A Narrative of a Revolutionary Soldier: Some Adventures, Dangers, and Sufferings of Joseph Plumb Martin


Joseph Plumb Martin - 1830
    In this first-hand account of the Revolutionary War, Joseph Plumb Martin narrates his true adventures as an eighteen-year-old private in the Continental Army -- and gives a rare glimpse of the earthy beginnings of our nation's history.

John Jay: A Life From Beginning to End


Hourly History - 2018
    First Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Governor of New York. Negotiator of the treaty to end the American Revolution and the treaty that would stave off a second war with Great Britain for a few vital years until the infant nation was strong enough to take on its former adversary once again. Abolitionist. Father of American counterintelligence. Inside you will read about... - The Forgotten Founding Father - The Jays of New York - The Father of American Counterintelligence - Negotiating the Treaty of Paris - The Unpopular Jay Treaty And much more! How is it that the Renaissance man of America's early history is so little known, with no image on Mount Rushmore, no face on currency, and certainly no Broadway musical to his posthumous credit? Perhaps it's because he was not a man who sought renown. Throughout his career, others, including George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and John Adams, sought his help when the country was in need of his skills. John Jay's role in the establishment of the United States, a country that was founded upon ideals of freedom and democracy, has almost been forgotten. But that omission is now being remedied as editors at Columbia University plan to release a seven-volume biography of Jay's life by 2020. In the meantime, discover for yourself the remarkable story of one of the architects of the American nation, John Jay.

I Was Amelia Earhart


Jane Mendelsohn - 1996
    And she tells us about herself.There is her love affair with flying ("The sky is flesh") . . . .There are her memories of the past: her childhood desire to become a heroine ("Heroines did what they wanted") . . . her marriage to G.P. Putnam, who promoted her to fame, but was willing to gamble her life so that the book she was writing about her round-the-world flight would sell out before Christmas.There is the flight itself -- day after magnificent or perilous or exhilarating or terrifying day ("Noonan once said any fool could have seen I was risking my life but not living it").And there is, miraculously, an island ("We named it Heaven, as a kind of joke").And, most important, there is Noonan . . .

Our Revolution: A Future to Believe In


Bernie Sanders - 2016
    In the book, Sanders shares experiences from the campaign trail and outlines his ideas for continuing a political revolution to fight for a progressive economic, environmental, racial and social justice agenda that creates jobs, raises wages, protects the environment and provides health care for all.

TOM MIX AND PANCHO VILLA: A Romance of the Mexican Revolution and the 20th Century West


Clifford Irving - 1982
    a high-stepping, swashbuckling romance inspired by the unassailable historical fact that in his greenhorn youth, before he became a movie-star cowboy, Tom Mix rode in the company of the peasant revolutionary Pancho Villa ... Who among us has not wished he'd grown up as romantically as Mix does here?" -- New York Times Book Review "With Tom Mix and Pancho Villa, Clifford Irving takes his place among the giants of contemporary literature, dazzling us all with this robust, rousing, rip-roaring work of art." -- Ernest Lehman "Fabulous, big, rawboned wild-blooded adventure tale that gives the sights and sounds and smells of a turn-of-the-century world real enough to touch. Clifford Irving has written a novel to make any writer proud and many readers grateful." -- Los Angeles Herald Examiner "Intelligently conceived, rapidly paced, attitudinally wry, earthy - a well-written, cannily contemporary tale about the past." -- Dallas Times Herald ----- It's 1913, and Tom Mix, young cowboy and future movie star, rides south of the border to fight at the side of the charismatic Pancho Villa, Mexican revolutionary leader, already a legend. In the violent beauty of war-torn Mexico a partnership is formed, and an epic is born. Caught up in this sumptuous panoramic novel are some of the most dynamic characters ever to come to life on a page: Hannah, Tom's voluptuous Jewish fiancée; Rosa, the beautiful Indian child widow who loves Tom; Elisa, the sophisticated German rancher who becomes his mistress; Rudolfo Fierro, "the butcher," who lives to kill his enemies and vows to end Tom's life; Lieutenant George S. Patton, Jr., who ceaselessly hunts both Villa and Fierro; and above all, the tempestuous Pancho Villa, a man of ungovernable emotions, a hero and, at the same time, a villain larger than life. This is a story of romance and friendship, loyalty and revenge, politics and gold - an adventure that Publishers Weekly called "grand entertainment, full of wit, charm, and zest." The Los Angeles Times wrote that "Irving spins a fantasy worthy of Mark Twain," and the Houston Chronicle said, "Irving's wonderful big new book is a rollicking, ribald tale." The Chicago Tribune concluded that "[Tom Mix's] exploits - on the battlefield, behind the lines, in bed - are told with riveting skill."

Empire of Deception: The Incredible Story of a Master Swindler Who Seduced a City and Captivated the Nation


Dean Jobb - 2015
    It was a time of unregulated madness. And nowhere was it madder than in Chicago at the dawn of the Roaring Twenties. Speakeasies thrived, gang war shootings announced Al Capone’s rise to underworld domination, Chicago’s corrupt political leaders fraternized with gangsters, and the frenzy of stock market gambling was rampant. Enter a slick, smooth-talking, charismatic lawyer named Leo Koretz, who enticed hundreds of people (who should have known better) to invest as much as $30 million--upwards of $400 million today--in phantom timberland and nonexistent oil wells in Panama. When Leo’s scheme finally collapsed in 1923, he vanished, and the Chicago state’s attorney, a man whose lust for power equaled Leo’s own lust for money, began an international manhunt that lasted almost a year. When finally apprehended, Leo was living a life of luxury in Nova Scotia under the assumed identity of a book dealer and literary critic. His mysterious death in a Chicago prison topped anything in his almost-too-bizarre-to-believe life.Empire of Deception is not only an incredibly rich and detailed account of a man and an era; it’s a fascinating look at the methods of swindlers throughout history. Leo Koretz was the Bernie Madoff of his day, and Dean Jobb shows us that the dream of easy wealth is a timeless commodity.

Among the Branded


Linda Smolkin - 2017
    She buys a handful, hoping they’ll inspire the redesign for a client’s website at her branding and design firm. She’s at first drawn by the lost art of penmanship, but discovers a hidden treasure nestled inside declarations of love from homesick soldiers. Stephanie enlists a coworker to translate one and realizes it’s not a love letter after all. When a shocking discovery about a client causes Stephanie to question her principles and dedication to her firm’s business, she’s forced to make a difficult decision—one that could give her peace of mind, yet ruin her career in the process.Contemporary fiction with historical elements, Among the Branded explores loss and the human spirit, an unexpected friendship, and moral conflicts that make us wonder what’s more important: our livelihood or our beliefs.“This is a beautiful and fascinating novel that will keep readers hooked." San Francisco Book Review

Journey of Grace


T.K. Chapin - 2018
    He had written off love after losing his wife years ago. A chance meeting changes these two lives forever.JOURNEY OF GRACE is book one of the tightly woven Christian romance series entitled JOURNEY OF LOVE by T.K. Chapin. Follow the lives of three grown siblings as they face challenges of faith, love, and heartache. The JOURNEY OF LOVE series is a spin-off of the best-selling DIAMOND LAKE SERIES. When Grace Anderson left Newport, Washington, she thought it was for good. But now she's back and trying to start a new life after running away from her abusive husband. Even surrounded by the love of her family, she can't help but cling to the pieces of her past that hurt the most.Owen McBride never dreamed of finding love again after losing his wife. The dashing Newport High School history teacher had written off love and was solely focused on living a life devoted to God and teaching children. That is, until he met Grace Anderson.Will these two find love in each other's arms? Or will God's will be something completely different?From the best-selling Christian Romance author T.K. Chapin comes a love story that will keep you reading until the very last page. Heartfelt, inspirational, and clean, Journey of Grace will remind you how God can work in the lives of those who place their trust in Him.

The Quintland Sisters


Shelley Wood - 2019
    Emma cares for them through their perilous first days and when the government decides to remove the babies from their francophone parents, making them wards of the British king, Emma signs on as their nurse.Over 6,000 daily visitors come to ogle the identical “Quints” playing in their custom-built playground; at the height of the Great Depression, the tourism and advertising dollars pour in. While the rest of the world delights in their sameness, Emma sees each girl as unique: Yvonne, Annette, Cécile, Marie, and Émilie. With her quirky eye for detail, Emma records every strange twist of events in her private journals.As the fight over custody and revenues turns increasingly explosive, Emma is torn between the fishbowl sanctuary of Quintland and the wider world, now teetering on the brink of war. Steeped in research, Quintland™ is a novel of love, heartache, resilience, and enduring sisterhood—a fictional, coming-of-age story bound up in one of the strangest true tales of the past century.

Cooking for Picasso


Camille Aubray - 2016
    The French Riviera, spring 1936: It’s off-season in the lovely seaside village of Juan-les-Pins, where seventeen-year-old Ondine cooks with her mother in the kitchen of their family-owned Café Paradis. A mysterious new patron who’s slipped out of Paris and is traveling under a different name has made an unusual request—to have his lunch served to him at the nearby villa he’s secretly rented, where he wishes to remain incognito. Pablo Picasso is at a momentous crossroads in his personal and professional life—and for him, art and women are always entwined. The spirited Ondine, chafing under her family’s authority and nursing a broken heart, is just beginning to discover her own talents and appetites. Her encounter with Picasso will continue to affect her life for many decades onward, as the great artist and the talented young chef each pursue their own passions and destiny. New York, present day: Céline, a Hollywood makeup artist who’s come home for the holidays, learns from her mother, Julie, that Grandmother Ondine once cooked for Picasso. Prompted by her mother’s enigmatic stories and the hint of more family secrets yet to be uncovered, Céline carries out Julie’s wishes and embarks on a voyage to the very town where Ondine and Picasso first met. In the lush, heady atmosphere of the Côte d’Azur, and with the help of several eccentric fellow guests attending a rigorous cooking class at her hotel, Céline discovers truths about art, culture, cuisine, and love that enable her to embrace her own future. Featuring an array of both fictional characters and the French Riviera’s most famous historical residents, set against the breathtaking scenery of the South of France, Cooking for Picasso is a touching, delectable, and wise story, illuminating the powers of trust, money, art, and creativity in the choices that men and women make, as they seek a path toward love, success, and joie de vivre.

The Age of Disenchantments: The Epic Story of Spain's Most Notorious Literary Family and the Long Shadow of the Spanish Civil War


Aaron Shulman - 2019
    A gripping narrative history of Spain’s most brilliant and troubled literary family—a tale about the making of art, myth, and legacy—set against the upheaval of the Spanish Civil War and beyondIn this absorbing and atmospheric historical narrative, journalist Aaron Shulman takes us deeply into the circumstances surrounding the Spanish Civil War through the lives, loves, and poetry of the Paneros, Spain’s most compelling and eccentric family, whose lives intersected memorably with many of the most storied figures in the art, literature, and politics of the time—from Neruda to Salvador Dalí, from Ava Gardner to Pablo Picasso to Roberto Bolaño.Weaving memoir with cultural history and biography, and brought together with vivid storytelling and striking images, The Age of Disenchantments sheds new light on the romance and intellectual ferment of the era while revealing the profound and enduring devastation of the war, the Franco dictatorship, and the country’s transition to democracy.A searing tale of love and hatred, art and ambition, and freedom and oppression, The Age of Disenchantments is a chronicle of a family who modeled their lives (and deaths) on the works of art that most inspired and obsessed them and who, in turn, profoundly affected the culture and society around them.

The Book That's More Than Just a Book - Book


Peter Kay - 2011
    These peculiar outlooks bring to life the unique world of Peter Kay like never before. The Book That's More Than Just a Book - Book invites you into a world of suspect characters and awkward situations. Here you will meet Peter's family, their friends, some familiar faces, and some completely unexpected ones. Chock full of brand new material and crammed with photographs and illustrations, creating one of the funniest books you're ever likely to read.

The Prisoner's Wife


Maggie Brookes - 2020
    Izabela and prisoner of war Bill have secretly married and are on the run, with Izzy dressed as a man. The young husband and wife evade capture for as long as possible--until they are cornered by Nazi soldiers with tracking dogs.Izzy's disguise works. The couple are assumed to be escaped British soldiers and transported to a POW camp. However, their ordeal has just begun, as they face appalling living conditions and the constant fear of Izzy's exposure. But in the midst of danger and deprivation comes hope, for the young couple are befriended by a small group of fellow prisoners. These men become their new family, willing to jeopardize their lives to save Izzy from being discovered and shot.The Prisoner's Wife tells of an incredible risk, and of how our deepest bonds are tested in desperate times. Bill and Izzy's story is one of love and survival against the darkest odds.

Blood & Beauty: The Borgias


Sarah Dunant - 2013
    When Cardinal Rodrigo Borgia buys his way into the papacy as Alexander VI, he is defined not just by his wealth or his passionate love for his illegitimate children, but by his blood: He is a Spanish Pope in a city run by Italians. If the Borgias are to triumph, this charismatic, consummate politician with a huge appetite for life, women, and power must use papacy and family—in particular, his eldest son, Cesare, and his daughter Lucrezia—in order to succeed.Cesare, with a dazzlingly cold intelligence and an even colder soul, is his greatest—though increasingly unstable—weapon. Later immortalized in Machiavelli’s The Prince, he provides the energy and the muscle. Lucrezia, beloved by both men, is the prime dynastic tool. Twelve years old when the novel opens, hers is a journey through three marriages, and from childish innocence to painful experience, from pawn to political player.

The Bell Witch: An American Haunting


Brent Monahan - 1997
    It was a cruel and noisy spirit, given to rapping and gnawing sounds before it found its voices.With these voices and its supernatural acts, the Bell Witch tormented the Bell family. This extraordinary book recounts the only documented case in U.S. history when a spirit actually caused a man's death.The local schoolteacher, Richard Powell, witnessed the strange events and recorded them for his daughter. His astonishing manuscript fell into the hands of novelist Brent Monahan, who has prepared the book for publication. Members of the Bell family have previously provided information on this fascinating case, but this book recounts the tale with novelistic vigor and verve. It is truly chilling.