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J. G. Ballard (Modern Masters of Science Fiction)
by D. Harlan WilsonProphetic short stories and apocalyptic novels like The Crystal World made J. G. Ballard a foundational figure in the British New Wave. Rejecting the science fiction of rockets and aliens, he explored an inner space of humanity informed by psychiatry and biology and shaped by Surrealism. Later in his career, Ballard's combustible plots and violent imagery spurred controversy--even legal action--while his autobiographical 1984 war novel Empire of the Sun brought him fame. D. Harlan Wilson offers the first career-spanning analysis of an author who helped steer SF in new, if startling, directions. Here was a writer committed to moral ambiguity, one who drowned the world and erected a London high-rise doomed to descend into savagery--and coolly picked apart the characters trapped within each story. Wilson also examines Ballard's methods, his influence on cyberpunk, and the ways his fiction operates within the sphere of our larger culture and within SF itself.
The General's Game Book: The Sporting Life of a Military Gentleman
by Dare WilsonDare Wilson's sporting career dates back to 1920s when, as a small boy, he started fishing in Northumberland on River Derwent. Since then as he has pursued successful careers in the Army and Conservation, he has fished and shot all over the world; turkey hunting and snake catching in Georgia, pheasants in Korea, sand grouse and quail in Palestine, geese in Ireland, ducks in Manitoba.A natural story teller, General Wilson's sporting career almost ended while wildfowling in The Wash in early 1939 he, his Cambridge University friends and their dogs were saved by a miracle. An uninterrupted line of black Labradors have shared Dare's experiences. The current one, is the 12th. For good measure the General tells of his thrilling winter sports (skiing and cresta) and parachuting experiences. His team of SAS free-fallers broke the World Record in 1962 tragically one member died.Dare may have lived life on the edge but the risks he has taken have always been carefully calculated. Had they not been he would not still be an active fisherman and shot in his 90's. This is a treasure trove of sporting stories.
Live Happy: The Best Ways to Make Your House a Home
by Dave Wilson Kortney WilsonFrom the beloved couple behind Masters of Flip, a warm and inviting guide to making wherever you are feel like homeHome isn’t just a place to sleep and eat. It’s a haven—a place of refuge from the world, of connection with the people (and pets) you hold most dear, of celebration of life’s biggest moments and of recuperation from the exhaustion of the day. Kortney and Dave Wilson have built their careers and a beloved HGTV show, Masters of Flip, around creating houses that people instantly recognize as home. They build colour, joy and family into the design of every house they flip in Nashville, Tennessee, because those priorities are what shape their lives. Live Happy offers hundreds of fresh, fun ideas for how readers and fans of Masters of Flip can inexpensively and creatively build joy into their lives and their homes. From the reason you should always live close to the ice cream shop to the definitive philosophy for dealing with your junk drawer, it will help you make a new house into a home or inject new life into your forever home. It will go beyond design to personal connections, with stories of how Kortney and Dave found each other, built new dreams together and manage to have a happy marriage (and business!) while raising three amazing children. Full-colour and heavily illustrated, Live Happy will feature over 200 photos drawn from Kortney and Dave’s family and design projects. Think of it as The Wisdom of Sundays meets Domino with a shot of The Magnolia Story. Through it all, Kortney and Dave’s voices will be in hilarious and heartfelt conversation in the way fans have come to know and love on Masters of Flip.
The Dresden Manuscripts: Unearthing an 18th Century Musical Genius
by David WilsonA lifelong study of the music of Johann Hasse by conductor David Wilson has culminated in his superb new book, The Dresden Manuscripts: Unearthing an 18th Century Musical Genius. Hasse's music achieved great popularity during his lifetime, only to be overshadowed later in history by other composers, especially Mozart. Dr. Wilson's important and illuminating focus on the Dresden manuscripts will certainly be a springboard for conductors and musicologists to further examine the entirety of Hasse's oeuvre to rediscover other gems, particularly among the masses and operas, many of which will be found worthy of reentering the repertoire. David Wilson has produced a revelatory work of refined scholarship that will deepen our knowledge of this important yet oft-neglected Baroque composer.
A History Of British Serial Killing: The Shocking Account of Jack the Ripper, Harold Shipman and Beyond
by David WilsonBE THE FIRST TO READ DAVID WILSON'S NEW TRUE CRIME BOOK "A PLOT TO KILL" BY PRE-ORDERING NOW Expanded and updated, this is the definitive history of British serial killing 1888-2020 - by the UK's leading criminologist, David WilsonIn this fascinating and informative book, Professor David Wilson tells the stories of Britain's serial killers from Jack the Ripper to the extraordinary Suffolk Murders case. David Wilson has worked as a Prison Governor and as a profiler, and has been described as the UK's leading expert on serial killers. His work has led him to meet several of the UK's deadliest killers, and build up fascinating insights into what makes a serial killer - and who they are most likely to target. A vivid narrative history and a call for prison and social reform, Professor Wilson's new book is a powerful and gripping investigation of Britain's serial murderers.
A History Of British Serial Killing: The Shocking Account of Jack the Ripper, Harold Shipman and Beyond (The Books of Babel)
by David WilsonBE THE FIRST TO READ DAVID WILSON'S NEW TRUE CRIME BOOK "A PLOT TO KILL" BY PRE-ORDERING NOW Expanded and updated, this is the definitive history of British serial killing 1888-2020 - by the UK's leading criminologist, David WilsonIn this fascinating and informative book, Professor David Wilson tells the stories of Britain's serial killers from Jack the Ripper to the extraordinary Suffolk Murders case. David Wilson has worked as a Prison Governor and as a profiler, and has been described as the UK's leading expert on serial killers. His work has led him to meet several of the UK's deadliest killers, and build up fascinating insights into what makes a serial killer - and who they are most likely to target. A vivid narrative history and a call for prison and social reform, Professor Wilson's new book is a powerful and gripping investigation of Britain's serial murderers.
My Life with Murderers: Behind Bars with the World's Most Violent Men
by David WilsonBE THE FIRST TO READ DAVID WILSON'S NEW TRUE CRIME BOOK "A PLOT TO KILL" BY PRE-ORDERING NOW 'Hugely insightful and thought provoking . . . I read it from cover to cover in one go' - Emilia Fox'With characteristic brilliance and admirable sensitivity, Wilson illuminates the complex causes of their often horrific crimes' - Professor Simon Winlow, Vice President of the British Society of CriminologyProfessor David Wilson has spent his professional life working with violent men - especially men who have committed murder. Aged twenty-nine he became, at that time, the UK's youngest ever prison Governor in charge of a jail and his career since then has seen him sat across a table with all sorts of killers: sometimes in a tense interview; sometimes sharing a cup of tea (or something a little stronger); sometimes looking them in the eye to tell them that they are a psychopath.Some of these men became David's friends; others would still love to kill him. My Life with Murderers tells the story of David's journey from idealistic prison governor to expert criminologist and professor. With experience unlike any other, David's story is a fascinating and compelling study of human nature.
My Life with Murderers: Behind Bars with the World's Most Violent Men
by David Wilson'Hugely insightful and thought provoking . . . I read it from cover to cover in one go' - Emilia Fox'With characteristic brilliance and admirable sensitivity, Wilson illuminates the complex causes of their often horrific crimes' - Professor Simon Winlow, Vice President of the British Society of CriminologyProfessor David Wilson has spent his professional life working with violent men - especially men who have committed murder. Aged twenty-nine he became, at that time, the UK's youngest ever prison Governor in charge of a jail and his career since then has seen him sat across a table with all sorts of killers: sometimes in a tense interview; sometimes sharing a cup of tea (or something a little stronger); sometimes looking them in the eye to tell them that they are a psychopath.Some of these men became David's friends; others would still love to kill him. My Life with Murderers tells the story of David's journey from idealistic prison governor to expert criminologist and professor. With experience unlike any other, David's story is a fascinating and compelling study of human nature.
A Plot to Kill: A true story of deception, betrayal and murder in a quiet English town
by David Wilson'[A] real-life Midsomer Murder ... it's chilling, but [David Wilson's] explanation of how a psychopath thinks is masterly' The TimesThe shocking story of the murder of Peter Farquhar and the churchwarden who groomed and betrayed him, from the UK's leading criminologist David WilsonTwo deaths.Three doors apart.An unsuspecting community about to realise there's a killer in their midst. In October 2015, Peter Farquhar was found dead in his house in Maids Moreton, lying on the sofa next to a bottle of whisky. An inquest was made, and Peter's death was quickly ruled an accident.But after the death of another elderly neighbour, the dreadful truth began to emerge: both victims had been groomed, seduced and mentally tortured by a young man, Benjamin Field, who had used his position of power in the community to target and exploit the elderly.He almost got away with it. Very little shocks criminologist David Wilson, but this extraordinary case in his sleepy hometown astounded him. Wilson felt duty-bound to follow its trail, discovering how his tightknit community failed to intervene, how a psychopath went undetected for years, and how Peter unwittingly supplied the blueprint for his own murder.A Plot to Kill is a chilling, gripping account of a callous murder in the heart of middle England, a fight for justice, and a revealing insight into the mind of a killer.
A Plot to Kill: The notorious killing of Peter Farquhar, a story of deception and betrayal that shocked a quiet English town
by David Wilson'[A] real-life Midsomer Murder ... it's chilling, but [David Wilson's] explanation of how a psychopath thinks is masterly' The TimesThe shocking story of the murder of Peter Farquhar and the churchwarden who groomed and betrayed him, from the UK's leading criminologist David WilsonTwo deaths.Three doors apart.An unsuspecting community about to realise there's a killer in their midst. In October 2015, Peter Farquhar was found dead in his house in Maids Moreton, lying on the sofa next to a bottle of whisky. An inquest was made, and Peter's death was quickly ruled an accident.But after the death of another elderly neighbour, the dreadful truth began to emerge: both victims had been groomed, seduced and mentally tortured by a young man, Benjamin Field, who had used his position of power in the community to target and exploit the elderly.He almost got away with it. Very little shocks criminologist David Wilson, but this extraordinary case in his sleepy hometown astounded him. Wilson felt duty-bound to follow its trail, discovering how his tightknit community failed to intervene, how a psychopath went undetected for years, and how Peter unwittingly supplied the blueprint for his own murder.A Plot to Kill is a chilling, gripping account of a callous murder in the heart of middle England, a fight for justice, and a revealing insight into the mind of a killer.
Thomas D'Arcy McGee
by David A. WilsonThomas D'Arcy McGee: Passion, Reason, and Politics, 1825-1857, the first volume in a two-part biography, explores the development of those principles in Ireland and the United States. From his early temperance speeches in Wexford, Ireland, David Wilson follows McGee across the Atlantic, where at nineteen he became the editor of America's leading Irish newspaper, and traces his subsequent involvement with the Young Ireland movement, his reactions to the Famine, and his role in the Rising of 1848.
Thomas D'Arcy McGee: The Extreme Moderate, 1857-1868
by David A. WilsonAfter a tumultuous career as a revolutionary in Ireland and an ultra-conservative Catholic in the United States, Thomas D'Arcy McGee moved to Canada in 1857, where he became a force for moderation and the leading Irish Canadian politician in the country. Determined that Canada should avoid the ethno-religious strife that afflicted Ireland, he articulated an inclusive, broad-minded nationalism based on generosity of spirit, a willingness to compromise, and a reasonable balance between order and liberty. To realize his vision, McGee became a strong supporter of the "new northern nationality." A spellbinding orator who emerged as the youngest and most intellectually gifted of the Fathers of Confederation, he fought what he saw as the atavistic and intolerant elements of Canadian life - the Orange Order, with its strident anti-Catholicism; the opponents of separate schools, whom he viewed as enemies of minority rights; and above all the Fenian Brotherhood, with its dreams of revolutionizing Ireland and annexing Canada to the United States. Convinced that compromise with Fenianism was impossible, he set out to destroy the movement through a strategy of confrontation and polarization - channeling his earlier extreme tendencies in the service of moderation and attempting to reduce the influence of Fenianism within his own community. In the process, he alienated many of his former supporters, who came to regard him as a traitor who sacrificed the cause of Irish nationalism on the altar of personal ambition. On 7 April 1868, McGee was assassinated on the doorstep of his Ottawa boarding house. As someone who took an uncompromising stand against militants within his own ethno-religious community, and who attempted to balance core values with minority rights, McGee has become increasingly relevant in today's complex multicultural society.
Thomas D'Arcy McGee: Passion, Reason, and Politics, 1825-1857
by David A. WilsonA brilliant writer, outstanding orator, and charismatic politician, Thomas D'Arcy McGee is best known for his prominent role in Irish-Canadian politics, his inspirational speeches in support of Canadian Confederation, and his assassination by an Irish revolutionary who accused him of betraying his earlier Irish nationalist principles. Thomas D'Arcy McGee, the first volume in a two-part biography, explores the development of those principles in Ireland and the United States. David Wilson follows McGee from Wexford, Ireland across the Atlantic to Boston, where at nineteen he became the editor of America's leading Irish newspaper, and traces his subsequent involvement with the Young Ireland movement, his reactions to the Famine, and his role in the Rising of 1848. Wilson goes on to examine McGee's experiences as a political refugee in the United States, where his increasing disillusionment with revolutionary Irish nationalism and his opposition to American nativism propelled him towards conservative Catholicism and sent him on a trajectory that ultimately led to Canada - his experiences are the subject of volume 2, Thomas D'Arcy McGee: The Extreme Moderate, 1857-1868.
Charlemagne
by Derek WilsonCharlemagne is seen by historians as the bridge between ancient and modern Europe. His Holy Roman Empire was the embodiment of an ideal that inspired leaders as different as Charles V, Napoleon, and Hitler, each of whom sought to make a unified Europe a reality again in his own time. In this new biography, the first major study of Charlemagne in more than twenty-five years, Derek Wilson provides an absorbing and lively account of his life, character, and accomplishments. Charlemagne transcends every notion we have of the traditional historical hero. A military strategist of Julius Caesar’s caliber, he had no knowledge of classical history. A ruler with the sagacity of Marcus Aurelius, he ordered summary executions more reminiscent of Caligula or Nero. A devout believer who ensured the survival of Christianity in the West, he considered himself above the Church, sired numerous bastard children, and generated accusations of incest. As Wilson describes a Church divided between the Latin West, with its capital in Rome, and the Greek Church of the East, with its capital in Constantinople, we see not only the emergence of Europe but the trials of a Church in flux. The politics of the day were in constant play and were mastered by Charlemagne with cunning and force. By marrying the military might of his army to the spiritual might of the Church in Rome, Charlemagne dominated his world and forged Western Christendom. Written by one of England’s most respected biographers,Charlemagneis a masterful, multidimensional portrait of a great historical figure—a man whose earthly passions were surpassed only by his religious devotion, and whose religious devotion was exceeded only by his will to power.
The Plantagenets: The Kings That Made Britain
by Derek WilsonPlantagenet is the name given to the English royal house descended from the union of Queen Matilda of England and her second husband Geoffrey of Anjou. The name derived from Geoffrey's nickname, which came from the sprig of broom (planta genet) which he wore in his hat. The Plantagenets ruled England for more than three hundred years, from the accession of reign of the dynasty's founder, Matilda and Geoffrey's son, Henry II, in 1154, to the death of the last Plantagenet, Richard III, at the Battle of Bosworth in 1485. The Plantagenets: The Kings That Made Britain is a compelling, year-by-year chronology of a tumultuous and critical period in the development of the English nation. Each year is covered by a concise, informative and accessible narrative, amplified by extensive quotation from contemporary sources and accompanied by generously captioned and stunning images of the period-including illuminations, portraits, maps, royal seals, tapestries and other artifacts. Authoritative, informative and sumptuous, and compiled by a scholar who is steeped in knowledge of the period, The Plantagenets: The Kings That Made Britain brings a critical era of English history dramatically and vividly to life. It is the perfect gift book for anyone with a love of, or fascination for, medieval English history.
Holy Roller
by Diane WilsonIn this rollicking memoir, Diane Wilson, a Texas Gulf Coast shrimper and the author of the highly acclaimed "An Unreasonable Woman" takes readers back to her childhood in rural Texas and into her family of Holy Rollers. By night at tent revivals, Wilson gets religion from Brother Dynamite, an ex-con who finds Jesus in a baloney sandwich and handles masses of squirming poisonous snakes under the protection of the Holy Ghost. By day, Wilson scratches secret messages to Jesus into the paint on her windowsill and lies down in the middle of the road to see how long she can sleep in between passing trucks. "Holy Roller" is a fast-paced, hilarious, sometimes shocking experience readers wonat soon forget. It is the prequel to Wilson's first book, telling the story of the Texas childhood of a fierce little girl who will grow up to become "An Unreasonable Woman," take on Big Industry, and win. One of the best Southern writers of her generation, Wilson's voice twangs with a style and accent all its own, as true and individual as her boundless originality and wild youth.
Spirit Car: A Journey to a Dakota Past
by Diane WilsonGrowing up in the 1950s in suburban Minneapolis, Diane Wilson had a family like everybody else’s. Her Swedish American father was a salesman at Sears and her mother drove her brothers to baseball practice and went to parent-teacher conferences. But in her thirties, Diane began to wonder why her mother didn’t speak of her past. So she traveled to South Dakota and Nebraska, searching out records of her relatives through six generations, hungering to know their stories. She began to write a haunting account of the lives of her Dakota Indian family, based on research, to recreate their oral history that was lost, or repressed, or simply set aside as gritty issues of survival demanded attention. Spirit Car is an exquisite counterpoint of memoir and carefully researched fiction, a remarkable narrative that ties modern Minnesotans to the trauma of the Dakota War. Wilson found her family’s love and humor--and she discovered just how deeply our identities are shaped by the forces of history.
An Unreasonable Woman
by Diane WilsonWhen Diane Wilson, fourth-generation shrimp-boat captain and mother of five, learns that she lives in the most polluted county in the United States, she decides to fight back. She launches a campaign against a multibillion-dollar corporation that has been covering up spills, silencing workers, flouting the EPA, and dumping lethal ethylene dichloride and vinyl chloride into the bays along her beloved Texas Gulf Coast. In an epic tale of bravery, Wilson takes her fight to the courts, to the gates of the chemical plant, and to the halls of power in Austin. Along the way she meets with scorn, bribery, character assassination, and death threats. Finally Wilson realizes that she must break the law to win justice: She resorts to nonviolent disobedience, direct action, and hunger strikes. Wilson's vivid South Texas dialogue resides somewhere between Alice Walker and William Faulkner, and her dazzling prose brings to mind the magic realism of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, replete with dreams and prophecies.
I Will Be A Doctor!
by Dorothy C. Wilson"I Will Be A Doctor" is a biography of Elizabeth Blackwell, the first woman physician in The United States. While the story may be classified as juvenile literature, I found it a pleasure to read and very enjoyable. The biography traces Elizabneth Blackwell's life from her childhood in England, to her migration to The United States, and much later back to England. Her life as a pioneer in her chosen vocation is fastinating. Because she lived primarily in the 19th century, there are many social issues which are discussed--slavery, women's rights, extreme poverty, infant death, and the huge issue of hygeine. Enjhoy!
The Bird: The Life and Legacy of Mark Fidrych
by Doug WilsonThe first biography of the eccentric pitcher, rookie All-Star starter, 70s pop icon, and first athlete on the cover of Rolling StoneMark Fidrych exploded onto the scene in the summer of 1976 with the Detroit Tigers, capturing the hearts of Americans from coast to coast. Lanky with a curly mop, a nickname born of his resemblance to Sesame Street's Big Bird would only hint at the large personality that was about to take baseball in a new direction. Known for wildly endearing antics such as throwing back balls that "had hits in them," manicuring the mound of any cleat marks, talking to himself (and the ball for that matter), and shaking hands with just about everyone from groundskeepers to cops after games, The Bird infused each game with the fun, All-American spirit of 1970s baseball. A two-time All-Star player, Fidrych won nineteen games, along with the Rookie of the Year Award, becoming one of the biggest individual drawing cards baseball has ever seen.Recreating the magic of an unforgettable era of baseball, The Bird shows how Fidrych was the player that brought a smile to your face, becoming a crossover pop culture icon and household name. Through meticulous research and interviews, Doug Wilson vividly recounts Fidrych's struggles and final shining moments in the Minors, the tragic injury that signaled the beginning of the end of his career, through to his sudden death in 2009.The Bird gives readers a long overdue look into the life of the refreshing rookie the likes of which baseball had never seen before, and has never seen since.
The Bird: The Life and Legacy of Mark Fidrych
by Doug WilsonFOR THOSE WHO REMEMBER HIM, MARK FIDRYCH is still that player who brings a smile to your face, the irresistibly likable pitcher whose sudden rise brightened the star-spangled season of 1976 and reminded us of the pure joy of the game. Lanky, mop-topped, and nicknamed for his resemblance to Big Bird on Sesame Street, Fidrych exploded onto the national stage during the Bicentennial summer as a rookie with the Detroit Tigers. He won over fans nationwide with his wildly endearing antics, such as talking to the ball (and throwing back the ones that "had hits in them"), getting down on his knees to "manicure" the mound, and shaking hands with just about everyone from teammates to groundskeepers to cops during and after games. Female fans tried to obtain locks of his hair from his barber and even named babies after him. But The Bird was no mere sideshow. The non-roster invitee to spring training that year quickly emerged as one of the best pitchers in the game. Meanwhile, his boyish enthusiasm, his famously modest lifestyle, and his refusal to sign with an agent during the days of labor disputes and free agency made him such a breath of fresh air for fans that not only did attendance in Detroit increase--by tens of thousands--for games he pitched, but opposing teams would specifically ask the Tigers to shuffle their rotation so Fidrych would pitch in their cities, too. A rare player who transcended pop culture, Fidrych was named starting pitcher in the All-Star Game as a rookie (the first of his two All-Star nods) and became the first athlete to appear on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine. Baseball researcher Doug Wilson delivers the first biography of this once-in-a-lifetime player. Through extensive interviews and meticulous research, the author recounts Fidrych's meteoric rise from Northborough, Massachusetts, to the big leagues, his heartbreaking fall after suffering torn knee cartilage and a torn rotator cuff, his comeback attempts with the Tigers and in the Red Sox system, and one unforgettable night when The Bird pitched a swan song for the Pawtucket Red Sox against future star Dave Righetti in a game that remains part of local folklore. Finally, Wilson captures Fidrych's post-baseball life and his roles in the community, tragically culminating with his death in a freak accident in 2009. The Bird gives readers a long-overdue look into the life of a player whom baseball had never seen before-- and has never seen since.
Brooks: The Biography of Brooks Robinson
by Doug WilsonThe first complete biography of the Baltimore Orioles' Hall of Fame baseman Brooks Robinson, the greatest defensive third baseman of all time.Finalist for the 2014 Casey Award!Selected by the National Baseball Hall of Fame for the 2014 author's seriesBrooks Robinson is one of baseball's most transcendent and revered players. He won a record sixteen straight Gold Gloves at third base, led one of the best teams of the era, and is often cited as the greatest fielder in baseball history. Credited with almost single-handedly winning the 1970 World Series, this MVP was immortalized in a Normal Rockwell painting. A wholesome player and role model, Brooks honored the game of baseball not only with his play but with his class and character off the field.Author of The Bird: The Life and Legacy of Mark Fidrych, Doug Wilson returns to baseball's Golden Age to detail the birth of a new franchise through the man who came to symbolize it as one of baseball's most beloved players. Through numerous interviews with people from every part of the legendary player's life, Wilson reveals never-before-reported information to illuminate Brooks's remarkable skill and warm personality.Brooks takes readers back to an era when players fought for low-paying yearly contracts, spanning the turbulent 60s and 70s and into the dawning of the free agent era. He was elected to the MLB All-Century Team and as president of the MLB Players Alumni, Brooks continues to influence today's baseball players.In the climate of astronomic salaries, steroids, off-field troubles, and heroes who let down their fans, Brooks reminds baseball fans of the honor and glory at the heart of America's favorite pastime.
Pudge: The Biography of Carlton Fisk
by Doug WilsonPudge marks the first biography of the Hall of Fame catcher, whose famous home run in the 1975 World Series has been called one of the greatest moment in the history of televised sport.Carlton Fisk retired having played in more games and hit more home runs than any other catcher before him. A baseball superstar in the 1970s and 80s, Fisk was known not just for his dedication to the sport and tremendous plays but for the respect with which he treated the game.A homegrown icon, Fisk rapidly became the face of one of the most storied teams in baseball, the Boston Red Sox of the 1970s. As a rookie making only $12,000 a year, he became the first player to unanimously win the American League Rookie of the Year award in 1972, upping both his pay grade and national recognition. Fisk's game-winning home run in Game Six of the hotly-contested 1975 World Series forever immortalized him in one of the sport's most exciting televised moments. Fisk played through an epic period of player-owner relations, including the dawn of free agency, strikes, and collusions. After leaving Boston under controversy in 1981, he joined the Chicago White Sox, where he played for 12 more major league seasons, solidifying his position as one of the best catchers of all time.Doug Wilson, finalist for both the Casey Award and Seymour Medal for his previous baseball biographies, uses his own extensive research and interviews with childhood friends and major league teammates to examine the life and career of a leader who followed a strict code and played with fierce determination.
Honor's Voice: The Transformation of Abraham Lincoln
by Douglas L. WilsonAbraham Lincoln's remarkable emergence from the rural Midwest and his rise to the presidency have been the stuff of romance and legend. But as Douglas L. Wilson shows us in Honor's Voice, Lincoln's transformation was not one long triumphal march, but a process that was more than once seriously derailed. There were times, in his journey from storekeeper and mill operator to lawyer and member of the Illinois state legislature, when Lincoln lost his nerve and self-confidence - on at least two occasions he became so despondent as to appear suicidal - and when his acute emotional vulnerabilities were exposed.Focusing on the crucial years between 1831 and 1842, Wilson's skillful analysis of the testimonies and writings of Lincoln's contemporaries reveals the individual behind the legends. We see Lincoln as a boy: not the dutiful son studying by firelight, but the stubborn rebel determined to make something of himself. We see him as a young man: not the ascendant statesman, but the canny local politician who was renowned for his talents in wrestling and storytelling (as well as for his extensive store of off-color jokes). Wilson also reconstructs Lincoln's frequently anguished personal life: his religious skepticism, recurrent bouts of depression, and difficult relationships with women - from Ann Rutledge to Mary Owens to Mary Todd.Meticulously researched and well written, this is a fascinating book that makes us reexamine our ideas about one of the icons of American history.From the Hardcover edition.