From life in an East End pub to fame on a global stage, Matt Johnson – founder, songwriter and visionary lynchpin of iconic band The The – created some of the most engaging, challenging and enduring music of his era. Then he walked away from it all. In this authorised biography Neil Fraser has drawn back the curtain on a brilliant enigma. Neil Fraser has gained unprecedented access to Matt Johnson and his The The archives. He has conducted hundreds of hours of interviews with Johnson and those involved in his life and work, including Johnny Marr, Johanna St Michaels, JG Thirlwell and Tim Pope. Long Shadows, High Hopes reveals the whole story, from early days to glory days. It examines the man behind the iconic songs and the acclaimed albums – an outspoken political lyricist and visionary force who made a success of living on his own terms. With the announcement from Matt Johnson in in 2017 that The The would appear again, this book reveals what has prompted him to step out of the long shadows after so long.

One of the most urgent issues facing the world today is how countries shape historical memory in the aftermath of calamity, making decisions that cast long shadows into the future. Combining gripping storytelling with sharp observation, Erna Paris takes us on an extraordinary journey through four continents to explore how nations reinvent themselves after cataclysmic events. She travels through the United States, with its long-buried memory of slavery; to South Africa, where the Truth and Reconciliation Commission struggles to heal the wounds left by apartheid; to Japan, France, and Germany, where the unresolved pain of Hiroshima and the Holocaust still resonate; and to the former Yugoslavia, where she exposes the cynical shaping of historical memory. Through its insightful analysis, Long Shadows compels us to question where we stand as individuals in relation to our own collective histories. Erna Paris is the winner of ten national and international writing awards, three for Long Shadows. She is the author of six critically acclaimed books of literary non-fiction, including The End of Days: A Story of Tolerance, Tyranny and the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain, which won the 1996 Canadian National Jewish Book Award for History. She lives in Toronto. Winner of the Pearson Writers' Trust Non-Fiction Award, the inaugural Shaugnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing, and the Dorothy Shoichet prize for history from the Canadian Jewish Book Awards. 'Long Shadows is magnificent. I would love to see this book taught in every history class in America.' - Iris Chang, author of The Rape of Nanking 'Enlightening...Riveting...Paris raises questions of enormous importance.' - Kirkus 'Paris convincingly demonstrates that memory is not only selective but subject to calculated efforts to serve personal needs and national interests.' - The Christian Science Monitor 'Erna Paris gives us a rich, if p

The Long Shadows: A True-Life Novel The Long Shadows is a fascinating true-life novel about Jacob Reuben Erlich, who, at 8 foot 6, was among the tallest men in the world. Best known by his stage name, Jack Earle, he would overcome crippling shyness, depression, temporary blindness and the physical challenges of a giant's frame to earn widespread acclaim during his career as a silent film star, circus performer, artist, poet and vaudevillian. Drawing on ten years of research culled from family lore, newspaper archives, historical documents and the recorded recollections of Earle's contemporaries, author Andrew Erlich weaves a fascinating bio-fictional account of a remarkable man and the cast of colorful characters who knew him. Along the way, we learn a great deal about courage, character, and one man's unique perspective on a broad sweep of history that encompassed the Great Depression, the immigrant experience in turn-of-the-century Texas, silent films, life in the circus, the modern art movement and the domestic anti-Semitism that accompanied the run-up to World War II.

Explore the dark under-belly of Khorvaire with Eberron's version of the private detective - The Inquisitives! Nights of the Long Shadow: the three nights of the year when the darkest powers of the world gain strength and rise to prey upon the unwary. When one of Sharn's most famed Inquisitives is hired to investigate a brutal murder at Morgrave University, his brilliance may be his damnation, as he uncovers a trail of blood leading from the deediest neighborhoods of the City of Towers to the highest reaches of power.

Summary: There was a city where the song of life was heard all the time, but now quiet has taken over. This area, called the "Silent City," is only a shell of what it used to be. People there have only vague memories of how comforting it was to cry openly, how warm it was to laugh, and how much fun it was to talk. A little girl named Lila came in as a bright spot of hope in this otherwise calm place. Lila had a voice that could break through the wall of silence that had surrounded the city's spirit. No one else in the Silent City could match it. The road Lila took shows how strong optimism is and how strong the human spirit is. Lila set out on a trip to undo the sorcerer's curse that had silenced the city's voices. Milo, her loyal companion and a young man who was good at reading lips and the language of gestures, followed her. As Lila and Milo walked through rivers that repeated the world's silence and forests where echoes slept, they faced the loneliness that had enveloped their home. After their trip, they got to the sorcerer's castle, which was in the middle of the silence. There, they found a shocking but important truth. The magician, who had been a figure of mystery and fear, was shown to be a victim of his own spell. The silence he had forced was what pulled him in. Because Lila was kind and had a beautiful voice, she helped the magician see how stupid he had been. They were able to break the curse and fill the Silent City with music, laughter, and sound. The change that happened in The Silent City is a lesson of how strong friendship, kindness, and the ability to hear and understand are. Lila's story shows us that hope can be heard even in the heaviest silence and that kindness and understanding can break even the strongest curses. The city used to be known for being very quiet, but now it values every wind sound and every laugh from its people. They realized that their real power was in working together and loving each other. This shows how the world can change when people are free to speak their minds and hearts are open. Chapter 1: The Trickster On a faraway land, there used to be a thriving metropolis called the Silent City. But it wasn't always quiet. It used to be a busy place where lots of things happened. Imagine going down a street where people are talking and laughing, musicians are playing happy music, and store owners are calling people over to check out their goods. Kids were playing in the street, and their cries and laughs could be heard through the building walls. There was a lovely mix of these sounds in the air as birds chirped in the trees. The city honored music and life every day. Some people did not like the noise, though. There was a strong witch who lived far from the city and liked silence more than any sound. He thought that noise from cities disturbed the peace of the land, while quiet was pure. Hearing the sounds of life and happiness made him even more angry. He believed that the city's residents were so happy and loud, and that the noise wasn't needed. He had not heard happiness or music in a long time, and he wished the world could stay as quiet as it was. At night, when the moon was out, the magician said he couldn't stand the noise from the city any longer. With a wave of his magic stick and a spell in a language no one knew, he cast a strong spell. Unlike any other magic, this one was a curse that could stop all sound. As the magic spread through the city, all sounds, like giggles, whispers, and music, became quiet. When the sun came up the next day, the city was quiet. They found out they were deaf and hard of hearing when they woke up. There was no more music, no more laughter from the kids, and the birds didn't sound like they could be heard. The city, which used to be busy, was now very quiet. The wizard felt good about what he had done and watched from afar. He thought that by getting rid of the noise, the land was once again peaceful. He didn't know, though, that the sounds of the city were lively and exciting. The city was empty and noisy without them. People were upset because they missed the part of their lives that gave them purpose. They were no longer happy or like they belonged, and they could not hear or talk because of the curse. There was still hope, though, because in the silence, a little girl named Lila found something amazing about herself that could change everything. Chapter 2: How Lila Was Found. Lila, a little girl, lived in a place where being still was normal. Everything in her small apartment in the Silent City was as quiet as it could be. Because of the sorcerer's curse, people can't remember the tune of a song or the sound of a loved one laughing. But Lila was different. Lila realized one day that she had a gift that no one else in the city had. This was while everyone else was hidden by the background noise of the city. Like everything else in the Silent City, it was very quiet. Lila loved being in her yard because the flowers and plants seemed to hear her even when she couldn't. Her basic way of meeting a flower was "hello," and she bowed to say it. She didn't expect anything in return. She was shocked to see that the flower looked like it was dancing, gently moving as if it could hear her. Lila was shocked. She tried to whisper again, first to one flower and then to another. Each time she spoke, the flowers moved slowly in answer. It looked like her words were a light breeze that made them come alive. Lila was thrilled as she played around with her new skill. She sang a well-known tune when music filled the air before the curse. As she hummed, the garden seemed to come to life. The flowers swayed more wildly, and the trees looked like they were leaning in closer to hear the sound that had become so strange in their area. Lila found it hard to believe. In a place where sounds have been taken away, her voice might break the silence. When Lila found out this, she was both excited and motivated. She thought her voice might be able to do more than just make the flowers dance. The sounds that the city had lost might be able to be brought back by her voice. There was a spell on the Silent City that made it very quiet. She might be able to break the magic. Lila knew this wasn't going to be simple. She knew her trip would be hard, but the thought of bringing back the voice of her city, along with laughter, music, and other happy sounds of life, gave her strength. No matter what it took, she was going to break the curse. Following the sound inside her head, Lila was ready to go on a trip that could change everything. She found something that gave her hope, even though she was only a child. Hope can be the strongest force of all.

At an event honoring Daisy Bates as 1990’s Distinguished Citizen then-governor Bill Clinton called her "the most distinguished Arkansas citizen of all time." Her classic account of the 1957 Little Rock School Crisis, The Long Shadow of Little Rock, couldn't be found on most bookstore shelves in 1962 and was banned throughout the South. In 1988, after the University of Arkansas Press reprinted it, it won an American Book Award. On September 3, 1957, Gov. Orval Faubus called out the National Guard to surround all-white Central High School and prevent the entry of nine black students, challenging the Supreme Court's 1954 order to integrate all public schools. On September 25, Daisy Bates, an official of the NAACP in Arkansas, led the nine children into the school with the help of federal troops sent by President Eisenhower–the first time in eighty-one years that a president had dispatched troops to the South to protect the constitutional rights of black Americans. This new edition of Bates's own story about these historic events is being issued to coincide with the fiftieth anniversary of the Little Rock School crisis in 2007.

In 1962, exactly fifty years before the Olympic Games rolled into Stratford, East London, the Johnson family took over the Two Puddings, the most notorious pub in the area. Due to a combination of its cream-tiled walls and the volume of blood spilt, it was also known locally as the Butcher s Shop . Within a few short years, it had become one of London s busiest and most fashionable pubs, its hugely popular music nights acting as a magnet for a large and colourful cast of disparate characters who would regularly descend upon the premises, including renowned actors, writers, singers, musicians, champion boxers, infamous gangsters, television personalities, and World Cup-winning footballers. By the time the Puddings closed its doors for the last time, nearly four decades later, landlord Eddie Johnson was the longest serving licensee in London. Tales from the Two Puddings is a poignant, at times hilarious, look back upon a lost world of East End eccentrics, local villainy, vindictive policemen, punch ups, and practical jokes, all now lying buried beneath the concrete blocks and sterile shopping centres of the new Stratford.

A practical guide to attacking the most common of phobias: fear of failure A practical guide to attacking the most common of phobias: fear of failure Since its publication in 2011, What's Stopping You? has offered readers a hard look at the quality of their careers and personal lives. For those who'd give themselves a solid "C+", this brutally honest guide to taking stock also offers the keys to self-improvement. By dismantling the fear inhibiting all achievement—fear of failure—author Robert Kelsey offers a set of seven steps designed to help readers map out their actions, and attain what once seemed elusive milestones. Written for the frustrated underachiever or anyone who feels like one, this unique book addresses can the real obstacles hindering both professional and personal growth. Includes a new chapter with tactics for overcoming a fear of failure Explores methods for dealing with different types of people in a host of situations, such as getting a new job, pitching for new work, making presentations, or communicating clearly in an argument With a Foreword by one of Britain's most successful businessman, Luke Johnson, this unique handbook to overcoming the most basic of fears is a must for anyone who would like to upgrade the quality of their life.

This work argues that corporate strategy needs rethinking as a way of talking about ethics and business, and discusses some ethical truths. It shows that how we talk about others influences how we act towards them and how we talk about others can influence how our audiences will act towards them.