Books published by publisher Bigwig Books

One of the premier classics on the American Indian Wars, originally published in 1890 as "War Path and Bivouac."John Frederick Finerty was a famous journalist for the Chicago "Times" who went into the field to report on the U.S. government's efforts to force Native Americans onto reservations.In 1876, Finerty was with General George Crook's forces at the Battle of the Rosebud. Part of Crook's aim was to connect with George Armstrong Custer's 7th Cavalry at the Little Bighorn. It never happened and Custer was killed along with five companies of his regiment by Crazy Horse, Gall, Sitting Bull, Rain-in-the-Face and other leaders.A teenage refugee from the Irish revolutionary movement, Finerty immigrated to the U.S. in 1864 and signed up to fight in the Civil War. By 1870 he was writing for newspapers, eventually making a national name for himself. He repeatedly went to the West to cover the Indian Wars and wrote with great intelligence, humor, and compassion about what he saw.Always self-deprecating and sardonic, he nevertheless had this to say to would-be Western journalists:“Let no easy-going journalist suppose that an Indian campaign is a picnic. If he goes out on such business he must go prepared to ride his forty or fifty miles a day, go sometimes on half rations, sleep on the ground with small covering, roast, sweat, freeze, and make the acquaintance of such vermin or reptiles as may flourish in the vicinity of his couch; and, finally, be ready to fight Sitting Bull or Satan when the trouble begins, for God and the United States hate non-combatants.”His conclusions about the Indian War included this:"White greed is not by any means satisfied, even though the fairest portion of the Sioux reservations have been given up to settlement...we of the Caucasian race must confess, however reluctantly, that even the red Indian has some rights on the soil which bore him that the whites are bound to respect."You'll have a hard time putting this one down. Expanded and heavily annotated with information about events and people.Every memoir of the Old West provides us with another view of an era that changed America 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.

If you love the game of baseball, this book is a must read. If you're trying to understand the game, no more eloquent writer will take you by the hand. James Thomas Farrell’s "Studs Lonigan" books are considered among the best of the 20th century. Like ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary series, Farrell’s essays on baseball make great reading for anyone who loves great writing.Farrell steps away from fiction in this out-of-print gem. Babe Ruth, Gehrig, Cobb and other baseball greats are here. Farrell saw them all and met many of them as a writer .Baseball is a game of statistics and poetry. Farrell purely and eloquently wrote about his love of the game.This book is an important piece of baseball history and an American sports writing classic. It's available for the first time as an affordable, well-formatted book for e-readers and smart phones.Be sure to LOOK INSIDE or download a sample.

They told him his world was destroyed.And they were the last to escape.They thought he was safe.They were wrong.Jim Wales can communicate with animals, but that’s not why he lives with a traveling carnival. Turns out his family’s been hiding him there since he was little, since someone started hunting all the scholars. Jim is a scholar—someone who can manipulate energy using magic—and he has no idea.When a message arrives from Jim’s supposedly-dead father, Jim’s whereabouts are discovered, their carnival is attacked, and his mother is kidnapped. On the run with a strange glass map and a single coin, Jim finds himself racing to reclaim the father he thought he’d lost, plotting to save his mother, and discovering the truth about who he is.But going home isn’t the same as being safe, and trust is everything.

"PLUNDER, rapine, and violence still go on...It has indeed been at times almost beyond endurance."With her husband away at war, Grace Barclay strives to carry on day-to-day, raising children, caring for a household, and keeping a journal for her husband to read when he gets home. Neighbors are robbed and depredations committed on citizens by British soldiers.One of the most enthralling diaries from America's War of Independence is now available as an affordable, well-formatted book for e-readers and smartphones.From 1875-1883, American colonists fought for independence from their mother country. This is the true story of ordinary citizens during the occupation of Long Island by the British.A wounded British officer is housed in Grace's care against her will. Yet she comes to admire and like the man, and he eventually renounced the war his country has brought to the colonies.She writes of the terrible void and anxiety caused by her husband's absence, and the family members who feel he is fighting for the wrong side. Even her own father cannot forsake his feelings for his homeland of England. All the while, Grace records news of victories and defeats, her admiration for George Washington, and so much more.The death of Nathan Hale, the betrayal of Benedict Arnold, and the execution of Major Andre are all among her jottings.You'll never think about the colonial period in quite the same way after reading GRACE BARCLAY'S DIARY.Be sure to LOOK INSIDE or download a sample.

In more than 110 years, Emerson Hough's classic work on the desperadoes of the Wild West has never lost its power to excite the reader. Superbly written and researched, this work set the bar for true stories of the west.A friend of Pat Garrett, the sheriff who killed Billy the Kid, Hough spent years in the west and wrote extensively about the frontier. He was also an editor for George Bird Grinnell's "Field and Stream" magazine.From the famous to the not-so-famous, this book is filled with gritty, graphic, and outrageous true tales of a world long gone.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.

Called "a highly readable memoir" by a major western historian and cited by historians for over a century.When General Henry B. Carrington was sent west to build and staff Fort Phil Kearney, his wife Margaret and their sons were along. Under the command of Civil War hero, General William T. Sherman, Margaret followed Sherman's encouragement to wives to document their experiences of territory and Native American life.During their journey and their stay in Indian territory, Margaret writes of events big and small, including the Fetterman Massacre. Her husband was nearly brought up on charges but Sherman intervened and called for an investigation, which cleared Carrington.These accounts by officer's wives, while taking a point of view that today we understand as outdated, nevertheless contribute a valuable resource to the history of westward expansion and pioneer women of the United States.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.This edition is annotated with updated information.

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 one.“Although he’s generally agreeable, Roy Sekoff lacks self-control.” Or so proclaimed his kindergarten teacher.Thus pigeonholed, Sekoff spent the next several decades proving her right, gathering many outrageous, sometimes raunchy, occasionally moving, always hilarious stories along the way. From a teenage pilgrimage to a Times Square porn superstore to life-changing experiences with high colonics and psychic readings to his tenure as founding editor of the Huffington Post, Lacks Self-Control is an uproarious testament to his unwavering commitment to overshare.Told with zinging wit and zero propriety, Sekoff’s collection of true tales—caroming between his Miami childhood, overstimulated adolescence, and celebrity-adjacent adulthood—showcases his caustic yet surprisingly sweet sense of humor. Whether he’s describing a youthful encounter with a killer crocodile, 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.“I’ve read worse.” –Larry David “Frank, fearless, and very funny.” –Arianna Huffington “A modern Portnoy’s Complaint, only WAY funnier!” –Jay Roach “Deranged . . . and really funny.” –Adam McKay “Roy Sekoff is living proof that ADHD, OCD, and TMI can be of great value to the betterment of mankind.” –Rob Reiner

As ambitious as her husband, William Howard Taft, Helen Herron may be the most underrated of all our First Ladies. She encouraged Taft in all his political accomplishments and he may not have become president without her. He preferred the judiciary and eventually became Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.Helen (Nellie) Taft was the first wife of a president to ride down Pennsylvania Avenue with her husband on inauguration day and the only woman who was wife of both a president and a chief justice. She is best known for working with the wife of the Japanese Ambassador to import and plant more than 3,000 cherry trees around the Washington Tidal Basin.Witty, intelligent, open-minded, and curious about the world, she is even today beloved in the Philippines, where her husband served as head of the civil government in 1900. She and her husband courted criticism for including Filipinos in social affairs.In this volume, available for the first time for e-readers, she recounts her full life as partner to U.S. President William Howard Taft.Be sure to LOOK INSIDE or download a sample.

In 1879, newly-married Carrie Willard and her husband set off for tiny Haines, Alaska. They went as missionaries but the tale Carrie tells through letters to home are a fascinating look into early Alaska. Even today, Haines is a small place. In the four years the Willards spent there, it was not an easy place to survive.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.

In the years during and after the American Civil War, millions of people flocked to the lure of spiritualism. Mystics, psychics, astrologers,and others were in vogue in the best circles. Even Mary Lincoln held seances seeking contact with her dead son.Among those at the forefront of this movement was Amanda Jones. But this was not just anyone with a casual curiosity. She was an inventor with patents to her name and a successful businesswoman.She dedicated this book to William James, who had encouraged her to write it. James is known today as the Father of Modern Pschology, and was the brother of famous writer Henry James.In this volume she explains the reasoning behind her belief in spiritualism, her own psychic abilities, and discusses her invention of a better method of canning. Overall she wrote a valuable record of a movement that for a time possessed the imaginations of millions.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.

Did Samuel Mudd have prior knowledge of the impending assassination of Abraham Lincoln and willingly provide aid to John Wilkes Booth after Lincoln's murder?Historians are still divided over this issue nearly 140 years later. In 1906, Nettie Mudd published this passionate plea for her father's innocence. It includes testimony from Mudd's trial and letters written to and by him from Fort Jefferson, where he was imprisoned until 1869.Though President Andrew Johnson pardoned Mudd, the family continued to try to get the conviction overturned. Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan were both sympathetic to the cause but claimed no authority in the matter. The Supreme Court has refused to hear the case.Not only is this book a well-reasoned case for Mudd's acquittal, it's a fascinating look into the Mudd family and the early attempts to clear his name. The letters from Mudd to his adored wife are very revealing of at least a part of Mudd's character.For the first time, this long-out-of-print book is available as an affordable, well-formatted book for e-readers and smartphones.Be sure to LOOK INSIDE or download a sample.This edition is Expanded, Annotated.

The stern look on the cover of this book should not fool you. David Dixon Porter was one of the wittiest, most erudite men to have served in the American Civil War and once you've read his memoirs, you won't miss the twinkle in those eyes.What most Americans know about the Civil War centers around Union and Confederate land campaigns. But without the U.S. Navy, the absolutely essential blockade of southern ports could not have prevented the rebels from trading on a large scale.Even less known is the crucial role the Navy played in many of the land campaigns, including the siege of Vicksburg and operations on the James River among many others.David Porter was in the center of this action, collaborating closely with Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman. Porter was the U.S. Navy's second admiral, after his adopted brother David Farragut.This book is full of some of the most interesting anecdotes and the most important players in the American Civil War. Porter writes with great humor and describes stories you won't read in any other Civil War memoir.During Abraham Lincoln's two week visit to City Point, shortly before his assassination, Porter was by his side nearly all the time. His observations of the great man and his reminiscences of their conversations are unique in Civil War literature.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.