NCW Libraries

Facing death rather than enslavement-a story of one man's triumphant choice and ultimate rise to national hero. It was a mild May morning in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1862, the second year of the Civil War, when a twenty-three-year-old slave named Robert Smalls did the unthinkable and boldly seized a Confederate steamer. With his wife and two young children hidden on board, Smalls and a small crew ran a gauntlet of heavily armed fortifications...

Brave and ambitious, Barry ascended the ratlines to become a successful merchant captain at a young age, commanding the most prestigious ship in the colonies. During the War for Independence, he faced down broadsides, mutinies, and even a fleet of icebergs. With peace came a historic voyage to China, where Barry helped open trade with that reclusive empire.

A thrilling narrative biography of William Barker Cushing, the Civil War's most celebrated naval hero. October 1864. The fearsome Confederate ironclad CSS Albemarle had taken control of the Roanoke River and threatening the Union blockade. 21-year-old navy lieutenant William Barker Cushing hatched a daring plan: to attack the warship with a few dozen men in two small wooden boats. What followed, including Cushing's harrowing two-day escape downriver...