This work illuminates the art of George Cukor, the director of some of the most acclaimed and popular films ever to come out of Hollywood. Eight films, ranging in time from David Copperfield (1935) to Rich and Famous (1981) and in mood from the fairy-tale comedy of The Philadelphia Story to the intense melodrama of Cukor's masterpiece, A Star Is Born, are closely analyzed in a search for the elusive secret of Cukor's success. Through his long and varied body of work Cukor was preoccupied with certain themes of enduring significance that found expression through his mastery of film direction. More than a mere Hollywood craftsman or the congenial collaborator of such Hollywood luminaries as Hepburn, Grant, Tracy, and Monroe, George Cukor was a true film artist.
During the 1920s and '30s, Major General George Owen Squier was one of the most famous men in America and abroad, as a scientist, soldier, military strategist, electrical communications expert and inventor, aeronautical pioneer, diplomat, and philanthropist. He rose from humble beginnings in Michigan to the position of Chief Signal Officer of the United States Army. He led the effort in World War I to equip the United States and its allies with American-made airplanes and engines, an effort which started slowly but at the time of the Armistice was rapidly coming to fruition. He also equipped American forces with modern communications, the first belligerent in the war to do so. As an inventor he is not well known today compared to his contemporaries Alexander Graham Bell and the Wright Brothers, who respected his intellect and originality. Yet his inventions in communications technology are fundamental to today's telephone system and were the technical basis for the company he founded, Muzak. Despite his many achievements no biography of George Squier has, before now, been published.
"George Stevens could do anything," said veteran Hollywood producer Pandro S. Berman, "break your heart or make you laugh." Winner of two Best Director Oscars--for A Place in the Sun (1951) and Giant (1956)--Stevens excelled in a range of genres, gave luster to some of Hollywood's brightest stars and was revered by his peers. Yet his work has been largely neglected by critics and scholars. This career retrospective highlights Stevens' achievements, particularly in his sweeping "American Dream" trilogy (A Place in the Sun, Shane (1953) and Giant). His recurrent themes and characteristic style reveal a progressive attitude towards women's experiences and highlight the continued relevance of his films today.
George Washington and the Half-King Chief Tanacharison details the events in western Pennsylvania that precipitated the French and Indian War. It describes the interpersonal relationship between 22-year-old, inexperienced, but self-assured George Washington and the 54-year-old wily Iroquois Chief Tanacharison, which led to, as Horace Walpole quipped, Washington firing "a volley in the backwoods of America that set the world on fire." The book explores the history of the French and English rivalry for the trans-Allegheny territory and its impact on the Indians in the area. It shows how Washington and Tanacharison each sought to influence the other to gain support for their respective agendas. Washington wanted the Indians to endorse Virginia's claim to the Ohio territory, while Tanacharison wanted a war between England and France so that the Iroquois could maintain their dominance over the Ohio Indians. The book describes in detail the sequence of events through which the crafty half-king manipulated Washington into starting the war he wanted, and by his actions implicated Washington in nothing less than a cold-blooded murder.
Best known for his popular crime fiction, Boston novelist George V. Higgins (1939-1999) should stand among the top ranks of the American literary canon. In his 26 novels and dozens of short stories, Higgins chronicled the lives of Boston's Irish with his trademark hard-boiled dialog, exploring the criminal underworld, American democracy, Boston politics, personal redemption and New England life in the tradition of Hawthorne and Thoreau. This intimate biography explores his turbulent life and career, including his working-class Irish Catholic roots, his two stormy marriages, his ambivalence toward the city of his birth, his passion for the limelight, and his drinking, which disrupted his family life and led to his early death at age 59. Discussions of Higgins's individual works and excerpts from his correspondence, writings, and thoughts on literature complete this revealing portrait.
An elementary school dropout, George Burns went on to become one of America's most beloved entertainers. This book covers a neglected part of his career--his work as a television producer. Burns was not only a behind-the-scenes producer, but also filled the role of producer in various comedies in which he starred. Though his forte was situation comedies, Burns' company, McCadden Productions, also produced dramatic anthology series and pilots, including a pilot considered to be a precursor to the popular TV series Mission: Impossible. This book focuses on Burns' wide variety of production efforts, and follows his involvement in television productions from his 1950 comedy series with his wife, Gracie Allen, through his participation in the fantasy sitcom Mister Ed, and finally to his last producer credit in 1981, I Love Her Anyway, a remake of The Burns and Allen Show.
During an 1865 raid through North Carolina, Major General George Stoneman missed capturing the fleeing Jefferson Davis only by a matter of hours, timing somewhat typical of Stoneman's life and career. This biography provides an in-depth look at the life and military career of Major General George Stoneman, beginning with his participation in the 2,000-mile march of the Mormon Battalion and other western expeditions. The main body of the work focuses on his Civil War service, during which he directed the progress of the Union cavalry and led several pivotal raids on Confederate forces. In spite of Stoneman's postwar career as military governor of Virginia and governor of California, his life was marked by his inability to reach ultimate success in war or politics, necessitating a discussion of his weaknesses as well as his achievements as a commander and a politician. Period photographs are included.
George Barnett transformed the United States Marine Corps from an antiquated afterthought to a modern force with an international reputation. After a long apprenticeship as a junior officer, Barnett emerged as a pioneer of amphibious warfare. Leading the experimental Advanced Base Force Brigade at Culebra in 1914, he secured the Corps' survival by establishing its amphibious mission. Appointed Commandant the same year, Barnett prepared the Marines for service in Europe, overcoming opposition from the Army and Navy. Without him, the Marines would not have served in France during World War I. Barnett left the post of Commandant in 1920 and began dictating his recollections of 45 years of service, including his education at Annapolis, overseas service in Sitka, Samoa and Peking, and encounters with Robert Louis Stevenson, the Meiji Emperor and the Dowager Empress of China. This edition of his memoirs includes chapter-by-chapter analysis by the editor and provides an unrivalled look at the Corps between the Civil War and the Spanish-American War. Long mined by scholars, Barnett's memoir is now available to the public.
Essays on the first two years of the Bush presidency. Bringing together presidential scholars, leading voices on the presidency, and former White House aides, this book provides a timely and thorough assessment of George W. Bush at the historic midpoint of his presidency. The book covers Bush's character and leadership style, domestic policy, foreign policy and the War on Terror, and the Bush administration. It concludes with a report card on the Bush presidency, whereby the President, his staff, and his legislative record are graded.
Cheryl Harness uses her wonderfully vibrant art and down-to-earth writing style to "chip away the marble" and present George Washington as more than a monument. We see George the adventurous boy, tromping through the woods with his dog and his hunting rifle; George the courageous military leader fighting alongside his men; George the cunning military strategist, outfoxing the British and forcing their surrender at Yorktown; George the brilliant statesman presiding over the Constitutional Convention; and George the President, wisely protecting our country from enemies foreign and domestic so it could grow strong. But through it all, we see George as happiest living as an experimental farmer at Mount Vernon with his wife, Martha. He could have been Emperor of America, but he chose to spend his last years "looking after things that needed doing" at home. National Geographic supports K-12 educators with ELA Common Core Resources. Visit www.natgeoed.org/commoncore for more information.
"If Europe blazes in the late spring or summer, we must put our house in order before the sparks reach the Western Hemisphere." (Testimony before the subcommittee on the War Department of the House Appropriations Committee, Februar, 23, 1940)"We have a great Army in the making; it is coming into its own; it needs things, but it needs more than anything else the understanding and appreciative support from every side and on every hand in thir country."(Speech to the Chamber of Commerce of the United States, April 29, 1941)
Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall's Pentagon office was the nerve center for United States ground and air forces during World War II. This fourth volume of The Papers of George Catlett Marshall covers the nineteen months that constituted the heart of American participation in the war, a period during which Marshall was operating at the peak of his abilities as a politician, strategist, and coordinator. Marshall was undoubtedly disappointed in late 1943 not to be chosen Supreme Allied Commander in Europe-a job that would have been granted to him had he demanded it. But many people, including President Roosevelt, considered him too important to America's war effort and to the alliance to move him out of Washington, D.C. As the documents in this volume demonstrate, Marshall directed great energy at maintaining and strengthening the crucial Anglo-American alliance through his participation in the great wartime decision-making conferences at Quebec, Cairo, and Teheran, and through his perseverance over strategic direction. This volume also reveals Marshall's efforts to maintain the alliances of army and navy services, ground and air forces, regular and reserve components, home front and combat theaters, military and civilian, and Pentagon and Congress. Army personnel increased to eight million by the end of these nineteen months, and Marshall moved vigorously to complete the creation, training, and transportation of combat units. He continually faced problems of logistics and shipping, research and development, finding exceptionally able leaders, and supplying support personnel. All the while, Marshall was planning for the postwar military by advocating Universal Military Training and a unified Department of Defense. "You are doing a grand job," he told General Eisenhower at the end of 1944, "go on and give them hell." The same might have been said of Marshall himself.
The two years covered in the fifth volume of The Papers of George Catlett Marshall were among the most momentous in the life of Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall-and in the course of the twentieth century. A year of transitions for Marshall, 1945 witnessed the final assault on Nazi Germany and the use of atomic weapons against Japan. Allied forces under the command of Marshall's protege, Dwight D. Eisenhower, had contained Hitler's Ardennes offensive at the beginning of the year and launched the final drive to smash the German regime. The war against Japan seemed far from over, however, and Marshall was deeply involved in planning for the massive and difficult redeployment of troops and materials from Europe to the Pacific. The debate with the U.S. Navy over supreme command of the invasion of Japan continued through the first six months of the year until Marshall secured Douglas A. MacArthur's appointment. In May and June, the chief of staff was involved in the decision to use the new atom bomb. Military-related political problems continued to consume much of Marshall's time as the Second World War drew to a close, although he was only peripherally involved in the Big Three conferences at Yalta and Potsdam. Instead, demobilization and readying U.S. Army ground and air forces for the postwar era were Marshall's chief concerns. He pressed for a unified military department against navy opposition and also lobbied incessantly for universal military training for all physically fit eighteen-year-old males as the key element in the nation's military readiness and deterrent value. After the fighting ceased, Marshall expected to retire, having served on active duty since 1902, but President Truman kept him in office until late November 1945. The day after his retirement, the president asked him to go to China to mediate in that country's increasingly violent civil war. Despite his initial success in negotiating a cease-fire between the Nationalists and Communists, irreconcilable differences soon led to renewed fighting. Marshall's continued hopes for achieving a political compromise, along with knowledge that his mission was the only hope for avoiding a disaster in China, kept him in the country until early 1947. He returned to the United States only when the president announced that General Marshall would join his cabinet as secretary of state.From The Papers of George Catlett Marshall "The one great element in continuing the success of an offensive is maintaining the momentum. This was lost last fall when shortages caused by the limitation of port facilities made it impossible for us to get sufficient supplies to the armies to continue their sweep into Germany when they approached the German border. Once additional ports had been captured and reopened there was a shortage of rail and transportation facilities with which to get supplies forward. Now the port facilities and the interior supply lines are adequate. Subject to the worldwide shortage of both cargo and personnel shipping, there is no foreseeable shortage which will be imposed by physical events in the field."-Speech to the Overseas Press Club, March 1, 1945 "Today we celebrate a great victory, a day of solemn thanksgiving. My admiration and gratitude go first to those who have fallen, and to the men of the American armies of the air and ground whose complete devotion to duty and indomitable courage have overcome the enemy and every conceivable obstacle in achieving this historic victory."-Marshall V-E Day Radio Address, May 8, 1945 "Just a few months ago the world was completely convinced of the strength and courage of the United States. Now they see us falling back into our familiar peacetime habits. They witness the tremendous enthusiasm with which we mount demobilization and reconversion, but they see as yet no concrete evidence that we are determined to hold what we have won-permanently. Are we already at this early date inviting that same international disrespect that prevailed before this war? Are we throwing away today what a million Americans died or were mutilated to achieve? Are we already shirking the responsibility of the victory?"-Speech to the New York Herald Tribune Forum, October 29, 1945
During his lifetime, George Grant influenced a broad cross-section of Canadians, urging them to think more deeply about matters of social justice and individual responsibility. He wrote on subjects as diverse as technology, abortion, Canadian politics and nationalism, and the war in Vietnam, and was claimed equally by rightist and leftist causes. Now, more than a decade after his death, George Grant's writings continue to stimulate, challenge, and inspire. Grant's legacy includes six books and more than two hundred articles, as well as numerous broadcast transcripts, extensive correspondence, and a wealth of unpublished lectures, essays, and notes. In this volume, Arthur Davis has collected all the important material from the 1950s when Grant did his first teaching and writing at Dalhousie University. Through this projected eight-volume series, Grant's published and unpublished writings, including his complete correspondence, will be brought together for the first time. The texts are annotated, and each volume includes an introduction to the period that it covers. The series will not only make it possible to see the whole pattern of Grant's thought, but will also invite a reconsideration of the nature and importance of his work. George Grant is one of the most important Canadian philosophers of the later twentieth century, and his collected writings are a significant contribution to Canadian political thought and Canadian history.
In this autobiography of his early life (1800-1834), George Bentham, nephew of the great Utilitarian philosopher Jeremy Bentham, offers a lively depiction of the times, both in England and on the Continent, particularly of post-Napoleonic France, where he lived with his family for twelve years. Returning to London as his uncle Jeremy's assistant, he recounts his experiences in this role and his encounters with many of the leading, and the rising, figures of the day, such as Alexander von Humboldt and John Stuart Mill. An emerging figure himself in the field of botany - where he would prove to be one of the great taxonomists of the century - George Bentham worked creatively for the scientific societies he joined, activity that culminated in his becoming an unofficial ambassodor-at-large at scientific congresses in Europe in the 1830s, which he describes in enthusiastic detail. The text of the manuscript, preserved in the Archives of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, is published here for the first time, with an introduction providing historical context, explanatory notes, and indexes of plant names and of persons and works mentioned. A fascinating story in itself, this autobiography provides a new resource for Utilitarian studies and for historians of science.
