Showing results by publisher "Phoenix Books" in History

The cod has played a vital part in livelihoods, diets, and health in general — as well as roles in national economies and international wars. Drawing on his love of food and food culture, Mark Kurlansky leaps into history and folklore to explore how this innocuous fish had such an impact over the centuries.

Blanche Wiesen Cook recreates Eleanor Roosevelt in all of her roles -- as a visionary, an activist, a political wife, and a woman far more independent than we knew. No other First Lady has had a greater influence in the course of democracy in this century, and no other book about Eleanor Roosevelt captures the complexity of her character - her wit, her passion, her boldness, and her commitment to greater dignity and security for all women and men.

George Dawson was a slave's grandson who learned to read at age 98 and lived to the age of 103. In this remarkable memoir, he reflects on his life and shares valuable lessons in living, as well as a fresh, firsthand view of America during the entire sweep of the twentieth century. Dawson's irresistible voice and view of the world are captured here as he offers insights into humanity, history, hardships, and happiness. From segregation and civil rights to many other defining moments in history, George Dawson's account and assessment of the last century inspires listeners.

One hot Monday morning in 1976, Albert Spaggiari engineered the European crime of the century. A bank president in Nice, France found his vault welded shut—from the inside. Spaggiari and his gang of 20 men had dug a 25-foot tunnel from the city's sewer system into the bank, where they spent a weekend cooking meals, drinking wine, and clearing millions of dollars in gold, jewelry, gems, and cash. Here is the breathtakingly compelling story of Spaggiari, his “sewer gang,” and the most daring, outrageous theft of the 20th century.

These passages from the writings of Ralph Waldo Emerson on religion and spiritual philosophy reveal a metaphysical thought that is quintessentially American and universally relevant to the spiritual needs of today's world. It is seldom that an American philosopher is found among the gurus, mystics, and masters present in the spiritual milieu. Emerson combined the spiritual intuition of the East with the philosophical acumen of the West.

Lisa Kron invites her audience on a roller coaster ride through the Kron family album in 2.5 Minute Ride. Rising and falling between high hilarity and deep disquiet, Kron demonstrates with disarming simplicity that humor and horror can share the same human moment. Kron's' performance switches back and forth between her journey to Auschwitz with her septuagenarian father, a Holocaust survivor; her Michigan family's annual pilgrimage to a Sandusky, Ohio amusement park, and more.

You're sure to recognize the voices of Gary Owens, who Radio & Records deemed, "the Babe Ruth of Radio" and the beloved Mel Blanc, who provided the voices of many of the world's most famous cartoon characters, including those of Bugs Bunny, Woody Woodpecker, Daffy Duck, Porky Pig, Tweety Pie, Sylvester, and The Road Runner, who together provide all voices featured on this performance.

Honor's Voice provides a revealing look at how Abraham Lincoln became the 16th president of the United States and one of the greatest men of his time. Douglas Wilson traces the development of this great leader from an insecure country boy full of ambition to schoolboy, storekeeper, riverboat man, and, finally, politician. The author returns to original sources, including friends and acquaintances in the Illinois of the 1830s and '40s and exposes truths about Lincoln never before revealed.

After an unprecedented, relentless four-year investigation, the long-anticipated Starr Report arrived in 36 boxes to the House of Representatives on September 9, 1998. The report brought to a close the first chapter in the saga of the trials and tribulations of the Clinton presidency. But most importantly, it was a prime piece of evidence in the subsequent impeachment hearings.

In this dramatic series of interviews, General Powell describes his ascent from the ROTC to four-star general and eventually to chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and mastermind of Desert Storm. He discusses his assignments in Germany, Korea, and Vietnam, his role in the Carter, Reagan, and Bush administrations, and his eyewitness accounts of Desert Storm, the invasion of Panama, and the Iran-Contra scandal.

For Forgotten Heroes, a few of the country's leading historians were invited to choose their favorite stories of under appreciated Americans—from Stephen Jay Gould on deaf baseball player Dummy Hoy, to Alfred Kazin on "the failed president" John Quincy Adams, to Christine Stansell on Margaret Anderson, the publisher of James Joyce's Ulysses.

Charles Siringo's riveting narrative tells of the people and events that shaped the legend of America's Wild West. Siringo spent more than 22 years riding with the cattle country's most lawless men. He relied more on instincts and experience than deductive reasoning to survive Idaho labor riots, hunt Appalachian moonshiners, and chase Butch Cassidy's Wild Bunch across the Southwest.

Fearlessly taking aim at the seemingly impressive façade of modern military power, Dirty Little Secrets is an unusual, entertaining and thought provoking look at the myths, mysteries and arcana unknown to the rest of us. Did you know that. Modern tanks use as much fuel standing still as they do when moving?

The horrific bombing in Oklahoma City, the discovery of huge caches of weapons stockpiled in private residences, and the astounding rise in membership of various armed militias across the United States has forced Americans to re-examine what it means to have the "right to bear arms". And the scrutinizing public eye wasted no time in looking to the NRA for answers, a group whose foundation and lifeblood is founded in the Second Amendment. Now, from famed muckraker Jack Anderson comes an expose on this controversial organization that will forever change the public's perception of the NRA

From the great triumphs - the opening of China and the success of the Nixon-Brezhnev Moscow summit - to the most dramatic defeats - Watergate and the decline of détente - this is an unparalleled view of some events that shaped the world and rocked the way diplomacy is conducted in the United States.

With his distinctive blend of frontline determination and a journalist's knack for a good story, CBS anchorman Dan Rather looks at the awesome struggles and everyday accomplishments he's witnessed at home and around the globe.

Laugh with political humorist Gerald Gardner, as she takes an entertaining and probing look at how our last six Presidents have deliberately and effectively employed humor to achieve their political goals. In a special live recording of his best-selling book, Gardner sounds remarkably like JFK, LBJ, Nixon, Ford, Carter and Reagan, as he demonstrates how our Chief Executives have made strategic use of humor to win people over, avoid sensitive issues, to defuse tense situations, and to deflect criticism.

With blithe humor and bright style, Storace conjures up anarchic cities and idyllic towns and harbors where the Roman, Byzantine, and Ottoman empires continue to maintain a presence. This program includes an exclusive interview with the author who discusses her work and answers questions about her life in Greece.

Gallo Be Thy Name is the portrait of an American dynasty that rose from poverty in the early 1900s to become the most successful wine company in the world through toil, cunning, and crime. From selling ³Dago Red² to Al Capone during Prohibition to conquering America¹s wine market, and from the Great Depression to the roiling farm labor movements of the 60s and 70s, the Gallos rode the turbulent currents of history to triumph, with iconic brothers Ernest and Julio steering the ship.

In the current wave of seafaring literature, no fictional sailor's story can match this true real-life adventure. With Charles Tyng's Before the Wind we roam the world of the early 19th century: visit Lord Byron in Italy, King Tamehameha in Hawaii, and skirt Napoleon's prison isle of St. Helena. We learn to siphon rum from the captain's cask, relive the historic battle of The Bulwark and The Chesapeake, and witness an encounter with a mermaid.