Charles River

*Includes pictures *Includes accounts of the explosion and sinking of the Sultana *Includes a bibliography for further reading There is a popular saying that declares "timing is everything," and in no other field of study is that truer than in history. For instance, under normal conditions, a ship that sank with more than 2,000 passengers aboard - most of whom died - would be big news, yet today the sinking of the SS Sultana is often overlooked if not entirely forgotten. While it might have generated the type of publicity and reaction of the Johnstown Flood of 1889 or the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 under normal circumstances, the explosion and sinking of the Sultana on April 27, 1865 has become something of a historical footnote. The irony is that the Sultana is a historical footnote because of the Civil War, but it was also intimately tied to the war. Although Robert E. Lee's surrender to Ulysses Grant at Appomattox was not technically the end of the Civil War, it took one of the last remaining Confederate armies out of the field. Furthermore, on the night of April 14, many of the Union's hopes for the future were dashed when President Abraham Lincoln was shot at Ford's Theatre in Washington, D. C. The people of the nation quickly became a volatile mix of grief and outrage, uninterested in anything that did not relate to the death of their beloved president. In fact, just the day before the disaster, as the Sultana was sailing up the Mississippi River to her rendezvous with destiny, Union Army soldiers cornered and killed Lincoln's assassin, John Wilkes Booth. The Sultana's chief engineer, N. Wintringer, tried to give his readers a sense of the context in which the accident took place when he wrote, "As I was chief engineer of that ill-fated steamer at the time of her explosion I thought that my recollections of that terrible calamity would be of some interest. I believe that George Oayton, one of the pilots and myself were the only officers of the boat that escaped with our lives. ... The 'Sultana' left Cairo on that fatal trip the 15th of April, 1865, the day after the death of President Lincoln, and as all wire communications with the south were cut off at that time, the 'Sultana' carried the news of his assassination and death to all points and military posts on the Mississippi river as far as New Orleans." In short, the entire nation was in a state of chaos and too exhausted from four years of war that culminated in the death of the president to give the disaster the attention and grief it deserved. Perhaps the cruelest irony of the disaster is that the Sultana was packed full of men who had survived every conceivable trial and tribulation of the war, from wounds and sicknesses to being prisoners. Having lost hundreds of thousands, America was almost numb to the loss of a couple of thousand more, especially when many of the dead were soldiers themselves, and in a sense, it was left for future generations to try to unravel what went wrong and to pay tribute to the men who died on that dark night. The Explosion of the SS Sultana chronicles the story of America's deadliest maritime disaster. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the explosion and sinking of the Sultana like never before, in no time at all.

*Includes pictures *Includes Parton's own quotes about her life and career *Includes a bibliography for further reading "If you don't like the road you're walking, start paving another one." - Dolly Parton "I'm not offended by all the dumb blonde jokes because I know I'm not dumb... and I also know that I'm not blonde." - Dolly Parton A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history's most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors' American Legends series, readers can get caught up to speed on the lives of America's most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known. Few celebrities are as much a product of their native land as Dolly Parton. While many celebrities have desperately tried to get as far away as possible from their impoverished upbringings, Parton constructed her star persona around the image of Appalachian country music culture. In many ways, Parton was raised in a quintessential Appalachian family, and while she has been resolute in expressing her affection for this background, it is impossible to deny that her upbringing posed obstacles that were difficult to overcome and related to societal and industrial levels. However, as Curtis Ellison put it, "A good part of Parton's public image has been one of rustic coziness rendered in picturesque regional Appalachian] idioms." Not only did she make her performing debut at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville, but despite forays into pop music, her performing style remains anchored in the brand of country music that made the Grand Ole Opry one of the iconic performing venues in the United States. On a personal level, despite spending much of her time in Hollywood, Parton continues to maintain an amusement park in Tennessee-the aptly titled "Dollywood"-and her frequent appearances there attest to her enduring connection to the land of her upbringing. As much as Dolly Parton is identified with rural Tennessee, her star image has progressed beyond the socially conservative climate of the Smoky Mountain region. At first glance, Parton appears to embody the regressive image of the objectified woman, and given her busty figure and numerous cosmetic surgeries, it's clear she cares a great deal about her appearance. As she once joked, "The only way I'd be caught without makeup is if my radio fell in the bathtub while I was taking a bath and electrocuted me and I was in between makeup at home. I hope my husband would slap a little lipstick on me before he took me to the morgue." However, there is also a way in which she has come to represent liberated femininity. Indeed, since making her entrance into the performing industry in the late 1960s, Parton has striven to attain a level of mastery over her career that was unusual for her time, and she has been successful in controlling the discourse that surrounds her, a feat achieved through highly deliberate responses to interviews and publicity requests. It is telling that one of Dolly's most famous songs is "9 to 5", an indication that she represents American working women. American Legends: The Life of Dolly Parton chronicles how Parton's family background and performing career established her persona, as well as her nuanced relationship with gender and social issues. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Dolly Parton like never before, in no time at all.

*Includes pictures *Includes Kaufman's quotes about his life and career *Includes a bibliography for further reading "There's no way to describe what I do. It's just me." - Andy Kaufman "I just want real reactions. I want people to laugh from the gut, be sad from the gut - or get angry from the gut." - Andy Kaufman A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history's most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors' American Legends series, readers can get caught up to speed on the lives of America's most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known. Andy Kaufman never liked to call himself a comedian, so it's a testament to his skills and routines that he is nonetheless considered one of the late 20th century's most famous comedians. In fact, Kaufman's eccentric style and theatrics made him one of the most unique performers of his era, whether it was doing a song and dance routine or staying in character to the extent that nobody could tell whether he was being himself or not. To this day, Kaufman is probably best known for his staged wrestling storyline with Jerry "The King" Lawler, which included one of professional wrestling's most famous bouts, and true to form, Kaufman subsequently went on Late Night With David Letterman with a neck brace, claiming he had suffered a broken neck as a result of a piledriver. For his part, Kaufman admitted, "What's real? What's not? That's what I do in my act, test how other people deal with reality." Given his abilities and propensity for practical jokes and outright hoaxes, Kaufman became extremely popular during the last decade of his life, boosted by countless performances on television shows and as Latka Gravas on the hit show Taxi. However, he was diagnosed with a rare type of lung cancer in his mid-30s and died within a few months near the peak of his popularity, which helped cement his cult status among fans. Fittingly, many of those same fans initially assumed that reports of Kaufman's illness and death were also a hoax, even those who had seen some him look gaunt and sickly during his final performances. It was an odd but appropriate tribute to a performer who had always been able to blur the lines between fiction and reality and keep audiences on their toes. American Legends: The Life of Andy Kaufman explores the life and career of one of America's most unique entertainers. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Kaufman like never before, in no time at all.

*Includes pictures *Includes some of Buddy Holly's quotes *Includes footnotes and a bibliography for further reading "If anyone asks you what kind of music you play, tell him 'pop.' Don't tell him 'rock'n'roll' or they won't even let you in the hotel." - Buddy Holly At the time of Buddy Holly's birth in 1936, in Lubbock Texas, rock music and its various hybrid genres were in early infancy. Signs of rock's future magnitude would soon be seen in the sexual charisma of the young Elvis Presley, the rhythm and passion of Chuck Berry, the riveting musical dialogues of Little Richard, and the raw virtuosity of Jerry Lee Lewis. Even then, however, no one yet knew what a rock star really was, and who could become one. Viewed in that light, observers of the time must have thought it fantastical that a nerdy boy-next-door, wearing bow ties and thick, dark horn-rimmed glasses, would consider such a climb into the rarified air of the traditionally-accepted stage performer, with a charisma not to be found in daily life. The fact that Holly stuck to his guns and persevered would actually come to make him an important pillar of rock music's origins. His visual appearance and easy, unassuming style struck a sympathetic note with the "everyman" audience, and his brilliant, albeit brief, career demonstrated that there was a flip side to the "suave and sexy" style of Elvis and his early rock contemporaries. Despite his lack of overt sex appeal in the traditional sense, the quirky Holly, who spent only 21 months in the public eye, was nevertheless "a good student, possessed of infectious personal charm." For young men around the world who shared Holly's "nerdiness," and women who were of a mind to take a break from being seduced from the stage to focus their attention on the "good boy," he was "hard not to like, with his goofy charisma, innovative vocal style, and very catchy tune." Holly did not immediately seek out a niche to occupy, but studied, tweaked, experimented, and grew constantly in the areas of sound, arrangement, orchestration, unique lyrics and technology to become the "most progressive rock and roll star of the 50s." He attracted an audience of kindred spirits with the affable "boy next door charm" to become "one of rock 'n' roll's founding fathers." Along the way, he contributed his own gifts as a visionary, in the same way that Presley did, by conveying through his music, whatever the setting, "the wide-open spaces of Texas." In addition, he altered the rock music industry in such a way that performing artists could also become self-arrangers and songwriters. Holly was, in fact, an artist whose career sustained itself almost entirely on original songs, an act of courage in the rock industry, and he has been singled out as one of the two greatest songwriters of his era, the other being Chuck Berry. While Holly is frequently given the credit he deserves, he is probably best remembered for the tragic plane crash that killed him when he was still just 22. Known as "The Day The Music Died", Holly, Ritchie Valens, and the J. P. "The Big Bopper" Richardson boarded a small plane after performing a show on the "Winter Dance Party" tour in Clear Lake, Iowa, but that night, February 3, 1959, their plane crashed shortly after takeoff when the pilot got confused due to bad weather and poor visibility. In addition to prematurely killing 3 young artists, the crash was immortalized by Don McLean's "American Pie." American Legends: The Life of Buddy Holly looks at the life and career of one of America's most famous rock stars. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Buddy Holly like never before, in no time at all.

*Includes pictures*Includes Skelton's quotes about his life and career*Includes a bibliography for further reading"I don't want to be called 'the greatest' or 'one of the greatest'; let other guys claim to be the best. I just want to be known as a clown because to me that's the height of my profession. It means you can do everything-sing, dance, and above all, make people laugh." - Red Skelton"All I want to do is to make people laugh, to take the word 'heartache' out of their vocabulary" - Red SkeltonA lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history's most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors' American Legends series, readers can get caught up to speed on the lives of America's most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known. Among radio personalities and television entertainers, almost nobody had a career as long or storied as Red Skelton, one of America's foremost comedians during the 20th century. Over the course of 70 years, Skelton made crowds laugh from vaudeville to performing as a clown, and while he is best known for The Red Skelton Show and his other variety shows, he also managed a 45 year stage career, as a pantomime or one of the other characters he created over the years. Although Skelton was extremely popular in America at the peak of his career, his entertainment was also a throwback to the early 20th century, which compelled television studios to balk at the notion of continuing to air his shows by 1970, even though his shows had spent almost two straight decades with Top 10 ratings on the air. Understandably bitter, Skelton refused to have his shows in syndication until the 1980s, and by then, the same concerns about his appeal to younger crowds had only gotten worse as he and his show had aged. Skelton is still best remembered for his performances and his television career, but he was also a noted artist who fittingly excelled at depicting clowns on canvas. Despite the seemingly silly content of his work, Skelton's skills as an artist were so impressive that he made millions of dollars a year selling his art and having it displayed. By the time he died in 1997, it's estimated that he may have made more money through art than through performing. American Legends: The Life of Red Skelton chronicles the life and career of one of America's most beloved comedians. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Red Skelton like never before, in no time at all.

*Includes pictures *Explains how the syllabary works and its influences *Includes footnotes and a bibliography for further reading Tragically, the Cherokee is one of America's best known tribes due to the trials and tribulations they suffered by being forcibly moved west along the "Trail of Tears", but that overlooks the contributions they made to American society well before the 19th century. The Cherokee began the process of assimilation into European America very early, even before the establishment of the Unites States, and by the early 19th century they were one of the "Five Civilized Tribes." Despite all of the hostilities and the Trail of Tears, the Cherokee ultimately became the first people of non-European descent to become U. S. citizens en masse, and today the Cherokee Nation is the largest federally recognized tribe in the United States, boasting over 300,000 members. The Cherokee might be the most famous tribe in the country, and if so, the person most responsible for it is Sequoyah, whose invention of the Cherokee syllabary also played a prominent role in facilitating the assimilation between the Cherokee and Americans. Sequoyah began work on devising the writing and reading system around 1809, and it was instantly popular among the Cherokee, to the extent that it was being used in written publications among the tribe by the 1820s. The syllabary has been in use ever since, both within the tribe and among outsiders. Thanks to his accomplishments, Sequoyah was celebrated in his own lifetime, but due to his obscure roots, accounts of his early years still vary dramatically. Sequoyah: The Life and Legacy of the Most Famous Cherokee looks at the life and work of the man who put the Cherokee language down in print and made it possible for outsiders to both read and write it. This includes analyzing the nature of his invention, the social context in which he lived, and the ongoing legacy he has left for the modern Cherokee. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Sequoyah like never before, in no time at all.

*Includes pictures of the battle's important generals. *Includes accounts of the march written by important participants. *Includes a Bibliography for further reading. "I can make this march, and I will make Georgia howl " - William Tecumseh Sherman " N]o Civil War commander possessed a more astute appraisal of the nature of the contemporary warfare, how to form and pursue grand strategy, and the critical nexus between war, civil society, popular support, and electoral politics, And few American generals have since." - Victor Davis Hanson, The Savior Generals William Tecumseh Sherman holds a unique position in American history. Synonymous with barbarity in the South, Sherman is lauded as a war hero in the North, and modern historians consider him the harbinger of total war. As a Union general, Sherman was recognized for his outstanding command of military strategy but criticized for the harshness of the "scorched earth" policies that he implemented in conducting total war against the Confederate States, especially in 1864 and 1865. Military historian B. H. Liddell Hart famously declared that Sherman was "the first modern general." Both Grant and Sherman shared the same theory of war: anything that might help the enemy's war effort should be considered a military target. Grant explained to Sherman that the Confederates must be "demoralized and left without hope," and he instructed Sherman, "Take all provisions, forage and stock wanted for the use of your command. Such as cannot be consumed, destroy. Leave the valley so barren that crows flying over it...will have to carry their provender with them." This strategy sought the total economic collapse of the South, as well as completely disabling the South's capability of fielding armies. In addition to the wholesale plundering of Southern resources, including taking them from civilians, the Union reversed its policy of swapping prisoners, realizing it had a far bigger reserve of manpower than the South. The Atlanta Campaign was a perfect example of this, as both sides lost about the same number of casualties. By September 1864, however, Sherman still had about 80,000 men, while Hood's army was reduced to about 30,000. Thus, with his remaining forces, about 60,000 strong, Sherman decided to take the unprecedented step of cutting his own communication and supply lines and commencing a widespread march across Georgia, destroying Southern infrastructure and living off the land until his forces reached the coast and linked up with the Union navy. Aside from those plans, Sherman did not appoint a fixed time for his arrival, and the concept of the march greatly concerned the Lincoln Administration, since his men would virtually be on their own without any contact with the rest of the North as they marched straight through the heart of the Confederacy. Grant expressed his own concerns but eventually gave Sherman a simple go-ahead: "Go as you propose." Foragers known as "bummers" (a group comprised of deserters, criminals, and other miscreants) were assigned to seize food from local farms, while the troops (both left and right wings) moved along the railroad lines, ripping up and burning the track as they advanced, leaving miles of severed telegraph lines in their wake. The troops also adopted the habit of heating the train rails over fires and then wrapping them around tree trunks, which became known as "Sherman's neckties." Ultimately, Sherman's armies cut a path of abject destruction 60 miles wide and 300 hundred miles long from Atlanta to Savannah, which some likened to a Biblical blight. And as Sherman had intended, he did indeed made Georgia "howl." Sherman's March to the Sea comprehensively covers the campaign, including the fighting and the aftermath of the results. You will learn about Sherman's March to the Sea like you never have before.