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The Most Dangerous Animal of All: Searching for My Father . . . and Finding the Zodiac Killer
by Gary L. Stewart Susan MustafaAn explosive and historic New York Times bestseller of true crime and an emotionally powerful and revelatory memoir of a man whose ten-year search for his biological father leads to a chilling discovery: His father is one of the most notorious-and still at large-serial killers in America—THE BASIS FOR A 4-PART FX DOCUMENTARY MINISERIES.“I promise that you’ve never read anything like The Most Dangerous Animal of All. Mesmerizing from the first page, the story includes a shattering surprise that will sear itself in your memory. Be prepared to read non-stop; this really is a book you won’t be able to put down.” —Jeff Guinn, author of Manson: The Life and Times of Charles MansonSoon after his birthmother contacted him for the first time at the age of thirty-nine, adoptee Gary L. Stewart decided to search for his biological father. It was a quest that would lead him to a horrifying truth and force him to reconsider everything he thought he knew about himself and his world. Written with award-winning author and journalist Susan D. Mustafa, The Most Dangerous Animal of All tells the story of Stewart’s decade-long hunt for his father following a complex trail of startling twists and connections. Combing through government records and news reports and through conversations with his father’s relatives and friends, Stewart turns up a host of clues, including forensic evidence, identifying his father as one of the most infamous and still-wanted serial killers in American history.
The Most Dangerous Book: The Battle for James Joyce's Ulysses (Great Lives Ser.)
by Kevin BirminghamRecipient of the 2015 PEN New England Award for Nonfiction"The arrival of a significant young nonfiction writer . . . A measured yet bravura performance." --Dwight Garner, The New York Times James Joyce's big blue book, Ulysses, ushered in the modernist era and changed the novel for all time. But the genius of Ulysses was also its danger: it omitted absolutely nothing. Joyce, along with some of the most important publishers and writers of his era, had to fight for years to win the freedom to publish it. The Most Dangerous Book tells the remarkable story surrounding Ulysses, from the first stirrings of Joyce's inspiration in 1904 to the book's landmark federal obscenity trial in 1933. Written for ardent Joyceans as well as novices who want to get to the heart of the greatest novel of the twentieth century, The Most Dangerous Book is a gripping examination of how the world came to say Yes to Ulysses.From the Trade Paperback edition.
The Most Dangerous German Agent in America: The Many Lives of Louis N. Hammerling
by M. B. BiskupskiOn the morning of April 27, 1935, Louis N. Hammerling fell to his death from the nineteenth floor of an apartment in New York City, where he lived alone. Hammerling was one of the most influential Polish immigrants in turn-of-the-century America and the leading voice and advocate of the Eastern Europeans who had come to the country seeking a better life. He was also a pathological liar, a crook, a swindler, a ruthless entrepreneur, and a patriot—of which nation he could never decide. In the United States, Hammerling rose from the poverty of his youth to the heights of wealth and power. He was a timberman and mule driver in the Pennsylvania coal mines, an indentured worker in the Hawaiian sugar fields, one of the major behind-the-scenes powers in the United Mine Workers, an employee of the Hearst newspaper chain, an influential figure in the Republican Party, the owner of an advertising agency that made him a millionaire, a correspondent of Theodore Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, and a senator of the Polish Republic. A Jew whose conversion to Catholicism did not protect him from anti-Semitism, Hammerling was monitored by state and federal agencies and was, in the words of his pursuers, "the most dangerous German agent in America." M. B. B. Biskupski consulted more than forty archives in four countries, using trial testimony, intelligence reports, and blackmail correspondence to reconstruct Hammerling's story. The life of this mysterious man offers a window through which to see larger themes: labor and immigration politics in late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century America, espionage during World War I, the birth of modern Polish politics, and the tragic struggle of a poor immigrant striving for success in America. Scholars and general readers alike will be interested in this fascinating book.
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Timothy Leary, Richard Nixon and the Hunt for the Fugitive King of LSD
by Steven L. Davis Bill Minutaglio'It's a rollicking tale that brings to life the antic atmosphere of America in the 'Me' Decade' Wall Street Journal'A madcap chase... this is a well-written chronicle of 28 months when the world went slightly mad' Sunday Times'A suitably head-spinning account of LSD High Priest Dr Timothy Leary' Mail on SundayOn the moonlit evening of September 12, 1970, an ex-Harvard professor with a genius IQ studies a twelve-foot high fence topped with barbed wire. A few months earlier, Dr. Timothy Leary, the High Priest of LSD, had been running a gleeful campaign for California governor against Ronald Reagan. Now, Leary is six months into a ten-year prison sentence for the crime of possessing two marijuana cigarettes.Aided by the radical Weather Underground, Leary's escape from prison is the counterculture's union of "dope and dynamite," aimed at sparking a revolution and overthrowing the government. Inside the Oval Office, President Richard Nixon drinks his way through sleepless nights as he expands the war in Vietnam and plots to unleash the United States government against his ever-expanding list of domestic enemies. Antiwar demonstrators are massing by the tens of thousands; homemade bombs are exploding everywhere; Black Panther leaders are threatening to burn down the White House; and all the while Nixon obsesses over tracking down Timothy Leary, whom he has branded "the most dangerous man in America."Based on freshly uncovered primary sources and new firsthand interviews, THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA is an American thriller that takes readers along for the gonzo ride of a lifetime. Spanning twenty-eight months, President Nixon's careening, global manhunt for Dr. Timothy Leary winds its way among homegrown radicals, European aristocrats, a Black Panther outpost in Algeria, an international arms dealer, hash-smuggling hippies from the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, and secret agents on four continents, culminating in one of the trippiest journeys through the American counterculture.
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Timothy Leary, Richard Nixon and the Hunt for the Fugitive King of LSD
by Steven L. Davis Bill Minutaglio'It's a rollicking tale that brings to life the antic atmosphere of America in the 'Me' Decade' Wall Street Journal'A madcap chase... this is a well-written chronicle of 28 months when the world went slightly mad' Sunday TimesFrom Bill Minutaglio and Steven L. Davis, authors of the PEN Center USA award-winning Dallas 1963, comes a madcap narrative about Timothy Leary's daring prison escape and run from the law.On the moonlit evening of September 12, 1970, an ex-Harvard professor with a genius IQ studies a twelve-foot high fence topped with barbed wire. A few months earlier, Dr. Timothy Leary, the High Priest of LSD, had been running a gleeful campaign for California governor against Ronald Reagan. Now, Leary is six months into a ten-year prison sentence for the crime of possessing two marijuana cigarettes.Aided by the radical Weather Underground, Leary's escape from prison is the counterculture's union of "dope and dynamite," aimed at sparking a revolution and overthrowing the government. Inside the Oval Office, President Richard Nixon drinks his way through sleepless nights as he expands the war in Vietnam and plots to unleash the United States government against his ever-expanding list of domestic enemies. Antiwar demonstrators are massing by the tens of thousands; homemade bombs are exploding everywhere; Black Panther leaders are threatening to burn down the White House; and all the while Nixon obsesses over tracking down Timothy Leary, whom he has branded "the most dangerous man in America."Based on freshly uncovered primary sources and new firsthand interviews, THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA is an American thriller that takes readers along for the gonzo ride of a lifetime. Spanning twenty-eight months, President Nixon's careening, global manhunt for Dr. Timothy Leary winds its way among homegrown radicals, European aristocrats, a Black Panther outpost in Algeria, an international arms dealer, hash-smuggling hippies from the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, and secret agents on four continents, culminating in one of the trippiest journeys through the American counterculture.(P)2018 Hachette Audio
The Most Dangerous Man in America: Timothy Leary, Richard Nixon and the Hunt for the Fugitive King of LSD
by Bill Minutaglio Steven L. DavisFrom Bill Minutaglio and Steven L. Davis, authors of the PEN Center USA award-winning Dallas 1963, comes a madcap narrative about Timothy Leary's daring prison escape and run from the law.On the moonlit evening of September 12, 1970, an ex-Harvard professor with a genius I.Q. studies a twelve-foot high fence topped with barbed wire. A few months earlier, Dr. Timothy Leary, the High Priest of LSD, had been running a gleeful campaign for California governor against Ronald Reagan. Now, Leary is six months into a ten-year prison sentence for the crime of possessing two marijuana cigarettes.Aided by the radical Weather Underground, Leary's escape from prison is the counterculture's union of "dope and dynamite," aimed at sparking a revolution and overthrowing the government. Inside the Oval Office, President Richard Nixon drinks his way through sleepless nights as he expands the war in Vietnam and plots to unleash the United States government against his ever-expanding list of domestic enemies. Antiwar demonstrators are massing by the tens of thousands; homemade bombs are exploding everywhere; Black Panther leaders are threatening to burn down the White House; and all the while Nixon obsesses over tracking down Timothy Leary, whom he has branded "the most dangerous man in America."Based on freshly uncovered primary sources and new firsthand interviews, THE MOST DANGEROUS MAN IN AMERICA is an American thriller that takes readers along for the gonzo ride of a lifetime. Spanning twenty-eight months, President Nixon's careening, global manhunt for Dr. Timothy Leary winds its way among homegrown radicals, European aristocrats, a Black Panther outpost in Algeria, an international arms dealer, hash-smuggling hippies from the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, and secret agents on four continents, culminating in one of the trippiest journeys through the American counterculture.
The Most Dangerous Man In America: The Making of Douglas MacArthur
by PerryAt times, even his admirers seemed unsure of what to do with General Douglas MacArthur. Imperious, headstrong, and vain, MacArthur matched an undeniable military genius with a massive ego and a rebellious streak that often seemed to destine him for the dustbin of history. Yet despite his flaws, MacArthur is remembered as a brilliant commander whose combined-arms operation in the Pacific--the first in the history of warfare--secured America’s triumph in World War II and changed the course of history. In The Most Dangerous Man in America, celebrated historian Mark Perry examines how this paradox of a man overcame personal and professional challenges to lead his countrymen in their darkest hour. As Perry shows, Franklin Roosevelt and a handful of MacArthur’s subordinates made this feat possible, taming MacArthur, making him useful, and finally making him victorious. A gripping, authoritative biography of the Pacific Theater’s most celebrated and misunderstood commander, The Most Dangerous Man in America reveals the secrets of Douglas MacArthur’s success--and the incredible efforts of the men who made it possible.
The Most Dangerous Man in the World: The Explosive True Story of Julian Assange and the Lies, Cover-ups and Conspiracies He Exposed
by Andrew FowlerThe battle lines are drawn: freedom of speech against the control of the State. The Internet is the battle ground. In this war there will only be one winner. In The Most Dangerous Man in the World, award-winning journalist Andrew Fowler talks to Julian Assange, his inner circle, and those disaffected by him, deftly revealing the story of how a man with a turbulent childhood and brilliance for computers created a phenomenon that has disrupted the worlds of both journalism and international politics. From Assange's early skirmishes with the "cult" of Scientology in Australia to the release of 570,000 intercepts of pager messages sent on the day of the September 11th attacks and on to the visual bombshell of the Collateral Murder video showing American soldiers firing on civilians and Reuters reporters, Fowler takes us from the founding of WikiLeaks right up to Cablegate and the threat of further leaks in 2011 that he warns could bring down a major American bank. New information based on interviews conducted with Assange reveal the possibility that he has Asperger's syndrome; the reason U.S. soldier Bradley Manning turned to an ex-hacker to spill military secrets; and how Assange helped police remove a "how to make a bomb" book from the Internet. The mother of one of his children also talks for the first time about life with Julian when he was setting up WikiLeaks. According to the "Pentagon Papers" whistleblower Daniel Ellsberg, Julian Assange is "the most dangerous man in the world." But just who is Julian Assange, and why is his quest for transparency and freedom of the press so dangerous in the eyes of his detractors? In a fascinating account that reads like a Tom Clancy thriller, Fowler reveals all-what it means, and why it matters. Like The Looming Tower on 9/11 or The Lords of Finance on the collapse of the US economy, The Most Dangerous Man in the World is the definitive, journalistic account of a massive global news event that's changing the face of journalism and the way governments do business.
A Most Dangerous Method
by John KerrThis explosive, revelatory history of the early years of psychoanalysis shows that the bitterly unresolvable split between Jung and Freud pivoted around a former patient and lover of Jung's whose story and own potentially important theoretical contributions to psychoanalysis were blocked by both men. "A huge scholarly work . . . gripping". --The New York Times.
The Most Desperate Acts of Gallantry: George A. Custer in the Civil War (Emerging Civil War Series)
by Daniel T. Davis“Presents Custer’s Civil War accomplishments in clear and engaging prose, while its ample images and battle maps place unfamiliar readers in the action.” —The Civil War MonitorThrough the passage of time, Lt. Col. George Armstrong Custer’s last fight, the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876, has come to overshadow the rest of his military career, which had its brilliant beginning in the American Civil War.Plucked from obscurity by Maj. Gen. George McClellan, Custer served as a staff officer through the early stages of the war. His star began to rise in late June, 1863, when he catapulted several grades to brigadier general and was given brigade command. Shortly thereafter, at Gettysburg and Buckland Mills, he led his men—the Wolverines—in some of the heaviest cavalry fighting of the Eastern Theater.At Yellow Tavern, Custer’s assault broke the enemy line, and one of his troopers mortally wounded the legendary Confederate cavalryman, J.E.B. Stuart. At Trevilian Station, his brigade was nearly destroyed. At Third Winchester, he participated in an epic cavalry charge. Elevated to lead the Third Cavalry Division, Custer played a major role at Tom’s Brook and, later, at Appomattox, which ultimately led to the surrender of the Army of Northern Virginia.Historian Daniel T. Davis, a long-time student of George Custer, has spent countless hours walking and studying the battlefields where Custer fought in Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. In The Most Desperate Acts of Gallantry, he chronicles the Civil War experiences of one of the most recognized individuals to emerge from that tragic chapter in American history.“A fast-paced study, engaging study.” —Journal of the Shenandoah Valley During the Civil War Era
A Most English Princess: A Novel of Queen Victoria's Daughter
by Clare McHugh"In this sweeping, immersive novel, Clare McHugh draws readers into the mesmerizing world of the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria – Princess Vicky – as she emerges into a powerful force in her own right and ascends to become the first German Empress.” —Marie Benedict, New York Times bestselling author of The Only Woman in the Room Perfect for fans of the BBC's Victoria, Alison Pataki's The Accidental Empress, and Daisy Goodwin's Victoria, this debut novel tells the gripping and tragic story of Queen Victoria’s eldest daughter, Victoria, Princess Royal.To the world, she was Princess Victoria, daughter of a queen, wife of an emperor, and mother of Kaiser Wilhelm. Her family just called her Vicky…smart, pretty, and self-assured, she changed the course of the world.January 1858: Princess Victoria glides down the aisle of St James Chapel to the waiting arms of her beloved, Fritz, Prince Frederick, heir to the powerful kingdom of Prussia. Although theirs is no mere political match, Vicky is determined that she and Fritz will lead by example, just as her parents Victoria and Albert had done, and also bring about a liberal and united Germany. Brought up to believe in the rightness of her cause, Vicky nonetheless struggles to thrive in the constrained Prussian court, where each day she seems to take a wrong step. And her status as the eldest daughter of Queen Victoria does little to smooth over the conflicts she faces. But handsome, gallant Fritz is always by her side, as they navigate court intrigue, and challenge the cunning Chancellor Otto von Bismarck, while fighting for the throne—and the soul of a nation. At home they endure tragedy, including their son, Wilhelm, rejecting all they stand for.Clare McHugh tells the enthralling and riveting story of Victoria, the Princess Royal—from her younger years as the apple of her father Albert's eyes through her rise to power atop the mighty German empire to her final months of life.
The Most Famous Man in America: The Biography of Henry Ward Beecher
by Debby ApplegateNo one predicted success for Henry Ward Beecher at his birth in 1813. The blithe, boisterous son of the last great Puritan minister, he seemed destined to be overshadowed by his brilliant siblings—especially his sister, Harriet Beecher Stowe, who penned the century’s bestselling book Uncle Tom’s Cabin. But when pushed into the ministry, the charismatic Beecher found international fame by shedding his father Lyman's Old Testament–style fire-and-brimstone theology and instead preaching a New Testament–based gospel of unconditional love and healing, becoming one of the founding fathers of modern American Christianity. By the 1850s, his spectacular sermons at Plymouth Church in Brooklyn Heights had made him New York’s number one tourist attraction, so wildly popular that the ferries from Manhattan to Brooklyn were dubbed “Beecher Boats.” <P><P> Beecher inserted himself into nearly every important drama of the era—among them the antislavery and women’s suffrage movements, the rise of the entertainment industry and tabloid press, and controversies ranging from Darwinian evolution to presidential politics. He was notorious for his irreverent humor and melodramatic gestures, such as auctioning slaves to freedom in his pulpit and shipping rifles—nicknamed “Beecher’s Bibles”—to the antislavery resistance fighters in Kansas. Thinkers such as Emerson, Thoreau, Whitman, and Twain befriended—and sometimes parodied—him.<P> And then it all fell apart. In 1872 Beecher was accused by feminist firebrand Victoria Woodhull of adultery with one of his most pious parishioners. Suddenly the “Gospel of Love” seemed to rationalize a life of lust. The cuckolded husband brought charges of “criminal conversation” in a salacious trial that became the most widely covered event of the century, garnering more newspaper headlines than the entire Civil War. Beecher survived, but his reputation and his causes—from women’s rights to progressive evangelicalism—suffered devastating setbacks that echo to this day.<P> Featuring the page-turning suspense of a novel and dramatic new historical evidence, Debby Applegate has written the definitive biography of this captivating, mercurial, and sometimes infuriating figure. In our own time, when religion and politics are again colliding and adultery in high places still commands headlines, Beecher’s story sheds new light on the culture and conflicts of contemporary America.<P> Pulitzer Prize Winner
The Most Famous Writer Who Ever Lived: A True Story of My Family
by Tom ShroderAn award-winning veteran of The Washington Post and The Miami Herald, Tom Shroder has made a career of investigative journalism and human-interest stories, from those of children who claim to have memories of past lives, in his book Old Souls, to that of a former Marine suffering from debilitating PTSD and his doctor pioneering a successful psychedelic drug treatment in Acid Test. Shroder's most fascinating subject, however, comes from within his own family: his grandfather MacKinlay Kantor was the world-famous author of Andersonville, the seminal novel about the Civil War. As a child, Shroder was in awe of his grandfather's larger-than-life character. Kantor's friends included Ernest Hemingway, Carl Sandburg, Gregory Peck, and James Cagney. He was an early mentor to the novelist John D. MacDonald and is credited with discovering the singer Burl Ives. Kantor wrote the novel Glory for Me, which became the multi-Oscar-winning film The Best Years of Our Lives. He ghostwrote General Curtis LeMay's memoirs, penning the infamous words "We're going to bomb them back into the Stone Age," referring to North Vietnam. Kantor also suffered from alcoholism, an outsize ego, and an abusive and publicly embarrassing personality where his family was concerned; he blew through several small fortunes in his lifetime, and died nearly destitute. In The Most Famous Writer Who Ever Lived, Shroder revisits the past--Kantor's upbringing, his early life, his career trajectory-- and writes not just the life story of one man but a meditation on fame, family secrets and legacies, and what is remembered after we are gone.From the Hardcover edition.
A Most Glorious Ride: The Diaries of Theodore Roosevelt, 1877-1886 (Excelsior Editions)
by Edward P. KohnFinalist for the 2015 ForeWord INDIEFAB Book of the Year Award in the History CategoryA Most Glorious Ride presents the complete diaries of Theodore Roosevelt from 1877 to 1886. Covering the formative years of his life, Roosevelt's entries show the transformation of a sickly and solitary Harvard freshman into a confident and increasingly robust young adult. He writes about his grief over the premature death of his father, his courtship and marriage to his first wife, Alice Hathaway Lee, and later the death of Alice and his mother on the same day. The diaries chronicle his burgeoning political career in New York City and his election to the New York State Assembly. With his descriptions of balls, dinner parties, and nights at the opera, they offer a glimpse into life among the Gilded Age elite in Boston and New York. They also recount Roosevelt's first birding and hunting trips to the Adirondacks, the Maine woods, and the American West. Ending with Roosevelt's secret engagement to his second wife, Edith Kermit Carow, A Most Glorious Ride provides an intimate look into the life of the man who would become America's twenty-sixth president.Brought together for the first time in a single volume, the diaries have been meticulously transcribed, annotated, and introduced by Edward P. Kohn. Twenty-four black-and-white photographs are also included.
The Most Hated Man in Kentucky: The Lost Cause and the Legacy of Union General Stephen Burbridge
by Brad AsherFor the last third of the nineteenth century, Union General Stephen Gano Burbridge enjoyed the unenviable distinction of being the most hated man in Kentucky. From mid-1864, just months into his reign as the military commander of the state, until his deat
The Most Important Thing: The Most Important Thing (The\most Important Thing Ser.)
by David GrossIn this novel based on true events, a young man from rural Kentucky discovers what matters most in life as a soldier in the Korean War.In January of 1950, Bradley leaves his family’s Kentucky farm to join the US Army. He’s eighteen years old and eager for adventure, new horizons, and a bigger paycheck. His service takes him halfway across the world to serve in the Korean War. It is there, amidst the perils of battle, that he discovers the most important thing.In The Most Important Thing author David Gross parlays his own father’s life history into a moving novel about a young man’s coming of age. It is a powerful story of resilience that explores the meaning of service, sacrifice, and heroism.
The Most Incredible True Football Stories - The England Edition (Unbelievable Football #3)
by Matt OldfieldFrom the winner of the 2020 Children's Sports Book of the Year Award, Matt Oldfield. Think you know everything about the Three Lions and the Lionesses? Have you heard of . . . *The naughty pitch-invading dog that stole the show at the 1962 World Cup?*The English amateurs who achieved Olympic gold?*The spy who snuck into training?*The incredible 2015 comeback of the England women's team?*The infamous World Cup handball that sealed England's fate?*The Lost Lionesses who made it big in Mexico?The beautiful game has always reigned supreme in England. These incredible and sometimes ridiculous stories may give you some idea of why. From penalty pain to unbelievable comebacks, discover some of the best true tales of our beloved national teams. Compiled by bestselling author Matt Oldfield, this is the third book in the award-winning Unbelievable Football series and the perfect World Cup gift for football fans everywhere.
The Most Incredible True Football Stories - The England Edition (Unbelievable Football #3)
by Matt Oldfield*THE PERFECT STOCKING FILLER FOR FOOTBALL FANS* Think you know everything about the Three Lions and the Lionesses? Have you heard of . . . *The naughty pitch-invading dog that stole the show at the 1962 World Cup?*The English amateurs who achieved Olympic Gold?*The spy who snuck into training?*The Lost Lionesses who made it big in Mexico?*The infamous World Cup handball that sealed England's fate? The beautiful game has always reigned supreme in England. These incredible and sometimes ridiculous stories may give you some idea of why. From penalty pain to unbelievable comebacks, discover some of the best true tales of our beloved national teams. Compiled by bestselling author Matt Oldfield, this is the third book in the award-winning Unbelievable Football series and the perfect gift for young football fans everywhere.Now includes the story of when the Lionesses came roaring back at Euro 2022.
Most of Me
by Robyn Michele LevyThe imaginative, hilarious, and moving memoir of a woman coping with multiple diseases.At forty-three, Robyn Levy was diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and breast cancer. With irreverent and at times mordant humor, Levy chronicles her early, mysterious symptoms of Parkinson's (a dragging left foot, a frozen left hand, and a crash into "downward dead dog" position), the devastating diagnosis, her discovery of two lumps in her breast, her mastectomy and oophorectomy, and her life since then dealing with her diverse disease portfolio.Levy is accompanied on her journey by a fantastic cast of characters, including her Cry Lady (who always makes appearances at inopportune times) and perky Dolores the Prosthesis, as well as her loyal dog and a convoy of health professionals, family members, friends, and neighbors.Both heartbreaking and hilarious, Most of Me offers a unique glimpse into a creative mind, an ailing body, and the restorative power of humor and fantasy.
A Most Remarkable Creature: The Hidden Life and Epic Journey of the World's Smartest Birds of Prey
by Jonathan Meiburg&“A fascinating, entertaining, and totally engrossing story.&”—David Sibley, author of What It's Like to Be a Bird &“Utterly captivating and beautifully written, this book is a hugely entertaining and enlightening exploration of a bird so wickedly smart, curious, and social, it boggles the mind.&”—Jennifer Ackerman, author of The Bird Way &“As curious, wide-ranging, gregarious, and intelligent as its subject.&”—Charles C. Mann, author of 1491 An enthralling account of a modern voyage of discovery as we meet the clever, social birds of prey called caracaras, which puzzled Darwin, fascinate modern-day falconers, and carry secrets of our planet's deep past in their family history.In 1833, Charles Darwin was astonished by an animal he met in the Falkland Islands: handsome, social, and oddly crow-like falcons that were "tame and inquisitive . . . quarrelsome and passionate," and so insatiably curious that they stole hats, compasses, and other valuables from the crew of the Beagle. Darwin wondered why these birds were confined to remote islands at the tip of South America, sensing a larger story, but he set this mystery aside and never returned to it. Almost two hundred years later, Jonathan Meiburg takes up this chase. He takes us through South America, from the fog-bound coasts of Tierra del Fuego to the tropical forests of Guyana, in search of these birds: striated caracaras, which still exist, though they're very rare. He reveals the wild, fascinating story of their history, origins, and possible futures. And along the way, he draws us into the life and work of William Henry Hudson, the Victorian writer and naturalist who championed caracaras as an unsung wonder of the natural world, and to falconry parks in the English countryside, where captive caracaras perform incredible feats of memory and problem-solving. A Most Remarkable Creature is a hybrid of science writing, travelogue, and biography, as generous and accessible as it is sophisticated, and absolutely riveting.
Most Scandalous Woman: Magda Portal and the Dream of Revolution in Peru
by Myrna Ivonne Wallace FuentesIn 1926 a young Peruvian woman picked up a gun, wrested her infant daughter from her husband, and liberated herself from the constraints of a patriarchal society. Magda Portal, a poet and journalist, would become one of Latin America’s most successful and controversial politicians. In this richly nuanced portrayal of Portal, historian Myrna Ivonne Wallace Fuentes chronicles the dramatic rise and fall of this prominent twentieth-century revolutionary within the broader history of leftist movements, gender politics, and literary modernism in Latin America. <p><p> An early member of bohemian circles in Lima, La Paz, and Mexico City, Portal distinguished herself as the sole female founder of the American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (APRA). A leftist but non-Communist movement, APRA would dominate Peru’s politics for five decades. Through close analysis of primary sources, including Portal’s own poetry, correspondence, and other writings, Most Scandalous Woman illuminates Portal’s pivotal work in creating and leading APRA during its first twenty years, as well as her efforts to mobilize women as active participants in political and social change. Despite her successes, Portal broke with APRA in 1950 under bitter circumstances. Wallace Fuentes analyzes how sexism in politics interfered with Portal’s political ambitions, explores her relationships with family members and male peers, and discusses the ramifications of her scandalous love life. <p> In charting the complex trajectory of Portal’s life and career, Most Scandalous Woman reveals what moves people to become revolutionaries, and the gendered limitations of their revolutionary alliances, in an engrossing narrative that brings to life Latin American revolutionary politics.
Most Talkative: Stories from the Front Lines of Pop Culture
by Andy CohenIn a witty, no-holds-barred style, Cohen tells tales of absurd network-news mishaps, hilarious encounters with the heroines of his youth, and the real stories behind the "Real Housewives."
Most Valuable: How Sidney Crosby Became the Best Player in Hockey's Greatest Era and Changed the Game Forever
by Gare JoyceThis hockey generation's brightest talent has been plagued by concussions. Now, the very style of play that has brought Crosby such success may be heralding the end of his career.Sidney Crosby is arguably the best player ever to put on skates. You could argue that Bobby was better, or Wayne, or Gordie. But it would be hard to argue that any of those guys changed the game as much as Sid. No defenceman came along in Bobby's wake to play like him. There will never be another 99. But in Crosby's case, the entire league was re-made in his image. The game can be divided into two eras: before and after Sidney Crosby arrived in 2005, breaking Mario Lemieux's rookie scoring record. Says NHL star Matt Duchene, who entered the league in 2008, just three years after Crosby: "Just in the time that I was going from peewee and bantam to junior, there was a whole other game before and after. You didn't have a choice really--you had to adapt and adopt the way he did things or get left way behind."In an effort to keep up with Sid, the game changed. It's faster now, more skilled. There are more highlight-reel goals, and fewer fights. And in many ways, Crosby has thrived. Three Stanley Cups. Two Olympic gold medals. A World Cup. And enough individual trophies to fill a truck. But then, if Crosby hadn't changed the league, he might expect a longer career. Today, Sidney Crosby is the first generational superstar whose every shift could be his last. He invented a faster game, and the faster game has taken its toll on its creator. Crosby has suffered several concussions, and missed most of an entire season with symptoms. He plays the game fearlessly, but he also plays it without a bodyguard.The irony is that he created a league that made it harder for him to thrive. And the tragedy may be that he has created a league that will bring his career to an end in one fell swoop, in front of millions.Telling the story of a generational talent and the way he has revolutionized the game, Gare Joyce will also bring into focus crucial questions about the way the game is played today, assessing fighting and concussions in the light of the way these issues impinge on arguably the greatest player ever to skate.
Most Valuable: Most Valuable (STAT #5)
by Amar'e StoudemireYoung Amar’e Stoudemire is back in the all-star basketball adventure based on the NBA sensation’s own life!Amar’e’s idol, Overtime Tanner, plans the biggest streetball tournament every year. But when Overtime gets hurt during a basketball game, he can’t make the arrangements in time. So Amar’e and his friends help set the tournament up. On top of that, each group of Amar’e’s friends wants him to play for their team and he’s torn on what to do. Planning a tournament is a lot more work than playing in one. Will Amar’e’s hard work pay off?Based on the life of All-Star NBA sensation Amar’e Stoudemire, who overcame many obstacles to become one of the most popular athletes of today, this is “a series of chapter books that celebrate sports, smarts and friendship . . . Amar’e is a likable protagonist” (Kirkus Reviews).Praise for the series“Will keep basketball fans riveted . . . Amar’e’s voice is refreshingly real.” —Publishers Weekly
The Most Wanted Man in China
by Fang LizhiThe long-awaited memoir by Fang Lizhi, the celebrated physicist whose clashes with the Chinese regime helped inspire the Tiananmen Square protestsFang Lizhi was one of the most prominent scientists of the People's Republic of China; he worked on the country's first nuclear program and later became one of the world's leading astrophysicists. His devotion to science and the pursuit of truth led him to question the authority of the Communist regime. That got him in trouble. In 1957, after advocating reforms in the Communist Party, Fang -- just twenty-one years old -- was dismissed from his position, stripped of his Party membership, and sent to be a farm laborer in a remote village. Over the next two decades, through the years of the Great Leap Forward and the Cultural Revolution, he was alternately denounced and rehabilitated, revealing to him the pettiness, absurdity, and horror of the regime's excesses. He returned to more normal work in academia after the death of Mao Zedong in 1976, but the cycle soon began again. This time his struggle became a public cause, and his example helped inspire the Tiananmen Square protests. Immediately after the crackdown in June 1989, Fang and his wife sought refuge in the U.S. embassy, where they hid for more than a year before being allowed to leave the country. During that time Fang wrote this memoir The Most Wanted Man in China, which has never been published, until now. His story, told with vivid detail and disarming humor, is a testament to the importance of remaining true to one's principles in an unprincipled time and place.