History Books

Book SynopsisMartin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X are the two most iconic figures of the Civil Rights movement. To most Americans, Malcolm and Martin represent contrasting political ideals -- self-defense vs. non-violence, anger vs. pacifism, separatism vs. integration, the sword vs. the shield. The Civil Rights movement itself has suffered the same fate: while non-violent direct action is remembered today as an unalloyed good and an unassailable part of our democracy, the movement's combative militancy has been either vilified or erased outright. In The Sword and the Shield, acclaimed historian Peniel Joseph offers a dual biography of Malcolm and Martin and a more nuanced narrative that pushes us to completely reconsider these two leaders as well as the era they came to define. The Sword and the Shield reimagines Malcolm X and Martin Luther King Jr. not as antagonists, but as two political revolutionaries who confronted the same problem from different perspectives. Examining their political lives next to one another provides a more complicated, but ultimately more satisfying, understanding of these men and the times they shaped. Despite markedly different family histories, religious affiliations, and class backgrounds, Malcolm and Martin found common ground on a wide range of issues. Each inspired the other to engage political views that he had rejected in the past. Malcolm's push to connect pan-Africanism to an international human rights agenda mirrored the multiculturalism that Martin eloquently articulated at the March on Washington. Similarly, the anti-war activism and anti-poverty campaigns of Martin's final years unleashed a stinging critique of racism, militarism, and materialism that echoed Malcolm's impassioned anti-colonialism. In short, King was more revolutionary, and Malcolm more pragmatic, than we've been told. This will stand as the definitive dual history of these two lives for years to come.

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Book SynopsisThe definitive history of the Communist Party USA, revealing how its members contributed to struggles for justice and equality in America even as they championed a brutal, totalitarian state, the USSR

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Book SynopsisFrom a Bancroft Prize winner, a harrowing portrait of Black workers and white hypocrisy in nineteenth-century Boston Impassioned antislavery rhetoric made antebellum Boston famous as the nation’s hub of radical abolitionism. In fact, however, the city was far from a beacon of equality. In No Right to an Honest Living, historian Jacqueline Jones reveals how Boston was the United States writ small: a place where the soaring rhetoric of egalitarianism was easy, but justice in the workplace was elusive. Before, during, and after the Civil War, white abolitionists and Republicans refused to secure equal employment opportunity for Black Bostonians, condemning most of them to poverty. Still, Jones finds, some Black entrepreneurs ingeniously created their own jobs and forged their own career paths. Highlighting the everyday struggles of ordinary Black workers, this book shows how injustice in the workplace prevented Boston—and the United States—from securing true equality for all.

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Book SynopsisA historian of gender explores the complicated relationship between womanhood and motherhood In an era of falling births, it's often said that millennials invented the idea of not having kids. But history is full of women without children: some who chose childless lives, others who wanted children but never had them, and still others-the vast majority, then and now-who fell somewhere in between. Modern women considering how and if children fit into their lives are products of their political, ecological, and cultural moment. But history also tells them that they are not alone. ? Drawing on deep research and her own experience as a woman without children, historian Peggy O'Donnell shows that many of the reasons women are not having children today are ones they share with women in the past: a lack of support, their jobs or finances, environmental concerns, infertility, and the desire to live different kinds of lives. Understanding this history-how normal it has always been to not have children, and how hard society has worked to make it seem abnormal-is key, she writes, to rebuilding kinship between mothers and non-mothers, and to building a better world for us all.

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Book SynopsisThe Battle of Midway was, on paper, an improbable victory for the smaller, less experienced American navy and air force, so much so that it was quickly described as "a miracle." Yet fortune favored the Americans at Midway, and the conventional wisdom has it that the Americans' lucky streak continued as the war in the Pacific turned against the Japanese. This new history demonstrates that luck, let alone miracles, had little to do with it. In The Silver Waterfall, Brendan Simms and Steven McGregor show how the efforts of America's peacetime navy combined with creative innovations made by designers and industrialists were largely responsible for the victory. The Douglas Dauntless Dive Bomber, a uniquely conceived fighting weapon, delivered a brutally accurate attack the Japanese quickly came to dread. Told through a vivid narrative, Simms and McGregor show how the course of the war in the Pacific was dramatically altered, emphasizing the crucial combination of a culture of innovation, a brilliant contribution from immigrants, and a vital intelligence coup that allowed the navy to orchestrate the devastating attack on the Japanese and dominate the Pacific for good.

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Book Synopsis#1 New Release in Caribbean & West Indies History — Discover the True Story Behind One of the Black Passengers on the TitanicAn Incredible Tragedy: Joseph Laroche was an anomaly among the passengers of the Titanic. He was exceptionally well-educated in a time when few black men had access to an education―and when even fewer were able to travel on a luxurious ship in first or second class. Who was Joseph Laroche? Where was he going, and what was his story? Rediscovered History: This biography recounts the life of Joseph Laroche, his part in the history of Haiti, and how he, as a 24-year-old father of two (soon to be three) children, ended up on the last ship of that era of glamourous travel. He was a direct descendant of the father of Haitian independence and related to two Haitian presidents. As an engineer, Laroche contributed to the construction of the Parisian railway and had a promising future ahead of him. A Brilliant Biography: Ivorian-French writer Serge Bilé is the author of this fresh perspective on the tragedy that still fascinates millions and has inspired dozens of history books. With thorough research in Haiti and France, Bilé unearths the story of the intriguing figure of Joseph Laroche. This is a story of multi-cultural black history and of the political and natural forces that converged on one man. Readers who were fascinated by the true stories behind Hidden Figures and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks will love this engaging tale.Table of ContentsTable of Contents Introduction Rules Set An Intention Getting to Know You Who Am I? Let's Get You Mentally Healthy To Read Everyday Your Values Taking Care of Your Mental Wellbeing Structuring Your Mind Body Acceptance Relationships Finding Joy (Where You Can) So, in Conclusion Extra Worksheets About the Author

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Book SynopsisIn this “extraordinarily brave and entertaining book” (Sonia Purnell, New York Times–bestselling author of A Woman of No Importance), the bestselling coauthor of Argo tells her riveting, courageous story of being a female spy at the height of the Cold War  Jonna Hiestand Mendez began her CIA career as a “contract wife” performing secretarial duties for the CIA as a convenience to her husband, a young officer stationed in Europe. She needed his permission to open a bank account or shut off the gas to their apartment. Yet Mendez had a talent for espionage, too, and she soon took on bigger and more significant roles at the Agency. She parlayed her interest in photography into an operational role overseas, an unlikely area for a woman in the CIA. Often underestimated, occasionally undermined, she lived under cover and served tours of duty all over the globe, rising first to become an international spy and ultimately to Chief of Disguise at CIA’s Office of Technical Service.In True Face recounts not only the drama of Mendez’s high-stakes work—how this savvy operator parlayed her “everywoman” appeal into incredible subterfuge—but also the grit and good fortune it took for her to navigate a misogynistic world. This is the story of an incredible spy career and what it took to achieve it.

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Book SynopsisThe politics of grief, in an era marked by loss, shows us how we can find our humanity once more. From one of our most vital and far-seeing social critics. Our era is one of significant and substantial loss, yet we barely have time to acknowledge it. The losses range from the personal grief of a single COVID death to the planetary disaster wrought by climate change. We are in an age of unraveling hopes and expectations, of dreams curtailed, of aspirations desiccated. What can we do?  This is capitalism’s death phase. It has become clear that the cost of wealth creation for a few is enormous destruction for others. The marginalized and the vulnerable have been feeling the crisis for a long time, but it is increasingly coming for all of us. At the same time, we are denied the means of mourning the futures that are being so brutally curtailed.  At such a moment, taking the time to grieve is a radical act. Through in

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Book SynopsisDid the ancient Greeks and Romans have conspiracy theories? How did they prove their identity? And how much of the modern gold supply comes from the Romans?In a series of short and humorous essays, Insane Emperors, Sunken Cities, and Earthquake Machines features more answers to questions that ancient historian Garrett Ryan is frequently asked in the classroom, in online forums, and on his popular YouTube channel Told in Stone. Unlike most books on the classical world, the focus is not on famous figures or events, but on the fascinating details of daily life. Learn the answers to:Did a tsunami inspire the Story of Atlantis?How did they send long-distance messages?What if Caesar had survived the Ides of March?How did the Romans build the aqueducts?Did they practice Buddhism?How deadly was the eruption that destroyed Pompeii?What if the Roman Empire hadn’t been ravaged by the Antonine Plague?Did they attend concerts?How did they pay taxes?Was Caligula actually insane?Did they have tattoos?

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Book SynopsisWhen Emmanuel Macron won the presidency of France he was a political novice with a brand new party who had swept all traditional political forces aside. He quickly emerged as the strongest voice on behalf of the EU, especially once Angela Merkel announced her forthcoming retirement as Chancellor of Germany, and became a domestic radical, facing down the unions, imposing reforms and bracing France to become globally competitive.In The Last President of Europe, William Drozdiak delivers the inside story of the daunting challenges Macron has faced as the last staunch defender of Europe -- including Trump's attacks on NATO and the international order, Merkel's weakness, Italy's government of nihilists and satirists, the Gilets Jaunes (Yellow Vests) protesters, the resurgence of anti-Semitism, and the endless turmoil of Brexit. His success or failure will determine the fate of a continent and the world at large, and Drozdiak brings the drama of these consequential times vividly and compellingly to life.

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Book SynopsisThe second installment in the series of graphic novels that began with Washington State Book Award Finalist We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime IncarcerationBasketball-loving Sumiko Tanaka, then 11, narrates this graphic novel about the World War II incarceration of Japanese Americans. Through her eyes, we watch as her family is forced from their home and subjected to indiscriminate racism as they are shipped off to the concentration camp called Minidoka in Idaho.But Sumiko and her 17-year-old sister Yuri also see acts of charity and solidarity from their non-Japanese neighbors and friends in the Seattle area that make them hopeful for the future. As the young girls struggle with the horrors of being imprisoned in the dusty desert, they also find solace in the fact that some people chose to help. This story highlights the actual actions and experiences of those neighbors and friends.Trade ReviewPraise for We Hereby Refuse: Japanese American Resistance to Wartime IncarcerationIt leaves you simultaneously furious, questioning ideas of loyalty and citizenship … and deeply moved. May all of us learn, and share, these stories.–Moira Macdonald, The Seattle TimesHighly recommended for high school and college classrooms.–Terry Hong, Booklist

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Book SynopsisAn in-depth, on-the ground view of how Chinese officials have co-opted technology, infrastructure and the minds of their people to establish the definitive police state.When blocked from facts and truth, and constantly under surveillance, most citizens cannot discern between enemy and friend and don't have the information they need to challenge the government. Society quickly breaks down. Friends betray each other, bosses snitch on employees, teachers rat on their students, and children turn on their parents. Everyone must turn to their government for protection. even if the government is not their true protector. This is the Perfect Police State, and China has created one. In The Perfect Police State Geoffrey Cain, an Asia-based reporter, recounts his travels and investigations into the multifaceted and comprehensive surveillance network in the Western Chinese province of Xinjiang. Drawing on first-hand testimony, and one citizen's tumultuous life and escape from Xinjiang, Cain describes the emergence of China's tech surveillance giants, and the implications for our global order, in an age of Covid-19 and police brutality protests. What results is a vivid and haunting investigation into how China established an effective and enduring technological dystopia.

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Book SynopsisIn the tradition of Why Nations Fail, this book solves one of the great puzzles of history: Why did the West become the most powerful civilization in the world?Western exceptionalism-the idea that European civilizations are freer, wealthier, and less violent-is a widespread and powerful political idea. It has been a source of peace and prosperity in some societies, and of ethnic cleansing and havoc in others.Yet in The Invention of Power, Bruce Bueno de Mesquita draws on his expertise in political maneuvering, deal-making, and game theory to present a revolutionary new theory of Western exceptionalism: that a single, rarely discussed event in the twelfth century changed the course of European and world history. By creating a compromise between churches and nation-states that, in effect, traded money for power and power for money, the 1122 Concordat of Worms incentivized economic growth, facilitated secularization, and improved the lot of the citizenry, all of which set European countries on a course for prosperity. In the centuries since, countries that have had a similar dynamic of competition between church and state have been consistently better off than those that have not.The Invention of Power upends conventional thinking about European culture, religion, and race and presents a persuasive new vision of world history.

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Book SynopsisIn this powerful and passionate critique of the 'war on terror' in Afghanistan and its extensions into Palestine and Iraq, Derek Gregory traces the long history of British and American involvements in the Middle East and shows how colonial power continues to cast long shadows over our own present. Argues the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon on September 11 activated a series of political and cultural responses that were profoundly colonial in nature. The first analysis of the “war on terror” to connect events in Afghanistan, Palestine, and Iraq. Traces the connections between geopolitics and the lives of ordinary people. Richly illustrated and packed with empirical detail. Trade Review“This is a great book. 'Gregory has written a book entwining global geography with social danger. The Colonial Present takes us through the contemporary wars in Afghanistan, the Palestinian territories and Iraq as connected projects of imperial ambition... The Colonial Present is a refreshingly angry book, with all the geographical and historical scholarship to buttress its indictment of American, Israeli and British behavior around the world. It is exquisitely written... This book's screaming truths are must-read heresy." Neil Smith, Los Angeles Times "An impassioned plea by one of the world’s most eminent geographers to displace the distorted imaginative geographies that have so corrupted our representations of the Islamic world with a geographical imagination that enlarges and enhances our understandings. The long historical geography of the colonial encounter in the Middle East is here laid bare in all its twisted detail in order to comprehend the fractures underpinning contemporary political impasses in Palestine, Afghanistan, and Iraq. The Colonial Present is a ‘must read’ for all those concerned for peace and justice in our time.” David Harvey, author of The New Imperialism "The originality and profundity of Derek Gregory's The Colonial Present puts it at the top of my list." Richard Falk, Albert G. Milbank Professor Emeritus of International Law and Practice at Princeton; author most recently of The Great Terror War (2003) “Brilliantly condenses the multiple geographies of colonialism ... so that their contemporary entanglements with the flexings of modern imperial power crackle with intensity. Using September 11 2001 as a political fulcrum, Gregory traces the searing effects of fluid but durable cartographies of violence in the intersecting wars in Afghanistan, Palestine, and Iraq.” Cindi Katz, Graduate Centre, CityUniversity of New York “Powerfully and persuasively argued. Passionately written. A daring, brilliant analysis … Quite simply the most significant book written by a geographer in some time.” Allan Pred, University of California, Berkeley “The Colonial Present marshals concepts of imaginative geography and insight from the spatialisation of cultural and social theory developed in the past thirty years … An impassioned but theoretically rich critique of the ‘war on terror’ and the wider Zeitgeist that it shapes and embodies … Crucially, the book is a compelling critique of and American Empire … This is a significant book … Vintage Gregory again; enticing and provoking his audience … There is no doubting that The Colonial Present sets both standards and agendas.” Environment and Planning D "The Colonial Present is an important and politiclly engaged book." AreaTable of ContentsList of Figures xi Preface xiii Acknowledgments xvi 1 The Colonial Present 1 Foucault’s Laughter 1 The Present Tense 5 2 Architectures of Enmity 17 Imaginative Geographies 17 “Why do they hate us?” 20 September 11 24 3 “The Land where Red Tulips Grew” 30 Great Games 30 Uncivil Wars and Transnational Terrorism 36 The Sorcerer’s Apprentices 44 4 “Civilization” and “Barbarism” 47 The Visible and the Invisible 47 Territorialization, Targets, and Technoculture 49 Deadly Messengers 56 Spaces of the Exception 62 Deconstruction 72 5 Barbed Boundaries 76 America’s Israel 76 Diaspora, Dispossession, and Disaster 78 Occupation, Coercion, and Colonization 89 Compliant Cartographies 95 Camp David and Goliath 102 6 Defiled Cities 107 Ground Zeros 107 Besieging Cartographies 117 Identities and Oppositions 138 7 The Tyranny of Strangers 144 “Not as conquerors or enemies . . .” 145 Coups and Conflicts 151 Desert Storms and Urban Nightmares 156 8 Boundless War 180 Black September 180 Killing Grounds 197 The Cutting-Room War 214 9 Gravity’s Rainbows 248 Connective Dissonance 248 The Colonial Present and Cultures of Travel 256 Pandora’s Spaces 258 Notes 263 Guide to Further Reading 352 Index 359

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Book SynopsisHistorian Jeremy Black is comprehensive, as ever, but in his treatment of the British Gothic novel his greatest service is the preservation of the detail––namely, the human impetus behind art that is often undervalued. Gothic novelists were purposeful, thoughtful, and engaged questions and feelings that ultimately shaped a century of culture. Black notes that the Gothic novel is also very much about "morality and deploying history accordingly." The true interest of the Gothic novel is more remarkable than it is grisly: the featured darkness and macabre are not meant to usurp heroism and purity, but will fall hard under the over-ruling hand of Providence and certainty of retribution. Black's understanding of the Gothic writer is a remarkable contribution to the legacy of British literature and the novel at large. Once again, in Black thoroughness meets fidelity and the reader is overcome with his own insights into the period on the merit of Black's efforts. In The Weight of Words Series, Black is devoted to the preservation of the memory of British literary genius, and in so doing he is carving out a niche for himself. As in the Gothic novel where landscapes give quarter to influences that seem to interact with the human fates that freely wander in, reading Black is an experience of suddenly finding oneself in possession of an education, and his allure takes a cue from the horrific Gothic tempt.

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Book SynopsisWritten by the renowned British historian who has been described as both utterly thorough and humanely delicate, Jeremy Black offers a guided tour through the mind of Agatha Christie and life during the Great World Wars. His incomparable treatment of literary craft developing alongside global military engagement nearly overshadows the natural draw of the crime drama that is the subject of his book. Indeed, the “prurience and sensationalism” of crime is not as exciting as Black’s aptitude for drawing the reality from the fiction (and periphery sources), giving Christie a much louder voice than she might ever have dreamed. If Christie is also moralist and mirror to her times, Black here plays his part as the detective and reveals layers of previously unmined truths in her stories. Hercule Poirot as a character is masterfully imagined, but Black shows us how he is inseparable from Christie’s turbulent and changing world. He also illuminates significant social commentary in Christie’s fiction, and in so doing Black often uses his authority to vindicate Christie’s work from hastily, at times stupidly, applied labels and interpretations. He is especially magnificent in his chapters, “Xenophobia” and “The Sixties.” Black nevertheless gives due recognition to Christie’s critics when they have something relevant and reasonable to say, and hence the reader finds yet another service in Black’s comprehensive review of the reviewers over the expanse of Christie’s writing career. For all this, Black proves himself to be a worthy history-teller because he can aptly ‘detect’ the meaning of stories that seeks to answer the past and guide the present. His erudition runs much deeper than his ability to navigate the stores of resources available on the subject, and the reader gets a glimpse of this early on when in the introduction he proffers his own defense for writing about the importance of a Hercule Poirot. Black writes, “the notion of crime had a moral component from the outset, and notably so in terms of the struggle between Good and Evil, and in the detection of the latter. Indeed, it is this detection that is the basis of the most powerful strand of detection story, because Evil disguises its purposes. It has to do so in a world and humanity made fundamentally benign and moral by God.” The Golden Age of detective novels represents much more than a triumph of a literary genre. It is in its own right a story of how the challenge to address the problem of evil was accepted. Its convergence with the plot-rich narrative of the twentieth century in the modern age renders Black’s account a thrilling masterpiece, seducing historians to read fiction and crime junkies to read more history.

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Book SynopsisRomano Guardini described Rainer Maria Rilke as the “poet who had things of such importance to say about the end of our own age [and] was also a prophet of things to come.” The complexity of Rilke is, then, “highly relevant to modern Man.” Decades after Guardini’s assessment, the reader who rediscovers Rilke will find a depth of mind and soul that display a profundity the post-modern reader only thinks he possesses. In an expanded collection of Rilke’s sonnets, Rick Anthony Furtak not only makes this lyrical masterpiece accessible to the English reader, but he proves himself a master of sorts as well. His introduction that elaborates on Rilke’s marriage of vision and voice, intention and enigma, haunted companionship and abandonment is a stand-alone marvel for the reader. Furtak’s praised translation of Sonnets to Orpheus (University of Chicago Press, 2008) is surpassed in this much broader collection of verse that also includes the original German text. It is Furtak’s great achievement that Rilke resonates with the contemporary reader, who uncertain and searching wants to believe that the vision of existence can mirror much more than his own consciousness. In his feat of rendering Rilke in English, contextualizing the philosophical meanings of verse, and presenting literary romanticism, Furtak provides a formidable contribution to the vindication of true poetic voice.

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Book SynopsisDespite his prolific career as the first US federal photographer, John Wood has been largely forgotten. With 160 stunning, high-resolution images, MAGNIFICENT INTENTIONS establishes Wood as a leader among American photographers of the time and provides historical context for his overlooked work and legacy, which includes:The first inauguration photo, from James Buchanan''s inauguration in 1857Newly uncovered evidence that Wood was the photographer who documentedAbraham Lincoln''s first inauguration in 1861,the only surviving photograph of that historic eventHundreds of photographs of the construction of public buildings in DC, most notably the U.S. Capitoland the Washington AqueductPioneering innovations in the use ofphotography to duplicate maps and plansduring the Civil WarThe first panoramic photos of Washington, DCAdrienne Lundgren,senior photograph conservator at the Library of Congress, explores how Wood''s life shaped his photographic eye and examines innovative techniques that

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Book SynopsisDuring the Cold War, the Central Intelligence Agency's biggest and longest paramilitary operation was in the tiny kingdom of Laos. Hundreds of advisors and support personnel trained and led guerrilla formations across the mountainous Laotian countryside, as well as running smaller road-watch and agent teams that stretched from the Ho Chi Minh Trail to the Chinese frontier. Added to this number were hundreds of contract personnel providing covert aviation services.It was dangerous work. On the Memorial Wall at the CIA headquarters in Langley, Virginia, nine stars are dedicated to officers who perished in Laos. On top of this are more than one hundred from propriety airlines killed in aviation mishaps between 1961 and 1973. Combined, this grim casualty figure is orders of magnitude larger than any other CIA paramilitary operation.But for the Foreign Intelligence officers at Langley, Laos was more than a paramilitary battleground. Because of its geographic location as a buffer state, as well as its trifurcated political structure, Laos was a unique Cold War melting pot. All three of the Lao political factions, including the communist Pathet Lao, had representation in Vientiane. The Soviet Union had an extremely active embassy in the capital, while the People's Republic of China - though in the throes of the Cultural Revolution - had multiple diplomatic outposts across the kingdom. So, too, did both North and South Vietnam. All of this made Laos fertile ground for clandestine operations. This book comprehensively details the cloak-and-dagger side of the war in Laos for the first time, from agent recruitments to servicing dead-drops in Vientiane.Trade Review...offers a good spy tale and is a well-researched and credible history. It is a valuable addition to the intelligence literature. * International Journal of Intelligence and CounterIntelligence 26/10/2022 *...sheds light brighter than any spy fiction on an important aspect of the Indochina experience. * John Prados, author of Vietnam: The History of an Unwinnable War, 1945-1975 25/06/2021 *People in the book—friends and foes—come through clearly in Conboy’s thoughtful vignettes about them. He presents backgrounds of many men and a few women in a manner that personalizes each—for good or for bad. Some of them practically walk off the page and greet the reader. * The VVA Veteran *...a masterful book on the secret exploits of the Central Intelligence Agency […] This is is a “must read” for anyone interested in the Indochina Wars and some operations that have never been recorded before. * Barry Broman, author of Risk Taker, Spy Maker 25/06/2021 *Table of ContentsAcknowledgements Chapter One Growing Pains Chapter Two The Young Turks Chapter Three Hell is a City Chapter Four Apéritif Chapter Five The Teams Chapter Six The Flying Squad Chapter Seven The Holy Grail Chapter Eight Hard Target Chapter Nine Rock and a Hard Place Chapter Ten The Art of Seduction Chapter Eleven Suspicious Minds Chapter Twelve Writing on the Wall Chapter Thirteen Eye of the Hurricane Chapter Fourteen Surreptitious Entries Chapter Fifteen Dénouement Chapter Sixteen Cloak and Keris

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Book SynopsisFeaturing decorative, religious, and utilitarian objects from the Geometric period to the Hellenistic Age, this is the ideal introduction to Greek sculpture Introducing eight centuries of Greek sculpture, this latest addition to The Met’s compelling and widely acclaimed How to Read series traces this artistic tradition from its early manifestations in the Geometric period (ca. 900–700 BCE) through the groundbreaking creativity of the Archaic and Classical periods to the dramatic achievements of the Hellenistic Age (323–31 BCE). The 40 works of art featured represent a broad range of objects and materials, both sacred and utilitarian, in metal, marble, gold, ivory, and terracotta. Sculptures of deities and architectural elements are joined by depictions of athletes, animals, and performers, as well as by funerary reliefs, perfume vases, and jewelry. The accompanying text both provides insight into Greek art as a whole and illuminates centuries of Greek life. Detailed commentaries on each work and an overview of major themes in Greek art offer a fascinating, object-focused introduction to one of the most influential cultures in Western civilization.Published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art/Distributed by Yale University Press

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Book SynopsisThis is a compelling account of the German defense of the Baltic States of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Against overwhelming Soviet forces the book shows how the German Army Group North was driven across the Baltics from Leningrad and fought a number isolated battles including the defense of Narva, Memel and the Kurland pocket.The book outlines in dramatic detail how Hitler forbade his troops to withdraw, ordering them to follow his Halt Order Decree and fight to the death. However, exhausted and demoralized by continuous Soviet assaults, Army Group North became cut-off and isolated, fighting fanatically to hold the capital cities of Tallin, Vilnius and Riga. What followed were German forces fighting to the death in the last few small pockets of land surrounding three ports: Libau in Kurland, Pillau in East Prussia and Danzig at the mouth of the River Vistula. In the Kurland, German divisions became surrounded and fought a vicious defense until May 1945.Drawing on a host of rare and unpublished photographs accompanied by in-depth captions and text, the book provides an absorbing read of the Red Army's conquering of the Baltics.Trade ReviewThe publisher's ability to create com­pact yet detailed and well-illustrated volumes is shown in this latest edition covering the Baltic fighting. The photographs are excellent, as are the maps and artwork. There is also extensive information on unit organization and leader­ship. The work gives the reader a complete look at one of the lesser understood campaigns of the Eastern Front. * WWII History Magazine *Another impressive title in the Casement Illustrated series, and a useful book for modelers interested in the Axis and Soviet forces engaged in that epic struggle. The text is clear and informative, and the visual galleries alone are worth acquiring the book. * Armorama 11/01/2023 *Modelers of World War II Eastern Front will have a plethora of images to gain inspiration. The photographs show the desperation, strain of war, environmental conditions, and brutality of war. * IPMS USA 14/12/2022 *...it is the photographs that are really what makes this book special. * Modelling Madness *The text plus the photos and their captions, the artwork profiles and plenty of maps all fit nicely together to explain the story of the events in the Baltic States in the closing stages of WW2. * Military Model Scene *This highly informative volume details the Germans' resistance while trying to stem the inevitable collapse. … The situation was always going to end badly for the Germans as revealed so poignantly in this fascinating book. * Gun Mart 20/02/2023 *Table of Contents1. Prelude to destruction 2. Defensive positions 3. Defending the frontiers of Estonia & Lithuania 2 February–13 July 1944 – Narva Front, Crushing of Vilnius 4. Battle of Attrition – 21 July 1944–January 1945 – Withdrawal, Tallinn Offensive, Riga Offensive, Retreat to Kurland 5. Fortress Kurland 6. Baltic Exodus

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Book SynopsisA poignant account of women's suffering and resilience in Stalin's forced labour camps, transcribed in the libingroom of nine survivors.

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Book SynopsisDerek Wright learnt about small boats from his father, who tragically died when Derek was just 14 years old. Sent away from his family to finish his education, he left school at 16 to join the global tea trade. Soon after he finished his training with Brooke Bond, famous for their 'Dividend' tea, Hitler invaded Poland and Britain was at war.By then known to his friends as 'Jake', he was one of the first Volunteer Reserves to be called up to fight for his country. Plucked from his naval training in HMS King Alfred, his warfighting initiation was on the beach at Dunkirk, helping evacuate stragglers after Operation DYNAMO. He then volunteered for Motor Torpedo Boats, where he served with valour and distinction.Whilst Hitler's U-Boats were torpedoing shipments of tea bound for Great Britain, Jake Wright reciprocated by torpedoing Axis coastal shipping off Europe. His first Command was MTB 331, trained for a daredevil mission to puncture German boom defences protecting their battleships. In his next Command, MTB 32, he was wounded in action whilst torpedoing a German convoy, but kept his small ship fighting against the odds to win the action and sink his enemy; for his bravery he was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross. Further acts of gallantry in action, combined with tactical innovation, saw him earn two bars to his DSC as well as a Mention in Despatches; he became one of only 44 officers in the Second World War to receive a DSC with two Bars.After demobilisation he returned to the tea trade, rising to become one of Brooke Bond's senior directors supplying Britain's beloved beverage. He even helped refine how to make the perfect cup of tea.This is the life story of a determined, brave, innovative and decorated officer who has earned a place in the hearts of our nation. It is the story of Derek 'Jake' Wright, DSC**.Trade ReviewJake Wright clearly had a really action-packed war and this book skilfully combines his coastal forces experiences with his influential role in the tea business. * The Naval Review *Table of ContentsPrelude Attach with Torpedoes Tea and Sea Any Stragglers? The Operation that Never Was - MTB 331 East Coast Adventures Praying Mantis The Big Boats Sent Ashore Home for Tea Sailing By Epilogue Bibliography

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Book SynopsisAn exploration of Indigenous cosmology and history in North America• Examines the complexities of Indigenous legends and creation myths and reveals common oral traditions across much of North America• Explores the history of Cahokia, the Mississippian Mound Builder Empire of 1050-1300 CE, told through the voice of Honga, a Native leader of the time• Presents an Indigenous revisionist history regarding Thomas Jefferson, expansionist doctrine, and Manifest DestinyWhile Western accounts of North American history traditionally start with European colonization, Indigenous histories of North America—or Turtle Island—stretch back millennia. Drawing on comparative analysis, firsthand Indigenous accounts, extensive historical writings, and his own experience, Omaha Tribal member, Cherokee citizen, and teacher Taylor Keen presents a comprehensive re-imagining of the ancient and more recent history of this continent’s oldest

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Book Synopsis"A beautiful catalogue of 80 plants, revered by indigenous people for their nourishing, healing, and symbolic properties." —Gardens Illustrated The belief that all life-forms are interconnected and share the same breath—known in the Rarámuri tribe as iwígara—has resulted in a treasury of knowledge about the natural world, passed down for millennia by native cultures. Ethnobotanist Enrique Salmón builds on this concept of connection and highlights 80 plants revered by North America’s indigenous peoples. Salmón teaches us the ways plants are used as food and medicine, the details of their identification and harvest, their important health benefits, plus their role in traditional stories and myths. Discover in these pages how the timeless wisdom of iwígara can enhance your own kinship with the natural world.

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Book SynopsisFor nearly half a century, the battleship was the most powerful weapon on the ocean, deployed by the US Navy and many other fleets. However, their time seemed to be at an end when Japanese carrier-based aircraft destroyed so many at Pearl Harbor in 1941, ushering in the age of the aircraft carrier. Nevertheless, US battleships continued to serve with distinction in various roles throughout World War II and during the Cold War.Naval historian Ingo Bauernfeind tells the dramatic yet successful story of the US Navy's battleships and battle cruisers by class, ranging from the early Dreadnought-type of the South Carolina-class to the gigantic Montana-class, which were approved but never built. This fully illustrated volume gives a clear overview of each ship's career, its fate and highlights its significance in American naval history. Besides covering various battles in the Pacific, it also describes the important actions of US battleships providing shore bombardment during the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa as well as during the D-day landings in Normandy, thus illustrating their contribution to Allied victory in World War II. Moreover, it covers the little-known actions of the Iowa-class during the Korean and Vietnam wars and even during Operation Desert Storm in 1991, when the modernised USS Missouri and USS Wisconsin fired guided missiles and operated drones in addition to the use of their historic 16-inch guns.This volume culminates in a guided tour through the mighty USS Missouri, an overview of the other seven preserved US battleships serving as floating museums for future generations, as well as a dive to the sunken USS Arizona and USS Utah at Pearl Harbor.

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Book SynopsisThe history of modern Afghanistan is an epic drama, a thriller, a tragedy, a surreal farce. Every forty years or so, over the last two centuries, some great global power has attempted to take control of Afghanistan, only to slink away wounded and bewildered. Games without Rules recounts this strange story, not from the outside looking in, as is usually the case, but from the inside looking out. Here, the interventions and invasions by foreign powers are not the main event. They are interruptions of the main event, for Afghans have a story of their own, quite apart from all the invasions (a story often interrupted by invasions!) Drawing on his Afghan background, Muslim roots, and Western and Afghan sources, Tamim Ansary weaves an epic story that moves from a universe of village republics,the old Afghanistan,through a tumultuous drama of tribes, factions, and forces, to the current struggle. The drama involves a dazzling array of colourful characters,such as the towering warrior-poet Ahmad Shah, who founded the country the wily spider-king Dost Mohammed the Great, who told the British I am like a wooden spoon you can toss me about, but I will not be broken" and the late nineteenth-century Iron Amir," who said a telescope would interest him only if it could shoot bullets, since what use had he for the moon? A compelling narrative told in an accessible, conversational style, Games without Rules offers revelatory insight into a country long at the centre of international debate, but never fully understood by the outside world.Trade ReviewRajiv Chandrasekaran, author of Little America: The War Within the War for Afghanistan"In Games Without Rules, Tamim Ansary has written the most engaging, accessible and insightful history of Afghanistan. With gifted prose and revealing details, Ansary gives us the oft-neglected Afghan perspective of the wars, foreign meddling and palace intrigue that has defined the past few centuries between the Indus and Oxus. This brilliant book should be required reading for anyone involved in the current war there -- and anyone who wants to understand why Afghanistan will not be at peace anytime soon." Kirkus "A breezy, accessible overview of centuries of messy Afghan history, including the present military quagmire... As a native of Kabul, Ansary lends precious insight into the makeup of the typical Afghan village, with its tidy, self-sufficient, patriarchal hierarchy and need to keep the nomads at bay... Lively instruction on how Afghanistan has coped, and continues to cope, with being a strategic flash point." Christian Science Monitor"Games without Rules" explains longstanding problems and internal difficulties encountered in efforts toward nation-building in Afghanistan and shows how great power politics (and invasion) have been stalling the process for the past two centuries." San Jose Mercury News"Despite extensive reporting on the war in Afghanistan, San Francisco journalist and author Ansary thinks there's still a great deal of misunderstanding about the reasons for the conflict. In this history, he focuses on key developments that shaped current events." Middle East Journal "Ansary ... sheds light on over two centuries of Afghan history, giving an account of the historical struggles undertaken by a fractious people across a landscape of rugged steppes and unforgiving deserts... [He] argues that the fatal error of ... unsuccessful modern invaders lies in their inability to recognize the internal struggles of those with whom they intervened." Booklist"Ansary tells the history of modern Afghanistan with a master storyteller's confidence...this is a nuanced, sophisticated historical narrative that strives to tell Afghan history from an Afghan perspective...The author's love for his native land and his optimism for its future shine through." Publishers Weekly, STARRED review "Ansary, an Afghan-born US citizen... offers an illuminating history of the country, providing not only a chronology but a deep cultural analysis that allows outsiders a comprehensive picture of Afghan mores and practices. This insider's perspective fills large gaps in contemporary outsiders' understandings of why these powers have failed and hopefully points the way towards forms of international cooperation that will work for Afghanistan rather than against it. Ansary has a gift for using informal language to illustrate his points in a way that doesn't compromise the legitimacy of his narrative. His ability to contextualize the history and situate it in culture, as well as to remind readers of when to keep track of important figures (sometimes for decades) is refreshing. Ansary has produced an invaluable resource to those curious about this tumultuous region." Geographical Magazine"As an Afghan-American, Tamim Ansary is well placed to present the Western reader with a penetrating view of his complex and often baffling native land. With the 2014 draw-down of NATO combat forces from Afghanistan approaching a better-late-than-never understanding of how the country works and its history is crucial if we're to avoid the mistakes of the past." New Statesman"(Ansary's) is an authentically Afghan voice, offering not an authoritative account of the ebb and flow of foreign entanglement in Afghanistan but a personal account of how an intelligent Afghan observer sees the course of events from the outside." Irish Times"Ansary has that rare gift of being able to blend an academic's knowledge with the skill of a natural storyteller. He if Afghanistan-born, and although he left when he was just 16, in 1964, he has clearly spent a lifetime collecting stories, which he has edited masterfully, knowing exactly when to move away from the major events and focus on the tiny details that give you a sense of what life must have been like for the country's many poor villagers, who often had no idea what was happening in their capital city. Refreshingly he keeps his focus on Afghans, with the foreigners appearing for brief periods, usually offering little and understanding less. I was gripped as I read the first 200 pages of GAMES WITHOUT RULES... The author brilliantly describes the personalities of these men and the conflict, conceit or foreign intervention that brought them to power."

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Book SynopsisMost books gloss over submarines at Midway and, if they are mentioned at all, conclude they failed miserably and had little impact on the outcome of the battle. It is undeniable that carrier aviation and intelligence saved the day, but the role of the submarine was an important one in defence of an anticipated amphibious assault.Midway Submerged is a comprehensive examination of a little-known aspect of this pivotal naval battle, explaining how Nimitz used his submarines at Midway, and the Japanese misused theirs based on a flawed tactical plan. Based on in-depth archival research not only into the battle itself, but also submarine design and construction, and tactical and operational doctrine for both the United States and Japan, it brings a whole new dimension to the discussion of the battle of Midway. It examines the intended role of the submarine in the plans and doctrine of both navies, and what the submarines were expected to accomplish for both fleets during the battle, before assessing the actual accomplishments, successes, and failures of the submarine forces on both sides. Of particular importance, the book offers an analysis of how well these vessels fulfilled the expectations placed on them by their respective naval planners, concluding that submarines played a more important role in the outcome than has been previously understood.Trade ReviewAllen does a very good job of examining the submarine portions of the US and Japanese operational plans . . . an excellent revisionist assessment of submarine employment at the Battle of Midway. * The National Maritime Historical Society *Table of Contents1.Midway Submerged: Introduction 2.Japanese Naval Doctrine 3.Japanese Submarine Strategy and Tactics 4.United States Naval Doctrine 5.United States Submarine Strategy and Tactics 6.Japanese Submarine Actions at Midway 7.United States Submarine Actions at Midway 8.Analysis: Undersea Warfare at Midway 9.Midway Submerged: Conclusions Appendices Bibliography Notes Index

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Book SynopsisChristopher Award Winner Los Angeles Times Bestseller Washington Post Top 100 Books of the Year SelectionA stunning literary survival story of three young Sudanese boys, two brothers and a cousin,hailed by the Los Angeles Times as a moving, beautifully written account, by turns warm and tender."Between 1987 and 1989, Alepho, Benjamin, and Benson, like tens of thousands of young boys, took flight from the massacres of Sudan's civil war. They became known as the Lost Boys. With little more than the clothes on their backs, sometimes not even that, they streamed out over Sudan in search of refuge. Their journey led them first to Ethiopia and then, driven back into Sudan, toward Kenya. They walked nearly one thousand miles, sustained only by the sheer will to live. They Poured Fire on Us from the Sky is the three boys' account of that unimaginable journey. With the candour and the purity of their child's-eye-vision, Alephonsian, Benjamin, and Benson recall by turns: how they endured the hunger and strength-sapping illnesses,dysentery, malaria, and yellow fever how they dodged the life-threatening predators,lions, snakes, crocodiles and soldiers alike,that dogged their footsteps and how they grappled with a war that threatened continually to overwhelm them. Their story is a lyrical, captivating, timeless portrait of a childhood hurled into wartime and how they had the good fortune and belief in themselves to survive.Trade Review"A moving, beautifully written account, by turns raw and tender..."--Los Angeles Times "[The authors'] accounts, written first in lesson books and then on computer have been skillfully put together in a narrative, each boy carrying both history and that of their joint flight and reunion forward. The result is both fascinating and immediate, not least because of the guilelessness of the language and the particularly African use of metaphor and imagery...They Poured Fire...conjures up a world of marabou storks, acacia trees, termite mounds taller than men, scorpions and snakes that move in the dark, a world governed by traditions, rituals, seasons, weather, and obligations."--New York Review of Books "[T]ender and lyrical...one of the most riveting stories ever told of African childhoods--and a stirring tale of courage...Anyone interested in Africa, its children or the human will to survive should read this book. This beautifully told volume...will remain on my desk for years to come."--Washington Post "[L]ovely and unusual...[V]ital stories...that can help readers understand events in Sudan on a human level. But They Poured Fire on Us From the Sky is no mere historical document; it is a wise and sophisticated examination of the arbitrary cruelties and joys of being alive."--Star Tribune "Their words speak for those who no longer have a voice. Their story will take the reader on a trip not soon forgotten of spirits unwilling to be broken."--San Antonio Express-News "Their serious tone, broken by the occasional wry smile, memorializes their parents, the land and animals that wove the tapestry of their early childhoods... One reviewer called the book 'deceptively understated,' But the soft plainness of the young writers' voices, combined with their moral insight, throws the surreal danger and strife into sharp relief."--San Diego Union-Tribune "[They Poured Fire] is an amazing account of boys who managed to survive a terrifying ordeal... there's a kind of haunting beauty to their story... After reading this book, readers may feel like they've been on an adventure--or in hell, depending on your point of view. Whatever the case, this book is an eye-opener."--Rocky Mountain News "[T]he book is at once an important addition to the contemporary dialog on world affairs and a surprisingly lyrical account of coming of age under adverse conditions... These folkloric memories--replete with lions and circumcision rituals--describe a world centuries removed from the high-tech industrialization of Western society. But they years of war also have bestowed wisdom, and simple observations of childhood are seen now through different eyes..." --Minneapolis Star-Tribune "[The book] represent[s] genuine, heartfelt examples of what war does to young people and how they may adjust to life outside the country of their birth, especially the social and intellectual problems they experience."--Deseret Morning News "In a harrowing account of the war, three young refugees in California... remember how they were driven from their homes in Southern Sudan in the ethnic and religious conflicts that have left two million dead. They tell their stories quietly with the help of their mentor, coauthor Judy Bernstein, in clear, interwoven, narratives that put a personal face on statistics."--Booklist "[W]ell written, often poetic essays...this collection is moving in its descriptions of unbelievable courage." --Publisher's Weekly

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Book SynopsisNorth Africa was one of the richest parts of the Roman Empire, the agricultural powerhouse of the Mediterranean. It was also home to some of the emperor’s biggest imperial estates, and prosperous cities of all kinds. Its loss to the Vandals in the first half of the 5th century AD was the mortal blow which precipitated the fall of the western empire, and set the eastern empire back for decades. Its reconquest then became an obsession with each new emperor in Constantinople. Time and again the eastern Romans failed in this goal, until Justinian I finally succeeded in the AD 530s. Although North Africa’s restoration to the world of Rome only lasted a short time, it has widely been regarded as a positive development.However, new research – published here for the first time – shows that post-Roman North Africa thrived under the Vandals. To them it was Vandal heaven, a place where they found a way as the new incumbent elite to live comfortably alongside the late Roman inhabitants, despite their different interpretations of Christianity. Together, the two cultures flourished. When the eastern Romans – now styled Byzantines – returned, they weren’t welcome. This is evidenced in the surviving built environments, namely chains of small forts along the frontier and interior, where the Byzantines used mounted troops to keep an unhappy local population under control. Dr Elliott presents a brand-new interpretation of post-Roman North Africa, providing a compelling argument for how the region today came to be part of the Arab world, in contrast to the regions along the northern Mediterranean freeboard which maintain their Roman-ness to this day.

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Book SynopsisConflict was rife among the Greeks of the Classical period, including some of the most famous wars and battles of the whole ancient period, such as the defeat of the Persians at Marathon, the Spartans' heroic last stand at Thermopylae, the gruelling Pelopponesian War and the epic March of the Ten Thousand. The Greek heavy infantry spearmen, or hoplites, are one of the most recognizable types of ancient warrior and their tighly-packed phalanx formation dominated the battlefield. Covering the period from the Persian Wars to the Macedonian victory at the Battle of Chaeronea, Gabriele Esposito examines not only the hoplites but also the other troops that featured in Greek armies with growing importance as time went on, such as light infantry skirmishers and cavalry. He details their arms, armour and equipment, organization and tactics. His clear, informative text is beautifully illustrated with dozens of colour photographs showing how the equipment was worn and used.

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Book SynopsisThe German Army was all-conquering until late 1941 when, only a few miles short of Moscow, it ran out of steam. Maniacal defence, the Russian winter and exhaustion all played their part and, although they didn't realise it, the German forces wouldn't advance further on this front. While they continued their offensives into 1942, Soviet defenses had stiffened. Its equipment – notably the T-34 – had improved and the Germans had lost too many of their best men: the savvy NCOs and experienced junior officers that gave the Wehrmacht its edge over the opposition. They had lost their moral compass as well. Complicity in the massacres of the SS-Einsatzgruppen, the barbarity of the anti-Partisan operations and summary execution for those who flagged, were the hallmarks of the German Army's fight for survival against people it considered less than human.Outnumbered, under attack on many other fronts, their homeland bombarded unceasingly from the air, the German servicemen endured the hell of the Eastern Front until their armies were destroyed in 1945. While the morality of the regime they fought for and its reprehensible actions should never be forgotten, what cannot be denied is the indefatigable courage of the German infantrymen.Fully illustrated with over 200 contemporary photographs and illustrations – and exploring a broad range of topics from uniform, weapons and provisions to tactics and communications – this title provides valuable insights into the Germans' main theater of operations in World War II.Table of ContentsTimeline Introduction The Soldier Facilities Tactics Life in the Field Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisCharlotte Despard, social reformer and suffragette, was always known as Mrs Despard, never Charlotte. Her name should be synonymous with those of Emmeline Pankhurst and Millicent Fawcett; instead, she remains overlooked. Born in 1844, Charlotte's childhood was difficult: she found solace in great literature, identifying with Milton and the romantic words of Shelley. She married Maximillian Despard and had the opportunity to explore the world and try her hand at a career as a novelist. Widowed in her early 40s, her money and status allowed her to live a life of surprising freedom for a woman of her time. Charlotte devoted her life to improving the lot of the poor and moved to live among them in the London slums. She fought for better and fairer living/working conditions for all, supporting adult suffrage before becoming heavily involved in the fight for votes for women. She joined Emmeline Pankhurst's Women's Social and Political Union and when that organisation split in 1907 co-founded the Women's Freedom League, becoming its first, much loved, president. She also served as editor and major contributor to its newspaper, The Vote. When suffrage activities were largely suspended after the outbreak of WW1 in 1914, she returned to her Irish roots and moved to Dublin to support the fight for Irish home rule. After some women were enfranchised in 1918 she tried to capitalise on the upturn for women's political freedom (unsuccessfully) running for Parliament. Charlotte's political and public career ended tragically when she died in Belfast aged 95, penniless and alone, having given all her money to helping the less fortunate. Charlotte's quiet legacy continues to this day in her work particularly for the rights of women and children.

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Book SynopsisAlthough the ultimate prize of the Great Game played out between Great Britain and Imperial Russia in the 19th century was India, most of the intrigue and action took place along its northern frontier in Afghanistan, Turkestan and Tibet. Maps and knowledge of the enemy were crucial elements in Britain’s struggle to defend the ‘jewel in the crown.’The Great Trigonometrical Survey of India had been founded in the 18th century with the aim of creating a detailed map of the country. While most people today are readily able to identify the world’s highest mountain, few know of the man, George Everest, after whom it was named, or the accomplishment that earned him this singular honor. Under his leadership, the Survey of India mapped the Great Arc, which was then lauded as ‘one of the greatest works in the whole history of science,’ though it cost more in monetary terms and human lives than many contemporary Indian wars.Much of the work of the Survey was undertaken by native Indians, known as Pundits, who were trained to explore, spy out and map Central Asia and Tibet. They did this at great personal risk and with meager resources, while traveling entirely on foot. They would be the first to reveal the mysteries of the forbidden city of Lhasa, and discover the true course of Tibet’s mighty Tsangpo River. They were the greatest group of explorers the world has seen in recent history – yet they remain the classic unsung heroes of the British Raj.The story of these extraordinary pioneers who explored much of Asia during the 19th century to fill in large portions of its map, and spy out the region for military reasons is often forgotten, but Riaz Dean’s vivid account of their exploits, their adventurous spirit and their tenacity in the face of great adversity, all set within the context of the Great Game and the Survey of India, will finally bring them the attention they deserve.

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Book SynopsisBy the end of March 1863, Major General Ulysses S. Grant was at a crossroads in his military career. His bold attempts in the late fall 1862 and winter of 1862/63 had all come up fall short of his objective: get his army on high ground north and east of Vicksburg and capture the last major obstacle on the Mississippi River.Grant had been stymied by the difficult region's swampy bayous as well as Confederate resistance at key locations that thwarted his advances and prolonged his army's miserable dispositions in the sickly camps of Louisiana bottomland. Confederate Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton had performed well using his interior rail lines and intelligence networks to place blocking forces or obstructions that delayed or derailed Grant's movements.Realizing his career was on the line, Grant chose the riskiest operation he could have concocted. In a joint military operation, Grant marched two of his army corps down the roads and along the bayous of Louisiana, repairing them as they progressed, while Acting Rear Admiral David Dixon Porter led his ironclad gunboats with transports past the Confederate heavy artillery defending Vicksburg's riverfront. It was Grant's hope to get enough boats below the city to enable a crossing of the Mississippi River, a forced march into the state, and arriving at Vicksburg's doorsteps from the eastwest approach. In doing this, Grant would severe his main line of logistics and supply, something his subordinate officers thought was a disastrous mistake. Grant would take the risk in a zero-sum game: he would capture Vicksburg or destroy himself and his army doing so.This Casemate Illustrated examines the movements of the Union and Confederate armies from March 1863 through July 1863, the joint-operational cooperation between the U.S. Army and U.S. Navy, the delayed and indecisive Confederate operations to stop the Federal initiative, and how the individual soldiers conducted the one of the greatest campaigns in American military history: to control the The Father of Watersthe Mississippi River.

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Book SynopsisPresenting a quantum-holographic perspective on world history and human consciousness, Carl Calleman explains the quantum physics behind the Waves of the Mayan Calendar system and how these Waves allow us to understand the shifting eras on Earth as well as the possibilities of the future. He describes how, prior to the activation of the 6th Wave in 3115 BCE, our social systems were based on a unified cosmic order, but the hologram of this Wave shifted society to an all-consuming focus on Good and Evil, leading to the rise of patriarchal religious structures, slavery, and warfare. He explores how later Waves and their new holograms helped humanity survive the negative effects of the 6th Wave, such as the Industrial Revolution of the 7th Wave and the Digital Revolution of the 8th Wave. In 2011, the 9th Wave was activated, bringing with it an accelerated push for a more egalitarian world, a rising awareness of unity consciousness, and access to the full power of all Nine Waves of Creation.Trade Review“The Nine Waves of Creation presents a speculative cosmology supported by the recent discovery that galaxies in the universe are not located randomly but ordered in a way that radically challenges previous cosmological assumptions. If Calleman’s ideas--which are refreshingly wild but rationally argued--are even partially correct, today’s assumptions about the nature of evolution and the evolution of nature will need to be reconsidered.” * Dean Radin, Ph.D., chief scientist at the Institute of Noetic Sciences *Table of ContentsForeword by Barbara Hand Clow Acknowledgments 1 The Origin of the Universe Our Current World Situation The Birth of the Universe Emerging Problems with the Standard Model of the Big Bang Theory The Tree of Life Hypothesis for the Origin of the Universe The Cover-Up of the Existence of the Tree of Life The Origin of Yin and Yang The Fractal-Holographic Model of the Universe God 2 The Nine Waves of Creation Quantum Theory--Everything Is Waves Wave Interference and Holography The Universal Frequency Range The First Wave of Creation The Holy Number Nine The Mayan Calendar Waves The Nine Frequencies of Change The Interference of Sensory Information with the Creation Waves 3 Waves and Serpents Universal Evolution and Creation The Cosmic Wave Generator and the First Wave The Second Wave and Biological Evolution Sexual Polarity at Different Levels of the Universe The Third Wave and Erect Primates The Fourth Wave and the First Humans The Fifth Wave and Symbolic Expression The Sixth Wave and the Rational Mind Serpents in Ancient Cultures Interference Patterns between Waves 4 The Hologram of Good and Evil The Tree of Life in Ancient Representations The Destiny Chart of Humanity The Planetary Round of Light Polarity Shifts of the Mind Symbols of Duality The Sacred Geometry of the Sixth Wave Mind Transiting to Civilization The Origin of Dominance and Subjugation in the Hologram of Good and Evil What Is the Origin of Authoritarian Rule? 5 Ashur, Yahweh, the Church, and the Ultimate Transcendence of Duality Women and the Hologram of Good and Evil The Assyrian Tree of Life The Chaldean-Jewish-Christian Tradition The Garden of Eden Story in Genesis Yahweh The Rise of Religions The Monotheism of the Jews Monotheism in the Days and Nights of the Sixth Wave From Jesus to the Roman Catholic Church Toward a Multilevel Theology The One That Has Nothing Above It 6 The Seventh Wave The Human Predicament The Context of the Seventh Wave An Era of Novelty: Globalization An Era of Novelty: Atheism and Enlightenment An Era of Novelty: Science An Era of Novelty: Materialism and Industrialism An Era of Novelty: Equality The Global Economic Cycles of the Seventh Wave The Speedup of Time and the Craving for Novelty 7 Approaching Our Present Time The Eighth Wave and the Digital Revolution The Eighth Wave Hologram and Its Effects on the Brain Moore’s Law and Increasing Economic Inequality The Common Evolutionary Pattern of the Creation Waves The Rise of the Right/East Hemisphere The Return of Spirituality Up to the Ninth Wave October 28, 2011 A Change in Thinking about the Shift 8 The Deactivation of the Hologram of Good and Evil The New Stage for Life Moving into the Future The Declining Power of the West The Decline of the Nation-State The Movements from the East ISIL and the Violence in the Middle East The World Economy after the Shift Balancing the Hemispheres with the Eighth Wave 9 Manifesting the Destiny of Humanity through the Ninth Wave The Era of Fulfillment Ancient Concepts about the Current Shift Manifesting the Destiny of Humanity or Following Identically Repeated Cycles The Ego and Its Transcendence by the Ninth Wave Becoming an Embodiment of Unity Consciousness Practical Tools for Developing Resonance with the Ninth Wave Opening to the Divine The Purpose of the Universe Notes Bibliography Index About the Author

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Book SynopsisWhy did Axis countries go to war against America? Given America's industrial base, what was the rationale that underpinned their decision? This new analysis by a seasoned intelligence officer, based mainly on German, Italian, and Japanese sources, offers a red team exercise, taking the viewpoint of the leaders of the Axis powers, looking at the build up to their war against America, and the course of the war itself. It identifies the moments when their leaders realized America and its American-supplied Allies were going to beat them.It covers Japanese thinking about America and its other strategic rivals from the time of the Russo-Japanese war, because the Imperial Japanese Navy picked the US Navy as its notional enemy in 1907. It devotes serious attention to Japan's war in China, because its inability to beat the Nationalists was the reason the Japanese made decisions that led to war against the United States. Ironically, fear of bombing from bases in China completely hijacked strateg

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Book SynopsisA fresh examination of the formidable and resilient Native nations who helped shape the modern Gulf SouthIn The Great Power of Small Nations, Elizabeth N. Ellis (Peoria) tells the stories of the many smaller Native American nations that shaped the development of the Gulf South. Based on extensive archival research and oral histories, Ellis's narrative chronicles how diverse Indigenous peoplesincluding Biloxis, Choctaws, Chitimachas, Chickasaws, Houmas, Mobilians, and Tunicasinfluenced and often challenged the growth of colonial Louisiana. The book centers on questions of Native nation-building and international diplomacy, and it argues that Native American migration and practices of offering refuge to migrants in crisis enabled Native nations to survive the violence of colonization.Indeed, these practices also made them powerful. When European settlers began to arrive in Indigenous homelands at the turn of the eighteenth century, these small nations, or

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Book SynopsisAn accurate, exciting diary-like chronicle of the day-to-day machinations of the German generals as they struggle to prepare to meet the enemy in the West.In December 1943 with the rising realization that the Allies are planning to invade Fortress Europe, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel is assigned the title of General Inspector for the Atlantic Wall. His mission is to assess their readiness.What he finds disgusts him. The famed Atlantikwall is nothing but a paper tiger, woefully unprepared for the forces being massed across the English Channel. His taskto turn back the Allied invasionalready seems hopeless.His superior, theater commander, crusty old Field Marshal Gerd von Rundstedt, who had led the Reich to victory in the early years of the war, is now fed up with the whole Nazi regime. He lives comfortably in a plush villa in a quiet Paris suburb, waiting for the inevitable Allied invasion that will bring about their final defeat.General der Artillerie Erich Marcks, badly injured in Russi

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