Western Biography

In 1773, literary giant Samuel Johnson set off with his friend James Boswell on a tour of Scotland’s remote Highlands and Western Isles. What followed was a vivid travelogue capturing the landscapes, people, and customs of a region on the brink of change. With wit, insight, and curiosity, Johnson reflects on everything from ancient clan traditions to the decline of the Gaelic language—offering a rare glimpse into 18th-century Scotland through the eyes of one of England’s greatest minds.

For decades, Trooper Steve Raabe patrolled some of the most desolate and dangerous highways in America. Alone in the remote Nevada desert, miles from any backup, Raabe was forced to contend with murderers, thieves, perverts, dope peddlers, and the occasional runaway train. While often tragic and terrifying, Raabe's true tales also abound with his signature wit and playful good cheer. Policing can be a deadly serious business, but for Raabe it also entailed buying a prisoner an ice cream cone on a hot summer day, as you'll discover in Patrolling the Heart of the West.

How can one pilot cram so much into a single lifetime? Climb into Captain Terry Reece's cockpit, fasten your seatbelt, and hold on for an exciting journey into the world of aviation. Born to a family of transplanted North Carolinians who moved to Washington State, a young Reece explored the hills of the Pacific Northwest. Hiking in the mountains and being a fire lookout gave him a taste of adventure, but he craved more-and he got it.

The son of a Boston Congregationalist deacon, Samuel Adams was educated at Harvard and took over his father’s malt house business and failed. Adams admitted that he wasn’t good at business, revolutionary agitator was more his game. He was one of the first American patriots to call for independence from England. Thomas Jefferson wrote of Adams “truly the man of the revolution.” Adams loved to write and made a fiery newspaper editor, producing an onslaught of articles denouncing the British control of the colonies and calling for a new independent nation. A very religious man, he ...

In this classic of social history, the author describes the lives of six obscure men and women of the Middle Ages. She draws on account books, records, letters, diaries, and wills to make the life of those times as concrete and comprehensible as our own.

Even after WWI had ended, the region of Arizona, New Mexico, and West Texas stubbornly refused to be tamed. It was still a place where frontier gunfights broke out at an alarming rate. Utilizing official records, newspaper accounts, and oral histories, Cowboys and Gangsters tells the story of the untamed "Wild West" of the Prohibition era of the 1920s and early 1930s and introduces a rogues' gallery of six-gun-packing Western gunfighters and lawmen.

Author Orlando (Ori) Spado honestly recants his humble beginnings from the small town of Rome in upstate New York, to becoming known as "The Mob Boss of Hollywood." A candid account documenting his fall from a well-known Hollywood fixer mixing with A list celebrities to serving 62 months in Federal prison, and ultimately making a determined comeback.

Do you want to learn about the botanist John Bartram but don’t have the time or patience to read a thick book? Then this is the short and concise book for you! Some of the many accomplishments of John Bartram were: Established one of America’s first botanical gardens in Philadelphia. Held regular scientific correspondence with such notable scientists as: Peter Collinson, Carl Linnaeus, Alexander Garden, Benjamin Franklin, Cadwallader Colden, and more. Explored and recorded his journey into uncharted parts of up-state New York in the 1740s. Co-founded the American Philosophical Society ...

This audiobook follows the saga of more than 100 influential men and women who together wove the story of early Western frontier America. The engaging account of their lives forms a unique tapestry of human experience.

Virginia Woolf's life as part of the avant-garde Bloomsbury Group has captured the imagination of millions. Now Nigel Nicolson, the distinguished son of British writers Harold Nicolson and Vita Sackville-West (Vita was one of Woolf's closest and most intimate friends) threads his personal reminiscences through the narrative of her life. In so doing, he paints an astonishing portrait of one of the most remarkable women in history.

For those who are in any way interested in the depths of human morality, the Wests represent some of the most depraved and sadistic murderers ever to have lived. Not only did they prey on unsuspecting young girls, but their attentions were even turned toward their own daughters. In a case involving kidnap, rape, and murder, Fred and Rose went beyond the realms of what many of us consider possible as people.

From two veteran historians comes an intelligent and spirited history of Charles II's dissolute life and surprising legacy. To refer to the private life of Charles II is to abuse the adjective. His personal life was anything but private. His amorous liaisons were largely conducted in royal palaces surrounded by friends, courtiers, and literally hundreds of servants and soldiers. Gossip radiated throughout the kingdom.

Do you want to learn about Martha Washington but don’t have the time or patience to read a thick book? Then the short and concise book “Martha Washington: First Lady of the United States” is for you!! During Martha Washington’s long and productive life, she had many interesting adventures and made many contributions to the young American republic, including the following: • She successfully took over the massive Custis estate after the death of her first husband, showing her skills as a businesswoman. • During the American Revolutionary War, she spent around five years in total ...

Famous Heroes of the American West is a lively account of the "Wild West" and its renowned figures, narrated with vigor by Adam Sims. The lives of Davy Crockett, Christopher Kit" Carson, Calamity Jane, and Sitting Bull, among others, are explored in detail. Their exploits, adventures, and alliances make for fascinating listening.

Army scout, buffalo hunter, Indian fighter, and impresario of the world-renowned "Wild West show", William F. "Buffalo Bill" Cody lived the real American West. Bobby Bridger draws on many historical accounts and Cody's own memoirs to show how deeply intertwined Cody's life was with the Plains Indians. In particular, he demonstrates that the Lakota and Cheyenne were active cocreators of the Wild West shows. This dual story of Buffalo Bill and the Plains Indians clearly reveals how one West was lost, and another born, within the lifetime of one remarkable man.

Galileo Galilei grew up in a time when nearly everyone thought the Earth was the center of the universe and the Sun and the planets revolved around the Earth. His intellectual world was dominated by the work of the ancient philosopher Aristotle. Science as we know it today was just starting to emerge from the dark ages and it was blended with religion so that the two at were hard to distinguish between. Galileo's work included a radial improvement in a parlor toy called a spyglass.

In this powerful, passionate chronicle, Noah Adams, the beloved host of NPR's All Things Considered, takes us on a river journey through the heart of Appalachia - a journey shared by pioneers and preachers, white-water daredevils, bluegrass musicians, and an unforgettable cast of vivid historical characters.

Zachary Taylor or “Old Rough and Ready” as his men called him, came up through the ranks in the U.S. army with the culmination of his career occurring at the Battle of Buena Vista during the Mexican-American War. His military exploits brought him national notoriety and propelled him to the office of the president in the election of 1848. A bit of an enigma, he was a southern slaveholder who vehemently opposed the expansion of slavery into the new western territories that had been won in the war with Mexico. The political arena was a new domain for Taylor, having never held a political ...

Among the legendary heroes and outlaws of the Wild West, few names echo louder than that of Wild Bill Hickok. Wild Bill wasn’t just a name whispered in saloons or shouted on the stage of Buffalo Bill’s world-famous Wild West shows. Long before he stepped onto any stage, Wild Bill had carved his path in blood, sweat, and gunpowder. He was a Civil War scout who could read the vast plains like a map, a fearless marshal who faced down lawlessness, and a frontier sheriff whose very name sent ripples through the towns he protected.

When asked in an interview what he most liked about rodeo, three-time world champion saddle-bronc rider “Cody” Bill Smith said simply, “Horses that buck.” Smith redefined the image of America’s iconic cowboy. Determined as a boy to escape a miner’s life in Montana, he fantasized a life in rodeo and went on to earn thirteen trips to the national finals, becoming one of the greatest of all riders.