Hard America

Americans are taught that justice means fairness. They expect it from our legal system. “Equal Justice Under Law” is prominently inscribed on the Supreme Court. Yet, law and justice in America are not necessarily the same thing. And they are certainly not applied in equal ways.

Vincent Kahn is an astronaut in training, living with his wife in the desert. He will go on to be the first man to walk on the moon. Fay Fern is 19 years old and working in a dive bar, having rejected her parents' wealth and conservatism. She will go on to become a violent activist and one of the FBI's most wanted. The pair's brief but intense love affair will have repercussions that echo through the American century, intersecting with the race to space, the rage against the Vietnam war and the ravages of the AIDS epidemic.

In this account, Gottlieb Mittelberger reveals the plight of poor German families who migrated to America in the 18th century. It was normal at the time for poor Europeans to fund their journey to the New World by agreeing to a period of indentured servitude. Yet what Mittleberger observed was more akin to slavery: workers were auctioned off upon arrival with no formal contract. This enlightening record reveals a darker side to early American history.

Cameron is replaced by Stanton. The president begins to supervise the army and take charge of his administration. By presidential order, McClellan is goaded into moving from a defensive position to an offensive. Instead of following Lincoln's plan, McClellan chooses an attack on Richmond. McClellan's indecisiveness and tardiness in battle have many pushing for a replacement. The Union suffers a crushing defeat in the Seven Days Battle. During all this, Willie Lincoln dies of fever.

In King of Spies, prize-winning journalist and bestselling author of Escape From Camp 14, Blaine Harden, reveals one of the most astonishing – and previously untold – spy stories of the twentieth century. Donald Nichols was 'a one man war', according to his US Air Force commanding general. He won the Distinguished Service Cross, along with a chest full of medals for valor and initiative in the Korean War. His commanders described Nichols as the bravest, most resourceful and effective spymaster of that forgotten war. But there is far more to Donald Nichols' story than first meets the eye . . .

Steadfast in fighting crime, but operating outside the police force - and sometimes even the law - is the private detective. Driven by his own moral code, he is a shadowy figure in a trench coat standing on a street corner, his face most likely obscured by a tilted fedora, a lit cigarette dangling from his hand. The hard-boiled detective is known by his dark past, private pain, and powers of deduction. He only asks questions - never answers them. In his stories he is both the main character and the narrator.

The son of Juan Hernan Valdez de Araya and a Caribbean slave, Eduardo, learn that freedom always comes with a price, and that price must be paid by those most deprived of it, the most desirous to have it. Some will sacrifice their all for the sweet embrace of it and for that of those dear to them. Only those that have known true deprivation can appreciate its loving reward of ever-stripped-away choice.

In King of Spies, prize-winning journalist and best-selling author of Escape From Camp 14 Blaine Harden reveals one of the most astonishing - and previously untold - spy stories of the 20th century. Donald Nichols was 'a one man war', according to his US Air Force commanding general. He won the Distinguished Service Cross along with a chest full of medals for valor and initiative in the Korean War. His commanders described Nichols as the bravest, most resourceful and effective spymaster of that forgotten war.