Books about Storied from Amazon.com

What happens when vast wealth, a virtual media monopoly, and acute shamelessness combine in one man?

As the brilliant Alexander Stille demonstrates in this blistering, newsbreaking book, Italy's Silvio Berlusconi has outdone himself, and undone his country. Many are the crimes of Berlusconi, and if you can shield your mind from the human costs, there's something appallingly entertaining about this extraordinary chronicle of rank criminality, cronyism, and self-dealing at the highest levels of power. The scale, the sums, the stakes, the backdrops: The Sack of Rome is a story of gargantuan appetites, diabolical cleverness, and ruthless maneuvering in a land where the normal checks and balances don't apply. If you combined the political might of President Bush, the star power of Arnold Schwarzenegger, the media holdings of Ted Turner and Rupert Murdoch, the money of Ross Perot and Steve Forbes, and the real estate and personal arrogance of Donald Trump, and if this same media-political Frankenstein had also been charged with innumerable serious crimes, you would begin to get an idea of how long a shadow Berlusconi casts over Italian public life. And because Italy has long been a laboratory for bad new political ideas, Berlusconi's combination of media, money, celebrity, and politics is more than simply a dark, fascinating fairy tale; it is a glimpse into the future of modern democratic politics.

A monumental work of investigative reportage by one of the world's most celebrated Italy watchers: if a book can do any real damage to this man, then this book is the one..
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Oh, to be a Red Sox fan. It is a mark of the singular angst that attends the territory that the four retired numbers--9 (Ted Williams), 4 (Joe Cronin), 1 (Bobby Doerr), and 8 (Carl Yastrzemski)--taunt the faithful every game from their perch on Fenway's right-field facade; they precisely correspond to the date--September 4, 1918--that the Sox won their last World Series title. Less than two years later, owner Harry Frazee would sell his star pitcher and outfielder, Babe Ruth, to the Yankees, and the curse of the Bambino would take hold of Boston hearts.

From Cy Young to Cy Young award winner Pedro Martinez, this is a franchise full of myth and history--the first to win a World Series and the last to cross the color line--and, contend authors Glenn Stout, the series editor of the annual Best American Sportswriting volume, and Richard A. Johnson, curator of the Sports Museum of New England, the most interesting franchise in the history of the game. Their splendid, fully illustrated chronicle, rich with anecdotes, of the club from 1901 to the present makes it hard to argue with the assessment. The Sox have always been interesting--as well as frustrating, enigmatic, contradictory, and thrilling, and Red Sox Century touches all of those bases. This is an exhaustively researched history, but it's also a fan's book, filled with affection and exasperation. Stout and Johnson effectively pepper their narrative with personal reflections and observations from writers such as Peter Gammons, Dan Shaughnessy, and Elizabeth Dooley. They also pick a Red Sox all-century team, make a fine case for Pedro's '99 season as the best ever for a pitcher, compile some requisite stats, and assemble the most complete Sox bibliography ever. About the only thing they don't supply is a good parking place near Fenway. --Jeff Silverman.
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Toilescenic fabric originally printed from copperplateshas been a decorating sensation since its introduction over two hundred and fifty years ago. Today, toile fabric is still highly sought after in both decorating and collecting circles. This comprehensive guide presents the history of toile, from its beginnings in eighteenth century Britain and France through its evolution in nineteenth and twentieth century America. The book includes hundreds of fascinating scenic designs shown in 225 beautiful color photographs. Antique, vintage, and reproduction toile patterns are described with an identification and value guide. The toile patterns are grouped by their distinctive themes: country life, romance, recreation, transportation, chinoiserie, classical myths, literary works, and American motifs. A useful resource section lists specialized antique toile dealers, books, fabric companies, museums, and retailers with phone numbers and website contacts. Everyone who loves toile fabrics will love this luscious book! Vive la toile!.
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Bringing Memory Forward looks at the application of the method of currere to storied formation. Research tells us that white teachers are among the most recalcitrant of learners when it comes to challenging their own memories and experiences of privilege and race. This book examines how white teachers can recognize and critique their constructions of "difference," and asks what it is that white teachers are so attached to that makes such critique difficult. The book goes on to discuss the processes that might be set in motion to bring these attachments into question in such a way that the learner (namely, the teacher) does not feel alienated and paralyzed by her "thoughtlessness" but instead is moved to think and act. Through elaborating a method called "bringing memory forward" that emerged from self-study methodologies and a teacher action research project, Teresa Strong-Wilson draws attention to the significance of stories, and critical engagement with stories, in social justice education with teachers..
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For the first time, the complete history of the most famous race in the Olympic Games has been presented in Olympic Marathon--A Centennial History of the Games' Most Storied Race. Beginning with the legends of ancient Greece, this book traces the process of reviving the Olympic movement, including the establishment of the marathon--the only event specifically created for the 1896 Olympics. Following heroes such as Dorando Pietri, Emil Zatopek, Abebe Bikila, and Frank Shorter, the book includes a complete analysis of every Olympic marathon as well as tales from the lives of the runners. The stories of John Hayes, who won the race with the help of strychnine; 1936 winner Sohn Kee Chung, a South Korean forced to compete for Japan; and Mamo Wolde, who won the marathon with an infected toe only to end up as a political prisoner in Ethiopia, make this book much more than a sports history. The story of the long struggle to establish a women's marathon begins with a lonely female who ran the marathon course in 1896 and ends with the dramatic victory of American Joan Benoit in the first women's Olympic marathon in 1984. Completely up to date, the book concludes with chapters on the races in Atlanta in 1996, including the closest finish in Olympic marathon history. An appendix, photographs, and an index complete this history. An invaluable resource for all interested in the Olympics and marathon running..
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