Free and bargain Non-Fiction in June 2013

[hwlester]

Thanks for continuing to post the FT Press ones. They may be repeats for you, but I didn't have any of them. I got them all from Amazon as well as B&N and also picked up the Chicago Tribune vacation book.

[koland]

Originally Posted by hwlester

Thanks for continuing to post the FT Press ones. They may be repeats for you, but I didn't have any of them. I got them all from Amazon as well as B&N and also picked up the Chicago Tribune vacation book.

Sometimes the formatting at B&N is better (and sometimes the reverse). I usually get both, as well, so I can read on whatever I happen to be carrying.

[itisbomb]

Independence: the Struggle to Set America Free by John Ferling

is now $3.03 at Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Independence-e...0&sr=8-1-fkmr1

Below is the blurb.

No event in American history was more pivotal-or more furiously contested-than Congress's decision to declare independence in July 1776. Even months after American blood had been shed at Lexington and Concord, many colonists remained loyal to Britain. John Adams, a leader of the revolutionary effort, said bringing the fractious colonies together was like getting "thirteen clocks to strike at once."

Other books have been written about the Declaration, but no author has traced the political journey from protest to Revolution with the narrative scope and flair of John Ferling. Independence takes readers from the cobblestones of Philadelphia into the halls of Parliament, where many sympathized with the Americans and furious debate erupted over how to deal with the rebellion. Independence is not only the story of how freedom was won, but how an empire was lost.

At this remarkable moment in history, high-stakes politics was intertwined with a profound debate about democracy, governance, and justice. John Ferling, drawing on a lifetime of scholarship, brings this passionate struggle to life as no other historian could. Independence will be hailed as the finest work yet from the author Michael Beschloss calls "a national resource."

[koland]

New from Stackpole:

• Armored Bears: Vol.1, The German 3rd Panzer Division in World War II by Veterans of the 3rd Panzer Division
• Vietnam War Helicopter Art: U.S. Army Rotor Aircraft (Stackpole Military Photo Series) by John Brennan and Chris Evans Stackpole

http://www.amazon.com/s/?rh=n:154606...sher=stackpole

[itisbomb]

The Kings' Mistresses: The Liberated Lives of Marie Mancini, Princess Colonna, and Her Sister Hortense, Duchess Mazarin
by Elizabeth Goldsmith

is $2.27 at Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/The-Kings-Mist...1386678&sr=8-2

Below is the blurb.

The Mancini Sisters, Marie and Hortense, were born in Rome, brought to the court of Louis XIV of France, and strategically married off by their uncle, Cardinal Mazarin, to secure his political power base. Such was the life of many young women of the age: they had no independent status under the law and were entirely a part of their husband’s property once married.

Marie and Hortense, however, had other ambitions in mind altogether. Miserable in their marriages and determined to live independently, they abandoned their husbands in secret and began lives of extraordinary daring on the run and in the public eye. The beguiling sisters quickly won the affections of noblemen and kings alike. Their flight became popular fodder for salon conversation and tabloids, and was closely followed by seventeenth-century European society. The Countess of Grignan remarked that they were traveling “like two heroines out of a novel.” Others gossiped that they “were roaming the countryside in pursuit of wandering lovers.”

Their scandalous behavior—disguising themselves as men, gambling, and publicly disputing with their husbands—served as more than just entertainment. It sparked discussions across Europe concerning the legal rights of husbands over their wives.Elizabeth Goldsmith’s vibrant biography of the Mancini sisters—drawn from personal papers of the players involved and the tabloids of the time—illuminates the lives of two pioneering free spirits who were feminists long before the word existed.

[apesmom]

I didn't see this posted anywhere else but I may have missed it. Hurry if you want it, it's already been free for a few days and isn't likely to stay free much longer.

Nook's Free Friday selection is The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America's Childhood by Jane Leavy

Jane Leavy, the acclaimed author of the New York Times bestseller Sandy Koufax: A Lefty's Legacy, returns with a biography of an American original—number 7, Mickey Mantle. Drawing on more than five hundred interviews with friends and family, teammates, and opponents, she delivers the definitive account of Mantle's life, mining the mythology of The Mick for the true story of a luminous and illustrious talent with an achingly damaged soul.

Meticulously reported and elegantly written, The Last Boy is a baseball tapestry that weaves together episodes from the author's weekend with The Mick in Atlantic City, where she interviewed her hero in 1983, after he was banned from baseball, with reminiscences from friends and family of the boy from Commerce, Oklahoma, who would lead the Yankees to seven world championships, be voted the American League's Most Valuable Player three times, win the Triple Crown in 1956, and duel teammate Roger Maris for Babe Ruth's home run crown in the summer of 1961—the same boy who would never grow up.

As she did so memorably in her biography of Sandy Koufax, Jane Leavy transcends the hyperbole of hero worship to reveal the man behind the coast-to-coast smile, who grappled with a wrenching childhood, crippling injuries, and a genetic predisposition to alcoholism. In The Last Boy she chronicles her search to find out more about the person he was and, given what she discovers, to explain his mystifying hold on a generation of baseball fans, who were seduced by that lopsided, gap-toothed grin. It is an uncommon biography, with literary overtones: not only a portrait of an icon, but an investigation of memory itself. How long was the Tape Measure Home Run? Did Mantle swing the same way right-handed and left-handed? What really happened to his knee in the 1951 World Series? What happened to the red-haired, freckle-faced boy known back home as Mickey Charles?

"I believe in memory, not memorabilia," Leavy writes in her preface. But in The Last Boy, she discovers that what we remember of our heroes—and even what they remember of themselves—is only where the story begins.

[koland]

Freebies:

Stackpole:

• A Child's Walk in the Wilderness: An 8-Year-Old Boy and His Father Take on the Appalachian Trail by Paul Molyneaux and Asher Molyneaux
• The Curious Morel: 4th Edition by Larry Lonik

http://www.amazon.com/s/?url=search-...pole&price=0-0


Agate:

• 1,001 Low-Fat Vegetarian Recipes: Delicious, Easy-to-Make, Healthy Meals for Everyone by Sue Spitler and R.D. Linda R. Yoakam
• Straight from Your Gay Best Friend: The Straight-Up Truth About Relationships, Work, and Having a Fabulous Life... by Terrance Dean
• How to Pair Wine: An Expert's Guide, Featuring Recipes, Tips and Insights for Home Dining by Bill St. John

http://www.amazon.com/s/?rh=n:154606...ublisher=Agate


FT Press:

• The Power of Communication: Skills to Build Trust, Inspire Loyalty, and Lead Effectively by Helio Fred Garcia
• The Complete Guide to Business Analytics by Thomas H. Davenport, Babette E. Bensoussan and Craig S. Fleisher
• Trading Commodities and Financial Futures: A Step-by-Step Guide to Mastering the Markets (4th Edition) by George Kleinman
• 30 Days to Better Thinking and Better Living Through Critical Thinking: A Guide for Improving Every Aspect of... by Linda Elder and Richard Paul
• The Trading Methodologies of W.D. Gann: A Guide to Building Your Technical Analysis Toolbox by Hima Reddy
• Encyclopedia of Operations Management, The ; A Field Manual and Glossary of Operations Management Terms and Concepts... by Arthur V. Hill
• Standing Out with SEO: Expert Advice from Melanie Mitchell by Melanie Mitchell

http://www.amazon.com/s/?rh=n:154606...2FT%20Press%22

[mitford13]

Marked down to .99 on Amazon:

A Medieval Family: The Pastons of Fifteenth-Century England. HarperCollins


The Pastons family of Norfolk, England, has long been known to medieval scholars for its large collection of personal correspondence, which has survived five centuries. Revealing a wealth of information about manners, morals, lifestyle, and attitudes of the late Middle Ages, the letters also tell the story of three generations of the fifteenth-century Paston family that treads like a historical novel full of memorable characters: Margaret Paston, the indomitable wife and mother who fought the family's battles; her husband, John Paston I, tough, hardheaded, and thrice confined to Fleet Prison but never yielding to his enemies; daughter Margery, who scandalized family and friends by falling in love with the Paston bailiff, Richard Calle; lighthearted, chivalric Sir John; and cheerful, sensible John III, who against all odds succeeded in marrying for love.

A Medieval Family traces the Pastons history from 1420, through the stormy Wars of the Roses, to the early 1500s. The family's story, extracted from their letters and papers and told largely in their own words, shows a side of history rarely revealed: the lives and fortunes not of kings and queens but of ordinary middle-class people with problems, tragedies, and moments of happiness.

[koland]

Free Friday picks:

• Civil War Ghost Trails: Stories from America's Most Haunted Battlefields by Mark Nesbitt
• Luftwaffe Fighter Ace: From the Eastern Front to the Defense of the Homeland (Stackpole Military History Series... by Norbert Hanning

http://www.amazon.com/s/?rh=n:154606...sher=stackpole


American Independence: From Common Sense to the Declarationby Benjamin Ponder

http://www.amazon.com/American-Indep...dp/B00DH0UT9W/

[AnemicOak]

Winter Storm: The Battle for Stalingrad and the Operation to Rescue 6th Army by Hans Wijers

Compilation of first-person German accounts from the battle of Stalingrad

Depicts life for soldiers trapped in the city by Soviet forces

Vivid accounts of brutal hand-to-hand fighting in the streets of Stalingrad

Germans confronted not only enemy troops but also hunger and frigid weather

Includes rare photos

Mission 85: The U.S. Eighth Air Force's Battle over Holland, August 19, 1943 by Ivo De Jong

Minute-by-minute chronicle of the U.S. Eighth Air Force's bombing mission against German airfields in Holland

Mission came just days after the famous Schweinfurt-Regensburg raid

The Americans expected an easy mission, but it proved to be anything but

Loaded with firsthand accounts from pilots and crews of bombers and fighters

[koland]

Brian - thanks for posting. Both are from Stackpole and in Mobi format (also, both newly free).

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by koland

...and in Mobi format

I know, I was really glad to see that. It seems that most of the more recent Stackpole freebies have been Mobi thankfully, instead of Topaz like all of the earlier ones.

[koland]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

I know, I was really glad to see that. It seems that most of the more recent Stackpole freebies have been Mobi thankfully, instead of Topaz like all of the earlier ones.

I just wish they would update the old ones. Sure, it's a chore, but they are kind of pricy for new purchasers and the formatting and text tends to be awful on the very early ones.

[AnemicOak]

Originally Posted by koland

I just wish they would update the old ones. Sure, it's a chore, but they are kind of pricy for new purchasers and the formatting and text tends to be awful on the very early ones.

I know. I see there are a few they've "updated" by re-listing it under a new ASIN. Lot of good it does previous purchasers. AFAIK their entire catalog are now available in ePub, so there's really no excuse to leave the Kindle ones as Topaz.

[koland]

Originally Posted by AnemicOak

I know. I see there are a few they've "updated" by re-listing it under a new ASIN. Lot of good it does previous purchasers. AFAIK their entire catalog are now available in ePub, so there's really no excuse to leave the Kindle ones as Topaz.

No. Nor to punish early purchasers by not giving them a decent edition, since they already have it available (and are, as you say, often selling under a new ASIN).