A sweeping novel of love and war based on the infamous, real-life affair between Lord Nelson and Lady Emma Hamilton—from the author of The Highwayman. 1793, Naples. One of the most tempestuous love affairs in history is about to begin. Europe has been shaken by the recent revolution in France, and the old monarchies wage war to stop its flames of rebellion from spreading to their own lands; at the forefront is Britain and the might of the royal navy. With each victory, Horatio Nelson’s status rises: his independent spirit and dash have won him much renown. But it is not enough. After suffering a rare setback, Nelson finds himself in the Bay of Naples on a diplomatic mission where he encounters the ambassador’s wife, Lady Emma Hamilton. In each other, they find the solace missing from both their lives at a moment that could not have been more critical. Together they set tongues wagging across the civilized world with their ardent, open liaison, but their relationship would prove more lasting than any scandal it provoked. Only the death of Nelson could end it . . .
Jefferson Square was a multi-million dollar culture center…but there was nothing at all cultural about some of the things that happened there during its grand opening in the Sixties. At the Repertory Theater, a play called Confessional was in rehearsal. Some called it dramatic literature. Others considered it a tasteless exploitation of the playwright’s former marriage to America’s queen of sex. In the expensive interior of Symphony Hall, the brilliant and erratic conductor of the Jefferson Square Symphony Orchestra was working feverishly on a new concerto while his private life was rushing toward its own scandalous crescendo. In the board room, the dream of the state’s governor for a presidential nomination was interrupted by the discovery that Jefferson Square was making this rich man richer. And in the executive offices, where architects’ drawings were still being argued over, Jefferson Square’s recently hired cultural director was being tempted to destroy what he had been employed to hold together. Jefferson Square provides a fascinating glimpse of life behind the scenes in the midst of the creation of a new urban cultural epicenter, a symbol of the gentrification forcing out longtime neighborhood inhabitants. From the glitz and the glamor of Jefferson Square proper, to the hardships faced by residents of the condemned projects in the area, Gerson brings microcosms of the Sixties to Technicolor life.
An engrossing biography of the Native American heroine, Pocahontas. Will appeal to readers of Allan W. Eckert, James P.P. Horn and Nathaniel Philbrick. The only daughter of Powhatan, the great warrior and ruler of the Chickahominy Confederation, Pocahontas enjoyed a privileged upbringing. Yet she defied many of the customs of her tribe by accompanying her brothers on hunting expeditions, and could be as fiercely competitive as any brave. It was her remarkable ability to adapt to new ways of life and situations alien to her that so amazed all who knew her and secured her place in American history. Captured by English colonialists during hostilities in 1611 and removed to the settlement of Jamestown, Virginia, she displayed an incredible resourcefulness, learning to read and write, converting to Christianity and marrying an Englishman, John Rolfe. She was the first member of her nation to cross the Atlantic Ocean, reaching England in 1616, where her charm, intelligence and wit made her the toast of London society, and she soon became a regular at the royal court of King James I and Queen Anne. Drawing on a range of contemporary accounts, Noel B. Gerson sifts fact from fiction to present the life of a remarkable woman who was able to make her way in three different worlds - her Native American homeland, the colonial settlement of Jamestown, and seventeenth-century England.
How do you remove an unpopular president from office? On February 24, 1868, members of the United States House of Representatives voted to impeach President Andrew Johnson on thirteen separate charges of having committed high crimes and misdemeanors against the government and the people. In this impressive biography, Noel B. Gerson examines how these extraordinary events came about, the circumstances leading up to it, and the aftermath of a trial that was unique in the history of the country. Born into poverty and with no formal education, Johnson rose to prominence through perseverance and hard work. Entering politics, he became an adept stump speaker, championing the common man and vilifying the plantation aristocracy. Nominally a Democrat, who advocated free homesteads and education for all, he was soon to discover that not all agreed with his desire to see the nation reunited under the Constitution, as it had been before the Civil War. Sworn in as seventeenth President of the United States following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln in 1865, Johnson faced the enormous task of presiding over the tumultuous first years of Reconstruction, a task made harder by his enemies, notably radical Republicans Thaddeus Stevens, Charles Sumner and Edwin Stanton, who turned the tide of support against him and were instrumental in the campaign to disgrace Johnson and drive him from office. By utilizing a wealth of primary sources, including quoted speeches, letters and press articles, Gerson masterfully portrays a sympathetic national figure devoted to his country and the Constitution, who escaped conviction by a single vote and went on to achieve a level of popularity he had never before known. The Trial of Andrew Johnson is an ideal read for those who wish to find out more about the impeachment trial of Andrew Johnson and his fight for vindication against the radical Republicans in the United States Congress.
Politicians, poets, artists, princes; Lillie Langtry was adored by all. This biography explores the life of a remarkable woman who enthralled Victorian Britain and Gilded Age America. Before Kim Kardashian, Jackie Kennedy and Zsa Zsa Gabor there was Lillie Langtry. Born on the remote island of Jersey in the English Channel, Lillie moved to London at the age of twenty with her new husband, the Irish landowner, Edward Langtry, in 1876 and took society by storm. Social, political and artistic giants from Oscar Wilde to William Gladstone were enraptured by her charm and beauty. Theodore Roosevelt said of her "That woman is a real marvel. And she's so pretty she takes away a man's breath." While Walt Whitman noted "There shines in Lillie Langtry a purity of spirit. Therein lies the essence of human poetry." Yet it was Edward, Prince of Wales and future King of England, who truly became infatuated with Lillie and soon she became his mistress. Over the course of the next few decades she travelled between America and Britain, as she transformed from socialite to actress, captivating newspaper readers with details of her turbulent love life. Noel B. Gerson uncovers the twists and turns of the most famous, some would say infamous, woman of her age as she mesmerized society on both sides of the Atlantic. "a heady, aromatic success story" Kirkus Reviews
An impressive biography of the Marquis de Lafayette - rebel, reformist, revolutionary. An ideal book for readers who wish to find out more about the remarkable life of the French nobleman who fought in the American Revolutionary War and was hailed a hero on both sides of the Atlantic. "Liberty for all is worth any sacrifice." So said Gilbert Motier de Lafayette, the French visionary who championed freedom and equality, but whose devotion to the cause of democratic government came at a great personal sacrifice. Born into one of the oldest and most honorable aristocratic families in France, as a teenager the idealistic Lafayette volunteered to fight under George Washington for America's independence in the Battle of Yorktown in 1781, a decisive victory which brought him lasting military renown and made him one of the true heroes of the American Revolution. A natural leader of men, both on and off the battlefield, as commander of France's National Guard Lafayette risked his own life to save those of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette during the French Revolution. Yet the role ultimately placed him in a position of conflict between the monarchy and the nobility, and, branded "a traitor to his class," he was forced to flee the country he loved and had served with unselfish distinction. Captured and imprisoned in the Austrian fortress of Olmütz for five years - his devoted wife Adrienne choosing to join him in captivity - Lafayette returned to France after Napoleon Bonaparte secured his release in 1797, though he refused to participate in Napoleon's dictatorial government. Elected to the Chamber of Deputies in 1818 following two decades in political exile, Lafayette continued to fight for freedom of speech, press, assemblage, and worship, arguing that these were rights that belonged to all people and could not rightly be taken from them by any government. Drawing on contemporary material, including private letters and Lafayette's own memoirs, Noel B. Gerson paints a vivid picture of a man of physical and moral courage, whose fight for the cause of liberty earned him the title the "Hero of Two Worlds". Statue in Search of a Pedestal is an engrossing biography of the Marquis de Lafayette's lifelong quest to protect the principles of democracy, told through the lens of the three revolutions he participated in: the American Revolution, the French Revolution, and the Revolution of 1830.
An engrossing biography of William Walker - the American adventurer, filibuster and revolutionary leader who succeeded in making himself President of Nicaragua. Perfect for readers of Craig L. Symonds, Nathanial Philbrick and H.W. Brands. How did an American physician, lawyer, and newspaper editor manage to install himself as President of Nicaragua? And how did he end up facing a firing squad? Noel Gerson's fascinating biography charts the rise and fall of one of the most unlikely mid-nineteenth-century adventurers in American history. William Walker, born in Nashville, Tennessee was diminutive and unassuming. Yet despite having no military background, in the 1850s he launched several filibustering campaigns into Central America leading a private mercenary army. After failing to take Sonora from Mexico, Walker intervened on the side of the Liberals in a civil war in Nicaragua, declaring himself commander of the country's army and, soon afterward, President. He was, briefly, both Nicaragua and America's most popular man. However, after attempting to take control of the rest of Central America, with no support from the U.S. government, he was captured and shot by the Honduran military in September 1860. Sad Swashbuckler is the remarkable true story of duels, imprisonment, courtroom trials, military invasion, battles, slavery, and execution. Drawing on contemporary material, Gerson reveals the life and exploits of a romantic idealist who sought glory over financial gain, but whose insatiable appetite for recognition and power resulted in his ruin. 'a subject who can't fail to fascinate' - Kirkus Reviews
This is a story of love and of genius. Of faith and of rebellion. Mary Wollstonecraft was fifteen when, in 1813, she met the poet Percy Bysshe Shelley. A disciple of Mary's famous father, the philosopher William Godwin (her mother was the great feminist Mary Wollstonecraft), Shelley himself was only twenty, though he was married and soon to be a father. Mary and Shelley fell in love the next summer; and several months later they ran away together.Thus began one of the most tragic, poignant, and, in all respects, brilliant relationships between a woman and a man that has ever been recorded. Shelley went on writing the poetry that was to make him one of the immortals. And Mary, as the result of a contest to see who could produce the best tale of the supernatural, wrote the classic Frankenstein. She was nineteen when she completed Frankenstein, which was at first published anonymously because of the prejudice at the time against female writers.Though they married in 1816, following the suicide of Shelley's wife, Mary and Shelley were for all their time together considered scandalous for their behaviour; in fact, they were both quite prudish and disapproved, for example, of the celebrated sexual exploits of their friend Lord Byron. Their lives were dogged by tragedy: suicide in both families, the early deaths of their first two children, and, finally, the death by drowning of Percy Bysshe Shelley at the age of twenty-nine.Mary Shelley was one of the most remarkable and celebrated women of her time, and for all her happiness with her husband, life was not kind to her. But she never went under, and her story is touching, real, inspiring.Noel Bertram Gerson (1913-1988) was a prolific American author, who wrote 325 books under his own name and under several pseudonyms. He channelled his own wartime experience in military intelligence into many of his novels, as well as writing widely about American history. His titles include Liner, The Conqueror's Wife, The Great Rogue: A Biography of Captain John Smith and I'll Storm Hell: A Novel of Mad Anthony Wayne. Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent digital publisher. For more information on our titles please sign up to our newsletter at www.endeavourpress.com. Each week you will receive updates on free and discounted ebooks. Follow us on Twitter: @EndeavourPress and on Facebook via http://on.fb.me/1HweQV7. We are always interested in hearing from our readers. Endeavour Press believes that the future is now.
An authoritative biography of the Flemish Baroque artist Peter Paul Rubens. An ideal book for readers who wish to find out more about the life and work of one of seventeenth-century Europe's foremost painters. Artist, businessman, linguist, intellectual, husband, father, and international diplomat: few people have accomplished quite as much or achieved such acclaim as Peter Paul Rubens. Renowned for being one of the most prolific and emotive painters of his age, Rubens' Baroque works were celebrated for their distinctively vibrant colours, intense dynamism, and sensuous use of the human figure. In this engrossing biography, Noel B. Gerson charts the Flemish painter's path to greatness, from a childhood spent in exile following a scandal that disgraced his father, his apprenticeship in Antwerp and his studies in Italy, through to the establishment of his own studio and subsequent career that saw him become a colossal figure in the European art world. His ambition to become the greatest painter of his age included a tireless work-schedule that produced an enormous body of work. Yet his talent as an artist was matched by his skill as a diplomat, a profession that brought Rubens great wealth, royal patronage, and unprecedented honors, including elevation to the peerage by the monarchs of Spain and England. Drawing on contemporary material, Gerson combines a full appreciation of Rubens' work with a revealing insight into the eventful life of seventeenth-century Europe's most prodigious artist. Peter Paul Rubens vividly captures the culture, religious conflicts and political intrigue of seventeenth-century Europe and its most accomplished artist.
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