Alice O'Neil writes about Black Women of the Old West for the Los Angeles Features Syndicate: This book traces how African American women challenged white bigotry, labored to create new lives and ultimately helped to transform sparse frontier settlements into thriving [western] states. It reveals how these pioneers brought culture and stability to the early communities from Ohio, Kansas and Texas to Oklahoma, Nevada and California. This is that perfect find: a book that entertains and enlightens. Mr. Katz's books on black history are well-known to readers young and old. Add this one to the growing list of literary treasure....Browsing through the many pictures is a true delight, like meeting distant relatives. A must-read.

It is the late summer of 1938, Europe is about to explode, the Hollywood film star Fredric Stahl is on his way to Paris to make a movie for Paramount France. The Nazis know he's coming--a secret bureau within the Reich Foreign Ministry has for years been waging political warfare against France, using bribery, intimidation, and corrupt newspapers to weaken French morale and degrade France's will to defend herself. For their purposes, Fredric Stahl is a perfect agent of influence, and they attack him. What they don't know is that Stahl, horrified by the Nazi war on Jews and intellectuals, has become part of an informal spy service being run out of the American embassy in Paris. From Alan Furst, the bestselling author, often praised as the best spy novelist ever, comes a novel that's truly hard to put down. "Mission to Paris" includes beautifully drawn scenes of romance and intimacy, and the novel is alive with extraordinary characters: the German Baroness von Reschke, a famous hostess deeply involved in Nazi clandestine operations; the assassins Herbert and Lothar; the Russian film actress and spy Olga Orlova; the Hungarian diplomat and spy, Count Janos Polanyi; along with the French cast of Stahl's movie, German film producers, and the magnetic women in Stahl's life, the socialite Kiki de Saint-Ange and the emigre Renate Steiner. But always at the center of the novel is the city of Paris, the heart and soul of Europe--its alleys and bistros, hotels grand and anonymous, and the Parisians, living every night as though it was their last. As always, Alan Furst brings to life both a dark time in history and the passion of the human hearts that fought to survive it. Praise for Alan Furst "Unfolds like a vivid dream . . . One couldn't ask for a more engrossing novel.""--The Wall Street Journal, "about" Spies of the Balkans" " " "Though set in a specific place and time, Furst's books are like Chopin's nocturnes: timeless, transcendent, universal. One does not so much read them as fall under their spell."--"Los Angeles Times, " about" The Spies of Warsaw" "Alan Furst's novels swing a beam into the shadows at the edges of the great events leading to World War II. Readers come knowing he'll deliver effortless narrative."--"USA Today, " about "The Foreign Correspondent" "Positively bristles with plot, characters and atmosphere . . . "Dark Voyage" has the ingredients of several genres--the mystery, the historical novel, the espionage thriller, the romance--but it rises above all of them."--"The Washington Post, " about" Dark Voyage" "No other espionage writer touches [Furst's] stylish forays into Budapest and Berlin, Moscow and Paris. No other writer today captures so well the terror and absurdity of the spy, the shabby tension and ennui of emigre communities at the time. His characters are hopeless, lethal, charming. His voice is, above all, knowing."--"Boston Sunday Globe, " about "Blood of Victory"

“Sexy, surprising, funny, insightful, and wildly entertaining” ( Huffington Post )—the definitive biography of Giacomo Casanova, the impoverished boy who became the famous writer, notorious libertine, and self-invented genius in decadent eighteenth-century Europe. Today, “Casanova” is a synonym for “great lover,” yet the real story of this remarkable figure is little known. A figure straight out of a Henry Fielding novel, Giacomo Casanova was erotic, brilliant, impulsive, and desperate for recognition; a self-destructive genius. Over the course of his lifetime, he claimed to have seduced more than one hundred women, among them married women, young women in convents, girls just barely in their teens, women of high and low birth alike. Abandoned by his mother, an actress and courtesan, Casanova was raised by his illiterate grandmother, coming of age in a Venice filled with spies and political intrigue. He was intellectually curious and read forbidden books, for which he was jailed. He staged a dramatic escape from Venice’s notorious prison, I Piombi, the only person known to have done so. He then fled to France, ingratiated himself at the royal court, and invented the national lottery that still exists to this day. He crisscrossed Europe, landing for a while in St. Petersburg, where he was admitted to the court of Catherine the Great. He corresponded with Voltaire and met Mozart and Lorenzo da Ponte—assisting them as they composed the timeless opera Don Giovanni . And he wrote what many consider the greatest memoir of the era, the twelve-volume Story of My Life . Laurence Bergreen’s Casanova recounts this astonishing life in rich, intimate detail, and at the same time, paints a dazzling portrait of eighteenth-century Europe, filled with a cast characters from serving girls to kings and courtiers, “great fun for any history lover” ( Kirkus Reviews ).

Illustrated with Nelly's original watercolors, this powerful memoir tells the true story of how a little girl's imagination helped her survive World War II. The Nazis come to Poland when Nelly is six. By the time she turns eight, the events of World War II have taken almost everyone she loves. Scared, lonely, and running from the Nazis, Nelly hides in the bedroom of a Gentile couple in Lwow, Poland. For over a year, she lives in fear of discovery, writing in her diary and painting pictures of a fantasy world filled with open skies and happy families. For 13 months during World War II, the author and her mother were hidden from the Nazis. Like Anne Frank, Nelly kept a diary and through that outlet transformed her grim reality into an enchanting fantasy world. "Without emphasizing horror and loss, Toll conveys the effects of human evil and human folly, summoning up the forces of tragedy and courage." -- Publishers Weekly "In Toll's remembrance, art equals hope: her happy family pictures, painted in the secret room where she and her mother hid from the Nazis and the Poles, show extraordinary preteen talent as well as the will to survive." -- Kirkus Reviews

A comprehensive, integral account of European life, society, politics, arts, science, philosophy, economics, manners, and morals of the epoch.

"London, 189-: The great city is brought to a standstill by a series of blizzards and Sherlock Holmes is bored to distraction. It would take a miracle to bring a case to the detective's door... What arrives is not promising: a landlady who complains her artist tenant is behind on rent. Not exactly the miracle for which Holmes was hoping. But, next thing you know, there are several corpses and Sherlock Holmes and his biographer, John H. Watson, MD, find themselves drawn into one of the most bizarre cases of the great detective's career. And into the cutthroat big business of Art, where chicanery and mendacity (and cut throats) proliferate. What makes a work of art worth killing for? Is it the artist, his mistress, his dealer, or his blackmailer? The cast of characters is large. But are they perpetrators, accomplices, or victims? And just who is Juliet Packwood, with whom Watson has become infatuated? Oh, and there's one other problem: Is this a genuine Holmes case or a clever forgery? Is this the real thing? If you can't tell the difference, what is the difference?"-- Provided by publisher.

'To live through Josephine - that is the story of my life.' So wrote the young General Bonaparte a few weeks after his marriage to the soignée and seductive widow, Josephine de Beauharnais. And although Napoleon's marriage was certainly not the whole story of his extraordinary life, it was one of the most fascinating aspects of it. Theirs was an attraction of opposites. The couple suited each other very well, with Josephine's charm and languor serving as an excellent foil for Napoleon's brusqueness and energy. Throughout his spectacular rise to power and years of triumph, Josephine proved a graceful and accomplished consort. Yet their relationship was anything but tranquil. Besotted by Josephine during the early years of their marriage, Napoleon - in the face of her indifference and infidelity - gradually became less obsessed by her, while she, in turn, became progressively more enamoured of him. As a result, their relationship developed into one of the most intriguing, tempestuous and touching in history. Napoleon, although disillusioned, never really ceased to love Josephine and it was only her inability to bear him a child, and so present his Empire with an heir, that led him to divorce her. 'If he was ever really stirred by any emotion, ' claimed one of the Empress Josephine's confidantes, 'it was by her and for her.' Their story remains, quite simply, one of the greatest love stories in the world. Theo Aronson, well known for his incisive and readable royal biographies, has found the ideal subject in the story of Napoleon and Josephine. By incorporating all the recent findings on the couple - such as the new view of Napoleon's parents, Josephine's love letters to Hippolyte Charles, Napoleon's complex sexual orientation - and by making full use of his own talent for narrative and characterisation, the author has been able to present this famous romance in a fresh and absorbing fashion.

Samuel Noah Kramer (1897-1990) was an American Assyriologist and one of the foremost scholars in the field of Sumerian studies. He made significant contributions to the decipherment and understanding of ancient Mesopotamian texts and culture. In "Sumerian Mythology," Kramer provides a detailed exploration of the mythology and religious beliefs of the Sumerians. He examines the pantheon of Sumerian gods and goddesses, their attributes, roles, and relationships. The book also covers the creation myths, epic tales, and other mythological narratives from Sumerian literature. Kramer's work draws from a wide range of ancient Sumerian texts, including hymns, prayers, incantations, and mythological narratives. He provides translations and analysis of these texts, shedding light on the religious cosmology, rituals, and beliefs of the Sumerians. "Sumerian Mythology" has become a classic in the field of ancient Mesopotamian studies, offering valuable insights into the mythological worldview of one of the earliest civilizations in human history. It remains an essential reference for scholars and enthusiasts interested in Sumerian religion and mythology.

From the internationally bestselling author of The Last Kabbalist of Lisbon comes a novel of incomparable scope and beauty that takes the reader on an epic journey from war-ravaged nineteenth-century Europe to antebellum America. A bereft child, a freed African slave, and the rich history of Portugal's secret Jews collide memorably in Richard Zimler's mesmerizing novel--a dazzling work of historical fiction played out against a backdrop of war and chaos that unforgettably mines the mysteries of devotion, betrayal, guilt, and forgiveness. Hunting Midnight At the dawn of the nineteenth century in Portugal, John Zarco Stewart is an impish child of hotheaded emotions and playful inquisitiveness, the unwitting inheritor of a faith shrouded in three hundred years of secrecy--for the Jews of the Iberian Peninsula have been in hiding since the Inquisition. But a season of loss and bitter discovery brings his innocence to an abrupt end. It is only the ministrations of a magical stranger, brought to Porto by his seafaring father, that restore his safety: Midnight, an African healer and freed slave, the man who will become John's greatest friend and determine the course of his destiny. When Napoleon's armies invade Portugal, violence again intrudes on John's fragile peace, and seals his passage into adulthood with another devastating loss. But from the wreckage comes revelation as he uncovers truths and lies hidden by the people he loved and trusted most, and discovers the act of unspeakable betrayal that destroyed his family--and his faith. And so his shattering quest begins as he travels to America, to hunt for hope in a land shackled by unforgivable sin. With stunning insight and an eye for rich historical detail--from the colorful marketplaces of Porto to the drowsy plantations of the American South, from the Judaism John discovers as a young man to the mystical Africa that Midnight conjures from his memories--in Hunting Midnight Richard Zimler has crafted a masterpiece. "From the Hardcover edition."

A brawny, brilliant debut novel about the epic struggles of an immigrant son in a darkening world. Johannesburg, South Africa. The Great Depression. In this harsh new country, young Isaac Helger burns with fiery determination— to break out of the inner city, to buy his scarred mother the home she longs for, to find a way to realize her dream of reuniting a family torn apart. But there are terrible, unspoken secrets of the past that will haunt him as he makes his way through a society brutalized by racism, as he loses his heart to an unattainable girl from the city’s wealthiest heights and his every exit route from poverty dead-ends. When the threat of the Second World War insinuates itself with brutal force into Isaac’s reality, he will face the most important choice of his life . . . and will have to learn to live with the consequences. In this extraordinarily powerful novel, Kenneth Bonert brings alive the world of South African Jewry in all its raw energy and ribald vernacular. Comedic, searing, lyrical and with a snap-perfect ear for dialogue, The Lion Seeker is a profoundly moral exploration of how wider social forces shape us and shatter us, echoing through history with lessons that are no less relevant today than in the crucible of its time.

From Publishers Weekly Nahai begins her vivid, intriguing historical chronicle in the 1780s in Persia and concludes 200 years later in contemporary Iran. Following a family of Jews through seven generations, from Juyy Bar, the Jewish ghetto of Esfahan, to America, she begins with Esther the Soothsayer. Versed in magic and witchcraft Esther can foretell the future. She appears in the dreams and visions of her progeny, including her granddaughter, Peacock, born in the late 1860s, whose life spans well over a century. Nahai weaves together the brutal history of Muslims, Jews, the shahs and colonial forces that played a part in transforming Persia into Iran, using fables and legends to give much of the novel an exotic, fairy-tale effect. But as the story reaches the 20th century, readers will encounter the exiled Pahlavi shah, Mossadeq and Khomeini, and recognize recent events. Nahai succeeds in personalizing history, opening a window onto the baffling political history of Iran and its neighbors.

Finalist for the Baileys Women's Prize Annie McDee, thirty-one, lives in a shabby London flat, works as a chef, and is struggling to get by. Reeling from a sudden breakup, she’s taken on an unsuitable new lover and finds herself rummaging through a secondhand shop to buy him a birthday gift. A dusty, anonymous old painting catches her eye. After spending her meager savings on the artwork, Annie prepares an exquisite birthday dinner for two—only to be stood up. The painting becomes hers, and Annie begins to suspect that it may be more valuable than she’d thought. Soon she finds herself pursued by parties who would do anything to possess her picture: an exiled Russian oligarch, an avaricious sheikha, an unscrupulous art dealer. In her search for the painting’s identity, Annie will unwittingly discover some of the darkest secrets of European history—and the possibility of falling in love again.

"Where did they all go?" Sixteen-year-old orphan William Wythers, is eager to try life in the New World. He and the other settlers face an arduous voyage and difficult months ahead on Roanoke Island, off the coast of Virginia. Yet there is a wonderful freedom in defining the rules for this new world in America. And when William falls in love with a young Native American woman, it seems that life is going to be happy after all. But when John White arrives from England with fresh supplies for the settlement, not a single person remains. Who knows what happened? An unsolved mystery in American history comes brilliantly alive in Sonia Levitin's historical novel about the lost colony in Roanoke.

Hamilton's Republic is the first anthology of Hamiltonian democratic nationalism. Here are excerpts from the major writings of Alexander Hamilton and his successors. In addition to a generous selection from familiar works of Hamilton like the Federalist Papers, and the addresses of Abraham Lincoln, this collection includes Henry Clay on "the American system", Daniel Webster on the Union - "one and indivisible" - and Theodore Roosevelt on "the new nationalism" and "the big stick". Here the reader will find Frederick Douglass on racial integration and Israel Zangwill on the melting pot, Dean Acheson and Walter Lippmann on realism in foreign affairs, the Progressive philosopher Herbert Croly on "democratic Hamiltonianism", and the great New Deal presidents Franklin Roosevelt and Lyndon Johnson on the need for the national government to promote economic justice and racial equality. Many of the addresses and books excerpted in this anthology, like Senator Henry Cabot Lodge's World War I-era critique of idealism in foreign policy, the forgotten Founding Father James Wilson's discussion of popular sovereignty and the U.S. constitution, and the writings of nineteenth-century American economic nationalists like Friedrich List and Henry Carey, are reprinted here for the first time in generations. Hamilton's Republic is the most important anthology of American political thought in decades. Destined to be an indispensable textbook in colleges and universities, this collection is also required reading for Americans and others who want to learn about the heritage and destiny of the United States.

The twentieth century was awash in war. World powers were pouring men and machines onto the killing fields of Europe. Then, in one dramatic stroke, a divided planet was changed forever. An alien race attacked Earth, and for every nation, every human being, new battle lines were drawn. . HOMEWARD BOUND With his epic novels of alternate history, Harry Turtledove shares a stunning vision of what might have been–and what might still be–if one moment in history were changed. In the WorldWar and Colonization series, an ancient, highly advanced alien species found itself locked in a bitter struggle with a distant, rebellious planet–Earth. For those defending the Earth, this all-out war for survival supercharged human technology, made friends of foes, and turned allies into bitter enemies. For the aliens known as the Race, the conflict has yielded dire consequences. Mankind has developed nuclear technology years ahead of schedule, forcing the invaders to accept an uneasy truce with nations that possess the technology to defend themselves. But it is the Americans, with their primitive inventiveness, who discover a way to launch themselves through distant space–and reach the Race’s home planet itself. Now–in the twenty-first century–a few daring men and women embark upon a journey no human has made before. Warriors, diplomats, traitors, and exiles–the humans who arrive in the place called Home find themselves genuine strangers on a strange world, and at the center of a flash point with terrifying potential. For their arrival on the alien home world may drive the enemy to make the ultimate decision–to annihilate an entire planet, rather than allow the human contagion to spread. It may be that nothing can deter them from this course. With its extraordinary cast of characters–human, nonhuman, and some in between– Homeward Bound is a fascinating contemplation of cultures, armies, and individuals in collision. From the novelist USA Today calls “the leading author of alternate history,” this is a novel of vision, adventure, and constant, astounding surprise.

Italy, August 1944. A unit of German soldiers arrives at a villa near Florence. Villa Il Focardo is home to Robert Einstein, cousin to the most famous scientist in the world, Albert Einstein - a prominent enemy of the Nazi regime. Twelve hours after arriving, the soldiers have vanished - and a family is dead. This crime - and what happened next - still haunts those who survived. In The Einstein Vendetta , Thomas Harding recounts the story of an until-now untold true crime, one that unspools to reveal Italy's brutal wartime history - its fall to fascism, antisemitism and bitter partisanship - and a family's search for justice.

The Kaisers were only in power for less than fifty years, but their reigns would shape the fate of Europe forever… There were only three Kaisers, and their reigns lasted for less than fifty years. Yet their time on the throne was marked by drama, turbulence, and a bloody impact upon the lives of millions. The short lived Second Reich born out of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 and defeated on the Western Front in 1918 is without parallel. The Kaisers is the story of six people whose influence changed the world. Wilhelm I, Frederick II, Wilhelm II and their wives had huge control over the recently unified Germany. They were military minded, autocratic men who, caught in bitter, almost continual conflict, found themselves on an inevitable path to destruction. The Kaisers is a comprehensive study of the rise and fall of the House of Hohenzollern that shows the light and shade of the Kaisers as well as explaining why they are perhaps deserving of our understanding and compassion. Praise for Theo Aronson: 'A lively and eminently readable book' - The Teacher 'An engrossing piece of almost contemporary history' - Homes & Gardens 'A vivid evocation of the lives and characters of the personalities involved' - The Observer Theo Aronson is the author of over twenty works of royal historical biography, published in eleven languages. Among the widely read are Grandmama of Europe, The King in Love, Napoleon and Josephine and a biography of Princess Margaret. In the course of researching and writing these books he has interviewed major and minor members of Britain’s royal family and members of the royal households, as well as various officials, servants, friends and others whose lives are in some way connected with the monarchy.

"Based on two decades of reporting, NBC's chief foreign correspondent's riveting story of the Middle East revolutions, the Arab Spring, war, and terrorism seen up-close--sometimes dangerously so. When he was just twenty-three, a recent graduate of Stanford University, Richard Engel set off to Cairo with $2,000 and dreams of being a reporter. Shortly thereafter he was working freelance for Arab news sources and got a call that a busload of Italian tourists were massacred at a Cairo museum. This is his first view of the carnage these years would pile on. Over two decades Engel has been under fire, blown out of hotel beds, taken hostage. He has watched Mubarak and Morsi in Egypt arrested and condemned, reported from Jerusalem, been through the Lebanese war, covered the whole shooting match in Iraq, interviewed Libyan rebels who toppled Gaddafi, reported from Syria as Al-Qaeda stepped in, was kidnapped in the Syrian crosscurrents of fighting. He goes into Afghanistan with the Taliban and to Iraq with ISIS. In the page-turning And Then All Hell Broke Loose, he shares his adventure tale. Engel takes chances, though not reckless ones, keeps a level head and a sense of humor, as well as a grasp of history in the making. Reporting as NBC's Chief-Foreign Correspondent, he reveals his unparalleled access to the major figures, the gritty soldiers, and the helpless victims in the Middle East during this watershed time. We can experience the unforgettable suffering and despair of the local populations. Engel's vivid description is intimate and personal. Importantly, it is a succinct and authoritative account of the ever-changing currents in that dangerous land"--

A family history of surpassing beauty and power: Ian Buruma's account of his grandparents' enduring love through the terror and separation of two world wars. Woven from their correspondence, this labor of love brings to life not just a remarkable marriage, but a class, and an age.