This is a concise yet comprehensive treatment of the American short story that includes an historical overview of the topic as well as discussion of notable American authors and individual stories, from Benjamin Franklin s The Speech of Miss Polly Baker in 1747 to The Joy Luck Club . * Includes a selection of writers chosen not only for their contributions of individual stories but for bodies of work that advanced the boundaries of short fiction, including Washington Irving, Sarah Orne Jewett, Stephen Crane, Jamaica Kincaid, and Tim O Brien * Addresses the ways in which American oral storytelling and other narrative traditions were integral to the formation and flourishing of the short story genre * Written in accessible and engaging prose for students at all levels by a renowned literary scholar to illuminate an important genre that has received short shrift in scholarly literature of the last century * Includes a glossary defining the most common terms used in literary history and in critical discussions of fiction, and a bibliography of works for further study

This is a concise yet comprehensive treatment of the American short story that includes an historical overview of the topic as well as discussion of notable American authors and individual stories, from Benjamin Franklin s The Speech of Miss Polly Baker in 1747 to The Joy Luck Club . * Includes a selection of writers chosen not only for their contributions of individual stories but for bodies of work that advanced the boundaries of short fiction, including Washington Irving, Sarah Orne Jewett, Stephen Crane, Jamaica Kincaid, and Tim O Brien * Addresses the ways in which American oral storytelling and other narrative traditions were integral to the formation and flourishing of the short story genre * Written in accessible and engaging prose for students at all levels by a renowned literary scholar to illuminate an important genre that has received short shrift in scholarly literature of the last century * Includes a glossary defining the most common terms used in literary history and in critical discussions of fiction, and a bibliography of works for further study

Terrorist use of radioactive nuclear materials is a serious threat for mass destruction or disruption of civil and military activities. Most worrisome is the use of nuclear devices to cause massive casualties to people and damage to structures. Fortunately, the procurement of adequate material and the engineering design, construction, and transportation and triggering of a nuclear weapon are all difficult problems for terrorist organizations. More likely is a device that combines radioactive materials with conventional explosives to make a radiological dispersion device, commonly called a "dirty bomb." The procurement of nuclear materials for this purpose, the construction of the bomb and its use are all easier than for a nuclear weapon. Fortunately, the effects from the use of a radiological weapon would be much smaller than from a nuclear device, although they could still be very disruptive. Thus, it is important to detect the transport of nuclear weapons and radiological dispersion devices and the materials for their construction. These materials emit gamma rays or neutrons, which can be detected to show the presence and amounts of such materials.