Garden, turned back the scalp of the corpse lying before him. Beneath the skin he found evidence of internal bleeding, and, peeling away the flesh along the length of the neck, he saw similar minor haemorrhages at the top of the spinal column. He concluded that death had been caused by a sharp blow to the back of the neck.brbrThe body was that of a boy of around fourteen years of age, 4 feet 6 inches in height, with fair hair and grey eyes that were bloodshot and bulging. Blood oozed from an inch-long wound on his left temple, and his toothless gums were dripping blood. At the time of his killing, a meal – which had included potatoes and a quantity of rum – was being digested. A large, powerful hand had grasped the boy on his left forearm – black bruises from the finger marks were plainly visible – and earth or clay had been smeared across the torso and thighs. The chest appeared to have caved in slightly, as though someone had knelt upon it. The heart contained scarcely any blood, which Beaman took to indicate a very sudden death, but all the other organs were found to have been unremarkable and perfectly healthy. The most perplexing thing about the corpse was its freshness: it had been alive three days earlier, Beaman felt sure; and it was also clear to the surgeon that this body had never been buried, had never even been laid out in preparation for burial – and yet it had been delivered to King’s College’s anatomy department as a Subject for medical students to dissect.brbrIt was late evening, Sunday 6 November 1831, and Beaman was anatomising the corpse in the tiny watch-house in t@(õÂ? )ÿ¾Û€  (less)

county commissioners who had been taking kickbacks paid by suppliers on orders for county road-building supplies. That corruption could be so wide-spread and long-standing was hard to understand. How could so many good ol' boys (usually popular and respected local officials) become so corrupt? Determined to study the problem, Harry Holloway and Frank S. Meyers sifted through a large body of evidence, conducted a public-opinion survey, and interviewed nearly half of all county commissioners in office following the prosecutions. Their discoveries were two. First, because rural populism had splintered Oklahoma government from top to bottom, commissioners were left with so much money and discretion as to invite abuse. Second, abusers justified their illegal behavior on the basis that they were entitled to their gains. Local government, the authors argue, is improved but remains vulnerable. Analyzing the national savings and loan scandal, they review prospects for corruption within the state - especially the scheme of education bonds developed within the state in the late 1980s. The book will interest citizens, academics, and officials at all levels of government who want to understand an Oklahoma scandal of momentous proportions and, even more, to appreciate how political culture and institutions may contribute to corruption. As the authors show, values and institutions democratic in intent may lend themselves to the purposes of corrupt people who rationalizetheir misdeeds.  (less)

for 68 days until he saw his first fellow American. Rasmussen healed himself, relying on his Chippewa knowledge of how to survive in the wild and staying alive by raiding farms at night. The account is drawn from tapes of interviews with Rasmussen about his ordeal and personal records and other material from his family. Beginning with Rasmussens life as a young boy growing up on a poverty-stricken Chippewa reservation in northern Wisconsin, the book then details at length Rasmussens almost unbelievable ordeal. Also included is information on his top-secret role in the Navys only nuclear weapons squadron.  (less)

of Harvard educated twins. Award-winning journalist Brian Murphy takes readers behind the walls of the Roman Catholic Church and into the hearts and minds of men."  (less)

a nine-year-old drummer boy who went on to serve 46 years in the U.S. Army. It is about the first shot fired at Fort Sumter (by a civilian who later committed suicide) and the final lowering of the Confederate flag (by a ship's captain in Liverpool, England). It is about death on the battlefields and in prison cells, about women fighting to be recognized for their accomplishments, and how people on both sides managed to survive the deadliest war this nation has seen. These are the emotions, passions, and stories that go far beyond History 101.  (less)

clear objectives and easily identified enemies --movie-makers, like many Americans, transferred their dislike for the conflict onto the soldier. Consequently, Hollywood produced pictures that can now be recognizes as misleading, distorted, sensationalistic, or just plain dishonest.brbrIn Vietnam at the Movies, Vietnam vet Michael Lee Lanning traces the genesis of the "war movie" from the Spanish American War all the way up to Vietnam, taking Tinseltown to task for its treatment of the Viet vet--painstakingly separating fact from the fiction, and reviewing the quality and accuracy of more than 380 films and TV movies, including:brbrAir America * The Big Chill * Birdy * Born on the Fourth of July * Casualties of War * Coming Home * The Deer Hunter * Dogfight * Easy Rider * First Blood * For the Boys * Friendly Fire * Full Metal Jacket * Good Morning Vietnam * Hair * In Country * JFK * The Killing Fields * Lethal Weapon * Nashville * Platoon * Running On Empty * Slaughterhouse-Five * Streamers * Suspect * Swimming to Cambodia * Taxi Driver * Tender Mercies * Top Gun * Year of the Dragon * And many more!brbrAlphabetically organized for quick and easy access, this comprehensive volume gives film audiences and VCR viewers the opportunity to understand exactly what they are watching when they see Vietnam at the movies.  (less)