Books published by publisher Bigwig Books

A dead woman under the ice. A friend in need. Jack Beale's peaceful life is about to erupt into mystery and intrigue.When a woman's body is found under a slab of ice in the New Hampshire coastal town of Rye Harbor, the discovery triggers a series of events that will eventually threaten the life of Max, the feisty redheaded bartender at Ben's Place, and others as well. It is up to her best friend, Jack Beale, to unravel the mystery that takes them from coastal New England to Taos, New Mexico and Switzerland."A sharp thriller adorned with a genuine romance, compelling characters, and a few refreshing happy hours"--Derek Nikita, author of Pyres, an Edgar Award nominee for Best First Novel"Get ready to guess--and guess again--and yet again as Harbor Ice raises the hair on the back of your neck time after time. A must read!"--Bruce Valley author of Seahawk and Rye Harbor and other Poems of the Seacoast.About the AuthorK.D. Mason lives on the coast of New Hampshire. A lifetime of working in the restaurant business and sailing in the Caribbean and New England has given him a wealth of story ideas. He is the author of ten books featuring Jack Beale.

Dateline 1941: Hitler's forces have smashed into western Europe, defeated France, threatened England, and attacked Russia. Many people think of them as "an awe-inspiring group of ascetic, fanatic, and inhuman supermen."Ernest R. Pope knew all too well how illusory this idea was. As senior correspondent for Reuters in Munich from 1936-1941, American Ernest Pope saw the cruel and outrageous behavior of Nazis in their native habitat. In Munich they ran wild, let their hair down, and indulged in every fantasy money and power could avail them. Pope has all the gossip...and the confirmed stories."I have seen the leading actors in the Nazi tragedy, playing their parts on the Bavarian stage. Long before the climax—the outbreak of the war—I knew what the denouement in Hitler's theater would be."Pope knew, saw, and/or interviewed all the top Nazis and dozens of lower-level officials, including some of Hitler's security. He saw the Nazis for what they were: a corrupt, debauched, all-too-human menace.Once back in the U.S., Pope let loose his frustration and ire at what he'd seen—but couldn't write about when he was reporting from Germany. With great humor and fast-paced prose, he writes of encounters with Hitler, Hess, Streicher, and many more.He was in Munich during the fated compromise with Chamberlain. He reported on the Nazi invasions of Austria and Czechoslovakia.He reported on Hitler's obsession with Dorothy van Bruck's "blitz-tease" and he knew Hitler's English girlfriend, Unity Mitford.Pope turns his savage wit and erudition on his former hosts. Fluent in Bavarian German dialect, Pope made many friends in Munich with citizens and officials alike. He heard jokes from Munichers that could get them thrown in a concentration camp and he poked fun at Nazis whenever he dared.You won't find another account like this of the Nazis in their favorite playground.Pope turns serious in the final chapters. As he left Germany, he knew he was saying goodbye to friends he would never see again.For the first time, this long out-of-print volume is available as an affordable, well-formatted book for e-readers and smartphones.Be sure to LOOK INSIDE by clicking the cover above. Buy it today!

If David Sedaris, Chelsea Handler, Larry David, and Caitlin Moran had the unlikeliest orgy in history, the resulting love child might one day write a book like this rollicking collection of true tales from Roy Sekoff, the founding editor of The Huffington Post. Whether he's describing a teenage pilgrimage to a Times Square porn superstore, life-changing experiences with high colonics and psychic readings, an ill-fated attempt to make off with a tissue containing Oprah's tears, or that time Chevy Chase grabbed his balls at a funeral, Sekoff is a lively, irreverent raconteur whose sharp observations wring laughs out of a ludicrous-yet-relatable life.

Would you be surprised to know that along with Custer's 7th Cavalry on the way to the Little Bighorn rode scores of Native American scouts employed by the army?Considered one of the most important source documents for the study of the Battle of the Little Bighorn (Custer's Last Stand), the Arikara Narrative is a fascinating account of this seminal event. No scholar of the Little Bighorn conflict omits this book from their bibliography.George Armstrong Custer rode to the Little Bighorn with Arikara and Crow scouts, and even the half-Sioux legend, Mitch Bouyer. Of this group, nine survivors were interviewed in 1912. Their accounts of the battle were carefully translated and then published in 1920.This immensely interesting and important work is available for the first time for e-readers and smartphones for less than you'd spend on gas going to the library.Be sure to LOOK INSIDE by clicking the cover above or download a sample.

One of the most important figures of the American Civil War penned this fascinating and unique memoir. John Gibbon's recollections of his service at Gettysburg and other great battles is frank and personal.This is not an overview of great battles but a soldier's account of the trials and triumphs of four years of horrific conflict. Gibbon wrote plainly about the great men with whom he served, some of whom he greatly admired and some who were difficult. Here are anecdotes of Lincoln, Grant, Meade, Hancock, Hooker, Pope, and many others that you won't read anywhere else.Gibbon was a central figure at Gettysburg, with Pickett's Charge aimed right at the forces he commanded. Wounded on the third day of the battle, he supplemented his memoir with portions of the outstanding narrative of that day by his aide, Lieutenant Frank Haskell.Every memoir of the American Civil War provides us with another view of the catastrophe that changed the country forever.For the first time, this long out-of-print volume is available as an affordable, well-formatted book for e-readers, tablets, and smartphones. Be sure to LOOK INSIDE by clicking the cover above or download a sample.

On May 19, 1836, Fort Parker in Texas was overwhelmed by a band of Comanche Indians. Some residents were brutally murdered, others taken prisoner.Among those captured was eleven year old Cynthia Parker, who would remain with the Comanche for 24 years and give birth to famed Chief Quanah.Another captive was 17-year-old Rachel Plummer, mother of one, pregnant with her second child. She would soon have her first-born ripped from her arms, never to be seen again, and later watched as her second-born was killed before her eyes.After twenty-one months of captivity that destroyed her health, she was purchased and returned to her family. In this extraordinary account, her father tells of that horrible day when the fort was attacked, and his desperate efforts to find and retrieve the captives. Rachel details her terrible enslavement and how she eventually fought back.For the first time, this long out-of-print volume is available as an affordable, well-formatted book for e-readers, tablets, and smartphones. Be sure to LOOK INSIDE by clicking the cover above or download a sample.

On May 19, 1836, Fort Parker in Texas was overwhelmed by a band of Comanche Indians. Some residents were brutally murdered, others taken prisoner. Among those captured was 11-year-old Cynthia Parker, who would remain with the Comanche for 24 years and give birth to famed Chief Quanah. Another captive was 17-year-old Rachel Plummer, mother of one, pregnant with her second child. She would soon have her first-born ripped from her arms, never to be seen again, and later watched as her second-born was killed before her eyes. After 21 months of captivity that destroyed her health, she was purchased and returned to her family. In this extraordinary account, her father tells of that horrible day when the fort was attacked, and his desperate efforts to find and retrieve the captives. Rachel details her terrible enslavement and how she eventually fought back.

Fifty years of service at the White House in various capacities, including bodyguard to Abraham Lincoln, William H. Crook's memoir brings an astonishing array of personal details of life in the executive mansion. His sensitive observations of Lincoln are especially moving. A well-known figure in Washington, Crook knew every president from Lincoln until Crook's death in 1915. He was a keen observer and his stories will entertain and sometimes surprise you. Here are also stories of presidents Andrew Johnson, Rutherford B. Hayes, and James Garfield. A friend of Ulysses S. Grant, a guest at the White House wedding of Grant's daughter, Nellie, he also tells stories of racing with Grant in buggies.

John Lewis fought for Virginia in the Confederate army at Malvern Hill, Antietam, and elsewhere. But it was at Gettysburg that the most searing experience of his wartime career took place.He charged with Pickett's Division behind General Lewis Armistead across that now-fabled field towards the center of the Union line. With great pride and seemingly no lasting bitterness, John Lewis recalls that fateful day and all his other days in a butternut uniform.But it's not all blood and glory. Lewis had a wry sense of humor and used it to twit both the Blue and the Gray in this wonderful small memoir of a Johnnie from Virginia.Every memoir of the American Civil War provides us with another view of the catastrophe that changed the country forever.For the first time, this long out-of-print volume is available as an affordable, well-formatted book for e-readers, tablets, and smartphones. Be sure to LOOK INSIDE by clicking the cover above or download a sample.

William Corby’s compassionate, sometimes humorous, and articulate account of his time as a chaplain in the Civil War is simply one of the best memoirs of the conflict. For three years he was with his brigade under fire, ministered to their emotional and spiritual needs, and was with several men before their executions. At Gettysburg, the Wilderness, Spottslyvania, and more, Corby was there.Twice president of Notre Dame University, the statue of Father Corby at Gettysburg was the first non-general statue erected on the site. It stands on the very rock where he delivered absolution to members of the Irish Brigade on the second day of the battle while scores of others watched.At the twenty-fifth anniversary of Gettysburg, Corby got up to speak:“I happened to make this statement—‘Here is what is left of us; where are the others?’ when I filled up very unexpectedly and could not speak for several minutes. I had struck a very tender chord. The celebrant, although eleven years older than I, wept like a child, and the brave old warriors before me who had stood the shock of many battles also wept.”Every memoir of the American Civil War provides us with another view of the catastrophe that changed the country forever.For the first time, this long out-of-print volume is available as an affordable, well-formatted book for e-readers and smartphones. Be sure to LOOK INSIDE by clicking the cover above or download a sample.

Can you visualize today what it meant to cross America's Great Plains in the mid-19th century? It was a wondrous, perilous, often fatal journey without assurance of a successful life at the other end. Yet tens of thousands made the journey and lucky for us, many set aside modesty, often at the request of children or grandchildren, to put the account of their travels into words. Young Sarah Raymond Herndon was one of these pioneer women. Her classic story of days on the road are part of American history. She describes the beauty of the country and the wrenching heartbreak of losing loved ones. What she found along the way and at the end will thrill and inspire you. Every memoir of the American West provides us with another view of the movement that changed the country forever. Listen to a sample.