Non-Fiction Books
Describes events at Kitty Hawk up to the Wright brothers' first flight on December 17, 1903
They swept forth when most of the earth was virgin, and their war cry sounded terror in a world not yet tuned to the clap of megatons. The ancient Greeks portrayed them as young and beautiful maidens, vehemently unfeminine but rarely unwomanly. All the generations born since they vanished have been touched by the wonder of them. Some sources have provided tiny bits of information, others great chunks, but none has put forward the thing most devoutly wished: incontrovertible proof that the Amazons existed. The Amazons of Greek Mythology is intended neither to expose the warrior-women as imagination nor to proclaim their reality. It is an unbiased handbook in which the curious my find collected all the essential data currently known on the subject. This present work is divided into two parts. In the first, "The Chronicles," the author has gathered all the bits and pieces--from tremendous war campaigns to funeral mounds--and fitted them together to form a narrative history that has dramatic, rational, and valid sequence. It is here he discusses the Amazons of Libya (who took husbands and lived in heterosexual communities) and the Amazons of Asia Miner (who denied men outside the spring mating period). The influences of Bellerophon (on of the greatest monster slayers), Heracles the warrior, Queen Penthesilea, King Theseus, and the Scythians are brought to light. In the second part of this volume, "The Commentary," Mr. Sobol introduces generalizations and opinion that are held by historians and scholars about the warrior-maids. In the chapter on the Amazons and Greek historians, he examines the widely different conclusions on the Amazonian phenomenon. A section on Literature and Art tells how the Amazons have greatly inspired writers, painters, sculptors, and architects through the centuries. Finally, Mr. Sobol poses the question, "Did the Amazons ever exist?" and analyzes modern theories propounded to explain the Amazons' entrance into the timeless world of Greek mythology. An immensely engaging, meticulously researched study, The Amazons of Greek Mythology will appeal to scholars, mythologists, Feminists, and anyone facinated by one of mankind's most tantalizing puzzles.
Unfamiliar tales grounded in folklore include accounts of a nineteenth-century Jonah, a plagued Russian freighter, and the ghost of the U.S.S. Constellation
Practical facts, incredible facts, silly and weird facts combine with zany illustrations in this fascinating collection of the weird and the wonderful that covers every imaginable subject
Tells the stories of the Black Death, a Le Mans car crash, the destruction of the Hindenburg, an Illinois mining disaster, the New York City blackout, and Buffalo's 1977 blizzard
Encyclopedia Brown presents another volume of lesser-known facts about sports, animals, the body, school, and other topics.
A detective shares his recorded collection of strange and funny criminal cases with his friends, changing names and places to protect the innocent.
Briefly describes undercover activities of spies from various historical periods and geographical areas.
A collection of "zany" events in basketball, baseball, football, boxing, and other sports.
Shares humorous anecdotes and little-known facts about chimp artists, a lovesick moose, greedy pig, talking seal, a duck that liked to watch golf and a jogging turkey.
Encyclopedia Brown presents more anecdotes including little-known facts about sports, animals, fantastic discoveries, and other topics
True, wacky stories about cars--famous cars, unusual cars, vintage cars, impractical cars, and others.
A collection of humorous anecdotes, most of which are true, about outdoor life, with an emphasis on fishing and hunting.
A collection of unbelievable stories right out of Encyclopedia Brown's own notebooks includes the tale of blow-torch-wielding safecrackers, a purse-snatching elephant, and the groom who got himself arrested in order to miss his own wedding. Reprint.