"An important book...Grant is a good storyteller, subtle and compassionate." --The New York Times Book Review In the tradition of Random Family and Evicted, a gripping blend of rigorous, intimate on-the-ground reporting and deep social history of reproductive health that follows three first-time mothers as they experience pregnancy and childbirth in today's America. Journalist Rebecca Grant provides us with a never-before-seen look at the changing landscape of pregnancy and childbirth in America--and the rise of midwifery--told through the eyes of three women who all pass through the doors of the same birth center in Portland, Oregon. There's Alison, a teacher whose long path to a healthy pregnancy has led her to question a traditional hospital birth; T'Nika, herself born with the help of a midwife and now a nurse hoping to work in Labor & Delivery and improve equality in healthcare; and Jillian, an office manager and aspiring midwife who works at Andaluz Birth Center, excited for a new beginning, but anxious about how bringing a new life into the world might mean the deferral of her own dreams. In remarkable detail and with great compassion, Grant recounts the ups downs, fears, joys, and everyday moments of each woman's pregnancy and postpartum journey, offering a rare look into their inner lives, perspectives, and choices in real time--and addresses larger issues facing the entire nation, from discrimination in medicine and treatment (both gender and race-based) to fertility, family planning, complicated feelings about motherhood and career, and the stigmas of miscarriage and postpartum blues. "An enlightening and accessible portrait of maternal healthcare in America" (Publishers Weekly, starred) Birth is an inspiring look at one of life's most profound rites of passage.

The collections contained within the Combined Arms Research Library Digital Library are largely composed of digital versions of paper documents from the Combined Arms Research Library collections and student papers produced at the US Army Command and General Staff College. The documents in this collection cover the areas on the Vietnam Conflict, Korean War, and the U.S. Civil War, to name a few. This is one of those documents.

Hi. I'm Alexandra Hollingsworth. You know, being an FBI agent is definitely not as glamorous as it is on TV. Ten years of near misses finally caught up with me when I was shot in the line of duty. I'm missing a spleen and I have what my little brother calls, a 'metal stick' in my leg. And just when I think things could not get any worse, I find out I'm wanted by the FBI for the deaths of four agents. So my well-meaning family took it upon themselves to send me to Mackinac Island, a place where fudge is the major export, motor vehicles are banned, and mystery can be found within the hidden underground tunnels. More importantly, according to my family, there is a man there who can keep me safe. Accompanied by my K9 partner Caleb, and my geriatric arch nemesis, Doreen (who is supposed to be my 'nurse' and not my reason for an insanity plea), my current mission is to recuperate and try to figure out why I've been framed. Unfortunately, not one person in my family seemed to think it was necessary to inform me that my temporary guardian is my ex-husband, Michael. Well won't this be interesting?

Augusta Jane Evans Wilson (1835-1909) was one of nineteenth-century America's most popular novelists and outspoken supporters of the Confederacy. Her nine novels include the recently reissued Beulah, the stridently pro-Confederate Macaria, and the extremely successful St. Elmo, which rivaled Uncle Tom's Cabin and Ben-Hur in sales. In addition to writing best-selling books, Wilson was a powerful letter-writer whose correspondents included prominent Confederate leaders. Wilson's epistles, 112 of which are gathered in this volume, reveal the depth of her ambitions for herself and the Confederacy. Wilson worked hard to place herself at the center of action during the Civil War and after the surrender assiduously maintained her correspondence with prominent people of her day. In addition to writing Confederate propaganda, her wartime activities included an extended correspondence with General P. G. T. Beauregard and Confederate congressman Jabez L. M. Curry. In her letters Wilson reviews battle plans and military policy, offers political advice, and illumines the hardships suffered by southerners. Her correspondence portrays her as an assertive, well-educated woman who addressed powerful men on equal terms and only occasionally lapsed into traditional feminine deference. Of equal interest, the volume includes Wilson's writings to friends, publishers, fans, and family members. Wilson's working correspondence with her editors and myriad admirers captures her views on the purposes of fiction, the trials of publishing during the war, and the difficulties of combining career and family.

As the world moves into the twenty-first century, cellular systems, high-density data storage, and the Internet are but a few of the new technologies that promise great advances in productivity and improvements in the quality of life. Yet these new technologies also threaten personal privacy. A surveillance society, in which the individual has little control over personal information, may be the logical result of deregulation, globalization, and a mass data-processing capacity. Consumers report increasing concern over erosion of personal privacy even as they volunteer personal information in exchange for coupons, catalogues, and credit. What kind of privacy future are we facing? In Visions of Privacy: Policy Choices for the Digital Age, some of the most prominent international theorists and practitioners in the field explore the impact of evolving technology on private citizens. The authors critically probe market, ethical, global, regulatory and advocacy issues, as each answers the question, 'How can we develop privacy solutions equal to the surveillance challenges of the future?'