E.J. Jernigan s memoir offers readers a fascinating glimpse of life as an enlisted man aboard the USS Saufley, one of the most highly decorated destroyers of World War II. It is a rarely told story of the sailors who fought the war from boiler rooms, after-steering spaces, radio shacks, and other gritty places that keep a warship going. For the author, it was a world of strong emotions and quick reactions, where men had to adapt and grow if they were to survive. With its colorful view of what went on below decks, the book has made a lasting contribution to World War II literature since first published in 1993. It appeals to veterans, historians, and naval enthusiasts alike looking for an honest account of what happened.

This ingenious book captures the very essence of the Kiwi character and is a spectacular celebration of over 100 examples of pioneering Kiwi ingenuity, profiling shed mechanics like Burt Munro and John Britten to those who used overseas resources to win Nobel Prizes like Ernest Rutherford and Alan McDiarmid, or those who earned international success like Peter Jackson and Peter Blake. Other ingenious Kiwis include Jean Batten, Fred Hollows, Steve Gurney, Kate Sheppard and Alan Duff. We follow the inventive process, showing how--lacking resources and facing overwhelming difficulties--Kiwi ingenuity cracked the problem. Inventors and pioneers include Bill Hamilton and his jet boat, Kelly Tarlton and his underwater world (and treasure hunting), Alan Mitchell and the world's fastest machine gun, Harold Gillies and Archie McIndoe's pioneering plastic surgery on wounded fighter pilots, Richard Pearse and his experimental plane (was he the first to fly?), Dame Marie Clay and her literacy programme, William Pickering getting men to the moon and other ingenious Kiwi discoveries such as the tranquiliser gun, the thermette, electric fences, the referee?s whistle, dinosaurs and DNA.

Nellie Cashman is my hero - a gloriously imperfect, courageous soul with a keen understanding of human nature, scant patience for fools or foolishness and a delightfully ornery sense of humor. In the 1990s, when I first “discovered” her, I was astounded to learn no biography had been written of her and set out to rectify that oversight as a means of honoring her, her memory, and her accomplishments before her bootprint on history faded entirely. That the book won the 1993 Spur Award for nonfiction is a testament to her life story, of which I am proud to have related both in biographical form and in two novels, Trinity Strike and Klondike Fever.

He was born, he tells us in his Interesting Narrative of his life, in Essaka, a small village in what is today eastern Nigeria that was ruled by the powerful eighteenth century King of Benin. His parents prophetically named him Olaudah Equiano, to signify his expected role as a leader—as one favored and who spoke with a loud voice. They dressed him after the tradition of their greatest warriors. Through age ten or eleven he was rooted in the cultural, spiritual, economic, religious and political customs of this charming fruitful vail, which he describes as ‘a nation of dancers, musicians, and poets.'

Spanning the centuries from the pre-classical era to the present day, this book presents brief, information-packed, and highly readable biographies of the world’s 501 most important composers. Compiled by music critic Matthew Rye and written by an international team of music historians, critics, and musicians, this reference volume offers a succinct summary of each composer’s life, as well as commentary on his style and artistic development. The artists’ major compositions are also listed with a partial discography. A selection of intriguing remarks attributed to the composers themselves will enlighten and often amuse readers. The biographies vary in length, with up to four pages given to the most important musical figures. Just a few of the many masters of music covered in these pages are--

Pre-classical era: François Couperin, Domenico Scarlatti, Antonio Vivaldi, Johann Sebastian Bach . . . and others

Classical era: Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Ludwig van Beethoven . . . and others

The romantics: Franz Schubert, Frederic Chopin, Felix Mendelssohn, Robert and Clara Schumann, Johannes Brahms, Anton Bruckner, Gustav Mahler . . . and others

Masters of opera and musical theater: Giuseppe Verdi, Richard Wagner, Giacomo Puccini, Kurt Weill, Richard Rodgers, Irving Berlin, Cole Porter. . . and others

20th century masters: Claude Debussy, Maurice Ravel, Arnold Schoenberg, Anton Webern, Samuel Barber, Sergei Rachmaninoff, Elliott Carter, George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein, Philip Glass, Pierre Boulez. . . and others

Jazz composers: Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane, “Jelly Roll” Morton, Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk . . . and others

Here is a comprehensive guide to the giants of music, enhanced with discussions of their compositions and photos of them at work or conducting on the podium. Each entry is also illustrated with a portrait of the composer.