Bob Blaisdell
Author
Language
English
Formats
Description
The story behind the origins of Anna Karenina and the turbulent life and times of Leo Tolstoy.
Anna Karenina is one of the most nuanced characters in world literature and we return to her, and the novel she propels, again and again. Remarkably, there has not yet been an examination of Leo Tolstoy specifically through the lens of this novel. Critic and professor Bob Blaisdell unravels Tolstoy's family, literary, and day-to-day life during the period...
Author
Language
English
Description
This anthology comprises some of history's most hateful public addresses, consisting of speeches invoking racism, genocide, anti-Semitism, terrorism, and other extreme views. Selections range from an oration by Robespierre during the Reign of Terror that followed the French Revolution to Osama bin Laden's threats related to the terrorist actions of 9/11. Additional speeches include Andrew Jackson's Seventh Annual Message to Congress in 1835, promoting...
Author
Language
English
Description
This keepsake gift volume ranges from the twelfth century B.C. to modern times to present an international sampling of the world's best short poems. The works of ancient Greek, Latin, Hebrew, and Persian poets appear alongside those of Arabic, Chinese, German, Indian, Japanese, and Hungarian authors, in addition to classics by English, Irish, and American writers. Featured poems include those of Pushkin ("I Loved You"), Yeats ("Down by the Salley...
Author
Language
English
Description
From a humble backwoods cabin to the highest office in the land, this graphic art biography chronicles Abraham Lincoln's path from obscurity to immortality. Its thirty-six striking woodcuts, each accompanied by a brief caption, depict scenes from the life of the sixteenth president. Original and imaginative in their stark beauty, these images offer fresh perspectives on the familiar tale of Lincoln's progress from rail-splitter and self-taught prairie...
Author
Language
English
Description
The great American humorist first came to national attention with the 1865 publication of this short story. Mark Twain relates the tall tale of a gambler and his high-jumping frog, Dan'l Webster. This edition features the original story, a French translation, and Twain's own re-translation of the second version, retaining the French syntax and sentence structure with amusing results.
Author
Language
English
Description
Rich in insights and inspiration, this anthology surveys the challenges and rewards of teaching. Contributions range from essays by renowned educators such as Pestalozzi, Froebel, Montessori, and Neill to the philosophical observations of Plato, Rousseau, Dewey, and Russell. Writings by Tolstoy, Emerson, and D. H. Lawrence appear alongside those of contemporary teachers, including Taylor Mali, Elizabeth Gold, and Philip Schultz, who reflect on their...
Author
Language
English
Description
"All I have learned, I learned from books," declared Abraham Lincoln, and this book offers ample learning from the sixteenth president's wise and often witty remarks. Drawn from speeches, letters, and other sources, these thoughts and opinions range from considerations of human nature and spirituality to the burdens and privileges of the presidency along with many other topics of enduring interest. Selections include comments on morality ("It has...
Author
Language
English
Description
Love it or hate it, everyone has an opinion on New York! This compact gift book is packed with more than 500 pithy comments, compliments, and criticisms about the city that never sleeps. It features short quotes from Walt Whitman, Langston Hughes, Robert Benchley, Helen Hayes, Lenny Bruce, Jane Jacobs, Fiorello La Guardia, and hundreds of others concerning skyscrapers, subways, Broadway, and other aspects of Big Apple life.
Author
Language
English
Description
The basis of our nation's law and government, the Constitution is America's most important political and social document. This convenient and inexpensive reference contains not only the Constitution's main text and amendments but also a wealth of background information. Supplements include selected "Federalist Papers," consisting of memoranda by James Madison, the "Father of the Constitution," as well as speeches by John Jay and Patrick Henry and...
Author
Language
English
Description
Ranging from colonial times to the mid-19th century, this compact and inexpensive anthology offers a fascinating overview of early American literature. The authoritative texts are supplemented with informative introductory notes and suggestions for further reading. Starting with Cherokee creation myths and Powhatan's moving speech, "Why Should You Destroy Us, Who Have Provided You with Food," the 18th-century selections include the writings of poets...
Author
Language
English
Description
This compact volume offers a broad selection of the most important documents in American history: the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, and the Emancipation Proclamation as well as presidential speeches, Supreme Court decisions, Acts and Declarations of Congress, essays, letters, and much more. The compilation of more than 150 documents, dating from 1606 to 1865, starts with the First Charter of Virginia, issued by King James I, and concludes...
Author
Language
English
Description
Includes James Thurber's "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty," now a major motion picture! Spanning nearly 300 years of American humor, this anthology of entertaining tales ranges from the inventive mind of Benjamin Franklin and his 1732 story, "Alice Addertongue," to Simon Rich's 2012 fable, "Center of the Universe." More than 30 witty short stories include works by Mark Twain, Harriet Beecher Stowe, O. Henry, Langston Hughes, and other masters of the...
Author
Language
English
Description
This new anthology of short fiction by Native Americans features a wide range of contemporary writers. After a brief introductory section that includes early-20th-century stories by Pauline Johnson, Charles A. Eastman, John M. Oskison, and others, the collection focuses on authors who came to prominence in the decades following World War II.
Author
Language
English
Description
This anthology ranges from Henry David Thoreau's great nineteenth-century polemics "Civil Disobedience" and "Slavery in Massachusetts" to more recent writings by Aung San Suu Kyi as well as Nadezhda Tolokonnikova of the subversive Russian rock group Pussy Riot. Additional selections include Leo Tolstoy's denouncement of capital punishment, "I Cannot Be Silent"; Bertrand Russell's "Civil Disobedience and the Threat of Nuclear Warfare"; and "Love,...
Author
Language
English
Description
Works by more than 60 Irish poets, from 18th century to modern times, include "Stella's Birthday" by Swift; Goldsmith's "Stanzas on Woman"; "The Harp that Once Through Tara's Halls" by Moore; Yeats's "To the Rose upon the Rood of Time"; "Strings in the Earth and Air" by Joyce; plus verses by lesser-known poets.
Author
Language
English
Description
This anthology commemorates the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War with reflections from both sides of the conflict. Compiled by an expert in the literature of the era, the poems and short stories appear in chronological order. They trace the war's progress and portray a gamut of moods, from the early days of eagerness to confront the foe to long years of horror at the ongoing carnage and sad relief at the struggle's end. Selections include...
Author
Language
English
Description
At the end of the Civil War, another long and arduous struggle began as the nation attempted to reunite. Literature offered a path toward solidarity, and this concise anthology surveys the writings of major American authors from the war's end to the dawn of the Jazz Age. Featured works include those of Emily Dickinson, Wallace Stevens, William Carlos Williams, Robert Frost, Langston Hughes, and other poets. Mark Twain is prominently represented among...
Author
Language
English
Description
This collection, spanning four centuries of English wit, wisdom, and common sense, contains the thoughts of a number of renowned masters of the essay. From Francis Bacon--the English author who reputedly imported the genre from France, to literary critic, mystery writer, and social commentator G. K. Chesterton, more than twenty writers express their views on such subjects as walking, writing, traveling, sleeping, pets, friends, and childhood. Included...
Author
Language
English
Description
"We must have peace, not only in Atlanta, but in all America," declared General Sherman to the civic leaders who protested against the evacuation and burning of their city. "We don't want your Negroes, or your horses, or your lands, or anything you have, but we do want and will have a just obedience to the laws of the United States. That we will have, and if it involves the destruction of your improvements, we cannot help it." Sherman's impassioned...
20) Poems of Faith
Author
Language
English
Description
The best-known works of more than 60 British and American poets, written over a period of nearly 400 years, comprise this superb collection of verse. Focusing on poems of faith - inspiring, comforting, and profound works with religious themes and ideals - the volume includes "Holy Sonnets" by John Donne, Ben Jonson's "To the Holy Trinity," "Paradise" by George Herbert, "On His Blindness" by John Milton, as well as poems by Andrew Marvell, Thomas Traherne,...