It was 1968 and Robert Hartley was on his first combat mission in Vietnam as copilot of a helicopter gunship. As he and his platoon leader flew over the A Shau Valley, a Chinook helicopter engulfed in flames suddenly came into view. Hartley noticed tiny black smoking objects exiting the tail ramp of the aircraft. Seconds later, he realized those objects were men escaping the flames and plunging to their deaths. It was in that moment that he silently wondered, How the hell did I get here?

From history books, memoirs, news stories and public utterances it is known that untold numbers of serving United States senators dreamed of residing in the Oval Office. Many fewer committed to open pursuit of the office, and even fewer made it. Three Illinois senators from the 1950s to the 1990s- Republican Charles H. Percy, Democrats Adlai E.Stevenson III and Paul Simon-can be counted as actively engaged in the hunt, with widely differing outcomes. Each had internal and external pressure...

Death Underground: The Centralia and West Frankfort Mine Disasters examines two of the most devastating coal mine disasters in United States history since 1928. In two southern Illinois towns only forty miles apart, explosions killed 111 men at the Centralia No. 5 mine in 1947 and 119 men at the New Orient No. 2 mine in West Frankfort in 1951. Robert E. Hartley and David Kenney explain the causes of the accidents, identify who was to blame, and detail the emotional impact...

Winner, ISHS Annual Award for a Scholarly Publication, 2017Many people are unaware that from 1945 to 1975, downstate lawmakers dominated the Illinois political arena. In The Dealmakers of Downstate Illinois, Robert E. Hartley details the lives and contributions of three influential southern Illinois politicians, Paul Powell, Clyde Choate, and John Stelle. He describes how these “dealmakers” were able to work with Democrats and Republicans throughout the state to b...

What happened to the 11 men who served as governor of Illinois from 1933 to 2003? That is what this book is about. Each life is traced from highlights and lowlights in office to the day the music stopped and life played out as a former governor. Most of them would have preferred to continue serving as the state’s chief executive. But that wasn’t an option. Each man faced the challenges of a new life. Some performed well, some did not. The eleven are a mixed bag of personalities, ambitions ...

It is January and the middle of the summer holidays, but Morgan appears to have drawn the short straw.When work commitments take his parents overseas, just after Christmas, he is left behind on his uncle's farm. Frustrated and disappointed, he longs to be home in Melbourne. But there is more to Wombat Creek than meets the eye and its secrets are about to be revealed.Down by the waterside, Morgan encounters a mysterious girl, and is lured into the enchanted but dangerous world...

Focusing on practical application, this textbook provides clear and concise explanations of statistical tests and techniques that students can apply in real-world situations. It has a dual emphasis: firstly, on doing statistics, and secondly, on understanding statistics, to do away with the mindset that statistics is difficult. Procedural explanations are provided so students know how to apply particular statistical tests and techniques in practical research situations. Conceptual understa...

This is Volume X in a series of thirty-two on Developmental Psychology. Originally published in 1952. By presenting the play experiences of children within the framework of their living problems, this volume and its companion booklets will give to these adults who help shape their lives a fuller understanding of the significance of children's play, and offer them valuable aids in fostering the development of productive, well-integrated human beings.

A present contains a monstrous secret.An uninvited guest haunts a Christmas party.A shadow slips across the floor by firelight.A festive entertainment ends in darkness and screams.Who knows what haunts the night at the dark point of the year? This collection of seasonal chillers looks beneath Christmas cheer to a world of ghosts and horrors, mixing terrifying modern fiction with classic stories by masters of the macabre. From Neil Gaiman and M. R. James to Muri...

A dozen Catholic priests on holiday in Rome sit up after dinner and tell each other, as professionals, what they have actually met: a possession, a house that will not be blessed, a deathbed that went wrong. Benson was the Archbishop of Canterbury's son, and his conversion to Rome in 1903 was a public scandal; here he uses the priest's clinical tone to make the supernatural sound like case notes.

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) are two significant neurological disorders, which represent the scope of this book. Both ASD and AD affect a significant number of the population and present in numerous ways. This volume covers the state-of-the-art topics that investigate these two significant neurological disorders from a theoretical perspective and focuses on the practical aspects. Materials are presented in a way that can be beneficial to advanced and layman r...

A challenging and thoughtful reflection about the question of how a merciful God can allow evil.Inspired by the Book of Job, Out of the Whirlwind is a reflection on the challenge posed to the existence of a good and powerful God by the issue of innocent suffering. It takes the form of the author's reflections as he sits in a children's ward by the bedside of his disabled son, who is dangerously ill and may be about to die. The reflections include personal ...