The Slave Trade in Africa

Author: Simon Webb
Publisher: Pen and Sword History
ISBN: 1399094106
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 226

Book Description
Is it true that the trans-Atlantic slave trade, about which so much has been heard in recent years, would have been impossible without the willing and enthusiastic cooperation of African leaders? Slavery was a common practice in Africa long before the arrival of Europeans, with the trade in black slaves, who were transported from Africa to America and the islands of the Caribbean, aided by the African traders who benefited from the arrangement. Even when Europe and America outlawed slavery and the slave trade, those living in Africa clung tenaciously to the old ways and refused to relinquish what was, to them, a time-honored custom. Is it for this reason that slavery lingers on in Africa to this day? In this book, Simon Webb explores the history of slavery in Africa and finds that it was not necessarily imposed upon the continent by Europeans, but was rather an integral part of many, perhaps most, cultures. Even when the British deployed their army and navy to try to suppress the trade in slaves during the nineteenth century, their efforts were largely ineffectual because many societies saw no reason to give up such an old, useful and profitable system. At a time when the subject of the trans-Atlantic slave trade is seldom out of the news, this book provides a challenge to the popularly accepted view of the matter. Nobody reading it will ever view slavery and the slave trade in quite the same light again.

The Improv Handbook

Author: Tom Salinsky
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
ISBN: 1350026174
Category : Performing Arts
Languages : en
Pages : 521

Book Description
The Improv Handbook is the most comprehensive, smart, helpful and inspiring guide to improv available today. Applicable to comedians, actors, public speakers and anyone who needs to think on their toes, it features a range of games, interviews, descriptions and exercises that illuminate and illustrate the exciting world of improvised performance. First published in 2008, this second edition features a new foreword by comedian Mike McShane, as well as new exercises on endings, managing blind offers and master-servant games, plus new and expanded interviews with Keith Johnstone, Neil Mullarkey, Jeffrey Sweet and Paul Rogan. The Improv Handbook is a one-stop guide to the exciting world of improvisation. Whether you're a beginner, an expert, or would just love to try it if you weren't too scared, The Improv Handbook will guide you every step of the way.

Cast a Diva

Author: Lyndsy Spence
Publisher: The History Press
ISBN: 0750997788
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 456

Book Description
Maria Callas (1923–77) was the greatest opera diva of all time. Despite a career that remains unmatched by any prima donna, much of her life was overshadowed by her fiery relationship with Aristotle Onassis, who broke her heart when he left her for Jacqueline Kennedy, and her legendary tantrums on and off the stage. However, little is known about the woman behind the diva. She was a girl brought up between New York and Greece, who was forced to sing by her emotionally abusive mother and who left her family behind in Greece for an international career. Feted by royalty and Hollywood stars, she fought sexism to rise to the top, but there was one thing she wanted but could not have – a happy private life. In Cast a Diva, bestselling author Lyndsy Spence draws on previously unseen documents to reveal the raw, tragic story of a true icon.

Gruffen

Author: Chris d'Lacey
Publisher: Orchard Books
ISBN: 1408315378
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 49

Book Description
When Lucy Pennykettle suspects there's a monster in her bedroom, her mum knows exactly what to do. She makes a guard dragon - Gruffen - to look after Lucy. But soon Gruffen realises there's a mystery behind the monster...

The Big Payback

Author: Dan Charnas
Publisher: Penguin
ISBN: 1101568119
Category : Music
Languages : en
Pages : 880

Book Description
“There has never been a better book about hip-hop…a record-biz portrait that jumps off the page.”—A.V. Club The perfect read for music lovers and business aficionados alike, The Big Payback reveals the secret histories of the early long-shot successes of Sugar Hill Records and Grandmaster Flash, Run DMC’s crossover breakthrough on MTV, the marketing of gangsta rap, and the rise of artist/entrepreneurs like Jay-Z and Sean “Diddy” Combs. THE INSPIRATION FOR THE VH1 SERIES THE BREAKS The Big Payback takes readers from the first $15 made by a “rapping DJ” in 1970s New York to the multi-million-dollar sales of the Phat Farm and Roc-a-Wear clothing companies in 2004 and 2007. On this four-decade-long journey from the studios where the first rap records were made to the boardrooms where the big deals were inked, The Big Payback tallies the list of who lost and who won. 300 industry giants like Def Jam founders Rick Rubin and Russell Simmons gave their stories to renowned hip-hop journalist Dan Charnas, who provides a compelling, never-before-seen, myth-debunking view into the victories, defeats, corporate clashes, and street battles along the 40-year road to hip-hop’s dominance. INCLUDES PHOTOGRAPHS

Made In Texas

Author: Michael Lind
Publisher:
ISBN: 0786728299
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 228

Book Description
Everyone knows that President George W. Bush is from Texas. But few of us know the role his home state plays in his presidency, and in our country. In this dual biography of man and state, Michael Lind confronts the chief crises of Bush's presidency--the economy, the Middle East, and religious fundamentalism--and traces their roots back to Texas, a state, Lind argues, that yields salient clues to the future course of our country.Widely praised as an iconoclastic and brilliant political observer, Lind, a fifth generation Texan, chronicles the ethnic clash that produced modern Texas, the well-known plundering of the state's natural resources at the hands of its elites, and finally the deep strain of "Old Testament religiosity" which, having originated in Texas, now reaches all over the globe in the form of Bush's foreign policy.In the tradition of Gary Wills's Reagan's America, Made in Texas provides a wholly original cultural history that should change the way we understand not just our president, but our country.

Incredible Ned

Author: Bill Maynard
Publisher: Turtleback Books
ISBN: 9780613217576
Category : Artists
Languages : en
Pages : 0

Book Description
The things Ned speaks of become reality, until a knowing art teacher solves his problem with paper and paints.

The Sacred Blood

Author: Michael Byrnes
Publisher: Harper Collins
ISBN: 0061971200
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 354

Book Description
The bones were just the beginning . . . When American geneticist Charlotte Hennesey examined what she believed were the remains of Jesus, the Vatican buried her discovery. But the DNA Charlotte extracted from the sacred bones and injected into her own body has eliminated every trace of the cancer that was devouring her from within. And it has given her the power to perform medical miracles. Now wheels have been set in motion that will have cataclysmic consequences for the volatile Middle East and all humankind. A two-thousand-year-old destiny is about to be fulfilled—resulting in the brazen kidnapping of Charlotte Hennesey, and ensnaring Israeli archaeologist Amit Mizrachi and noted Egyptologist Julie LeRoux in an ancient mystery centered around the world's most powerful relic. As zealots plot to rip the Holy Land asunder, the race begins to avert the unthinkable—for the armies gathering to meet on the hills of Meggido can mean only one thing: Armageddon!

Profit Driven Business Analytics

Author: Wouter Verbeke
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
ISBN: 1119286557
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 420

Book Description
Maximize profit and optimize decisions with advanced business analytics Profit-Driven Business Analytics provides actionable guidance on optimizing the use of data to add value and drive better business. Combining theoretical and technical insights into daily operations and long-term strategy, this book acts as a development manual for practitioners seeking to conceive, develop, and manage advanced analytical models. Detailed discussion delves into the wide range of analytical approaches and modeling techniques that can help maximize business payoff, and the author team draws upon their recent research to share deep insight about optimal strategy. Real-life case studies and examples illustrate these techniques at work, and provide clear guidance for implementation in your own organization. From step-by-step instruction on data handling, to analytical fine-tuning, to evaluating results, this guide provides invaluable guidance for practitioners seeking to reap the advantages of true business analytics. Despite widespread discussion surrounding the value of data in decision making, few businesses have adopted advanced analytic techniques in any meaningful way. This book shows you how to delve deeper into the data and discover what it can do for your business. Reinforce basic analytics to maximize profits Adopt the tools and techniques of successful integration Implement more advanced analytics with a value-centric approach Fine-tune analytical information to optimize business decisions Both data stored and streamed has been increasing at an exponential rate, and failing to use it to the fullest advantage equates to leaving money on the table. From bolstering current efforts to implementing a full-scale analytics initiative, the vast majority of businesses will see greater profit by applying advanced methods. Profit-Driven Business Analytics provides a practical guidebook and reference for adopting real business analytics techniques.

Creating Colorado

Author: William Wyckoff
Publisher: Yale University Press
ISBN: 9780300071184
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 364

Book Description
Sprawling Piedmont cities, ghost towns on the plains, earth-toned placitas set against the Sangre de Cristo Mountains, mining camps transformed into ski resorts--these are some of the diverse regions in Colorado explored in this fascinating book. Historical geographer William Wyckoff traces the evolution of the state during its formative years from 1860 to 1940, chronicling its changing cultural landscapes, social communities, and connections to a larger America and showing that Colorado has exemplified the unfolding of a complex western environment. Wyckoff discusses how nature, capitalism, a growing federal political presence, and national cultural influences came together to produce a new human geography in Colorado. He explains the ways in which the state's distinctive settlement geographies each took on a special character that persists to the present. He leads the reader through the transformation of the state from wilderness to a distinct region capable of accommodating the diverse needs of ranchers, miners, merchants, farmers, and city dwellers. And he describes how a state created out of cartographic necessity has been given uniqueness and meaning by the people who live there.