Pianist of Damascus The

Author: Aeham Ahmad
Publisher: Michael Joseph
ISBN: 9780241347508
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 288

Book Description
One morning on the outskirts of Damascus, two starving friends are walking through their desolate city and come across a familiar street that has been turned to rubble, concrete bridges towering above them like tombs and houses turned inside out. Aeham turns to the only comfort he has left and sits at his piano to play a song of hope to his fellow Syrians. It is a song that will reach far beyond the streets of his home and carry consequences he could never have dreamed of. This tender and poetic account of Aeham's experiences, from losing his city, friends and family to leaving his country and finding safety, will move readers with raw and candid emotion. This is a gripping portrait of a man's search for solace and of a country that has been fiercely torn apart.

The Pianist from Syria

Author: Aeham Ahmad
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1501173502
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 288

Book Description
"An astonishing yet true account of a pianist's life in war-torn Syria and his ultimate escape to Germany offers a deeply personal perspective on the most devastating refugee crisis of this century. Aeham Ahmad was born a second-generation refugee--the son of a blind violinist and carpenter who recognized Aeham's talent and taught him how to play piano and love music from an early age. When his grandparents and father were forced to flee Israel and seek refuge from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in 1948, Aeham's family built a life in Yarmouk, an unofficial refugee camp to more than 160,000 Palestinians in Damascus. While waiting for the conflict to be resolved so that they could return to their homeland, they raised a new generation in Syria. But another fight overtook their asylum. Their only havens were in music and each other. In his escape from Syria, Aeham sought out a safe place for him and his family to call home and build a better future. Heart-wrenching though full of hope, and told in a raw and poignant voice, The Pianist from Syria is a gripping portrait of one man's search for a peaceful life and of a country being torn apart as the world watches in horror."--Jacket.

The Baghdad Clock

Author: Shahad Al Rawi
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1786073234
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 244

Book Description
Shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction 2018 This number one best-selling title in Iraq, Dubai, and the UAE is a heart-rending tale of two girls growing up in war-torn Baghdad Baghdad, 1991. The Gulf War is raging. Two girls, hiding in an air raid shelter, tell stories to keep the fear and the darkness at bay, and a deep friendship is born. But as the bombs continue to fall and friends begin to flee the country, the girls must face the fact that their lives will never be the same again. This poignant debut novel reveals just what it's like to grow up in a city that is slowly disappearing in front of your eyes, and how in the toughest times, children can build up the greatest resilience.

How To Be Extraordinary

Author: Rashmi Sirdeshpande
Publisher: Penguin UK
ISBN: 0241385415
Category : Juvenile Nonfiction
Languages : en
Pages : 36

Book Description
Could you be EXTRAORDINARY? This book will inspire you with the real-life stories of extraordinary people, showcasing a total variety of personalities and talents. Whoever you are, and whoever you want to be, read about the extraordinary stories of these 15 people, and decide how YOU will be extraordinary too! From around the world and throughout history, discover unsung heroes - and some well-known faces - brought to life with astonishing story-telling and illustration. Meet an artist, scientist, medic, environmentalist, musician, activist, writer, politician, and even a spy . . . above all, discover that there are MANY ways to be extraordinary and to make a real difference in the world. Featuring the real-life stories of: Aeham Ahmad, David Attenborough, Mo Farah, Keiko Fukuda, Stephen Hawking, Frida Kahlo, Abdul Kalam, Judith Kerr, Wangari Maathai, Nelson Mandela, David Nott, Michelle Obama, Krystyna Skarbek, Alan Turing, Sau Lan Wu

On Chapel Sands

Author: Laura Cumming
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 1501198734
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 320

Book Description
NOMINATED FOR THE 2019 NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR AUTOBIOGRAPHY ONE OF NPR'S BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR SHORTLISTED FOR THE BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NONFICTION SHORTLISTED FOR THE RATHBONES FOLIO PRIZE LONGLISTED FOR THE RSL ONDAATJE PRIZE The acclaimed New York Times bestselling author of The Vanishing Velazquez shares a riveting true story “with as many twists and turns as any mystery” (Los Angeles Times) describing her mother’s mysterious kidnapping as a toddler in a small English coastal village—“an incredible and incredibly unusual book about family secrets” (Nick Hornby, The Believer). In the fall of 1929, when Laura Cumming’s mother was three years old, she was kidnapped from a beach on the Lincolnshire coast of England. There were no screams when she was taken, suggesting the culprit was someone familiar to her, and when she turned up again in a nearby village several days later, she was happy and in perfect health. No one was ever accused of a crime. The incident quickly faded from her memory, and her parents never discussed it. To the contrary, they deliberately hid it from her, and she did not learn of it for half a century. This was not the only secret her parents kept from her. For many years, while raising her in draconian isolation and protectiveness, they also hid the fact that she’d been adopted, and that shortly after the kidnapping, her name was changed from Grace to Betty. “Both page-turning and richly absorbing” (The Providence Journal), On Chapel Sands (originally titled Five Days Gone) unspools the tale of Cumming’s mother’s life and unravels the multiple mysteries at its core. Using photographs from the time, historical documents, and works of art, Cumming investigates this case of stolen identity with the toolset of a detective and the unique intimacy of a daughter trying to understand her family’s past and its legacies. “Brilliant” (The Guardian) and “a story told with such depth of feeling and observation and such lyrical writing I couldn’t put it down” (Anna Quindlen), On Chapel Sands is a masterful blend of memoir and history, an extraordinary personal narrative unlike any other.

Sounds and the City

Author: Brett Lashua
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319940813
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 446

Book Description
This book draws from a rich history of scholarship about the relations between music and cities, and the global flows between music and urban experience. The contributions in this collection comment on the global city as a nexus of moving people, changing places, and shifting social relations, asking what popular music can tell us about cities, and vice versa. Since the publication of the first Sounds and the City volume, various movements, changes and shifts have amplified debates about globalization. From the waves of people migrating to Europe from the Syrian civil war and other conflict zones, to the 2016 “Brexit” vote to leave the European Union and American presidential election of Donald Trump. These, and other events, appear to have exposed an anti-globalist retreat toward isolationism and a backlash against multiculturalism that has been termed “post-globalization.” Amidst this, what of popular music? Does music offer renewed spaces and avenues for public protest, for collective action and resistance? What can the diverse histories, hybridities, and legacies of popular music tell us about the ever-changing relations of people and cities?

Letters from an Astrophysicist

Author: Neil deGrasse Tyson
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN: 1324003324
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 207

Book Description
New York Times Bestseller A luminous companion to the phenomenal bestseller Astrophysics for People in a Hurry. Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson has attracted one of the world’s largest online followings with his fascinating, widely accessible insights into science and our universe. Now, Tyson invites us to go behind the scenes of his public fame by revealing his correspondence with people across the globe who have sought him out in search of answers. In this hand-picked collection of 101 letters, Tyson draws upon cosmic perspectives to address a vast array of questions about science, faith, philosophy, life, and of course, Pluto. His succinct, opinionated, passionate, and often funny responses reflect his popularity and standing as a leading educator. Tyson’s 2017 bestseller Astrophysics for People in a Hurry offered more than one million readers an insightful and accessible understanding of the universe. Tyson’s most candid and heartfelt writing yet, Letters from an Astrophysicist introduces us to a newly personal dimension of Tyson’s quest to explore our place in the cosmos.

The Light Root

Author: Ralf Roessner with Clemens Hildebrandt
Publisher: Temple Lodge Publishing
ISBN: 1906999635
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 49

Book Description
‘This plant is the only one which is in a position to store light ether; this will be indispensable for people in future.’ – Rudolf Steiner Koberwitz, Whitsun 1924: Rudolf Steiner had just completed his momentous lecture course on biodynamic agriculture and was waiting for a car to take him to the station. Suddenly he was approached by two of his pupils with an urgent question: Would his new indications for treating soil and vegetables be sufficient to provide, ‘...nutrition appropriate to our times and in accordance with the spirit?’ Steiner’s frank response was somewhat surprising: ‘It will not be sufficient even in the most favourable circumstances. What should be done is to cultivate the Dioscorea batatas in Europe so that it can take over from the potato as the staple diet.’ In the many decades since that conversation, various attempts have been made to cultivate Dioscorea batatas – the ‘light root’ – in Europe, initially by Steiner’s close colleague Guenther Wachsmuth. More recently, biodynamic farmer Ralf Roessner began to research the plant and its background, but soon discovered problems with the specimens available in Europe. Unsatisfied with the standard of the plants, in 2002 he travelled to the original growing areas of Dioscorea batatas in China, where he was able to form a comprehensive picture of the best planting methods and conditions. ‘The nodules which I found and brought back with me’, he writes, ‘showed similar light ether characteristics to the original plants of Wachsmuth’s’. Having successfully cultivated and marketed this light root, Roessner presents some carefully assembled introductory materials based on his experiences and those of a colleague. This small book, illustrated with colour images, is intended for people who wish to discover more about the plant’s being and spiritual mission as a ‘helper of progress’. Roessner explains how the light root stores ‘light ether’ in a unique manner, making it not only a valuable food, but also a ‘carrier of the spirit’. This light root could even ‘...decisively influence the development of humanity and the earth’. Aside from studying esoteric aspects, he gives answers to frequently-asked practical questions about the plant and its cultivation.

A Disappearance in Damascus

Author: Deborah Campbell
Publisher: Picador
ISBN: 1250147891
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 353

Book Description
Winner of the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction Winner of the Freedom to Read Award Winner of the Hubert Evans Prize In the midst of an unfolding international crisis, renowned journalist Deborah Campbell finds herself swept up in the mysterious disappearance of Ahlam, her guide and friend. Campbell’s frank, personal account of a journey through fear and the triumph of friendship and courage is as riveting as it is illuminating. The story begins in 2007, when Deborah Campbell travels undercover to Damascus to report on the exodus of Iraqis into Syria, following the overthrow of Saddam Hussein. There she meets and hires Ahlam, a refugee working as a “fixer”—providing Western media with trustworthy information and contacts to help get the news out. Ahlam has fled her home in Iraq after being kidnapped while running a humanitarian center. She supports her husband and two children while working to set up a makeshift school for displaced girls. Strong and charismatic, she has become an unofficial leader of the refugee community. Campbell is inspired by Ahlam’s determination to create something good amid so much suffering, and the two women become close friends. But one morning, Ahlam is seized from her home in front of Campbell’s eyes. Haunted by the prospect that their work together has led to her friend’s arrest, Campbell spends the months that follow desperately trying to find Ahlam—all the while fearing she could be next. The compelling story of two women caught up in the shadowy politics behind today’s most searing conflict, A Disappearance in Damascus reminds us of the courage of those who risk their lives to bring us the world’s news.

Letters from Tove

Author: Tove Jansson
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
ISBN: 1452963827
Category : Literary Collections
Languages : en
Pages : 639

Book Description
A virtual memoir in letters by the beloved creator of the Moomins Tove Jansson’s works, even her famed Moomin books, fairly teem with letters of one kind or another, from messages bobbing in bottles to whole epistolary novels. Fortunately for her countless readers, her life was no different, unfolding as it did in the letters to family, friends, and lovers that make up this volume, a veritable autobiography over the course of six decades—and the only one Jansson ever wrote. And just as letters carry a weight of significance in Jansson’s writing, those she wrote throughout her life reflect the gravity of her circumstances, the depth of her thoughts and feelings, and the critical moments of humor, sadness, and grace that mark an artist’s days. These letters, penned with characteristic insight and wit, provide an almost seamless commentary on Jansson’s life within Helsinki’s bohemian circles and on her island home. Shifting between hope and despair, yearning and happiness, they describe her immersion in art studies and her ascension to fame with the Moomins. They speak frankly of friendship and love, loneliness and solidarity, and also of politics, art, literature, and society. They summon a particular place and time reflected through a mind finely attuned to her culture, her world, and her own nature—all clearly put into biographical and historical context by the volume’s editors, both longtime friends of Tove Jansson—and, in the end, draw a complex, intimate self-portrait of one of the world’s most beloved authors.