Books with author William Davis

This is a comprehensive history of France from the beginning to the end of World War I. From the preface: "This book was originally intended for members of the American army who naturally would desire to know something of the past of the great French nation on whose soil they expected to do battle for Liberty. The happy but abrupt close of the war vitiated this purpose, but the volume was continued and was extended on a somewhat more ambitious scale to assist in making intelligent Americans in general acquainted with the history of a country with which we have established an ever-deepening friendship. During the war period, when this task was begun, it seemed possible at first to take some elementary history of France in the French language, translate the same, and present it to new readers in a suitable American dress. This soon appeared impracticable, but certain French manuals were extremely helpful in preparing this work. This is true of the well-known Histoire de la civilisation française by M. Alfred Rambaud, and even more particularly of the three admirable volumes of M. Albert Malet’s Histoire de France, which, taken consecutively, form a national history for use in secondary schools superior possibly to any similar books wherein English or American students learn the story of their own respective countries. Very specific acknowledgment must be made of M. Malet’s work for material used in Chapters IX, XIII, and XVIII, which utilization in some cases almost amounts to a free translation. The same is true also of the supplemental matter on the acquisition of the French Colonies (Chapter XXV). Of course every competent scholar of French history will recognize the well-known books in the English language which have been frequently laid under contribution. They are listed with other important volumes in the bibliography of works on French history in English, given in the appendix. Certain sections relating to the Frankish kings, and to life in the Middle Ages, have also been adapted from the present author’s own short History of Medioeval and Modern Europe (Boston, 1914). To readers interested in the present-day problems of Europe (and what Americans are not?) the reforms of Napoleon are likely to seem more important than those of Charlemagne, and the policy of Thiers and Gambetta than that of Philip Augustus. The story of France is an extremely long one, and inevitably the narrative is obliged to begin with only a jejune outline, but this has been gradually allowed to broaden and deepen, so that the major fraction of the entire book is devoted to the period since 1789; and the story of the “New Régime,” of its sorrows, reverses, and final vindication and victory in 1918, is told with considerable detail, and one may hope with corresponding clarity and helpfulness."

Elizabeth’s grandfather called her Lily. She was the girl child of a would-be dynasty formed in the Arizona Highlands and built on the taking and selling water. This fascinating family saga begins in the 1930s. Clyde Bohanan is an ordinary con man traveling the long abandoned stretches of the old Route 66 when he discovers the small mountain community of Eternal Springs Arizona. Clyde marries into local politics and brutally takes control of the Eternal Springs Water Coalition. After Clyde’s son dies, Lily feels no compunction about becoming her father’s heir presumptive. Backed by the wealth and power of her family, Lily’s tastes twist into lust: for young men, for slavishly devoted girlfriends, and for revenge. Read this first installment of Arizona Cactus Lily and come back for more at no additional charge. Follow this bad girl through the mountains and deserts of Arizona.

One was called “a tin can on a shingle”; the other, “a half-submerged crocodile.” Yet, on a March day in 1862 in Hampton Roads, Virginia, after a five-hour duel, the U.S.S. Monitor and the C.S.S. Virginia(formerly the U.S.S. Merrimack) were to change the course of not only the Civil War but also naval warfare forever. Using letters, diaries, and memoirs of men who lived through the epic battle of the Monitor and the Merrimack and of those who witnessed it from afar, William C. Davis documents and analyzes this famous confrontation of the first two modern warships. The result is a full-scale history that is as exciting as a novel. Besides a thorough discussion of the designs of each ship, Davis portrays come of the men involved in the building and operation of America’s first ironclads―John Ericsson, supreme egoist and engineering genius who designed the Monitor; John Brooke, designer of the Virginia; John Worden, the well-loved captain of the Monitor; Captain Franklin Buchanan of the Virginia; and a host of other men on both Union and Confederate sides whose contributions make this history as much a story of men as of ships and war.

Seventy-Five Years in California spans the 19th century, offering William Heath Davis’ view of California’s Pastoral Period. He gives readers a unique look at the disintegration of missions, the rise of the rancheros, the American Invasion, the Gold Rush and the adoption of the territory as a state. Davis himself had an interesting personal history, having been born in Hawaii in 1822, raised in Boston, traveled a great deal by sea, and became one of the most prominent merchants in San Francisco by 1845. The California Gold Rush really was a bonanza. Between 1849 and 1855 the miners gathered more than $400 million dollars; once adjusted, it is a sum today reaching into the trillions. It was a social phenomenon marked by the carnivalesque. In his work Roughing It (1872) Mark Twain’s protagonist remarks as his brother heads West, “Pretty soon he would be hundreds and hundreds of miles away on the great plains and deserts, and among the mountains of the Far West, and would see buffaloes and Indians, and prairie dogs, an antelopes, and have all kinds of adventures, and may be get hanged or scalped, and have ever such a fine time, and write home and tell us all about it, and be a hero…And by and by he would become very rich, and return home by sea, and be able to talk as calmly about San Francisco and ocean, and ‘the isthmus’ as if it was nothing of any consequence to have seen those marvels face to face.” Go they did to the Land of Golden Dreams, in the largest internal migration in American history, and the adventures and tragedies have created a large and memorable literature.

Throughout his discussion of food in the camp, Davis provides overwhelming evidence of his central theme that the culinary experience for soldiers was a poor one for non-officers. "From 1861 to 1865 [soldiers'] menu was a three-course meal of monotony, insufficiency, and improvisation" (xvi). Many historians, of course, have commented on the poor state of nutrition in both armies, especially in the South. Still, it was a topic that was due for the kind of in-depth and thorough examination that Davis gives it. Davis argues persuasively that malnutrition probably exacerbated the poor health of many soldiers, noting that disease of diarrhea was the "biggest single killer" of men, especially in the prison camps. Interestingly, he posits that such "bowel complaints" probably affected both sides "almost equally" and that the South never lost a battle due to malnutrition (126-127). Even so, it almost certainly did not help and malnutrition in camp and back at home probably had at least some influence on skyrocketing Confederate desertion rates near the end of the war. Some of the most interesting parts of the book, and perhaps where the book could have been tied more closely to recent scholarly literature, comes during Davis's discussion of food in prison camps. Davis demonstrates how the food prisoners ate on both sides steadily declined during the war and played a role in the horrendous death rates in both northern and southern prisons. Although Davis only briefly mentions such vengeful episodes, it seems clear that northerners such as Secretary of State Edwin Stanton and Commissary General of Prisoners of War William Hoffman cut food to prisoners in a retaliatory measure whereas southerners simply did not have the resources to care for their own men or Yankee prisoners (100-102).

In the 22nd century, the first wonder of a brave new world is the Phoenix Space Elevator, designed to give mankind greater access to the frontier beyond Earth. Cooperatively built by the United States and the Eurasian Coalition, the Elevator is also a grand symbol of superpower alliance following a second cold war. And it’s just been destroyed.With suspicions rampant, armies and espionage teams are mobilized across the globe and beyond. Enter Claire Haskell and Jason Marlowe, U.S. counterintelligence agents and former lovers—though their memories may only be constructs implanted by their spymaster. Now their agenda is to trust no one. For as the crisis mounts, the lives of all involved will converge in one explosive finale—and a startling aftermath that will rewrite everything they’ve ever known—about their mission, their world, and themselves.

One was called "a tin can on a shingle"; the other, "a half-submerged crocodile." Yet, on a March day in 1862 in Hampton Roads, Virginia, after a five-hour duel, the U.S.S. Monitor and the C.S.S. Virginia (formerly the U.S.S. Merrimack) were to change the course of not only the Civil War but also naval warfare forever. Using letters, diaries, and memoirs of men who lived through the epic battle of the Monitor and the Merrimack and of those who witnessed it from afar, William C. Davis documents and analyzes this famous confrontation of the first two modern warships. The result is a full-scale history that is as exciting as a novel. Besides a thorough discussion of the designs of each ship, Davis portrays come of the men involved in the building and operation of America's first ironclads-John Ericsson, supreme egoist and engineering genius who designed the Monitor; John Brooke, designer of the Virginia; John Worden, the well-loved captain of the Monitor; Captain Franklin Buchanan of the Virginia; and a host of other men on both Union and Confederate sides whose contributions make this history as much a story of men as of ships and war. William C. Davis is the editor of Civil War Times Illustrated and the author of Breckinridge: Statesman, Soldier, Symbol ; The Battle of New Market; Battle at Bull Run; and The Orphan Brigade.

David Walliams' bestselling book Mr Stink has gone FULL COLOUR in a brand-new anniversary edition. This beautiful hardback gift book is the perfect present for children of any age, and contains an introduction from David Walliams himself. Available for a limited time only! Mr Stink was the second David Walliams book to be illustrated by the inimitable Quentin Blake, and won unanimous critical acclaim. Mr Stink remains one of his most beloved characters - in a tale that continues to touch the hearts of readers everywhere. A highly collectable edition for fans old and new.