Added by: Kahena | Karma: 11526.37 | Fiction literature | 8 November 2010
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Tara Road
On the strength of novels such as Evening Class, The Glass Lake, and Circle of Friends, Maeve Binchy certainly qualifies as one of Ireland's best known and bestselling exports. Her latest novel, Tara Road, is the story of two women -- one Irish, one American, both struggling to overcome personal tragedies -- who agree to swap houses for the summer.
Added by: Kahena | Karma: 11526.37 | Fiction literature | 8 November 2010
6
Common Sense
Common Sense is a pamphlet written by Thomas Paine. It was first published anonymously on January 10, 1776, during the American Revolution. Common Sense, signed "Written by an Englishman", became an immediate success. In relation to the population of the Colonies at that time, it had the largest sale and circulation of any book in American history. Common Sense presented the American colonists with a powerful argument for independence from British rule at a time when the question of independence was still undecided.
A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson
Mary (White) Rowlandson (c. 1637 – January 1711) was a colonial American woman who was captured by "Indians" (Native Americans) during King Philip's War and endured eleven weeks of captivity before being ransomed. After her release, she wrote a book about her experience, The Sovereignty and Goodness of God: Being a Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration of Mrs. Mary Rowlandson, which is considered a seminal work in the American literary genre of captivity narratives.
American Ways: An Introduction to American Culture, Third Edition (2005), by Maryanne Kearny Datesman, JoAnn Crandall, and Edward N. Kearny, focuses on the traditional values that have attracted people to the United States for well over 200 years and traces the effects of these values on American life.
Chapter themes include diversity, the family, education, government and politics, religion, business, and recreation. Cross-cultural activities --- from discussion topics to writing projects --- encourage high-intermediate to advanced students to compare their own values with those discussed in the readings.
Providence and the Invention of the United States, 1607-1876
Nicholas Guyatt offers a completely new understanding of a central question in American history: how did Americans come to think that God favored the United States above other nations? Making sense of previously diffuse debates on manifest destiny, millenarianism, and American mission, Providence and the Invention of the United States explains the origins and development of the idea that God has a special plan for America. The benefits and costs of this idea deserve careful consideration.
