A Weekend at Blenheim

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Publisher : Minotaur Books
ISBN 13 : 1429978341
Total Pages : 328 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (299 download)

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Book Synopsis A Weekend at Blenheim by : J. P. Morrissey

Download or read book A Weekend at Blenheim written by J. P. Morrissey and published by Minotaur Books. This book was released on 2007-04-01 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this enthralling and atmospheric tale of murder, revenge and redemption, a young American struggles to make sense of a world he does not understand, where the price of acceptance may be murder. John Vanbrugh is an outsider in the England of 1905: A determined but unsuccessful American architect, he has moved to London to make a new life for himself and his wife, Margaret. When he receives an unexpected summons to meet the dazzling Duchess of Marlborough at Blenheim Palace, he is skeptical. The young duchess, Vanbrugh comes to understand, has her reasons. Like him, she is American-born: Consuelo Vanderbilt, one of the richest debutantes in America. Seemingly on impulse, the duchess hires Vanbrugh to renovate her rooms at Blenheim - a plum job Vanbrugh accepts. He and his wife join the weekend party at Blenheim, a group that includes the foul-tempered duke; his young cousin Winston Churchill; the society painter John Singer Sargent; the duchess' mother and American suffragette Mrs. O.H.P.Belmont; Gladys Deacon, an American friend of the duchess'; and the enigmatic Catholic Monsignor Vay de Vaya. Almost as soon as he begins work at Blenheim, Vanbrugh uncovers a series of unsettling letters that hint at a long-concealed deceit. As he tries to grasp the meaning of this discovery, a sketchbook owned by Sargent is stolen and a young housemaid is found in the courtyard, strangled. It is then that Vanbrugh realizes he is caught in a maze of duplicity and manipulation with no way out. Struggling to uncover the treachery he sees around him, Vanbrugh is forced to re-evaluate everything he thought about Blenheim, himself, even the very nature of truth. Part mystery, part gothic morality tale, A Weekend at Blenheim is a compelling, mesmerizing, deeply satisfying novel.

The Genius in the Design

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Author :
Publisher : Harper Collins
ISBN 13 : 0061873136
Total Pages : 338 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (618 download)

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Book Synopsis The Genius in the Design by : Jake Morrissey

Download or read book The Genius in the Design written by Jake Morrissey and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2009-10-13 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “The remarkable story of the two seventeenth-century geniuses. . . . A highly successful double biography.” —Booklist The rivalry between the brilliant seventeenth-century Italian architects Gianlorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini is the stuff of legend. Enormously talented and ambitious artists, they met as contemporaries in the building yards of St. Peter’s in Rome, became the greatest architects of their era by designing some of the most beautiful buildings in the world, and ended their lives as bitter enemies. Engrossing and impeccably researched, full of dramatic tension and breathtaking insight, The Genius in the Design is the remarkable tale of how two extraordinary visionaries schemed and maneuvered to get the better of each other and, in the process, created the spectacular Roman cityscape of today. “Entertaining. . . . Morrissey finely renders the intense rivalry between these two artists.” —Publishers Weekly “With clear prose and splendid touches of drama, history and architecture are both brought wonderfully to life.” —Ross King, New York Times bestselling author of Brunelleschi’s Dome and Michelangelo and the Pope’s Ceiling “Engrossing.” —Matthew Pearl, of The Dante Club “Genius in the Design reveals the dark side of 17th Century Italy with sparkling anecdotes and you-are-there immediacy” —Laurence Bergreen, author of Over the Edge of the World “Fascinating . . . a scintillating introduction to the Baroque.” —Iain Pears, New York Times bestselling author An Instance of the Fingerpost “Page-turning reading.” —Seattle Times Book Review “Morrissey illuminates the contrast between the celebrated Bernini and the anguished Borromini.” —Boston Globe

Jennie

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Author :
Publisher : Sourcebooks, Inc.
ISBN 13 : 1402248644
Total Pages : 773 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (22 download)

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Book Synopsis Jennie by : Ralph G Martin

Download or read book Jennie written by Ralph G Martin and published by Sourcebooks, Inc.. This book was released on 2007-10-01 with total page 773 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A master work...Jennie was released to a public that became entranced by her story, and will again be now that she is back in print in this magnificent single volume." —from the foreword by Sir Martin Gilbert, the official biographer of Winston Churchill Sourcebooks is bringing the internationally acclaimed New York Times bestseller back for a new generation of readers. Jennie Churchill was not merely Winston's mother. She was the most captivating and desired woman of her age. Originally from Brooklyn, Jennie became the reigning queen of British society. Beautiful and defiant, she lived with an honesty that made her the talk of two continents. Sir Martin Gilbert, official biographer of Winston Churchill, writes that Jennie is, "a master work" that "pulses with energy as the author leads us from her cradle to relatively early grave, at the age of sixty-seven, of a woman who finally emerges—under his guiding hand—from the shadow of being a great man's mother, to being a woman in her own right."

The Autobiography

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Author :
Publisher : Orion
ISBN 13 : 1409106446
Total Pages : 220 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis The Autobiography by : Mary King

Download or read book The Autobiography written by Mary King and published by Orion. This book was released on 2009-08-27 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A no-holds-barred story of what it takes to reach the top, and stay there, in the world's most dangerous sport - three day eventing. At the age of forty-seven Mary King won a Team Bronze at the Beijing Olympics. In the two 'Cavaliers' - 'Call Again Cavalier' and 'Imperial Cavalier' - she has two of the very best event horses in the world. Mary King's success in the world of eventing (now officially classed as the most dangerous sport in the world) has been hard won. She does not come from a privileged background - her father a verger and a long-term invalid so money was very tight. Her first pony was the ancient 'cast off' from the local vicar's children - and success with this pony gave her an iron will to succeed. And succeeded she has. To support herself in the early days she had a variety of unglamorous jobs (this included butcher delivery rounds and cleaning out toilets in the local campsite). Her talent was apparent from very early on and she first competed at Badminton in 1985, had her first win there on King William in 1992 and her second on Star Appeal in 2000. Just when everything seemed to be going well she suffered a terrible fall in 2001 and broke her neck but she was back competing at the very top level the following year. Fully updated for the paperback with the 2010 season, including Team GB's gold medal-winning performance at the World Equestrian Games, this is a fascinating account from inside the world's most dangerous sport.

My Odyssey

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Author :
Publisher : iUniverse
ISBN 13 : 0595257097
Total Pages : 698 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (952 download)

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Book Synopsis My Odyssey by : Stephane Groueff

Download or read book My Odyssey written by Stephane Groueff and published by iUniverse. This book was released on 2003 with total page 698 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1944, when Communism devastated Eastern Europe, it uprooted millions, setting the new "Displaced Persons" adrift, most often to a tragic fate. By unusual luck, young Stephane Groueff, a Bulgarian, landed on more hospitable shores. Spared from the destruction of his family and home after a happy, privileged childhood in a small Balkan kingdom, his eventful Odyssey threw him into the fascinating life of a "Paris-Match" foreign correspondent, led him to romantic experiences lived against the backdrop of Montmartre nightclubs, Egyptian pyramids, opulent Irish castles or Alpine ski resorts and involved him in anti-Communist exile activities. The reader of his candid narrative finds the budding historian of the Manhattan Project at the side of general Groves, the maker of the atomic bomb, follows him as a chronicler of science research at oceanography expeditions in the Pacific, at the Mt.Palomar telescope or on the South Pole, and meets him again in Mexico and at the service of the Sultan of Oman. His reportages bring him to Cape Canaveral and Saigon, to refugee camps in Thailand, and glamorous Hollywood. The bittersweet tale abounds with celebrities, famous friends, and amusing anecdotes, but is also filled with incurable nostalgia and heartbreaking details of the author's family's sufferings. Unexpectedly, a miracle interrupts the "Displaced Person's" voyage: the Communist regime collapses and Groueff can finally return to his native land. The circle is completed. The red carpet awaits him, but 46 years had passed and most people he loved are no longer there to welcome him.

The Ambassador

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Publisher : St. Martin's Press
ISBN 13 : 1250238730
Total Pages : 549 pages
Book Rating : 4.2/5 (52 download)

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Book Synopsis The Ambassador by : Susan Ronald

Download or read book The Ambassador written by Susan Ronald and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2021-08-03 with total page 549 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Acclaimed biographer Susan Ronald reveals the truth about Joseph P. Kennedy's deeply controversial tenure as Ambassador to Great Britain on the eve of World War II. On February 18, 1938, Joseph P. Kennedy was sworn in as US Ambassador to the Court of St. James. To say his appointment to the most prestigious and strategic diplomatic post in the world shocked the Establishment was an understatement: known for his profound Irish roots and staunch Catholicism, not to mention his “plain-spoken” opinions and womanizing, he was a curious choice as Europe hurtled toward war. Initially welcomed by the British, in less than two short years Kennedy was loathed by the White House, the State Department and the British Government. Believing firmly that Fascism was the inevitable wave of the future, he consistently misrepresented official US foreign policy internationally as well as direct instructions from FDR himself. The Americans were the first to disown him and the British and the Nazis used Kennedy to their own ends. Through meticulous research and many newly available sources, Ronald confirms in impressive detail what has long been believed by many: that Kennedy was a Fascist sympathizer and an anti-Semite whose only loyalty was to his family's advancement. She also reveals the ambitions of the Kennedy dynasty during this period abroad, as they sought to enter the world of high society London and establish themselves as America’s first family. Thorough and utterly readable, The Ambassador explores a darker side of the Kennedy patriarch in an account sure to generate attention and controversy.

Winfield

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Author :
Publisher : Macmillan
ISBN 13 : 9780312309824
Total Pages : 312 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (98 download)

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Book Synopsis Winfield by : Monica Randall

Download or read book Winfield written by Monica Randall and published by Macmillan. This book was released on 2003-05-21 with total page 312 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This enchanting memoir explores the culture and history of a bygone era, filled with enthralling stories of infamous scandals and breathtaking Gilded Age tales of New York Society. 16-page photo insert.

Marconi My Beloved

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Author :
Publisher : Branden Books
ISBN 13 : 9780937832394
Total Pages : 444 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (323 download)

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Book Synopsis Marconi My Beloved by : Maria Cristina Marconi

Download or read book Marconi My Beloved written by Maria Cristina Marconi and published by Branden Books. This book was released on 2000 with total page 444 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: When in 1895 twenty-one-year-old Guglielmo Marconi made his first wireless transmission over land, he became the boy wonder of the world. When subsequently, he made similar transmissions across the Atlantic Ocean, thus proving to the world that his radio-related inventions had immediate and wide-spread applications for all of humanity, young Marconi ushered in the Age of Communication. The life, the works, the character of one of the greatest scientists of this Century, Guglielmo Marconi, the inventor of the Radio, are described in this carefully documented, impassioned and deeply involved book by an exceptional witness: his wife Maria Cristina. He was called 'The genius who gave a voice to silence'. Acclaimed by the whole world, the recipient of the most prestigious honours and decorations, he never lost his innate modesty and discretion even at the height of his success.

Citizens of London

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Author :
Publisher : Random House Trade Paperbacks
ISBN 13 : 0812979354
Total Pages : 529 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (129 download)

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Book Synopsis Citizens of London by : Lynne Olson

Download or read book Citizens of London written by Lynne Olson and published by Random House Trade Paperbacks. This book was released on 2011-05-03 with total page 529 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The acclaimed author of Troublesome Young Men reveals the behind-the-scenes story of how the United States forged its wartime alliance with Britain, told from the perspective of three key American players in London: Edward R. Murrow, the handsome, chain-smoking head of CBS News in Europe; Averell Harriman, the hard-driving millionaire who ran FDR’s Lend-Lease program in London; and John Gilbert Winant, the shy, idealistic U.S. ambassador to Britain. Each man formed close ties with Winston Churchill—so much so that all became romantically involved with members of the prime minister’s family. Drawing from a variety of primary sources, Lynne Olson skillfully depicts the dramatic personal journeys of these men who, determined to save Britain from Hitler, helped convince a cautious Franklin Roosevelt and reluctant American public to back the British at a critical time. Deeply human, brilliantly researched, and beautifully written, Citizens of London is a new triumph from an author swiftly becoming one of the finest in her field.

The Churchills: In Love and War

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Publisher : W. W. Norton & Company
ISBN 13 : 0393342255
Total Pages : 640 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (933 download)

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Book Synopsis The Churchills: In Love and War by : Mary S. Lovell

Download or read book The Churchills: In Love and War written by Mary S. Lovell and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2012-05-14 with total page 640 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Lovell presents the epic story of one of England's greatest families, focusing on the towering figure of Winston Churchill.

JENNIE VOLUME II

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Author :
Publisher :
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 516 pages
Book Rating : 4./5 ( download)

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Book Synopsis JENNIE VOLUME II by :

Download or read book JENNIE VOLUME II written by and published by . This book was released on 1971 with total page 516 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

JFK

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Author :
Publisher : Random House
ISBN 13 : 081299714X
Total Pages : 817 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (129 download)

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Book Synopsis JFK by : Fredrik Logevall

Download or read book JFK written by Fredrik Logevall and published by Random House. This book was released on 2020-09-08 with total page 817 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR • A Pulitzer Prize–winning historian takes us as close as we have ever been to the real John F. Kennedy in this revelatory biography of the iconic, yet still elusive, thirty-fifth president. “An utterly incandescent study of one of the most consequential figures of the twentieth century.”—Jill Lepore, author of These Truths: A History of the United States WINNER OF THE ELIZABETH LONGFORD PRIZE • NAMED BIOGRAPHY OF THE YEAR BY The Times (London) ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The Sunday Times (London), New Statesman, The Daily Telegraph, Kirkus Reviews By the time of his assassination in 1963, John F. Kennedy stood at the helm of the greatest power the world had ever seen, a booming American nation that he had steered through some of the most perilous diplomatic standoffs of the Cold War. Born in 1917 to a striving Irish American family that had become among Boston’s wealthiest, Kennedy knew political ambition from an early age, and his meteoric rise to become the youngest elected president cemented his status as one of the most mythologized figures in American history. And while hagiographic portrayals of his dazzling charisma, reports of his extramarital affairs, and disagreements over his political legacy have come and gone in the decades since his untimely death, these accounts all fail to capture the full person. Beckoned by this gap in our historical knowledge, Fredrik Logevall has spent much of the last decade searching for the “real” JFK. The result of this prodigious effort is a sweeping two-volume biography that properly contextualizes Kennedy amidst the roiling American Century. This volume spans the first thirty-nine years of JFK’s life—from birth through his decision to run for president—to reveal his early relationships, his formative experiences during World War II, his ideas, his writings, his political aspirations. In examining these pre–White House years, Logevall shows us a more serious, independently minded Kennedy than we’ve previously known, whose distinct international sensibility would prepare him to enter national politics at a critical moment in modern U.S. history. Along the way, Logevall tells the parallel story of America’s midcentury rise. As Kennedy comes of age, we see the charged debate between isolationists and interventionists in the years before Pearl Harbor; the tumult of the Second World War, through which the United States emerged as a global colossus; the outbreak and spread of the Cold War; the domestic politics of anti-Communism and the attendant scourge of McCarthyism; the growth of television’s influence on politics; and more. JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917–1956 is a sweeping history of the United States in the middle decades of the twentieth century, as well as the clearest portrait we have of this enigmatic American icon.

Passionate Mothers, Powerful Sons

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Author :
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1398527734
Total Pages : 364 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (985 download)

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Book Synopsis Passionate Mothers, Powerful Sons by : Charlotte Gray

Download or read book Passionate Mothers, Powerful Sons written by Charlotte Gray and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2023-09-14 with total page 364 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A captivating biography of two famous women whose sons, Winston Churchill and Franklin D Roosevelt, would change the course of the 20th century—by award-winning historian Charlotte Gray. Born into upper class America in the same year, 1854, Sara Delano and Jennie Jerome refused to settle into predictable, sheltered lives as little-known wives to prominent men. Instead, both women concentrated their energies on enabling their sons to reach the epicentre of political power on two continents. In the mid-19th century, the British Empire was at its height, France’s Second Empire flourished and the industrial vigour of the USA was catapulting the republic towards the Gilded Age. Sara and Jennie, raised with privilege but subject to the constraints of women’s roles at the time, learned how to take control of their destinies, Sara in the prosperous Hudson Valley and Jennie in the glittering world of Imperial London. Yet their personalities and choices were dramatically different. A vivacious extrovert, Jennie married Lord Randolph Churchill, rising politician and scion of a noble British family. Her deft social and political manoeuvrings helped not only her mercurial husband but, once she was widowed, her ambitious son, Winston. By contrast, deeply conventional Sara Delano married a man as old as her father. But once widowed, she made Franklin, her only child, the focus of her existence. Thanks in large part to her financial support and to her guidance, Franklin acquired the skills he needed to become a successful politician. Set against one hundred years of history, Passionate Mothers, Powerful Sons is a study in loyalty and resilience. Gray argues that Jennie and Sara are too often presented as lesser figures rather than two remarkable individuals who were key in shaping the characters of the sons who adored them, and preparing them for leadership on the world stage. A masterful biographer and acclaimed historian, Charlotte Gray breathes new life into Sara and Jennie. Impeccably researched and filled with intriguing social insights, Passionate Mothers, Powerful Sons offers a fascinating and fulsome portrait of how leaders are not just born but made.

Blood, Mud, and Oil Paint

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Publisher : University Press of Kentucky
ISBN 13 : 1985901137
Total Pages : 281 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (859 download)

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Book Synopsis Blood, Mud, and Oil Paint by : J. Furman DanielIII

Download or read book Blood, Mud, and Oil Paint written by J. Furman DanielIII and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2024-10-22 with total page 281 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Winston Churchill's impressive military and political career suggests that he had been preparing to lead Great Britain out of the darkness of the Second World War his entire life. Conveniently missing from this rendering of his accomplishments is that, long before his wartime triumph, Churchill failed frequently, publicly, and catastrophically. Author J. Furman Daniel argues that the events of May 1915–May 1916 proved the most difficult of all the obstacles the future prime minister would encounter. In this year of defeats, Churchill faced blame for the British disaster at the Dardanelles, resigned from his position as First Lord of the Admiralty, and struggled with policy initiatives and personal finances. Yet during this tumultuous time, Churchill served in the trenches of the First World War, gaining vital insight into modern warfare. He also found unlikely inspiration in painting, which he pursued for the remainder of his life and later credited as a crucial outlet during moments of personal despair and professional frustrations. Together, these experiences aided Churchill's eventual redemption within the British government and taught him how to weather future career-defining storms. Presenting a deeper understanding of one of the most consequential personalities of the twentieth century, Blood, Mud, and Oil Paint: The Remarkable Year That Made Winston Churchill reveals how the famous statesman rebuilt both his fragile mental state and political career and set the stage for his greatest political comeback.

The Natural History of Blenheim’s High Park

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Author :
Publisher : Pelagic Publishing Ltd
ISBN 13 : 1784274313
Total Pages : 619 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (842 download)

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Book Synopsis The Natural History of Blenheim’s High Park by : Aljos Farjon

Download or read book The Natural History of Blenheim’s High Park written by Aljos Farjon and published by Pelagic Publishing Ltd. This book was released on 2024-08-08 with total page 619 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: High Park, at Blenheim in Oxfordshire UK, is a SSSI of great significance for its numerous ancient oaks and the organisms associated with these trees. This book gives a detailed, lavishly illustrated and thoroughly researched description of the biodiversity and natural history of what is by several measures the most significant site for ancient oaks in Europe. It draws together the expertise of more 60 specialists, and reports on the results of in-depth surveys of High Park. Chapters cover different groups, including: flora (including bryophytes), fungi, lichens, molluscs, arachnids, flies, hymenoptera, butterflies, moths, beetles – with a special focus on saproxylic species, bugs, reptiles and amphibians, birds and mammals. Despite their undoubted importance, very few sites with ancient oaks in England, the most important European country for these magnificent trees, have seen a comprehensive published account, adding to the value of this study. Several of the contributing authors describe their survey techniques in some detail, some of which are not widely known. Records are analysed in the various chapters and often compared with data from other similar sites. Overall, the book gives encouraging evidence of the great biodiversity still to be found in England, and should help to stimulate similar efforts to uncover the biodiversity and describe the natural history of ancient parkland and woodland, so that conservation of these sites can be based on firm scientific data.

Hostage to Fortune

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Author :
Publisher : Viking Adult
ISBN 13 :
Total Pages : 824 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (91 download)

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Book Synopsis Hostage to Fortune by : Joseph Patrick Kennedy

Download or read book Hostage to Fortune written by Joseph Patrick Kennedy and published by Viking Adult. This book was released on 2001 with total page 824 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Memorial: Edward J. Essey Sr.

Romancing the Roads

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Publisher : Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN 13 : 1630761664
Total Pages : 487 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (37 download)

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Book Synopsis Romancing the Roads by : Gerry Hempel Davis

Download or read book Romancing the Roads written by Gerry Hempel Davis and published by Rowman & Littlefield. This book was released on 2015-11-15 with total page 487 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This newly updated compendium of facts, observations, discoveries, reviews, serendipities, humor, experiences, and more is not only for the road traveler, but the armchair traveler as well. It reads not as a phone directory but more as a shared diary of discoveries along America's highways and byways. Unless otherwise noted, the author has visited every place mentioned, from Bud's Discount Center in Jasper, Alabama to the Waldorf Astoria hotel in New York. Even if you never get in the car and discover such wonders for yourself, you will enjoy this vicarious journey to places both sublime and ordinary as the author makes her way from Maine to Florida and west to the Mississippi River.