Many often wonder what it is like to be raised in a home without parents such as an orphanage or a state institution. There are many who feel it is always good for the children placed there by courts for many reasons. Broken marriages, unhealthy homes, child abuse and many reasons, cause children to be taken away from parents and homes and placed in these institutions. Is it always the best thing for the children? Without a doubt, some benefit from the institutions, but some have scars to bear for the rest of their lives. This book is a story of one such child. He was placed in a state home in the northeast corner of Normal, Illinois! It was named the Illinois Soldiers and Sailors Children’s School. There are many web pages with pictures and stories about this home listed under ISSCS. This is not a fiction story and to many very hard to believe. This home no longer exists. This is a true story and not one that applies to all children in this home or others. It is my life story!

A biography of the 26th President written by Thayer who had known, and corresponded, with Roosevelt over a forty-year period.
With the assassination of President McKinley, Theodore Roosevelt, not quite 43, became the youngest President in the Nation's history. He brought new excitement and power to the Presidency, as he vigorously led Congress and the American public toward progressive reforms and a strong foreign policy.
He took the view that the President as a "steward of the people" should take whatever action necessary for the public good unless expressly forbidden by law or the Constitution." I did not usurp power," he wrote, "but I did greatly broaden the use of executive power."
His image stands alongside George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Abraham Lincoln on the Mount Rushmore monument. Surveys of scholars have consistently ranked him from #3 to #7 on the list of greatest American presidents.

Gandhi's nonviolent struggles in South Africa and India had already brought him to such a level of notoriety, adulation, and controversy that when asked to write an autobiography midway through his career, he took it as an opportunity to explain himself. Although accepting of his status as a great innovator in the struggle against racism, violence, and, just then, colonialism, Gandhi feared that enthusiasm for his ideas tended to exceed a deeper understanding. He says that he was after truth rooted in devotion to God and attributed the turning points, successes, and challenges in his life to the will of God. His attempts to get closer to this divine power led him to seek purity through simple living, dietary practices (he called himself a fruitarian), celibacy, and ahimsa, a life without violence. It is in this sense that he calls his book The Story of My Experiments with Truth, offering it also as a reference for those who would follow in his footsteps. A reader expecting a complete accounting of his actions, however, will be sorely disappointed.

Although Gandhi presents his episodes chronologically, he happily leaves wide gaps, such as the entire satyagraha struggle in South Africa, for which he refers the reader to another of his books. And writing for his contemporaries, he takes it for granted that the reader is familiar with the major events of his life and of the political milieu of early 20th-century India. For the objective story, try Yogesh Chadha's Gandhi: A Life. For the inner world of a man held as a criminal by the British, a hero by Muslims, and a holy man by Hindus, look no further than these experiments. --Brian Bruya

Autobiographical account by a leader of the October 1917 Russian revolution, the Soviet Red Army, and the battle initiated by Lenin against the Stalinist bureaucracy.
Trotsky's theory of 'permanent revolution' became unpopular after Stalin had gained power in the Soviet Union.
Stalin seized control of the Soviet Union after Lenin died in 1924 and began a relentless effort to purge all possible rivals. Leon Trotsky, the Russian Jewish Revolutionary leader who had been Lenin's principal assistant, was Stalin's biggest threat. Fearing for his life, Trotsky left Russia in 1929, but was unable to convince any country to let him settle in exile. Eventually, Mexico agreed. During his absence, Trotsky was convicted of two accounts of treason by the Soviet courts and sentenced to death. As a result, Trotsky took great pains to secure his Mexican home. After a machine gun attack by the secret police in 1940, he built additional defensive pillboxes, constructed a fifteen foot high wall surrounding his house, and increased his staff of bodyguards. Later that summer, he became friends with a friend of a former employee, Frank Jackson. Unfortunately for Trotsky, Jackson was actually Ramon Mercader, a Spanish communist who had been sent by Stalin. One day, while Trotsky was meeting with Jackson in his home office, Jackson struck him in the back of the head with a mountaineer's ice ax. Trotsky ran screaming from the room and collapsed saying "I feel . . ." He was taken to the hospital where he spoke his final words to his wife while being prepared for surgery.

The work is enduringly popular because it introduces millions of readers to Eastern spiritual thought. Yogananda's masterly storytelling epitomizes the Indian oral tradition with its wit, charm, and compassionate wisdom. The yogi begins by showing how his childhood experiences in turn-of-the-century India produced a spiritual youth in search of an enlightened teacher, continues with an account of his years of training in the hermitage of a revered master, and concludes with the highlights of a period, beginning in 1920, during which he lived and taught in America. Yogananda sensitively interprets not only his own spiritual evolution but also his relationship with elements of the West's spiritual tradition, such as the story of Adam and Eve, providing a penetrating look at the ultimate mysteries of human existence. Bibliographical footnotes, which would have interrupted Kingsley's magnificent narration, are thoughtfully included in an accompanying booklet. This extraordinary work will greatly enrich any library.?

The Story of My Life, a remarkable account of overcoming the debilitating challenges of being both deaf and blind, has become an international classic, making Helen Keller one of the most well-known, inspirational figures in history. Originally published in 1903, Keller’s fascinating memoir narrates the events of her life up to her third year at Radcliffe College.
Helen Keller’s story of struggle and achievement is one of unquenchable hope. From tales of her difficult early days, to details of her relationship with her beloved teacher Anne Sullivan, to her impressions of academic life, Keller’s honest, straightforward writing lends insight into an amazing mind. Like the original, this centenary edition of The Story of My Life includes letters Keller wrote to friends throughout her childhood and adolescence that chronicle her intellectual and sensory progression, as well as assistant John Macy’s commentary on her interpretations of her surroundings.

Nasmyth starts his narrative with some family history including a humorus story about the origin of his name. He continues with his unusual (by modern standards) early education, his youthful endevors into mechanics and admiration of James Watt (the steam engineer). He discribes how he became Maudslay's assistant and eventualy starting his own machine manufacturing business. Among the many drawings reproduced is a copy from his design notebook of The original sketch of the steam hammer. Nasmyth also writes about his other interests including the origin of written language, astronomy and building telescopes. The last chapter includes a chronological list of Nasmyth's inventions with discriptions.
From boyhood he showed a talent for mechanics, building successful model steam engines while still at school. He started in business at Manchester (1834), and established at Patricroft the Bridgewater Foundry (1836). He devised and patented a steam hammer to assist with forging work (1842), and it became a major tool in the Industrial Revolution. Among his other inventions were a steam pile-driver, a planing machine, and a hydraulic punching machine.

Temperance agitator, born in Garrard Co, Kentucky, USA. Trained as a teacher, she entered the temperance movement in 1890. A large, powerful woman of volcanic emotions, she went on hymn-singing, saloon-smashing expeditions with a hatchet in many US cities, attacking what she considered to be illegal drinking places. Frequently imprisoned and fined for breach of the peace, she would sell her hatchets as souvenirs to raise money.
Carry loved and married a young physician, Dr. Charles Gloyd on November 21, 1867, in Belton, Missouri. Their only daughter, Charlien, was "afflicted: and Carry believed the illness was due to Gloyd's drinking. Carry left Gloyd because of his drinking and failure to make a living. He died six months later.

Carrie A. Nation traveled abroad preaching prohibition. The crusader’s progress was watched across the nation with interest and growing sympathy. Even Carry's enemies were compelled to acknowledge her extraordinary methods had produced definite and concrete results. In less than six months she did more to enforce prohibition laws than had been accomplished by churches and temperance organizations.

Alone and penniless, Carry died on June 9, 1911, at Levenworth, Kansas, and she is buried beside her mother at Belton, Missouri. Her tombstone inscription, as she requested reads "She Hath Done What She Could."

Novelist, born in Tours, WC France. He studied at the Collège de Vendôme and the Sorbonne. From 1819 to 1830 he led a life of frequent privation and incessant industry, incurring a heavy burden of debt which harassed him to the end of his career. His first success was Les Chouans (1829, The Chouans). After writing several other novels, he formed the idea of presenting in La Comédie humaine (1827-47, The Human Comedy), a complete picture of mankind, employing a cast of over 2000 characters. Among the masterpieces which form part of his vast scheme are Le Père Goriot (Father Goriot), Les Illusions perdues (Lost Illusions), Les Paysans (The Peasants), La Femme de trente ans (The Thirty-Year-Old Woman), and Eugénie Grandet, in which detailed observation and imagination are the main features. His industry was phenomenal, writing 85 novels in 20 years, whose theme was predominantly the corrupting power of money and the over-riding force of self-interest. His work did not bring him wealth. During his later years he lived principally in his villa at Sèvres. In 1849, when his health had broken down, he travelled to Poland to visit Eveline Hanska, a rich Polish lady, with whom he had corresponded for more than 15 years. In 1850 she became his wife, and three months later, Balzac died.

“Here is indeed the real Edison book. No single figure of our time has influenced more intimately our daily lives. Yet the full and authoritative story of Edison’s own life has never been written until now. In this book one may hear and see Edison. One of the authors is his counsel – both practically share Edison’s life. The entire manuscript has been read and revised by Edison himself. This is the personal story of Edison – his birth in Ohio, his boyhood in Michigan, his experience as a newsboy, and his work as a telegraph operator, winning his way upward. Edison’s establishment in Newark, the invention of the phonograph, and his removal to Menlo Park in 1876 lead to one of the most absorbing stories in the history of discovery – the invention of the incandescent lamp. This is told for the first time. We see days and nights spent developing storage batteries, the phonograph industry, application of Portland cement, moving pictures, etc. Not as an abstract genius, but as a man, Edison is made known and his personal human side is set before us.”

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Life of Coleridge
by James Gillman

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My Life
by Sir Oswald Mosley

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Famous Men of the Middle Ages
by John Haaren, AB Poland

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Mozart: The Man and the Artist
by Friedrich Kerst

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