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The pyramids: an enigma solved
Par Joseph Davidovits. 1988
For centuries people have presumed the pyramids were built by slaves working for years to move large blocks of stone…
into place. But was that possible given the lack of tools for cutting blocks and the high level of skill required for fitting them together? The authors suggest that a desert chemical called natron was used to cast hard stones in much the way we now use concreteJohn Tyler, 10th president of the United States
Par Lucille Falkof. 1990
John Tyler was born into a well-educated and affluent family in Charles City County, Virginia, on March 29, 1790. He…
graduated from William and Mary College in 1807 and was admitted to the bar in 1809, the year that his father became governor of Virginia. Elected vice president in 1840, Tyler became president in 1841 upon the death of Harrison. For grades 5-8 and older readersWilliam McKinley: 25th president of the United States
Par David Collins. 1990
William McKinley was born in 1843 in Niles, Ohio, the seventh child of Nancy Allison McKinley and William McKinley, Sr.…
After serving in the Union Army during the Civil War, he clerked in a law office and was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1867. He was elected to the presidency in 1896, and reelected in 1900. He was shot and killed by an assassin in 1901. For grades 5-8 and older readersJohn Adams, 2nd president of the United States
Par Rebecca Stefoff. 1988
John Adams was born in 1735 in Massachusetts, the eldest of three sons. His father was a deacon in the…
local Congregational Church and John had a strict, Puritan upbringing. As a young lawyer, he became involved in the fight for American independence. He would later serve as the first ambassador to Great Britain and as president. For grades 5-8 and older readersRutherford B. Hayes: 19th president of the United States
Par Neal Robbins. 1989
Hayes was born in Ohio in 1822 ten weeks after the death of his father. A sickly child, Rud was…
very close to his sister Fanny, who urged him to become "somebody important." A Harvard Law School graduate, Civil War hero, and governor of Ohio, he was elected president in the most controversial election in the nation's history. For grades 5-8 and older readersJames Buchanan: 5th president of the United States
Par David Collins. 1990
James Buchanan was born in 1791 in Cove Gap, Pennsylvania. Elected to the presidency in 1856, he brought more than…
forty years of experience in public service to the office. Within days of his inauguration the Supreme Court delivered its pro-slavery decision in the Dred Scott case. Buchanan was shocked and burdened by the anger and hostility it created. For grades 5-8 and older readersJames K. Polk, 11th president of the United States (Presidents of the United States)
Par Miriam Greenblatt. 1988
Polk was born in 1795 in North Carolina, and later moved with his family to Tennessee. At the age of…
eighteen he began school, determined to make up for lost time. After graduating from the University of North Carolina, he returned to Tennessee, became a clerk with a prominent lawyer and politician, and soon began his own political rise. For grades 5-8 and older readersCalvin Coolidge: 30th president of the United States
Par Rita Stevens. 1990
John Calvin Coolidge born on July 4, 1872, in Plymouth, Vermont, was the eldest of two children. After graduating from…
Amherst College he clerked in a law office and passed the bar in 1897. He entered local politics and became governor of Massachsetts in 1919. Elected to the vice presidency one year later, he became president upon the death of Harding. For grades 5-8 and older readersUlysses S. Grant: 18th president of the United States
Par Lucille Falkof. 1988
Ulysses Grant was born in 1822 in Ohio. His parents named him Hiram Ulysses; but when he enrolled in West…
Point, his name was listed as Ulysses Simpson, and he adopted that name. In 1853 he was forced to resign from the army for drunkenness, but was recalled when the Civil War broke out in 1861. He eventually became head of the Union armies. For grades 5-8 and older readersGrover Cleveland, 22nd and 24th president of the United States (Presidents of the United States)
Par David Collins. 1988
Grover Cleveland was born in 1837 in New Jersey, and soon moved to New York. One of nine children, he…
grew up as "a minister's kid." When he was sixteen his father died, and he went to work at the New York Institution for the Blind in New York City. After serving as governor of New York, he was elected president in 1884 and again in 1892. For grades 5-8 and older readersJames Monroe, 5th president of the United States (Presidents of the United States)
Par Rebecca Stefoff. 1988
James Monroe was born in 1758 in Virginia. Two years after he enrolled at the College of William and Mary,…
the Revolutionary War began and eighteen-year old Monroe enlisted in the Continental Army. After serving as governor of Virginia, he was appointed minister to France and helped make the Louisiana Purchase. As president, he put forth the Monroe Doctrine. For grades 5-8 and older readersThe Spanish Armada
Par Colin Martin. 1988
A revisionist history of the defeat of Philip II's grand Spanish fleet in 1588. Utilizing recent archaeological findings and previously…
unstudied documents found in the archives of Spain and the Netherlands, the authors explain why a supposedly invincible fleet, believed by the Spaniards to be guided by God's hand, suffered so disastrous a defeat off the British coastTheodore Roosevelt: 26th president of the United States
Par Rebecca Stefoff. 1988
Theodore Roosevelt was born in New York in 1858. His family had a long tradition of wealth, good works and…
public service. After graduating from Harvard, he was elected to the New York Assembly. During the Spanish-American War he organized the Rough Riders and led them up San Juan Hill. When President McKinley was killed, Roosevelt became president. For grades 5-8 and older readersDwight D. Eisenhower, 34th president of the United States (Presidents of the United States)
Par Rafaela Ellis. 1989
Eisenhower grew up in a small Kansas town. Although money was scarce, Ike and his five brothers enjoyed a happy…
childhood. When Ike was twenty-one, he enrolled in West Point. During World War II he became Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in western Europe, second only to Roosevelt and Churchill in power. He served as president from 1953-61. For grades 5-8 and older readersThe Queen & her court: a guide to the British monarchy today
Par Jerrold Packard. 1981
A close look at the royal family, their lives, personalities, associates, and residences. Also explains various titles and ranks and…
what they signify, how to address members of the nobility, and customs surrounding the royal family and the courtThe Japanese today: change and continuity
Par Edwin Reischauer. 1981
A well-known scholar on Japan presents an overview of the history and culture of the country and an analysis of…
its contemporary development and society. Included are sections on Japan's government and politics, economic success, and relations with the rest of the worldInvitation to a banquet: The story of chinese food
Par Fuchsia Dunlop. 2023
The world's most sophisticated gastronomic culture, brilliantly presented through a banquet of thirty Chinese dishes. Chinese was the earliest truly…
global cuisine. When the first Chinese laborers began to settle abroad, restaurants appeared in their wake. Yet Chinese has the curious distinction of being both one of the world's best-loved culinary traditions and one of the least understood. For more than a century, the overwhelming dominance of a simplified form of Cantonese cooking ensured that few foreigners experienced anything of its richness and sophistication-but today that is beginning to change. In Invitation to a Banquet, award-winning cook and writer Fuchsia Dunlop explores the history, philosophy, and techniques of Chinese culinary culture. In each chapter, she examines a classic dish, from mapo tofu to Dongpo pork, knife-scraped noodles to braised pomelo pith, to reveal a distinctive aspect of Chinese gastronomy, whether it's the importance of the soybean, the lure of exotic ingredients, or the history of Buddhist vegetarian cuisine. Meeting food producers, chefs, gourmets, and home cooks as she tastes her way across the country, Fuchsia invites listeners to join her on an unforgettable journey into Chinese food as it is cooked, eaten, and considered in its homeland"Absolutely gripping… a perfectly splendid read—I highly, highly recommend it" — Douglas Preston, author of the #1 New York Times…
bestseller The Lost City of the Monkey God A sixty-year saga of frostbite and fake news that follows the no-holds-barred battle between two legendary explorers to reach the North Pole, and the newspapers which stopped at nothing to get–and sell–the story. In the fall of 1909, a pair of bitter contests captured the world’s attention. The American explorers Robert Peary and Frederick Cook both claimed to have discovered the North Pole, sparking a vicious feud that was unprecedented in international scientific and geographic circles. At the same time, the rivalry between two powerful New York City newspapers—the storied Herald and the ascendant Times —fanned the flames of the so-called polar controversy, as each paper financially and reputationally committed itself to an opposing explorer and fought desperately to defend him. The Herald was owned and edited by James Gordon Bennett, Jr., an eccentric playboy whose nose for news was matched only by his appetite for debauchery and champagne. The Times was published by Adolph Ochs, son of Jewish immigrants, who’d improbably rescued the paper from extinction and turned it into an emerging powerhouse. The battle between Cook and Peary would have enormous consequences for both newspapers, and help to determine the future of corporate media. BATTLE OF INK AND ICE presents a frank portrayal of Arctic explorers, brave men who both inspired and deceived the public. It also sketches a vivid portrait of the newspapers that funded, promoted, narrated, and often distorted their exploits. It recounts a sixty-year saga of frostbite and fake news, one that culminates with an unjustly overlooked chapter in the origin story of the modern New York Times. By turns tragic and absurd, BATTLE OF INK AND ICE brims with contemporary relevance, touching as it does on themes of class, celebrity, the ever-quickening news cycle, and the benefits and pitfalls of an increasingly interconnected world. Above all, perhaps, its cast of characters testifies—colorfully and compellingly—to the ongoing role of personality and publicity in American cultural life as the Gilded Age gave way to the twentieth century—the American centuryAnansi's gold: The man who looted the west, outfoxed washington, and swindled the world
Par Yepoka Yeebo. 2023
New Yorker Best Book of the Year "A fascinating story brilliantly told."— The Boston Globe * "A non-fiction masterpiece." —…
Philadelphia Inquirer The astounding, never-before-told story of how an audacious Ghanaian con artist pulled off one of the 20th century's longest-running and most spectacular frauds. When Ghana won its independence from Britain in 1957, it instantly became a target for home-grown opportunists and rapacious Western interests determined to snatch any assets that colonialism hadn't already stripped. A CIA-funded military junta ousted the new nation's inspiring president, Kwame Nkrumah, then falsely accused him of hiding the country's gold overseas. Into this big lie stepped one of history's most charismatic scammers, a con man to rival the trickster god Anansi. Born into poverty in Ghana and trained in the United States, John Ackah Blay-Miezah declared himself custodian of an alleged Nkrumah trust fund worth billions. You, too, could claim a piece—if only you would "invest" in Blay-Miezah's fictitious efforts to release the equally fictitious fund. Over the 1970s and '80s, he and his accomplices—including Ghanaian state officials and Nixon's former attorney general—scammed hundreds of millions of dollars out of thousands of believers. Blay-Miezah lived in luxury, deceiving Philadelphia lawyers, London financiers, and Seoul businessmen alike, all while eluding his FBI pursuers. American prosecutors called his scam "one of the most fascinating—and lucrative—in modern history." In Anansi's Gold , Yepoka Yeebo chases Blay-Miezah's ever-wilder trail and discovers, at long last, what really happened to Ghana's missing wealth. She unfolds a riveting account of Cold War entanglements, international finance, and postcolonial betrayal, revealing how what we call "history" writes itself into being, one lie at a timeI am still with you: A reckoning with silence, inheritance, and history
Par Emmanuel Iduma. 2023
"Powerful and transcendent" — Chigozie Obioma "Both epic and intimate" —Margo Jefferson A deeply moving, lyrical journey through the author's…
homeland of Nigeria, in search of the truth about his disappeared uncle and the history of a war that shaped him, his family, and a nation In inimitable, rhythmic prose, the author and winner of the prestigious Windham-Campbell Prize Emmanuel Iduma tells the story of his return to Nigeria, where he grew up, after years of living in New York. He traveled home with an elusive mission: to learn the fate of his uncle Emmanuel, his namesake, who disappeared in the Nigerian Civil War in the late 1960s. A conflict that left so many families broken, the war remains at the margins of the history books, almost taboo to discuss. To find answers, Iduma stopped in city after city throughout the former Biafra region, reconnecting with relatives dear and distant to probe their memories, prowling university libraries to furtively photocopy illicit books, and visiting half-abandoned monuments along the highway. Perhaps, he realized, if he could understand how his father grieved the loss of a brother in the war, he might learn how to grieve his late father in turn. His is also the story of countless families across the country and across the world who will never have answers or proper funerals for their loved ones. It's a story about the birth of an artist, about writing itself as an act both healing and political, even dangerous. And it's a story about family history and legacy, and all the questions the dead leave unanswered. How much of the author's identity is wrapped up in this inheritance? And what does it mean to return home, when the people who define it are gone? Equal parts memoir, national history, and political reckoning, I Am Still With You is a profoundly personal story of collective loss and making peace with the unknowable