A tragedy of Virginian colonial frontier In the summer of 1786 a large war party of Shawnee Indians entered Abb's Valley, Virginia, and descended on the household of militia officer Captain John Moore which included members of his immediate family together with hired labourers. The family occupied a substantial log building and were well armed, so Moore believed that his family was well placed to fight off a small Indian attack. The nearest homestead was six miles away and Moore, relying on his own abilities, thought it unnecessary to follow the example of neighbours by taking refuge in the nearest fort. The attack achieved complete surprise and Moore was killed before he could reach the safety of the house. What followed was an appalling, but typical, Indian massacre of the colonial period frontier in the 18th century. Various family members, young and old, were slaughtered on the spot, the property was set alight and a substantial herd of livestock was taken. Surviving members of the Moore family were taken as captives to the Indian townships, several of them being murdered on the journey. Once the survivors reached the Indian village there followed another period of torture which for Mrs. Moore and a teenage daughter proved fatal. Two young women survived their ordeals to eventually be ransomed. The story of this notable frontier tragedy was written by James Moore, a son of Mary Moore, who was one of the two ransomed captives. This a vital account of the struggles endured by the early settlers of the American wilderness and will be of essential interest to anyone interested in the early history of the state of Virginia. Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their spines and fabric head and tail bands.

Simpson's Chelsea, Pimlico, Brompton, and Knightsbridge Directory, and Court Guide is a voluminous and dense directory list of all vestrymen & parish officers in Chelsea, compiled by anonymous authors.

For two hundred years the pessimists have dominated public discourse, insisting that things will soon be getting much worse. But in fact, life is getting better—and at an accelerating rate. Food availability, income, and life span are up; disease, child mortality, and violence are down all across the globe. Africa is following Asia out of poverty; the Internet, the mobile phone, and container shipping are enriching people's lives as never before. In his bold and bracing exploration into how human culture evolves positively through exchange and specialization, bestselling author Matt Ridley does more than describe how things are getting better. He explains why. An astute, refreshing, and revelatory work that covers the entire sweep of human history—from the Stone Age to the Internet—The Rational Optimist will change your way of thinking about the world for the better.