The untold story of the innovative pioneers who helped make movies the preeminent art form of the twentieth century. The founders of the now infamous Academy were a motley crew as individuals, but when they first converged in Hollywood, then just a small town with dirt roads, sparks flew and fueled a common dream: to bring artistic validity to their beloved new medium. Who were these movers and shakers who would change movies forever? And what about Oscar, their famous son? He is fast approaching his hundredth birthday and is still the undisputed king of Hollywood. Yet with such dynamic parents, what else could we expect?

Idioms are expressions that cannot be understood from their individual words alone, and the English language is full of them—and so is this dictionary: 4,800+ English idioms and phrases with example sentences included for you so as to understand them all. This is the essential idioms dictionary if you want to talk like a native speaker—or just find out more about the colorful phrases you hear and say every day.

The history of the Jeff Davis Artillery is the story of a company of Alabamians who fought with valor and distinction for the Confederacy during more than three and a half years of active service. As part of the Army of Northern Virginia, these soldiers played an integral part in most of the major campaigns of the Eastern Theatre, participating in the crucial battles at Sharpsburg, Gettysburg, and Spotsylvania, among others. Here, Lawrence Laboda tells the story of an artillery unit relatively unknown to Civil War enthusiasts, but whose performance on the fields of battle more than justified the honor of being named after the President of the Confederacy. After their recruitment in Selma, Alabama, we learn that the men of the Jeff Davis Artillery found themselves under many different commanders. It was only when First Lieutenant Robert F. Beckham, Captain James W. Bondurant, and Captain William J. Reese took command that the unit matured as a military organization, and provided its most efficient service on the field of battle. Even though unfortunate circumstances later in the war caused the company to be divided between two commands, the Alabama Battery's skill and determination carried through in all of the engagements that followed. On more than one occassion, the Jeff Davis Artillery received praise from the Confederate high command, including General Robert E. Lee himself. Within the Confederate Army, the reputation of the unit was no doubt one of the best, but after the fighting was done, the war record of this particular company, except for a rare article or mention in an obituary, never received proper recognition. It is only fitting, therefore, that the entire story of the gallant Alabamians finally be told. From Selma to Appomattox goes beyond the unit's combat record to explore its day to day challenges. Conditions on and off the battlefield were less than ideal at times, and from the beginning, the company as a whole fell victim to the horrors of disease. One glance down the roster list shows the extreme seriousness of the situation. Even disease was not their most immediate concern, however, as Laboda describes the unit's difficulties in finding food, horses, and even recruits while enduring the reorganizations of an army at war. With the assistance of numerous detailed maps, he follows the ever-proud Alabamians into their first fight at Seven Pines, through the major battles of the Peninsula, South Mountain, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Spotsylvania, and Cedar Creek, and ultimately to their surrender at Appomattox.

“A welcome new account of Stuart’s fateful ride during the 1863 Pennsylvania campaign . . . well researched, vividly written, and shrewdly argued.” —Mark Grimsley, author of And Keep Moving On June 1863. The Gettysburg Campaign is in its opening hours. Harness jingles and hoofs pound as Confederate cavalryman James Ewell Brown (JEB) Stuart leads his three brigades of veteran troopers on a ride that triggers one of the Civil War’s most bitter and enduring controversies. Instead of finding glory and victory-two objectives with which he was intimately familiar, Stuart reaped stinging criticism and substantial blame for one of the Confederacy’s most stunning and unexpected battlefield defeats. In Plenty of Blame to Go Around: Jeb Stuart’s Controversial Ride to Gettysburg, Eric J. Wittenberg and J. David Petruzzi objectively investigate the role Stuart’s horsemen played in the disastrous campaign. It is the first book ever written on this important and endlessly fascinating subject. Did the plumed cavalier disobey General Robert E. Lee’s orders by stripping the army of its “eyes and ears?” Was Stuart to blame for the unexpected combat that broke out at Gettysburg on July 1? Authors Wittenberg and Petruzzi, widely recognized for their study and expertise of Civil War cavalry operations, have drawn upon a massive array of primary sources, many heretofore untapped, to fully explore Stuart’s ride, its consequences, and the intense debate among participants shortly after the battle, through early post-war commentators, and among modern scholars. The result is a richly detailed study jammed with incisive tactical commentary, new perspectives on the strategic role of the Southern cavalry, and fresh insights on every horse engagement, large and small, fought during the campaign.

Following the Battle of Nashville, Confederate General John Bell Hood's Army of Tennessee was in full retreat, from the battle lines south of Nashville to the Tennessee River at the Alabama state line. Ferocious engagements broke out along the way as Hood's small rearguard, harried by Federal Cavalry brigades, fought a 10-day running battle over 100 miles of impoverished countryside during one of the worst winters on record.