Books with author Charles David Stewart

In this vivid and brilliant biography, David Stewart describes Aaron Burr, the third vice president, as a daring and perhaps deluded figure who shook the nation’s foundations in its earliest, most vulnerable decades. In 1805, the United States was not twenty years old, an unformed infant. The government consisted of a few hundred people. The immense frontier swallowed up a tiny army of 3,300 soldiers. Following the Louisiana Purchase, no one even knew where the nation’s western border lay. Secessionist sentiment flared in New England and beyond the Appalachians. Burr had challenged Jefferson, his own running mate, in the presidential election of 1800. Indicted for murder in the dueling death of Alexander Hamilton in 1804, he dreamt huge dreams. He imagined an insurrection in New Orleans, a private invasion of Spanish Mexico and Florida, and a great empire rising on the Gulf of Mexico, which would swell when America’s western lands seceded from the Union. For two years, Burr pursued this audacious dream, enlisting support from the General-in-Chief of the Army, a paid agent of the Spanish king, and from other western leaders, including Andrew Jackson. When the army chief double-crossed Burr, Jefferson finally roused himself and ordered Burr prosecuted for treason. The trial featured the nation’s finest lawyers before the greatest judge in our history, Chief Justice John Marshall, Jefferson’s distant cousin and determined adversary. It became a contest over the nation’s identity: Should individual rights be sacrificed to punish a political apostate who challenged the nation’s very existence? In a revealing reversal of political philosophies, Jefferson championed government power over individual rights, while Marshall shielded the nation’s most notorious defendant. By concealing evidence, appealing to the rule of law, and exploiting the weaknesses of the government’s case, Burr won his freedom. Afterwards Burr left for Europe to pursue an equally outrageous scheme to liberate Spain’s American colonies, but finding no European sponsor, he returned to America and lived to an unrepentant old age. Stewart’s vivid account of Burr’s tumultuous life offers a rare and eye-opening description of the brand-new nation struggling to define itself.

It is 1577 and Francis Drake, the Queen of England's favourite adventurer, has been ordered to command a new expedition leaving from Plymouth. Drake has appointed you, Francis Fletcher, as Chaplain on the expedition. You believe you are off on a trading trip to Alexandria in Egypt, but Drake s expedition has another purpose. Where will this voyage take you The humorous cartoon-style illustrations and the narrative approach placing readers at the centre of the narrative history encourage readers to get emotionally involved with the characters, aiding their understanding of what life would have been like sailing with Francis Drake. Informative captions, a complete glossary and an index make this title an ideal introduction to the conventions of non-fiction texts for young readers. Sample fact: 'Drake comes from a family of seafarers. Long ago, William Hawkins, Drake s uncle, showed King Henry VIII exotic fruit he had brought back from his travels.'

Dinosaurs don't roam the earth anymore...but kids will make sure they roam through your home! Zip-zap--a tyrannosaurus rex is rolling all over the house. And, triceratops, diplodocus, and stegosaurus, too! What child could resist these dinosaur-shaped, movable books with heads that bob up and down and legs that go round and round? When they open the pages and look inside, they'll find out how each of the dinosaurs lived, what food it ate, and why it looked the way it did. There's no better mix of play and learning anywhere.

This is a unique book. Not your typical dog training book.The first goal of this book is to help adults teach children about the responsibilities of having a new dog. The second goal is to share good solid information on how to bring a puppy into your house, adults and kids will both learn from this!Now what makes this book unique? This is all done via a story. The story based on my own dog experiences and knowledge I have picked up along the way from trainers, veterinarians, research and the school of hard knocks. In this story you will follow Cody as a new puppy is added to his family. See the challenges and joy he gets from this new family member. Get basic advice as Cody learns about crate training, house breaking, feeding and more.If you have children who are asking for a new puppy or dog or you have a new puppy or dog, I believe you will find this book very helpful.

The Biography of Carol Glass. Born and raised in a deprived area on 1960’s Tyneside to a mother who didn’t want her, Carol spends her life searching for real love. She suffers serial abuse by her mother, siblings, a succession of boyfriends, husbands and even the establishment. Serially abused by her estranged father from an early age Carol turns to alcohol, prescription drug overdose and self harm as a means of escape. Struggling to recover from her addictions she shows a mix of dogged determination, humour and human frailty. When, following a physical assault, she vows to end her life she suddenly realises taking that action would mean that all her abusers would win. This realisation snaps her into a desperate struggle to quit her addictions before it is too late.

Dr. Frankenstein created a living creature from dead body parts, so who better to explain the basics of anatomy? Combining science with Mary Shelley's beloved novel, The Secret Journal of Viktor Frankenstein explores the workings of the human body through the voice of literature's infamous mad scientist. Featuring pullouts, gatefolds, and reproductions, it offers a peek into Frankenstein's lecture notes and diary.

The year is 1907, and you are the manager of a prestigious shipping company. You decide to plan and build the largest and most luxurious ship in the world to cross the Atlantic Ocean. At this point, you definitely want to sail on the Titanic. Little do you know that the ship is sailing straight towards disaster...! This special extended edition in the popular You Wouldn't Want to Be series features full-colour illustrations which combine humour and accurate technical detail. Featuring brand new extra content including a timeline, fun facts and a map, you'll soon discover why you really wouldn't want to sail on the Titanic! You Wouldn't Want to Be is a constantly-growing library of over 50 exciting titles which transport the reader to the grisliest times and places in history. The first-person narrative approach puts the reader in the shoes of some of the most unfortunate people ever to have lived - from pyramid builders to viking explorers, from medieval knights to Egyptian mummies. Each spread comes complete with a Handy Hint box, offering a clever tip on how to survive whatever ghastly situation you've found yourself in. A complete glossary and index featured in every title makes this series an ideal introduction to the conventions of non-fiction texts for young readers.

In 1868 Congress impeached President Andrew Johnson of Tennessee, the man who had succeeded the murdered Lincoln, bringing the nation to the brink of a second civil war. Enraged to see the freed slaves abandoned to brutal violence at the hands of their former owners, distraught that former rebels threatened to regain control of Southern state governments, and disgusted by Johnson's brawling political style, congressional Republicans seized on a legal technicality as the basis for impeachment -- whether Johnson had the legal right to fire his own secretary of war, Edwin Stanton. The fiery but mortally ill Congressman Thaddeus Stevens of Pennsylvania led the impeachment drive, abetted behind the scenes by the military hero and president-in-waiting, General Ulysses S. Grant. The Senate trial featured the most brilliant lawyers of the day, along with some of the least scrupulous, while leading political fixers maneuvered in dark corners to save Johnson's presidency with political deals, promises of patronage jobs, and even cash bribes. Johnson escaped conviction by a single vote. David Stewart, the author of the highly acclaimed The Summer of 1787, the bestselling account of the writing of the Constitution, challenges the traditional version of this pivotal moment in American history. Rather than seeing Johnson as Abraham Lincoln's political heir, Stewart explains how the Tennessean squandered Lincoln's political legacy of equality and fairness and helped force the freed slaves into a brutal form of agricultural peonage across the South. When the clash between Congress and president threatened to tear the nation apart, the impeachment process substituted legal combat for violent confrontation. Both sides struggled to inject meaning into the baffling requirement that a president be removed only for "high crimes and misdemeanors," while employing devious courtroom gambits, backstairs spies, and soaring rhetoric. When the dust finally settled, the impeachment process had allowed passions to cool sufficiently for the nation to survive the bitter crisis. With the dramatic expansion of the powers of the presidency, and after two presidential impeachment crises in the last forty years, the lessons of the first presidential impeachment are more urgent than ever.