Life at Puget Sound

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Jonathan S. Addleton

Born in Pakistan to Baptist missionaries from rural Georgia, Jonathan S. Addleton crossed the borders of race, culture, class, and religion from an early age. Some Far and Distant Place combines family history, social observation, current events, and deeply personal commentary to tell an unusual coming-of-age story that has as much to do with the intersection of cultures as its does with one man's life. Whether sharing ice cream with a young Benazir Bhutto or selling Gospel tracts at the tomb of a Sufi saint, Addleton provides insightful glimpses into the Muslim-Christian encounter through the eyes of a young child. His narrative is rooted in many unlikely sources, including a southern storytelling tradition, Urdu ghazal, revivalist hymnology, and the Anglican Book of Common Prayer. The natural beauty of the Himalayas also leaves a strong and lasting mark, providing solidity in a confusing world that on occasion seems about to tilt out of control.

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edited and introduced by Hugh Thomas

"Founded by the Moors, the Spanish capital only rose to prominence in the 16th century, when Philip II chose it as a place from which to manage his empire - and it took a further two centuries to become the grandly aristocratic city we see today." "Hugh Thomas, best known for his authoritative history of the Spanish Civil War, The Conquest of Mexico and Rivers of Gold, has chosen from diaries, letters, memoirs and novels ranging across five centuries of Madrid's history. The anthology brilliantly evokes the drama and personalities of the past with eye-witness accounts and commentaries from both visitors and inhabitants. These include Beaumarchais, Beckford, Luis Bunuel, Alexandre Dumas, Goya, Victor Hugo, Hemingway, Napoleon, and scores of others. Bullfights are viewed in the 17th century by the great historian the Earl of Clarendon, the Duke of Wellington walks in the shady Paseo del Prado in 1812, in more recent times Salvador Dali plays a surrealist joke on a staid barman at the Ritz. There are glimpses of Rubens in the Alcazar, Manet at the Prado, generals and anarchists in the Puerta del Sol, and Casanova and Trotsky in prison. A richly satisfying mixture that provides both an introduction to the city and an essence of the spirit of place. Book jacket."--BOOK JACKET.

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Eric Ross

"Eric Ross uses his fictional character, Ian Alexander Bell Robertson, to recount the story of life in the Canadas during 1841. ... Throughout the book, Ross has interspersed snippets of information and illustrations to supplement Robertson's writings. Scrupulously researched and easily accessible, Full of Hope and Promise will interest anyone wishing to know more about everyday life in Upper and Lower Canada at the time of the 1841 Union."--Jacket.

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Monte Hartman

"Large-format photo study and narratives record journeys along the 100th Meridian from the Canadian to the Mexican borders. Explores life and communities along the vertical line that denotes the nation's geographic center and the shift in annual rainfall to less than twenty inches per year"--Provided by publisher.