Other books that might interest you

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  Nathaniel Clark Smith - Pioneer...

  Dr. Eva Diane Lyle-Smith

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   If you are interested in learning about a pioneer African American music educator in the United States, then you want to read the story of Nathaniel Clark Smith. Smith was a prolific and charismatic music educator, musician, and composer who lived during the early years of music education history in the United States. His formal training in music was on a military base in Ft. Leavenworth, KS. Extended studies were from Guild Hall in London, England. A college graduate with B.M.A. and M.M degrees, Smith taught music in educational institutions and industries; was a world traveller who performed with the Ernest Hogan Minstrel Troupe; introduced the saxophone to African Americans; composed and published spirituals, marches, operatic songs, a suite, and an unfinished symphony; and hosted a radio broadcast show which was aired all over the Mid-West. He organized bands and out of that, orchestras, choirs, glee clubs and numerous combinations of the voice and instruments were developed. Smith captured the melodies of the countries that he visited in his music compositions. 
  
  
   During his illustrious career, Smith worked with Frederick Douglas, Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Booker T. Washington, Nat King Cole, Lionel Hampton, Milton Hinton, John Phillip Sousa, a young Charlie Parker, and others. His students from the Lincoln High School Band became the nucleus of the big band format of the Mid-West. His Pullman Porter musicians were able to perform at a moment's notice. 
   Married with one daughter and the son of an African Sergeant Trumpeter and Indian mother, The Story of Nathaniel Clark Smith is a colourful reading of the times during abolition to the mid depression years in the United States. It is the story of an African-American who survived the challenges of the time to obtain a successful music career, and who helped people to better their lives through music in the Mid-Western and Southern African-American communities of the United States. 

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  American Boys' Life of Theodore...

  Edward Stratemeyer

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  American Boys' Life of Theodore Roosevelt by Edward Stratemeyer is an inspiring biographical classic that introduces young readers to the remarkable life, achievements, and character of Theodore Roosevelt, the 26th President of the United States. Through an engaging narrative, the book follows Roosevelt's journey from his childhood struggles and early ambitions to his rise as a national leader known for courage, determination, and public service.
  
  Readers will discover the experiences that shaped Roosevelt's personality, including his dedication to education, his love of outdoor exploration, his military service, and his influential career in public life. The story highlights the challenges he faced and the perseverance, discipline, and strong sense of responsibility that helped him overcome obstacles and achieve greatness.
  
  Edward Stratemeyer's accessible storytelling brings historical events and personal milestones to life, offering an entertaining and educational portrait of one of America's most energetic leaders. The book emphasizes timeless values such as courage, honesty, leadership, self-improvement, and dedication to a greater purpose.
  
  Perfect for readers interested in American history, presidential biographies, leadership stories, and classic educational literature, American Boys' Life of Theodore Roosevelt remains a valuable introduction to the life and legacy of a president whose adventurous spirit and commitment to service continue to inspire generations.

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  Benito Mussolini and Francisco...

  Editors Charles River

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  It’s easy to forget how young Italy was when Benito Mussolini was born on July 29, 1883. It is hard to conceive a territory with such a long and ancient history was once young and troubled with constant conflict and instability. Similar to Germany, Italy was unified in 1861, but contrary to its northern cousin, its previous history was one of separation. Italy had no great romantic idea of a “Great Germany,” keeping it unified even during the wars between city-states. Benito Mussolini was born and raised in a highly volatile environment where ideas already considered extreme by most contemporary observers, such as Socialism, would undergo a deep and violent transformation. Mussolini would ride that wave to power, and he would hold it for decades as he opportunistically tried to strengthen Italy's position and empire. That would lead him to foreign interventions in Africa, and eventually an alliance with Nazi Germany's Adolf Hitler, ultimately costing him everything and devastating his country throughout World War II. 
  Born in the last decade of the 19th century, Francisco Franco was nevertheless synonymous with a number of trends of the 20th. In particular, his life was intertwined with the extremist ideologies of the era, in particular fascism and communism, and later the Cold War between the West and the communist bloc. In essence, however, Franco was a military man. Franco – although relatively restrained politically during the period – stood for order and maintaining the army’s role in Spanish society. When a group of officers launched a rebellion in July 1936, Franco quickly joined the army’s uprising and rapidly rose to the top of the nationalist’s chain of command. After his victory in the Spanish Civil War, Franco used political ideas and ideology as it suited him, though he did seem to advocate conservatism, militarism, Catholicism and monarchism.

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  Austin Osman Spare - The Life...

  Phil Baker, Alan Moore

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  London has harbored many curious characters, but few more curious than the artist and visionary Austin Osman Spare (1886–1956). 
   
   
   
  A controversial enfant terrible of the Edwardian art world, the young Spare was hailed as a genius and a new Aubrey Beardsley, while George Bernard Shaw reportedly said "Spare's medicine is too strong for the average man." 
   
   
    
  But Spare was never made for worldly success and he went underground, falling out of the gallery system to live in poverty and obscurity south of the river. Absorbed in occultism and sorcery, voyaging into inner dimensions, and surrounding himself with cats and familiar spirits, he continued to produce extraordinary art while developing a magical philosophy of pleasure, obsession, and the subjective nature of reality. 
   
   
    
  Today Spare is both forgotten and famous, a cult figure whose modest life has been much mythologized since his death. This groundbreaking biographical study offers wide-ranging insights into Spare's art, mind, and world, reconnecting him with the art history that ignored him and exploring his parallel London; a bygone place of pub pianists, wealthy alchemists, and monstrous owls.

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  Coming Out & Coming Through

  Matt Smeltzer

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  Coming Out and Coming Through is Matt Smeltzer's autobiographical story of his life growing up gay in a conservative Christian household, becoming the youth leader at his church, coming out, and the subsequent actions taken by the church in the wake of this revelation. Facing adversity could never break his spirit. He chose to take his struggles and turn them into empowerment and positivity to prove that you do not have to choose between your sexuality and your religion. On his quest to prove that God loves you just the way you are, Matt takes you through his life so far in hopes of helping others to keep the faith and meets his biggest challenge yet along the way. Join him on this extraordinary journey that encompasses every emotion imaginable as you walk through the darkness with him to the other side of light, love, empowerment, and encouragement. 

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  If You Wake at Midnight

  Andrew Marriott

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  This is the story of the greatest scandal inflicted on British servicemen and women in modern times: drug-induced violence and suicide – and an officer determined to find the truth. 
   
  It was supposed to be a wonder drug that would save the world from malaria. But soon after Lariam was brought to international markets in the late 1980s, users of this handy, once-a-week pill began to experience shocking side-effects. Yet over the coming decades, as the drug became implicated in ever-increasing acts of unexplained violence, homicide and suicide, the Ministry of Defence continued to force Lariam on tens, or perhaps hundreds, of thousands of unsuspecting people deployed to some of the world’s most dangerous places. 
   
  Enduring years of Lariam-induced nightmares, former soldier Andrew Marriott realised something was horribly wrong; not just with the drug itself but with the institutions responsible for its use and safety. So began a journey towards the truth, a truth that vested interests in the United Kingdom and around the globe were determined to conceal.

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