The harrowing story of the rise and fall of one of America's most popular destination cities-rife with police brutality, a drug epidemic, and a bulging refugee crisis-Miami 1980 is a riveting blend of urgent social commentary and cinematic drama, from the award-winning journalist and author of Ping Pong Diplomacy. Today, Miami, Florida, famed for its blue skies and bikinis, is already one of the most popular vacation spots, with nearly 10 million...

The culmination of Louis Ferrante's exhaustive research delving deep into Sicily's socio-economic-political roots, Borgata: Rise of Empire will finally reveal exactly how and why this infamous secret society formed inside Sicilian culture. Ferrante then engages in the art of storytelling by carefully selecting stories about the mafia in Sicily that allow him to follow the main characters to America, where most arrive as fugitives from Italian justice. Across...

James Francis Cagney Jr., born in New York City, (July 17, 1899 - March 30, 1986) was an American actor and dancer. On stage and in film, he was known for his consistently energetic performances, distinctive vocal style, and deadpan comic timing. Cagney won the Academy Award in 1943 for his performance in Yankee Doodle Dandy. For his contributions to the film industry, Cagney was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1960 and received the American...

It was only by accident that Peter as a child discovered that his father, Fred Bradley, was in fact born Fritz Brandes. And it was only after his father's death in 2004 that Peter was able to begin to piece together the family's story and set out on the journey - literally and figuratively - that forms the basis of his book. Peter's family were German Jews. In 1938, his father was imprisoned in Buchenwald in the aftermath of Kristallnacht. He was...

For two thousand years, the roads the Romans built have determined the flow of ideas and folktales, where battles were fought and where pilgrims trod. Almost everyone in Britain lives close to a Roman road, if only we knew where to look. In the beginning was Watling Street, the first road scored on the land when the invading Romans arrived on a cold and alien Kentish shore in 43 CE. Campaign roads rolled out to all points of the compass, forcing their...

By the end his military career, Major General Smedley D. Butler was the most decorated Marine in US history, having received two medals of honor. After his service, he became an outspoken critic of US wars and wrote a scathing book called, "War Is A Racket." The following audio clips include; In November 1934, Butler exposing an alleged fascist coup to remove President Franklin D Roosevelt from office and overthrow the U.S. government; A scathing...

The history of public policy in postwar America tends to fixate on developments at the national level, overlooking the crucial work done by individual states in the 1960s and '70s. In this book, Nicholas Dagen Bloom demonstrates the significant and enduring impact of activist states in five areas: urban planning and redevelopment, mass transit and highways, higher education, subsidized housing, and the environment. Bloom centers his story on the example...

The object of this book is to introduce readers to a whole range of military history which has all the drama, dangers, horrors and excitement that we associate with Stalingrad or the Somme. Battles are acute moments of history whenever and wherever they have been fought. Through them we can understand how warfare and world history have evolved. Choosing just one hundred battles from recorded human history is a challenge. Not just because it is necessary...

The First World War comes to harrowing life through the intertwined lives of the soldier-poets in Michael Korda's epic “Muse of Fire”. With “Muse of Fire”, Michael Korda, the bestselling author of “Alone and Hero”, takes a novel approach to World War I by telling its history through the lives of the soldier-poets whose verses memorialize the war's unimaginable horrors. He begins with Rupert Brooke and the halcyon days before violence...

An elegant, densely textured work, like a tapestry... A welcome contribution to polar studies.”[MacInness] handles the whole thing with masterly skill...takes us to the heart of the hope, love, anguish and grief' The men of Captain Scott's Polar Party were heroes of their age, enduring tremendous hardships to further the reputation of the Empire they served by reaching the South Pole. But they were also husbands, fathers, sons and brothers. For...