How do people come to think of themselves as part of a nation? Dramas of Nationhood identifies a fantastic cultural form that binds together the Egyptian nation—television serials. These melodramatic programs—like soap operas but more closely tied to political and social issues than their Western counterparts—have been shown on television in Egypt for more than thirty years. In this book, Lila Abu-Lughod examines the shifting politics of these serials and the way their contents both reflect and seek to direct the changing course of Islam, gender relations, and everyday life in this Middle Eastern nation. Representing a decade's worth of research, Dramas of Nationhood makes a case for the importance of studying television to answer larger questions about culture, power, and modern self-fashionings. Abu-Lughod explores the elements of developmentalist ideology and the visions of national progress that once dominated Egyptian television—now experiencing a crisis. She discusses the broadcasts in rich detail, from the generic emotional qualities of TV serials and the depictions of authentic national culture, to the debates inflamed by their deliberate strategies for combating religious extremism.

When celebrating his 106th birthday, Dr Bill Frankland was asked why he had lived to such an age. His reply was quite straightforward, 'Because I have been so near to death so many times.This is the biography of a truly remarkable man. Growing up in the Lake District, he qualified as a doctor in 1938. A year later he joined the Army, and served his country throughout World War 2. It was only the toss of a coin which saved him from certain death in Singapore in February 1942. Imprisoned on Hell Island he suffered terribly under his Japanese captors. After the war he decided not to talk about his experiences. Instead, focussing on his career in medicine, he worked for Sir Alexander Fleming, developed the pollen count and helped thousands of patients suffering from hay fever. An internationally acclaimed expert, he has treated presidents and paupers around the world.Using his own words, this book tells the story of an outstanding doctor, one who has lived through two world wars, served his King and Country and made major contributions to medicine.

It is an inescapable fact; every situation has a "Time Zero" waiting to occur, be it the expectant mother anxiously looking forward to her new baby, a weary worker watching the clock slowly drag toward quitting time, or the end of San Francisco as we know it today. A clandestine meeting on the French Rivera between a terrorist and an international arms dealer to obtain Atomic Demolition Charges (mini A-bombs) begins the trail of action and intrigue that culminates in San Francisco. Cross and double cross occurs as the A-bombs change hands. Captain Tim Mitchell, (the President's prodigal stepson), sneaks Major Jaqui Carlyle, an unauthorized crew member, onboard the final flight, testing the 21st century's newest military weapon. Night Vision Goggles for pilots. When exposed, Major Carlyle is reassigned to a new hush-hush facility in west Texas. Captain Mitchell is assigned to flying a desk as assistant information officer at the home of Star Wars. The Lawrence Livermore Laboratory in California. Armando Quionez; a self-educated scientist is contacted by the terrorist who Sky-Jacked the ADCs and manufactures the ADC detonators. To prove his firing pin works, one is exploded at White Sands New Mexico. Plexiglass coffins nicknamed "Gadgets" are constructed for two A-bombs which are placed under the Golden Gate and Bay bridges. The bombs are armed so if it is disturbed it will detonated. The news media is notified that the Gadgets are hot and the deadline for denotation is established. Mitchell has minimal qualifications as a scientist but is about to prove his talent as commander under fire.

The concept, practice, institution and appearance of ‘the state’ have been hotly debated ever since the emergence of history as a discipline within modern scholarship. The field of medieval Islamic history, however, has remained aloof from most of these debates. Rather it tends to take for granted the particularity of dynastic trajectories within slow-changing bureaucratic contexts. Trajectories of State Formation promotes a more critical and connected understanding of state formation in the late medieval Sultanates of Cairo and of the Timurid, Turkmen and Ottoman dynasties. Projecting seven case studies onto a broad canvas of European and West-Asian research, this volume presents a trans-dynastic reconstruction, interpretation and illustration of statist trajectories across fifteenth-century Islamic West-Asia. The contributors are: Georg Christ, Kristof D’hulster, Jan Dumolyn, Albrecht Fuess, Dimitri J. Kastritsis, Beatrice Forbes Manz, John L. Meloy, Jo Van Steenbergen, and Patrick Wing.

Writing regions, undertaking a regional study, was once a standard form of geographic communication and critique. This was until the quantitative revolution in the middle of the previous century and more definitively the critical turn in human geography towards the end of the twentieth century. From then on writing regions as they were experienced phenomenologically, or arguing culturally, historically, and politically with regions, was deemed to be old-fashioned. Yet the region is, and always will be, a central geographical concept, and thinking about regions can tell us a lot about the history of the discipline called geography. Despite taking up an identifiable place within the geographical imagination in scholarship and beyond, region remains a relatively forgotten, under-used, and in part under-theorised term. Reanimating Regions marks the continued reinvigoration of a set of disciplinary debates surrounding regions, the regional, and regional geography. Across 18 chapters from international, interdisciplinary scholars, this book writes and performs region as a temporary permanence, something held stable, not fixed and absolute, at different points in time, for different purposes. There is, as this expansive volume outlines, no single reading of a region. Reanimating Regions collectively rebalances the region within geography and geographical thought. In renewing the geography of regions as not only a site of investigation but also as an analytical framework through which to write the world, what emerges is a powerful reworking of the geographic imagination. Read against one another, the chapters weave together timely commentaries on region and regions across the globe, with a particular emphasis upon the regional as played out in the United Kingdom, and regional worlds both within and beyond Europe, offering chapters from Africa and South America. Addressing both the political and the cultural, this volume responds to the need for a consolidated and considered reflection on region, the regional, and regional geography, speaking directly to broader intellectual concerns with performance, aesthetics, identity, mobilities, the environment, and the body.

This fascinating memoir recounts Timothy Ian Mitchell’s boyhood dream of becoming a RCMP officer and the first five years of his service as a Mountie on the Canadian Prairies. Deeply honest, often moving, and intermittently funny, the anecdotes at the core of this book vividly detail Mitchell’s experiences and encounters with other members of the Force, perpetrators and victims of crime, and a variety of other people and places that impacted his early career and influenced his entire life. Whether he was enforcing traffic regulations, investigating a robbery, or marching on Red Serge duty, Mitchell was honoured and grateful to be recognized as a Canadian Mountie.

This riveting inside story of the intense search for the Salt Lake City teenager reveals never-before-told details of the largest investigation in Utah state history. The firsthand account of Tom Smart, Elizabeth's uncle and one-time suspect, reveals the details of the flawed police investigation, the media's manipulation of the family, and the eyewitness account of nine-year-old Mary Katherine Smart that went largely ignored by investigators. New research is presented on the family background of disturbed street preacher Brian David Mitchell, who kidnapped Elizabeth as part of a bizarre polygamous plot. Also examined is the critical role of the media, revealing the essential part played by John Walsh and others in facilitating Elizabeth's safe return, and the manipulative influence of Fox News and Bill O'Reilly. Going beyond a mere eyewitness account, the book includes information culled from interviews with more than 150 people involved in the search and investigation, notes from family meetings, and memos from law enforcement officials.

Includes detailed listings of all major Shakespeare plays on stage and screen, this book covers performances in North America since 1991. It uniquely explores each plays' performance history, as well as including reviews and useful information about staging. An engaging reference guide for academics and students alike.