Hiero's Journey


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Desperate Passage


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In late October 1846, the last wagon train of that year's westward migration stopped overnight before resuming its arduous climb over the Sierra Nevada Mountains, unaware that a fearsome storm was gathering force. After months of grueling travel, the 81 men, women and children would be trapped for a brutal winter with little food and only primitive shelter. The conclusion is known: by spring of the next year, the Donner Party was synonymous with the most harrowing extremes of human survival. But until now, the full story of what happened, what it tells us about human nature and about America's westward expansion, remained shrouded in myth. Drawing on fresh archaeological evidence, recent research on topics ranging from survival rates to snowfall totals, and heartbreaking letters and diaries made public by descendants a century-and-a-half after the tragedy, Ethan Rarick offers an intimate portrait of the Donner party and their unimaginable ordeal: a mother who must divide her family, a little girl who shines with courage, a devoted wife who refuses to abandon her husband, a man who risks his life merely to keep his word. But Rarick resists both the gruesomely sensationalist accounts of the Donner party as well as later attempts to turn the survivors into archetypal pioneer heroes. "The Donner Party," Rarick writes, "is a story of hard decisions that were neither heroic nor villainous. Often, the emigrants displayed a more realistic and typically human mixture of generosity and selfishness, an alloy born of necessity." A fast-paced, heart-wrenching, clear-eyed narrative history, A Desperate Hope casts new light on one of America's most horrific encounters between the dream of a better life and the harsh realities such dreams so often must confront.




The Longest Road


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Traces the author's 2011 road trip from the southernmost to the northernmost points of the United States to experience firsthand the country's diversity and political tensions in the face of a historic economic recession.




First Overland


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Why Not? After all, no-one had ever done it before. It would be one of the longest of all overland journeys – half way round the world, from the English Channel to Singapore. They knew that several expeditions had already tried it. Some had got as far as the desrts of Persia; a few had even reached the plains of India. But no one had managed to go on from there: over the jungle clad mountains of Assam and across northern Burma to Thailand and Malaya. Over the last 3,000 miles it seemed there were ‘just too many rivers and too few roads'. But no-one really knew … In fact, their problems began much earlier than that. As mere undergraduates, they had no money, no cars, nothing. But with a cool audacity, which was to become characteristic, they set to work – wheedling and cajoling. First, they coaxed the BBC to come up with some film for a possible TV series. They then gently persuaded the manufacturers to lend them two factory-fresh Land Rovers. A publisher was even sweet-talked into giving them an advance on a book. By the time they were ready to go, their sponsors (more than 80 of them) ranged from whiskey distillers to the makers of collapsible buckets. In late 1955, they set off. Seven months and 12,000 miles later, two very weary Land Rovers, escorted by police outriders, rolled into Singapore – to flash bulbs and champagne. Now, fifty years on, their book, ‘First Overland', is republished – with a foreword by Sir David Attenborough. After all, it was he who gave them that film.




Otherland


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I left too early, before tanks rolled into Moscow in 1991, and before Gorbachev was put under home arrest in a failed coup. I left before Russia and Ukraine became separate countries, before the KGB archives were opened, before the Russian version of Wheel of Fortune, before the word 'Gulag' appeared in textbooks. I left before Chechnya, before ...




Delphi Complete Works of Mark Twain (Illustrated)


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This is the COMPLETE WORKS of America's favourite storyteller Mark Twain. The eBook contains every novel, short story - even the very rare ones ñ essay, travel book, non-fiction text, letter and much, much more! . (Current Version: 3) Features: * ALL 12 novels, with concise introductions and contents tables * images of how the books first appeared, giving your eReader a taste of the original texts * includes Twain's rare unfinished novel 'The Mysterious Stranger', often missed out of collections * ALL of the short stories, with quality formatting * the short stories have their own chronological and alphabetical contents tables - find that special story easily! * Twain's 20 short story contributions to "The Library of Humor", with their own contents table * even INCLUDES Twain's complete letters, essays and satires - with their own special contents tables * ALL of the travel writing, with contents tables * includes Twain's "Chapters from My Autobiography" * SPECIAL BONUS texts, including three contemporary Twain biographies - explore the great man's amazing life in Paine's and Howells' famous biographies! * UPDATED with a special literary criticism section, with various works exploring Twain's contribution to literature * UPDATED with Archibald Henderson's critical study MARK TWAIN * UPDATED with the complete speeches * scholarly ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres The eBook also includes a front no-nonsense table of contents to allow easy navigation around Twain's immense oeuvre. Welcome to hours upon hours upon hours of reading one of literature's most famous storytellers! CONTENTS The Novels THE GILDED AGE: A TALE OF TODAY THE ADVENTURES OF TOM SAWYER THE PRINCE AND THE PAUPER ADVENTURES OF HUCKLEBERRY FINN and many more! The Short Stories (too many to list!) CHRONOLOGICAL LIST OF SHORT STORIES ALPHABETICAL LIST OF SHORT STORIES MARK TWAIN'S LIBRARY OF HUMOR The Essays and Satires LIST OF TWAIN'S ESSAYS AND SATIRES The Travel Writing THE INNOCENTS ABROAD ROUGHING IT A TRAMP ABROAD FOLLOWING THE EQUATOR SOME RAMBLING NOTES OF AN IDLE EXCURSION The Non-Fiction OLD TIMES ON THE MISSISSIPPI and many more! The Letters THE COMPLETE LETTERS OF MARK TWAIN The Speeches THE COMPLETE SPEECHES The Criticism MARK TWAIN BY ARCHIBALD HENDERSON MARK TWAIN BY BRANDER MATTHEWS THE AMERICANS BY DAVID CHRISTIE MURRAY MARK TWAIN BY FREDERICK WADDY NEW YORK TIMES ARTICLES The Biographies CHAPTERS FROM MY AUTOBIOGRAPHY BY M.TWAIN MY MARK TWAIN BY WILLIAM DEAN HOWELLS MARK TWAIN A BIOGRAPHY BY A.B. PAINE THE BOYS' LIFE OF MARK TWAIN BY A. B. PAINE




Mark Twain's Comedy Classics: 190+ Stories & Sketches (Illustrated Edition)


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In 'Mark Twain's Comedy Classics: 190+ Stories & Sketches (Illustrated Edition)', readers are treated to a collection of humorous tales and witty sketches that showcase Mark Twain's comedic genius. Twain's signature satirical style is on full display as he expertly critiques the social norms and conventions of his time with sharp wit and clever wordplay. Each story and sketch is a masterclass in comedic writing, making this book a must-read for fans of humor and satire. The illustrations included in this edition add an extra layer of enjoyment to Twain's timeless humor, bringing his characters and settings to vivid life. Mark Twain's work continues to resonate with readers today, proving the enduring relevance of his comedic voice. It's a delightful read that will leave you chuckling and contemplating long after you've finished.




The Prince and the Pauper (Illustrated Children's Classic)


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This eBook edition of "The Prince and the Pauper (Illustrated Children's Classic)" has been formatted to the highest digital standards and adjusted for readability on all devices. Set in 1547, The Prince and the Pauper tells the story of two young boys who are identical in appearance: Tom Canty, a pauper who lives with his abusive father in Offal Court off Pudding Lane in London, and Prince Edward, son of King Henry VIII. Tom, the youngest boy in a poor family living in London, has always aspired to a better life, encouraged by the local priest. Loitering around the palace gates one day, he sees the Prince Edward of Wales. Tom is nearly caught and beaten by the Royal Guards, but Edward stops them and invites Tom into his palace chamber. There the two boys get to know one another, fascinated by each other's life and their uncanny resemblance. They decide to switch clothes "temporarily". The Prince momentarily goes outside, quickly hiding an article of national importance (the Great Seal of England), and eventually finding his way to the Canty home. Tom, posing as the prince, tries to cope with court customs and manners. His fellow nobles and palace staff think "the prince" has an illness which has caused memory loss and fear he will go mad. They repeatedly ask him about the missing "Great Seal", but he knows nothing about it. Samuel Langhorne Clemens (1835-1910), better known by his pen name Mark Twain, was an American writer, humorist, entrepreneur, publisher, and lecturer. He is best known for his two novels – The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and its sequel, the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, but his satirical stories and travel books are also widely popular. His wit and satire, in prose and in speech, earned him praise from critics and peers. He was lauded as the greatest American humorist of his age.







Harper's Magazine


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