The Invented Family

It is no longer a news to say that the chaos in our world today is as a result of dysfunctional families, however, we still produce more dysfunctional families, and people alike. From the mode of parenting to being a child, to being an in-law, being a wife or husband, and from being a male or a female in the family system that we have created for ourselves. The Invented Family is a book fit for everybody since everybody belongs to a family one way or the other.

In Esther's Story: Journey from the Cross, P.K. Thomas brought the first century birth of Christianity alive by blending Biblical truth, and human history as seen through the eyes of one young girl on her journey of faith. As Esther's story continues, we follow this now young woman, along with her husband, Anthony and their adopted son, Nymes, on their mission to bring the Word of God to Anthony's mother's family in Macedonia. However, a journey that was expected to be only a few months takes an unexpected turn when a massive earthquake changes their plans and puts them on a detour. Now they face many obstacles that require all of their faith to make the right choices in order to meet the needs of others, both physical and spiritual. But what at first appears to be just a series of un related encounters turns out to be much, much more as they will discover God's hand at work. Despite these obstacles they push on, unsure as to when or if they will reach their destination. And if they do, what will they find?

Pakistani migrant families in Denmark find themselves in a specific ethno-national, post-9/11 environment where Muslim immigrants are subjected to processes of non-recognition, exclusion and securitization. This ethnographic study explores how, why, and at what costs notions of relatedness, identity, and belonging are being renegotiated within local families and transnational kinship networks. Each entry point concerns the destructive–productive constitution of family life, where neglected responsibilities, obligations, and trust lead not only to broken relationships, but also, and inevitably, to the innovative creation of new ones. By connecting the micro-politics of the migrant family with the macro-politics of the nation state and global conjunctures in general, the book argues that securitization and suspicion—launched in the name of “integration”—escalate internal community dynamics and processes of family upheaval in unpredicted ways.

Focusing purely on Queen Elizabeth II's relationship with television, this book shows how she was ahead of the game in helping to change the face of British television from the outset of her reign in 1953 when she let the cameras into Westminster Abbey. The Queen embraced television at a time when Winston Churchill and her government advisors recommended that she should keep them out - on the grounds that the cameras would destroy her royal mystique - right through the 1950s which was Britain s television decade (for reasons that are not generally understood today), when Britain became the first nation in the world to have public service television. In 1969 the Queen opened the doors to the cameras once again for the invention of Britains first family-reality-TV, fly-on-the-wall programme, showing how she and her husband the Duke of Edinburgh and their children, Charles and Anne, went about their daily lives, thereby giving the seal of royal approval to reality-TV, ahead of the first programmes in the United States and the UK that followed in her wake. Queen Elizabeth II can accurately be described as a television queen, the first monarch to understand and embrace television and, in particular reality-TV, which is why she was light years ahead of other royals and her government ministers. Television was for her a right of passage and, not until she ran into bad and stormy weather with Princess Diana in the 1980s and 1990s, did she have any image problems with television. These problems no longer remain today, evidently, as once again the television arrangements are in full swing for her Diamond Jubilee celebrations this June. Queen Elizabeth II remains the most televised and visualised person in the world.

Family is the foundation of society, and debates on family norms have always touched the very heart of America. This volume investigates the negotiations and transformations of family values and gender norms in the twentieth century as they relate to the overarching processes of social change of that period. By combining long-term approaches with innovative analysis, Inventing the "Modern American Family" transcends not only the classical dichotomies between women's studies and masculinity studies, but also contribute substantially to the history of gender and culture in the United States.

This historical romance embodies family memoirs and chronicles the journeys of the Konrad family through the life of Angele. Her love for singing classical numbers makes the novel a delightful find for any reader who recognizes the arias named or is curious about what a professional singing career entails. In addition, the detailed portrayals of various cultural markers or religious denominations—such as the Mennonites with their languages, customary habits and tastes, and common personality traits—are intriguing. Lastly, the novel also endeavours to capture the reality of grief over the death of a loved one, causing the reader to meditate on how one mourns over time and how one rises from life altering challenges.

The extraordinary life and career of the iconic twentieth-century inventor, technologist, and business magnate H. Joseph Gerber is described in a fascinating biography written by his son, David, based on unique access to unpublished sources. A Holocaust survivor whose early experiences shaped his ethos of invention, Gerber pioneered important developments in engineering, electronics, printing, apparel, aerospace, and numerous other areas, playing an essential role in the transformation of American industry. Gerber's story is remarkable and inspiring, and his method, redolent of Edison's and Sperry's, holds a key to a restored national economy and American creative vitality in the twenty-first century.

Have you ever wondered who invented the 4-4-2 formation? Why footballers used to celebrate success by releasing a platitudinous pop single? And who has really scored the most goals in the history of the game? You can find the answers to all these questions and more in a book which takes the time to consider the debt the stepover may owe to Dutch speed skaters, explores the most surprising world transfer record and celebrates the most dysfunctional World Cup campaign ever. Through a series of answers to puzzling and perennial questions, the book sheds unexpected light on the beautiful game, challenging conventional wisdom, discovering neglected heroes and destroying a few urban myths along the way.