The Rose of Middleham


Christina Smee - 2015
    Richard, Duke of Gloucester, later to become King Richard III, takes possession of the castle upon his marriage to a wealthy heiress but this does nothing to diminish the love Christiana has for him. She bears the duke an illegitimate son and against all odds continues to live and work as a servant within the castle walls. Christiana’s devotion spans twenty four years and follows Richard’s fortunes from the north of England to the battlefields of the Wars of the Roses and his ultimate death. Christiana’s story does not end with the death of the king and she finds it within herself to carry on despite being a woman alone and destitute until she eventually finds the love and happiness that had always existed but never acknowledged. Based upon historical fact and recent new evidence that has come to light since the discovery of the mortal remains of Richard III this is a story that weaves a rich tapestry of life in Medieval England and portrays the much-maligned figure of King Richard in a more favourable light.

Sachin Tendulkar: A Definitive Biography


Vaibhav Purandare - 2002
    The book talks about Sachin Tendulkar, the renowned Indian cricketer, and throws light on his professional and personal life. It also attempts to present the attributes of the past that shaped Sachin to become one of the most prolific batsmen in the world. Sachin Tendulkar: A Definitive Biography throws light on the preparation that Sachin undertook to achieve all the milestones that he aimed for. The book highlights the highs and lows of his career, and the personal and professional tragedies that he suffered, and also the news that were contentious about him. This biography outlines the personal life of Sachin, which has not been reflected in the public domain so far.Vaibhav Purandare spent his early cricketing days at Shivaji Park, Mumbai, almost around the same time Sachin Tendulkar also had spent his time at the park. He has authored books like The Sena Story and Sachin Tendulkar: A Life In Perspective. Purandare is a journalist by profession, and currently holds the position of Senior Associate Editor with the Mumbai Edition of Hindustan Times.

The Joy of Life


Mary Beth Smith - 2013
    If you have read other books about him, read this one to discover more about his philosophy and spirituality based on his own works. It covers his entire life from birth to death. The Joy of Life distills the personality of Theodore Roosevelt into one medium-sized book. Quotes appear in this book which show him to be funny, hyperactive, energetic, exciting, enthusiastic, entertaining and lovable. His contemporaries say such things as: the more I see him the more and more I love him; work was an entertainment with him there; it was love at first sight; never have we laughed so much as when T.R. was our host. The book shows what motivated him at each stage of his life. During his Police Commissioner days he said to Jacob Riis, author of How the Other Half Lives, "I have read your book and I have come to help." Charging up San Juan hill he realized that he was destined to become a great leader of people like his Rough Riders: a mixed group who included cowboys, Indians, Ivy Leaguers, hispanics, marshals, negroes and Texas Rangers. His greatest effort was in conservation. He preserved millions of acres of land including wildlife refuges, national parks, national monuments and irrigation projects. He accomplished many things in his life but would have obtained a place in history for that alone.

The Nell Sweeney Historical Mysteries


P.B. Ryan - 2011
    Ryan’s bestselling historical mysteries, originally published by Berkley Prime Crime. Set in post-Civil War Boston, the series features Irish-born governess Nell Sweeney and opium-smoking former battle surgeon Will Hewitt. Book #1, Still Life with Murder, a #1 national bestseller - Long thought to have died during the Civil War, Will is arrested for murder, and it's up to Nell to prove his innocence. “P.B. Ryan makes a stunning debut with Still Life with Murder...I can’t wait for the next installment.” Bestselling author Victoria Thompson Book #2, Murder in a Mill Town, a finalist for the Mary Higgins Clark Award – “When Viola Hewitt needs help locating two missing people, she turns to Nell. Working with Viola’s son Will, an opium addict who knows his way around the back alleys and gambling dens, Nell finds the two murdered, and all evidence points to Will’s brother Harry as the killer... Ryan creates characters you care about and a plot that holds your interest as you try to unmask the killer. Lively and intriguing, this is a fast-paced, wonderful read.” RT BookReviews Book #3, Death on Beacon Hill – “Sick at the slander that says his niece murdered Virginia Kimball, Brady, a driver for the wealthy Hewitts, asks Nell Sweeney to investigate her death... with the help of the Hewitt’s black sheep son, Will... Death on Beacon Hill continues Ms. Ryan’s excellent Nell Sweeney series. The rich characterization and her strong evocation of place, coupled with a well-plotted tale, make for a rich story. Add a clever conclusion and Ms. Ryan delivers a fascinating read.” Fresh Fiction Book # 4, Murder on Black Friday – “When the bodies of two [wealthy] men... are found, it’s assumed that they committed suicide over their financial losses. But when Harvard professor and forensic scientist Will Hewitt autopsies the victims, he discovers that [one] was murdered.... He turns to governess Nell Sweeney, who understands the world of the rich and how their power can be used to hide their secrets.... Not only does Ryan provide readers with a tightly wound, suspenseful novel peopled with multidimensional characters, she writes about an era whose problems mirror our own. This is a historical period she knows and brings to life so clearly that readers are totally immersed. Nell is an ideal heroine: smart, intrepid and human. Be on the lookout for her return.” RT BookReviews Book #5, Murder in the North End – Nell and Will infiltrate the worst neighborhood in Boston to keep Det. Colin Cook from being framed for murder. “Plucky Nell and her helpmate Will are well-developed characters who are likeable and smart. The cast of supporting characters in this book is colorful and well drawn, making the book an easy read. All of the books in this series are enjoyable; Murder in the North End is no exception.... I eagerly await the next Gilded Age mystery.” Cozy Library Book #6, A Bucket of Ashes – Nell and a wounded Will reunite on Cape Cod to investigate the death of her long-lost brother. “As always, the author excels at setting the scene, evoking the time and place by use of the day-to-day details as well as historical events... This has been a gorgeously written series, populated with unique and unforgettable characters. I’m truly sorry to see it end, and will, no doubt, be re-reading these keepers.” CA Reviews About the Author: Patricia Ryan, a.k.a. P.B. Ryan, is the USA Today bestselling author of more than two dozen novels, including the #1 national bestseller Still Life with Murder. Pat's books have garnered rave reviews and been published in over twenty countries.

Dr. Feelgood: The Shocking Story of the Doctor Who May Have Changed History by Treating and Drugging JFK, Marilyn, Elvis, and Other Prominent Figures


Richard A. Lertzman - 2013
    Kennedy code-named “Dr. Feelgood,” developed a unique “energy formula” that altered the paths of some of the twentieth century’s most iconic figures, including President and Jackie Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, Frank Sinatra, and Elvis. JFK received his first injection (a special mix of “vitamins and hormones,” according to Jacobson) just before his first debate with Vice President Richard Nixon. The shot into JFK’s throat not only cured his laryngitis, but also diminished the pain in his back, allowed him to stand up straighter, and invigorated the tired candidate. Kennedy demolished Nixon in that first debate and turned a tide of skepticism about Kennedy into an audience that appreciated his energy and crispness. What JFK didn’t know then was that the injections were actually powerful doses of a combination of highly addictive liquid methamphetamine and steroids.Author and researcher Rick Lertzman and New York Times bestselling author Bill Birnes reveal heretofore unpublished material about the mysterious Dr. Feelgood. Through well-researched prose and interviews with celebrities including George Clooney, Jerry Lewis, Yogi Berra, and Sid Caesar, the authors reveal Jacobson’s vast influence on events such as the assassination of JFK, the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Kennedy-Khrushchev Vienna Summit, the murder of Marilyn Monroe, the filming of the C. B. DeMille classic The Ten Commandments, and the work of many of the great artists of that era. Jacobson destroyed the lives of several famous patients in the entertainment industry and accidentally killed his own wife, Nina, with an overdose of his formula.

None Shall Divide Us


Michael Anthony Stone - 2003
    His name and face are painted on walls across Belfast, and his desire to remove Adams and McGuinness from the political spectrum has turned him into a local super-hero. A meticulous killing machine, he executed six men, whose deaths were claimed under different Loyalist groupings, and when justice finally caught up with him he was sentenced to 800 years in prison. Twelve years later, he left a free man, renounced terrorism, apologized for the suffering he had caused and said the fledgling peace process was the only way forward. This is his own true story.

Joe: the Horse Nobody Loved


Vicky Kaseorg - 2015
    And no one trusts him. Until Vicky. This is the story of a troubled horse, and the little girl who loved him. Based on the true adventures of her childhood fifty years ago, the author's horse, Joe, teaches the lesson that sometimes beauty is not skin-deep, but heart deep, and that the unloved have much to show us about the true nature of love.

Queen Victoria's Cousins


Christina Croft - 2016
    From the newly-created Empire of Mexico, to the largely undiscovered African Congo, their influence crossed continents; and their lives, spanning more than a century, were interwoven with some of the most significant events of the age. They experienced wars, revolutions, personal tragedies and national disasters, and, as in any extended family, their characters were as varied as their experiences. Among them were princes, potentates and dukes; dutiful wives and desperate daughters; an Empress; three Kings; the consorts of Queens; and the spouses of theatre performers and a circus artiste. With several, Queen Victoria maintained a lifelong correspondence, while others were gradually distanced from her. All, however, contributed something to her life’s experience, and many repaid her devotion with love.

A Nurse and Mother


Evelyn Prentis - 2012
    It was the smile that one woman gives to another and not the chilly facial movement from Matrons of old. "Do you think you would be able to work 9 to 3.30?" For a moment I couldn't think at all. There seemed something not quite right in being paid for so little labour.' At the end of the Second World War, as husbands came back to Civvy Street their wives had the luxury of staying at home with the children. For a short while at least. Soon Evelyn realised she had to find part-time work to make ends meet, and to her astonishment she was offered part-time hours at her old hospital.The day-to-day job hadn't changed much, but she was now a nurse and mother. Whooping cough and measles could still kill a small child, and the early '50s polio epidemic left the whole country in shock.But the nurses worked hard, moaned incessantly about their aching feet and yet found things to laugh at, just as they did from the start of their training. If old soldiers never die, then neither do nurses.

Fireball: The true story of a Tennessee plow girl who survived poverty, abuse, and eleven husbands with wit, wisdom, and tenacity.


Hazel Lindsey - 2016
    I am 84 years old. I only had one year of schooling, but I am self-taught. I worked hard all my life. I plowed fields, cut timber, raised hogs, and managed several businesses. I got married 11 times. I buried two of my babies, but I brung up three children of my own and four step children. I met some of my husbands – and lots of boyfriends – while playing guitar, singing, and buck dancing at country jubilees. I have survived cancer, and one of my husbands choked me to death, but my sweet momma brought me back to life. I shot one husband a little bit, and later, when he was dying of cancer, he was stole from the hospital, and, to this day, I don’t know where he is buried at. I like to tell people I am a movie star, cause I played the wife of a coal miner in the movie October Sky. My life started out hard with poverty and abuse, but all-in-all it’s been a pretty good life. This is my story, and I’d like for you to hear it and learn that no matter how bad things gets, you can overcome and be happy.

Babylon Rising: And The First Shall Be Last (updated and expanded)


Rob Skiba - 2012
    Capitol Building all have in common? Will the first Antichrist rise again? Will ancient Babylon once again become a prominent player in the Last Days? Will America be the catalyst through which both return? Why do the actions of our presidents, the iconography on the back of the U.S. one dollar bill, and the monuments of Washington, DC all seem to indicate that it will be? Find out in this updated and expanded edition of Babylon Rising: And The First Shall Be Last.

The Inheritance: Poisoned Fruit of JFK's Assassination


Christopher Fulton - 2018
    Kennedy. Through Lincoln, crucial evidence ended up in Christopher's hands—evidence that was going to be used to facilitate a new future for America. But the U.S. government's position was clear: that evidence had to be confiscated and classified, and the truth hidden away from the public. Christopher was sent to federal prison for years under a sealed warrant and indictment. The Inheritance, Christopher's personal narrative, shares insider information from his encounters with the Russian Government, President Ronald Reagan, Donald Trump, the Clinton White House, the U.S. Justice Department, the Secret Service, and the Kennedy family themselves. It reveals the true intentions of Evelyn Lincoln and her secret promise to Robert Kennedy—and Christopher's secret promise to John F. Kennedy Jr. The Inheritance explodes with history-changing information and answers the questions Americans are still asking, while pulling them through a gauntlet of some of the worst prisons this country has to offer. This book thrillingly exposes the reality of American power, and sheds light on the dark corners of current corruption within the executive branch and the justice and prison systems.

Nelson Mandela


Rowena Akinyemi - 2002
    But the young boy's early years were happy ones, and he grew up to be a good student and an enthusiastic sportsman. Who could imagine then what was waiting for Nelson Mandela - the tireless struggle for human rights, the long years in prison, the happiness and sadness of family life, and one day the title of President of South Africa?

Above Average: Naval Aviation The Hard Way


D.D. Smith - 2018
    D. Smith's personal memoir of his years in naval aviation is more than a ‘I was there’ tale. He captures the myriad of challenges that was Naval Aviation before the Vietnam War. When I arrived in the fleet, D. D. Smith and his compadres were the squadron execs or COs who led us nuggets into the inferno of Vietnam… A huge tip of the hat to D.D. Smith. This book will appeal to every naval aviator or NFO of whatever era. Highly recommended.” But the book is much more. It is a cleverly written and refreshingly honest story of the author’s life and times as he fights his way from rural Minnesota to the blazing skies over North Vietnam. Commander Smith flew 138 combat missions and made more than 800 carrier arrested landings. As the Navy’s first Chief Test Pilot, his tests in the F-14 led to the first EVER flat spin in a Tomcat – and it nearly killed him. No swaggering bravado here; this is a fresh, insightful look at life, luck and guts – in Vietnam and beyond.

Twenty Years Before the Mast


Charles Erskine - 1888
     He would go on to travel to some of the most unexplored regions, meeting men and women who had never seen westerners before. Along the journey the crew meet Patagonians, Fijians, Tahitians, Aborigines, and many other peoples. Although the Wilkes expedition was largely scientific mission, the ships were not always peaceful, indeed there were a number of armed conflicts with Pacific Islanders as the United States began to assert its authority across the globe. The ships and their crews had to withstand some of the most appalling conditions as they continued their expedition, from the heat-driven mirages of the South Atlantic to the brutal cold of the Antarctic seas. What makes Erskine’s narrative so remarkable is that he is not writing from the perspective of an admiral or a scientific explorer, but instead from the viewpoint of a common sailor. Interspersed throughout the narrative are short ditties and sailor’s songs that provide a vivid picture of the mentality of nineteenth century seamen. After the Wilkes expedition landed back in the United States Erskine spent only brief moments on dry land as he frequently registered under new ships and continued his journeys. Erskine’s book is a fascinating first-hand account of exploration and maritime life aboard a tall ship. Twenty Years Before the Mast was published in 1896 towards the end of Erskine’s life.