Benny Hill`s saucy smirks at underdressed women are relished the world over. Yet the comedian cut an unlikely figure of global admiration: unmarried and emotionally enfeebled in his few relationships, he was a deeply private individual uninterested in the trappings of success, a frugal man content to live in his humble childhood home flooded, freezing and burgled while his building society account bulged with millions of pounds he didn`t use and hadn`t wanted to earn. Funny, Peculiar is the first objective and full account of Benny Hill`s life and work. Tenaciously researched and yet sensitively reported, it charts the highs, lows and many paradoxes of a man whose professional strengths-observation, impression and mime-bought him unimagined success, and whose weakness, especially an inability to change, fashioned his ultimate downfall. - First in-depth biography since Benny`s death in April 1992. - A return to favour with audiences who are jaded with `alternative comedy`. - Existing biographies are unreliable, lightweight and out of date. - Benny has been screened in 109 countries, and enjoyed for over 50 years

"A biography of Dorothy Wrinch"--

A biography of the leading halakhic authority Jehiel Jacob Weinberg, born in Ciechanowiecz, Poland. He was the last rector of the Berlin Rabbinical Seminary. Ch. 5 (pp. 110-134), "Response to the New Nazi Government (1933-1934), " characterizes the early reaction of Weinberg to the Nazis as naive and apologetic. Weinberg helped the Orthodox Jews deal with problems of daily life under the Nazis (e.g. the ban on ritual slaughter). Ch. 6 (pp. 135-171), "The Nazi Era (1933-1945), " notes that Orthodox German Jews first adopted a policy of appeasement with the regime. With Jews excluded from general education and other aspects of German life, the role of the Seminary became more important. Weinberg had opposed Jewish emigration, and the "Kristallnacht" pogrom came as a tremendous shock to him; the Seminary was closed and most of the students and faculty emigrated. At the outbreak of the war he was in Warsaw, where he helped with communal affairs. As a Soviet citizen, Weinberg suffered less than others; in October 1941 he was transferred from the Warsaw ghetto to a detention camp in Wuelzburg, Germany, possibly in order to trade him for German citizens held captive in the USSR. He remained there until April 1945. Most of his family was murdered in the Holocaust. After the war he became head of a yeshiva in Montreux, Switzerland.

"An authoritative biography of Jozef Pilsudski, a key figure in interwar Europe regarded as the founding hero of a pluralistic and democratic modern Poland. After the first elected president was assassinated, Pilsudski lost faith in Poles' commitment to democracy, led a military coup, and ruled as a strongman, leaving a complicated legacy"--

"Here is the first Kant-biography in English since Paulsen's and Cassirer's only full-scale study of Kant's philosophy. On a very deep level, all of Cassirer's philosophy was based on Kant's, and accordingly this book is Cassirer's explicit coming to terms with his own historical origins. It sensitively integrates interesting facts about Kant's life with an appreciation and critique of his works. Its value is enhanced by Stephen Körner's Introduction, which places Cassirer's Kant-interpretation in its historical and contemporary context." - Lewis White Beck ; "The first English translation (well done by James Haden) of a 60-year-old classic intellectual biography. Those readers who know Kant only through the first Critique will find their understanding of that work deepened and illuminated by a long explication of the pre-critical writings, but perhaps the most distinctive contribution is Cassirer's argument that the later Critiques, and especially the Critique of Judgment, must be understood not as merely applying the principles of the first to other areas but as subsuming the latter into a larger and more comprehensive framework." - Frederick J. Crown, The Key Reporter ; "Kant's Life and Thought is that rare achievement: a lucid and highly readable account of the life and work of one of the world's profoundest thinkers. Now for the first time available in an admirable English translation, the book introduces the reader to two of the finest minds in the history of philosophy." - Ashley Montagu --

On June 27, 1868, Hole in the Day (Bagonegiizhig) the Younger left Crow Wing, Minnesota, for Washington, DC, to fight the planned removal of the Mississippi Ojibwe to a reservation at White Earth. Several miles from his home, the self-styled leader of all the Ojibwe was stopped by at least twelve Ojibwe men and fatally shot. Hole in the Day's death was national news, and rumors of its cause were many: personal jealousy, retribution for his claiming to be head chief of the Ojibwe, retaliation for the attacks he fomented in 1862, or retribution for his attempts to keep mixed-blood Ojibwe off the White Earth Reservation. Still later, investigators found evidence of a more disturbing plot involving some of his closest colleagues: the business elite at Crow Wing. While most historians concentrate on the Ojibwe relationship with whites to explain this story, Anton Treuer focuses on interactions with other tribes, the role of Ojibwe culture and tradition, and interviews with more than fifty elders to further explain the events leading up to the death of Hole in the Day. The Assassination of Hole in the Day is not only the biography of a powerful leader but an extraordinarily insightful analysis of a pivotal time in the history of the Ojibwe people. " An essential study of nineteenth-century Ojibwe leadership and an important contribution to the field of American Indian Studies by an author of extraordinary knowledge and talent. Treuer's work is infused with a powerful command over Ojibwe culture and linguistics." --Ned Blackhawk, author of Violence Over the Land: Indians and Empires in the Early American West "The Assassination of Hole in the Day is a masterful history, and more. Anton Treuer illuminates the character of a controversial and charismatic Ojibwe leader from within Ojibwe culture, and tells a powerful story of loss that reverberates in the present." --Louise Erdrich "This is more than a murder mystery. It provides insights into the evolution of clan structure, tribal governance and relations with the Dakota and other tribes since the time a century and a half ago when white pressure, the declining fur trade and other factors led to the cession of great tracts of land and the people's removal to reservations." --Star Tribune "This highly recommended work provides insights into the challenges faced by native peoples during an era when they were under intense pressure by the federal government to move to reservations." --Library Journal "Treuer explores the life and death of this brash young leader, and delves into tribal history and the intricate machinations of Ojibwa politics." --Booklist Anton Treuer, professor of Ojibwe at Bemidji State University, is the author of Ojibwe in Minnesota and several books on the Ojibwe language. He is also the editor of Oshkaabewis Native Journal, the only academic journal of the Ojibwe language.

Anka Muhlstein's lively biography, translated by Teresa Waugh, introduces American readers to Astolphe de Custine, a passionate literary figure, a poet, playwright, essayist, traveler, aristocrat and homosexual adventurer. Against the fascinating background of early-19th-century France, Anka Muhlstein presents the gifted if at times deplorable Custine with vivacity, elegance, and insight. It is a splendid introduction to the Marquis and his world and to his famous 1839 tour of autocratic Russia -- Daniel Aaron. Briliant, visionary, beautiful Astolphe -- man of letters and man of society -- finally gets his biography . . . -- French elle Magazine ... -- Amazon

A followup to Beyond the Ashes. Fifteen gripping stories of people who have found healing through past-life recall of the Holocaust.

"This volume attempts to trace the philosophical development of one of the greatest philosophers of all times. It is the first attempt of its kind in English and its timely appearance coincides with the recent increase of interest in Spinoza’s philosophy in Anglo-American philosophy. Spinoza’s fame—or notoriety—is due primarily to his posthumously published magnum opus, the Ethics, and, to a somewhat lesser extent, to the 1670 Theological-Political Treatise. Few readers take the time to study his early works carefully. If they do, they are likely to encounter some surprising claims, which often diverge from, or even utterly contradict, the doctrines of the Ethics. Yet, though these claims reveal some tension between the early works and the Ethics, there is also a clear continuity between them. Spinoza wrote the Ethics over a long period of time, which spanned most of his philosophical career. The dates of the early drafts of the Ethics, as documented in his earliest letters, seem to overlap (or almost overlap) with the assumed dates of the composition of the Treatise on the Emendation of the Intellect and the Short Treatise on God, Man, and His Well-Being, and precede the publication of Spinoza’s 1663 book on Descartes’ Principles of Philosophy. For this reason, it seems that a study of Spinoza’s early works (and correspondence) could illuminate the nature of the problems Spinoza addresses in the Ethics, insofar as the views expressed in the early works help us reconstruct the development and genealogy of the Ethics." --

Which 2004 presidential candidate was found liable for defamation? Which one dumped someone else's combat medals at an antiwar protest? Which two voted to ban abortion? Which four are divorced? If traditional coverage of the 2004 presidential election is leaving you with more questions that answers, turn off your TV and pick up Slate's Field Guide to the Candidates . From the candidates' views on key issues such as foreign policy, gun control, and abortion, to their worst flip-flops and favorite buzzwords, to their pet issues and personal quirks, Slate's Field Guide to the Candidates delves deep to answer the questions readers didn't even know they had. This is the source for every American who hopes to be truly informed about the 2004 presidential election.

The autobiography of the late American radical civil rights lawyer William Moses Kunstler.

Born in 1905 in the center of the crumbling Austro-Hungarian empire, Viktor Frankl was a witness to the great political, philosophical and scientific upheavals of the twentieth century. In these recollections Frankl describes how as a young doctor of neurology in prewar Vienna his disagreements with Freud and Adler led to the development of the "third Viennese School of Psychotherapy," known as Logotherapy; recounts his harrowing trials in four concentration camps during the War; and reflects on the celebrity brought by the publication of Man's Search for Meaning in 1945.

A somewhat harrowing account of a Jewish girl who left Czechoslovakia in the 1940s and relocated in England as a refugee.

This is an account of the life and career of the entrepreneur, Tiny Rowland, the head of Lonrho and the owner of "The Observer". It is a story of empire-building, unresolved mystery, commercial skulduggery, financial acumen, and confrontations with a succession of governments in Europe, America and Africa. The book reflects not only the fortunes of an individualist, but the ambitions, machinations and limitations of an array of power-brokers in the City, Whitehall, Wall Street and elsewhere in the world.

The riveting tale of how the wanabee aristo Conrad Black and his social-mountaineering wife Barbara gulled their way into the City, the Tory party, Wall Street and High Society. This new paperback edition will be fully updated to include details of Black's high-profile trial for corporate fraud, sure to claim international attention. The rise and fall of the media tycoon Conrad Black is rivalled in its spectacular extravagance only by the machinations of his social-mountaineering wife, Barbara Amiel. Together their story of overweening ambition and greed is a modern-day classic of hubris. There is no bolder or better-informed chronicler of the follies of the rich and powerful than Tom Bower. Fearless in the approach which has brought him accolades for his gripping exposés of Robert Maxwell, Tiny Rowland, Mohammed Fayed and Richard Branson, Bower reveals how the Blacks financed a billionaire's lifestyle and won friends and influence in London and New York. Born into considerable wealth in Canada, Conrad Black bought and sold (but never effectively managed) several businesses, from mining and tractors to broadcasting companies and newspapers. In 1985 he bought the Telegraph group in London, where very little was known of the controversy over his past financial dealings. In 1992 he married Barbara Amiel, who later famously said, 'I have an extravagance that knows no bounds'. Besotted with his wife, he began living way beyond his means. Fabulous parties, jewellery, clothes, private jets and homes followed. In 2003 an independent report in America accused him of 'outright fraud', 'ethical corruption' and 'corporate kleptocracy' - allegations that he will vigorously deny at his trial in Chicago in 2007. This edition will be updated to include the full story of the trial in all its sensational detail. Tom Bower's book, based on over 150 interviews with bankers, politicians, celebrities, power-brokers and close friends, is packed with intimate revelations. It is a hugely entertaining account of gullibility in high places.

"The tragedy of the left is that, having achieved an unprecedented victory in helping stop an appalling war, it then proceeded to commit suicide." So writes Todd Gitlin about the aftermath of the Vietnam War in this collection of writings that calls upon intellectuals on the left to once again engage American public life and resist the trappings of knee-jerk negativism, intellectual fads, and political orthodoxy. Gitlin argues for a renewed sense of patriotism based on the ideals of sacrifice, tough-minded criticism, and a willingness to look anew at the global role of the United States in the aftermath of 9/11. Merely criticizing and resisting the Bush administration will not do-the left must also imagine and propose an America reformed.Where then can the left turn? Gitlin celebrates the work of three prominent postwar intellectuals: David Riesman, C. Wright Mills, and Irving Howe. Their ambitious, assertive, and clearly written works serve as models for an intellectual engagement that forcefully addresses social issues and remains affirmative and comprehensive. Sharing many of the qualities of these thinkers' works, Todd Gitlin's blunt, frank analysis of the current state of the left and his willingness to challenge orthodoxies pave the way for a revival in leftist thought and a new liberal patriotism.