The ultimate illustrated history of rock & roll--comprehensive, authoritative, and fully updated with coverage of the most important new sounds and artists of the 1980s and '90s.
A new history of the world’s most embattled idea Today, democracy is the world’s only broadly accepted political system, and yet it has become synonymous with disappointment and crisis. How did it come to this? In Can Democracy Work? James Miller, the author of the classic history of 1960s protest Democracy Is in the Streets, offers a lively, surprising, and urgent history of the democratic idea from its first stirrings to the present. As he shows, democracy has always been rife with inner tensions. The ancient Greeks preferred to choose leaders by lottery and regarded elections as inherently corrupt and undemocratic. The French revolutionaries sought to incarnate the popular will, but many of them came to see the people as the enemy. And in the United States, the franchise would be extended to some even as it was taken from others. Amid the wars and revolutions of the twentieth century, communists, liberals, and nationalists all sought to claim the ideals of democracy for themselves—even as they manifestly failed to realize them. Ranging from the theaters of Athens to the tents of Occupy Wall Street, Can Democracy Work? is an entertaining and insightful guide to our most cherished—and vexed—ideal.
Through two world wars, Scapa Flow was the main anchorage of the world's greatest battlefleet - the British Home Fleet. This magnificent setting saw some of the great dramatic events of the 20th century take place, including Kitchener's last farewell before setting sail on the Hampshire to his death, the sailing of the fleet to Jutland, and the surrender and scuttling of the German High Seas Fleet. Less remarked but equally extraordinary is the raising of the battlefleet between the wars in one of the greatest salvage operation in history.
Before the good life was reduced to 10 easy steps, philosophers offered arresting answers to the most fundamental questions about who we are and what makes for a life worth living. In this book, Jim Miller turns to this vibrant tradition with short, lively biographies of 12 famous philosophers.
After the oil company that employs Arthur Dashwood fails to protect him from a kidnap attempt in Baghdad, he returns to his traumatised family in London. But everything is not as it should be. Having quit the blistering heat and swimming pool luxury of Saudi Arabia for fear of terrorist attack, Arthur finds that danger is closer to home. Arthur's young son Timothy is struggling in the hostile terrain of his new public school. Bullied by other pupils and neglected by his preoccupied parents, he withdraws into a fantasy world, a hybrid of computer-generated guerrilla warzone and exotic dreams of his time in Saudi Arabia, a place where boys can fight and escape their teachers and families. As one middle-class boy from Timothy's school and then another disappears, so evidence emerges of an extreme and disturbing rejection of the adult world. And then it is Timothy's turn to disappear. Haunted by memories of post-Saddam Baghdad, Arthur embarks on a terrifying search for his son, one that will reveal his own complicity in the brutal consequences of Western power.
Focusing on personal empowerment, this book serves as a guide to accessing inner strength and courage. It encourages readers to articulate their feelings and identify corrective measures to inspire meaningful change in their lives. Designed for self-therapy, it offers valuable tools for those seeking motivation and support during solitary moments.
Focusing on the spiritual insights of Ephesians 4:18, this book explores the concept of living a life aligned with God, emphasizing that true understanding is beyond the grasp of the carnal mind. It provides practical applications for embracing this spiritual existence, encouraging readers to grow in grace and knowledge of God, as urged by the Apostle Peter in 2 Peter 3:17-18. The work aims to deepen the reader's spiritual journey and understanding of divine life.
The Barnes & Noble Review David Lee Roth said that the beauty of rock and roll is that "they're no rules and no schools. You just make it up as you go along." Certainly, the history of the plugged-in genre seems more like a mad romp than a logical development. James Miller sets out here to capture the evolution of early R&R as an industry and as a force in American life. Without descending into diatribe or veering towards critical theory, this former Michel Foucault biographer writes about the metamorphosis of casual basement jamming into a sometimes devious multi-million dollar business. Strewn along the way are epiphanies of music history: Bob Dylan turning the Beatles onto marijuana at their first meeting in 1964; Berry Gordy producing his first big hit by instructing Jackie Wilson to imitate Elvis Presley; the less-than-endearing first appearance of the Sex Pistols on British TV. Both literate and unpretentious, Miller catches the frantic surrealism of the rock scene. As Jerry Garcia said, "By comparison, real life is very dull." Jules Herbert
