Light This Candle

Light This Candle
Author: Neal Thompson
Publisher: Crown
Total Pages: 578
Release: 2007-12-18
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 0307421198

The definitive biography of Alan Shepard, America’s first man in space, with a new Foreword by Chris Kraft “One of the finest books ever written about the space program.”—Homer Hickan, author of Rocket Boys “A wonderful and gripping biography . . . meticulously reported in the best tradition of David Halberstam.”—Buzz Bissinger, New York Times bestselling author of Friday Night Lights Alan Shepard was the brashest, cockiest, and most flamboyant of America’s original Mercury Seven, but he was also regarded as the best. Intense, colorful, and dramatic, he was among the most private of America’s public figures and, until his death in 1998, he guarded the story of his life zealously. Light This Candle, based on Neal Thompson’s exclusive access to private papers and interviews with Shepard’s family and closest friends—including John Glenn, Wally Schirra, and Gordon Cooper—offers a riveting, action-packed account of Shepard’s life.

Bulwark Against the Bay

Bulwark Against the Bay
Author: Mary Jo O'Rear
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
Total Pages: 194
Release: 2017-02-02
Genre: History
ISBN: 1623494923

After a devastating hurricane in 1919, the people of Corpus Christi faced the stark reality of their vulnerability. It was clear that something had to be done, but the mere will to take precautionary measures did not necessarily lead the way. Instead, two decades would pass before an effective solution was in place. Mary Jo O’Rear, author of Storm over the Bay, returns to tell the story of a city’s long and often frustrating path to protecting itself. Bulwark Against the Bay reveals the struggle to construct a seawall was not merely an engineering challenge; it was also bound up with the growing popularity of the Ku Klux Klan, local aversion to Roman Catholicism, the emergence of the League of United Latin American Citizens, new efforts on behalf of African American equality, the impact of the Great Depression, support for Franklin Roosevelt, and reactions to the New Deal. A case study of a community wrestling with itself even as it races with the clock, Bulwark Against the Bay adds to our understanding of urban history, boardroom and backroom politics, and the often harsh realities of geography and climate.

Beyond Rosie

Beyond Rosie
Author: Julia Brock
Publisher: University of Arkansas Press
Total Pages: 300
Release: 2015-02-14
Genre: History
ISBN: 161075557X

More so than any war in history, World War II was a woman’s war. Women, motivated by patriotism, the opportunity for new experiences, and the desire to serve, participated widely in the global conflict. Within the Allied countries, women of all ages proved to be invaluable in the fight for victory. Rosie the Riveter became the most enduring image of women’s involvement in World War II. What Rosie represented, however, is only a small portion of a complex story. As wartime production workers, enlistees in auxiliary military units, members of voluntary organizations or resistance groups, wives and mothers on the home front, journalists, and USO performers, American women found ways to challenge traditional gender roles and stereotypes. Beyond Rosie offers readers an opportunity to see the numerous contributions they made to the fight against the Axis powers and how American women’s roles changed during the war. The primary documents (newspapers, propaganda posters, cartoons, excerpts from oral histories and memoirs, speeches, photographs, and editorials) collected here represent cultural, political, economic, and social perspectives on the diverse roles women played during World War II.

Heroes

Heroes
Author: University of North Texas. Oral History Program
Publisher:
Total Pages: 172
Release: 2002
Genre: Oral history
ISBN:

World War II

World War II
Author: Paul Aleckson
Publisher:
Total Pages: 584
Release: 2004
Genre: History
ISBN:

A Woman's War Too

A Woman's War Too
Author: Paula Nassen Poulos
Publisher: National Archives & Records Administration
Total Pages: 424
Release: 1996
Genre: History
ISBN:

Aeronautical and Astronautical Resources of the Library of Congress

Aeronautical and Astronautical Resources of the Library of Congress
Author: Ronald S. Wilkinson
Publisher:
Total Pages: 214
Release: 2007
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN:

"The collections of the Library of Congress in the history of aeronautics are plausibly the best in the world. Aside from some limited efforts describing aeronautics in the Library's special collections, however, no really substantial guide for researchers exists whose goal is to direct investigators to those resources on a Library-wide basis. Aeronautical and Astronautical Resources of the Library of Congress: A Comprehensive Guide is the first comprehensive, annotated guide to the Library's collections concerning the history of aeronautics and astronautics."--Excerpted from Preface, page 9.