Lose yourself in the clouds with bestselling and prize-winning biographer and science writer Richard Holmes in this glorious history of hot-air ballooning.Hot-air balloons have drifted through Richard Holmes's work for many years. And now, in this heart-lifting book he tells the story of these ineffably romantic floating machines and the reckless invention of the adventurers who flew them.His subject is flight itself and the pioneer generation of rival aviators. Ballooning offered a new vision of the earth. The world pondered for the first time reliable weather prediction, observation of the stars from an aerial point of view and the exploration of remote continents. Those in previous centuries who dreamt of flight believed it would open up the secrets of heaven. In fact, as Richard Holmes shows, it revealed the secrets of the world beneath.

Stealing isn't her biggest crime. Magic is. In a near-future city shielded from the elemental magic raging through the wastelands, seventeen-year-old Ridley steals from the wealthy and secretly gives to those in need—which is far less of a crime than the other thing she spends her free time doing: using magic. Ridley's managed to stay under the radar for years, but the night she steals a gold figurine from the richest family in the city, everything starts to unravel. A stranger follows her home and ends up murdered outside the antique store she lives above. Her best friend—who definitely wasn't there—is accused of the crime. And that family Ridley stole from? Their son just walked into her store. As heir to the city's largest fortune, Archer Davenport represents everything Ridley hates. She'd prefer to stay well away from him, but he has a problem only Ridley can solve: Turns out that ancient figurine...

HardPress Classic Books Series

This scarce antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of the original. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition. --This text refers to an alternate Paperback edition.

The Mystery of Cloomber

This collection of literature attempts to compile many of the classic works that have stood the test of time and offer them at a reduced, affordable price, in an attractive volume so that everyone can enjoy them.

His name was Sanford Hantee, but you will hear that only occasionally, for the boys of the back streets called him Skag, which "got" him somewhere at once. That was in Chicago. He was eleven years old, when he wandered quite alone to Lincoln Park Zoo, and the madness took him.

Excerpt from Ned in the Block-House: A Tale of Early Days in the WestThe boy who was addressed as Ned was kneel ing behind a fallen oak, in a Kentucky forest, care fully sighting at a noble buck that stood in the middle Of a natural clearing or Opening, with head upraised and antlers thrown back, as though he scented danger, and was searching for the point whence it threatened.The splendid animal was no more than a hun dred yards distant, so that no better target could have been Offered. He was facing the youth, who aimed at the point above his fore legs, which Opened the path to the heart of the creature.About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This book was converted from its physical edition to the digital format by a community of volunteers. You may find it for free on the web. Purchase of the Kindle edition includes wireless delivery.

Leopold Classic Library is delighted to publish this classic book as part of our extensive collection. As part of our on-going commitment to delivering value to the reader, we have also provided you with a link to a website, where you may download a digital version of this work for free. Many of the books in our collection have been out of print for decades, and therefore have not been accessible to the general public. Whilst the books in this collection have not been hand curated, an aim of our publishing program is to facilitate rapid access to this vast reservoir of literature. As a result of this book being first published many decades ago, it may have occasional imperfections. These imperfections may include poor picture quality, blurred or missing text. While some of these imperfections may have appeared in the original work, others may have resulted from the scanning process that has been applied. However, our view is that this is a significant literary work, which deserves to be brought back into print after many decades. While some publishers have applied optical character recognition (OCR), this approach has its own drawbacks, which include formatting errors, misspelt words, or the presence of inappropriate characters. Our philosophy has been guided by a desire to provide the reader with an experience that is as close as possible to ownership of the original work. We hope that you will enjoy this wonderful classic book, and that the occasional imperfection that it might contain will not detract from the experience.

The Splendid Idle Forties - Stories of Old California is presented here in a high quality paperback edition. This popular classic work by Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton is in the English language, and may not include graphics or images from the original edition. If you enjoy the works of Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton then we highly recommend this publication for your book collection.

This is a pre-1923 historical reproduction that was curated for quality. Quality assurance was conducted on each of these books in an attempt to remove books with imperfections introduced by the digitization process. Though we have made best efforts - the books may have occasional errors that do not impede the reading experience. We believe this work is culturally important and have elected to bring the book back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. This text refers to the Bibliobazaar edition.

Mary Elizabeth Braddon (4 October 1835 – 4 February 1915) was an English popular novelist of the Victorian era. She is best known for her 1862 sensation novel Lady Audley's Secret.Born in London, Mary Elizabeth Braddon was privately educated. Her mother Fanny separated from her father Henry in 1840, when Mary was five. When Mary was ten years old, her brother Edward Braddon left for India and later Australia, where he became Premier of Tasmania. Mary worked as an actress for three years in order to support herself and her mother. In 1860, Mary met John Maxwell (1824–1895), a publisher of periodicals. She started living with him in 1861.However, Maxwell was already married with five children, and his wife was living in an asylum in Ireland. Mary acted as stepmother to his children until 1874, when Maxwell's wife died and they were able to get married. She had six children by him, including the novelist William Babington Maxwell. Braddon was a prolific writer, producing more than 80 novels with inventive plots. The most famous is Lady Audley's Secret (1862), which won her recognition, and a fortune as a bestseller.It has remained in print since its publication and been dramatised and filmed several times. R. D. Blackmore's anonymous sensation novel Clara Vaughan (1864) was wrongly attributed to her by some critics. Braddon wrote several works of supernatural fiction, including the pact with the devil story Gerald, or the World, the Flesh and the Devil (1891), and the ghost stories "The Cold Embrace", "Eveline's Visitant" and "At Chrighton Abbey".[3][4] From the 1930s onwards, these stories were often anthologised in collections such as Montague Summers's The Supernatural Omnibus (1931) and Fifty Years of Ghost Stories (1935). Braddon's legacy is tied to the sensation fiction of the 1860s. Braddon also founded Belgravia magazine (1866), which presented readers with serialised sensation novels, poems, travel narratives and biographies, as well as essays on fashion, history and science. The magazine was accompanied by lavish illustrations and offered readers a source of literature at an affordable cost. She also edited Temple Bar magazine. She died on 4 February 1915 in Richmond, then in Surrey and now in London, and is interred in Richmond Cemetery.Her home had been Lichfield House in the centre of then town, which was replaced by a block of flats in 1936, Lichfield Court, now listed. She has a plaque in Richmond parish church which calls her simply 'Miss Braddon'. A number of streets in the area are named after characters in her novels – her husband was a property developer in the area. There is a critical essay on Braddon's work in Michael Sadleir's book Things Past (1944). In 2014 the Mary Elizabeth Braddon Association was founded to pay tribute to Braddon's life and work.

This is the true story of a drawer who wanted to be a Washing Machine. Suitable for kids and growns up alike.If you like unusual stories and stories that end well, then this one is for you and your kid.Who says Drawers can't Dreams too?

Author Sharon E. Cathcart presents ten short stories of various genres, each taking place in a different location. With subject matter ranging from paranormal to historical fiction, urban fantasy to literary fiction, there is something in this sampler for everyone.Internationally published author Sharon E. Cathcart presents an eBook exclusive: "Around the World in 80 Pages." These ten short stories represent genres ranging from Western to paranormal and provide the reader with a powerful literary experience.Contents:Heart of StoneNo Eyes But Mine Shall SeeOh, Joy; Oh, RaptureBetrayed by a KissCounting Blessings Along the Horseshoe CanyonA Cutting ObservationGhost of a ChanceGaul is DividedThe Scribe of RashidLonely Man in a New Town

A short winter story. Follow frost and his rider as they try to make it home before the dark of winter. How they fight off their enemies and save a family all before Saint Nicholas leaves his gifts.This is a fantasy story with demons and knights.Thirteen-year old Keegan Scott wants some adventure. So, when authorities find a nine-foot alligator in the sewers of his southwest Oklahoma hometown, Keegan decides it’s his job to find out where the alligator came from. The story follows Keegan and his friends, Joey and Brandon, through the ups and downs of his search to become the Alligator Hunter. And, let’s face it, any adventure where you have to bike though town in your underwear probably has mostly downs. [This is a middle-grades, multiple pathway book with multiple endings.]

Rare books in Rabbi Stadt's office reveal Jewish Holocaust truths not taught in schools, and thirty years later she lives to see it happen.Rare books in Rabbi Stadt's office reveal Jewish Holocaust truths not taught in schools, and thirty years later she lives to see it happen.Excerpt:As I was greatly intrigued by the facts of the Holocaust for so many years, I waited for weeks, hoping for the right opportunity to ask the Rabbi my question, which surely he could satisfy. On this hot summer morning, the bright sun shined through his tall office window as he stood in the warmth of the sun rays. With hands behind his back, he stared out at the meticulously maintained lawn."Rabbi Stadt, I have a question for you."He turned to look at me, "What is it?""Why did the Holocaust happen?"The Rabbi's demeanor changed, folding his arms at his chest and lifting his glasses to rub his nose where they had rested. Moments were passing like minutes as I patiently sat at my desk, waiting. . . .