Books published by Leonaur Ltd

The ordeals of two famous African AmericansThis special Leonaur edition combines the account of Harriet Ann Jacobs with that of Frederick Douglass. They were contemporaries and African Americans of note who shared a common background of slavery and, after their liberation, knew each other and worked for a common cause. The first account, a justifiably well known and highly regarded work, is that of Harriet Jacobs since this volume belongs in the Leonaur Women & Conflict series. Harriet Jacobs was born into slavery in North Carolina in 1813. Sold on as a child she suffered years of sexual abuse from her owner until in 1835 she escaped-leaving two children she'd had by a lover behind her. After hiding in a swamp she returned to her grandmother's shack where she occupied the crawl-space under its eaves. There she lived for seven years before escaping to Pennsylvania in 1842 and then moving on to New York, where she worked as a nursemaid. Jacobs published her book under the pseudonym of Linda Brent. She became a famous abolitionist, reformer and speaker on human rights. Frederick Douglass was just five years Jacobs' junior. He was born a slave in Maryland and he too suffered physical cruelty at the hands of his owners. In 1838 he escaped, boarding a train wearing a sailors uniform. Douglass became a social reformer of international fame principally because of his skill as an orator which propelled him to the status of statesman and diplomat as driven by his convictions regarding the fundamental equality of all human beings, he continued his campaigns for the rights of women generally, suffrage and emancipation.Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket.

The ordeals of two famous African AmericansThis special Leonaur edition combines the account of Harriet Ann Jacobs with that of Frederick Douglass. They were contemporaries and African Americans of note who shared a common background of slavery and, after their liberation, knew each other and worked for a common cause. The first account, a justifiably well known and highly regarded work, is that of Harriet Jacobs since this volume belongs in the Leonaur Women & Conflict series. Harriet Jacobs was born into slavery in North Carolina in 1813. Sold on as a child she suffered years of sexual abuse from her owner until in 1835 she escaped-leaving two children she'd had by a lover behind her. After hiding in a swamp she returned to her grandmother's shack where she occupied the crawl-space under its eaves. There she lived for seven years before escaping to Pennsylvania in 1842 and then moving on to New York, where she worked as a nursemaid. Jacobs published her book under the pseudonym of Linda Brent. She became a famous abolitionist, reformer and speaker on human rights. Frederick Douglass was just five years Jacobs' junior. He was born a slave in Maryland and he too suffered physical cruelty at the hands of his owners. In 1838 he escaped, boarding a train wearing a sailors uniform. Douglass became a social reformer of international fame principally because of his skill as an orator which propelled him to the status of statesman and diplomat as driven by his convictions regarding the fundamental equality of all human beings, he continued his campaigns for the rights of women generally, suffrage and emancipation.Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket.

A bloody episode of the Kentucky borderBy 1782 the American War of Independence was all but coming to its close and with it the birth of a new nation and the loss of an important colony for the British. The frontier settlements of Kentucky lay at the farthest reaches of European expansion, far away from the principal towns and cities of the established states, on the eastern seaboard of the continent. This was the frontier of its day where isolated farms, stockades, forts and villages were constantly in peril of attack by Indian tribes, their white allies and the British. Bryan's Station (sometimes called Bryant's Station) was a fortified settlement of forty cabins founded in 1775 on the Elkhorn Creek. It withstood attack on several occasions but in 1782, ten months after Cornwallis had surrendered at Yorktown, it came under siege by Canadian British forces under Caldwell, the renegade Simon Girty and 300 Shawnee Indians. The event was notable for an outstanding feat of bravery by the women of the settlement-which is of course recounted here in detail. When the besiegers discovered that relief was on its way in the form of the local militia they withdrew. After a pursuit of some 60 miles the British and their allies turned and lay in ambush. The combat that followed, known as the Battle of Blue Licks was disastrous for the Americans who lost 83 killed or captured for negligible loss among their enemy. Despite warnings from the veteran frontiersman Daniel Boone, who was with them, the militia blundered into the ambush losing nearly half their number including Boone's son, Israel, and the expedition's commanders, Todd and Trigg. Boone barely escaped on horseback, abandoning the body of his son who was mortally wounded in the neck. The engagement, the worse defeat suffered by Kentuckians during the war effectively ended the conflict in the east.Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket.

A bloody episode of the Kentucky borderBy 1782 the American War of Independence was all but coming to its close and with it the birth of a new nation and the loss of an important colony for the British. The frontier settlements of Kentucky lay at the farthest reaches of European expansion, far away from the principal towns and cities of the established states, on the eastern seaboard of the continent. This was the frontier of its day where isolated farms, stockades, forts and villages were constantly in peril of attack by Indian tribes, their white allies and the British. Bryan's Station (sometimes called Bryant's Station) was a fortified settlement of forty cabins founded in 1775 on the Elkhorn Creek. It withstood attack on several occasions but in 1782, ten months after Cornwallis had surrendered at Yorktown, it came under siege by Canadian British forces under Caldwell, the renegade Simon Girty and 300 Shawnee Indians. The event was notable for an outstanding feat of bravery by the women of the settlement-which is of course recounted here in detail. When the besiegers discovered that relief was on its way in the form of the local militia they withdrew. After a pursuit of some 60 miles the British and their allies turned and lay in ambush. The combat that followed, known as the Battle of Blue Licks was disastrous for the Americans who lost 83 killed or captured for negligible loss among their enemy. Despite warnings from the veteran frontiersman Daniel Boone, who was with them, the militia blundered into the ambush losing nearly half their number including Boone's son, Israel, and the expedition's commanders, Todd and Trigg. Boone barely escaped on horseback, abandoning the body of his son who was mortally wounded in the neck. The engagement, the worse defeat suffered by Kentuckians during the war effectively ended the conflict in the east.Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket.

From thrown rock to artillery shellAlbert Manucy's book examines the history of artillery from the earliest times to the late nineteenth century and describes how missiles were employed in conflicts prior to the Great War period. Every type of projectile throwing machine is considered from the earliest Ballista and Trebuchet to sophisticated ship-board naval guns and those designed for the fortified emplacements of coastal defences which were employed well into the twentieth century. Manucy not only describes the weapons but gives interesting insights into their performance and capabilities. He goes on to examine the use of gunpowder from its development to its employment in weaponry and describes many solid shot weapons and their respective specifications. The development of projectiles themselves is discussed-and their many varieties are detailed, including early rockets-as well as the tools employed by the gunners who fired the guns and employed the ammunition. This most engrossing book concludes with instruction on the practise of gunnery with explanations of the process of firing various weapons and includes many diagrams, charts of weapons and projectiles and line illustrations of gun crews demonstrating the sequence of firing. An excellent overview of the subject.Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket.

Cavalryman, Infantryman and Prisoner of WarThis personable first hand account of the American Civil War was written by William Tyler of the 9th Illinois Cavalry of the Union Army. It is an eye-witness narrative where the good nature of the author shines through the text and, as a consequence, as well as being a first rate source work of the horse soldiers in blue it is also a story full of humour, adventure and anecdote. The first part of the narrative deals with the business of war from the perspective of a trooper in the Union Cavalry, but Tyler's role was soon to change due to his singular success in the carrying of an important dispatch. As often happens, especially in military life, having demonstrated some talent Tyler became the 'expert on hand' and was given further dispatches to carry through perilous, enemy occupied country on a regular basis. He gives the impression that he relished the independence of action and the adventures that came his way. Discharged after a wound, Tyler re-enlisted, not to return to his old unit but in the 95th Illinois Infantry because he wished to be close to his brother who had joined that regiment. In a battle near Guntown, Mississippi, against Forrest's Confederates, Tyler was captured and sent to the notorious Andersonville prisoner of war jail. In the final part of his book he describes the appalling conditions and brutality suffered by the Union men in Andersonville which makes for revealing if harrowing reading.Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket.

Cavalryman, Infantryman and Prisoner of WarThis personable first hand account of the American Civil War was written by William Tyler of the 9th Illinois Cavalry of the Union Army. It is an eye-witness narrative where the good nature of the author shines through the text and, as a consequence, as well as being a first rate source work of the horse soldiers in blue it is also a story full of humour, adventure and anecdote. The first part of the narrative deals with the business of war from the perspective of a trooper in the Union Cavalry, but Tyler's role was soon to change due to his singular success in the carrying of an important dispatch. As often happens, especially in military life, having demonstrated some talent Tyler became the 'expert on hand' and was given further dispatches to carry through perilous, enemy occupied country on a regular basis. He gives the impression that he relished the independence of action and the adventures that came his way. Discharged after a wound, Tyler re-enlisted, not to return to his old unit but in the 95th Illinois Infantry because he wished to be close to his brother who had joined that regiment. In a battle near Guntown, Mississippi, against Forrest's Confederates, Tyler was captured and sent to the notorious Andersonville prisoner of war jail. In the final part of his book he describes the appalling conditions and brutality suffered by the Union men in Andersonville which makes for revealing if harrowing reading.Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket.