Other books that might interest you

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  The Elder Sons of George III -...

  Catherine Curzon

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  Follow the sensational lives of four Georgian Era royals through scandal, corruption, and coronation in this revealing family biography. 
   
  For nearly sixty years, King George III reigned over a tumultuous kingdom. His health and realm were in turmoil, while family life held challenges of its own. From the corpulent Prinny and the Grand Old Duke of York, to a king who battled the Lords and the disciplinarian Duke of Kent, this is the story of George III’s elder sons. 
   
  Born during half a decafde of upheaval, George, Frederick, William, and Edward defined an era. Their scandals intrigued the nation and their efforts to build lives outside their parents’ shadow led them down diverse paths. Whether devoting themselves to the military or to pleasure, every moment was captured in the full glare of the spotlight. 
   
  The sons of George III were prepared from infancy to take their place on the world’s stage, but as the king’s health failed and the country lurched from one drama to the next, they found that duty was easier said than done. With scandalous romances, illegal marriages, rumors of corruption and even the odd kidnapping plot, their lives were luridly dramatic, and never, ever dull.

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  Far and Wide - Bring That...

  Neil Peart

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  35 concerts. 17,000 motorcycle miles. Three months. One lifetime. In May 2015, the veteran Canadian rock trio Rush embarked on their 40th anniversary tour, R40. For the band and their fans, R40 was a celebration and, perhaps, a farewell. But for Neil Peart, each tour is more than just a string of concerts, it's an opportunity to explore backroads near and far on his BMW motorcycle. So if this was to be the last tour and the last great adventure, he decided it would have to be the best one, onstage and off. This third volume in Peart's illustrated travel series shares all-new tales that transport the reader across North America and through memories of 50 years of playing drums. From the scenic grandeur of the American West to a peaceful lake in Quebec's Laurentian Mountains to the mean streets of Midtown Los Angeles, each story is shared in an intimate narrative voice that has won the hearts of many readers. Richly illustrated, thoughtful, and ever-engaging, Far and Wide is an elegant scrapbook of people and places, music and laughter, from a fascinating road - and a remarkable life.

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  Ernest Shackleton - Going South

  Janet Benge, Geoff Benge

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  As adventurers from around the world raced to reach the South Pole and achieve other polar firsts in the early 1900s, outsider Ernest Shackleton and his motley expeditions would outshine even the British navy, becoming icons of the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration. Known for prizing loyalty, leadership, and skill without regard for rank or social class - and for bringing men back alive - Shackleton completed three death-defying Antarctic journeys. Called the Boss by his crew and Sir Ernest Henry Shackleton by the king, the Anglo-Irish explorer counted it all part of life's grand adventure.

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  American Murder Houses - A...

  Steve Lehto

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  There are places in the United States of America where violent acts of bloodshed have occurred. Years may pass—even centuries—but the mark of death remains. They are known as Murder Houses.From a colonial manse in New England to a small-town home in Iowa to a Beverly Hills mansion, these residences have taken on a life of their own, gaining everything from local lore and gossip to national—and even global—infamy.Here, writer Steve Lehto recounts the stories behind the houses where Lizzie Borden supposedly gave her stepmother "forty whacks," where the real Amityville Horror was first unleashed by gunfire, and where the demented acts of the Manson Family horrified a nation—as well some lesser-known sites of murder that were no less ghastly.Exploring the past and present of more than twenty-five renowned homicide scenes, American Murder Houses is a tour through the real estate of some of the most grisly and fascinating crimes in American history.

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  The Northern Front - A Wartime...

  Charles Glass

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  This is the Iraq war as it really started, amid lies, confusion and profound distrust between the United States and its Iraqi allies. Charles Glass, who first covered the Kurds in 1974 and was in Iraq for their failed rebellion in 1991, depicts the tense epoch that sowed the seeds of America's inevitable failure there. The Northern Front is the dramatic eyewitness account of the machinations of Iraqi leaders - Ahmad Chalabi, Abdel Aziz Hakim, Massoud Barzani and Jelal Talabani - to control the country before their opponents seized the initiative. Glass recounts what went wrong when the US, with Britain in tow, imposed its will on a people unlikely to accept foreign designs for their future. He indicts international media conglomerates that failed to tell the truth when public debate could have prevented the deaths and destruction that came with war. 'Witty and absorbing … Essential, and humbling, reading for all those pundits and commentators who think they understand what happened in Iraq.' Malise Ruthven, author of A History of the Arab Peoples 'A vivid picture of the events leading up to the war and the chaos of the war itself.' Ian Gilmour 'Should be mandatory reading for all wannabe foreign correspondents.' Jonathan Randal 'A beautifully written account of the full sweep of the war and of what it was like to report on it. A starting-point for any proper understanding of the whole contentious business of the Iraq war.' John Simpson 'In the finest tradition of radical reporting - anti-war, sympathetic, compassionate and enlightening.' Phillip Knightley, author of The First Casualty

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  Brilliant Blunders - From Darwin...

  Mario Livio

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  We all make mistakes. Nobody’s perfect. Not even some of the greatest geniuses in history, as Mario Livio tells us in this marvelous story of scientific error and breakthrough.  
  Charles Darwin, William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), Linus Pauling, Fred Hoyle, and Albert Einstein were all brilliant scientists. Each made groundbreaking contributions to his field - but each also stumbled badly. Darwin’s theory of natural selection shouldn’t have worked, according to the prevailing beliefs of his time. Not until Gregor Mendel’s work was known would there be a mechanism to explain natural selection. How could Darwin be both wrong and right? Lord Kelvin, Britain’s leading scientific intellect at the time, gravely miscalculated the age of the Earth. Linus Pauling, the world’s premier chemist (who would win the Nobel Prize in chemistry) constructed an erroneous model for DNA in his haste to beat the competition to publication. Astrophysicist Fred Hoyle dismissed the idea of a "Big Bang" origin to the universe (ironically, the caustic name he gave to this event endured long after his erroneous objections were disproven). And Albert Einstein, whose name is synonymous with genius, speculated incorrectly about the forces that hold the universe in equilibrium - and that speculation opened the door to brilliant conceptual leaps.  
  These five scientists expanded our knowledge of life on Earth, the evolution of the Earth itself, and the evolution of the universe, despite and because of their errors. As Mario Livio luminously explains, the scientific process advances through error. Mistakes are essential to progress.  
  Brilliant Blunders is a singular tour through the world of science and scientific achievement - and a wonderfully insightful examination of the psychology of five fascinating scientists.

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