Language and Litterature

Germany built the first operational jet aircraft during World War II, the Messerschmitt Me 262. Siegfried Decher was part of the engineering team that designed the engines that powered the 262. At the end of the war, Decher was nearly stranded in the Soviet Occupation Zone, but the US military made contact and offered a way out. As the principal responsible for a control system in the Jumo engine,

Let us rejoice in the genius that is Kevin Smith!This fun and photo-filled biography celebrates the life, films, and fans of the director responsible for such indie cult classics as Clerks, Mallrats, Chasing Amy, and Dogma. Movie-industry veteran David Gati has compiled and edited this humorous and insightful look at Smith’s nearly 30-year moviemaking journey. Through Smith's own uncensored storie

Contrary to popular opinion, the automotive industry is not a man's world! Since the early days of General Motors, there have been women—known and unknown—who have had vital roles in design, engineering, manufacturing, and administration. In this follow-up to Damsels in Design, her book on women automotive designers from 1939-1959, Constance Smith presents profiles of and interviews with more than

Explores Sylvia Plath’s enduring interest and active practice in mysticism and the occult from childhood until her tragic death in 1963. Sharing her more than 15 years of compelling research—including analysis of Sylvia Plath’s unpublished calendars, notebooks, scrapbooks, book annotations, and underlinings, as well as published memoirs, biographies, letters, journals, and interviews with Plath

A guide to some of the world’s most fascinating places, as seen and experienced by writer, television host, and relentlessly curious traveler Anthony Bourdain Anthony Bourdain saw more of the world than nearly anyone. His travels took him from the hidden pockets of his hometown of New York to a tribal longhouse in Borneo, from cosmopolitan Buenos Aires, Paris, and Shanghai to TanzaniaR

There are many miles from the business school and basketball court at the University of Southern California to 50 million viewers for the final episode of a TV show called Magnum P.I. Tom Selleck has lived every one of those miles in his own iconoclastic and joyful way. Frank, funny and open-hearted, You Never Know is an intimate memoir from one of the most beloved actors of our time, the high

In this stirringly honest autobiography, Fr. Ó Madagáin shares his story of how he felt called to serve God and others through the priesthood. He describes his experiences at Medjugorje and Lourdes and how he was moved by the extraordinary sacrifices of individuals both there and in Rome, where he completed his theological education. BY THE WORD OF THEIR TESTIMONY is no bland endorsement for the v

In January 1984, Sr. Mary Margaret Funk, a Benedictine nun from Indiana, paid a visit to Maryknoll missionary nuns working in Bolivia. On what should have been a routine trip to the local town for a convocation ceremony, a flash flood swept away the jeep in which she, three nuns, a priest and a disabled boy they had adopted were travelling. Only she and the priest survived.What happened that night

Through the lens of Rowe's relationships with two Kenyan conservationists - Wangari Maathai and Daphne Sheldrick - THE ELEPHANTS IN THE ROOM surveys a number of prejudices that many of us who are fortunate to be born with the privileges attached to our skin colour, sex and access to resources don't like to deal with: race, misogyny and the legacy of empire. By examining the two women's memoirs (Un

Foreword by Brian May.For four decades, Kim Stallwood has had a front seat in the animal rights movement, starting at the grassroots in England and working his way up to leadership positions at some of the best-known organisations in the world, including Compassion In World Farming, the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection, and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Yet, as Stallwo

Colin Greer knows a lot about a lot. His rich life as an educator and author/playwright, emersed in the social and political justice trenches, is reflected in his latest poetry book alongside his wordily wisdom. The author muses on the human condition through verse, taking the lucky reader through the ordinary, the personal, the sublime, and tragic alike. IF BUT MY GAZE COULD HEAL's 150 poems are

Brooks Brown was a contemporary and friend of the killers, and gives first-hand insight into what happened that day, the toxic culture at Columbine that fed the alienation and hatred expressed by the killers, and disposes of the myths and prejudices that continue to color our reactions to school shootings. On April 20, 1999, Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris, two seniors at Columbine High School in

After his overwhelming and life-altering encounters with Shams of Tabriz, Rumi, the great thirteenth-century mystic, poet, and originator of the whirling dervishes, let go of many of the precepts of formal religion, insisting that only a complete personal dissolving into the larger energies of God could provide the satisfaction that the heart so desperately seeks. He began to speak spontaneously i

Shri Mahant Swami Ganeshanand Saraswati Giri (ca. 1895–1988) was known to all who loved and studied with him simply as Ganesh Baba. At the age of four, he was brought back from death through an initiation by Lahiri Mahasaya and through this initiation descends from the same Kriya Yoga lineage as Paramahansa Yogananda. He became a swami under his guru Sivananda and later went on to run the Anandama

After travelling at age 18 from his native California to India in 1969, Rampuri was drawn to the Naga Babas, an ancient and wild order of naked yogis whom he calls the “Hell's Angels of Indian Spirituality.” Organized into a sect by Adi Shankara in the 5th century BC, the Naga Babas see themselves as the ultimate protectors of the Sanatan Dharma, or what we call the Hindu religion. Rampuri became

Margaret De Wys first became aware of ecstatic trance healing when she was a young girl fascinated by the rapture of the Holy Rollers. However, it would be decades before she would be called to explore that early fascination. At a gathering in Upstate New York thirty years later she was spontaneously possessed by a sacred Zulu necklace—a gift from one of the most powerful shamans in Africa, Vusama

In addition to knowing what to say, it is also important to know how to say it correctly. This book explains how to work with the structure and rules of English to construct powerful, effective sentences that communicate clearly and correctly. Targeted to an intelligent audience with a basic understanding of the parts of speech, AWESOME GRAMMAR discusses the most frequent grammar mistakes and the

Throughout his life, Lincoln consulted oracles and at the age of 22, he was told by a seer that he would become president of the United States. In his dreams, he foresaw his own sudden death.Trauma and heartbreak opened the psychic door for this otherworldly president, whose precognitive dreams, evil omens and trance-like states are carefully documented in this bold, yet poignant, chronicle of tra

“Just sit back and relax as Dr. Bob Curran takes you to places that only your mind can create with his words and stories. He has captivated the radio listening audience as he will captivate the reader... Dr. Curran will delight the imagination.” —Tom Danheiser, producer, Coast To Coast AMArguably no American writer has had more of an impact on the modern horror scene than Howard Phillips Lovecraft

Many people fear public speaking more than death. Most wish they could do it better or at least avoid the sweating, stuttering jitters that plague them before any presentation or speech. Vikas Jhingran has been there. He was so poor at speaking in public that his supervisor wouldn't let him make presentations to clients - even when he had done all the work. Surprisingly, few professional speakers