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  Life and Ventures of the...

  Elizabeth Louisa Gebhard

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  John Jacob Astor was pre-eminently the opener of new paths, a breaker of trails. From his first tramp alone through the Black Forest of Baden, at sixteen, his life never lost this typical touch. In America, both shores of the Hudson, and the wilderness to the Northwest knew his trail. The trees of the forests west of the Mississippi were blazed by his hunters and trappers; and his partners and agents planted through this vast region the flag of the American Fur Company. The Atlantic and Pacific Oceans were invisibly lined by the path of his vessels. His were the first American ships to habitually circle the globe, trading around the earth. With his far-sighted vision withdrawn from distant scenes, and centered on Manhattan Island, he led the way toward the upbuilding of the largest, and most important city in the new world. (Summary from book's Foreword)

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  The Chimpanzee Whisperer - A...

  Stany Nyandwi, David Blissett

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  Earphones Award Winner from Audiofile Magazine!Stany Nyandwi’s gift for communicating with chimpanzees is so special that world-renowned primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall has called him a “chimpanzee whisperer.” His skills and devotion to these creatures—our closest living relatives, with whom we share 98.7 percent of our DNA—have earned him international awards and sent him on travels within Africa and around the world. But he began life in poverty, born and raised in a dirt-floor, straw-roofed hut in rural Burundi. The Chimpanzee Whisperer is the story of his astonishing life journey."Narrator Dion Graham so inhabits the memoir that listeners easily could swear he's the author. He adopts an accent that to Western ears sounds authentic without affectation or loss of understanding. A truly marvelous pairing." - Audiofile MagazineReceiving only an elementary education before he quit school, Stany Nyandwi began caring for orphaned and rescued chimps in Burundi. When the country descended into civil war and genocide, he was forced to flee with the chimps and endured long separation from his family. Continuing to work with and learn about chimpanzees in Kenya, Uganda, and later South Africa, he made himself into an incomparable authority.His memoir has adventure, danger, and many unique and touching stories about chimpanzees that show his bond with and understanding of them. As told to award-winning author David Blissett, it reveals a remarkable man who has refused to let circumstances defeat him. Conditioned by hate, wounded by loss, he has lived for love, faith, and compassion, giving new life, as Dr. Jane Goodall writes in her foreword, “to so many chimpanzees whose families, like his own, were torn apart by violence.”

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  Francesca Caccini at the Medici...

  Suzanne G. Cusick

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  A “priceless” study of the life and career of the Renaissance-era Italian who was the first woman to have composed an opera (Gender & History).“Extraordinary in its breadth, its detail, its insight, and its worth to all participants in early music…. Its contribution is not limited to the musical world, however, as Cusick’s remarkable command and analysis of her material…has immense value for scholars engaged in cultural studies, performance studies, history, politics, or the study of difference.”—Renaissance Quarterly A contemporary of Shakespeare and Monteverdi, and a colleague of Galileo and Artemisia Gentileschi at the Medici court, Francesca Caccini was a dominant musical figure there for thirty years. Dazzling listeners with the transformative power of her performances and the sparkling wit of the music she composed for more than a dozen court theatricals, Caccini is best remembered today as the first woman to have composed opera. Francesca Caccini at the Medici Court reveals for the first time how this multitalented composer established a fully professional musical career at a time when virtually no other women were able to achieve comparable success. Suzanne G. Cusick argues that Caccini’s career depended on the usefulness of her talents to the political agenda of Grand Duchess Christine de Lorraine, Tuscany’s de facto regent from 1606 to 1636. Drawing on Classical and feminist theory, Cusick shows how the music Caccini made for the Medici court sustained the culture that enabled Christine’s power, thereby also supporting the sexual and political aims of its women. In bringing Caccini’s surprising story so vividly to life, Cusick ultimately illuminates how music making functioned in early modern Italy as a significant medium for the circulation of power.

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  The Genius of Thomas Jefferson

  Cole Hawkins

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  The Genius of Thomas Jefferson: The Founding Father Who Shaped AmericaThomas Jefferson was one of the most influential figures in American history, renowned for his contributions to the founding of the United States and his legacy as a statesman, philosopher, and writer. Jefferson's contributions to American history extend far beyond his role in the Revolution. As the third president of the United States, he oversaw the Louisiana Purchase, which doubled the size of the young nation, and implemented policies that emphasized westward expansion, agricultural development, and education. But Jefferson's legacy is also complicated by his views on slavery and race, his sometimes controversial political beliefs, and his personal life.In this biography, we will explore the life and legacy of Thomas Jefferson, from his early years in Virginia to his presidency and beyond. We will examine his contributions to American democracy, his impact on culture and society, and his complicated views on slavery and race.This audiobook covers the following topics:- Early Life and Education- Virginia Politics- Revolutionary Politics- Diplomatic Missions- Presidential Election of 1800- First Term- War of 1812- Second Term- Personal Life- Slavery and Race Relations- Legacy- Letters and Writings- Controversies and Criticisms- And many more!To learn more about the life and times of Thomas Jefferson, scroll up and click “add to cart” now!

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  A Feigned Madness

  Tonya Mitchell

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  The insane asylum on Blackwell’s Island is a human rat trap. It is easy to get in, but once there it is impossible to get out. —Nellie Bly 
    
  Elizabeth Cochrane has a secret.  
    
  She isn’t the madwoman with amnesia the doctors and inmates at Blackwell’s Asylum think she is. 
    
  In truth, she’s working undercover for the New York World. When the managing editor refuses to hire her because she’s a woman, Elizabeth strikes a deal: in exchange for a job, she’ll impersonate a lunatic to expose a local asylum’s abuses. 
    
  When she arrives at the asylum, Elizabeth realizes she must make a decision—is she there merely to bear witness, or to intervene on behalf of the abused inmates? Can she interfere without blowing her cover? As the superintendent of the asylum grows increasingly suspicious, Elizabeth knows her scheme—and her dream of becoming a journalist in New York—is in jeopardy. 
    
  A Feigned Madness is a meticulously researched, fictionalized account of the woman who would come to be known as daredevil reporter Nellie Bly. At a time of cutthroat journalism, when newspapers battled for readers at any cost, Bly emerged as one of the first to break through the gender barrier—a woman who would, through her daring exploits, forge a trail for women fighting for their place in the world.

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  My War Gone By I Miss It So

  Anthony Loyd

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  A “beautiful and disturbing” account of the Bosnian conflict by a war correspondent grappling with addiction and a family legacy of military heroism (The Wall Street Journal).   In an earlier era, Anthony Loyd imagines, he would have fought fascism in Spain. Instead, the twenty-six-year-old scion of a distinguished military family left England in 1993 to experience the conflict in Bosnia as a reporter. While he found his time serving in the British army during the Gulf War disappointingly uneventful, Loyd would spend the next three years documenting some of the most callous and chaotic fighting to ever occur on European soil.   Plunged into the midst of the struggle among the Serbs, Croatians, and Bosnian Muslims, Loyd saw humanity at its extremes, witnessing tragedy daily in city streets and mountain villages. Shocking yet ultimately redemptive, Loyd’s memoir is an uncompromising feat of on-the-ground reportage. But Loyd’s personal war didn’t end when he emerged from the trenches. Hooked to the adrenaline of armed combat, he returned home to continue his own longstanding battle against drug addiction.   “Battlefield reportage does not get more up close, gruesome, and personal. . . . The fear and confusion of battle are so vivid that in places, they rise like acrid smoke from the page.” —The New York Times   “This is pure war reporting, free from the usual journalistic constraints that often give a false significance to suffering.” —Salon.com   “First-rate war correspondence . . . [in] the great tradition of Hemingway, Caputo, and Michael Herr.” —The Boston Globe

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