The View From The Train

“Robinson believed that, if he looked at it hard enough, he could cause the surface of the city to reveal to him the molecular basis of historical events, and in this way he hoped to see into the future.” In his sequence of films, Patrick Keiller retraces the hidden story of the places where we live, the cities and landscapes of our everyday lives. Now, in this brilliant collection of essays, he offers a new perspective on how Britain works and sees itself. He discusses the background to his work and its development – from surrealism to post-2008 economic catastrophe – and expands on what the films reveal. Referencing writers including Benjamin and Lefebvre, the essays follow his career since the late 1970s, exploring themes including the surrealist perception of the city; the relationship of architecture and film; how cities change over time, and how films represent this; as well as accounts of cross-country journeys involving historical figures, unexpected ideas and an urgent portrait of post-crash Britain.

This book shows that the Southern Question is far from just an Italian issue, for its origins are deeply connected to the formation of European cultural identity between the mid-eighteenth and late-nineteenth centuries."--Jacket.

This is the life story of a family branch rooted in America in 1636 represented by a man who graduated from Colgate University, New York Medical College during World War II and Harvard with a post graduate degree who learned the practice of medicine in a small coal mining town with a young family doing medical procedures that would be impossible today. He, with the support of his wife, spent an innovative problem solving Air Force career that included many incredible situations, Vietnam War combat, hospital construction, medical quality control, Physician Assistant and Nurse Practitioner training. This was followed by cost effective public sector practice and administration as well as corporate medical practice and administration followed by retirement and active resident participation in a continuing care retirement community with a structured approach to resident participation.

Built almost 2,000 years ago by the Roman occupiers of Britain, Hadrian's Wall is one of the most famous and identifiable World Heritage Sites. When two old friends, one American and one British, reunited to trek the length of the Wall, they reminisced about the past while sharing apprehension about the future. This memoir of their coast-to-coast voyage examines Roman history, drawing parallels between the fall of the Roman Empire and the recent political developments and uncertainties in the United Kingdom and the United States. The authors also share their often humorous encounters with locals they met along the way while hiking in incessant rain.

Peering into the often unnoticed corners of life, Kevin Brockmeier has been consistently praised for the originality of his vision, the boundlessness of his imagination and the command of his craft. Once again, in this new collection of fiction, Brockmeier shows us a fantastical world that is intimately familiar but somehow distant and beautiful. From the touching title story, where a young, antisocial woman imagines her escape into the sky with an apparition only she can see, to the haunting story of a pastor tempted by something less than divine, Brockmeier moves effortlessly from the extraordinary to the everyday, while challenging us to see the world anew. Stunning, elegant, profound, and playful, The View from the Seventh Layer cements Kevin Brockmeier's place as one of the most creative and compassionate writers of his generation.

Stepan Ilyich Povin, the KGB's chief of foreign intelligence, is seeking asylum in the West. In exchange he offers a stunning piece of information: The Soviets are about to capture a sophisticated American spy plane that radar cannot detect, a plane that is so crucial to America's defense that she will risk war to keep its secrets from the Soviets. The Americans send Kirk Binderhaven - an ex-CIA operative and survivor of countless perilous assignments - to destory the plane. Deep within Soviet territory, trekking across snowbound Siberian wastes to reach his target, Binderhaven will encounter the cruelest odds of his career...and a beautiful Russian woman who will become critical to the whole enterprise. A VIEW FROM THE SQUARE is the second book in the Stepan Povin trilogy, the thrilling sequel to A Man Called Kyril