The Granite Mountain-Speculator Mine disaster of 1917 is one of the most inspiring and heart-rending stories in the history of the American West. It was the worst hard rock mining disaster ever, killing 168 men, affecting nearly 1000 miners and the whole city of Butte, Montana. In 1917, the Speculator mine was the most complex and deepest copper mine on the ¿richest hill on earth¿, with 400 men in more than 300 miles of tunnels and workings extending 3700 feet underground. Just before midnight, June 8th, a fire started 2400 feet down in the main shaft, and rapidly filled the tunnels with smoke and deadly gas. Most of the miners had no idea where the fire was, but were suddenly thrust into life and death situations, making split second decisions on which everything depended. Their actions ranged from animal terror to the most inspirational courage. They desperately tried every means to escape the labyrinth to other adjacent mines as the poison gas chased and overwhelmed many. Hundreds were trapped, including groups that sealed themselves into dead-end tunnels to try to survive the onslaught of gas. The book is written in the form of a novel from the miners¿ perspective and their families above ground, but is journalistically true in detail, based on 600 pages of eye-witness testimony from 70 survivors. This testimony was carefully matched with mining maps to reconstruct the men¿s actions and thoughts. The disaster unfolds like an accelerating avalanche, a chaos of frantic terror along with tremendous self-sacrifice of the miners for each other. It then turns into a detective story as the rescuers fight against time with the survivors¿ lives ebbing away, hidden behind air-tight walls deep in the mine, lost in an ocean of darkness and rock. This is a true story of the hearts of men and the human spirit, as men are stripped down to their core with nothing left to sustain them but their wills and devotion to each other: ¿no greater love hath any man than to lay down his life for his friend.¿

With Phlan in peril once more, Ren must rely on unlikely allies to find his missing friends and free the city from the grip of evil The entire city of Phlan has vanished, ripped from the surface of Toril by dire creatures and magical forces. While the minions of the evil god Bane bicker over the spoils, the brave citizens of Phlan mount a stubborn defense. A ranger-thief named Ren seeks his missing friends, Shal Bal and Tarl Desanea, spellcasters nonpareil. But to do so, Ren must band together with a mysterious sorceress and her intrepid shapershifter cat, as well as a couple of droll druids and a fearful knight who is absolutely, positively dead. Based on the computer game of the same name, this classic Forgotten Realms novel revisits the heroes of Phlan ten years after the city was saved in the best-selling novel and computer game Pool of Radiance.

The author of the #1 New York Times bestseller, The Revenant -- basis for the award-winning motion picture starring Leonardo DiCaprio -- tells the remarkable story of the worst hard-rock mining disaster in American history. A half-hour before midnight on June 8, 1917, a fire broke out in the North Butte Mining Company's Granite Mountain shaft. Sparked more than two thousand feet below ground, the fire spewed flames, smoke, and poisonous gas through a labyrinth of underground tunnels. Within an hour, more than four hundred men would be locked in a battle to survive. Within three days, one hundred and sixty-four of them would be dead. Fire and Brimstone recounts the remarkable stories of both the men below ground and their families above, focusing on two groups of miners who made the incredible decision to entomb themselves to escape the gas. While the disaster is compelling in its own right, Fire and Brimstone also tells a far broader story striking in its contemporary relevance. Butte, Montana, on the eve of the North Butte disaster, was a volatile jumble of antiwar protest, an abusive corporate master, seething labor unrest, divisive ethnic tension, and radicalism both left and right. It was a powder keg lacking only a spark, and the mine fire would ignite strikes, murder, ethnic and political witch hunts, occupation by federal troops, and ultimately a battle over presidential power.

First published in French in 1988, and in English in 1992, this companion explores the nature of the literary myth in a collection of over 100 essays, from Abraham to Zoroaster. Its coverage is international and draws on legends from prehistory to the modern age throughout literature, whether fiction, poetry or drama. Essays on classical figures, as well as later myths, explore the origin, development and various incarnations of their subjects. Alongside entries on western archetypes, are analyses of non-European myths from across the world, including Africa, China, Japan, Latin America and India. This book will be indispensable for students and teachers of literature, history and cultural studies, as well as anyone interested in the fascinating world of mythology. A detailed bibliography and index are included. ‘The Companion provides a fine interpretive road map to Western culture’s use of archetypal stories.’ Wilson Library Review ‘It certainly is a comprehensive volume... extremely useful.’ Times Higher Education Supplement

William Bennett and Michael Hague, the team that brought us the national bestseller The Children's Book of Virtues, have once again collaborated to create The Children's Book of Heroes, a beautifully illustrated celebration of heroic deeds, both real and fictional, that will delight and inspire millions of young children and their parents. "We all need a hero or two to help us stand fast and think right," says William J. Bennett, author of The Book of Virtues, the bestseller that millions of American families turn to for moral inspiration. With excerpts chosen for young children, this new treasury presents splendid tales of the valor and indomitable spirit that are a lasting testament to our cherished values. Jackie Robinson stands fast on the playing field and his strength of character inspires a nation. David slays Goliath and his faith and bravery give hope to underdogs everywhere. A little boy goes in search of an angel and finds one who guards him day and night: his own mother. From Abraham Lincoln and Mother Teresa to warriors on the battlefield, real moms and dads, and even young girls and boys, here are worthy and heroic figures all kids can look up to and emulate. The Children's Book of Heroes is a celebration of the endurance, sacrifice, courage, and compassion that characterize truly heroic deeds.