William S. Walker

A cache of letters leads to a journey of discovery that reveals the long and lasting consequences of war William Walker never knew his uncle, Fletcher "Bud" Blanton. Blanton had been killed fighting in Europe during World War II before Walker was born. Walker had heard stories about Bud, but for most of his life his uncle had existed only as a faded memory. That path changed when Walker opened a dusty cabinet forgotten in his garage attic and found a paper sack and a note in his father's handwriting that read, "Go through before you throw away." The bag was filled with family photos, correspondence, and a collection of letters and postcards that his uncle Bud had written to his family during his time on the frontline as a US Army infantryman in Europe. The first letter he pulled from the bag opened with the line, "Dearest Mama." Walker's Dearest Mama is Bud Blanton's story, but more than that it is a deeply personal family chronicle that resonates for those left behind when service members do not return home from combat.

Following on from the success of the international best-seller "Key Questions in Cardiac Surgery", the long-awaited "Key Questions in Thoracic Surgery" will be the next book in the Key Questions series to be released. This book will systematically cover all the main topics involved in the current practice of a thoracic surgeon. It will incorporate current guidelines for practice (such as from the American College of Chest Physicians, British Thoracic Society and European Respiratory Society) and up-to-date information based on current literature. Each chapter will be structured to include aetiology, pathophysiology, clinical features, indications for surgery, perioperative management, surgical options and postoperative care. Possible complications will be discussed and the results of current practice presented. Importantly, there will be a section on basic sciences related to the practising thoracic surgeon and a further section on thoracic investigations with many images illustrating the variety of pathologies. Each chapter will also contain important references for further reading and greater depth of knowledge. The data and body of knowledge presented in this book is strictly evidence-based and is relevant to all thoracic surgical trainees, at any stage of their training programme. It will provide residents, fellows and specialist registrars the necessary information to carry out their daily duties. Respiratory physicians and thoracic intensive care unit specialists will also find the book useful in terms of the indications and surgical management of these patients, as they are integral to the thoracic surgical process. Another important group is the nursing staff, physiotherapists and other professions allied to medicine working with patients with adult thoracic disease either pre-operatively or post-operatively, as it will help to give a detailed understanding of the principles surrounding thoracic surgical disease. Most importantly, the book is ideal as a revision aid for residents/registrars undertaking their Cardiothoracic Surgery Board examinations around the world. Although these examinations vary in format in different countries, this book is applicable to all cardiothoracic surgical trainees. Its concise, yet complete coverage of the important topics, make it the ideal guide to answer the key questions in thoracic surgery that are asked within the confines of an examination.

Since its founding in 1846 ""for the increase and diffusion of knowledge,"" the Smithsonian Institution has been an important feature of the American cultural landscape. In A Living Exhibition, William S. Walker examines the tangled history of cultural exhibition at the Smithsonian from its early years to the chartering of the National Museum of the American Indian in 1989. He tracks the transformation of the institution from its original ideal as a ""universal museum"" intended to present the totality of human experience to the variegated museum and research complex of today. Walker pays particular attention to the half century following World War II, when the Smithsonian significantly expanded. Focusing on its exhibitions of cultural history, cultural anthropology, and folk life, he places the Smithsonian within the larger context of Cold War America and the social movements of the 1960s, '70s, and '80s. Organized chronologically, the book uses the lens of the Smithsonian's changing exhibitions to show how institutional decisions become intertwined with broader public debates about pluralism, multiculturalism, and decolonization. Yet if a trend toward more culturally specific museums and exhibitions characterized the postwar history of the institution, its leaders and curators did not abandon the vision of the universal museum. Instead, Walker shows, even as the Smithsonian evolved into an extensive complex of museums, galleries, and research centers, it continued to negotiate the imperatives of cultural convergence as well as divergence, embodying both a desire to put everything together and a need to take it all apart.

Since its founding in 1846 ""for the increase and diffusion of knowledge,"" the Smithsonian Institution has been an important feature of the American cultural landscape. In A Living Exhibition, William S. Walker examines the tangled history of cultural exhibition at the Smithsonian from its early years to the chartering of the National Museum of the American Indian in 1989. He tracks the transformation of the institution from its original ideal as a ""universal museum"" intended to present the totality of human experience to the variegated museum and research complex of today. Walker pays particular attention to the half century following World War II, when the Smithsonian significantly expanded. Focusing on its exhibitions of cultural history, cultural anthropology, and folk life, he places the Smithsonian within the larger context of Cold War America and the social movements of the 1960s, '70s, and '80s. Organized chronologically, the book uses the lens of the Smithsonian's changing exhibitions to show how institutional decisions become intertwined with broader public debates about pluralism, multiculturalism, and decolonization.Yet if a trend toward more culturally specific museums and exhibitions characterized the postwar history of the institution, its leaders and curators did not abandon the vision of the universal museum. Instead, Walker shows, even as the Smithsonian evolved into an extensive complex of museums, galleries, and research centers, it continued to negotiate the imperatives of cultural convergence as well as divergence, embodying both a desire to put everything together and a need to take it all apart.