Western Biography

Many of the first artists in the West were assigned to exploration and geological parties, working as archivists and obedient to demands of cold accuracy. However, a few were driven by an imaginative mix of real events and fantastical visions to whet the appetite of Eastern consumers and preserve their own nostalgia on canvas. Among the most prominent artists depicting the "old" West was Charles Marion Russell, a prolific painter, sculptor, writer, and storyteller based in the heart of the Montana country.

Earl Lovelace is a major Caribbean writer, one of the few of his generation to have lived in and written almost exclusively from the region. With sharp observation and even sharper wit, his writing pulses with the rhythm, flow, and vibrancy of the lives of “ordinary” people, whose culture and language he champions. In this brief but rich biography, Funso Aiyejina explores the writer and his work with the intimacy of a friend and the perceptiveness of a scholar.

Jon Hunner’s concise account of Oppenheimer’s life and the emergence of an Atomic West distills a vast literature for students and general listeners. In this brisk, engaging biography, the author recounts how Oppenheimer helped locate the atomic weapons research lab at Los Alamos, New Mexico, and helped establish leading physics departments at the University of California–Berkeley and Caltech.

Nat Love: The Life and Legacy of the Former Slave Who Became the Wild West’s Most Famous Black Cowboy chronicles the colorful life of Nat Love and the legends that sprung up around him over time. You will learn about Nat Love like never before.

George Mergenthaler, the grandson of the inventor of the Linotype, was an only child, and at the time of his birth in 1920, became the sole male heir the family fortune. Tall, handsome, Ivy League educated, speaking fluent German and French, "Merg" as he was know to his friends, did what many in his generation did following the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor: He enlisted in the Army.

The Elements of Cricket is a cricket book unlike any other published before, an extraordinary, eccentric guide and charming visual representation of the game, from the weather and wood that make it possible to the achievements of its greatest and most famous players. The book is divided into the three parts that make up the fundamental elements of cricket: bat, ball and field. Their harmony produces cricket’s unique environment; their centuries’ long conflict provides its innovation, adaptability and vast psychological hinterland.

Edward Zane Carroll Judson aka Ned Buntline (1821-1886) was responsible for creating a highly romantic and often misleading image of the American West, albeit one that the masses found irresistible in the mid-to-late 19th century. Some scholars estimate that he wrote at least 400 dime novels over his lifetime and perhaps as many as 600. The Notorious Life of Ned Buntline is an open-eyed look at the man who sparked an American legend but whose own scandalous life somehow escaped history's limelight.

A riveting memoir of the first Israeli-born Jewish American to be sent as a Peace Corps volunteer to a closed Arab society. A good memoir is a survivor's tale - the story of a person who has faced obstacles and made it through well enough to tell it. Dalya Cohen-Mor, a Sabra-born American woman, volunteered to serve in the Peace Corps, went through a lengthy and highly competitive application process, was accepted, and was sent to serve in the predominantly Palestinian country of Jordan.

Based on actual events spanning forty years, this story is about the relentless struggle of a family’s search for freedom, the Great Seven Fidel Castro’s inner circle, and an epic adventure driven by a passionate love relationship set in pre- and post-Revolutionary Cuba. The love story is the main impetus of this chronicle. Pepe, the only survivor of the inner circle to escape several assassination attempts, is forced to leave his family and his fiancée (Alicia) in Cuba. Alicia, who is carrying his unborn child, conceals her pregnancy to ensure Pepe’s immediate departure to safety.

"Out of The Storm" is a compelling memoir by Chaplain Sy Alli, a man who has lived multiple lives, each marked by extraordinary challenges and remarkable transformations. From his decorated military service to his unexpected stint as a professional wrestler, Dignitary Protection Agent, and eventual transition to becoming a devoted Chaplain, Sy Alli's life is a testament to the power of resilience.

'Women are told, from birth, that it's our job to be small: physically small, small in our presence, and small in our impact on the world. We're supposed to spend our lives passive, quiet and hungry. I want to obliterate that expectation....' Guardian columnist Lindy West wasn't always loud. It's difficult to believe she was once a nerdy, overweight teen who wanted nothing more than to be invisible. Fortunately for women everywhere, along the road she found her voice - and how she found it!

The 25-year old Charles A. Lindbergh climbed into his single-engine monoplane, Spirit of St. Louis, and took off for Paris, determined to win the $25,000 Orteig Prize promised to the first pilot to fly nonstop between New York and Paris. For the next 33 hours, as he navigated through storms across the perilous Atlantic Ocean, news of his attempt circled the globe, making him an international celebrity by the time he reached Paris.

This fun quiz book is a tribute to the late Adam West! This book contains over 100 questions and answers. Play on your own, or enjoy it with family and friends! Each question is worth one point unless otherwise noted. Have fun and enjoy!

Many of us would say it takes guts and a little bit of crazy to step toe-to-toe with a powerful, 1700-pound bull. For hall-of-fame bullfighter, Jeremy Sparks, it took faith. Sparks' remarkable and illustrious journey began at a young age when he received a God-given calling to become a professional bullfighter.

On a sultry August morning in 1970, the battered body of a young woman was hoisted from a dry well just outside Hogansville, Georgia. Author and investigator Clay Bryant was there, witnessing the macabre scene. Then fifteen, Bryant was tagging along with his father, Buddy Bryant, Hogansville chief of police. The victim, Gwendolyn Moore, had been in a violent marriage. That was no secret. But her husband had connections to a political machine that held sway over the Troup County Sheriff's Office overseeing the case. To the dismay and bafflement of many, no charges were brought.

Do you want to learn about King George III but don’t have the time or patience to read a thick book? Then this is the short and concise book for you! In the book you will read about the many events that shaped the life and reign of the British king, including: First Hanoverian monarch of Britain to be born in England and to use English as his native tongue. Britain won the Seven Year’s War and greatly expanded the British Empire. Loss of the American colonies during the American Revolutionary War. Fostered growth in British agriculture. Funded the development of the world’s largest ...

Where nature writing meets humor—a raucous, hilarious look at life in the high desert of Nevada, from the author of Raising Wild and Rants from the Hill.

As one of the most profound and insightful scholars of the Middle East, Fouad Ajami’s sensibility was powerfully shaped by his childhood and youth in Lebanon in the ’50s and ’60s. The time was a transitional one - not only for the Middle East but for America and the world. Lebanon in this era was just coming into its own as a cosmopolitan destination of the international jet set as well as earnest American educators seeking to modernize Arab society.

While Pang-Mei Natasha Chang was a Chinese Studies major at Harvard University, she stumbled across the name of her 83-year-old great aunt Chang Yu-i in a history book. Over the next several years, Pang-Mei spent long afternoons drawing forth her aunt's story. Born in Shanghai to a well-to-do family, Chang Yu-i lived a life of defiance, continually breaking class and culture barriers.

Early in the decade of 2000, the Department of Human Services of the Ellsworth, Maine, Child Protective Division, along with other municipalities, came under scrutiny for their questionable policies and immoderate tactics. Discover how a toothache led to a two-year nightmare for this quiet and law-abiding family. (Well...kinda quiet and law-abiding).