Der König der Vagabunden

Sample

Bruce Barton

The Man Nobody Knows (1925) is the second book by the American author and advertising executive Bruce Fairchild Barton. In it, Barton presents Jesus as "[t]he Founder of Modern Business," in an effort to make the Christian story accessible to businessmen of the time. When published in 1925, The Man Nobody Knows topped the nonfiction bestseller list, and was one of the best-selling non-fiction books of the 20th century. In this book, Barton paints a picture of a strong Jesus, who worked with his hands, slept outdoors, and travelled on foot. This is very different from what he saw as the "Sunday School Jesus" — a physically weak, moralistic man, and the "lamb of God". Barton describes Jesus as "the world's greatest business executive", and according to one of the chapter headings, "The Founder of Modern Business", who created a world-conquering organization with a group of twelve men hand-picked from the bottom ranks of business. Having completed the book in 1924, Barton initially experienced difficulty getting his work published, as the material was considered to be controversial. It was simply seen by some as wrong to compare Jesus to ordinary men. Since its publication, The Man Nobody Knows has divided readers. Some welcome the portrayal of Jesus as a strong character, whom no one dared oppose, and praise the use of familiar stereotypes to stimulate interest in religion, whilst others ridicule the suggestion that Jesus was a salesman. Critics have suggested that The Man Nobody Knows is a prime example of the materialism and "glorified Rotarianism" of the Protestant churches in the 1920s. It was suggested that the book was written as "an apology for big business"; however, in his 2005 biography of Barton, The Man Everybody Knew: Bruce Barton and the Making of Modern America, Richard M. Fried maintains that Barton was no apologist — his primary motive for writing was religion. Regardless of his motives for publication, Barton found himself the object of humour by some, and his book was lampooned by radio, magazines and in movies.

Sample

Tony Russell

"In this sparkling collection, "roots" music authority Tony Russell offers vivid portraits of the men and women who created country music, the artists whose lives and songs formed the rich tradition from which Hank Williams, Elvis Presley, Bob Dylan, The Dixie Chicks, and so many others have drawn their inspiration. Included here are not only such major figures as Jimmie Rodgers, The Carter Family, Fiddlin' John Carson, Charlie Poole, and Gene Autry, who put country music on America's cultural map in the 1920s and '30s, but many fascinating lesser-known figures as well, such as Carson Robison, Otto Gray, Chris Bouchillon, Emry Arthur and dozens more, many of whose stories are told here for the first time. To map some of the winding, untraveled roads that connect today's music to its ancestors, Russell draws upon new research and rare source material, such as contemporary newspaper reports and magazine articles, internet genealogy sites, and his own interviews with the musicians or their families" -- publisher website (February 2008).

Sample

Evelyn Mack Truitt

"Covers over 6,000 screen personalities, primarily American, British, and French, who died between the years 1920 and 1971"--Preface.

Sample

Joe Jackson

"Frank Grigware, in 1909, was sentenced to life in Leavenworth, the first federal penitentiary, for a crime he didn't commit. He escaped when he joined five convicts in hijacking a supply train and ramming through the joint's west gate. For the next twenty-four years, Frank Grigware, America's most elusive fugitive, ran from the law. Joe Jackson begins Grigware's story in the waning days of the Old West. The Pinkertons and the hard hand of federal law have corralled most of the region's fabled desperadoes, but the whole country remains drunk on tales of blood and destiny. Fed by the vanishing frontier's legends, Grigware sets out to find gold in the Idaho mountains, only to be confronted by harsh realities. Taken in by a crew of train robbers, the guileless Grigware finds himself a target of an investigation for a crime he had no hand in. Grigware's flight takes him across the American plains and the Canadian border to a new life as a husband, father, and mayor of a small town. Tracked doggedly by J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI through the 1920s and '30s, Grigware is ultimately arrested by Mounties in Jasper, Alberta - and becomes the focus of an international incident. A true story of a daring Western fugitive and a revealing examination of the qualities of justice in two neighboring nations, Jackson's book lays bare a war against crime that ends with a surprising twist, as justice proves to be capricious, the servant of time and place and ambition, yet tempered by the mercy of women and men."--BOOK JACKET.