Politics

The Middle East

The Middle East captures the richness and diversity of Middle Eastern culture, and places the region in its global context in a way that no other reference has done for this age group.

Leaving Glorytown: One Boy’s Struggle Under Castro

Eduardo F. Calcines was a child of Fidel Castro’s Cuba; he was just three years old when Castro came to power in January 1959. After that, everything changed for his family and his country. When he was ten, his family applied for an exit visa to emigrate to America and he was ridiculed by his schoolmates and even his teachers for being a traitor to his country. But even worse, his father was sent to an agricultural reform camp to do hard labor as punishment for daring to want to leave Cuba. During the years to come, as he grew up in Glorytown, a neighborhood in the city of Cienfuegos, Eduardo hoped with all his might that their exit visa would be granted before he turned fifteen, the age at which he would be drafted into the army. In this absorbing memoir, by turns humorous and heartbreaking, Eduardo Calcines recounts his boyhood and chronicles the conditions that led him to wish above all else to leave behind his beloved extended family and his home for a chance at a better future.

Featured in Volume I, Issue 4 of WOW Review.

The Indian Subcontinent (Global Hotspots)

Global Hot Spots fills in the facts behind the headlines, building students’ understanding of the historical context of the events they see on TV. It provides accounts of real-life experiences and explores ‘how history was made’ in these conflict zones.

Iran (Global Hotspots)

Introduces Iran, discussing its history, the Islamic government which currently controls the country, and the turbulent relationship the country has with the Western powers over its support of terrorism and its development of nuclear power.

Iraq (Global Hotspots)

Introduces Iraq, discussing its history, the wars and political conflicts of the twentieth century, invasion by foreign powers, and the ethnic and religious divisions that contribute to its current instability.

Tell Me Lies

It is 1969, and Stephen meets up with old friend Astrid and her lover Spencer, and stays with them in the hippy household “The Hollies.” Peace and love are tangible, until his passionate attraction for another girl in the household goes sour. He drifts into the radical arts scene and far-left politics, and finally into a squalid squat in London. A return to the idyllic “The Hollies” seems a good idea, but now the house has become a commune, and Spencer is the guru.

She Dared: True Stories Of Heroines, Scoundrels, And Renegades

Delves into the lives of twelve women who took up challenges that society felt could be met only by men, from a Civil War spy and World War II fighter pilot to a Wild West desperado and Yukon adventurer.