Showing results by author "A. J. Thomas" in All Categories

In the winter of 1936, Franklin Roosevelt remarked in a fireside chat, "I do not look upon these United States as a finished product. We are still in the making." Certainly apt in the midst of the Great Depression, the idea of a nation in the making still resonates today as we measure the achievements and shortcomings of our democracy. Over the 20th century, Americans have worked, organized, marched, and fought to make the nation's ideals a reality for all.

Born to Be Strange is an anthology of short stories, poetry and essays by Portland, Oregon author, Thomas J Turner. This material ranges from a grieving widow considering suicide to a carload of hit-men on a road trip. An outlaw street racer and his friends roar around in a 1957 Chevy, while a green kid attempts to survive Army boot camp. Also, a man grapples with the impending death of his mother, and wonders why he doesn't feel badly enough about it.

On March 13, 2013, the world waited in hushed anticipation for the announcement of the new successor of Peter and leader of the Roman Catholic Church. For weeks the news had been filled with discussions and speculation of leading papabili. Now, finally, the new pope would be revealed. But when Jorge Mario Bergoglio appeared, the world was momentarily stunned. Who was this humble cardinal from Argentina who emerged onto the loggia, choosing the name Francis in honor of St. Francis of Assisi?

A night of drunken confusion at 19 resulted in Patrick Connelly fathering a child. Determined to be there for his son, Patrick walked away from a sport he loved and forever hid his sexuality. After Patrick's brutal divorce and a vicious hate crime, his son, Jay, has become obsessed with graffiti. Patrick moves Jay to Seattle. Within two weeks, Jay is arrested again. Thinking things can't get any worse, he's confronted by the sexiest man he's ever seen - his son's new probation officer, Ken Atkins.

In this vivid and lively account, Thomas J. Whalen chronicles Russell's memorable last season and the Celtics' dazzling triumph. Set against the backdrop of the tumultuous 1960s and Boston's own turbulent and bitter struggles with race, he tells the fascinating story of how an improbable championship team overcame poor health, indifferent fans, disruptive personnel changes, and internal morale problems. Whalen recounts how Russell transformed the game of basketball during his remarkable career and revisits the outspoken superstar's conflicted relationship with Boston.

Bata: shoemaker to the world is the story of the man, his family and their business. Eloquently told and rich in anecdotes, it traces the road from the Bata family's humble beginnings in a Moravian village to Tom's undisputed claim to the title of shoemaker to the world. His entrepreneurial upbringing, his fight for control of the family enterprise, his unique partnership with his wife and the way he went about implementing his business philosophy add up to one of the great success stories of the twentieth century.

A grisly collection of despicable crimes told by some of the world's best writers.

An Irish grandfather's memoir of his childhood in the Connemara region of Ireland from 1936 and beyond to his life as an immigrant coming to America in 1958. His story of the women he loved and lost, the adventures of trying to make it in New York with little formal education and struggling to achieve the American dream. Passionately told with humor, a no-holds-barred story spanning over 70 years, authored for his children and grandchildren, will be greatly enjoyed by everyone.

Doug Heavy Runner left the life of an openly gay Miami police officer and returned to his home on the Salish-Kootenai Indian Reservation when his mother got sick. In the two years since she passed, he's carved out an empty life as a small-town deputy, relying on out-of-town one-night stands to keep him sane. Then he meets Detective Christopher Hayes, and they share a wild night so incredible Doug breaks his own rule and allows a one-night stand to grow into a weekend of amazing sex.

Congress is the first branch of government in the American system, write Thomas E. Mann and Norman J. Ornstein, but now it is a broken branch, damaged by partisan bickering and internal rancor. The Broken Branch offers both a brilliant diagnosis of the cause of Congressional decline and a much-needed blueprint for change, from two experts who understand politics and revere our institutions, but believe that Congress has become deeply dysfunctional.

This is a diverting delight, a window on romance in literature. There are high lovers and low lovers, tragic lovers, comic lovers, and lovers who shouldn’t be doing what they are doing at all and certainly not then and there. There is even Fanny Hill trying not to discover what physical love is about when set upon by an old roué who has paid for the privilege. Though of special interest for lovers and their special lover’s day of St. Valentine, it is an amusing and sometimes surprising collection.

Professor Thomas J. Finan conducts an enthralling series of lectures on a subject that is an enduring part of the popular imagination: the castle. Professor Finan examines the castle from a variety of contemporary perspectives, including those of history, archaeology, geography, and landscape studies. The course also covers the morphology of medieval fortifications and castles and considers the social and landscape natures of castles, as well as the role of the castle in Europe.

Perhaps no other Union commander's reputation has been the subject of as much controversy as George B. McClellan's. Thomas J. Rowland presents a framework in which early Civil War command can be viewed without direct comparison to that of the final two years. Such comparisons, in his opinion, are both unfair and contextually inaccurate. Only by understanding how very different was the context and nature of the war facing McClellan, as opposed to Grant and Sherman, can one discard the traditional "good general-bad general" approach to command performance. I

Adopted by the U.S. Navy for issue to all new sailors, A Sailor’s History of the U.S. Navy brings to life the events that have shaped and inspired the navy of today while highlighting the roles of all sailors—from seaman to admiral. Rather than focus entirely upon such naval icons as Stephen Decatur and Chester Nimitz, as most histories do, author Thomas J. Cutler, a retired lieutenant commander and former petty officer second class, brings to the forefront the contributions of enlisted people.

Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic masterpiece The Scarlet Letter is set in 17th century Salem, Massachusetts, and concerns the public condemnation of Hester Prynne, who bears an illegitimate child. However, the story is not about adultery, nor is it specifically about sin. Rather it traces the effect of actual and symbolic sin on the mind and spirit of each character.

Hinter jedem Märchen lauert ein Albtraum. Kopenhagen 1834: Es ist eine dunkle Zeit, Elend und Hunger wachsen stetig. Der junge Hans Christian Andersen träumt davon, als Dichter zu Ruhm zu gelangen - stattdessen verhaftet man ihn wegen Mordverdachts. Eine junge Prostituierte, bei der er am Vorabend gesehen worden war, wird tot aus dem dreckigen Wasser des Kanals gezogen. Auf Bitten eines Mäzens bekommt Andersen drei Tage Zeit, seine Unschuld zu beweisen

Compared with other currencies, blockchain-managed money markets are more straightforward and transparent. It is easier to monitor, understand, and assess the quality of their "full-faith and credit." Money Without Boundaries shows how not only money, but also the process of borrowing and lending, will evolve to be conducted in a 100% trusted, secure, transparent, open architecture environment. Anderson begins with a history of money and discusses the rise of cryptocurrency, concluding with a comparison of decentralized money markets to all other alternatives.

Talent in the workplace is increasingly identified as a key factor in determining success. If effectively managed it has the potential to be a productive resource capable of adding value and competitive advantage to an organization. The Talent Powered Organization takes a strategic yet practical view of talent. Drawing on research and real-life experiences with clients, the authors provide a series of conceptual frameworks to attract, develop, and retain the best workforce.

Everybody makes mistakes, but when an American president blunders, the results can be catastrophic. In an effort to put an end to Britain and France's policy of seizing American ships and sailors, Thomas Jefferson calls for an embargo. The result: 30,000 sailors put out of work; mercantile families bankrupted overnight; a nationwide economic depression; and the New England states, which depended heavily on international commerce, threaten to secede from the Union.All of these, and many more, incredible lapses in judgement are explained in this book.

Once America's "arsenal of democracy," Detroit is now the symbol of the American urban crisis. In this reappraisal of America's racial and economic inequalities, Thomas Sugrue asks why Detroit and other industrial cities have become the sites of persistent racialized poverty. He challenges the conventional wisdom that urban decline is the product of the social programs and racial fissures of the 1960s.