In this authoritative and engrossing full-scale biography, Walter Isaacson, bestselling author of Einstein and Steve Jobs, shows how the most fascinating of America's founders helped define our national character—available on Encore at a great low price!Benjamin Franklin is the founding father who winks at us, the one who seems made of flesh rather than marble. In a sweeping narrative that follows Franklin’s life from Boston to Philadelphia to London and Paris and back, Walter Isaacson chronicles the adventures of the runaway apprentice who became, over the course of his eighty-four-year life, America’s best writer, inventor, media baron, scientist, diplomat, and business strategist, as well as one of its most practical and ingenious political leaders. He explores the wit behind Poor Richard’s Almanac and the wisdom behind the Declaration of Independence, the new nation’s alliance with France, the treaty that ended the Revolution, and the compromises that created a near-perfect Constit
The figure of the young American poet living in Paris is familiar from Paul Auster's celebrated novels; here that character is realised in Auster's own stunningly accomplished verse. His penetrating and charged poetry resembles little else in recent American literature. This collection of his poems, translations, and composition notes from early in his career furnish yet further evidence of his literary mastery.Taut, densely lyrical and everywhere informed by a powerful and subtle music, this selection begins with the compact verse fragments of Spokes (written when Auster was in his early twenties) and Unearth, continues on through the more ample meditations of Wall Writing, Disappearances, Effigies, Fragments From the Cold, Facing the Music, and White Spaces, then moves further back in time to include Auster's revealing translations of many of the French poets who influenced his own writing - including Paul Eluard, Andre Breton, Tristan Tzara, Philippe Soupault, Robert Desnos and Rene
In the vein of Jon Krakauer's Into the Wild, a riveting work of narrative nonfiction centering on the unsolved disappearance of an American backpacker in India--one of at least two dozen tourists who have met a similar fate in the remote and storied Parvati Valley.For centuries, India has enthralled westerners looking for an exotic getaway, a brief immersion in yoga and meditation, or in rare cases, a true pilgrimage to find spiritual revelation. Justin Alexander Shetler, an inveterate traveler trained in wilderness survival, was one such seeker.In his early thirties Shetler quit his job at a tech startup and set out on a global journey: across the United States by motorcycle, then down to South America, and on to the Philippines, Thailand, and Nepal, in search of authentic experiences and meaningful encounters, while also documenting his travels on Instagram. His enigmatic character and magnetic personality gained him a devoted following who lived vicariously through his adventures. B
Ever wondered what the classic American children’s book character Amelia Bedelia was like as a child? With a brightly colored, easy-carry handle and a Velcro-tabbed cover, this boxed set includes five
A lively retelling of the classic Aesop's fable for young English language learners, beautifully illustrated and full of character and humour. "Hello, I'm new here!" says Hare to slow, quiet old Tortoise. Hare talks very fast, and likes to run and jump, and before Tortoise can think twice, he has agreed to an impossible race. But maybe Hare is a little too confident, and Tortoise has a chance of winning after all? And maybe both Hare and Tortoise have some lessons to learn about determination, believing in yourself and winning and losing well. With fun activities after the story, and online audio in both British English and American English. Beautifully produced, with world-class full-colour artwork throughout, this classic story is retold in a fluent and natural style, made highly accessible for English language learners. This is part of a series devised and edited in collaboration with acclaimed ELT consultant Peter Viney.CEFR: A1 Lexile: 440L Key Stage: EYFS, KS1
From Virtue to Character: American Childhood, 1775-1850 explores the experience of childhood in America from the Revolution to the Civil War. Beginning with the child-rearing concepts of John Locke an
From the Brownies and the Yellow Kid to Spider-Man and SpongeBob SquarePants and everything in between, Geppi's Entertainment Museum offers an unprecedented look back at over two centuries of American
In American Homicide, Randolph Roth charts changes in the character and incidence of homicide in the U.S. from colonial times to the present. Roth argues that the United States is distinctive in its l
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Biography in 1936This out- of-print classic returns, in a new paperback edition, through the Vanderbilt Library of American Philosophy. Designed to serve as both a sys
Over the past twenty-five years, C-SPAN has established itself as a national treasure. And Booknotes, the flagship of its book programming, has become the premier place to see serious, thoughtful
