Amazon.com
The expeditions of Magellan, Columbus, and Lewis and Clark have been well documented and are instantly familiar to anyone with even a passing interest in world history. But the average person is likely unaware of the U.S. Exploring Expedition or its mercurial leader, Charles Wilkes. This despite the numerous accomplishments and lasting legacy of the massive four-year project that involved six ships and hundreds of men. The "Ex. Ex.," as it came to be known, is credited with the discovery of Antarctica, the first accurate charting of what is now Oregon and Washington, the retrieval of thousands of new species of life, and the foundation of the Smithsonian Institution. Yet when Wilkes returned, instead of being hailed as a great man of science or a national hero, he was shunned by the President, ignored by the press, and was the subject of so much ill will on the part of his men that he was ultimately put on trial for a variety of offenses. In the portrayal presented in Nathaniel Philbrick's Sea of Glory, Wilkes is a passionate man, brash and enthusiastic, driven by seemingly impossible goals, many of which he actually accomplished. But he's also a petty, mean-spirited loner, egotistical enough to unilaterally give himself a promotion in the middle of the expedition. Without Wilkes' singularity of purpose, it's hard to imagine the mission being as successful as it was, but it's also hard to conceive a personality more poorly suited to leadership than the near-universally-despised Wilkes. Philbrick also skillfully reveals the insecurity behind the tyranny in excerpts from letters to Wilkes' wife, Jane. The accounts of the expedition's adventures are at various times exhilarating and tragic as the crew scales the volcanoes of Hawaii, becomes involved in a bloody war with Fijian natives, and struggles merely to stay alive while at the same time not killing Wilkes. Philbrick's compelling narrative and meticulous research provide a vivid picture of the triumphs and hardships of the exploration age. --John Moe
Book Description
America's first frontier was not the West; it was the sea—and no one writes more eloquently about that watery wilderness than Nathaniel Philbrick. In his bestselling In the Heart of the Sea Philbrick probed the nightmarish dangers of the vast Pacific. Now, in an epic sea adventure, he writes about one of the most ambitious voyages of discovery the Western world has ever seen—the U.S. Exploring Expedition of 1838- 1842. On a scale that dwarfed the journey of Lewis and Clark, six magnificent sailing vessels and a crew of hundreds set out to map the entire Pacific Ocean—and ended up naming the newly discovered continent of Antarctica, collecting what would become the basis of the Smithsonian Institution, and much more.
Customer Reviews:
Human Drama in Important History.......2007-09-27
With the publication of the author's Mayflower I assume this book will enjoy a revival. It's too bd I had to learn of it by its being the only thing of interest on the remainder table. When I bought it I'd no idea I would learn so much about one of the main characters, if not the main character, in this human drama, Charles Wilkes. As a student of the Civil War I have long been intersted in Lt. Wilkes because of his involvement, no his creation, of the Trent Affair.
If you are not interested in Wilkes as a participant in the later war, you will still find this a wonderful adventure tale. This is history come to life. Read this book if you read no other book by the author.
Philbrick is a master of this genre.......2007-09-26
I stumbled on Nathaniel Philbrick's book: "In The Heart of The Sea" and enjoyed it very much. This author has the rare ability to take historical records, diaries, narratives, and other documents and weave them into a prose style of his own that is gripping. "Sea of Glory_____"
is written for anyone who likes history, nautical based, and replete with characters that you come to feel you know after the reading. The troubled Commander of the US Ex. Ex., comes alive in the pages with deep insight into his psyche & human flaws. I would recommend this book to any reader. It truly is the "untold" story of the United States of America's attempts to send forth a seagoing expedition of exploration on the level of the more famed Lewis & Clark land expedition after the Louisiana Purchase. You will be amazed at the ongoing contributions this expedition has contributed to our knowledge of the natural world, including the origins of what is today The Smithsonian Institution.
What? Was Philbrick there?.......2007-08-24
Seriously, this is the fourth book I've read by Philbrick and I'm trying to figure out how he writes history so engagingly. When you read his work, you truly feel like you are witnessing the event as it happens with a God's-eye view. As a result you get absorbed in his telling of the story and learn while engrossed.
I think Philbrick accomplishes this little bit of literary magic by doing a huge amount of primary research, going through the journals of many of the story's characters and synthesizing a multi-dimensional picture of what went on. He then tells the story almost as if he were there. The result is truly impressive.
I had never heard of the US Exploring Expedition before reading this book and it kept me drawn in from cover to cover. The four year expedition was the first (maybe) to sight land in Antarctica, explored the mouth of the Columbia river, fought a battle in Fiji, measured volcanoes in Hawaii and brought back a collection of artifacts that formed the basis of the collection for the founding Smithsonian. Not bad for a single trip around the world. Throw in some nasty intrigue between the many officers on the expedition and you've got plenty of human drama to boot.
Give this one a read. You'll be glad you did.
Great Adventure I Never Learned About.......2007-06-08
Others have provided a better summary than I could, so I'll keep this brief. I've read a lot of history. I'm a history nerd. I watch the History channel a lot. I had never even heard of this expedition. Thanks to Philbrick for reviving this story for so many of us, and for doing it with great storytelling, inciteful analysis, and meaningful detail. Wilkes is a tragic figure, and like all tragic figures has his greatness and his flaws. This book has lessons on leadership, the desire for adventure, endurance amid hardship, mistakes to be avoided, and much more. Read this book for a fascinating story that has been sadly overlooked for far too long!
The Enthralling History Of A Largely Forgotten Expedition.......2007-06-04
One hears almost endlessly about the overland expeditions of Louis and Clark, as well as the other western expeditions of Fremont and others.
This book is the story of another expedition, the American effort to explore, map and ultimately claim parts of Polynesia and the Antarctic. The book deals initially with the polotical and organizational struggle to get the expedition going. Coceived under a Democratic-Republican (JQ Adams), opposed by the Jacksonian Democrats, launched under Van Buren, and eventually returning under the Tyler administration this expedition was almost over before it began.
One of the problems with the expedition was the search for a leader. Eventually this fell to US Navy Lieutenant Charles Wilkes. Author Nathaniel Philbrick goes into great detail on wilkes leadership style including the relationship between him and his officers. The Navy at this point in time had a block in promotions which led to many seamen not getting the opportunities they felt they deserved.
Drawn form the original source material, Philbrick provides a gripping account of the sighting and mapping of Antarctica, as well as an excellent insider's view of the inner workings of the expedition.
Excellent historical work.
Customer Reviews:
The Lost Expedition.......2007-07-05
'Sea of Glory' is Nathaniel Philbrick's gripping account of the United States Exploring Expedition. The USXX was a fleet of six (6) US ships that set out to explore and map the South Pacific. The fleet set out just before the mid 1800's and was captained by Charles Wilkes.
The story begins with the desire to explore the South Pacific and originally to find a hole into an underground land at the South Pole. The espedition had a hard time finding backing. When the government support final is given, a fleet commander can not be found. The job falls to Lt. Charles Wilkes. A young eager sailor, who is very experienced in mapping, but not it seamanship.
The book chronicles the journey of the USXX as they travel from New York, to South America, around the cape and into the South Pacific. The fleet then travels to within site of Antartica. There is some controversy as to who saw land and when. The USXX then travels to the South Pacific Islands (Fiji and Hawaii), and eventually the Northwest Territory (the future states of Washington and Oregon).
The book focuses on how disfunctional the crew and captains were. The USXX should have gone down in history as a great journey along the same level as the Lewis and Clark expedition. Areas were discovered and mapped by the USXX that were great achievements. Discovering the continent of Antartica in wooden sailing ships is a feat that staggers the imagination.
Unfortunately, the animosity of the officers of the USXX proved to amke this expedition a footnote in US history. The book does focus a lot of attention on Lt Wilkes and his egomanical control of the USXX. Enjoy the tale of the journey and discovery rather than the drama.
Book Description
"One is transported from barricade to courtroom to communal cooking-pot to dance-floor. You get to see the struggle from the inside out ... All I know who have read it, feel in fighting form after putting it down."
—Natal Mercury
"An exceptionally vivid and precise account of daily experiences in the new class apartheid ... Desai's book tells the story of how desperation and powerlessness have turned into organized opposition and an articulate, sophisticated language of resistance."
—Mail & Guardian
When Nelson Mandela was elected president of South Africa in 1994, freedom-loving people around the world hailed a victory over racial domination, injustice and inequality. The end of apartheid did not change the basic conditions of life for the majority of oppressed South Africans, however. Material inequality has deepened and new forms of resistance have emerged in commnities that have discovered a common oppression and solidarty and forged new and dynamic political identities.
Desai's book follows the growth of the most unexpected of these community movements, describing from the inside the process through which the downtrodden regain their dignity and defend the most basic conditions of life. His book begins with one specific community, with local government enforcing cut-offs of water and electricity, and evicting families from their houses whose breadwinners have lost their jobs. As the Chatsworth community begins to organize and discover leaders among its ranks, so their example spreads to other communities in Durban and the KwaZulu-Natal region, and their struggles build links with those in other parts of the new South Africa.
We Are the Poors was a major event in the life of the South African Left when the first edition was published there in 2000. This new edition follows the ongoing course of events to the present.
Customer Reviews:
A significant and timely contribution.......2002-12-06
We Are The Poors: Community Struggles In Post-Apartheid South Africa by South African educator, journalist, and community activist Ashwin Desai is an informed and informative explanation of how the end of apartheid and the election of Nelson Mandela as President of South Africa in 1994 failed to end the conditions of economic, social, and political inequality for the oppressed majority of South African blacks. Nonetheless, new forms of solidarity and resistance to conditions of inequality have emerged, principally in the form of new and dynamic political identities as reflected in the growth of community movements, eventually coming together in massive anti-government protests at the time of the 2001 UN World Conference Against Racism. We Are The Poors is a significant and timely contribution to contemporary South African studies.
A powerful account of resistance to market fundamentalism.......2002-11-28
Desai's book is about elderly women who will put their bodies between their neighbour's house and the men with guns and dogs and sunglasses who have come to effect another eviction. It's about the ecology of the neighbourhood and the struggles to constitute the people stuck on the wrong side of the razorwire into movements. It is about fighting and tenderness and coming to Durban.
Desai's story starts in Chatsworth, Durban. Here the new South Africa meant unemployment for the poor after 10 000 jobs in the clothing industry were sacrificed to The Market when tariffs protecting our market from sweatshop imports were removed 4 years ahead of the WTO schedule. For many this was followed by disconnections from electricity and water and then evictions from their homes as the Durban Metro began to reorganise the provision of basic, life sustaining services in accordance with `international norms' and under the cold logic of profit. Desai tells us how a movement of the poor was built in Chatsworth, how it spread to other townships in Durban, drew in students and workers, made connections with similar movements developing in Johannesburg and Cape Town, put somewhere between 20 000 and 30 000 people on the streets outside the UN conference on racism in Durban last year and became part of the global movement of movements against the subordination of all aspects of society to The Market.
All these years after Machiavelli and Sartre and Fanon much academic work continues to flee the disorder and mess of life for the more comfortable worlds of abstracted empiricism and theory where the sterile manipulation of numbers or words becomes a self-referential end in-itself. Desai's book has no elaborate graphs or references to Homi K. Bhabha. Numbers and theories are only employed to illuminate lived experience. This book, with its stories of children prostituting themselves to stave off their family's eviction and mothers fighting off the police, can not be reduced to a power point presentation. Desai describes it as "journalism - an account from the frontlines of the establishment's `undeclared war' on the poor."
Scholars like Patrick Bond and Hein Marais have published valuable critiques of the herding of the energies and hopes of the democratic movements in to the Market's corral. And David McDonald and James Kilgore (writing as John Pape) have shown that in the post-apartheid era up to 10 million South Africans have been disconnected from water; the same number have been disconnected from electricity; a further 2 million people have been evicted from their homes and 1.5 million have had their property seized for failure to pay their water and electricity bills. McDonald and Kilgore have also found that the majority could not pay their water and electricity bills, that many of those who do pay do so at the expense of things like school fees and health care and so the idea of a `culture of non-payment' should be seen as, at best, a myth. They also show that none of this is necessary and that this assault on the poor it is a direct consequence of the shift away from policies based on the principle of cross-subsidisation to ensure sustainable access to services by poorer citizens and towards policies that aim to generate profit by recovering the full cost of the services provided to each customer, including installation costs. The rich had the installation of their basic services subsidised by apartheid many years ago and so what the World Bank calls `good public fiscal practice' means that electricity costs 30% more in Soweto than in Sandton and schools in poor communities in Durban have their water disconnected in the midst of cholera epidemic.
Radical thought usually takes the oppressive power of the state and the market as its focus. And explaining the nature of the structural violence in and from which the oppressed must make their lives is important work. But Desai, like Frantz Fanon and the Italian Autonomist School, does something different. He begins with the creative energies of the oppressed. And so he gives us storms and tributaries and rivers of struggle. We discover the Hindu festival of light, Diwali, re-imagined with the electricity disconnecting Durban Metro cast as the villain of darkness. And there is Psyches, the rapper who makes beautiful the heroes of the latest ugly clash with the police; Sifiso Sithole a polite young man who usually reconnects a few people to the electricity grid before settling down to his homework in the afternoons; the UDW students, steeled by the murder of one of their number by the police while protesting the exclusion of poor students from their university, who defend fragile new born spaces for critical thought and action from "the goons from the ANC youth league" and the mothers and grandmothers across the country, like Mama Manqele in Chatsworth and Mevrou Samsodien in Taflesig, who rebel because obedience can mean disaster and even death.
The movements encountered in this book are familiar in that they are a return to the non-racialism of the UDF (as opposed to the longstanding multi-racialism and more recent bougoise nationalism of the ANC) but excitingly strange in that their aspirations are not to seize political power but rather to diffuse it with the aim of creating neighbourhoods in which individuals and communities can flourish. But the movements in this book are perhaps at their most unfamiliar and challenging when, in the words of Mpumalanga township activist Maxwell Cele, it becomes clear that "No one is in charge of the protests, except the anger and hunger in every person."
There are a few flaws in the editing and the layout of the book. The misphrasing of a sentence in the introduction that results in the number of people who lost jobs between 1996 and 2001 appearing to be a statistic for 2001 alone is particularly unfortunate. But the significance of this book, with its urgent, occasionally poetic and probably rushed passion that has evoked the feel of Fanon's Wretched of the Earth for more than one reviewer, is not exhausted by its novelty as the first book on the social movements of the post-apartheid era. This book matters because in an age where the human is deeply buried under a dead but respectable technicism it pulsates, rudely, with life.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Labour/Le Travail, published by Canadian Committee on Labour History on September 22, 2003. The length of the article is 1308 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Ashwin Desai, We are the Poors: Community Struggles in Post-Apartheid South Africa.(Book Review)
Author: Geoffrey Wood
Publication:
Labour/Le Travail (Refereed)
Date: September 22, 2003
Publisher: Canadian Committee on Labour History
Issue: 52
Page: 332(3)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from African Studies Quarterly, published by Thomson Gale on March 22, 2005. The length of the article is 1019 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: We are the Poors: Community Struggles in Post-Apartheid South Africa, Ashwin Desai.(Book Review)
Author: Jane Battersby
Publication:
African Studies Quarterly (Magazine/Journal)
Date: March 22, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 8
Issue: 2
Page: 86(2)
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Average customer rating:
- Outstanding text that comes with killer web site
|
A Primer in EU Macroeconomics
Manfred Gartner
Manufacturer: Prentice Hall PTR
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Popular Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Macroeconomics
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
Theory
| Economics
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Business & Investing
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0132688972 |
Customer Reviews:
Outstanding text that comes with killer web site.......1999-02-25
This is the most unique macroeconomics text I have seen. In concise 350 pages it not only provides students with the theory behind business cycles, growth, unemployment, inflation and such things. It also introduces all the macroeconomic issues important in connection with European integration, not only in theory, but with many applications and case studies. It is accompanied by a killer site, undoubtedly the best such place currently on the web, where you may watch macro concepts explained as cartoons or play and learn with interactive applets.
Average customer rating:
- A very interesting purchase
|
How to Play Air Guitar: All the Greatest Moves from Your Guitar Heroes
Ian West , and
Steve Gladdis
Manufacturer: Collins & Brown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Guitar
| Instruments & Performers
| Music
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
Strings
| Instruments & Performers
| Music
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Music
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Humor
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Entertainment Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
General
| Humor
| Entertainment
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
General
| Music
| Entertainment
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Guitar
| Instruments & Performers
| Music
| Entertainment
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Strings
| Instruments & Performers
| Music
| Entertainment
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
All 4-for-3 Deals
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
To Air is Human: One Man's Quest to Become the World's Greatest Air Guitarist
ASIN: 1844110036 |
Book Description
Become a rock superstar--without breaking a string! Don't let a lack of musical talent deter you: it's all in the moves, and they are all here, in a super-cool kit with a plastic air guitar to blow up and a fully-illustrated guide to "playing" it. Feel like a true music master as you practice those swoon-inducing pouts, pants-splitting jumps, and groupie-thrilling facial expressions. Beginners--need to know how to tune up? Strum the instrument? Just follow the humorous photos and complete directions. Get down with the "Boogie": that sexy legs-spread stance, complete with lots of head movement. Mastered the basics? Then show off the "Pointed Windmill," a majestic sweeping gesture that crashes across the crotch, and ends with the hand pointing at the audience. Every move comes complete with helpful information, including recommended songs to get you in the groove. Plus: advice on going public when you're ready!
About the Authors
Ian West and Steve Gaddis always dreamed of rock superstardom-and they pursued their fantasy, undeterred by their total absence of musical talent. And they succeeded: the two have played with all the greats-Brian May, Carlos Santana, Eddie Van Halen....in front of the mirror in their bedrooms.
Customer Reviews:
A very interesting purchase.......2007-01-09
I really liked this book. It contains a lot of interesting moves for your air guitar needs. Everything is nicely detailed with pictures of the different moves, and it also comes with a nice track list to listen to while you practice in your own room.
Book Description
Completed in 1917, Prokofiev's Violin Concerto No. 1 has long been a favorite of audiences and a requisite work in the repertoire of every serious violinist. Generally meditative and lyrical in tone, the work also features virtuoso violin playing, making it a showcase for performers. Violinists, conductors, and students will welcome this affordably priced edition.
Book Description
Paganini's Violin Concerto No. 1 set a new standard of virtuosity and influenced the composition of violin music ever after. Wieniawski's Violin Concerto No. 2 is a concert hall favorite the world over. A piece with a moderate tempo, divided into three movements, it is certain to be enjoyed by both performers and audiences.
Customer Reviews:
Very Dissapointing!.......2006-02-15
I have a very extensive collection of Dover classical score publications and this title is very deceiving. For readers that would like to explore the genious and creativity of Paganini, you will find little here in this book. Only the first movement is included in this score which leaves us little to read. I am very dissapointed in Dover. "Full score" leads me to believe that this would have been a FULL score.
Product Description
- Marketing Information: With this special eLearning edition of STEP BY STEP, you can teach yourself exactly what you need to know about Microsoft Office Access, Excel, FrontPage, InfoPath, OneNote, Outlook, PowerPoint, Publisher, and Word. Use the bookandquot;s easy-to-follow lessons - and the interactive exercises and simulations from the Microsoft eLearning Library (MELL) - in whatever combination helps you learn best. Build and practice just the skills you need - your way and at your own pace! Product Information - Software Sub Type: Training/WBT - Software Name: Office System Step by Step 2003 eLearning Edition - Features and Benefits: Master essential skills with STEP BY STEP: - Create professional-quality documents - Build powerful spreadsheets and databases - Manage your e-mail communications and work day - Produce and deliver compelling slide presentations - Get your Web site up and running quickly - Learn how to take notes electronically - Capture and reuse information with InfoPath forms - Get a CD packed with practice files, an eBook, three reference books, templates, and clip art Take your experience farther with eLearning on the CD: - Get Core and "Whatandquot;s New" training for Microsoft Office Professional Edition 2003 programs - Choose from 130 lessons and more than 14 hours of eLearning - Use the self-assessment to focus your studies - Start with any lesson you want, learn only what you need - Work through the interactive exercises - Get
Customer Reviews:
Not what I expected........2006-02-10
I received the book in two weeks and there was a hole in page 713. Some areas of the book presume that the reader understands the MS jargon the writer is referring to. Some practice examples are not clear and are frustrating. It would be more helpful if there was a visual demonstration on the disc.
Wonderful.......2005-04-14
This is a wonderful beginner's book. It provides interactive training that the staff found enjoyable to review. They liked the ablility to click on the "Show Me" button and the software would show them how to perform a function. They also liked be able to go at their own pace and the ability to review a topic as many times as needed. You can't go wrong for the money.
Damaged CD's.......2005-02-26
I have no clue about the product because the 2 CD's that come with the book were scratched and one was chipped. The CD's are needed as part of the learning process. Amazon's return policy is unopened products only others have to be returned to the manufacture. I don't have a clue on where to start looking for answers
Books:
- Seduced by Moonlight (Meredith Gentry, Book 3)
- Service-Oriented Architecture: A Field Guide to Integrating XML and Web Services (The Prentice Hall Service-Oriented Computing Series from Thomas Erl)
- Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II
- Sierra Club 2005 Wilderness Calendar
- Simple Abundance: A Daybook of Comfort and Joy
- Sports Illustrated: Fifty Years of Great Writing: 50th Anniversary 1954-2004
- Star Trek Ships Of The Line: 2005 Wall Calendar (Star Trek (Calendars))
- Star Trek Ships Of The Line: 2005 Wall Calendar (Star Trek (Calendars))
- STEPHEN KING - DARK TOWER SERIES -- 7 Titles By Stephen King - Unboxed Set -- DARK TOWER BOOKS (1-7) : 1. The Gunslinger 2. The Drawing of the Three 3. The Waste Lands 4. Wizard and Glass 5. Wolves of the Calla 6. Song of Susannah 7. Dark Tower VII
- Stories Behind the Best-Loved Songs of Christmas (Stories Behind Books)
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Crafting and Executing Strategy : The Quest for Competitive Advantage - Concepts and Cases
- Columbia River Basketry: Gift of the Ancestors, Gift of the Earth
- Book review: The global nomad: backpacker travel in theory and practice
- Archaea: Molecular and Cellular Biology
- Bobbi Brown Living Beauty
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone
- Being Lucky: Reminiscences and Reflections
- 3D Game Engine Design, Second Edition: A Practical Approach to Real-Time Computer Graphics
- Advances in Accounting: 1996
- A Rich Broth: Memoirs of a Canadian Diplomat
In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex
Mayflower: A Story of Courage, Community, and War
Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe (P.S.)
The Bounty : The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty
Cook : The Extraordinary Voyages of Captain James Cook
