True Historical

Matilda Koontz cherishes her life as a wife and mother on a Missouri farm, but her hardworking husband wants to claim free farmland in the Pacific Northwest. When he suggests selling the farm to trek two thousand miles across the Oregon Trail, she balks. But in the spring of 1847, Matilda and Nicholas Koontz and their sons embark on a grueling journey westward. Fresh graves testify to dangers of disease, accidents, starvation, and a multitude of hazards threatening her family and her beloved’s dream.

At seventeen, he was thrown into the deadliest front of World War II. In 1942, a young German soldier was sent to the Eastern Front—into the icy Caucasus Mountains. Surrounded by cold, fear, and despair, he faced horrors that no teenager should ever endure. Wounded three times, every day could have been his last. More than eighty years later, his memories come to light—a raw and unfiltered testimony of survival, fear, and resilience—also available as an unabridged audiobook on Audible and Spotify. Inside this powerful World War II memoir, you will discover: • Survival against all ...

The American West was never just a man’s world. In The Forgotten Frontier, bestselling author Richard Fleischman uncovers the extraordinary lives of women who braved the harsh realities of the 19th-century American frontier. Through vivid, deeply researched storytelling, this powerful volume gives voice to the women who crossed mountains, deserts, and boundaries—both physical and social. From midwives who delivered babies on dirt floors to widows who defended their homes with rifles in hand, these women lived at the intersection of grit, grief, resilience, and resolve. Some followed ...

INTO THE AMERICAS (A novel based on a true story) is a gritty, real-life adventure based on one of history’s greatest survival stories. It was inspired by the diary entries of young English blacksmith John Jewitt during his time aboard the brigantine The Boston and also during his sojourn at Nootka Sound, on North America's western seaboard, from 1802 to 1805. Written by father-and-son writing team Lance & James Morcan (authors of The World Duology and The Orphan Trilogy), INTO THE AMERICAS is a tale of two vastly different cultures – Indigenous North American and European civilization ...

Deep Waters Hide Dark Secrets. The American South is renowned for its sweeping landscapes, sun-drenched coastlines, and thick, untamed wetlands. But beneath the scenic beauty of these blackwater bayous, mangrove forests, and coastal flatlands lies a shifting, treacherous terrain that has long been weaponized by the nation's most ruthless predators. In this gripping non-fiction anthology, journey deep into the shadows of the southern wilderness to uncover twenty of the most chilling, dynamic, and historic criminal investigations ever recorded. From the quiet mist of Lake Seminole to the ...

Every investigator knows the golden rule of a crime scene. Physical evidence never lies. Yet history is full of tragic missteps where the truth was buried beneath tunnel vision, forced confessions, and ignored details. This collection dives deep into the most complex investigations of the modern era. It explores the dark intersection where human error meets the undeniable reality of biology. You will follow the painstaking journey of real detectives, geneticists, and innocence organizations as they strip away decades of deception to reveal what actually happened. From tragic disappearances ...

Ever wondered how a single lie can reshape the world? From a forged letter that toppled a British government to a dead prince who came back to claim his throne — three times — this is a collection of history's most audacious deceptions. But it's also something rarer: a book about why we fall for them. Because almost none of these hoaxes worked by being clever. They worked because entire nations, grieving families, and frightened crowds wanted them to be true. Six unforgettable sections take you from the newsroom to the throne room, from the altar to the archive: HEADLINE HIJACKERS — ...

"Evil is an element. Like iron. Like carbon. It does not appear from nowhere. It was always there, in the first place." Budapest. Winter 1944. The Arrow Cross has taken the streets. Escaping Budapest follows one Jewish family through the final, terrifying months of World War II in Hungary, a city where a neighbor's knock can mean death and a stranger's hand can mean life. Miriam, István, and their seventeen-year-old daughter Magda are separated across a dying city in which human nature, freed of all restraint, has gone in every direction at once. Each of them will face a moment that no ...

"She could not hear the world. She learned to read it." For readers of The Tattooist of Auschwitz, The Librarian of Auschwitz, and The Nightingale. Berlin, October 1942. Seventeen-year-old Leah Adler has been deaf since the day she was born. In a quiet flat above her father's tailor shop, she has learned to listen with her hands, her cheekbones, the bones behind her eyes — to read a world that has never spoken to her. Then a brick comes through the front window. Then comes the yellow star. Then comes the knock at the door at half past five in the morning. When the cattle car opens at the ...

★★★★★ "I really enjoyed the fast-paced storyline, which made it unputdownable. The descriptions are raw, powerful, and heart-pulling. The author doesn’t shy from showing the ugliness and cruelty of the war and real-life situations. At the same time, we witness the beauty of true love, even through the worst of times." Gosia Nealon, the acclaimed author of "The Resistance Wife" and "The German Next Door" Two lovers ripped away from their families by the Nazis must survive slave labor and concentration camps in Germany during WWII to find each other again! In Nazi-occupied Poland,...

In a gay nightclub in Orlando on June 12, 2016, the shooter, Omar Mateen, murdered 49 people and wounded 53 others. The attack was the deadliest act of violence against the LGBTQ+ community in US history and the deadliest terrorist attack in the United States since 9/11. But there’s a story you haven’t heard. The FBI had a secret history with the shooter and his father. To obscure that history, the FBI pushed a false story that the media dutifully carried—that the attacker was a secretly gay Islamist extremist who had chosen to target Pulse and planned the attack for weeks.

Mariella yearns for a new life. When she meets Jack, an American GI visiting Rome, they only have one day before he ships off to Japan. Will they find their way back to each other and rekindle their love? War has forced 15-year-old Mariella to grow up too quickly. She is denied an education and obligated to care for her siblings while a horrific childhood tragedy haunts her. Adding to her misery, the Germans occupy Rome, and starvation, brutality, and fear have become the norm. Then she meets Jack, a kind American soldier with an endearing smile, and suddenly, a bright future seems possible...

ONE WOMAN. ONE MISSION. ONE DEADLY SECRET. The race is on! An unputdownable espionage thriller about NOOR INAYAT KHAN: an Indian princess turned Allied spy during WWII. A secret so deadly, no one is safe. PRINCESS OF SPIES will grip you to the very end. ★★★★★ ´If you loved The Nightingale or The Alice Network, you won’t put this down.´ ★★★★★ ´Over the course of these pages you will suffer, you will be shocked by the horror and anguish; but you will also discover an ode to the struggle against tyranny, to faith in something that lasts beyond death, and to love.´ —...

Always Greener is an exquisite portrait of Kate Grenville's complex, conflicted grandmother, who she feared as a child and only in adulthood came to understand. Born in rural Australia, Dolly Russell becomes a successful businessperson, mother and troubled wife. Then came the depression, bankruptcy and World War I. Yet, in a way, those disasters freed her. They allowed her to use her intelligence and ambition to make a space for herself in a man’s world.

Weird but True Stories from the 1950's: Bizarre, Shocking, and Unbelievable Tales from America’s Atomic Age Think you know the 1950's? Think again. Beneath the surface of poodle skirts, chrome diners, and black-and-white TV was a decade overflowing with mystery, irony, and stranger-than-fiction true stories. This captivating collection reveals ten astonishing real-life events from the 1950's that defy expectation and logic—each one verified and rooted in historical fact. From radar panic over Washington D.C. to the eerie Phantom Whistler of New Jersey, from mid-air collisions with ...

A damaged U.S. submarine leaves Fremantle with unreliable torpedoes, a secret coded mission, and a captain haunted by the twelve Marines he left behind. September 1942. USS Rathbone is ordered into hostile waters with a crew still learning to trust its new commander. When a sealed directive sends them toward a mysterious signal called PILGRIM, Lieutenant Commander Thomas Deere must lead his boat through Japanese convoys, faulty torpedoes, depth charges, and a mission that may cost more than any man aboard can bear. Perfect for readers of classic WWII submarine fiction, Pacific war thrillers...

Discover a heart-wrenching and powerful story of love and survival in Crow’s Song, a WWII Historical Romance novel. Follow the intertwined stories of Piet and Ava, two children whose lives are separated by the horrors of war. As they struggle to outrun the darkness of the past, will they be able to find a future together? This is a tale of courage and strength that will stay with you long after you've turned the final page. If you're a fan of Beneath a Scarlet Sky, Not Without My Sister, The Nightingale, and the Tattooist of Auschwitz, you won't want to miss this moving story. Recent book...

Ambushed in Afghanistan and betrayed by their own leaders, these elite Marines fought for their lives again, back home. A cross between A Few Good Men and American Sniper, this is the true story of an elite Marine special operations unit bombed by an IED and shot at during an Afghanistan ambush. The Marine Commandos were falsely accused of gunning down innocent Afghan civilians following the ambush. The unit’s leader, Major Fred Galvin, was summarily relieved of duty, and his unit was booted from the combat zone.

Based on the remarkable true story of Irish convict John Graham, WHITE SPIRIT is an epic historical adventure set in 19th Century Australia. After escaping from the notorious Moreton Bay Penal Settlement, Graham finds refuge with the Kabi, a tribe of Aborigines who eventually accept him as one of their own. Attempts to recapture Graham are orchestrated by a variety of contrasting characters working for the all-pervasive British Empire. They include Moreton Bay's tyrannical, opium-addicted commandant Lord Cheetham, the dashing yet warlike Lieutenant Hogan, native tracker Barega and the penal...

True Crime Stories You Won't Believe-Omnibus Edition s brings together three critically acclaimed volumes—Books One, Two, and Three—into a single, unflinching collection of true crime stories that dig deeper than most. From forgotten killers and overlooked trials to psychological profiles and courtroom spectacles, this is a journey through the darkest corners of criminal history. Written by forensic psychologist and author Romeo Vitelli, Ph.D., this omnibus offers a sweeping look at real-life crimes that defy easy explanation. These aren’t just tales of murder—they are explorations ...