Race For The Iron Throne Political And Historical Analysis Of A Game Of Thrones

A GAME OF THRONES How would you like to read A Game of Thrones with a PhD by your side?Steven Attewell, creator of Race for the Iron Throne (racefortheironthrone.wordpress.com), is one of the most insightful scholars in political theory and history, but instead of devoting his talents to academia, he's delving into George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire saga to give the most comprehensive deconstruction - and explanation - yet offered.Each one of Thrones's 73 chapters is broken down in meticulous detail in four key areas. The Political and Historical Analyses explore the political ramifications that each character's decisions entail while digging into the real-world historical incidents that inspired Martin's narrative twists and turns. What If? offers up a tantalizing look at how these political and historical elements could have played out in dozens of alternative scenarios, underscoring the majesty and complexity of Martin's storytelling. And Book vs. Show looks at the key differences - both good and bad - between the story as originally conceived on the printed page and as realized in HBO's Game of Thrones.At nearly 204,000 words, it's almost literally impossible to imagine a more exhaustive or authoritative reading companion for any novel ever before published.Note: there are spoilers for all five published novels in the Song of Ice and Fire series. About the author Steven Attewell is the author of Race for the Iron Throne, a blog that examines the history and politics of the Song of Ice and Fire series and HBO's Game of Thrones. He has a PhD in History from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he studied the history of public policy and was a political and union activist. In addition to Race for the Iron Throne, Steven is also a co-podcaster on Game of Thrones at the Lawyers, Guns, and Money podcast, writes about public policy at the Realignment Project, and is a co-author of the Tower of the Hand: A Hymn for Spring anthology book.

How would you like to read A Clash of Kings with a PhD by your side? After conquering A Game of Thrones in his first book, Dr. Steven Attewell, the creator of the hugely popular Race for the Iron Throne blog, is back to give the same exhaustive and authoritative treatment to the second volume in George R.R. Martin's masterful A Song of Ice and Fire series. Each one of Clash's first 40 chapters is broken down in meticulous detail in four key areas. The Political and Historical Analyses explore the political ramifications that each character's decisions entail while digging into the real-world historical incidents that inspired Martin's narrative twists and turns. What If? offers up a tantalizing look at how these political and historical elements could have played out in dozens of alternative scenarios, underscoring the majesty and complexity of Martin's storytelling. And Book vs. Show looks at the key differences - both good and bad - between the story as originally conceived on the printed page and as realized in HBO's Game of Thrones. At over 600 pages, the first part of Race for the Iron Throne, Vol. II is nearly an encyclopedia instead of a reading companion - one that will prove to be indispensable to the reader who wants to pick up on every last little flourish in all of Song of Ice and Fire. Note: this is part one of a two-parter, covering the first 40 chapters of A Clash of Kings (from the "Prologue" to "Catelyn V") - there was so much insight and analysis crammed into this book, Amazon forced us to break it up into two installments. About the author Steven Attewell is the author of Race for the Iron Throne, a blog that examines the history and politics of the Song of Ice and Fire series and HBO's Game of Thrones. He has a PhD in History from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he studied the history of public policy and was a political and union activist. In addition to Race for the Iron Throne, Steven is also a co-podcaster on Game of Thrones at the Lawyers, Guns, and Money podcast, writes about public policy at the Realignment Project, and is a co-author of the equally-authoritative Tower of the Hand: A Hymn for Spring anthology book.

How would you like to read A Clash of Kings with a PhD by your side? After conquering A Game of Thrones in his first book, Steven Attewell, the creator of the hugely popular Race for the Iron Throne blog, is back to give the same exhaustive and authoritative treatment to the second volume in George R.R. Martin's masterful A Song of Ice and Fire series. Each one of Clash's final 30 chapters is broken down in meticulous detail in four key areas. The Political and Historical Analyses explore the political ramifications that each character's decisions entail while digging into the real-world historical incidents that inspired Martin's narrative twists and turns. What If? offers up a tantalizing look at how these political and historical elements could have played out in dozens of alternative scenarios, underscoring the majesty and complexity of Martin's storytelling. And Book vs. Show looks at the key differences - both good and bad - between the story as originally conceived on the printed page and as realized in HBO's Game of Thrones. At over 450 pages, the concluding part of Race for the Iron Throne, Vol. II is nearly an encyclopedia instead of a reading companion - one that will prove to be indispensable to the reader who wants to pick up on every last little flourish in all of Song of Ice and Fire. Note: this is part two of a two-parter, covering the last 30 chapters of A Clash of Kings (from "Daenerys III" to "Bran VII") - there was so much insight and analysis crammed into this book, Amazon forced us to break it up into two installments. About the author Steven Attewell is the author of Race for the Iron Throne, a blog that examines the history and politics of the Song of Ice and Fire series and HBO's Game of Thrones. He has a PhD in History from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he studied the history of public policy and was a political and union activist. In addition to Race for the Iron Throne, Steven is also a co-podcaster on Game of Thrones at the Lawyers, Guns, and Money podcast, writes about public policy at the Realignment Project, and is a co-author of the equally-authoritative Tower of the Hand: A Hymn for Spring anthology book.

In People Must Live by Work, Steven Attewell presents the history of an idea—direct job creation—that transformed the role of government in ameliorating unemployment by hiring the unemployed en masse to prevent widespread destitution in economic crises. For ten years, between 1933 and 1943, direct job creation was put into practice, employing more than eight million Americans and making the federal government the largest single employer in the country. Yet in 2008, when the most dramatic economic crisis since the Depression occurred, the idea of direct job creation was nowhere to be found on the list of policies deemed feasible or advisable for government at any level. People Must Live by Work traces the rise and fall of direct job creation policy—how it was put into practice, how it came within a hairbreadth of becoming a permanent feature of American economic and social administration, and why it has been largely forgotten or discounted today. Contrary to more conventional arguments, Attewell reveals that the New Deal ended the Great Depression before the United States entered World War II and its jobs programs continued to influence policy debates over the Employment Act of 1946. He examines the deliberations surrounding the Humphrey-Hawkins Full Employment Act that was signed into law in 1978 and demonstrates the ways in which direct job creation played a significant and polarizing role in dividing the economic establishment and the Democratic party in the 1970s. People Must Live by Work not only chronicles the ambition, constraints, and achievements of direct job creation policy in the past but also proposes a framework for understanding its enduring significance and promise for today.

Dr. Steven Attewell has done it again.After producing the most definitive reading companion to George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones in Race for the Iron Throne: Political and Historical Analysis of A Game of Thrones, he's returned, tackling a set of highly specific - and thoroughly enlightening - topics that unravel the political, social, and historical tapestry of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros and beyond.Join him as he traces the origin and development of the office of the Hand of the King, as well as evaluate its most prominent holders; explores just what type of monarchy the Iron Throne represents, and how it is likely to evolve at the end of A Song of Ice and Fire; provides the only comprehensive survey of the various city-states of Essos around; and attempts to reconstruct the year-by-year developments of the five Blackfyre Rebellions as only a trained historian can.Additionally, exclusive to this book release are two bonus essays that thoroughly unpack what Martin's The World of Ice and Fire has to offer on these topics, even going so far as to point out where the encyclopedia likely is in error and where real-world history paints a more consistent or engaging scenario.Once completed, Hands, Kings, & City-States: Analyzing a World of Ice and Fire will unlock additional levels of insight, complexity, and appreciation for George Martin's already-engrossing world that you never thought possible. About the author Steven Attewell is the author of Race for the Iron Throne, a blog that examines the history and politics of the Song of Ice and Fire series and HBO's Game of Thrones. He has a PhD in History from the University of California, Santa Barbara, where he studied the history of public policy and was a political and union activist. In addition to Race for the Iron Throne, Steven is also a co-podcaster on Game of Thrones at the Lawyers, Guns, and Money podcast, writes about public policy at the Realignment Project, and is a co-author of the Tower of the Hand: A Hymn for Spring anthology book.

Game of Thrones, one of the hottest series on television, leaves hundreds of critics divided on how "feminist" the show really is. Certainly the female characters, strong and weak, embody a variety of archetypes--widow queens, warrior women, damsels in distress, career women, priestesses, crones, mothers and maidens. However, the problem is that most of them play a single role without nuance--even the "strong women" have little to do besides strut about as one-note characters. This book analyzes the women and their portrayals one by one, along with their historical inspirations. Accompanying issues in television studies also appear, from the male gaze to depiction of race. How these characters are treated in the series and how they treat themselves becomes central, as many strip for the pleasure of men or are sacrificed as pawns. Some nude scenes or moments of male violence are fetishized and filmed to tantalize, while others show the women's trauma and attempt to identify with the scene's female perspective. The key is whether the characters break out of their traditional roles and become multidimensional.

George R.R. Martin's acclaimed seven-book fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire is unique for its strong and multi-faceted female protagonists, from teen queen Daenerys, scheming Queen Cersei, child avenger Arya, knight Brienne, Red Witch Melisandre, and many more. The Game of Thrones universe challenges, exploits, yet also changes how we think of women and gender, not only in fantasy, but in Western culture in general. Divided into three sections addressing questions of adaptation from novel to television, female characters, and politics and female audience engagement within the GoT universe, the interdisciplinary and international lineup of contributors analyze gender in relation to female characters and topics such as genre, sex, violence, adaptation, as well as fan reviews. The genre of fantasy was once considered a primarily male territory with male heroes. Women of Ice and Fire shows how the GoT universe challenges, exploits, and reimagines gender and why it holds strong appeal to female readers, audiences, and online participants.