The story follows Charles King, a devoted teacher who develops feelings for a former student, prompting him to confront a past tragedy. This journey of self-discovery and healing is complicated by an unexpected witch hunt that leaves him confused and frustrated. As he navigates these challenges, the narrative explores themes of love, regret, and the quest for redemption.
"The Reinvention of Humanity tells the story of a small circle of renegade scientist-explorers who changed something profound: what it means to be normal. In the early twentieth century, these pioneering anthropologists, many of them women, made intrepid journeys that overturned our assumptions about race, sexuality, gender and the nature of human diversity, paving the way for the civil rights movements that followed and sparking a debate that continues to this day. From the Arctic to the South Pacific, from Haiti to Japan, they immersed themselves in distant or isolated communities, where they observed and documented radically different approaches to love and child-rearing, family structure and the relationship between women and men. With this evidence they were able to challenge the eras scientific consensus and deep-rooted Western belief that intelligence, ability and character are determined by a persons race or sex, and show that the roles people play in society are shaped in fact according to the immense variety of human cultures. Theirs were boundary-breaking lives, filled with scandal, romance, rivalry and tragedy. Those of Margaret Mead and her essential partner Ruth Benedict resulted in fame and notoriety. Those of Native American activist Ella Deloria and the African-American writer and ethnographer Zora Neale Hurston ended in poverty and obscurity; here their achievements are brought fully into the light for the first time. All were outsiders, including the controversial founder of their field, the wild-haired professor, German immigrant and revolutionary thinker, Franz Boas. The Reinvention of Humanity takes us on their globe-spanning adventures and shows how, together, these courageous and unconventional people created the moral universe we inhabit today."-- Book jacket
"A ... group portrait of Franz Boas, the founder of cultural anthropology, and his circle of women scientists, who upended American notions of race, gender, and sexuality in the 1920s and 1930s--a ... chronicle of how our society began to question the basic ways we understand other cultures and ourselves"--Publisher's description
*THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER* *WINNER OF THE FRANCIS PARKMAN PRIZE 2020* *FINALIST FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARDS 2019* The riveting story of the pioneers who redefined conceptions of 'normality' in the early twentieth century. Under the guiding eye of cultural anthropologist Franz Boas, these scientist-explorers - most of them women - made intrepid journeys into far-flung communities all over the world, where they documented radically different social approaches that overturned Western assumptions about human diversity and challenged the era's scientific consensus. Here, the boundary-breaking lives and achievements of Margaret Mead, Ruth Benedict, Ella Deloria and Zora Neale Hurston are brought fully into light for the first time, showing how their trailblazing discoveries helped shape the moral universe we inhabit today.
The inspiration for the Netflix series premiering March 3rd "Hugely enjoyable, magnificently researched, and deeply absorbing." —Jason Goodwin, New York Times Book Review At midnight, December 31, 1925, citizens of the newly proclaimed Turkish Republic celebrated the New Year. For the first time ever, they had agreed to use a nationally unified calendar and clock. Yet in Istanbul—an ancient crossroads and Turkey's largest city—people were looking toward an uncertain future. Never purely Turkish, Istanbul was home to generations of Greeks, Armenians, and Jews, as well as Muslims. It welcomed White Russian nobles ousted by the Russian Revolution, Bolshevik assassins on the trail of the exiled Leon Trotsky, German professors, British diplomats, and American entrepreneurs—a multicultural panoply of performers and poets, do-gooders and ne’er-do-wells. During the Second World War, thousands of Jews fleeing occupied Europe found passage through Istanbul, some with the help of the future Pope John XXIII. At the Pera Palace, Istanbul's most luxurious hotel, so many spies mingled in the lobby that the manager posted a sign asking them to relinquish their seats to paying guests. In beguiling prose and rich character portraits, Charles King brings to life a remarkable era when a storied city stumbled into the modern world and reshaped the meaning of cosmopolitanism.
Set against the backdrop of the Indian frontier, this narrative explores the complex interactions between a white girl and an Apache girl, highlighting themes of cultural tension and curiosity. The story unfolds with a moment of silent communication between the two characters, marked by a mix of intrigue and annoyance. It captures the essence of their world, reflecting on their differences and the unspoken bond formed across cultural divides. Originally published in 1903, it showcases Charles King's unique perspective as both a soldier and a storyteller.
This gripping novel follows a group of soldiers in the famed Iron Brigade, one of the most storied units in the Union Army during the American Civil War. With vivid descriptions of battles and the camaraderie of soldiers in the field, the book provides a compelling look at the experience of warfare during a pivotal period in American history.
"Under the willows at the edge of the pool a young girl sat daydreaming, though the day was nearly done. All in the valley was wrapped in shadow, though the cliffs and turrets across the stream were resplendent in a radiance of slanting sunshine. Not a cloud tempered the fierce glare of the arching heavens or softened the sharp outline of neighboring peak or distant mountain chain...." Charles King was an American soldier and a distinguished writer. King served in the Army during the Indian Wars under George Crook but he was wounded in the arm and head during the Battle of Sunset Pass forcing his retirement from the regular army as a captain in 1879. During this time he became acquainted with Buffalo Bill Cody. King would later write scripts for several of Cody's silent films.