Search results for ""author jack"

Whether or not the United States "won" the war of 1812, two engagements that occurred toward the end of the conflict had an enormous influence on the development of American identity: the successful defenses of the cities of Baltimore and New Orleans. Both engagements bolstered national confidence and spoke to the elan of citizen soldiers and their militia officers. The Battle of New Orleans-perhaps because it punctuated the war, lent itself to frontier mythology, and involved the larger-than-life figure of Andrew Jackson-became especially important in popular memory. In Glorious Victory, leading War of 1812 scholar Donald R. Hickey recounts the New Orleans campaign and Jackson's key role in the battle. Drawing on a lifetime of research, Hickey tells the story of America's "forgotten conflict." He explains why the fragile young republic chose to challenge Great Britain, then a global power with a formidable navy. He also recounts the early campaigns of the war-William Hull's ignominious surrender at Detroit in 1812; Oliver H. Perry's remarkable victory on Lake Erie; and the demoralizing British raids in the Chesapeake that culminated in the burning of Washington. Tracing Jackson's emergence as a leader in Tennessee and his extraordinary success as a military commander in the field, Hickey finds in Jackson a bundle of contradictions: an enemy of privilege who belonged to Tennessee's ruling elite, a slaveholder who welcomed free blacks into his army, an Indian-hater who adopted a native orphan, and a general who lectured his superiors and sometimes ignored their orders while simultaneously demanding unquestioning obedience from his men. Aimed at students and the general public, Glorious Victory will reward readers with a clear understanding of Andrew Jackson's role in the War of 1812 and his iconic place in the postwar era.

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THE INSTANT NUMBER ONE BESTSELLERThe original hero. A brand-new adventure.Percy Jackson has saved the world multiple times - battling monsters, Titans, even giants - but these days the modern-day son of Poseidon is hoping for a regular final year at school.Too bad the Greek gods have other plans, and three new quests for Percy to complete.First up: the cupbearer of the gods, Ganymede, is missing his golden chalice. Not only is this embarrassing (why do the gods keep losing their magical items?), it''s also potentially disastrous. One sip from the cup will turn any mortal into a powerful god. And the old gods do not take kindly to newbies.Can Percy and his friends Annabeth and Grover find the chalice before it falls into the wrong hands? And even if they do, will they be able to resist its awesome power. . .?Readers new to the Percy Jackson universe and long-time fans will love this epic adventure - full of legendary he

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The definitive history of Peter Jackson’s Middle-earth saga, Anything You Can Imagine takes us on a cinematic journey across all six films, featuring brand-new interviews with Peter, his cast & crew. From the early days of daring to dream it could be done, through the highs and lows of making the films, to fan adoration and, finally, Oscar glory. LightsA nine-year-old boy in New Zealand’s Pukerua Bay stays up late and is spellbound by a sixty-year-old vision of a giant ape on an island full of dinosaurs. This is true magic. And the boy knows that he wants to be a magician. CameraFast-forward twenty years and the boy has begun to cast a spell over the film-going audience, conjuring gore-splattered romps with bravura skill that will lead to Academy recognition with an Oscar nomination for Heavenly Creatures. The boy from Pukerua Bay with monsters reflected in his eyes has arrived, and Hollywood comes calling. What would he like to do next? ‘How about a fantasy film, something like The Lord of the Rings…?’ ActionThe greatest work of fantasy in modern literature, and the biggest, with rights ownership so complex it will baffle a wizard. Vast. Complex. Unfilmable. One does not simply walk into Mordor – unless you are Peter Jackson. Anything You Can Imagine tells the full, dramatic story of how Jackson and his trusty fellowship of Kiwi filmmakers dared take on a quest every bit as daunting as Frodo’s, and transformed JRR Tolkien’s epic tale of adventure into cinematic magic, and then did it again with The Hobbit. Enriched with brand-new interviews with Jackson, his fellow filmmakers and many of the films’ stars, Ian Nathan’s mesmerising narrative whisks us to Middle-earth, to gaze over the shoulder of the director as he creates the impossible, the unforgettable, and proves that film-making really is ‘anything you can imagine’.

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Placing the Jackson County Rebellion squarely within America’s long tradition of populist uprisings against the perceived sins of an allegedly corrupt, affluent local elite, Jeff LaLande argues that this little-remembered episode is part of a long history of violent conflict in the West that continues today.

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With more than 400,000 members, Buckmasters is an organization devoted entirely to deer and deer hunting. Founded fifteen years ago by Jackie Bushman, Buckmasters prides itself on disseminating hunting information that its members can put to good use. After fifteen years of heading up Buckmasters and hosting the nationally acclaimed Buckmasters television series, Jackie Bushman has picked up a wealth of information on whitetail hunting. And now, for the first time, he has put it all down in his first book. Containing his favorite fifty hunting tips--everything from reading tracks and droppings, to understanding deer habits and habitat, to choosing the right guns and gear for the hunt at hand, to proper placement of tree-stands--Jackie Bushman's Top 50 Whitetail Tactics is guaranteed to soar to the top of the deer-hunting charts. Liberally illustrated with color photographs throughout, plus illustrations and diagrams, this is the type of book that all deer hunters--be they members of Buckmasters or not--will appreciate. They can't help but come away as more knowledgeable deer hunters after reading this book. The only question is, when will Jackie Bushman come out with his next volume? You can be sure people will be asking for it as soon as they finish this one.

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Jackson is aggressive, confrontational and often volatile. His mother, Kayla, is crippled with grief after tragically losing her husband and eldest son. Struggling to cope, she puts Jackson into foster care. Cathy, his carer, encourages Jackson to talk about what has happened to his family, but he just won’t engage. His actions continue to test and worry everyone. Then, in a dramatic turn of events, the true reason for Jackson’s behaviour comes to light …

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Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson was the embodiment of Southern contradictions. He was a slave owner who fought and died, at least in part, to perpetuate slavery, yet he founded an African-American Sunday School and personally taught classes for almost a decade. For all his sternness and rigidity, Jackson was a deeply thoughtful and incredibly intelligent man. But his reputation and mythic status, then and now, was due to more than combat success. In a deeply religious age, he was revered for a piety that was far beyond the norm. How did one man meld his religion with the institution of slavery? How did he reconcile it with the business of killing, at which he so excelled?In SEARCHING FOR STONEWALL JACKSON, historian Ben Cleary examines not only Jackson's life, but his own, contemplating what it means to be a white Southerner in the 21st century. Now, as statues commemorating the Civil War are toppled and Confederate flags come down, Cleary walks the famous battlefields, following in the footsteps of his subject as he questions the legacy of Stonewall Jackson and the South's Lost Cause at a time when the contentions of politics, civil rights, and social justice are at a fever pitch.Combining nuanced, authoritative research with deeply personal stories of life in the modern American South, SEARCHING FOR STONEWALL JACKSON is a thrilling, vivid portrait of a soldier, a war, and a country still contending with its past.

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This is a remarkable biographical poem on the life of the dynamic and controversial American painter. The narrative chronicles the reckless, adventurous and often desperate life of this 20th century genius, from his beginnings in the American northwest, through his pioneering of a revolutionary new painting technique that came to known as Abstract Expressionism, to his death at the wheel of a car on long island at the age of 44. Written entirely in iambic trimeter, Gray's biographical poem bursts with an energy and spontaneity that reflects Pollock's painting.

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The third and fourth instalments of this exciting spy series set in Tudor England, amid the intrigue and danger of Henry VIII's royal court, from the authors of books in the bestselling BEAST QUEST series.In DEADLY STORM the royal court of King Henry VIII is on the move - and in danger!A terrible storm forces the court to shelter in a nearby castle. The King is in disguise, and he's not the only person with a secret. Death stalks the castle - but is it the dreaded plague or something even more sinister? When a servant is found dead, it's clear that something terrible is going on.Can young spy, Jack Briars, and his friend, Cat Thimblebee, solve the mystery before the King himself becomes a target?While in FATAL VOYAGE, Jack and Cat are once again called upon to save the King's life, this time aboard his majestic new ship, Fair Anne. But will this adventure leave the pair all at sea?A thrilling adventure series featuring young spy Jack Briars and his friend, Cat Thimblebee. This is WOLF HALL for children.

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In this collection of eighteen stories, Hugh Fulham-McQuillan writes with the playfulness and intelligence of such masters of the short form as Borges, Poe, and Barthelme. He examines the aesthetics of murder, the reigning fascination of the macabre in popular culture, and the tenuous line that separates art from life. One narrator traces the Möbius strip that encloses the assassination of Julius Caesar, Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, and the murder of Lincoln by a famous actor in a theater. Another undergoes plastic surgery to accelerate the process of his being possessed by the ghost of the Italian composer Gesualdo. A detective ponders the interest he takes in investigating murders. Fulham-McQuillan wears his learning lightly and writes with the tact of a born storyteller.

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A major film starring Brie Larson, winner of the Academy Award for Best Actress and the Best Actress BAFTAShortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, the Orange Prize and a Richard and Judy Book Club selection.Jack is five. He lives with his Ma. They live in a single, locked room. They don't have the key.Jack and Ma are prisoners.Room by Emma Donoghue is an extraordinarily powerful story of a mother and child kept in isolation, and the desire for, and price of, freedom.'Room is a book to read in one sitting. When it's over you look up: the world looks the same but you are somehow different and that feeling lingers for days.' – Audrey Niffenegger, author of The Time Traveler's WifePre-order Learned By Heart, the new novel from The Sunday Times bestselling author Emma Donoghue, now.

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Throughout the ages, cunning and brave heroes have reached deep inside themselves to find the strength to triumph over long odds. Aspiring black belts will love this action-packed collection of twenty-six stories about the great heroes of the martial arts and their many paths to victory.The stories include the tales of: The legendary Bruce Lee—Kung Fu master and greatest martial artist of his time Miyamoto Musashi—the "greatest swordsman in history" and the author of the Book of Five Rings Jackie Chan—a dyslexic boy, abandoned at age seven who grew up to be a martial arts film star Mu-lan—the brave daughter who went to battle for the good of her family These exciting tales of thrilling fights and wily strategies span the wide world of martial arts—from Aikido, Karate, Kung Fu, Sumo, and Jujitsu to Brazilian Capoeira, Israeli Krav Maga, Korean Tae-kwon-do, Japanese Kyudo, and Thailand's Muay Thai, even the Zen-focused tea ceremony which teaches the discipline martial artists require to succeed.Filled with incredible action and amazing feats of daring and skill, Legends of the Martial Arts Masters will inspire readers of all ages with stories of courage, endurance and self-discovery.

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Now in trade paperback, the fifth book in The Song of the Shattered Sands series--an epic fantasy with a desert setting, filled with rich worldbuilding and pulse-pounding action.The reign of the kings of Sharakhai has been broken. The blood mage, Queen Meryam, now rules the city along with the descendants of the fabled twelve Kings.In the desert, Çeda has succeeded in breaking the asirim's curse. Those twisted creatures are now free, but their freedom comes at great cost. Nalamae, the goddess who aided Çeda, lies dead, slain in battle with her sister goddess. Çeda, knowing Nalamae would have been reborn on her death, sets out on a quest to find her.The trail leads Çeda to Sharakhai where, unbeknownst to her, others are searching for Nalamae as well. Çeda's quest to find her forces her into a terrible decision: work with the Kings or risk Sharakhai's destruction.Whatever her decision, it won't be easy. Sharakhai is once more threatened by the forces of the neighboring kingdoms. As the powers of the desert vie for control of the city, Çeda, her allies, and the fallen Kings must navigate the shifting fates before the city they love falls to the schemes of the desert gods.

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From the author of Harry's Game - A Sunday Times '100 best crime novels and thrillers since 1945' pickJeez Curwen, a British undercover agent in South Africa reporting on the African National Congress, has received the death penalty for his part in a job in which he should never have been involved. He is incarcerated in the maximum security jail outside Pretoria, awaiting execution.By the time his son Jack, abandoned by Jeez 25 years ago, discovers that the British government has washed its hands of his father's case, Jeez has only three weeks to live.But Jack, though young and untried, is determined to see the father he has never known, and to set him free.

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Pandemic is an explosive medical thriller about a deadly virus, from New York Times-bestselling author Robin Cook.In New York City, an unidentified, healthy, well-dressed woman is struck down by a sudden respiratory illness on the subway as opportunist thieves snatch her phone and backpack. By the time she’s rushed to hospital, she’s dead. Ending up on forensic pathologist Dr. Jack Stapleton’s autopsy table as the potential victim of a contagion, reveals surprising findings.Fearing what could be the first in a severe outbreak of a deadly virus similar to the 1918 influenza pandemic, Jack works in overdrive for a diagnosis and to identify the woman. As the inconclusive tests come back, Jack urges his wife, and chief medical examiner, Dr. Laurie Montgomery to sound the alarm at the mayor’s office, concerned that more cases may follow. Lacking conclusive proof, Laurie refuses, fearing it would trigger widespread panic.When further cases do occur around the city, and then further afield in Los Angeles, London and Rome, Jack finds his own life in jeopardy as he enters a race against time to discover the link that connects all the victims before it’s too late . . .

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Giraffe and Jackal are best friends, even though their personalities are different. Jackal tends to be grouchy and easily snap at others, while Giraffe is more peaceful and thoughtful. When the new kid, Aardvark, moves to school, Giraffe reaches out to be friends, but Jackal feels jealous and threatened. Jackal lashes out, endangering Aardvark, and a conflict ensues. By employing Compassionate Communication techniques, Giraffe helps Jackal work through his conflicted feelings in a positive way so that all three can be friends. Based on the renowned Nonviolent Communication teachings of Dr. Marshall Rosenberg, this picture book offers kids easy-to-learn coping and communicating skills, all through the lens of a playful story with fantastic illustrations and great characters.

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The Level 4 Biff, Chip and Kipper Stories, written by Roderick Hunt and illustrated by Alex Brychta, provide a rich story context to help develop language comprehension and decoding skills. Stories, More Stories A, More Stories B and More Stories C help children to progress from teacher-supported reading at the early Levels to more independent reading. Books contain inside cover notes to support children in their reading. Help with children's reading development is also available at www.oxfordowl.co.uk.

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There are few figures and leaders of recent American history of greater social and political consequence than Jesse Jackson, and few more relevant for America’s current political climate. In the 1960s, Jackson served as a close aide to Dr. Martin Luther King, meeting him on the notorious march to legitimate the American democratic system in Selma. He was there on the day of King’s assassination, and continued his political legacy, inspiring a generation of Black and Latino politicians and activists, founding the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition, and helping to make the Democratic Party more multicultural and progressive with his historic runs for the presidency in the 1980s. In I Am Somebody, David Masciotra argues that Jackson’s legacy must be rehabilitated in the history of American politics. Masciotra has had personal access to Jackson for several years, conducting over one hundred interviews with the man himself, as well as interviews with a wide variety of elected officials and activists who Jackson has inspired and influenced. It also takes readers inside Jackson's negotiations for the release of hostages and political prisoners in Cuba, Iraq, and several other countries. As Democratic politics sees a return to radicalism and the rise of a new generation committed to racial and economic justice, this is a critical book for understanding where America in the 21st Century has come from and where it is going. Featuring a foreword by Michael Eric Dyson.

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"Following the demolition of the LaVilla neighborhood in the height of the cocaine epidemic, Abandoned Jacksonville takes readers from the fall of the city to the resurgence currently overtaking the downtown area and the renovations of many gorgeous structures. Written by local historian and photographer, David Bulit, Abandoned Jacksonville will take you through the seedier and forgotten parts of the First Coast. This book features many locations in the city, including the 310 West Church Street Apartments, a once high-class establishment with a dark past related to the cocaine epidemic; the Moulton & Kyle Funeral Home, the longest running family business in the city, which is now frequented by homeless vagrants and drug dealers; Annie Lytle Elementary School, closed for over fifty years due to the highway construction (urban legends now surround it giving it the nickname the "Devil's School"); the Dr. Horace Drew Manor, once a beautiful and prestigious home which fell into disrepair in the 70s (now referred to by locals as the "Haunted House""); and many more."

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