Most Popular Books by Ann Arnold

History of the Daughters of the American Revolution's first one hundred years.

A gripping account of rampant crime in Fort Worth, Texas, during the 1930s, through the 1950s, with hoodlums, gamblers, murderers, dopers, pimps, and lawmen on the take. The author recounts the days when Fort Worth was as wide open as Las Vegas with gambling and crime that rivaled New York and Chicago with mob hits, exploding cars, and late-night police raids. The personalities were larger than life, some went on to fame in other parts of the country such as Las Vegas gambling pioneer Benny Binion. While others met an early demise such as Herbert "The Cat" Noble. Jacksboro Highway resembled "The Strip" in Las Vegas with casinos and night clubs that served as the epicenter for illegal activity, and the money and the blood flowed, while the law turned a blind eye to the mayhem. Ann Arnold gives a detailed account of almost two dozen gangland slayings and spills the beans, naming names of those indicted, complete with the final report of a special grand jury that ended the era.

On June 4, 1741, Georg Wilhelm Steller set sail from Avacha Bay in Siberia on the St. Peter, under the command of Vitus Bering. The crew was bound for America on the last leg of an expedition whose mission was to explore, describe, and map Russia’s vast lands from the Ural Mountains across Siberia to the Kamchatka Peninsula, and possibly lay claim to the northwest coast of America – if they could find it, for no European had ever reached America by this route. Officially, Steller was the ship’s mineralogist, but in practice he was its doctor, minister, and naturalist as well. Appointed to the expedition in 1737 by the Academy of Science in St. Petersburg, he was sworn to secrecy concerning any discoveries. Making judicious use of Steller’s richly detailed journals and liberal use of illustrations and maps, Ann Arnold allows the reader to join Steller on this fascinating voyage and its final dangerous mission, which left half the crew dead and the rest suffering from scurvy.

In 1837, when Alexis Soyer was just twenty-five years old, he became head chef at the exclusive Reform Club in London on the condition that he be allowed to participate in the design of the kitchen. The result was a showplace filled with Soyer's clever inventions, such as the drainer and the multi-egg poacher, and it became the most talked about kitchen in all of Europe. Soyer quickly established himself as a star, but for all his flamboyance he was practical and large-hearted, cooking for the starving populace as well as the aristocracy, opening soup kitchens during the Irish potato famine, and teaching the army how to feed itself in the Crimean War. Filled with biographical detail and lively illustrations, The Adventurous Chef tells the story of a remarkable man who was determined to revolutionize the culinary world and who remains one of the greatest cooks of the nineteenth century.

Fort Worth physicians fought and overcame enemies too small to be seen with the naked eye. This is their story. In 1853 settler Julian Field needed a doctor. Carroll M. Peck responded and became the first civilian doctor at the old fort. From the first he and others rode horseback, and later drove Model Ts, as they ministered to the sick. Along the way they established a health care system that drew patients from across the state and nation. Nuns came from San Antonio to create St. Joseph Hospital, thus replacing kitchen table surgeries with well-equipped operating rooms. From these humble beginnings, dedicated and inovative men and women saved lives and endeared themselves to grateful patients. History is more than dates and battles. It is the chronicle of people and their impact on the lives of others. This book salutes medical pioneers, past and present.

A children's alphabet book for Christmas, with all proceeds going to St Helena Hospice, Colchester.