For the first time, Alaska musher and tribal leader Mike Williams shares his remarkable life story with veteran sports writer Lew Freedman. Williams is a man of many parts, a sports figure, a government figure, a leader of his people, a husband, a father, and a Native man with one foot firmly planted in the twenty-first century and another firmly planted in the roots of a culture that dates back 10,000 years in Alaska. Williams competed in the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race fifteen times, and was once the only Yup’ik Eskimo musher, a symbol to all Natives around the state. Although he was never a top contender for the Iditarod title, he was a competitor whom everyone cheered because he resolved that to shed light on one of Alaska’s greatest threats to the health and future of its Native people, he would carry in his dog sled pages—pounds worth—of signatures of people who had pledged sobriety. A Yup’ik Eskimo, Williams saw firsthand how alcohol could devastate people as surely as if they had contracted a deadly flu: each of his brothers had succumbed to alcohol-related accidents, incidents, or illnesses. Williams describes how he recovered from his dependence on alcohol through religion, loved ones, and racing dogs. For many years Williams carried those sobriety pledges in his sled, focusing attention on a troubling, seemingly intractable problem. Williams gained national attention, being profiled by CNN, Sports Illustrated, and Good Morning America. Fellow Iditarod competitors have voted him “the most inspirational musher.”

Bridport is an industrial market town on the west Dorset coast which has played a pivotal role in the region's hemp and flax industry for over 700 years. The industrial heritage of this town is not widely known outside the area and very little has been published on the regional and national significance of Bridport. Hemp and flax was traditionally grown locally and used for the production of cordage, netting and sailcloth: this industry expanded from the 18th century onwards with the construction of new mills and warehouses along with the continued use of traditional rope and twine walks, creating a highly distinctive range of building types.

A unique and accessible analysis of the belief systems of the prehistoric people of Europe Both extensively researched and fast-paced, this groundbreaking book tackles all the big subjects in archaeology: the spread of humans from Africa, the rise of social groups, the adoption of agriculture, the construction of monuments, the emergence of metal, and the fall of the Celtic tribes. In showing that belief was central to these epic changes, as well as influencing the most mundane, everyday task, a new understanding of our prehistoric past emerges. Evocative vignettes take readers back in time to experience for themselves the sights, smells, and sounds of the past. It is only with the advent of modern science that we can begin to unravel the lives of those who lived thousands of years ago, people who were adept at entering trance and found the "other world" there to be as real as their own. This is a new way to approach prehistory, putting people and the beliefs that they held center stage. For without understanding people's beliefs, we will never comprehend their world.

The first Part of a book that reminds us of our past & present? Taking us on a journey from Childhood to Adulthood with its many twists & turns.