Other books that might interest you

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  House of Abraham - Lincoln and...

  Stephen Berry

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  For all the talk of the Civil War "pitting brother against brother," until now there has never been a single book that traces the story of one family ravaged by that conflict. And no family could better illustrate the personal toll the war took than Lincoln's own. Mary Todd Lincoln was one of fourteen siblings who were split between the Confederacy and the Union. Three of her brothers fought, and two died, for the South. Several Todds-including Mary herself-bedeviled Lincoln's administration with their scandalous behavior. Award-winning historian Stephen Berry tells their family saga with the narrative intricacy and emotional intensity of a novelist. The Todds' struggles haunted the president and moved him to avoid tactics or rhetoric that would dehumanize or scapegoat the Confederates. Drawing on his own familial experience, Lincoln was inspired to articulate a humanistic, even charitable view of the enemy that seems surpassingly wise in our time, let alone his.With brio and rigor, Berry fills a gap in Civil War history, showing how the war changed one family and how that family changed the course of the war. As they debate each other about the issues of the day and comfort each other in the wake of shared tragedy, the Todds become a singular microcosm and a metaphor for the country as a whole.

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  Murders in Hollywood - True...

  Eliza Toska

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  When you think of Hollywood, you picture glamour, celebrities and an abundance of sunshine. The Walk of Fame, Hollywood Boulevard, and the Chinese Theatre help make up the opulent attractions. LA is known for the iconic Hollywood sign, the rich diversity of the city, and… murder, obsession, and lies?Los Angeles is an attractive place to be, particularly if you have dreams of being a movie star. However, there is a darker side to Hollywood - one filled with seediness, jealousy, and as laid out in the true stories within this book, an overwhelming lust for power and murder.I'll take you on a macabre tour of LA in this book. We'll head to Leimert Park where Elizabeth Short's body was dumped after it was cut in half and her face was disfigured. We'll also visit Wonderland Avenue, where four people were killed in the drug house belonging to the well-known Wonderland Gang. We will also take a hike in the vast, rolling hills, where the Hillside Stranglers dumped their victims after horrifically torturing them. I'll delve into some of the most horrific and shocking cases of murder in the idylic, mirage-like setting of the Hollywood Hills. In these nine tales of terror in tinseltown, you'll also read about:The Pin Up: A former pin-up was brutally murdered by the same person who'd encouraged her to pursue a career in Hollywood. A tragic tale of jealousy and possessiveness turned fatal.The Hollywood Ripper: A callous killer with a penchant for lurking in the shadows and stalking women who certainly earned the moniker 'The Hollywood Ripper'.The Son of a Hollywood Icon: One of Old Hollywood's leading men, who led a storied life, had a son who would go on to live an even more headline-grabbing life - albeit for all the wrong reasons.The Sinister Photographer: A terrifying tale of how a renowned LA photographer harboured intense feelings of hatred toward one woman - and acted upon them in the most horrific way.

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  US Presidents - Abraham Lincoln...

  Kelly Mass

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  These three United States presidents will be discussed in this book combo: 
  1 - From 1861 till his assassination in 1865, Abraham Lincoln was an American legal representative and statesman who functioned as the 16th president of the United States. Lincoln led the nation through the American Civil War, preserving the Union, eliminating slavery, enhancing the federal government, and helping the economy of the United States. Lincoln grew up on the frontier, mainly in Indiana, and was born into poverty in a log cabin. He was self-taught and went on to end up being a legal representative, Whig Party leader, Illinois state lawmaker, and member of the U.S.A. Congress for Illinois. 
  2 - George Washington was an American soldier, statesman, and Founding Father who worked as the nation's first president from 1789 to 1797. Washington was called leader of the Continental Army by the Continental Congress, and he led the Patriot forces to triumph in the American Revolutionary War. He also commanded the Constitutional Convention of 1787, which developed the USA Constitution and a federal government. For his different management throughout the nation's developmental years, Washington has been called the "Father of the Nation." 
  3 - Andrew Jackson was an American attorney, soldier, and statesman who acted as the seventh president of the U.S. from 1829 to 1837. Jackson rose to prominence as a basic in the US Army and served in both homes of Congress before being chosen to the presidency. Jackson, an expansionist president, defended the rights of the "commoner" and the Union against a "corrupt upper class."

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  Archaeology from Space - How the...

  Sarah Parcak

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  This program is read by the author.National Geographic Explorer and TED Prize-winner Dr. Sarah Parcak welcomes you to the exciting new world of space archaeology, a growing field that is sparking extraordinary discoveries from ancient civilizations across the globe. 
  In Archaeology from Space, Sarah Parcak shows the evolution, major discoveries, and future potential of the young field of satellite archaeology. From surprise advancements after the declassification of spy photography, to a new map of the mythical Egyptian city of Tanis, she shares her field's biggest discoveries, revealing why space archaeology is not only exciting, but urgently essential to the preservation of the world's ancient treasures. 
  Parcak has worked in twelve countries and four continents, using multispectral and high-resolution satellite imagery to identify thousands of previously unknown settlements, roads, fortresses, palaces, tombs, and even potential pyramids. From there, her stories take us back in time and across borders, into the day-to-day lives of ancient humans whose traits and genes we share. And she shows us that if we heed the lessons of the past, we can shape a vibrant future.

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  The Wagner Clan - The Saga of...

  Jonathan Carr

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  This chronicle of renowned composer Richard Wagner and his descendants features “a cast of characters who are positively operatic in their histrionics” (The Guardian).   Richard Wagner was many things—composer, philosopher, philanderer, failed revolutionary, and virulent anti-Semite—and his descendants have carried on his complex legacy.   In his “lively and wry” history of the legendary composer and his family, biographer Jonathan Carr also offers fascinating glimpses of Franz Liszt, Friedrich Nietzsche, Arthur Schopenhauer, Arturo Toscanini, Joseph Goebbels, Hermann Göring, and Adolf Hitler—a passionate fan of the Master’s music and an adopted uncle to Wagner’s grandchildren (The New York Times).   Stretching from the revolutions of 1848 to the darkest days of World War II and through to the present incarnation of Wagner’s Bayreuth Festival, The Wagner Clan is “a smart, insightful look into German history” and a family whose saga is as gripping as any opera (New York Post).   “Jonathan Carr’s history is formidable . . . [A] compendious and enthralling story.” —The Economist   “The grandiose life of Richard Wagner—the pronouncements on art and the German soul, the petty groveling for money and favors, the intermittently atrocious politics and intermittently glorious music—was a tough act to follow. Carr . . . follows Wagner’s descendants through three generations as they fight each other for control of the Bayreuth Festival and, at opportune times, embrace, reject or sweep under the rug their forebear’s status as Nazism’s spiritual godfather. . . . Carr’s sprightly, fluent narrative places the family in its historical and intellectual context without reducing it to the symbolic effigy it has often become.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

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  The Nana

  Alice Taylor

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  The Irish nana is a repository of family history, memory and lore. Sometimes, like the Italian nonna, she is also a 'walking cookbook', carrying the old knowledge of how things were best done.
  Alice's own grandmothers, Nana Taylor and Nana Ballyduane, were the first generation after the Great Famine, born in the 1860s. These women taught their families the Irish traditions and habits of homemaking that survived for centuries, and are now almost gone.
  Now Alice herself is a nana too, and this book takes us through three generations and almost a century and a half. She explores the old and the new, the 'then' and 'now', the nana of yesteryear and of today, with her characteristic empathy and love.

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