Shot in the Heart

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"I have a story to tell. It is a story of murder told from inside the house where murder is born. It is the house where I grew up, a house that, in some ways, I have never been able to leave."

Mikal Gilmore is a Rolling Stone writer and the youngest brother of murderer Gary Gilmore, who became, in 1977, the first person to be executed in the United States after a 10-year hiatus, a case which was subsequently recounted in Norman Mailer's The Executioner's Song. This brave and eloquent book is the story that only Mikal Gilmore knows: the violence in multiple generations of his family, what the Gilmore house was like as he was growing up, his relationship with his brother, and his experience of the dramatic events surrounding Gary Gilmore's determination to be executed as planned, without appeal. Shot in the Heart pulls off the rare feat of conveying intense emotion without sentimentality or self-pity. The author's struggle is to set himself apart from the lurid true-crime fraternity of his father and brothers yet remain able to understand why he feels both guilty and lonely over his exclusion from his family's violent history. --Fiona Webster

Book Description

Gary Gilmore, the infamous murderer immortalized by Norman Mailer in The Executioner's Song, campaigned for his own death and was executed by firing squad in 1977. Writer Mikal Gilmore is his younger brother. In Shot in the Heart, he tells the stunning story of their wildly dysfunctional family: their mother, a blacksheep daughter of unforgiving Mormon farmers; their father, a drunk, thief, and con man. It was a family destroyed by a multigenerational history of child abuse, alcoholism, crime, adultery, and murder. Mikal, burdened with the guilt of being his father's favorite and the shame of being Gary's brother, gracefully and painfully relates a murder tale "from inside the house where murder is born... a house that, in some ways, [he has] never been able to leave." Shot in the Heart is the history of an American family inextricably tied up with violence, and the story of how the children of this family committed murder and murdered themselves in payment for a long lineage of ruin. Haunting, harrowing, and profoundly affecting, Shot in the Heart exposes and explores a dark vein of American life that most of us would rather ignore. It is a book that will leave no reader unchanged.

Customer Reviews:

Shot in the heart.......2007-03-08

This is an extraordinary book. Gives tremendous insite in to why some crimals lead the path they do. Phenominal read.

The Best Book I have EVER read!.......2006-11-25

Unbelievably well written. This is the best book I have ever read. The story is gripping Mikal Gilmore seems to capture the reader from the first sentence and never lets go. I found myself trying to read less pages as I finished the book in fear of ACTUALLY finishing the book:) Immediately after I read the last page, I went back to the first page and started reading it again. I would suggest reading it twice, it is better the second time around.

Heartbreaking in the best possible way........2006-10-05

This book stays with you. In telling the story of his own troubled family Mikal Gilmore manages to tell a story about families themselves- all the love, guilt, loyalty and anger that define them. This is a book about searching for meaning, about the toll poverty takes on the human spirit, about broken dreams, the violence of faith, and our terrible hunger for something to believe in. It's uniquely American in the same way books like Truman Capote's "In Cold Blood" or Jean Stein's "Edie: an American Biography"
are- as much about the society around its subjects as the subjects themselves. I wholeheartedly consider this book a masterpiece.

A tale told without pity, but with love.......2006-06-12

I first heard about Shot in the heart several years ago, on a tv show. The last thing I wanted to read was an apologist for Gary Gilmore making excuses. That's about the last thing Shot in the Heart is. Instead, Mikal Gilmore explores how family myths and mysteries shape our sense of self and of our family, and how this affects our vision of our place in this world. He also explores how you can love someone, even if they are incredibly dysfunctional. Gilmore writes with tenderness and courage about his family, the kind of family that made mine seem relatively normal. They were wretched, miserable people, in many ways, but they were his family.
I have always been puzzled by the editing problems I noticed in the book, however. It's not just the mixup on when Bessie Gilmore died. There are two other date discrepancies, one of which has to do with Gary's execution. I'm from Utah, and I picked up on that error right away.
My sister lives in Portland, and Mikal Gilmore's description of a Northwest Portland neighborhood is dead on. Gilmore knows what he's talking about-- he just needed a better editor, I think

A Riveting Tale.......2005-12-17

Shot in the Heart is a harrowing tale of growing up in the dysfunctional family that produced the infamous killer Gary Gilmore. It's a riveting tale that will remain with the reader long after he or she has finished the book.

There is, however, a strange discrepancy in this work. The author, who wrote for Rolling Stone magazine, touches on the tragic death of John Lennon and how this senseless killing affected him. He then says that his mother, knowing that the author greatly admired Lennon, telephoned him the day after Lennon's death to offer some words of comfort. A few pages later, however, the author mentioned that his mother died in June 1980-almost six months before Lennon was killed.

Is this a mere typographical error, or is something weirder going on? Much earlier in the book, the author relates how his mother told him that she was traumatized as a young girl because her father once forced her to view a public hanging in Utah-in fact, his mother told her sons many stories about executions. The author goes on to say, however, that his mother could not have witnessed this hanging because "(t)here were no semi-public executions in Utah after about 1919, when (his) mother would have been six years old." And it should also be noted that nightmares, ghosts, and a Ouija board make appearances in Shot in the Heart.

Is the past being repeated here? Does Mikal Gilmore believe he spoke to his mother six months after her death-or are we just dealing with a careless editor?

Editing notwithstanding, Shot in the Heart is a compelling memoir. It could be read as a companion piece to Jon Krakauer's Under the Banner of Heaven-also an outstanding read.

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Into the minds and hearts of women hunters

Heart Shots: Women Write About Hunting

Manufacturer: Stackpole Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General & Anthologies | Hunting & Fishing | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Hunting | Hunting & Fishing | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Shooting | Hunting & Fishing | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

General | Sports | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Woman the Hunter
In Defense of Hunting: Yesterday and Today
The Sacred Art of Hunting : Myths, Legends, and the Modern Mythos
Gun Women: Firearms and Feminism in Contemporary America (Fast Track Books)
Women on Hunting

ASIN: 0811700445

Customer Reviews:

Into the minds and hearts of women hunters.......2004-05-20

This book is a wonderful collection of women's feelings about and experience of the hunt. Stange has done a masterful job of including both historic and contemporary accounts that go far beyond mere 'hunting stories' to reach into the minds and emotions of the contributors. It is a 'must read' for women hunters especially, but also for men who hunt and for nonhunters who would understand these remarkable and eloquent women who hunt.

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Body Shots to the Heart
Philip McGrath
Manufacturer: Athena Press Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Memoirs | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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Boxing | Individual Sports | Sports | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1844014177

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Heart Shot
Kevin Yokum
Manufacturer: Pleasant Word-A Division of WinePress Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Inspirational | Spirituality | Religion & Spirituality | Subjects | Books

Hunting | Hunting & Fishing | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1414101937

Book Description

"Please Lord, let him walk a little closer!" Almost as if my request had been granted, the biggest buck I have ever seen started walking toward my treestand. Each breath became a short gasp and my heart pounded against my ribs. Strong muscles felt like jello, but somehow my faithful bow came to full draw. The bow wobbled back and forth as my body trembled with excitement, and then I released the arrow. Journey with the author as he shares exciting hunting and fishing tales, as well as a few hilarious mishaps. . Feel the excitement of each adventure as the author puts you at the heart of the action. . Find out what the Bible has to say about difficult times, when everything goes wrong, handling temptation and more. . Learn practical ways to deal with difficult situations. . Discover scientific "fun" facts which may make you a better hunter or angler.

The Limits of Autobiography: Trauma and Testimony

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Astute and compelling commentaries
Limitless Vision

The Limits of Autobiography: Trauma and Testimony
Leigh Gilmore
Manufacturer: Cornell University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Biographies & Memoirs | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books

Literature & Fiction | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

Autobiographics: A Feminist Theory of Women's Self-Representation (Reading Women Writing)
Memory and Narrative: The Weave of Life-Writing
Reading Autobiography: A Guide for Interpreting Life Narratives
Autobiography (The New Critical Idiom)
How Our Lives Become Stories: Making Selves

ASIN: 0801437997

Customer Reviews:

Astute and compelling commentaries.......2001-06-07

In The Limits Of Autobiography: Leigh Gilmore (Associate Professor of English at The Ohio State University) offers astute and compelling commentaries in relation to the social and psychic forms within which selected autobiographers told their personal stories in literate and unconventional ways. The informative, thought-provoking chapters comprising this unique and highly recommended contribution to the literary study of the autobiography include: Represent Yourself; Bastard Testimony: Illegitimacy and Incest in Dorothy Allison's Bastard Out of Carolina; There Will Always Be a Father: Transference and the Auto/biographical Demand in Mikal Gilmore's Shot in the Heart; There Will Always Be a Mother: Jamaica Kincaid's Serial Autobiography; Without Names: An Anatomy of Absence in Jeanette Winterson's Written on the Body; Conclusion - the Knowing Subject and an Alternative Jurisprudence of Trauma. The Limits Of Autobiography is enhanced further for the student with a bibliography and index.

Limitless Vision.......2001-01-19

THE LIMITS OF AUTOBIOGRAPHY is ground-breaking in its originality and range, dramatic in its intensity and depth, and endlessly surprising in its illumination of six fictive autobiographies (SHOT IN THE HEART, WRITTEN ON THE BODY, BASTARD OUT OF CAROLINA, ANNIE JOHN, LUCY, and MY BROTHER). Leigh Gilmore weaves a thrilling variety of approaches into her interpretations. Psychoanalytic, Feminist, Post-Colonial, Post-Structuralist, Trauma and Legal theories all inform her readings but never dominate the discussion. Theoretical knowledge is elegantly integrated, rather than applied, allowing Professor Gilmore to achieve a miraculous balance in her use of language: her work will challenge scholars while remaining accessible to any curious reader. I believe this is an ideal text around which to organize an undergraduate or graduate course in the study of fiction and/or autobiography; but Leigh Gilmore's knowledge of psychology and law is so impressive this remarkable work should find its way out of traditional English departments. I hope this is the case. Her understanding of trauma and the creation of imaginative texts--"autobiographies" that break the rules of form and bear no allegiance to literal or verifiable "facts"--could change the way victims of trauma are understood and treated by legal and health care professionals. Leigh Gilmore's ability to enter and unravel each text is testimony to her compassion and wisdom--and proof of her genius. This is profund and daring work, limitless in its vision of the human heart and the hope of transformation through the redemptive power of our own imaginations.

The Roosevelts: An American Saga/Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Sarajevo/Shot in the Heart/Learning How the Heart Beats (Reader's Digest Today's Best Nonfiction, Volume 31: 1994)

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The Roosevelts: An American Saga/Zlata's Diary: A Child's Life in Sarajevo/Shot in the Heart/Learning How the Heart Beats (Reader's Digest Today's Best Nonfiction, Volume 31: 1994)
Peter Collier with David Horowitz , Zlata Filipovic , Mikal Gilmore , and Claire McCarthy
Manufacturer: Reader's Digest Association
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J4Y63O

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Shot in the Heart
Mikal Gilmore
Manufacturer: UNSPECIFIED VENDOR
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UC9YJG

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Shot in the Heart
Mikal Gilmore
Manufacturer: Anchor
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GR99YU

Book Description

The Royal Navy occupies a central position in the history of Britain's island nation. In Shakespeare's words, the sea is the country's 'moat defensive', and the ships of the Royal Navy are the natural guardians of this barrier. As the 18th century lawyer Sir William Blackstone observed, 'the Royal Navy of England hath ever been its defense and ornament; it is its ancient and natural strength; the floating bulwark of the island'.

In this beautifully illustrated and highly readable history, John Winton records the history of the Royal Navy with consummate skill.

Beginning in the reign of King John, he shows how important progress in the establishment of a standing navy was made during the reigns of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, the monarch against whom Spain pitted the Armada.

Subsequent chapters then detail the two centuries of war between 1600 and 1800, when Britain was almost constantly engaged in either conflict or alliance with France, Spain and Netherlands; the period of the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars, the time of Nelson and Trafalgar; the 19th-century Pax Britannica; the Dreadnought era and the First World War when technological advance in the form of armor, big guns and submarines changed the face of naval warfare fundamentally; the interwar period and global conflict during the Second World War; and finally the Nuclear Age, during which the Navy has had to accommodate itself to a new world order, new forms of warfare, new weapons, and a new role. Updated to include recent operations in the first and second Gulf wars.

Book Description

This volume contains the essential points of Jean Bodin's theory of sovereignty, a landmark in legal theory and royalist ideology. The four chapters presented form the core of Bodin's classic work, Six Livres de la Republique. Bodin was primarily responsible for introducing the seductive but erroneous notion that sovereignty is indivisible, that the entire power of the state had to be vested in a single individual or group. This thesis, combined with the prevailing crisis of authority during the French religious wars, led Bodin to a systematically absolutist interpretation of the French and other European monarchies. This is the first complete translation of this material into English since 1606, and is accompanied by a lucid introduction, chronology, and bibliography.

Customer Reviews:

well done!.......2003-01-18

A well-documented scholarly translation from the original French of Jean Bodin's masterpiece of political theory. Though of immense influence in its day, divine right sovereignty has certainly gone out of fashion (thank goodness!) unless perhaps you are living in Saudi Arabia or Lesoto. Nonetheless, for college students and the curious this is as nice a translation and abridgement as one is likely to find.

The Power of Language in the Making of International Law: The Word Sovereignty in Bodin and Vattel and the Myth of Westphalia (Developments in International Law, V. 46)

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Abstract
Abstract

The Power of Language in the Making of International Law: The Word Sovereignty in Bodin and Vattel and the Myth of Westphalia (Developments in International Law, V. 46)
Stephane Beaulac
Manufacturer: Brill Academic Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Law | Subjects | Books

General | International Law | Law | Subjects | Books

International Law | Law | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
ASIN: 9004136983

Book Description

The Peace of Westphalia is analysed to show that, in spite of what actually took place in 1648, Westphalia has had an incredible social effect in international law, standing for the proposition that it signalled the beginning of a new era based on state sovereignty. However, it is argued that Westphalia constitutes a myth, an aetiological myth, which has provided a way for society to explain itself to itself, that is, a way for international society to explain its genesis to itself. As regards sovereignty, it is shown that Jean Bodin introduced the word in Six Livres for the purpose of having the French ruler enjoy supreme power in the hierarchical organisation structure of society. This is the original creative and transforming social effect on the shared consciousness of humanity for which the linguistic sign must be credited, which has continued, unaltered, to this day. With respect to Droit des Gens, it is demonstrated that Emer de Vattel utilised and actually changed th! e reality associated with sovereignty also for a specific reason, namely, to carry out its externalisation — the ruling entity was now to enjoy exclusive power to govern, which entailed being the sole representative of the people both internally and externally, and also meant that it could not be submitted to any foreign state or to any higher law externally. Vattel's use of the word has had an extraordinary effect on the shared consciousness of society, including that of the emerging international society, which is still very much present today. These two archetype cases in which `sovereignty' developed show how this word has really had two paradigms over the years, that is, it has represented and created the two distinct realities of the internal and the international.

Customer Reviews:

Abstract.......2004-04-07

The purpose of this book is to enter into the history of the mental-social phenomena that are the word sovereignty and the myth of Westphalia. Given the circularity of language, the project proposes to examine the reality-creating role of language, as an organic instrument of social power within humanity. In semiotic terms, the complex structures of words and also myths form part of sign-systems in which they can both represent and create reality. These are the passive and active functions of language, which explain that words and myths not only represent and describe reality but may also play a leading part in creating and transforming reality, thus demonstrating and being used to carry fabulous power within humanity.
The Peace of Westphalia is analysed to show that, in spite of what actually took place in 1648, Westphalia has had an incredible social effect in international law, standing for the proposition that it signalled the beginning of a new era based on state sovereignty. However, it is argued that Westphalia constitutes a myth, an aetiological myth, which has provided a way for society to explain itself to itself, that is, a way for international society to explain its genesis to itself. As regards sovereignty, it is shown that Jean Bodin introduced the word in Six Livres for the purpose of having the French ruler enjoy supreme power in the hierarchical organisation structure of society. This is the original creative and transforming social effect on the shared consciousness of humanity for which the linguistic sign must be credited, which has continued, unaltered, to this day. With respect to Droit des Gens, it is demonstrated that Emer de Vattel utilised and actually changed the reality associated with sovereignty also for a specific reason, namely, to carry out its externalisation - the ruling entity was now to enjoy exclusive power to govern, which entailed being the sole representative of the people both internally and externally, and also meant that it could not be submitted to any foreign state or to any higher law externally. Vattel's use of the word has had an extraordinary effect on the shared consciousness of society, including that of the emerging international society, which is still very much present today. These two archetype cases in which 'sovereignty' developed show how this word has really had two paradigms over the years, that is, it has represented and created the two distinct realities of the internal and the international.

Abstract.......2004-04-05

The purpose of this book is to enter into the history of the mental-social phenomena that are the word sovereignty and the myth of Westphalia. Given the circularity of language, the project proposes to examine the reality-creating role of language, as an organic instrument of social power within humanity. In semiotic terms, the complex structures of words and also myths form part of sign-systems in which they can both represent and create reality. These are the passive and active functions of language, which explain that words and myths not only represent and describe reality but may also play a leading part in creating and transforming reality, thus demonstrating and being used to carry fabulous power within humanity.
The Peace of Westphalia is analysed to show that, in spite of what actually took place in 1648, Westphalia has had an incredible social effect in international law, standing for the proposition that it signalled the beginning of a new era based on state sovereignty. However, it is argued that Westphalia constitutes a myth, an aetiological myth, which has provided a way for society to explain itself to itself, that is, a way for international society to explain its genesis to itself. As regards sovereignty, it is shown that Jean Bodin introduced the word in Six Livres for the purpose of having the French ruler enjoy supreme power in the hierarchical organisation structure of society. This is the original creative and transforming social effect on the shared consciousness of humanity for which the linguistic sign must be credited, which has continued, unaltered, to this day. With respect to Droit des Gens, it is demonstrated that Emer de Vattel utilised and actually changed the reality associated with sovereignty also for a specific reason, namely, to carry out its externalisation - the ruling entity was now to enjoy exclusive power to govern, which entailed being the sole representative of the people both internally and externally, and also meant that it could not be submitted to any foreign state or to any higher law externally. Vattel's use of the word has had an extraordinary effect on the shared consciousness of society, including that of the emerging international society, which is still very much present today. These two archetype cases in which `sovereignty' developed show how this word has really had two paradigms over the years, that is, it has represented and created the two distinct realities of the internal and the international.

Bodin and his idea of sovereignty (Term report)

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Bodin and his idea of sovereignty (Term report)
Warmoth T Gibbs
Manufacturer: Harvard University
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B00087JOQ6

Die Souveranitatskonzeption in den englischen Verfassungskonflikten des 17. Jahrhunderts: Eine Studie zur Rezeption der Lehre Bodins in England von der ... 3, Geschichte und ihre Hilfswissenschaften)

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Die Souveranitatskonzeption in den englischen Verfassungskonflikten des 17. Jahrhunderts: Eine Studie zur Rezeption der Lehre Bodins in England von der ... 3, Geschichte und ihre Hilfswissenschaften)
Ulrike Krautheim
Manufacturer: P. Lang
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

German | Foreign Language Nonfiction | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

History | German | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books

Nonfiction | German | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books

All German Books | German | Foreign Language Books | Specialty Stores | Books
ASIN: 3261023996

The origin of parliamentary sovereignty or "mixed" monarchy,: Being a study of the political implications of Calvinism and Bodinism, from the mid-sixteenth ... century, chiefly in France and England,

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The origin of parliamentary sovereignty or "mixed" monarchy,: Being a study of the political implications of Calvinism and Bodinism, from the mid-sixteenth ... century, chiefly in France and England,
Yung-chi Ho
Manufacturer: The Commercial press, ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Origins of Legislative Sovereignty and the Legislative State: Bodin's Humanistic Legal System and Rejection of Medieval Political Theology

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Origins of Legislative Sovereignty and the Legislative State: Bodin's Humanistic Legal System and Rejection of Medieval Political Theology
A. London Fell
Manufacturer: Pub Storage Shipping Corp
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0899461425

Origins of Legislative Sovereignty and the Legislative State: Volume Three; Bodin's Humanistic Legal System and Rejection of "Medieval Political Theology" ... Sovereignty and the Legislative State)

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Origins of Legislative Sovereignty and the Legislative State: Volume Three; Bodin's Humanistic Legal System and Rejection of "Medieval Political Theology" ... Sovereignty and the Legislative State)
A. London Fell
Manufacturer: Praeger Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Constitutions | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Federal Government | Government | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

History & Theory | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Subjects | Books

General | Law | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0275939731

Book Description

This book is the fourth in a projected eight-volume series that addresses the origins and development of the idea of legislative sovereignty and the legislative state. A. London Fell's study, which traces ideas and contributions from the Renaissance thinker and legal scholar Corasius to the present, has been praised by such scholars as J. Russell Major in American Historical Review and Dennis M. Patterson in The American Political Science Review. In this volume, the focus is on ancient, medieval, and early modern Europe, as Fell charts the overall patterns of historiographical debates in modern discussion on the origins of legislation, public law, sovereignty, and the state. The work begins with a brief introduction, and is followed by six sections that cover the different periods and geographical aspects of the topic from a historiographical perspective. Section one proceeds chronologically throughout the entire spectrum of early Europe, from the ancient and medieval periods, through the Renaissance and Reformation, to post-sixteenth-century developments. In each case, the theories that attribute the origins of state to that period are thoroughly examined. In sections two through six, the study proceeds on a nation-by-nation basis, focusing in each case first on the Middle Ages and then on the Renaissance. The nations covered include Italy, France, England, Germany, Spain, and the Netherlands. The study concludes with a summary chapter, followed by a series of supplemental bibliographical essays that serve as an appendix to the first four volumes. Like the previous volumes in the series, this work is a substantial contribution to the study of jurisprudence and political theory, and will be an important reference source for students and professors of history, law, and political science, as well as philosophy.

Salient attributes of Bodin's theory of sovereignty

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Salient attributes of Bodin's theory of sovereignty
Charles N Sisson
Manufacturer: Rand & White, Printers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B0006PADBA

Book Description

Janisse Ray, award-winning author of Ecology of a Cracker Childhood and Wild Card Quilt, writes an evocative paean to wildness and wilderness restoration with an extraordinary journey into southern Georgia's Pinhook Swamp. Pinhook Swamp acts as a vital watershed and wildlife corridor, a link between the great southern wildernesses of Okefenokee Swamp and Osceola National Forest. Together Okefenokee, Osceola, and Pinhook form one of the largest expanse of protected wild land east of the Mississippi River. This is one of America's last truly wild places, and Pinhook takes us into its heart. Ray comes to know Pinhook intimately as she joins the fight to protect it, spending the night in the swamp, tasting honey made from its flowers, tracking wildlife, and talking to others about their relationship with the swamp. Ray sees Pinhook through the eyes of the people who live there-naturalists, beekeepers, homesteaders, hunters, and locals at the country store. In lyrical, downhome prose, she draws together the swamp's need for restoration and the human desire for wholeness and wildness in our own lives and landscapes.

Customer Reviews:

Another winner!!.......2007-07-20

Janisse Ray has now written two marvelous books about the natural world, our impact on it, and its on us. She writes in an engaging low-key style that draws you into her experiences. "Ecology of a Cracker Childhood" is about growing up in rural Georgia, and about longleaf pine forests. "Pinhook" talks about the wilderness being preserved by the creation of the Pogo wilderness area (Okeefenokee, Pinhook, Osceola). Light, easy, and long-lasting in its impact. I wish we could get more people committed to the subjects of Ms. Ray's efforts.
Bill Schwendler

Understanding Wholeness in a New Way.......2006-03-20

Janisse Ray continues in her appealing and warm style to bring us to environmental concerns in the northern Florida-southern Georgia swamp lands. She takes us with her in visiting the land and people. Her deeply sensitive relationship with the land draws connections that the average reader would probably miss. This book is like spending time with a good friend.

A blend of natural history and philosophy which is winning and thought-provoking.......2005-08-08

Wilderness is a necessary part of life if humans are to heal - and so are the animals which form it. Pinhook Swamp is a watershed and wildlife corridor linking different wildlife refuges in the South: Janisse Ray's Pinhook: Finding Wholeness In A Fragmented Land follows the swamp's need for restoration and the human concurrent need for wilderness, providing a blend of natural history and philosophy which is winning and thought-provoking.

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