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The Persians (Peoples of Asia #6)
by Gene R. GarthwaiteThe Persians is a succinct narrative of Iranian history from the time of Cyrus the Great in 560BC to the present day. A succinct narrative of Iranian history from the time of Cyrus the Great in 560BC to the present day. Traces events from the rise of the Persian empire, through competition with Rome and conquest by the Arabs, through to the re-establishment of a Persian state in the sixteenth century, and finally the Islamic Revoltuion on 1979 and the establishment of the current Islamic Republic. Uses the most recent scholarship to examine Iran's political, social and cultural history. Focuses on rulership as a central theme in Iranian identity. Also shows how land, language and literature relate to Iranian identity.
Tales from the Torrid Zone: Travels in the Deep Tropics (Vintage Departures Ser.)
by Alexander FraterPart memoir, part travelogue, Tales From the Torrid Zone is rooted in Alex Frater's birthplace, the tiny tropical republic of Vanuatu where his father ran its hospital and his mother, in her front garden, built its first school. From this obscure South Seas group he ranges over the hot, wet, beautiful swathe of the world that has haunted him ever since – dines with a tropical queen in a leper colony, makes his way across tropical Africa (and two civil wars) in a forty-four-year-old flying boat, delivers a new church bell to a remote Oceanian island and visits scores of countries to learn about their history, politics, medicine, flora and fauna (including the remarkable role of the coconut in tropical life). But, as becomes plain, the torrid zone is not just a geographical phenomenon, it’s also a state of mind. The result is a witty, entertaining and immensely readable book from a fine storyteller.
Waltzing the Magpies: A Year in Australia
by Sam PickeringPraise for Sam Pickering: "The art of the essay as delivered by Mr. Pickering is the art of the front porch ramble." ---The New York Times Book Review "Reading Pickering . . . is like taking a walk with your oldest, wittiest friend." ---Smithsonian "What a joy it is to 'mess around' with Professor Sam Pickering!" ---The Chattanooga Times "Pickering is a barefoot observer of the quotidian who revels in the spectacle and its gift for surprise, prefers the rumpled to the starched, has raised puttering and messing about to an art form, and wrings from it more than a pennyworth of happiness and a life well lived." ---Kirkus Reviews The movie Dead Poets Society is where most Americans first met Sam Pickering, the University of Connecticut English professor. Robin Williams plays the lead character (loosely based on Pickering), an idiosyncratic instructor who employs some over-the-top teaching methods to keep his subjects fresh and his students learning. Fewer know that Pickering is the author of more than 16 books and nearly 200 articles, or that he's inspired thousands of university students to think in new ways. And, while Williams may have captured Pickering's madcap classroom antics, he didn't uncover the other side of the author-Sam Pickering as one of our great American men of letters. Like the music of Mozart, the painting of Picasso, or the poetry of Emily Dickinson, you can spot Pickering's writing a mile away; there's no mistaking the Pickering pen. As an ample demonstration of the author's literary gifts, Waltzing the Magpies is his unabashedly lush and Technicolor travelogue from Down Under. On the face of it, Waltzing is the chronicle of a sabbatical year spent with family in Australia. Yet beneath the surface Pickering's big themes-family, nature, seizing the moment-move in a powerful current that frequently bursts out in moments of ecstatic revelation and intense sensual flourish. Through it all Pickering weaves stories from his fictional Southern town of Carthage, Tennessee, especially when the goings of the outside world get rough. Waltzing the Magpies is classic Pickering at the height of his literary powers, and places him in the company of such great American essayists as E. B. White and James Thurber, but with an irony and observational prowess that is pure Pickering.
Maconochie's Gentlemen: The Story of Norfolk Island and the Roots of Modern Prison Reform (Studies in Crime and Public Policy)
by Norval MorrisIn 1840, Alexander Maconochie, a privileged retired naval captain, became at his own request superintendent of two thousand twice-convicted prisoners on Norfolk Island, a thousand miles off the coast of Australia. In four years, Maconochie transformed what was one of the most brutal convict settlements in history into a controlled, stable, and productive environment that achieved such success that upon release his prisoners came to be called "Maconochie's Gentlemen". Here Norval Morris, one of our most renowned criminologists, offers a highly inventive and engaging account of this early pioneer in penal reform, enhancing Maconochie's life story with a trenchant policy twist. Maconochie's life and efforts on Norfolk Island, Morris shows, provide a model with profound relevance to the running of correctional institutions today. Using a unique combination of fictionalized history and critical commentary, Morris gives this work a powerful policy impact lacking in most standard academic accounts. In an era of "mass incarceration" that rivals that of the settlement of Australia, Morris injects the question of humane treatment back into the debate over prison reform. Maconochie and his "Marks system" played an influential role in the development of prisons; but for the last thirty years prison reform has been dominated by punitive and retributive sentiments, the conventional wisdom holding that we need 'supermax' prisons to control the 'worst of the worst' in solitary and harsh conditions. Norval Morris argues to the contrary, holding up the example of Alexander Maconochie as a clear-cut alternative to the "living hell" of prison systems today.
Beyond the Black Stump: Travels around Australia
by Andrew StevensonA seasoned traveller, travel writer Andrew Stevenson is unafraid of the unconventional. Whilst most people visiting Australia tread the well worn path from the Sydney Opera House to Cairns up the East Coast, Andrew disappeared into the Australian outback in search of the original Australians - the Aboriginal People."If you want to meet them nowadays, you've got to go beyond the black stump!" He was told. Going where few have gone before, Andrew delves into the Outback without fear. Drinking in bars with people even the locals avoid, asking questions that we all want to hear the answers to.Written with humour and compassion his powers of observation and enquiring mind draw out a frankness that is sometimes shocking but something from which we can all learn. Beyond the Black Stump: Travels around Australia is no ordinary tale of an intrepid traveller, it is an extraordinary account of an Australia that we have not seen before.
The Book of My Enemy: Collected Verse 1958-2003
by Clive JamesThe reputation of Clive James as a poet was slow to form, perhaps because he was too famous as a star journalist and television entertainer. There was also the drawback that his poetry was so entertaining it was hard for many critics to take seriously. But after the notoriety achieved by a single self-satirizing poem, ‘The Book of My Enemy Has Been Remaindered’, one of the most anthologized poems of recent times, James’s poetic output became impossible to ignore, and his 1985 collection Other Passports was greeted with praise for its thematic scope and technical accomplishment, even by critics who still doubted his seriousness. Since then, James has emerged unarguably as one of the most prominent poets of his generation – and The Book of My Enemy (which includes Other Passports) shows why.
Britain, Australia, New Zealand and the Challenge of the United States, 1939–46: A Study in International History (Studies in Military and Strategic History)
by P. OrdersThis book relates the development of Anglo-Australian-New Zealand relations during and immediately after the second world war to the role of the United States in the South-west Pacific. Based on the results of comprehensive multi-archival research, the book highlights the extent of American-Commonwealth rivalry in the region and following the crisis of late 1941 and early 1942 demonstrates how the reforging of imperial links was shaped by the expansion of American power in Pacific areas south of the equator. It provides an important and timely reassessment of the economic, political and strategic factors that led Britain, Australia and New Zealand to conclude that the postwar affairs of the South-west Pacific should be dominated by the British Empire.
Middle Class Culture in the Nineteenth Century: America, Australia and Britain
by L. YoungDrawing on expressive and material culture, Young shows that money was not enough to make the genteel middle class. It required exquisite self-control and the right cultural capital to perform ritual etiquette and present oneself confidently, yet modestly. She argues that genteel culture was not merely derivative, but a re-working of aristocratic standards in the context of the middle class necessity to work. Visible throughout the English-speaking world in the 1780s -1830s and onward, genteel culture reveals continuities often obscured by studies based entirely on national frameworks.
The Military Dimension: Volume III: The Military Dimension (The History of Anglo-Japanese Relations, 1600-2000)
by I. Gow Y. Hirama J. ChapmanThe five volumes in the series entitled The History of Anglo-Japanese Relations, 1600-2000 explore the history of the relationship between Britain and Japan from the first contacts of the early 1600s through to the end of the twentieth century. This volume presents 19 original essays by Japanese, British and other international historians and covers the evolving military relationship from the 19th century through to the end of the 20th century. The main focus is on the interwar period when both military establishments shifted from collaboration to conflict, as well as wartime issues such as the treatment of POWs seen from both sides, the Occupation of Japan and war crimes trials.
Pacific Asia
by Yumei ZhangPacific Asia has witnessed arguably the most dynamic economic growth and social transformation in the world since 1945. Inspired by the example of Japan, a number of high performing economies have emerged in the region. Pacific Asia explores this extraordinary pace of development and explains the various factors that lie behind it. It introduces the complex politics of development and sets Pacific Asia in its geographical and socio-cultural context. As well as Japan, the role model of development, Pacific Asia examines the experiences of Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.
Pacific Asia
by Yumei ZhangPacific Asia has witnessed arguably the most dynamic economic growth and social transformation in the world since 1945. Inspired by the example of Japan, a number of high performing economies have emerged in the region. Pacific Asia explores this extraordinary pace of development and explains the various factors that lie behind it. It introduces the complex politics of development and sets Pacific Asia in its geographical and socio-cultural context. As well as Japan, the role model of development, Pacific Asia examines the experiences of Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Singapore, South Korea and Taiwan.
Australia's Worst Disasters
by Malcolm BrownGraphic accounts of Australia’s worst disasters – historical as well as events of recent years.From the Ash Wednesday bushfires of 1983 to the implosion of the Royal Canberra Hospital in 1997, and from the shocking Granville railway crash in 1977 to the Sea King helicopter crash of 2005, Australia's history has been punctuated by incidents of disaster and tragedy that have shocked us all. Sometimes warning signs were not read (or were ignored); sometimes human error was to blame. These graphic and compelling accounts by veteran Sydney Morning Herald journalist Malcolm Brown and other award-winning journalists tell us far more than simply what happened - they provide unique insights into the impact of these events on the lives of innocent people. And, interspersed with stories of death and destruction, are heart-warming accounts of courage, grace and just plain good luck.
Contemporary Issues in Australian Literature: International Perspectives
by David CallahanThe contemporary study of Australian literature ranges widely across issues of general cultural studies, the politics of identity (both ethnic and gendered), and the position of Australia within wider postcolonial contexts. This volume intervenes in the most significant of issues in these areas from a variety of international perspectives.
Contemporary Issues in Australian Literature: International Perspectives
by David CallahanThe contemporary study of Australian literature ranges widely across issues of general cultural studies, the politics of identity (both ethnic and gendered), and the position of Australia within wider postcolonial contexts. This volume intervenes in the most significant of issues in these areas from a variety of international perspectives.
Economic Relations Between Britain and Australia from the 1940s-196 (Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies)
by J. Singleton Paul RobertsonIn the early postwar era, Britain enjoyed a very close economic relationship with Australia and New Zealand through their common membership of the Sterling Area and the Commonwealth Preference Area. This book examines the breakdown of this relationship in the 1950 and 1960s. Britain and Australasia were driven apart by disputes over industrial protection, agriculture, capital supplies, and relations with other countries. Special emphasis is given to the implications for Australia and New Zealand of Britain's growing interest in European integration.
Redefining the Bonds of Commonwealth, 1939-1948: The Politics of Preference (Cambridge Imperial and Post-Colonial Studies)
by F. McKenzieThis work is a path-breaking study of the changing attitudes of Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa to Britain and the Commonwealth in the 1940s and the effect of those changes on their individual and collective standing in international affairs. The focus is imperial preference, the largest discriminatory tariff system in the world and a potent symbol of Commonwealth unity. It is based on archival research in Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States.
To Try Her Fortune in London: Australian Women, Colonialism, and Modernity
by Angela WoollacottBetween 1870 and 1940, tens of thousands of Australian women were drawn to London, their imperial metropolis and the center of the publishing, art, musical, theatrical, and educational worlds. Even more Australian women than men made the pilgrimage "home," seeking opportunities beyond those available to them in the Australian colonies or dominion. In tracing the experiences of these women, this volume reveals hitherto unexamined connections between whiteness, colonial status, gender, and modernity.
Colonial frontiers: Indigenous-European Encounters in Settler Societies (Studies in Imperialism)
by Andrew Thompson John M. MacKenzie Kim LathamCross-cultural encounters produce boundaries and frontiers. This book explores the formation, structure, and maintenance of boundaries and frontiers in settler colonies. The southern nations of Australia, New Zealand and South Africa have a common military heritage as all three united to fight for the British Empire during the Boer and First World Wars. The book focuses on the southern latitudes and especially Australia and Australian historiography. Looking at cross-cultural interactions in the settler colonies, the book illuminates the formation of new boundaries and the interaction between settler societies and indigenous groups. It contends that the frontier zone is a hybrid space, a place where both indigene and invader come together on land that each one believes to be their own. The best way to approach the northern Cape frontier zone is via an understanding of the significance of the frontier in South African history. The book explores some ways in which discourses of a natural, prehistoric Aboriginality inform colonial representations of the Australian landscape and its inhabitants, both indigenous and immigrant. The missions of the London Missionary Society (LMS) in Polynesia and Australia are examined to explore the ways in which frontiers between British and antipodean cultures were negotiated in colonial textuality. The role of the Treaty of Waitangi in New Zealand society is possibly the most important and controversial issue facing modern New Zealanders. The book also presents valuable insights into sexual politics, Aboriginal sovereignty, economics of Torres Strait maritime, and nomadism.
Institutions on the edge?: Capacity for governance
by Michael Keating John Wanna Patrick WellerAustralia faces major challenges to its forms of governance. Changing expectations from its citizens, global pressures on the economy and technological innovation are impacting on government operations. Yet most of its institutions were designed a hundred years ago. Cabinet government was inherited. Parliament was already established in its forms and procedures. The federal structure, the High Court and the federal public service were created as a consequence. The party structure has been effectively frozen since the 1920s and a tradition of handing some responsibilities to arms-length organisations was well established.So how have these institutions changed over the last hundred years and how well will they adapt to the demands of the modern world? Do they have the capacity to adapt appropriately and enable governments to achieve their preferred outcomes? In this book experienced academics and practitioners explore these questions. They examine each of the institutions in terms of their ability to meet new challenges and provide some hope that Australia's institutions, even if at times slow to move and dominated by internal interests, have a capacity to adapt and govern effectively. The book shows our political institutions in a new light, as dynamic, often flexible organisms; it provides important new insights into the way we are governed and how our system of governance might develop in the future.
Institutions on the edge?: Capacity for governance
by Michael Keating John Wanna Patrick WellerAustralia faces major challenges to its forms of governance. Changing expectations from its citizens, global pressures on the economy and technological innovation are impacting on government operations. Yet most of its institutions were designed a hundred years ago. Cabinet government was inherited. Parliament was already established in its forms and procedures. The federal structure, the High Court and the federal public service were created as a consequence. The party structure has been effectively frozen since the 1920s and a tradition of handing some responsibilities to arms-length organisations was well established.So how have these institutions changed over the last hundred years and how well will they adapt to the demands of the modern world? Do they have the capacity to adapt appropriately and enable governments to achieve their preferred outcomes? In this book experienced academics and practitioners explore these questions. They examine each of the institutions in terms of their ability to meet new challenges and provide some hope that Australia's institutions, even if at times slow to move and dominated by internal interests, have a capacity to adapt and govern effectively. The book shows our political institutions in a new light, as dynamic, often flexible organisms; it provides important new insights into the way we are governed and how our system of governance might develop in the future.
Deferrals of Domain: Contemporary Women Novelists and the State
by NA NAContemporary female novelists tend to portray the relationship between women and the state as profoundly negative, in contrast to various constructions in current feminist theory. Martine Watson Brownley analyzes novels by Margaret Atwood, Paule Marshall, Nadine Gordimer, and Margaret Drabble to explore the significance of this disparity. The book uses literary analysis to highlight elements of state power that many feminist theorists currently occlude, ranging from women's still minimal access to state politics to the terrifying violence exercised by modern states. At the same time, however, feminist theory clarifies major elements in many contemporary women's lives about which the novels are ambivalent or misleading, such as romantic love and the role of sexuality in state politics. Deferrals of Domain fills a double gap, both authorial and topical, in current critical treatments of women writers and will be of interest to both literary and women's studies scholars.
Down Under: Travels in a Sunburned Country (Bryson #6)
by Bill BrysonIt is the driest, flattest, hottest, most desiccated, infertile and climatically aggressive of all the inhabited continents and still Australia teems with life – a large portion of it quite deadly. In fact, Australia has more things that can kill you in a very nasty way than anywhere else.Ignoring such dangers – and yet curiously obsessed by them – Bill Bryson journeyed to Australia and promptly fell in love with the country. And who can blame him? The people are cheerful, extrovert, quick-witted and unfailingly obliging: their cities are safe and clean and nearly always built on water; the food is excellent; the beer is cold and the sun nearly always shines. Life doesn’t get much better than this…
Formal Issues in Austronesian Linguistics (Studies in Natural Language and Linguistic Theory #49)
by I. Paul V. Phillips Lisa TravisAustronesian languages have long raised interesting questions for generative theories of syntax and morphology. The papers in this volume encompass some of these traditional questions and place them in newer theoretical contexts. Some of the papers also address new issues which add to our understanding of members of this language family on one side and the nature of linguistic theories on the other. There are three broad issues that re-occur throughout the volume - the role and analysis of verbal morphology, the nature of the subject or the topic in these languages, and the interaction of syntax and specificity. The papers in this volume show that as formal theories become more precise, a wider range of language data can be captured, and as the inventory of language data grows, the accuracy of formal linguistic theories improves.
Governing Savages: Commonwealth And Aboriginies, 1911-39
by Andrew MarkusIn 1928, after a white man was killed, a punitive party mounted a series of attacks on Aborigines northwest of Alice Springs. The party's leader admitted that 31 Aborigines were killed. One missionary in the area put the toll at 70; another at as many as 100.Since 1911, the administration of the Northern Territory had been the direct responsibility of the Commonwealth. In placing this event and others within the context of policies pursued by the national government, Governing Savages reveals how policies of brutality and calculated neglect bequeathed a bitter legacy to subsequent generations.
Governing Savages
by Andrew MarkusIn 1928, after a white man was killed, a punitive party mounted a series of attacks on Aborigines northwest of Alice Springs. The party's leader admitted that 31 Aborigines were killed. One missionary in the area put the toll at 70; another at as many as 100.Since 1911, the administration of the Northern Territory had been the direct responsibility of the Commonwealth. In placing this event and others within the context of policies pursued by the national government, Governing Savages reveals how policies of brutality and calculated neglect bequeathed a bitter legacy to subsequent generations.