Books in Legendary African Americans series

Who was the real Johnny Appleseed? Did Jim Bowie actually wrestle alligators? Featuring six American folk heroes, this series tells the stories of these legendary people within the cultural history of each figure's time. Children will not only learn about these classic legends, but also will discover how the stories came about and why not all the stories about these heroes are true. Readers will be able to explore the character of each historical figure, learn about how each legendary person has become part of America's cultural heritage, and how the lives of these figures continue to be celebrated today.225 years ago, Daniel Boone roamed the forests of North America, moving from Pennsylvania to North Carolina, Kentucky, and Virginia. This American legend blazed the Wilderness Trail, explored Kentucky, and founded his own settlement, Boonesborough, in Kentucky.

*Includes pictures. *Includes some of Sinatra's most famous and colorful quotes. *Includes a Bibliography for further reading. “May you live to be 100 and may the last voice you hear be mine.” – Frank Sinatra A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history’s most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors’ American Legends series, readers can get caught up to speed on the lives of America’s most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known. America has always celebrated its star entertainers, but Frank Sinatra remains a unique American legend. A pop culture fixture for over half a century, Sinatra’s music is still cherished, and his persona remains its own archetype of the quintessential American star. Sinatra transcended genres to the extent that his music stands alone as its own kind of American music, with songs like “New York, New York,” “Chicago,” and “Come Fly With Me” instantly recognizable among all Americans. Of course, there was also the life that went with the music. The cultural identity of the Rat Pack, epitomized in the 1960 film Ocean’s Eleven, further contributed to his fame, and everyone knows and appreciates the image of easy living, smooth voice and exuberant star power that Sinatra represents. If anything, Sinatra’s ability to make so many people feel happy and good about themselves was one of the main ingredients of his success. And as evidence of the fact that Americans don’t mind their stars doing a little dirt, Sinatra’s rap sheet and relationship with the mob are practically a celebrated part of his life. Given his almost universal appeal, it is easy to forget that Sinatra did not always enjoy strong popularity during his career. He had a meteoric rise to fame, but he also suffered a terrible mid-career slump in popularity and was forced to work hard to reinvent his public image. In a sense, the many changes to his public identity only make him even more American; the American public loves an underdog figure, and during his rise back to fame Sinatra came to embody the struggling American hero. The many transformations that Sinatra made throughout his career were necessary to cement his legacy as an unshakable American icon. American Legends: The Life of Frank Sinatra looks at the life, career and legacy of Ol’ Blue Eyes. Along with pictures of important people, places and events in his life, you will learn about Sinatra like you never have before, in no time at all.

*Includes pictures of Eisenhower and important people, places, and events in his life. *Includes a detailed analysis of Eisenhower's military planning for D-Day and the invasion itself. A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history’s most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors’ American Legends series, readers can get caught up to speed on the lives of America’s most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known. During the middle of the 20th century, the United States completed its transformation into one of the world’s superpowers, and few were as instrumental in this development as Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890-1969), renowned for being the nation’s principal commanding general during World War II and the president who served during the early, tumultuous Cold War years. A career military man, Ike was too young to serve in combat during World War I, but he began a long and productive career collaborating with future military legends George Patton and Douglas MacArthur while serving some of the nation’s other famous generals, including George Marshall and John J. Pershing. Amazingly, he had never served in anything but administrative positions before World War II. Eisenhower remained mired in middle management positions until George Marshall, Chief of Staff of the Army, took notice of his skills and began promoting him. By 1942, Eisenhower was given the role of appointed Supreme Commander Allied (Expeditionary) Force in North Africa, and after his success there, Eisenhower oversaw the invasion of Sicily in 1943, which at the time had been the largest amphibious invasion in history. With those successes, President Roosevelt picked Eisenhower to be the Supreme Allied Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, leaving him in charge of Operation Overlord and the defining moment of his military career, D-Day. Like many before him, his successes in the war made him a natural candidate for President, and he was offered plum political spots by both parties before winning the presidency as a Republican in 1952. Despite being one of America’s oldest presidents, Eisenhower redefined the public relations nature of the office, in addition to positioning America during the Cold War standoff with the Soviet Union. But Eisenhower’s most lasting contribution as president was the construction of the interstate highway system, and it was in the final year of his presidency that his administration planned and implemented the Apollo space program that would land men on the Moon in 1969. By the time he died in 1969, President Nixon aptly described Eisenhower as “the world's most admired and respected man, truly the first citizen of the world.” American Legends: The Life of Dwight Eisenhower details Ike’s life and career in the military and politics, while also analyzing his lasting legacy. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events in his life, you will learn about Eisenhower like you never have before, in no time at all.

*Includes pictures of Douglass and important people, places and events in his life. A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history’s most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors’ American Legends series, readers can get caught up to speed on the lives of America’s most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known. With the possible exception of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., no African American has been more instrumental in the fight for minorities’ civil rights in the United States than Frederick Douglass 1818–1895), an American social reformer, orator, writer and statesman. His list of accomplishments would be impressive enough even without taking into account the fact that he was born into slavery. Douglass was born into slavery, and it’s believed his father was a white man, even perhaps his master Aaron Anthony. When Douglass was about 12, his slaveowner’s wife, Sophia Auld, began teaching him the alphabet in defiance of the South’s laws against teaching slaves how to read. When her husband Hugh found out, he was furious, reminding her that if the slave learned to read, he would become dissatisfied with his condition and desire freedom. Those words would prove prophetic. Douglass is noted as saying that "knowledge is the pathway from slavery to freedom,” and he took that advice to heart, teaching himself how to read and write with his knowledge of the alphabet. On September 3, 1838, Douglass successfully escaped slavery, traveling by boat to Delaware, Philadelphia, and finally New York, all in the span of a day. Douglass found a “new world had opened upon me.” After escaping from slavery, Douglass became a leader of the abolitionist movement, gaining national notice for his dazzling oratory and anti-slavery writing. He stood out as the living embodiment of an intellectual former slave, the antithesis of slaveholders’ arguments that blacks were an inferior race. Douglass remained active in the fight for civil rights and abolition throughout the Civil War and Reconstruction, even meeting President Lincoln and strongly urging him to let black men enlist in the Union. As Douglass constantly stated, nobody had more to fight for in the Civil War than black men. Douglass continued his work all the way up to his death in 1895, continuing to advocate on behalf of blacks, women, immigrants and even Native Americans. Douglass famously said, "I would unite with anybody to do right and with nobody to do wrong." Douglass remains well known today, but given the manner in which Jim Crow segregated and discriminated against minorities for another 60 years after his death, he is often overshadowed by the icons of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1950s and 1960s. American Legends: The Life of Frederick Douglass looks at Douglass’s incredible life story of preservation and perseverance, explaining how the man who literally started with nothing became his people’s Martin Luther King Jr. decades before King was born. Along with pictures of Douglass and other important people and events in his life, you will learn about America’s first great Civil Rights leader like you never have before, in no time at all.

*Discusses Little Bighorn in detail and explains the controversies and mysteries still surrounding Custer's Last Stand. *Includes pictures of Custer and important people, places, and events in his life. *Includes a Bibliography for further reading. Since the Battle of Little Bighorn, George Armstrong Custer (1839-1876) has possessed one of the most unique places in American history. Although he was a capable cavalry officer who served honorably during the Civil War, he remains one of the most instantly identifiable and famous military men in American history due to the fact he was killed during one of the country’s most well known and ignominious defeats, the Battle of Little Bighorn. And yet, this one relatively insignificant battle during America’s Indian Wars has become one of the country’s most mythologized events and continues to fascinate Americans nearly 140 years later. Though he’s now best remembered for “Custer’s Last Stand”, George Armstrong Custer began June 25, 1876 as one of America’s better regarded cavalry officers, and a man whose ambitions might one day take him to higher office. In fact, decades before radio and television existed, Custer mastered the art of public relations, dressing impeccably and having newspaper correspondents accompany him on campaign, all in an effort to help cultivate and enhance his legacy. Custer’s efforts worked, with one biographer noting that Americans during the 19th century viewed him as “a cavalier without fear and beyond reproach." Much like famous Confederate cavalry leader JEB Stuart, Custer added substance to the style. Despite being in his early 20s when the Civil War started, Custer rose through the ranks so quickly that he famously commanded a brigade of Michigan cavalrymen at Gettysburg, fighting the vaunted JEB Stuart and his horsemen to a standstill on the climactic 3rd day of that battle. Custer’s success continued through until the end of the war, with his men playing an integral role during the Appomattox Campaign that forced the surrender of Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Had Custer’s career ended there, he would have been both successful and largely forgotten. Instead, the last 10 years of his life were full of political and military intrigue, as he attempted to position himself both in politics and the Army while making himself one of the best known fighters of the Indian Wars. Those actions, along with the Battle of Little Bighorn, made him controversial even in his day, but with his death coming to be widely viewed as a sacrifice for his country, his legend and legacy grew throughout the nation. No matter what critics or supporters thought of him, George Armstrong Custer was unquestionably relevant. American Legends: The Life of George Custer details Custer’s life and career, including all of its famous ups and infamous downs, while also addressing the controversial nature of Little Bighorn and his legacy. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events in his life, you will learn about Custer like you never have before, in no time at all.

*Includes pictures of important people, places, and scenes. *Includes a Bibliography for further reading. "You know, I just love Grace Kelly. Not because she was a princess, not because she was an actress, not because she was my friend, but because she was just about the nicest lady I ever met. Grace brought into my life as she brought into yours, a soft, warm light every time I saw her, and every time I saw her was a holiday of its own." – James Stewart A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history’s most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors’ American Legends series, readers can get caught up to speed on the lives of America’s most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known. Considering that her film career lasted just six years, it would seem as though the reputation of Grace Kelly far outweighs her actual output. Indeed, from the time of her arrival in Hollywood in 1951 through her final film, High Society, in 1956, Kelly acted in just 11 films, leaving viewers to wonder whether Kelly was still in the beginning of her career or whether High Society was a proper culmination to an extraordinarily brief stay in the film industry? Ultimately, it is might be most accurate to state that Kelly was still in the prime of her career, but it’s unclear what direction her career would have taken, as well as who inherited the void she left. Despite the short resume, Kelly is one of America’s most famous actresses, and she left an indelible impact on Hollywood. Kelly brought a well-heeled, almost regal quality that deviated from the film noir roles and musical showgirls who had populated the screen during the 1930s and 1940s, and it is this new identity Kelly brought to the motion picture industry that remains her overriding trademark. Of course, Kelly is just as well known today for her life outside of Hollywood, but in a sense, her life as Princess of Monaco continued many of the themes she had established while in Hollywood. Princess Grace exuded a regal and stately quality that also managed to keep her considerable sex appeal hidden beneath a layer of female elegance. As an actress and as a Princess, she was an international fashion icon, and her handbag and white glove are still associated with her. More than anything else, her career as an actress gave her the ability to live in the public eye, and in both of her “careers,” Kelly was skilled at navigating the media and acting before the camera, whether it was the cinematic camera or the flash bulbs of the paparazzi. Kelly provided women worldwide with a model of female elegance that has perhaps not been equaled in the decades following her premature death in 1982. American Legends: The Life of Grace Kelly profiles the life and career of the American princess. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Grace Kelly like you never have before, in no time at all.

*Includes pictures *Includes Tierney's own quotes about her life and career *Includes a bibliography for further reading “I ask myself: Would I have been any worse off if I had stayed home or lived on a farm instead of shock treatments and medication?” – Gene Tierney “I was fine when it came to cheering up others, not so fine with myself.” – Gene Tierney A lot of ink has been spilled covering the lives of history’s most influential figures, but how much of the forest is lost for the trees? In Charles River Editors’ American Legends series, readers can get caught up to speed on the lives of America’s most important men and women in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known. When people are asked to list the pros and cons of a star in Hollywood, there’s a good chance that Gene Tierney lived all of the highs and lows they would come up with. In many ways, Tierney had the prototypical career of an actress who experienced the best that Hollywood had to offer and got caught up with some of its most notorious pitfalls. With beauty queen looks, Tierney was almost immediately marked for success as an actress once she was discovered, and after just a year on Broadway, she was making her film debut around her 20th birthday. But once she seemed to be on the road to instant fame, her early career faltered, and all the while, she felt the stress and pressure to look her best, including adhering to a strict diet to maintain weight. She also became a heavy smoker in an attempt to lower her voice, which she complained made her sound too much like “an angry Minnie Mouse.” Tierney was a major star in her 20s, was one of World War II’s most notable pinups, and she was also nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress by the age of 25, but life off the screen continued to cause her problems. By the time she was in her 30s, Tierney was struggling with severe bouts of depression, which led to her being institutionalized and even receiving electroshock therapy. Tierney hated the shock therapy and complained that it led to memory loss, and she once bitterly remarked, “I existed in a world that never is - the prison of the mind.” On top of that, she suffered at least one miscarriage and gave birth to a premature baby that had mental handicaps in part because Tierney had contracted rubella, possibly from a fan who came into close contact with her. Struggling to cope with it all, Tierney attempted suicide, and after being committed yet again, her acting career was almost over. Tierney attempted a comeback of sorts in the 1960s, but after just a few projects, she was all but through with acting, making just one more appearance in a TV miniseries in 1980. In one final blow brought about in part due to her acting career, Tierney died of emphysema when she was 70, a disease caused by the smoking habit she had taken up in order to further herself in Hollywood. American Legends: The Life of Red Skelton chronicles the life and career of one of America’s most famous actresses. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Gene Tierney like never before, in no time at all.