"Fascinating...adds many interesting details to what we know of the President’s heritage." --David Remnick, TheNewYorker.com On January 20, 2009, a few hundred men, women, and children gathered under trees in the twilight at K’obama, a village on the shores of Lake Victoria in western Kenya. Barack Obama’s rise to the American presidency had captivated people around the world, but members of this gathering took a special pride in the swearing in of America’s first black president, for they were all Obamas, all the president’s direct African family. In the first in-depth history of the Obama family, Peter Firstbrook recounts a journey that starts in a mud hut by the White Nile and ends seven centuries later in the White House. Interweaving oral history and tribal lore, interviews with Obama family members and other Kenyans, the writings of Kenyan historians, and original genealogical research, Firstbrook sets the fascinating story of the president’s family against the background of Kenya’s rich culture and complex history. He tells the story of farmers and fishermen, of healers and hunters, of families lost and found, establishing for the first time the early ancestry of the Obamas. From the tribe’s cradleland in southern Sudan, he follows the family generation by generation, tracing the paths of the famous Luo warriors—Obama’s direct ancestors—and vividly illuminating Luo politics, society, and traditions. Firstbrook also brings to life the impact of English colonization in Africa through the eyes of President Obama’s grandfather Onyango. An ambitious and disciplined man who fought in two world wars, witnessed the bloody Mau Mau insurrection, and saw his country gain independence from white rule, Onyango was also hot-tempered and autocratic: family lore has it that President Obama’s grandmother abandoned the family after Onyango attempted to murder her. And Firstbrook delves into the troubled life of Obama’s father, a promising young man whose aspirations were stymied by post-independence tribal politics and a rash tendency toward self-destruction—two factors that his family believes contributed to his death in 1982. They say it was no accident, as described in the president’s memoirs, but rather a politically motivated hit job. More than a tale of love and war, hardship and hard-won success, The Obamas reveals a family history—epic in scope yet intimate in feel—that is truly without precedent.

The Obamas: The Untold Story of an African Family

Biographies & Memoirs

Firstbrook, Peter

Community & Culture

Crown

Lost on Everest: The Search for Mallory & Irvine

Lost on Everest: The Search for Mallory &amp; Irvine

LOST ON EVEREST: THE SEARCH FOR MALLORY AND IRVINE

History

McClelland and Stewart

World

Isis Large Print Books

ON JUNE 8, 1924, GEORGE MALLORY AND ANDREW IRVINE LEFT THEIR TENT HIGH ON THE SLOPES OF MOUNT EVEREST AND CLIMBED INTO HISTORY. THEY WERE SEEN AT 12.50 P.M. JUST 7909 FEET FROM THE SUMMIT AND GOING STRONG FOR THE TOP. WITHIN MINUTES, MALLRY AND IRVINE HAD DISAPPEARED IN A SNOWSTORM AND WERE NEVER SEEN ALIVE AGAIN. WHAT HAPPENED TO THESE TWO PIONEERING CLIMBERS IS THE MOST FAMOUS MYSTERY IN THE HISTORY OF MOUNTAINEERING. FOR 75 YEARS, THERE HAS BEEN FIERCE DEBATE OVER WHETHER THEY WERE THE FIRST TO REACH THE SMIIT, 29 YEARS BEFORE SIR EDMUND HILLARY AND SHERPA TENZING NORGAY./LOST ON EVEREST: THE SEARCH FOR MALLRY AND IRVINE IS AN ETRAORDINARY TALE OF HIGH ADVENTURE BY THE AUTHOR OF THE VOYAGE OF THE MATTHEW.

Lost on Everest: The Search for Mallory and Irvine

MCCLELLAND STEWART

Hillary and Sherpa Tensing Norgay became the first men to reach the summit of Everest. Or were they? Twenty-nine years previously, George Leigh Mallory and Andrew Sandy Irvine died on their attempt on the summit. Many believe they were successful but perished on their return. This passionate debate has lasted nearly 75 years, and the truth can now be uncovered. Today, modern lightweight video cameras and specially tuned metal detectors make it a real possibility that the bodies of Mallory and Irvine will be found and with them, a unique photographic record. They each carried a Kodak VPK camera, containing negative which could lay to rest the debate over who was first to reach the roof of the world. Beginning with Sikdhar and Hennessy, who are credited with identifying the worlds highest mountain in 1852, Lost on Everest explores the events which led up to Mallory and Irvines climb, traces the subsequent history of climbing on the mountain and concludes with the exciting story of the search for Mallory and Irvine's bodies and cameras.

Literature & Fiction

Short Stories & Anthologies

Contemporary Books

He fought and beheaded three Turkish adversaries in duels. He was sold into slavery, then murdered his master to escape. He sailed under a pirate flag, was shipwrecked and marched to the gallows to be hanged, only to be reprieved at the eleventh hour. And all this happened before he was thirty years old. This is Captain John Smith’s life. Everyone knows the story of Pocahontas, and how in 1607 she saved John Smith. And were it not for Smith’s leadership, the Jamestown colony would surely have failed. Yet Smith was a far more ambitious explorer and soldier of fortune than these tales suggest – and a far more ambitious self-promoter, too. With A Man Most Driven, Firstbrook delivers a riveting, enlightening dissection of this myth-making man, England’s arrival on the world stage, and the creation of America.

A Man Most Driven: Captain John Smith, Pocahontas and the Founding of America

Historical

Oneworld Publications

Named One of the Best Books of 2014 by The Providence Journal Everyone knows the story of Pocahontas and how she saved John Smith. And were it not for Smith’s leadership, the Jamestown Colony would surely have failed. Yet Smith was a far more ambitious explorer and soldier of fortune than these tales suggestand a far more ambitious self-promoter, too, so reputed for his truculence that the pilgrims of the Mayflower snubbed him when he offered them his services, though his 1614 map of New England (which he named) made him the unrivaled expert on America. Now, in the first major biography of Smith in decades, award-winning BBC filmmaker and author Peter Firstbrook traces the adventurer’s astonishing exploits across three continents, testing Smith’s claimed biography against the historical and geographical reality on the ground. A Man Most Driven delivers an enlightening dissection of this mythology-making man and the founding of America.

Coastwise examines the coastline of the British Isles as a dynamic environment and offers you an understandable explanation of how the coastline functions as a single entity. It is supported by hundreds of stunning photos and illustrations. 
It begins by exploring how the forces of nature combine to create its physical features (and continue to do so). This is a multifaceted story that involves ancient geology and powerful ocean forces. 
It then turns to the living nature of the coast, covering the unique plants, animals and other organisms whose interdependence keeps the coast alive and healthy. These amazing creatures are described and displayed in full colour. 
The third part of the book looks at how humans have interacted with the coast, using it for defence, commerce and leisure. It explores these aspects from the earliest times to the present day. 
The final section shows, for each coastal region, where the features discussed in the book can be observed and enjoyed, giving you a practical way of exploring the elements described in the book. 
All aspects of the coast are covered, making it essential reading – or a wonderful gift – for all those who spend time on Britain’s coast. As Countryfile presenter, Tom Heap, says in his Foreword: “These pages are a practical love letter to Britain’s waterfront and no seaside holiday home should be without them.”\nTable of Contents\nForeword\nAuthor’s Note\nIntroduction: This Precious Stone Set In The Silver Sea\nPART ONE: THE PHYSICAL COAST: Headlands & Cliffs\nBeaches, Bays & Barrier Islands\nEstuaries, Wetlands & Salt Marshes\nWaves, Whirlpools, Surges & Tides\nCoastal Rocks & Fossils\nPART TWO: THE LIVING COAST: Plankton & Plants\nFree Drifters & Bottom Dwellers\nMolluscs & Crustaceans\nThe Carnivores\nCoastal Birds\nPART THREE: THE HUMAN COAST: The Coast As Defence\nThe Commercial Coast\nThe Leisure Coast\nPART FOUR: DISCOVERING THE BRITISH COAST\nAcknowledgements & Credits\nIndex

Coastwise: Understanding Britain's Shoreline

Science & Math

Biological Sciences

Fernhurst Books

Daredevils of the Atlantic Ocean: Unusual Crossings in Unlikely Vessels

Seaworthy Publications, Incorporated

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Firstbrook, Peter. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Firstbrook, Peter

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Firstbrook, Peter. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Obamas: The Untold Story of an African Family

The Obamas: The Untold Story of an African Family

LOST ON EVEREST: THE SEARCH FOR MALLORY AND IRVINE

Lost on Everest: The Search for Mallory & Irvine

Lost on Everest: The Search for Mallory and Irvine

Lost on Everest: The Search for Mallory & Irvine

A Man Most Driven: Captain John Smith, Pocahontas and the Founding of America

A Man Most Driven: Captain John Smith, Pocahontas and the Founding of America

Coastwise: Understanding Britain's Shoreline

Daredevils of the Atlantic Ocean: Unusual Crossings in Unlikely Vessels