With eloquence & wit, Stuart traces his 20 year career in education, which began, when he was only seventeen years old, with teaching grades 1 through 8 in a one-room schoolhouse. Before long Stuart was on a path that made him principal & finally superintendent of city & county schools. The road was not smooth, however, & Stuart faced many challenges, from students who were considerably older- & bigger- than he to well-meaning but distrustful parents, uncooperative administrators, & most daunting, his own fear of failure. Through it all, Stuart never lost his abiding faith in the power of education. A graceful ode to what he considered the greatest profession there is, Jesse Stuart's The Thread That Runs So True is timeless proof that good teaching is forever and the teacher is immortal.

    It remains the most courageous, insightful, and eloquent critique of the pre-1960s South."I began to see racism and its rituals of segregation as a symptom of a grave illness," Smith wrote. "When people think more of their skin color than of their souls, something has happened to them." Today, readers are rediscovering in Smith's writings a forceful analysis of the dynamics of racism, as well as her prophetic understanding of the connections between racial and sexual oppression.

    But the story of her story is what every reader needs to know. Tei’s memoir begins in August 1945 in Manchuria. At that time, Tei and her family fled from the invading Soviets who declared war on Japan a few days after the United States dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. After reaching her home in Japan, Tei wrote what she thought would be a last testament to her young children, who wouldn’t remember their journey and who might be comforted by their mother’s words as they faced an unknown future in post-war Japan. But several miracles took place after she wrote the memoir. Tei survived and her memoir, originally published in Showa Era 24 [1949] became a best seller in a country still in ruins. Over the following decades, millions of Japanese became familiar with her story through forty-six print runs, the movie version, and a television drama. Empress Michiko urged her people to read Tei’s story. Now English readers will have the chance to read her amazing story of survival and hope, and understand how she influenced an entire generation and a nation.

    Walter Bell (1880-1954), known as Karamojo Bell, was a Scottish adventurer, big game hunter in East Africa, soldier, decorated fighter pilot, sailor, writer, and painter.Famous for being one of the most successful ivory hunters of his time, Bell was an advocate of the importance of shooting accuracy and shot placement with smaller calibre rifles, over the use of heavy large-bore rifles for big African game. He improved his shooting skills by careful dissection and study of the anatomy of the skulls of the elephants he shot. He even perfected the clean shooting of elephants from the extremely difficult position of being diagonally behind the target; this shot became known as the Bell Shot.Although chiefly known for his exploits in Africa, Bell also traveled to North America and New Zealand, sailed windjammers, and saw service in South Africa during the Boer War, and flew in the Royal Flying Corps in East Africa, Greece and France during World War I.

     What he found was a state of civil war, but what he found on the ground would change our view of Central American civilization forever. Although his political mission was doomed from the beginning, Stephens spent the next two years exploring the wild jungles and wilderness of Belize, Guatemala, and Mexico, visiting and recording ancient Mayan sites. Many of these Mayan ruins had been visited previously but it was through the explorations and writings of John Lloyd Stephens that the wider world truly became fascinated with the civilization of the Maya peoples. Stephens records his two journeys into Mesoamerica in brilliant detail as he describes not only the beauty of ancient cities like Copán and Uxmal, along with forty-two other ancient sites, but also the trials and tribulations that he and his men faced as they cut their way through thick jungles, fought off waves of mosquitos, and avoided robberies and contracting fevers. Incidents of Travel in Central America, Chiapas, and Yucatan is a remarkable work of archaeological discovery. Stephens’ book is essential reading for anyone interested in the civilizations of Central America and the archaeological remains that have left behind. As well as recording a civilization that had long since passed, Stephens’ account provides insight into Central America and the people that lived there during the mid-nineteenth century as it was undergoing turbulent political change. Edgar Allan Poe described Stephens’ book as “perhaps the most interesting book of travel ever published”, and his journeys have recently been the subject of a New York Times bestseller, Jungle of Stone. John Lloyd Stephens was an American explorer, writer, and diplomat. Stephens was a pivotal figure in the rediscovery of Maya civilization throughout Middle America. His book was published in two volumes in 1841, this edition however contains both volumes in one book. After completing this work he joined the Panama Railroad Company as Vice President but was struck down by malaria in 1852.