Norman Dietz

Originally published over one hundred years ago, Roughing It tells the (almost) true story of Mark Twain's rollicking adventures across the United States. A hilarious account of how the author tried finding wealth in the rocks of Nevada, it was published before his most famous works and shows why he would grow to become one of the most beloved American writers of all time.

An old man lies dying during the rainy season in the Queensland outback. And in the night, slipping in and out of an opium sleep that drifts him towards death, he draws his listener into a tale that opens onto incredible horizons.

Traveling to Oregon by covered wagon in 1844 is an exciting adventure for 13-year-old John Sager and his family. The Oregon Trail leads over mountains of broken rock, across churning rivers, and through hostile Indian territory. Each day brings new scenery and challenges. But after months of grueling travel, his father dies-then 11 days later John buries his mother. Suddenly the six young Sagers are alone-and John is the head of the family! Should...

From publisher description: Although little used during the American Civil War--the time in which it was invented--the Gatling gun soon changed the nature of warfare and the course of history. Discharging 200 shots per minute with alarming accuracy, the world's first machine gun became vitally important to protecting and expanding America's overseas interests. Its inventor, Richard Gatling, was famous in his own time for creating and improving many...

"Bluefish," writes the author, are "animated chopping machines. They will eat anything alive. They have stripped the toes from surfers in Florida. They can't not eat." Hersey weaves fact and legend around his subject, engaging the reader with juicy details of ocean life, philosophy, natural history, and the crises into which man has let his environment slide.

A great food critic who can make or destroy the reputation of a chef with a stroke of his pen, Pierre Arthens faces his imminent death by trying to recall the one perfect flavor he sampled in his youth, a flavor that he believes forms the ultimate truth of his life.

The writings of Josephus contain one of the few historical accounts we have of the wars of the Jews and the first destruction of Jerusalem by Titus during the Roman occupation of Palestine in 70 A.D. This recording includes selections from The Wars of the Jews, written by Josephus during the reign of Vespasian. It features the arrival of the Roman army outside the city; a description of the city's magnificent temple and fortifications; details concerning...

They began as courtiers in a hierarchy of privilege, but history remembers them as patriot-citizens in a commonwealth of equals. On April 18, 1775, a riot over the price of flour broke out in the French city of Dijon; that same night, across the Atlantic, Paul Revere mounted the fastest horse he could find. So began what have been called the "sister revolutions" of France and America. In a single narrative, this book tells the story of those revolutions...

America's most hilarious sportsman returns with this collection of insights about youth, the great outdoors, and the philosophy of fileting fish. When best-selling author Patrick McManus looks at a subject, you're sure to come away with an outrageously new perspective. In "Muldoon in Love" McManus examines how third-grade crushes can have a disastrous effect on show-and-tell. In "The Big Fix" he explores the insidious relationship between women and...

From renowned political theorist and Pulitzer Prize winner James MacGregor Burns, an illuminating critique of how an unstable, unaccountable, and frequently partisan Supreme Court has come to wield more power than the founding fathers ever intended