Secret Heroes

Name: Secret Heroes (eBook)
Brand: HarperCollins
SKU: 3859
Price: 13.99 USD
Availability: OnlineOnly

Secret Heroes

Everyday Americans Who Shaped Our World

Paul Martin

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Description

Secret Heroes is a remarkable compendium by Paul Martin, former Executive Editor of National Geographic Traveler, that illuminates the lives of thirty forgotten American heroes. Gathering together remarkable stories about unknown champions, explorers, inventors, and innovators who never made the pages of American history textbooks—not George Washington, but the tailor who saved his life…twice; the first African-American combat pilot; the 62-year-old female muckraking journalist who refused to turn her back on injustice—Secret Heroes is just the sort of fascinating and fun popular history that readers love, not unlike Kenneth C. Davis’s bestselling Don’t Know Much About® series and Rick Beyer’s The Greatest Stories Never Told.

Discover the remarkable Americans history textbooks left out:

Civil War Spies: Meet the Union spy who worked in Jefferson Davis’s Confederate White House and the tailor who saved George Washington’s life on two separate occasions.
African-American History: Discover the stories of the first African-American combat pilot and the formerly enslaved woman who became an entrepreneur and one of America's first self-made female millionaires.
Hidden Figures in History: Uncover the stories of the muckraking journalist who terrified politicians and the forgotten hero who single-handedly stopped the My Lai massacre.
History of Innovation: Learn about the woman who brought Washington D.C.’s cherry trees to the capital and the grocer who invented the modern self-service supermarket.

Genres

21st CenturyUnited StatesHistory20th CenturyHistoricalBiography & AutobiographyState & LocalWorldReferenceReferencePersonal MemoirsMilitaryEssays

Released2012

LanguageEnglish

PublisherHarperCollins

ISBN9780062096050

SellerHarperCollins

About the author(s)

A book and magazine editor with the National Geographic Society for three decades, Paul Martin spent the last ten years as executive editor of National Geographic Traveler. Earlier in his career, he served as a military journalist in Vietnam and was assistant editor of Outdoors magazine and managing editor of Continuing Education for the Family Physician. Martin lives near Washington, D.C. When not writing, he builds acoustic guitars. Readers can meet all thirty of the characters in Secret Heroes at http://www.paulmartinbooks.com.

Reviews

“Reverent character sketches of some unusually self-reliant Americans....Inspirational yarns of exceptional folks who made a difference...surprisingly entertaining.” - Kirkus Reviews

“Look who Paul Martin found hiding in the cracks and crevices of American history--a colorful cast of forgotten characters definitely worth getting to know! He brings them alive with painstaking research and entertaining storytelling. From the grocery store to the battlefield, forgotten heroes who left an indelible mark on American history. An enjoyable and eye-opening read.” - Rick Beyer, author of The Greatest Stories Never Told

“Paul Martin’s endlessly entertaining history of the little guys, Secret Heroes, tells us of many Americans we’ve never heard of but should have. From the man who changed grocery checkouts to the former slave who spied on Jefferson Davis for the Union Army to the woman who brought the cherry trees to Washington, D.C., Martin introduces us to a colorful cast of saints, visionaries and occasional rogues, and he does so with style and zest. Heroes, yes, but secret no more, these are (extra)ordinary men and women well worth our attention, in a book that makes history joyous.” - Thomas C. Foster, author of How to Read Literature Like a Professor

“Paul Martin creates a fascinating sub-text to American history: the literally un-sung hero who through imagination, daring, perseverance, and occasional great risk affects the shaping of democracy. This enthralling, episodic ramble’s perfect for anyone interested in how America managed to get from there to here.” - James Conaway, author of Napa: The Story of an American Eden

“Look who Paul Martin found hiding in the cracks and crevices of American history--a colorful cast of forgotten characters definitely worth getting to know!...From the grocery store to the battlefield, forgotten heroes who left an indelible mark on American history. An enjoyable and eye-opening read.” - Rick Beyer, author of The Greatest Stories Never Told

“Endlessly entertaining…Martin introduces us to a colorful cast of saints, visionaries and occasional rogues, and he does so with style and zest. Heroes, yes, but secret no more, these are (extra)ordinary men and women well worth our attention, in a book that makes history joyous.” - Thomas C. Foster, author of How to Read Literature Like a Professor

“[Paul Martin has] a gift for capturing the drama and significance of a life in a few words, and this book will make history exciting for a new generation of readers.” - Nick Cullather, Professor of History at Indiana University

“Self-sacrifice and determination abound in the tales....Meticulously researched, Martin holds his subjects in deserved high-esteem.” - Publishers Weekly

“Martin’s life-and-work portraits, with their subjects’ pluck and pioneering spirit, will surprise and, perhaps, inspire readers.” - Booklist