Edward Stratemeyer was the biggest selling writer you never heard of. In an age when top authors sold tens of thousands of books, Stratemeyer sold tens of millions. His name is unknown but his creations are the classics of kidlit: Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys, Tom Swift, the Bobbsey Twins. These and dozens more were all created by Stratemeyer and a literary syndicate that churned out novels like Henry Ford made cars. In this amusing digital short, award-winning journalist Bruce Watson captur...

Jon Stewart, host of Comedy Central's The Daily Show, has been called a "cultural force," a "fourth branch of government," and "the most influential man in America." In this pioneering biography, award-winning journalist Bruce Watson charts Stewart's remarkable rise from a wise-cracking New Jersey comic to a powerful pundit hosting presidents and prime ministers, all with a smirk.

Stephen Colbert is far more than a comedian and improv genius. As head of his fanciful Colbert Nation, the quick-witted host of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and former host of Comedy Central’s The Colbert Reporthas delighted fans with his wit, audacity, and innovative uses of language and the media.In this biography, award-winning journalist Bruce Watson, author of Jon Stewart: Beyond the Moments of Zen, charts Colbert’s rise from boyhood tragedy to...

Originally published in 1989. Given the events of 1987 and 1988-the death of Admiral Sergei G. Gorshkov, who had served as Commander-in-Chief of the Soviet Navy from 1956 to 1985 and was so influencial in the development of the current Soviet Navy, the Soviet policy of glasnost', the U .S.-Soviet arms negotiations, Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev's visit to Washington, President Ronald Reagan's visit to Moscow, and the treaty concerning intermediate-range nuclear weapons- a study of the Soviet...

Dialogues in Urban and Regional Planning offers a selection of the best urban planning scholarship from each of the world's planning school associations. The award-winning papers presented illustrate the concerns and the discourse of planning scholarship communities and provide a glimpse into planning theory and practice by planning academics around the world. All those with an interest in urban and regional planning will find this collection valuable in opening new avenues for re...

Stephen Colbert is far more than a comedian and improv genius. As head of his fanciful Colbert Nation, the quick-witted host of Comedy Central's The Colbert Report has delighted fans with his wit, audacity, and innovative uses of language and the media. In this biography, award-winning journalist Bruce Watson, author of Jon Stewart: Beyond the Moments of Zen, charts Colbert's rise from boyhood tragedy to "greatest living cultural/media critic."

Nelson Mandela led a long and remarkable life. From his earliest days herding cows in a South African village, he became a child of privilege, a rebellious runaway, an impoverished student, a father, a successful lawyer, a political dissident, a rising star in the African nationalist movement, an underground saboteur, the chief defendant in three show trials, a political prisoner, a secret negotiator with South Africa's rulers, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, president of his country, and a st...

It is no exaggeration to say that Margaret Thatcher remade Britain in her own image. She deregulated industry, brought the unions to their knees, privatized state-owned enterprises, waged war to defend the Falkland Islands, and teamed up with Ronald Reagan to win the Cold War. Her courage was remarkable and her character larger than life. She was a woman who brooked no fools, and her tongue could be rapier sharp. Here is the inspiring story of Britain's first and only woman prime minister....

Winston Churchill possessed an iron will and a subtle conscience. His staunch patriotism, tenacity, appetite for a fight, and, above all, his towering rhetoric inspired the British people to mount a gallant defense of their island nation. Having set a new bar for national heroism, he earned a place in the pantheon of the world's greatest leaders. Churchill, a fearless soldier, was a veteran of countless battles and a rider in one of Britain's last cavalry charges. He was also a gifted writ...

The discovery of a nugget in California in 1848 set off the first gold rush in history. In 1849 alone, the population increased 500 percent as 80,000 men rushed to claim its riches; three years later, nearly 250,000 people lived there. By 1865, miners had dug and panned 750 million in gold from the hills and streambeds of California. In other countries, mines that produced precious metals were the property of kings and princes. But in California, the gold, like everything else on the front...

Walter Elias "Walt" Disney - artist, entrepreneur, innovator, filmmaker, and theme-park impresario - gave birth to a sprawling entertainment enterprise that, in the half-century since his death in 1966, remains a fixture in the culture unlike any other. A titan of the American Century, Walt Disney was also one of its most contradictory figures. A genius who got only as far as the ninth grade, he seemed to be many things other than what he really was. One of Hollywood's most successful men,...

Katharine Hepburn was far more than an iconic movie star who won four Academy Awards for best actress (the most ever) and made classic films - The African Queen, The Philadelphia Story, and Guess Who's Coming to Dinner - that still rank among the greatest of all time. She also exerted a singular influence on American popular culture, challenging rigid assumptions about how women should behave - and almost single-handedly gave them permission to wear pants. The list of adjectives used to de...