A heart-rending, wartime story of a young Czech exile's lonely struggle to grasp the meaning of life and love.

"This is an autobiography of one of the pioneers of hearing implants, Dr. Ellis Douek, who was the first to monitor the hearing of a baby at birth, and who participated in the development of a middle ear device for the restoration of hearing that now bears his name: Douek-MED. The book sheds light on the life of a surgeon from the early days of the UK National Health Service, and covers the highlights of Douek's medical career"--

When Ellis Douek was nine, his mother insisted that he take up embroidery, in case he became a surgeon when he grew up. Of course she was right, for he became Consultant ENT Surgeon at Guy's Hospital in London. The Douek parents had the unerring quality of belonging in whichever country they lived - Egypt, the Sudan, Columbia and, finally, England. Ellis Douek's memoirs describe the hedonism of life in Egypt, the Suez Crisis which uprooted them, 1950s Bradford, and Paris. He began his medical training in Paris where he, his sister Claudia (Claudia Roden, the cookery writer), and brother Zaki lived free of adult supervision. His training continued in London during a time of smog, digs and landladies. Ellis's days as an army medic provide hilarious accounts of whisky-sodden soldiers, circumcisions and bureaucratic procedures.

A legendary figure from Hollywood's Golden Age tells the story of his life, from "royal" upbringing, through his salad days, stormy marriage, and numerous affairs, to his adventures as a naval commander in World War II

A political adviser to the formidably intellectual Foreign Secretary Tony Crosland and to Prime Minister Jim Callaghan, and a senior journalist at The Times and The Economist, David Lipsey has been close to the heart of government for more than four decades. Providing a unique perspective on a period of great economic and political upheaval, In the Corridors of Power details such flashpoints as the 1976?77 IMF crisis, which saw Britain under a divided government hovering on the edge of national bankruptcy, and reveals why Jim Callaghan ducked an election in 1978? and led Labour to disast ...

The mob couldn't live with Jimmy Roselli and it couldn't live without him. Roselli is Hoboken's other great singer, and to a greater degree than Frank Sinatra, who lived down the street from him, Roselli maintained his ties to his old neighborhood and its people. He's their link to their cultural heritage and Italy, and he continues to sing a good half of his repertoire in Italian. But this didn't stop his wiseguy following from getting angry at him from time to time. Roselli's best-loved song, "Little Pal, " is the wiseguy anthem, which he sang at John Gotti, Jr.'s wedding reception. Carlo Gambino attended shows regularly and had Jimmy chauffeured to his Massapequa estate for dinner. Mobster Larry Gallo was buried with a Roselli record in his hands. Hoboken's unsung great singer feuded with Sinatra, stood up to shakedown artists, befriended godfathers. But he also spurned legitimate help, sometimes when he needed it the most, by telling off Ed Sullivan, refusing Merv Griffin, and turning down Francis Ford Coppola's offer to sing "Senza Mamma" in The Godfather, Part II. Nevertheless, Roselli now has thirty-six recordings in print, owns his own record company, and commands more than $100,000 a night in performance. With a cast of characters that includes Jimmy Durante, the Rat Pack, comedian Joe E. Lewis, and Tony Bennett, Making the Wiseguys Weep is the story of a brilliant entertainer as well as a portrait of Italian-American culture from the 240 saloons that lined Hoboken's streets to the ritzy Copacabana and the bright lights of Caesars Palace in Atlantic City.

Book and jacket rate fine/like new used better than very good not quite mint.

Presents the history of the early modern Jewish experience. Ranging from Krakow and Venice to Amsterdam and Smyrna, this title examines the historical and cultural factors unique to Jewish communities throughout Europe, and how these distinctions played out amidst the rest of society.

Dave Atlas, one of the founding fathers of radar meteorology, solved many puzzles and invented numerous techniques that transformed a fledgling application into a vital scientific and operational tool. This is an entertaining book that combines recollections and commentary on the various stages of the author s career in the field of weather radar with his boundless enthusiasm for creativity and the sheer joy of discovery."

In July 1961, just before David Aaronovitch's seventh birthday, Yuri Gagarin came to London. The Russian spaceman was everything the Aaronovitch family wished for - a popular and handsome embodiment of modern communism, of the forward march of history. When Gagarin went to Highgate to visit the tomb of Karl Marx, the local communists came out to cheer, David's father, a full-time worker for the Communist Party, and his mother among them. But who were they, these ever hopeful, defiant and (had they but known it) historically doomed people? In a sense they were like a non-magical version of the wizards of J K Rowling's world, living part secretly with and parallel to the non-communist majority, sometimes persecuted, sometimes ignored, but carrying on their own ways and traditions. Where others went to church they went to Socialist Sunday School, where others watched the Black and White Minstrels they went to see the Red Army Choir (always providing that visas had been issued). Society's up was their down, its heroes were their villains and vice versa. Trade unions were never more noble than when militant, the blacks were right and the whites were wrong. Who wanted American TV when you could have Russian movies? A memoir of early life among communists and an exploration of the world that created that life, Party Animals first took David Aaronovitch back through his own memories of belief and action. But there was much more to it. He found himself studying the old secret service files, his mother's diaries and letters, uncovering the unspoken shame and fears that provided the unconscious background to his own existence as a party animal. Only then did he begin to understand what had come before - both the obstinate heroism and the monstrous cowardice. And the elements that shape our fondest beliefs

A member of the great California mercantile family, Magnin discusses his duties as the volunteer chief of protocol for San Francisco and his longtime role as a leading sponsor of the arts

Memory is about choice. We can choose to remember the past in ways that provoke pain and stir our anger, or we can remember in ways that help us create the kind of world in which we most want to live. Nowhere is this choice more important than in connection to the Holocaust. And never has it been more important than now, because we are the first generation that will live without the presence of those who can tell us in their own words what they saw with their own eyes. These seventy-one firsthand stories from survivors of the Holocaust teach us to choose to remember for life, for their words are not about hatred and death but about ethics, decency, and love. Although the stories are arranged to accompany the weekly Torah readings and many of the Jewish holidays, they are just as meaningful when read on their own, in any sequence. The themes--journey, identity, resistance, community, refuge, and righteousness, to name but a few--are universal. And the lessons--about how to live more fully the life we are given--shine through.