Robin Harris - Böcker

Margaret Thatcher is one of the most iconic politicians of the twentieth century. With the possible exception of Winston Churchill, no other Prime Minister has had such an impact on modern British history. Like it or not, her radical social and economic policies have made Britain the country it is today. Without Margaret Thatcher there could have been no New Labour, no Tony Blair and no David Cameron.Now Robin Harris, for many years Thatcher's speechwriter, trusted adviser and the draftsman of two volumes of her autobiography, has written the defining book about this indomitable woman. He tells her extraordinary life story, from humble beginnings above her father's grocer's shop in Grantham, her early days as one of the first women in Westminster who became known as 'Thatcher milk-snatcher' during her days in the Ministry for Education and then as Prime Minister. We follow her through the 'Winter of Discontent', the tribulations of the miners' strike and the Falklands War. And Harris writes a stunning account of her exit from power and tells of her life after number 10.

During the past few years there have been several changes in the educational system of Ontario: a reorganization of the Department of Education, the abolition of the school section, the establishment of post-secondary institutions of applied arts and technology, and the reform of Grade 13. Others are in prospect: the abolition of Grade 13 departmental examinations, the requirement that all elementary school teachers must have a university degree, and the establishment of an educational television network. These changes are evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Representing less a break with tradition than a logical expansion of it, they are developments that are consistent with the rationale of the system as it has evolved in the course of one hundred and fifty years.This study is concerned with the nature and significance of these changes in relation to the dimensions and organization of the system itself. It describes the system as it exists today, identifies those features of it which are either unique or distinctive, and explains by reference to their historical development how these unusual features have come to occupy their present position. The author also investigates the disadvantages as well as the advantages of the present approach to education in Ontario, pointing out that the system has become such a vast complex that it is exposed to the dangers of fragmentation and compartmentalization. The basic problem is one of co-ordination, which could be remedied by closer liaison between government departments and by the establishment of improved communications between educational institutions.This account is a valuable contribution to the public debate on education in Ontario.

Since emerging as a settlement in the seventh century, Dubrovnik held a significant position beyond what could have been expected of this tiny city-state. Its merchants, trading throughout the huge Ottoman Empire, enjoyed privileges denied to other Western states. A politically skilled and commercially enterprising ruling class took every opportunity to maximise the Republic's wealth. Dubrovnik also faced the extreme dangers posed by Venetian aggressors, Ottoman plotters, a terrible earthquake in 1667 and, finally, the will of Napoleon. In 1991-92, the city survived the besieging Yugoslav army, which heavily damaged but did not destroy Dubrovnik's cultural heritage. This book is a comprehensive history of Dubrovnik's progress over twelve centuries of European development, encompassing arts, architecture, social and economic changes and the traumas of war and politics.

Eldon House is a distinctive element in the historical townscape of London, Ontario. By the mid-nineteenth century, its original owners, John and Amelia Harris, were prominent members of society in that dynamic community. Their children grew up in the affluent and cultured setting of a family whose increasing prosperity advanced with that of London and western Ontario. If London had an elite, the Harris family was part of it, and Eldon House was an important focal point of the social regimen of the day. A considerable corpus of family papers within the Eldon House and prominent among these papers is a collection of diaries that are excerpted in this volume, encapsulating the personalities, activities, and voices of the Harrises of London. These diaries are valuable because of the details of the warp and woof of daily life in the nineteenth century. But, more importantly, they are women's diaries. As such, they speak to us of the verities of personal, domestic, and societal life in the neglected voice of women. Together, they provide a fascinating perspective of these women's lives in, around, and beyond Eldon House.

The Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering at the University of Toronto is celebrating its 100th anniversary. This informal volume concentrates on the last half century. It examines the development of the Faculty and of its undergraduate and alumni organizations; the changing undergraduate scene since 1920, through a depression, the return of soldiers to university after two world wars, and the tempestuous sixties; the impact that the teaching staff and graduates of this one engineering school have had on their community and their nation through research and practice (including pioneer work in energy, transportation, construction, and  industry); and ends with a look into the future of engineering education by the retiring dean of the Faculty, James M. Ham.

This bibliography is the first of a series of studies about higher education in Canada sponsored by the committee on the History of Higher Education in Canada established by the National Conference of Canadian Universities. Among its nearly 4,000 entries are included the books, pamphlets, theses, dissertations, and articles in journals and magazines which supply the context and commentary on the history of Canadian higher education.Part I of the Bibliography provides the context; our universities do not exist in a vacuum—they are part of the economic, political, religious and social life of the community. Part I, therefore, includes a section on Canadian Culture, listing histories of Canada and its provinces, of its religious and social institutions, of its art, its economy, racial groups, relations with other countries. In order to study higher education in relation to other levels of education, another section lists works concerned with educational developments and problems at all levels.Part II lists the works bearing directly on higher education in Canada, and includes sections on History and Organization, Curriculum and Teaching, The Professor, The Student.Entries are arranged in chronological order in all sections in order to present the progressive development of each topic, and a full Index enables easy reference by author. No distinction has been drawn between English- and French-language publications: Chemistry and Chimie are one subject. The relative proportion of English and French entries in a section is often significant as indicating differences in the frequency and importance of particular fields of study in our colleges.

This Supplement to the 1960 Bibliography by Harris and Tremblay adds some 3,500 entries to the approximately 4,000 listed in the first volume, providing a full list of articles, books, pamphlets, and theses bearing on all aspects of higher education in Canada for the period 1959-1963. The organization of the earlier volume has been maintained with slight modifications, and some new sections have been added, including one devoted to institutions which, although they are post-secondary, do not grant degrees; and one which includes plays and novels set wholly or in part in actual or fictitious Canadian universities. (Studies in Higher Education in Canada, No. 3)

The 1971 Supplement adds some 3,500 entries to the approximately 7,000 listed in the original volume and the 1965 Supplement. Like its predecessors this volume provides a full list of the secondary sources related to Canadian higher education – books, articles, theses, dissertations, and reports published from 1964 to 1969. The reporting and arrangement of entries remains the same in the Supplement, but changes have been made in the overall organization of the material. New divisions have been created, more than a dozen sections have been subdivided, and a substantial number of new sections have been added. (Studies in Higher Education 5)

The 1981 Supplement adds more than 3000 entries to the approximately 10,500 listed in the original volume and in the 1965 and 1971 Supplements. Like its predecessors, this volume provides a full list of the secondary sources related to Canadian higher education – books, articles, theses ,dissertations, and reports published from 1971 to 1980. The reporting, arrangement of entries, and overall organization of the material remains the same as in the 1971 Supplement.

This book traces the development of higher education in Canada, through a detailed description and analysis of what was being taught and of the research opportunities available to professors in the years from 1860 to 1960. Background is provided in the opening chapters of Part I, which outline the origins of post-secondary education in both French and English Canada from 1635 to 1860, and in the parallel chapters of Parts II to V which describe the establishment of new and the growth of existing institutions during the period 1861-90, 1891-1920, 1921-40, and 1941-60. The remaining chapters of each of the book's main divisions present an examination of the curricula in arts and science, professional education, and graduate studies in 1860, 1890, 1920, 1940, and 1960, as well as the conditions pertaining to scholarship and research in these years. The concluding chapter identifies the characteristics which differentiate Canadian higher education from that of other countries. The book includes a full bibliography, an extensive index, and statistical appendices providing data on enrolment and degrees granted. A History of Higher Education in Canada 1663-1960 will be the definitive work in its field, valuable both for the wealth of information and the historical insights it contains.

The Undergraduate Essay sets before the student examples of writing from which he can learn what to do and why. Part I of this book consists of six complete essays of average undergraduate length. All are specimens rather than models; these essays are well-written, but they are not faultless. In Part II, the authors define and discuss the principles of sound essay writing by considering in turn the plan, paragraph structure, sentence structure, diction, punctuation, and under the title "The Conventions of Scholarship" the use of footnotes and the preparation of a bibliography. Throughout, the student is urged to study examples, and to think critically and constructively on the problems raised. It follows that The Undergraduate Essay makes no attempt to do the work either of the student of the instructor. It is a text which invites, indeed demands, the co-operative effort of both.