An emotional roller-coaster set against the backdrop of 11th century India – little mentioned in the books. This is the tale of the charming and gentle Udaymati, trusting and elegant queen of Anuhilwara, who was proud of her family and country. Prudent in her thoughts and decisions, she yearned for a genteel way of life, which unfortunately eluded her. Udaymati is caught in the vortex of turbulent life, when King Bhimdev, who promised her enduring love and a lifetime of happiness, turns back on his promise. This was a turning point in her life, when she realises, deception brings with it nothing but anguish. When a ruthless invader from a foreign land across the border goes on a looting spree, and her country is plunged into untold miseries following the invasion, Udaymati rises above her personal conflicts, and together with Bhimdev and Vimal Shah, focuses on the safety of the people, and the safe-keeping of the royal treasure and the cache of the Somnath. Udaymati resolutely believes that every defeat can be turned into a victory and every lost war can lay the foundation of a whopping resurgence in the future… What remains to be seen in this tale is, whether the same is applicable in the case of her personal life. The story vividly describes a time when attitudes to life, society, religion and politics, in general, were in many ways, different from the ones which are prevalent today; yet, the fact is that they are very much relevant even today. It is an aperture that focuses on a fascinating world.

Set against the backdrop of the black struggle in society, Slow Fade to Black is the definitive history of African-American accomplishment in film--both before and behind the camera--from the earliest movies through World War II. As he records the changing attitudes toward African-Americans both in Hollywood and the nation at large, Cripps explores the growth of discrimination as filmmakers became more and more intrigued with myths of the Old South: the "lost cause" aspect of the Civil War, the stately mansions and gracious ladies of the antebellum South, the "happy" slaves singing in the fields. Cripps shows how these characterizations culminated in the blatantly racist attitudes of Griffith's The Birth of a Nation, and how this film inspired the N.A.A.C.P. to campaign vigorously--and successfully--for change. While the period of the 1920s to 1940s was one replete with Hollywood stereotypes (blacks most often appeared as domestics or "natives," or were portrayed in shiftless, cowardly "Stepin Fetchit" roles), there was also an attempt at independent black production--on the whole unsuccessful. But with the coming of World War II, increasing pressures for a wider use of blacks in films, and calls for more equitable treatment, African-Americans did begin to receive more sympathetic roles, such as that of Sam, the piano player in the 1942 classic Casablanca. A lively, thorough history of African-Americans in the movies, Slow Fade to Black is also a perceptive social commentary on evolving racial attitudes in this country during the first four decades of the twentieth century.

Land settlement schemes, sponsored by national governments and businesses, such as the Ford Corporation and the Hudson’s Bay Company, took place in locations as diverse as the Canadian Prairies, the Dutch polders, and the Amazonian rainforests. This novel contribution evaluates a diverse range of these initiatives. By 1900, any land that remained available for agricultural settlement was often far from the settlers’ homes and located in challenging physical environments. Over the course of the twentieth century, governments, corporations and frequently desperate individuals sought out new places to settle across the globe from Alberta to Papua New Guinea. This book offers vivid reports of the difficulties faced by many of these settlers, including the experiences of East European Jewish refugees, New Zealand soldier settlers and urban families from Yorkshire. This book considers how and why these settlement schemes succeeded, found other pathways to sustainability or succumbed to failure and even oblivion. In doing so, the book indicates pathways for the achievement of more economically, socially and environmentally sustainable forms of human settlement in marginal areas. This engaging collection will be of interest to individuals in the fields of historical geography, environmental history and development studies.