Takes a snapshot view of history from 2700 B.C. to 2000 A.D. and offers a collection of eyewitness accounts of the most memorable historical and social events taken from memoirs, diaries, letters and journals. Original.

The pure joy of eyewitness history, one author observed, lies in the vicarious thrill of experiencing the event. the Eyewitness History of the Church-which draws together for the first time hundreds of first-person, eyewitness accounts of those who walked and talked with the Prophet Joseph Smith-provides such a thrill while adding a new dimension to our understanding of the early days of the Restoration. Each chapter in this innovative book consists of eyewitness narratives of central events of Joseph's life and of the history of the early Church. You will experience a whole new world of LDS Church history through snapshots of specific moments captured by those who were there. Follow fourteen-year-old Joseph into the Sacred Grove and learn what he experienced from the ten accounts of the First Vision written during his lifetime. Listen to the Whitmer family talk about the miracles that took place in their home and on their property during the coming forth of the Book of Mormon. Sit inside a meeting of the School of the Prophets in Kirtland and see what John Murdock and Zebedee Coltrin said happened to the group early one morning as the Prophet led them in prayer. Read what happened when the Prophet and others were caught on a runaway stage coach in Indiana. Relive the spiritual experiences that followed. Stand with the Prophet Joseph as he dedicates the land of Zion for the building of a temple. Worship with the Saints in Kirtland as they experience a celestial outpouring of revelation from heaven in which angels and the Father and the Son appear. Walk with young Mosiah Hancock as he enters the Mansion House with thousands of others to see the martyred bodies of the Prophet Joseph and Hyrum Smith. for the past two hundred years, these eyewitness accounts have helped shape the spiritual heritage of the Church around the world. They not only bear testimony of what occurred but also plant seeds of faith and belief in modern readers. This firsthand approach to learning about Church history will touch your heart, stir your imagination, expand your knowledge, and strengthen your testimony.

Here is your road map to the vast and previously uncharted terrain of recreational nonfiction. After defining the genre and discussing it's unique characteristics and appeals; the author describes more than 500 popular nonfiction titles and organizes them according to genre. Everything from true adventure, true crime, and travel narratives to investigative nonfiction, environmental writing, and life stories. Genres are subdivided into subgenres and popular themes, such as micro-histories, deep science, and humorous memoirs. Focus is on the best titles published within the last decade, with key classics and benchmark titles also cited. For each title you'll find a short list of nonfiction read-alikes; and fiction read-alikes are listed for each genre.

“Monumental.” —The New York Times Book Review Pulitzer Prize-finalist Stephen Kotkin has written the definitive biography of Joseph Stalin, from collectivization and the Great Terror to the conflict with Hitler's Germany that is the signal event of modern world history In 1929, Joseph Stalin, having already achieved dictatorial power over the vast Soviet Empire, formally ordered the systematic conversion of the world’s largest peasant economy into “socialist modernity,” otherwise known as collectivization, regardless of the cost. What it cost, and what Stalin ruthlessly enacted, transformed the country and its ruler in profound and enduring ways. Building and running a dictatorship, with life and death power over hundreds of millions, made Stalin into the uncanny figure he became. Stephen Kotkin’s Stalin: Waiting for Hitler, 1929–1941 is the story of how a political system forged an unparalleled personality and vice versa. The wholesale collectivization of some 120 million peasants necessitated levels of coercion that were extreme even for Russia, and the resulting mass starvation elicited criticism inside the party even from those Communists committed to the eradication of capitalism. But Stalin did not flinch. By 1934, when the Soviet Union had stabilized and socialism had been implanted in the countryside, praise for his stunning anti-capitalist success came from all quarters. Stalin, however, never forgave and never forgot, with shocking consequences as he strove to consolidate the state with a brand new elite of young strivers like himself. Stalin’s obsessions drove him to execute nearly a million people, including the military leadership, diplomatic and intelligence officials, and innumerable leading lights in culture. While Stalin revived a great power, building a formidable industrialized military, the Soviet Union was effectively alone and surrounded by perceived enemies. The quest for security would bring Soviet Communism to a shocking and improbable pact with Nazi Germany. But that bargain would not unfold as envisioned. The lives of Stalin and Hitler, and the fates of their respective dictatorships, drew ever closer to collision, as the world hung in the balance. Stalin: Waiting for Hitler, 1929–1941 is a history of the world during the build-up to its most fateful hour, from the vantage point of Stalin’s seat of power. It is a landmark achievement in the annals of historical scholarship, and in the art of biography.

Good Spirits, Bad Spirits—How to Distinguish Between Them is an explanation of the invisible world of occult spirits, variously known in the New Age as “channeled Spirits,” spirits from God, God himself, spirits of sorcery or magic, and prophetic spirits. Good Spirits gives the reader a broad overview of occult spirit Intentionality embodied in hidden goals and multi-generational plans. Given the benefit of an eternity in which to achieve their goals, occult spirits have honed the tricks of their supernatural trade to a fine art, the art of persuading humans. This skill is evident in channeled books such as Conversations with God and Messages from the Masters. Through channeling and other means of contact such as the “harmless” ouija board, occult spirits can wage spiritual and sometimes physical destruction in the lives of ordinary individuals. The purpose of the spirits are most easily achieved through their creation of the famous personality, whom they shepherd from childhood. By lending their human agents the use of apparent occult powers, such as contacting of “the dead” and foreseeing the future, the spirits are able to spread their influence over the many, while concealing their own malicious motives.

Records the outstanding events of human history in the words of those who saw them. Compiled from memoirs, diaries, letters, journalistic reports and other first-hand evidence.