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A Most Beautiful Thing: The True Story of America's First All-Black High School Rowing Team
by Arshay CooperNow a documentary narrated by Common, produced by Grant Hill, Dwyane Wade, and 9th Wonder, from filmmaker Mary Mazzio The moving true story of a group of young men growing up on Chicago's West side who form the first all-black high school rowing team in the nation, and in doing so not only transform a sport, but their lives.Growing up on Chicago’s Westside in the 90’s, Arshay Cooper knows the harder side of life. The street corners are full of gangs, the hallways of his apartment complex are haunted by drug addicts he calls “zombies” with strung out arms, clutching at him as he passes by. His mother is a recovering addict, and his three siblings all sleep in a one room apartment, a small infantry against the war zone on the street below.Arshay keeps to himself, preferring to write poetry about the girl he has a crush on, and spends his school days in the home-ec kitchen dreaming of becoming a chef. And then one day as he’s walking out of school he notices a boat in the school lunchroom, and a poster that reads “Join the Crew Team”.Having no idea what the sport of crew is, Arshay decides to take a chance. This decision to join is one that will forever change his life, and those of his fellow teammates. As Arshay and his teammates begin to come together to learn how to row--many never having been in water before--the sport takes them from the mean streets of Chicago, to the hallowed halls of the Ivy League. But Arshay and his teammates face adversity at every turn, from racism, gang violence, and a sport that has never seen anyone like them before.A Most Beautiful Thing is the inspiring true story about the most unlikely band of brothers that form a family, and forever change a sport and their lives for the better.
The Most Beautiful Walk in the World
by John BaxterIn this enchanting memoir, acclaimed author and long-time Paris resident John Baxter remembers his yearlong experience of giving "literary walking tours" through the city. Baxter sets off with unsuspecting tourists in tow on the trail of Paris's legendary artists and writers of the past. Along the way, he tells the history of Paris through a brilliant cast of characters: the favorite cafes of Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, and James Joyce; Pablo Picasso's underground Montmartre haunts; the bustling boulevards of the late-nineteenth-century flaneurs; the secluded "Little Luxembourg" gardens beloved by Gertrude Stein; the alleys where revolutionaries plotted; and finally Baxter's own favorite walk near his home in Saint-Germain-des-Pres. Paris, by custom and design, is a pedestrian's city-each block a revelation, every neighborhood a new feast for the senses, a place rich with history and romance at every turn. The Most Beautiful Walk in the World is your guide, par excellence, to the true, off-the-beaten-path heart of the City of Lights.
The Most Beautiful Woman in the World: The Obsessions, Passions, and Courage of Elizabeth Taylor
by Ellis AmburnEllis Amburn's magnificent biography of the Academy Award®-winning actress and legendary beauty captures the unparalleled Elizabeth in all her tragedy and splendor—her tumultuous loves, her doomed affections, her shocking excesses, her courage, and her inimitable style. Filled with stunning revelations about the men in her life—Burton, Clift, Hilton, Dean, Fisher—it is a glorious celebration of the turbulent life of a brilliant star that none in Hollywood or heaven could ever outshine.
"Most Blessed of the Patriarchs": Thomas Jefferson and the Empire of the Imagination
by Peter S. Onuf Annette Gordon-ReedA groundbreaking work of history that explicates Thomas Jefferson's vision of himself, the American Revolution, Christianity, slavery, and race. Thomas Jefferson is often portrayed as a hopelessly enigmatic figure--a riddle--a man so riven with contradictions that he is almost impossible to know. Lauded as the most articulate voice of American freedom and equality, even as he held people--including his own family--in bondage, Jefferson is variably described as a hypocrite, an atheist, or a simple-minded proponent of limited government who expected all Americans to be farmers forever. Now, Annette Gordon-Reed teams up with America's leading Jefferson scholar, Peter S. Onuf, to present an absorbing and revealing character study that dispels the many clichés that have accrued over the years about our third president. Challenging the widely prevalent belief that Jefferson remains so opaque as to be unknowable, the authors--through their careful analysis, painstaking research, and vivid prose--create a portrait of Jefferson, as he might have painted himself, one "comprised of equal parts sun and shadow" (Jane Kamensky). Tracing Jefferson's philosophical development from youth to old age, the authors explore what they call the "empire" of Jefferson's imagination--an expansive state of mind born of his origins in a slave society, his intellectual influences, and the vaulting ambition that propelled him into public life as a modern avatar of the Enlightenment who, at the same time, likened himself to a figure of old--"the most blessed of the patriarchs." Indeed, Jefferson saw himself as a "patriarch," not just to his country and mountain-like home at Monticello but also to his family, the white half that he loved so publicly, as well as to the black side that he claimed to love, a contradiction of extraordinary historical magnitude. Divided into three sections, "Most Blessed of the Patriarchs" reveals a striking personal dimension to his life. Part I, "Patriarch," explores Jeffersons's origins in Virgina; Part II, " 'Traveller,' " covers his five-year sojourn to Paris; and Part III, "Enthusiast," delves insightfully into the Virginian's views on Christianity, slavery, and race. We see not just his ideas and vision of America but come to know him in an almost familial way, such as through the importance of music in his life. "Most Blessed of the Patriarchs" fundamentally challenges much of what we've come to accept about Jefferson, neither hypocrite nor saint, atheist nor fundamentalist. Gordon-Reed and Onuf, through a close reading of Jefferson's own words, reintroduce us all to our most influential founding father: a man more gifted than most, but complicated in just the ways we all are.
A Most Clever Girl: A Novel of an American Spy
by Stephanie Marie ThorntonA thrilling novel of love, loyalty, and espionage, based on the incredible true story of Elizabeth Bentley, a Cold War double agent spying for the Russians and the United States, from USA Today bestselling author Stephanie Marie Thornton.1963: Reeling from the death of her mother and President Kennedy&’s assassination, Catherine Gray shows up on Elizabeth Bentley&’s doorstep demanding answers to the shocking mystery she just uncovered about her family. What she doesn&’t expect is for Bentley to ensnare her in her own story of becoming a controversial World War II spy and Cold War informer… Recruited by the American Communist Party to spy on fascists at the outbreak of World War II, a young Bentley—code name Clever Girl—finds she has an unexpected gift for espionage. But after falling desperately in love with her handler, Elizabeth makes another surprise discovery when she learns he is actually a Russian spy. Together, they will build the largest Soviet spy network in America and Elizabeth will become its uncrowned Red Spy Queen. However, once the war ends and the U.S. and U.S.S.R. become embroiled in the Cold War, it is Elizabeth who will dangerously clash with the NKVD, the brutal Soviet espionage agency. As Catherine listens to Elizabeth's harrowing tale, she discovers that the women's lives are linked in shocking ways. Faced with the idea that her entire existence is based on a lie, Catherine realizes that only Elizabeth Bentley can tell her what the truth really is.
The Most Controversial Decision: Truman, the Atomic Bombs, and the Defeat of Japan
by Wilson D. MiscambleThis book explores the American use of atomic bombs and the role these weapons played in the defeat of the Japanese Empire in World War II. It focuses on President Harry S. Truman's decision-making regarding this most controversial of all his decisions. The book relies on notable archival research and the best and most recent scholarship on the subject to fashion an incisive overview that is fair and forceful in its judgments. This study addresses a subject that has been much debated among historians and it confronts head-on the highly disputed claim that the Truman administration practised 'atomic diplomacy'. The book goes beyond its central historical analysis to ask whether it was morally right for the United States to use these terrible weapons against Hiroshima and Nagasaki. It also provides a balanced evaluation of the relationship between atomic weapons and the origins of the Cold War.
The Most Dangerous Animal of All: Searching for My Father . . . and Finding the Zodiac Killer
by Gary L. Stewart Susan MustafaIn this New York Times–bestselling true crime memoir, a man’s search for his biological father leads to a notorious American serial killer.When Gary L. Stewart decided to search for his biological father at the age of thirty-nine, he never imagined his quest would lead him to a horrifying truth and force him to reconsider everything he thought he knew about himself.Written with award–winning author and journalist Susan Mustafa, The Most Dangerous Animal of All tells the story of Stewart’s decade long hunt. While combing through government records and news reports and tracking down relatives and friends, Stewart turns up a host of clues—including forensic evidence—that conclusively identifies his father as the Zodiac Killer, one of the most notorious and elusive serial murderers in history. Finally, all the questions that have surrounded the case for almost fifty years are answered in this riveting narrative—a singular work of true crime at its finest, as well as a sensational and powerful memoir.THE BASIS FOR THE 4-PART FX DOCUMENTARY MINISERIES
The Most Dangerous Book: The Battle for James Joyce's Ulysses (Great Lives Ser.)
by Kevin BirminghamRecipient of the 2015 PEN New England Award for Nonfiction"The arrival of a significant young nonfiction writer . . . A measured yet bravura performance." --Dwight Garner, The New York Times James Joyce's big blue book, Ulysses, ushered in the modernist era and changed the novel for all time. But the genius of Ulysses was also its danger: it omitted absolutely nothing. Joyce, along with some of the most important publishers and writers of his era, had to fight for years to win the freedom to publish it. The Most Dangerous Book tells the remarkable story surrounding Ulysses, from the first stirrings of Joyce's inspiration in 1904 to the book's landmark federal obscenity trial in 1933. Written for ardent Joyceans as well as novices who want to get to the heart of the greatest novel of the twentieth century, The Most Dangerous Book is a gripping examination of how the world came to say Yes to Ulysses.From the Trade Paperback edition.
The Most Dangerous German Agent in America: The Many Lives of Louis N. Hammerling
by M. B. BiskupskiOn the morning of April 27, 1935, Louis N. Hammerling fell to his death from the nineteenth floor of an apartment in New York City, where he lived alone. Hammerling was one of the most influential Polish immigrants in turn-of-the-century America and the leading voice and advocate of the Eastern Europeans who had come to the country seeking a better life. He was also a pathological liar, a crook, a swindler, a ruthless entrepreneur, and a patriot—of which nation he could never decide. In the United States, Hammerling rose from the poverty of his youth to the heights of wealth and power. He was a timberman and mule driver in the Pennsylvania coal mines, an indentured worker in the Hawaiian sugar fields, one of the major behind-the-scenes powers in the United Mine Workers, an employee of the Hearst newspaper chain, an influential figure in the Republican Party, the owner of an advertising agency that made him a millionaire, a correspondent of Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, and a senator of the Polish Republic. A Jew whose conversion to Catholicism did not protect him from anti-Semitism, Hammerling was monitored by state and federal agencies and was, in the words of his pursuers, "the most dangerous German agent in America." M. B. B. Biskupski consulted more than forty archives in four countries, using trial testimony, intelligence reports, and blackmail correspondence to reconstruct Hammerling's story. The life of this mysterious man offers a window through which to see larger themes: labor and immigration politics in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century America, espionage during World War I, the birth of modern Polish politics, and the tragic struggle of a poor immigrant striving for success in America. Scholars and general readers alike will be interested in this fascinating book.
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Timothy Leary, Richard Nixon and the Hunt for the Fugitive King of LSD
by Steven L. Davis Bill Minutaglio'It's a rollicking tale that brings to life the antic atmosphere of America in the 'Me' Decade' Wall Street Journal'A madcap chase... this is a well-written chronicle of 28 months when the world went slightly mad' Sunday Times'A suitably head-spinning account of LSD High Priest Dr Timothy Leary' Mail on SundayOn the moonlit evening of September 12, 1970, an ex-Harvard professor with a genius IQ studies a twelve-foot high fence topped with barbed wire. A few months earlier, Dr. Timothy Leary, the High Priest of LSD, had been running a gleeful campaign for California governor against Ronald Reagan. Now, Leary is six months into a ten-year prison sentence for the crime of possessing two marijuana cigarettes.Aided by the radical Weather Underground, Leary's escape from prison is the counterculture's union of "dope and dynamite," aimed at sparking a revolution and overthrowing the government. Inside the Oval Office, President Richard Nixon drinks his way through sleepless nights as he expands the war in Vietnam and plots to unleash the United States government against his ever-expanding list of domestic enemies. Antiwar demonstrators are massing by the tens of thousands; homemade bombs are exploding everywhere; Black Panther leaders are threatening to burn down the White House; and all the while Nixon obsesses over tracking down Timothy Leary, whom he has branded "the most dangerous man in America."Based on freshly uncovered primary sources and new firsthand interviews, THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA is an American thriller that takes readers along for the gonzo ride of a lifetime. Spanning twenty-eight months, President Nixon's careening, global manhunt for Dr. Timothy Leary winds its way among homegrown radicals, European aristocrats, a Black Panther outpost in Algeria, an international arms dealer, hash-smuggling hippies from the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, and secret agents on four continents, culminating in one of the trippiest journeys through the American counterculture.
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Timothy Leary, Richard Nixon and the Hunt for the Fugitive King of LSD
by Steven L. Davis Bill Minutaglio'It's a rollicking tale that brings to life the antic atmosphere of America in the 'Me' Decade' Wall Street Journal'A madcap chase... this is a well-written chronicle of 28 months when the world went slightly mad' Sunday TimesFrom Bill Minutaglio and Steven L. Davis, authors of the PEN Center USA award-winning Dallas 1963, comes a madcap narrative about Timothy Leary's daring prison escape and run from the law.On the moonlit evening of September 12, 1970, an ex-Harvard professor with a genius IQ studies a twelve-foot high fence topped with barbed wire. A few months earlier, Dr. Timothy Leary, the High Priest of LSD, had been running a gleeful campaign for California governor against Ronald Reagan. Now, Leary is six months into a ten-year prison sentence for the crime of possessing two marijuana cigarettes.Aided by the radical Weather Underground, Leary's escape from prison is the counterculture's union of "dope and dynamite," aimed at sparking a revolution and overthrowing the government. Inside the Oval Office, President Richard Nixon drinks his way through sleepless nights as he expands the war in Vietnam and plots to unleash the United States government against his ever-expanding list of domestic enemies. Antiwar demonstrators are massing by the tens of thousands; homemade bombs are exploding everywhere; Black Panther leaders are threatening to burn down the White House; and all the while Nixon obsesses over tracking down Timothy Leary, whom he has branded "the most dangerous man in America."Based on freshly uncovered primary sources and new firsthand interviews, THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA is an American thriller that takes readers along for the gonzo ride of a lifetime. Spanning twenty-eight months, President Nixon's careening, global manhunt for Dr. Timothy Leary winds its way among homegrown radicals, European aristocrats, a Black Panther outpost in Algeria, an international arms dealer, hash-smuggling hippies from the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, and secret agents on four continents, culminating in one of the trippiest journeys through the American counterculture.(P)2018 Hachette Audio
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Timothy Leary, Richard Nixon and the Hunt for the Fugitive King of LSD
by Bill Minutaglio Steven L. DavisFrom Bill Minutaglio and Steven L. Davis, authors of the PEN Center USA award-winning Dallas 1963, comes a madcap narrative about Timothy Leary's daring prison escape and run from the law.On the moonlit evening of September 12, 1970, an ex-Harvard professor with a genius I.Q. studies a twelve-foot high fence topped with barbed wire. A few months earlier, Dr. Timothy Leary, the High Priest of LSD, had been running a gleeful campaign for California governor against Ronald Reagan. Now, Leary is six months into a ten-year prison sentence for the crime of possessing two marijuana cigarettes.Aided by the radical Weather Underground, Leary's escape from prison is the counterculture's union of "dope and dynamite," aimed at sparking a revolution and overthrowing the government. Inside the Oval Office, President Richard Nixon drinks his way through sleepless nights as he expands the war in Vietnam and plots to unleash the United States government against his ever-expanding list of domestic enemies. Antiwar demonstrators are massing by the tens of thousands; homemade bombs are exploding everywhere; Black Panther leaders are threatening to burn down the White House; and all the while Nixon obsesses over tracking down Timothy Leary, whom he has branded "the most dangerous man in America."Based on freshly uncovered primary sources and new firsthand interviews, THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA is an American thriller that takes readers along for the gonzo ride of a lifetime. Spanning twenty-eight months, President Nixon's careening, global manhunt for Dr. Timothy Leary winds its way among homegrown radicals, European aristocrats, a Black Panther outpost in Algeria, an international arms dealer, hash-smuggling hippies from the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, and secret agents on four continents, culminating in one of the trippiest journeys through the American counterculture.
The Most Dangerous Man In America: The Making of Douglas MacArthur
by PerryAt times, even his admirers seemed unsure of what to do with General Douglas MacArthur. Imperious, headstrong, and vain, MacArthur matched an undeniable military genius with a massive ego and a rebellious streak that often seemed to destine him for the dustbin of history. Yet despite his flaws, MacArthur is remembered as a brilliant commander whose combined-arms operation in the Pacific--the first in the history of warfare--secured America’s triumph in World War II and changed the course of history. In The Most Dangerous Man in America, celebrated historian Mark Perry examines how this paradox of a man overcame personal and professional challenges to lead his countrymen in their darkest hour. As Perry shows, Franklin Roosevelt and a handful of MacArthur’s subordinates made this feat possible, taming MacArthur, making him useful, and finally making him victorious. A gripping, authoritative biography of the Pacific Theater’s most celebrated and misunderstood commander, The Most Dangerous Man in America reveals the secrets of Douglas MacArthur’s success--and the incredible efforts of the men who made it possible.
The Most Dangerous Man in the World: The Explosive True Story of Julian Assange and the Lies, Cover-ups and Conspiracies He Exposed
by Andrew FowlerThe battle lines are drawn: freedom of speech against the control of the State. The Internet is the battle ground. In this war there will only be one winner. In The Most Dangerous Man in the World, award-winning journalist Andrew Fowler talks to Julian Assange, his inner circle, and those disaffected by him, deftly revealing the story of how a man with a turbulent childhood and brilliance for computers created a phenomenon that has disrupted the worlds of both journalism and international politics. From Assange's early skirmishes with the "cult" of Scientology in Australia to the release of 570,000 intercepts of pager messages sent on the day of the September 11th attacks and on to the visual bombshell of the Collateral Murder video showing American soldiers firing on civilians and Reuters reporters, Fowler takes us from the founding of WikiLeaks right up to Cablegate and the threat of further leaks in 2011 that he warns could bring down a major American bank. New information based on interviews conducted with Assange reveal the possibility that he has Asperger's syndrome; the reason U.S. soldier Bradley Manning turned to an ex-hacker to spill military secrets; and how Assange helped police remove a "how to make a bomb" book from the Internet. The mother of one of his children also talks for the first time about life with Julian when he was setting up WikiLeaks. According to the "Pentagon Papers" whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, Julian Assange is "the most dangerous man in the world." But just who is Julian Assange, and why is his quest for transparency and freedom of the press so dangerous in the eyes of his detractors? In a fascinating account that reads like a Tom Clancy thriller, Fowler reveals all-what it means, and why it matters. Like The Looming Tower on 9/11 or The Lords of Finance on the collapse of the US economy, The Most Dangerous Man in the World is the definitive, journalistic account of a massive global news event that's changing the face of journalism and the way governments do business.
A Most Dangerous Method
by John KerrThis explosive, revelatory history of the early years of psychoanalysis shows that the bitterly unresolvable split between Jung and Freud pivoted around a former patient and lover of Jung's whose story and own potentially important theoretical contributions to psychoanalysis were blocked by both men. "A huge scholarly work . . . gripping". --The New York Times.
The Most Desperate Acts of Gallantry: George A. Custer in the Civil War (Emerging Civil War Series)
by Daniel T. Davis“Presents Custer’s Civil War accomplishments in clear and engaging prose, while its ample images and battle maps place unfamiliar readers in the action.” —The Civil War MonitorThrough the passage of time, Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer’s last fight, the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876, has come to overshadow the rest of his military career, which had its brilliant beginning in the American Civil War.Plucked from obscurity by Maj. Gen. George McClellan, Custer served as a staff officer through the early stages of the war. His star began to rise in late June, 1863, when he catapulted several grades to brigadier general and was given brigade command. Shortly thereafter, at Gettysburg and Buckland Mills, he led his men—the Wolverines—in some of the heaviest cavalry fighting of the Eastern Theater.At Yellow Tavern, Custer’s assault broke the enemy line, and one of his troopers mortally wounded the legendary Confederate cavalryman, J.E.B. Stuart. At Trevilian Station, his brigade was nearly destroyed. At Third Winchester, he participated in an epic cavalry charge. Elevated to lead the Third Cavalry Division, Custer played a major role at Tom’s Brook and, later, at Appomattox, which ultimately led to the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia.Historian Daniel T. Davis, a long-time student of George Custer, has spent countless hours walking and studying the battlefields where Custer fought in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. In The Most Desperate Acts of Gallantry, he chronicles the Civil War experiences of one of the most recognized individuals to emerge from that tragic chapter in American history.“A fast-paced study, engaging study.” —Journal of the Shenandoah Valley During the Civil War Era
A Most English Princess: A Novel of Queen Victoria's Daughter
by Clare McHugh"In this sweeping, immersive novel, Clare McHugh draws readers into the mesmerizing world of the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria – Princess Vicky – as she emerges into a powerful force in her own right and ascends to become the first German Empress.” —Marie Benedict, New York Times bestselling author of The Only Woman in the Room Perfect for fans of the BBC's Victoria, Alison Pataki's The Accidental Empress, and Daisy Goodwin's Victoria, this debut novel tells the gripping and tragic story of Queen Victoria’s eldest daughter, Victoria, Princess Royal.To the world, she was Princess Victoria, daughter of a queen, wife of an emperor, and mother of Kaiser Wilhelm. Her family just called her Vicky…smart, pretty, and self-assured, she changed the course of the world.January 1858: Princess Victoria glides down the aisle of St James Chapel to the waiting arms of her beloved, Fritz, Prince Frederick, heir to the powerful kingdom of Prussia. Although theirs is no mere political match, Vicky is determined that she and Fritz will lead by example, just as her parents Victoria and Albert had done, and also bring about a liberal and united Germany. Brought up to believe in the rightness of her cause, Vicky nonetheless struggles to thrive in the constrained Prussian court, where each day she seems to take a wrong step. And her status as the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria does little to smooth over the conflicts she faces. But handsome, gallant Fritz is always by her side, as they navigate court intrigue, and challenge the cunning Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, while fighting for the throne—and the soul of a nation. At home they endure tragedy, including their son, Wilhelm, rejecting all they stand for.Clare McHugh tells the enthralling and riveting story of Victoria, the Princess Royal—from her younger years as the apple of her father Albert's eyes through her rise to power atop the mighty German empire to her final months of life.
A Most Extraordinary Ride: Space, Politics, and the Pursuit of a Canadian Dream
by Marc GarneauA captivating and inspiring memoir by Canada's first man in space.On October 5th, 1984, Marc Garneau made history. Blasting off from the Kennedy Space Center aboard the U.S. Space Shuttle and reaching a speed of 28,000 km/hour, he became the first Canadian to fly to outer space. That monumental achievement, now etched in Canadian history as one of our country&’s proudest moments, inspired a nation and ushered in a new era of space exploration for Canada. Twenty-four years later, Garneau made history yet again, becoming the first astronaut to be elected as a Member of Parliament.In between those two milestones in Garneau&’s unprecedented career, he was the first Canadian, and the first non-American, to serve as CAPCOM, the voice of Mission Control for the astronauts aboard the Space Shuttle. In the years that followed his historic first voyage to space, Garneau returned to space two more times, becoming the first Canadian to log three trips into orbit, and led the Canadian Space Agency through its most dynamic years.In the House of Commons, Garneau would ultimately serve in two cabinet posts as Minister of Transport and Minister of Foreign Affairs during some of the biggest events of the past decade: the onset of one of the worst pandemics in modern times; the arbitrary detention of Michael Kovrig and Michael Spavor by China; the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban; and the death of 85 Canadian citizens and permanent residents aboard Ukrainian Airlines Flight 752, shot down by Iran.It was no surprise, then, that when Marc Garneau announced his retirement after fourteen years in government, many Canadians lamented the loss of an upstanding parliamentarian who was not afraid to speak up for causes he believed in, even if that meant bucking his own party and its leader. In A Most Extraordinary Ride: Space, Politics, and the Pursuit of a Canadian Dream, Garneau chronicles his once-improbable ascent from a mischievous teenager and rebellious naval midshipman to a decorated astronaut and statesman who represented Canada on the world stage – both on and off the planet. With candour and humour, Garneau describes the highs and lows of his life and career, including the awe he experienced first seeing the earth from space, the tragic loss of his first wife to mental illness and suicide, sailing across the Atlantic and back in a sailboat called "the Pickle," and witnessing the tragedy of the doomed shuttle Challenger.Honest and illuminating, A Most Extraordinary Ride is a rare journey into the early years of Canada&’s space program and an inside account of the joys and challenges of governing from one of Canada&’s most distinguished citizens.
The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher
by Debby ApplegateNo one predicted success for Henry Ward Beecher at his birth in 1813. The blithe, boisterous son of the last great Puritan minister, he seemed destined to be overshadowed by his brilliant siblings—especially his sister, Harriet Beecher Stowe, who penned the century’s bestselling book Uncle Tom’s Cabin. But when pushed into the ministry, the charismatic Beecher found international fame by shedding his father Lyman's Old Testament–style fire-and-brimstone theology and instead preaching a New Testament–based gospel of unconditional love and healing, becoming one of the founding fathers of modern American Christianity. By the 1850s, his spectacular sermons at Plymouth Church in Brooklyn Heights had made him New York’s number one tourist attraction, so wildly popular that the ferries from Manhattan to Brooklyn were dubbed “Beecher Boats.” <P><P> Beecher inserted himself into nearly every important drama of the era—among them the antislavery and women’s suffrage movements, the rise of the entertainment industry and tabloid press, and controversies ranging from Darwinian evolution to presidential politics. He was notorious for his irreverent humor and melodramatic gestures, such as auctioning slaves to freedom in his pulpit and shipping rifles—nicknamed “Beecher’s Bibles”—to the antislavery resistance fighters in Kansas. Thinkers such as Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, and Twain befriended—and sometimes parodied—him.<P> And then it all fell apart. In 1872 Beecher was accused by feminist firebrand Victoria Woodhull of adultery with one of his most pious parishioners. Suddenly the “Gospel of Love” seemed to rationalize a life of lust. The cuckolded husband brought charges of “criminal conversation” in a salacious trial that became the most widely covered event of the century, garnering more newspaper headlines than the entire Civil War. Beecher survived, but his reputation and his causes—from women’s rights to progressive evangelicalism—suffered devastating setbacks that echo to this day.<P> Featuring the page-turning suspense of a novel and dramatic new historical evidence, Debby Applegate has written the definitive biography of this captivating, mercurial, and sometimes infuriating figure. In our own time, when religion and politics are again colliding and adultery in high places still commands headlines, Beecher’s story sheds new light on the culture and conflicts of contemporary America.<P> Pulitzer Prize Winner
The Most Famous Writer Who Ever Lived: A True Story of My Family
by Tom ShroderAn award-winning veteran of The Washington Post and The Miami Herald, Tom Shroder has made a career of investigative journalism and human-interest stories, from those of children who claim to have memories of past lives, in his book Old Souls, to that of a former Marine suffering from debilitating PTSD and his doctor pioneering a successful psychedelic drug treatment in Acid Test. Shroder's most fascinating subject, however, comes from within his own family: his grandfather MacKinlay Kantor was the world-famous author of Andersonville, the seminal novel about the Civil War. As a child, Shroder was in awe of his grandfather's larger-than-life character. Kantor's friends included Ernest Hemingway, Carl Sandburg, Gregory Peck, and James Cagney. He was an early mentor to the novelist John D. MacDonald and is credited with discovering the singer Burl Ives. Kantor wrote the novel Glory for Me, which became the multi-Oscar-winning film The Best Years of Our Lives. He ghostwrote General Curtis LeMay's memoirs, penning the infamous words "We're going to bomb them back into the Stone Age," referring to North Vietnam. Kantor also suffered from alcoholism, an outsize ego, and an abusive and publicly embarrassing personality where his family was concerned; he blew through several small fortunes in his lifetime, and died nearly destitute. In The Most Famous Writer Who Ever Lived, Shroder revisits the past--Kantor's upbringing, his early life, his career trajectory-- and writes not just the life story of one man but a meditation on fame, family secrets and legacies, and what is remembered after we are gone.From the Hardcover edition.
A Most Glorious Ride: The Diaries of Theodore Roosevelt, 1877-1886 (Excelsior Editions)
by Edward P. KohnFinalist for the 2015 ForeWord INDIEFAB Book of the Year Award in the History CategoryA Most Glorious Ride presents the complete diaries of Theodore Roosevelt from 1877 to 1886. Covering the formative years of his life, Roosevelt's entries show the transformation of a sickly and solitary Harvard freshman into a confident and increasingly robust young adult. He writes about his grief over the premature death of his father, his courtship and marriage to his first wife, Alice Hathaway Lee, and later the death of Alice and his mother on the same day. The diaries chronicle his burgeoning political career in New York City and his election to the New York State Assembly. With his descriptions of balls, dinner parties, and nights at the opera, they offer a glimpse into life among the Gilded Age elite in Boston and New York. They also recount Roosevelt's first birding and hunting trips to the Adirondacks, the Maine woods, and the American West. Ending with Roosevelt's secret engagement to his second wife, Edith Kermit Carow, A Most Glorious Ride provides an intimate look into the life of the man who would become America's twenty-sixth president.Brought together for the first time in a single volume, the diaries have been meticulously transcribed, annotated, and introduced by Edward P. Kohn. Twenty-four black-and-white photographs are also included.
The Most Hated Man in Kentucky: The Lost Cause and the Legacy of Union General Stephen Burbridge
by Brad AsherA revealing biography of Stephen Gano Burbridge, the controversial Union Army general known as the “Butcher of Kentucky.”For the last third of the nineteenth century, Union General Stephen Gano Burbridge enjoyed the unenviable distinction of being the most hated man in Kentucky. From mid-1864, just months into his reign as the military commander of the state, until his death in December 1894, the mere mention of his name triggered a firestorm of curses from editorialists and politicians. By the end of Burbridge’s tenure, Governor Thomas E. Bramlette concluded that he was an “imbecile commander” whose actions represented nothing but the “blundering of a weak intellect and an overwhelming vanity.”In this revealing biography, Brad Asher explores how Burbridge earned his infamous reputation and adds an important new layer to the ongoing reexamination of Kentucky during and after the Civil War. Asher illuminates how Burbridge?as both a Kentuckian and the local architect of the destruction of slavery?became the scapegoat for white Kentuckians, including many in the Unionist political elite, who were unshakably opposed to emancipation. Beyond successfully recalibrating history’s understanding of Burbridge, Asher’s biography adds administrative and military context to the state’s reaction to emancipation and sheds new light on its postwar pro-Confederacy shift.“A solid reassessment of Kentucky’s most controversial and reviled Union general, and one that will help readers understand the state’s complex place (and Burbridge’s complex place) in Civil War history.” —Stuart W. Sanders, author of Murder on the Ohio Belle“A superb biography of one of the most pivotal figures in Kentucky’s Civil War history. . . . There has been a lot of revisionist literature in the last fifteen years on Kentucky’s belated Confederate identity but no work up to now has addressed Burbridge himself. Brad Asher has filled a very important gap in the literature on wartime and postwar memory of Kentucky.” —Aaron Astor, author of Rebels on the Border: Civil War, Emancipation and the Reconstruction of Kentucky and Missouri, 1860–1872“Asher does a terrific job of weaving together the military, political, social, and economic threads that made Kentucky such a complex story in and of itself during the Civil War.” —Emerging Civil War Book Reviews
The Most Human: Reconciling with My Father, Leonard Nimoy
by Adam Nimoy"Adam Nimoy has written about the challenges growing up with his famous father and about their estrangement later in life. The fact that Leonard and Adam found a way to rebuild their relationship should resonate with anyone who struggles with difficult family dynamics."—George Takei"Engaging and immensely relatable, while at the same time offering deeply profound insights into Adam Nimoy's personal relationships, particularly with his famous father." —Eugene Roddenberry Jr., CEO Roddenberry Entertainment While the tabloids and fan publications portrayed the Nimoys as a "close family," to his son Adam, Leonard Nimoy was a total stranger. The actor was as inscrutable as the iconic half-Vulcan science officer he portrayed on Star Trek, even to those close to him. Now, his son's poignant memoir explores their complicated relationship and how it informed his views on marriage, parenting, and later, sobriety. Despite their differences, both men ventured down parallel paths: marriages leading to divorce, battling addiction, and finding recovery. Most notably, both men struggled to take the ninth step in their AA journey: to make amends with each other.Discover how the son of Spock learned to navigate this tumultuous relationship—from Shabbat dinners to basement AA meetings—and how he was finally able to reconcile with his father—and with himself.
Most I Could Be: A Renaissance Story
by Dale Kent'Of all the exhilarating slogans that galvanised women in the 1970s, determined to change ourselves and the world, the one that really inspired me was: 'Be the most that you can!' Even as a small girl, I was eager to be the most I possibly could. This desire drove my life.' Raised in an aspirational Australian working-class family of Christian Scientists, in the 1960s Dale Kent embarked on a lifelong struggle to fulfil the desire of many women of her generation - to be the most she could be. Despite discrimination and self-doubt, she escaped her controlling family and established an international career as a historian of the Florentine Renaissance. But she failed to liberate herself from the crippling views of women, love and sex she had internalised in childhood. Craving independence and sexual fulfilment, Kent left her child with her husband and started afresh in the United States on an academic road trip that took in Berkeley, Harvard, Princeton and the National Gallery of Art. Her story, both poignant and darkly comical, traces a counterpoint between increasing professional success, a desperate search for a sexual soulmate and a way back to her daughter.
The Most Important Thing: The Most Important Thing (The\most Important Thing Ser.)
by David GrossIn this novel based on true events, a young man from rural Kentucky discovers what matters most in life as a soldier in the Korean War.In January of 1950, Bradley leaves his family’s Kentucky farm to join the US Army. He’s eighteen years old and eager for adventure, new horizons, and a bigger paycheck. His service takes him halfway across the world to serve in the Korean War. It is there, amidst the perils of battle, that he discovers the most important thing.In The Most Important Thing author David Gross parlays his own father’s life history into a moving novel about a young man’s coming of age. It is a powerful story of resilience that explores the meaning of service, sacrifice, and heroism.