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 Free Download Trevor McKenzie, "Otto Wood, the Bandit: The Freighthopping Thief, Bootlegger, and Convicted Murderer behind the Appalachian Ballads" English | ISBN: 1469664712 | 2021 | 176 pages | EPUB | 2 MB Legions of bluegrass fans know the name Otto Wood (1893-1930) from a ballad made popular by Doc Watson, telling the story of Wood's crimes and violent death. However, few know the history of this Appalachian figure beyond the larger-than-life version heard in song. Trevor McKenzie reconstructs Wood's life, tracing how a Wilkes County juvenile delinquent became a celebrated folk hero. Throughout his short life, Wood was jailed for numerous offenses, stole countless automobiles, lost his left hand, and made eleven escapes from five state penitentiaries, including four from the North Carolina State Prison after a 1923 murder conviction. An early master of controlling his own narrative in the media, Wood appealed to the North Carolina public as a misunderstood, clever antihero. In 1930, after a final jailbreak, police killed Wood in a shootout. The ballad bearing his name first appeared less than a year later.  Free Download Jeremy Black, "Other Pasts, Different Presents, Alternative Futures" English | ISBN: 0253017041 | 2015 | 252 pages | EPUB | 552 KB What if there had been no World War I or no Russian Revolution? What if Napoleon had won at Waterloo in 1815, or if Martin Luther had not nailed his complaints to the church door at Wittenberg in 1517, or if the South had won the American Civil War? The questioning of apparent certainties or "known knowns" can be fascinating and, indeed, "What if?" books are very popular. However, this speculative approach, known as counterfactualism, has had limited impact in academic histories, historiography, and the teaching of historical methods. In this book, Jeremy Black offers a short guide to the subject, one that is designed to argue its value as a tool for public and academe alike. Black focuses on the role of counterfactualism in demonstrating the part of contingency, and thus human agency, in history, and the salutary critique the approach offers to determinist accounts of past, present, and future.
 Free Download Eric J Wittenberg, "One Of Custer's Wolverines: The Civil War Letters of Brevet Brigadier General James H. Kidd, 6th Michigan Cavalry" English | ISBN: 0873386701 | 2000 | 296 pages | EPUB | 1335 KB Primarily known for his postwar exploits, most famously his 1876 defeat at Little Big Horn, George Armstrong Custer is receiving renewed interest for his successful Civil War generalship. He led the Michigan Cavalry Brigade in more than sixty battles and skirmishes. Forming perhaps the finest single cavalry brigade in the war, these horse soldiers repeatedly proved themselves as formidable opponents to the Confederates, earning them the nickname of "Custer's Wolverines."
 Free Download Michael F. Conlin, "One Nation Divided by Slavery: Remembering the American Revolution While Marching toward the Civil War " English | ISBN: 1606352407 | 2015 | 240 pages | EPUB | 3 MB The centrality of the American Revolution in the antebellum slavery controversy
 Free Download Andreas Schönle, "On the Periphery of Europe, 1762-1825: The Self-Invention of the Russian Elite " English | ISBN: 0875807852 | 2018 | 224 pages | EPUB | 822 KB Throughout the eighteenth century, the Russian elite assimilated the ideas, emotions, and practices of the aristocracy in Western countries to various degrees, while retaining a strong sense of their distinctive identity. In On the Periphery of Europe, 1762-1825, Andreas Schönle and Andrei Zorin examine the principal manifestations of Europeanization for Russian elites in their daily lives, through the import of material culture, the adoption of certain social practices, travel, reading patterns, and artistic consumption. The authors consider five major sites of Europeanization: court culture, religion, education, literature, and provincial life. The Europeanization of the Russian elite paradoxically strengthened its pride in its Russianness, precisely because it participated in networks of interaction and exchange with European elites and shared in their linguistic and cultural capital. In this way, Europeanization generated forms of sociability that helped the elite consolidate its corporate identity as distinct from court society and also from the people. The Europeanization of Russia was uniquely intense, complex, and pervasive, as it aimed not only to emulate forms of behavior, but to forge an elite that was intrinsically European, while remaining Russian. The second of a two-volume project (the first is a multi-authored collection of case studies), this insightful study will appeal to scholars and students of Russian and East European history and culture, as well as those interested in transnational processes.  Free Download On the Origin of Good Moves: A Skeptic's Guide at Getting Better at Chess By Willy Hendriks 2020 | 352 Pages | ISBN: 9056918796 | PDF | 20 MB The way a beginner develops into a strong chess player closely resembles the progress of the game of chess itself. This popular idea is the reason why many renowned chess instructors such as former World Champions Garry Kasparov and Max Euwe, emphasize the importance of studying the history of chess.Willy Hendriks agrees that there is much to be learned from the pioneers of our game. He challenges, however, the conventional view on what the stages in the advancement of chess actually have been. Among the various articles of faith that Hendriks questions is Wilhelm Steinitz's reputation as the discoverer of the laws of positional chess.In The Origin of Good Moves Hendriks undertakes a groundbreaking investigative journey into the history of chess. He explains what actually happened, creates fresh perspectives, finds new heroes, and reveals the real driving force behind improvement in chess: evolution.This thought-provoking book is full of beautiful and instructive 'new' material from the old days. With plenty of exercises, the reader is invited to put themselves in the shoes of the old masters. Never before has the study of the history of chess been so entertaining and rewarding.
 Free Download James T. Fisher, "On the Irish Waterfront: The Crusader, the Movie, and the Soul of the Port of New York " English | ISBN: 0801476844 | 2010 | 392 pages | EPUB | 2 MB Site of the world's busiest and most lucrative harbor throughout the first half of the twentieth century, the Port of New York was also the historic preserve of Irish American gangsters, politicians, longshoremen's union leaders, and powerful Roman Catholic pastors. This is the demimonde depicted to stunning effect in Elia Kazan's On the Waterfront (1954) and into which James T. Fisher takes readers in this remarkable and engaging historical account of the classic film's backstory.
 Free Download Owen Connelly, "On War and Leadership: The Words of Combat Commanders from Frederick the Great to Norman Schwarzkopf" English | ISBN: 0691123691 | 2005 | 360 pages | EPUB | 2 MB What can we learn about leadership and the experience of war from the best combat leaders the world has ever known? This book takes us behind the scenes and to the front lines of the major wars of the past 250 years through the words of twenty combat commanders. What they have to say-which is remarkably similar across generational, national, and ideological divides-is a fascinating take on military history by those who lived it. It is also worthwhile reading for anyone, from any walk of life, who makes executive decisions.
 Free Download Susan M. Stein, "On Distant Service: The Life of the First U.S. Foreign Service Officer to Be Assassinated" English | ISBN: 1640121943 | 2020 | 360 pages | EPUB | 2 MB On July 18, 1924, a mob in Tehran killed U.S. foreign service officer Robert Whitney Imbrie. His violent death, the first political murder in the history of the service, outraged the American people. Though Imbrie's loss briefly made him a cause célèbre, subsequent events quickly obscured his extraordinary life and career.
 Free Download On All Cylinders, Second Edition: Succeeding as an Entrepreneur and a Leader (ISSN) by Ron Robinson English | October 14, 2019 | ISBN: N/A | ASIN: B07Z45MZG3 | 191 pages | EPUB | 2.14 Mb This book will help any leadership team use their talents to nimbly respond to shifting demands and create a better future for their business and their communities by transitioning from traditional management structures to a system of leadership behaviors. |
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