Sir Walter Scott, Continental Travel and the Tradition of the Grand Tour
Sir Walter Scott (1771-1832) wrote frequently of his desire to travel widely in Europe. However, he actually made only three Continental ventures. Two were to Belgium, Northern France and Paris. Then, shortly before his death, he at last journeyed to the Mediterranean, the British Admiralty giving him free passage in a warship - a notable ......
Tom King's personal memoirs range across a life of exceptional activity and interest. Aged nineteen, he found himself commanding a military company against Mau Mau terrorists in Kenya; at thirty he became the youngest ever general manager in a major printing and packaging group, in charge of a factory with a staff of 700 and dealing with nine ......
Chen Yi is the most prominent woman among the renowned group of new wave composers who came to the US from mainland China in the early 1980s. Known for her creative output and a distinctive merging of Chinese and Western influences, Chen built a musical language that references a breathtaking range of sources and crisscrosses geographical and ......
The Rise and Fall of a Jazz Age Con Man and the Invention of Christmas in New York
The true story of John Duval Gluck, Jr., who in 1913 founded the Santa Claus Association, which had the sole authority to answer Santa's mail in New York City. He made the myth of Santa a reality to poor children, until a crusading charity commissioner exposed Gluck as a fraud.
How Harvard's Percy Haughton Beat Yale and Reinvented Football
This is the biography of Percy Haughton, college football's first modern coach. A true innovator, Haughton systematized the game in the early 1900s when it changed from a plodding push-and-pull affair to a wide-open game utilizing passing and speed. In nine seasons at Harvard, Haughton's squads went 71-7-5 and were national champions three times.
Before he became famous with his books, Ion Idriess wrote paragraphs and short stories for The Bulletin newspaper in the 1920s and early 1930s, often under pseudonyms like "Gouger" (a miner of Opals). This collection was first published in hardback in 2013, and makes for great reading about early prospecting and Australians living in the Wild.
Dolly Parton's success as a performer and pop culture phenomenon has overshadowed her achievements as a songwriter. But she sees herself as a songwriter first, and with good reason. Parton's compositions like "I Will Always Love You" and "Jolene" have become American standards with an impact far beyond country music.
The jazz musician-composer-arranger Mary Lou Williams spent her sixty-year career working in'and stretching beyond'a dizzying range of musical styles. Her integration of classical music into her works helped expand jazz's compositional language. Her generosity made her a valued friend and mentor to the likes of Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, and ......
