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Title: Wooden Ships on Winyah Bay

Author: Robert McAlister

Narrator: Sonja Field

Format: Unabridged

Length: 3 hrs and 6 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-24-14

Publisher: New Street Communications, LLC

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

The epic history of Winyah Bay's wooden boats stretches back to 1526, when Spanish explorers sailed through the inlet and were greeted by Native Americans in dugout canoes. The English settled Georgetown and the bay's shores in 1736 to begin a legacy of rice and indigo plantations, and Revolutionary War hero Marquis de Lafayette first landed on American soil at Winyah Bay in 1777. From the end of the Civil War until the beginning of World War II, hundreds of wooden schooners loaded lumber in the Port of Georgetown and braved storms off Cape Hatteras to deliver cargo to northern cities, as fishermen fished the rivers and the bay in wooden dories, bateaux and skiffs. Local author and wooden boat enthusiast Robert McAlister reveals the history of this bygone era, when majestic wooden ships deftly traversed the glimmering waters of Winyah Bay.

Members Reviews:

New Book Reveals Georgetown Harbor History

New Book Reveals Georgetown Harbor History

By Becky Billingsley

Shipwrecks, spoils of war and other fascinating research are parts of a new book detailing Georgetown's wooden boat heritage.

With impeccable timing two months in advance of Georgetown's 22nd Annual Wooden Boat Show, History Press in Charleston has published "Wooden Ships on Winyah Bay" written by area resident, historian and boater Robert "Mac" McAlister.

At age 77, McAlister has led a life perfectly suited to tackle this project and share his research with a community he loves and helped build.

McAlister was born in Charlotte, N.C., and raised in Columbia. He attended college and graduated from Georgia Tech, then was in the U.S. Navy's Civil Engineer Corps stationed at the Beaufort Marine Air Station. In 1960 he moved back to Pawleys Island and worked for International Paper, and that same year he met and married his wife, Mary, at Prince George Episcopal Church.

His career as a contractor and project manager took Mac and Mary, and eventually their three sons, throughout the United States and the world to Wilmington, Chapel Hill and Greensboro in North Carolina, back to Columbia, up to Boston, over to Greece, back to Mt. Pleasant and then, finally back to Georgetown to the Belle Isle community McAlister constructed from 1973-76 with two partners.

Belle Isle has an 80-slip marina on the Intracoastal Waterway, and after the project was completed Mac and Mary bought their first sailboat.

"In 1976 I bought an old wooden boat," McAlister says. "It was a sailboat in Southport, North Carolina, that didn't even have an engine. We towed it to Georgetown, and Dickie Crayton and I put a new engine in it. In February of 1976 we had three young sons - they were 11, 9 and 6 at the time. We took them out of school, where Mary was teaching at Winyah Academy, and we sailed down to the Bahamas for six months. It was written up in the Charleston paper; people thought it was unusual."

The family continued sailing, and in 1988 they took a 38-foot Hans Christian "heavy-duty" sailboat through the Caribbean to Venezuela. After they returned to Mt. Pleasant from that trip in 1989, Hurricane Hugo damaged their house and boat.

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Title: Cloud Racers

Author: Adam L. Penenberg

Narrator: Adam L. Penenberg

Format: Unabridged

Length: 2 hrs and 12 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-23-14

Publisher: The Atavist

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

Who would be the first aviator to singlehandedly fly all the way around the globe? That was all anyone wanted to know in the summer of 1933, when Wiley Post and Jimmie Mattern set out from New York in a pair of wood-and-canvas propeller planes. Post, a one-eyed Oklahoma farm boy with a desperate past, was as comfortable in the cockpit as he was socially awkward back on the ground. Mattern was a Hollywood stunt pilot and social sidekick of Howard Hughes who had fallen on hard times, and an accident-prone daredevil who'd walked away from more plane crashes than he could count. They were friends as well as rivals, members of a small fraternity of aviators - their circle included Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart - at a time when flight was still a perilous business. Each was determined to conquer one of the last frontiers in a rapidly civilizing world-and neither knew the dangers that lay ahead.

In Cloud Racers, Adam L. Penenberg tells the story of Post's and Mattern's rollicking journey from the canyons of Manhattan to the wilds of the Russian Arctic and back again, and brings back to life an era in which the sky remained a place of mystery and wonder.

Members Reviews:

Technical error makes me wonder whether the rest of the story is accurate

This was interesting and generally accurate regarding the people and events as far as I know. BUT at the very end there is an unforgivable technical mistake, which makes me wonder whether the rest of the book can be trusted. In the Epilogue it says that in 1938, "Howard Hughes -- flying a jet with a crew of four . . ." Jet aircraft were not invented until WWII, and there were none available for civilian use until 1952. Hughes flew a Lockheed 14, a twin engined propellor plane.

I am not nitpicking here. Anyone familiar with aviation history knows that jets did not exist in 1938. Did the author of this book show the manuscript to someone who knows a lot about aviation? I doubt it. I have not fact-checked other statements carefully, but I can only wonder what else he got wrong.

This is the kind of thing that even Wikipedia usually gets right. (As indeed, it did.)

A good story well told

This Amazon Single will capture the attention of anyone interested in the history and adventure of early aviation. However, besides that, be sure to pay close attention to how it was written. Penenberg knows how to craft a story and it was a joy to read. This short nonfiction book is instructive about aviation. However, for aspiring writers, it is equally instructive as a example of clear, sharp prose worth emulating.

I liked this book pretty well but it left me with ...

I liked this book pretty well but it left me with an uneasy feeling. In the first few pages of the book he mentions a "Thomas Morris Scout" airplane. It should be a Thomas Morse Scout. A small error to be sure but considering it is a book about airplanes and flying it makes me wonder. At the end of the book he mentions that Howard Hughes made an around the world flight in a jet in 1938. That is a pretty gross error. Considering these mistakes which I knew enough to recognize, I wonder if there were any errors that I did not know enough to spot. All that being said, I did enjoy the book. I just hope that I have not gathered some incorrect information while reading it

Great times and men

The golden age of flight still evokes wonder and awe in us pilots of today.

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Title: Tale Of The Seven Seas

Author: Clint Skinner

Narrator: Roland Sickenberger

Format: Unabridged

Length: 54 mins

Language: English

Release date: 06-12-14

Publisher: Clint Skinner

Ratings: 3.5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

Tale Of The Seven Seas is the only book that covers the history of the short-lived marine park in Arlington, Texas. The book starts with the park's conception, follows its construction, and covers each year of its existence in strong detail.

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Title: Abraham Lincoln: The Baltimore Plot

Author: Nicholas L. Vulich

Narrator: Gregg A. Rizzo

Format: Unabridged

Length: 6 hrs and 59 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-29-14

Publisher: Nicholas L Vulich

Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

February 11, 1861 was cloudy, and cool. A light rain was falling. President-elect Abraham Lincoln and his family boarded the train at the Great Western Depot in Springfield, Illinois. Their destination was Washington, DC, where Lincoln was to be inaugurated on March 4th. Along the way, the Presidential train stopped in numerous cities and towns to allow Lincoln to meet with the people who elected him.

In Baltimore, Detective Allan Pinkerton was investigating an alleged plot to blow up bridges and ferries along the route of the Philadelphia, Wilmington, and Baltimore Railroad. On February 10th, his operatives caught wind of a plot to assassinate the President-elect on his passage through Baltimore.

Pinkerton accepted the challenge, and determined to uncover the details of the plot, and get the information to Lincoln before it was too late.

At the same time, Washington City was rife with rumors. Stories circulated that people were going to up end the railroad tracks, blow up the public buildings, seize the city, kidnap President Buchanan, and kill President-elect Lincoln. Earlier in February the Committee of Five assembled to investigate the rumors, and get to the bottom of it.

General Winfield Scott was charged with defending the Capital city, and had for several months been receiving letters loaded with rumors of conspiracies, and plots about assassination attempts against Lincoln, Buchanan, and himself. As a result of these threats, General Scott, together, with Senator William H. Seward, asked New York Police Superintendent John A. Kennedy to investigate the situation in Baltimore, and determine if it was safe for Lincoln to pass through.

With less than 12 days until Lincoln was scheduled to pass through Baltimore, the race was on, to uncover the assassins.

Learn the exciting details of the Baltimore Plot, and decide for yourself whether Lincolns life was ever actually in danger.

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Title: Abraham Lincoln: History in an Hour

Author: Kat Smutz

Narrator: Jonathan Keeble

Format: Unabridged

Length: 1 hr and 33 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-24-14

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

Love history? Know your stuff with History in an Hour.

Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States, is an American icon. To many, he is a symbol of values, sacrifice and determination. Modern notions of nationalism, liberty, and constitution all owe their debt to Lincoln, as does the unity of the American states. And yet, in his own day, Lincoln was also reviled by many as a traitor, tarnished by his associations with the wrong kind of race and the wrong end of society.

Charting his ascent from humble origins to the leader of the United during her hardest democratic and ethical conflict - the American Civil War - Lincoln: History in an Hour is a succinct guide to the life of a great and controversial modernizer.

Critic Reviews:

If the past is a foreign country, History in an Hour is like a high-class tour operator, offering delightfully enjoyable short breaks in the rich and diverse continent of our shared past. (Dominic Sandbrook)

The practice of History is ever-evolving, and the History in an Hour idea brings it back up to date for the digital age. Colley writes in an attractively readable style, and manages to convey the huge story that is WWII in a logical and accessible manner (Andrew Roberts, Bookseller)

This is genius (MacWorld.com)

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Title: The Charge at Gettysburg

Author: Henry Cabot Lodge, Theodore Roosevelt

Narrator: Glenn Hascall

Format: Unabridged

Length: 9 mins

Language: English

Release date: 04-18-14

Publisher: Spoken Realms

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 2 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

Like many battles all is not won or lost based on numbers alone. In retrospect we can all consider better ways to win the fight. This solemn trip to the front lines of the Civil War shows the determination on both sides of the line. Gettysburg was one of the most prominent battle sites with incredible loss to both sides. A historical event co-written by President Teddy Roosevelt and narrated by Glenn Hascall.

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Title: Haunted Empire

Subtitle: Apple After Steve Jobs

Author: Yukari Iwatani Kane

Narrator: Arielle deLisle

Format: Unabridged

Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-18-14

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers Limited

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 1 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

An insightful, behind-the-scenes portrait of the technology giant Apple. Former Wall Street Journal technology reporter Yukari Iwatani Kane delves deep inside Apple in the two years since Steve Jobs's death, revealing the tensions and challenges CEO Tim Cook and his team face as they try to sustain Jobs's vision and keep the company moving forward.

Steve Jobs's death raised one of the most pressing questions in the tech and business worlds: Could Apple stay great without its iconic leader? Many inside the company were eager to prove that Apple could be just as innovative as it had been under Jobs. Others were painfully aware of the immense challenge ahead. As its business has become more complex and global, Apple has come under intense scrutiny, much of it critical. Maintaining market leadership has become crucial as it tries to conquer new frontiers and satisfy the public's insatiable appetite for insanely great' products.

Based on over 200 interviews with current and former executives, business partners, Apple watchers and others, Haunted Empire is an illuminating portrait of Apple today that offers clues to its future. With nuanced insights and colourful details that only a seasoned journalist could glean, Kane goes beyond the myths and headlines.

She explores Tim Cook's leadership and its impact on Jobs's loyal lieutenants, new product development, and Apple's relationships with Wall Street, the government, tech rivals, suppliers, the media, and consumers. Hard-hitting yet fair, Haunted Empire reveals the perils and opportunities an iconic company faces when it loses its visionary leader.

Critic Reviews:

"One of the most important business stories of our time. Kane brings us inside apple at this critical moment with great insight and unparalleled reporting" (Walter Isaacson, author of 'Steve Jobs: The Exclusive Biography)"The globe-bestriding computer-maker loses its soul in this lively business history. Former Wall Street Journal technology reporter Kane follows Apple after the 2011 death of founder Steve Jobs as the company's knack for conjuring breakthrough i-gadgets lapsed into a series of ho-hum upgrades, misfires like the befuddled artificial intelligence app Siri, and interminable patent lawsuits, while market share, profits, and stock price eroded. Kane makes the story a study in CEO leadership styles, contrasting Jobs's visionary bluster with his successor Tim Cook's icy bean-counting and the histrionics of Samsung's 'wise emperor' Lee Kun-hee. Kane unearths plenty of colourful material here, including lawyerly jousting, hilariously lame new-product unveilings, and conference-room psychodramas between bullying execs and grovelling underling...

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Title: A House Divided

Author: Abraham Lincoln

Narrator: Glenn Hascall

Format: Unabridged

Length: 17 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-18-14

Publisher: Spoken Realms

Ratings: 5 of 5 out of 3 votes

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

Before Abraham Lincoln was a President he was a senator. He was also a very effective debater. In this famous speech as Senator he draws attention to wording in documents and decisions made by the court that could have forced the legalization of slavery on all states. Lincoln contended that the only way the nation would move forward is through a uniting of ideals, but what he observed was a fracturing and, perhaps, misleading series of decisions that left the American people confused and frustrated.

An enlightening perspective on what was going on in the country before frustration became action in the form of Civil War. Narrated by Glenn Hascall.

Members Reviews:

First get the facts right!

The very premise is ludicrously faulty. Abraham Lincoln WANTED to be a Senator, very much so. He ran twice, in 1954 and 1958, losing both times. The House Divided Speech kicked off the '58 campaign. But how much credibility can you place in an author who doesn't know the very basics of his subject- especially one so uncommonly famous.

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Title: Capturing the Beat Moment

Subtitle: Cultural Politics and the Poetics of Presence

Author: Erik Ronald Mortenson

Narrator: Brian Kralowetz

Format: Unabridged

Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-07-14

Publisher: University Press Audiobooks

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

Examining the moment as one of the primary motifs of Beat writing, Erik Mortenson offers the first book to investigate immediacy and its presence and importance in Beat writing. Capturing the Beat Moment: Cultural Politics and the Poetics of Presence places an expanded canon of Beat writers in an early postmodern context that highlights their importance in American poetics and provides an account of Beat practices that reveal how gender and race affect Beat politics of the moment.

Mortenson argues that Beat writers focused on action, desire, and spontaneity to establish an authentic connection to the world around them and believed that living in the moment was the only way in which they might establish the kind of life that led to good writing. With this in mind, he explores the possibility that, far from being the antithesis of their times, the Beats actually were a product of them. Mortenson outlines the effects of gender and race on Beat writing in the postwar years, as well as the Beats attempts to break free of the constrictive notions of time and space prevalent during the 1950s.

Mortenson discusses such topics as the importance of personal visionary experiences; the embodiment of sexuality and the moment of ecstasy in Beat writing; how the Beats used photographs to evoke the past; and the ways that Beat culture was designed to offer alternatives to existing political and social structures. Throughout the volume, Mortenson moves beyond the Kerouac-Ginsberg-Burroughs triumvirate commonly associated with Beat literature, discussing women - such as Diane di Prima, Janine Pommy Vega, and Joyce Johnson - and African American writers, including Bob Kaufman and Amiri Baraka. With the inclusion of these authors comes a richer understanding of the Beat writers value and influence in American literary history.

Critic Reviews:

Mortenson's revisionist study keeps a steady eye on the historical and cultural milieu of Beat writers, drawing on critical theory, feminism, and race/ethnicity studies... This is a brilliant contribution to cultural poetics. (Michael Davidson, author of Guys Like Us: Citing Masculinity in Cold War Poetics)

Members Reviews:

A Perfect Resource For Writing A Paper On The Beat Poets

Throughout the years I've read countless works by and about the Beats. I thought I understood their motivations. The beauty of this book is it helps both the casual reader and the academic re-examine the movement's focus on immediacy. Mortenson clearly knows his stuff, and while reading it I was often surprised at how much I misunderstood these writers and thinkers. Mortenson includes all the heavy-hitters as well as the more underground players. The book also helped me see the movement from a different angle I didn't expect. It's invaluable to anyone studying this important time in American history, and it's an important resource for those focusing on the cultural significance of these writers. I highly recommend it.

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Title: Who Is the Real John Wilkes Booth?

Author: Allison Bruning

Narrator: Carl Moore

Format: Unabridged

Length: 29 mins

Language: English

Release date: 03-07-14

Publisher: Marfa House

Genres: History, American

Publisher's Summary:

John Wilkes Booth murdered Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre and was killed in Garrett's Barn, Virginia by Sergeant Boston Corbett. But what if the body wasn't John Wilkes Booth? Nate Orlowek believes the body in the barn that day may not have been John Wilkes Booth. So who was the man in the barn that day?

Members Reviews:

Sic Semper Tempus, don't waste yours

Badly told nutshell version of one of the worst incidents in American History. Fourth graders would do better.

Kitty Muse Book Reviews

Interesting, the things we grow up believing. What we learn in history class, we take for granted. We want to believe that our teachers and the people who print our textbooks are correct.

Butâwhat if? Are the things we take for granted really the truth? Most of the time, I am sure of it. But once in awhile someone goes over those old historical âroadsâ, as it were, and says, âHmm, wait a minute.â

That is what Ms. Bruning has done in this short piece of non-fiction. Using the research done by historian Nate Orlowek, she explores the possibility that John Wilkes Booth did not die in a fiery blaze at Garrett Farm, but actually lived on for many more years under various names.

What I find the most interesting in Ms. Bruningâs writing is that there is so much opposition to finding evidence to support this claim. The more push against allowing research, it seems to me, the more it lends credence to doing said research.

This is not a treatise, or a referenced paper. It is just a short offering that asks the question:

âWhat if?â

I, for one, would love to know the answer.