Everyone knows the names of astronauts John Glenn and Alan Shepard, but few are familiar with Gerri Cobb or Bernice Steadman, just two of the so-called Mercury 13—a group of extraordinary women secretly recruited for space training in the early 1960s. Passing gruelling physical and psychological tests, these women, all pilots, consistently outperformed the men in many key areas, but not one of them lead their country into space. 
For Promised the Moon, journalist Stephanie Nolen tracked down the 11 surviving members of the Mercury 13 to learn more about the program and the political and cultural climate that led to its mysterious cancellation.

Promised the Moon: The Untold Story Of The First Women In The Space Race

Nolen, Stephanie

History

Penguin Canada

Everyone knows the names of astronauts John Glenn and Alan Shepard, but few are familiar with Gerri Cobb or Bernice Steadman, just two of the so-called Mercury 13—a group of extraordinary women secretly recruited for space training in the early 1960s. Passing gruelling physical and psychological tests, these women, all pilots, consistently outperformed the men in many key areas, but not one of them lead their country into space. 
For Promised the Moon, journalist Stephanie Nolen tracked down the 11 surviving members of the Mercury 13 to learn more about the program and the political and cultural climate that led to its mysterious cancellation.

Promised The Moon: The Untold Story Of The First Women In The Space Race

Biographies & Memoirs

Shakespeare's Face

A fascinating literary detective story charting the surprising, true history of a recently discovered painting of Shakespeare held by the same family for 400 years -- adding new drama to the Bard's life. When author Stephanie Nolen reported the discovery of the only portrait of William Shakespeare painted while he was alive, the announcement ignited furious controversy around the world. 
 Now, in this provocative biography of the portrait, she tells the riveting story of how a rare image of the young Bard at thirty-nine came to reside in the suburban home of a retired engineer, whose grandmother kept the family treasure under her bed, and how he embarked on authenticating it. The ultimate Antiques Roadshow dream, the portrait has been confirmed by six years of painstaking forensic studies to date from around 1600, and it has not been altered since.

Knopf Canada

A fascinating literary detective story charting the surprising, true history of a recently discovered painting of Shakespeare held by the same family for 400 years -- adding new drama to the Bard's life. When author Stephanie Nolen reported the discovery of the only portrait of William Shakespeare painted while he was alive, the announcement ignited furious controversy around the world.  Now, in this provocative biography of the portrait, she tells the riveting story of how a rare image of the young Bard at thirty-nine came to reside in the suburban home of a retired engineer, whose grandmother kept the family treasure under her bed, and how he embarked on authenticating it. The ultimate Antiques Roadshow dream, the portrait has been confirmed by six years of painstaking forensic studies to date from around 1600, and it has not been altered since.

Arts & Photography

History & Criticism

28: Stories of AIDS in Africa

“This is a formidable book of record…from the tiny virus, via twenty-eight individual human stories, to an entire continent. The stories will tear you apart before putting you back together, fully armed and ready to go to war with a virus more dangerous than any WMD.”—Bono“Magnificent, inspiring, informative. Nolen opens the essential door to the brave, suffering, human reality of the African AIDS crisis.”—John le CarréFor the past six years, Stephanie Nolen has traced AIDS across Africa, and 28 is the result: an unprecedented, uniquely human portrait of the continent in crisis. Through riveting, anecdotal stories, she bears witness and brings to life men, women, and children involved in every AIDS arena, exploring the effects of an epidemic that well exceeds the Black Plague in scope, and the reasons why we must care about what happens. Nolen’s stories reveal how the disease works and spreads; how it is inextricably tied to conflict and famine and to the diverse cultures it has ravaged; how treatment works; and how people who can’t get treatment fight to stay alive with courage and dignity against huge odds. Writing with power and simplicity, she makes us listen, allows us to understand, and inspires us to care

Health, Fitness & Dieting

Diseases & Physical Ailments

Walker

From one of our most widely read, award-winning journalists – comes the powerful, unputdownable story of the very human cost of a global pandemic of staggering scope and scale. It is essential reading for our times. In 28, Stephanie Nolen, the Globe and Mail’s Africa Bureau Chief, puts a human face to the crisis created by HIV-AIDS in Africa. She has achieved, in this amazing book, something extraordinary: she writes with a power, understanding and simplicity that makes us listen, makes us understand and care. Through riveting anecdotal stories – one for each of the million people living with HIV-AIDS in Africa – Nolen explores the effects of an epidemic that well exceeds the Black Plague in magnitude. It is a calamity that is unfolding just a 747-flight away, and one that will take the lives of these 28 million without the help of massive, immediate intervention on an unprecedented scale. 28 is a timely, transformative, thoroughly accessible book that shows us definitively why we continue to ignore the growth of HIV-AIDS in Africa only at our peril and at an intolerable moral cost. 28’s stories are much more than a record of the suffering and loss in 28 emblematic lives. Here we meet women and men fighting vigorously on the frontlines of disease: Tigist Haile Michael, a smart, shy 14-year-old Ethiopian orphan fending for herself and her baby brother on the slum streets of Addis Ababa; Alice Kadzanja, an HIV-positive nurse in Malawi, where one in six adults has the virus, and where the average adult’s life expectancy is 36; and Zackie Achmat, the hero of South Africa’s politically fragmented battle against HIV-AIDS. 28 also tells us how the virus works, spreads and, ultimately, kills. It explains the connection of HIV-AIDS to conflict, famine and the collapse of states; shows us how easily treatment works for those lucky enough to get it and details the struggles of those who fight to stay alive with little support. It makes vivid the strong, desperate people doing all they can, and maintaining courage, dignity and hope against insurmountable odds. It is – in its humanity, beauty and sorrow – a call to action for all who read it. From the Hardcover edition.

Vintage Canada

A female world-record-setting pilot, Jerrie Cobb was recruited in 1959 to take the astronaut tests. She excelled, so the doctor who supervised the selection of NASA's Mercury astronauts recruited additional female pilots. Twelve performed exceptionally. Stephanie Nolen tracked down eleven of the surviving "Fellow Lady Astronaut Trainees" and learned the story of those early days of the space race and the disappointment when, in 1961, the women were grounded.

Promised the Moon

Scribner Book Company

The story of a recently discovered portrait of a young William Shakespeare traces its origins and history to discuss how it came into being, its possession by the same family for more than four hundred years, the painstaking forensic study that confirmed its age, and the plausibility of its authenticity. 20,000 first printing.

Shakespeare's Face: Unraveling the Legend and History of Shakespeare's Mysterious Portrait

Free Press

Piatkus

For the past six years, Stephanie Nolen has traced AIDS across Africa, and 28 is the result: an unprecedented, uniquely human portrait of the continent in crisis. Through riveting, anecdotal stories, she brings to life men, women, and children involved in every AIDS arena, making them familiar. And she explores the effects of an epidemic that well exceeds the Black Plague in scope, and the reasons why we must care about what happens.
In every instance, Nolen has borne witness to the stories she relates, whether riding with truck driver Mohammed Ali on a journey across Kenya; following Tigist Haile Michael, a smart, shy fourteen-year-old Ethiopian orphan fending for herself and her baby brother on the slum streets of Addis Ababa; chronicling the efforts of Alice Kadzanja, an HIV-positive nurse in Malawi; or interviewing Nelson Mandela's family about coming to terms with his own son's death from AIDS. Nolen's stories reveal how the disease works and spreads; how it is inextricably tied to conflict and famine and to the diverse cultures it has ravaged; how treatment works, and how people who can't get treatment fight to stay alive with courage and dignity against huge odds.
Imagine the entire population of New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles combined infected with HIV, and its magnitude in Africa is clear. Writing with power and simplicity, Stephanie Nolen makes us listen, allows us to understand, and inspires us to care. Timely and transformative, 28: Stories of AIDS in Africa is essential reading for anyone concerned about the fate of humankind.
Click here to learn more about Stephanie Nolen and her book, 28: Stories of AIDS in Africa.
Click here to listen to an interview with author Stephanie Nolen, as she talks about some of the people she has met covering AIDS in Africa.

Walker Books

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Nolen, Stephanie. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Nolen, Stephanie

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Nolen, Stephanie. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Promised the Moon: The Untold Story Of The First Women In The Space Race

Promised The Moon: The Untold Story Of The First Women In The Space Race

Shakespeare's Face

Shakespeare's Face

28: Stories of AIDS in Africa

28: Stories of AIDS in Africa

Promised the Moon

Shakespeare's Face: Unraveling the Legend and History of Shakespeare's Mysterious Portrait

Shakespeare's Face

28: Stories of AIDS in Africa