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Best Expeditions & Discoveries World History

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage
Their survival, and the survival of the men they left behind, depended on their small lifeboat successfully finding the island of South Georgia-a tiny dot of land in a vast and hostile ocean. 'A superb account of the greatest survival story of our time' - Chris Bonington The story of Ernest Shackleton's epic journey to cross the Antarctic overland has now been turned into four hours of gripping television with Kenneth Branagh playing Shackleton. Shackleton's mission failed, but the resulting adventure became one of the most celebrated accounts of man's survival against unbelievable odds.
Reviews
"Other must-reads in the genre are The Long Walk (though that turns out to be most likely fiction so I no longer recommend it), Into the Wild, and Arctic Adventure: My Life in the Frozen North. At the time of launching, Shakleton's expedition was history's most extensively planned exploratory trip to Antarctic, complete with a photographer, scientists, carpenters and engineers (a crew of 27 in total). The crew salvaged what it could and was forced to make do with dwindling supplies and provisions, eventually eating some of their beloved dogs. I won't dampen your reading pleasure by giving away too much of the unfolding events, but through a combination of amazing resourcefulness, outstanding leadership, and ultimately incredible luck on the part of Shakleton, the whole crew survived without a single life lost."
"The actual photographs of the Endurance stuck in the ice are worth the price of the new edition."
"Absolutely fascinating journey and the author did an awesome job with his research."
"Incredible, exciting and at times terrifying firsthand report of the ill-fated attempt by iconic English adventurer Ernest Shackleton to cross the Antarctic by land. Note: I happened to read this book during a week on Hilton Head Island during the month of August in some of the balmiest weather I've ever experienced -- the irony wasn't lost on me while reading it that there possibly could be no more environment so totally opposite the one described in this books harrowing but fascinating and inspirational pages."
"Although I know every sequence and outcome, I don't tire of this epic narrative, and the final chapter never fails to make me tear up."
"A great read for anyone who enjoys the outdoors, fest adventures, and especially the cold."
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Into the Wild
Immediately after graduating from college in 1991, McCandless had roamed through the West and Southwest on a vision quest like those made by his heroes Jack London and John Muir. Digging deeply, he takes an inherently compelling mystery and unravels the larger riddles it holds: the profound pull of the American wilderness on our imagination; the allure of high-risk activities to young men of a certain cast of mind; the complex, charged bond between fathers and sons. Krakauer brings McCandless's uncompromising pilgrimage out of the shadows, and the peril, adversity , and renunciation sought by this enigmatic young man are illuminated with a rare understanding--and not an ounce of sentimentality. Anyone who ever fancied wandering off to face nature on its own harsh terms should give a look. "Engrossing...with a telling eye for detail, Krakauer has captured the sad saga of a stubborn, idealistic young man."
Reviews
"“Into Thin Air” is Jon Krakauer’s best-selling memoir of the 1996 Mount Everest tragedy. It tells the story of Krakauer’s experiences as part of the ill-fated commercial expedition to Mount Everest in May 1996. In order to write his story, Krakauer, who was already an experienced mountaineer, would join the Adventure Consultants team in climbing Everest, and then write about his experiences afterward. Krakauer admits writing “Into Thin Air” in order to explain the Everest tragedy from his perspective. If Krakauer had left his story right there, it would have been an outstanding book about death and survival on Everest."
"I am not the adventurous type and know nothing about mountain climbing, but I chose to read this narrative first of all because I enjoy Krakauer's writing. For the benefit of those unacquainted with the esoteric world of mountain climbing, Krakauer uses extensive footnotes to elucidate everything from climbing equipment to the topography of the mountainous regions surrounding Everest."
"This was a pure tragedy with so much blame to go around that wasting time on blame after the fact is a sad and unnecessary cap to this story."
"The recent release of Everest (or reinterpretation) prompted me to read this as well as other books about the climbing season in question."
"Gripping story of the tragic Everest ascent on which many members of various climbing groups lost their lives."
"While all recounts are altered by internal bias and different interpretations, and oxygen deprived exhaustion here in this case, I really liked that he attempted to view situations for different viewpoints and tried to dig down into giving an accurate report."
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The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey
Together with his son Kermit and Brazil’s most famous explorer, Cândido Mariano da Silva Rondon, Roosevelt accomplished a feat so great that many at the time refused to believe it. Along the way, Roosevelt and his men faced an unbelievable series of hardships, losing their canoes and supplies to punishing whitewater rapids, and enduring starvation, Indian attack, disease, drowning, and a murder within their own ranks. The beauty of this story is not just that Roosevelt’s rich history could spawn a thousand adventure stories, but that Millard’s experience with National Geographic is evident in her beautiful scenic descriptions and grisly depictions of the Amazon’s man-eating catfish, ferocious piranhas, white-water rapids, and prospect of starvation.
Reviews
"It has everything a reader would want: the mysteries and terror of the jungle, the incredible and deadly complexity of the river, the inept preparations for the adventure, the wild and unknown Indians of the region, needless deaths, murder, history, and the bigger-than-life story of the aging Teddy, his son, Kermit, and the rest of the exploration party. Millard's Churchill book was good, but it suffered from often static setting, mostly in a Boer prison."
"I always hate when I'm reading a book and I can't wait to do the rating because I hate the book."
"I have no doubt that Candice Millard's "River of Doubt" is one of the best books of the decade. In all of this author Millard's scholarship is impeccable."
"It is a fascinating, detailed account of this robust former president and his attempt to overcome nature."
"The author has put together true facts and figures."
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Best Central American History

The Path Between the Seas: The Creation of the Panama Canal, 1870-1914
The National Book Award–winning epic chronicle of the creation of the Panama Canal, a first-rate drama of the bold and brilliant engineering feat that was filled with both tragedy and triumph, told by master historian David McCullough. On December 31, 1999, after nearly a century of rule, the United States officially ceded ownership of the Panama Canal to the nation of Panama. A wave of fortune seekers descended on Panama from Europe and the eastern United States, seeking quick passage on California-bound ships in the Pacific, and the Panama Railroad, built to serve that traffic, was soon the highest-priced stock listed on the New York Exchange.
Reviews
"Because the French effort was publicly financed most of the detail concerns all the financial schemes needed to keep this project moving ahead. While this was important information to know as the basis for the subsequent American effort I do believe that it was vastly overdone and could have benefited from serious editing. In the history of this canal you have innovative people from a variety of disciplines from medicine to engineering, from management to human resources and it was fascinating to read about their problems and the solutions they devised to solve them. But I will grant that much of the fascination a reader could have had from this book was diluted by the cumbersome length and depth of detail."
"And I just want to say, in my opinion, Godin de Lepinay is really the unsung hero of the Panama Canal, the true genius behind the construction of the Canal. But in my going through the Canal the greatest engineering feature that struck me, was the one de Lepinay was the first to propose. I had no idea until I read the book who was the first to come up with the idea, but the book did mention it, and it was de Lepinay."
"My only complaint was it was a very long book but with that being said I enjoyed all the detail, relationships, antagonisms, bureaucracy, pitfalls (numerous), data, weather complications, Panamanian lifestyle, and tragically the loss of life."
"Incredible story of brave people, engineering and construction, exploration, health and sanitation. As between finance, politics and engineering, the latter is key to successful completion of a real-world project; the former two are also necessary and were poured in abundantly by French and Americans. A few slow spots are bogged by excessive detail, but the story is thoroughly researched and documented and oh so real and alive."
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Best Slavery & Emancipation History

The Dawn of Detroit: A Chronicle of Slavery and Freedom in the City of the Straits
A New York Times “Editor’s Choice” selection. A Booklist Editors’ Choice Title for 2017. “If many Americans imagine slavery essentially as a system in which black men toiled on cotton plantations, Miles upends that stereotype several times over.”. — New York Times Book Review. The result is fascinating history, little explored and eloquently told, of the limits of freedom in early America, one that adds new layers of complexity to the story of a place that exerts a strong fascination in the media and among public intellectuals, artists, and activists. “Historian Miles ( Tales from the Haunted South ) has written a book that will reorient the focus of early slavery in North America Westward to include Detroit as central to any understanding of the tangled relations of French, English, Euro-Americans, Indians, and Africans on the frontier from the 18th to early 19th century. “In this exemplary history that shows how slavery made early Detroit, Professor Tiya Miles demonstrates that Malcolm X (whose activist father was lynched in Michigan) was right when he insisted that all of the United States is south of the Mason-Dixon Line. There is no finer writer among historians than Tiya Miles.”. — Edward Baptist, professor, department of history, Cornell University, and author of The Half Has Never Been Told: Slavery and the Making of American Capitalism. “Extracting seemingly lost lives from sparse records to recover the humanity of people regarded as property, Tiya Miles exposes the tenacity of slavery and forced labor, both black and Indian, in multiethnic and multicultural Detroit during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. “The Dawn of Detroit once again demonstrates that Tiya Miles is the rarest sort of historian: a brilliant and humane observer who can build an account of the terrifying difference of the past out of a series of observations that have the plain familiarity of family history.”. — Walter Johnson, Winthrop Professor of History, Harvard University, and author of Soul by Soul: Life Inside the Antebellum Slave Market. Praise for Tiya Miles: “[Tiya Miles] has reframed and reinterpreted the history of our diverse nation.” —The MacArthur Foundation.
Reviews
"It would be easy to think of this book as the slavery in early Detroit book. This book is the first whole book on early Detroit. There are now three canonical books for understanding colonial Detroit: Brian Dunnigan’s Frontier Metropolis for the images, Helen Tanner’s Atlas of Great Lakes Indian History for the maps and Tiya Miles masterpiece The Dawn of Detroit for the story of North America’s most interesting and soulful city."
"No Moral High Ground for Northerners. Joel Thurtell. In the small Michigan town where I grew up, the cemetery has a statue of a Union soldier wearing a US Army cap and holding a rifle. These are reminders that Michigan sent men to fight and die to preserve the Union and free the South’s slaves. After “The Dawn of Detroit,” it will not be possible for Northerners smugly to condemn the South as a slave-owning society whose “peculiar institution” was overthrown by forces of good directed from a North that abhorred slavery. She ingeniously uses primary sources such as the ancient baptism records of Detroit’s St. Anne’s church to identify both owners and slaves. These people, known as “panis,” worked in bondage at the same time that Africans were being imported to the New World to provide unpaid labor to Europeans, who employed either form of slave as opportunity arose."
"There is no part of our country, and our daily lives, that are not touched by the effects of slavery and dehumanization of both African Americans and Indigenous Americans. Miles not only provides the detailed research that is required for such a shift in thinking, but she does it in a way that brings to life the stories of those who lived under the rule of slavers in Detroit."
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Best Women in History

What Happened
Now free from the constraints of running, Hillary takes you inside the intense personal experience of becoming the first woman nominated for president by a major party in an election marked by rage, sexism, exhilarating highs and infuriating lows, stranger-than-fiction twists, Russian interference, and an opponent who broke all the rules. In these pages, she describes what it was like to run against Donald Trump, the mistakes she made, how she has coped with a shocking and devastating loss, and how she found the strength to pick herself back up afterward. It is a candid and blackly funny account of her mood in the direct aftermath of losing to Donald J. Trump. Ultimately, the book might be a historical artifact most of all — the chronicling of what, exactly, it was like to run for president as the first woman major-party candidate (and, yes, a Clinton as well). Plenty may disagree with Clinton’s opinions on what went wrong for her, but her story will still be an important part of that history when America looks back on the melee that was the 2016 election.” —. NPR. While What Happened records the perspective of a pioneer who beat an unprecedented path that stopped just shy of the White House, it also covers territory that many women will recognize.... She demonstrates that she can mine her situation for humor.” — People.
Reviews
"She was less convincing on this front as virtually nothing Sanders said against HRC during the primary battle was new; his criticisms of HRC were general talking points before Sanders ever entered the contest. The book whitewashes the DNC's actions against Sanders during the primary, actions that turned a good number of Sanders supporters (HRC continues use of the odious "Bernie Bros." epithet) against her. HRC praises the hard work of Donna Brazile but fails to mention how Brazile was caught stealing debate questions (for the debate with Sanders) from CNN and then leaking those questions to HRC and not to Sanders. What is telling in HRC's memoir and analysis are her own blind spots, her weakness as a campaigner who fails to inspire, her over-reliance on her status as "first female Presidential nominee from a major party" (53% of white women voted for Trump, but HRC doesn't examine why), and her refusal to acknowledge how the DNC, during the primary, alienated the progressive voters she would later need to win the general election. (Even here, though, we have figures now indicating that 12% of Sanders supporters went over to Trump, whereas in 2008, after HRC lost the primary to Obama, 24% of her supporters went over to McCain. In other words, Sanders supporters were still more supportive of HRC than HRC's supporters were of Obama by 2-to-1.)."
"I wrote a verified purchase review and it has been deleted 3 times."
"I'm a non-partisan who has actually read this book and have to agree with many of the negative reviews here."
"what happened to the negative reviews?"
"I voted for her."
"I voted for Bill Clinton in both Presidential elections and voted for Hillary Clinton against Trump last year. I think that there are some good things to be said about Hillary Clinton. But still, this book seems to crystallize for me a lot of the problems that I have with Hillary Clinton at this moment in time, and the problems that I have with the Democratic party, and in general why I think that they are currently doing so badly. Although Clinton does attempt in the book to explain why she lost the election, in the end, she really seems to have no idea. If instead the book had been called "What Campaigning in the 2016 Election Was Like for Me," likely I would feel comfortable giving the book another star. So if the goal of the reader is to learn more about Hillary Clinton, as a person, then perhaps this book is worth reading. What the book does not do is to provide any reasoned or persuasive discussion on what I see as the key questions that political leaders need to be discussing with regard to the 2016 election and the current state of affairs. In my opinion, the biggest question that Clinton does not discuss at all in this book is how much the Democratic party has turned all of its focus toward the goal of making rich people (like Jeff Bezos, no?). Not once in the book does she consider the possibility that perhaps the reason that Sanders was popular was because the Democratic party (as well as the Republican party) had focused too much of its attention on the 1% (or, more specifically, the 0.0001%) and had left the rest of the population out in the cold. In general, the impression that I get from this book about Clinton in general - in terms of her political life and her personal life - is that she believes she is right about everything, that she is very very defensive about the idea that she is right about everything, and that she is very slow to change in the face of new information. All of those are the LAST things that I would use if I got sick, and the idea of Hillary Clinton forcing them on me anyway makes me wonder what other kinds of outmoded, counterproductive things she would have tried to force on the American public had she become President."
"In my previous review I referenced her book Hard Choices...."Believe it or not I actually liked this book.""
"It's an incredible look at how hard a person can work to come up with every reason possible why everyone else is to blame."
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Best Maritime History & Piracy

Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates: The Forgotten War That Changed American History
Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates reads like an edge-of-your-seat, page-turning thriller. No one captures the danger, intrigue, and drama of the American Revolution and its aftermath like Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger.” —Brad Thor This is the little-known story of how a newly indepen­dent nation was challenged by four Muslim powers and what happened when America’s third president decided to stand up to intimidation. Few today remember these men and other heroes who inspired the Marine Corps hymn: “From the Halls of Montezuma to the Shores of Tripoli, we fight our country’s battles in the air, on land and sea.” Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates recaptures this forgot­ten war that changed American history with a real-life drama of intrigue, bravery, and battle on the high seas. I thoroughly enjoyed this must read that brings to life a critical period in our nation’s history and shows the importance of a navy in our nation’s security.” —KIRK S. LIPPOLD, former commander of the USS Cole; author of Front Burner: Al Qaeda’s Attack on the USS Cole “No one captures the danger, intrigue, and drama of the American Revolution and its aftermath like Brian Kilmeade and Don Yaeger.” —BRAD THOR, bestselling author of Code of Conduct “A colorful, exciting, and historic account of an overlooked portion of American military history, and a wonderful tribute to the brave sailors and Marines who set a high standard for U.S. maritime operations.” —GENERAL JACK KEANE (Ret. Count on Kilmeade and Yaeger to remind us of it with this swashbuckling adventure.” —MARCUS LUTTRELL, former Navy SEAL; author of Lone Survivor and Service “If you want to understand the deep historic roots of the 9/11 attacks and what it will take to win the war against today’s jihadists, you must read this book.” —DR.
Reviews
"Enjoyed reading and learning the history."
"I don't think this history is generally known by Americans and ought to be."
"Very informative book about a topic that is definitely not taught in school."
"Loved the book."
"A GREAT HISTORY LESSON.WHAT THE GREAT PRESIDENTS DID TO MAKE AMERICA WHAT IT IS TODAY.IT SHOULD SHOW ALL AMERICANS WHAT WE MUST DO TODAY TO KEEP OUR COUNTRY STRONG."
"Very interesting to read about the history of early merchant shipping in the Mediterranean and the sort of piracy that continues along the west African Coast (Somalia)."
"Great detail, almost too much at first but once accustom to it I wanted more."
"Amazing story."
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Best Religious History

Killing Jesus (Bill O'Reilly's Killing Series)
Millions of readers have thrilled by bestselling authors Bill O’Reilly and historian Martin Dugard's Killing Kennedy and Killing Lincoln , page-turning works of nonfiction that have changed the way we read history. The iconic anchor of The O'Reilly Factor led the program to the status of the highest rated cable news broadcast in the nation for sixteen consecutive years. He holds a history degree from Marist College, a masters degree in Broadcast Journalism from Boston University, and another masters degree from Harvard's John F. Kennedy School of Government.
Reviews
"There is no writing concerning the actual miracles attributed to Jesus, but they are mentioned in the text as news of them spread into the surrounding area, so the authors appear to make no claim to any authenticity. After that, it's once again news of post death appearances spread by supposed eyewitnesses, with no attempt to state any author belief in whether or not these events actually occurred. Lest I be accused of being some type of sceptic or unbeliever, let me state that, like the authors, I am a practicing Roman Catholic and truly believe that Jesus is who he said he is and that, if I do what is right, he will greet me when I die. I know that there are many people out there who do not like O'Reilly for his political views and will allow that mind set to lead them to give this book a bad review, even though many of them will not have read it."
"The details of the physical affects of the crucifixion were tough to get through but at the same time it increased my appreciation of the suffering that Jesus endured."
"Extremely well written and engaging."
"I just finished the book Killing Jesus by Bill O'Riley."
"Throughly enjoyed this book.The history came alive with the facts presented."
"Their meticulous research brings to life the people and customs of Jesus' time and explains the human side of Jesus, his disciples, his followers, and his enemies. O'Reilly took some criticism for not putting more emphasis on the spiritual side of Jesus, but he made it plain early on that this book is a history of Jesus the man, not a companion piece to the Bible."
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Best History of Civilization & Culture

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
From a renowned historian comes a groundbreaking narrative of humanity’s creation and evolution—a #1 international bestseller—that explores the ways in which biology and history have defined us and enhanced our understanding of what it means to be “human.”. From examining the role evolving humans have played in the global ecosystem to charting the rise of empires, Sapiens integrates history and science to reconsider accepted narratives, connect past developments with contemporary concerns, and examine specific events within the context of larger ideas. “Yuval Noah Harari’s celebrated Sapiens does for human evolution what Stephen Hawking’s A Brief History of Time did for physics.… He does a superb job of outlining our slow emergence and eventual domination of the planet.” ( Forbes ). “[I]nteresting and provocative…It gives you a sense of perspective on how briefly we’ve been on this earth, how short things like agriculture and science have been around, and why it makes sense for us to not take them for granted.” ( President Barack Obama ). “I would recommend this book to anyone interested in a fun, engaging look at early human history…you’ll have a hard time putting it down.” ( Bill Gates ).
Reviews
"Parts of it were downright fascinating such as "imagination" being a keystone to human activity, e.g. corporations, money, and religion. Finally he keeps touching on the fact that animals have paid a terrible price for the rise of sapiens. Incidentally our family has a farm background and I eat no chicken, turkey, pork, or beef. Now I didn't give the book five stars because he makes positive references to the misguided but widely read Jared Diamond. Let me emphasize that on this snowy March day the cat and I are both glad we don't need to go out and scavenge something off the frozen earth."
"A standard history of the human race begins with Paleolithic proto-humans, traces the development of modern man or homo sapiens sapiens, then chronicles the beginnings and expansions of human civilization from agriculture to the present. He asks how "An Animal of No Significance" managed to become the dominant life form, and whether that animal's learning to produce his own food and then to further harness the natural world to his will through science were boons or setbacks, both for that animal and for the rest of the biosphere."
"Thought provoking."
"A fascinating read that clarified many ideas I had on how our species has come to dominate and systematically destroy much of this wonderful planet."
"Every chapter had mind-bending insights into our history."
"a well written master piece that gives the reader unique insight in our history, while making some of the difficult trade-offs in our society visible and comprehensible."
"Very interesting book."
"It uncovers the facts and truths of our human history, from the beginning of Homo Sapiens to the present time."
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Best Jewish History

Man's Search for Meaning, Gift Edition
With a foreword by Harold S. Kushner, Frankl’s classic is presented here in an elegant new edition with endpapers, supplementary photographs, and several of Frankl’s previously unpublished letters, speeches, and essays. One of the classic psychiatric texts of our time, Man's Search for Meaning is a meditation on the irreducible gift of one's own counsel in the face of great suffering, as well as a reminder of the responsibility each of us owes in valuing the community of our humanity. "Dr. Frankl's words have a profoundly honest ring, for they rest on experiences too deep for deception… A gem of a dramatic narrative, focused upon the deepest of human problems." "An inspiring document of an amazing man who was able to garner some good from an experience so abysmally bad… Highly recommended."
Reviews
"Read this book, read this book."
"Those that had developed purpose and meaning to the harsh conditions got out of bed every morning to face another unbearable day."
"In an engaging and fascinating way, Frankl sheds some light as to how exactly people made it out of the concentration camps alive, with a will to live and with hope for the future. Frankl writes that after the initial shock of reaching the infamous camp, a prisoner would be overcome by a "delusion of reprieve", an irrational feeling of hope that his situation would somehow be changed for the better. However, after being separated from loved ones in the dreaded selections, and watching them walk towards the gas chambers to their deaths, the reality and horrification of it all dawned upon the prisoner. Frankl describes the next emotional stage as "relative apathy", which was a complete weakening of the prisoner's senses and feelings, leaving a body merely going through the motions of everyday camp routine rather than a person. According to Frankl, apathy was essential for the preservation of a prisoner's life, because it channeled every emotion he had towards the goal of making it through the day alive. Throughout this development, there still remains the question: what were the thoughts that gave a prisoner the drive to live, completely necessary for the conservation of his life? Through starvation, sickness, torture and brutality, surrounded by death and despair, man can endure it all, he can even gain something from it, so long as he has a reason to keep going. In a brilliant and insightful way, Victor Frankl has ultimately handed his readers the key to success and happiness, and the answer to many questions; he has affirmed that above all, meaning is what makes life worth living."
"Frankl recounts his time in the horror of the camps and noticed that those who gave up, who had no goal to live for, died, while many of those who did have such a goal still found meaning in life and often survived. In my books, “Advice for my Granddaughter” and its companion, “Advice for Boys,” I write that the secret of happiness is to find something you care about more than yourself, be it your family, your church, your work, rescuing dogs or people, your country or the US Marines. Frankl writes that people cannot find happiness, they mush find meaning in their lives and then happiness ensues. My favorite quote in the book is, “I recommend that the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast be supplemented by a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast.” Frankl believes that much drug and alcohol addiction come about because the addicts have not found meaning in their lives."
"A prominent psychiatrist in pre-World War II Vienna, Doctor Frankl found himself suddenly stripped of all money, possessions, position, respect, and ultimately, his family--including his pregnant and beloved wife."
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