Best History of Ships

But the Lusitania was one of the era’s great transatlantic “Greyhounds”—the fastest liner then in service—and her captain, William Thomas Turner, placed tremendous faith in the gentlemanly strictures of warfare that for a century had kept civilian ships safe from attack. Full of glamour and suspense, Dead Wake brings to life a cast of evocative characters, from famed Boston bookseller Charles Lauriat to pioneering female architect Theodate Pope to President Woodrow Wilson, a man lost to grief, dreading the widening war but also captivated by the prospect of new love. Finalist for the Washington State Book Award — History/General Non-fictionA Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of 2015A St. Louis Post-Dispatch Best Book of 2015A Miami Herald Favorite Book of 2015BookTrib's Best Narrative Nonfiction Book of 2015#1 History & Biography Book in the 2015 Goodreads Choice AwardsA LibraryReads Top Ten Book of 2015 A Library Journal Top Ten Book of 2015A Kirkus Best Book of 2015 An Indigo Best Book of 2015 "Larson is one of the modern masters of popular narrative nonfiction...a resourceful reporter and a subtle stylist who understands the tricky art of Edward Scissorhands-ing narrative strands into a pleasing story...An entertaining book about a great subject, and it will do much to make this seismic event resonate for new generations of readers." — The New York Times Book Review "Larson is an old hand at treating nonfiction like high drama...He knows how to pick details that have maximum soapy potential and then churn them down until they foam [and] has an eye for haunting, unexploited detail." "This enthralling and richly detailed account demonstrates that there was far more going on beneath the surface than is generally known...Larson's account [of the Lusitania 's sinking] is the most lucid and suspenseful yet written, and he finds genuine emotional power in the unlucky confluences of forces, 'large and achingly small,' that set the stage for the ship's agonizing final moments." "Larson has a gift for transforming historical re-creations into popular recreations, and Dead Wake is no exception...[He] provides first-rate suspense, a remarkable achievement given that we already know how this is going to turn out...The tension, in the reader's easy chair, is unbearable..." — The Boston Globe. Larson is an exceptionally skilled storyteller, and his tick-tock narrative, which cuts between the Lusitania , U-20 and the political powers behind them, is pitch-perfect." "Larson so brilliantly elucidates [the Lusitania 's fate] in Dead Wake , his detailed forensic and utterly engrossing account of the Lusitania 's last voyage...Yes, we know how the story of the Lusitania ends, but there's still plenty of white-knuckle tension. "Larson's nimble, exquisitely researched tale puts you dead center...Larson deftly pulls off the near-magical feat of taking a foregone conclusion and conjuring a tale that's suspenseful, moving and altogether riveting." "With each revelation from Britain and America, with each tense, claustrophobic scene aboard U-20, the German sub that torpedoed the ship, with each vignette from the Lusitania , Larson's well-paced narrative ratchets the suspense. His eye for the ironic detail keen, his sense of this time period perceptive, Larson spins a sweeping tale that gives the Lusitania its due attention. "[Larson] has a gift for finding the small, personal details that bring history to life...His depiction of the sinking of the ship, and the horrific 18 minutes between the time it was hit and the time it disappeared, is masterly, moving between strange, touching details." Not so with Erik Larson...Larson wrestles these disparate narratives into a unified, coherent story and so creates a riveting account of the Lusitania 's ending and the beginnings of the U.S.'s involvement in the war." —Pittsburgh Post Gazette "In your mind, the sinking of the luxury liner Lusitania may be filed in a cubbyhole...After reading Erik Larson's impressive reconstruction of the Lusitania 's demise, you're going to need a much bigger cubbyhole...Larson's book is a work of carefully sourced nonfiction, not a novelization, but it has a narrative sweep and miniseries pacing that make it highly entertaining as well as informative." "Larson breathes life into narrative history like few writers working today." "Now the tragic footnote to a global conflagration, the history of the [ Lusitania 's] final voyage... is worthy of the pathos and narrative artistry Erik Larson brings to Dead Wake ...Reader's of Larson's previous nonfiction page turners...will not be disappointed. "The story of the Lusitania 's sinking by a German U-boat has been told before, but Larson's version features new details and the gripping immediacy he's famous for. The fact that this is coming through a page-turner history book, where all the figures and details reveal an impeccable eye and thorough research, is just one of the odd pleasures of Larson's writing." He draws upon a wealth of sources for his subject – telegrams, wireless messages, survivor depositions, secret intelligence ledgers, a submarine captain’s war log, love letters, admiralty and university archives, even morgue photos of Lusitania victims… Filled with revealing political, military and social information, Larson’s engrossing Dead Wake is, at its heart, a benediction for the 1,198 souls lost at sea.” — Tampa Bay Times. "Larson, an authority on nonfiction accounts, expounds on our primary education, putting faces to the disaster and crafting an intimate portrait in Dead Wake . "In a well-paced narrative, Larson reveals the forces large and small, natural and man-made, coincidental and intentional, that propelled the Lusitania to its fatal rendezvous...Larson's description of the moments and hours that followed the torpedo's explosive impact is riveting... Dead Wake stands on its own as a gripping recounting of an episode that still has the power to haunt a reader 100 years later." — Booklist , starred review "[Larson] has always shown a brilliant ability to unearth the telling details of a story and has the narrative chops to bring a historical moment vividly alive. But in his new book, Larson simply outdoes himself...What is most compelling about Dead Wake is that, through astonishing research, Larson gives us a strong sense of the individuals—passengers and crew—aboard the Lusitania , heightening our sense of anxiety as we realize that some of the people we have come to know will go down with the ship. "Critically acclaimed 'master of narrative nonfiction' Erik Larson has produced a thrilling account of the principals and the times surrounding this tumultuous event in world history...After an intimate look at the passengers, and soon-to-be victims, who board in New York despite the warning of 'unrestricted warfare' from the German embassy, Larson turns up the pace with shorter and shorter chapters alternating between the hunted and the hunter until the actual shot.

Bound for Antarctica, where polar explorer Ernest Shackleton planned to cross on foot the last uncharted continent, the Endurance set sail from England in August 1914. The goal of his expedition was to cross the Antarctic overland, but more than a year later, and still half a continent away from the intended base, the Endurance was trapped in ice and eventually was crushed. For five months Shackleton and his crew survived on drifting ice packs in one of the most savage regions of the world before they were finally able to set sail again in one of the ship's lifeboats.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The riveting, tick-tock account of the largest manmade explosion in history prior to the atomic bomb, and the equally astonishing tales of survival and heroism that emerged from the ashes. , from acclaimed New York Times bestselling author John U. Bacon. This is the unforgettable story told in John U. Bacon's The Great Halifax Explosion : a ticktock account of fateful decisions that led to doom, the human faces of the blast's 11,000 casualties, and the equally moving individual stories of those who lived and selflessly threw themselves into urgent rescue work that saved thousands. This is the unforgettable story told in John U. Bacon’s The Great Halifax Explosion : a ticktock account of the hours preceding the disaster, the fateful decisions that led to doom, the human faces of the blast’s 11,000 casualties, and the aftermath. The blast dominated global headlines, transformed Canada and the United States from adversaries to allies, and, years later, gave J. Robert Oppenheimer his best case study in the power of a weapon of mass destruction.

Bound for Antarctica, where polar explorer Ernest Shackleton planned to cross on foot the last uncharted continent, the Endurance set sail from England in August 1914. The goal of his expedition was to cross the Antarctic overland, but more than a year later, and still half a continent away from the intended base, the Endurance was trapped in ice and eventually was crushed. For five months Shackleton and his crew survived on drifting ice packs in one of the most savage regions of the world before they were finally able to set sail again in one of the ship's lifeboats.

The Curies' newly discovered element of radium makes gleaming headlines across the nation as the fresh face of beauty, and wonder drug of the medical community. Written with a sparkling voice and breakneck pace, The Radium Girls fully illuminates the inspiring young women exposed to the "wonder" substance of radium, and their awe-inspiring strength in the face of almost impossible circumstances. "Kate Moore's new book will move, shock and anger you" -- The Big Issue Kate Moore is a Sunday Times bestselling writer with more than a decade's experience in writing across varying genres, including memoir and biography and history.

a great story in the hands of a master storyteller.”— The Wall Street Journal The Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Peter the Great, Nicholas and Alexandra, and The Romanovs returns with another masterpiece of narrative biography, the extraordinary story of an obscure German princess who became one of the most remarkable, powerful, and captivating women in history. “[A] compelling portrait not just of a Russian titan, but also of a flesh-and-blood woman.”— Newsweek “An absorbing, satisfying biography.”— Los Angeles Times “Juicy and suspenseful.”— The New York Times Book Review “A great life, indeed, and irresistibly told.”—Salon NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times • The Washington Post • USA Today • The Boston Globe • San Francisco Chronicle • Chicago Tribune • Newsweek/ The Daily Beast. • Salon • Vogue • St. Louis Post-Dispatch • The Providence Journal • Washington Examiner • South Florida Sun-Sentinel • BookPage • Bookreporter • Publishers Weekly BONUS: This edition contains a Catherine the Great reader's guide. In 1744, at the age of 14, she was taken by her ambitious mother--removed from her family, her religion, and her country--to a foreign land with a single goal: marry a prince and bear him an heir. Massie, a former president of the Authors Guild, is a seasoned biographer of the 400-year Romanov dynasty, most notably with Peter the Great: His Life and World , which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1981 and remains one of the most arresting biographies I've even encountered. Married to an incompetent man-child who was unwilling or unable to help her fulfill her primary role--giving birth to a son--she ultimately grew to become a trailblazer among monarchs: friend of philosophical giants, incomparable patron of the arts, prosecutor of multiple wars, pioneer of public health, maker of kings, and prodigious serial lover. Indeed, her accomplishments and shortcomings as an autocrat and a woman make for a remarkable saga, but that's not to say that just any author could do justice to Catherine's lasting legacy. Massie situates Catherine's early life and three-decade reign as empress amidst the tumult of the European Enlightenment, enriching his own narrative with telling excerpts of her letters and rich discussions of her political environment and personal motivations. ” —The Wall Street Journal “Dense and detailed, enriched by pages of full-color illustrations, Massie’s latest will transport history lovers .” —People. He understands plot—fate—as a function of character, and the narrative perspective he establishes and maintains, a vision tightly aligned with that of his subject, convinces a reader he’s not so much looking at Catherine the Great as he is out of her eyes.

But the Lusitania was one of the era’s great transatlantic “Greyhounds”—the fastest liner then in service—and her captain, William Thomas Turner, placed tremendous faith in the gentlemanly strictures of warfare that for a century had kept civilian ships safe from attack. Full of glamour and suspense, Dead Wake brings to life a cast of evocative characters, from famed Boston bookseller Charles Lauriat to pioneering female architect Theodate Pope to President Woodrow Wilson, a man lost to grief, dreading the widening war but also captivated by the prospect of new love. Finalist for the Washington State Book Award — History/General Non-fictionA Washington Post Notable Nonfiction Book of 2015A St. Louis Post-Dispatch Best Book of 2015A Miami Herald Favorite Book of 2015BookTrib's Best Narrative Nonfiction Book of 2015#1 History & Biography Book in the 2015 Goodreads Choice AwardsA LibraryReads Top Ten Book of 2015 A Library Journal Top Ten Book of 2015A Kirkus Best Book of 2015 An Indigo Best Book of 2015 "Larson is one of the modern masters of popular narrative nonfiction...a resourceful reporter and a subtle stylist who understands the tricky art of Edward Scissorhands-ing narrative strands into a pleasing story...An entertaining book about a great subject, and it will do much to make this seismic event resonate for new generations of readers." — The New York Times Book Review "Larson is an old hand at treating nonfiction like high drama...He knows how to pick details that have maximum soapy potential and then churn them down until they foam [and] has an eye for haunting, unexploited detail." "This enthralling and richly detailed account demonstrates that there was far more going on beneath the surface than is generally known...Larson's account [of the Lusitania 's sinking] is the most lucid and suspenseful yet written, and he finds genuine emotional power in the unlucky confluences of forces, 'large and achingly small,' that set the stage for the ship's agonizing final moments." "Larson has a gift for transforming historical re-creations into popular recreations, and Dead Wake is no exception...[He] provides first-rate suspense, a remarkable achievement given that we already know how this is going to turn out...The tension, in the reader's easy chair, is unbearable..." — The Boston Globe. Larson is an exceptionally skilled storyteller, and his tick-tock narrative, which cuts between the Lusitania , U-20 and the political powers behind them, is pitch-perfect." "Larson so brilliantly elucidates [the Lusitania 's fate] in Dead Wake , his detailed forensic and utterly engrossing account of the Lusitania 's last voyage...Yes, we know how the story of the Lusitania ends, but there's still plenty of white-knuckle tension. "Larson's nimble, exquisitely researched tale puts you dead center...Larson deftly pulls off the near-magical feat of taking a foregone conclusion and conjuring a tale that's suspenseful, moving and altogether riveting." "With each revelation from Britain and America, with each tense, claustrophobic scene aboard U-20, the German sub that torpedoed the ship, with each vignette from the Lusitania , Larson's well-paced narrative ratchets the suspense. His eye for the ironic detail keen, his sense of this time period perceptive, Larson spins a sweeping tale that gives the Lusitania its due attention. "[Larson] has a gift for finding the small, personal details that bring history to life...His depiction of the sinking of the ship, and the horrific 18 minutes between the time it was hit and the time it disappeared, is masterly, moving between strange, touching details." Not so with Erik Larson...Larson wrestles these disparate narratives into a unified, coherent story and so creates a riveting account of the Lusitania 's ending and the beginnings of the U.S.'s involvement in the war." —Pittsburgh Post Gazette "In your mind, the sinking of the luxury liner Lusitania may be filed in a cubbyhole...After reading Erik Larson's impressive reconstruction of the Lusitania 's demise, you're going to need a much bigger cubbyhole...Larson's book is a work of carefully sourced nonfiction, not a novelization, but it has a narrative sweep and miniseries pacing that make it highly entertaining as well as informative." "Larson breathes life into narrative history like few writers working today." "Now the tragic footnote to a global conflagration, the history of the [ Lusitania 's] final voyage... is worthy of the pathos and narrative artistry Erik Larson brings to Dead Wake ...Reader's of Larson's previous nonfiction page turners...will not be disappointed. "The story of the Lusitania 's sinking by a German U-boat has been told before, but Larson's version features new details and the gripping immediacy he's famous for. The fact that this is coming through a page-turner history book, where all the figures and details reveal an impeccable eye and thorough research, is just one of the odd pleasures of Larson's writing." He draws upon a wealth of sources for his subject – telegrams, wireless messages, survivor depositions, secret intelligence ledgers, a submarine captain’s war log, love letters, admiralty and university archives, even morgue photos of Lusitania victims… Filled with revealing political, military and social information, Larson’s engrossing Dead Wake is, at its heart, a benediction for the 1,198 souls lost at sea.” — Tampa Bay Times. "Larson, an authority on nonfiction accounts, expounds on our primary education, putting faces to the disaster and crafting an intimate portrait in Dead Wake . "In a well-paced narrative, Larson reveals the forces large and small, natural and man-made, coincidental and intentional, that propelled the Lusitania to its fatal rendezvous...Larson's description of the moments and hours that followed the torpedo's explosive impact is riveting... Dead Wake stands on its own as a gripping recounting of an episode that still has the power to haunt a reader 100 years later." — Booklist , starred review "[Larson] has always shown a brilliant ability to unearth the telling details of a story and has the narrative chops to bring a historical moment vividly alive. But in his new book, Larson simply outdoes himself...What is most compelling about Dead Wake is that, through astonishing research, Larson gives us a strong sense of the individuals—passengers and crew—aboard the Lusitania , heightening our sense of anxiety as we realize that some of the people we have come to know will go down with the ship. "Critically acclaimed 'master of narrative nonfiction' Erik Larson has produced a thrilling account of the principals and the times surrounding this tumultuous event in world history...After an intimate look at the passengers, and soon-to-be victims, who board in New York despite the warning of 'unrestricted warfare' from the German embassy, Larson turns up the pace with shorter and shorter chapters alternating between the hunted and the hunter until the actual shot.

“Have mercy on me, Lord, I am Cuban.” In 1962, Carlos Eire was one of 14,000 children airlifted out of Havana—exiled from his family, his country, and his own childhood by Fidel Castro’s revolution. As imaginatively wrought as the finest piece of fiction, the book abounds with magical interpretations of ordinary boyhood events-playing in a friend's backyard is like a perilous journey through the jungle; setting off firecrackers becomes a lyrical, cosmic opera; a child's birthday party turns into a phantasmagoria of American pop cultural icons. Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. At the start of the nineteen-sixties, an operation called Pedro Pan flew more than fourteen thousand Cuban children out of the country, without their parents, and deposited them in Miami. His deeply moving memoir describes his life before Castro, among the aristocracy of old Cuba—his father, a judge, believed himself to be the reincarnation of Louis XVI—and, later, in America, where he turned from a child of privilege into a Lost Boy.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The riveting, tick-tock account of the largest manmade explosion in history prior to the atomic bomb, and the equally astonishing tales of survival and heroism that emerged from the ashes. , from acclaimed New York Times bestselling author John U. Bacon. This is the unforgettable story told in John U. Bacon's The Great Halifax Explosion : a ticktock account of fateful decisions that led to doom, the human faces of the blast's 11,000 casualties, and the equally moving individual stories of those who lived and selflessly threw themselves into urgent rescue work that saved thousands. John U. Bacon, a superbly talented historian and story teller, has rescued from obscurity an astonishing episode of horror and heroism.” (GEORGE F. WILL). “When I first encountered the Halifax Explosion, I knew immediately it was a tick-tock of a story just waiting to become a book. With deep research and evocative writing, John U. Bacon has brought back to life this devastating wartime event and illuminated its lasting meaning.” (DAVID MARANISS, Pulitzer Prize winner, and author of Once in a Great City ). “Fans of Ken Burns, Daniel James Brown’s The Boys in the Boat , and John Hersey’s Hiroshima will find in John Bacon’s meticulous reporting a story that literally rocked the world. “John U. Bacon’s The Great Halifax Explosion is the seminal account of one of the bloodiest man-made disasters in world history, which killed some 2,000 people. The astonishing true story of history’s largest manmade explosion before the atomic bomb, and its world-changing aftermath, from acclaimed New York Times bestselling author John U. Bacon. This is the unforgettable story told in John U. Bacon’s The Great Halifax Explosion : a ticktock account of the hours preceding the disaster, the fateful decisions that led to doom, the human faces of the blast’s 11,000 casualties, and the aftermath.

ABC News chief meteorologist Ginger Zee pulls back the curtain on her life in Natural Disaster. Natural Disaster chronicles Zee's hard work in all areas of her life and her ability to find the eye of any storm.― Booklist Ginger Zee is the chief meteorologist at ABC News. She para-hawked in Nepal, para-glided in the Himalayas and the Andes, dove with sharks in the Bahamas, rappelled 27 stories down the exterior facade of the Wit Hotel in Chicago, plus has gone ice boat racing and surfing.