured a massacre by playing dead among the bodies of her own family, to the small acts of everyday bravery that quietly punctuate our lives, in schoolyards, labor wards, and hospices the world over.

Along the way, Morland draws attention to some of the myths of bravery that have been conjured and perpetuated over time and argues that, often, courage exists as much in the telling as in the doing. At once an exploration of what bravery means and a chronicle of the author's personal journey among those who embody it, The Society of Timid Souls is a profound, approachable meditation on this most valued and mysterious of human qualities. In setting off on the trail of the lionhearted, Polly Morland finds out a great deal about what makes some of us extraordinary, and what of the extraordinary we all share.

[close]

[close] The thinking-person's guide to surfing and the world it has created.

Among the most popular courses at the University of California at Santa Barbara is a team-taught lecture series on the history of surfing that immerses students in the cultural, political, economic, and environmental consequences of surfing's evolution from a sport of Hawaiian kings and queens to a billion-dollar worldwide industry. Peter Westwick and Peter Neushul bring more than sixty years of experience in the water to the class and are not surprised by the class’s popularity – UC Santa Barbara is, after all, a surfing school. The real surprise is that their non-surfing students outnumber the surfers. There is something about surfing that people yearn to understand – and this is the book that examines the enduring worldwide appeal of the sport both in myth and reality.

Drawing on the authors' expertise as, respectively, a historian of science and technology and an environmental historian, The World in the Curl brings alive the colorful history of surfing by drawing readers into the forces that have fueled the sport's expansion: colonialism, the military-industrial complex, globalization, capitalism, and race and gender roles. In a highly readable and provocative narrative history of the sport's signal moments – from the spread of surfing to the US, to the development of surf culture, to big-wave frontiers, to the reintroduction of women into the sport – Neushul and Westwick draw an indelible portrait of surfing and surfers as actors on the global stage.

[close]