Notepad
The notepad is empty.
The basket is empty.
Free shipping possible
Free shipping possible
Please wait - the print view of the page is being prepared.
The print dialogue opens as soon as the page has been completely loaded.
If the print preview is incomplete, please close it and select "Print again".
American Dreamers
ISBN/GTIN

Product description

ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: NEWSWEEK/THE DAILY BEAST, THE NEW REPUBLIC, THE PROGRESSIVEThe definitive history of the reformers, radicals, and idealists who fought for a different America, from the abolitionists to Michael Moore and Noam Chomsky. While the history of the left is a long story of idealism and determination, it has also been a story of movements that failed to gain support from mainstream America. In American Dreamers, Michael Kazin-one of the most respected historians of the American left working today-tells a new history of the movements that, while not fully succeeding on their own terms, nonetheless made lasting contributions to American society. Among these culture shaping events are the fight for equal opportunity for women, racial minorities, and homosexuals; the celebration of sexual pleasure; the inclusion of multiculturalism in the media and school curricula; and the creation of books and films with altruistic and anti-authoritarian messages. Deeply informed, judicious and impassioned, and superbly written, this is an essential book for our times and for anyone seeking to understand our political history and the people who made it.
Read more

Details

Additional ISBN/GTIN9780307596703
Product TypeE-book
BindingE-book
FormatEPUB
Format noteDRM Adobe
FormatE101
Publishing date23/08/2011
LanguageEnglish
File size4835 Kbytes
Illustrations45 ILLUSTRATIONS IN TEXT
Article no.4462661
CatalogsVC
Data source no.243399
Product groupBU730
More details

Ratings

Recommendations for similar products

This book has had something of a miraculous resurrection. A few months ago, it looked like it could well be pulped and its author sued for libel after one of his subjects took offence at a less than flattering portrait. British libel laws are such that a writer facing an oligarch in court is not felt to stand much of a chance and there was a strong feeling in the publishing world that Tom Burgis would be required to cough up a considerable sum of cash. For once however, the British courts sided with the little guy and dismissed the case, allowing this excellent book to continue its life out in the wild. Although technical and at times a bit opaque on financial detail, it is an extremely well put together account of how dodgy money (very often channelled through London) can be moved around the world and continuing enriching both its very questionable owners and their willing accessories.
Ein Freund sagte einmal, nachdem er sich durch einen Text von Zizek gearbeitet hatte, dass es doch erstaunlich sei, in welchen Regionen sich manche Menschen bewegen und trotzdem noch in der Lage seien, feste Nahrung zu sich zu nehmen: Zizek-Lektüre ist harte Arbeit. Zizek ist Psychoanalytiker, Philosoph, Filmtheoretiker und Kommunist. Er macht es einem wahrlich nicht leicht, schreibt komplex, meinungsfreudig und erfreut sich an der Provokation. Sein neuestes Buch lässt jedoch kaum Raum für Missverständnisse zu und ist ausgesprochen klar und pointiert. Er fordert eine tatkräftigere Linke, die sich neu formieren muss, um den drängenden Problemen der Zeit zu begegnen. Von der kapitalistischen Weltordnung seien angesichts der globalen Bedrohungen keine Lösungen zu erwarten, von den diversen populistischen Bewegungen schon gar nicht. Ohne eine neue Wirtschaftsordnung sei die Zukunft nicht zu bewältigen. Keine neuen Töne von Zizek, aber selten mit einer solchen Klarheit formuliert.
When the draft to her first novel gets stolen in a robbery, Lasley impulsively upends her life in London and moves to Aberdeen to talk to men in Scotland, who work on oil rigs. Her long year of pub interviews with these workers is shot through by the story of her obssessive affair with Caden, the first oil rig worker she interviews.
The strongest part by far are the snippets of insights into life on the oil rig, the specific lingo and rythm of life offshore in an all male environment. In her own words, Lasley wanted to find out what men are like with no women around. This query gives the book, especially in the passages about the affair, a curiously misogynist angle. At times I found myself reminded of Lisa Taddeo's chronicles of love lives of three American women. Books like these are often heralded for showing 'female desire' when in fact it more often depicts are certain type of needy, unhealthy attachment style. Personally, less pining and more reporting would have pleased me.
There are a number of books one could read to try and make sense of the current situation but this one is definitely a good place to start. Originally published seven years ago, it chronicles Pomerantsev's experiences in the early noughties, when he was pursuing a career in Russian TV production. His highly readable account focuses on several cultural phenomena, such as the gangster turned film producer, the rise of Russia Today and the deeply ingrained corruption. I suspect this was once a more light-hearted read but in the light of recent events, it is almost scarily prescient and underlines once again the argument, that the war on Ukraine shouldn't really be a surprise but is rather the result of a development that someone could already knowledgably write about in 2014.

Author

Michael Kazin is professor of history at Georgetown University. He is the author of five books about American history including America Divided, The Populist Persuasion, and Barons of Labor. He is a frequent contributor to The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Nation, and The American Prospect, among other publications. The recipient of fellowships from the Guggenheim Foundation, the National Endowment for the Humanities, the Woodrow Wilson Center, and twice from the Fulbright Scholar Program, he lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland.