But ambition quickly took wing. The house swelled to 225 rooms and became - until 2012 when it was topped by the home of a billionaire in Mumbai, India – the world’s largest residence ever built for a private citizen. Here’s the story of the house that Vanderbilt built - from the gardens by Frederick Law Olmsted to the John Singer Sargent portraits that adorn its walls.

    With the Demi book, you’ll be able to: • Explore a timeline of Demi’s career achievements• Have backstage access of highlights of her international sold out tours• View exclusive behind-the-scenes footage of the recording of her new album Special features include: • A special Foreword written by Ryan Seacrest• An exclusive music video performance of “In Case” from her new album• Over 50 photographs, including personal photos from Demi• A letter from Demi to her fans• Hi-definition behind-the-scenes footage• Interactive widgets, social functionalities and moreFrom sell-out tours to gold and platinum albums and singles, Demi Lovato has amassed a social footprint of over 30 million followers. Demi (the Book) is a special collectible item for all her loyal, self-proclaimed “Lovatics”.

    The book focuses on a side of Washington that is often overlooked: the feisty young frontier officer and the early career of the tough forty-something commander of the revolutionaries' ragtag Continental Army.Award-winning historian Stephen Brumwell shows how, ironically, Washington's reliance upon English models of "gentlemanly" conduct, and on British military organization, was crucial in establishing his leadership of the fledgling Continental Army, and in forging it into the weapon that secured American independence. Drawing on a wide range of sources, including original archival research, Brumwell brings a fresh new perspective on this extraordinary individual, whose fusion of gentleman and warrior left an indelible imprint on history.

    Five objects buried beneath the rubble of lost civilizations point to the hiding place of the fabled Sage Stone. The real adventure begins when a secret society known as the Arkana deploys its agents to recover the relic. They find their quest hampered at every turn by members of a fanatical religious cult called the Blessed Nephilim. The cult's leader, Abraham Metcalf, believes that the Sage Stone can help him create a terrifying new world order.Although keeping the relic out of Metcalf's hands is important, it is even more critical to keep him from finding the Arkana's troves of archaeological treasure. This cache, which has taken centuries to amass, proves the existence of advanced matriarchal cultures on every continent predating patriarchy by thousands of years. The Nephilim would like nothing better than to destroy the cache and its guardians. The global treasure hunt for the Sage Stone has put the Nephilim and the Arkana on a collision course. The only question is whether anyone will survive long enough to claim the prize.Volume One - The Granite KeyIn a nightmare, nineteen-year-old Cassie Forsythe sees her sister attacked by a man in a cowboy hat who demands something called "the key." Her nightmare mutates into reality when she is called to identify her sister's body, murdered exactly as her dream foretold. Cassie dismisses her vision as a fluke until the night she catches the man in the cowboy hat ransacking her sister's apartment. He bolts with an odd-looking stone cylinder--the Granite Key. From that moment, Cassie's normal world evaporates.She learns that her sister led a double life retrieving artifacts for a secret society called the Arkana. Cassie's sister had the ability to touch a relic and relive its past. Cassie has now inherited this dubious gift. The leader of the Arkana wants the girl to take over her sister's role in the organization. She reluctantly agrees in the hopes that they might find her sister's killer. Teamed with librarian Griffin and bodyguard Erik, Cassie is sent to the Minoan ruins of Crete to decipher the key's code. Even as the trio rakes through megalithic tombs and Minoan palaces for clues, Nephilim operatives are closing in. Will Cassie And Company solve the mystery in time or fall victim to the religious cult's ruthless assassin? THE GRANITE KEY holds all the answers.

    The secret, though, that surrounded my parents’ unhappy life together, was divulged to me by accident . . .’ Hidden under some papers in his father’s bureau, the sixteen-year-old Derek Malcolm finds a book by the famous criminologist Edgar Lustgarten called The Judges and the Damned. Browsing through the Contents pages Derek reads, ‘Mr Justice McCardie tries Lieutenant Malcolm – page 33.’ But there is no page 33. The whole chapter has been ripped out of the book. Slowly but surely, the shocking truth emerges: that Derek’s father, shot his wife’s lover and was acquitted at a famous trial at the Old Bailey. The trial was unique in British legal history as the first case of a crime passionel, where a guilty man is set free, on the grounds of self-defence. Husband and wife lived together unhappily ever after, raising Derek in their wake. Then, in a dramatic twist, following his father’s death, Derek receives an open postcard from his Aunt Phyllis, informing him that his real father is the Italian Ambassador to London . . . By turns laconic and affectionate, Derek Malcolm has written a richly evocative memoir of a family sinking into hopeless disrepair. Derek Malcolm was chief film critic of the Guardian for thirty years and still writes for the paper. Educated at Eton and Merton College, Oxford, he became first a steeplechase rider and then an actor after leaving university. He worked as a journalist in the sixties, first in Cheltenham and then with the Guardian where he was a features sub-editor and writer, racing correspondent and finally film critic. He directed the London Film Festival for a spell in the 80s and is now President of both the International Film Critics Association and the British Federation of Film Societies. He lives with his wife Sarah Gristwood in London and Kent and has published two books – one on Robert Mitchum and another on his favourite 100 films. He is a frequent broadcaster on radio and television and a veteran of film festival juries all over the world.

    In Written in Bones, significant discoveries are carefully brought together and analyzed. Readers learn how experts use modern scientific techniques to piece together the stories behind the bones. The data is used to create a picture of cultures and ritual beliefs. There are such astonishing discoveries as:Han Dynasty aristocrat preserved in an unknown red liquid Bog bodies in Europe The riddle of Tomb KV55 - where a male body was found inside a female coffin World's oldest dwarf The headless men and giant wolves of the Mesolithic cemetery in Siberia

    The development of archeological thought is analyzed by examining archeological history to determine to what extent its trends reflect archeologists' personal & collective interests.List of IllustrationsPrefaceThe relevance of archaeological history Classical archaeology & antiquarianismThe beginnings of scientific archaeologyThe imperial synthesis Culture-historical archaeologySoviet archaeology Functionalism in Western archaeology Neo-evolutionism & the new archaeology The explanation of diversity Archaeology & its social contextBibliographical EssayReferencesIndex

    Three English gents who tame the west with their fists and impeccable manners! Enjoy these sweet, clean and wholesome stories of family, friendships, and love set in the old west! Included in this boxed set are: His Praire Princess: When Sadie Jones, the daughter of cattle baron Horatio Jones, set out on her own in search of her dying birth mother, she got more than she bargained for. She never dreamed the stage would be robbed and she herself taken along with the rest of the loot! After all, being kidnapped was the last thing on her mind that morning. Unfortunately, it was the foremost thing that afternoon. Harrison Cooke, raised by his English mother to be the perfect gentleman, simply went to get the mail, not rescue a damsel in distress! But here he was, attempting to rescue the most beautiful woman he had ever seen, and of course, not get them both killed in the process. Her Prairie Knight: Belle Dunnigan hadn't expected Clear Creek to be so remote. It was a far cry from Boston society and she soon learned how hard life out on the Oregon prairie could be. But it wasn't prairie life that was hard. It was living with her Aunt Irene! The woman ruled with an iron fist and hated everyone. Especially the Cooke family. And unfortunately for Belle, the only decent men of the marrying kind within a hundred miles, WERE the Cookes! With spinsterhood starring her in the face, what was she to do? Even worse, she was terribly attracted to Colin Cooke, the one man her aunt hated most of all. HIs Prairie Duchess: Duncan Cooke had a problem. A really BIG problem. As the next Duke of Stantham, he would have power and position, a wealthy estate and the means to take care of his family for years to come. His father and mother could only dream something like this would happen to their eldest son and now their dream was a reality. So what was the problem? He had to get married in the next thirty-eight days or lose it all. Unfortunately, Duncan lived in Clear Creek. A place where there wasn't a single female around for hundreds of miles. Except one. Her Prairie Viking: Andel Berg came to Clear Creek under the guise of becoming the new blacksmith, but little did the townspeople of Clear Creek know that he was so much more! Madeline Van Zuyen came to Clear Creek for a new beginning and the chance to start a new life. Little did she know that SHE was so much more! Mr. Berg had a duty to perform. Find the Princess Madelaina at any cost, retrieve her, and deliver her to Count Rudge, one of the most despicable men Andel had ever known. Not an appealing task for a Captain of the King's Guard but unfortunately, Andel had no choice. If he didn't deliver the princess Count Rudge would kill his father and Andel was prepared to do anything to keep that from happening. But Andel hadn't counted on falling in love.

    However, the death of her parents and the cruelty of her guardians leaves Eliza and her sister, Hannah, in a precarious situation. Thomas Flannagan has vowed never to love again after the death of his young wife shortly after their arrival in America. His need for a wife, and his desire to keep the Fairchild sisters safe motivate him to propose a marriage of convenience. Working together to create a home in the wild Kansas prairie brings Thomas and Eliza closer together, but the tender shoots of affection between them are threatened when her sister's past catches up with them. Wagon Train Wife is a Christian historical novel and the first in the brand new 'Walton Valley' series.

    This riveting story effortlessly captures both the hardships of daily life and the political realities of Tudor England. 1549 - A COUNTRY DIVIDED Two years after the death of King Henry VIII, England is a turbulent realm. His son, Edward, the child monarch is too young to rule, and the government is factious. The nobility jostle for personal power and prestige. The treasury is empty and the elite of wealthy landowners are bent on exploiting the poor. AN UNLIKELY LEADER When a yeoman farmer from Norfolk, Robert Kett, finds himself at the centre of a local dispute, his impulsive actions plunge him into a precarious alliance with the dissenting commoners. THE AFFRAY To prevail, Kett must bring order to the chaos, impose his own justice, overcome the deception and betrayal that surrounds him and stay true to his cause. As events spiral and disobedience sparks rebellion, can his leadership withstand the dangers and opportunities of a country struggling to leave its past and discover its future? BASED ON REAL EVENTS

    As an older, cannier politician he co-founded the original Republican party, setting the course of American political partisanship. Finally, having pioneered a foreign policy based on economic sanctions, he took the United States into a high-risk conflict, becoming the first wartime president and, despite the odds, winning.Now Noah Feldman offers an intriguing portrait of this elusive genius and the constitutional republic he created—and how both evolved to meet unforeseen challenges. Madison hoped to eradicate partisanship yet found himself giving voice to, and institutionalizing, the political divide. Madison’s lifelong loyalty to Thomas Jefferson led to an irrevocable break with George Washington, hero of the American Revolution. Madison closely collaborated with Alexander Hamilton on the Federalist papers—yet their different visions for the United States left them enemies. Alliances defined Madison, too. The vivacious Dolley Madison used her social and political talents to win her husband new supporters in Washington—and define the diplomatic customs of the capital’s society. Madison’s relationship with James Monroe, a mixture of friendship and rivalry, shaped his presidency and the outcome of the War of 1812. We may be more familiar with other Founding Fathers, but the United States today is in many ways Madisonian in nature. Madison predicted that foreign threats would justify the curtailment of civil liberties. He feared economic inequality and the power of financial markets over politics, believing that government by the people demanded resistance to wealth. Madison was the first Founding Father to recognize the importance of public opinion, and the first to understand that the media could function as a safeguard to liberty. The Three Lives of James Madison is an illuminating biography of the man whose creativity and tenacity gave us America’s distinctive form of government. His collaborations, struggles, and contradictions define the United States to this day.

    An unfortunately common situation...quickly develops into a wonderfully uncommon and heartfelt adventure." - An Erma Bombeck "Hot Tamale" http://humorwriters.org/2016/02/19/ho... - “Spot-on, highly entertaining, and absolutely hilarious” - Lynne Willard, Editor & U.S. expat - - "Jaw droppingly hilarious" Carol Penn-Romaine, award-winning writer - - A wealth of cultural information tucked between the chuckles - - Includes discussion questions for book clubs & classrooms - - As the zany protagonist comes to understand Mexico & appreciate Hispanic culture, readers do the same - - 20% of profits go to the ACLU - - "Holy Cow! This book is hilarious!" - Cynthia Norman, Cosmic Philosopher - “Learning about a new culture can be hilarious – as seen through this book!” – Diane Gilliard, Counselor - An Amazon Top-10 Bestseller in Travel/Mexico (7/17-9/17); Biography/Memoir, Crimes & Criminals, Solo Travel, Single Parenting, Teen & Young Adult Biographies (various dates) - SYNOPSIS A suburban housewife liberates herself from her peanut-butter-and-jelly life and flees to Mexico. While battling the cultural quirks that send less adventurous souls hightailing it back to the U.S., she struggles to learn Spanish, cope with foreign customs, raise her kids, and run a school. To supplement her meager income she smuggles, using her gift for gab and wily wit to outfox the government officials. But not all of her smuggling tricks and tactics go as planned. EMBEDDED MULTICULTURAL ISSUES - The women’s movement - The 1960s cultural revolution - Culture shock - Immigrant adjustment & adaptation - Immigrant parenting issues - Identity development in children of immigrants - Intergenerational value clashes in immigrant families - Diverse customs & mores - Racism - Sexism - Prejudice - Classism - Ageism - Cultural evolution - Expatriate re-integration - Individualist/Independent (e.g., North American) vs. Interdependent/Collectivist (e.g., Hispanic) orientation to: ° Time (past/present/future) ° Activity (being/becoming/doing) ° Social relations (hierarchical/collateral/egalitarian) ° Self-efficacy (fate/destiny vs. personal control)

    Generations have been told Burr was a betrayer of Hamilton, of his country, of those who had nobler ideas. All untrue. He did not turn on Hamilton; rather, the politically aggressive Hamilton was preoccupied with Burr and subverted Burr's career at every turn for more than a decade through outright lies and slanderous letters. In Fallen Founder, Nancy Isenberg portrays the founders as they all really were and proves that Burr was no less a patriot and no less a principled thinker than those who debased him. He was an inspired politician who promoted decency at a moment when factionalism and ugly party politics were coalescing. He was a genuine hero of the Revolution, as much an Enlightenment figure as Jefferson, and a feminist generations ahead of his time. A brilliant orator and lawyer, he was New York's attorney general, a senator, and vice president. Denounced as a man of extreme tastes, he in fact pursued a moderate course, and his political assassination was accomplished by rivals who feared his power and who promoted the notion of his sexual perversions. Fallen Founder is an antidote to the worshipful biographies far too prevalent in the histories of the revolutionary era. Burr's story returns us to reality: to the cunning politicians our nation's founders really were and to a world of political maneuvering, cutthroat politicking, and media slander that is stunningly modern.

    When famed archaeologist Arthur Evans unearthed the ruins of a sophisticated Bronze Age civilization that flowered on Crete 1,000 years before Greece's Classical Age, he discovered a cache of ancient tablets, Europe's earliest written records. For half a century, the meaning of the inscriptions, and even the language in which they were written, would remain a mystery. Award-winning New York Times journalist Margalit Fox's riveting real-life intellectual detective story travels from the Bronze Age Aegean--the era of Odysseus, Agamemnon, and Helen--to the turn of the 20th century and the work of charismatic English archeologist Arthur Evans, to the colorful personal stories of the decipherers. These include Michael Ventris, the brilliant amateur who deciphered the script but met with a sudden, mysterious death that may have been a direct consequence of the decipherment; and Alice Kober, the unsung heroine of the story whose painstaking work allowed Ventris to crack the code.

    Each is a prize winner! Fictional short stories based on true life events. The book is approximately 100 pages. The stories, while containing fictional characters reflect the true, heroism of the time and era of the Holocaust.The uprising of the Lodz ghetto, a rare romance in a concentration camp and the Sobibor escape are captured in this book. Different perspectives and gripping horror from real life accounts. A must read.