Publisher: GIANLUCA
Letters on the English (or Letters Concerning the English Nation) is a series of 24 essays written by Voltaire based on his experiences living in England between 1726 and 1729.
A satirical look at early biblical events from the point of view of someone who was there to witness most of them: the oldest man in recorded history. (Introduction by Matthew Reece)Show book
Mississippi Sissy is the stunning memoir from Kevin Sessums, a celebrity journalist who grew up scaring other children, hiding terrible secrets, pretending to be Arlene Frances and running wild in the South.As he grew up in Forest, Mississippi, befriended by the family maid, Mattie May, he became a young man who turned the word "sissy" on its head, just as his mother taught him. In Jackson, he is befriended by Eudora Welty and journalist Frank Hains, but when Hains is brutally murdered in his antebellum mansion, Kevin's long road north towards celebrity begins. In his memoir, Kevin Sessums brings to life the pungent American south of the 1960s and the world of the strange little boy who grew there."Kevin Sessums is some sort of cockeyed national treasure.” —Michael CunninghamShow book
China Marine is the sequel to E. B. Sledge's critically acclaimed memoir, With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa.Picking up where his previous memoir leaves off, Sledge, a young marine in the First Division, traces his company's movements and charts his own difficult passage to peace following his horrific experiences in the Pacific. He reflects on his duty in the ancient city of Peiping (now Beijing) and recounts the difficulty of returning to his hometown of Mobile, Alabama, and resuming civilian life haunted by the shadows of close combat.Distinguished historians have praised Sledge's first book as the definitive rifleman's account of World War II, ranking it with the Civil War's Red Badge of Courage and World War I's All Quiet on the Western Front. Although With the Old Breed ends with the surrender of Japan, marines in the Pacific were still faced with the mission of disarming the immense Japanese forces on the Asian mainland and reestablishing order. For infantrymen so long engaged in the savage and surreal world of close combat, there remained the personal tasks of regaining normalcy and dealing with suppressed memories, fears, and guilt.Show book
This delightful memoir provides a unique "Upstairs, Downstairs" account of what life was really like in a bygone era At the age of sixteen, Flo Wadlow left her family to begin what would become a distinguished life "in service." Starting as a kitchen maid in London, she soon rose through the ranks and worked at many of England's great houses, including Woodhall in Hilgay, where she met scullery maid Mollie Moran, author of Aprons and Silver Spoons; and Hatfield House and Blicking Hall. By her early twenties, Flo was in charge of the kitchen and cooked for prime ministers and royalty. Over a Hot Stove is a must-listen for fans of Downton Abbey.Show book
The sensational true story of how a bank robber killed a man in a wild shootout, sparking a national debate around gun control and the death penalty.On July 24, 1964, twenty-four-year-old Matthew Kerry Smith disguised himself with a mask and a Beatle wig, hoisted a semi-automatic rifle, then held up a bank in North York, Ontario.The intelligent but troubled son of a businessman and mentally ill mother, Smith was a navy veteran with a young Indigenous wife and a hazy plan for violent revolution.Outside the bank, Smith was confronted by Jack Blanc, a former member of the Canadian and Israeli armies, who brandished a revolver. During a wild shootout, Blanc was killed, and Smith escaped—only to become the object of the largest manhunt in the history of the Metropolitan Toronto Police Force.Dubbed "The Beatle Bandit," Smith was eventually captured, tried, and sentenced to hang. His murderous rampage had tragic consequences for multiple families and fueled a national debate about the death penalty, gun control, and the insanity defense.Show book
We all know someone like them: women whose lives revolve around their cats. Here Donald Davis paints verbal portraits of two very different women in his life who shared a fiercely unshakable sense of priorities. It was simply understood that the cats came first, and once you accepted that, everything else made perfect sense. Employing his trademark Carolina drawl, droll wit, and sharp observations, Davis is in top form here as he pays homage to these two remarkable women and their devotion to their feline families. ©2008 Donald Davis; (P)2008 August House, Inc.Show book
