Bücher von Alan Ryan

Bertrand Russell was one of the greatest logicians since Aristotle, and one of the most important philosophers of the past two hundred years. In this thorough examination, Alan Ryan tells the story of Russell's "other life" as social critic, polemical journalist, antiwar activist, sage and gadfly, dissenting from Russell's insistence that there was no connection between his philosophical interests and his political allegiances. Taking readers on an entertaining journey through a career that included two spells in jail, Ryan discusses Russell's most visible campaigns-against traditional religion, against the First World War, against nuclear weapons, and against the Vietnam War, as well as his lifelong defence of liberalism in education, politics, and relations between the sexes. Throughout he emphasizes the high spirits, the aristocratic fearlessness, and the wonderful combination of wit and intelligence that Russell brought to his political writing and actions. The result is a stimulating reconsideration of one of the great intellectual radicals of our time, a remarkable man who refused to grow old, calm down, and become respectable.

Fear and love in the Australian Outback.Jim Macken talks to trees. He dances around the fire and has made peace with the flies. In a bid to escape a mundane life, the broken-hearted Irish backpacker has gone walkabout in the West Australian Goldfields. The scorched land is hurting. The summer rains never came and the temperatures soar.On a rare trip to the remote Aurora Inn, the young Irishman watches a tainted icon fall, while another, released from twenty-seven years in prison, walks free. An assault brings the day to a premature close. Jim sleeps across the wide front seat of his beat-up truck. A body lies in the dirt. The evidence, much of it manufactured, suggests Jim is a killer and Kelly Porcini, the disillusioned barmaid, is an accessory to murder.Fearing for their lives, Jim and Kelly, flee into the hostile interior of the continent. Along the way the young couple find a beautiful but damaged country. There is the possibility of love and the opportunity for betrayal. Ultimately, an ancient and indigenous Dreamtime landscape may decide how their stories end.