nebraska jun 2007 (5 Ergebnisse)

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware - America's curiosity about elite military units is greater than ever in today's crisis-ridden world. And while numerous books have examined the various elite forces, Bunker Hill to Bastogne goes much further to show the relationship between these special units and the societies that gave birth to them. Though America in general has often regarded its military establishment as an unfortunate necessity, elite formations have nearly always emerged in moments of crisis. And while their exploits have fostered the cherished image of the individualistic but loyal rifleman-ranger, these legends have not always corresponded to reality. America's roster of heroic images has long included esteemed elite units, running the gamut from Roger's Rangers at Fort Ticonderoga during the American Revolution to Berdan's Sharpshooters during the Civil War and the paratroopers of Normandy in World War II. But despite Americans' reverent regard for, and patriotic depiction of, elite units, they initially distrusted the idea of a standing army given such abuses as the quartering of soldiers in citizens' homes. Indeed, the egalitarian American spirit caused the Founding Fathers to discourage a class of emperor-making military elites. And yet, elite units did emerge during every major American conflict. But the evolution of such forces has taken place in fits and starts, with units often demobilizing after a particular crisis had passed. Only since World War II have elite units become a consistently relied-upon arm of the military for dealing with constantly erupting global crises. Bunker Hill to Bastogne is a unique and timely chronicle of the birth and evolution of elite forces and the American public's reactions to them. It shows that despite Americans' wariness of a possible military elite, their love of the fabled rifleman-ranger has seldom dwindled, though in the twenty-first century their hero might wear a green beret rather than a coonskin cap.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware - Despite the political instability characterizing twentieth-century Taiwan, the value of baseball in the lives of Taiwanese has been a constant since the game was introduced in 1895. The game first gained popularity on the island under the Japanese occupation, and that popularity continued after World War II despite the withdrawal of the Japanese and an official lack of support from the new state power, the Chinese Nationalist Party. The remarkable success of Taiwanese Little League teams in the 1970s and 1980s cemented Taiwan's relationship with the game.Taiwanese native Junwei Yu's Playing in Isolation presents a comprehensive account of that relationship. While giving due credit to the great successes in Taiwanese baseball, Yu also addresses the scandals and controversies that have plagued the sport, including game fixing, improper recruitment practices, and the age-deception fiasco that tainted Taiwan's seventeen Little League World Series wins. In addition Yu draws attention to the influence traditional culture exerts on parental support of sports versus education and more sedentary occupations.Drawing on detailed research and personal experience, Yu provides a rare, honest look at the reality of baseball in Taiwan and offers an insider's perspective on a unique part of baseball history.

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware - Winter counts-pictorial calendars by which Plains Indians kept track of their past-marked each year with a picture of a memorable event.TheLakota, or Western Sioux, recorded many different events in their winter counts, but all include 'the year the stars fell,' the spectacular Leonid meteor shower of 1833-34. This volume is an unprecedented assemblage of information on the important collection of Lakota winter counts at the Smithsonian, a core resource for the study of Lakota history and culture. Fourteen winter counts are presented in detail, with a chapter devoted to the newly discovered Rosebud Winter Count. Together these counts constitute a visual chronicle of over two hundred years of Lakota experience as recorded by Native historians.A visually stunning book, The Year the Stars Fell features full-color illustrations of the fourteen winter counts plus more than 900 detailed images of individual pictographs. Explanations, provided by their nineteenth-century Lakota recorders, are arranged chronologically to facilitate comparison among counts. The book provides ready access to primary source material, and serves as an essential reference work for scholars as well as an invaluable historical resource for Native communities.

Taschenbuch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware - Jean-Guy A. Goulet is an anthropologist teaching conflict studies at Saint Paul University in Ottawa. His books include Being Changed by Cross Cultural Encounters: The Anthropology of Extraordinary Experience and Ways of Knowing: Experience, Knowledge, and Power among the Dene Tha (Nebraska 1998).

Buch. Zustand: Neu. Neuware - In Libreville, the capital of the African nation of Gabon, the colonial past has evolved into a present indelibly marked by colonial rule and ongoing French influence. This is especially evident in areas as essential to life as food. In this complex, hybrid culinary culture of Libreville, croissants are as readily available as plantains. Yet this same culinary diversity is accompanied by high prices and a scarcity of locally made food that is bewildering to residents and visitors alike. A staggering two-thirds of the country's food is imported from outside Gabon, making Libreville's cost of living comparable to that of Tokyo and Paris. In this compelling study of food culture and colonialism, Jeremy Rich explores how colonial rule intimately shaped African life and how African townspeople developed creative ways of coping with colonialism as European expansion threatened African self-sufficiency.