In 1855 the westward expansion of slavery was all but assured. Pro-slavery forces had swarmed the newly-opened territory of Kansas and packed its legislature. They had the support of all three branches of the federal government and the Army. Yet within two years, a ragtag free-state militia, led by a wild-eyed crusader named John Brown, scored a series of tactical victories that helped turn the tide in Kansas - while putting America on the path to civil war.
Of all the men in Brown's army, one stands out: the young Jewish immigrant August Bondi, a freedom fighter since the age of 14. With a scrupulous eye toward history, author Aaron Barnhart brings this remarkable story to life and shows how a young man's conscience, like John Brown's broadsword, can cut both ways.
From Vienna's barricades to bleeding Kansas to the Civil War, August Bondi was continuously engaged in the struggle for freedom for half of his young adult life. As an old man, he wrote down what he remembered, and author Aaron Barnhart closely followed Bondi's autobiography in writing Firebrand. Barnhart also drew upon the 1958 novel Border Hawk: August Bondi, by children's author Lloyd Alexander (winner of the Newbery Medal and National Book Award), to bring Bondi's story back to life.
The story begins in 1848. The Bondi family is leaving for a better life in America. But 15-year-old August doesn't want to go. He's found his life's purpose in Vienna, fighting on the barricades against a tyrant king. But in America, August discovers a new cause after confronting the evil of slavery. Though he loves his life of freedom, the young firebrand ultimately heads to Bleeding Kansas and casts his lot with the notorious John Brown.
A Quindaro Press audio production.
Firefighters are community heroes and their job is to help wherever there is trouble. Firefighters must be well trained, wear protective uniforms, and ride on trucks that are equipped to fight fires. Firefighters and the equipment they use today have changed significantly over the years.
After Fort Sumter, the Lincoln Administration pushed for a quick invasion of Virginia, with the intent of defeating Confederate forces and marching toward the Confederate capitol of Richmond. Lincoln pressed General Irvin McDowell to push forward. Despite the fact that McDowell knew his troops were inexperienced and unready, pressure from Washington politicians forced him to launch a premature offensive against Confederate forces in Northern Virginia.
McDowell’s strategy during the First Battle of Bull Run was grand, and in many ways it was the forerunner of a tactic Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and James Longstreet executed brilliantly on nearly the same field during the Second Battle of Bull Run in August 1862. McDowell’s plan called for parts of his army to pin down General P.G.T. Beauregard’s Confederate soldiers in front while marching another wing of his army around the flank and into the enemy’s rear, rolling up the line. McDowell assumed the Confederates would be forced to abandon Manassas Junction and fall back to the next defensible line, the Rappahannock River. In July 1861, however, this proved far too difficult for his inexperienced troops to carry out effectively.
As the first major land battle of the Civil War, the First Battle of Bull Run made history in several ways. The two sides fought near the railroad junction at Manassas on July 21, 1861, just 25 miles away from Washington, which was close enough for many civilians from the nation’s capital to come and watch what they expected to be a rout of Confederate forces, and for awhile it appeared as though that might be the case.
McDowell’s strategy ultimately fell apart though, mostly thanks to the use of the railroad. Confederate reinforcements under General Joseph E. Johnston, including a brigade led by Thomas Jonathan Jackson, arrived by train in the middle of the day, a first in the history of American warfare.
Born to privilege, called to service, trained for command, Lieutenant Nile Greysik finally gets the chance to prove herself a leader. As she takes command of a captured enemy ship, her orders will take her through hostile waters and stormy seas with a hold full of prisoners, a skeptical crew, and a handsome first mate hell-bent on undermining her confidence.To navigate to safe harbor, Nile must earn the crew's trust...but first she must dare to trust herself.For fans of Sarah J Maas, Tamora Pierce and Naomi Novik, comes TIDES - a seafaring adventure of duty, love, magic, and a princess's quest to protect her kingdom on her own terms.
Fishers have provided food for thousands of years. Long ago, fishers had to fish close to land and used simple fishing tools such as knives, hoes, and spears. With the use of modern boats and fishing equipment, today’s fishers fish far out in the ocean and catch a large variety of fish for market.
Filled with wit and humour, Nesbit's 1902 fantasy tells the adventure of five siblings sent to spend the summer with their uncle. One day, when the children wander from the strange house by the sea to play in old gravel pits, they uncover 'It' - a prehistoric Sand-fairy. Psammead (pronounced Sammyadd) was an odd-looking creature with eyes on long horns which, like those of a snail, moved in and out like telescopes; ears like that of a bat; its tubby body shaped like a spider's, covered with thick soft fur; and at the base of its furry arms and legs were hands and feet resembling a monkey's. The unusual Sand-fairy grants the children one wish a day, each lasting until sunset. Though wishes can come true, they are not always as pleasant as they might seem, which the children soon discover.
First written in 1902, this is one of Edith Nesbit's best loved children's stories. It all begins when a group of five children - Robert, Anthea, Cyril, Jane, and their baby brother, the Lamb - move from London to the countryside of Kent. While playing in a gravel pit, they discover a rather grumpy, ugly and occasionally malevolent sand-fairy known as the Psammead who is compelled to grant one wish of theirs per day. The effects of each wish last until sundown. All the wishes granted to the children go hilariously wrong. When they wish to be beautiful, nobody recognises them and they are shut out of the house. When they wish to be rich, they get a stack of gold coins but nobody will take them. When they wish for wings they find themselves stuck on a tall tower at sunset. When they wish that their baby brother was older, he turns into a grown-up and bosses them about. When Robert wishes he was bigger than the baker's boy (who has beaten him in a scrap) he becomes eleven feet tall. There are many more adventures... but you will need to listen and find out for yourselves....
The five children have grown up and World War I has begun in earnest. The sand fairy has become a creature of stories... until, for the first time in 10 years, he suddenly reappears. Before this last adventure ends, all will be changed; the two younger children will have seen the Great War from every possible viewpoint, and the war's impact will be felt right at the heart of their family.
When the Founding Fathers decided on a flag for the United States, they didn't specify how it should look. So Americans came up with their own designs.
A stunning new classic from master storyteller Michael Morpurgo for readers of 9+, in the vein of PRIVATE PEACEFUL and THE BUTTERFLY LION
This is a landmark new novel form the nation's favourite storyteller, set in the unique landscape of the Camargue in the South of France during WW2. There, a young autistic boy lives on his parents' farm among the salt flats, and the flamingos that live there. There are lots of things he doesn't understand: but he does know how to heal animals. He loves routine, and music too: and every week he goes to market with his mother, to ride his special horse on the town carousel.
But then the Germans come, with their guns, and take the town. A soldier shoots a flamingo from the sky, and it falls to earth terribly injured. And even worse is to come: the carousel is damaged, the horses broken. For this vulnerable boy, everything is falling apart.
Only there's a kind sergeant among the Germans - a man with a young boy of his own at home, a man who trained as a carpenter. Between them, perhaps boy and man can mend what has been broken - and maybe even the whole town...
