Combat gliders were called by some as Death Crates, Purple Heart Boxes, Flying Coffins and Tow Targets . They were not pretty and had no graceful lines. Viewed from the front, they had a pug nose and a sloping Neanderthal forehead. Their wings looked like the heavily starched ears of a jackrabbit placed at right angles on a canvas-covered frame. Twice the length of the body, these wings were eighty-four feet in length, 70 per cent as long as the Wright Brothers first powered flight at Kitty Hawk. They could not become airborne, let alone fly, unless assisted by an engine-powered tow plane. And for those riding in the back, it was like flying through the gates of hell . The men who were trained and assigned to guide gliders into battle were said to be the only pilots who had no motors, armament, parachutes and no second chances. Like the aircraft they commanded, they were called inglorious names such as The Bastards Nobody Wanted, Glider Gladiators in Wooden Chariots; Hybrid Jackasses and Glory Boys. Beautifully written, profoundly illustrated and researched, Silent Invaders: Combat Gliders of the Second World War is a work that is dedicated to those brave men under impossible odds from the British and American servicemen on D-Day, the doomed Operation Market Garden in Holland and Hitler s radical commando raid to rescue Mussolini."

This book examines and analyses the connections between gastronomy, tourism and the media. It argues that in the modern world, gastronomy is increasingly a major component and driver of tourism and that destinations are using their cuisines and food cultures in marketing to increase their competitive advantage. It proposes that these processes are interconnected with film, television, print and social media. The book emphasises the notion of gastronomy as a dynamic concept, in particular how it has recently become more widely used and understood throughout the world. The volume introduces core concepts and delves more deeply into current trends in gastronomy, the forces which shape them and their implications for tourism. The book is multidisciplinary and will appeal to researchers in the fields of gastronomy, hospitality, tourism and media studies.

For nearly three decades, the English political scientist Harold Laski was the gray eminence of American liberalism and its most influential Marxist public intellectual. As a fervent proponent of the New Deal in the 1930s, much of Laski's success stemmed from the fact that he offered answers when so many Americans had only questions. By the postwar years, however, his reputation was in decline and his influence left the Democratic Party vulnerable in the1948 elections. In Harold Laski and American Liberalism Gary Dean Best traces the trajectory of Laski's American career and accounts for its ultimate failure. American politics and society were central to Laski's intellectual enterprise. As Best shows, probably no one residing in America has published as many words critical of the United States as did this Englishman. Virtually no aspect of American life went unscathed, and yet at the root of every attack was American capitalism, the businessman, those with property, who, in Laski's view were the source of all the perversion of American life. The 1930s was a period of ferment among America's intellectuals. By the 1940s it was only Laski who was bewildered--at the failure of his diagnoses and the rejection of his prescriptions even by those who had been captivated by him in the previous decade. By the time he died, in 1950, his earlier pronouncements seemed wide of the mark, and the increased stridency and shrillness produced by his disappointment had begun to bore even many who had been devoted to him in earlier years. As this volume shows, the real tragedy for Laski was that he allowed his intellect to be captured and held captive by the Marxian dialectic, denying himself the use of his own reason despite that dialectic's repeated failures. Harold Laski and American Liberalism will be of interest to intellectual historians, political scientists, and American studies specialists.

As the Great Depression dragged on without a recovery, Americans were avid for anything that would help them to understand its causes and possible solutions. During this period, orthodox economists were largely discredited, both in the White House and among the public. Three of the most popular and influential figures of the period--Edward A. Rumely, Stuart Chase, and David Cushman Coyle--were not trained in economics. In Peddling Panaceas, Gary Dean Best analyzes their remedies for the Depression, their proposals for permanent economic reform, and their influence.Each of these men represented a principal economic faction within the New Deal. The inflationists within the New Deal found support from the Committee for the Nation, which was largely the creation of Edward Rumely. Rumely's committee was influential in the early New Deal, but largely passed into eclipse by early 1934. The planners within the New Deal were represented in popular magazines and books by Stuart Chase, who was an engineer and accountant before he began to expound on economics. An early advocate of collectivism, Chase's influence waned after the Supreme Court invalidated two early successes, the NRA and the AAA. David Cushman Coyle, a structural engineer who, like many engineers during the Depression, fancied himself an economist, may be taken as the voice of the followers of Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis within the New Deal. Always influential, they became more prominent after the invalidation of the NRA in 1935. These three popular economists not only influenced policy but also educated the American public about the Depression. Scarcely a month went by without an essay by Chase or Coyle in the popular magazines of the decade, and both were also prolific authors of books and pamphlets. Their views and influence help us understand the economic and political climate of the 1930s. Peddling Panaceas will be of interest to economists, cultural historians, political scientists, and sociologists.

"The British scholar and pundit Harold J. Laski exercised tremendous influence on American intellectuals from the era of World War I to that of the early Cold War. Best combines pathbreaking narrative with a trenchant critique of Laski's analysis of American life and policy. The research is thorough, the prose clear. The work makes a real contribution."--Justus D. Doenecke, Professor of History, New College of Florida, Sarasota
"Britian's Harold Laski (1893-1950) was one of the most influential public intellectuals of his time. Unlike others to whom he can be compared, such as Raymond Aron in France and Walter Lippmann in the United States, Laski was a major force on both sides of the Atlantic. Best traces Laski's evolution from pluralism to Marxism." - "Wilson Quarterly"
For nearly three decades, the English political scientist Harold Laski was the gray eminence of American liberalism and its most influential Marxist public intellectual. As a fervent proponent of the New Deal in the 1930s, much of Laski's success stemmed from the fact that he offered answers when so many Americans had only questions. By the postwar years, however, his reputation was in decline and his influence left the Democratic Party vulnerable in the1948 elections. In "Harold Laski and American Liberalism" Gary Dean Best traces the trajectory of Laski's American career and accounts for its ultimate failure.
American politics and society were central to Laski's intellectual enterprise. As Best shows, probably no one residing in America has published as many words critical of the United States as did this Englishman. Virtually no aspect of American life went unscathed, and yet at the root of every attack was American capitalism, the businessman, those with property, who, in Laski's view were the source of all the perversion of American life.
The 1930s was a period of ferment among America's intellectuals. By the 1940s it was only Laski who was bewildered--at the failure of his diagnoses and the rejection of his prescriptions even by those who had been captivated by him in the previous decade. By the time he died, in 1950, his earlier pronouncements seemed wide of the mark, and the increased stridency and shrillness produced by his disappointment had begun to bore even many who had been devoted to him in earlier years.
As this volume shows, the real tragedy for Laski was that he allowed his intellect to be captured and held captive by the Marxian dialectic, denying himself the use of his own reason despite that dialectic's repeated failures. "Harold Laski and American Liberalism" will be of interest to intellectual historians, political scientists, and American studies specialists.
Gary Dean Best is professor emeritus of history at the University of Hawaii. Among his books are "The Dollar Decade: Mammon and Machine in 1920s America, The Retreat from Liberalism: Collectivists versus Progressives in the New Deal Years, The Life of Herbert Hoover," and "The Nickel and Dime Decade: American Popular Culture in the 1930s."

This is the first ever full-scale biography of John Cennick, who was an outstandingly successful eighteenth-century preacher. He was the first layman to be used as a Methodist preacher by John Wesley and was a significant contributor to the success of Methodism in the Bristol area, especially Kingswood. Charles Wesley encouraged him to also become a hymnwriter, editing his early hymns. Cennick then became the right-hand man of the Calvinist Methodist, George Whitefield, becoming not only 'the apostle of Wiltshire' but the main leader of the work of that branch of Methodism in London and a close friend of the Welsh evangelist Howell Harris. Upset by the dissensions within Methodism, he became first a member and then an ordained deacon within the Moravian Church and their chief evangelist - working across parts of England and Wales, but mainly in northern Ireland, where he established fifteen chapels, over forty religious societies and over two hundred preaching places. It is estimated that between 1739 and his early death at the age of just 35 in 1755 he preached on between eight and nine thousand occasions, sometimes in the face of appalling mob violence.His story - and why John Wesley sought to erase his contribution - provides a real insight into the religious revival initiated by the Methodists and Moravians.

The story of John Wesley's affair with Grace Murray and how Charles Wesley prevented their marriage by persuading Grace to marry John Bennet, who was one of the key Methodist lay preachers, has long fascinated historians, but most have tended to view John as the victim and been hugely critical of the behaviour and actions of the others involved. Grace has been described as 'impetuous, imperious, and probably a little unstable' and as an 'uneducated, vain, fickle, selfish and presuming' flirt, even though this does not tie in with either John Wesley's or John Bennet's view of her. Bennet has been dismissed as 'a cheat' and 'a treacherous, unfriendly man', even though Charles Wesley, George Whitefield and other contemporaries consistently praised his character. Charles has been accused of over-reacting to gossip and acting out of personal reasons. It has been alleged, for example, that he wanted John to remain single so he could retain the income his own wife required, and that both he and his wife were too snobbish to want to have Grace as their sister-in-law. All these accusations have tended to obscure rather than clarify what really happened because they either ignore or do not pay enough attention to the fact that John Wesley was just as much to blame for what happened.Today, after decades of relative historical neglect, Grace Murray is beginning to receive more recognition as 'a strong-willed, capable and dedicated woman worthy of a distinguished place in the annals of early Methodism'. What emerges from this study is a remarkable woman - a pioneer female class leader and preacher, who, throughout her life, had to come to terms not only with the doubts and fears that can beset Christians at times, but also with the prejudices of her day. Dr Johnson represented those well when he quipped: 'A woman preaching is like a dog walking on its hind legs. It is not done well; but you are surprised to find it done at all.' What comes across most strongly in Grace's writings is her acute awareness of her own failings and her abiding faith in the redemptive love of God. When she knew she was approaching death she wrote to her son:'God did wonders for me all my life. I have been astonished and overwhelmed with a sense of his love to me the chief of sinners, the most unfaithful and unprofitable of all his servants.'Her character makes it all the more understandable why John Wesley was hit so hard by her loss and why he struggled to understand why God had not permitted him to marry her:The main outcome of Grace's marriage to John Bennet has usually been portrayed as being John Wesley's disastrous marriage on the rebound to Molly Vazeille, but of far more significance was the divide her loss created between John and Charles. That had huge and important repercussions on the way in which Methodism was subsequently to develop.After the initial trauma was over both John Wesley and Grace Murray came to believe that it was God who had prevented their marriage. In a more secular age, it seems preferable to explain what happened by looking at the actions of people involved and using the evidence available. This book tries to do exactly that and what emerges is a tragedy of errors for which all the protagonists can be held equally responsible. John Wesley, Grace Murray, John Bennet, and Charles Wesley all did what they did for the best, if at times misguided, motives. Whether the hand of God can also be seen in what happened is left to the reader's judgement.