Biography
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REAL SOLDIERS OF FORTUNE – Richard Harding Davis
“They ended up with zero skills in civilian fields, but they could kill other people, and getting paid was a bonus.“ Whenever in any part of the world a military conflict raged, the procedure of mercenaries invariably was the same. As adventurers with a fondness for violence, hairy situations, and thrill-seeking, they experienced face-to-face battle, […]
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YOU CAN’T WIN – Jack Black
You Can’t Win was originally written as an anti-crime book and cautionary tale. as a result, it is one of those rare cult books that’s a riveting read and hard to put down. It is a virtual encyclopedia of the techniques in use by hardened criminals as well as a glossary of underworld slang. The […]
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FOLK-LORE VILLAIN The History of Gilles de Rais – Thomas Wilson LL.D.
“… in search for the Elixir of Youth, convinced that the foundation of this elixir should be the blood of infants or maidens” Even if there had been nothing else unusual about the Breton nobleman Gilles de Rais (1404–1440), his outstanding career as a soldier in the Hundred Years’ War and as a comrade in […]
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HANGMAN My experiences as an Executioner – James Berry, H. Snowden Ward
You have in your hands the memoir of James Berry (1852–1913), the first truly literate hangman, and the first to write about his position. Mr. Berry’s occupation was not by any means taken up from a love of the ghastly, or any pleasure in the work. Even in his business as executioner his soft-heartedness has […]
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BUSHWHACKER! The Auto-biography of Samuel S. Hildebrand
“A vivid impression of a boastfully murderous mentality unique in Civil War historiography.” This auto-biography, as a record of bloody deeds, dare-devil exploits and thrilling adventures, will have no rival in the catalogue of wonders. It unfolds, with minute accuracy, the exploits of Samuel S. Hildebrand, a member of the Irregular military forces in the […]
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AFRO-AMERICAN COWBOY The Life and Adventures of a black cowboy – Nat Love
“Born a slave, he goes on to be a free man in pursuit of the wildlife on the range. His voice is strong and inspiring, his proud declaration of being an American is infectious!” Nat Love was a Brother and truly a frontier legend of the American West. Whether as a slave, as a black […]
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Thirty-One Years on the Plains and in the Mountains: The Last Voice from the Mountains – Capt. William F. Drannan
If you like your tales tall & two-fisted, then this is the one for you. “31 years …” is an interesting first-person account of the plainsmen and mountaineers of the early and mid-19th century. Drannan’s journey takes him through Missouri, Kansas, Colorado and New Mexico well before these territories became states. The list of characters […]
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Vagabond Adventures: My life as a Minstrel player, Low-life and Hobo – Ralph Keeler
Meet Ralph Keeler: “The Lost Prince of American Bohemians”… You are about to read Ralph Keeler’s memoir of his life as a minstrel player, low-life and hobo along the Mississippi and throughout the U.S. and Europe in the 1840s and 1850s. He wrote the Vagabond Adventures which he had lived. He had been, as he claimed, “a […]
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A White King in East-Africa: The remarkable true adventures of John Boyes, trader and soldier of fortune – John Boyes
Back in 1911, The adventures Yorkshire-man John Boyes underwent were – even by today’s standards – highly unusual. What a guy! He was a trader and soldier of fortune on a continent that was still unknown to the rest of the world. Going to Africa was like going to Mars, by todays standards. It was […]