“A fascinating story, telling aspects of the American West that most of us know little about.”—True West Magazine In the mid-nineteenth century, the U.S. Army was on the verge of employing a weapon that had never before been seen on its native soil: a cavalry mount that would fare better than both mules and horses in the American Southwest... Against the Mojave in the Arizona Territory, against the Mormons in Utah Territory, during the early stages of the Civil War, the camel would become part of military history and a nearly forgotten chapter of Americana. This is the true story of that experiment and the extraordinary group of people who it brought together. The Last Camel Charge gives them their due as a vital piece of American history. INCLUDES PHOTOS

Bestselling author Peters brings back 19th-century Egyptologist Amelia Peabody and her entourage in a delicious caper that digs up mystery in the shadow of the pyramids.

In the mid-1800s, the United States needed a better way to protect the great flood of immigrants, pioneers, and settlers headed west along the southern route from Indian attacks, thieves, and murderers. Sending more cavalry wasn't the answer. The land known as the great American Desert was inhospitable to horses and mules. Only one animal "stood the test" in the southwest, and it wasn't a horse. The Great Camel Experiment of the Old West chronicles the journey of that noble beast from the Middle East to the deserts of the American Southwest.

*Includes pictures *Includes contemporary accounts *Includes a bibliography for further reading In the 1850s, Americans widely believed that the area from the 97th Meridian to the Rocky Mountains was vast, sterile, and useless, fit only for wandering natives and something to be endured rather than enjoyed by the people traveling through. Putting the eastern border near the point where the Great Plains begin, a common name for the huge region was "The Great American Desert," and the acquisition of the Southwest from Mexico added to the already huge area, commonly considered desert wasteland. Suddenly, the United States had a million square miles of Great American Desert to administrate, an area where the resident native warriors considerably outnumbered the small U.S. Army. In fact, the use of the word "desert" probably contributed to the idea behind using camels in the region, thanks to their reputation as "ships of the desert." With that in mind, the United States Camel Corps was a military experiment in the 1850s that brought camels from Egypt and Turkey to Texas and California. The cast of characters in this story is larger than life and includes U.S. Army and Navy officers, explorers, writers, politicians, and diplomats. The most famous person involved was Jefferson Davis, a U.S. Senator from Mississippi who went on to become Secretary of War and the Confederacy's only president. The project also utilized Haji Ali (also known as "Hi Jolly"), the U.S. Army's first Muslim employee, and it even had a small effect on the Civil War. One of the camels, Doug, was used by the Confederates at Vicksburg, and locals despised the Red Ghost, a feral camel that terrorized rural Arizona. The most important result of this historical footnote probably has no resonance in American history, and in fact, the name "United States Camel Corps" was never formalized, but it seems to be what historians call a retronym, a name given after a phenomenon has receded into the past. How long the name of "Camel Corps" has been in existence is unknown, but it has been used in literature for close to a century. What the troopers themselves called the unit remains unknown. However, the unit was extraordinarily important to Mexico, thanks to a man named Elias, one of the Syrian-Arab cameleers. Hired and brought over to teach American soldiers how to handle camels, Elias eventually moved to Sonora, Mexico, married a Yaqui Mexican woman, and had a son who went on to become a formidable and energetic president of Mexico. The United States Camel Corps: The History of the U.S. Army's Use of Camels in the Southwest during the 19th Century looks at the unique unit, from its origins to its record. Along with pictures depicting important people, places, and events, you will learn about the United States Camel Corps like never before.

At the Battle of Omdurman (September 2, 1898) an army commanded by the British General Sir Horatio Kitchener defeated the army of the Khalifa, the Dervishes. It was a bloody demonstration of the superiority of machine guns and artillery over older weapons and marked the successful end of the British efforts to re-conquer the Sudan. Around 10,000 Dervishes were killed, 15,000 wounded and 5000 were taken prisoner. Kitchener's force lost 48 men with 382 wounded. The Khalifa escaped and survived until 1899 while Kitchener was en-nobled as an earl, Kitchener of Khartoum, for his victory. This title examines the British light cavalry regiment - the 21st Lancers - involvement in the battle, for which they were awarded three Victoria Crosses. The "Military Classics" series brings military historical analysis to bear on a specific battle or campaign. Illustrated throughout with a mix of archive shots and diagrams showing the course of the campaign, the centrepiece of each is a colour section showing the uniforms and equipment of a range of combatants in detail.

This is the story of John McKinney who received the Medal of Honor for his actions against a Japanese surprise attack. On May 11, 1945, McKinney returned fire on the Japanese attacking his unit, using every available weapon-even his fists-standing alone against wave after wave of dedicated Japanese soldiers. At the end, John McKinney was alive-with over forty Japanese bodies before him. This is the story of an extraordinary man whose courage and fortitude in battle saved many American lives, and whose legacy has been sadly forgotten by all but a few. Here, the proud legacy of John McKinney lives on.

Culloden marked the end of the last and greatest of the Jacobite adventures - the '45 Rebellion - in which the Highland clans challenged the power of the Hanoverian King of England. It was at Culloden that Charles Edward Stuart's army was finally defeated. His tired Highlanders had little chance against the steady infantry and heavy artillery fire of the English. Peter Harrington examines all aspects of the battle, including its background, the earlier Highlander victories, the men and commanders of both sides, and the massacre that took place in its aftermath.

The definitive biography of Alan Shepard, America’s first man in space, with a new Foreword by Chris Kraft “One of the finest books ever written about the space program.”—Homer Hickan, author of Rocket Boys “A wonderful and gripping biography . . . meticulously reported in the best tradition of David Halberstam.”—Buzz Bissinger, New York Times bestselling author of Friday Night Lights Alan Shepard was the brashest, cockiest, and most flamboyant of America’s original Mercury Seven, but he was also regarded as the best. Intense, colorful, and dramatic, he was among the most private of America’s public figures and, until his death in 1998, he guarded the story of his life zealously. Light This Candle, based on Neal Thompson’s exclusive access to private papers and interviews with Shepard’s family and closest friends—including John Glenn, Wally Schirra, and Gordon Cooper—offers a riveting, action-packed account of Shepard’s life.