by Jen Green (2013)
Gossip, scandal, badly behaved royals - if you thought that celebrity culture was a symptom of the 21st century, think again. This is an irreverent but fact-packed look at one of the most fascinating periods in history, with a colourful cast of celebrity characters and a keen awareness of what was 'on trend' and what was not (even after death).
Chana Stiefel
Explores life during the Middle Ages; describes the features found in castles, including murder holes, gatehouses, and moats; and discusses the numerous smells the inhabitants encountered. Have you ever dreamed of living in a castle? Imagine a moat filled with poop and an army of invaders holding you under siege. Life in the Middle Ages was no fairy tale! Charge back in time to find out what real life was like in the castles of the Middle Ages.
Ezekiel Nieto Benzion
When Ezekiel Nieto Benzion's grandfather handed him the journals written by Dr. Judah Halevi, he pleaded, "Before I die, tell me about the men in these books. For 200 years, our family in the old country kept the stories safe. I want to know why." The writer of the journals, Judah Halevi, was a doctor, an engineer, a musician, and a family man, who lived in Bohemia during the Napoleonic Wars. But that was all he chose to say openly. Everything else he buried in codes and puzzles. Then, after years of writing, he hid the journals, hoping that someday the truth would be told. What is the truth? Who was he really? What was the terror that he said "jabbed its bony finger into my heart?" What deeds "stained my soul with blood?" And who was the Hawk who led him both into danger and out of his own terrors? You Shall Know Our Names is the first tale from the Judah Halevi journals. Guided by Judah Halevi's clues, Ezekiel Nieto Benzion traced the tales from an old cemetery in Prague to its glory on a Bohemian farm. By the journey's end, two men separated by two centuries become connected by name, heritage and their dream of a better future.
Peter Felton
Picking up from where other San Francisco public transit historians have left off, Peter Felton's book gives readers an acute internal perspective as to the routine external operations of the late 20th-, early-21st-century-era San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (or "Muni" as it is more commonly nicknamed). Ranging from vehicular characteristics to urban development above and below ground level, Felton provides intricate details into the life and times of the "average Joe" public transit rider traveling around the City of San Francisco by bus or subway train. With a majority of the information taken strictly from a young lifetime of permanent public custom, Felton colorfully outlines the awe and wonder arising from riding this means of public service day-in-and-day-out, acknowledging realities and comparing-contrasting past, present, and future transit modalities drawn completely from personal experience and observation-yet portrayed entirely on a "general basis." - Amazon.com
Katie Marsico
Originally developed in the early 20th century for military purposes, unmanned aircraft, or drones, have come to be used for a variety of purposes. Readers will find out how drones work and what it takes to pilot them. They will also learn why the use of drones has become a controversial issue, how unmanned aircraft have been improved over time, and what today's engineering innovators are planning for the future of drone technology.