American Century

In this survey of eighteenth and nineteenth century American drama, Tice L. Miller examines American plays written before a canon was established in American dramatic literature and provides analyses central to the culture that produced them. Entertaining the Nation evaluates plays in the early years of the republic, reveals shifts in taste from the classical to the contemporary in the 1840s and 1850s, and considers the increasing influence of realism at the end of the nineteenth century.

In Becoming King: Martin Luther King Jr. and the Making of a National Leader, author Troy Jackson chronicles King's emergence and effectiveness as a civil rights leader by examining his relationship with the people of Montgomery, Alabama. Using the sharp lens of Montgomery's struggle for racial equality to investigate King's burgeoning leadership, Jackson explores King's ability to connect with the educated and the unlettered, professionals and the working class.

In 1984, the landscape historian Mac Griswold was rowing along a Long Island creek when she came upon a stately yellow house and a garden guarded by looming boxwoods. She instantly knew that boxwoods that large - 12 feet tall, 15 feet wide - had to be hundreds of years old. So, as it happened, was the house: Sylvester Manor had been held in the same family for 11 generations. Formerly encompassing all of Shelter Island, a pearl of 8,000 acres caught between the North and South Forks of Long Island, the manor had dwindled to 243 acres.

Raised by a pious single mother, William Lloyd Garrison embraced the general teachings of the Christian faith as a young man, and in his 20s, he became convicted that slavery was the greatest moral evil in the nation. Thereafter, he devoted most of his life to seeing it ended, and he refused to give an inch in the name of compromise on the things he felt strongly about. Few Americans in any era could tout the civil rights record William Lloyd Garrison could boast of.

Between the end of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th, Americans underwent a dramatic transformation in self-conception: having formerly lived as individuals or members of small communities, they now found themselves living in networks, which arose out of scientific and technological innovations.

Here, Cheryl McKissack Daniel, CEO and president of McKissack & McKissack, reveals the full fascinating story of her family. So much more than an exploration of architectural achievements, The Black Family Who Built America is also a compelling illustration of how history rhymes and reverberates, and a celebration of the human spirit’s ability to overcome adversity and drive change. F

The Reconstruction era has begun. The country is moving forward. And so is the Bennett Family. With half of their family aboard the long overdue California II, including Jonathan who promised his wife to return home in time for the birth of their child, tension mounts. The family eagerly awaits news of the ship’s arrival, but when they finally receive the telegram, the news is bittersweet. The ship has returned to port, but Jonathan must now race against time to make it home for the momentous event. Meanwhile, Samantha’s brother, Adam, embarks on a mission to find his lost son, born ...

A wayward journey. A war-torn frontier. Can she protect her family through tragedy to claim their paradise? New York, 1855. Jane Bennett misses her husband terribly. But as war encroaches on land and cholera wreaks havoc on the next ship out of port, she fears that she may never see Thomas again. Caught between two evils, Jane fears the decision she makes could seal her family’s fate. With her husband forced to protect their future home against raids, Jane must lead her children on a grueling voyage to lawless San Francisco. As their money runs low and the dangers of roving kidnappers ...

George Arliss was an actor, author, playwright, and filmmaker who was active from 1887 to his retirement in 1939. This genial gentleman spent much of his life in the Victorian Era, and in many respects, he was a child of his times. However, as the 20th century advanced, Arliss realized that times had changed. By the 1910s a contraption called “motion pictures” was competing with his domain of the legitimate theater in which he was one of its most popular stars. Arliss realized that films could no longer be ignored when he received several persistent offers to star in them. When he began...

Mathew Brady and Alexander Gardner were the new media moguls of their day. With their photographs they brought the Civil War - and all of its terrible suffering - into Northern living rooms. By the end of the war, they were locked in fierce competition. And when the biggest story of the century happened - the assassination of Abraham Lincoln - their paparazzi-like competition intensified.

When a lonely cowpoke goes to see a play, he has no idea how his life will change, but from the moment George lays eyes on Polly Esther, he knows he’s lost. Can taking a job with a traveling show give George the home he has always longed for? He’s already lost his heart to the beautiful young woman with the sunshine hair. Will he lose everything else as well? Polly has her doubts about her father hiring a cowboy to help the manage their traveling show, but she’s learned over the years that her parents don’t make decisions lightly. Still, the handsome George Olson is a distraction. ...

By any measure, Ed Zahniser is one of the truest poets in America in this century. If you love mountain poetry and wilderness on the page, Adirondack Mountain & Cabin Poems is your next read. Ed Zahniser writes from the Adirondack cabin he's visited since the 1940s. Here is the mountain experience rendered by the poet’s words and beyond. Encounter the bird that reads the poet’s note on the tree and startles away. A harvest of wilderness after-thoughts, Ed’s mountains restore the reader time and again: Paper Birch Scribble scribble scribble idly on white birchbark Leave these on the ...

An earthquake unnerves Tokyo on March 11, 2011, triggering the Fukushima nuclear disaster - and a tectonic stirring of the collective past. Mr. Yoshie Watanabe, an aging executive at an electronics company and a survivor of the atomic bomb, feels as though he is a fugitive of his own memory. As the seams of his country threaten to come undone yet again, he braces himself to make the biggest decision of his life. Meanwhile, four women narrate their own memories of Watanabe to an enigmatic Argentinian reporter investigating his life.

A wild 1970s ride – an adventurous coming of age journey along America’s back roads. At twenty, Jessie Morgan is fed up with just about everything. It’s September 1971 -- time to drop out, tune in, and turn on. She leaves college and Detroit in the rearview mirror, hitting the road in her 1965 yellow Volkswagen convertible. Wandering byways from Kentucky to Key West to Montana, Jessie is out to experience everything. She didn't count on meeting a man like Twisty. WARNING: BELL-BOTTOM GYPSY is New Adult Fiction recommended for mature readers due to 1970s-era sex, drugs, and cussing.

This box set includes the complete Ghosts of Southampton series, Books 0, 1, and 2! Meg and Charlie meet on Titanic, but their lives were intertwined long before they ever stepped foot on the doomed ship. Follow their story from the very beginning.Prelude: A Prequel Book 0 An arranged marriage, an abusive family, a dream of freedom in America just out of reach.... After Meg Westmoreland’s father mysteriously dies when she’s a small child, her life quickly spirals out of control. Her mother is mean and manipulative, her uncle abusive in a way Meg won’t even speak of. Getting away from ...

Gladys thought she left her dreams behind when she moved west to be a Harvey Girl. Little did she know her life would soon entwine with the prominent Montgomery family. After a tragic train accident brings Dr. Benjamin Montgomery into her world, Gladys can't stop thinking about the handsome doctor. As they work together to care for the injured passengers, Gladys tries to guard her heart. But Ben's kindness and determination to spend time with her make it difficult to resist his charms. When Ben invites her to a Thanksgiving with his family, Gladys becomes entangled in the Montgomerys' ...

Josephine can never afford the one thing she wants most—redemption. Josephine Thorebourne hoped to make her family proud…and disgraced them instead. Now she’ll do anything to make amends, even if it means keeping up her ruse with the confidence man she’s entangled with. His new plan is the only way out. Except the more time they’re aboard ship, the more Josephine suspects she just might be in for a double cross. As steward on a steamship, Owen Kelly can’t fraternize with the passengers, and that’s never been a problem…until he meets Josephine Thorebourne. Even as her grace ...

How did Oprah Winfrey do to become the world's most well-known female personality as well as a successful entrepreneur? It turns out it was not just all luck. Her mantra, "Turn Your Wounds Into Wisdom," served her well from an early age, especially after tragically losing her first child and later when she worked to turn her life dreams into reality.

This collection brings together the best British writing of the 20th century, narrated by a trio of beloved voices from the stage and screen. From the ghost stories of M.R. James to the intensity of D.H. Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers, as well as the intrigue of Joseph Conrad’s spy thriller, The Secret Agent, these enthralling modern classics will delight every listener. These classic stories are read by The Jewel in the Crown’s Tim Pigott-Smith; legendary Shakespearean actor Sir Michael Hordern; and Sir Ian McKellen.

A spoiled English Lady rebels against the half-Native American half-English sea smuggler forced to be her husband and they discover the thrill of impetuous passion. Smuggled aboard a ship bound for the colonies, the English lady Keely Bartholomew is ill-prepared for life in America, much less the devilish half-breed captain Brock Forrester. This man, the illegitimate son of a Lenni-Lenape man and an English woman, is used to having his own way. When the tall, brawny, mixed-race man caresses her and holds her in his massive arms, looking at her with eyes as black as night, the heiress is ...