Search results for ""Author Stephen Spignesi""

A comprehensive guide to all of Robin Williams’s movies, with facts about plots, performances, and cast, as well as notable trivia and behind-the-scenes details about each film.Did you know that, according to director Chris Columbus, Robin Williams improvised so much during the filming of Mrs. Doubtfire that the studio had enough footage to release PG, PG-13, R, and NC-17 versions of the movie? Or that Robin ad-libbed all his lines in Good Morning, Vietnam because the DJ the movie was based on didn’t really do comedy during his shows? Robin Williams, American Master looks at Robin’s seventy movies, from his earliest appearance in Can I Do It…’Til I Need Glasses? to his final posthumous voice-only appearance in Absolutely Anything. Each film is discussed in detail, with special emphasis on Robin’s performances and how they exist in the context of his entire body of work. Robin Williams, American Master is the perfect tour guide through Robin’s epic collection of cinematic genius.

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Assassinations often change the course of history. Here is an intriguing look at dozens of notable assassinations and attempts throughout history, including complete details about the assassin, the victim, the circumstances of the attack, and the outcome. In the Crosshairs also features photos of many of the victims or would-be victims, and rare archival material, including excerpts from original police reports.High-profile celebrities, political figures, religious leaders, and many others have fallen prey to assassins, and many have survived. In the Crosshairs is arranged in alphabetical order, by last name, and includes such details as:On November 8, 1939, Adolf Hitler narrowly escaped an assassination attempt – 12 minutes after he left a room where he was making a speech, a bomb went off.Egyptian President Anwar el-Sadat would probably have survived the assassin’s bullet on October 6, 1981, if he hadn’t taken off his bulletproof vest – but he didn’t like the way it made his suit bulge.Robert John Bardo, the murderer of young actress Rebecca Schaeffer, carried with him to the crime scene a copy of J. D, Sallinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, just like Mark David Chapman did when he murdered John Lennon nearly nine years earlier.From notable murders (Abraham Lincoln, Gianni Versace, and Indira Gandhi) to little-known attempts (George W. Bush, Wild Bill Hickock, and Andy Warhol) here is a surprising, informative, and intriguing book that deserves to be on every history buff’s bookshelf.Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

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If you love Lin Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton, or the books of Ron Chernow and David McCullough, then dig into these facts about Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin and the rest of the founding fathers.America has fallen in love again with Alexander Hamilton and the Founding Fathers again. Here is a popping fresh collection of little-known facts and surprising trivia surrounding the American Revolution and our forefathers – from those you’d expect (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and Hamilton, of course) to those you may never have heard of, but you probably should have (who the heck was Rufus King?):Alexander Hamilton was born on foreign soil and became an American hero - the founder of the U.S. Mint and the U.S. Coast Guard. The naval communication book he wrote was still being used by the US Navy and Coast Guard through the Cuban Missile Crisis.Roger Sherman (of Connecticut) was one of only two Founding Fathers who signed the three bulwark documents of our republic: The Declaration of Independence, the Articles of the Confederation, and the Constitution. (Give props to this guy.)By the time he was thirty, George Washington had had smallpox, pleurisy, dysentery, and malaria.Even if they weren’t in “The Room Where It Happens,” Readers will be left with a greater appreciation and deeper respect for these human beings who were just trying to accomplish the incredible: create the greatest nation in history.

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Using easy-to-understand, informative, and often humorous explanations of every word, 499 Words Every College Student Should Know explores how to use the words in proper context. The majority of these words were chosen because they are common in media, literature, and online, and students need to understand them.On any given day, you might read “abrogate” used in a USA Today article; or “demagogue” or “fiduciary” used on CNN. You might hear “ensorcelled” and “torpor” in a TV drama; you’ll hear a political candidate described as “truculent.” You may hear “pedantic” used in a movie. How many of these words are part of most college students’ “arsenal of words”? Hopefully all of them, but if not, 499 Words Every College Student Should Know will provide them with what they need to become more articulate in their speaking and writing. It will also enhance their comprehension in their reading, ultimately culminating in what every student aspires to: earning better grades!499 Words Every College Student Should Know teaches truly important vocabulary words and focuses on Professor Spignesi’s classroom-tested Trinity of Vocabulary Use. For each word, the vocabulary-enriched and educated student will be able to: Understand the word in their reading Use the word in their speaking Make good use of the word in their writing Knowing them — in fact, using the words and making them part of their everyday language — will make any college student or those soon-to-be, more credible.

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The Sinking of the Titanic and Great Sea Disasters is an exciting collection of first-hand stories describing the catastrophe of Titanic’s maiden voyage as told by its survivors shortly after the ship sank.Originally written and published in 1912, Logan Marshall’s book was the very first attempt to solve the mystery of the accident and relieve the heartache it stirred internationally. Marshall narrates the personal stories of Titanic’s passengers before, during, and after the sinking of the ill-fated ship.This book takes us back in time and forces us to understand the trauma of our ancestors from a not-so-comfortable distance. Listen to the voices of real passengers tell their own touching stories of tragedy and see the photographs and sketches that accompany their stories.Also included are records of previous great disasters of the sea, descriptions of the development of safety and life-saving appliances, and a plain statement of causes of such catastrophes and how to avoid them.Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

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Here is a mothership full of entertaining, informative tales that shed a revealing light on the UFO phenomenon—from inexplicable cattle mutilations and modern astronauts who have seen UFOs to close encounters of the third and fourth kind!It’s all here: What NASA currently has to say about UFOs. The latest on Roswell, and the 1947 crash that has never been explained The weirdest (and most convincing) alien abductions—and the medical procedures performed on abductees The most commonly-seen UFO shapes A who's who of UFOlogy—including presidents that have seen UFOs UFOs and the Bible 20 years of Project Blue Book mysteries—NASA’s official UFO investigation Weirdness galore—Men in Black, crop circles, Bigfoot, the face on Mars, Hollow Earth Theory, alien ancestry, and more! The Big Book of UFO Facts, Figures & Truth is at once a valuable reference and an engrossing guide for all those fascinated with unexplained phenomenon. Turning to any page at random, readers are sure to find new facts and information, as well as dozens of rare, irrefutable photos.In addition, readers will learn how they can access a special website which includes actual video evidence of UFOs. This just may be the most comprehensive UFO guide available.“It is incredibly arrogant on the part of mankind to believe that in a universe unimaginably vast, humans are the only life form in existence. Perhaps the chapters that follow will mitigate this foolhardy—and ultimately dangerous—terran narcissism. The galaxy—and beyond—is not only mankind’s playground anymore … and the skies await us. Godspeed.”

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