Presents a portrait of four generations of the Stevenson family in America, from the first Scotch-Irish immigrants to the life and career of the noted liberal politician Adlai Stevenson.

For centuries the seas around Scotland were notorious for shipwrecks. Mariners' only aids were skill, luck, and single coal-fire light on the east coast, which was usually extinguished by rain. In 1786 the Northern Lighthouse Trust was established, with Robert Stevenson appointed as chief engineer a few years later. In this engrossing book, Bella Bathhurst reveals that the Stevensons not only supervised the construction of the lighthouses under often desperate conditions but also perfected a design of precisely chiseled interlocking granite blocks that would withstand the enormous waves that batter these stone pillars. The same Stevensons also developed the lamps and lenses of the lights themselves, which "sent a gleam across the wave" and prevented countless ships from being lost at sea. While it is the writing of Robert Louis Stevenson that brought fame to the family name, this mesmerizing account shows how his extraordinary ancestors changed the shape of the Scotland coast against incredible odds and with remarkable technical ingenuity.

Based on a political archive that spans five generations and more than 150 years, this collection of narratives, observations, wit, and wisdom, enlivens and informs on the family of former senator Adlai E. Stevenson III. This volume covers Adlai I, who served as vice president for Grover Cleveland; Adlai II, who served in the Roosevelt and Truman administrations and as governor of Illinois; Adlai III, who was an Illinois State Representative, state treasurer, senator, and two-time candidate for Illinois governor, and other family members in between. Whether it is Abraham Lincoln’s presidential campaign material—a Stevenson family member was a friend, contemporary, and promoter—after the famous seven debates or the forewarnings of the Comprehensive Anti-Terrorism Act of 1979, much of the history of the United States is presented here from personalized views of those who experienced and influenced it.

Shawn Stevenson is a health expert with a background in biology and kinesiology who has helped thousands of people worldwide to improve their health, through his private work as well as his #1 Nutrition and Fitness podcast on iTunes. In his work, Shawn brings a well-rounded perspective to the perennial question: how can we feel better? In investigating complex health issues such as weight loss, chronic fatigue and hormone imbalance, Shawn realised that many health problems start with one criminally overlooked aspect of our routine - sleep. In Sleep Smarter Shawn explores the little-known and even less-appreciated facts about sleep's influence on every part of our life. Backed by the latest scientific research and packed with personal anecdotes and tips from leaders in the field of sleep research, this book depicts the dangers of insufficient sleep - from weight retention to memory loss to bad sex to increased risk of disease. In his clear, personable and relatable style Shawn offers 21 simple, immediately applicable ways for readers to take their well-being into their own hands and improve their sleep now

On 23 September 1878 Stevenson set out from Le Monastier in the Haut Loire, to tramp through the wild region of the Cevennes. His only companion was a small donkey to carry basic necessities, and a commodious "sleeping sack". In the next 12 days, at a pace dictated by the donkey and carrying most of the supplies himself, he travelled 120 miles across rivers, mountains and forests. His stylish and witty account was published in 1879.

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • TODAY SHOW BOOK CLUB PICK • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE WASHINGTON POST AND ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH From the New York Times bestselling author of Loving Frank comes a much-anticipated second novel, which tells the improbable love story of Scottish writer Robert Louis Stevenson and his tempestuous American wife, Fanny. At the age of thirty-five, Fanny Van de Grift Osbourne has left her philandering husband in San Francisco to set sail for Belgium—with her three children and nanny in tow—to study art. It is a chance for this adventurous woman to start over, to make a better life for all of them, and to pursue her own desires. Not long after her arrival, however, tragedy strikes, and Fanny and her children repair to a quiet artists’ colony in France where she can recuperate. Emerging from a deep sorrow, she meets a lively Scot, Robert Louis Stevenson, ten years her junior, who falls instantly in love with the earthy, independent, and opinionated “belle Americaine.” Fanny does not immediately take to the slender young lawyer who longs to devote his life to writing—and who would eventually pen such classics as Treasure Island and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. In time, though, she succumbs to Stevenson’s charms, and the two begin a fierce love affair—marked by intense joy and harrowing darkness—that spans the decades and the globe. The shared life of these two strong-willed individuals unfolds into an adventure as impassioned and unpredictable as any of Stevenson’s own unforgettable tales. Praise for Under the Wide and Starry Sky “A richly imagined [novel] of love, laughter, pain and sacrifice . . . Under the Wide and Starry Sky is a dual portrait, with Louis and Fanny sharing the limelight in the best spirit of teamwork—a romantic partnership.”—USA Today “Powerful . . . flawless . . . a perfect example of what a man and a woman will do for love, and what they can accomplish when it’s meant to be.”—Fort Worth Star-Telegram “Horan’s prose is gorgeous enough to keep a reader transfixed, even if the story itself weren’t so compelling. I kept re-reading passages just to savor the exquisite wordplay. . . . Few writers are as masterful as she is at blending carefully researched history with the novelist’s art.”—The Dallas Morning News “A classic artistic bildungsroman and a retort to the genre, a novel that shows how love and marriage can simultaneously offer inspiration and encumbrance.”—The New York Times Book Review

A collection of poems evoking the world and feelings of childhood.

This is the fascinating life story of Robert Louis Stevenson, the beloved author of classics such as "Treasure Island" and "Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde," from his early days as an aspiring writer to his first published works, his love affair and then marriage to Fanny Osbourne, his success as an author, his many travels across Europe and the U.S., and finally his voyage to the islands of the South Pacific, where he eventually built the house of his dreams. Stevenson never let his weak lungs (which he referred to as pirates waging a battle inside him) and delicate constitution stand in the way of his insatiable thirst for adventure, living life on his own terms until the very end.

This book tackles photography’s role during Robert Louis Stevenson’s travels throughout the Pacific Island region and is the first study of his family’s previously unpublished photographs. Cutting across disciplinary boundaries, the book integrates photographs with letters, non-fiction, and poetry, and includes much unpublished material. The original readings of photographs and non-fiction highlight Stevenson’s engagement with colonial ideology and reality and advance new arguments about Victorian travel, settlement, and colonialisms in the Pacific. Like the Stevensons, the book moves from the Marquesas to the atolls of the Gilbert Islands in Micronesia; from the Kingdom of Hawai‘i’s political ambitions to Samoan plantations and the Stevensons’ settlement at Vailima. Central to this study is the notion that Pacific history and Pacific Island cultures matter to the interpretation of Stevenson's work, and a rigorous historical and cultural contextualization ensures that local details structure literary and photographic interpretation. The book’s historical grounding is key to its insightful conclusions regarding travel, settlement, photography, and colonialism.

Four years ago, in the small town of Birravale, Eliza Dacey was murdered. Within hours, her killer was caught. Wasn't he? So read the opening titles of Jack Quick's new true-crime documentary - one that is persuading its millions of viewers that Curtis Wade was wrongly convicted. But just before the final episode, Jack uncovers evidence that may prove Wade guilty after all. Convinced it will ruin his show, he covers it up, and months later Wade is released after a retrial. Then a new victim is found bearing horrifying similarities to the original murder. Has Jack just helped a killer walk free? Determined to set things right, he returns to Birravale looking for answers. But Jack knows more than anyone that there's a fine line between fact and fiction. Between life and death.