Western Biography

Kit Carson: The Life of an American Border Man strikes a balance between prevailing notions about this quintessential Western figure. Whereas the dime novelists exploited Carson's popular reputation, Remley reveals that the real man was dependable, ethical, and - for his day - relatively open-minded. Remley sees Carson as a complicated man struggling to master life on America's borders, where people of different races, cultures, and languages met, mixed, and fought, sometimes against each other, sometimes together, for the possession of home, hunting rights, and honor.

Only two years after Pope Pius IX’s election in 1846 had triggered great popular enthusiasm across Italy, the pope found himself a virtual prisoner in his own palace. The revolutions that swept through Europe and shook Rome threatened to end the popes’ thousand-year reign over the Papal States, if not the papacy itself. The resulting drama was rife with treachery, tragedy, and international power politics. David Kertzer, one of the world’s foremost experts on the history of Italy and the Vatican, brings this pivotal moment vividly to life.

On a cold November day in Amsterdam in 2004, the celebrated and controversial Dutch filmmaker Theo van Gogh was shot and killed by an Islamic extremist for making a movie that "insulted the prophet Mohammed." The murder sent shock waves across Europe and around the world. Shortly thereafter, Ian Buruma returned to his native land to investigate the event and its larger meaning as part of the great dilemma of our time.

Dutch painter and printmaker Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn is considered one of the greatest artists of all time. As a painter, he never considered glamorizing what he saw, and he was a master of creating extraordinary scenes with light and shadows. His paintings were unique for their ability to depict action and moods. Sadly, having a mistress and spending recklessly went far to ruin his reputation during his lifetime. Rembrandt died penniless and was buried in a pauper’s grave. 

Undoubtedly, Napoleon, the French revolutionist and emperor, has left his mark on European history. His vast empire stretched all over the continent, and his unique image and posture have been emulated by many. In this comprehensive guide, we will take a look at some of the greatest achievements of Napoleon Bonaparte, as well as his virtues and vices, personal background, politics, exile, and death. You will gain a greater comprehension of his motives, the problems he faced, and how he solved said problems in his own way.

Who was Socrates, and why do scholars still look up to him until this day? This man hasn't been around for hundreds of years, and yet, he is still very much alive in books. Modern-day arguments are based on his words. His teachings remain true despite the changes in technology and beliefs. If you're curious, listen to this book and get to know the man named Socrates! 

For listeners looking for inspiration in times of uncertainty, Journey to the West provides a blueprint for sticking to a seemingly impossible ambition and getting past the winning post. With a focus on ‘lessons learnt’, Wang draws conclusions from the formative events in his life, which gradually emerge as a useful guide to avoiding life’s pitfalls and maximising the chances of success. His story demonstrates how, with a strong sense of direction and friends by your side, barriers to success can be overcome.  

Encounters in Avalanche Country tells the story of mountain communities' responses to disaster over a century of social change and rapid industrialization. As mining and railway companies triggered new kinds of disasters, ideas about environmental risk and responsibility were increasingly negotiated by mountain laborers, at the elite levels among corporations, and in socially charged civil suits.

A North African woman’s autobiography (Arab, Berber, Moslem), starting in the western desert of the Arab world and ending up in the West; scattered memories in 12 chapters. This is the first collection of life memories that have marked my life. You are sure to relate to, or even find yourself or someone you know, in at least one of these scattered memories. The perfect gift for anyone interested in the life of an Arab woman.

What do a bunch of well-seasoned river gals do on river trips without their men? Everything you might imagine, and more. These stories invite you to relive experiences of women who have been running rivers for decades and find themselves back out on whitewater year after year. You'll find tales of difficult rescues and the kind of unexpected adventures western river runners love to share. Through a variety of stories, haikus, poems, and essays, this anthology goes deeper.

Spaghetti Western is the story of Genesio (Gene) Cioni, his family, community, and the food that made him famous during the fabulous '50s when he introduced Calgary to Italian cooking. Gene's story is the quintessential immigrant success story told with a flair for narrative by his daughter Maria Cioni. Gene was just 16 when he arrived from Antrodoco, in the Abruzzi region of Italy, to find one vibrant, close-knit Italian community in the burgeoning city of Calgary in the 1920s.

Charisma, machismo, sex appeal and a huge on-screen persona: John Wayne had it all. From his humble early roles on the silver screen when talkies began to oust the silent movie to his Oscar-winning performance in True Grit, Duke would star in 142 leading roles. From Western hero to Hollywood legend, this publication follows the career of one of history's most celebrated actors.

On April 3, 1961, 38-year-old former vocalist Ella Mae Cooley was beaten to death in her home in Willow Springs, an unincorporated area located in Kern County, California. The cruelty of the crime was shocking to local residents in the normally idyllic community. A greater shock was that the murder was committed by the victim's 50-year-old husband, Donnell Clyde Cooley, a well-known big-band leader, musician, actor, host of a television variety show, and businessman. See how this tragic story of celebrity, suspicion, and homicidal rage unfolds in the historical crime of passion.

While Pang-Mei Natasha Chang was a Chinese Studies major at Harvard University, she stumbled across the name of her 83-year-old great aunt Chang Yu-i in a history book. Over the next several years, Pang-Mei spent long afternoons drawing forth her aunt's story. Born in Shanghai to a well-to-do family, Chang Yu-i lived a life of defiance, continually breaking class and culture barriers.

Bert Trautmann is famed as the goalkeeper who broke his neck in an FA Cup final and played on. But his early life is no less extraordinary: he grew up in Nazi Germany and fought for the Germans in World War Two. In 1945 he was captured and sent to a British POW camp where, for the first time, he saw a better way of life. He embraced England as his new home and before long became an England football hero. This is his extraordinary story.

Amity Whitford dared to stake her own claim on the endless plains of Western Kansas. She built her homestead, Dove's Nest, with her bare hands. But the ravages of the sun and drying winds took their toll.

With the coming of the railroads, the American cowboy's job changed drastically, as the great trail herds became a thing of the past. Many cowboys faded into history, but there was a place in northwest Colorado and northeast Utah that still prized their skills. Val FitzPatrick's family homesteaded in this region, and Val became a rider for the Two-Bar at the age of 14. In later years, Val wrote many accounts of his life, and The Arbuckle Cafe is a collection of the best of his stories, all classic and authentic insights of what life on the range was really like.

I feared for their lives and their ears. Our local weekly newspaper showed pictures of them dangling from ropes hanging in woven baskets off the embankment of a mountain in order to tap sticks of dynamite into the holes they drilled in the granite cliff faces they blasted away. One could hear that awful, loud dynamite blasting all the way in town. But the booming had been even worse for the ears of the railroad workers who detonated the charges for the grading and tunneling, especially the Chinese who were given these most dangerous jobs. 

George Mergenthaler, the grandson of the inventor of the Linotype, was an only child, and at the time of his birth in 1920, became the sole male heir the family fortune. Tall, handsome, Ivy League educated, speaking fluent German and French, "Merg" as he was know to his friends, did what many in his generation did following the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor: He enlisted in the Army. 

Jim Bridger was a famous frontiersman in the Rockies whose legacy extended beyond the wilderness he explored. The legends of his life inspired countless Western stories, this one included.