Julian Smith

David Wolman

Aloha Rodeo

The amazing true story of Julian Smith, who retraced the journey of legendary British explorer Ewart "The Leopard" Grogan, the first man to cross the length of Africa, in hopes of also winning the heart of the woman he loved. In 1898, the dashing young British explorer Ewart “the Leopard” Grogan was in love. In order to prove his mettle to his beloved—and her aristocratic stepfather—he set out on a quest to become the first person to walk across Africa, “a feat hitherto thought by many explorers to be impossible” (New York Times, 1900). In 2007, thirty-five-year-old American journalist Julian Smith faced a similar problem with his girlfriend of six years . . . and decided to address it in the same way Grogan had more than a hundred years before: he was going to retrace the Leopard’s 4,500-mile journey for love and glory through the lakes, volcanoes, savannas, and crowded modern cities of Africa. Smith interweaves both adventures into a seamless narrative in Crossing the Heart of Africa: the story of two explorers, a century apart, who both traversed the length of Africa to prove themselves . . . and came back changed men.

An Odyssey of Love and Adventure

Crossing the Heart of Africa

The triumphant true story of the native Hawaiian cowboys who shocked America at the 1908 world rodeo championships "An inspiring and impeccably crafted story of against-all-odds triumph.” —Simon Winchester "Groundbreaking. … Not only a must-read, but an essential addition. … One of the best single volumes on the rise and diversity of the North American cattle industry and the cowboy culture." —True West In August 1908, three unknown riders arrived in Cheyenne, Wyoming, their hats adorned with wildflowers, to compete in the world’s greatest rodeo. Steer-roping virtuoso Ikua Purdy and his cousins Jack Low and Archie Ka’au’a had travelled 4,200 miles from Hawaii, of all places, to test themselves against the toughest riders in the West. Dismissed by whites, who considered themselves the only true cowboys, the native Hawaiians would astonish the country, returning home champions—and American legends. An unforgettable human drama set against the rough-knuckled frontier, David Wolman and Julian Smith’s Aloha Rodeo unspools the fascinating and little-known true story of the Hawaiian cowboys, or paniolo, whose 1908 adventure upended the conventional history of the American West. What few understood when the three paniolo rode into Cheyenne is that the Hawaiians were no underdogs. They were the product of a deeply engrained cattle culture that was twice as old as that of the Great Plains, for Hawaiians had been chasing cattle over the islands’ rugged volcanic slopes and through thick tropical forests since the late 1700s. Tracing the life story of Purdy and his cousins, Wolman and Smith delve into the dual histories of ranching and cowboys in the islands, and the meteoric rise and sudden fall of Cheyenne, “Holy City of the Cow.” At the turn of the twentieth century, larger-than-life personalities like “Buffalo Bill” Cody and Theodore Roosevelt capitalized on a national obsession with the Wild West and helped transform Cheyenne’s annual Frontier Days celebration into an unparalleled rodeo spectacle, the “Daddy of ‘em All.” The hopes of all Hawaii rode on the three riders’ shoulders during those dusty days in August 1908. The U.S. had forcibly annexed the islands just a decade earlier. The young Hawaiians brought the pride of a people struggling to preserve their cultural identity and anxious about their future under the rule of overlords an ocean away. In Cheyenne, they didn’t just astound the locals; they also overturned simplistic thinking about cattle country, the binary narrative of “cowboys versus Indians,” and the very concept of the Wild West. Blending sport and history, while exploring questions of identity, imperialism, and race, Aloha Rodeo spotlights an overlooked and riveting chapter in the saga of the American West.

Three Hawaiian Cowboys, the World's Greatest Rodeo, and a Hidden History of the American West

The triumphant true story of the native Hawaiian cowboys who shocked America at the 1908 world rodeo championships A Pacific Northwest Book Award finalist * An NPR Best Book of the Year * An Oregon Book Award Finalist "Groundbreaking. ... A must-read. ... An essential addition." --True West In August 1908, three unknown riders arrived in Cheyenne, Wyoming, their hats adorned with wildflowers, to compete in the world's greatest rodeo. Steer-roping virtuoso Ikua Purdy and his cousins Jack Low and Archie Ka'au'a had travelled 4,200 miles from Hawaii, of all places, to test themselves against the toughest riders in the West. Dismissed by whites, who considered themselves the only true cowboys, the native Hawaiians would astonish the country, returning home champions--and American legends. An unforgettable human drama set against the rough-knuckled frontier, David Wolman and Julian Smith's Aloha Rodeo unspools the fascinating and little-known true story of the Hawaiian cowboys, or paniolo, whose 1908 adventure upended the conventional history of the American West. What few understood when the three paniolo rode into Cheyenne is that the Hawaiians were no underdogs. They were the product of a deeply engrained cattle culture that was twice as old as that of the Great Plains, for Hawaiians had been chasing cattle over the islands' rugged volcanic slopes and through thick tropical forests since the late 1700s. Tracing the life story of Purdy and his cousins, Wolman and Smith delve into the dual histories of ranching and cowboys in the islands, and the meteoric rise and sudden fall of Cheyenne, "Holy City of the Cow." At the turn of the twentieth century, larger-than-life personalities like "Buffalo Bill" Cody and Theodore Roosevelt capitalized on a national obsession with the Wild West and helped transform Cheyenne's annual Frontier Days celebration into an unparalleled rodeo spectacle, the "Daddy of 'em All." The hopes of all Hawaii rode on the three riders' shoulders during those dusty days in August 1908. The U.S. had forcibly annexed the islands just a decade earlier. The young Hawaiians brought the pride of a people struggling to preserve their cultural identity and anxious about their future under the rule of overlords an ocean away. In Cheyenne, they didn't just astound the locals; they also overturned simplistic thinking about cattle country, the binary narrative of "cowboys versus Indians," and the very concept of the Wild West. Blending sport and history, while exploring questions of identity, imperialism, and race, Aloha Rodeo spotlights an overlooked and riveting chapter in the saga of the American West.

Jason A. Ramos

A rare inside look at the thrilling world of smokejumpers, the airborne firefighters who parachute into the most remote and rugged areas of the United States, confronting the growing threat of nature’s blazes. Forest and wildland fires are growing larger, more numerous, and deadlier every year — record drought conditions, decades of forestry mismanagement, and the increasing encroachment of residential housing into the wilderness have combined to create a powder keg that threatens millions of acres and thousands of lives every year. One select group of men and women are part of America's front-line defense: smokejumpers. The smokejumper program operates through both the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Though they are tremendously skilled and only highly experienced and able wildland firefighters are accepted into the training program, being a smokejumper remains an art that can only be learned on the job. Forest fires often behave in unpredictable ways: spreading almost instantaneously, shooting downhill behind a stiff tailwind, or even flowing like a liquid. In this extraordinarily rare memoir by an active-duty jumper, Jason Ramos takes readers into his exhilarating and dangerous world, explores smokejumping’s remarkable history, and explains why their services are more essential than ever before.

A Memoir by One of America's Most Select Airborne Firefighters

Smokejumper

Jennet Conant

Ishmael Reed

Julia Flynn Siler

Naomi Hirahara

Jane Hirshfield

Mark Wallace

Doug Peacock

Lydia Lee

D. J. Waldie

Joseph Giovannini

Désirée Zamorano

Laura Fraser

Joy Lanzendorfer

Santi Elijah Holley

Monica Corcoran Harel

Jessica Klein

Robert Ito

Adam Mayer

Emma Pratt

Ky-Phong Tran

Matt Twombly

Jessica Zack

The Gimme Shelter Issue

Alta Journal Issue 24

The Rants, Raves and Thoughts series examines the speeches and writings of a variety of the world's high-profile totalitarian dictators and terrorist leaders, in a highly unusual and original way. The books also feature political jokes by their contemporaries, both friends and enemies, and the dictator's own opinions of other world leaders. The goals and inspiration of these books is to seek to explain what makes dictators and terrorists so ruthless, in their own words and in the words of others. To let these evidently psychotic people reveal who they are, what they believe and what they hope to achieve and to strike a blow for the freedom to say and publish what we want about them.

The Dictator in His Own Words and Those of Others

The Rants, Raves and Thoughts of Fidel Castro

The Dicator in His Own Words + Those of Others

The Rants, Raves & Thoughts of Saddam Hussein

Are you RICH? Without this book, you can't be rich! This book is the biggest luxury you could ever own!Ideal expensive gift for your friend. Do you wonder what is inside this book? You have to buy it and find out for yourself!

I Am Rich Book Only for Rich People: Without This Book You Can't Be Rich!

Jeff Brauer

Veronica Wiles

Now available in Spanish, this book includes 150 photos and illustrations, 50in color and 47 maps.

On Your Own in El Salvador

“This rapturous adventure narrative…shows that love really does conquer all.” —Hampton Sides, New York Times bestselling author of Blood and Thunder “Charming, wise, and captivating.” —Dean King, bestselling author of Skeletons on the Zahara

This Book Is the Most Wanted Luxury of the World!

Book for Rich People

Julian Smith

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