A beautiful gift edition of the heartwarming story that became the Christmas classic, It’s a Wonderful Life. For almost seventy years, people the world over have fallen in love with Frank Capra’s classic Christmas movie It’s a Wonderful Life. But few of those fans know that Capra’s film was based on a short story by author Philip Van Doren Stern, which came to Stern in a dream one night. Unable at first to find a publisher for his evocative tale about a man named George Pratt who ponders suicide until he receives an opportunity to see what the world would be like without him, Stern ultimately published the story in a small pamphlet and sent it out as his 1943 Christmas card. One of those 200 cards found its way into the hands of Frank Capra, who shared it with Jimmy Stewart, and the film that resulted became the holiday tradition we cherish today. Now fans of It’s a Wonderful Life, or anyone who loves the spirit of Christmas, can own the story that started it all in an elegant, illustrated edition that’s perfect for holiday giving. It includes an Afterword by Stern’s daughter, Marguerite Stern Robinson, that tells the story of how her father’s Christmas card became the movie beloved by generations of people around the world.
Civil War historian and celebrated author Philip Van Doren Stern presents an underground history woven from first hand accounts of Civil War spies, scouts, detectives and double agents. Secret Missions of the Civil War gives an inside look into the birth of modern spy warfare: secret codes, Allen Pinkerton, assassinations, McClellan's personal spy, European arms dealing, the Secret Service, Morgan and Mosby, the stunning Mrs. Rose O’Neal, privateers, the New York draft riots and torpedoes. Through astute and carefully documented commentary, Stern shows how seemingly random acts of underground warfare dramatically influenced the course of the war and American history.
This profusely illustrated volume describes one of the most amazing fleets in history—the hastily improvised Navy of the South. At the beginning of the Civil War, the Confederate navy was a modest collection of nearly anything that would float—mostly small, unmilitary vessels and a few captured Union ships; there was not one real warship in the fleet. The North had men-of-war and a large fleet of merchant ships that could be armed quickly. As a result, the North was soon able to blockade the southern coast and capture port after port. But the South fought back ingeniously, sending agents to England and France to have the finest warships built, innovating such modern weapons as the torpedo, the submarine, and the armored warship—all of which changed the nature of naval warfare. The Confederate Navy deals with the early ironclads; with the Trent case, which nearly brought England into the war; with the fighting on the Mississippi and James rivers; and with the flamboyant blockade-runners who could make 80,000 in profits on a single voyage. It tells about the great ships—the Alabama, the Florida , and the Shenandoah; and the great seamen—Semmes, Maffit, and Bulloch, among others. Crammed with facts, anecdotes, and exciting incidents, The Confederate Navy clarifies the complicated—and often heroic—naval operations of the Civil War.
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