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The Wright Brothers: by David McCullough | Summary & Analysis


aBookaDay - 2015
    The Wright Brothers is an historical narrative that draws on extensive archival materials, personal journals, and public records to tell the story of the Wright brothers as men of incredible character and determination along the road towards their significant contributions to aviation history. The summary parallels the structure of the book which is divided into three parts. The first part explores the period of the boys’ childhood through their work on flight testing various models of gliders. The second part picks up with the addition of the engine to the Wright planes and traces the brother’s work through the early stages of powered flight, roughly 1903 to 1908. Part three follows the brothers, now globally famous, through the years when they captured the most attention for their accomplishments. A central aspect of this historical account is the development of Orville and Wilbur Wright as individuals who showed fierce determination in the face of relentless setbacks. It also sheds light on their private nature and their deep bond as brothers. McCullough is a two time winner of the Pulitzer Prize for other historical works, Truman and John Adams. He also won the National Book Award twice and is a recipient of the Presidential Medal of Freedom. His educational background includes a degree in English Literature from Yale University. He is also a well-known narrator, as well as previous host of American Experience. Read more....

Stella's Secret: A True Story of Holocaust Survival


Jerry L. Jennings - 2005
    But it is Stella’s voice, the amazing way that she tells her story, that makes this Holocaust story so unique, powerful and endearing. The reader listens to Stella’s stunning simplicity of expression, her use of Polish and Yiddish phrases, her humor, her all-so-frequent grammatical errors – and is charmed. It is a story that only Stella Yollin can tell, and it can only be told in Stella’s sweet and incomparable way.

The Truth Rundown: Stories of violence, intimidation and control in the world of Scientology


The Tampa Bay Times - 2015
    Rathbun told Times reporters the story of his years in Scientology and what led to his leaving. That resulted in interviews with scores of other people in the Scientology world, including former staffers, disaffected parishioners and current church members.Thus began the Times' ongoing series, "Inside Scientology," which launched with an installment called "The Truth Rundown," published in June of 2009. That initial work — the focus of this book — shed unprecedented light on the internal workings of a secretive church that generates interest around the world.

The Clown in the Belfry: Writings on Faith and Fiction


Frederick Buechner - 1992
    Buechner is the author of many works of fiction and nonfiction, including Godric (nominated for a Pulitzer Prize) and Telling Secrets.

Buying Disney's World: The Story of How Florida Swampland Became Walt Disney World


Aaron H. Goldberg - 2021
    He announced to the public his grandiose plans for the thousands of acres he had secretly purchased.For the eighteen months prior to the announcement, Walt entrusted a small group of men to covertly make these purchases. Next, they were tasked with drafting a legislative act to submit to the state of Florida that would allow Disney to wield nearly absolute legal control over the property under a quasi-government municipality.Staying true to its storytelling roots, Disney wove a tale of mystery centered around a high-ranking CIA operative, who was rumored to have been, just a few short years before, the paymaster behind the Bay of Pigs Invasion in Cuba.This savvy and well-connected CIA agent became the de facto leader for the group of Disney executives and attorneys who orchestrated and executed a nearly perfect plan to keep Disney’s identity a secret from the public by utilizing aliases, shell corporations, and meandering travel itineraries, all in an effort to protect the company’s identity during the land acquisition process.As told through the personal notes and files from the key figures involved in the project, Buying Disney’s World details the story of how Walt Disney World came to be, like you’ve never heard before.From conception to construction and everything in between—including how a parcel of land within Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort was acquired during a high-stakes poker game—explore how the company most famous for creating Mickey Mouse acquired central Florida’s swamps, orange groves, and cow pastures to build a Disney fiefdom and a Magic Kingdom.

A History of the World's Religions


David S. Noss - 1990
    A four-part organization covers: Some Primal and Bygone Religions, The Religions of South Asia, The Religions of E

Is He Nuts?: Why a Gay Man Would Become a Member of the Church of Jesus Christ


Dennis Schleicher - 2019
    The growing realization that he was gay coupled with his parents' use of religion to justify abuse and neglect led Dennis to have a very complicated relationship with love, God, and organized religion. After suffering a violent hate crime, forced institutionalization, and heartbreak after heartbreak, Dennis was desperate for love and acceptance--he just didn't know where to find it. Walk a mile in Dennis's shoes and see from his eyes how the only love that can truly make you whole is that of the Savior.

Welcome to Islam: A Step-by-Step Guide for New Muslims


Mustafa Umar - 2012
    'Welcome to Islam' is a step-by-step guide to help people who have just accepted Islam. It teaches them the absolute basics of Islam that they should learn within their first month of being a Muslim. This work is not another introductory book on Islam but rather a step-by-step instruction manual that allows you to start practicing what you learn immediately. It also contains valuable advice on some common challenges that new Muslims often face.

Why Are There Monkeys? (and Other Questions for God)


Brooke Jones - 2021
    I loved it!" Howard Rosenberg -- Pulitzer Prize winning former Los Angeles Times columnist and author.Brooke Jones, Breast Cancer Warrior, Political Satirist, and former star of San Francisco and Los Angeles radio died...but her death was short-lived. 8 minutes passed here on Earth while she was busy being dead, but she wasn't on Earth -- she was at Heaven's Front Door, having a Question and Answer Session with God!"What is the meaning of life?" "What religion is God?" "Is God male or female?" Brooke asked every question she could think of, and God provided the answers. The first thing she learned was that God has a sense of humor! (Well of course God has a sense of humor -- have you ever seen a Platypus?)Was she returned to the Land Of The Living because of the startling final question she asked? Did all that she experienced really happen, or was it just the hallucination of a dying brain? She didn't know, until...she was given proof - absolute proof - proof she could not possibly deny!'Why Are There Monkeys? (and other questions for God)" is the absolutely TRUE, INSPIRATIONAL, laugh-out-loud FUNNY story of one woman's Near-Death Question and Answer Session with God. "By God, Brooke Jones is a hell of a writer!" Ben Fong-Torres -- former Editor of Rolling Stone Magazine."Delightful, insightful, spiritual, and startlingly funny! It left me, an atheist, more of a believer than I was before. I loved every minute of it!" Ray Richmond -- former columnist with The Hollywood Reporter, Daily Variety, Orange County Register, LA Herald-Examiner.

As if it were yesterday: An old fat man remembers his youth as a Marine in Vietnam


Lee Suydam - 2017
    I try to tell what it was like for me and my brother Marines without fanfare or bravado and give the reader a vivid description of my 13 months.

Dodge City, the Cowboy Capital, and the great Southwest in the days of the wild Indian, the buffalo, the cowboy, dance halls, gambling halls and bad men (1913)


Robert Marr Wright - 1975
     With all that has been said about Dodge City no true account of conditions as they were in the early days was accessible until publication of Robert Wright's 1911 book "Dodge City, the Cowboy Capital." The author was especially well qualified to write a history of the "wicked city of the plains" since he had lived on the frontier for many years previous to the founding of the city and lived in the city from its opening. He had all the experience gleaned as a plainsman, explorer, scout, trader and as mayor of the town. His is a most interesting narrative of early days, as well as a very valuable contribution to western history. Prior to founding Dodge City in 1868, at 16 years old Wright came West to Missouri. In 1859 he made the first of six overland trips across the plains to Denver. He was later appointed post trader at Fort Dodge in 1867, when Kiowa, Comanche, Cheyenne, Arapahoe, and Prairie Apache abounded there. Wright was acquainted with old-school Western sheriff and gunfighter Bat Masterson, of whom he said, "Bat is a gentleman by instinct. He is a man of pleasant manners, good address and mild disposition, until aroused, and then, for God's sake, look out! "Bat was a most loyal man to his friends. If anyone did him a favor, he never forgot it. I believe that if one of his friends was confined in jail and there was the least doubt of his innocence, he would take a crow-bar and 'jimmy' and dig him out, at the dead hour of midnight; and, if there were determined men guarding him, he would take these desperate chances...." Wright describes a typical day in Dodge: "Someone ran by my store at full speed, crying out, 'Our marshal is being murdered in the dance hall!' I, with several others, quickly ran to the dance hall and burst in the door. The house was so dense with smoke from the pistols a person could hardly see, but Ed Masterson had corralled a lot in one corner of the hall, with his sixshooter in his left hand, holding them there until assistance could reach him...." Wright also describes one hair-raising encounter he witnessed from a roof on his ranch: "The savages circled around the poor Mexican again and again; charged him from the front and rear and on both sides. Presently the poor fellow's horse went down, and he lay behind it for awhile. Then he cut the girth, took off the saddle, and started for the river, running at every possible chance, using the saddle as a shield, stopping to show fight only when the savages pressed him too closely

Man and His Symbols


C.G. Jung - 1964
    The great psychologist dreamed that his work was understood by a wide public, rather than just by psychiatrists, and therefore he agreed to write and edit this fascinating book. Here, Jung examines the full world of the unconscious, whose language he believed to be the symbols constantly revealed in dreams. Convinced that dreams offer practical advice, sent from the unconscious to the conscious self, Jung felt that self-understanding would lead to a full and productive life. Thus, the reader will gain new insights into himself from this thoughtful volume, which also illustrates symbols throughout history. Completed just before his death by Jung and his associates, it is clearly addressed to the general reader.

St. Therese of Lisieux: Her Last Conversations


Thérèse de Lisieux - 1977
    Translation of J'entre dans la vie, originally issued under title: Novissima verba.

Living Buddha: Interpretive Biography


Daisaku Ikeda - 1973
    This book presents the Buddha not as a mystic figure, but as a human being who struggled to attain enlightenment and to aid mankind in freeing itself from suffering and delusion.

On Meditation: Finding Infinite Bliss and Power Within


Sri M. - 2019