How debates over secrecy and transparency in politics during the eighteenth century shaped modern democracy   Does democracy die in darkness, as the saying suggests? This book reveals that modern democracy was born in secrecy, despite the widespread conviction that transparency was its very essence.   In the years preceding the American and French revolutions, state secrecy came to be seen as despotic—an instrument of monarchy. But as revolutionaries sought to fashion representative government, they faced a dilemma. In a context where gaining public trust seemed to demand transparency, was secrecy ever legitimate? Whether in Philadelphia or Paris, establishing popular sovereignty required navigating between an ideological imperative to eradicate secrets from the state and a practical need to limit transparency in government. The fight over this—dividing revolutionaries and vexing founders—would determine the nature of the world’s first representative democracies.   Unveiling modern democracy’s surprisingly shadowy origins, Carter reshapes our understanding of how government by and for the people emerged during the Age of Revolutions.

Over 400 of the best hometown recipes from America's Hometown Magazine.

"American Profile" magazine celebrates hometown life in America. Over the years, "American Profile" has invited readers to send in their favorite recipes for publication, including the stories behind them―tales of recipes passed from generation to generation, traded among dear friends, or created to meet the needs of a family on a budget.

In this extraordinary cookbook, you'll find traditional American favorites with a unique twist alongside ethnic creations from around the world, such as:

• Apple-Sausage Pancakes
• Prairie-Fire Chicken Strips
• Holiday Spiced Tea
• Aunt Lillian's Pumpkin Bread
• Tamale Soup
• Pistachio and Pasta Salad
• Grandma's Swiss Steak
• Chicken Dumplings
• Snapper Tropical
• Lazy Pierogi
• Apple Cake
• Tiramisu Torte

Also included are helpful tips from "American Profile's" test kitchen as well as 30 articles on hometown festivals and fairs across the nation that give you a sneak peek into the lives of the ordinary citizens that make up hometown America.

Whether it's a simple soup for the family or a full meal for visitors, the "American Profile Hometown Cookbook" has just the right recipe to make any gathering a special occasion.

Psychic Clair Ivars has a flair for reading tarot cards, yet a total blind spot when it comes to predicting her own future - especially matters of the heart. Which might explain why she's surprised to find herself accidentally engaged to vodka magnate Jack Heron after knowing him for only a few hours. What it doesn't explain, however, is an increasingly strange series of events... and it definitely doesn't explain the peculiar way Clair keeps thinking about Jack's business partner, the tall, dark, mysterious and infuriatingly sexy Mike...

I'm just the messenger. Please, don't kill me. . . Don't hate me because I'm psychic. . .everybody else already does. My name's Clair Ivers and these days my "gift" seems more like a booby prize. It all started when this crazy woman tried to bribe me into skewing a reading to warm her future sister-in-law's cold feet. Then the prospective sister-in-law threatened to kill herself at the altar if I didn't give her a phony reading saying she should break off the engagement. Oh, and did I mention she ran out, leaving her three-carat rock of a ring right there on my table? So what's an honest woman to do? Find the man who belongs to the ring, of course. And boy, have I found him. The minute I lay eyes on Jack Heron, I know he's the one. . .for me, that is. The problem is making him realize it once he finds out that I may be responsible for the flight of his fiancee. At least his grandmother likes me. Of course she thinks I'm someone else. And then there's the best man who keeps calling me for dates. . .and stock tips. Between the people who think I'm someone else, the people who wish I were, and the people who just want a bead on the winning Powerball numbers, I'm seriously considering packing in my deck for good. But not until I throw caution to the wind and make a play for my very own Jack of Hearts. . ."