Showing results by author "Doug West" in All Categories

The fifth manned mission of NASA’s Apollo space program, Apollo 11 took the first human beings to the moon and on an adventure that surpassed even the wildest imagination. 600 million people from all over the world watched as astronaut Neil Armstrong stepped onto the surface of the celestial body that humanity had looked at for eons from what appeared like an insurmountable distance. An expression of the American spirit which proclaims that nothing is impossible, Apollo 11 was a national goal that took the dedicated work of hundreds of thousands of people. It all started with the Space ...

Do you want to learn about William Penn but don’t have the time or patience to read a thick book? Then this is the short and concise book for you! Some of the interesting accomplishments of William Penn covered in the book are: An early convert to the Society of Friends or Quaker religion. Wrote several books and pamphlets promoting his faith. One of the original proprietors of the colony of West Jersey. Was granted a large tract of land in North America from King Charles II of England. In 1681 established the proprietary colony of Pennsylvania in North America. Promoted the new colony of...

Do you want to learn about Dr. Benjamin Rush but don’t have the time or patience to read a thick book? Then this is the short and concise book for you!! The book “Dr. Benjamin Rush: A Short Biography” covers the many accomplishments of this amazing patriot and physician: He was a member of the Continental Congress and a signer of the Declaration of Independence. Served as the Surgeon-General of the Middle Department of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. He was one of the few physicians that stayed in Philadelphia during the great yellow fever outbreak of 1793. He ...

Do you want to learn about King Herod but don’t have the time or patience to read a thick book? Then this short and concise book “King Herod the Great: A Short Biography” is for you!! During King Herod’s life he has been credited with many great accomplishments and many horrendous acts, including the following: Prince of Galilee at the age of 25, Married the 17-year-old Hasmonean princess Mariamne for political gain, Along with the Romans, he drove out the Parthians when they invaded Judea and the region in 40 B.C., Killed the high priest of the Jews and his brother-in-law, ...

Do you want to learn about the Declaration of Independence but don’t have the time or patience to read a thick book? Then this is the short and concise book for you! Some of the interesting topics covered in the book are: Meeting of the First Continental Congress at Philadelphia in 1774 and how the delegates from the colonies dealt with the Coercive Acts forced upon the American colonists by the British. The impact of Thomas Paine’s “Common Sense” on the cry for independence of the American colonies from Great Britain. The resolution introduced by the Virginia delegate Richard Henry...

The son of devout Quakers, Richard Nixon grew up in the shadow of an older brother and thrived on struggle and opposition. -- Through high school and college, in the Navy and in politics, Nixon was constantly leading crusades and fighting off “enemies,” either real and imagined. -- He possessed the plainspoken eloquence to reduce American television audiences to tears with his career-saving “Checkers” speech, yet Nixon’s darker side hatched schemes designed to take down his political opponents which earned him the infamous nickname, “Tricky Dick.” -- This is the classic story ...

Do you want to learn about the astronomer Johannes Kepler but don’t have the time or patience to read a thick book? Then this short and concise book “The Astronomer Johannes Kepler: A Short Biography” is for you!! In this book you will read about the life and times of the 17th century German astronomer Johannes Kepler and his many contributions to astronomy. The book covers the topics: Kepler’s years as a teacher in the city of Graz, Kepler’s book “Mysterium Cosmographicum (The Cosmographic Mystery),” His work with Tycho Brache in Prague, The development of the elliptical ...

During the War of 1812, or the “second war of independence,” the United States, which consisted of eighteen loosely joined states, took on Great Britain, the greatest naval power in the world, in a conflict that would have a lasting impact on the nation’s future. The causes of the war, which have been debated for more than two centuries, include the British attempts to restrict U.S. trade, the Royal Navy’s impressment of American seamen, and the United States’ desire to expand her territory. Over the course of the war, the U.S. suffered many costly defeats at the hands of British,...

Do you want to learn about Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower but don’t have the time or patience to read a thick book? Then this is the short and concise book for you! In the book you will read about the many accomplishments of Dwight Eisenhower, including: His rise through the ranks in the Army to become the Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during World War II. Served in the U.S. Army for over four decades. Becoming General of the Army. Elected the 34th President of the United States. Ended the Korean War within his first year as president. Kept America at peace during the ...

Spurred by a deep religious conviction, a lust for gold and the riches of the Orient, the Genoise explorer Christopher Columbus set sail from Spain to find a trade route to China. In his first voyage starting in 1492 he found little gold and did not reach China. What he did find was lush islands filled with friendly natives and vast new lands to explore and conquer. The next three voyages would transform this world-class navigator and explorer into a failure as a colonial governor and administrator. The Spanish colonists that were planted into the New World proved to be brutal masters of ...

Do you want to learn about George Washington but don’t have the time or patience to read a thick book? Then this is the short and concise book for you!! George Washington, the revolutionary war hero, and first president of the United States has risen to the level of an American legend. This one-dimensional view of the “founding father” turns out to be short sighted. For this complex man of the soil from Virginia, though of limited formal education, would change the very destiny of nations. Few knew Washington as well as did his Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson, who wrote of ...

This book is a story of Miss Cannon's trip to Spain and Italy in 1893 where she visits some of the major cathedrals, mosques, and palaces in Spain. Miss Cannon also journeys to Italy to visit the childhood home of Christopher Columbus. Her book was used at the massive 1893 World's Fair held in Chicago as a promotional booklet for the Blair Camera Company.

In the movies we often see a scientist portrayed as a quiet and pious man or woman dressed in a white lab coat engrossed in deep thought. This image surely fits some; however, not the twentieth-century New Zealander Ernest Rutherford, or Lord Rutherford as he would be known later in life. He was born into a large family living in the frontier country of New Zealand with the nearest town thirteen miles away by horseback. This young man would earn a scholarship and travel to Great Britain to study at the world-famous Cambridge University. There this boisterous country boy would come into his ...

If you want to learn about the First Continental Congress held in 1774 but don’t have the time or patience to read a thick book, then the short and concise book “The First Continental Congress: A Short History” is the book for you. In this book you will read about: The British imposed the harsh Coercive Acts on the citizens of the Massachusetts Bay Colony in response to the Boston Tea Party. Men like Samuel Adams and John Adams in Boston; Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson, and George Washington in Virginia; openly opposed the British aggression. In September 1774, 56 delegates from 12 ...

The son of a Boston Congregationalist deacon, Samuel Adams was educated at Harvard and took over his father’s malt house business and failed. Adams admitted that he wasn’t good at business, revolutionary agitator was more his game. He was one of the first American patriots to call for independence from England. Thomas Jefferson wrote of Adams “truly the man of the revolution.” Adams loved to write and made a fiery newspaper editor, producing an onslaught of articles denouncing the British control of the colonies and calling for a new independent nation. A very religious man, he ...

Bill Clinton knew at an early age that he wanted to be in politics. Over time, his dream would become reality as he moved up the political ranks to become the 42nd President of the United States. During his college years, starting at Georgetown, then at Oxford as a Rhodes scholar, and completing his law degree at Yale, Bill Clinton proved to be a quick study. While at Yale, he met his future wife, Hillary Rodham, who would become his closest adviser. As a member of the Democratic Party, he began his political career in Arkansas, where he was elected as attorney general and later governor. ...

Joe Biden was interested in politics at an early age. By age 29 he had already won a seat in the United States Senate becoming one of the youngest Senators in history. His life would meet with tragedy as his wife and daughter were killed in a car accident during a Christmas shopping outing. Biden, grief stricken, but determined to continue in the Senate would make the long daily commute from Willington, Delaware to Washington, DC to be both a Senator and father to his two remaining sons. He would go on to serve in the Senate for 36 years and have a distinguished career. Being an ambitious ...

Do you want to learn about William Herschel but don’t have the time or patience to read a thick book? Then this short and concise book “The Astronomer William Herschel: A Short Biography” is for you!! During William Herschel’s long and productive life, he had many interesting adventures and made many contributions to the science of astronomy, including the following: Discovered the planet Uranus, Observed and catalogued hundreds of double stars, Observed and cataloged some 2,500 nebulae, Personal astronomer to King George III of Great Britain, Trained his sister Caroline Herschel as...

If you want to learn about the 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic but don’t have the time or patience to read a thick book, then this is the short and concise book for you!! The book “The 1918 Spanish Flu Pandemic in America: A Short History” covers many aspects of the flu pandemic, including: The virus is believed to have originated in Kansas, from there it spread rapidly throughout the armies on both sides of World War I. The state of medicine in the early twentieth century was such that it was of little help to the unlucky many that fell ill with the virus. Researchers in America and Europe...

Jimmy Carter’s political career peaked in 1977 when he became the 39th president of the United States. During his time in the Oval Office, he was confronted with a battered economy, soaring oil prices, American hostages in Iran, and the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. A Democrat and Baptist from rural Georgia, Carter served at the US Naval Academy as a naval officer and received several military awards, such as the American Campaign Medal, World War II Victory Medal, China Service Medal, and National Defense Service Medal. He was a very successful peanut farmer before engaging in politics...