History Books

Book SynopsisAn exhilarating chronicle of the ruling families of France and England, showing how two dynasties formed one extraordinary storyTrade Review“Catherine Hanley’s engaging account of England and France during the 12th and 13th centuries covers a turbulent period bookended by the accession of Henry I (after the suspicious death of his brother William Rufus) and the marriage of Edward II to Isabella of France (she would later be implicated in his murder). Much of what comes in between reads like the plot of a soap opera peopled by larger-than-life characters.”—Katherine Harvey, Sunday Times“Written with verve and based on impeccable scholarship, Two Houses, Two Kingdoms is peppered with human stories about the struggle to maintain a dynasty.”—Helen Carr, Times Literary Supplement“Epic in scope but intimate in focus, this is an authoritative overview of a pivotal period in the development of both nations.”—BBC History Revealed“Enormous fun. . . . Hanley’s book contains many lively vignettes. . . . Hanley is also excellent on medieval warfare, obviously a passion, and very good on the few women who were far more than ciphers.”—Claudia Gold, Literary Review“Dr Hanley is undoubtedly an impressive historian, who also writes the occasional medieval murder mystery. This book might be said to represent middle ground. It’s a tremendously good read, and for those who wish to delve deeper, there are extensive footnotes and a full bibliography.”—David Robinson, Country Life“Parts of the story Hanley relates will be familiar. . . . Other events may surprise and Hanley’s eye for narrative detail vividly brings them to life. . . . For those seeking an overview of the relationship between France and England that examines the fluctuating fortunes, both person and political, of their ruling families, Hanley’s book is the place to start.”—Emily Joan Ward, History Today“Catherine Hanley knows the twelfth and thirteenth centuries like the back of her hand. In Two Houses, Two Kingdoms she brings vividly to life an extraordinary cast of characters, the men and women through whom the kingdoms of England and France took shape, telling their story with wit, wisdom, and formidable scholarship.”—Helen Castor, author of She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth“People make history, but never alone. Hanley brings to life the royal families of England and France in this exciting period, through their interactions as close bedfellows (literally), brothers (and sisters) in arms, petulant rivals, and bitter enemies.”—Anne Curry, author of Henry V: From Playboy Prince to Warrior King“Hanley has created a rich tapestry that tells the story of two kingdoms whose rulers bucked against the fundamental truth that their histories and futures were woven together. . . . This book creates a picture of kingdoms like siblings, connected but destined to be at war. A must-read for anyone interested in the entwined stories of medieval kingdoms and dynasties.”—Matt Lewis, author of Richard III: Loyalty Binds Me

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Book SynopsisThe extraordinary story of St. Paul’s Churchyard—the area of London that was a center of social and intellectual life for more than a millenniumTrade Review“It was the book trade for which St. Paul’s Churchyard became famous. . . . Willes, a liveryman of the Stationers’ Company, relishes this hive of industry; it is when she writes of the book trade that her own book comes alive.”—Paul Lay, Sunday Telegraph“Wonderfully engaging. . . . Willes gives a diverting account of searing political pamphlets . . . and the first printing of literary sensations such as Lyrical Ballads, with walk-on appearances from Charlotte Brontë and Mary Wollstonecraft. . . . Londoners have taken this territory for granted for too many decades, and Willes is here to put that right.”—Sinclair McKay, Spectator“This book is an exceptional compendium and encyclopedic survey of historic events and actions. . . . Willes writes in a pleasing, clear, and lively style.”—Seventeeth-Century News“Invariably accurate, clear and fascinating. . . . [Willes] discovers infinite historical riches in this one small patch of London, and delivers them to the reader without complication or prejudice.”—Robert Gray, Catholic Herald“St Paul’s Cathedral survived the Blitz, but the area surrounding it was erased together with its vibrant community. Margaret Willes’s elegant writing, beautifully illustrated, makes it present to us once again.”—Alex Faludy, The Tablet“As this engagingly written book reveals, the area around the cathedral has a discrete but fascinating history that illuminates the story of London as a whole. . . . The author has spent her career in publishing and the care with which this book is written and structured reflects that experience.”—John Goodall, Country Life“In this new book, handsomely illustrated and produced by Yale University Press . . . the story moves briskly forward, enlivened by colourful anecdotes, from Medieval London to the events surrounding Occupy and the erection of a protest camp in 2011.”—Richard Chartres, Church Times“Whether or not you have London ancestors, this is a fascinating look at the history of London from a new and different angle. . . . There are plenty of interesting illustrations to help bring the story to life, as do the lively and evocative descriptions of a now lost part of London’s history.”—Family Tree Magazine“There is no doubt that this book is a significant contribution to the histories of London and of print . . . There has long been a need for this book and Willes has fulfilled that need excellently."—Joe Saunders, The Local Historian“Margaret Willes offers a unique exploration of a lost world, centring on the publishing community which once clustered around St Paul’s Cathedral. Her fascinating book spans centuries, introduces an array of memorable characters, and offers important insights into an enthralling aspect of London’s history.”—Margarette Lincoln, author of London and the 17th Century“When St Paul’s Churchyard was destroyed by the Luftwaffe in December 1940, the “Second Great Fire of London” obliterated centuries of London publishing history overnight. Now Margaret Willes offers us a thrilling and evocative resurrection of the stories buried beneath the ashes.”—Jerry White, author of The Battle of London, 1939–45“A revelatory new insight into a part of London that I thought I knew well. I couldn’t put it down.”—Adrian Tinniswood, author of His Invention so Fertile: A Life of Christopher Wren “This wonderfully evocative book recreates the business and bustle of an area that was the vibrant heart of London for over a millennium and the historic centre of the nation’s literary life. Once again, Margaret Willes demonstrates her gift for blending scholarly research and entertaining anecdote.”—George Goodwin, author of Benjamin Franklin in London

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Book SynopsisA case for why regionalization, not globalization, has been the biggest economic trend of the past forty yearsTrade Review“It is regionalisation, not globalisation, that explains the mechanics of prosperity. . . . If hope truly does lie in thought, we need to take our thinking about the world a lot more seriously than we do today.”—Richard Horton, The Lancet“Regionalization is quickly becoming the new globalization. Shannon O’Neil’s The Globalization Myth deftly explains why the key to America’s continued industrial competitiveness lies neither in ‘America alone’ reshoring nor in laissez faire offshoring, but in nearshoring. An important corrective to a broken public policy debate.”—Ian Bremmer, president, Eurasia Group“Shannon O’Neil’s call for ‘more NAFTAs and fewer America Firsts’ is timely, constructive, and pragmatic. With her deep knowledge of the Americas and of the politics of regional integration, she makes a practical case for an American economic strategy which would work in a world dividing more into blocs. I urge our elected officials to open their minds to O’Neil’s compelling argument.”—Adam S. Posen, president, Peterson Institute for International Economics“This is a phenomenal book about regionalization. Global markets are consolidating into three regional hubs. The US needs to act on that, or it will get left behind. I found this a gripping read!”—Ann E. Harrison, University of California, Berkeley

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Book SynopsisA portrait of one of the ancient world’s first political celebrities, who veered from failure to success and back againTrade Review“Romm has long been one of the most energetic interpreters of ancient Greek history for a nonspecialist readership. . . . Romm knows how to tell a story; . . . his narrative of the epic siege of Rhodes is the most exciting I have ever read. . . . For anyone new to this tangled but thrilling period of history, Romm’s whirlwind Demetrius is now the place to start.”—Peter Thonemann, Wall Street Journal“This colorful biography of Demetrius, the vain and ambitious Macedonian monarch who sought to reunite Alexander the Great’s kingdom in the years after his death, explores his rich inner life and reveals an ancient world of violence and intrigue.”—New York Times Book Review“Romm offers a sensitive and well-judged account which will appeal to anyone wishing to contemplate what the 18th-century German naturalist Georg Forster called ‘the “incomprehensible force” in human nature that drives history’s conquerors, and their crimes.’”—Antony Spawforth, Literary Review“With great erudition, and elegance, Romm tells the story of the years after the death of Alexander the Great, revealing an ancient world whose politics, intrigue, and penchant for war will seem familiar to modern readers.”—Annette Gordon-Reed, Harvard University“Romm brilliantly sketches the life, character, and achievements of Demetrius the Besieger, the most charismatic and unstable of the Successors of Alexander the Great—and one of the most formidable.”—Robin Waterfield, author of Creators, Conquerors, and Citizens: A History of Ancient Greece“Romm’s gripping, sensitive biography traces the zigzagging career of Demetrius, cavalry commander at nineteen and notorious besieger of cities, as he strives to seize power as Alexander’s successor but ultimately languishes in luxury as a royal captive.”—Adrienne Mayor, author of The Poison King and The Amazons

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisA compelling account of the battle for Passchendaele from grand strategy at the highest levels right down to the experience of the ordinary infantrymen.In the autumn of 1917, after years of stalemate at Ypres, the British and French armies launched a massive offensive to take Passchendaele Ridge. Following an intensive bombardment the Allies began their attack, but the low ground between the lines had been churned into a quagmire, and the attack was literally bogged down.All surprise had been lost, and the German defence in depth was well organised. For the first time the Germans used mustard gas, while German planes flew low to strafe the British infantry with machine guns. After two and a half months the British finally took the ridge they had been aiming for, but at the cost of over 300,000 Allied lives. German losses in the offensive were estimated at 260,000.Based on the archival holdings at the Imperial War Museum, this book gathers together a weTable of Contents1 Gestation; 2 Messines; 3 Plans and Preparations; 4 Pilckem Ridge, 31 July 1917; 5 August Despair; 6 Footsloggers; 7 Gunners; 8 Bite and Hold; 9 Journey's End; 10 Epilogue; Notes to the text; Sources; Index

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Book SynopsisThe first of two volumes in John Erickson''s monumental history of the Soviet-German war.In THE ROAD TO STALINGRAD Professor Erickson takes us in detail from the inept command structures and strategic delusions of the pre-invasion Soviet Union, through the humiliations as her armies fell back on all fronts before the Barbarossa onslaught, until the tide turned at last at Stalingrad. Unsparingly he assesses the generals and political leaders, and analyses the confusions and wranglings within both Allied and Axis commands. The climax, the grinding battle for Stalingrad, leaves the Red Army poised for its majestic counter-offensive, Operation ''Uranus'', discovering it had ''caught a tiger by the tail''.

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Book SynopsisDramatic, illustrated account of the biggest naval battle of the First World War.On 31 May, 1916, the great battle fleets of Britain and Germany met off Jutland in the North Sea. It was a climactic encounter, the culmination of a fantastically expensive naval race between the two countries, and expectations on both sides were high. For the Royal Navy''s Grand Fleet, there was the chance to win another Trafalgar. For the German High Seas Fleet, there was the opportunity to break the British blockade and so change the course of the war. But Jutland was a confused and controversial encounter. Tactically, it was a draw; strategically, it was a British victory.Naval historians have pored over the minutiae of Jutland ever since. Yet they have largely ignored what the battle was actually like for its thousands of participants. Full of drama and pathos, of chaos and courage, JUTLAND, 1916 describes the sea battle in the dreadnought era from the point of view of those who were there.

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Book SynopsisA vivid page-turning narrative of the most horrific battle in history by a soldier turned bestselling novelistA fast-paced and vivid narrative of the most horrific campaign in history: the four-year slaughter around the Belgian town of Ypres 1914-18. Switching seamlessly between the generals'' headquarters, the politicians'' councils and -- above all -- the mud and blood of the trenches, this is a wonderfully accessible history.Winston Churchill and Adolf Hitler both fought in the frontline at Ypres: Groom reveals what happened to both men. We see the campaign through their eyes and the experience of other officers and men, including the war poet Edmund Blunden (later professor of poetry at Oxford). From the desperate defence put up by the tiny British regular army in 1914 to the infamous Passchendaele offensive, this is popular history at its best.

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Book SynopsisStalingrad in the jungle: the battle that doomed the French Empire and led America into Vietnam

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Book SynopsisJohn Keegan has assembled a cast of seventeen generals whose reputations were made (and some of them broken) by Churchill and the Second World War.Trade ReviewMilitary history doesn't get much better than this. A real gem for aficionados. * SCOTTISH LEGION NEWS *

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Book SynopsisGeneral Leslie Groves and J. Robert Oppenheimer were the two men chiefly responsible for the building of the first atomic bomb at Los Alamos, code name The Manhattan Project. As the ranking military officer in charge of marshalling men and material for what was to be the most ambitious, expensive engineering feat in history, it was General Groves who hired Oppenheimer (with knowledge of his left-wing past), planned facilities that would extract the necessary enriched uranium, and saw to it that nothing interfered with the accelerated research and swift assembly of the weapon.This is his story of the political, logistical, and personal problems of this enormous undertaking which involved foreign governments, sensitive issues of press censorship, the construction of huge plants at Hanford and Oak Ridge, and a race to build the bomb before the Nazis got wind of it. The role of groves in the Manhattan Project has always been controversial. In his new introduction the noted physicist Edward Teller, who was there at Los Alamos, candidly assesses the general''s contributions,and Oppenheimer''s,while reflecting on the awesome legacy of their work.

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Book SynopsisMajor General J. F. C. Fuller, a pioneer of mechanized warfare in Great Britain, was one of this century''s most renowned military strategists and historians. In this magisterial work he spans military history from the Greeks to the end of World War II, describing tactics, battle lines, the day-to-day struggles while always relating affairs on the field to the larger questions of social, political, and economic change in Western civilization. A masterpiece of scholarship and biting prose, these volumes are available for the first time in a handsome trade paperback edition.Table of Contents* Introduction: The Rise of Imperialism * The Battles of Salamis, 400 B.C., and Plataea, 479 B.C.; The Struggle for Supremacy within Greece * The Siege of Syracuse, 415-413 B.C., and the Battle of Aegospotami, 405 B.C.; The Rise of Rome and her Conflict with Carthage * The Rise of Macedonia; The Battle of Gagugamela or Arbela, 331 B.C. * The Battles of the Metaurus, 207 B.C., and Zama, 202 B.C.; The Rise of Roman Imperialism * The Battle of Pydna, 168 B.C.; The Struggle for supremacy within the Roman Empire * The Siege of Dyrrhachium and the Battle of Pharsalus, 48 B.C.; The Passing of the Roman Republic * The Battle of Philippi, 42 B.C. and Actium, 31 B.C.; The Establishment of the Imperial Frontiers * The Battle of the Teutoburger Wald, A.D. 9; The Pax Romana * The Battle of Adrianople, 378; The Wandering of the Nations * The Battle of Chlons or of the Mauriac Plain, 451; The Conquest of Italy by the Ostrogoths * The Battles of Tricameron, 533, and Taginae, 552; The Rise and Expansion of Islam * The Siege of Constantinople, 717-718, and the Battle of Tours, 732; The Rebirth of Imperialism in Western Europe * The Battle of Hastings, 1066; The Decline of the Caliphate and the Revival of the Byzantine Empire * The Battle of Manzikert, 1071; The Counter-Attack of Christendom on Islam * The Battle of Hattin, 1187; The Disruption of the Western Empire and the Rise of France and England * The Raising of the Siege of Orlans, 1429; The Rise of the Ottoman Empire * The Siege and Fall of Constantinople, 1453, The Reconquest and Reunification of Spain * The Siege of Mlaga, 1487, and the Conquest of Granada, 1492; The Supremacy of the Spanish and Ottoman Empires * The Battle of Lepanto, 1571

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Book SynopsisOn June 23, 1812, Napoleon''s Grande Armée, over 500,000 men strong, poured over the Russian border. An equally massive Russian army faced them. The ensuing campaign was a catastrophe for Napoleon. Although the battle of Borodino, which resulted in heavy losses on both sides, allowed Napoleon to enter Moscow, his stay in that empty and decimated city was disastrous. By the time Napoleon had retreated to the Berezina river in late November, his Grande Armée was only a fifth of its original strength. His retreat had become a rout, and his allies began to desert him. In this book, Clausewitz analyzes all the significant players with sharp and enlightening characterizations, and provides perhaps the best eyewitness accounts of the battle of Borodino and the Convention of Tauroggen. The Campaign of 1812 in Russia is a brilliantly observed study of one of the major turning points of history.Table of Contents* Arrival at Wilna * Plan of Campaign * Camp of Drissa * General Review of the Incidents of the Campaign of 1812 in Russia * Further Progress of the Campaign

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Book SynopsisIt was the greatest single battle the U.S. Army ever fought. More than a million GIs were involved and nearly 80,000 became casualties. The Allied generals had to rally beaten, dispirited troops in the face of an attack they had never dreamed possible.A study in command, from generals to squad leaders, The Bitter Woods follows von Runstedt, Dietrich, and of course Hitler, as closely as the Americans. As son of the supreme commander Dwight D. Eisenhower, a West Point graduate, a retired Army brigadier general, and a military historian, John Eisenhower is uniquely qualified to tell how the Allied generals (nearly all of whom he knew personally) met Hitler''s challenge how the two armies fought fiercely in the Ardennes from December 1944 to January 1945 and how the Allied victory broke the back of Nazi aggression.Table of ContentsBook I: The Road to the Ardennes * Only Cheerful Faces * The Results Will Be Incalculable * Paris Detour * Antwerp Is the Key * We Can Still Lose This War in Europe Book II: Preparations for the Master Stroke * Watch on the Rhine * Hitler Overrides His Generals * The Fog and Mists of the Eifel * Allied Intelligence Is Befuddled Book III: Assault * We March! * Breakthrough Book IV: Crisis * St.-Vith Stems the Northern Tide * I Am Mighty Glad to See You! * High-Water Mark Decimation of the Wehrmacht * Crisis in the Allied High Command * Friction with de Gaulle * Closing the Bulge * Mission Fulfilled * The Final Analysis

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Book SynopsisThe question is as searing as it is fundamental to the continuing debate over Japanese culpability in World War II and the period leading up to it: How could Japanese soldiers have committed such acts of violence against Allied prisoners of war and Chinese civilians? During the First World War, the Japanese fought on the side of the Allies and treated German POWs with respect and civility. In the years that followed, under Emperor Hirohito, conformity was the norm and the Japanese psyche became one of selfless devotion to country and emperor soon Japanese soldiers were to engage in mass murder, rape, and even cannibalization of their enemies. Horror in the East examines how this drastic change came about. On the basis of never-before-published interviews with both the victimizers and the victimized, and drawing on never-before-revealed or long-ignored archival records, Rees discloses the full horror of the war in the Pacific, probing the supposed Japanese belief in their own racial sup

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Book SynopsisTake "a lively, voyeuristic glimpse into the ancient world" of the gladiator (Publishers Weekly)

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Book SynopsisA fascinating and enlightening explanation of the dilemma Switzerland found itself in during the 1930''s and 1940''s. - Publishers Weekly

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Book SynopsisLike a scene from Where Eagles Dare , a small team of American spies parachutes into Italy behind enemy lines. Their orders: link up with local partisans and sabotage the well-guarded Brenner Pass,the Nazis'' crucial supply route through the Alps,thereby bringing the German war effort in Italy to a grinding halt.

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Book SynopsisSix Women of Salem is the first work to use the lives of a select number of representative women as a microcosm to illuminate the larger crisis of the Salem witch trials. By the end of the trials, beyond the twenty who were executed and the five who perished in prison, 207 individuals had been accused, 74 had been afflicted, 32 had officially accused their fellow neighbours, and 255 ordinary people had been inexorably drawn into that ruinous and murderous vortex, and this doesn''t include the religious, judicial, and governmental leaders. All this adds up to what the Rev. Cotton Mather called a desolation of names.The individuals involved are too often reduced to stock characters and stereotypes when accuracy is sacrificed to indignation. And although the flood of names and detail in the history of an extraordinary event like the Salem witch trials can swamp the individual lives involved, individuals still deserve to be remembered and, in remembering specific lives, modern readers can benefit from such historical intimacy. By examining the lives of six specific women, Marilynne Roach shows readers what it was like to be present throughout this horrific time and how it was impossible to live through it unchanged.Trade ReviewInfoDad Blog, 10/10/13 "Roach shows how thoroughly she has researched her subject...while also giving modern readers something to think about in our own days of social and political witch hunts. Six Women of Salem...will provide a greater sense of the real-world lives of those who engaged in and were victimized by those events." San Francisco Book Review/Sacramento Book Review, 10/7/13 "The book is super detailed and fantastically informative on the subject...An eye-opening piece of work...Each page drips with an honest and impartial narrative...Roach has done a great job in honoring the memories of these women with a tasteful and harmonious book." Kirkus Reviews, 9/15/13 "[Full of] the author's deep knowledge of virtually every man, woman and child affected by the trials in this bizarre period." Examiner.com, 9/27/13 "Roach delivers a historically intimate narrative that gives readers a front row seat to this desperate and dangerous time in history."--Examiner.com, 9/27 Roanoke Times, 10/27/13 "A focused look at the lives of six of the accused, their accusers, and their neighbors who were part of a dark period in American history." Leavenworth Times, 10/29/13 "A well written novel approach to the witch trials worth the time taken while you await the trick-or-treaters this Halloween." Open Letters Monthly, 10/1/13 "Immediately immerses its readers in the events of that horrible, vertiginous year, a year which almost certainly started off as mere pranking by some mean-spirited girls but then grew into something much blacker and more complicated. Roach immerses her readers through her customary vivid, forceful writing...The seriously inquisitive now have another great book on the subject." ForeWord, Winter 2013 "[Roach's] fact-based insight into these women's lives, along with the moments she breaks into short, fictionalized scenes, puts these lives into perspective, allowing readers to connect with the events in a way not afforded in other accounts of this period...Roach's work will shed new light on the Salem witch trials, not only by showing how the accusers may have truly believed they were bewitched and tortured, but also by making the innocent women come to life." Library Journal, 12/1/2013

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Book SynopsisSOON TO BE A MAJOR MOTION PICTUREMay, 1945. Hitler is dead, the Third Reich is little more than smoking rubble, and no GI wants to be the last man killed in action against the Nazis. The Last Battle tells the nearly unbelievable story of the unlikeliest battle of the war, when a small group of American tankers, led by Captain Lee, joined forces with German soldiers to fight off fanatical SS troops seeking to capture Castle Itter and execute the stronghold''s VIP prisoners. It is a tale of unlikely allies, startling bravery, jittery suspense, and desperate combat between implacable enemies.Trade ReviewPraise for The Last Battle "A tale as compelling as it is unlikely. The Last Battle demonstrates that truth can indeed be stranger than fiction, particularly in war. Well-researched and well-told."--Rick Atkinson, author of The Day of Battle "Stephen Harding has a laser-beam instinct for the detail that tells the story, he's a fine writer, and, most important, knows a good story when he sees one. All the above is true of The Last Battle, one of the more remarkable battles in a truly vast war, now very nicely illuminated."--Alan Furst, bestselling author of Dark Star and Night Soldiers "A little-known but fascinating story brought brilliantly to life."--Alex Kershaw, bestselling author of The Liberator "I love untold stories from World War II, and this is a great one. Brilliantly told, meticulously researched, and filled with larger-than-life heroes and villains. The Last Battle is such a compelling read, I couldn't put it down."--Patrick K. O'Donnell, bestselling author of Dog Company "The Last Battle combines good history and good storytelling. Harding writes with the skill and grace of a novelist but also the authority of an historian who has done some rather remarkable research into a previously lost chapter from World War II's final days. I had trouble putting this book down, and I think you will, too."--John C. McManus, author of September Hope "The Nazis capture two former Prime Ministers of France (who detest each other) and lock them in a medieval castle in Austria. A handful of intrepid American soldiers sets out to rescue them. And then...well, you'll have to read The Last Battle to find out what happened. It's going to make a fantastic action movie. Arnold Schwarzenegger, call your agent!"--Peter Carlson, author of K Blows Top San Diego Union Tribune, 4/28/13 "At the heart of The Last Battle is a largely unknown story that (a) seems implausible, (b) would make a great movie, and (c) reminds us that almost 70 years after the end of World War II there are countless tales still to be told...Harding's skills as a researcher and dedicated historian are apparent...[A] moment-by-moment real-time report of the events from the viewpoints of the Americans and prisoners...Page-turning...Harding has brought the implausible story to life." New York Journal of Books, 4/29/13 "Well done and eminently readable." Daily Beast, 5/12/13 "The most extraordinary things about Stephen Harding's The Last Battle, a truly incredible tale of World War II, are that it hasn't been told before in English, and that it hasn't already been made into a blockbuster Hollywood movie...Steven Spielberg, how did you miss this story?...Harding is a respected military affairs expert...and his writing style carries immediacy as well as authority...Everything that Harding reports in this exciting but also historically accurate narrative is backed up with meticulous scholarship. This book proves that history can be new and nail-bitingly exciting all at once...While the book concentrates on the fight for Castle Itter, it also sets that battle in the wider strategic contexts...This book is thus a fascinating microcosm of a nation and society in collapse...Part Where Eagles Dare, part Guns of Navarone, this story is as exciting as it is far-fetched, but unlike in those iconic war movies, every word of The Last Battle is true." Roanoke Times, 6/9/13 "If, in these halcyon days, a Hollywood screenwriter had approached a major producer with a movie script so packed with improbabilities, so extraordinary in its premises and fanciful in its conclusions, he -- the screenwriter -- would very likely have been shown the door...sheer tension and melodrama...Stephen Harding, a career journalist and military historian, has put together a fine tale of heroism and cowardice, petty bickering and unselfish sacrifice, and if Hollywood does not snap it up for an epic film, that's its loss...A page-turner." ARMY Magazine, 9/1/13 "The book is a very quick read...The Last Battle has the makings of a Hollywood blockbuster... Harding is a gifted storyteller and effective military historian who details the battle and its background with precision...This compact work is an unqualified success and will prove immensely enjoyable for virtually any reader of ARMY. With the pace of a tightly-written novel, Harding writes with the determination of a true crime novelist and thoroughness of a first-rate historian." CollectedMiscellany.com, 8/15/13 "Harding recounts a fascinating piece of World War II history...Harding writes an engaging story about a battle that helped save many of France's political elite from certain death."

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Book SynopsisThe story of the world''s largest, longest, and best financed scientific expedition of all time, triumphantly successful, gruesomely tragic, and never before fully told The immense 18th-century scientific journey, variously known as the Second Kamchatka Expedition or the Great Northern Expedition, from St. Petersburg across Siberia to the coast of North America, involved over 3,000 people and cost Peter the Great over one-sixth of his empire''s annual revenue. Until now recorded only in academic works, this 10-year venture, led by the legendary Danish captain Vitus Bering and including scientists, artists, mariners, soldiers, and laborers, discovered Alaska, opened the Pacific fur trade, and led to fame, shipwreck, and one of the most tragic and ghastly trials of suffering in the annals of maritime and arctic history.

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Book SynopsisVanity Fair Royals correspondent and bestselling author of William and Harry and Kate explores the remarkable life and reign of Queen Elizabeth II and the legacy she has handed down after her death to the next generation.

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Book SynopsisJoseph McGill Jr., a historic preservationist and Civil War reenactor, founded the Slave Dwelling Project in 2010 based on an idea that was sparked and first developed in 1999.Since founding the project, McGill has been touring the country, spending the night in former slave dwellings-throughout the South, but also the North and the West, where people are often surprised to learn that such structures exist. Events and gatherings are arranged around these overnight stays, and it provides a unique way to understand the often otherwise obscured and distorted history of slavery. The project has inspired difficult conversations about race in communities from South Carolina to Alabama to Texas to Minnesota to New York, and all over the United States.Sleeping with the Ancestors focuses on all of the key sites McGill has visited in his ongoing project and digs deeper into the actual history of each location, using McGill''s own experience and conversations with the co

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Book SynopsisThe personal account of one man's groundbreaking project to sleep overnight in the countless oft-overlooked former slave dwellings that still stand across the country, the fascinating history behind those sites, and how he has used the experiences to shed light on larger issues of race in America.

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Book SynopsisIn time for Scorsese’s 80th birthday and the release of Killers of the Flower Moon, a new edition of the seminal oral history tracing Scorsese’s journey from young filmmaker to legend, featuring a foreword by Steven Spielberg Few filmmakers, if any, make the kind of impact that Martin Scorsese has made on American cinema. The winner of every prestigious film award, including the Oscar, Scorsese is a living legend. Bestselling author and award-winning filmmaker Mary Pat Kelly’s groundbreaking biography reveals how this working-class boy from Manhattan’s Little Italy became one of our most acclaimed, celebrated, and influential filmmakers.Martin Scorsese: A Journey maps Scorsese’s personal and artistic evolution though his films, from early works like student films and Mean Streets through cinematic masterpieces like Taxi Driver, Raging Bull,The King of Comedy,Goodfellas. Across interviews with Scorsese himself; stars like Robert De Niro, Paul Newman, Liza Minelli, and Nick Nolte; colleagues including screenwriters and cinematographers; as well as family and friends, it reveals the story of a man in a way that only his community and fellow artists can, giving us unprecedented, intimate access to the making of these iconic films and the extraordinary mind behind them. Brimming with insight into Scorsese’s life, values, process, humor, and inspirations, it is a remarkable account of America’s premiere director, the shepherd of countless imaginations.

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Book SynopsisFrom the former USA Today journalist and author of The Chosen Few, the untold story of The Battle of Ramadi, which led to a war that would last seven years, claim thousands of lives and evolve into a traumatic legacy for the US military and its veterans. Their nickname was the Magnificent Bastards and they were warriors without a war. Kept stateside after 9/11 and left floating in the Pacific during the invasion of Iraq in 2003, the thousand Marines of the 2nd Battalion, 4th Infantry Regiment were told they were bench-warmers as America sent troops into combat. But war was waiting. Iraq would explode in violence exactly one year after a U.S. led Coalition swept into Baghdad and the Magnificent Bastards would find themselves at the epicenter. When the battalion first arrived in the provincial capital of Ramadi, Iraq, in February of 2004, they were thrust into a savage battle where hundreds of insurgents organized a three-day offensive aimed at driving the Marines out of their city of 400,000. In Unremitting, journalist Gregg Zoroya tells the fast-paced, dramatic, and meticulously-researched story of the battle that truly began the Iraq War. Capturing the heroism, courage, and brutality of battle, Zoroya explores this vital part of American military history and beyond, showing how Ramadi was not just a game-changer for the Iraq War, but also for the marines, sailors, and soldiers who fought it, the trauma remaining with survivors more than two decades later.

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Book SynopsisStill Notorious, Radical, and Revolutionary 50 Years Later.A survival guide from one of the greatest creative organizers of the 20th century—now with a new foreword by co-conspirator, Lisa Fithian. Throughout the 1960's and 70's, Abbie Hoffman criss-crossed the country, ferreting out alternative ways of getting by in America—some illegal and all radical. Causing scandals with its advice on how to Survive!, Fight!, and Liberate! in the “prison that is Amerika,” Steal This Book is a revolutionary's manual to running a guerilla movement, as well as getting free food, housing, transportation, medical care, and more. This anniversary edition gives a new generation an insider's view into the movements of the sixties and seventies. While many of the holes in the system that Abbie exposed have since been plugged, the spirit of revolution, the dedication to opposing injustice, and the passion of creative activism continue to inspire today.

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Book SynopsisHeads: A Biography of Psychedelic America uncovers a hidden history of the biggest psychedelic distribution and belief system the world has ever known. Through a collection of fast-paced interlocking narratives, it animates the tale of an alternate America and its wide-eyed citizens: the LSD-slinging graffiti writers of Central Park, the Dead-loving AI scientists of Stanford, utopian Whole Earth homesteaders, black market chemists, government-wanted Anonymous hackers, rogue explorers, East Village bluegrass pickers, spiritual seekers, Internet pioneers, entrepreneurs, pranksters, pioneering DJs, and a nation of Deadheads.WFMU DJ and veteran music writer Jesse Jarnow draws on extensive new firsthand accounts from many never-before-interviewed subjects and a wealth of deep archival research to create a comic-book-colored and panoramic American landscape, taking readers for a guided tour of the hippie highway filled with lit-up explorers, peak trips, big busts, and scenic vistas, from Vermont to the Pacific Northwest, from the old world head capitals of San Francisco and New York to the geodesic dome-dotted valleys of Colorado and New Mexico. And with the psychedelic research moving into the mainstream for the first time in decades, Heads also recounts the story of the quiet entheogenic revolution that for years has been brewing resiliently in the Dead''s Technicolor shadow.Featuring over four dozen images, many never before seen--including pop artist Keith Haring''s first publicly sold work--Heads weaves one of the 20th and 21st centuries'' most misunderstood subcultures into the fabric of the nation''s history. Written for anyone who wondered what happened to the heads after the Acid Tests, through the ''70s, during the Drug War, and on to the psychedelic present, Heads collects the essential history of how LSD, Deadheads, tie-dye, and the occasional bad trip have become familiar features of the American experience.

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Book SynopsisThe extraordinary story of an unjustly forgotten group of Black men in Pittsburgh who became the first paramedics in America, saving lives and changing the course of emergency medicine around the world Until the 1970s, if you suffered a medical crisis, your chances of survival were minimal. A 9-1-1 call might bring police or even the local funeral home. But that all changed with Freedom House EMS in Pittsburgh, a group of Black men who became America’s first paramedics and set the gold standard for emergency medicine around the world, only to have their story and their legacy erased—until now.In American Sirens, acclaimed journalist and paramedic Kevin Hazzard tells the dramatic story of how a group of young, undereducated Black men forged a new frontier of healthcare. He follows a rich cast of characters that includes John Moon, an orphan who found his calling as a paramedic; Peter Safar, the Nobel Prize-nominated physician who in

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Book SynopsisA holistic, eye-opening history of one of the most significant turning points in Christianity, The Reformation as Renewal demonstrates that the Reformation was at its core a renewal of evangelical catholicity.In the sixteenth century Rome charged the Reformers with novelty, as if they were heretics departing from the catholic (universal) church. But the Reformers believed they were more catholic than Rome. Distinguishing themselves from Radicals, the Reformers were convinced they were retrieving the faith of the church fathers and the best of the medieval Scholastics. The Reformers saw themselves as faithful stewards of the one, holy, catholic, and apostolic church preserved across history, and they insisted on a restoration of true worship in their own day.By listening to the Reformers'' own voices, The Reformation as Renewal helps readers explore:The Reformation''s roots in patristic and medieval thought and its response

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Book SynopsisThe Zondervan Handbook of Biblical Archaeology provides readers with a book-by-book (Genesis through Revelation) presentation of the most significant archaeological discoveries that enhance our understanding of the biblical text. This handbook is full of color photos, charts, and maps that help illuminate the text of Scripture.

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