20 results for "History"

Neverwhere

Gaiman, Neil
A hardcover edition of this book was published in 2015... First William Morrow paperback edition published 2016. Second William Morrow paperback edition published 2021."--Title page verso./ Includes the novella How the marquis got his coat back./ Published in 1997, Neil Gaiman's first novel, Neverwhere is the story of Richard Mayhew, a young London businessman with a good heart and an ordinary life, which is changed forever when he discovers a girl bleeding on the sidewalk. He stops to help her -- an act of kindness that plunges him into a world he never dreamed existed. Slipping through the cracks of reality, Richard lands in Neverwhere -- a London of shadows and darkness, monsters and saints, murderers and angels that exists entirely in a subterranean labyrinth. Neverwhere is home to Door, the mysterious girl Richard helped in the London Above. Here in Neverwhere, Door is a powerful noblewoman who has vowed to find the evil agent of her family's slaughter and thwart the destruction of this strange underworld kingdom. If Richard is ever to return to his former life and home, he must join Lady Door's quest to save her world -- and may well die trying.
William Morrow Company 2021-01-19 464 pages

Horse A Novel

Geraldine Brooks
“Brooks’ chronological and cross-disciplinary leaps are thrilling.” — The New York Times Book Review “ Horse isn’t just an animal story—it’s a moving narrative about race and art.” — TIME “ A thrilling story about humanity in all its ugliness and beauty . . . the evocative voices create a story so powerful, reading it feels like watching a neck-and-neck horse race, galloping to its conclusion—you just can’t look away.” — Oprah Daily Winner of the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award, the Dayton Literary Peace Prize, and the Dr. Tony Ryan Book Award · Finalist for the Chautauqua Prize · A Massachusetts Book Award Honor Book A discarded painting in a junk pile, a skeleton in an attic, and the greatest racehorse in American history: from these strands, a Pulitzer Prize winner braids a sweeping story of spirit, obsession, and injustice across American history Kentucky, 1850 . An enslaved groom named Jarret and a bay foal forge a bond of understanding that will carry the horse to record-setting victories across the South. When the nation erupts in civil war, an itinerant young artist who has made his name on paintings of the racehorse takes up arms for the Union. On a perilous night, he reunites with the stallion and his groom, very far from the glamor of any racetrack. New York City, 1954 . Martha Jackson, a gallery owner celebrated for taking risks on edgy contemporary painters, becomes obsessed with a nineteenth-century equestrian oil painting of mysterious provenance. Washington, DC, 2019 . Jess, a Smithsonian scientist from Australia, and Theo, a Nigerian-American art historian, find themselves unexpectedly connected through their shared interest in the horse—one studying the stallion’s bones for clues to his power and endurance, the other uncovering the lost history of the unsung Black horsemen who were critical to his racing success. Based on the remarkable true story of the record-breaking thoroughbred Lexington, Horse is a novel of art and science, love and obsession, and our unfinished reckoning with racism.
Diversified Publishing 2022-06-21 576 pages

The men who stare at goats

Ronson, Jon
In 1979 a secret unit was established by the most gifted minds within the U.S. Army. Defying all known accepted military practice -- and indeed, the laws of physics -- they believed that a soldier could adopt a cloak of invisibility, pass cleanly through walls, and, perhaps most chillingly, kill goats just by staring at them. Entrusted with defending America from all known adversaries, they were the First Earth Battalion. And they really weren't joking. What's more, they're back and fighting the War on Terror. With firsthand access to the leading players in the story, Ronson traces the evolution of these bizarre activities over the past three decades and shows how they are alive today within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and in postwar Iraq. Why are they blasting Iraqi prisoners of war with the theme tune to Barney the Purple Dinosaur? Why have 100 debleated goats been secretly placed inside the Special Forces Command Center at Fort Bragg, North Carolina? How was the U.S. military associated with the mysterious mass suicide of a strange cult from San Diego? "The Men Who Stare at Goats" answers these and many more questions. Ronson's "Them: Adventures with Extremists," a highly acclaimed international bestseller, examined the paranoia at the fringes of hate-filled extremist movements around the globe. "The Men Who Stare at Goats" reveals extraordinary and very nutty military secrets at the core of George W. Bush's War on Terror.
Simon & Schuster 2006 259 pages

Wow in the World: Two Whats?! and a Wow! Think & Tinker Playbook Activities and Games for Curious Kids

Mindy Thomas,Guy Raz
From the creators of the #1 kids podcast Wow in the World comes an interactive, science-based activity book based on their daily game show, Two Whats?! and a Wow ! Choose between three unbelievable science statements to identify the true wow fact from the fallacies--and then learn the why and how behind the wow ! But that's not all! After each round, tackle a STEAM-based challenge using a few household items and a lot of creativity. And discover even more science fun in the sidebars, which are filled with brain-bursting facts and figures. Packed with Wow in the World 's signature, family-friendly humor and fascinating science facts, the Two Whats?! and a Wow! Think & Tinker Playbook will provide hours of learning, laughs, and wows.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2020-06-30 80 pages

The Man-Eaters of Tsavo

J. H. Patterson
"Darkness fell almost immediately, and everything became extraordinarily still. The silence of an African jungle on a dark night needs to be experienced to be realised; it is most impressive, especially when one is absolutely alone and isolated from one's fellow creatures, as I was then." In the late 19th century, the British began construction on a railway linking Uganda with the Indian Ocean. The railroad's passage through Africa crossed over the Tsavo River in Kenya, and thus the British Army brought Lieutenant-Colonel John Henry Patterson in to lead the thousands of workers as they began the bridge's construction. Throughout the next nine months, the construction site encountered a pair of lions that would stalk the campsite, drag workers from their tents, and devour those workers at nighttime. The killings occurred daily and the lions became bolder with each passing week. Nothing seemed to work for Patterson to stave off the lion attacks. Patterson published The Man-Eaters of Tsavo in 1907 to chronicle those nine months where the lion attacks intensified to the point where the bridge's construction had to be halted. Included in Patterson's account of the "Man-Eaters at Tsavo" are other stories from his time in East Africa.
Sde Classics 2019-06-16 172 pages

Find the Constellations

Hans Augusto Rey
Containing star charts, a guide to the constellations, and details about seasons and the movement of the objects we see in the sky, this classic book makes H. A. Rey's passion for astronomy evident on every page. New updates concentrate on the planetary and solar system information in the latter part of the book. Facts and figures for each planet have been revised, and new scientific information has been added, such as Pluto's reclassification as a dwarf planet. There's also a new online resource that allows readers to track the positions of the planets in the night sky till the year 2100.
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2016 72 pages

Waking Up Is Hard to Do

Neil Sedaka,Howard Greenfield
A unique offering of a book and CD recorded by Neil Sedaka , one of the most popular songs in music history becomes one of the most delightful children's books ever. Rise and shine! It's morning time. The alarm clock's ringing, the birds are singing. Everything's saying: get up, get going! Breakfast is warming, school is calling. The street's are bustling, all the world is stirring. It's sure to be a happy day with this bright and sunny picture book and CD, with new lyrics based on the hit song by Neil Sedaka and Howard Greenfield. Daniel Miyares's delightful art opens the eyes with its vivid colors, playful details, and adorable collection of animal characters. And to make waking up just a little easier, there's a CD with Neil Sedaka singing this happy song, plus two new songs with lyrics and music by Neil written especially for this CD: LIGHTNIN' JIM and SING. Warm and friendly and full of fun, this is a musical and visual celebration of the everyday joys of home, family, and neighborhood.
Charlesbridge Publishing, Incorporated 2010-09 26 pages

Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party How an Eccentric Group of Victorians Discovered Prehistoric Creatures and Accidentally Upended the World

Edward Dolnick
From the bestselling author of The Clockwork Universe and The Writing of the Gods , an “utterly delightful…hugely entertaining” ( Air Mail ) book about the eccentric Victorians who discovered dinosaur bones, leading to a whole new understanding of human history. In the early 1800s the natural world was a safe and cozy place, or so people believed. But then a twelve-year-old farm boy in Massachusetts stumbled on a row of fossilized three-toed footprints the size of dinner plates—the first dinosaur tracks ever found. Soon, in England, scientists unearthed enormous bones that reached as high as a man’s head. Outside of myths and fairy tales, no one had even imagined that creatures like three-toed giants had once lumbered across the land—nor dreamed that they could all have vanished, hundreds of millions years ago. In Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party , celebrated storyteller and historian Edward Dolnick leads us through a compelling true adventure as the paleontologists of the early 19th century puzzled their way through the fossil record to create the story of dinosaurs we know today. The tale begins with Mary Anning, a poor, uneducated woman who had a sixth sense for finding fossils buried deep inside cliffs; moves to William Buckland, an eccentric geologist who filled his home with specimens and famously pieced together a prehistoric scene from the fossil record inside a cave; and then on to the controversial Richard Owen, the era’s best-known scientist, and the one who coined the term “dinosaur.” “Exuberant” ( Kirkus Reviews ), entertaining, erudite, and featuring an unconventional cast of characters, Dinosaurs at the Dinner Party tells the story of how the accidental discovery of prehistoric creatures upended humanity’s understanding of the world and its own place within it.
Simon and Schuster 2025-08-12 352 pages

Red, White & Liberal How Left Is Right & Right Is Wrong

Alan Colmes
As one of the foremost liberal voices in television and radio today, Alan Colmes has long been braving the wilds of controversial issues and conservative slander. The host of the talk-radio show Fox News Live with Alan Colmes and cohost of Fox News Channel's hit debate show Hannity & Colmes, Colmes now offers this witty, passionate wake-up call to America. Colmes takes on the fundamental question: How can we protect our nation without diminishing our liberties, and regain our place in the world as an example of democracy? Colmes urges Americans to see past the government's manipulation of the War on Terror to silence critics; the lies we've been force-fed about the war in Iraq and Afghanistan; and the conservative smear campaign that has turned "liberal" into a four-letter word. From debunking the myth of the liberal media to exposing conservative hypocrisy, Colmes presents the issues with thoughtful, provocative arguments, hard facts and logic, and searing humor. Certain to spark debate and cause readers to reevaluate and reaffirm their beliefs, Red, White & Liberal powerfully argues that despite our differences, we must extend our hands across party lines to find solutions, protect our shores, and preserve our freedoms.
HarperCollins 2004-10-12 352 pages

The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2004

Tim Folger,Steven Pinker
Since its inception in 1915, the Best American series has become the premier annual showcase for the country's finest short fiction and nonfiction. For each volume, a series editor reads pieces from hundreds of periodicals, then selects between fifty and a hundred outstanding works. That selection is pared down to the twenty or so very best pieces by a guest editor who is widely recognized as a leading writer in his or her field. This unique system has helped make the Best American series the most respected -- and most popular -- of its kind. The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2004, edited by Steven Pinker, is another "provocative and thoroughly enjoyable [collection] from start to finish" (Publishers Weekly). Here is the best and newest on science and nature: the psychology of suicide terrorism, desperate measures in surgery, the weird world of octopuses, Sex Week at Yale, the linguistics of click languages, the worst news about cloning, and much more.
Houghton Mifflin 2004 209 pages

The Prolongation Of Life

Elie Metchnikoff
This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.
Creative Media Partners, LLC 2022-10-26 380 pages

Big Miracle

Tom Rose
Now a major motion picture starring Drew Barrymore, Ted Danson, Kristen Bell, Tim Blake Nelson, John Krasinski, and Vinessa Shaw—an account of the dramatic rescue of three gray whales trapped under the ice in Alaska in 1988. Set in Cold War–era 1988, Freeing the Whales tells the real story behind the remarkable, bizarre, and oftentimes uproarious event that mesmerized the world for weeks. On October 7, an Inuit hunter near Barrow, Alaska, found three California Gray whales imprisoned in the Arctic ice. In the past, as was nature's way, trapped whales always died. Not this time. Tom Rose, who was covering the event for a Japanese TV station, compellingly describes how oil company executives, environmental activists, Inupiat people, small business people, and the U.S. military boldly worked together to rescue the whales. He also tells the stories of some of the more than 150 international journalists who brought the story to the world's attention. The rescue was followed by millions of people around the world as Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev joined the forces of their two nations to help free the whales.
St. Martin's Griffin 2011

The Unreasonable Virtue of Fly Fishing

Mark Kurlansky
National Outdoor Book Award Winner for Outdoor Literature From the award-winning, bestselling author of Cod- the irresistible story of the science, history, art, and culture of the least efficient way to catch a fish. Fly fishing, historian Mark Kurlansky has found, is a battle of wits, fly fisher vs. fish-and the fly fisher does not always (or often) win. The targets-salmon, trout, and char; and for some, bass, tarpon, tuna, bonefish, and even marlin-are highly intelligent, athletic animals. The allure, Kurlansky learns, is that fly fishing makes catching a fish as difficult as possible. The flies can be beautiful and intricate, some made with over two dozen pieces of feather and fur; the cast is a matter of grace and rhythm, with different casts and rods yielding varying results. Kurlansky is known for his deep dives into specific subjects, from cod to oysters to salt. But he spent his boyhood days on the shore of a shallow pond. Here, where tiny fish weaved under a rocky waterfall, he first tied string to a branch, dangled a worm into the water, and unleashed his passion for fishing. Since then, his love of the sport has led him around the world's countries, coasts, and rivers-from the wilds of Alaska to Basque country, from Ireland and Norway to Russia and Japan. And, in true Kurlansky fashion, he absorbed every fact, detail, and anecdote along the way. The Unreasonable Virtue of Fly Fishing marries Kurlansky's signature wide-ranging reach with a subject that has captivated him for a lifetime-combining history, craft, and personal memoir to show readers, devotees of the sport or not, the necessity of experiencing nature's balm first-hand.
Bloomsbury USA 2022-04-26 304 pages

1668: the year of the animal in France

Sahlins, Peter
When animals and their symbolic representations—in the Royal Menagerie, in art, in medicine, in philosophy—helped transform the French state and culture. Peter Sahlins's brilliant new book reveals the remarkable and understudied “animal moment” in and around 1668 in which authors (including La Fontaine, whose Fables appeared in that year), anatomists, painters, sculptors, and especially the young Louis XIV turned their attention to nonhuman beings. At the center of the Year of the Animal was the Royal Menagerie in the gardens of Versailles, dominated by exotic and graceful birds. In the unfolding of his original and sophisticated argument, Sahlins shows how the animal bodies of the menagerie and others were critical to a dramatic rethinking of governance, nature, and the human. The animals of 1668 helped to shift an entire worldview in France—what Sahlins calls Renaissance humanimalism toward more modern expressions of classical naturalism and mechanism. In the wake of 1668 came the debasement of animals and the strengthening of human animality, including in Descartes's animal-machine, highly contested during the Year of the Animal. At the same time, Louis XIV and his intellectual servants used the animals of Versailles to develop and then to transform the symbolic language of French absolutism. Louis XIV came to adopt a model of sovereignty after 1668 in which his absolute authority is represented in manifold ways with the bodies of animals and justified by the bestial nature of his human subjects. 1668 explores and reproduces the king's animal collections—in printed text, weaving, poetry, and engraving, all seen from a unique interdisciplinary perspective. Sahlins brings the animals of 1668 together and to life as he observes them critically in their native habitats—within the animal palace itself by Louis Le Vau, the paintings and tapestries of Charles Le Brun, the garden installations of André Le Nôtre, the literary work of Charles Perrault and the natural history of his brother Claude, the poetry of Madeleine de Scudéry, the philosophy of René Descartes, the engravings of Sébastien Leclerc, the transfusion experiments of Jean Denis, and others. The author joins the nonhuman and human agents of 1668—panthers and painters, swans and scientists, weasels and weavers—in a learned and sophisticated treatment that will engage scholars and students of early modern France and Europe and readers broadly interested in the subject of animals in human history.
Zone Books 2017-10-13 491 pages

The frog king: on legends, fables, fairy tales, and anecdotes of animals

Sax, Boria
In this illuminating discussion of the role of animals in Western thought, the author shows, through his analysis of folklore, popular ideas, and natural history, that man's traditional fascination with animals is more than it appears. Professor Sax asserts that "animals put us in touch with modes of perception that are prior to culture. Encounters with animals compel us to question what it means to be human." After summarizing recent research on the bonds between animals and people, the author discusses the two major traditions of animal tales in Western culture, fables and fairy tales. Also discussed is what role specific animals, such as the beaver, stag, and elephant, have played in Western thought.
Pace University Press 1990 180 pages

Cerberus The Dog Of Hades

Maurice Bloomfield
Cerberus: The Dog of Hades is a book written by Maurice Bloomfield that explores the mythological creature known as Cerberus. In Greek mythology, Cerberus is a three-headed dog that guards the entrance to the underworld, preventing the dead from escaping and the living from entering. The book delves into the origins of the myth, tracing its roots back to ancient Greek and Roman cultures. It also explores the various depictions of Cerberus in art, literature, and popular culture throughout history. Bloomfield examines the symbolism of Cerberus, exploring what the creature represents and what it meant to the people of ancient Greece and Rome. He also looks at how the myth of Cerberus has been adapted and reinterpreted in modern times, including in film, television, and video games. Overall, Cerberus: The Dog of Hades provides a comprehensive and fascinating look at one of the most iconic creatures in mythology. It is a must-read for anyone interested in Greek and Roman mythology, as well as those interested in the history of art and literature.This Is A New Release Of The Original 1905 Edition.This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the old original and may contain some imperfections such as library marks and notations. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions, that are true to their original work.
Literary Licensing, LLC 2014-03 48 pages

The parliament of animals: anecdotes and legends from books of natural history, 1775-1900

Sax, Boria
"The Parliament of Animals represents a scholarly treatise on folkloric and literary narratives of animals. Each chapter on such creatures as elephants, monkeys, rats, snakes, dogs, wolves, cats, and birds includes informative introductions concerning the behavior and psychology of these animals and their relationship to their human counterparts. Useful select bibliographies on zoology, literature, folklore and language conclude these introductory comments which are followed by intriguing fables, legends, anecdotes and literary works concerning the animals under discussion. This book is thus a novel approach to the fascinating subject of the depiction of animals in prose writings over many centuries, giving scholarly information while at the same time providing a splendid collection of readable and enjoyable narratives from anonymous or known authors. The reader is easily engaged by this anthologized treatise on animal behavior, intelligence and psychology, and the obvious result is a better understanding and appreciation of both the animal and the human world. It is exactly this all-inclusive approach to animal narratives that makes this book by Boria Sax such worthwhile reading for naturalists, folklorists, cultural historians, literary scholars, and last but not least, the interested generalists."
Pace University Press 1992 195 pages