NNELS Upgrade

Spurred on by Sir Walter Raleigh, John White leads 120 men, women, and children across the treacherous Atlantic to colonize the wilds of Virginia. Landing at Roanoke Island in July of 1587-with hostile Indians afoot and little food for winter-the colonists persuade White to return to England for the supplies and help they need. After a terrifying ocean crossing, White finds every available British ship pressed into service against the looming threat of the Spanish Armada. When White finally returns to Virginia after three years, the colonists are nowhere to be found.

George Washington and King George III of Britain had a great deal in common-aside from sharing the same first name. Both loved to hunt and farm, both towered above most other men of their day, and both were dedicated husbands and fathers. Yet despite their similarities, they were destined to become bitter enemies. As the Revolutionary War erupted, people on opposite sides of the Atlantic Ocean formed very different opinions. To the patriotic American colonists, George Washington was a hero and King George a tyrant.

In 1849, Elizabeth Blackwell became the first American woman to obtain a medical degree. Following in her footsteps in the early 1980s, Brenda Berkman was the first woman to challenge New York City's ban on female firefighters. During the last few centuries, countless women have made amazing contributions to society. Women are now Nobel Peace Prize winners, world-class athletes, and talented inventors and adventurers. Some women, such as Shirley Muldowney'the first woman inducted into the Motorsports Hall of Fame- shattered perceptions about what women could accomplish.

In 1831, Prudence Crandall opened a school for girls in Canterbury, Connecticut. When an African-American girl named Sarah Harris asked if she could attend, Prudence agreed. But Prudence wasn't prepared for how the town would react. Parents of Prudence's white students were outraged that a black girl would be allowed to sit beside their children. They threatened to withdraw their daughters from the school if Prudence did not expel Sarah Harris. So, with the support of prominent anti-slavery activists, Prudence turned her schoolhouse into a school for only African-American girls.

Laban Carrick Hill, the bestselling author of the National Book Award Finalist Harlem Stomp, here delivers an inspiring and lyrical story of a gifted craftsman who lived in South Carolina two centuries ago. Dave's superb artistry and the deeply observant poetry he carved onto his pots reveal how he transcended the limitations he faced as a slave.

No description available at this time.

New York Times editor and critic Wilborn Hampton is the acclaimed author of gripping narratives like Kennedy Assassination, Meltdown, and September 11, 2001. In War in the Middle East, the veteran journalist offers a fascinating account of his early 1970s reports from the volatile desert region amidst Black September and the Yom Kippur War. This insider's view of life in a war zone shows Hampton trying to write stories inside a besieged hotel with no electricity or water as fighting rages all around.

The tumult and opulence of England's Regency era burst from the pages in this work of literary nonfiction by acclaimed author Carolly Erickson. When dementia forces King George III to vacate his throne, the kingdom slips into a decade marked with excess, scandal, and riots. King George has suffered bouts of mental instability before, but in 1810 he shows no signs of recovering. Public and government business halts as word of his condition leaks out. Hoping to control the crisis, Parliament appoints the king's unpopular son Prince George IV as Regent or caretaker.

Just one year after China's long-closed doors reopened to the West in 1971, Barbara Tuchman journeyed through its cities and countryside drawing the human face on this inscrutable giant.

A powerful ruler, an alluring young woman, a scandal that would rock the nation: Anne Boleyn's life story sounds more like a juicy TV docu-drama than a chapter of English history. Although she is not of noble birth or even especially beautiful, Anne Boleyn manages to rise to the very pinnacle of the English aristocracy.