Search results for ""author carolyn""

Thermopylae, Marathon: though fought 2,500 years ago in Ancient Greece, the names of these battles are more familiar to many than battles fought in the last half-century, but our concept of the men who fought in these battles may be more a product of Hollywood than Greece.Shaped by the landscape in which they fought, the warriors of Ancient Greece were mainly heavy infantry. While Bronze Age Greeks fought as individuals, for personal glory, the soldiers of the Classical city states fought as hoplites, armed with long spears and large shields, in an organised formation called the phalanx.As well as fighting among themselves, notably the thirty-year Peloponnesian War fought between Athens and Sparta and immortalised by Thucydides, the city states came together to fight outside threats. The Persian Wars lasted nearly half a century, and saw the Greek armies come together to fend off several massive Persian forces both on land and at sea.This book sketches the change from heroic to hoplite warfare, and discusses the equipment and training of both the citizen soldiers of most Greek cities, and the professional soldiers of Sparta.

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A collection of stories that Carolyn Osborn has developed over two decades, Where We Are Now is about a single family, the Moores. Marianne is the main narrator of these stories about her mother's family. In the first tale, "The Greats," her relatives are so distant Marianne can only give brief glimpses of the eccentric Moores. "The Grands," an O. Henry Prize–winning story, first introduced readers to many of the characters who inhabit Where We Are Now. By knowing the Moores, we begin to know Marianne, who tries to understand them. Curious as she is, she must continually accept the mystery of reality. Aware of the need for family mythology, she orders her world as best she can with what she is given by reacting, reflecting, inventing, and enlarging on the fragments. Other narrators reveal omissions Marianne can never know. Marianne's life and the lives of the Moores have a definitively southern flavor; they mirror fading 19th-century morality, an acceptance of eccentricity, the habit of storytelling, a strong consciousness of place, and the influence as well as the particularity of family. These stories are an attempt to show the failures and triumphs of love, the necessity of forgiveness, and the usefulness of different sorts of families.

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Hoax or happening? Fact or fiction? Who is creating these circles? Any why? * Could two men in their sixties possibly have planned them as a practical joke while drinking a pint in the pub? * If you've been asking these very same questions Crop Circles will give you plenty to think about * Part of a fantastic new series in easy-to-use pocket format

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Nancy, Bess, and George look for Nancy’s missing father in the twenty-second book in the Nancy Drew Diaries series, a fresh approach to a classic series.While Nancy’s dad is away at a conference in Washington, DC, she invites Bess and George over for a slumber party. The girls are having a great time until Nancy gets a call from a number she doesn’t recognize. Her dad never showed up for his panel and he isn’t in his room. No one’s seen him since the night before, and he isn’t answering his phone. Worried, Nancy and the gang hop the next flight to DC to investigate. The girls scour the hotel for clues with little luck until Nancy finds her dad’s cell phone in the hotel basement. She’s pretty sure he left her a message on the home screen, if only she could figure out what it means. The hunt takes them across the US capital, retracing Mr. Drew’s steps to figure out what went wrong or who might be out to do him harm. If they don’t solve this mystery, it may cost Mr. Drew his life.

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Nancy finds herself a Christmas mystery in this super special book of the Nancy Drew Diaries, a fresh approach to the classic mystery series.Nancy is spending her winter vacation at the most beautiful ski resort in Montana. Everything looks perfect, from the spectacular mountain views to the cozy rooms complete with fireplaces and holiday decorations. Unfortunately, not all is as jolly as it seems. Things started to go wrong on her very first day; she hit a bad patch of ice on a run down the slopes and broke her leg in a couple of different places. Then a doctor decided she needed a giant cast and lots of bed rest. It’s been a week of unfortunate events for rest the resort too; there was a sabotaged opening dinner, multiple hotel room break-ins, and a dangerous trap was set for the star chef. And if Nancy thought things couldn’t get any worse, a giant storm is heading their way and may just snow everyone in for days. Trapped in a hotel with someone bent on destruction? Cast or no cast, this sleuth is on the case. As Christmas approaches, both guests and staff are starting to panic. With all the odds stacked against her, can Nancy solve these crimes in time and save the holiday season? Or is this one Yuletide she’ll wish to forget?

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Stella’s mama never should’ve put Stella on the church prayer list. With Stella’s twenty-seventh birthday coming up fast, Nancy desperately wants to see her daughter married and giving her grandbabies. Petitioning heaven seems like a surefire way to get it done. But in Cadillac, Texas, where the gossip’s hotter than the city’s famous jalapeño peppers, it isn’t long before all hell breaks loose. Heather, the bossy leader of the church’s Prayer Angels, thinks a summer ball will get Stella and the town’s other single gals paired off. But nobody can tell redheaded spitfire Stella what to do—not her mama, not Heather, and not even the sexy beau Stella’s been seeing in secret. Together, Stella, her best friends Charlotte and Piper, and the loyal customers of the Yellow Rose Beauty Shop hatch a good old-fashioned scheme to sabotage the ball. But will it wreck Stella’s relationship with her mama forever? And what will the church folk think when Stella reveals the identity of her mystery man?

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After her divorce, bestselling romance author Mary Jane Marsh Simmons decided to move all seven of her girls out of the big city and back home to her hometown, Nacona, Texas. So when the last remaining relative of Miz Raven died and the Paradise was put on the market, she bought it, an old house that had been a brothel during the cattle trail days in Spanish Fort, Texas. Joe Clay Carter had just retired from twenty years in the Marines, Special Forces. He’d lived through wars and rumors of wars and decided to go home to Nacona to do nothing but play poker, draw his retirement check and enjoy life. Two weeks later he was bored stiff, his motel room closing in on him, and he was seriously thinking of reenlisting until old high school crush, Mary Jane, came to his door asking him to remodel her new house. As teenagers Mary Jane never gave Joe Clay a second glance, so he was surprised by her offer. Immediately they shook on the deal and he moved into her house to get started. Much to his surprise, the house came filled to the roof with little girls, good food, and crazy conversation, all wrapped up in a house that needed a minor miracle to fix by Christmas. He wasn’t sure if he could get it done in time but he was willing to try. If only Mary Jane was willing to give him a chance too.

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Bess, George, and Nancy head to Key Largo to spend time with Nancy's old friend, marine biologist Delia Duke. When they arrive, they discover someone is poaching rare butterfly orchids. Can Nancy and her friends find the sticky-fingered flower fan?

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