A mesmerizing overview of the world as it was when glaciers covered the earth and long-extinct creatures like the woolly mammoths and saber-toothed cats battled to survive. Go back 20,000 years ago to a time of much colder global temperatures when glaciers and extensive sheets of ice covered much of our planet. As these sheets traveled, they caused enormous changes in the Earth's landscape and climate, leading to the evolution of creatures such as giant armadillos, saber-toothed cats, and woolly mammoths as well as club-wielding Neanderthals and later the cleverer modern humans. Nico Medina re-creates this harsh ancient world in a vivid and easy-to-read narrative.

Find out how this one-time American hero became the country's most notorious traitor. As a young child, Benedict Arnold never shied away from a fight. So when the French and Indian War began in 1754, Benedict was eager to join the militia and fight for the British colonies in America. And when he was eighteen years old, he got his chance. Arnold had no idea that less than twenty years later, he would be fighting against the British in the Revolutionary War. Now the captain of his own militia, Benedict won the admiration of his troops and George Washington when he captured a major British fort. He continued fighting for the colonies and was even considered a patriotic war hero after being wounded in battle. But in 1780, Benedict made a decision that no one could anticipate. He betrayed his fellow Americans and joined the British army. Author James Buckley Jr. takes us through Benedict's life and explains the events that led him to switch sides and become the most famous turncoat in American history.

Learn how the United States ended up fighting for twenty years in a remote country on the other side of the world. The Vietnam War was as much a part of the tumultuous Sixties as Flower Power and the Civil Rights Movement. Five US presidents were convinced that American troops could end a war in the small, divided country of Vietnam and stop Communism from spreading in Southeast Asia. But they were wrong, and the result was the death of 58,000 American troops. Presenting all sides of a complicated and tragic chapter in recent history, Jim O'Connor explains why the US got involved, what the human cost was, and how defeat in Vietnam left a lasting scar on America.

"From Shaft to Superfly, Foxy Brown to Cleopatra Jones, What It Is...What It Was! presents a vivid pictorial and oral history of the best movies to emerge from a singularly American film movement. The book explores this film explosion. Between 1970 and 1980 over 200 films with Black themes including family dramas, mysteries, horror films, comedies, and action films, were released by both major and independent studios. The book preserves cinema history with the first book to highlight the movie poster artwork while presenting the people who created this history on screen. With the increased use of photography, this period would be the last time that top artists would draw and paint the vibrant bold movie poster images that in themselves were classics. Groundbreaking producer-director-writer Melvin Van Peebles, actors Fred Williamson, Pam Grier, and William Marshall, composer Isaac Hayes, along with many other artists, talk about this body of cinema that has withstood the test of time and influenced American culture. The films are described as powerful, funky, sexy, exuberant, violent, hip, and just plain fun. They also became a target of debate as some coined the sweeping term "blaxploitation." Samuel L. Jackson, John Singleton, Reginald Hudlin, Ice-T, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Quentin Tarantino, and others offer insightful commentary into the history and impact of the films in their work."--back cover.

On August 25th, 2005, one of the deadliest and most destructive hurricanes in history hit the Gulf of Mexico. High winds and rain pummeled coastal communities, including the City of New Orleans, which was left under 15 feet of water in some areas after the levees burst. Track this powerful storm from start to finish, from rescue efforts large and small to storm survivors’ tales of triumph.

A thoughtful and age-appropriate introduction to an unimaginable event—the Holocaust. The Holocaust was a genocide on a scale never before seen, with as many as twelve million people killed in Nazi death camps—six million of them Jews. Gail Herman traces the rise of Hitler and the Nazis, whose rabid anti-Semitism led first to humiliating anti-Jewish laws, then to ghettos all over Eastern Europe, and ultimately to the Final Solution. She presents just enough information for an elementary-school audience in a readable, well-researched book that covers one of the most horrible times in history. This entry in the New York Times best-selling series contains eighty carefully chosen illustrations and sixteen pages of black and white photographs suitable for young readers.

Find out how these fun, stackable blocks became the most popular toys in the world. The LEGO toy company was founded in 1934 by a Danish carpenter who loved making wooden pull toys. From its humble beginnings, the company has lived up to its name--which comes from the Danish phrase meaning to always "play well"--encouraging children to use their imagination and build whatever they can dream up. In this book, author Jim O'Connor describes how a simple concept--small plastic bricks that snap together--morphed into a cultural phenomenon.