Lives West

Few things have captured the American imagination like the “Wild West,” which still evokes images of dusty cowboys, outlaws, gunfights, gamblers, and barroom brawls over 100 years after the West was settled. A constant fixture in American pop culture, the 19th century American West continues to be vividly and colorfully portrayed not just as a place but as a state of mind.

Exploration of the early American West, beginning with Lewis and Clark’s transcontinental trek at the behest of President Thomas Jefferson, was not accomplished by standing armies, the era’s new steam train technology, or by way of land grabs. These came later, but not until pathways known only to a few of the land’s indigenous people were discovered, carved out, and charted in an area stretching from the eastern Rocky Mountains to the Pacific Ocean, and the present-day borders of Mexico and Canada.

Before there was Charles Ponzi, there was Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith II. The famed Old West con artist and gangster's criminal career ranged from Texas to Alaska, from Denver to the Klondike. Soapy Smith: The Life and Legacy of the Wild West’s Most Infamous Con Artist looks at the controversial times and crimes of the Western huckster, and the career that led to a notorious end. You will learn about Soapy Smith like never before.

As the story of Cape Lost opens, an important new thread is about to be woven into the life of teenage Gabrielle Allan. Home from boarding school for the summer holidays, she and Merry are once more happily on horseback in the New Zealand hills. They are helping their Uncle Dunsany bring a herd of sheep to Cape Lost, the station owned by their great-uncle Garnet. Considered eccentric, Garnet Allan has lived all alone on the remote station bordering the sea ever since the mysterious disappearance of his young and beautiful wife many years before.

Resist and Evade follows Sam and Jane Archer as they continue their nightmarish journey through an increasingly hostile and unrecognizable landscape. Torn between a fundamental duty to protect family and their sworn service to community, the Archers reach a critical decision point -- with all or nothing stakes. As local police officers and military veterans start to retake their communities from a gang of ruthless criminals, unbreakable bonds will be forged and unthinkable sacrifices will be made.

Sam and Jane Archer walk out of a backcountry hiking trip into a living nightmare. Their car is vandalized and dead, along with every other vehicle in the trailhead parking lot. Unable to get a cell phone signal, and spooked by a threatening encounter - they resign themselves to a long hike home, suspecting a possible EMP attack against the United States.

Ignatz, a reformed petty criminal, acts as Pippa’s surrogate father while her parents are away. Nine-year-old Pippa arranges a romance between her handicapped teacher and Ignatz, but will her good intentions compensate for her bungling? Though Pippa tackles dangers and grown-up problems with courage and imagination, can she escape the cruelty of the school bully?

In this last book in the trilogy about Gabrielle Allan, the listener finds Gay and her great-aunt, Belle, about to start a new life in a setting far different from their much-loved Drovers Road. The sheep station of Cape Lost is now Gay’s responsibility, and regardless of her three years’ study at the Massey Agricultural College, both the isolation and tasks ahead seem alarming. Despite its remote and nearly inaccessible location, a surprising cast of new and old characters converge on the station’s windswept, sea-edged expanse.

Hetty Makes It Happen is second in the award winning Hetty trilogy for young adults. It is full of humor and romance. Continue with Hetty's exciting adventures of the heart.

This book invites you on a fascinating journey through 33 timeless Chinese idioms that hold immense practicality in our everyday lives. This engaging compilation encompasses a wide array of themes, including communication, well-being, and the pursuit of success. Unveiling the universality of these values, these idioms resonate profoundly in our modern lives, offering wisdom that transcends cultural boundaries.

If you feel like life is passing you by at a startling rate or you just exist rather than living life to the full, this audiobook's techniques and insights may motivate you to make powerful changes. From setting goals to freeing yourself from fear, Shelley shares the unique story of how she planned, prepared and executed a year of challenges and life-changing events brought about by her motivational, award-winning blog.

What if you were born with a lie? Why was your birth certificate falsified? Was that even legal? So they sent you, a San Francisco kid, up north to your grandparents. Maybe you were adopted by loving people. But you have a real life to live. No one can take that away from you. This is a boy’s life that is scarily similar to the film This Boy’s Life starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, and Ellen Barkin. Except this life was not a novel. This really happened.

Tom Horn: The Controversial Life and Legacy of One of the Wild West’s Most Famous Gunslingers chronicles Horn’s time as a scout, cowboy, Pinkerton agent, and writer, and how he became one of the most famous folk legends.

New American West adventure story about the expansion of the American West. A captivating and exciting American West series told in an ongoing story of American history brought to life. In this thrilling American West series, you will follow Union soldier Luke Johnson through the Civil War and onto his life's journey in becoming a famous federal marshal in Montana territory.

In Charles River Editors' Legends of the West series, listeners can get caught up to speed on the lives of America's most famous frontier figures in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known. Legends of the West: The Life and Legacy of Butch Cassidy chronicles the outlaw's life, while also analyzing his legacy and the mythology that has enveloped his story, attempting to separate fact from fiction to determine what the notorious robber was really like.

The early 19th century saw the glorification of frontier folk heroes like Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone, and after the Civil War the outlaws of the West were more popular than the marshals. Outlaws like Jesse James and Billy the Kid robbed and fought their way into dime novels, but one of the most notorious and unique outlaws of them all was Myra Maybelle Shirley, a Southern girl who knew her way around horses and guns.

The Wild West has made legends out of many men through the embellishment of their stories, such as crediting Billy the Kid and Wild Bill Hickok for killing far more people than they actually did. But it has also made icons out of outlaws like Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid based on the mystery and uncertainty surrounding their crimes and deaths, allowing speculation and legend to fill in the gaps.

Two's Company, Three's a Pack-A Story About Dogs, Life and Loss is a heartwarming and humorous tale of the dynamic within a canine/human pack. Surprising similarities between the strength of human and animal bonds are realized as the pack grows in size and age.

This biography is an excellent and accessible introduction for youngsters to learn about one of the world's most influential luminaries. Helen Keller's poignant narrative is beautifully captured in this unforgettable portrait of a woman whose vision for innovation and progress changed America and the world forever.

Mark Twain was born fully grown, with a cheap cigar clamped between his teeth. So begins Sid Fleischman's ramble-scramble biography of the great American author and wit, who started life in a Missouri village as a barefoot boy named Samuel Clemens.