Atlantic Monthly Press Book

"Self-Portrait, a look at the man behind the icon, is a photographic and literary memoir, drawing on the rich seam of diaries, letters, poems, journalism and short stories Che Guevara left behind him in Cuba." "Self-Portrait has been compiled in close collaboration with Che's family, using exclusive material from his family's private archives. Revealed for the first time is Che Guevara's personal world, unveiling his extraordinary candor, irony, dry humor and passion." "The photographs, chosen from the Guevara family albums, bring to light a surprisingly sensitive and artistic edge of the legendary revolutionary. A dedicated amateur photographer, Che's own self-portraits are a feature of this selection, much of which has never before been published."--Jacket.

When a set-up goes wrong and Six finds herself sleeping with the enemy, who [sic] will she choose: the man she loves or the man she's supposed to hate?--P. of cover.

The third and final volume in Daniel Boorstin's award-winning trilogy, The Americans: The Democratic Experience wraps up his remarkable exploration of the American character. Beginning roughly from the time of the Civil War and ending with the moon landing, The Democratic Experience, like its two predecessors, spends remarkably little time with presidents, senators and famous battles. Indeed, in his account it is the leaders and their high-level dealings that are the footnotes to the experience of common people. Boorstin begins his book with an exploration of a distinctively American type, the "go-getter." The Western states, largely unexplored and unmapped, comprised a territory rich in opportunities for those willing to go find them, or, even better, to go make them. Boorstin provides fascinating looks into the formation of American society through the lens of these found and made opportunities. Oil, cattle, and gold are just a part of the story. His exploration extends across the whole web of social relations and business practices that were influenced and created by a nation's early experiences with its own vastness. We think of the typical go-getters, the prospectors and oil men striking out into the heart of the continent looking to make their fortune. But with this phenomenon comes a whole host of secondary effects that Boorstin examines in fascinating detail. For example, he points out that with a problematic lack of established knowledge of local customs and practices, businessmen seeking to establish themselves in the West had to find support and guidance. The role of intermediary, therefore, became a crucial one, giving birth to another industry, and a figure more enduring than the cowboy or the pioneer: the American lawyer. Along the way, Boorstin also tackles some more typical Western stories, discussing the cowboy, the frontiersman and the emigrant, bringing new clarity and discrimination to some old, familiar myths. He also looks into the growth of individual states, such as Nevada, the opportunities created through gambling and, oddly enough, divorce, and the rise of organized crime. As he did most interestingly in his other works, Boorstin describes the American experience, and the formation of the American character through the technology and the systems that spring up to meet certain needs and that become closely woven into the fabric of American life. The department store, mail order shopping, the sewing machine, IQ tests, and life insurance all arise as a result of needs to some degree peculiar to the American experience and go on to inform the way Americans think about abstractions like intelligence, poverty, income, consumption and class. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, The Americans: The Democratic Experience is essential reading for anyone who wishes to understand present-day American culture.

"In his first book devoted exclusively to narrative fiction, America's most original and controversial literary critic and legendary Yale professor writes trenchantly about fifty-two masterworks spanning the Western tradition"-- Bloom offers meditations on forty-eight essential works of fiction that span the Western canon. While considering each novels' strengths and shortcomings, he also explains where and why he differs with other critics' assessments. In doing so, he guides readers to a new understanding of the novels, and in the importance and power of fiction. -- adapted from jacket and from reviews on Amazon

Caudill explores the southern Appalachian Mountains area's history, from its first settlement to the Civil War, and from the rise of coal barons to the economic despair of the 1950s and 1960s.

Examines European-African relations between 1450 and 1850 including the slave trade and its consequences.

Portrays the lives of an Irish actress and her husband, an American writer and director.

One of my favourite books; of special interest to lovers of the storied lands of the South Pacific