Описание: *Includes pictures *Includes accounts of the trial and testimony *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents "This death sentence is not surprising. It had to be. There had to be a Rosenberg case, because there had to be an intensification of the hysteria in America to make the Korean War acceptable to the American people. There had to be hysteria and a fear sent through America in order to get increased war budgets. And there had to be a dagger thrust in the heart of the left to tell them that you are no longer gonna get five years for a Smith Act prosecution or one year for contempt of court, but we're gonna kill ya " - Julius Rosenberg In 1947, President Truman had tried to assure Americans, "I am not worried about the Communist Party taking over the Government of the United States, but I am against a person, whose loyalty is not to the Government of the United States, holding a Government job. They are entirely different things. I am not worried about this country ever going Communist. We have too much sense for that." Nonetheless, shortly after World War II, Congress' House Committee on Un-American Activities began investigating Americans across the country for suspected ties to Communism. The most famous victims of these witch hunts were Hollywood actors, such as Charlie Chaplin, whose "Un-American activity" was being neutral at the beginning of World War II, but at the beginning of the Cold War, America was gripped by the Red Scare. The Red Scare would reach a fever pitch after Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy made waves in 1950 by telling the Republican Women's Club in Wheeling, West Virginia that he had a list of dozens of known Communists working in the State Department. The political theater helped Senator McCarthy become the prominent anti-Communist crusader in the government, and McCarthy continued to claim he held evidence suggesting Communist infiltration throughout the government, but anytime he was pressed to produce his evidence, McCarthy would not name names. Instead, he'd accuse those who questioned his evidence of being Communists themselves. The case of Alger Hiss and the rise of McCarthyism were undoubtedly instrumental in the way that one of the most notorious cases in American history unfolded in the early 1950s. After years of keeping tabs on Julius and Ethel Rosenberg, the two Communist sympathizers were indicted on charges of treason and conspiracy to commit espionage for passing off secrets about the atomic bomb to the Soviet Union. In the context of the Cold War and the Korean War, there could hardly be more serious charges, but the couple strenuously asserted their innocence, even after they were implicated by Ethel's own brother, David Greenglass. Throughout the trial and its aftermath, many Americans believed the Rosenbergs were innocent and/or were facing an unduly harsh death sentence. Indeed, authorities had hoped to wring confessions out of the two by threatening them with the chair, but they held steadfast all the way up until their executions on June 19, 1953. In the over 60 years since, there has been plenty of debate over whether the two of them were guilty, and, if so, what the extent of their espionage was. While historians have used declassified documents and memoirs of involved individuals to reach the widespread belief that Julius Rosenberg did commit espionage, there is still a lot of doubt regarding Ethel's involvement, and scholars still debate just what Julius may have sent the Soviets. The mystery and intrigue still surrounding the case, trial, and executions continue to fascinate people and generate plenty of ongoing speculation. The Case of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg: The History of America's Most Controversial Espionage Trial chronicles the events that led to the infamous trial and execution of the Rosenbergs.
Автор: Charles River Editors Название: American Legends: The Life of Marvin Gaye ISBN: 1500704458 ISBN-13(EAN): 9781500704452 Издательство: Неизвестно Цена: 1248.00 р. Наличие на складе: Есть у поставщика Поставка под заказ.
Описание: *Includes a full length biography of Ayn Rand that examines her life, works, philosophy, and legacy. *Includes a primer on Atlas Shrugged that will quickly bring readers up to speed on the plot, characters, themes, symbols, and philosophy of Rand's classic novel. *Includes pictures of Rand and important people in her life. *Includes many of Rand's most famous quotes from Atlas Shrugged and other works. *Includes a Bibliography for further reading. "Government 'help' to business is just as disastrous as government persecution... the only way a government can be of service to national prosperity is by keeping its hands off." - Ayn Rand Ayn Rand was born in St. Petersburg, Russia to Jewish parents on February 2, 1905 as Alisa Zinov'yevna Rosenbaum, and she lived through the turbulence and transformation of early 20th century Russia. Her first exposure to reading came after she taught herself how to read at age six, and she decided at nine years old to become a writer after a chance encounter with the books of Victor Hugo, the writer she admired most. The seminal events in the young would-be writer's life came just a few years later, when she witnessed firsthand the Bolshevik Revolution and the ultimate Communist victory as a teenager. Rand's experience with the maelstrom of this revolutionary zeal and cultural breakdown greatly contributed toward the formation of Rand's philosophy of objectivism, individualism and anti-religious ideas. During her last year of high school, she was introduced to the history of the United States and immediately decided to make America her model of what an ideal society should look like. Rand came to the United States as a young woman for a visit in 1925, and, as fate would have it, she never returned to Russia. In middle age, Rand continued trying to write in some capacity as a profession, but she had also formed her personal philosophy of integrating ethics, metaphysics, epistemology, politics, economics, and sexuality into what came to be called Objectivism, or as she called it, "a philosophy for living on earth." Rand began writing Atlas Shrugged, her enormous three part major novel, each with ten chapters, in 1946. Nearly 10 years after it was begun she finished what ultimately became her greatest achievement, and she poignantly dramatized her unique philosophy. Though Atlas Shrugged had been a popular title when Ayn Rand published it in 1957, it's quite possible that the only reference to it that many Americans heard before 2009 came from the hit series Mad Men. However, this staple of conservative and libertarian reader took on new life as the new Obama Administration sought to use government resources to fix financial problems. In 2009, with the global economy hemorrhaging jobs, and Western governments pouring hundreds of billions of dollars in taxpayer money to "bail out" troubled financial firms and large companies, frustrated people and political analysts turned to a book written over 50 years earlier as a guide out of the abyss. Conservative politicians like Ron Paul (who named his son after Rand) and commentators like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh publicly praised Rand and her works, and Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas labeled Atlas Shrugged one of his favorite novels. By January 2009, one article in the Wall Street Journal was titled, ""Atlas Shrugged From Fiction to Fact in 52 Years." Over the last few years, Rand has become a household name and her works have seen their sales spike. Rand and her work are now some of the most influential and relevant works in America today. Ayn Rand & Atlas Shrugged chronicles the life, ideology and writings of the most famous Libertarian writer, and it examines her seminal book in detail. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Ayn Rand and her magnum opus like you never have before.
Автор: Charles River Editors Название: American Legends: The Life of Farrah Fawcett ISBN: 150103345X ISBN-13(EAN): 9781501033452 Издательство: Неизвестно Цена: 1248.00 р. Наличие на складе: Есть у поставщика Поставка под заказ.
Описание: *Includes pictures *Includes Fawcett's quotes about her life and career *Includes a bibliography for further reading
"I became famous almost before I had a craft." - Farrah Fawcett
"TV had much more impact back in the '70s than it does today. Charlie's Angels got huge numbers every week - nothing really dominates the television landscape like that today. Maybe American Idol comes close, but now there are so many channels and so many more shows it's hard for anything to get the audience, or amount of attention, that Charlie's Angels got. Farrah was a major TV star when the medium was clearly dominant." - Larry King
A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history's most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors' American Legends series, readers can get caught up to speed on the lives of America's most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known.
The sensation that Farrah Fawcett caused in the 1970s can be confirmed by the fact that TIME magazine designated her as the "epitome of '70s glamour." Indeed, there was no actress or supermodel that so comprehensively captured the attention of the American public during that decade (Sherrow 128). Her career accomplishments are remarkable, considering Fawcett did not emerge into the cultural spotlight until halfway through the decade. Whereas most famous celebrities earn a reputation for themselves by their mid-20s, Fawcett did not become a household name until 1977, when she was already 30 years of age. In other words, when Farrah became famous, she defied the odds, and her continued success in subsequent decades demonstrated that women could stay glamorous well into middle age.
To limit the accomplishments of Farrah Fawcett to her glamour is to diminish the cultural importance of her appearance, to ignore the significant role she played with regard to the representation of women in popular American media. After all, in order to do justice to what Farrah Fawcett meant to people, it is necessary to look beyond just how Farrah looked (while acknowledging the importance of how she looked) and acknowledge what Farrah did. It is significant to note that Farrah emerged in the cultural context of second-wave feminism and in the wake of the sexual revolution-a period in which women were breaking through the long-extant subordination of women at the hands of men, both in popular media and society more broadly. Farrah remains such an important figure because she had a tremendous impact on many entertainment platforms, from modeling (and posters) to television to cinema, particularly in her later years. It is fair to argue over whether Farrah Fawcett maintained the popularity she reached in the 1970s, but it cannot be doubted that she was able to successfully cross boundaries between cinema and television, print and electronic media. Through these ventures, she played an inexorable role in affecting not only how women were represented but also how women viewed their bodies; she pushed the boundaries of what women were capable of in American popular culture.
Farrah Fawcett also is such a culturally noteworthy figure because her work is so open to diverse interpretations. While Farrah is effusively regaled for being a feminist icon (however unwittingly), it also has been argued that she was objectified in a manner that was solely designed to satisfy the male gaze. In an effort to do justice to the intricacies of Fawcett's image, this biography explores Farrah's body of work, with attention paid to the distinct interpretations of her oeuvre and public image. Fawcett's personal background also is discussed, as is her bout with cancer that ultimately took her life at the premature age of 62.
Описание: *Includes pictures *Includes accounts of the standoff by federal agents and members of the Branch Davidians *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents "If you are a Branch Davidian, Christ lives on a threadbare piece of land 10 miles east of here called Mount Carmel. He has dimples, claims a ninth-grade education, married his legal wife when she was 14, enjoys a beer now and then, plays a mean guitar, reportedly packs a 9mm Glock and keeps an arsenal of military assault rifles, and willingly admits that he is a sinner without equal." - The opening passage of "The Sinful Messiah", published in the Waco Tribune-Herald on February 27, 1993 In February 1993, President Bill Clinton had only been in office for a few weeks when one of the most important events of his presidency began to take shape. Ironically, it would involve a group that the vast majority of Americans had never heard of and knew absolutely nothing about. The Branch Davidians were an obscure religious sect located in Texas, but members of the group led by David Koresh in Waco, Texas stockpiled enough weaponry to catch the attention of the federal government. The U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) ultimately decided to serve arrest and search warrants at the compound for the possession of illegal weapons, even though they fully expected it would require a raid that could potentially turn fatal. The ATF hoped to use the element of surprise when it commenced the raid on February 28, but the Branch Davidians were ready for them, which led to an intense firefight between the two sides that resulted in the deaths of 4 ATF agents and a number of Branch Davidians. With that, the FBI got involved, and federal agents settled in for a standoff that would last about 50 days, trying everything from negotiating to using sleep deprivation tactics to coerce the Branch Davidians into ending the confrontation. Finally, on April 19, government agents breached the compound's walls and tried to use gas to flush the Branch Davidians out peacefully, but a series of fires broke out and quickly spread, killing the vast majority of the occupants inside, including many young children. Naturally, controversy spread over how the siege ended; for example, while most believe the Branch Davidians intentionally started the fires as part of a mass suicide, others insist it was the fault of the ATF. Debate also raged over whether the government could have and should have made different decisions to defuse the situation. No matter which side people came down on, the violent confrontation embarrassed government officials, and Dick Morris, an advisor of Clinton's, even claimed that Attorney General Janet Reno only kept her job after Waco by threatening to pin the blame on the president: " H]e went into a meeting with her, and he told me that she begged and pleaded, saying that . . . she didn't want to be fired because if she were fired it would look like he was firing her over Waco. And I knew that what that meant was that she would tell the truth about what happened in Waco. Now, to be fair, that's my supposition. I don't know what went on in Waco, but that was the cause. But I do know that she told him that if you fire me, I'm going to talk about Waco." In addition to influencing how the government approached potential future conflicts with other groups, Waco's most important legacy was that it enraged people who already had an anti-government bent. The most notable, of course, was Timothy McVeigh, who conducted what was at the time the deadliest terrorist attack in American history in Oklahoma City on the second anniversary of the final confrontation at Waco. The Waco Siege: The History of the Federal Government's Standoff with David Koresh and the Branch Davidians chronicles the controversial event and the influence it had.
