1960

1960
Author: David Pietrusza
Publisher: Sterling Publishing Company
Total Pages: 572
Release: 2008
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1402761147

It was the election that would ultimately give America "Camelot" and its tragic aftermath, a momentous contest when three giants who each would have a chance to shape the nation battled to win the presidency. Award-winning author David Pietrusza does here for the 1960 presidential race what he did in his previous book, 1920: the Year of the Six Presidents--which Kirkus Reviews selected as one of their Best Books of 2007. Until now, the most authoritative study of the 1960 election was Theodore White''s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Making of the President, 1960. But White, as a trusted insider, didn''t tell all. Here''s the rest of the story, what White could never have known, nor revealed. Finally, it''s all out--including JFK''s poignant comment on why LBJ''s nomination as vice president would be inconsequential: "I''m 43 years old. I''m not going to die in office." Combining an engaging narrative with exhaustive research, Pietrusza chronicles the pivotal election of 1960, in which issues of civil rights and religion (Kennedy was only the second major-party Roman Catholic candidate ever) converged. The volatile primary clash between Senate Majority leader LBJ and the young JFK culminated in an improbable fusion ticket. The historic, legendary Kennedy-Nixon debates followed in its wake. The first presidential televised debates, they forever altered American politics when an exhausted Nixon was unkempt and tentative in their first showdown. With 80 million viewers passing judgment, Nixon''s poll numbers dropped as the charismatic Kennedy''s star rose. Nixon learned his lesson--resting before subsequent debates, reluctantly wearing makeup, and challenging JFK with a more aggressive stance--but the damage was done. There''s no one better to convey the drama of that tumultuous year than Pietrusza. He has 1,000 secrets to spill; a fascinating cast of characters to introduce (including a rogue''s gallery of hangers-on and manipulators); and towering historical events to chronicle. And all of it is built on painstaking research and solid historical scholarship. Pietrusza tracks down every lead to create a winning, engaging, and very readable account. With the 2008 elections approaching, politics will be on everyone''s mind, and 1960: LBJ vs. JFK vs. Nixon will transform the way readers see modern American history. A sampling of what Theodore White couldn''t chronicle--and David Pietrusza does: · Richard Nixon''s tempestuous Iowa backseat blowup, and his bizarre Election Day road trip · The full story of a sympathetic call from JFK to Coretta Scott King · John Ehrlichman''s spy missions on the Nelson Rockefeller and Democratic camps · The warnings before Election Day that Chicago''s mayor Daley would try to fix the race''s outcome · JFK''s amphetamine-fueled debate performance

The Encyclopedia of Epic Films

The Encyclopedia of Epic Films
Author: Constantine Santas
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
Total Pages: 713
Release: 2014-03-21
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 0810882485

Soon after film came into existence, the term epic was used to describe productions that were lengthy, spectacular, live with action, and often filmed in exotic locales with large casts and staggering budgets. The effort and extravagance needed to mount an epic film paid off handsomely at the box office, for the genre became an immediate favorite with audiences. Epic films survived the tribulations of two world wars and the Depression and have retained the basic characteristics of size and glamour for more than a hundred years. Length was, and still is, one of the traits of the epic, though monolithic three- to four-hour spectacles like Gone with the Wind (1939) and Lawrence of Arabia (1962) have been replaced today by such franchises as the Harry Potter films and the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Although the form has evolved during many decades of existence, its central elements have been retained, refined, and modernized to suit the tastes of every new generation. The Encyclopedia of Epic Films identifies, describes, and analyzes those films that meet the criteria of the epic—sweeping drama, panoramic landscapes, lengthy adventure sequences, and, in many cases, casts of thousands. This volume looks at the wide variety of epics produced over the last century—from the silent spectacles of D. W. Griffith and biblical melodramas of Cecil B. DeMille to the historical dramas of David Lean and rollercoaster thrillers of Steven Spielberg. Each entry contains: Major personnel behind the camera, including directors and screenwriters Cast and character listings Plot summary Analysis Academy Award wins and nominations DVD and Blu-ray availability Resources for further study This volume also includes appendixes of foreign epics, superhero spectaculars, and epics produced for television, along with a list of all the directors in the book. Despite a lack of overall critical recognition and respect as a genre, the epic remains a favorite of audiences, and this book pays homage to a form of mass entertainment that continues to fill movie theaters. The Encyclopedia of Epic Films will be of interest to academics and scholars, as well as any fan of films made on a grand scale.

Tumultuous Times in America's Game

Tumultuous Times in America's Game
Author: Bryan Soderholm-Difatte
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
Total Pages: 509
Release: 2019-06-26
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1538127369

In Tumultuous Times in America’s Game: From Jackie Robinson's Breakthrough to the War over Free Agency, Bryan Soderholm-Difatte provides a comprehensive examination of major developments and key figures in Major League Baseball from the integration of Jackie Robinson in 1947 to the owners-instigated catastrophic players’ strike of 1994-95. While many fans will recall those decades with fond remembrances of the baseball stars who played then—from Joe DiMaggio, Ted Williams, Mickey Mantle, and Willie Mays to Roberto Clemente, Pete Rose, Reggie Jackson, and Cal Ripken—they were also a time of substantial challenges that upended more than half a century of tradition that was the backbone of the major leagues. Tumultuous Times in America’s Game includes histories of each of the major league franchises, presented alongside Soderholm-Difatte’s detailed examination of the controversies, developments, and innovations from these significant decades in professional baseball. Recaps of several of baseball’s most exciting pennant races round out the narrative, making this book a valuable read for fans and historians of the national pastime.

A Company of Readers

A Company of Readers
Author: Wystan Hugh Auden
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2001
Genre: Book clubs
ISBN: 0743202627

A collection of 45 columns and essays by the three eminent writers, originally written for the bulletin of the Readers' Subscription Book Club.

The History of the Epic

The History of the Epic
Author: A. Johns-Putra
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 267
Release: 2006-07-11
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 0230595723

This book presents a history of the epic from the classical age to the present day. It deals not just with the well-know epics of antiquity and the Renaissance, but also pursues developments in more recent literature and film. It offers an exploration of the changes that have taken place in the genre from Homer to Hollywood.

Edge of Eternity

Edge of Eternity
Author: Ken Follett
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 1122
Release: 2014-09-16
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 0698160576

Ken Follett's extraordinary historical epic, the Century Trilogy, reaches its sweeping, passionate conclusion. In Fall of Giants and Winter of the World, Ken Follett followed the fortunes of five international families—American, German, Russian, English, and Welsh—as they made their way through the twentieth century. Now they come to one of the most tumultuous eras of all: the 1960s through the 1980s, from civil rights, assassinations, mass political movements, and Vietnam to the Berlin Wall, the Cuban Missile Crisis, presidential impeachment, revolution—and rock and roll. East German teacher Rebecca Hoffmann discovers she’s been spied on by the Stasi for years and commits an impulsive act that will affect her family for the rest of their lives. . . . George Jakes, the child of a mixed-race couple, bypasses a corporate law career to join Robert F. Kennedy's Justice Department and finds himself in the middle of not only the seminal events of the civil rights battle but a much more personal battle of his own. . . . Cameron Dewar, the grandson of a senator, jumps at the chance to do some official and unofficial espionage for a cause he believes in, only to discover that the world is a much more dangerous place than he'd imagined. . . . Dimka Dvorkin, a young aide to Nikita Khrushchev, becomes an agent both for good and for ill as the United States and the Soviet Union race to the brink of nuclear war, while his twin sister, Tanya, carves out a role that will take her from Moscow to Cuba to Prague to Warsaw—and into history.

Proceedings

Proceedings
Author: United States. Merchant Marine Council
Publisher:
Total Pages: 526
Release: 1964
Genre: Merchant marine
ISBN:

Return of the Epic Film

Return of the Epic Film
Author: Andrew Elliot
Publisher: Edinburgh University Press
Total Pages: 241
Release: 2015-03-05
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 1474402852

With the success of Gladiator, both critics and scholars enthusiastically announced the return of a genre which had lain dormant for thirty years. However, this return raises important new questions which remain unanswered. Why did the epic come back, and why did it fall out of fashion? Are these the same kinds of epics as the 1950s and 60s, or are there aesthetic differences? Can we treat Kingdom of Heaven, 300 and Thor indiscriminately as one genre? Are non-Western histories like Hero and Mongol epics, too? Finally, what precisely do we mean when we talk about the return of the epic film, and why are they back? The Return of the Epic Film offers a fresh way of thinking about a body of films which has dominated our screens for a decade. With contributions from top scholars in the field, the collection adopts a range of interdisciplinary perspectives to explore the epic film in the twenty-first century.

Epic and History

Epic and History
Author: David Konstan
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages: 456
Release: 2009-10-27
Genre: Literary Criticism
ISBN: 9781444315646

With contributions from leading scholars, this is a uniquecross-cultural comparison of historical epics across a wide rangeof cultures and time periods, which presents crucial insights intohow history is treated in narrative poetry. The first book to gain new insights into the topic of‘epic and history’ through in-depth cross-culturalcomparisons Covers epic traditions across the globe and across a wide rangeof time periods Brings together leading specialists in the field, and is editedby two internationally regarded scholars An important reference for scholars and students interested inhistory and literature across a broad range of disciplines

Because It's There

Because It's There
Author: Dudley Green
Publisher:
Total Pages: 232
Release: 2005
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN:

According to the record books, the highest mountain on Earth was finally conquered by Sir Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing in 1953 from Everest's south side. However, there remains the enigma of the attempt by the mercurial George Mallory and his companion Andrew Irvine over three decades earlier from the north. After their disappearance on 8 June 1924 it was usually assumed that they had perished during their ascent. However, the discovery of Mallory's body in 1999, a mere 2,000 feet from the top, has reopened speculation as to whether they died on the way up or the way down ... The puzzle as to whether Mallory was the first man to conquer Everest is vividly presented in this, the first biography of the man to be written since the discovery of the body. Containing images of both Mallory and Everest that have not been featured in a mainstream title before, and with a poignant foreword by John Mallory, the son of George, this book is a significant contribution to this evocative subject. -- taken from back cover.