Western America

In late April 1902, Mount Pelee, a volcano on the Caribbean island Martinique, began to wake up. It emitted clouds of ash and smoke for two weeks until violently erupting on May 8. Over 30,000 residents of St. Pierre were killed; they burned to death under rivers of hot lava and suffocated under pounds of hot ash. Only three people managed to survive: a prisoner trapped in a dungeon-like jail cell, a man on the outskirts of town, and a young girl found floating unconscious in a boat days later.

If you were black in America at the start of the Revolutionary War, whom would you want to win? In response to a declaration by the last governor of Virginia that any rebel-owned slave who escaped and served the King would be emancpated, tens of thousands of blacks voted with feet, escaping to fight beside the British. Originally designed to break the plantations of the American South, this military strategy instead unleashed one of the great exoduses in American history.

History called on Harry Truman to unite the Western world against Soviet communism, but first he had to rally Republicans and Democrats behind America’s most dramatic foreign policy shift since George Washington delivered his farewell address. How did one of the least prepared presidents to walk into the Oval Office become one of its most successful?

This audiobook tells the story of how Spain managed to conquer the Americas in the span of half a century, from the late 1400s to the mid-1500s. Although exploitation and warfare continued between the colonizers and the colonized after this period, the largest campaigns against the indigenous peoples were undertaken in this short time span, which is the focus of this audiobook.

In 1871, five young girls were sent by the Japanese government to the United States. Their mission: learn Western ways and return to help nurture a new generation of enlightened men to lead Japan. Raised in traditional samurai households during the turmoil of civil war, three of these unusual ambassadors - Sutematsu Yamakawa, Shige Nagai, and Ume Tsuda - grew up as typical American schoolgirls. Upon their arrival in San Francisco, they became celebrities.

America, 1881. The north-western frontier where old sins cast long shadows. The consequences of Robert Rathbone's vicious betrayal of a fellow soldier fifteen years before resurface, just as he's about to stand for the first election to be held in the new settlement of Buffalo, Wyoming. Rathbone has spent the years since leaving the army building a ruthless reputation across the American Northwest. His pursuit of power, wealth, and status are all driven by his desire to acquire the one thing that has eluded him since that earlier time, and the reason for his treachery: the love of Josie '...

The discovery of the vast lands to the west by Christopher Columbus opened the flood gates of European adventurers and explorers that sought to subdue the North American continent. Those hungry for adventure and a new life came primarily from England, France, Spain, and the Netherlands. In the western and southern bounds of North America the Spanish established their presence, while the middle of the continent was controlled by the French, and the eastern seaboard was colonized mainly by the Dutch and English. One by one, from the settlement at Jamestown, Virginia, established in 1607, to ...

West Point has long been America's most famous military academy, but in the early 19th century it was a highly unimpressive school consisting of a few ugly buildings facing a desolate, barren parade ground. As it turned out, West Point would become the foremost military academy in the nation, and it would churn out the cadets who became the most important generals in the Civil War.

She should never have promised her sister to be at the wedding - not when it meant returning to the small town she left behind and confronting her first love and heartbreak Ten years ago, Isabella left Misty Springs to start a new life. Now she’s back, and absolutely not ready to confront her past or make the most of this second chance. Being involved in her sister Abigail’s wedding brings back unwelcome memories - and it puts her right in the path of the man she’s been struggling to forget. Logan Cooper was her first love, before she broke his heart. It looks as if this time, it will...

Still unsolved, still baffling, still claiming new victims. Here are the untold stories. A pilot reports a strange haze enveloping his plane, then disappears; 11 hours after fuel starvation, as if calling from a void, he is heard 600 miles away. He requests permission to land, then vanishes forever. A freighter steaming over placid seas disappears without a trace. A pleasure yacht ghosts past without a soul on board. A pilot calls for help because a "weird object" is harassing his plane. A jet collides with an "unknown" and is never found.

"Dive into a compelling vision for America's future in 'Empowering America's Future.' This insightful eBook explores why Dr. Cornel West is the ideal candidate for President in 2024, addressing key issues that matter to all Americans, regardless of race, age, or gender. With a rich academic background, a lifelong commitment to social justice, and progressive policies, Dr. West offers a fresh perspective and the leadership needed to unite our diverse nation. Discover how his expertise in foreign policy, dedication to climate action, and unique ability to bridge divides can lead America ...

Settlers in the frontier West were often easy prey for criminals. Policing efforts were scattered at best and often amounted to vigilante retaliation. To create a semblance of order, freelance enforcers of the law known as man-hunters undertook the search for fugitives. These pursuers have often been portrayed as ruthless bounty hunters, no better than the felons they pursued. Robert K. DeArment's detailed account of their careers redeems their reputations and reveals the truth behind their fascinating legends.

Deadwood, 1876: a notorious little mining town in modern-day South Dakota that was a hive of criminal activity. Thieves, drunkards, prostitutes, and murderers ran rampant among its booming streets. There were over 300 murders in this town during the first year of its existence. When Wild Bill Hickok was brutally shot and killed at point-blank range in the back of the head, it was obvious that someone had to rise up and save the town of Deadwood from itself.

Bass Reeves was a man who forged his own destiny and wrote his own life story as he went along. Born into slavery, Reeves rose above all challenges to become one of the most legendary lawmen of the American West. As a deputy US marshal, he held himself to a personal code of conduct that went beyond the badge he wore. For Bass, the line between right and wrong was clear, and he never hesitated to enforce the law—even when it meant pursuing his own friends or family. Justice wasn’t just his duty; it was his calling.

Theodore Roosevelt in the Badlands chronicles the turbulent years Roosevelt spent as a rancher in the Badlands of Dakota Territory, following the sudden deaths on February 14, 1884, of his wife, two days after giving birth, and of his mother. Grief-stricken - and driven by doubts about his career after failed attempts as a reformer fighting political corruption -the young, Harvard-educated New York politician left his infant daughter in his sister's care and went to live on a Badlands ranch he had bought a year earlier.

Rum is undergoing a global renaissance. In bars and distilleries across the world, rum is being defined as a dynamic, complex, and versatile drink. New to the scene of connoisseurship, rum is a spirit of possibilities, inviting imaginative bartenders and mixologists to leave their marks on this burgeoning movement. In The New Rum, award-winning drinks author Bryce T. Bauer charts the historical and cultural journey of the spirit of the Americas from its origins in the Caribbean, to its long-held status as a cheap vacation drink, to today’s inspiring craft revival.

The Chronicles of Bannock County by Bo Carson is a captivating non-fiction book set in Bannock County, Idaho during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. If you’ve ever been enthralled by tales of pioneers and the wild west but struggled to find captivating historical accounts, then keep reading... Are you fascinated by gritty true stories from America's frontier past? Have you scoured countless books but couldn't find one that brings Idaho's past to life? Do you finally want to understand the real history behind Bannock County's pioneers and Native American tribes? If so, then this ...

Journey into the heart of Puerto Rico's extraordinary history in "Boricua! The History and Future of Puerto Rico," by Donald Elton. From the rich, often overlooked story of the indigenous Taíno civilization, through the brutal conquest by Spain and complex dynamics with the United States, this riveting book paints a nuanced portrait of a people whose identity has been shaped by resilience and resistance.

During the Haitian Revolution of 1791-1804, arguably the most radical revolution of the modern world, slaves and former slaves succeeded in ending slavery and establishing an independent state. Yet on the Spanish island of Cuba barely fifty miles distant, the events in Haiti helped usher in the antithesis of revolutionary emancipation. When Cuban planters and authorities saw the devastation of the neighboring colony, they rushed to fill the void left in the world market for sugar, to buttress the institutions of slavery and colonial rule, and to prevent "another Haiti".

The 30-year regime of Papa and Baby Doc Duvalier, who ruled between 1957 and 1986, was arguably the most repressive in the Western hemisphere. Papa Doc and Baby Doc Duvalier looks at how the father and son duo rose to power, and the results of their tight grip over Haiti.