In The Trail of Gold and Silver, historian Duane A. Smith details Colorado's mining saga - a story that stretches from the beginning of the gold and silver mining rush in the mid-nineteenth century into the twenty-first century. Gold and silver mining laid the foundation for Colorado's economy, and 1859 marked the beginning of a fever for these precious metals. Mining changed the state and its people forever, affecting settlement, territorial status, statehood, publicity, development, investment, economy, jobs both in and outside the industry, transportation, tourism, advances in mining and smelting technology, and urbanization. Moreover, the first generation of Colorado mining brought a fascinating collection of people and a new era to the region. Written in a lively manner by one of Colorado's preeminent historians, this book honors the 2009 sesquicentennial of Colorado's gold rush. Smith's narrative will appeal to anybody with an interest in the state's fascinating mining... Views: 31
Set in a small Welsh village in the 1950s, The Earth Hums in B Flat is a story of dark family secrets. It's filled with wonderful characters and written with insight and sparkling tenderness.Gwenni Morgan can fly in her sleep—that's how she sees what's going on in the village, and how she tries to make some sense of her family and her world. But Gwenni's mother isn't too keen on her daughter's imaginative ways; she doesn't want anyone thinking her odd.When Ifan Evans goes missing, Gwenni tries to help find him, much to her mother's distress. And as she begins to put the pieces together, a terrible truth is revealed.'I loved this debut, which manages to give a young girl's narrative an authentically quirky aspect, without ever resorting to cutesiness or cosiness...Strachan eschews whimsy for reality in a beautifully written story about growing up.' Independent on Sunday Views: 31
Cassie was just a little girl who wanted to be loved. Betrayed by her
mother in the most horrific manner, and abused by her ‘uncle’, she had
to fight to survive the demons of her past.Cassie couldn’t remember when
the abuse began, but from an early age she knew that her life was
different from other children. Her mother made it clear that she wasn’t
wanted, she wasn’t loved and He said that he was her friend, that this
was his way of showing her that she was special.With no one else to turn
to, finally she found the courage to speak out, to tell her mother what
he did to her. But her mother wouldn’t listen, and with horror, Cassie
was to discover exactly who her abuser was, and why she would never be
heard.I Did Tell, I Did is the incredible story of a girl who was
betrayed by everyone who should have loved her, and how she overcame the
pain to find happiness and love, and to learn how to live with her
past. Views: 31
Shortstop Sandy makes the error of not telling fellow players why he leaves ballgames early and alienates them further by excluding them from his friendship with an older boy. Views: 31
The greatest historians are vivid storytellers, Robert Lacey reminds us, and in Great Tales from English History, he proves his place among them, illuminating in unforgettable detail the characters and events that shaped a nation. In this volume, Lacey limns the most important period in England's past, highlighting the spread of the English language, the rejection of both a religion and a traditional view of kingly authority, and an unstoppable movement toward intellectual and political freedom from 1387 to 1689. Opening with Chaucer's Canterbury Tales and culminating in William and Mary's "Glorious Revolution," Lacey revisits some of the truly classic stories of English history: the Battle of Agincourt, where Henry V's skilled archers defeated a French army three times as large; the tragic tale of the two young princes locked in the Tower of London (and almost certainly murdered) by their usurping uncle, Richard III; Henry VIII's schismatic divorce, not just from his wife but fr... Views: 31
From Publishers WeeklyIn this well-written and expertly paced work of popular scholarship, Woodward, an associate editor of the Adams papers, tells the story of William Strachey, an aspiring poet whose chronicle of a disastrous sea voyage and its aftermath had a profound influence on Shakespeare's The Tempest. Strachey is a fine figure for historical resurrection—he was good friends with John Donne and a passenger on pioneering journeys to the New World, which eventually brought him, aboard the Sea Venture, to Bermuda and the infant Jamestown colony in Virginia. Woodward draws heavily on Strachey's written narrative, often to marvelous effect. This is particularly true of the dramatic storm scenes, in which the entire crew of the Sea Venture nearly perished. Through Strachey, Woodward tells of the conflicts that divided the crew after making landfall in Bermuda and the hardships of replenishing a starving Jamestown's supplies. The heart of the book is Woodward's recreation of Strachey's viewing of The Tempest, which affords the author the opportunity to catalogue the narrative and linguistic parallels between the Sea Venture's travails and the play—fascinating fodder for the committed Shakespearean source hunter. Maps. (July 13) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. Review" At once a penetrating work of literary analysis and a riveting historical narrative." -Nathaniel Philbrick "At once a penetrating work of literary analysis and a riveting historical narrative, Hobson Woodward's A Brave Vessel reveals the salty survival tale at the heart of Shakespeare's New World masterpiece, The Tempest."-Nathaniel Philbrick, author of In the Heart of the Sea and Mayflower "On the 400th anniversary of the Sea Venture's wreck on Bermuda, Hobson Woodward recounts the events and personalities of the voyage, the island refuge, and the early Jamestown Colony. He tells the story with accuracy and verve, and makes a compelling case for Shakespeare's indebtedness to William Strachey when writing The Tempest. Woodward's Brave Vessel is learned, lucid, and engrossing."-Alden Vaughan, Professor emeritus of History at Columbia University and coeditor of the Arden edition of The Tempest A Brave Vessel is a real-life story of heroism and human ambition as thrilling as any Hollywood fiction. Injecting popular history with a wealth of little-known detail, it traces a fascinating story of unlikely survival-and the impact a single, freak event in the mid-Atlantic had on the fortunes of America's birthplace and the world's greatest playwright. Woodward immerses us in the mindset of 17-century colonists and the immense challenges and tragedies of their endeavor. He entwines true events with their literary spin-offs, and in doing so, brings both to life.-Rosemary Jones, author,_ Bermuda: Five Centuries_ Views: 31
