Jack London: A Life


Alex Kershaw - 1997
    Brilliant and self-taught, he haunted California's waterside bars, brawling with drunken sailors and learning about love from prostitutes. His lust for adventure took him from the beaches of Hawaii to the gold fields of Alaska, where he experienced firsthand the struggles for survival he would later immortalize in classics like White Fang and The Call of the Wild.A hard-drinking womanizer with children to support, Jack London was no stranger to passion when he met and married Charmian Kittredge, the love of his life. Despite his adventurous past, London had never before met a woman like Charmian; she adored fornication and boxing, and willingly risked life and limb to sail and explore. She typed his manuscripts while he churned out novels, serving as his inspiration and his critic.Lover, fighter, and onetime hobo, Jack London lived large and died before he was forty. This is a rare biography, from bestselling historian Alex Kershaw, that proves the truth can be more fascinating--and a far greater adventure--than a fiction.

Boer Wars: A History From Beginning to End


Henry Freeman - 2017
    At a time when South Africa was a place inhabited by the toughest of men, only those who lived in the saddle with a gun in their hands could possibly survive. Inside you will read about... ✓ The Creation of the Boer ✓ Growing Tensions ✓ Colley Steps In ✓ The End of the First War ✓ The Jameson Raid ✓ Stage One: The Boer Offensive ✓ Stage Two: The Empire Strikes Back ✓ Stage Three: Scorched Earth ✓ The End of the Boer Who were the Boers, and what was the conflict that would lead them into a fight to the death with England in the First and Second Anglo-Boer wars? Was this a colonial uprising? Or a freedom-fight gone horribly wrong?

Beginners Handbook of Knitting Stitches


Chloe Thompson - 2013
    With this book you will learn:Basic stitches like the Purl StitchKnit stitches, such as Diamond Brocade and Seeded TrianglesRib Stitches like the Mock Cable Rib and Fishbone RibLace Stitches, such as the Fishtail and Cubic LaceCable Stitches like the Woven Cable and Waving CablesBONUS: As an added bonus this book includes a knitting glossary at the end, for you to use to help understand knitting jargon!

Lord High Executioner: The Legendary Mafia Boss Albert Anastasia


Frank DiMatteo - 2020
    legend who helped create the modern American Mafia—one body at a time—featuring shocking eyewitness accounts . . . Umberto “Albert” Anastasia was born in Italy at the turn of the century. Five decades later, he would be gunned down in a barber shop in New York City. What happened in the years in between-- and why every crime family had reason to want him dead-- is one of the most brutal and fascinating stories in the history of American organized crime. This in-depth account of the man who became one of the most powerful and homicidal crime bosses of the twentieth century from Mafia insider Frank Dimatteo is the first full-length book to chronicle Anastasia’s bloody rise from fresh-off-the-boat immigrant to founder of the notorious killer’s club Murder, Inc.—featuring never-before-told accounts from those who feared him most . . . They called him “The One Man Army.” “Mad Hatter.” “Lord High Executioner.” Albert Anastasia came to America mean and became a prolific killer. His merciless assassination of Mafia godfather Vincent Mangano is recounted here in chilling first-hand detail. He set the record: the first man in the history of American justice to be charged with four separate murders—and walk free after each one. But in the end, he was the last obstacle in rival Mafia hoodlum Vito Genovese’s dream of becoming the boss of bosses—and paid the ultimate price . . .

Attack Transport: The Story Of The U.S.S. Doyen


Lawrence A. Marsden - 2018
     It was these ships that carried the bulk of the troops and equipment to the bloody assault beaches of the overseas landings. The Japanese military had swept across Pacific Ocean conquering and fortifying hundreds of small islands that the Allied forces would have to conquer one by one in order to defeat their enemy. Despite being unarmored and having little fire power, attack transports continued to make a monumental impact in the fate of the war. Not because they could defeat the Japanese on their own but because they carried in their hulls the war’s one essential combat element: the troops that fought on the ground. U.S.S. Doyen was one such attack transport that served with honor and made its contribution felt through the course of the war. Lawrence Marsden’s fascinating history of this ship uncovers the action of the Doyen from commissioning through to her last operation in World War Two and of course exposes the lives of the men who sailed her through treacherous waters to do their duty. This book provides brilliant insight into the Pacific War as it was seen from one small unit in the fleet as they were involved in some of the most important operations of that front, including the invasions of Kiska, Tarawa, Kwajalein, Saipan, Guam, Leyte, Lingayen Gulf and Iwo Jima. “In war, transports seldom rest. Between assaults, on long and dreary voyages they carry out to distant bases replacement and service troops and freight, and carry back to home ports our casualties and essential war materials. They are the unsung, battle-scarred work horses of the Navy.” Richmond K. Turner, Admiral, U.S. Navy, Former Commander Amphibious Forces, Pacific Fleet. This book is perfect for readers who wish to learn more about these fascinating boats, the men who fought aboard them and the impact that they made throughout the war. Lieutenant Commander Lawrence A. Marsden served on the U.S.S. Doyen from May 1944 through to the end of the war, and was involved in the landings at Saipan, Guam, Leyte Gulf, Luzon and Iwo Jima. After the war he resigned his commission and became a textile company executive. His book Attack Transport: The Story of The USS Doyen was first published in 1946 and he passed away in 2005.

Uniquely Felt


Christine White - 2007
    Learn how to transform loose piles of wool fibers into a durable, nonwoven fabric that can be shaped into stylish bags, hats, pillow covers, and more. A little soap and water are all you need to start turning your wool scraps into an imaginative variety of fun and creative projects.

Gimson's Presidents: Brief Lives From Washington to Trump


Andrew Gimson - 2020
    Helping to bring these forgotten figures into the light, Andrew Gimson's illuminating accounts are accompanied by sketches from Guardian sartirical cartoonist, Martin Rowson, making this the perfect gift for all lovers of history and politics.

Life on Two Legs


Norman J. Sheffield - 2013
    For the next 15 years, Trident Studios, was at the epicentre of the music industry, recording some of the era's greatest artists, from The Beatles and David Bowie to Elton John and Genesis. Trident also developed their own talent, including a raw and demanding four-piece band called Queen. After an acrimonious split with Trident, their volatile leader Freddie Mercury famously dedicated a song to Norman: Death On Two Legs. In Life On Two Legs, this legendary music figure breaks his forty year silence and sets the record straight, not just about Freddie and Queen but also about artists from John Lennon and Marc Bolan to Harry Nilsson and Phil Collins and the recording of such classics as Hey Jude by The Beatles and Space Oddity by David Bowie. Funny, fascinating and occasionally irreverent - and with a foreword by Sir Paul McCartney - this is an unmissable memoir that brings to vivid life some of rock's greatest characters as well as the era and the studio that produced some of its classic music.

Pearl: Lost Girl of White Oak Mountain


Bill Yates - 2020
    The search for little Pearl consumed the next several weeks, and the story became front page news all over the United States. Hundreds of residents from the nearby towns of Waldron and Booneville Arkansas helped in the search, and a mysterious mountain hermit seemed to hold the secret to Pearl's disappearance. The incredible events that followed contributed to a mountain legend that still exists today.

1970s Childhood: From Glam Rock to Happy Days


Derek Tait - 2011
    Who could forget all the glam rock bands of that era, like Slade, Wizard, Mud, and Sweet, or singers like Alvin Stardust, Marc Bolan, and David Bowie? What about those wonderful TV shows like Starsky and Hutch, Kojak, Kung Fu, and Happy Days? Fashion included platform shoes (we all had a pair), flared trousers, brightly patterned shirts with huge collars, and colorful kipper ties. And everyone remembers preparing for power cuts and that long, hot summer of 1976? So dust off your space hopper and join us on this fascinating journey through a childhood during the seventies, with hilarious illustrations and a nostalgic trip down memory lane for all those who grew up in this memorable decade.

Endurance: Shackleton's Extraordinary Voyage


Daniel Bryce - 2015
    Sir Ernest Shackleton had carefully picked crew and a stout, well-outfitted ship, the Endurance. But he had no radio, the world was at war, and at the edge of the Antarctic continent, the ship froze in the sea ice. After months of immobility, it was crushed. Then began an impossible journey. With three tiny boats, the crew worked their way across frozen the Antarctic Sea. This vivid book recounts the story of Shackleton's heroic voyage from South Georgia Island to Antarctica then back to South Georgia. It is a tribute to Shackleton and his crew's ability to fight for survival and one of the most harrowing adventures in history.

A 1980s Childhood: From He-Man to Shell Suits


Michael A. Johnson - 2012
    This amusing and entertaining collection of reminiscences will jog the memories of all who grew up in the same decade where greed was good and mullets were cool.

The New Crewel: Exquisite Designs in Contemporary Embroidery


Katherine Shaughnessy - 2005
    This book offers a fashionable, contemporary update of crewel embroidery with designs and a colour palette that will have every crafter reaching for their needles and thread.

The Who: Maximum R&B


Richard Barnes - 1983
    The band themselves have assisted in this official illustrated record, contributing over 400 photographs (many never seen outside the pages of this book), press cuttings, album sleeves and posters. The Who: Maximum R&B also features complete UK and US discographies, including solo work by the individual members.First published in 1982 and now in its fifth edition, The Who: Maximum R&B is a colourful pictorial joyride widely accepted as the best book on the Who. Updated to detail the creative tensions and the chemistry that allowed the group to reform for one more time on their 2002 tour, it describes the untimely death of bassist John Entwistle on that same tour and features an Introduction by songwriter/guitarist Townshend on the loss of his friend and his own recent legal problems.

The Klondike Stampede


Tappan Adney - 1900
     When news of the discovery arrived in Seattle and San Francisco the following year it triggered one of the largest gold rushes in the history of North America. Tappan Adney, a young writer and photographer who worked for Harper’s Weekly, set out on a journey to uncover and record what it was like in the Klondike stampede. This book is a fascinating portrayal of adventurers and prospectors who descended on the Yukon during this extraordinary event in the late nineteenth century. Adney explains in vivid detail the treacherous route that these gold-hunters were forced to make in order to make it to the Yukon. The White and Chilkoot Passes were fatal for many who attempted to get through them with poor equipment. He stayed in Dawson, where the gold rush was centered, from October 2nd through to September 16th the following year. While there he interviewed men and women who hoped to make their fortune, observed the community that had seemingly sprung up overnight and records in detail how the prospectors searched for gold. “Of hundreds of gold rush accounts, his stands out as one of the best” The British Columbian Quarterly Tappan Adney was an artist, writer and photographer. He recorded the Klondike Gold Rush in his book The Klondike Stampede which was first published in 1900. He passed away in 1950.