Sounding the Shallows

Sounding the Shallows
Author: Joseph L. Harsh
Publisher: Kent State University Press
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2000
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780873386418

A companion volume to Taken at the Flood, this work identifies areas of research and in-depth source material for studies of the Maryland Campaign of 1862.

The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains

The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains
Author: Nicholas Carr
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Total Pages: 293
Release: 2011-06-06
Genre: Science
ISBN: 0393079368

Finalist for the 2011 Pulitzer Prize in General Nonfiction: “Nicholas Carr has written a Silent Spring for the literary mind.”—Michael Agger, Slate “Is Google making us stupid?” When Nicholas Carr posed that question, in a celebrated Atlantic Monthly cover story, he tapped into a well of anxiety about how the Internet is changing us. He also crystallized one of the most important debates of our time: As we enjoy the Net’s bounties, are we sacrificing our ability to read and think deeply? Now, Carr expands his argument into the most compelling exploration of the Internet’s intellectual and cultural consequences yet published. As he describes how human thought has been shaped through the centuries by “tools of the mind”—from the alphabet to maps, to the printing press, the clock, and the computer—Carr interweaves a fascinating account of recent discoveries in neuroscience by such pioneers as Michael Merzenich and Eric Kandel. Our brains, the historical and scientific evidence reveals, change in response to our experiences. The technologies we use to find, store, and share information can literally reroute our neural pathways. Building on the insights of thinkers from Plato to McLuhan, Carr makes a convincing case that every information technology carries an intellectual ethic—a set of assumptions about the nature of knowledge and intelligence. He explains how the printed book served to focus our attention, promoting deep and creative thought. In stark contrast, the Internet encourages the rapid, distracted sampling of small bits of information from many sources. Its ethic is that of the industrialist, an ethic of speed and efficiency, of optimized production and consumption—and now the Net is remaking us in its own image. We are becoming ever more adept at scanning and skimming, but what we are losing is our capacity for concentration, contemplation, and reflection. Part intellectual history, part popular science, and part cultural criticism, The Shallows sparkles with memorable vignettes—Friedrich Nietzsche wrestling with a typewriter, Sigmund Freud dissecting the brains of sea creatures, Nathaniel Hawthorne contemplating the thunderous approach of a steam locomotive—even as it plumbs profound questions about the state of our modern psyche. This is a book that will forever alter the way we think about media and our minds.

Counter-Thrust

Counter-Thrust
Author: Benjamin Franklin Cooling (III)
Publisher: U of Nebraska Press
Total Pages: 505
Release: 2020-02-17
Genre: History
ISBN: 1496209109

During the summer of 1862, a Confederate resurgence threatened to turn the tide of the Civil War. When the Union's earlier multitheater thrust into the South proved to be a strategic overreach, the Confederacy saw its chance to reverse the loss of the Upper South through counteroffensives from the Chesapeake to the Mississippi. Benjamin Franklin Cooling tells this story in Counter-Thrust, recounting in harrowing detail Robert E. Lee's flouting of his antagonist George B. McClellan's drive to capture the Confederate capital at Richmond and describing the Confederate hero's long-dreamt-of offensive to reclaim central and northern Virginia before crossing the Potomac. Counter-Thrust also provides a window into the Union's internal conflict at building a successful military leadership team during this defining period. Cooling shows us Lincoln's administration in disarray, with relations between the president and field commander McClellan strained to the breaking point. He also shows how the fortunes of war shifted abruptly in the Union's favor, climaxing at Antietam with the bloodiest single day in American history--and in Lincoln's decision to announce a preliminary Emancipation Proclamation. Here in all its gritty detail and considerable depth is a critical moment in the unfolding of the Civil War and of American history.

Past the Shallows

Past the Shallows
Author: Favel Parrett
Publisher: Hachette UK
Total Pages: 167
Release: 2012-08-30
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 184854751X

Shortlisted for the 2012 Miles Franklin Award, PAST THE SHALLOWS is a powerful and hauntingly beautiful novel from an extraordinary new Australian writer who is compared with Cormac McCarthy and Tim Winton. 'If you read only one book this year, make sure it's this' Sunday Times 'I loved Past the Shallows' Kevin Powers, author of The Yellow Birds Everyone loves Harry. Except his father. Joe, Miles and Harry are growing up on the remote south coast of Tasmania. The brothers' lives are shaped by their father's moods - like the ocean he fishes, he is wild and unpredictable. He is a bitter man, with a devastating secret. Miles does his best to watch out for Harry, the youngest, but he can't be there all the time. Often alone, Harry finds joy in the small treasures he discovers, in shark eggs and cuttlefish bones. In a kelpie pup, a mug of hot chocolate, and a secret friendship with a mysterious neighbour. But sometimes small treasures, or a brother's love are not enough.

War in the Shallows

War in the Shallows
Author: John Darrell Sherwood
Publisher: Government Printing Office
Total Pages: 448
Release: 2015-09-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780945274766

War in the Shallows, published in 2015 by the Naval History and Heritage Command, is the authoritative account of the U.S. Navy's hard-fought battle along Vietnam's rivers and coastline from 1965-1968. At the height of the U.S. Navy's involvement in the Vietnam War, the Navy's coastal and riverine forces included more than 30,000 Sailors and over 350 patrol vessels ranging in size from riverboats to destroyers. These forces developed the most extensive maritime blockade in modern naval history and fought pitched battles against Viet Cong units in the Mekong Delta and elsewhere. War in the Shallows explores the operations of the Navy's three inshore task forces from 1965 to 1968. It also delves into other themes such as basing, technology, tactics, and command and control. Finally, using oral history interviews, it reconstructs deckplate life in South Vietnam, focusing in particular on combat waged by ordinary Sailors. Vietnam was the bloodiest war in recent naval history and War in the Shallows strives above all else to provide insight into the men who fought it and honor their service and sacrifice. Illustrated throughout with photographs and maps. Author John Darrell Sherwood has served as a historian with the Naval History and Heritage Command (NHHC) since 1997. -- Provided by publisher.

Taken at the Flood

Taken at the Flood
Author: Joseph L. Harsh
Publisher: Kent State University Press
Total Pages: 692
Release: 1999
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 9780873386319

Harsh attempts to discover what they believed their responsibilities were and what they tried to accomplish; to evaluate the human and logistical resources at their disposal; and to determine what they knew and when they learned it."--BOOK JACKET.

The Well and the Shallows

The Well and the Shallows
Author: G. K. Chesterton
Publisher: Read Books Ltd
Total Pages: 199
Release: 2015-07-02
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1473376610

One of G. K. Chesterton’s finest collection of essays, The Well and the Shallows, explore more controversial themes than typically seen in the work of the English writer. Written with Chesterton’s biting wit, he touches on various cultural, social and moral issues from birth control to Catholicism. Chesterton’s perceptive analysis of core issues within modern society remains startling relatable nearly 100 years since its publication. Written shortly after his conversion to Catholicism, he writes with tremendous foresight focusing on subjects like Catholicism, Reformation and Protestantism, and other profound writings on political and social issues based around the central theme of religion. Essays in this volume include: My Six Conversions The Return to Religion The Higher Nihilism The Ascetic At Large Babies and Distribution A Century of Emancipation Trade Terms Shocking the Modernists Sex and Property Why Protestants Prohibit Where is the Paradox? The Well and the Shallows is an insightful collection of essays on some of the most important ideas of the modernist era written by one of the greatest English writers of the 20th century. It is a perfect read for those interested in the work of G. K. Chesterton or any with a broader interest in historical, social analysis from a religious perspective.

Robert E. Lee

Robert E. Lee
Author: Allen C. Guelzo
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 625
Release: 2022-08-09
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1101912227

A WALL STREET JOURNAL BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • From the award-winning historian and best-selling author of Gettysburg comes the definitive biography of Robert E. Lee. An intimate look at the Confederate general in all his complexity—his hypocrisy and courage, his inner turmoil and outward calm, his disloyalty and his honor. "An important contribution to reconciling the myths with the facts." —New York Times Book Review Robert E. Lee is one of the most confounding figures in American history. Lee betrayed his nation in order to defend his home state and uphold the slave system he claimed to oppose. He was a traitor to the country he swore to serve as an Army officer, and yet he was admired even by his enemies for his composure and leadership. He considered slavery immoral, but benefited from inherited slaves and fought to defend the institution. And behind his genteel demeanor and perfectionism lurked the insecurities of a man haunted by the legacy of a father who stained the family name by declaring bankruptcy and who disappeared when Robert was just six years old. In Robert E. Lee, the award-winning historian Allen Guelzo has written the definitive biography of the general, following him from his refined upbringing in Virginia high society, to his long career in the U.S. Army, his agonized decision to side with Virginia when it seceded from the Union, and his leadership during the Civil War. Above all, Guelzo captures Robert E. Lee in all his complexity--his hypocrisy and courage, his outward calm and inner turmoil, his honor and his disloyalty.

The Maryland Campaign of September 1862

The Maryland Campaign of September 1862
Author: Ezra Carman
Publisher: Savas Beatie
Total Pages: 991
Release: 2012-09-19
Genre: History
ISBN: 1611211158

Antietam is the eagerly awaited second volume of Ezra Carman's magisterial The Maryland Campaign of September 1862. Many authors have written about the climactic September 17 battle of the 1862 invasion of Maryland, but it is impossible to do so without referencing Carman's sweeping and definitive maps and 1,800-page manuscript. His work guides every Civil War historian and comprises the basis of the National Park Service's interpretive programs at Antietam. Indeed, even the basic layout of the National Park battlefield was based upon Carman's groundbreaking work. Carman had the advantage of not only participating in the battle as a colonel in the Union army, but knowing, corresponding, and conversing with hundreds of Northern and Southern soldiers from corps commanders all the way down to privates. Over the decades he amassed a vast collection of letters, maps, and personal memoirs from many key participants. He used this treasure trove of firsthand accounts to create his compelling narrative. No one has devoted more time and effort to understanding what happened at Antietam than did Ezra Carman-the campaign's first true historian. Unfortunately, Carman did not always note from where he obtained his information, making the authenticity and reliability of his work problematic. Editor Thomas G. Clemens, recognized internationally as one of the foremost historians of the Maryland Campaign, has spent more than two decades studying Antietam and editing and richly annotating Carman's exhaustively written manuscript. As Clemens discovered, Carman used his sources judiciously, and the stories he relates withstand scrutiny for accuracy and reliability. Carman's invaluable prose is augmented by his detailed maps of the dawn to nearly dusk fighting on September 17, which have never appeared in their original form in any book on the battle. Even more exciting are the newly discovered 19th century photographs authorized by Carman to document his work laying out the battlefield, a haunting visual record of how the battlefield appeared to Carman as he tried to unravel its mysteries. The result is The Maryland Campaign of September 1862: Antietam, the most comprehensive and detailed account of the battle ever produced. Jammed with firsthand accounts, personal anecdotes, detailed footnotes, maps, and photos, this long-awaited study will be read and appreciated as battle history at its finest. Indeed, we will never see such a study again. About the Authors: Ezra Ayres Carman was born in Oak Tree, New Jersey, on February 27, 1834, and educated at Western Military Academy in Kentucky. He fought with New Jersey organizations throughout the Civil War. He died in 1909 on Christmas day and was buried just below the Custis- Lee mansion in Arlington Cemetery. Thomas G. Clemens earned his doctoral degree at George Mason University, where he studied under Maryland Campaign historian Dr. Joseph L. Harsh. Tom has published a wide variety of magazine articles and book reviews, has appeared in several documentary programs, and is a licensed tour guide at Antietam National Battlefield. A retired professor from Hagerstown Community College, he also helped found and is the current president of Save Historic Antietam Foundation, Inc., a preservation group dedicated to saving historic properties.

From Arlington to Appomattox

From Arlington to Appomattox
Author: Charles R. Knight
Publisher: Savas Beatie
Total Pages: 610
Release: 2021-06-15
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 161121503X

“Brilliant . . . really gives one a sense of what it took to both lead and run an army in the Civil War. . . . Superb.” —Chris Kolakowski, author of The Virginia Campaigns: March–August 1862 In From Arlington to Appomattox, Charles Knight does for Robert E. Lee and students of the Civil War what E. B. Long’s Civil War Day by Day did for our understanding of the conflict as a whole. This is not another Lee biography, but it is every bit as valuable as one. We know Lee rode out to meet the survivors of Pickett’s Charge and accept blame for the defeat, that he tried to lead the Texas Brigade in a counterattack to save the day at the Wilderness, and took a tearful ride from Wilmer McLean’s house at Appomattox. But where was Lee and what was he doing when the spotlight of history failed to illuminate him? Focusing on what he was doing day by day offers an entirely different appreciation for Lee. Readers will come away with a fresh sense of his struggles, both personal and professional, and discover many things about Lee for the first time through his own correspondence and papers. From Arlington to Appomattox is a tremendous contribution to the literature of the Civil War. “Knight’s study will become the standard reference work on Lee’s daily wartime experiences.” —R. E. L. Krick, author of Staff Officers in Gray “A staggering work of scholarship.” —Jeffry D. Wert, author of A Glorious Army: Robert E. Lee’s Triumph, 1862–1863 "A pleasure to read.” —Michael C. Hardy, author of General Lee’s Immortals “Keeps the reader engaged.” —Journal of America's Military Past