Fergus Mason

Dido Elizabeth Belle was born in 1761. It would be nearly 100 years before slavery was abolished. The date would be of little importance if not for one important factor: Belle's father was white, but her mother was African. It was an unthinkable act for the time, and Belle's life was destined for only bad things. But remarkably bad things did not happen. Belle was sent to live with her uncle, the Earl of Mansfield; here she was raised as a free woman and given the same privileged upbringing as her cousins. This book tells the inspiring true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle, and how the life of a woman most people have never heard helped pave the way for future change.

Dido Elizabeth Belle: A Biography

Cary Abbott

“This is gonna sound crazy,” Margi said, “But I think they were chupacabras.”Ray frowned. “Cha. . . chalupa. . . coprah?”She laughed. “No Dad, chupacabra. It means 'goatsucker' in Spanish.”“So what the heck are they?”“Well, that's the thing. Nobody really knows.”When Margi agreed to go on a business trip to South America with her Dad she just wanted to spend some time with him. Maybe it would even be exciting.Now their plane had crashed and they were stuck in the jungle, surrounded by strange monsters. To get out they'd have to rely on skills they didn't know they had. There's such a thing as too exciting.

Rumble in the Jungle

Graham Young had an unusual obsession from a young age. Where most youths might be interested in music and sports, Young was fascinated by poisons. By the age of 14, he was using his family (who, of course, didn't know) as experiments. In 1962, still a teen, his stepmother died from one of his poisoning experiments. Young eventually confessed to the murder of his stepmother and the attempted murder of several other members of his family; he was sent to a mental hospital for nine years, where he was ultimately released fully recovered. Unknown to the hospital, however, Young was actually using his time in the mental hospital to study medical texts and improve his poisoning skills. His true work as a poisoner had only just begun! This gripping narrative gives you a page-turning look at one of England's most notorious serial killers: Graham Young.

A Biography of Serial Killer Graham Young

The Teacup Poisoner

Jefferson Davis Parish has been described as quaint, and in many ways it certainly is. For anyone from a big city much of the area, especially out among the farms, is like a trip in a time machine. For a sleepy rural community, however, Jefferson Davis is a lot more violent than you'd expect, and these days cheap, potent rocks of cocaine are at the root of a lot of that violence.Crack addicts are famously willing to do just about anything to subsidize their habit so street prostitution has become a real issue, mostly concentrated in the town's poorer neighborhoods south of the railway track. Prostitution – especially on the street – is a dangerous business, so the sheriff's office weren't too surprised when the first one turned up dead. As the body count climbed people started to take notice, but despite all their efforts the killings continued until eight women were dead.This book traces one of the most fascinating unsolved crimes in the history of Louisiana. In 2014, many believe it became one of the inspirations for the first season of HBO's “True Detective.” But the crimes in this book are much more shocking than anything captured on TV.Please note: This book is not published or endorsed by the creators or producers of “True Detective.”

The True Story Behind the Unsolved Murder That Allegedly Inspired Season One of True Detective

Jeff Davis 8

LifeCaps

Today the Walt Disney Company is a huge media conglomerate with a whole range of interests, taking in music labels, cable and network TV, publishing, merchandising and a chain of theme parks in multiple countries. However it remains best known for its animated films. Starting in 1927, but mostly between 1933 and the beginning of 1935, Disney hired nine young men to work as animation artists. They came from various backgrounds and several different states. They all had one thing in common though - they were masters at the art of turning a series of drawings into smoothly animated footage and giving it a unique appeal. For most of those long careers they carried a name that Walt Disney had jokingly picked up from a book about the Supreme Court way back in 1937. He called them The Nine Old Men. This book his a short history of the animators who helped create Disney's legacy.

A History of the Animators Who Defined Disney Animation

Walt Disney's Nine Old Men

From 1942 until the end of World War II, the Soviets had a secret weapon: women. The 588th Night Bomber Regiment was one of the most decorated units; each member had flew more than 800 missions by the end of the war, and twenty-three were awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union (the highest distinction). Despite all the awards, the unit is largely forgot now. This book looks at the history of one of the most daring aviations units ever commissioned.

A History of the All Female 588th Night Bomber Regiment

Night Witches

In 1925, Percy Fawcett left England for Brazil--he would never return. For his entire life, Fawcett had been fascinated with exploration. The child of an explorer, Fawcett had heard countless wild stories of adventure and it did not surprise anyone that he became an explorer himself. In 1906, Fawcett made his first expedition to South America; for over 15 years, he made several more. It was in this time that he began formulating the possibility of a lost city. This book tells the incredibly adventurous life of Fawcett, and what might have happened during this final journey.

Percy Fawcett and the Lost World of Z

The Road to El Dorado

HistoryCaps

Espionage thrillers make great edge of your seat films--but when they're true, things get a little more...chilling. At the height of the Cold War in 1960, an American U-2 spy plane was shot down over the Soviet airspace. What follows is a tale of cover-up, lies, and, of course, spying. With page turning suspense, this book looks at the incredible true history of one of the United States greatest spying stories.

A History of the 1960 U-2 Spying Incident

Dragon Lady

Jack the Ripper may get all the fame, but his 1960s counterpart, Jack the Stripper, will really send shivers down your spine. At least six women, all prostitutes, were murdered at his hand--possibly more. Most intriguing of all...he was never caught. The crimes, though often forgotten today, inspired the crime novel "Goodbye Piccadilly, Farewell Leicester Square," which Alfred Hitchcock turned into the 1972 movie, "Frenzy." Go inside the hunt for this brutal killer in this gripping short biography.

A Biography of the Worst Serial Killer You've Probably Never Heard of

Exposing Jack the Stripper

The Birds was different from most of Hitchcock’s work. For admirers of Hitchcock, The Birds also raises disturbing questions about the director as a person. He was a complex and confusing character in many ways, and perhaps it’s not surprising that someone who built a career out of creating suspense and fear on-screen might also have had some darker sides to his personal life. Beyond the details of the story and how it came to be filmed, though, one of the most interesting questions about The Birds is why Hitchcock made it in the first place. It took its title from a short story by English author Daphne du Maurier, but beyond the basic idea of people being attacked by birds, it didn’t take much else from it. The storyline was pure Hitchcock. So where did it come from? It turns out that his inspiration was a strange and alarming incident that happened just a few miles from his home in California. This book uncovers the truth behind the plot as well as other factoids that fascinate any fan of the film.

The True Story Behind Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds

The Real Life Crime that Inspired Hitchcock's Rope

The Perfect Crime

Maria Altmann and her husband fled their homeland when the Nazi regime came to Austria and threatened their lives. They left their loved ones, their property, and everything that was in it--including their family’s artwork. Altmann eventually settled in the United States, but did not forget the past that was stolen from her. Several dozens of years later, Altmann had her day in court, and changed everything. Because of her will to reclaim what rightfully belonged to her family, museums worldwide were forced to give back artwork that had been stolen and looted. This book paints a new picture of how Holocaust survivors rebuilt and reclaimed the lives that were taken from them.

The Amazing Life of Maria Altmann

The Golden Genius

Pompeii was one of most advanced cities of its time; it had a complex water system, gymnasium, and an amphitheater. Despite it's advancements, there was one thing it wasn't ready for: Mount Vesuvius—the volcano that led to its ultimate doom. The 79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius was one of the worst disasters in all of European history. In a near instant, over 15,000 people were dead and a city was completely destroyed. This book looks at the rise, fall, and rediscovery of the great city of Pompeii.

A History of the City and the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius

Pompeii

Biography of department store tycoon Harry Gordon Selfridge.

The Life and Times of Harry Gordon Selfridge

Selfridge

Hundreds of movies and thousands of books have been written about the heroes of World War II. For dozens of years, however, few people knew about one of the greatest heroes of the war—a mild-mannered, eccentric mathematician from the University of Cambridge. This man, an undeniable genius whose later life was plagued by controversy and tragedy, probably played a greater role in the eventual Allied victory than anyone else. Until quite recently his contribution to the war effort was barely recognized. Everyone’s heard of Churchill, Eisenhower, Montgomery, Patton and even de Gaulle, but far fewer have ever heard of Alan Turing. This is his incredible story.

The Tragic Life of Alan Turing

Turing

In 1835, at the age of 13, a young boy walked nearly 300 miles to Paris; he worked odd jobs and did whatever it took to survive. He eventually learned a craft: box making. Before long, the young boy had earned enough to open his own box-making store.The tale may seem a bit unremarkable until you consider the boy's name: Louis Vuitton.You know the brand, but not the man; take a look at the genius that created one of the most recognizable brands in the world with this biography.

Fergus Mason

About

Books

Join the club