Some of the most creative of human expression has originated in the collision of cultures. So it is with this extraordinary archive. The Corporal and the Celestials publishes for the first time a truly absorbing collection of photographs of China in the early years of the twentieth century, taken by a young corporal of the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers, James Hutchinson, when stationed there from 1909. His battalion was guarding the British Legation in Peking and Concession in Tientsin in t...

Educated at Campbell College, Belfast and Trinity College, Dublin, Bill Jackson retired in 1999 from a career with Oxfam, the Irish public service and the United Nations.That emigration tore Irish families apart is a given, but rarely is the separation chronicled across three generations.These hitherto unpublished letters describe the life of an Ulster Quaker shop-keeping family whose daughter married and emigrated in 1818. They bring out the fears of parents who will never...

One day you are born, and you live your life one day at a time, and every day is a new and different day. Many people have differences in their upbringing, and many times some people are raised harder than others, but in the grand scheme of things, it does not always go perfect. Adversity builds character, and character brings patience, and patience, well, patience is very hard to receive without the correctness of mind. Temperament is when the dross is knocked off the top of the gold, and...

The primary purpose of this book is to emphasize by my life's example the fact that God is real, that he does still exist today, and that he does still call men and women for specific purposes today, just as he has done throughout history.My writing these memoirs was inspired by a sermon I heard in February 2012. The point of the sermon was that everyone had a testimony. Well, I had never thought that I had a testimony. I jokingly told the pastor that if I had a testimony, it would...

Rediscover the sense of wonder and adventure as you ride across the United States along with Bryan, Stig, Bill, Hal, and Vaughn. Rediscover the hospitality of strangers. Remember the joy of overcoming your own self-doubts and proving your mettle to those who say you don't have what it takes. Revisit the natural beauty of America from the seat of a bicycle and rekindle your sense of wonder.In 1972, five college graduates set out on a remarkable transcontinen...

The extraordinary true story of the 'Red Queen'. Born in the midst of the Wars of the Roses, Margaret Beaufort became the greatest heiress of her time. She survived a turbulent life, marrying four times and enduring imprisonment before passing her claim to the crown of England to her son, Henry VII, the first of the Tudor monarchs. Margaret's royal blood placed her on the fringes of the Lancastrian royal dynasty. After divorcing her first husband at the age of ten, she married the king's h...

National Book Award FinalistFrom one of our most accomplished and widely admired historians, a revelatory portrait of Benjamin Franklin’s youngest sister and a history of history itself. Like her brother, Jane Franklin was a passionate reader, a gifted writer, and an astonishingly shrewd political commentator. Unlike him, she was a mother of twelve.Benjamin Franklin, who wrote more letters to his sister than he wrote to anyone else, was the original America...

‘This is a battle piece of the finest kind, detailed, authentic and largely written from original documents. Mr. Leasor has a formidable gift of narrative. Never has this story of hate, violence, courage and cowardice been better told.’ Cecil Woodham-Smith in the New York Times A year after the Crimean War ended, an uprising broke out in India which was to have equal impact on the balance of world power and the British Empire's role in world affairs. The revolt was ag...

For nearly two decades Western governments and a growing activist community have been frustrated in their attempts to bring about a freer and more democratic Burma—through sanctions and tourist boycotts—only to see an apparent slide toward even harsher dictatorship. But what do we really know about Burma and its history? And what can Burma's past tell us about the present and even its future?In The River of Lost Footsteps, Thant Myint-U tells the story of modern Burma, in p...

"Africa’s Children is a testament to one’s heritage, a belief in one’s ancestors, and a record of truth … no told!" – Dr. Henry V. Bishop, chief curator, Black Cultural Centre, Dartmouth, Nova ScotiaChronicling the history of Black families of the Yarmouth area of Nova Scotia, Africa’s Children is a mirror image of the hopes and despairs and the achievements and injustices that mark the early stories of many African-Canadians. This extensively researched history t...

When the Mayflower embarked on her famous voyage to America in 1620, she was carrying 102 passengers. To most, they are simply known as “the Pilgrims.” Perhaps the name of Governor William Bradford, Elder William Brewster, or Captain Myles Standish are vaguely familiar; but the vast majority of the Mayflower passengers have remained anonymous and nameless. In The Mayflower and Her Passengers, I have attempted to resurrect the unique individuality of each passenger by providing short biogra...

An fascinating account of witch trials in 1634 where over 60 local people were arrested in the area of Pendle Forest (East Lancashire - Northern England). These unfortunates were tried for their lives on the evidence of a ten year-old boy who became famous as the 'Pendle Witch-finder.'This case became nationally famous when King Charles the First took a personal interest. Playwrights wrote and performed plays in London and these were widely acclaimed.The 1634 trials followe...