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Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography |
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The Siege of Washington: The Untold Story of the Twelve Days That Shook the Union John Lockwood, Charles Lockwood On April 14, 1861, following the surrender of Fort Sumter, Washington was "put into the condition of a siege," declared Abraham Lincoln. Located sixty miles south of the Mason-Dixon Line, the nation's capital was surrounded by the slave states of Maryland and Virginia. With no fortifications and only a handful of trained soldiers, Washington was an ideal target for the Confederacy. The South echoed with cries of "On to Washington!" and Jefferson Davis's wife sent out cards inviting her friends to a reception at the White House on May 1. Lincoln issued an emergency proclamation on April 15, calling for 75,000 troops to suppress the rebellion and protect the capital. One question now transfixed the nation: whose forces would reach Washington first-Northern defenders or Southern attackers? For 12 days, the city's fate hung in the balance. Washington was entirely isolated from the North-without trains, telegraph, or mail. Sandbags were stacked around major landmarks, and the unfinished Capitol was transformed into a barracks, with volunteer troops camping out in the House and Senate chambers. Meanwhile, Maryland secessionists blocked the passage of Union reinforcements trying to reach Washington, and a rumored force of 20,000 Confederate soldiers lay in wait just across the Potomac River. Drawing on firsthand accounts, The Siege of Washington tells this story from the perspective of leading officials, residents trapped inside the city, Confederates plotting to seize it, and Union troops racing to save it, capturing with brilliance and immediacy the precarious first days of the Civil War. |
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Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl: Written by Herself, with "A True Tale of Slavery" by John S. Jacobs (John Harvard Library) Harriet A. Jacobs This enlarged edition of the most significant and celebrated slave narrative completes the Jacobs family saga, surely one of the most memorable in all of American history. John Jacobs’s short slave narrative, A True Tale of Slavery, published in London in 1861, adds a brother’s perspective to Harriet Jacobs’s autobiography. It is an exciting addition to this now classic work, as John Jacobs presents further historical information about family life so well described already by his sister. Once more, Jean Yellin, who discovered this long-lost document, supplies annotation and authentication. This is the standard edition of Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, reissued here in the John Harvard Library and updated with a new bibliography. |
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Crossroads: 1969 (Cassell Faction Trilogy) John W. Cassell The year is 1969... a time when the youth of America is standing up to its elder rulers, when minorities are demanding their fair share of the American pie. A time when an eternal war fought for misbegotten motives and fueled by a continuous stream of some of the most outrageous lies ever fed to a people by its leadership over the previous eight years continues to gut an entire generation. A time when the old values, the old expectations, the old imperatives are knocked flat.
Seen through the eyes of 21 year old college senior John Cassell, always out of money and soon to be out of college, it is a saga of coming of age at a time when the younger generation accepted very little of the old yardsticks and Thou-Shalt-Nots which traditionally helped that process along.
Based on a true story, and the stories of others, the book follows the young man into the year 1969 as he struggles with the decisions expected of him by elders and demanded of him by life. |
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Face the Winter Naked Bonnie Turner Daniel Tomelin, a shell-shocked veteran haunted by the carnage of the First World War, abandons his family in the Great Depression and goes on the road in search of relief from his nightmares. The life of a freight-hopping, banjo-strumming hobo appeals to him more than he wants to admit. But he insists he's not a bum - he's a family man looking for work; a down-and-out victim of the Depression, whose war flashbacks and guilt for leaving his family accompany him through the hills of Missouri.
Compassionate, humorous, and warm, despite the economic hardships of the era, Face the Winter Naked will appeal to readers who enjoy tales of survival in the Great Depression. Stories of desperate men who couldn't handle the realities of war or financial ruin. Men who dearly loved their families but hadn't the courage to stay and accept responsibility. The story pulls the reader back to a tragic period in history, where people either learned to cope with poverty - or perished. |
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American Sniper LP: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History Chris Kyle, Scott McEwen, Jim DeFelice From 1999 to 2009, U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle recorded the most career sniper kills in United States military history. Iraqi insurgents feared him so much they called him al-Shaitan ("the devil") and placed a $20,000 bounty on his head. Kyle earned legendary status among his fellow SEALs, Marines, and U.S. Army soldiers, fighting alongside them in the streets, as well as protecting them from rooftops and stealth positions. Through four combat deployments, he was awarded seven medals for bravery, including two Silver Stars. Gripping and unforgettable, Kyle's masterful account of his extraordinary battlefield experiences ranks as one of the great war memoirs of all time. |
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The Original Classic UNCLE TOM'S CABIN [Illustrated] Harriet Beecher Stowe Includes Dynamic Chapter Linking For Easy Navigation Plus Illustrations
Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in 1852, the novel "helped lay the groundwork for the Civil War", according to Will Kaufman.
Stowe, a Connecticut-born teacher at the Hartford Female Academy and an active abolitionist, featured the character of Uncle Tom, a long-suffering black slave around whom the stories of other characters—both fellow slaves and slave owners—revolve. The sentimental novel depicts the reality of slavery while also asserting that Christian love can overcome something as destructive as enslavement of fellow human beings.
Uncle Tom's Cabin was the best-selling novel of the 19th century, and the second best-selling book of that century, following the Bible. It is credited with helping fuel the abolitionist cause in the 1850s. In the first year after it was published, 300,000 copies of the book were sold in the United States alone. In 1855, three years after it was published, it was called "the most popular novel of our day." One million copies of the book were sold in Great Britain. The impact attributed to the book is great, reinforced by a story that when Abraham Lincoln met Stowe at the start of the Civil War, Lincoln declared, "So this is the little lady who started this great war." The quote is apocryphal; it did not appear in print until 1896, and it has been argued that "The long-term durability of Lincoln's greeting as an anecdote in literary studies and Stowe scholarship can perhaps be explained in part by the desire among many contemporary intellectuals ... to affirm the role of literature as an agent of social change." |
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Killing Lincoln: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever Bill O'Reilly, Martin Dugard A riveting historical narrative of the heart-stopping events surrounding the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, and the first work of history from mega-bestselling author Bill O'Reilly The anchor of The O'Reilly Factor recounts one of the most dramatic stories in American history—how one gunshot changed the country forever. In the spring of 1865, the bloody saga of America's Civil War finally comes to an end after a series of increasingly harrowing battles. President Abraham Lincoln's generous terms for Robert E. Lee's surrender are devised to fulfill Lincoln's dream of healing a divided nation, with the former Confederates allowed to reintegrate into American society. But one man and his band of murderous accomplices, perhaps reaching into the highest ranks of the U.S. government, are not appeased. In the midst of the patriotic celebrations in Washington D.C., John Wilkes Booth—charismatic ladies' man and impenitent racist—murders Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre. A furious manhunt ensues and Booth immediately becomes the country's most wanted fugitive. Lafayette C. Baker, a smart but shifty New York detective and former Union spy, unravels the string of clues leading to Booth, while federal forces track his accomplices. The thrilling chase ends in a fiery shootout and a series of court-ordered executions—including that of the first woman ever executed by the U.S. government, Mary Surratt. Featuring some of history's most remarkable figures, vivid detail, and page-turning action, Killing Lincoln is history that reads like a thriller. |
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Far Away Home Susan Denning It's 1867 in New York City and Aislynn Denehy's closest friend, Tim Nolan, is forced west to find work in a Utah mining camp. Aislynn follows, enduring the treacherous trail only to find life in the raucous Treasure Mountain camp brings small joys and great challenges. She struggles with her own conflicting desires and the intruding intentions of the three men in her life. Aislynn's story races through authentic experiences until she discovers the value of being true to herself, a lesson that transcends her story and this historical period.
What people are saying about FAR AWAY HOME:
"This book is a great read- it's GONE WITH THE WIND meets FAR AND AWAY. A realistic story of the American West."
Vanessa Giles Sheehan, Teacher, US History
"The FAR AWAY HOME is an engaging, memorable love story. I thoroughly enjoyed it."
Amy Goodman, award winning syndicated journalist, columnist and author
"I am writing to you to express my appreciation and admiration for your wonderful novel. As I read your story, I found myself transported back in time to the days of the Westward Expansion, and became part of the story. Your heroine Aislynn captured all the spirit and adventure of her time, and is testimony to the strength and determination of women of today and yesterday fighting for their rightful place in a man's world. Congratulations, I absolutely loved it!!!"
Arlene Wall, Library Media Specialist, Fairfield, CT |
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Band of Sisters: American Women at War in Iraq (Nonprofit Handbook: Everything) Kirsten Holmstedt * Winner of the 2007 American Authors Association Golden Quill Award * Winner of the 2007 Military Writers Society of America Founders Award In Iraq, the front lines are everywhere . . . and everywhere in Iraq, no matter what their job descriptions say, women in the U.S. military are fighting--more than 155,000 of them. A critical and commercial success in hardcover, Band of Sisters presents a dozen groundbreaking and often heart-wrenching stories of American women in combat in Iraq, such as the U.S.s first female pilot to be shot down and survive, the militarys first black female pilot in combat, a young turret gunner defending convoys, and a nurse struggling to save lives, including her own. |