In The Ruling Passion, Christopher Lane examines the relationship between masculinity, homosexual desire, and empire in British colonialist and imperialist fictions at the turn of the twentieth century. Questioning the popular assumption that Britain's empire functioned with symbolic efficiency on sublimated desire, this book presents a counterhistory of the empire's many layers of conflict and ambivalence. Through attentive readings of sexual and political allegory in the work of Kipling, Forster, James, Beerbohm, Firbank, and others--and deft use of psychoanalytic theory--The Ruling Passion interprets turbulent scenes of masculine identification and pleasure, power and mastery, intimacy and antagonism. By foregrounding the shattering effects of male homosexuality and interracial desire, and by insisting on the centrality of unconscious fantasy and the death drive, The Ruling Passion examines the startling recurrence of colonial failure in narratives of symbolic doubt and ontological crisis. Lane argues compellingly that Britain can progress culturally and politically only when it has relinquished its residual fantasies of global mastery.

Ms. Berdoll has also authored Fandango, a historical romance set during San Francisco's Gold Rush. Her research for her novels also birthed a humorous look at euphemisms, Very Nice Ways to Say Very Bad Things. She is happily married to her high-school sweetheart and lives outside Austin, Texas.

How should politicians act? When should they try to lead public opinion and when should they follow it? Should politicians see themselves as experts, whose opinions have greater authority than other people's, or as participants in a common dialogue with ordinary citizens? When do virtues like toleration and willingness to compromise deteriorate into moral weakness? In this innovative work, Andrew Sabl answers these questions by exploring what a democratic polity needs from its leaders. He concludes that there are systematic, principled reasons for the holders of divergent political offices or roles to act differently. Sabl argues that the morally committed civil rights activist, the elected representative pursuing legislative results, and the grassroots organizer determined to empower ordinary citizens all have crucial democratic functions. But they are different functions, calling for different practices and different qualities of political character. To make this case, he draws on political theory, moral philosophy, leadership studies, and biographical examples ranging from Everett Dirksen to Ella Baker, Frances Willard to Stokely Carmichael, Martin Luther King Jr. to Joe McCarthy. Ruling Passions asks democratic theorists to pay more attention to the "governing pluralism" that characterizes a diverse, complex democracy. It challenges moral philosophy to adapt its prescriptions to the real requirements of democratic life, to pay more attention to the virtues of political compromise and the varieties of human character. And it calls on all democratic citizens to appreciate "democratic constancy": the limited yet serious standard of ethical character to which imperfect democratic citizens may rightly hold their leaders--and themselves.

Simon Blackburn puts forward a compelling original philosophy of human motivation and morality. He maintains that we cannot get clear about ethics until we get clear about human nature. So these are the sorts of questions he addresses: Why do we behave as we do? Can we improve? Is our ethics at war with our passions, or is it an upshot of those passions? Blackburn seeks the answers in an exploration of guilt, shame, disgust, and other moral emotions; he draws also on game theory and cognitive science in his account of the structures of human motivation. Many philosophers have wanted a naturalistic ethics a theory that integrates our understanding of human morality with the rest of our understanding of the world we live in. What is special about Blackburn's naturalistic ethics is that it does not debunk the ethical by reducing it to the non-ethical. At the same time he banishes the spectres of scepticism and relativism that have haunted recent moral philosophy. Ruling Passions sets ethics in the context of human nature: it offers a solution to the puzzle of how ethics can maintain its authority even though it is rooted in the very emotions and motivations that it exists to control.

Includes: Hearts at Stake, Blood Feud, and Out for Blood . Readers will meet Solange Drake, her best friend Lucy, and the irresistible Drake brothers--the royal family of vampires whose matriarch is next in line for the throne. The Drakes must keep peace in their town of Violet Hill as warring vampire factions vie for power, and as Solange falls in love with Kieran Black a handsome vampire hunter and Lucy falls for Nicolas Drake. The hot romance and kick-butt action will keep readers coming back for more.

Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife: The sexiest Austen-inspired novel that has readers talking You thought Bridgerton was steamy? Well hold on to your bonnets! This sexy, epic, hilarious, and romantic sequel to Pride and Prejudice goes far beyond Jane Austen fanfiction to give the curious reader a titillating taste of how it would feel to be Mrs. Darcy. Every woman wants to be Elizabeth Bennet Darcy—beautiful, gracious, universally admired, strong, daring, and outspoken—a thoroughly modern woman in crinolines. And every woman will fall madly in love with Mr. Darcy—tall, dark, and handsome, a nobleman and a heartthrob whose virility is matched only by his utter devotion to his wife. Their passion is consuming and idyllic—essentially, they can't keep their hands off each other—through a sweeping tale of adventure and misadventure, human folly, and numerous mysteries of parentage. Keep your smelling salts handy: this steamy bonnet-ripper is Austen like never before. What Readers Are Saying: "I found myself up until 3AM because I couldn't stop and have read it again and again." "Who says Jane Austen can't be literate AND sexy... I just kept envisioning Colin Firth all hot and sweaty." "A lady needs to have a fan and her smelling salts at hand to read this modern day sequel to Pride and Prejudice." "This is probably my favorite feel-good book; I end up giggling in almost every chapter" "I am reading it for the 8th time since I bought it four years ago." "I laughed, I cried, and I blushed!" "It's the love story we hoped for Lizzy and Darcy. The writing is witty, the language superb and I have gone back to this book many times when I simply didn't have anything else on hand!" "If you want to know what happens to Darcy and Elizabeth after they are married and uncensored, this is the book for you!"