Ralph Montagu needed money to rebuild and refurbish his magnificent London house, which had burned down whilst he was in exile in France. The richest woman in England, being a widowed Duchess (and mad) would only remarry into royalty. Legend has it that Ralph dressed as the Emperor of China, and his servants in the same fashion, wooed and wed her. Reading this story made me want to know more about such an audacious man. I discovered that he had brought down a prime minister, dined with Louis XIV, helped bring William III to the throne, patronised famous scientists, playwrights and painters, and managed to cap his career with the ultimate prize - a ducal coronet. His country house still stands, occupied by his descendant and full of the treasures he collected. It also holds his archive (including many bundles of debtors' bills) that has provided the foundation for this biography.

Examining the relationships between architecture, home and community in the Claremont Court housing scheme in Edinburgh, Home and Community provides a novel perspective on the enabling potential of architecture that encompasses physical, spatial, relational and temporal phenomena. Based on the AHRC funded project "Place and Belonging", the chapters draw on innovative spatial layouts amid Scottish policymakers' concerns of social change in the 1960s, to develop theoretical understandings between architecture, home, and community. By approaching the discourse on home, and by positioning the home at the confluence of a network of sociocultural identities bound by spatial awareness and design, the writers draw on sociological interpretations of cultural negotiation as well as theoretical underpinnings in architectural design. In so doing, they suggest a reinterpretation of the facilitating role of architecture as sensitive to physical and socio-cultural reconstruction. Drawn from interviews with residents, architectural surveys, contextual mapping and other visual methods, Home and Community explores home as a construct that is enmeshed with the architectural affordances that the housing scheme represents, that is useful to both architecture and sociology students, as well as practitioners and urban planners.

This groundbreaking new book illustrates how the internet and other electronic resources are currently affecting social work practice. Rapidly emerging technologies have facilitated economic globalization and created a host of new issues for social workers to address. At the same time these technologies have become key tools for social activism and advocacy. Practitioners must understand the changes in social policy advocacy and community activism that these technological advances bring and learn to formulate new skills to utilize them to their advantage. Advocacy, Activism, and the Internet discusses the use of the internet as a tool for instigating social change at the local, state, national, and international levels. The authors show how technology affects social work practice directly through new methods and indirectly by affecting the communities that practitioners serve. It provides channels for e-advocacy as well as a thorough exploration of the major theoretical, practice, and research perspectives that inform electronic activism. This book solidly integrates new on-line advocacy skills with traditional methods and unites research on internet communities with macro social work theory.

Examining the relationships between architecture, home and community in the Claremont Court housing scheme in Edinburgh, Home and Community provides a novel perspective on the enabling potential of architecture that encompasses physical, spatial, relational and temporal phenomena. Based on the AHRC funded project "Place and Belonging", the chapters draw on innovative spatial layouts amid Scottish policymakers' concerns of social change in the 1960s, to develop theoretical understandings between architecture, home, and community. By approaching the discourse on home, and by positioning the home at the confluence of a network of sociocultural identities bound by spatial awareness and design, the writers draw on sociological interpretations of cultural negotiation as well as theoretical underpinnings in architectural design. In so doing, they suggest a reinterpretation of the facilitating role of architecture as sensitive to physical and socio-cultural reconstruction. Drawn from interviews with residents, architectural surveys, contextual mapping and other visual methods, Home and Community explores home as a construct that is enmeshed with the architectural affordances that the housing scheme represents, that is useful to both architecture and sociology students, as well as practitioners and urban planners.

Josh Ragizzo and his family are being hunted, having been accused of terrorism and heresy. The religious government known as Babylon has risen to power across the entire planet, and all the nations of the world have sworn allegiance to it. Strict economic restrictions and death decrees have been issued against those who choose not to conform to the worship practices of Babylon. The Ragizzos, because of their knowledge of God as revealed in the pages of Scripture, have refused to participate in the mandated false worship, and are now in hiding in fear of their lives on a daily basis. The very end times described in the prophetic writings of the Bible are upon the earth. Join the family for a story of survival and adventure as they live through the last Christmas the world will ever see. As they strive to endure in and make sense of a world which has turned upside-down, you might just come to see our world in a different light, and see more clearly the mysteries of God.

Ralph Montagu needed money to rebuild and refurbish his magnificent London house, which had burned down whilst he was in exile in France. The richest woman in England, being a widowed Duchess (and mad) would only remarry into royalty. Legend has it that Ralph dressed as the Emperor of China, and his servants in the same fashion, wooed and wed her. Reading this story made me want to know more about such an audacious man. I discovered that he had brought down a prime minister, dined with Louis XIV, helped bring William III to the throne, patronised famous scientists, playwrights and painters, and managed to cap his career with the ultimate prize - a ducal coronet. His country house still stands, occupied by his descendant and full of the treasures he collected. It also holds his archive (including many bundles of debtors' bills) that has provided the foundation for this biography.

Ayn Rand wrote and lectured on economic concepts and topics. This volume addresses the economic and business aspects of her writings. The authors of this anthology are from a variety of fields and all of them are enthusiastic supporters of her ideas.

Featuring a spectrum of families from diverse backgrounds, this book reveals the joys and challenges of adoptive and foster parenting. The authors outline how the experience of adopting and fostering has changed for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) people over the years, major changes in policy, and what the research can tell us about LGBT parenting. They interview families involved at different stages of the fostering and adoption process, from those undergoing assessments through to the experienced foster carers and adopters who were interviewed for the first edition of this book 20 years previously. While the number of LGBT people adopting or fostering has increased since then, some of the very real challenges still endure - including social stigma, homophobia and discriminatory policies - and families share some of the strategies they have used to help to address them. This is an essential source of information and advice for same-sex couples and LGBT single parents, as well as social workers, social work educators, sociologists of personal life, fostering and adoption panel members.