On the same day in 1889, two women left New York City with the same goal—to circle the globe in 80 days or fewer. The two women could not have been more different. Nellie Bly, a fearless reporter for The World newspaper had made her reputation by writing daring exposés where she went undercover, reporting abuses and social injustices which shocked the nation. Elizabeth Bisland was a genteel Southern woman who wrote literary pieces for Cosmopolitan and who could often be found hosting salons where she and her friends would drink tea and discuss literature. When Nellie Bly announced her plan to circle the globe by traveling East, Elizabeth Bisland’s editor sent Elizabeth in the opposite direction with the goal of beating Nellie Bly’s time. Nellie travelled first by steamship across the Atlantic, and Elizabeth began her journey traveling by train across the United States. The two encountered seemingly insurmountable obstacles in completing
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April 9, 1959 signaled the beginning of a life altering adventure for seven brave women and the forty-one others who would ultimately follow them as their husbands became astronauts in America’s space program. This book tells the story of the exhilarating, frightening, rewarding and unexpected experiences these women encountered as astronaut wives. The original Mercury 7 wives forged the way for future wives, establishing models of behavior for the Gemini and Apollo women. Annie Glenn, René Carpenter, Trudy Cooper, Betty Grissom, Marge Slayton, Jo Schirra and Louise Shepherd and their husbands were the subjects of Life magazine articles in 1959 that provided the money the couples needed to supplement their modest military salaries. Life Magazine contracted with the astronauts and their wives to feature them in articles and then to follow them as they participated in the astronaut program in return for the money
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Julia Child was a giant, literally and figuratively, in the world of food. At 6 feet, 3 inches, she towered over most of her fellow chefs, and as the creator of groundbreaking cookbooks and cooking shows, she revolutionized food preparation in the 20th Century. Many
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"Grief is the price we pay for love." It may seem out of character for these words to have come from the lips of Queen Elizabeth II, the reigning monarch who is seen by the world as reserved and formal, but Sally Bedell Smith’s impressive biography offers new insight that presents Her Majesty as being kind, warm, witty and loving. Told as a chronological narrative, the book re-counts intimate details in the life of Elizabeth from her childhood upbringing to her present situation as she prepares to
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The FBI is known for ferreting out the public's criminal secrets whether they involve a kidnapping, a terrorist plot, or a mafia or a white collar crime, but in his latest book Ronald Kessler shows that the FBI has fascinating secrets of its own. This detailed look at the history and the inner workings of the FBI profiles the leaders who've directed it since its inception in 1908, exposing not only their strengths and weaknesses but also their idiosyncrasies.
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Michael Moore? Mention his name and you'll find that people either love him or hate him, but how many people really know who he is, what he's done and what he stands for? This collection of stories from his early life sheds light on his accomplishments that will delight fans and might tempt detractors to take a deeper, more informed look at the man. His mother taught him to read at age four and from that point on, Michael's intellectual curiosity inspired him to gather information either from reading or from questioning the people around him. With his keen awareness of injustice and his willingness to rail against
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