Charles River

*Includes pictures *Includes Berry's quotes about his life and career *Includes footnotes and a bibliography for further reading "I grew up thinking art was pictures until I got into music and found I was an artist and didn't paint." - Chuck Berry "If you tried to give rock and roll another name, you might call it 'Chuck Berry.'" - John Lennon The origins of rock music claim several founding fathers, with each perspective holding merit and directly contributing to the golden age to follow in rock music. While Elvis Presley remains perhaps the most high profile figure of early rock, he was not truly a member of the first generation, and if anything, he was a product of a slightly older wave of ground-breaking artists. Appearing immediately before Presley's rise was Texan Buddy Holly, whose borrowings from driving black rhythms blended with white lyrics to make him one of the first successful cross-over artists. However, perhaps the first and ultimately the most successful of this category - those artistic explorers who most effectively blurred racial and political lines through their music - was Chuck Berry, an African-American blues, country singer/guitarist songwriter who perfectly blended the prevailing forms of his generation to attract both black and white audiences with a virtuosity and originality that set the bar for the next half century. Unlike Presley, and more in the manner of Holly, Chuck Berry wrote his own classics, and he thrived as both a composer and lyricist based on his early love of poetry and hard blues, jump blues jazzy ballads, boogie-woogie, and hillbilly music. As a double-threat musician and imaginative literary figure, Berry trained his musical focus on American "teen life...consumerism and utilizing guitar solos and showmanship that would be a major influence on subsequent rock music." Indeed, Chuck Berry was the first artist to reach the charts who was both a virtuoso guitarist and songwriter. As with the gyrations of Elvis and the moonwalk of Michael Jackson, Berry had his trademark stage gesture, the "duck walk," a maneuver in which the right foot is kicked across the stage and leaves the left dragging along behind. It is suggested by some that this signature gesture was not actually planned for anything other than to camouflage a wrinkled rayon suit in a mid-'50s performance in New York, but either way, only a small part of Berry's success came from the visual. Berry also "crafted many of rock 'n' roll's greatest riffs" for guitar, and he became the standard for brilliance on the instrument. In addition to pioneering the sound of rock, Berry's performances set the bar for rock bands across the world. In particular, his specific brand of showmanship served as a template for front men, and all the while, the complete package included iconic guitar riffs that showed blinding tactile skill, energetic boogie-based hits, and depictions of village life and love for both blacks and whites. Put together, Berry's work made the careers of subsequent stars and superstars of the genre possible. As the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame put it, "While no individual can be said to have invented rock and roll, Chuck Berry comes the closest of any single figure to being the one who put all the essential pieces together. It was his particular genius to graft country & western guitar licks onto a rhythm & blues chassis in his very first single, 'Maybellene.'" American Legends: The Life of Chuck Berry looks at the life and career of one of America's most influential rock stars. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Chuck Berry like never before, in no time at all.

*Includes pictures *Includes contemporary descriptions of Number 10 *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading "I am speaking to you from the Cabinet Room at 10 Downing Street. This morning the British Ambassador in Berlin handed the German Government an official note stating that unless we heard from them by eleven o'clock, that they were prepared at once to withdraw their troops from Poland, a state of war would exist between us. I have to tell you now that no such undertaking has been received, and consequently this country is at war with Germany." - Neville Chamberlain "Ten Downing Street is a house, not an office. That is its most important characteristic." - Douglas Hurd Throughout the world, there are centers of power and law that also serve as homes for families, sometimes just one, sometimes several. In the United States, the White House is both a residence and an office, and the same is true of a number of palaces around the world. In London, much of the United Kingdom's official business emanates from 10 Downing Street, often referred to simply as Number 10. In fact, "Number 10" has become synonymous with the voice of the government of the United Kingdom itself, much the same way America's presidential administration is often referred to as the White House. As much as it is a center of power, 10 Downing Street is also a study in contradictions. Though known today as the home of the Prime Minister, for most of its history it has housed other high ranking government offices. Seen as a symbol of stability, it has often been physically the opposite; originally built in a swamp on a sandy foundation, it was shorn up again and again for decades. In fact, its location and condition were often considered so bad that prior to 1900, only about half of the men offered the home chose to live there, and it was not until the latter half of the 20th century that the house was finally brought up to the most basic standards of modern building code. 10 Downing Street: The History and Legacy of the British Prime Minister's Official Residence examines the long and storied history of one of England's most famous landmarks. Along with pictures depicting important people, places, and events, you will learn about 10 Downing Street like never before.

*Includes pictures *Includes accounts of legendary sea monsters *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading The oceans of the world have always had an air of mystery. About 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by water, and until the 20th century no one had plumbed its depths. Even today the bigger seas and oceans remain a largely unexplored frontier, with new species being discovered every year. Thus it comes as no surprise that countless legends have arisen of strange creatures lurking in the depths. What follows is just a sampling of these stories, including sightings of unusual sea creatures by experienced witnesses in the 19th, 20th, and even 21st centuries. The idea that there might be large species still swimming in the oceans that haven't been classified by marine biologists isn't as far-fetched as it might sound. For example, the megamouth shark (Megachasma pelagios) was entirely unknown to science until a U. S. Naval vessel off the coast of Hawaii accidentally skewered one on its anchor. The megamouth shark is a deepwater shark that can reach up to 18 feet in length, making it quite a large creature to go unnoticed for so long. In fact, since its accidental discovery, fewer than a hundred specimens have been spotted and the species had only been filmed three times. The Peruvian beaked whale (Mesoplodon peruvians) was discovered the same year and not formally described until 1991. Very little is known about this small species of whale that has only been seen off the west coast of Central and South America. Even more poorly known is the Spade-toothed whale (Mesoplodon traversii), which was first documented in 1872 thanks to the discovery of a partial jaw in New Zealand. It wasn't recognized as a distinct species until a partial skull was found in 1986, and no complete body was found until two specimens washed ashore in New Zealand in 2010. The fact that an entire species of whale is known to exist and yet no one has ever seen one alive adds fuel to the imagination of any monster hunter, who insists that there may be even more intriguing unknown species waiting to be discovered. Cryptozoology is the science that investigates these creatures, which investigators generally call "cryptids". The word is made up of the Greek stem "kryptos" (hidden) and suffix "zoology" (study of animals), thus cryptozoology is the study of hidden, as-yet-undiscovered animals. Cryptozoologists are quick to point out that they are not searching for alien beings or occult creatures; they do not hunt UFOs or ghosts. They are serious scientists, some amateur and some with professional degrees, who want to find, study, and protect these rare species. Sea Monsters: A History of Creatures from the Haunted Deep in Legend and Lore profiles the various sea creatures that people have told tales about for centuries, from ancient sources and doubtful legends to sightings by more reliable witnesses, such as ship's captains and naturalists. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about legendary sea monsters like never before.

*Includes pictures *Includes Beckwourth's quotes about his life *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading "Jim Beckwourth, who knew, said that though the Indian could never become a white man, the white man lapsed easily into an Indian." - Bernard DeVoto, The Year of Decision: 1846 Explorers, soldiers, and settlers of African-American heritage comprise an unfamiliar story to most students of American history. However, in the push westward, they were present in sufficient numbers to exert great influence on the nation's development. Among the earliest accounts is that of Isabel de Olvera, who settled in New Mexico around the year of 1600, and it is estimated that by 1750, 25% of Albuquerque's population shared discernible African ancestry. York, the well-known servant of Lewis and Clark, accompanied the legendary expedition under the auspices of the Jefferson administration, and Edward Rose traveled up the Missouri River in the same era. Within just a few years, Pio Pico became the governor of California, and George Bush became one of the first African-Americans to travel the Oregon Trail, opening that route to a flood of settlers over a 10-year period. In parallel with these individuals came a number of African-American frontiersmen who participated in the exploration of the Western terrain, said to have numbered in the dozens. Needless to say, such a career was an unusual destiny for those who "emerged from the system of slavery." Emancipation for an American slave generally involved a dangerous and illegal trek on foot toward the north, or through the Underground Railroad network operating between states east of the Mississippi. Given the illiteracy rates of the day, few tangible accounts of such journeys have survived, but one glaring exception is that of James Pierson Beckwourth, the only known African American mountain man to leave behind a detailed, if somewhat sensationalistic, account of his travels. In a journey spanning over half a century, Beckwourth tried his hand at virtually every line of work related to Western life. He served as a soldier, explored a vast range of territory as a mountain man, and worked as a scout and guide. In later years, he lived as an entrepreneurial merchant, professional card player, and as a skilled horse thief for both Indian tribes and the U. S. Army. Perhaps most unique of all was Beckwourth's relations with Native American tribes. Adapting himself to the culture of several tribes of the Plains and the Southwest, and employing a particular charm and prowess in battle, he was adopted by the Crow nation. In their society, Beckwourth rose to the level of War Chief, and he lived with the tribe for several years. Hailing from a largely anonymous slave culture, Beckwourth was in a perpetual search for personal fame throughout his life, and to some degree, he found it, thanks to the "autobiography" personally dictated to author T. D. Bonner, who recast the frontiersman's lasting legacy as that of a "black Daniel Boone." His resulting reputation thrived alongside famed Western characters such as Kit Carson, Jedediah Smith, Pierre Vasquez, and Jim Bridger. Jim Beckwourth: The Life and Legacy of the Former Slave Who Became One of America's Most Famous Mountain Men examines the legendary career of one of the most unique figures in the history of the American West. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Jim Beckwourth like never before.

*Includes pictures *Includes contemporary Egyptian accounts of the Libyans and the wars against them *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading The ancient Egyptians are well known today for the enemies they kept. In their texts, the Egyptians made copious references to the "vile Asiatics" and "wretched Kush," who were their Canaanite and Nubian neighbors, respectively. The Nubians and Canaanites were also portrayed in numerous reliefs from the temples and tombs throughout Egypt, which has given modern scholars both a general impression concerning how those people dressed and looked, as well as (and probably more importantly) how the Egyptians viewed those peoples. The Canaanites and Nubians received the most attention as Egypt's enemies and occasional trading partners, but it was the Libyans-the final third of Egypt's traditional enemies-who influenced later Egyptian culture most. Unlike the Nubians and Canaanites, the Libyans were nearly always at war with the Egyptians. The reasons for the near constant warfare between the Libyans and Egyptians are difficult to discern, but more than likely stem from the fact that Libya was poor in resources, so the Egyptians had little reason to trade with the Libyans. On the other hand, the Libyans coveted Egypt's material wealth. The result was numerous putative campaigns by the Egyptians into Libya and raids by the Libyans into Egypt. The wars between the Libyans and Egyptians reached a fevered pitch during the New Kingdom when the Libyans organized anti-Egyptian coalitions, and even formed an alliance with the mysterious Sea Peoples. By the Late New Kingdom, Egypt was an armed camp, yet it was ultimately unable to stem the tide of Libyan migration. The Libyans used their numbers to their advantage, eventually conquering Egypt and establishing two dynasties. Their ancestors created another two. Unfortunately, early Libyan history is replete with several lacunae since the Libyans were not literate until the early Iron Age, and modern archaeologists have uncovered little of their material culture. As a result, modern studies of the ancient Libyans are then forced to synthesize archaeological evidence using Egyptian textual and pictorial references, classical sources, and biblical references, in order to arrive at a more complete picture. The relationship between the Libyans and Egyptians was truly complicated, and an in-depth survey of Libyan history from the Neolithic Period until the middle of the 6th century BCE demonstrates just how important the Libyans were in the ancient world. The Ancient Libyans: The Mysterious History of Egypt's Neighbors to the West during Antiquity looks at the various groups and their impact on the region and subsequent cultures. Along with pictures depicting important people, places, and events, you will learn about the ancient Libyans like never before.

*Includes pictures. *Includes Garcia's quotes about his life and career. *Includes footnotes and a bibliography for further reading. "I read somewhere that 77 percent of all the mentally ill live in poverty. Actually, I'm more intrigued by the 23 percent who are apparently doing quite well for themselves." - Jerry Garcia Despite the enormous esteem he has garnered from virtually every corner of the music world, Jerry Garcia has continued to elude both fans and music historians as they attempt to determine his origins and categorize his art and influence on American music. Part of their difficulty lies in the fact that his work as the frontman for the Grateful Dead, "one of the most prolific and iconic guitarists of the twentieth century," tended toward a blending of the traditional with the experimental, in which he was willing to use almost any and every available ethnic musical resource. In terms of ethnic material, Garcia's passionate interest in virtually every nook and cranny of American music, particularly rural music, made the task of following his concepts from moment to moment an unpredictable and inexact science. In his explorations and elaborations on old musical treasures, whether familiar or obscure, he fully indulged in almost all of them at one time or another. For Garcia, this was not a career move but a joyous personal search to create a vast palette of harmonic, rhythmic and textural escapades. As an iconic example of the "communitarian, drug-positive hippie subculture of Haight-Ashbury," and fulfilling all the expectations of the devotees who immersed themselves in the era's music, Garcia could just as easily draw from classical music as he could from American jazz. He performed highly regionalized blues in all of their dialects, along with country music, numerous shades of rock music, and any combination of all of them. In one late career example, he even took on the genre of disco, meeting the public backlash head-on. Despite its waning popularity and status as a Saturday night indulgence for teens, in Garcia's mind, it was a native American musical form and therefore worth studying and mutating into new hybrid forms and sounds. He could (and constantly did) synthesize new musical treatments and old, time-tested themes without inflicting any damage on the historical source, and among his various bands, he spun lengthy, expansive guitar improvisations, aided by masterful colleagues who melded the music to fit the emotional and intellectual profiles of their audiences. By all accounts, Garcia's place at the front of the stage made the event magical, and even though he was not a fine singer in the conventional sense, he could produce "delicate, mournful, rough-around-the-edges vocals," reflecting the same inviting atmosphere that his physical presence conveyed onstage. With the Grateful Dead alone, Garcia performed over 2,300 concerts during his three decades of work, and his efforts spent with other groups were similarly prodigious. Despite being a frail, sickly youth, Garcia found the enthusiasm and energy in adulthood to work with three bands simultaneously, all while indulging a lifelong interest in film and art. Garcia's laid-back persona, along with others of his musical generation, worked like an irresistible force within the industry, and by the mid-90s, had left it forever altered. American Legends: The Life of Jerry Garcia examines the life and career of one of America's most famous musicians. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Jerry Garcia like never before, in no time at all.

*Includes pictures*Chronicles the Apollo program from beginning to end, profiling Apollo 1, Apollo 11, and Apollo 13*Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading*Includes a table of contents The Apollo space program is the most famous and celebrated in American history, but the first successful landing of men on the Moon during Apollo 11 had complicated roots dating back over a decade, and it also involved one of NASA's most infamous tragedies. Landing on the Moon presented an ideal goal all on its own, but the government's urgency in designing the Apollo program was actually brought about by the Soviet Union, which spent much of the 1950s leaving the United States in its dust (and rocket fuel). In 1957, at a time when people were concerned about communism and nuclear war, many Americans were dismayed by news that the Soviet Union was successfully launching satellites into orbit. Among those concerned was President Dwight D. Eisenhower, whose space program was clearly lagging a few years behind the Soviets' space program. From 1959-1963, the United States worked toward putting satellites and humans into orbit via the Mercury program, but Eisenhower's administration was already designing plans for the Apollo program by 1960, a year before the first Russian orbited the Earth and two years before John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth. On May 25, 1961, President John F. Kennedy addressed Congress and asked the nation to "commit itself to achieving the goal, before this decade is out, of landing a man on the Moon and returning him safely to the Earth." Given America's inability to even put a man in orbit yet, this seemed like an overly ambitious goal, and it isn't even clear that Kennedy himself believed it possible; after all, he was reluctant to meet NASA Administrator James E. Webb's initial funding requests. As Apollo 11's name suggests, there were actually a number of Apollo missions that came before, many of which included testing the rockets and different orbital and lunar modules in orbit. In fact, it wasn't until Apollo 8 that a manned vehicle was sent towards the Moon and back, and before that mission, the most famous Apollo mission was Apollo 1, albeit for all the wrong reasons. Over the decade, NASA would spend tens of billions on the Apollo missions, the most expensive peacetime program in American history to that point, and even though Apollo 11 was only one of almost 20 Apollo missions, it was certainly the crown jewel. only one of nearly 20 Apollo missions conducted by NASA. And to make Apollo 11 a success, it would take nearly a decade of planning by government officials, hard work by NASA scientists, intense training by the astronauts, and several missions preceding Apollo 11. It also cost over $20 billion, making the Apollo program the most expensive peacetime program in American history at the time. Apollo 12 successfully landed astronauts on the Moon just a few months after Apollo 11's successful mission. Apollo 12 was actually more successful than Apollo 11 from the standpoint of fulfilling the mission objectives, but it was naturally overshadowed since it did not come first. Another reason Apollo 12 is mostly forgotten today can be credited to the dramatic and fateful Apollo 13 mission, which took twists and turns nobody could have predicted when it launched on April 11, 1970. Apollo 13's mission was to land on the Moon near the Fra Mauro highlands, which were hills that had somehow formed in the middle of a huge crater tens of miles wide. The mission was supposed to test for seismic activity and take samples to analyze the crater and try to find an explanation for the formation of the hills. Of course, as is widely known today, Apollo 13 never made the landing. By the end of the Apollo program, NASA had already begun designing and developing the Space Shuttle Program, which would provide reusable vehicles for manned space travel.

*Includes pictures *Explains Hitler's rise to power and the roles played by the SA and other paramilitary groups like the SS *Includes eyewitness accounts of the purge *Includes a bibliography for further reading *Includes a table of contents Germany's Nazi Party was remarkably implacable in the hostility it showed to the outside world, staunchly opposing both Communism and liberal democracy from the moment of its inception to that of its violent dissolution. The Nazis likewise showed steely, unwavering resolve in their lethal hatred of the Jews, the Slavs, and many others whom they labeled as "untermenschen," subhumans unworthy of rights, cultural standing, or life itself. They pursued their dark vision of "Aryan" superiority with a terrifying clarity and zeal, and they were willing to incur the enmity of the entire world in the process. At the same time, despite this fanatic dedication to their overall vision, the Nazis had their own share of factional strife, and perhaps not surprisingly, the internecine struggle often led to violence, executions, and assassinations, byproducts of a totalitarian environment in which power appeared in its most undisguised and aggressive form. The firing squad, the bomb, the torture chamber, the extermination camp, the crematorium, and the noose of piano wire took the place of debate and persuasion in Hitler's Germany. Like other totalitarian regimes, the leader of the Nazis kept an iron grip on power in part by making sure nobody else could attain too much of it, leading to purges of high-ranking officials in the Nazi party. Of these purges, the most notorious was the Night of the Long Knives, a purge in the summer of 1934 that came about when Hitler ordered the surprise executions of several dozen leaders of the SA. This fanatically National Socialist paramilitary organization had been a key instrument in overthrowing democratic government in Germany and raising Hitler to dictatorial power in the first place. However, the SA was an arm of the Nazi phenomenon which had socialist leanings and which was the private army of Ernst R hm, which was enough for Hitler to consider the organization dangerous. R hm was a challenger to the Fuhrer's position with his mushrooming SA ranks, which were more loyal to him than to the nominal head of Nazi Germany. Though the SA as a whole survived Hitler's purge, its star was eclipsed by the rise of the newly favored Schutzstaffel (SS), which was instrumental in implementing the Night of the Long Knives. Additionally, the SA's senior leadership was decimated, leading to a loss of cohesion and focus. Even its overall commander, Ernst R hm, fell victim to Hitler's violence, and Hitler himself later spoke words which summed up the calculated ruthlessness he used to deal with his enemies, both domestic and foreign: "The victor will not be asked afterwards whether he told the truth or not. When starting and waging war it is not right that matters, but victory. Close your hearts to pity. Act brutally." Several other factions were also involved. The German Army, or Reichswehr, was theoretically limited to a total of 100,000 men by the treaties ending World War I, but the German military was one of the major keys to power. R hm dreamed of subsuming it totally into the SA, a nightmare from the point of view of the highly conservative and aristocratic officer corps. A man who championed the cause of the Reichswehr and kept it free of subordination to the SA could likely win its loyalty for years to come regardless of his own political and cultural agenda, which Hitler managed to accomplish with the purge. The Night of the Long Knives chronicles the history of the Nazis' most notorious purge. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the Night of the Long Knives like never before, in no time at all.