Most Popular Books by Neil Smith

Tells the story of the Denver Bronco''s fight to overcome dyslexia, graduate from high school, and become a successful NFL player.

In Uneven Development, a classic in its field, Neil Smith offers the first full theory of uneven geographical development, entwining theories of space and nature with a critique of capitalism. Featuring groundbreaking analyses of the production of nature and the politics of scale, Smith''s work anticipated many of the uneven contours that now mark neoliberal globalization. This third edition features an afterword examining the impact of Neil''s argument in a contemporary context.

The quintessential Libertarian science fiction adventure from the three-time winner of the Prometheus Award, author of The Lando Calrissian Adventures . Denver detective Win Bear, on the trail of a murderer, discovers much more than a killer. He accidentally stumbles upon the probability broach, a portal to a myriad of worlds—some wildly different from, others disconcertingly similar to our own. Win finds himself transported to an alternate Earth where Congress is in Colorado, everyone carries a gun, there are gorillas in the Senate, and public services are controlled by private businesses. "Contained ideas I wish could be shouted to the world, ideas that come from the American heritage of freedom and which could bring still greater individual liberty, greater technical progress." ―Vernor Vinge, three-time Hugo Award-winning author "Pick up a new copy of the book and rediscover this exciting world, and reserve me a table at Meep''s Texas Barbecue." ― Prometheus

Annotation American Empire challenges our deepest assumptions about the rise of American globalism in the twentieth century and puts geography back into the History of what is called the American Century.

Why have so many central and inner cities in Europe, North America and Australia been so radically revamped in the last three decades, converting urban decay into new chic? Will the process continue in the twenty-first century or has it ended? What does this mean for the people who live there? Can they do anything about it? This book challenges conventional wisdom, which holds gentrification to be the simple outcome of new middle-class tastes and a demand for urban living. It reveals gentrification as part of a much larger shift in the political economy and culture of the late twentieth century. Documenting in gritty detail the conflicts that gentrification brings to the new urban ''frontiers'', the author explores the interconnections of urban policy, patterns of investment, eviction, and homelessness. The failure of liberal urban policy and the end of the 1980s financial boom have made the end-of-the-century city a darker and more dangerous place. Public policy and the private market are conspiring against minorities, working people, the poor, and the homeless as never before. In the emerging revanchist city, gentrification has become part of this policy of revenge.

Science fiction roman.

In the North American Confederacy . . . People are free--really free. Free to do as they please, whether it be starting a business, running for elected office, or taking target practice in the back forty. There''s not a whole lot of government, nor is there a lot of crime, because everyone who wants to carries a gun, and isn''t afraid to use it. But someone has bombed the Endicott Building, killing hundreds of people, and Win Bear, the only licensed detective in the confederacy, has to find out who did this dastardly deed, and why. Because whoever did it has already shown their willingness to commit more terrorist acts, no matter how many people are hurt. And that can''t go on, or soon the confederacy will be just as the bad old United States--and that is something they want to avoid at all costs.

A radically revised and updated account of Noam Chomsky''s thought and its revolutionary impact on linguistics, psychology, philosophy and politics.

Nordic crime - American style "Hey, Manny here. I''m a cop in Duluth, Minnesota. Vacation paradise in the summer, but some of the longest, coldest winters in the USA, with more snow and ice in one blizzard than most people see in a lifetime. And we all know what happens to people during long, cold winters. They die. They commit suicide or start fights out of pure boredom or because they''re depressed, worried that the sun will never return. Or they get killed. If you want to make sure the person you''ve killed won''t be found, just drop them under the ice of Lake Superior. Not much ever floats up from its depths again. Well, except this one morning..." When a dead woman is fished out of Lake Superior, Manny Jahnke is there to discover the baffling truth: The "woman" in the ice is biologically a man. Before he can learn more, the corpse sinks back into the water, pulling Manny''s partner along with it. Both disappear under the ice, never to be seen again. Now Manny has a missing victim, a new partner he likes even less than the old one, and a case no one wants solved. Or so it seems. Manny grows obsessed with the "woman on ice" whose secrets prove to be as vast as the Great Lake itself - and whose enemies turn out to be powerful enough to keep those secrets hidden. Only one thing is certain: if Manny survives, he''ll never be the same man again. Anthony Neil Smith is a Professor and the Chair of English at Southwest Minnesota State University. He is the author of various novels. Originally from the Mississippi Gulf Coast, he now lives on the frozen prairie with his wife, two needy dogs, and two sneaky cats.

The American Civil War claimed and destroyed lives, stealing fathers and sons from those they loved. The horror caused many returning to cry out for death. They carried the festering scars of battle and were unable to overcome the torment of their souls. This is the story of Thomas Wilson, a soldier who returns home haunted by the destruction and devastation he both witnessed and caused. Although his regiment respects and reveres him as a sharpshooter, each man he has killed condemns him to a life of terrifying dreams and troubled days where forgiveness can never be obtained. Neither the love of his family nor the affection of a woman with sparkling dark eyes and soft black hair can chase his war demons away, for he is beyond mercy. Includes Readers Guide.

The recent American invasion of Iraq represents the endgame of America''s decades-old effort to impose its vision of globalization-a system dominated by multinational firms and buttressed by the liberalism of John Locke and Adam Smith. Whereas the war surely ended Saddam Hussein''s regime, the storm of countervailing forces it unleashed points to another end: that of America''s latest global project. This is not the first time that the US has tried to reshape the world in its own liberal image, but the third. The first effort stretched from the late nineteenth century to 1920, ending when America rejected entry into the League of Nations. The FDR administration engineered the second attempt in the 1940s, but it withered in the Cold War. The third moment-the era of globalization-began in the late 1960s, when the US transformed the Bretton Woods financial institutions and used its own economic power to enforce a worldwide neoliberal orthodoxy tied to an ideal of liberal democracy. But the effort is failing for the same reasons the preceding attempts failed. As Neil Smith shows, the Lockean liberalism that animates American globalism has always been undercut by a crippling nationalism that exposes the contradictions built into the ideal. In each instance, a hard-edged nationalism-evident in the rejection of the League of Nations, in the policies of the Cold War, and in the current Iraq war-always surfaces and drives US actions despite America''s self-perception as a champion of benign universal values. Moreover, it always generates opposition. Attuned to history, political economy, and geography, The Endgame of Globalization is a sweeping and powerful account of America''s century-long quest for global dominance and the nationalism within that invariably unravels the dream.

An audacious New Face of Fiction debut: nine riveting stories that announce a major writer in the tradition of Yann Martel and Barbara Gowdy. Unexpected humour and tenderness intertwine with loneliness and hopefulness in this remarkable book from an already acclaimed writer. In nine richly varied stories, written in intense, clear-eyed prose, the reader is led into an exploration of the human need for connection, however tenuous or absurd, and at whatever cost. The stories operate with heartbreaking precision, drawing us past the surface of characters’ lives and into the moments of decision and recognition that shape these people irrevocably. Here are stories striking in the range of their shifting tone and the reach of their subjects. We are introduced to a support group for people who suspect their benign nature has caused benign tumours to grow inside them. The title story zeroes in on a girl with Fred Hoyle syndrome whose age expands and contracts like the universe. A recently widowed woman talks to her husband’s ashes, which are entombed in a hollowed-out curling stone. A store detective’s valiant act to save a pair of pink calfskin gloves is entwined with the unfortunate results of an unsuccessful space mission. Rendering grief, loneliness, hope, love and happiness with exquisite subtlety and intelligence, Neil Smith proves himself an able chronicler of the human condition. Bang Crunch constitutes a significant achievement by a powerful writer.

After four years of bitter struggles and immeasurable cost in human lives and property, the armies laid down their weapons and the country was reunited. But there was a magnitude of problems emerging from the rebellious and war-torn South and the now-freed slaves. The freed slaves, excited about their liberation, were led to believe that they would receive “forty acres of land and a mule,” but this didn’t happen. The politicians felt that freedom, citizenship, and the right to vote was enough for them. True equality was never pondered, and these people, emerging from servitude, were met with apathy and resentment. Who would represent these people, and who would mend the bitter feelings and destruction left by the war? John Wilson, who first appeared in the author’s “Hillcountry Warriors” which was acclaimed as “an above-par work of period fiction” by “Publishers Weekly,” was such a man. Wilson had fought for the Confederacy and upon returning to his home in Mississippi, felt there was room for all races. In essence, he was a man beyond his time. As long as Federal troops were stationed in the South, some order existed, but when they were removed in 1876, an internal struggle for power erupted. As time passed, Wilson was eventually appointed a district judgeship and he felt that he could make his dream of justice for all a reality. This is his story, and the story of many who labored to mend the bitter feelings and destruction left by the Civil War. JOHNNY NEIL SMITH, author of the critically acclaimed “Hillcountry Warriors” of which “Unconquered” is the sequel, is now a retired educator and has always had a deep interest in early American history. Since four of his great grandfathers served in the Confederate Army, he is fascinated with the American Civil War and has spent years of research on the subject.

A family that was among the first to enter east central Mississippi in the 1830s is forced into the Civil War. Many hardships in the unspoiled wilderness, their unusual friendship with the native Choctaws, and the extreme trials following the crushing events of the war are woven into this story.

A gambler, rogue, and adventurer, Lando is always on the frontier, scanning his sensors for easy credits and looking for action in galaxies near and far. Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu Lando Calrissian was born with a well-developed taste for the good life. So when he hears that ancient alien treasure is buried on the planets of the Rafa System, he hops aboard the Millennium Falcon and brushes up his rusty astrogation. He never stops to think that someone might be conning him, the connoisseur of cons. Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon A solar system with little more than luxury hotels catering to the underemployed filthy rich, the Oseon is every gambler’s dream come true. And so it is for Lando Calrissian, until he breaks the gambler’s cardinal rule: never beat an enforcer at a high-stakes game of chance. Soon Lando and his feckless five-armed robot companion are being stalked by two enemies—one they know but cannot see and one they see but do not recognize . . . until it’s too late. Lando Calrissian and the StarCave of ThonBoka For a year, Lando Calrissian and his robot companion have roamed space in the Millennium Falcon, seeking or creating opportunities to turn an easy, but not too dishonest, credit. But now their partnership seems doomed—for Lando’s uncharacteristic impulse to help a race of persecuted aliens has suddenly made them vulnerable to several sets of their own enemies . . . not least of whom is the evil Rokur Gepta, the Sorcerer of Tund!

The definitive history of Group 44, one of the most respected and successful racing teams in motorsport. Group 44 Ltd. established an unprecedented standard of professionalism, helping to propel sports car racing into a bold new era. Over the course of more than two decades, the team recorded multiple championships and hundreds of wins in various series, competing with vehicles from American Motors, Audi, Dodge, Jaguar, Lotus, MG, Triumph, and Pontiac. Written with unprecedented access to Group 44''s extensive archives, the book reveals in exacting detail the fascinating account behind this hallowed operation, focusing on the men and machines that left an indelible impression on fans worldwide. Lavishly illustrated with more than 1,400 images, most never previously published, this is an essential volume for racing enthusiasts and aficionados of the pristine green-and-white racers that won with clockwork precision from coast to coast.