“Finally, the cliché is peeled away and the essence of this utterly American character is so revealing. John Chapman comes alive here and it is a thrilling experience to escape the specific gravity of the decades of myth” (Ken Burns). This portrait of Johnny Appleseed restores the flesh-and-blood man beneath the many myths. It captures the boldness of an iconic American and the sadness of his last years, as the frontier marched past him, ever westward. And it shows how death liberated the legend and made of Johnny a barometer of the nation’s feelings about its own heroic past and the supposed Eden it once had been. Howard Means does for America’s inner frontier what Stephen Ambrose’s Undaunted Courage did for its western one.

From John Carter Cash, a rootin’, toe tappin’ tale that’s sure to be a hoot—with a great lesson to boot! In this humorous story, the cat in the rhinestone suit is out to settle a score with his arch nemesis, a snake named Del Moore. A comedy of errors ensues, leaving the cat and his traveling companions—a bandicoot, a mouse, and a camel—hanging from a root. Just when it seems they’re stuck…who should come by to rescue them but ol’ Del Moore himself! This rollicking read-aloud is a fun-loving story of friendship and forgiveness, with characters as colorful and sparkly as a rhinestone suit!

Collects Ghost Rider (2022) #1-5. Ghost Rider goes back to flaming-skulled basics! Johnny Blaze is in a haze. He has the perfect life: idyllic small town, wife and kids, dog - the American dream. Except for the nightmares. Blaze is having terrifying visions and has a constant, pounding headache - like something inside is trying to get out. This world he's living in is too good to be true. In fact, it's more like a prison. But who would purposely be keeping the Spirit of Vengeance on the sidelines - and how? Meanwhile, the FBI has recently discovered a frightening and unexplained surge in supernatural activity. And that can mean only one thing: It's time for Blaze to hit the dark roads of the Marvel Universe once more, confronting its monsters and battling his demons. Let's ride!

In 1951 Buster Johnson moved from Surrey to Exmoor with her husband Johnny, four children, a couple of dogs and a vanload of pigs and poultry. Naturally gregarious, she exchanges a life of domestic servants and bridge parties for a remote and spartan existence at West Nethercote, a farm in the heart of Exmoor national park. Alas Poor Johnny, written some ten years later, is her vivid and fascinating account of their life there, and of farming on Exmoor in the fifties, told with a strong sense of drama and of the absurd. The void left by her lost cultural and social pursuits becomes filled by the minutiae of everyday life, and by her husband Johnny and their four children. Above all, it is filled by the animals. These take the place of absent friends in her affections, their personalities permeating the book. There is a small but strong supporting cast, including busybody Mrs Stevens at the next door farm; Arthur the ex-cowman who moves with them from Surrey; SRN Tommie, the butt of an aggressive ram - and Alby the rabbit catcher, who plays the mouth organ and dances wild dances, enchanting the children. Finally, threading through all this with a glint of steel, is Johnny. He is her antithesis; strong and undemonstrative, generally preferring animals to people. Their relationship is the heart of the book. Alas Poor Johnny is a first-hand account of life on a farm in the 1950s, written at the time but reading with the freshness of the present. It will appeal to anyone, whether interested in Exmoor and old farming practices, a lover of the countryside and of animals, or just wanting to cheer themselves up with a good story, well told. It is a delight to read, hugely funny and, at times, touching. Buster and Johnny spent the rest of their lives at Nethercote. She died in 1987, without ever publishing her book. Her daughter Birdie, who herself lived there for many years, has now done so on her behalf. Boris Johnson, Buster's grandson, has written a foreword.