Unlike military intelligence, military history is at least somewhat verifiable. This new book from historian V.D. Hanson, presents the biographies of 5 generals who single-handedly saved their nations from defeat in war. From ancient Greece to modern day Iraq, Hanson explores their dramatic feats of leadership & luck in the face of grim odds.
Jesse James. Not the TV biker D-bag who blew it with Sandra Bullock, the old cowboy gangster who robbed banks and shot people. Legendary outlaw of the Wild West. The Lost Cause tells the whole story of the James brothers & their crimes & chronicles the murder trial that took down their infamous gang.
These days, summiting Mount Everest is like a high altitude trip to Wal-Mart on a Saturday morning, where you’re standing in long lines wondering why you chose to do something so stupid. But back in 1963 when the first Americans made the climb it was much less crowded but every bit as harrowing. Written by NYT best-selling author Broughton Coburn, The Vast Unknown chronicles this history-making ascent and its significance in Cold War America.
Hardcore heavy metal fans only read the Necronomicon; for the rest of us there are books like this. Compiling over 250 interviews with the giants of metal and several of its sub-genres, Louder Than Hell explores the darker side of the steadfast metal movement, featuring bands like Sabbath, Slayer, Maiden, Metallica, Priest, Pantera, and 666 more.
Texas is the land of smoked meat. And this time, we’re talking barbecue not making another crude & outdated reference to Debbie Does Dallas. The first in a new Anthony Bourdain series, this book by barbecue snob Daniel Vaughn takes you on an A to Z tour of Texas BBQ filled with recipes, tips, & secrets guaranteed to help you get your meat smoked properly.
With all the books out there about people who survived the plane crash/ship sinking/Siberian winter, you might start thinking that survival against all odds isn’t so “miraculous” after all. Into The Abyss is about a 1984 plane crash in the remote backcountry of Alberta. 4 out of 10 survived. 1 of them was an outlaw prisoner being transported. Find out what he did when they took off the handcuffs.
Baseball fans of all ages know the name of the legendary Yankees centerfielder Joltin’ Joe DiMaggio. But who knew his 2 brothers Vince & Dom were also passionate about baseball? Acclaimed sports writer Tim Clavin explores the era and the culture of the game, offering up a vivid biography of the three brothers and their pursuit of the American dream.
Nobody can deny that beer and baseball go hand in glove but the tale of Chris Von der Ahe, a beer garden proprietor who founded the St. Louis Browns—now the Cardinals—to simply sell more beer is a classic. His team of drunks and their upstart American Assoc. league flipped the bird to the National League and brought fans of all classes back to the ballpark.
Robert “Believe It Or Not” Ripley had a fascination for the strange and unbelievable, for oddities and exotic freaks. At the dawn of the radio era, he began turning this fascination into an empire through showmanship, publishing, radio, & early TV spots that celebrated the world’s strangest phenomena. So just who was this weirdo, anyway? Read up & find out.
The old English legend of King Arthur and his court; of Camelot, Excalibur & Guenivere, has been told & re-told through the ages but this version from J.R.R. Tolkien takes the tale further. Written as an epic poem he began in the 1930s & later abandoned, it has now been edited—but not quite finished—by his son Christopher Tolkien.
