Anthem has long been hailed as one of Ayn Rand's classic novels, and a clear predecessor to her later masterpieces, The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.... In Anthem, Rand examines a frightening future in which individuals have no name, no independence, and no values. Equality 7-2521 lives in the dark ages of the future where all decisions are made by committee, all people live in collectives, and all traces of individualism have been wiped out. Despite such a restrictive environment, the spark of individual thought and freedom still burns in him--a passion which he has been taught to call sinful. In a purely egalitarian world, Equality 7-2521 dares to stand apart from the herd--to think and choose for himself, to discover electricity, and to love the woman of his choice. Now he has been marked for death for committing the ultimate sin. In a world where the great "we" reign supreme, he has rediscovered the lost and holy word--"I."

Written with all the power and conviction that made The Fountainhead a classic of American letters, Ayn Rand's Anthem is a hymn to man's independent... spirit and to the highest word in the human language - "Ego." Anthem tells the story of a man who rediscovers the individualism and his own "I" - in a world of absolute collectivization, a world where sightless, joyless, selfless men exist for the sake of serving the State; where their work, their food and their mating are prescribed to them by order of the Collective's rulers in the name of society's welfare - a world which has lost all the achievements of science and civilization, when it lost their root, the independent mind, and has reverted to primitive savagery - a world where language contains no singular pronouns, where the "We" has replaced the "I," and where men are put to death for the crime of discovering and speaking the "unspeakable word." The story tells of one man who rebelled, of his struggle and his victory. Assigned to the life work of street sweeper by the rulers who resented his brilliant, questioning, unsubmissive mind - he becomes a scientist, secretly, risking his life for the sake of his quest for knowledge. In the midst of collective stagnation, where men toil at manual labor by the light of candles - he discovers electricity. In the midst of eugenic planning and State-controlled Palaces of Mating - he discovers a personal love and a woman of his own choice. In the midst of brutal morality which proclaims that man is only a sacrificial animal to the needs of others - he discovers that man's greatest moral duty is the pursuit of his own happiness. He endures danger, denunciation, imprisonment, torture - but he breaks the chains of the Collective, he escapes with the woman he loves, to start a new life in an uncharted wilderness, and he reaches the day when he is able to predict that "my home will become the capital of a world where each man will be free to exist for his own sake." Anthem presents not merely a frightening projection of existing trends, but, more importantly, a positive answer to those trends and a weapon against them, a key to the world's moral crisis and to a new morality of individualism - a morality which, if accepted today, will save us from a future such as the one presented in this story.

Winner of the 2010 Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize for fiction: Inspirational and magical, the story of boy who grows up determined to save the world... from its most savage ecological predator: Man himself."What the hell do you want?" snarled Frogman at Raff Cody, as the boy stepped innocently onto the reputed murderer's property. Fifteen years old, Raff, along with his older cousin, Junior, had only wanted to catch a glimpse of Frogman’s 1000-pound alligator. Thus, begins the saga of Anthill, which follows the thrilling adventures of a modern-day Huck Finn, whose improbable love of the "strange, beautiful, and elegant" world of ants ends up transforming his own life and the citizens of Nokobee County. Battling both snakes bites and cynical relatives who just don’t understand his consuming fascination with the outdoors, Raff explores the pristine beauty of the Nokobee wildland. And in doing so, he witnesses the remarkable creation and destruction of four separate ant colonies (“The Anthill Chronicles”), whose histories are epics that unfold on picnic grounds, becoming a young naturalist in the process. An extraordinary undergraduate at Florida State University, Raff, despite his scientific promise, opts for Harvard Law School, believing that the environmental fight must be waged in the courtroom as well as the lab. Returning home a legal gladiator, Raff grows increasingly alarmed by rapacious condo developers who are eager to pave and subdivide the wildlands surrounding the Chicobee River. But one last battle awaits him in his epic struggle. In a shattering ending that no reader will forget, Raff suddenly encounters the angry and corrupt ghosts of an old South he thought had all but disappeared, and learns that “war is a genetic imperative,” not only for ants but for men as well. Part thriller, part parable, Anthill will not only transfix readers with its stunning twists and startling revelations, but will provide readers with new insights into the meaning of survival in our rapidly changing world.

The two-time Pulitzer Prize–winning biologist delivers “an astonishing literary achievement” (Anthony Gottlieb, The Economist).Winner of the 2010... Heartland Prize, Anthill follows the thrilling adventures of a modern-day Huck Finn, enthralled with the “strange, beautiful, and elegant” world of his native Nokobee County. But as developers begin to threaten the endangered marshlands around which he lives, the book’s hero decides to take decisive action. Edward O. Wilson—the world’s greatest living biologist—elegantly balances glimpses of science with the gripping saga of a boy determined to save the world from its most savage ecological predator: man himself.

In the fictional West African nation Kangan, newly independent of British rule, the hopes and dreams of democracy have been quashed by a fierce military... dictatorship. Chris Oriko is a member of the cabinet of the president for life, one of his oldest friends. When the president is charged with censoring the oppositionist editor of the state-run newspaper-another childhood friend-Chris's loyalty and ideology are put to the test. The fate of Kangan hangs in the balance as tensions rise and a devious plot is set in motion to silence the firebrand critic. Show More Show Less

Achebe writes about the political and social problems facing newly independent African states.Anthills of the Savannah transports the reader to the West... African country of Kangan, a fictional Nigeria, in the wake of a revolutionary coup that overthrew a dictator. Achebe discusses the strict balance of power that must be maintained in order to sustain a democracy, and the fine the line that is tread between leader and dictator.

Welcome to Vista Higher Learning's new introductory French program ESPACES: Rendez-vous avec le monde francophone. ideal for 2-3 semester sequence,... ESPACES features a flexible lesson organization designed to meet the needs of diverse teaching styles, institutions, and instructional goals. in French, espaces means spaces in the sense of spaces reserved for a particular purpose. The spaces in ESPACES are its major sections, and they are reserved for helping students to learn French and to explore the cultures of the French-speaking world in the most user-friendly way possible. The textbook treats vocabulary and grammar as tools for effective communication, incorporates learning strategy instruction to develop students' skills, and emphasizes culture as integral to learning the language and communicating successfully. * Distinctive integration of video Shot in France, the ESPACES video provides three hours of specially-shot, program-specific video. integrated up-front in each lesson of the student text, a dramatic episode reinforces the lesson's vocabulary and previews its grammatical points in an appealing, comprehensible way. At the end of each unit, the Flash culture segments, hosted by the ESPACES narrators, enrich students' cultural knowledge through a wide array of images, all related to the unit's theme. * Unique, user-friendly design ESPACES enhances learning with its one-of-a-kind, easy-to-navigate design built around color-coded sections that fit either completely on one page or on spreads of two facing pages. To further motivate and support students, the textbook pages are visually dramatic, and ressources boxes correlate all program ancillaries on-page, right down to the page numbers. * Rich, contemporary cultural presentation in each lesson of ESPACES, a vibrant Espace culture section brings to life the everyday life, language, accomplishments, and traditions of French speakers as they relate to the lesson's theme. At the end of each unit, an eye-catching Panorama section introduces students to the countries and regions of the French-speaking world. * Exciting integration of culture and multimedia Throughout ESPACES, three textbook sections are specially linked to high-interest multimedia delivered on the ESPACES super web site. Students enrich their cultural awareness by researching a task-based project in Projet, watching an authentic television clip in Le zapping, and listening to a song in interlude. * The basics of grammar in an innovative format ESPACES facilitates the learning of grammar by presenting each point on one self-contained two-page spread. Grammar explanations in the outside panels offer convenient on-demand support for the directed Mise en pratique exercises and open-ended Communication activities in the central, inside panels. * Practical, high-frequency vocabulary in each lesson, ESPACES introduces high-frequency vocabulary through expansive, full-color illustrations and reinforces it with two sets of activities: directed Mise en pratique exercises and open-ended Communication practice. * Process approach to skill building At the end of each unit in Lecture, À l'écoute, and Écriture sections, ESPACES carefully develops reading, listening, and writing skills, incorporating learning strategies and a process approach. * Focus on communication throughout ESPACES incorporates communicative activities throughout each lesson and in cumulative Synthèse sections that recombine the language of the corresponding lessons with that of preceding lessons.

A glossary designed to introduce the student to the basic critical terms necessary for the discussion and analysis of literary texts in French,... distinguishing two levels in the first three indexes-Vrais amis, Liste generale, and General List-1) a core list of underlined words for introductory courses, and 2) expressions for undergraduate students wishing to major in literature.