NCW Libraries

The attempt to conceive imaginatively a better ordering of human society than the destructive and cruel chaos in which mankind has hitherto existed is by no means modern: it is at least as old as Plato, whose ``Republic'' set the model for the Utopias of subsequent philosophers. Whoever contemplates the world in the light of an ideal-whether what he seeks be intellect, or art, or love, or simple happiness, or all together-must feel a great sorrow...

Through various examples, children learn about patience and how to apply it to everyday life. At school, at home, and even during social activities, various situations are presented which teach readers about the importance of patience. Additional features to aid comprehension include informative captions, a Think-About-It section, a table of contents, a glossary, sources for further research, an index, and an introduction to the author. Author/Illustrator...

The religious Right taught America to misread the Bible. Christians have misused Scripture to consolidate power, stoke fears, and defend against enemies. But people who have been hurt by the attacks of Christian nationalism can help us rediscover God's vision for faith in public life. Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove explores how religious culture wars have misrepresented Christianity at the expense of the poor, and how listening to marginalized communities...

Let residents tell you what it's been like to live in D.C.'s most gentrified neighborhood. When Gretchen Wharton came to Shaw in 1946, the houses were full of families that looked like hers: lower-income, African American, two parents with kids. The sidewalks were full of children playing. When Leroy Thorpe moved in in the 1980s, the same streets were dense with drug markets. When John Lucier found a deal on a house in Shaw in 2002, he found himself...

Chicago lauded as hog-butcher by poet Sandburg, then damned as a cannibal in Sinclair's The Jungle, was also a city of wanderers, truants, and delinquents. It was home to the largest tuberculosis sanitarium in the country, as well as a dizzying number of public and private institutions for wayward children, indigents, the mad, and the poor. Chicago's socially progressive institutions were influential and respected as saviors of the immigrants and...

The first comparative history of European settlers' trading, pirating, and colonizing activities in the Caribbean. Brimming with new perspectives and cutting-edge research, the essays collected in “The Torrid Zone” explore colonization and cultural interaction in the Caribbean from the late 1600s to the early 1800s-a period known as the "long" seventeenth century-a time when these encounters varied widely, and the diverse actors were not yet...

Most American cities are now administered by appointed city managers and governed by councils chosen in nonpartisan, at-large elections. In the early twentieth century, many urban reformers claimed these structures would make city government more responsive to the popular will. But on the whole, the effects of these reforms have been to make citizens less likely to vote in local elections and local governments less representative of their constituents....

Emily Huddart Kennedy is associate professor of sociology at the University of British Columbia. Why acknowledging diverse eco-social relationships can help us overcome the political polarization that undermines our ability to protect the environment When we picture the ideal environmentalist, we likely have in mind someone who dedicates herself to reducing her own environmental footprint through individual choices about consumption-driving a fuel-efficient...

"Winner of the PROSE Award in Architecture and Urban Planning, Association of American Publishers" "Finalist with Special Recognition for the Brendan Gill Prize, Municipal Art Society of New York" "Finalist for the On the Brinck Book Awards, The University of New Mexico" Thomas J. Campanella is associate professor of urban studies and city planning at Cornell University and historian-in-residence of the New York City Parks Department. His books include...

Downstairs the Queen Is Knitting is Dorcas Smucker's brand new chronicle of family life with six fast-growing up kids. Downstairs the Queen Is Knitting follows Dorcas' two earlier and beloved collections, "Upstairs the Peasants Are Revolting" and "Ordinary Days." The kids are a bit older now, and Dorcas and Paul's marriage is longer and deeper. But Dorcas sees with more disarming clarity than ever, and she writes piercingly about life on and off the...