On the very first day of the invasion of Sicily, three months into his combat career, Allan Knepper flew his P-38 Lightning fighter in a squadron sent out to sweep the island and interdict German ground targets. Retreating German infantry unexpectedly pounded the American flyers. Knepper was one of two shot down; he was never found. Knepper's story is the story-in-microcosm of thousands of American fighter pilots in World War II. Richardson recounts Knepper's experiences from training through combat and uses them to discuss the aircraft, tactics and doctrine, training, base life, and aerial combat of the war. This is the intimate account of one pilot at war, but also the anatomy of the fighter-pilot experience in World War II.

After qualifying as a physician, Robert Richardson (1779 1847) joined the household of the earl of Belmore, and accompanied him and his family on a tour of the eastern Mediterranean in his yacht the Osprey, converted from a captured American schooner. Richardson dedicated this two-volume work to his patron in 1822. Having spent several months in Naples, the party travelled through the Greek islands to Constantinople, arriving in Alexandria in September 1817. Volume 1 recounts their journey up the Nile, exploring both the antiquities of Egypt and the modern cities, especially Cairo, where Richardson made the acquaintance of Burckhardt (whose death he witnessed), Belzoni, Henry Salt and other early explorers of Egypt's past. Having reached the Nile's second cataract, they returned to Thebes, where they were greeted with news of Princess Charlotte's death. Richardson's account is full of detail, both of the archaeological remains and of everyday life in modern Egypt."

After qualifying as a physician, Robert Richardson (1779 1847) joined the household of the earl of Belmore, and accompanied him and his family on a tour of the eastern Mediterranean in his yacht the Osprey, converted from a captured American schooner. Richardson dedicated this two-volume work to his patron in 1822. Having spent several months in Naples, the party travelled through the Greek islands to Constantinople, arriving in Alexandria in September 1817. Volume 2 describes further exploration in Egypt, before the party travelled into Palestine, where they visited Jerusalem and the Holy Places, and the cities of the Old Testament, continuing through Syria and Lebanon. Their intention of revisiting Greece on their return was thwarted by reports of the plague, and they arrived back in Malta in July 1818. Richardson's account is full of detail, both of the archaeological remains and of everyday life in the Middle East."

This book, by one of the most innovative and challenging contemporary thinkers, consists of an extensive essay from which the book takes its title and five shorter essays that are internally related to "Being Singular Plural."
One of the strongest strands in Nancy's philosophy is his attempt to rethink community and the very idea of the social in a way that does not ground these ideas in some individual subject or subjectivity. The fundamental argument of the book is that being is always "being with," that "I" is not prior to "we," that existence is essentially co-existence. Nancy thinks of this "being-with" not as a comfortable enclosure in a pre-existing group, but as a mutual abandonment and exposure to each other, one that would preserve the "I" and its freedom in a mode of imagining community as neither a "society of spectacle" nor via some form of authenticity.
The five shorter essays impressively translate the philosophical insight of "Being Singular Plural" into sophisticated discussions of national sovereignty, war and technology, identity politics, the Gulf War, and the tragic plight of Sarajevo. The essay "Eulogy for the Melee," in particular, is a brilliant discussion of identity and hybridism that resonates with many contemporary social concerns.
As Nancy moves through the exposition of his central concern, being-with, he engages a number of other important issues, including current notions of the "other" and "self" that are relevant to psychoanalytic, political, and multicultural concepts. He also offers astonishingly original reinterpretations of major philosophical positions, such as Nietzsche's doctrine of "eternal recurrence," Descartes's "cogito," and the nature of language and meaning.

This book, by one of the most innovative and challenging contemporary thinkers, consists of an extensive essay from which the book takes its title and five shorter essays that are internally related to "Being Singular Plural."
One of the strongest strands in Nancy's philosophy is his attempt to rethink community and the very idea of the social in a way that does not ground these ideas in some individual subject or subjectivity. The fundamental argument of the book is that being is always "being with," that "I" is not prior to "we," that existence is essentially co-existence. Nancy thinks of this "being-with" not as a comfortable enclosure in a pre-existing group, but as a mutual abandonment and exposure to each other, one that would preserve the "I" and its freedom in a mode of imagining community as neither a "society of spectacle" nor via some form of authenticity.
The five shorter essays impressively translate the philosophical insight of "Being Singular Plural" into sophisticated discussions of national sovereignty, war and technology, identity politics, the Gulf War, and the tragic plight of Sarajevo. The essay "Eulogy for the Melee," in particular, is a brilliant discussion of identity and hybridism that resonates with many contemporary social concerns.
As Nancy moves through the exposition of his central concern, being-with, he engages a number of other important issues, including current notions of the "other" and "self" that are relevant to psychoanalytic, political, and multicultural concepts. He also offers astonishingly original reinterpretations of major philosophical positions, such as Nietzsche's doctrine of "eternal recurrence," Descartes's "cogito," and the nature of language and meaning.

Julia Roberts stars in this drama based on the bestselling memoir by Elizabeth Gilbert. 30-something Liz (Roberts) has arrived at a crossroads in life. With a career, a home and a husband, she is in possession of everything the modern woman dreams of. But after repeatedly failing to get pregnant, Liz starts to question her marriage and her purpose in life, and after a painful divorce she takes off on a year-long solo trip around the world on a quest for self-discovery. Along the way she spends four months discovering the joys of food in Italy and four months on the spiritual path in India before finally and unexpectedly finding true love in Bali.

Martin Scorsese makes his first foray into children's cinema with this semi-fantastical drama based on a book by Brian Selznick. Asa Butterfield stars as Hugo, an orphan who lives in the hidden nooks of a train station in 1920s Paris. With the help of his friend, Isabelle (Chloë Moretz), he sets out to solve a mystery left behind by his late father (Jude Law): a curious puzzle involving a heart-shaped key, a cranky toy shop owner (Ben Kingsley) and a broken automaton. Along the way, the tangled lives of the staff and passengers at the station provide numerous colourful detours, and Scorsese pays homage to early pioneers of cinema including the Lumiere brothers and Georges Méliès. The film was nominated for eleven Oscars and won five awards including Best Cinematography and Best Visual Effects.

Oliver Stone's controversial tale of killers on the run. Micky and Mallory (Woody Harrelson and Juliette Lewis) are no-good drop-outs who respond to their social alienation by embarking on a murder rampage across America. Soon, with the help of tabloid journalist Wayne Gayle (Robert Downey Jr), they become cult heroes, and find themselves at the centre of an unlikely media circus. But FBI agent Dwight McClusky (Tommy Lee Jones) is determined to put an end to their glory. Based on a screenplay by Quentin Tarantino.

Oliver Stone's detailed examination of possible answers to unsolved mysteries surrounding John F. Kennedy's assassination. Kevin Costner plays New Orleans District Attorney Jim Garrison, who remained unconvinced by the Warren Commission Report and launched his own investigation. This film was released on a wave of controversy and led to calls for Congress to re-open government records from the 1977 House Select Committee on the assassination. Stone weaves actual archive footage with historical reconstruction and conjecture to present his argument that Kennedy was killed by the CIA due to his desire to withdraw troops from Vietnam. The film gained several Oscar nominations and Stone won a Golden Globe award for Best Director.