Twenty-five stories of firsts in America resurrect the men and women--forgers, humorists, poets, inventors, abolitionists, and the like--who have been unjustly robbed of their historical due for their early contributions to a young nation. 35,000 first printing.

The Mayflower Murderer and Other Forgotten Firsts in American History

Biographies & Memoirs

Stevens, Peter F.

Reference & Collections

William Morrow & Co.

Twenty-five stories of firsts in America relate the stories of men and women who have been unjustly robbed of their historical due for their early contributions to a young nation

Historical

Quill

The whaling ship Catalpa set out from New Bedford, Massachusetts, on the morning of April 29, 1875, to undertake a daring yearlong mission of international rescue. American captain George Anthony risked his career as a whaler—and his life—to rescue a group of British-soldiers-turned-Irish-rebels known as “The Fremantle Six” from their prison in Australia. With the help of the prison chaplain, the six men escaped to the coast where Anthony was waiting with a small whaleboat that would take them to the Catalpa. The resistance they overcame, both from armed British vessels and a furious sea storm, made their escape the stuff of legend. In what Britain considered a near act of war, the Catalpa outran the Royal Navy and deposited its politically dangerous cargo in New York Harbor in August 1876. Fast-paced, compelling, and meticulously researched, this saga of American, Irish, British, and Australian history is the first full telling of the Catalpa’s voyage. The expedition was embraced by Irish and Irish-Americans as the very symbol of defiance against Great Britain and would loom large in the revolutionary rhetoric of Michael Collins. Though Captain Anthony would never again sail into international waters for fear of arrest by the British government, his rescue voyage, made mostly without the use of a functioning chronometer, is one of the greatest feats of seamanship in nautical annals and one of the most daring deeds performed by an American in the name of Irish independence. Included are eight pages of black-and-white photographs.

The Voyage of the Catalpa: A Perilous Journey and Six Irish Rebels' Escape to Freedom

History

Europe

Carroll&Graf

The Secret Service: The Hidden History of an Enigmatic Agency

Pulling the veil off a highly visible yet tight-lipped federal agency, acclaimed scholar Philip Melanson has created the first definitive history of the Secret Service. With 8 pages of photographs, rigorous research and interviews with former White House staffers, retired agents, Service training dropouts, and the first female agent on the presidential detail, Melanson presents the agency's hidden history and examines its role in the headlines of our times. Here are revelations about the assassination of JFK and the shooting of President Reagan, along with threats against other presidents; presidential demands on agents and agency funds (by JFK, LBJ, Nixon, the Bushes, and Clinton); alcoholism, divorce, and burnout among agents; the Service's inexplicable failure to develop a profile of assassins that would facilitate effective prevention; and how the gender gap within the Service has been institutionalized. Assailing the image of a highly professional and apolitical organization, the book examines the pervasive, often detrimental influence that politics exerts on the Service, typified by Kenneth Starr's efforts to use agents' testimony against President Clinton. Melanson also discusses the profound new challenge facing the Secret Service: How to respond in a post–September 11 world, as brazen new assassination methods proliferate. With this provocative study, one federal agency still veiled in secrecy is exposed for all to see. Explosive and revealing, this is the first comprehensive history of one of our government's most shrouded agencies.

Melanson, Philip H.

Americas

Basic Books

Like many athletes, golfers are always looking for new ways to improve their game. Now, in this innovative and revolutionary book, Ted Kiegiel shows golfers of all levels how turning to Eastern philosophy can shave points off their handicap. He thoroughly explains how to integrate the mechanical, physical principles of golf with the mental, philosophical aspects of Eastern-oriented thinking and lays out an instructional program that will put a player's golf game into balance.

Balanced Golf: Harnessing the Simplicity, Focus, and Natural Motions of Martial Arts to Improve Your All-Around Game

Sports & Outdoors

Kiegiel, Ted

Golf

Contemporary Books

This astonishing Civil War story follows the real-life exploits of a married couple who fought side-by-side as soldiers for the North, the South, and finally for a band of marauding, pro-Union partisans. Based on primary source material from the Watuga County, North Carolina archives, Rebels in Blue provides a fast-paced, gripping narrative of uncommon love and blind revenge set against the turmoil of the Civil War.

Rebels in Blue: The Story of Keith and Malinda Blalock

UNKNO

Plant Systematics: A Phylogenetic Approach, Second Edition is an introductory text that incorporates phylogenetic principles and methods throughout—from the careful explanation of phylogenetic methods and principles in the initial two chapters to the taxonomic survey of vascular plant families in the last two chapters. 
Orders and families are recircumscribed to represent monophyletic groups, largely following the most recent classification of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. The sources of taxonomic evidence are discussed, including morphology, anatomy, embryology, chromosomes, palynology, secondary plant compounds, proteins, and DNA. Molecular taxonomic methods are fully presented, and throughout the book reference is made to the results of recent studies, both molecular and morphological. A chapter on the history of plant classification puts current systematic methods in a historical context. Issues relating to variation in plant populations and species, including discussion of speciation, species concepts, polyploidy, hybridization, breeding systems, and introgression are carefully considered. Botanical nomenclature and field and herbarium methods are discussed in two appendices. New to the Second Edition are a chapter presenting an overview of the phylogeny of the green plants (with an emphasis on the vascular plants), a detailed glossary of botanical and biological terms, and coverage of 16 additional families of vascular plants. All chapters have been thoroughly updated, taking into account recent taxonomic methods and hypotheses. 
The text is copiously illustrated, using in large part the informative analytical drawings developed as part of the Generic Flora of the Southeastern United States project. The text is accompanied by a much expanded CD-ROM, containing over 2,200 color photos illustrating the diagnostic characters of (and variability within) the vascular plant families covered in the text, including many images showing floral and fruit dissections.

Plant Systematics: A Phylogenetic Approach

Science & Math

Kellogg, Elizabeth A.

Judd, Walter S.

Campbell, Christopher S.

Donoghue, Michael J.

Biological Sciences

Sinauer Associates, Inc.

A comprehensive introduction to vascular plant phylogeny, the Third Edition of Plant Systematics reflects changes in the circumscription of many orders and families to represent monophyletic groups, following the most recent classification of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group. The taxonomic evidence described includes data from morphology, anatomy, embryology, chromosomes, palynology, secondary plant compounds, proteins, and DNA. Molecular taxonomic methods are fully presented, as are the results of many recent studies, both molecular and morphological. A chapter on the history of plant classification puts current systematic methods into historical context. Issues relating to variation in plant populations and species, including speciation and species concepts, polyploidy, hybridization, breeding systems, and introgression are carefully considered. Appendices cover botanical nomenclature as well as field and herbarium methodology. The text is copiously illustrated, using in large part the informative analytical drawings developed as part of the Generic Flora of the Southeastern United States project.

Notorious & Notable New Englanders

Community & Culture

Down East Books

Untold Tales of the Boston Irish (Hidden History)

When it comes to the Boston Irish, names such as Bulger and Curley have long shaped the local turf. But most people are probably unaware of some of the most amazing and forgotten Irish men and women who helped mold this city. There was Patrick Gilmore, America's first famed bandleader. Louis Sullivan was the "Father of the Skyscraper." Other colorful characters included Patsy Donovan, the man who discovered Babe Ruth, and Ann "Goody" Glover, whose horrifying ordeal launched the Salem Witch Trials. Although each played a noteworthy role in his or her era, all have been unjustly forgotten. Local author Peter Stevens uncovers the missing pieces of the Irish experience in Boston.

Arts & Photography

Photography & Video

The History Press

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Books by Stevens, Peter F.