Bøger udgivet af George F Thompson Publishing

At a time when division, polarization, and antagonisms pervade the United States, here is hope for the future. Landscapes of Hope shows how people from all walks of life and backgrounds can come together, talk and work out details, compromise, and do something special for generations to come: safeguarding 900,000 acres of spectacular wild country in Utah.Perched on the western edge of the Colorado Plateau, the Greater San Rafael Swell spans 8,000 square miles in south-central Utah and showcases a rich tapestry of landscapes. Its colorful geological strata span 350 million years of Earth's history and contain a remarkably well-preserved fossil record from times when primitive marine species first emerged, to the era of dinosaurs and the appearance of large mammals. The region's arid climate and isolation have also worked together to preserve cultural artifacts left by Indigenous peoples who occupied the area for more than ten millennia.As the treasures of the Greater San Rafael Swell became widely known during the 1960s, conservationists undertook campaigns to designate large tracts of public lands in the region as wilderness, where "the earth and its community of life are untrammeled by man, where man himself is a visitor who does not remain." Initially, some residents of Emery County, located at the heart of the Greater Swell, strongly opposed these efforts, concerned that wilderness designations could limit ranching and mining, undermine residents' livelihoods, and sever their cultural ties to the lands.At first, reconciling these opposing views seemed impossible, but, starting in the late 1990s, Emery County leaders and residents engaged a wide spectrum of stakeholders in discussions spanning more than two decades. In 2019, their efforts to find common ground culminated in the passage of the John D. Dingell Jr. Conservation, Management, and Recreation Act. This comprehensive federal legislation designated substantial portions of public lands for multiple uses, while creating twenty-five new wilderness and other protected areas, safeguarding nearly 900,000 acres.Landscapes of Hope celebrates the commitment of those who take rightful pride in their legacy and who forged the legislation, conserving landscapes of extraordinary beauty and profound cultural importance. The fruits of their endeavors are portrayed in photographs and stories that showcase the sublime grandeur of the areas now protected in perpetuity.

The volcanoes on the Alaska Peninsula and the fifty-seven volcanoes that project into the Aleutian Islands form the northern rim of the Pacific Ring of Fire. Many are in Alaska's national parks, monuments, and preserves. They continue to erupt, creating new Earth surfaces, and the deposits of lava, pumice, and ash ejected by these volcanoes create primeval ground: a true wilderness where few people on Earth other than volcanologists have traversed.Gary Freeburg has wandered and lived among Alaska's volcanoes for regular periods during the last twenty years. The volcanoes he visits are alive and in some cases still steaming, and its lands are coarse and free of distraction: a vacuum of emptiness that embraces solitude and silence stirred only by the winds that blow and the rains that fall. The Earth surfaces that he walks are hard and largely barren of plant life, except where surfaces are shielded by the wind or are near water sources. There, new life returns in the form of lichen and tiny plants and insects and animals--bees, bear, fox, mayflies, and Alaskan hares--taking their rightful place in these vast, remote national parks, monuments, and preserves, reminding us that they are signs of hope that Earth will continue to evolve, regenerate, and renew itself long after we humans are gone.Freeburg's writings, photographs, and drawings reflect what it is like to seek solitude and live among Alaska's wild volcanoes. His travels were mostly solo treks in which he was flown in with supplies, a camera, sketchbooks, and journal to share his thoughts and artistically render his experiences. Each day spent in Alaska's volcanic wilderness affirmed the importance of this place for the author and those who can only dream of such a place. His book seems to explain: How fortunate it is to have magical places and national parks like Alaska's volcanoes, how fortunate we are to be alive on this magnificent Earth.

An unforgettable account of how misguided and illegal U.S. policies in Central America during the 1980s resulted in tens of thousands of deaths, created many of today's problems along America's Southern Border, and helped perpetuate a legacy of hawkish militarism at the expense of democracy and diplomacy.During the 1980s, the United States financed and directed wars against popular movements in Central America. Vowing to block "Soviet expansion," the U.S. waged a Vietnam-style counterinsurgency in El Salvador while orchestrating a covert and illegal war to overthrow the Sandinista government in Nicaragua. Some 75,000 died in El Salvador, and more than 30,000 were killed in Nicaragua, most of them civilians. Countless more were displaced. Meanwhile, with tacit U.S. support, the Guatemalan military razed hundreds of Indigenous communities and killed more than 200,000 people during a civil war that claimed the lives of 100,000 Mayan villagers.Scott Wallace arrived in Central America in 1983 to cover these conflicts as a freelance "stringer" for CBS News and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution as well as Newsweek, The Independent, and The Guardian. Traveling along the frontlines of war, Wallace evolved a distinctive reporting style that included photojournalistic portraits of startling intimacy, page-turning tales of high adventure, and incisive analysis of the events he witnessed. The result is this unforgettable account of a reporter coming of age on the battlefield as he seeks the truth amid a landscape rife with death and deception.Introduced by the Honorable Christopher J. Dodd, readers will find within these pages a compelling and eye-opening narrative and visual record of the conflicts that continue to reverberate in the crisis on America's southern border with Mexico and in policy decisions made in Washington that impact families at home and throughout the world. Situating the exercise of U.S. power on a continuum running from Vietnam through Central America to Iraq, where he later reported, Wallace provides a rare look into the real-life consequences of morally dubious policies while offering a gripping primer for aspiring foreign correspondents and field reporters.In Central America in the Crosshairs of War, Scott Wallace presents a compelling memoir that not only reboots America's history of misadventures overseas since Vietnam, but also restores faith in the importance and power of journalism at a time when "disinformation" and "alternate realities" abound in America and abroad. As Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Debrorah Nelson observers: "Scott Wallace takes us along his harrowing journey into the Central American jungles for an important historical accounting that draws a sharp line from the U.S. proxy wars of the 1980s to today's crises in those countries and at our own southern border."

An unforgettable portrayal of India's holiest city.