For his fifteenth birthday in 1805, young Noah Blake's parents gave him a little leatherbound diary in which he recorded the various activities on his father's farm. This reprint of an actual early nineteenth-century book provides today's readers with a delightful rarity -- a view of bygone days through the eyes of a young boy. Eric Sloane has taken the notebook with its brief comments and expanded the daily entries with explanatory narrative and 72 of his own remarkable drawings.
Verbal and graphic sketches detail the construction of an entire backwoods farm as well as such common tasks...

In the summer of 1869, John Muir, a young Scottish immigrant, joined a crew of shepherds in the foothills of California's Sierra Nevada Mountains. The diary he kept while tending sheep formed the heart of this book and eventually lured thousands of Americans to visit Yosemite country.
First published in 1911, My First Summer in the Sierra incorporates the lyrical accounts and sketches he produced during his four-month stay in the Yosemite River Valley and the High Sierra. His record tracks that memorable experience, describing in picturesque terms the majestic vistas, flora and...

Handsome in appearance, simple in construction, and remarkably efficient, early American tools were true marvels of ingenuity. In the hands of skilled workers, they were used to create everything from simple shelters, wagons, and fences to intricately carved chairs, fireplace mantels, and door moldings.
In this richly illustrated book, author and master craftsman Alex Bealer tells the fascinating story of early American woodworking, enthusiastically describing and clearly depicting a wide array of devices from axes wielded by frontiersmen to clear the land and build log cabins, to...

This simple, unvarnished account recalls the courageous life of Harriet Tubman, one of the best-known conductors on the Underground Railroad. First published in 1869 and privately printed to raise funds for the Moses of her people, Sarah Bradford s memorable biography recalls the former slave s grim childhood; her perilous experiences leading slaves into Canada; her efforts as a Civil War nurse, cook, and scout for the Union Army; and her post-conflict endeavors to aid and educate former slaves.
An inspiring story of bravery, perseverance, and self-sacrifice, this accurate, reliable...

This collection of enthralling personal narratives vivifies life during and just after the era of slavery in the United States. First published 25 years after the Civil War ended, the volume was the work of an educated African-American woman who became the voice of many former slaves. The interviews she recorded tell of cruel punishments, divided families, and debilitating labor, but they also include information about religious beliefs and practices, as well as the condition and progress of former slaves.

With the outbreak of the Spanish-American War, Theodore Roosevelt resigned his post as assistant secretary of the navy to recruit the First U.S. Volunteer Cavalry. The legendary Rough Riders -- an unlikely combination of cowboys, frontiersmen, Native Americans, African-Americans, and Ivy League alumni -- trained in Texas before shipping off to Cuba. The regiment met their enemy in the tropical summer heat, fighting rain, mud, and malaria as well as the Spanish Army. Their battles climaxed with the assault on San Juan Hill, where Colonel Roosevelt rallied his troops to charge through a hail of...