Today's moviegoers and critics generally consider some Hollywood products--even some blockbusters--to be legitimate works of art. But during the first half century of motion pictures very few Americans would have thought to call an American movie "art." Up through the 1950s, American movies were regarded as a form of popular, even lower-class, entertainment. By the 1960s and 1970s, however, viewers were regularly judging Hollywood films by artistic criteria previously applied only to high art forms. In Hollywood Highbrow, Shyon Baumann for the first time tells how social and cultural forces radically changed the public's perceptions of American movies just as those forces were radically changing the movies themselves. The development in the United States of an appreciation of film as an art was, Baumann shows, the product of large changes in Hollywood and American society as a whole. With the postwar rise of television, American movie audiences shrank dramatically and Hollywood responded by appealing to richer and more educated viewers. Around the same time, European ideas about the director as artist, an easing of censorship, and the development of art-house cinemas, film festivals, and the academic field of film studies encouraged the idea that some American movies--and not just European ones--deserved to be considered art.

“It was one of those periods that you got through, as opposed to enjoyed. It wasn’t an environment that . . . was nurturing, so you shut it out. You just got through it. You just took it a day at a time. You excelled if you could. You did your best. You felt as though the eyes of the community were on you.”—Glenda Wilson, East Side Junior High Much has been written about the historical desegregation of Little Rock Central High School by nine African American students in 1957. History has been silent, however, about the students who desegregated Little Rock’s five public junior high schools—East Side, Forest Heights, Pulaski Heights, Southwest, and West Side—in 1961 and 1962. The First Twenty-Five gathers the personal stories of these students some fifty years later. They recall what it was like to break down long-standing racial barriers while in their early teens—a developmental stage that often brings emotional vulnerability. In their own words, these individuals share what they saw, heard, and felt as children on the front lines of the civil rights movement, providing insight about this important time in Little Rock, and how these often painful events from their childhoods affected the rest of their lives.

"A heartwarming tale full of humor, tears, and brilliant, candid, and poignant dialogue. This is a book you'll read!" ~Rendezvous Kathleen Lacey O'Carroll knew she faced an uncertain future when she arrived in Wyoming as a mail-order bride. Then she learns that the man she was to marry hadn't actually ordered her. As far as John Winterhawke--a fiercely independent half-Indian--is concerned, the last thing he needs is a high-spirited, overeager Irish wife who knows nothing about surviving on the harsh prairie. Lacey senses the rough kindness and simmering hunger under Winterhawke's forbidding demeanor, and becomes determined to match his dark passion by claiming his wild heart on her terms. But first she has to learn how to cook. THE INCONVENIENT BRIDES, in series order: The Bride Wore Spurs Marrying Miss Shylo The Marring Kind OTHER SERIES by Sharon Ihle The WILD WOMEN Series: Untamed Wildcat Wild Rose Wild Hearts

Enjoy a heartwarming holiday adventure filled with tenderness, hope, and the promise of a better tomorrow for more than one deserving soul. Join us for a Gallagher Christmas at Hawk's Peak and fall in love with the family all over again.

Be swept away by the stirring romance and unforgettable adventure of Alaina Claiborne, MK McClintock's first British Agent novel.How far would you go to avenge your family and save the one you love?In nineteenth-century England, Alaina Claiborne had a loving family, a cherished friend, and devoted servants. She spent her days riding across the grassy hills of the English countryside, joyful and at peace.Then tragedy strikes and her world is forever changed. Searching for those responsible is her only focus . . . until she meets Tristan.Tristan Sheffield, a man of many talents, searches out those who don't want to be found. His past is filled with secrets and deeds he would rather leave deeply buried. However, when his life unexpectedly entwines with Alaina's, he soon discovers they share more than a mutual desire to catch a murderer.On their hunt for a man driven by greed, Tristan and Alaina find that love is the greatest weapon against evil, and they'll stop at nothing to survive.Experience romance, adventure, and mystery with the British Agents in Victorian England.The British Agent Historical Romantic Mystery Series:Book One - Alaina ClaiborneBook Two - Blackwood CrossingBook Three - Clayton's HonorSetting: Victorian EnglandSensuality Rating: PG-13

From the bestselling author of the Rebellious Sons series: Widowed Lily Porter is a woman alone, with a child to raise and a ranch to run. In a land aflame with violence and ripe for rebellion, where women are expected to be seen and not heard, Lily needs a man to stand up for her. The only man who offers is just called Cade, part Apache, part Mexican grandee. He possesses the power and passion Lily needs. But his past contains secrets that can destroy them, even as he joins with Lily in a struggle against treachery and terror—and in a love she would risk anything not to lose. TOO HARD TO HANDLE SERIES: Book 1: Texas Lily Book 2: Texas Rose Book 3: Texas Tiger Book 4: Texas Moon

On the wind swept shores of Ireland, a British Agent must leave behind duty to country for the sake of his honor.Anne Doyle lost her father to a foolish war and her mother to madness. Left with debt and an ancient family home, she struggles to keep the rest of her family together even as an enemy attempts to take them away. After witnessing a brutal murder, Anne must enlist aid from the only family she has left if she is to save those she loves.Devon Clayton had no intentions of leaving behind his life of adventure and danger, but when he is charged with protecting a witness and her family, he must choose between duty to the country he serves and a woman who tests his honor and willingness to change.Together they will discover that nothing is what it seems and that without honor, love and life are for nothing.The British Agent Historical Romantic Mystery Series:Book One - Alaina ClaiborneBook Two - Blackwood CrossingBook Three - Clayton's HonorSetting: Victorian England and IrelandSensuality Rating: PG