Albert Murray and the Aesthetic Imagination of a Nation (Pebble Hill) - Softcover

"I appreciated the way the voices 'sound' in the volume, from Murray's own voice, through criticism, back to Murray in interviews, and on to other voices. It has the feeling of an ensemble--or, to use one of Mr. Murray's metaphors, a jazz band, with Murray's voice 'taking the break' at key points. The melody is Murray, and there are countless riffs on his work."--Carolyn J. Medine, coeditor of "Teaching African American Religions" "[This book] makes a very important contribution to the field of African American literary and cultural studies. . . . It present[s] the many facets of Murray's intellectual odyssey . . . [illuminating his] contribution to our national discussion on race, as well as his germinal insights on music, visual art, and literature."--Herman Beavers, author of "Wrestling Angels into Song: The Fictions of Ernest J. Gaines and James Alan McPherson"

Sir John Cotesworth Slessor (1897-1979) was one of Great Britain's most influential airmen. He played a significant role in building the World War II Anglo-American air power partnership as an air planner on the Royal Air Force Staff, the British Chiefs of Staff, and the Combined Chiefs of Staff. He coordinated allied strategy in 1940-41, helped create an Anglo-American bomber alliance in 1942, and drafted the compromise at the Casablanca Conference that broke a deadlock in Anglo-American strategic debate. Also, Slessor was instrumental in defeating the U-boat menace as RAF Coastal Commander, and later shared responsibility for directing Allied air operations in the Mediterranean. Few aspects of the allied air effort escaped his influence: pilot training, aircraft procurement, and dissemination of operational intelligence and information all depended to a degree on Slessor. His influence on Anglo-American operational planning paved the way for a level of cooperation and combined action never before undertaken by the military forces of two great nations.