The boys in the boat : Nine Americans and their epic quest for gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics by
Rowing was BIG in the past & this is the story of 8 Univ. of Washington crew who went to the 1936 Berlin Olympics. They were the sons of loggers, shipyard workers & farmers who beat the elite teams of the East Coast. Based on the diaries and journals of the boys, this book has become one to read. 404 pages.
Old Glory : a voyage down the Mississippi by
Raban read Huckleberry Finn as a boy in England and as an adult takes his 16-ft motorboat down the Mississippi River from Minneapolis to the Gulf. 409 pages.
The Oregon Trail : a new American journey by
At once an American journey, a work of history, and a personal saga, this book tells the story of Rinker Buck's 2,000-mile expedition across the plains. He was accompanied by three cantankerous mules, his boisterous brother, Nick, and an "incurably filthy" Jack Russell terrier named Olive Oyl. Along the way, Buck dodges thunderstorms in Nebraska, chases his runaway mules across miles of Wyoming plains, scouts more than five hundred miles of nearly vanished trail on foot, crosses the Rockies, makes desperate fifty-mile forced marches for water, and repairs so many broken wheels and axles that he nearly reinvents the art of wagon travel itself. Apart from charting his own geographical and emotional adventure, Buck introduces readers to the evangelists, shysters, natives, trailblazers, and everyday dreamers who were among the first of the pioneers to make the journey west.
Dead Wake: the last crossing of the Lusitania by
The sinking of the Lusitania, a luxury ocean liner, in 1915 became one of the great disasters of history. This book reads like a thriller and brings a 100 year old tragedy to life. 353 pages,
The Hiding Place by
Corrie ten Boom was a Dutch watchmaker who became a heroine of the Resistance, a survivor of Hitler's concentration camps, and one of the most remarkable evangelists of the 20th century. In World War II she and her family risked their lives to help Jews and underground workers escape from the Nazis, and for their work they were tested in the infamous Nazi death camps. 243 pages.
In the garden of beasts : love, terror, and an American family in Hitler's Berlin by
Documents the efforts of the first American ambassador to Hitler's Germany, William E. Dodd, to acclimate to a residence in an increasingly violent city where he is forced to associate with the Nazis while his daughter pursues a relationship with Gestapochief Rudolf Diels. 448 pages.
A Man Named Moses : the military life of a heroic buffalo soldier - YA by
When Moses Williams first enlisted he could not read or write and signed the papers with an ‘X.’ By his second enlistment, he signed his name. This was perhaps the biggest draw my dad had to the story of Moses Williams, because the fact that he learned to read and write when it was not necessary or encouraged to do so, proved that he was ambitious and sought to improve himself despite many obstacles. Williams eventually would achieve the rank of Ordnance Sergeant, which was the highest rank a black man could achieve in those days. In fact he may have been the first African-American Ordnance Sergeant. 189 pages.
My Life with the Samurai by
The true story of a 17 year old boy captured by the Japanese in Indonesia He survived a horrendous death rate and beat the odds against starvation and brutality. 232 pages.
Pure grit : how American World War II nurses survived battle and prison camp in the Pacific by
When the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941 blasted the United States into World War II, 101 American Army and Navy nurses serving in the Philippines were suddenly treating wounded and dying soldiers while bombs exploded all around them. The women served in jerry-rigged jungle hospitals on the Bataan Peninsula and in underground tunnels on Corregidor Island. Later, when most of them were captured by the Japanese as prisoners of war, they suffered disease and near-starvation for three years. This is their story of sisterhood and suffering, of tragedy and betrayal, of death and life. 160 pages.
The Diary of a Young Girl (Anne Frank) - YA by
The record of two years in the life of a remarkable Jewish girl and one of the most moving and eloquent accounts of the Holocaust, Frank's triumphant humanity in the face of unfathomable deprivation and fear. 274 pages.
Digging for Richard III by
Shakespeare made Richard III look deformed and evil. When his skeleton was found while a parking lot was being built, his story became headline news. This mystery started in 1485! 207 pages.
The History of Terrorism by
This authoritative work provides an essential perspective on terrorism by offering a rare opportunity for analysis and reflection at a time of ongoing violence, threats, and reprisals. Some of the best international specialists on the subject examine terrorism's complex history from antiquity to the present day and find that terror, long the weapon of the weak against the strong, is a tactic as old as warfare itself. Beginning with the Zealots of the first century CE, contributors go on to discuss the Assassins of the Middle Ages, the 1789 Terror movement in Europe, Bolshevik terrorism during the Russian Revolution, Stalinism, "resistance" terrorism during World War II, and Latin American revolutionary movements of the late 1960s. Finally, they consider the emergence of modern transnational terrorism, focusing on the roots of Islamic terrorism, al Qaeda, and the contemporary suicide martyr. Along the way, they provide a groundbreaking analysis of how terrorism has been perceived throughout history. What becomes powerfully clear is that only through deeper understanding can we fully grasp the present dangers of a phenomenon whose repercussions are far from over. This updated edition includes a new chapter analyzing the rise of ISIS and key events such as the 2015 Paris attacks.
Textiles by 
Exploring Camano Island : a history and guide by
A history and guide for Washington State's Camano Island. 148 pages.
The Oregon Trail : a new American journey by
At once an American journey, a work of history, and a personal saga, this book tells the story of Rinker Buck's 2,000-mile expedition across the plains. He was accompanied by three cantankerous mules, his boisterous brother, Nick, and an "incurably filthy" Jack Russell terrier named Olive Oyl. Along the way, Buck dodges thunderstorms in Nebraska, chases his runaway mules across miles of Wyoming plains, scouts more than five hundred miles of nearly vanished trail on foot, crosses the Rockies, makes desperate fifty-mile forced marches for water, and repairs so many broken wheels and axles that he nearly reinvents the art of wagon travel itself. Apart from charting his own geographical and emotional adventure, Buck introduces readers to the evangelists, shysters, natives, trailblazers, and everyday dreamers who were among the first of the pioneers to make the journey west.
The Revenge of Geography by
In this provocative, startling book, Robert D. Kaplan, the bestselling author of Monsoon and Balkan Ghosts, offers a revelatory new prism through which to view global upheavals and to understand what lies ahead for continents and countries around the world. Bestselling author Robert D. Kaplan builds on the insights, discoveries, and theories of great geographers and geopolitical thinkers of the recent and distant past to look back at critical pivots in history and then to look forward at the evolving global scene. Kaplan traces the history of the world's hot spots by examining their climates, topographies, and proximities to other embattled lands. He then applies the lessons learned to the present crises in Europe, Russia, China, the Indian Subcontinent, Turkey, Iran, and the Arab Middle East. The result is a holistic interpretation of the next cycle of conflict throughout Eurasia, a visionary glimpse into a future that can be understood only in the context of temperature, land allotment, and other physical certainties. A brilliant rebuttal to thinkers who suggest that globalism will trump geography, this indispensable work shows how timeless truths and natural facts can help prevent this century's looming cataclysms. Praise for The Revenge of Geography "[An] ambitious and challenging new book . . . [The Revenge of Geography] displays a formidable grasp of contemporary world politics and serves as a powerful reminder that it has been the planet's geophysical configurations, as much as the flow of competing religions and ideologies, that have shaped human conflicts, past and present."--Malise Ruthven, The New York Review of Books "Robert D. Kaplan, the world-traveling reporter and intellectual whose fourteen books constitute a bedrock of penetrating exposition and analysis on the post-Cold War world . . . strips away much of the cant that suffuses public discourse these days on global developments and gets to a fundamental reality: that geography remains today, as it has been throughout history, one of the most powerful drivers of world events."--The National Interest "Kaplan plunges into a planetary review that is often thrilling in its sheer scale . . . encyclopedic."--The New Yorker "[The Revenge of Geography] serves the facts straight up. . . . Kaplan's realism and willingness to face hard facts make The Revenge of Geography a valuable antidote to the feel-good manifestoes that often masquerade as strategic thought."--The Daily Beast
Whidbey Island: reflections on people and the land by
From the early settlements of Native Americans and Europeans, to federal involvement with the Civilian Conservation Corps and the U.S. Navy, continuing through the activism in the 1960s and 1970s, to today, this is the story of Whidbey Island. 183 pages.
Forever Barbie : the unauthorizied biography of a real doll by
Since Barbie's introduction in 1959, her impact on baby boomers has been revolutionary. Far from being a toy designed by men to enslave women, she was a toy invented by women to teach women what-- for better or worse-- was expected of them. 325 pages.
SPAM a biography by
Over sixty years ago, when meat was bought from a butcher, Jay Hormel's idea for pork in a can was nothing short of revolutionary. How in the world (and why in the world) did he do it? 134 pages.
The Disappearing Spoon by 
Under the Red Roof : one hundred years at Northern State Hospital by
Under The Red Roof chronicled the rise and fall of an insane asylum in the frontier town of Sedro-Woolley, Washington. Northern State Hospital, as it came to be known. 152 pages.
Sedro-Woolley, Washington by
Using more than 200 vintage photographs, this volume depicts the early settlers, businesses, homes, and churches of Sedro-Woolley. Other historic images depict changes in local transportation, from the only early means of travel available-the canoe-to the eventual trains that arrived three times a day and fostered commerce and community. 128 pages.
Women's Votes, Women's Voices by
Gearing up for the fight -- Suffrage successes and failures -- The twentieth-century campaign -- Women change the political landscape -- Modern Washington women pursue equal rights -- Women making a difference
