John Steinbeck was born in 1902 in California’s Salinas River Valley. Although he worked briefly as a reporter in New York, it was in the Salinas Valley that he spent the Depression years, and his experiences and the people he met became the basis for his books. Of Mice and Men opened the eyes of the public to the desperate lives of the migrant workers. The Grapes of Wrath told the story of the destitute Oklahoma dust bowl farmers who flocked to the Valley in search of work, Cannery Row pa...

As the national debate between Hollywood and the Christian Coalition heats up, one man must battle an entire town's prejudice to find a fundamentalist killer.With the U.S. presidential campaign in full swing and the players ranging from the Hollywood elite to the Religious Right, Passing Judgment is a novel poised on the border between politics and religion. In this charged atmosphere, New Spirit stands at the center of Southern Christian fundamentalism, a high-profile show...

He was born in the year dynamite was invented (1866) and died a year after the first explosion of the atomic bomb (1946). Herbert George (H. G.) Wells was a man whose life dominated the century and whose ideas both predicted and shaped the future.One of the most influential men of his time, a leading science-fiction writer, novelist, philosopher, reformer and fighter for civilization, Wells exercised his imagination and expounded his revolutionary ideas in over one hundred books in...

Born as Eric Blair in India in 1903, George Orwell was a sickly child who was sent away to boarding school at age eight. Later he won a scholarship to Eton, where he was not a good student and earned a reputation as a rebel. Following Eton, he returned to Burma as a police officer, deliberately postponing his dream of becoming a writer.Orwell moved to Paris in 1928. He was concerned with the plight of the poor and was determined to find his own literary voice and themes. In the fol...

Ernest Hemingway was one of the most controversial and admired writers of his time. This biography covers his life from his childhood in Oak Park, Illinois, to his suicide in 1961. It offers a sympathetic portrait of a brilliant artist and a complex individual—a private man who led a very public life.Hemingway’s formal education ended after high school when the ambitious young writer went off to work for The Kansas City Star. Eager to see the war, he volunteered for ambulance corps...

It's an irresistible combination: Brad Meltzer, a born storyteller, counting down the world's most intriguing unsolved mysteries. And to make this richly illustrated book even richer, each chapter invites the reader along for an interactive experience through the addition of facsimile documents—the evidence! It's a treasure trove for conspiracy buffs, a Griffin and Sabine for history lovers.Adapted from Decoded, Meltzer’s hit show on the HISTORY network, Histo...

From #1 bestselling author Brad Meltzer, a riveting collection of wild historical conspiracies from around the world and across the eras, including Hitler's interest in capturing the Roman "Spear of Destiny," the Kennedy assassination (did Oswald act alone?) and Area 51.This richly illustrated book serves up those fascinating, unexplained questions that nag at history buffs and conspiracy lovers. Meltzer sifts through the evidence, weighs competing theories, separa...

For the first time, a book exists that compiles all the information candidates need to apply for their first Personal secretaries job, or to apply for a better job.What you'll find especially helpful are the worksheets. It is so much easier to write about a work experience using these outlines. It ensures that the narrative will follow a logical structure and reminds you not to leave out the most important points. With this book, you'll be able to revise your application into a muc...

Adapted from Decoded, Meltzer’s hit show on the HISTORY network, History Decoded explores fascinating, unexplained questions. Is Fort Knox empty? Why was Hitler so intent on capturing the Roman ‘Spear of Destiny'? What’s the government hiding in Area 51? Where did the Confederacy’s $19 million in gold and silver go at the end of the Civil War? And did Lee Harvey Oswald really act alone? Meltzer sifts through the evidence; weighs competing theories; separates what we know ...

Gangsters. Lovers. Legends. Meet the Kellys—the bootlegging, bank-robbing, husband-wife duo known as “Machine Gun” Kelly and Kathyrn Thorne—who masterminded one of the most infamous kidnappings in American crime. . . .How did a small-time, hip-pocket bootlegger become one of the most notorious gangsters in the country? For George “Machine Gun” Kelly, the answer was simple: a woman. Her name was Kathryn Thorne, a charming, strong-minded beauty who had family connect...

THE INSTANT NYT BESTSELLER'Fascinating' - The GuardianA gripping account of the little-known plot that could have put an end to JFK's historic presidency - before it even began.From the New York Times bestselling authors of The Nazi Conspiracy comes a true, little-known story about the first assassination attempt on John F. Kennedy, right before his inauguration.Kennedy wa...

From the international bestselling author and notable journalist Aldo Cazzullo comes a brilliantly researched and extremely accessible journey through the history and legacy of the Roman Empire.“The only way to narrate over a thousand years of history is to understand what it has left us. To tell the reasons, the things and the stories, thanks to which Roman civilization is alive”.From its mythical foundations and epic construction to its enduring ...