Search results for ""Author James Donovan""

In June of 1876, on a hill above a river called the Little Bighorn, George Armstrong Custer and all 210 men under his direct command were annihilated by 2,000 Sioux and Cheyenne. The news of this stunning defeat caused an uproar, and those involved promptly began to point fingers in order to avoid responsibility. Custer, who was conveniently dead, took the brunt of the blame. The truth, however was far more complex. A TERRIBLE GLORY is the first book to tell the entire story of this fascinating battle, and the first to call upon new findings of the last 25 years - which have changed how this event is perceived. It is also the first book to reveal the details of the cover-up - and unravel one of the greatest mysteries in military history. Scrupulously researched, A TERRIBLE GLORY will stand as a landmark work. Brimming with authentic detail and an unforgettable cast of characters - from Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse to Ulysses Grant and Custer himself - this is history with the sweep of a great novel.

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For almost two centuries, the last stand at the Alamo has been recognized as a defining moment in America's history. On February 23, 1836, a Mexican army thousands of soldiers strong attacked a makeshift garrison of about 200 Texas settlers-among them, Davy Crockett, James Bowie, and William Barret Travis-holed up in the abandoned mission on the outskirts of San Antonio. The Texans refused to surrender, and for almost two weeks, the immense force lay siege to the fort, bombarding its occupants with a constant barrage of artillery fire. Then, in the predawn hours of March 6, the Mexican troops unleashed a final devastating assault. What happened next would become legend. In THE BLOOD OF HEROES, bestselling historian James Donovan, drawing upon fresh primary sources in American and Mexican archives, offers an authoritative and thrilling account of this epic battle. Beginning well before the siege, he tells the fascinating story of the settling of the Texas wilderness, the rise of the Mexican dictator Santa Anna, and the crucial roles played by pioneers such as Sam Houston and Stephen F. Austin amidst the growing storm of despotism and discontent that led them to fight valiantly for independence. A stirring tale of courage, redemption, and glory in the American West, THE BLOOD OF HEROES is a masterful work of scholarship and storytelling.

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Fifty years after the Apollo 11 mission made history, this book tells the epic story of the astronauts, flight controllers and engineers who made it happen. On 20 July 1969, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the Moon, a moment ingrained in modern memory. Perhaps the world's greatest technological achievement - and a triumph of spirit and ingenuity - the Apollo 11 mission and the Apollo program was a mammoth undertaking involving more than 410,000 men and women dedicated to winning the Space Race with the Soviets. Seen through the eyes of those who lived it, Shoot for The Moon reveals the dangers, the challenges and the sheer determination that defined not only Apollo 11, but also the Mercury and Gemini missions that made it possible. Both sweeping and intimate, and based on exhaustive research and dozens of fresh interviews, this is the definitive - and thrilling - account of one of humankind's most extraordinary feats of exploration.

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Frederick William Benteen (1834–98) was a military officer during the Civil War and the Black Hills War against the Lakotas and the Northern Cheyennes. He was in command of a battalion at the Battle of Little Bighorn, and some say that his controversial actions during the battle may have contributed to Custer’s disastrous defeat. In Harvest of Barren Regrets, Charles K. Mills explores Benteen’s complex personality and life as a career army man during one of the most violent and compelling periods in U.S. military history. He views Benteen as misjudged by history, a man forced to shoulder much of the blame for events far beyond his influence or control. As Mills says at the end of this wonderful biography, “There are no monuments to Frederick William Benteen today. He remains as he lived: a rather obscure supporting actor who appeared briefly on center stage in a well-known American history drama and then quietly faded away. It was his misfortune to live largely unknown and to die largely misunderstood.”

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