Showing posts with label eBooks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label eBooks. Show all posts

Monday, 20 May 2019

Essential LBGTQ+ History books

History is so often a matter of erasure, of letting marginalized groups experiences be forgotten or rewritten. This is what makes these books about LBGTQ+ history an essential read for anyone. It’s impossible to understand the struggles of LBGTQ+ people today without understanding their history, and with so much of the narrative around gender and sexuality still clouded with myth and misinformation, being well-read on the subject is more important than ever.


Sapphistries: A Global History of Love Between Women by Leila J. Rupp

Providing an important, and inclusive, global perspective. This well written and impressively detailed book traces the history of desire between women from its beginnings to modern times, taking her everywhere from London to Shanghai to Berlin.


Asegi Stories: Cherokee Queer and Two-Spirit Memory by Qwo-Li Driskill

The idea that gender non-conformity is a modern phenomenon is not only a dangerous lie, it’s one that speaks to a fundamental whitewashing that ignores the history of gender identity across a number of different cultures. This brilliant book combines folk history, feminism and politics to chronicle the diverse and remarkable tradition of gender identity and sexuality throughout Cherokee history.


Gay Voices of the Harlem Renaissance by A.B. Christa Schwarz

Another fantastic intersectional book that tackles the erasure of vital and important voices, Schwarz uses textual analysis and poetry to explore the often overlooked writers of the Harlem Renaissance as well as the politics of race, gender, and sexuality.

If you want to delve even deeper into history and widen your perspective. Head over to www.mediabak.com and browse their comprehensive selection of history related eBooks and audiobooks.

Reasons to go on vacation in January

The blue month of January is here, a time for cold weather, sales shopping, and new goals. If January isn’t your favorite month like some people, there’s every excuse to go away and here are a few more.

You can continue the festive vacation - After Christmas and New Year's is over the holiday season officially ends and everything goes back to normal. However, if you want to continue that hype, book yourself a trip away. It’ll feel like Christmas is happening all over again and you can celebrate.


It’s off-peak and cheaper - January isn’t a very popular time (besides new year’s) to go away that often you’ll find plenty of cheap deals on flights and hotels to jet off somewhere new. You’ll be able to experience all the lovely sights for half the price that it would have been in peak season.


It’ll be less busy - Likewise with the price, vacation destinations are often a lot less busy in January time which means seeing the sights with fewer crowds, less queues and busy public transport experiences. Although certain attractions could be closed, it’s the best time to get a sense of privacy on your trip away.


Give you an exciting start to the year - It’s always a good idea to kick off the new year with a bang and a vacation can be just that. When it gets to the end of the year, you can share how you started 2019 with an epic trip away and it put you in the right motivation for the rest of the year. Then, if you loved it that much, make it a tradition.

Discover more adventure inspiration at www.mediabak.com.

Essential LBGTQ+ History books

History is so often a matter of erasure, of letting marginalized groups experiences be forgotten or rewritten. This is what makes these books about LBGTQ+ history an essential read for anyone. It’s impossible to understand the struggles of LBGTQ+ people today without understanding their history, and with so much of the narrative around gender and sexuality still clouded with myth and misinformation, being well-read on the subject is more important than ever.


Sapphistries: A Global History of Love Between Women by Leila J. Rupp

Providing an important, and inclusive, global perspective. This well written and impressively detailed book traces the history of desire between women from its beginnings to modern times, taking her everywhere from London to Shanghai to Berlin.

Asegi Stories: Cherokee Queer and Two-Spirit Memory by Qwo-Li Driskill

The idea that gender non-conformity is a modern phenomenon is not only a dangerous lie, it’s one that speaks to a fundamental whitewashing that ignores the history of gender identity across a number of different cultures. This brilliant book combines folk history, feminism and politics to chronicle the diverse and remarkable tradition of gender identity and sexuality throughout Cherokee history.


Gay Voices of the Harlem Renaissance by A.B. Christa Schwarz

Another fantastic intersectional book that tackles the erasure of vital and important voices, Schwarz uses textual analysis and poetry to explore the often overlooked writers of the Harlem Renaissance as well as the politics of race, gender, and sexuality.


If you want to delve even deeper into history and widen your perspective. Head over to www.mediabak.com and browse their comprehensive selection of history related eBooks and audiobooks.

Prohibition: How the great experiment failed

December 5, 1933, was the date Prohibition was brought to an end with the ratification of the 21st Amendment to the US Constitution. It ended a 13-year ban on the sale and manufacture of alcohol in the United States and with it declared the whole experiment a failure.

Making and selling alcohol was banned by the 18th Amendment which was first passed by Congress in December of 1917, with each state then ratifying the amendment and it officially became law in January 1920.


The push for the ban had been gathering pace several decades before with the increase in temperance movements who argued strenuously that the abuse of alcohol was damaging society. Many states have even introduced bans on alcohol before the 18th Amendment was even brought to Congress such as the strong public opinion in those states.

In order to enforce Congress also passed the Volstead Act which gave agents from the Treasury Department the authority to apprehend bootleggers and destroy illegal stills.


However, a side-effect of Prohibition was the upsurge in organized crime and gangsters such as Al Capone rose to prominence and made huge amounts of money selling illicit alcohol. The unruly behavior that Prohibition has sought to stop was instead increasing and become more violent.

Alcohol was still flowing but the state and federal authorities were suffering due to an increase in the amount of money it cost to police Prohibition and the loss of revenue via a tax on alcohol.


With a change in public opinion in the early 1930s, the death knell for the 18th Amendment was sounded and officially replaced at the end of 1933.

For more stories from history, check out the books from www.mediabak.com.