Soaring Skyward

Flying was a perilous adventure, with death only a small breath away. Many lost their lives in pursuit of their dream and have remained relatively forgotten, until now. (italics until now) Aviation fever struck young and old alike, especially after the four Dominguez Air Meets held in Southern California between 1910-1913. It inspired many such as the Birnie and French brothers, Charles Day, and Glenn Martin to build their own air ships. For others like Frank Champion, Long Beachs first airman, it meant learning from the best---traveling to London, England, to study with Louis Bleriot, and going on to teach others, such as Long Beach Airport founder Earl Daugherty, to fly. There were also daring women: Tiny and Ethel Broadwick, who parachuted out of airplanes when many men refused to do so because they considered it too dangerous; Gladys ODonnell instrumental in founding the Womens Air Derby; World War II ferrying pilots, led by Barbara Erickson London, whose service to America was not recognized until 1977; Dianna Bixby and Joan Merriam Smith trying to complete Amelia Earharts dream of circumnavigating the globe. Soaring Skyward (italics for title) introduces remarkable men and women who embraced the dangers and challenges of flight. It also tells the story of the Long Beach Municipal Airport, the center of much of Southern Californias aviation history. The early days of ballooning, air circuses, parachute jumps, barnstorming, air meets, forgotten military sites and much more are all explored in this well documented look into the past, and future, of aviation in Southern California. After twenty years of extensive research, Ms. Burnetts book is sure to open up new sources of information for aviation and history enthusiasts, and most definitely shed additional light on the past.

The Knights Templar battle an occult order in this “soundly researched [and] briskly paced” alternate history set during the Scottish War of Independence (Booklist). In this stunning sequel to their acclaimed historical fantasy The Temple and the Stone, coauthors Katherine Kurtz and Deborah Turner Harris return to the legends of the fabled Order of the Knights Templar, the mystical medieval brotherhood of warrior monks born in the crucible of the Holy Land Crusades. Returning to a brilliantly recreated alternate past, two of the world’s premier fantasists spin a breathtaking tale of courage, destiny, duty, and magic that unfolds against a backdrop of England’s tumultuous struggle with Scotland and the heroic exploits of Scotsmen Robert the Bruce and William “Braveheart” Wallace. Unwavering devotion to God and their magical order has carried noble knights Arnault de Saint Clair and Torquil Lennox into the heat of battle in war-torn Scotland in these dark days of conflict, only to discover that there are forces at work far more sinister than kings and crowns. The English liege, Edward I, is determined to destroy the Knights Templar, who have sided with the enemy Scots, while in France, Philip IV, known as “King Philip the Fair,” is driven by his greed for the legendary Templar wealth and would usurp the power of the Pope himself to attain their riches. But unbeknownst to either king, they are both in the thrall of the Knights of the Black Swan, a malevolent supernatural order with loyalties to Lucifer alone. On the eve of the decisive battle of Bannockburn, Saint Clair, Lennox, and their brave Templar brethren will be compelled to stand against these minions of the Devil, who are willing to see thousands die and kingdoms crumble to feed their unholy hunger for ultimate power. The Temple and the Crown is an epic tale that celebrates a history that never was, a legend that has endured for centuries, and the heroic exploits of Scotsmen Robert the Bruce and William “Braveheart” Wallace.

From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Reckoners series, Words of Radiance, and the Mistborn trilogy comes the first book in an epic new series about a girl who dreams of becoming a pilot in a dangerous world at war for humanity's future. Spensa's world has been under attack for decades. Now pilots are the heroes of what's left of the human race, and becoming one has always been Spensa's dream. Since she was a little girl, she has imagined soaring skyward and proving her bravery. But her fate is intertwined with her father's--a pilot himself who was killed years ago when he abruptly deserted his team, leaving Spensa's chances of attending flight school at slim to none. No one will let Spensa forget what her father did, yet fate works in mysterious ways. Flight school might be a long shot, but she is determined to fly. And an accidental discovery in a long-forgotten cavern might just provide her with a way to claim the stars. And don't miss the #1 New York Times bestselling sequel, Starsight! "[A] nonstop, highflying opener." --Kirkus Reviews, starred review "With this action-packed trilogy opener, Sanderson offers up a resourceful, fearless heroine and a memorable cast." --Publishers Weekly, starred review "Sanderson delivers a cinematic adventure that explores the defining aspects of the individual versus the society. . . . Fans of Sanderson will not be disappointed." --SLJ "It is impossible to turn the pages fast enough." --Booklist

The autobiography of Sterling Hayden: actor, (Dr. Strangelove, The Godfather, Asphalt Jungle), sailor, officer, writer (Voyage), one-time communist, and constant wanderer.

For most people in Southwest Florida, the name Buckingham is just one more dot on a map--a rural area east of U.S. Interstate 75. But for a few years, it was so much more. Starting in 1942, it was the site of the Buckingham Army Air Field--home to some 16,000 men and women supporting the United States' World War II efforts. Airplanes roared in the skies over Lee County and reflected off the azure waters of the Gulf of Mexico as tens of thousands of young men trained as aerial gunners. Learning to target and bring down enemy aircraft with their guns was critical to America's success in both the European and Pacific theaters. On the ground, trucks rumbled across the mammoth base, soldiers marched in review under the hot Florida sun, and an entire town sprang up on what was once swampland. Barracks were built, along with stores, nightclubs, churches, and even a hospital with its own baby ward. Today the memories of Buckingham Army Air Field can be found hiding in plain sight, including a working airport that was once the heart of the base.

Charles Corm: An Intellectual Biography of a Twentieth-Century Lebanese “Young Phoenician” delves into the history of the modern Middle East and an inquiry into Lebanese intellectual, cultural, and political life as incarnated in the ideas, and as illustrated by the times, works, and activities of Charles Corm (1894–1963). Charles Corm was a guiding spirit behind modern Lebanese nationalism, a leading figure in the “Young Phoenicians” movement, and an advocate for identity narratives that are often dismissed in the prevalent Arab nationalist paradigms that have come to define the canon of Middle East history, political thought, and scholarship of the past century. But Charles Corm was much more than a man of letters upholding a specific patriotic mission. As a poet and entrepreneur, socialite and orator, philanthropist and patron of the arts, and as a leading businessman, Charles Corm commanded immense influence on modern Lebanese political and social life, popular culture, and intellectual production during the interwar period and beyond. In many respects, Charles Corm has also been “the conscience” of Lebanese society at a crucial juncture in its modern history, as the autonomous sanjak/Mutasarrifiyya (or Province) of Mount-Lebanon and the Vilayet (State) of Beirut of the late nineteenth century were navigating their way out of Ottoman domination and into a French Mandatory period (ca. 1918), before culminating with the independence of the Republic of Lebanon in 1943.

Faced with economic decline, unprecedented levels of unemployment and new forms of political extremism during Britain's last great economic crash, politicians and planners in Liverpool and Manchester responded by investing in dramatic and ambitious programmes of urban regeneration. Urban Redevelopment and Modernity in Liverpool and Manchester, 1918-1939 is the first book to provide the hitherto unknown story of the innovative transformation of these cities. Charlotte Wildman challenges academic scholarship in British history, which associates the post-1918 period with the emasculation of local government and the decline of civic culture. She shows that local politicians, planners, architects, businessmen and even religious leaders embraced innovative trends in creating distinct forms of urban modernities, which particularly changed the way women experienced the transformed city. Urban Redevelopment and Modernity in Liverpool and Manchester, 1918-1939 offers a complex, interactive and multipolar interpretation of the ways cities develop, pointing to new methods and ways of understanding both interwar Britain and urban history more generally. At a time of debate and discussion about devolution and decentralisation of government, this book makes an opportune contribution to debates about urban governance and regionalism in contemporary Britain.