Other books that might interest you

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  Haunted Franklin Castle

  William G. Krejci, John W. Myers

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  Cleveland’s gothic mansion plays host to murder and mayhem in a book that “couples that delightful sense of mystery with plenty of ghost stories” (Cleve Scene).   For more than half a century, the Franklin Castle’s dark façade has lured curiosity seekers from around the world. Behind its iron gates, this Victorian-era structure harbors rumors of everything from insanity to mass murder. Disembodied voices echo from empty rooms, doors open and close of their own accord and cold spots drift about the manse. Witnesses swear to sightings of a woman in black and a young girl in white, believed to be the ghostly apparitions of the wife and daughter of the original owner, Hannes Tiedemann. Using previously unpublished photographs, interviews, family accounts, floor plans, and nearly forty years of research, authors William G. Krejci and John W. Myers finally reveal the true and definitive history of Cleveland’s notorious Franklin Castle.   Includes photos!   “There are so many tales to tell—things like hidden rooms, outrageous parties and colorful occupants.” —Cleveland19

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  Parisians - An Adventure History...

  Graham Robb

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  This is the Paris you never knew. From the Revolution to the present, Graham Robb has distilled a series of astonishing true narratives, all stranger than fiction. 
   
  A young artillery lieutenant, strolling through the Palais-Royal, observes disapprovingly the courtesans plying their trade. A particular woman catches his eye; nature takes its course. Later that night, Napoleon Bonaparte writes a meticulous account of his first sexual encounter.  
   
  An aristocratic woman, fleeing the Louvre, takes a wrong turn and loses her way in the nameless streets of the Left Bank. For want of a map—there were no reliable ones at the time—Marie-Antoinette will go to the guillotine.  
   
  Baudelaire, Baron Haussmann, the real-life Mimi of La Bohème, Proust, Charles de Gaulle (who is suspected of having faked an assassination attempt on himself in Notre Dame)—these and many more make up Robb's cast of characters. The result is a resonant, intimate history with the power of a great novel.

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  Northern Ireland - A Walking Guide

  Helen Fairbairn

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  This revised guide presents top-class walking routes in Northern Ireland. From rugged mountain peaks to spectacular coastal scenery, from challenging hill walks to shorter woodland and waterside excursions, there is something for everyone. Every part of the region is covered, from the mountains of Mourne to the Giant's Causeway, from Fermanagh's 'lake district' to the rolling Sperrins. Routes vary from two-hour strolls to eight-hour upland challenges. Much thought has gone into making this guide easy to use: each route, prefaced with a quick-reference summary, is illustrated with a clear sketch map; descriptions include detailed access information while points of interest are highlighted – flora and fauna, history, archaeology and folklore. A compact region with huge scenic variety, Northern Ireland is ideal for walking yet is often overlooked. This authoritative guide is changing that, using the author's enthusiasm and knowledge.

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  Himalaya - Exploring the Roof of...

  John Keay

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  Himalaya is one of the world's most extraordinary geophysical, historical, environmental and social regions.  
   
  Historian John Keay introduces us to the myriad mysteries of this vast, confounding and utterly fascinating corner of the planet, and makes the case that it is one of our most essential – and endangered – wonders. 
   
  More rugged and elevated than any other zone on earth, it embraces all of Tibet, six of the world's eight major mountain ranges and nearly all its highest peaks. It contains around 50,000 glaciers and the most extensive permafrost outside the polar regions. Over an area nearly as big as Europe, the population is scattered, often nomadic and always sparse. Many languages are spoken, some are written and few are related. 
   
  Religious and political affiliations are equally diverse. Borders are disputed, while jealous neighbours shy away from a common strategy for protecting an environment in which desert meets rainforest and temperatures can fluctuate between 30 and -30°C in the course of a single day. 
   
  For centuries, Himalaya has captivated an illustrious succession of admirers, from explorers, surveyors and sportsmen, to botanists and zoologists, ethnologists and geologists, missionaries and mountaineers.

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  Evacuate!

  James Lawson

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  At stake was up to 5 million barrels a day of high-grade crude oil. At risk were the lives of 1,300 employees of the major oil companies and their families working in Iran in December 1978, when revolutionaries overthrew the Shah and wanted everything that went with him - including Western oil personnel - out of the country, or dead. At the helm was the author of this personal and highly revealing memoir. A Scottish lawyer working for the French oil company, Total, in Ahwaz, he had to draw on every inner resource - and unknown telex skills - to airlift his wife, friends, colleagues and others safely out of Iran, first to Abadan and thence to Bahrain and Athens. A senior American manager had already been murdered. These were anxious times for expatriate communities on the Gulf. Evacuate! is essentially a story of frontier life in a state run by a dictatorial Shah that tragically turned back the clock and submitted to clerical rule under Khomeini. As Centurion tanks and troops filled the streets, to be replaced by armed thugs chanting death slogans to Westerners, the author laboured night and day to organise a safe way out. Especially relevant today, his story will appeal to petroleum buffs everywhere, to expatriates, and to lovers of that beautiful and misguided country - Iran.

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  Travels Through American History...

  Charles W. Mitchell, Elizabeth...

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  This regional travel guide seeks out “engaging reenactments and the best exhibits, where remarkable artifacts and excellent displays bring history alive.” —Kathryn Schneider Smith, author of Washington at Home: An Illustrated History of Neighborhoods in the Nation’s Capital 
   
  Few regions of the United States boast as many historically significant sites as the mid-Atlantic. Travels through American History in the Mid-Atlantic brings to life sixteen easily accessible historical destinations, and additional side trips, in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington, D.C., the Potomac Valley, and Virginia. 
   
  Charles W. Mitchell walked these sites, interviewed historians and rangers, and read the letters and diaries of the men and women who witnessed—and at times made—history. He reveals in vivid prose the ways in which war, terrain, weather, and illness have shaped the American narrative. Each attraction, reenactment, and interactive exhibit in the book is described through the lens of the American experience, beginning in the colonial and revolutionary eras, continuing through the War of 1812, and ending with the Civil War. Mitchell contrasts the ornate decor of Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, for example, with the passionate debates that led to the Declaration of Independence, and the tranquil beauty of today’s Harpers Ferry with the trauma its citizens endured during the Civil War, when the town fell six times to opposing forces. 
   
  Excerpts from eyewitness accounts further humanize key moments in the national story. Hand-drawn maps evoke the historical era by depicting the natural features that so often affected the course of events. This engaging blend of history and travel is ideal for visiting tourists, area residents seeking weekend diversions, history buffs, and armchair travelers.

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