Life On The Mississippi

Mark Twain

Publisher: BookRix

Summary

Life on the Mississippi is a memoir by Mark Twain of his days as a steamboat pilot on the Mississippi River before the American Civil War, and also a travel book, recounting his trip along the Mississippi from St. Louis to New Orleans many years after the War. The book begins with a brief history of the river as reported by Europeans and Americans, beginning with the Spanish explorer Hernando de Soto in 1542. It continues with anecdotes of Twain's training as a steamboat pilot, as the 'cub' of an experienced pilot. He describes, with great affection, the science of navigating the ever-changing Mississippi River. In the second half, Twain narrates his trip many years later on a steamboat from St. Louis to New Orleans. He describes the competition from railroads, and the new, large cities, and adds his observations on greed, gullibility, tragedy, and bad architecture. He also tells some stories that are most likely tall tales.

Available since: 12/19/2023.

Print length: 526 pages.

Other books that might interest you

Watering Can - True strange tales

Susan Specht Oram

Mystery-thriller author Susan Specht Oram shares strange but true tales in this seventh book in the Strangers on a Train series, including a weird mishap at a bowling alley, a father’s strange comment, an odd experience looking for the opera, a shocking incident at a street fair, a bizarre encounter with a cannon, a humiliating coming-of-age story and other captivating, complicated anecdotes. 
 
This short collection of weird real-life situations might make you laugh and cry. Join her and share the surprising happenings of her life, with her humiliations and triumphs. Pick up your copy today!

Show book

Out of the Black Shadows

Stephen Lungu, Anne Coomes

Stephen Lungu was the oldest son of a teenage mother, married off to a much older man by her parents, and living in a black township near Salisbury, Zimbabwe. When he was seven his mother ran away, leaving him, and his younger brother and sister, in the reluctant care of an aunt. By eleven Stephen too had run away, preferring life on the streets. 
 
 
 
To survive, he slept under bridges and scavenged food from white folks' dustbins. As a teenager he was recruited into one of the urban gangs, called the Black Shadows, which ran a program of theft and thuggery with a half-focused dream of revolution. When a traveling evangelist came to town, Stephen was sent to fire bomb the event, carrying his bag of bombs and mingling with the crowd. 
 
 
 
Instead of throwing bombs he stayed to listen . . . What followed was better than fiction.

Show book

Apache at War - Flying the...

Steve Jones

**AS FEATURED IN THE TELEGRAPH**The ultimate fighting machine...The unflinching memoir of the elite combat pilot who flew it in action...And his nail-biting story of training Prince Harry. 'Rounds slammed the ground all around the Taliban. He hit the earth face first, vanishing into the foggy confusion of desert conflict. The Apache's engines rumbled on as we orbited, hoping to see immediate harsh, hard proof that he was no longer a threat.'Steve Jones is a former senior British combat pilot flying with the Army Air Corps (AAC), and Apache At War is his vivid and uncompromising account of flying 'the ultimate fighting machine', the Apache AH1 attack helicopter in action. From patrolling 'Bandit Country' in Northern Ireland in the late 1990s, to taking out Taliban fighters in Afghanistan in the mid to late 2000s, with active service in the Balkans and Iraq along the way: Steve Jones offers the taut, gritty, and graphic reality of flying in military service. Besides his time spent in the air, Steve Jones was also a qualified instructor on the Apache. He brings us a first-hand account of his time spent teaching the then 'Lieutenant H. Wales' - Prince Harry - to fly and fight the aircraft. He tells of mentoring the hard-living prince, of equipping him with skills that would later bring out the best in him in Afghanistan, offering insights into Harry the soldier and pilot far removed from the media figure that we all know so well. Immediate, dramatic, peppered with military insights and laced with laconic humour, Apache At War is a testament to the vital work of combat helicopter pilots, as well as an intimate salute to a truly remarkable aircraft.

Show book

Sant Kabir Das

Saurabh Kumar

Sant Kabir Saheb also known as Kabir Das and Kabir Saheb was born in 1398, Varanasi and brought up in a Muslim weavers family by Niru and Nima. He was a mystic poet and a musician and was one of the important saints of Hinduism and also considered a Sufi by Muslims. He is respected by Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs.

Show book

Waging Peace - One Soldier's...

Diana Oestreich, Danielle...

Diana Oestreich, a combat medic in the Army National Guard, enlisted like both her parents before her. But when she was commanded to run over an Iraqi child to keep her convoy rolling and keep her battle buddies safe, she was confronted with a choice she never thought she'd have to make. 
 
 
 
Torn between God's call to love her enemy and her country's command to be willing to kill, Diana chose to wage peace in a place of war. For the remainder of her tour of duty, Diana sought to be a peacemaker—leading to an unlikely and beautiful friendship with an Iraqi family. A beautiful and gut-wrenching memoir, Waging Peace exposes the false divide between loving our country and living out our faith's call to love our enemies—whether we perceive our enemy as the neighbor with an opposing political viewpoint, the clerk wearing a head-covering, or the refugee from a war-torn country. By showing that us-versus-them is a false choice, this book will inspire each of us to choose love over fear.

Show book

Cleavage - Men Women and the...

Jennifer Finney Boylan

What is the difference between men and women? Jennifer Finney Boylan, bestselling author of She’s Not There and co-author of Mad Honey with Jodi Picoult, examines the divisions—as well as the common ground—between the genders, and reflects on her own experiences, both difficult and joyful, as a transgender American.Jennifer Finney Boylan’s She’s Not There was the first bestselling work written by a transgender American. Since its publication twenty years ago, she has become the go-to person for insight into the impact of gender on our lives, from the food we eat to the dreams we dream, both for ourselves and for our children. But Cleavage is more than a deep dive into gender identity; it’s also a look at the difference between coming out as trans in 2000—when many people reacted to Boylan’s transition with love—and the present era of blowback and fear. How does gender affect our sense of self? Our body image? The passage of time? The friends we lose—and keep? Boylan considers her womanhood, reflects on the boys and men who shaped her, and reconceives of herself as a writer, activist, parent, and spouse. With heart-wrenching honesty, she illustrates the feeling of liminality that followed her to adulthood, but demonstrates the redemptive power of love through it all.With Boylan’s trademark humor and poignancy, Cleavage is a sharp, witty, and captivating look at the triumphs and losses of a life lived in two genders. Cleavage provides hope for a future in which we all have the freedom to live joyfully as men, as women, and in the space between us.A Macmillan Audio production from Celadon Books.

Show book