Charles River

A lo largo del occidente del Mediterr neo se han descubierto gran n mero de objetos cuya apariencia o materiales son extra os a las culturas locales, ya sea un amuleto egipcio en Grecia, un vaso griego en frica, o miles de extra os amuletos en Gibraltar. Los restos son evidencia de que una gran cantidad de productos fueron alguna vez movidos de un lugar a otro, transportados sistem ticamente y comerciados a lo largo del Mediterr neo por la antigua red comercial de los fenicios. Comenzando en el siglo 13 A. C., y continuando por m s de un milenio, esta civilizaci n domin el m s importante cuerpo de agua conocido por los antiguos. Con sus barcos formidables y sus habilidades comerciales, se hicieron famosos comerciando por entre Egipto, Grecia, Roma, Cartago, Cerde a, Espa a y finalmente hasta el oc ano Atl ntico, estableci ndose como los se ores indiscutibles del mar. Los fenicios fueron bien conocidos a lo largo de muchas civilizaciones en todo el mundo antiguo y su influencia se puede apreciar en muchos lugares del occidente hoy en d a porque a ellos se les atribuye la invenci n del precursor del alfabeto griego, del que se deriv directamente el alfabeto latino. Sin embargo, los fenicios dejaron pocos textos escritos, de manera que los historiadores modernos se han visto forzados a reconstruir su pasado por medio de una variedad de antiguas fuentes egipcias, asirias, babilonias, griegas y romanas. No es ni siquiera claro c mo se llamaron a s mismos los fenicios, porque el nombre "fenicio" se deriva de la palabra griega "phoinix", que se refiere posiblemente a los tintes que ellos produc an y comerciaban (Markoe 2000, 10). El misterio de los antiguos fenicios se complica m s por el hecho de que los arque logos han sido capaces de excavar solo peque as secciones de las tres m s importantes ciudades fenicias: Biblos, Sid n y Tiro. Biblos, conocida hoy en d a como Jebail, ha sido conocida a trav s del tiempo con muchos otros nombres: los fenicios la llamaron Gebal; para los egipcios fue Kepen o Kupna; los asirios y los acadios se refer an a ella como Gubla (este es el nombre que aparece en el Antiguo Testamento); los rabes la llamaron Jbeil, y eventualmente los cruzados europeos le dieron el nombre de Gibelet. Esta larga etimolog a refleja la singular importancia del legado de la ciudad, porque Biblos es una de las m s antiguas ciudades habitadas sin interrupci n que ha habido en el mundo. La ciudad fue mencionada con frecuencia en los grandes archivos de la antig edad, pero sus or genes descansan en lo m s profundo de la prehistoria. Su localizaci n estrat gica, con abundancia de madera para la construcci n de barcos procedente de las monta as cercanas, hizo que muchos estados poderosos quisieran controlar el territorio. Con el tiempo, Biblos y el rea circundante fueron ocupados por los amorreos, los cananeos, los fenicios, los asirios, los persas, los macedonios, los romanos, los rabes, los cruzados, los mamelucos y los otomanos. Como muchas otras ciudades del Levante, Sid n ha sido habitada sin interrupci n por siglos, y a pesar de las transformaciones tra das por m ltiples civilizaciones que sucedieron a los fenicios, la ciudad mantuvo completamente una identidad antigua y un car cter original hasta el per odo moderno. De todas maneras, mucha de su antigua historia sigue envuelta en el misterio, no solo por la falta de una excavaci n arqueol gica sistem tica, sino tambi n porque mucho de su patrimonio se ha perdido como consecuencia de los conflictos y del saqueo de los buscadores de tesoros a lo largo de los siglos 19 y 20. En la actualidad, una gran cantidad de los activos arqueol gicos de Sid n son propiedad de colecciones de museos extranjeros. Esto ha hecho particularmente dif cil para los historiadores desenterrar, por no hablar de identificar e interpretar, los elementos f sicos de la historia de Sid n.

A lo largo del occidente del Mediterr neo se han descubierto gran n mero de objetos cuya apariencia o materiales son extra os a las culturas locales, ya sea un amuleto egipcio en Grecia, un vaso griego en frica, o miles de extra os amuletos en Gibraltar. Los restos son evidencia de que una gran cantidad de productos fueron alguna vez movidos de un lugar a otro, transportados sistem ticamente y comerciados a lo largo del Mediterr neo por la antigua red comercial de los fenicios. Comenzando en el siglo 13 A. C., y continuando por m s de un milenio, esta civilizaci n domin el m s importante cuerpo de agua conocido por los antiguos. Con sus barcos formidables y sus habilidades comerciales, se hicieron famosos comerciando por entre Egipto, Grecia, Roma, Cartago, Cerde a, Espa a y finalmente hasta el oc ano Atl ntico, estableci ndose como los se ores indiscutibles del mar. Los fenicios fueron bien conocidos a lo largo de muchas civilizaciones en todo el mundo antiguo y su influencia se puede apreciar en muchos lugares del occidente hoy en d a porque a ellos se les atribuye la invenci n del precursor del alfabeto griego, del que se deriv directamente el alfabeto latino. Sin embargo, los fenicios dejaron pocos textos escritos, de manera que los historiadores modernos se han visto forzados a reconstruir su pasado por medio de una variedad de antiguas fuentes egipcias, asirias, babilonias, griegas y romanas. No es ni siquiera claro c mo se llamaron a s mismos los fenicios, porque el nombre "fenicio" se deriva de la palabra griega "phoinix", que se refiere posiblemente a los tintes que ellos produc an y comerciaban (Markoe 2000, 10). El misterio de los antiguos fenicios se complica m s por el hecho de que los arque logos han sido capaces de excavar solo peque as secciones de las tres m s importantes ciudades fenicias: Biblos, Sid n y Tiro. Biblos, conocida hoy en d a como Jebail, ha sido conocida a trav s del tiempo con muchos otros nombres: los fenicios la llamaron Gebal; para los egipcios fue Kepen o Kupna; los asirios y los acadios se refer an a ella como Gubla (este es el nombre que aparece en el Antiguo Testamento); los rabes la llamaron Jbeil, y eventualmente los cruzados europeos le dieron el nombre de Gibelet. Esta larga etimolog a refleja la singular importancia del legado de la ciudad, porque Biblos es una de las m s antiguas ciudades habitadas sin interrupci n que ha habido en el mundo. La ciudad fue mencionada con frecuencia en los grandes archivos de la antig edad, pero sus or genes descansan en lo m s profundo de la prehistoria. Su localizaci n estrat gica, con abundancia de madera para la construcci n de barcos procedente de las monta as cercanas, hizo que muchos estados poderosos quisieran controlar el territorio. Con el tiempo, Biblos y el rea circundante fueron ocupados por los amorreos, los cananeos, los fenicios, los asirios, los persas, los macedonios, los romanos, los rabes, los cruzados, los mamelucos y los otomanos. Como muchas otras ciudades del Levante, Sid n ha sido habitada sin interrupci n por siglos, y a pesar de las transformaciones tra das por m ltiples civilizaciones que sucedieron a los fenicios, la ciudad mantuvo completamente una identidad antigua y un car cter original hasta el per odo moderno. De todas maneras, mucha de su antigua historia sigue envuelta en el misterio, no solo por la falta de una excavaci n arqueol gica sistem tica, sino tambi n porque mucho de su patrimonio se ha perdido como consecuencia de los conflictos y del saqueo de los buscadores de tesoros a lo largo de los siglos 19 y 20. En la actualidad, una gran cantidad de los activos arqueol gicos de Sid n son propiedad de colecciones de museos extranjeros. Esto ha hecho particularmente dif cil para los historiadores desenterrar, por no hablar de identificar e interpretar, los elementos f sicos de la historia de Sid n.

*Includes pictures. *Includes a unique introduction of each actress. *Includes quotes by the actresses about their lives and careers. *Includes bibliographies of each actress for further reading. In 1999, the American Film Institute released its list of the 50 greatest Hollywood stars of the 20th century, and selecting the 10 best actresses out of the bunch was certainly a tall task. The competition was so stacked that women like Ginger Rogers, Grace Kelly and Rita Hayworth were not even among the Top 10. So who were the Top 10 women selected by the AFI? Aside from being one of the most recognized and acclaimed actresses in history, Katharine Hepburn's career is also of great importance because she forced Americans to reevaluate their expectations for female behavior, both in films themselves and off the movie set as well. As society began to pay greater attention to the importance of strong roles for women, Hepburn's career gained an even greater importance as a fiercely individual figure who offered a daring alternative to the conventions of femininity that had long existed in American culture. Bette Davis presided over Hollywood at a time in which the film industry was at its most influential. Every actress from Katharine Hepburn to Ingrid Bergman and Ginger Rodgers, themselves now considered among Hollywood's greatest icons, lived in the shadow of Bette Davis. For someone whose career ended over 30 years ago, Audrey Hepburn continues to retain her popularity and exert a strong influence over how people view beauty and sophistication. She remains an American icon, despite the fact that she did not even move to the United States until 1953 (at the age of 24) and spent the majority of her life living in Europe, while her characters in films such as Roman Holiday (1953) and Breakfast at Tiffany's (1961) are still held up as the paragon of delicate femininity and elegance. At times during her career, Bergman was the darling of Hollywood, but at other times she was literally a pariah. It is all too common to remember Bergman for her performance in Casablanca, forgetting the fact that she was effectively exiled from Hollywood for several years during her romance with Roberto Rossellini. Of all the great movie stars, there may be none more enigmatic than Greta Garbo, who remains internationally famous despite the fact her life and career raise more questions than answers. How did a Swedish actress with very little film acting experience in her native land arrive in the United States and achieve instant stardom? Few actresses lived their lives in the public eye more than Marilyn Monroe, and yet her life remains shrouded in mystery to this day. While it is common knowledge that Marilyn's life is a rags-to-riches story, her life is bookended by hazy details surrounding her early life and even more mysterious death. In many ways, Elizabeth Taylor enjoyed being in the public spotlight and living the lifestyle of the rich and famous, and her personal life very much resembled a performance suitable for Hollywood. Taylor faced great adversity throughout her life, including being married on eight different occasions to seven different spouses and fighting battles with weight and drug addiction. Judy Garland might be known today based more on her demise than anything else, and there's no denying that one of the most fascinating (and tragic) aspects of her life story is the manner in which her downward spiral occurred with the same rapid progression as her meteoric ascent. When Marlene Dietrich first became a household name in the United States, she introduced a new standard for female sexuality on screen. Her performance in The Blue Angel (1930) not only stands as one of the most glamorous roles ever played but also one of the frankest depictions of the femme fatale ever captured on screen.

*Includes pictures. *Includes Lombard and Gable's quotes about their lives and careers. *Comprehensively analyzes their film careers. *Includes a bibliography for further reading. "The only reason they come to see me is that I know that life is great - and they know I know it." - Clark Gable "Carole Lombard's tragic death means that something of gaiety and beauty have been taken from the world at a time they are needed most." - Errol Flynn The 1930s were also a time in which Hollywood boasted an unprecedented array of famous leading men. Gary Cooper, Cary Grant, James Stewart, and Fred Astaire were just a handful of the A-list stars of the decade, and it is in this context that the achievements of Clark Gable are particularly remarkable. Best known for his role in Gone With the Wind (1939), Gable reached the ranks of the Hollywood elite well before the end of the decade through acting in films such as It Happened One Night (1934) and Mutiny on the Bounty (1935). Gable had a unique appeal that captivated Depression-era audiences; while Cary Grant offered a sophisticated charm and Fred Astaire was tied to the musical genre, Gable brought an air of sophistication that was less comical than that of Grant and appealed to both genders, unlike Astaire. At a time when so many Americans were financially destitute, Gable managed to appear classy without coming across as snobbish. At the same time, his virile masculinity was not overly macho or misogynist. For these reasons, Gable was able to captivate male and female viewers alike, and his mass appeal was a driving force behind the commercial success of Gone With the Wind, possibly the most beloved Hollywood film ever made. As iconic director John Huston once stated, "Clark Gable was the only real he-man I've ever known, of all the actors I've met." Even if Gable is perhaps less widely-known than Grant or Astaire among 21st century audiences, examining the effect he had on viewers during the 1930s and 1940s allows a better understanding of Hollywood during its Golden Age. In conjunction with that, his career served as a sort of response to his upbringing and cultural background. In fact, there was a significant gap between his glamorous roles on the movie screen and the real-life adversity he faced from an early age. Gable faced great challenges throughout his entire career, from the death of his biological mother to the death of wife Carol Lombard in 1942. As with any famous actor, he was the recipient of great fortune, yet it is important to recognize that his many opportunities did not preclude him from experiencing great pain and tragedy. On January 16, 1942, just a few weeks after Pearl Harbor brought the United States into World War II, the nation suffered what were considered the first civilian deaths of the war when a plane crashed into the side of a mountain southwest of Las Vegas. Aboard the plane were 15 servicemen, but the plane was also carrying one of Hollywood's biggest stars: actress Carole Lombard. Although Lombard's death and her marriage to Gone With the Wind star Clark Gable have overshadowed her career, her untimely death in 1942 cut short the life of one of Hollywood's most prominent stars at the time. In fact, Lombard's platinum look and her unique mannerisms had helped her become the biggest star of the screwball genre by the end of the 1930s, and her movies were so successful that she was the highest paid actress in Hollywood by the start of the 1940s. As English critic Graham Greene said of her, "Platinum blonde, with a heart-shaped face, delicate, impish features and a figure made to be swathed in silver lam , Lombard wriggled expressively through such classics of hysteria as Twentieth Century and My Man Godfrey." Indeed, despite dying at the age of 33, the American Film Institute recognized her as one of the biggest film icons of the 20th century.

*Includes pictures *Includes Loy's quotes about her own life and career *Includes contemporary reviews of her movies *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading "I think that carrying on a life that is meant to be private in public is a breach of taste, common sense, and mental hygiene." - Myrna Loy "Life is not a having and a getting but a being and a becoming." - Myrna Loy 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. It is something of a clich to say that an actor's life was like a movie he or she might have starred in, but in the case of Myrna Loy, the clich is true. It is easy to picture her as a little girl, riding the range with her rancher father, sitting around the table and participating charmingly in family discussions of current events. It is not hard to imagine the camera panning to her first and then second visits to Hollywood, her backlot tour, and starry-eyed decision to become an actress. There would have to be some drama, which the story of her father's untimely death would provide, along with some sort of deathbed promise made to him to care for the rest of the family. Her mother would be brave but resolute as she moved her young family to California. The lighting on set would brighten and the tempo of the background would pick up as she walked down the Los Angeles streets. Perhaps the camera would spin to show the passage of time, as the now adult Myrna got a job as a dancer and was then "discovered." There would have to be a scene of her signing her new surname, Loy, to her MGM contract, likely as several cigar smoking men looked on. Later the audience would see her fight off casting couch advances, earning her the reputation as the only good girl in Hollywood even as she was cast again and again in sultry, vampish roles. She would endure these with a positive attitude while always being on the lookout for something better. Then, her big break would come. The camera would show her first comical meeting with William Powell and then a spinning scene of ticket after ticket being sold to their new picture, The Thin Man. Her star obviously on the rise, ominous music would suddenly play, followed by booming cannons and falling bombs. A newspaper would flash on screen, "Pearl Harbor Bombed." Then the audience would see her stride determinedly into the movie studio offices and announce to those above that her love of country superseded her career ambitions and that she would be taking the duration of the war off from making pictures. Patriotic music would play as she was shown gathering clothing and giving speeches until, once more, the boys came marching home. There would be a price to pay for her choices as she grew older, but they would not fully bother the heroine, who happily settled into several solid roles of "perfect mother." At the same time, much would be made of her own sad love life, with four marriages that ended in with divorces instead of children. She would be seen settling cheerfully for ever smaller roles until, finally, the glamorous actress in the movie would grow older and her health would fail, finally driving those who had long admired her work to recognize and honor her talent. She would write her memoirs, a charming book that was steered away from telling it all only to tell the best. It could make for a classic Hollywood movie, but for Myrna Loy, it was life, and American Legends: The Life of Myrna Loy chronicles all of it. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Myrna Loy like never before, in no time at all.

*Includes pictures *Includes ancient accounts describing the cities *Includes a bibliography for further reading Of all the peoples of the ancient Near East, the Phoenicians are among the most recognizable but also perhaps the least understood. The Phoenicians never built an empire like the Egyptians and Assyrians; in fact, the Phoenicians never created a unified Phoenician state but instead existed as independent city-state kingdoms scattered throughout the Mediterranean region. However, despite the fact there was never a "Phoenician Empire," the Phoenicians proved to be more prolific in their exploration and colonization than any other peoples in world history until the Spanish during the Age of Discovery. The Phoenicians were well-known across different civilizations throughout the ancient world, and their influence can be felt across much of the West today because they are credited with inventing the forerunner to the Greek alphabet, from which the Latin alphabet was directly derived. Nonetheless, the Phoenicians left behind few written texts, so modern historians have been forced to reconstruct their past through a variety of ancient Egyptians, Assyrian, Babylonian, Greek, and Roman sources. It's not even clear what the Phoenicians called themselves, because the name "Phoenician" is derived from the Greek word "phoinix", which possibly relates to the dyes they produced and traded (Markoe 2000, 10). The mystery of the ancient Phoenicians is further compounded by the fact that archaeologists have only been able to excavate small sections of the three primary Phoenician cities: Byblos, Sidon, and Tyre. A network of this size, with hundreds of colonies and thousands of ships, had to be well-coordinated, and it was thanks to important cities along the Mediterranean coast. One of the most crucial cities in the system was hidden beneath the Greek, Roman, and Crusader ruins of Lebanon: the ancient city of Tyre. "Seated at entrance to the sea," according to the prophet Ezekiel, Tyre was constructed on a purportedly impenetrable island. As one of the oldest cities in the world, Byblos is a fascinating place, with its successive layers of debris representing millennia of human occupation. From the earliest times this coastal strip played a key role in connecting Arabia, Anatolia, Mesopotamia, Egypt, and the Aegean. Because of this, the history of the city cannot be told in isolation of its neighbors. From the Bronze Age Byblos had a special connection with Egypt, which ceased only with the invasion of the mysterious Sea Peoples at the end of the 2nd millennium BCE. Between the Phoenicians, Asia Minor, Israel, and Roman Palestine, it is not surprising that many divergent religions have and continue to exist in the region. The history of Sidon, as with other Phoenician cities, constantly fluctuated between freedom and subjection. Its privileged, geographical position on the coast was the source of its commercial development and its openness to foreign cultures, but in doing so the prosperous city became coveted by numerous conquerors. It passed through the successive influence of Egypt, the neighboring Phoenician city-state of Tyre, and eventually flourished under Persian rule as the seat of a satrap for the whole Euphrates region. The Persian king frequently made use of the renowned Sidonian fleet during his military campaigns, and the kings of Sidon were greatly rewarded for their services. However, during the campaigns of Alexander the Great, Sidon opened its doors to the young Macedonian, who chose to depose the long lasting dynasty of Sidonian kings. It later became the battleground between the Arab caliphates and European Crusaders during the Middle Ages in a conflict that in many ways continues to shape the region to this day.

*Includes pictures *Includes the business magnates' quotes about life and work *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading The Gilded Age and the dawn of the 20th century are often remembered as an era full of monopolies, trusts, and economic giants in heavy industries like oil and steel. Men like Andrew Carnegie built empires like Carnegie Steel, and financiers like J. P. Morgan merged and consolidated them. The era also made names like Astor, Cooke, and Vanderbilt instantly recognizable across the globe. Over time, the unfathomable wealth generated by the businesses made the individuals on top incredibly rich, and that in turn led to immense criticism and an infamous epithet used to rail against them: robber barons. Dozens of men were called "robber barons", but few of them were as notorious as Cornelius Vanderbilt, who also happened to be one of the nation's first business titans. Vanderbilt was a railroad and shipping magnate at a time that the industry was almost brand new, but he rode his success to become one of the richest and most powerful men in American history. When historians are asked to name the richest man in history, a name that often pops up is that of John D. Rockefeller, who co-founded Standard Oil and turned it into the first real trust in the United States. Rockefeller had been groomed ambitiously by a huckster father nicknamed "Devil Bill", who was just as willing to cheat his son as an unsuspecting public, and John certainly chased his dreams of living long and large. Rockefeller forged his empire in the first few decades of his life and nearly worked himself to death by the time he was 50, which helped compel him to retire for the last several decades of his life. At one point, Rockefeller's wealth was worth more than 1.5% of the entire country's gross domestic product, and by adjusting for inflation, he is arguably the richest man in American history if not world history. When robber barons across America took the reins of vast industries, they needed financing, and many of them turned to the most famous banker of all: John Pierpont Morgan. It was J. P. Morgan who bankrolled the consolidation of behemoth corporations across various industries, including the merging of Edison General Electric and Thomson-Houston Electric Company, which subsequently became General Electric, still known simply as GE across the world today. Similarly, he financed Federal Steel Company and consolidated various other steel businesses to help form the United States Steel Corporation. While critics complained about the outsized influence that these gigantic businesses had, Morgan's massive wealth also gave him unprecedented power in the financial sector and the ability to deal with politicians. In fact, Morgan played an important part in the Panic of 1907 and the subsequent decision to create the Federal Reserve as a monetary oversight. Ironically, one of America's most famous robber barons, Andrew Carnegie, epitomized the American Dream, migrating with his poor family to America in the mid-19th century and rising to the top of the business world in his adopted country. A prodigious writer in addition to his keen sense of business, Carnegie was one of the most outspoken champions of capitalism at a time when there was pushback among lower social classes who witnessed the great disparities in wealth; as he once put it, "Upon the sacredness of property civilization itself depends-the right of the laborer to his hundred dollars in the savings bank, and equally the legal right of the millionaire to his millions." In a similar vein, he said, "Those who would administer wisely must, indeed, be wise, for one of the serious obstacles to the improvement of our race is indiscriminate charity."

*Includes pictures*Includes contemporary accounts of the crash and the official government report on it*Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading*Includes a table of contents"The many rumors regarding the flying disc became a reality yesterday when the intelligence office of the 509th Bomb group of the Eighth Air Force, Roswell Army Air Field, was fortunate enough to gain possession of a disc through the cooperation of one of the local ranchers and the sheriff's office of Chaves County. The flying object landed on a ranch near Roswell sometime last week. Not having phone facilities, the rancher stored the disc until such time as he was able to contact the sheriff's office, who in turn notified Maj. Jesse A. Marcel of the 509th Bomb Group Intelligence Office. Action was immediately taken and the disc was picked up at the rancher's home. It was inspected at the Roswell Army Air Field and subsequently loaned by Major Marcel to higher headquarters." - A press release issued by the Roswell Army Air Field, July 8, 1947 The essence of the event commonly known as the Roswell Crash is that someone saw something in the sky during the summer of 1947. Days later someone else found some odd foil, paper and wood on the grounds of a ranch in the New Mexico desert nearly a hundred miles from Roswell. A day or two after that, the debris was taken to a military airbase in Roswell, New Mexico, where it remained overnight before the military flew it to another airbase in Ohio. The story of the Roswell Crash tends to focus on New Mexico, not on the traveling debris found on the ground. Ironically, the Roswell Crash never happened in Roswell. That's not to say there was no 1947 crash. Something did appear on the ground that appeared to have come from the sky-but it wasn't found anywhere near Roswell. Part of what was found was eventually moved to the airbase in Roswell where it remained overnight, inspiring the name the Roswell Crash. Few things in American history are as controversial as Roswell. The one undeniable fact is that something happened near Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947, but beyond that, the facts become murky as memories and evidence lose their luster over the years. That said, the impact of an unidentified object continues to mystify residents, visitors and the curious, and it has not only put Roswell on the map but has kept it there for thousands of tourists. At the very least, the Roswell Crash has become a meme. Even among those who do not believe there was a crash at all, the vast majority of people recognize the reference especially after the television show The X-Files and assume that it allegedly did (or did not) crash within the city limits of Roswell. To most people, Roswell means UFOs. While much of the information disseminated has been in the form of press releases published in newspapers, the FBI eventually relented and released their records involving the Roswell crash. In 2011, more than 2,000 individual documents about this event were scanned and published as the digital project "The Vault," part of nearly 7,000 items on various subjects in the Freedom of Information Act's Library. Nonetheless, skepticism about the official version of the incident prevails, and a countless number of people continue to believe the American government covered up a crash landing by aliens. As John B. Alexander, Ph. D., a former project manager at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and consultant to the CIA, put it, "Attempting to come to any complete resolution of the incident is a fool's errand, as whatever the truth may have been has become so distorted over time that facts have merged inextricably with fiction." The Roswell Crash: The History of America's Most Famous Conspiracy Theory chronicles the controversial crash. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Roswell like never before, in no time at all.

*Includes pictures *Includes Loy's quotes about her own life and career *Includes contemporary reviews of her movies *Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading "I think that carrying on a life that is meant to be private in public is a breach of taste, common sense, and mental hygiene." - Myrna Loy "Life is not a having and a getting but a being and a becoming." - Myrna Loy 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. It is something of a clich to say that an actor's life was like a movie he or she might have starred in, but in the case of Myrna Loy, the clich is true. It is easy to picture her as a little girl, riding the range with her rancher father, sitting around the table and participating charmingly in family discussions of current events. It is not hard to imagine the camera panning to her first and then second visits to Hollywood, her backlot tour, and starry-eyed decision to become an actress. There would have to be some drama, which the story of her father's untimely death would provide, along with some sort of deathbed promise made to him to care for the rest of the family. Her mother would be brave but resolute as she moved her young family to California. The lighting on set would brighten and the tempo of the background would pick up as she walked down the Los Angeles streets. Perhaps the camera would spin to show the passage of time, as the now adult Myrna got a job as a dancer and was then "discovered." There would have to be a scene of her signing her new surname, Loy, to her MGM contract, likely as several cigar smoking men looked on. Later the audience would see her fight off casting couch advances, earning her the reputation as the only good girl in Hollywood even as she was cast again and again in sultry, vampish roles. She would endure these with a positive attitude while always being on the lookout for something better. Then, her big break would come. The camera would show her first comical meeting with William Powell and then a spinning scene of ticket after ticket being sold to their new picture, The Thin Man. Her star obviously on the rise, ominous music would suddenly play, followed by booming cannons and falling bombs. A newspaper would flash on screen, "Pearl Harbor Bombed." Then the audience would see her stride determinedly into the movie studio offices and announce to those above that her love of country superseded her career ambitions and that she would be taking the duration of the war off from making pictures. Patriotic music would play as she was shown gathering clothing and giving speeches until, once more, the boys came marching home. There would be a price to pay for her choices as she grew older, but they would not fully bother the heroine, who happily settled into several solid roles of "perfect mother." At the same time, much would be made of her own sad love life, with four marriages that ended in with divorces instead of children. She would be seen settling cheerfully for ever smaller roles until, finally, the glamorous actress in the movie would grow older and her health would fail, finally driving those who had long admired her work to recognize and honor her talent. She would write her memoirs, a charming book that was steered away from telling it all only to tell the best. It could make for a classic Hollywood movie, but for Myrna Loy, it was life, and American Legends: The Life of Myrna Loy chronicles all of it. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Myrna Loy like never before, in no time at all.

*Includes pictures*Discusses the facts, the official account, and the conspiracy theories*Includes online resources and a bibliography for further reading*Includes a table of contents"The many rumors regarding the flying disc became a reality yesterday when the intelligence office of the 509th Bomb group of the Eighth Air Force, Roswell Army Air Field, was fortunate enough to gain possession of a disc through the cooperation of one of the local ranchers and the sheriff's office of Chaves County. The flying object landed on a ranch near Roswell sometime last week. Not having phone facilities, the rancher stored the disc until such time as he was able to contact the sheriff's office, who in turn notified Maj. Jesse A. Marcel of the 509th Bomb Group Intelligence Office. Action was immediately taken and the disc was picked up at the rancher's home. It was inspected at the Roswell Army Air Field and subsequently loaned by Major Marcel to higher headquarters." - A press release issued by the Roswell Army Air Field, July 8, 1947 Few things in American history are as controversial as Roswell. The one undeniable fact is that something happened near Roswell, New Mexico, in 1947, but beyond that, the facts become murky as memories and evidence lose their luster over the years. That said, the impact of an unidentified object continues to mystify residents, visitors and the curious, and it has not only put Roswell on the map but has kept it there for thousands of tourists. While much of the information disseminated has been in the form of press releases published in newspapers, the FBI eventually relented and released their records involving the Roswell crash. In 2011, more than 2,000 individual documents about this event were scanned and published as the digital project "The Vault," part of nearly 7,000 items on various subjects in the Freedom of Information Act's Library. Nonetheless, skepticism about the official version of the incident prevails, and a countless number of people continue to believe the American government covered up a crash landing by aliens. As John B. Alexander, Ph. D., a former project manager at the Los Alamos National Laboratory and consultant to the CIA, put it, "Attempting to come to any complete resolution of the incident is a fool's errand, as whatever the truth may have been has become so distorted over time that facts have merged inextricably with fiction." But fools did abound. The FBI, and anyone else who might have archived top secret memos, reports or even newspaper clippings, were barraged for years with Freedom of Information requests. When the FBI finally complied with thousands and thousands of pages freely disseminated online, they were still accused of withholding or altering the facts. Roswell: The History of America's Most Famous UFO Incident chronicles the controversial crash. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Roswell like never before, in no time at all.

*Includes pictures *Includes Shatner's own quotes about his life and career *Includes a bibliography for further reading "I'm not a Starfleet commander, or T. J. Hooker. I don't live on Starship NCC-170...or own a phaser. I don't know anybody named Bones, Sulu, or Spock. And no, I've never had green alien sex, but I'm sure it'd be quite an evening. I speak English and French, not Klingon I drink Labatt's, not Romulan Ale And when someone says to me 'live long and prosper', I seriously mean it when I say, 'get a life'. My doctor's name is not McCoy, it's Ginsberg. And tribbles were puppets, not real animals. PUPPETS And when I speak, I never, ever talk like Every. Word. Is. Its. Own. Sentence. I live in California, but I was raised in Montreal. And I believe in Priceline.com, where you never have to pay full price for airline tickets, hotels, and car rentals I've appeared on stage at Stratford, at Carnegie Hall, Albert Hall, and the Monkland Theatre in NDG. And, yes, I've gone where no man has gone before, but... I was in Mexico and her father gave me permission My name is William Shatner, and I am Canadian " - William Shatner It almost goes without saying that nobody occupies a place in pop culture that remotely resembles the one William Shatner finds himself in. As an actor who has been about as critically acclaimed as he has been lampooned, Shatner seems to relish every aspect of his image, whether he's making fun of himself and others on a celebrity roast or appearing in humorous commercials as a spokesman for Priceline.com. Given the length and scope of his career, it's easy to forget that Shatner started as a pretty typical dramatic actor in his early years, including appearances in Judgment at Nuremberg, episodes of The Twilight Zone and Alfred Hitchcock Presents and even the Western series Outlaws. It's almost impossible to believe now, but Shatner was once heralded as the peer of leading men like Steve McQueen and Paul Newman. Of course, that all changed when Shatner took the role he has been most famously associated with ever since. Shatner was cast as Captain Kirk on the original television series Star Trek in an episode that was aired in 1966, and though the show was canceled in 1970, its unanticipated resurgence revived both the franchise and Shatner's career. As Shatner joked, "Captain Kirk has been a source of pleasure and income for a long time." Even when he took other roles over the next few decades, including starring as a police officer in the television series T. J. Hooker, Shatner could never shake the effects that being typecast as Captain Kirk had on his career, at least in middle age. In addition to being permanently associated with Kirk, Shatner and his career were viewed as something of a joke, and he was often criticized for overacting. Shatner was frequently nominated for Razzies, including one for "Worst Actor of the Century", and when he took his most recognizable role of the 21st century as Denny Crane in The Practice, a writer in The New York Times Magazine described his role as "William Shatner the man... playing William Shatner the character playing the character Denny Crane, who was playing the character William Shatner." That said, Shatner's character was beloved not just on The Practice but also on Boston Legal, winning him 2 Emmy awards and a Golden Globe, as well as nominations for a string of several straight years. Legends of Hollywood: The Life of William Shatner examines the life and career of the famous actor. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Heston like never before, in no time at all.

=*Includes pictures. *Includes Martin and Lewis' quotes about their lives and careers. *Includes a bibliography for further reading. Like Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin is an American legend for his longevity and success across a garden variety of different platforms. Martin began as a nightclub singer, performed in a comedy act, starred in films, recorded hit albums, and capped his career by serving as a television host. In fact, there may be no star who was better able to transcend the different avenues of entertainment. Martin's success was made all the more amazing by the fact that he never had to change his personality or persona to find success in his different endeavors. From the beginning, Martin's public persona remained largely unchanged. He grew more famous and wealthy, but he always remained the smooth-talking Italian with the easy charm and the cool veneer. As Jerry Lewis noted in his memoirs about Martin, "Dean had this uncanny way of making everything bad look like it wasn't all that bad." If anything, Martin suggested that no matter the circumstances, people can always face their situation with leisurely charm. Jerry Lewis has been in show business for over 7 decades, a multi-talented entertainer known for comedy, acting, singing, and producing and directing films to match, but he is best known for his work with Dean Martin, and in that sense, he remains overshadowed by his more famous partner. There's no doubt part of this was due to the stark contrast between their images, as Martin was suave and traditionally masculine while Lewis was a bundle of frantic energy. Although the circumstances that initiated their partnership are unusual and purely coincidental, the natural contrasts between the two ensured a perfect and complementary comedic fit. Working as "Martin and Lewis", the team became the most popular nightclub act in America, commanding huge fees for their appearances all across the country. Perhaps the most ironic aspect of their success is that Dean Martin was not a comedian in any real sense of the word, and even during their act, he essentially served as the straight man to Jerry Lewis. The routine ensured that critics took more notice of Jerry Lewis, who intentionally came across as an awkward figure with a brand of bodily humor that was borrowed from a lineage of Yiddish humor predicated on physical slapstick. And just as Martin benefited from Lewis' comedic skills, Lewis also further developed a singing career thanks to the more famous Martin's crooning. Though it's often forgotten now, the duo eventually broke up in the mid-1950s because Lewis was starting to outshine Martin in their joint film career. Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis profiles the lives and careers of two of America's most famous entertainers. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Martin and Lewis like never before.