The Coldest Crucible

The Coldest Crucible
Author: Michael F. Robinson
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Total Pages: 219
Release: 2010-11-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 0226721876

In the late 1800s, “Arctic Fever” swept across the nation as dozens of American expeditions sailed north to the Arctic to find a sea route to Asia and, ultimately, to stand at the North Pole. Few of these missions were successful, and many men lost their lives en route. Yet failure did little to dampen the enthusiasm of new explorers or the crowds at home that cheered them on. Arctic exploration, Michael F. Robinson argues, was an activity that unfolded in America as much as it did in the wintry hinterland. Paying particular attention to the perils facing explorers at home, The Coldest Crucible examines their struggles to build support for the expeditions before departure, defend their claims upon their return, and cast themselves as men worthy of the nation’s full attention. In so doing, this book paints a new portrait of polar voyagers, one that removes them from the icy backdrop of the Arctic and sets them within the tempests of American cultural life. With chronological chapters featuring emblematic Arctic explorers—including Elisha Kent Kane, Charles Hall, and Robert Peary—The Coldest Crucible reveals why the North Pole, a region so geographically removed from Americans, became an iconic destination for discovery.

The Lost White Tribe

The Lost White Tribe
Author: Michael Frederick Robinson
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2016
Genre: History
ISBN: 0199978484

Michael F. Robinson traces the rise and fall of the Hamitic Hypothesis, the theory that whites had lived in Africa since antiquity, which held sway in Europe and in Africa in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

The Right Stuff

The Right Stuff
Author: Tom Wolfe
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Total Pages: 370
Release: 2008-03-04
Genre: History
ISBN: 1429961325

Tom Wolfe at his very best" (The New York Times Book Review), The Right Stuff is the basis for the 1983 Oscar Award-winning film of the same name and the 8-part Disney+ TV mini-series. From "America's nerviest journalist" (Newsweek)--a breath-taking epic, a magnificent adventure story, and an investigation into the true heroism and courage of the first Americans to conquer space. " Millions of words have poured forth about man's trip to the moon, but until now few people have had a sense of the most engrossing side of the adventure; namely, what went on in the minds of the astronauts themselves - in space, on the moon, and even during certain odysseys on earth. It is this, the inner life of the astronauts, that Tom Wolfe describes with his almost uncanny empathetic powers, that made The Right Stuff a classic.

Inventing the American Astronaut

Inventing the American Astronaut
Author: Matthew H. Hersch
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 404
Release: 2012-10-08
Genre: Science
ISBN: 1137025298

Who were the men who led America's first expeditions into space? Soldiers? Daredevils? The public sometimes imagined them that way: heroic military men and hot-shot pilots without the capacity for doubt, fear, or worry. However, early astronauts were hard-working and determined professionals - 'organization men' - who were calm, calculating, and highly attuned to the politics and celebrity of the Space Race. Many would have been at home in corporate America - and until the first rockets carried humans into space, some seemed to be headed there. Instead, they strapped themselves to missiles and blasted skyward, returning with a smile and an inspiring word for the press. From the early days of Project Mercury to the last moon landing, this lively history demystifies the American astronaut while revealing the warring personalities, raw ambition, and complex motives of the men who were the public face of the space program.

Valley Forge Winter

Valley Forge Winter
Author: Wayne Bodle
Publisher: Penn State Press
Total Pages: 356
Release: 2010-11-01
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780271045467

Refuting commonly held myths about the American Revolution, this comprehensive history of the colonial army's winter encampment of 1777-1778 reveals the events that occurred both inside and outside the camp boundaries, discussing interactions between the soldiers and local civilians, divisions within the army, the political and military strategies of George Washington, and their implications in terms of the future of the United States. Reprint.

Dinosaurs in the Attic

Dinosaurs in the Attic
Author: Douglas J. Preston
Publisher: St. Martin's Griffin
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2014-07-14
Genre: Travel
ISBN: 1466871873

Dinosaurs in the Attic is a chronicle of the expeditions, discoveries, and scientists behind the greatest natural history collection ever assembled. Written by former Natural History columnist Douglas J. Preston, who worked at the American Museum of Natural History for seven years, this is a celebration of the best-known and best-loved museum in the United States.

Soil and Sacrament

Soil and Sacrament
Author: Fred Bahnson
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 288
Release: 2013-08-06
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1451663307

Recounts the author's experiences founding a faith-based community garden in rural North Carolina, and emphasizes how growing one's own food can help readers reconnect with the land and divine faith.

Arktos

Arktos
Author: Joscelyn Godwin
Publisher: Adventures Unlimited Press
Total Pages: 278
Release: 1996
Genre: Nature
ISBN: 9780932813350

"Arktos is the first book ever written on the archetype of the Poles: celestial and terrestrial, North and South. It is a hair-raising voyage through cosmology, occultism and conspiracy theory leads to startling revelations about the secrets of the Poles. The author investigates legends of a Golden Age, which some claim ended in a prehistoric catastrophe, a shift in the earth's axis. This is examined in the light of the latest geological theories, as are predictions of a coming pole-shift. The perennial fascination of these ideas is shown to be part of a "polar tradition" of hidden wisdom. There are many recorded tales of an ancient race said to have lived in the Arctic regions, which later spread through the Northern Hemisphere. This supposedly "Aryan Race" entered the pantheon of Nazi Germany, with dreadful consequences. The author examines the origins of modern neo-Nazi ideology, its "polar" inspiration, and its links with other arcana, including the survival of Hitler, German bases in Antarctica, UFOS, the Hollow Earth, and the hidden kingdoms of Agartha and Shambhala. However, "Arktos" differs from most writings on these subjects in its responsible and scholarly treatment, and its extensive use of foreign-language sources."--Provided by publisher.

The Final Crucible

The Final Crucible
Author: Lee Ballenger
Publisher: Potomac Books, Inc.
Total Pages: 482
Release: 2006
Genre: History
ISBN: 1612340814

Close-quarters combat during the Korean War

Should I Not Return

Should I Not Return
Author: Jeffrey Babcock
Publisher: Publication Consultants
Total Pages: 410
Release: 2014-10-27
Genre: Sports & Recreation
ISBN: 1594332711

Should I Not Return is the story of a young east coast climber, who joins his brother in Alaska to climb Mount McKinley. What set their climb apart from those before it, and even those afterward, was a disaster of such magnitude that it became know as North America's worst mountaineering tragedy. Prior to July of 1967 only four men had ever perished on Denali, and then, in one fell swoop, Denali--like Melville s, Great White Whale, Moby Dick--indiscriminately took the lives of seven men. The brothers survive one danger after another: a terrible train accident, a near drowning in the McKinley River, an encounter with a large grizzly, a 60 foot plunge into a gaping crevasse, swept away by a massive avalanche, and finally a climactic escape from the terror of 100 mph winds while descending from the summit. Should I Not Return is a one of a kind cliffhanger packed with danger, survival under the worst conditions, and heroism on the Last Frontier s most treasured trophy--the icy slopes of Denali, North America s tallest mountain--Mount McKinley.