Showing titles in Cultural & Regional

This gifted storyteller poignantly shares the memories of those mentors and teachers who profoundly influenced her life. She speaks of her voluntary muteness as a child. Even in this silence, "Mama" (Angelou's grandmother) spoke prophetically to the child's unbelieving ears: "You'll speak about the glorious nature of the human spirit and what we can be striving for."

Growing up Amish and leaving the fold, Emma Gingerich left her Amish community in Eagleville, Missouri, at the age of 18. Her memoir Runaway Amish Girl: The Great Escape captivates even the timid listener. Disagreeing with the beliefs of Amish traditions and upbringing, the pressure became too much for her to bear. Forced to make a personal decision, Emma found the courage to leave the only life she had ever known. She had no idea the emotional turmoil she'd inflict on her family and friends.  

When Nusrit Mehtab joined the Met Police in the late 80s the organisation was rife with racism and misogyny. Officers refused to patrol with her, or even call her by her name. Her attempts to get promoted were met with hostility and ridicule and she was subject to cruel pranks. As the years passed and her seniority grew, Nusrit was dismayed to find that these problems got worse, not better. After 30 years, she finally had enough and left the MET, initiating an employment tribunal against them in the process.

The samurai are dead. That’s not a morbid or melancholic statement - just a fact. Every samurai who ever lived has long since passed, and only the memory of their way of life remains. By the mid 1800s, the old ways were fading. For centuries, Japanese society had followed a Confucian hierarchy that placed the samurai at the top.

Part memoir, part biography, this is a journey of change and transformation. This memoir offers a collection of Dan's life learnings and challenges, and her ride on the emotional rollercoaster called life. It demonstrates that life is not linear, and when we overcome its challenges we face everything and rise. We build our resilience and come out stronger and wiser. Some days it may not feel as though we are strong, but it's step by step, day by day moving forward; even small steps in the right direction are still progress.

How does a white kid from the New York suburbs, harmonica in hand, end up earning himself a busker's spot on the Harlem sidewalks next to Mr. Satan, a Mississippi-born legend? How did an interracial blues duo fare on the streets of New York during a turbulent, fractious time marked by racially-motivated murders in Howard Beach, Bensonhurst, and Crown Heights?

Sadia is a comedian who loves sex. She is also a hijab-wearing Muslim woman. The two are in a lifelong relationship, but it's complicated. Sadia Azmat has many different sides to her, she is the good Muslim sister and the loud and proud comedian, she is the quiet and loving friend and the horny and outspoken one. So why does everyone put her in a box and expect her to choose between one or the other?

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From the governor of Maryland, the “compassionate” (People), “startling” (Baltimore Sun), “moving” (Chicago Tribune) true story of two kids with the same name: One went on to be a Rhodes Scholar, decorated combat veteran, White House Fellow, and business...

Experience the stunning rise, fall, and legacy of N.W.A. and how they put their stamp on pop culture, black culture, and hip-hop music forever in this “incredibly vivid look at one of music’s most iconic groups” (Associated Press). In 1986, a group was formed that would establish the...

When George Alagiah was dropped off at a Hampshire boarding school as a child back in 1967, he was confronted with an extreme version of the private struggle faced by all immigrants: the battle to leave the past behind and fit into a new culture. His arrival in Britain coincided with the unhappy intrusion of race into politics. A key part of the ensuing fight against racism was the concept of multiculturalism. But in a closely argued and forthright chapter, Alagiah suggests that far from improving the prospects for some immigrants, multiculturalism may be an impediment to integration.

A deeply felt meditation on race, sex and American culture - at once incendiary and icy, mischievous and provocative, celebratory and elegiac. The daughter of a successful paediatrician and a fashionable socialite, Margo Jefferson spent her childhood among Chicago's Black elite. She calls this society 'Negroland': 'a small region of Negro America where residents were sheltered by a certain amount of privilege and plenty'. With privilege came expectation.

The Strange Career of Jim Crow is one of the great works of Southern history. Indeed, the book actually helped shape that history. Published in 1955, a year after the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education ordered schools desegregated, Strange Career was cited so often to counter arguments for segregation that Martin Luther King, Jr. called it "the historical Bible of the civil rights movement." The book offers a clear and illuminating analysis of the history of Jim Crow laws, presenting evidence that segregation in the South dated only to the 1890s.

In October 2017, Jagmeet Singh was elected as the first visible minority to lead a major federal political party in Canada. The historic milestone was celebrated across the nation. About a month earlier, in the lead-up to his election, Jagmeet held community meet and greets across Canada. At one such event, a disruptive heckler in the crowd hurled accusations at him. Jagmeet responded by calmly calling for all Canadians to act with “love and courage” in the face of hate. That response immediately went viral.

In this Christian Encounter Series biography, author John Perry explores the life of Sir. Winston Churchill, the man who changed World War II. Winston Churchill captivated the world with his voice and his writings. His books and speeches ooze with patriotism and faith in a just God. But he...

Born in a remote village in Kenya, Nice Leng'ete saw the young girls she grew up with receive the cut, the rite of passage into female adulthood in Masai culture. Every girl got the cut, and once you did, you'd be married off to a man triple your age. You might be his second or third wife. You'd have children in your teens. This is exactly what happened to Nice's sister. To resist the cut meant becoming an outcast in Masai culture.

Anyone who likes to go out in a little black dress can thank Coco Chanel for making it fashionable. The French designer behind the iconic brand of haute couture grew up in poverty, though. Delve into this biography to learn all about the rags-to-riches life of this fashion icon.

On cold, damp Dublin day, Padraig enters Ryan’s of Parkgate Street in a dark and despairing mood – and meets the man. From this moment nothing is the same as he begins a journey in which he discovers his ability to truly lead and, in so doing, turns around a faltering business. This metaphorical journey is paralleled by a real one through various Dublin pubs, and the extraordinary people who can be met in these establishments. Pints of stout are consumed, profound conversations are had, and odd coincidences occur as the tale unfolds.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER WINNER of the 2022 Rakuten Kobo Emerging Writer Prize for Non-Fiction SHORTLISTED for the 2023 Speaker's Book Award A GLOBE AND MAIL BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR "Unreconciled is one hell of a good book. Jesse Wente’s narrative moves effortlessly from the personal to the...

L'historienne médiéviste Claude Gauvard nous invite à découvrir Christine de Pizan, une figure méconnue mais essentielle de la France médiévale. Écrivaine novatrice des xive et xve siècles, elle s'impose comme l'une des premières femmes de lettres professionnelles, excellant dans l'écriture poétique, l'analyse politique et la polémique. À travers son oeuvre foisonnante, écrite en langue vernaculaire, Christine de Pizan défend avec force la place des femmes dans la société.

Terrie had made it: She had launched her own public relations company with such clients as Eddie Murphy and Johnnie Cochran. Yet she was in constant pain, waking up in terror, overeating in search of relief. For 30 years she kept on her game face of success, exhausting herself daily to satisfy her clients' needs while neglecting her own. When she finally collapsed, she had no clue what was wrong or if there was a way out.