Somewhat less than a hundred years ago a party of travelers might have been seen crossing over the Simplon Road, en route for Italy. They had been detained at Brieg by reports that the road was impassable; and, as it was the month of March, the prospect of snow and storms and avalanches was sufficient to make them hesitate. At length the road had been reopened, and they were informed that the journey might be made on sleds. Unwilling to wait at Brieg, and equally unwilling to make a detour so as to take the railroad, the party decided to go on. They were informed that they could go on wheels as far as the line of snow, but that afterward their accommodations would not be so comfortable as they might desire. The road had been cleared for only a few feet; the snow was deep; the sleds were rude; and progress would be slow. These statements, however, did not shake the resolution of the party; and the end of it was that they determined to go on, and cross the mountain if it were possible. On leaving Brieg the road began to ascend with a very slight incline, winding around in an intricate sort of way, sometimes crossing deep gullies, at other times piercing the hillside in long dark tunnels; but amidst all these windings ever ascending, so that every step took them higher and higher above the little valley where Brieg lay. The party saw also that every step brought them steadily nearer to the line of snow; and at length they found the road covered with a thin white layer. Over this they rolled, and though the snow became deeper with every furlong of their progress, yet they encountered but little actual difficulty until they approached the first station where the horses were to be changed. Here they came to a deep drift. Through this a pathway had been cleared, so that there was no difficulty about going through; but the sight of this served to show them what might be expected further on, and to fill them all with grave doubts as to the practicability of a journey which was thus interrupted so early. On reaching the station these doubts were confirmed. They were informed that the road had been cleared for sleds on the preceding day, but that on the previous night fresh snow had fallen, and in such quantities that the road would have to be cleared afresh. The worst of it was that there was every probability of new snow-storms, which would cover the road still deeper, and once more obliterate the track. This led to a fresh debate about the journey; but they were all unwilling to turn back. Only a few miles separated them from Domo d'Ossola, and they were assured that, if no fresh snow should fall, they would be able to start on the following morning. This last assurance once more confirmed their wavering resolution, and they concluded to wait at the station.

Laurence H. Dorcy Jr., also known as "Baron", was the great grandson of railroad magnate, James Jerome Hill. Born into a world of privilege in 1935, Baron became heir to a substantial fortune. This color photo biography illustrates some of this gifted man's exciting endeavors, such as the construction of the Hawaiian Chieftain, a tall ship that continues to educate youth on the Pacic coast of America. This book describes Baron's rich family ancestry, his childhood during WWII, his Air Force duty in Strategic Air Command in the 1950s, his beach days in French Polynesia in the 60s, explorations between California, Hawaii and the French Polynesian islands, the Hawaiian Chieftain's maiden voyage to Tahiti, and the breathtaking creation of his nal estate in Maui. After his passing in 2011, the formation of the Laurence H. Dorcy Hawaiian Foundation, which generously supports charities in Hawaii, ensures that his legacy lives on.

HARDCOVER. This new translation from Japanese tells the story for the first time in English of Baron Kaneko's one-man diplomatic mission to the U.S. during the Russo-Japanese War (1904-05), in which he was tasked with winning the hearts and minds of the American people to the Japanese side. He achieved this through personal contacts with major figures including his close friend President Theodore Roosevelt, after-dinner speeches, lectures, press conferences and newspaper interviews, thereby displaying a mastery of the media which seems thoroughly modern in its influence and control. Upholding the principles of Bushido as explained by Nitobe Inazo in his book of that name first published in 1900, he was careful not to attack or slander his Russian opponent Count Cassini and mourned Admiral Makarov's death in battle. 26 B/W images. This volume includes an extensive bibliography, a chronology and an index. (Also available as a paperback or download from the publisher, and at online retail stores.)

Robber Baron is the first biography of the streetcar magnate Charles Tyson Yerkes (1837-1905), who stands alongside J.P. Morgan and Andrew Carnegie as one of the most colorful and controversial public figures in Gilded Age America. John Franch draws upon every available source to tell the story of the man who was the mastermind behind Chicago’s Loop Elevated and the London Underground, the namesake of the University of Chicago’s observatory, and the inspiration for Frank Cowperwood, the ruthless protagonist of Theodore Dreiser's Trilogy of Desire: The Financier, The Titan, and The Stoic. Despite various philanthropic efforts, Yerkes and his unscrupulous tactics were despised by the press and public, and he left Chicago a bitter man. While Yerkes’s enduring public works testify to his success and desire to leave a lasting impression on his world, Robber Baron also uncovers the cost of this boundless ambition.

Salo Wittmayer Baron was, alongside Simon Dubnow and Heinrich Graetz, one of the three most important figures in the study of Jewish history. His sweeping, multivolume history of Jewish life and culture covered the whole of recorded history from ancient to modern times and has been hailed as one of the most important books in the field of Jewish studies. Baron, for six decades the unchallenged symbol of Jewish studies, was, it can be argued, largely responsible for the blossoming of Jewish history as a field of study in America.