Martin W Sandler

In 1897, whaling in the Arctic waters off Alaska's coast was as dangerous as it was lucrative. And in that particular year, winter blasted early, bringing storms and ice packs that caught eight American whale ships and three hundred sailors off guard. Their ships locked in ice, with no means of escape, the whalers had limited provisions on board, and little hope of surviving until warmer temperatures arrived many months later. Here is the incredible...

Though barely known today, these are major historical stories, from Ziryab, an eighth-century black slave whose influence on music, cuisine, fashion, and manners still reverberates, to Cahokia, a twelfth-century city north of the Rio Grande, which at its zenith contained a population estimated to have been as high as 40,000 (more than any contemporary European city), to the worst peacetime maritime disaster ever, the explosion and sinking of the Sultana...

"Who fired the first shots in the American Civil War? Where were the fiercest battles fought? How did Lincoln free millions of slaves with one document? Acclaimed author Martin Sandler answers all these and other "must-know" questions about the war that pitted brother against brother and tore the United States apart"--

Explores the impact of trains in the United States as they allowed settlers to move West in large numbers and get needed supplies, helped farmers to move goods to market, and provided transportation for commuters.

"Westward ho, with the American pioneers! Why did pioneer families risk it all to move west? Who settled the frontier towns of the Wild West? Did pioneer children go to school? Kids will love learning about this important period in US history, including the dangerous journey, the Gold Rush, the building of the railroad, cowboys, and much more."--

"A nation in need of hope, the most powerful rocket ever launched, and the first three men to break the bounds of Earth: Apollo 8 was headed to the moon. In 1957, when the USSR launched Sputnik I, the first man-made satellite to orbit Earth, America's rival in the Cold War claimed victory on a new frontier. The Space Race had begun, and the United States was losing. Closer to home, a decade of turbulence would soon have Americans reeling, with the...