Books with author William Burke

Saint Joan of Arc was born a poor country girl but became a great heroine who saved France from invasion. When she was still a teenager, the entire French Army followed her into battle because they could see God was on her side. Although she lived 600 years ago, she shows us even today what the power of God can do. Joan of Arc is the patroness of France. This is her story.

Queen Victoria ruled over the British Empire for most of the 1800s, during the height of Britain’s power and wealth. She became queen at a young age and had the longest reign in British history. Victoria was a good wife and mother, raising nine children. She was beloved by her subjects and became a symbol of Britain’s values and its greatness. This is her story.

Casimir Pulaski learned to fight as a boy and spent his whole life fighting. He led a great revolt to free Poland from the Russian Empire. He moved to America to help George Washington with his struggle against the British Empire. He died a hero in the Revolutionary War. He was a true freedom fighter willing to fight to make all people free. This is his story.

The Battle of Taranto was one of the allies’ only victories in the first two years of World War II. Airplanes from the British Navy sank half of Italy’s powerful battleships, in the first sign that aircraft carriers would replace battleships. The victory boosted Britain’s spirits and enabled Britain to keep controlling the Mediterranean Sea and defend its empire.

As both painter and poet, William Blake (1757–1827) was a powerful and visionary artist whose two early collections of poetry, Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, contain memorable lyric verses embodying the emerging spirit of Romanticism. The two works were published together in 1794 with the subtitle, "Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul." The poems of Songs of Innocence describe childhood states of naturalness and purity in delicately beautiful lyrics that reveal a child's unspoiled and beatific view of life and human nature. In Songs of Experience the mood and tone darken, the poems suggesting the bitter corruptions and disillusionment that await the innocent. The contrast between the two sets of lyrics is perhaps at its most acute in the poems "The Lamb" and "The Tyger," the latter ultimately expressing wonderment at the seemingly paradoxical coexistence of good and evil. The full texts of all the poems in the 1794 edition of both collections are included in this volume. Includes a selection from the Common Core State Standards Initiative: "The Echoing Green."

As both painter and poet, William Blake (1757–1827) was a powerful and visionary artist whose two early collections of poetry, Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, contain memorable lyric verses embodying the emerging spirit of Romanticism. The two works were published together in 1794 with the subtitle, "Shewing the Two Contrary States of the Human Soul." The poems of Songs of Innocence describe childhood states of naturalness and purity in delicately beautiful lyrics that reveal a child's unspoiled and beatific view of life and human nature. In Songs of Experience the mood and tone darken, the poems suggesting the bitter corruptions and disillusionment that await the innocent. The contrast between the two sets of lyrics is perhaps at its most acute in the poems "The Lamb" and "The Tyger," the latter ultimately expressing wonderment at the seemingly paradoxical coexistence of good and evil. The full texts of all the poems in the 1794 edition of both collections are included in this volume. Includes a selection from the Common Core State Standards Initiative: "The Echoing Green."