Month: December 2020

For ten thousand years of human history it was impossible for a human being to fly. Then the Wright Brothers came along, and decided not to accept the impossible. This is there story.

Born on a mountaintop in Tennessee . . . kil't him a b'ar when he was only three. . . Not quite, but Davy Crockett was a real man before he was a folk hero. Frontiersman, congressman, and champion of the powerless, Davy Crockett made himself a legend in his own time. This is his story.

Perhaps one of the most improbable stories in human history: Joan of Arc was an illiterate peasant girl who convinced a nation that she was on a mission from God. Regardless of your belief in her divine claims, she was an extraordinary woman, who by the time of her untimely death at the age of 19 had led her nation's armies into battle, inspired its people to rise up against invaders, and convinced its King to take up his crown.

While the stories of Lewis, Clark, Sacagawea and the rest of of the brave adventures in the Corps of Discovery each deserve their own individual telling, this is a story of collective achievement. This is a story of a group of people who banded together, became a family and together went into the unknown, off the map, on a peaceful journey of exploration. It is one of the great adventure stories of all time, and, unlike most, this one really happened.

Mark Twain was perhaps the greatest American writer of the 19th century. But he was also more than that. He was a river man, a prospector, a journalist, and an explorer. His stories were a near-perfect merging of adventure, coming of age, and social commentary. He taught generations of young people how to think for themselves. This is his story.