Author Mark Braverman shows how the Jewish quest for safety and empowerment and the Christian endeavor to atone for centuries of anti-Semitism have combined to suppress the conversations needed to bring about a just and lasting peace in the Holy Land. Fatal Embrace charts Braverman's journey as an American Jew struggling with the difficult realities of modern Israel. The book vividly describes the spiritual and psychological forces driving the discourse...

Fun and talented animal fairy Fawn believes you can't judge a book by its cover - or an animal by its fangs - so she befriends a huge and mysterious creature known as the NeverBeast. While Tink and her friends aren't so sure about the scary addition to Pixie Hollow, the elite scout fairies set out to capture the monster before he puts their home at risk. An ancient legend, a green-tailed comet, the fate of Pixie Hollow at stake... It will be up to...

Tells the dramatic story of the titanic battle for Western Europe from D-Day to the thrust to the heart of the Third Reich. This book is the magnificent conclusion to Rick Atkinson's acclaimed Liberation Trilogy about the Allied triumph in Europe during World War II. It is the twentieth century's unrivaled epic: at a staggering price, the United States and its allies liberated Europe and vanquished Hitler. In the first two volumes of his bestselling...

For many, the 1960s mark the true end of modern America. Whereas the modernists remained serious about the transcendent nature of art, the artists of the 1960s wanted an art that was relevant. They wanted an art that not only spoke about justice, but also helped create it. This program explores the innovations made in American poetry in the 1960s by Allen Ginsberg, Amiri Baraka, and Adrienne Rich.

This introduction to the life and literature of Oscar Wilde from the Famous Authors series begins by introducing Wilde's passionately political, literary, and flamboyant parents and nineteenth century Dublin, the earliest and strongest influences on the writer. Wilde went on to study classics at Oxford and develop his talents. The film discusses Walter Pater's large influence on Wilde's philosophy, most importantly his idea that everything beautiful...

April 1453. The Ottomans, led by Sultan Mehmed II, lay siege to the city of Constantinople. They intend to seize the city and unify their Sultanate, which was cut into two by the Byzantine Empire. In the defense of his capital, Byzantine Emperor Constantine XI can count upon his citizens, and also upon Genoese and Venetian soldiers. The reinforcements expected by the Byzantines are late in arriving, but the besieged city holds firm under the command...

The series premiere of this globetrotting series about the human impacts of climate change explores the devastating effects of extreme drought and deforestation. Harrison Ford travels to Indonesia to investigate how the world's appetite for palm oil-an ingredient in everything from candy bars to laundry detergent-has led to massive deforestation and turned that country into one of the world's largest emitters of greenhouse gases. Back in the U.S.,...

This program traces the complex historical roots of modern China, from early encounters with the West to the death of Mao Zedong-a leader who may have shaped his nation more completely than any other man of his era. Pre-eminent for most of two millennia, China's technological, economic, and cultural dominance gradually eroded in the centuries following the European Renaissance. By the late 19th century it had several suffered humiliating defeats at...

Shahrazad must hold the interest of her despotic husband the sultan with nightly tales, lest she lose her life in the morning. This wellspring of storytelling, circulating from medieval Persia to Egypt to Iraq, like its wily raconteur, lives on in many modern adaptations. Art, performance, and film images are employed to show the collection's broad span of influence. Featured speakers include Marin Alsop, musical director of the Baltimore Symphony...

East of the Sun, West of the Moon is narrated by actor Max von Sydow with music by Lyle Mays. Hidden deep in the blue forest of Norway, there lived a peasant farmer and his family. In a fierce storm, a mysterious white bear arrives with a strange proposal to make them rich if their youngest daughter will go to live with him in his golden cavern. They agree, and for a time all goes well, but when the girl ignores the kindly bear's advice, she must...