In late 1910, three American adventurers set off on a remarkable around-the-world journey by automobile. This book follows the drivers on their extraordinary trip.
Among more than two hundred auto companies that tried their luck in the Motor City, just three remain: Ford, General Motors and Chrysler. But many of those lost to history have colorful stories worth telling. For instance, J.J. Cole forgot to put brakes in his new auto, so on the first test run, he had to drive it in circles until it ran out of gas. Brothers John and Horace Dodge often trashed saloons during wild evenings but used their great personal wealth to pay for the damage the next day (if they could remember where they had been). David D. Buick went from being the founder of his own leading auto company to working the information desk at the Detroit Board of Trade. Author Alan Naldrett explores these and more tales of automakers who ultimately failed but shaped the industry and designs putting wheels on the road today.
In this first full history of around-the-world travel, Joyce E. Chaplin brilliantly tells the story of circumnavigation. Round About the Earth is a witty, erudite, and colorful account of the outrageous ambitions that have inspired men and women to circle the entire planet. For almost five hundred years, human beings have been finding ways to circle the Earth—by sail, steam, or liquid fuel; by cycling, driving, flying, going into orbit, even by using their own bodily power. The story begins with the first centuries of circumnavigation, when few survived the attempt: in 1519, Ferdinand Magellan left Spain with five ships and 270 men, but only one ship and thirty-five men returned, not including Magellan, who died in the Philippines. Starting with these dangerous voyages, Joyce Chaplin takes us on a trip of our own as we travel with Francis Drake, William Dampier, Louis-Antoine de Bougainville, and James Cook. Eventually sea travel grew much safer and passengers came on board. The most famous was Charles Darwin, but some intrepid women became circumnavigators too—a Lady Brassey, for example. Circumnavigation became a fad, as captured in Jules Verne’s classic novel, Around the World in Eighty Days. Once continental railroads were built, circumnavigators could traverse sea and land. Newspapers sponsored racing contests, and people sought ways to distinguish themselves—by bicycling around the world, for instance, or by sailing solo. Steamships turned round-the-world travel into a luxurious experience, as with the tours of Thomas Cook & Son. Famous authors wrote up their adventures, including Mark Twain and Jack London and Elizabeth Jane Cochrane (better known as Nellie Bly). Finally humans took to the skies to circle the globe in airplanes. Not much later, Sputnik, Gagarin, and Glenn pioneered a new kind of circumnavigation— in orbit. Through it all, the desire to take on the planet has tested the courage and capacity of the bold men and women who took up the challenge. Their exploits show us why we think of the Earth as home. Round About the Earth is itself a thrilling adventure.
For 60 years the author felt much anguish and yearned to discover what happened to his only brother, S/Sgt. Eugene F. Darter, who enlisted in the Army-Air Force after Pearl Harbor and was assigned to a B-17 crew. Just before departing for England and never to be heard from again, his brother came home and carried his newly born brother through the neighborhood on a pillow. Over the years attempts to locate information were of no avail but the initial bonding of brothers did not diminish. Then in 2000, through a World War II B-17 web site, a summary of the aircraft's missions and a list of the 10 crewmates were discovered. An intensive investigation was set into motion beginning with a shocking conversation with the crewmate who found his wounded brother in the burning aircraft and helped him bail out. Beyond all belief, eyewitnesses were located on a Dutch island (Texel) that saw Eugene parachute through the mist and also saw his badly damaged B-17 roar over their heads 60 years previous. Then just prior to a memorial honoring the crew in May 2007, a piece of the B-17 was found on the Texel beach, and additional pieces were discovered since then. In 2009 the former wife of the lead pilot was located, she is 90 years of and had known all of the crew. She was in possession of a detailed letter written by a crew member just after the war that describes in detail the horror of combat on the plane. A PBS special is now underway on this search for the MIA. Fateful Flight of the Lonesome Polecat describes the story of the B-17 crew from its formation to the end of World War II and shares the compelling and emotional search for a missing loved one that will be of interest to anyhone searching for a missing loved one.
This comprehensive and beautifully illustrated collection of essays conveys a vivid picture of a fascinating and hugely significant period in history, the Fin de Siècle. Featuring contributions from over forty international scholars, this book takes a thematic approach to a period of huge upheaval across all walks of life, and is truly innovative in examining the Fin de Siècle from a global perspective. The volume includes pathbreaking essays on how the period was experienced not only in Europe and North America, but also in China, Japan, the Middle East, Latin America, Africa, India, and elsewhere across the globe. Thematic topics covered include new concepts of time and space, globalization, the city, and new political movements including nationalism, the "New Liberalism", and socialism and communism. The volume also looks at the development of mass media over this period and emerging trends in culture, such as advertising and consumption, film and publishing, as well as the technological and scientific changes that shaped the world at the turn of the nineteenth century, such as the invention of the telephone, new transport systems, eugenics and physics. The Fin-de-Siècle World also considers issues such as selfhood through chapters looking at gender, sexuality, adolescence, race and class, and considers the importance of different religions, both old and new, at the turn of the century. Finally the volume examines significant and emerging trends in art, music and literature alongside movements such as realism and aestheticism. This volume conveys a vivid picture of how politics, religion, popular and artistic culture, social practices and scientific endeavours fitted together in an exciting world of change. It will be invaluable reading for all students and scholars of the Fin-de-Siècle period.
Official records produced by the armies of the United States and the Confederacy, and the executive branches of their respective governments, concerning the military operations of the Civil War, and prisoners of war or prisoners of state. Also annual reports of military departments, calls for troops, correspondence between national and state governments, correspondence between Union and Confederate officials. The final volume includes a synopsis, general index, special index for various military divisions, and background information on how these documents were collected and published. Accompanied by an atlas.
In July 1965, an Artesian Turquoise Chevrolet Biscayne rolled off a General Motors assembly line. Little did James Ward know that this car would become a cherished member of his family, playing a role in his wedding, honeymoon, years of graduate school, birth of his daughter, and her wedding, among countless other memories. Four decades--and a lot of history--later, the author still drives this rolling historical artifact dubbed Phoebe. Using the Biscayne as a narrative thread, this first-person account explores facets of American history the author and Phoebe experienced since the mid-1960s, such as a KKK cross-burning, a civil rights march, Hurricane Betsy, numerous local diners, motels, and parks, and interesting people and out-of-the-way places. Looking for remnants of their youth, they drove across back roads in twenty-first century America. Photographs accompany this unique memoir.
The Battle of Perryville, fought on October 8, 1862, was the largest and most significant Civil War battle fought in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. The Battle of Perryville laid waste to more than just soldiers and their supplies. The commonwealth's largest combat engagement also took an immense toll on the community of Perryville, and citizens in surrounding towns. After Confederates achieved a tactical victory, they were nonetheless forced to leave the area. With more than 7,500 casualties, the remaining Union soldiers were unprepared for the enormous tasks of burying the dead, caring for the wounded, and rebuilding infrastructure. Instead, this arduous duty fell to the brave and battered locals. Former executive director of the Perryville Battlefield Preservation Association, author Stuart Sanders presents the first in depth look into how the resilient residents dealt with the chaos of this bloody battle and how they rebuilt their town from the rubble leftover.
Malvaise narrowed his eyes. “So you think you’re the man to take on the job of getting rid of me and my boys, do you?” he said to Buchanan. “I never saw a fast gun yet that didn’t meet up with a faster one.” “Amen, brother,” Buchanan agreed. “And you know what you’re bucking here in Pasco County, don’t you?” “Me,” Buchanan said, “I ain’t bucking nobody.” “Then ride out fast,” Malvaise told him. “Ride now!” But Buchanan didn’t like being told what to do. Not in that tone of voice. Buchanan stayed. Until the last bloody patch of desert had dried.