A former "New York Times" reporter's year behind the scenes at the scandal-ridden Air Force Academy

Diana Jean Schemo covered the Air Force Academy's sexual assault scandal in 2003, one of a series of academy embarrassments that have included drug use, rape complaints, and charges of evangelical officers pushing Christianity on cadets of all faiths. Today, the institution is in flux--a fascinating time to look at the changes being made and the experience of today's cadets.

Schemo followed a handful of academy cadets through the school year. From the admissions process and punishing weeks of basic training to graduation, she shares the triumphs and tribulations of the cadets and the struggle of the academy's leaders to set their embattled alma mater on a straighter path.Follows cadets in all grades, with insights on day-to-day academy life and trainingWritten by a veteran reporter, two-time foreign correspondent and Pulitzer Prize nominee, with excellent contacts at the academyIncludes 38 black-and-white photographs

Like David Lipsky's successful "Absolutely American: Four Years at West Point," this book offers a fascinating window on the training of our military today. But Schemo's book updates the story: the seniors were the first class to sign up after the attacks of 9/11, and the road to graduation, this time, leads to an America at war.

The first Architect of the Capitol, William Thornton, was raised in England and studied medicine at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. Dr. Thornton traveled extensively on a study tour in Europe before briefly practicing medicine in Philadelphia (1786-1790) where he met and married Anna Maria Brodeau. His descendants can now be found across the United States, including Virginia, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Tennessee, Ohio, Illinois and Florida. Originally from Yorkshire, England the name Thornton means "thorn hill."

Much has been written about the Knights Templar; their code of conduct, their way of life, the battles and political machinations that took place, the trials which ended their order, and the 9 men who founded their order, and the one who commanded them at the end, Jacque de Molay. While some work has been done to identify the men and women who served as Templars in individual kingdoms and countries, this is the first comprehensive work to merge all of them together and to review the commanderies where they served. Volume 2 of this series identifies the commanders, seneschals, treasurers, drapers, turcopoliers, and more in Spain, Portugal, Switzerland, Italy, Rhodes, Malta, Cyprus, Jerusalem, Outremer, Turkey, Greece, Armenia, Syria, Egypt, Germany, Poland and the Netherlands and the commanderies and fortresses that they built. Tour the castles and fortresses that they commanded and learn how each area played a part in the Crusades.

The parish registers of St. James Parish on Herring Creek in Anne Arundel, MD - established 1692 - have long been out-of-print. Because of this, the author has transcribed the parish records books of the St. James Parish, along with those in Christ Church, West River, and Cliffs. All are in Anne Arundel County, MD and include dates back to the middle 1600's through the 1700s. There are two (2) sections to this book. The first is an index of all the individuals, birth, marriage and death dates along WITH their spouse's name. At the center of the book is the index for Part 1. Part 2 gives basically the same information but includes the place of birth, marriage and death, WITHOUT the names of their spouses. The index at the end of the book is for Part 2. To place these names into family groups, please see ancestry.com for the family file called Anne-Arundel. Front cover photo: St. James Parish today Rear cover photo: St. James cemetery which abutts the parish church.

Few individuals can document their ancestry back 85 generations. Even fewer can trace their ancestry to the Merovingian, Capetian, and Carolingian Kings, the Sea-Kings of Norway, the Ancient Irish Kings of Tara, and the Grail Fisher Kings of ancient Wales. These ancestry lines extend as far back as 780 BC in the ancient city of Jerusalem, at Tara Castle in Ireland, and Skarra Brae in ancient Orkney. Family names such as Wolter, Schwartz, Hanke, Kittlesby, Rolefson, Austin, Scott, Thorndyke, Madill, Easley and Russell soon give way to Grunewald and Albrechts from Germany, Brandt from Norway and Allington, Sinclair, Plantagenet, Redmayne, DeGotham, Waldegrave, de La Tour, DeVere, de Coucy of Britain and Normandy - to Rollo, Halfdan Sveidisoon, Thorfinn of Orkney, Frosti, King of Kvenland and Owain of Wales. Queens, Kings, Earls and Templar Knights, Lords and Barons dominate the lines; all ambitious, powerful and enigmatic leaders of the past who encouraged and fought for the future that we enjoy.

The McAllister family. Clifford McAllister father comes from a family who joined the Mormon Church in Ireland and emigrated to the Americas in the 19th Century. Descended from the Ancient Kings of Ireland from Tara Castle, they first moved to Alabama and later moved to Indiana where they became business people, teachers, doctors, attorneys and soldiers. Clifford's mother's family came from England to Virginia in the early 1700s and soon moved to Georgia, North Carolina and Alabama. Related to Winston Churchill, Prime Minister of England, they descend from the Merovingians Kings of Normandy, Welsh Kings, William The Conqueror, Robert de Bruce of Scotland and the Sea-Kings of Norway. A compilation of everything that has been done by other members of the family, there is still a lot of research to be done, and lots to learn about individuals in this amazing genealogy. Descended from powerful, enigmatic leaders of the past, they have paved the way for our future.