In 1952, the United States was heavily involved in the Korean War. When members of the U.S. Marine Corps bought a horse to join in the war effort, little did they know that a hero would soon emerge. Trained to be a military pack horse, Sergeant Reckless quickly became a part of the unit and served to support the troops in several combat missions during the war. Discover the heroic story of Sergeant Reckless as she bravely made many solo trips during battles to deliver supplies to troops on...

In the extraordinary life of Mark Simmons, a tall 6'6" force of humor and compassion, an epic tale of laughter, inspiration and transformation unfolds. Hailing from Cherokee, Iowa, Mark has traversed the diverse realms of public school education and stand-up comedy. Mark's comedic prowess emerged as a beacon of laughter, illuminating the lives of countless individuals in his quest for stardom as an actor and stand-up comedian. Yet, it was his calling as an educator that truly set him on th...

On September 11, 2001, terrorists attacked the World Trade Center in New York City. Narly 3,000 people were killed, and many were trapped under the collapsed buildings. When Canadian police officer James Symington heard about the attacks, he knew he and his trained search and rescue dog, Trakr, had to help. Follow Trakr’s lead as he and Symington bravely search and dig through the rubble to help rescue survivors of one of the deadliest days in U.S. history.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, many cities were destroyed and left in ruins. Among the rubble were many dangerous, unexploded bombs and mines. But thanks to the hard work of a well-trained Jack Russell terrier named Patron, Ukraine’s streets have become more secure. Follow along with Patron as he sniffs out hundreds of deadly explosives and helps the people of Ukraine feel safer in their homeland.

On 4 September 1944, Allied forces and local resistance fighters captured the Belgian port of Antwerp, the largest harbour in Europe. Once opened to Allied shipping, the port would revolutionise the Allies’ delivery of supplies into mainland Europe, stores which were still having to make the long overland journey from Normandy and places such as Cherbourg. But to enable this to happen, the Scheldt Estuary and, more importantly, the island of Walcheren also needed to cleared of Hitler’s for...

It is no coincidence that many of Alistair MacLean's most successful novels were sea stories. In 1941, he was called up after volunteering for the Royal Navy and served as Ordinary Seaman, Able Seaman, and Leading Torpedo Operator. For the majority of his service, he was on HMS Royalist, a modified Dido-class light cruiser, seeing action in the Arctic, and operations against the German battleship Tirpitz . The ship then deployed to the Mediterranean taking part in Operation Dragoon the inv...

The elaborate Allied schemes to keep Spain and Portugal out of WWII—featuring the real-life spy work of Ian Fleming, creator of James Bond.Historian Mark Simmons reveals the various Allied operations designed to keep the Iberian Peninsula out of WWII. It is a tale of widespread bribery of high ranking Spanish officials, the duplicity of Adm. Wilhelm Canaris, head of the Abwehr, and an elaborate scheme developed by a Naval Intelligence commander who would later crea...

When a spontaneous time leap sends Nickolas Flux back to Ernest Shackleton's ill-fated Endurance Expedition to Antarctica, what's a teenage history buff to do? Try to avoid becoming stranded at the bottom of the world, of course! From the crushing of the Endurance by ice to the heroic lifeboat journey to South Georgia Island, Nick must survive one of the most amazing expeditions of the early 1900s.

A woman on an expedition becomes stranded on a frigid island in the Arctic Ocean. A pilot is forced to make an emergency landing on a frozen lake in the Canadian wilderness. An explorer gets lost in a raging blizzard on Antarctica. These remarkable true tales could have ended in tragedy—but they didn't! What happened to three people who found themselves caught in the ice and snow? And how did they survive to tell their tales? Young readers will find out in this easy-to-read hi-lo graphic n...

In 1811, while exploring the cliffs near Lyme Regis, England, 12-year-old Mary Anning made the find of a lifetime. There in the rocks was the skeleton of a strange creature. Mary's find was later named Ichthyosaurus, a reptile that lived more than 250 million years ago. Anning went on to have a long career finding and identifying dinosaur fossils. However, her work often went unrecognized by male scientists of the time, and she received little credit until long after her death. Le...

In October 1918, World War I had been raging in Europe for more than four years. When Major Charles Whittlesey led the U.S. 77th Division into France’s Argonne Forest, his troops were soon surrounded and cut off from escape by German forces. Things became even more dangerous when the division came under friendly fire from U.S. forces. The troops’ only hope was to send a carrier pigeon named Cher Ami with a desperate message to stop the attack. Read all about the brave little pigeon that ca...

When a spontaneous time leap sends Nickolas Flux back to the Titanic's maiden voyage, what's a teenage history buff to do? Try to avoid going down with the ship, of course! From trying to help spot icebergs to getting off the sinking ship safely, Nick must survive one of the most disastrous events of the early 1900s.