History comes to life in this dynamic volume! Here are inside views of twenty writers—people of all shapes, sizes, temperaments, and lifestyles, from various countries and historical periods....

The Summer of 1916 was brutally hot, driving thousands to the Jersey Shore to indulge in the newfangled activity of swimming in the ocean, and a good swimmer could strut his stuff in front of an...

As a fourteen-year-old, he was Malcolm Little, the president of his class and a top student. At sixteen, he was hustling tips at a Boston nightclub. In Harlem, he was known as Detroit Red, a slick...