Publisher: Atria Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 12/13/2011
ISBN-13: 9781451635966
ISBN-10: 1451635966

Sergeant Rex is a bomb-sniffing dog, but this memoir isn't just about Rex -- it's about Marine Corporal Mike Dowling and his experiences serving in Iraq with a team that brought K9 units into active combat service for the first time since the Vietnam War. Bringing both the dangers of the Iraq war and the unusual details of working with K9 soldiers together in a compelling narrative, Dowling provides fascinating details of the unit's training, the dogs' work, and, above all, the relationships between the men and their dogs. He also relates the factors in his own childhood that led him to a military career in this "unique testimonial from today's professional, highly specialized military" (Kirkus Reviews).

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Publisher: Ballantine Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 01/31/2012
ISBN-13: 9780345516046
ISBN-10: 0345516044

The politics and personal relationships of 15th-century European monarchs seem to provide endless fascination for modern readers. In that vein, biographer Julia Fox provides more intrigue in her portrait of two daughters of Ferdinand and Isabella: Katherine, the first wife of Henry VIII, and her older sister Juana, heir to the throne of Castile. Both suffered terribly from the methods kings and princes used to preserve their power, and they have received little sympathy from modern biographers. Fox presents details of their lives with compassion, shedding light on the historical context of the late 15th century in this compassionate and engaging account.

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Publisher: William Morrow
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 01/03/2012
ISBN-13: 9780062082350
ISBN-10: 0062082353

Retired Navy SEAL Chris Kyle served with distinction in Iraq as a specialist, employing his unusually keen skills as a sniper: he could infiltrate enemy territory without being detected before killing his targets with a single shot. American Sniper portrays the experiences of an ordinary human being who achieved extraordinary things, setting Kyle's Navy SEAL training and career against the background of his unassuming Texas childhood. This "first-rate military memoir" (Booklist) provides a vivid account of the Iraq War, enhanced with passages contributed by his wife that offer glimpses into his family's experiences and feelings during his deployment.

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Publisher: Random House
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 02/21/2012
ISBN-13: 9781400066933
ISBN-10: 140006693X

The 34th President of the United States, Dwight D. Eisenhower capped a stellar military career with two terms in the White House, leaving office in 1961 as a highly popular war hero and politician. In Eisenhower: In War and Peace, historian and biographer Jean Edward Smith delivers a thorough and accessible account of Eisenhower's life, beginning with his birth in Dennison, Texas and his early years in Kansas. Filled with intriguing details of the development of Eisenhower's career and descriptions of his leadership skills, Smith's biography offers a "straight-shooting account" (Kirkus Reviews) both for readers who are approaching Ike for the first time and for those who want to deepen their understanding of him.

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Publisher: Random House
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 01/10/2012
ISBN-13: 9781400067893
ISBN-10: 1400067898

All eyes are on Great Britain this year for the Queen's Diamond Jubilee, and biographer Sally Smith provides an engrossing account of the life of Elizabeth II, beginning with the announcement that her father had unexpectedly become King and engagingly tracing her youth during World War II, her ascension to the throne, and her 60-year reign. Elizabeth the Queen presents a detailed and organized portrait of Queen Elizabeth as a monarch who gracefully bears up under the demands of protocol while remaining a genuine human being. If you can't get enough about this second-longest-reigning British monarch, read another recent biography by Andrew Marr, The Real Elizabeth.

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Publisher: Harmony Books
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 06/23/2009
ISBN-13: 9780307463456
ISBN-10: 0307463451

Astronaut Buzz Aldrin was the second man to walk on the moon, which he described as "magnificent desolation." Following up on his first memoir, Return to Earth, Aldrin draws readers into a detailed description of the last moments before Apollo 11 took off, the first human landing on the moon, and the expedition's triumphant return. After the celebrated mission, though, Aldrin faced numerous difficulties, including career frustrations, alcoholism and depression, and failed marriages. Kirkus Reviews calls Magnificent Desolation an "admirable account" of how he overcame these challenges and eventually settled into a career focused on promoting space exploration.

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Publisher: Modern Library
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 07/01/2001
ISBN-13: 9780375757464
ISBN-10: 0375757465

Born in 1893, Freya Stark belonged to an era in which women were expected to stay at home, or at most, travel in the company of their families. In this engaging biography, author Jane Fletcher Geniesse explains how Stark came to regard travel as a normal way of life, developing a passion for exploring remote regions on her own, learning Arabic, visiting unmapped places in the Ottoman Empire -- scandalizing British colonial wives -- and providing British Intelligence with valuable information in the period following World War I. For a biography of another influential woman who explored some of the same territory as Stark, read Georgina Howell's Gertrude Bell.

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Publisher: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 05/14/2009
ISBN-13: 9781585427192
ISBN-10: 1585427195

Mt. Everest is the ultimate goal of many dedicated mountain climbers, but its slopes often prove deadly even to the best equipped and most experienced teams. Lincoln Hall was a very well prepared climber, but in May 2006 he passed out and was left for dead...until on the next day a different team found him very much alive. In Dead Lucky, Hall details his experience, vividly recounting his hallucinations in a narrative that "stands alone" (Booklist) among books about climbing Everest. He also explains why climbers are willing to take such risks. For a wider view of the disastrous 2006 Everest climbing season, read Nick Heil's Dark Summit.

Publisher: Yale University Press
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 10/28/2008
ISBN-13: 9780300142235
ISBN-10: 0300142234

Best known for his search across Africa for the explorer David Livingstone, journalist Henry Stanley had a varied career before signing on with the New York Herald to report from remote locations around the world. Earlier biographers have criticized Stanley's character, but biographer Tim Jeal, the first to have access to personal documents in the Stanley archives, paints a more sympathetic portrait. Though scarred by an abusive childhood, Stanley's character was much more complex than that of a ruthless adventurer driven by his ambitions. Booklist calls this a "fine, counterrevisionist look" at Stanley's life and career.

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Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Check Library Catalog Pub Date: 06/01/2006
ISBN-13: 9780007161065
ISBN-10: 0007161069

Few blind people travel the world on their own, and in the early 19th century such a feat was unheard of -- until James Holman published several books on his travels. Blinded by illness at age 25, Holman lived at a home for Royal Navy veterans. He disliked the idleness of his existence, however, so he embarked on a series of travels, sending back accounts of his explorations in Europe -- where he climbed Mt. Vesuvius during an eruption -- Siberia, Africa, and even China. Biographer Jason Roberts provides "with grace and wit" (Publishers Weekly) an entertaining account of Holman's life and travels.

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