BiblioVault - Books about Backyard

Bombs in the Backyard

Atomic Testing and American Politics

A. Constandina Titus

University of Nevada Press, 2001

On January 27, 1951, the first atomic weapon was detonated over a section of desert known as Frenchman Flat in southern Nevada, providing dramatic evidence of the Nevada Test Site's beginnings. Fifty years later, author A. Costandina Titus reviews contemporary nuclear policy issues concerning the continued viability of that site for weapons testing. Titus has updated her now-classic study of atomic testing with fifteen years of political and cultural history, from the mid-1980s Reagan-Gorbachev nuclear standoff to the authorization of the Nevada Test Site Research Center, a Desert Research Institute facility scheduled to open in 2001. In this second edition of Bombs in the Backyard, Titus deftly covers the post-Cold War transformation of American atomic policy as well as our overarching cultural interest in all matters atomic, making this a must-read for anyone interested in atomic policy and politics.

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A Castle in the Backyard

The Dream of a House in France

Betsy Draine and Michael Hinden

University of Wisconsin Press, 2006

    In one of the most beautiful river valleys in Europe, in the region known as Périgord in southwest France, castles crown the hills, and the surrounding villages seem carved all of a piece out of the local stone. In 1985, in the shadow of one of these medieval castles, Betsy Draine and Michael Hinden fell in love with a small stone house that became their summer home.
    Like any romance, this one has had its ups and downs, and Betsy and Michael chart its course in this delightful memoir. They offer an intimate glimpse of a region little known to Americans—the Dordogne valley, its castles and prehistoric art, its walking trails and earthy cuisine—and describe the charms and mishaps of setting up housekeeping thousands of miles from home.
    Along with the region’s terrain and culture, A Castle in the Backyard introduces us to the people of Périgord—the castle’s proprietor, the village children, the gossipy real-estate agent, the rascally mason, and the ninety-year-old widow with a tale of heartbreak. A celebration of a place and its people, the book also reflects on the future of historic Périgord as tourism and development pose a challenge to its graceful way of life.

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Jim Burns' Arizona Birds

From the Backyard to the Backwoods

Jim Burns

University of Arizona Press, 2008

Arizona is renowned as a premier birding state, a place where many species rarely seen anywhere else in the country reach the northern end of their migratory range. Jim Burns’ Arizona Birds is a lively portrayal of the habits and habitats of seventy-five of these unique southwestern species. Burns has written much more than a field guide, site guide, or scientific survey. He has compiled and expanded upon his feature column Arizona Special Species to create an original kind of birding book that is more at home on your bedside table than in your backpack. Bird-watchers new to the game will find a wealth of knowledge on and insight into some familiar favorites, as well as an idea of what it takes to accomplish more uncommon sightings.

Veteran birders will appreciate Burns’ unique incorporation of natural history and other details beyond the usual taxonomic data, and will enjoy reminders of their own triumphs and heartbreaks in his colorful personal accounts of vehicular breakdowns, photographic faux pas, and egregious identification errors in the field. Illustrated in full color by seventy-five of the author’s own outstanding photographs, this book also features a five-level rating system, beginning with birds you can see in your own backyard and ending with those requiring either pure dumb luck or years of study and perseverance to spot. But whether you have spent years in search of the Flammulated Owl or are just curious about the wildlife in your desert backyard, this book will have you laughing, learning, and reaching for the binoculars in hopes of creating your own encounters with Arizona’s incredible bird species.

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