During the Civil War, cities, houses, forests, and soldiers' bodies were transformed into ""dead heaps of ruins,"" novel sights in the southern landscape. How did this happen, and why? And what did Americans-northern and southern, black and white, male and female-make of this proliferation of ruins? Ruin Nation is the first book to bring together environmental and cultural histories to consider the evocative power of ruination as an imagined state, an act of destruction, and a process of change. Megan Kate Nelson examines the narratives and images that Americans produced as they confronted the war's destructiveness. Architectural ruins-cities and houses-dominated the stories that soldiers and civilians told about the ""savage"" behaviour of men and the invasions of domestic privacy. The ruins of living things-trees and bodies-also provoked discussion and debate. People who witnessed forests and men being blown apart were plagued by anxieties about the impact of wartime technologies on nature and on individual identities. The obliteration of cities, houses, trees, and men was a shared experience. Nelson shows that this is one of the ironies of the war's ruination-in a time of the most extreme national divisiveness people found common ground as they considered the war's costs. And yet, very few of these ruins still exist, suggesting that the destructive practices that dominated the experiences of Americans during the Civil War have been erased from our national consciousness.

The History of Fashion Journalism is a uniquely comprehensive study of the development of the industry from its origins to the present day, and including professionals' such as Dylan Jones's vision of the future. Covering everything from early tailor's catalogues through to contemporary publications such as LOVE, together with blogs such as StyleBubble, and countries from France through to the United States, The History of Fashion Journalism explores the origins and influence of such well-known magazines as Nova, Vogue and Glamour. Combining an overview of the key moments in fashion journalism history with close textual analysis, Kate Nelson Best brings to life the evolving face of the fashion media and its relationship with the fashion industry, national politics, consumer culture and gender. This accessible and highly engaging book will be an invaluable resource not only for fashion studies students but also for those in media studies and cultural studies.

During the Civil War, cities, houses, forests, and soldiers' bodies were transformed into ""dead heaps of ruins,"" novel sights in the southern landscape. How did this happen, and why? And what did Americans-northern and southern, black and white, male and female-make of this proliferation of ruins? Ruin Nation is the first book to bring together environmental and cultural histories to consider the evocative power of ruination as an imagined state, an act of destruction, and a process of change. Megan Kate Nelson examines the narratives and images that Americans produced as they confronted the war's destructiveness. Architectural ruins-cities and houses-dominated the stories that soldiers and civilians told about the ""savage"" behaviour of men and the invasions of domestic privacy. The ruins of living things-trees and bodies-also provoked discussion and debate. People who witnessed forests and men being blown apart were plagued by anxieties about the impact of wartime technologies on nature and on individual identities. The obliteration of cities, houses, trees, and men was a shared experience. Nelson shows that this is one of the ironies of the war's ruination-in a time of the most extreme national divisiveness people found common ground as they considered the war's costs. And yet, very few of these ruins still exist, suggesting that the destructive practices that dominated the experiences of Americans during the Civil War have been erased from our national consciousness.

For some people revenge eats into their soul, it's an unforgiving master and the results weave its way through this story. Love, friendship and respect are the best defences and allies. As one reads through this story two young people, Maddy and Nathan are starting out on life without parents. One is sent away for her own protection the other is left an orphan following a road accident... or was it an accident? Both are brought up by people who least expected to have such a responsibility. Sometimes in life we make promises but rarely are called upon to carry them out as they did. Both Maddy and Nathan become involved in the story of the four miniatures in differing ways and for different reasons. The last words Nathan's father wrote on his memo pad were The Four Miniatures. What was their significance? Lives are lost as the greedy endeavour to acquire them. The resolute try equally hard to thwart them. But who wins? Will a simple rhyme taught to a small child be the key? Will the search bring people together or tear them apart..........

From the formation of the Georgia colony in 1732 to the end of the Great Depression, the Okefenokee Swamp was a site of conflict between divergent local communities. Coining the term 'ecolocalism' to describe how local cultures form out of ecosystems and in relation to other communities, Megan Kate Nelson offers a new view of the Okefenokee, its inhabitants, and its rich and telling record of thwarted ambitions, unintended consequences, and unresolved questions. Nelson narrates the fluctuations, disconnections, and confrontations embedded in the muck of the swamp and the mire of its disorderly history, and she reminds us that it is out of such places of intermingling and uncertainty that cultures are forged.