7 results for "Economic History"

Wildland The Making of America's Fury

Evan Osnos
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER After a decade abroad, the National Book Award – and Pulitzer Prize – winning writer Evan Osnos returns to three places he has lived in the United States—Greenwich, CT; Clarksburg, WV; and Chicago, IL—to illuminate the origins of America’s political fury. Evan Osnos moved to Washington, D.C., in 2013 after a decade away from the United States, first reporting from the Middle East before becoming the Beijing bureau chief at the Chicago Tribune and then the China correspondent for The New Yorker . While abroad, he often found himself making a case for his home country, urging the citizens of Egypt, Iraq, or China to trust that even though America had made grave mistakes throughout its history, it aspired to some foundational moral commitments: the rule of law, the power of truth, the right of equal opportunity for all. But when he returned to the United States, he found each of these principles under assault. In search of an explanation for the crisis that reached an unsettling crescendo in 2020—a year of pandemic, civil unrest, and political turmoil—he focused on three places he knew firsthand: Greenwich, Connecticut; Clarksburg, West Virginia; and Chicago, Illinois. Reported over the course of six years, Wildland follows ordinary individuals as they navigate the varied landscapes of twenty-first-century America. Through their powerful, often poignant stories, Osnos traces the sources of America’s political dissolution. He finds answers in the rightward shift of the financial elite in Greenwich, in the collapse of social infrastructure and possibility in Clarksburg, and in the compounded effects of segregation and violence in Chicago. The truth about the state of the nation may be found not in the slogans of political leaders but in the intricate details of individual lives, and in the hidden connections between them. As Wildland weaves in and out of these personal stories, events in Washington occasionally intrude, like flames licking up on the horizon. A dramatic, prescient examination of seismic changes in American politics and culture, Wildland is the story of a crucible, a period bounded by two shocks to America’s psyche, two assaults on the country’s sense of itself: the attacks of September 11, 2001, and the storming of the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021. Following the lives of everyday Americans in three cities and across two decades, Osnos illuminates the country in a startling light, revealing how we lost the moral confidence to see ourselves as larger than the sum of our parts.
Picador 2022-09-13 496 pages

Columbus: the four voyages

Bergreen, Laurence
Christopher Columbus's 1492 voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in search of a trading route to China, and his unexpected landfall in the Americas, is a watershed event in world history. Yet Columbus made three more voyages within the span of only a decade, each designed to demonstrate that he could sail to China within a matter of weeks and convert those he found there to Christianity. These later voyages were even more adventurous, violent, and ambiguous, but they revealed Columbus's uncanny sense of the sea, his mingled brilliance and delusion, and his superb navigational skills. In all these exploits he almost never lost a sailor. By their conclusion, however, Columbus was broken in body and spirit. If the first voyage illustrates the rewards of exploration, the latter voyages illustrate the tragic costs, political, moral, and economic. In this book the author re-creates each of these adventures as well as the historical background of Columbus's celebrated, controversial career.
Viking 2011 423 pages

A Book of Migrations

Solnit, Rebecca
Adorno, Foucault, and the Critique of the West argues that critical theory continues to offer valuable resources for critique and contestation during this turbulent period in our history. To assess these resources, it examines the work of two of the twentieth century's more prominent social theorists: Theodor W. Adorno and Michel Foucault. Although Adorno was situated squarely in the Marxist tradition that Foucault would occasionally challenge, Cook demonstrates that their critiques of our current predicament are complementary in important respects. Among other things, they converge in their focus on the historical conditions economic in Adorno and political in Foucault that gave rise to the racist and authoritarian tendencies that continue to blight the West. But this book will also show that as Adorno and Foucault plumb the economic and political forces that have shaped our identities, they offer remarkably similar answers to the perennial question: What is to be done?
Verso Books 2018-11-06 194 pages

Waterfront A Journey Around Manhattan

Phillip Lopate
Fusing history, lore, politics, culture, and on-site adventures, Lopate takes us on an exuberant and eye-opening excursion around Manhattan¿s shoreline. This book captures the ever-changing character of New York on a series of exploratory walks conducted by one of the city¿s most knowledgeable guides. Starting at the Battery and moving along the banks of the Hudson and East Rivers, he describes the infrastructures, public spaces, and landmarks, along with fascinating insights into how they came to be. Unpeeling layers of myth and history, he reveals the economic, ecological, and political concerns that influenced the city¿s development, reporting on everything from the building of the Brooklyn Bridge to the latest projects along the shorelines. Ill.
DIANE Publishing Company 2010-11 421 pages

Cochinchine

Werth, Leon
"Cochinchine" is a vivid and penetrating account of the author's travels through French Indochina in the early 20th century. Written by the acclaimed journalist and critic Léon Werth, this work stands as a landmark of anti-colonial literature, offering a stark contrast to the romanticized depictions of the East common during the era. Werth's observations are both sharp and empathetic, providing a detailed look at the social, political, and economic realities of Southern Vietnam under colonial rule. The narrative delves into the complexities of the relationship between the French administration and the local population, highlighting the tensions and inequalities inherent in the colonial system. Through a series of sketches and reflections, Werth captures the essence of the landscape, the bustle of the cities, and the quiet dignity of the people he encounters. "Cochinchine" is not merely a travelogue but a profound social commentary that questions the ethics of imperialism and the impact of cultural displacement. This book remains a vital resource for readers interested in the history of Southeast Asia, French colonial studies, and the development of political consciousness in modern literature. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you may see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work. This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
Tradd Street Press 2026-02-14 290 pages

On the front lines of the Cold War: an American correspondent's journal from the Chinese Civil War to the Cuban Missile Crisis and Vietnam

Topping, Seymour
In the years following World War II, the United States suffered its most severe military and diplomatic reverses in Asia while Mao Zedong laid the foundation for the emergence of China as a major economic and military world power. As a correspondent for the International News Service, the Associated Press, and later for the New York Times, Seymour Topping documented on the ground the tumultuous events during the Chinese Civil War, the French Indochina War, and the American retreat from Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos. In this riveting narrative, Topping chronicles his extraordinary experiences covering the East-West struggle in Asia and Eastern Europe from 1946 into the 1980s, taking us beyond conventional historical accounts to provide a fresh, first-hand perspective on American triumphs and defeats during the Cold War era. At the close of World War II, Topping—who had served as an infantry officer in the Pacific—reported for the International News Service from Beijing and Mao’s Yenan stronghold before joining the Associated Press in Nanking, Chiang Kai-shek’s capital. He covered the Chinese Civil War for the next three years, often interviewing Nationalist and Communist commanders in combat zones. Crossing Nationalist lines, Topping was captured by Communist guerrillas and tramped for days over battlefields to reach the People’s Liberation Army as it advanced on Nanking. The sole correspondent on the battlefield during the decisive Battle of the Huai-Hai, which sealed Mao’s victory, Topping later scored a world-wide exclusive as the first journalist to report the fall of the capital. In 1950, Topping opened the Associated Press bureau in Saigon, becoming the first American correspondent in Vietnam. In 1951, John F. Kennedy, then a young congressman on a fact-finding visit to Saigon, sought out Topping for a briefing. Assignments in London and West Berlin followed, then Moscow and Hong Kong for the New York Times. During those years Topping reported on the Chinese intervention in the Korean conflict, Mao’s Cultural Revolution and its preceding internal power struggle, the Chinese leader’s monumental ideological split with Nikita Khrushchev, the French Indochina War, America’s Vietnam War, and the genocides in Cambodia and Indonesia. He stood in the Kremlin with a vodka-tilting Khrushchev on the night the Cuban missile crisis ended and interviewed Fidel Castro in Havana on its aftermath. Throughout this captivating chronicle, Topping also relates the story of his marriage to Audrey Ronning, a world-renowned photojournalist and writer and daughter of the Canadian ambassador to China. As the couple traveled from post to post reporting on some of the biggest stories of the century in Asia and Eastern Europe, they raised five daughters. In an epilogue, Topping cites lessons to be learned from the Asia wars which could serve as useful guides for American policymakers in dealing with present-day conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. From China to Indochina, Burma to Korea and beyond, Topping did more than report the news; he became involved in international diplomacy, enabling him to gain extraordinary insights. In On the Front Lines of the Cold War, Topping shares these insights, providing an invaluable eyewitness account of some of the pivotal moments in modern history.
Louisiana State University Press 2010-03-15 435 pages

An Authentic Account Of The Late Expedition To Bulam, On The Coast Of Africa (1794)

Joshua Montefiore
An Authentic Account Of The Late Expedition To Bulam, On The Coast Of Africa is a historical book written by Joshua Montefiore in 1794. The book provides a detailed and authentic account of the expedition to Bulam, a coastal region in Africa. Montefiore, who was a part of the expedition, describes the journey, the challenges faced by the crew, and the interactions with the local people. The book also provides insights into the political and economic conditions of the region during that time. The book is a valuable resource for anyone interested in the history of Africa, exploration, and colonialism. It is written in a narrative style and is easy to read, making it accessible to a wide range of readers. Overall, An Authentic Account Of The Late Expedition To Bulam, On The Coast Of Africa is a fascinating and informative book that captures the spirit of adventure and exploration of the time.With A Description Of The Present Settlement Of Sierra Leone, And The Adjacent Country.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.
Kessinger Publishing 2009-06 64 pages