Author: Brandon K. Gauthier
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781948954617
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages :
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Book Description
Should we humanize the world's most inhumane leaders? Adolf Hitler. Joseph Stalin. Benito Mussolini. Mao Zedong. Kim Il Sung. Vladimir Lenin. These cruel dictators wrote their names on the pages of history in the blood of countless innocent victims. Yet they themselves were once young people searching for their place in the world, dealing with challenges many of us face--parental authority, education, romance, loss--and doing so in ways that might be uncomfortably familiar. Historian Brandon K. Gauthier has created a fascinating work--epic yet intimate, well-researched but immensely readable, clear-eyed and empathetic--looking at the lives of these six dictators, with a focus on their youths. We watch Lenin's older brother executed at the hands of the Tsar's police--an event that helped radicalize this overachieving high-schooler. We observe Stalin grappling with the death of his young, beautiful wife. We see Hitler's mother mourning the loss of three young children--and determined that her first son to survive infancy would find his place in the world. The purpose isn't to excuse or simply explain these horrible men, but rather to treat them with the empathy they themselves too often lacked. We may prefer to hold such lives at arm's length so as to demonize them at will, but this book reminds us that these monstrous rulers were also human beings--and perhaps more relatable than we'd like.
Author: John Berendt
Publisher: Random House
ISBN: 0679429220
Category : True Crime
Languages : en
Pages : 417
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Book Description
NATIONAL BESTSELLER • A modern classic of true crime, set in a most beguiling Southern city—now in a 30th anniversary edition with a new afterword by the author “Elegant and wicked . . . might be the first true-crime book that makes the reader want to book a bed and breakfast for an extended weekend at the scene of the crime.”—The New York Times Book Review Shots rang out in Savannah’s grandest mansion in the misty, early morning hours of May 2, 1981. Was it murder or self-defense? For nearly a decade, the shooting and its aftermath reverberated throughout this hauntingly beautiful city of moss-hung oaks and shaded squares. In this sharply observed, suspenseful, and witty narrative, John Berendt skillfully interweaves a hugely entertaining first-person account of life in this isolated remnant of the Old South with the unpredictable twists and turns of a landmark murder case. It is a spellbinding story peopled by a gallery of remarkable characters: the well-bred society ladies of the Married Woman’s Card Club; the turbulent young gigolo; the hapless recluse who owns a bottle of poison so powerful it could kill every man, woman, and child in Savannah; the aging and profane Southern belle who is the “soul of pampered self-absorption”; the uproariously funny drag queen; the acerbic and arrogant antiques dealer; the sweet-talking, piano-playing con artist; young people dancing the minuet at the black debutante ball; and Minerva, the voodoo priestess who works her magic in the graveyard at midnight. These and other Savannahians act as a Greek chorus, with Berendt revealing the alliances, hostilities, and intrigues that thrive in a town where everyone knows everyone else. Brilliantly conceived and masterfully written, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is a sublime and seductive reading experience.
Author: Tim LaHaye
Publisher: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
ISBN: 1414341342
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 416
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Book Description
Dynamic Romanian multimillionaire Nicolae Carpathia's sphere of influence steadily grows as he parlays his looks, charm, charisma, and intellectual brilliance into success in business and politics. But is it mere coincidence that those who oppose or offend him suffer to the point of death? Meanwhile, a young Buck Williams begins his journalistic career. Pilot Rayford Steele gains more responsibility at work and at home. Scientist Chaim Rosenzweig begins work on a secret formula that could change the world. All three go about their daily lives, unaware of each other or of the powerful young man from Romania. Around the world, the stage is being set for the cataclysmic event that will change the world forever.
Author: Alex Kava
Publisher: Harlequin
ISBN: 1460301498
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 455
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Book Description
The brutal murders of three young boys paralyze the citizens of Platte City, Nebraska. What's worse is the grim realization that the man recently executed for the crimes was a copycat. When Sheriff Nick Morrelli is called to the scene of another grisly murder, it becomes clear that the real predator is still at large, waiting to kill again. Morrelli understands the urgency of the case terrorizing his community, but it's the experienced eye of FBI criminal profiler Maggie O'Dell that pinpoints the true nature of the evil behind the killings—a revelation made all the more horrific when Morrelli's own nephew goes missing. Maggie understands something else: the killer is enjoying himself, relishing his ability to stay one step ahead of her, making this case more personal by the hour. Because out there, watching, is a killer with a heart of pure and perfect evil.
Author: Robert Meister
Publisher: Columbia University Press
ISBN: 0231150377
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 546
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Book Description
The way in which mainstream human rights discourse speaks of such evils as the Holocaust, slavery, or apartheid puts them solidly in the past. Its elaborate techniques of "transitional" justice encourage future generations to move forward by creating a false assumption of closure, enabling those who are guilty to elude responsibility. This approach to history, common to late-twentieth-century humanitarianism, doesn't presuppose that evil ends when justice begins. Rather, it assumes that a time before justice is the moment to put evil in the past. Merging examples from literature and history, Robert Meister confronts the problem of closure and the resolution of historical injustice. He boldly challenges the empty moral logic of "never again" or the theoretical reduction of evil to a cycle of violence and counterviolence, broken only once evil is remembered for what it was. Meister criticizes such methods for their deferral of justice and susceptibility to exploitation and elaborates the flawed moral logic of "never again" in relation to Auschwitz and its evolution into a twenty-first-century doctrine of the Responsibility to Protect.
Author: Alex Kava
Publisher: Hachette UK
ISBN: 0751553840
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 336
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Book Description
'O'Dell could be Reacher's long-lost twin' LEE CHILD Special Agent Maggie O'Dell doesn't need to set foot at a crime scene to catch a serial killer. From her small Quantico office, she's profiled criminals using just Polaroids and faxed copies of evidence from homicide detectives across the country. Then comes Albert Stucky . . . and nothing will ever be the same. Stucky is a sadistic madman who places pieces of his victims in takeout containers and leaves them for innocent bystanders to find. He enjoys his twisted games as much as he enjoys the kill. And when Maggie is tasked with profiling his murders, Stucky is only too happy to rise to the challenge: 'Let the chase begin.' New York Times bestselling author Alex Kava returns with a heart-stopping new thriller featuring special agent Maggie O'Dell, who will face one of the most terrifying serial killers of her career. 'Rip-roaring action that only builds in intensity with every page' TESS GERRITSEN
Author: David R. Blumenthal
Publisher: Georgetown University Press
ISBN: 9781589014251
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 340
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Book Description
People who helped exterminate Jews during the shoah (Hebrew for "holocaust") often claimed that they only did what was expected of them. Intrigued by hearing the same response from individuals who rescued Jews, David R. Blumenthal proposes that the notion of ordinariness used to characterize Nazi evil is equally applicable to goodness. In this provocative book, Blumenthal develops a new theory of human behavior that identifies the social and psychological factors that foster both good and evil behavior. Drawing on lessons primarily from the shoah but also from well-known obedience and altruism experiments, My Lai, and the civil rights movement, Blumenthal deftly interweaves insights from psychology, history, and social theory to create a new way of looking at human behavior. Blumenthal identifies the factors — social hierarchy, education, and childhood discipline — that shape both good and evil attitudes and actions. Considering how our religious and educational institutions might do a better job of encouraging goodness and discouraging evil, he then makes specific recommendations for cultivating goodness in people, stressing the importance of the social context of education. He reinforces his ideas through stories, teachings, and case histories from the Jewish tradition that convey important lessons in resistance and goodness. Appendices include the ethical code of the Israel Defense Forces, material on non-violence from the Martin Luther King, Jr., Center, a suggested syllabus for a Jewish elementary school, and a list of prosocial sources on the Web, as well as a complete bibliography. If people can commit acts of evil without thinking, why can’t even more commit acts of kindness? Writing with power and insight, Blumenthal shows readers of all faiths how we might replace patterns of evil with empathy, justice, and caring, and through a renewed attention to moral education, perhaps prevent future shoahs.
Author: Alex Kava
Publisher: MIRA
ISBN: 1488051615
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 400
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Book Description
Plunge back into the thrilling world of profiler Maggie O’Dell in book 5 of this acclaimed series from New York Times bestselling author Alex Kava. When a monsignor is found knifed to death in a Nebraska airport restroom, FBI special agent Maggie O’Dell is called in to profile the ritualistic murder of a priest, the latest in a series of killings. Maggie soon discovers a disturbing Internet game that’s popular among victims of abuse by Catholic priests. With this first real lead in the investigation, she wonders if the group has turned cyberspace justice into reality. Then Maggie gets a second lead—one that leaves her stunned. For the past four years she has been obsessed with finding Father Michael Keller, whose brutal acts against children continue to haunt her. Now, it seems, he has become a target. When Keller offers to help Maggie solve the ritual killings in exchange for protection, she decides to ally herself with the elusive child killer, stepping into a world of malevolence from which she may not return unscathed. Maggie knows the bargain is a necessary evil…one that may be made in blood… Originally published in 2006
Author: Dr. Cornelius H. Evans
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 1475998856
Category : Religion
Languages : en
Pages : 88
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Book Description
In the early morning hours of December 31, 2010, Dr. Cornelius H. Evans and his wife received a terrible phone call: their son, Bryant, had been shot and killed. The agonizing days that followed brought Evans face-to-face with the realization that evil had touched his family’s life, sending him on a quest to try to understand the role evil plays in our world. Deeply emotional and heartfelt, Surviving Evil in a Depraved Society offers insight into how Evans dealt with the loss of his son by analyzing the root of violence in America—evil. He examines various theories on evil and its origin, its effects on mankind, and how, according to the Christian belief, evil will remain a part of our society until Christ returns. Evans also challenges ideologies, philosophical beliefs, and theologies on whether one can avoid evil elements. He demonstrates that we can be on our guard against inviting evil into our lives by spiritually guarding ourselves and raising our children with a strong moral foundation. An eye-opening look at the face of evil, Surviving Evil in a Depraved Society offers hope for living in today’s world.
Author: Paul Carus
Publisher: Library of Alexandria
ISBN: 1465554009
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 481
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Book Description
