Redneck Boy in the Promised Land is Ben Jones’s hilarious, uplifting life story of escaping the rail yards and finding success in the unlikeliest places. As a child, Jones called a dingy railroad shack with no electricity or indoor plumbing home. An unabashed Southern redneck from a "likker drinkin’, hell-raisin’" family, Jones grew up in the depressed railroad docks outside of Portsmouth, Virginia, and spent most of his days dreaming about where the tracks out of town could take him. That he would go on to become a beloved television icon on The Dukes of Hazzard and a firebrand two-term Congressman is a story that no one could have ever seen coming . . . least of all ol’ "Cooter" himself. Written with naked honesty and wry humor, Redneck Boy in the Promised Land is one good ol’ boy’s remarkable tale of falling flat on his face, picking himself up, and finding his way to the American dream-while fighting for civil rights, the plight of the working class, "real" Southern culture, and the rights of rednecks everywhere.

Redneck Boy in the Promised Land: The Confessions of "Crazy Cooter"

Jones, Ben

Humor & Entertainment

Crown

A voyage of Arctic exploration during the American Civil War becomes an epic tale of madness and survival in a stunning first novel animated by the spirits of Poe, Crane, Conrad, and Melville. Brendan Kane is a dreamy, directionless young man in 1860s New England. Fired by a speech given by a traveling recruiter, he signs up for the Union cause – and experiences the full horrors of the Civil War. He deserts, drifting north to experience the draft riots in New York and, finally, to meet his fate in the form of the Narthex, a strangely shaped vessel anchored in the harbor of a whaling town. Kane signs up as a crew member without any inkling of the voyage’s destination or goals, joining a crew of odd outcasts not unlike that of the Pequod, including one Aziz, the three-handed Muslim engine tender, and Dr. Architeuthis, the ship’s scientist whose mania for data becomes increasingly indistinguishable from madness. While at sea, they come to learn that their goal is a mythic temperate valley, a paradise in the heart of the Arctic?a goal their captain and the Narthex’s owner will stop at nothing to reach. At once spiritual, adventurous, and bleak, The Rope Eater displays a precise knowledge of the period and the customs of nineteenth century Arctic exploration. In its scope and rich language, it recalls the work of the great novelists of inner and outer voyaging?a tremendous debut novel.

The Rope Eater

Literature & Fiction

Contemporary

DOUBLEDAY

A hundred years of waiting finally paid off as the phone rang at Joe Battista’s house in the winter of 2005. On the other end, a soon-to-be-billionaire Penn State alum with an interest in hockey and philanthropy. Not long after the puck dropped at Pegula Ice Arena for the first time, Penn State found itself in the thick of the NCAA Tournament. This is the story of how the Nittany Lions got there and people who made it happen. StateCollege.com Sports Editor Ben Jones takes you behind the scenes as the program is built and into the locker room to recount some of the program’s most pivotal games.

Happy Valley Hockey

Sports & Outdoors

Hockey

This book maps how working class life was transformed in England in the middle years of the twentieth century. National trends in employment, welfare and living standards are illuminated via a focus on Brighton, providing valuable new perspectives of class and community formation. Based on fresh archival research, life histories and contemporary social surveys, the book historicises important cultural and community studies which moulded popular perceptions of class and social change in the post-war period. It shows how council housing, slum clearance and demographic trends impacted on working-class families and communities. While suburbanisation transformed home life, leisure and patterns of association, there were important continuities in terms of material poverty, social networks and cultural practices.This book will be essential reading for academics and students researching modern and contemporary social and cultural history, sociology, cultural studies and human geography.

The working class in mid-twentieth-century England: Community, identity and social memory

Business & Money

Economics

Manchester University Press

Beyond the State in Rural Uganda (International African Library)

In this innovative study, Ben Jones argues that scholars too often assume that the state is the most important force behind change in local political communities in Africa. Studies look to the state, and to the impact of government reforms, as ways of understanding processes of development and change. Using the example of Uganda, regarded as one of Africa's few "success stories", Jones chronicles the insignificance of the state and the marginal impact of Western development agencies. Extensive ethnographic fieldwork in a Ugandan village reveals that it is churches, the village court, and organizations based on family and kinships obligations that represent the most significant sites of innovation and social transformation.Groundbreaking and critical in turn, Beyond the State offers a new anthropological perspective on how to think about processes of social and political change in poorer parts of the world. It should appeal to anyone interested in African development.

Edinburgh University Press

Air Power in the Maritime Environment

This book explores the mingling of two rather different perspectives, those of the naval and aeronautical schools of thought, and the impact that they had upon one another in natural, professional and geopolitical settings. To explain the manner in which air power was incorporated into warfare between 1914 and 1945 it studies the deeds of practitioners, the limitations of technology, the realities of combat and the varying institutional dynamics and strategic priorities of the major maritime powers. It is underpinned by an appreciation of the geostrategic setting of the key maritime states, while addressing the challenges of operating in this multifaceted environment and the major technological developments which enabled air power to play an ever greater role in the maritime sphere. The potential for air power to influence warfare in the maritime environment was fully realised during the Second World War and its impact is demonstrated through an analysis of a wide range of the fleet operations and how it was utilised in the defence of trade and sea lanes. As such this book will be of interest to both naval and air power historians and those wanting a fuller perspective on maritime strategy in this period.

Air Power in the Maritime Environment: The World Wars

Gates, David

Reference

Routledge

In this special, limited edition of 50, Paper Rad "remixes" unbound copies of their book Paper Rad, B.J. and da Dogs by changing the order of the pages and adding dozens of pieces of ephemera, including original drawings, prints, scraps, and found objects. Each book was rebound by hand, and is a unique art object by one of the most influential underground collectives working today. Signed and numbered Edition of 50 copies.

Paper Rad, B.j. And Da Dogs: The Remix

Arts & Photography

Paper Rad

Graphic Design

Picture Box Inc

Avoid data blunders and create truly useful visualizations Avoiding Data Pitfalls is a reputation-saving handbook for those who work with data, designed to help you avoid the all-too-common blunders that occur in data analysis, visualization, and presentation. Plenty of data tools exist, along with plenty of books that tell you how to use them―but unless you truly understand how to work with data, each of these tools can ultimately mislead and cause costly mistakes. This book walks you step by step through the full data visualization process, from calculation and analysis through accurate, useful presentation. Common blunders are explored in depth to show you how they arise, how they have become so common, and how you can avoid them from the outset. Then and only then can you take advantage of the wealth of tools that are out there―in the hands of someone who knows what they're doing, the right tools can cut down on the time, labor, and myriad decisions that go into each and every data presentation. 
Workers in almost every industry are now commonly expected to effectively analyze and present data, even with little or no formal training. There are many pitfalls―some might say chasms―in the process, and no one wants to be the source of a data error that costs money or even lives. This book provides a full walk-through of the process to help you ensure a truly useful result. 
<ul>
<li>Delve into the "data-reality gap" that grows with our dependence on data</li> <li>Learn how the right tools can streamline the visualization process</li> <li>Avoid common mistakes in data analysis, visualization, and presentation</li> <li>Create and present clear, accurate, effective data visualizations</li> </ul>
To err is human, but in today's data-driven world, the stakes can be high and the mistakes costly. Don't rely on "catching" mistakes, avoid them from the outset with the expert instruction in Avoiding Data Pitfalls.

Avoiding Data Pitfalls: How to Steer Clear of Common Blunders When Working with Data and Presenting Analysis and Visualizations

Skills

wiley

Apocalypse, it seems, is everywhere. Preachers with vast followings proclaim the world's end. Apocalyptic fears grip even the nonreligious amid climate change, pandemics, and threats of nuclear war. As these ideas pervade popular discourse, grasping their logic remains elusive. Ben Jones argues that we can gain insight into apocalyptic thought through secular thinkers. He starts with a puzzle: Why would secular thinkers draw on Christian apocalyptic beliefs – often dismissed as bizarre – to interpret politics? The apocalyptic tradition proves appealing in part because it theorizes a relation between crisis and utopia. Apocalyptic thought points to crisis as the vehicle to bring the previously impossible within reach, offering resources for navigating challenges in ideal theory, which involves imagining the best, most just society. By examining apocalyptic thought's appeal and risks, this study arrives at new insights on the limits of utopian hope. This title is available as open access on Cambridge Core.

Apocalypse without God: Apocalyptic Thought, Ideal Politics, and the Limits of Utopian Hope

Politics & Social Sciences

Politics & Government

Cambridge University Press

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Books by Jones, Ben