National Network for Equitable Library Service

Captain Kidd has gone down in history as America's most ruthless buccaneer, fabulously rich, burying treasure up and down the eastern seaboard. But it turns out that most everyone, from novelists to scholars, has the story all wrong. Captain William Kidd was no career cutthroat; he was a tough, successful New York sea captain who was hired to chase pirates in the 1690s.

Wanted: Volunteers for Project Delta. Will guarantee you a medal. A body bag. Or both.With this call to arms, Charlie Beckwith revolutionized American armed combat. Beckwith's acclaimed memoir tells the story of Delta Force as only its maverick creator could tell it-from the bloody baptism of Vietnam to the top-secret training grounds of North Carolina to political battles in the upper levels of the Pentagon itself. This is the heart-pounding, first-person insider's view of the missions that made Delta Force legendary.

In the U.S. Marine Corps, the most dangerous job in combat is that of the sniper. With no backup and little communication with the outside world, these men disappear for weeks on end in the wilderness with nothing but intellect and iron will to protect them-as they watch, wait, and finally strike.

For generations, people have proudly defined themselves and their values through their national cuisine. But American food, like its history, is a world of its own. This enticingly fresh book introduces modern listeners to lost American food traditions and leads them on a tantalizing culinary journey through the evolution of our vibrant cuisine and culture. Covering a hundred different foods from the Native American era through today and featuring over thirty recipes, this fascinating history of American food will delight history buffs and food lovers alike.

Throughout human history, certain drinks have done much more than just quench thirst. As Tom Standage relates with authority and charm, six of them have had a surprisingly pervasive influence on the course of history, becoming the defining drink during a pivotal historical period. A History of the World in 6 Glasses tells the story of humanity from the Stone Age to the twenty-first century through the lens of beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and cola. Beer was first made in the Fertile Crescent and by 3000 B.C.E. was so important to Mesopotamia and Egypt that it was used to pay wages.

Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, the architect of the 9/11 attacks, has carried out many of the biggest terrorist plots of the past twenty years, including the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, the Millennium Plots, and the beheading of Daniel Pearl. As the world awaits his trial, bestselling author and investigative journalist Richard Miniter brings to life his shocking true story.

Throughout history, food has acted as a catalyst of social change, political organization, geopolitical competition, industrial development, military conflict, and economic expansion. An Edible History of Humanity is a pithy, entertaining account of how a series of changes-caused, enabled, or influenced by food-has helped to shape and transform societies around the world. The first civilizations were built on barley and wheat in the Near East, millet and rice in Asia, and corn and potatoes in the Americas.

Adrian Tinniswood brings alive this dynamic chapter in history, where clashes between pirates of the East and governments of the West grew increasingly intense and dangerous. In vivid detail, Tinniswood recounts the brutal struggles, glorious triumphs, and enduring personalities of the pirates of the Barbary Coast, and how their maneuverings between the Muslim empires and Christian Europe shed light on the religious and moral battles that still rage today.

Documents the efforts of a French Jesuit priest to confront the struggle between science and religion upon his 1929 discovery of the Peking Man pre-human skull that represented a missing link between erect hunting apes and the human race's Cro-Magnon ancestors.

Documents the two-day firefight in Sadr City that began the Iraqi insurgency, during which eight 1st Cavalry Division soldiers were killed and numerous others wounded, an engagement that was vigilantly monitored by their loved ones back home.