Leif HerrGesell weaves in the epic tradition of Robert Louis Stevenson combined with the wry humor of MacDonald Fraser. Indians, Rogues and Giants is one soldier's journey set amidst the fledgling cities and on the bloody frontier of colonial America. The story boasts a cast of characters worthy of The Great Bard himself. If you yearn for a rum tale told in the flickering shadows by the fire, go no farther--between these pages lie deceit, murder, treasure and lust with just a hint of redemption. But dont leave it lying about for the children--youll never scrub the black out of their souls!
Just hours after World War II was declared, Germany struck its first blow, firing without warning on the passenger liner Athenia. The British ship was loaded with Americans, Canadians, and Europeans attempting to cross the Atlantic before the outbreak of war. As the ship sank, 1,306 were rescued but 112 people were lost, including thirty Americans. This account of the disaster, based on new research, tells a dramatic story of tragedy and triumph, as historian Francis Carroll chronicles the survivors' experiences and explains how the incident shaped policy in the U.S., UK, and Canada. For Britain, it was seen as a violation of international law and convoys were sent to protect shipping. In Canada, Athenia's sinking rallied support to go to war. In the United States, it exposed Germany as a serious threat and changed public opinion enough to allow the country to sell munitions and supplies to Britain and France.
A riveting and rollicking tour-de-force about the terrifying power of nature's most deadly phenomena — colossal waves — and the scientists and super surfers who are obsessed with them. The New York Times bestselling author of The Devil's Teeth probes the dramatic convergence of baffling gargantuan waves that pummel oil rigs and sink massive ships, the extreme surfers willing to stare down death in order to ride them, and the marine scientists trying to unlock the physics of these waves, the climate changes that are provoking them, and what chaos they might wreak. Susan Casey explores the phenomenon of monster waves and how they have become an obsession for extreme surfers like Laird Hamilton — who serves as the author's guide as she takes the reader into the intense, white-knuckle world of 100-foot waves.
Five years ago, India was an emerging world power being courted by the world's most powerful political and business leaders, an upbeat story of unparalleled economic growth. Since then, it has failed to account for the human capital at the heart of its effort to modernize: more than one billion people clamoring for what has become known as the "Indian Dream"--an education, a career, and an opportunity to pull one's family out of poverty and into prosperity. Today, India is suffering an immense crisis of confidence--crippling political corruption, politicians mired in the status quo, economic inequality, brutal violence against women, and rampant social injustice. Simon Denyer, former Indian bureau chief for the Washington Post, perceptively captures India at this crucial tilting point in its history--from the Nehru-Gandhi family dynasty that has ruled the country for most of its post-independence years, to flawed heroes such as news anchor Arnab Goswami and anticorruption crusader Arvind Kejwiral, to, most compelling, ordinary people fighting daily against corruption and the system. They, Denyer convincingly shows, are harnessing the force of the world's largest democracy to positive effect, demanding transparency and accountability as never before. The battle between the deep-rooted system of graft and patronage and the forces demanding change will have huge global significance, and Denyer's insight makes Rogue Elephant a vital contribution to the international conversation about India's present and future.
Tater, I have something to tell you For the first time ever, Big Adam brings together two of his bestselling titles, My Friend Tater and The Four Days, into a single novel to tell the story of the Giant Indian who, as a shy college freshman, meets a campus security officer named Tater who shares his love for the movies. The fun and laughs over the years comes to a jarring halt when the Indian loses the man he knew as Dad. He descends into horrid madness and despair. Only Tater can keep the Indian from doing the unthinkable
Guided only by the barrel of his pistol, former deputy marshal Gideon Hawk no longer abides by conventional laws. Known as the Rogue Lawman, he serves his own brand of justice by carving his way through the West, leaving fallen criminals in his wake… This time it’s Hawk who’s been tracked down. The same governors who had a death warrant on Hawk’s head now desperately need his help to end the bloody carnage sweeping the Southwest… A gang of merciless Apaches, along with their leader, a turncoat called Wilbur “Knife-Hand” Monjosa, are on the loose. Losing his hand to a Mojave axe, Monjosa replaced his bloody stump with a razor-sharp knife. He’s a savage who’ll cut down anything in his way… Knife-Hand can only be matched with the kind of ruthlessness that burns within the Rogue Lawman. Monjosa’s killer instinct is as sharp as his hand, but Hawk’s fighting with something mightier than anything in Knife-Hand’s artillery—a personal vendetta…
Successfully navigate the rich world of travel narratives and identify fiction and nonfiction read-alikes with this detailed and expertly constructed guide. Just as savvy travelers make use of guidebooks to help navigate the hundreds of countries around the globe, smart librarians need a guidebook that makes sense of the world of travel narratives. Going Places: A Reader's Guide to Travel Narratives meets that demand, helping librarians assist patrons in finding the nonfiction books that most interest them. It will also serve to help users better understand the genre and their own reading interests. The book examines the subgenres of the travel narrative genre in its seven chapters, categorizing and describing approximately 600 titles according to genres and broad reading interests, and identifying hundreds of other fiction and nonfiction titles as read-alikes and related reads by shared key topics. The author has also identified award-winning titles and spotlighted further resources on travel lit, making this work an ideal guide for readers' advisors as well a book general readers will enjoy browsing.
From the perspective of 2007, the unintentional irony of Chance's boast is manifest—these days, the question is when will the Cubs ever win a game they have to have. In October 1908, though, no one would have laughed: The Cubs were, without doubt, baseball's greatest team—the first dynasty of the 20th century. Crazy '08 recounts the 1908 season—the year when Peerless Leader Frank Chance's men went toe to toe to toe with John McGraw and Christy Mathewson's New York Giants and Honus Wagner's Pittsburgh Pirates in the greatest pennant race the National League has ever seen. The American League has its own three-cornered pennant fight, and players like Cy Young, Ty Cobb, Walter Johnson, and the egregiously crooked Hal Chase ensured that the junior circuit had its moments. But it was the National League's—and the Cubs'—year. Crazy '08, however, is not just the exciting story of a great season. It is also about the forces that created modern baseball, and the America that produced it. In 1908, crooked pols run Chicago's First Ward, and gambling magnates control the Yankees. Fans regularly invade the field to do handstands or argue with the umps; others shoot guns from rickety grandstands prone to burning. There are anarchists on the loose and racial killings in the town that made Lincoln. On the flimsiest of pretexts, General Abner Doubleday becomes a symbol of Americanism, and baseball's own anthem, "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," is a hit. Picaresque and dramatic, 1908 is a season in which so many weird and wonderful things happen that it is somehow unsurprising that a hairpiece, a swarm of gnats, a sudden bout of lumbago, and a disaster down in the mines all play a role in its outcome. And sometimes the events are not so wonderful at all. There are several deaths by baseball, and the shadow of corruption creeps closer to the heart of baseball—the honesty of the game itself. Simply put, 1908 is the year that baseball grew up. Oh, and it was the last time the Cubs won the World Series. Destined to be as memorable as the season it documents, Crazy '08 sets a new standard for what a book about baseball can be.
