Table Scraps and Other Essays is for all intents and purposes memoir writing. At the heart of the twenty-two true stories is an African American female who, as a child, along with her siblings, must learn the value of hard work as hired hands. James's young spirit is often at odds with her growing family, especially with a father figure who ignores his duties as husband and provider. She has a strong, loving mother who insists on keeping the family together. James learns to trust and depen...

In this momentous debut, Randy Bates finds in the daily lives of one American family the pathos and drama we usually associate with the finest fiction. Rings is strict, however, in presenting only actual people and incidents. The book takes as its protagonist Collis Phillips, a black man who, one generation away from slavery managed to turn a youth of caddying:, shoe shining, and running bootlegged whiskey into a career as a successful boxer in New Orleans during the days of Jim Crow. But ...

**NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A harrowing, moving first-person account of the 1972 plane crash that left its survivors stranded on a glacier in the Andes—and one man’s quest to lead them all home—by Nando Parrado, a subject of the Oscar-nominated film Society of the SnowFeaturing a new introduction by the author to commemorate of the fiftieth anniversary of the crash**“In straightforward, staggeringly honest prose, Nando Parrado tells us what it to...

“Heart-stopping and relentlessly gripping. Tabor takes us on an odyssey into unfathomable worlds beneath us, and into the hearts of rare explorers who will do anything to get there first.”—Robert Kurson, author of ShadowDiversIn 2004, two great scientist-explorers attempted to find the bottom of the world. American Bill Stone took on the vast, deadly Cheve Cave in southern Mexico. Ukrainian Alexander Klimchouk targeted Krubera, a freezing nightmare of a su...

No.1 bestseller Michael Palin's epic journey from the North Pole to the South Pole.'The cracked and fissured ice-pack offers no comfortable reassurance - no glimmer of any reward to the traveller who has made his way to the top of the world. The Arctic Ocean, known to the Victorians as the Sea of Ancient Ice, stares balefully back as we descend towards it, reflecting nothing but the question: Why?'Michael Palin's adventure begins when he is enrolled in the ...

Between 1856 and 1876, five explorers, all British, took on the seemingly impossible task of discovering the source of the White Nile. Showing exceptional courage and extraordinary resilience, Richard Burton, John Hanning Speke, Samuel Baker, David Livingstone and Henry Morton Stanley risked their lives and their reputations in the name of this quest. They journeyed through East and Central Africa into unmapped territory, discovered the great lakesTanganyika and Victoria, navigated the upp...

“Fascinating.”—New York Times Book Review • “Well-written.”—The Boston Globe • “Extraordinary.”—The Christian Science Monitor • “A compelling page-turner.”—Adam HochschildOn the eve of a new century, an up-and-coming Theodore Roosevelt set out to transform the U.S. into a major world power. The Spanish-American War would forever change America's standing in global affairs, and drive the young nation into its own imperial showdown in the P...

The adventures of the Wilson sisters in the American West. This is the third book from bestselling author and television star Kelly Wilson. Kelly's first two books, For the Love of Horses and Stallion Challenges were full of stories from the Wilsons' quest to save wild Kaimanawas from the government cull. This time the Wilsons are taking on a new challenge, to tame mustangs at a ranch in Wyoming for competition in the Extreme Mustang Makeover. Join the Wi...

Kathryn Lasky, a midwesterner descended from a long line of recently arrived Russian Jews, married Christopher Knight, a sailor descended from a long line of Grand Banks fishermen and Nantucket whaling captains. Neither fully understood what they were getting into.As a wedding present they were given a thirty-foot ketch, and as they began their honeymoon on Leucothea, Kathryn had a lovely vision of island hopping in Penobscot Bay, Maine. Chris, however, was a voyager, and what began...

Widely practiced but not always understood, the Filipino martial arts have a rich history and distinctive character that have not fully been documented until now.Written in the context of Philippine history and culture, Filipino Martial Culture uncovers the esoteric components of the Filipino martial arts and the life histories of the men who perpetuate them. Included are: the history of turbulence and war in the Philippines from prehistoric times to the p...

Master the terrifyingly effective Phoenix Eye Fist style of Chinese Kung Fu with this illustrated martial arts guide.The Secrets of Phoenix-Eye Fist Kung-Fu depicts an enormously potent art, also known as Chuka Shaolin, that does not depend on strength or size. Instead, it utilizes a special striking technique, the phoenix-eye fist, aimed at vital points on the opponent's body.Phoenix-Eye Fist Kung-Fu excels at close-range fighting-an area neglecte...

Shortlisted: 2016 Boardman Tasker Prize for Mountain Literature'[Wild Country] chronicles not just the mountains [Mark] has climbed, but the part he played in bringing to market a little piece of sporting equipment that revolutionised mountaineering and saved countless lives.' – Sarah Freeman, Yorkshire PostIn early 1978, an extraordinary new invention for rock climbers was featured on the BBC television science show Tomorrow's World