"My Inventions" is a candid and illuminating autobiography of Nikola Tesla, one of the most important technological innovators of the modern industrial age. Famous for the radio, robotics, and wireless energy, Tesla quickly gained international notoriety for his pioneering inventions as much for his eccentric life. Perhaps no one in his day more thoroughly embodied the archetype of the "mad scientist". This firsthand account reveals the fascinating...

"Tara Westover was seventeen the first time she set foot in a classroom. Born to survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, she prepared for the end of the world by stockpiling home-canned peaches and sleeping with her "head-for-the-hills bag." In the summer she stewed herbs for her mother, a midwife and healer, and in the winter she salvaged in her father's junkyard. The family was so isolated from mainstream society that there was no one to ensure...

America’s favorite government teacher offers thrilling, heartfelt stories of ordinary American heroes.Most pundits and historians sell a dangerously naïve version of the American story—either praising its most consequential figures uncritically or criticizing them unfairly. Sharon McMahon believes the truth is more human. In her debut book The Small and the Mighty, she tells the inpiring stories of twelve Americans--regular people with human...

The Education of Henry Adams follows the life of presidential descendent Henry Adams. However, instead of serving just as an account of Adams' deeds, The Education of Henry Adams is a series of observations and introspections Adams makes on social changes, scientific advancements, personal relationships, professional success, travel, religion, war, and education. Born into the privilege of wealth and the renowned success of his ancestors, President...

"Narrative of the Life of David Crockett of the State of Tennessee" by David Crockett is an first-hand account of the life of the famous pioneer settler in his own words. David "Davy" Crockett 1786-1836 was a 19th-century American folk hero, frontiersman, soldier, and politician. He is commonly referred to in popular culture as "King of the Wild Frontier". He represented Tennessee in the U. S. House of Representatives, served in the Texas Revolution,...

"Lives" is a series of biographies of famous Greeks and Romans by the ancient Greek historian Plutarch who lived during the first and second century AD. "Lives" consists of twenty-three paired biographies, one Greek and one Roman, and four unpaired, which explore the influence of character on the lives and destinies of the subjects. Rather than providing strictly historical accounts, Plutarch was most concerned with capturing this issue of character....

Discover the charisma and wisdom of one of America's most influential founding fathers in this new edition of Benjamin Franklin's Autobiography. Printer, scientist, statesman, and architect of the American spirit, Franklin's literary masterpiece is not just a historical document; it's a candid examination of colonial American life through the eyes of one of its most astute observers. Franklin's Autobiography remains a cornerstone of American literature,...

Atz Kilcher grew up with a hard father in a hard land: Alaska. Learning to use new tools--honesty, vulnerability, forgiveness, acceptance--Atz reflects on his upbringing years later and learns that healing his spirit and forgiving himself is even harder than physical labor.

This fascinating and in-depth biography of Neal Cassady looks at the man who achieved immortality as Dean Moriarty, the central character in Jack Kerouac's On the Road. A charismatic, funny, articulate, and formidably intelligent man, Cassady was also a compulsive womanizer who lived life on the edge. His naturalistic, conversational writing style inspired Kerouac, who lifted a number of passages verbatim and uncredited from Cassady's letters for...

Presents the journey from refuge camp to America and the hardships and joys of a family's struggle to adapt in a strange culture while holding onto traditions that are passed down from her beloved grandmother.