"Reeling from the brain-altering effects of oxygen depletion, Jon Krakauer reached the summit of Mt. Everest in the early afternoon of May 10, 1996. He hadn't slept in fifty-seven hours. As he turned to begin the perilous descent from 29,028 feet (roughly the cruising altitude of an Airbus jetliner), twenty other climbers were still pushing doggedly to the top, unaware that the sky had begun to roil with clouds ..." "This is the terrifying story of...

Lafcadio Hearn's books have charmed and captivated readers, just as the exotic subjects about which he has written have captivated him. "Gleanings in the Buddha-Fields" presents more Hearn magic as he enters into the spirit of Buddhism as though he were born into it. This collection of stories, subtitled "Studies of Hand and Soul in the Far East," takes the reader on a journey into the soul of Hearn's adopted land as no other writer-especially a non-Japanese...

"When Sarah Erdman, a Peace Corps volunteer, arrived in Nambonkaha, she became the first Caucasian to venture there since the French colonialists. But even though she was thousands of miles away from the United States, completely on her own in this tiny village in the West African nation of Cote d'Ivoire, she did not feel like a stranger for long. As her narrative unfolds, Erdman draws us into the changing world of the village that became her home....

In 1982, Sister Helen Prejean became the spiritual advisor to Patrick Sonnier, a convicted killer sentenced to die in Louisiana's electric chair.

The Germans thought escape was impossible. These men proved them wrong. Colditz Castle, located near Leipzig Germany, was the last stop for select Allied prisoners during World War II. It was here, a reportedly impregnable fortress, that the Germans sent all the prisoners who escaped from other prisons. Once within the walls, the Germans reasoned, escaping was impossible. Yet during the four-year period when the castle was used as a prison, over...

Presents interviews, photographs, letters, oral histories, stories, eyewitness accounts, and excerpts from historical writings from different perspectives on a wide variety of topics related to the Second World War.

Presents a collection of primary documents by African Americans describing their experiences and perspectives of the Civil War.

Alistair Taylor, personal assistant to the Beatles' manager Brian Epstein, recalls his time with the band in this autobiography.

The story of the author's search for her childhood teacher and the influence that teacher had on the author's teaching career.

A first-person account by the Israeli agent who captured Hitler's chief executioner.