Search results for ""author air"

Fly, Zeppelin! Help us in the war. Fly to England, England shall be destroyed by fire. Zeppelin, fly!' Such was the hymn which the children sang; such the refrain which greeted the aged inventor, Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin, wherever he went. Why was there this reaction across Germany? How did a handful of aircraft giving pleasure cruises become a fearsome fleet of rapacious giants encouraged to punish Germany's enemies? What were the images that became part of the public's wartime consciousness? Books on the Zeppelin raids during the First World War have, traditionally, focused on the direct impact of Britain, from the devastating effects on undefended towns and cities, the psychological impact of this first weapon of total war to the technological and strategic advances that eventually defeated the Baby Killers'. Now, drawing on the largest postcard collection of its kind and other period memorabilia, David Marks tells the story of the Zeppelin during the First World War from a viewpoint that has rarely been considered: Germany itself. From its maiden flight in July 1900, the Zeppelin evolved into a symbol of technology and national pride that, once war was declared, was at the forefront of German's propaganda campaign. The Zeppelin links the rampant xenophobia at the outbreak of the conflict against England (it almost never called Britain), France, Russia and their allies to the political doctrines of the day. The postcards that profusely illustrate this book show the wide-ranging types of propaganda from strident Teutonic imagery, myths and legends, biting satire and a surprising amount of humour. This book is a unique contribution to our understanding of the place of the Zeppelin in Germany's culture and society during the First World War.

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This extraordinary adventure of three brothers at the center of the most dramatic turning points of World War II is “liable to break the hearts of Unbroken fans, and it’s all true” (The New York Times).They are three brothers, all Navy men, who end up coincidentally and extraordinarily at the epicenter of three of the war’s most crucial moments. Bill, a naval intelligence officer, is tapped by FDR to set up and run his secret map room in the White House basement. Benny is the gunnery and antiaircraft officer on USS Enterprise, one of the few ships to escape Pearl Harbor and, by the end of 1942, the only aircraft carrier left in the Pacific to defend against the Japanese. Barton, the youngest, gets a plum commission in the Navy Supply Corps because his mother wants him out of harm’s way. But this protection plan backfires when Barton is sent to Manila and listed as wounded and missing after a Japanese attack. Now it is up to Bill and Benny to find and rescue him… Based on a decade of research drawn from archives around the world, interviews with fellow shipmates and POWs, and half-forgotten letters stashed away in attics, The Jersey Brothers is “a captivating tour-de-force” (San Antonio Express-News) that whisks readers from America’s front porches to Roosevelt’s White House to the battlefronts of the Pacific. But at its heart The Jersey Brothers is a family story, written by one of its own in intimate, novelistic detail. It is a remarkable tale of agony and triumph; of an ordinary young man who shows extraordinary courage as the enemy does everything short of killing him; and of brotherly love tested under the tortures of war. “The Jersey Brothers shines in singularity. A blend of history, family saga and family questions, Freeman’s book [is] a winning and moving success, and adds an authoritative entry to the… vast canon of war literature” (Richmond Times Dispatch).

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With the advent of a host of new materials ranging from shape memory alloys to biomaterials to multiphase alloys, acquiring the capacity to model inelastic behavior and to choose the right model in a commercial analysis software has become a pressing need for practicing engineers. Even with the traditional materials, there is a continued emphasis on optimizing and extending their full range of capability in the applications. This textbook builds upon the existing knowledge of elasticity and thermodynamics, and allows the reader to gain confidence in extending one's skills in understanding and analyzing problems in inelasticity. By reading this textbook and working through the assigned exercises, the reader will gain a level of comfort and competence in developing and using inelasticity models. Thus, the book serves as a valuable book for practicing engineers and senior-level undergraduate/graduate-level students in the mechanical, civil, aeronautical, metallurgical and other disciplines.The book is written in three parts. Part 1 is primarily focused on lumped parameter models and simple structural elements such as trusses and beams. This is suitable for an advanced undergraduate class with just a strength of materials background. Part II is focused on small deformation multi-dimensional inelasticity and is suitable for a beginning graduate class. Sufficient material is included on how to numerically implement an inelastic model and solve either using a simple stress function type of approach or using commercial software. Case studies are included as examples. There is also an extensive discussion of thermodynamics in the context of small deformations. Part III focuses on more advanced situations such as finite deformation inelasticity, thermodynamical ideas and crystal plasticity. More advanced case studies are included in this part.• This textbook takes a new, task- or scenario-based approach to teaching and learning inelasticity. The book is written in an active learning style that appeals to engineers and students who wish to design or analyze structures and components that are subject to inelasticity.• The book incorporates thermodynamical considerations into the modeling right from an early stage. Extensive discussions are provided throughout the book on the thermodynamical underpinnings of the models.• This textbook is the first to make extensive use of MATLAB to implement many inelasticity models. It includes the use of concepts such as Airy stress functions to solve plane problems for inelastic materials. The MATLAB codes are listed in the appendix for one to modify with their own models and requirements.• Step-by-step procedures for formulations and calculations are provided for the reader to readily adapt to the inelastic problems that he or she attempts to solve.• A large number of problems, exercises and projects for one to teach or learn from are included. These can be assigned as homework, in-class exercises or projects.• The book is written in a modular fashion, which provides adequate flexibility for adaptation in classes that cater to different audiences such as senior-level students, graduate students, research scholars, and practicing engineers.

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Private Henrik Hahnemann is an eighteen-year-old Missouri farm boy growing up in the hard scrabble times of the Great Depression. Known for his hunting skills, his close-knit family often depend on him to bring home dinner. Shaken and bitter by the attack on Pearl Harbor, he is fixated on revenge and chooses the Marine Corps as the means for his personal retribution. Granted an early high school graduation, "Handyman" Henrik struggled with the change from a peaceful famer's son, but his platoon come to recognize his shooting and hunting skills. When the chips were down he summons the determination necessary to survive against hopeless odds.Superior Private Obatia Yoshiro is an average twenty-year-old student expected to eventually take over his father's glassworks. To most an unassuming economics student, he has another side face=Calibri>– a side shaped by long hours crewing an uncle's fishing boat where he is exposed to the physical and mental demands of the elements. His school plans suddenly undermined by a draft notice, he makes the best of a dismal and brutal life of absolute obligation and unquestioning obedience.Both will end up on a rugged and brutal South Pacific island called Guadalcanal, where, two determined nations pit all they could spare; committing every airplane, ship, and soldier they could funnel into the cauldron. Values and beliefs, discipline and obedience, massed firepower or skill at arms face=Calibri>– what will prevail in this nightmare?

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Since Donald Trump’s first day in office, a large and energetic grassroots “Resistance” has taken to the streets to protest his administration’s plans for the United States. Millions marched in pussy hats on the day after the inauguration; outraged citizens flocked to airports to declare that America must be open to immigrants; masses of demonstrators circled the White House to demand action on climate change; and that was only the beginning. Who are the millions of people marching against the Trump administration, how are they connected to the Blue Wave that washed over the U.S. Congress in 2018—and what does it all mean for the future of American democracy?American Resistance traces activists from the streets back to the communities and congressional districts around the country where they live, work, and vote. Using innovative survey data and interviews with key players, Dana R. Fisher analyzes how Resistance groups have channeled outrage into activism, using distributed organizing to make activism possible by anyone from anywhere, whenever and wherever it is needed most. Beginning with the first Women’s March and following the movement through the 2018 midterms, Fisher demonstrates how the energy and enthusiasm of the Resistance paid off in a wave of Democratic victories. She reveals how the Left rebounded from the devastating 2016 election, the lessons for turning grassroots passion into electoral gains, and what comes next. American Resistance explains the organizing that is revitalizing democracy to counter Trump’s presidency.

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The Atlanta Woman’s Club has steered the development and identity of Atlanta since 1895. Headquartered in the elegant and historic Wimbish House on Peachtree Street, the club symbolises both a vibrant past and continuing hope for this unique Southern city. Through their affiliation with the Georgia and General Federation of Women’s Clubs, members have helped improve the quality of life in Atlanta, the South, and the world in the fields of politics, human rights, poverty, the arts, education, health, conservation and the understanding of international affairs. As educational advocates, they worked to set the foundation of the Atlanta Public Kindergarten system and Georgia’s public library system. Along with other Georgia Federation of Women’s Club members, the Atlanta Woman’s Club is a vested owner of Tallulah Falls School, one of the most esteemed college preparatory private schools in the country. They helped establish the first farmers’ market in metro Atlanta and were instrumental in promoting the acquisition of a landing field and the building of what is now Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. Few are aware of the club’s enormous effect on its community and state, or its ties to the Georgia Federation of Women’s Clubs (GaFWC) and the General Federation of Women’s Clubs (GFWC), both of which have been a major force in the history of Georgia and the nation. A Light on Peachtree: A History of the Atlanta Woman’s Club is the story of the remarkable efforts and accomplishments of the Atlanta Woman’s Club from 1895 to present time.

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In the past few years, considerable interest has been shown and relevant resources have been devoted to the design, development and operation of autonomous aerial, underwater, and sea surface vehicles. The possibility of removing human pilots from danger and the size and cost advantages of autonomous vehicles are indeed attractive, but often have to be compared with the performance that can be attained by human-piloted vehicles, in terms of mission capabilities, efficiency and flexibility. The operation of an autonomous vehicle in an unknown, dynamic and potentially hostile environment is a very complex problem, especially when the autonomous vehicle is required to use its full manoeuvring capabilities and to react in real time to changes in the operational environment. A common way of dealing with highly complex systems is via a hierarchical decomposition of the activities to be performed by the autonomous vehicles. However, only limited results can be obtained with this method. Another method is to design a hybrid control system that offers safety and performance guarantees by use of neural control technique. Neural networks appear to offer a new, promising direction toward better understanding of the most difficult control problems that have previously been very difficult or impossible to solve. This book provides basic approaches for the modelling and simulation of neural control systems using the MATLAB/Simulink environment for various types of vehicles, emphasising realistic dynamics with numerous examples. These types of vehicles include experimental aircraft, self-guided missiles, unmanned miniature helicopters, autonomous underwater vehicles, and more.

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As alarm over global warming spreads, a radical idea is gaining momentum. Forget cuts in greenhouse gas emissions, some scientists argue. Instead, bounce sunlight back into space by pumping reflective nanoparticles into the atmosphere. Launch mirrors into orbit around the Earth. Make clouds thicker and brighter to create a "planetary thermostat." These ideas might sound like science fiction, but in fact they are part of a very old story. For more than a century, scientists, soldiers, and charlatans have tried to manipulate weather and climate, and like them, today's climate engineers wildly exaggerate what is possible. Scarcely considering the political, military, and ethical implications of managing the world's climate, these individuals hatch schemes with potential consequences that far outweigh anything their predecessors might have faced. Showing what can happen when fixing the sky becomes a dangerous experiment in pseudoscience, James Rodger Fleming traces the tragicomic history of the rainmakers, rain fakers, weather warriors, and climate engineers who have been both full of ideas and full of themselves. Weaving together stories from elite science, cutting-edge technology, and popular culture, Fleming examines issues of health and navigation in the 1830s, drought in the 1890s, aircraft safety in the 1930s, and world conflict since the 1940s. Killer hurricanes, ozone depletion, and global warming fuel the fantasies of today. Based on archival and primary research, Fleming's original story speaks to anyone who has a stake in sustaining the planet.

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The one primer you need to develop your entrepreneurial skills.Whether you're imagining your new business to be the next big thing in Silicon Valley, a pivotal B2B provider, or an anchor in your local community, the HBR Entrepreneur's Handbook is your essential resource for getting your company off the ground.Starting an independent new business is rife with both opportunity and risk. And as an entrepreneur, you're the one in charge: your actions can make or break your business. You need to know the tried-and-true fundamentals--from writing a business plan to getting your first loan. You also need to know the latest thinking on how to create an irresistible pitch deck, mitigate risk through experimentation, and develop unique opportunities through business model innovation.The HBR Entrepreneur's Handbook addresses these challenges and more with practical advice and wisdom from Harvard Business Review's archive. Keep this comprehensive guide with you throughout your startup's life--and increase your business's odds for success.In the HBR Entrepreneur's Handbook you'll find: Step-by-step guidance through the entrepreneurial process Concise explanations of the latest research and thinking on entrepreneurship from Harvard Business Review contributors such as Marc Andreessen and Reid Hoffman Time-honed best practices Stories of real companies, from Airbnb to eBay You'll learn: Which skills and characteristics make for the best entrepreneurs How to gauge potential opportunities The basics of business models and competitive strategy How to test your assumptions--before you build a whole business How to select the right legal structure for your company How to navigate funding options, from venture capital and angel investors to accelerators and crowdfunding How to develop sales and marketing programs for your venture What entrepreneurial leaders must do to build culture and set direction as the business keeps growing HBR Handbooks provide ambitious professionals with the frameworks, advice, and tools they need to excel in their careers. With step-by-step guidance, time-honed best practices, real-life stories, and concise explanations of research published in Harvard Business Review, each comprehensive volume helps you to stand out from the pack--whatever your role.

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The Paramedic Revision Guide delivers a one-stop reference for paramedic students, paramedicine educators, and practicing paramedics. Designed to take the mystery out of paramedic education, the book provides a solid foundation of understanding in crucial areas of paramedic science and practice, including practical skills, research, anatomy and physiology, pharmacology, and medical emergencies. This guide furthers readers’ understanding and practice of emergency care, and includes: A thorough introduction to paramedic anatomy and physiology, including anatomical and medical terms, cellular biology, and pediatrics An exploration of practical skills for paramedics, including scene survey, airway practices, basic life support and defibrillation, burns, and head injuries Practical discussions of medical emergencies, research and evidence-based practice, and the ethical and legal considerations for paramedics An analysis of pre-hospital trauma treatment, including the physics and physiology of trauma The Paramedic Revision Guide earns a place on the shelves of all paramedic students and educators who need a comprehensive handbook full of succinct and easily digestible information, ideal for exam preparation and quick reference.

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In this book Harold L. Vogel comprehensively and holistically examines the business economics and investment aspects of major components of the travel industry, including airlines, hotels, casinos, amusement and theme parks, cruise lines, and tourism. The book is designed as an economics-grounded text that uniquely integrates reviews of each sector’s history with economics, accounting, and financial aspects and analysis. As such, it provides a concise, up-to-date reference guide for financial analysts, economists, industry executives, legislators and regulators, advertisers, and journalists interested in the economics, financing, and marketing of travel and tourism-related goods and services.The fourth edition of this well-established text updates, refreshes, and significantly broadens the coverage of tourism economics. It includes new sections on travel law and applications of big data and artificial intelligence technologies as well as additional material on demographic spending patterns, the online travel agency business, the pandemic’s effects and affects on industry finances, expanded coverage of the cruise line industry, and information on the damage to tourist destinations caused by excessive pollution and traffic.

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In this book Harold L. Vogel comprehensively and holistically examines the business economics and investment aspects of major components of the travel industry, including airlines, hotels, casinos, amusement and theme parks, cruise lines, and tourism. The book is designed as an economics-grounded text that uniquely integrates reviews of each sector’s history with economics, accounting, and financial aspects and analysis. As such, it provides a concise, up-to-date reference guide for financial analysts, economists, industry executives, legislators and regulators, advertisers, and journalists interested in the economics, financing, and marketing of travel and tourism-related goods and services.The fourth edition of this well-established text updates, refreshes, and significantly broadens the coverage of tourism economics. It includes new sections on travel law and applications of big data and artificial intelligence technologies as well as additional material on demographic spending patterns, the online travel agency business, the pandemic’s effects and affects on industry finances, expanded coverage of the cruise line industry, and information on the damage to tourist destinations caused by excessive pollution and traffic.

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The fateful days and weeks surrounding 6 June 1944 have been extensively documented in histories of the Second World War, but less attention has been paid to the tremendous impact of these events on the populations nearby. The Lost Paratroopers of Normandy tells the inspiring yet heartbreaking story of ordinary people who did extraordinary things in defense of liberty and freedom. On D-Day, when transport planes dropped paratroopers from the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions hopelessly off-target into marshy waters in northwestern France, the 900 villagers of Graignes welcomed them with open arms. These villagers – predominantly women – provided food, gathered intelligence, and navigated the floods to retrieve the paratroopers' equipment at great risk to themselves. When the attack by German forces on 11 June forced the overwhelmed paratroopers to withdraw, many made it to safety thanks to the help and resistance of the villagers. In this moving book, historian Stephen G. Rabe, son of one of the paratroopers, meticulously documents the forgotten lives of those who participated in this integral part of D-Day history.

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Digital platforms are changing the rules of competition in the global economy. Until recently, it took Fortune 500 companies an average of 20 years to reach billion-dollar market valuations. Successful platforms now reach that milestone in an average of four years. In The Platform Paradox: How Digital Businesses Succeed in an Ever-Changing Global Marketplace, Wharton professor Mauro F. Guillén highlights a key incongruity in this new world. Most platforms considered to be successful have triumphed in only some, rather than all, parts of the world. There are very few truly global digital platforms. In more than three decades of studying multinational firms, Guillén has found they often misunderstand key aspects of what it takes to succeed globally, from culture and institutions to local competitive dynamics and pursuing markets in a logical sequence. Seeing multibillion-dollar companies like Amazon flounder in certain markets has led Guillén to research what it takes to create a successful global strategy. In The Platform Paradox, Guillén details: How the COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated digitization and forced companies like Airbnb to pivot and adapt; How platforms like Tinder and Uber have used local advantages to grow rapidly in different countries; How traditional companies have transformed themselves into digital platforms, like Lego undertaking a digital revolution to emerge from bankruptcy and become the "Apple of toys"; and The possibilities and limits to global expansion, as illustrated by companies like Zoom and Skype. In The Platform Paradox, Guillén offers an integrated framework for these platforms to identify and implement a digital platform strategy on a truly global scale.

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Put your Real Housewives expertise to the test with over 500 hundred questions, and bonus trivia, all accompanied by hilarious illustrations capturing your favorite housewife moments! A true love letter to the Real Housewives franchise, The Unofficial Real Housewives Ultimate Trivia Book gives every superfan a chance to show off their knowledge. With questions about individual scenes, episodes, and reunions, the fun never ends with these over-the-top ladies. Who could forget Dorinda coining the phrase, “Clip, clip.” Who remembers what footwear Kathy wore to the airport? What was found in the chicken the morning after a RHONY night of partying?The Unofficial Real Housewives Ultimate Trivia Bookbrings the gossip to your home from your favorite TV personalities, their on-screen and off-screen lives, and so much more. Perfect for your coffee table or as a gift, to enjoy solo or in a group, this beautifully designed book includes: Hundreds of questions to test your Real Housewives knowledge “Bonus Footage” sidebars Multiple choice, true false, and matching quizzes on all of the franchise cities from New York and New Jersey to Miami and Beverly Hills Illustrations of the most memorable moments throughout the franchise A rating system and a scoring sheet to determine just how much of a fan you really are From eggs Française to drink-throwing, to indelible friendships and massive feuds, this journey through the cities and years of Bravo’s most popular franchise, “mentions it all.” Test your Housewives knowledge and become the ultimate superfan!

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Computational science is fundamentally changing how technological questions are addressed. The design of aircraft, automobiles, and even racing sailboats is now done by computational simulation. The mathematical foundation of this new approach is numerical analysis, which studies algorithms for computing expressions defined with real numbers. Emphasizing the theory behind the computation, this book provides a rigorous and self-contained introduction to numerical analysis and presents the advanced mathematics that underpin industrial software, including complete details that are missing from most textbooks. Using an inquiry-based learning approach, Numerical Analysis is written in a narrative style, provides historical background, and includes many of the proofs and technical details in exercises. Students will be able to go beyond an elementary understanding of numerical simulation and develop deep insights into the foundations of the subject. They will no longer have to accept the mathematical gaps that exist in current textbooks. For example, both necessary and sufficient conditions for convergence of basic iterative methods are covered, and proofs are given in full generality, not just based on special cases. The book is accessible to undergraduate mathematics majors as well as computational scientists wanting to learn the foundations of the subject. * Presents the mathematical foundations of numerical analysis * Explains the mathematical details behind simulation software * Introduces many advanced concepts in modern analysis * Self-contained and mathematically rigorous * Contains problems and solutions in each chapter * Excellent follow-up course to Principles of Mathematical Analysis by Rudin

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This book considers three basic questions:1. Why are vision systems fundamental and critical to autonomous flight?2. What are the vision system tasks required for autonomous flight?3. How can those tasks be approached?It addresses the role of vision systems for autonomous operations and discusses the critical tasks required of a vision system, including taxi, takeoff, en-route navigation, detect and avoid, and landing, as well as formation flight or approach and docking at a terminal or with other vehicles. These tasks are analyzed to develop field of view, resolution, latency, and other sensing requirements and to understand when one sensor can be used for multiple applications. Airspace classifications, landing visibility categories, decision height criteria, and typical runway dimensions are introduced.The book provides an overview of sensors and phenomenology from visible through infrared, extending into the radar bands and including both passive and active systems. Human visual system performance is discussed as a comparison benchmark. System architectures are discussed, including distributed aperture sensor systems and multiuse sensors. Finally, various algorithms for extracting information from sensor data are examined, such as moving target detection for detect and avoid, shape from motion, multisensor triangulation, model-based pose estimation, wire and cable detection, and geo-location techniques.

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The Western Front evokes images of mud-spattered men in waterlogged trenches, shielded from artillery blasts and machine-gun fire by a few feet of dirt. This iconic setting was the most critical arena of the Great War, a 400-mile combat zone stretching from Belgium to Switzerland where more than three million Allied and German soldiers struggled during four years of almost continuous combat. It has persisted in our collective memory as a tragic waste of human life and a symbol of the horrors of industrialized warfare. In this epic narrative history, the first volume in a groundbreaking trilogy on the Great War, acclaimed military historian Nick Lloyd captures the horrific fighting on the Western Front beginning with the surprise German invasion of Belgium in August 1914 and taking us to the Armistice of November 1918. Drawing on French, British, German, and American sources, Lloyd weaves a kaleidoscopic chronicle of the Marne, Passchendaele, the Meuse-Argonne, and other critical battles, which reverberated across Europe and the wider war. From the trenches where men as young as 17 suffered and died, to the headquarters behind the lines where Generals Haig, Joffre, Hindenburg, and Pershing developed their plans for battle, Lloyd gives us a view of the war both intimate and strategic, putting us amid the mud and smoke while at the same time depicting the larger stakes of every encounter. He shows us a dejected Kaiser Wilhelm II—soon to be eclipsed in power by his own generals—lamenting the botched Schlieffen Plan; French soldiers piling atop one another in the trenches of Verdun; British infantryman wandering through the frozen wilderness in the days after the Battle of the Somme; and General Erich Ludendorff pursuing a ruthless policy of total war, leading an eleventh-hour attack on Reims even as his men succumbed to the Spanish Flu. As Lloyd reveals, far from a site of attrition and stalemate, the Western Front was a simmering, dynamic “cauldron of war” defined by extraordinary scientific and tactical innovation. It was on the Western Front that the modern technologies—machine guns, mortars, grenades, and howitzers—were refined and developed into effective killing machines. It was on the Western Front that chemical warfare, in the form of poison gas, was first unleashed. And it was on the Western Front that tanks and aircraft were introduced, causing a dramatic shift away from nineteenth-century bayonet tactics toward modern combined arms, reinforced by heavy artillery, that forever changed the face of war. Brimming with vivid detail and insight, The Western Front is a work in the tradition of Barbara Tuchman and John Keegan, Rick Atkinson and Antony Beevor: an authoritative portrait of modern warfare and its far-reaching human and historical consequences.

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Both a frightening apocalyptic story set in the southern United States and a character-focused, deeply moving literary thriller.What would happen if technology all over the world suddenly stopped working? When a strange new star appears in the sky, human life instantly grinds to a halt. Across the world, anything and everything electronic stops working completely. At first, the event seems like a bizarre miracle to Seth Black—it interrupts his suicide attempt and erases gambling debt that threatened to destroy his family. But when Seth and his wife, Natalie, realize the electricity isn't coming back on, that their food supplies won't last, they begin to wonder how they and their two sons will survive. Meanwhile, screenwriter Thomas Phillips—an old friend of Natalie’s—has just picked up Skylar Stover, star of his new movie, at the airport when his phone goes dead and planes begin to fall from the sky. Thomas has just completed a script about a similar electromagnetic event that ended the world. Now, he's one of the few who recognizes what's happening and where it will lead. When Thomas and Skylar decide to rescue Natalie and Seth, the unwilling group must attempt to survive together as the world falls apart. They try to hide in Thomas's home and avoid desperate neighbors, but fear they’ll soon be roaming the streets with starving refugees and angry vigilantes intent on forming new governments. It’s all they can do to hold on to each other and their humanity. Yet all the while, unbeknownst to them, Aiden Christopher—a bitter and malignant man leveraging a crumbling society to live out his darkest, most amoral fantasies—is fighting to survive as well. And he's on a collision course with Thomas, Skylar, and the Black family…

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When fires raged in the ruins of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, Joe LeBleu, a native of Brooklyn and a retired U.S. Army Ranger veteran, was in lower Manhattan. On that day he decided to return to active duty. By the time he received an honorable discharge as a Staff Sergeant, paratrooper, and sniper team leader in the 82nd Airborne Division in 2005, he’d become known as “Long Rifle”—for shooting an Iraqi insurgent at 1,100 meters in Fallujah in the fall of 2003. That single shot remains the farthest in Iraq by any American or British sniper. This book tells his story. Long Rifle is gripping and moving, but most of all, inspiring. As 9/11 altered the terrain of so many lives, it shaped that of Joe LeBleu: “Watching my city burn tore me up inside like nothing else in my life, ever.” Joe takes us with him from that haunting day in New York across the world, to the sweltering heat and ambush-rife conditions of desert and urban combat in Iraq. From here we enter a vastly different world: the remote and rugged mountains of Afghanistan. Joe’s accounts of sniper missions against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in this grueling landscape are engaging and intriguing. Finally, Joe trusts his gut and returns to civilian life, settling near Las Vegas and going on to train Mark Wahlberg for his role as a Force Recon Marine scout/sniper in the film, Shooter. Joe had come full circle from 9/11, “a day that changed my life forever.” Raw, gritty, passionate, and provocative, Long Rifle is both the first memoir by a U.S. Army sniper from the 9/11 generation and a stirring testament to the core values of American soldiers: integrity, honor, and courage. LeBleu’s journey to war and back also testifies to the enduring power of love: Joe carried his dream to return to Natalie, his wife, for six long years.

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Alan Smith's _Allenby's Gunners_ tells the story of artillery in the highly successful World War I Sinai and Palestine campaigns. Following Gallipoli and the reconstitution of the AIF, a shortage of Australian gunners saw British Territorial artillery allotted to the Australian Light Horse and New Zealand Mounted Rifle brigades. It was a relationship that would prove highly successful and _Allenby's Gunners_ provides a detailed and colourful description of the artillery war, cavalry and infantry operations from the first battles of Romani and Rafa, through the tough actions of Gaza, the Palestine desert, Jordan Valley and Amman to the capture of Jerusalem. The story concludes with the superb victory of Megiddo and the taking of Damascus until the theatre armistice of 1918. Smith Covers the trials and triumphs of the gunners as they honed their art in one of the most difficult battlefield environments of the war. The desert proved hostile and unrelenting, testing the gunners, their weapons and their animals in the harsh conditions. The gunners' adversary, the wily and skilful Ottoman artillerymen, endured the same horrendous conditions and proved a tough and courageous foe. The light horsemen and gunners also owed much to the intrepid airmen of the AFC and RFC whose tactical and offensive bombing and counter-battery work from mid-1917 would prove instrumental in securing victory. This is an aspect of the campaign that is seamlessly woven throughout as the action unfolds. The Sinai and Palestine campaigns generally followed a pattern of heavy losses and setbacks for an initial period before allied forces eventually prevailed. This is a highly descriptive volume that tells and oft-neglected story and fills the gap in the record of a campaign in which Australians played a significant role. It is a welcome addition to the story of the Australians in the Middle Eastern campaigns of World War I.

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Restricted to the shorthand of 'sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll,' the counterculture would seem to be a brief, vibrant stretch of the 1960s. But the American counterculture, as this book clearly demonstrates, was far more than a historical blip and its impact continues to resonate. In this comprehensive history, Damon R. Bach traces the counterculture from its antecedents in the 1950s through its emergence and massive expansion in the 1960s to its demise in the 1970s and persistent echoes in the decades since.The counterculture, as Bach tells it, evolved in discrete stages and his book describes its development from coast to heartland to coast as it evolved into a national phenomenon, involving a diverse array of participants and undergoing fundamental changes between 1965 and 1974. Hippiedom appears here in relationship to the era's movements - civil rights, women's and gay liberation, Red and Black Power, the New Left, and environmentalism. In its connection to other forces of the time, Bach contends that the counterculture's central objective was to create a new, superior society based on alternative values and institutions. Drawing for the first time on documents produced by self-described 'freaks' from 1964 through 1973 - underground newspapers, memoirs, personal correspondence, flyers, and pamphlets - his book creates an unusually nuanced, colorful, and complete picture of a time often portrayed in clichÉd or nostalgic terms.This is the counterculture of love-ins and flower children, of the Grateful Dead and Jefferson Airplane, but also of antiwar demonstrations, communes, co-ops, head shops, cultural feminism, Earth Day, and antinuclear activism. What Damon R. Bach conjures is the counterculture in all of its permutations and ramifications as he illuminates its complexity, continually evolving values, and constantly changing components and adherents, which defined and redefined it throughout its near decade-long existence. In the long run, Bach convincingly argues that the counterculture spearheaded cultural transformation, leaving a changed America in its wake.

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Almost seventy-five years ago, MI9 dreamt up the most audacious escape and evasion plan of World War Two. Formulated by Airey Neave, one of the first men ever to escape from Colditz, this plan was one of subterfuge, concealment and deception on a scale never seen before. With numerous downed RAF and Allied pilots on the run in Europe and with the fabled Comete Escape Line having been infiltrated by double agents, Neave's plan was to hide these men right under the very noses of the Nazis rather than risk repatriation. Choosing a forest in the heart of France, right next to one of the German Army's largest ammunition bases, Neave, Belgian agents and the French Resistance would secretly transport and hide Allied pilots and soldiers within feet of the enemy. Nobody thought it would work, but such was the success of the secret camp that a whole community of over one hundred and fifty Allied escapers lived within the forest for three months in the run-up to D-Day. Despite numerous close shaves, they were never discovered and this outrageous plan, brilliant in its simplicity, saw the Allied evaders make their home in the forest, cooking and hunting to survive - and even setting up a golf course in the forest using branches for clubs - without discovery. This operation remained absolutely secret, to the point that the inhabitants of the villages surrounding the forest were unaware, until the end, of the existence of that allied force so close to them.Told through interviews with evaders, members of the Resistance and the children charged with smuggling food into the forest, this book tells the compelling story of one of the most audacious operations in World War Two. A story that has, until today, remained as secret as the Hidden Army of Freteval.

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After the Allies had defeated the Japanese in the Solomons and the Dutch East Indies, the capture of the Philippines became General MacArthur's next objective. For this offensive to succeed, MacArthur felt compelled to secure his eastern flank by seizing control of the Palau Islands, one of which was Peleliu. The task of capturing this island, and the enemy airfield on it, was initially handed to Admiral Nimitz. The Palau Islands, however, formed part of Japan's second defensive line, and Peleliu's garrison amounted to more than 10,000 men. Consequently, when the US preliminary bombardment began on 12 September 1944, it was devastating. For two days the island was pounded relentlessly. Such was the scale of the destruction that the commander of the 1st Marine Division, Major General William H. Rupertus, told his men: 'We're going to have some casualties, but let me assure you this is going to be a fast one, rough but fast. We'll be through in three days - it may only take two.' At 08.32 hours on 15 September 1944, the Marines went ashore. Despite bitter fighting, and a ferocious Japanese defence, by the end of the day the Marines had a firm hold on Peleliu. But rather than Japanese resistance crumbling during the following days as had been expected, it stiffened, as they withdrew to their prepared defensive positions. The woods, swamps, caves and mountains inland had been turned into a veritable fortress - it was there where the real battle for possession of Peleliu was fought. Day after day the Americans battled forward, gradually wresting control of Peleliu from the Japanese. Despite Major General Rupertus' prediction, it was not until 27 November, after two months, one week and five days of appalling fighting, and a final, futile last sacrificial charge by the remaining enemy troops, that the Battle of Peleliu came to an end.

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Order Jodi Picoult's stunning new novel about life, death, and missed opportunities. THE #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER'A writer the world should be reading right now.' IndependentWho would you be, if you hadn't turned out to be the person you are now? Dawn is a death doula, and spends her life helping people make the final transition peacefully. But when the plane she's on plummets, she finds herself thinking not of the perfect life she has, but the life she was forced to abandon fifteen years ago - when she left behind a career in Egyptology, and a man she loved. Against the odds, she survives, and the airline offers her a ticket to wherever she needs to get to - but the answer to that question suddenly seems uncertain. As the path of her life forks in two very different directions, Dawn must confront questions she's never truly asked: what does a well-lived life look like? What do we leave behind when we go? And do we make our choices, or do our choices make us?Two possible futures. One impossible choice. ----------------------------------------------------------------'It is hard to exaggerate how well Picoult writes.' Financial Times 'A matchless talent for hitting emotional notes.' Irish Times'A wise, cerebral, propulsive adventure . . . eruditely spans the worlds of Egyptology, university physics and end-of-life care, while never losing sight of its high-stakes human story . . . a captivatingly immersive, multilayered, painstakingly researched and impressively realised exploration of deeply human geographies.' The Sunday Times'This complex, time-shifting romance combines moral hazard with Wuthering Heights echoes and degree-level Egyptology. And there aren't many books you can say that about.' Daily Mail MAD HONEY, the stunning and compelling Sunday Times bestseller by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan is available now.

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Ben Walsh lied about his age to join the RAF, determined to play his part in the Second World War. He volunteered to be an intruder pilot, flying low level operations in the dark. Initially flying ops in Douglas Boston Intruder IIs, he then converted to the legendary de Havilland Mosquito FB VI. Ben flew ops for three years, starting in the skies over with Europe with 418 (RCAF) Squadron, then ferrying one of the first Mosquito FB VIs to India before flying in the Burma campaign with 27 Squadron (under Wing Commander Nicolson VC) and finally with 45 Squadron. The Mosquito developed problems in the severe climate it encountered in the Far East which resulted in the aircraft being temporarily grounded in November 1944. This saw Ben undertaking thirteen operational sorties in venerable Tiger Moths in the Arakan. Although Ben survived belly landings, crashes, enemy fire and engine failures, the strain of combat operations took its toll on the still-young pilot. He and his navigator asked to be removed from operations, but their request was denied, both being threatened with court martial. By the end of the war when still only 21 years old, Ben was suffering from a nervous condition known as the twitch'. His confidence and health were restored by the young woman who had been his pen friend through the war, who became his wife and the mother of the man who has compiled this dramatic and moving story - Jeremy Walsh. Throughout the war, Ben maintained a Roll of Honour' in his photograph album, memorializing his friends and colleagues who lost their lives. That album forms the backdrop to this important biography, which is based on Ben's own recollections, his logbook and the notes he kept through the war. Mosquito Intruder Pilot is Ben's story.

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Whether you want to visit the Mission Control Room at the Kennedy Space Center, take an airboat ride in the Everglades or discover the historic Coral Gables, your DK Eyewitness travel guide makes sure you experience all that Florida has to offer. Florida is known for its sun-kissed beaches and magical theme parks, but this diverse state offers so much more. Enjoy nature trails and national parks, sizzling nightlife and sumptuous seafood - Florida puts on a show to remember.Our updated 2023 travel guide brings Florida to life, transporting you there like no other travel guide does with expert-led insights, trusted travel advice, detailed breakdowns of all the must-see sights, photographs on practically every page, and our hand-drawn illustrations which place you inside the state's iconic buildings and neighbourhoods.DK Eyewitness Florida is your ticket to the trip of a lifetime.Inside DK Eyewitness Florida you will find: -A fully-illustrated top experiences guide: our expert pick of must-sees and hidden gems.-Accessible itineraries to make the most out of each and every day.-Expert advice: honest recommendations for getting around safely, when to visit each sight, what to do before you visit, and how to save time and money.-Colour-coded chapters to every part of Florida, from Gold Coast to the Gulf Coast, Orlando to the Keys.-Practical tips: the best places to eat, drink, shop and stay.-Detailed maps and walks to help you navigate the region country easily and confidently.-Covers: Miami Beach, Downtown and Coral Gables Beyond the Center, The Gold and Treasure Coasts Walt Disney World® Resort Orlando and the Space Coast The Northeast, The Panhandle The Gulf Coast, The Everglades and the KeysOnly visiting Miami? Try our DK Eyewitness Top 10 Miami and the Keys.

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What was life in the Red Army like for the ordinary soldier during the Great Patriotic War, the fight between the Soviet Union and Germany on the Eastern Front? How far is the common perception of Red Army heroism and sacrifice borne out by historical reality? And what was the daily experience of the individual soldier caught up in this immense and ruthless conflict? The 160 contemporary photographs from the Russian archives that have been selected for this book give a striking insight into all sides of wartime service for the Soviet soldier. The whole range of military experience is portrayed here, from recruitment and the rigours of training to transport, marching and the ordeal of combat. Artem Drabkin is the creator of the website I Remember which is devoted to recording the oral history of the soldiers and airmen who fought on the Eastern Front. His archive of memoirs and eyewitness accounts is a valuable source for researchers who are studying the Soviet side of the fighting, and it is a fascinating record of the experience of warfare. Among the many publications derived from his work are Tank Rider, Red Road From Stalingrad, T-34 in Action, Red Partisan, Escape From Auschwitz, Barbarossa and the Retreat to Moscow: Recollections of Soviet Fighter Pilots on the Eastern Front, Bomber Pilot on the Eastern Front and Guns Against the Reich.

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Children's Respiratory Nursing is a comprehensive, patient-centred text providing up-to-date information about the contemporary management of children with respiratory conditions. It looks at acute and chronic respiratory conditions in both primary and secondary health care sectors and explores the subject from a child- and family-focused perspective. Children’s Respiratory Nursing is divided into four user-friendly sections: The first section provides a general background for children’s respiratory nursing Section two explores the various investigations that aid diagnosis and treatment, such as assessment of defects in airflow and lung volume, oxygen therapy, and long term ventilation Section three looks at respiratory infection and provides an overview of the common infections in children with reference to national and local guidelines The final section considers the practical issues that impact on children’s nurses - the transition from children to adult services, legal and ethical issues and the professional communication skills needed for dealing with children and their families This practical text is essential reading for all children’s nurses who have a special interest in respiratory conditions and would like to develop a greater level of understanding of the management required. Special Features Examples of good practice provided throughout Includes evidence-based case studies Explores care in both hospital and community settings A strong practical approach throughout

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SHORTLISTED: Business Book Awards 2021 - HR & Management Category The potential benefits of personalization on a workforce are huge. We curate music and online streaming content to suit our own tastes and we place more value on lottery numbers we have chosen ourselves, rather than a random selection from a lucky dip. When job roles are also personalized, employees are more interested, engaged and motivated at work. The responsibility for enabling this personalization lies with HR and people professionals and a key approach to doing this is via job crafting. Personalization at Work is a practical guide explaining what job crafting is, why it's important, what the benefits are and more broadly how a personalized approach can be brought to all aspects of HR including recruitment, learning and development, performance management, diversity and inclusion and reward. Full of practical advice and case studies from companies who have already seen the benefits of a personalized approach including Virgin Money, Widerøe airlines, Logitech, Google and Connect Health, Personalization at Work is essential reading for all HR professionals wanting to improve staff engagement, retention, productivity and the overall people experience. With expert guidance on how to encourage job crafting and a personalized approach to work for employees through everything from job titles, role descriptions and benefits packages through to working patterns, flexibility and work environment, this is a book that HR and people professionals can't afford to be without.

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SHORTLISTED: Business Book Awards 2021 - HR & Management Category The potential benefits of personalization on a workforce are huge. We curate music and online streaming content to suit our own tastes and we place more value on lottery numbers we have chosen ourselves, rather than a random selection from a lucky dip. When job roles are also personalized, employees are more interested, engaged and motivated at work. The responsibility for enabling this personalization lies with HR and people professionals and a key approach to doing this is via job crafting. Personalization at Work is a practical guide explaining what job crafting is, why it's important, what the benefits are and more broadly how a personalized approach can be brought to all aspects of HR including recruitment, learning and development, performance management, diversity and inclusion and reward. Full of practical advice and case studies from companies who have already seen the benefits of a personalized approach including Virgin Money, Widerøe airlines, Logitech, Google and Connect Health, Personalization at Work is essential reading for all HR professionals wanting to improve staff engagement, retention, productivity and the overall people experience. With expert guidance on how to encourage job crafting and a personalized approach to work for employees through everything from job titles, role descriptions and benefits packages through to working patterns, flexibility and work environment, this is a book that HR and people professionals can't afford to be without.

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Set against the backdrop of Jim Crow, Night Train to Nashville takes readers behind the curtain of one of music's greatest untold stories during the era of segregation and Civil Rights.In another time and place, E. Gab Blackman and William Sousa "Sou" Bridgeforth might have been as close as brothers, but in 1950s Nashville they remained separated by the color of their skin. Gab, a visionary yet opportunistic radio executive, saw something no one else did: a vast and untapped market with the R&B scene exploding in Black clubs across the city. He defied his industry, culture, government, and even his own family to broadcast Black music to a national audience.Sou, the popular kingpin of Black Nashville and a grandson of slaves, led this movement into the second half of the twentieth century as his New Era Club on the Black side of town exploded in the aftermath of this new radio airplay. As the popularity of Black R&B grew, integrated parties and underground concerts spread throughout the city, and this new scene faced a dangerous inflection point: Could a segregated society ever find true unity?Taking place during one of the most tumultuous times in US history, Night Train to Nashville explores how one city, divided into two completely different and unequal communities, demonstrated the power of music to change the world.

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The future of fiction is neither global nor national. Instead, Matthew Hart argues, it is trending extraterritorial. Extraterritorial spaces fall outside of national borders but enhance state power. They cut across geography and history but do not point the way to a borderless new world. They range from the United Nations headquarters and international waters to CIA black sites and the departure zones at international airports. The political geography of the present, Hart shows, has come to resemble a patchwork of such spaces.Hart reveals extraterritoriality’s centrality to twenty-first-century art and fiction. He shows how extraterritorial fictions expose the way states construct “global” space in their own interests. Extraterritorial novels teach us not to mistake cracks or gradations in political geography for a crisis of the state. Hart demonstrates how the unstable character of many twenty-first-century aesthetic forms can be traced to the increasingly extraterritorial nature of contemporary political geography. Discussing writers such as Margaret Atwood, J. G. Ballard, Amitav Ghosh, Chang-rae Lee, Hilary Mantel, and China Miéville, as well as artists like Hito Steyerl and Mark Wallinger, Hart combines lively critical readings of contemporary novels with historical and theoretical discussions about sovereignty, globalization, cosmopolitanism, and postcolonialism. Extraterritorial presents a new theory of literature that explains what happens when dreams of an open, connected world confront the reality of mobile, elastic, and tenacious borders.

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Named a Best Book of the Year by the Economist, Wall Street Journal & Vox‘The father of virtual reality’ (Sunday Times) explains why virtual reality presents the ultimate test for humanity.‘Essential reading, not just for VR-watchers but for anyone interested in how society came to be how it is, and what it might yet become’ EconomistWelcome to a mind-expanding, life-enhancing, world-changing adventure.Virtual reality has long been one of the dominant clichés of science fiction. Now virtual reality is a reality: from the startling beauty of lifelike video games to the place where war veterans overcome PTSD, surgeries are trialled, and aircraft and cities are designed. VR is, in fact now, the most effective device ever invented for researching what a human being actually is – and how we think and feel. More than thirty years ago, legendary computer scientist, visionary and artist Jaron Lanier pioneered its invention. Here he blends scientific investigation, philosophical thought experiment and his memoir of a life lived at the centre of digital innovation to explain what VR really is: the science of comprehensive illusion; the extension of the intimate magic of earliest childhood into adulthood; a hint of what life would be like without any limits. We are standing on the threshold of an entirely new realm of human creativity, expression, communication and experience, and as we use VR to test our relationship with reality, it may test us in return.‘Vivid and absolutely extraordinary’ Evening Standard

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Impetuous, exasperating Ottawa Police Inspector Michael Green returns and unwittingly puts his daughter, a rookie patrol officer, in the line of fire.“For those who like a solid classic mystery with added character, Inspector Green is perfect.” —Globe and MailSidelined to administrative duties, Inspector Michael Green misses the thrill of the chase. So when his daughter Hannah, now a rookie patrol officer, responds to a 911 call about a domestic disturbance in a wealthy suburban neighbourhood, he is intrigued. Both husband and wife deny a problem and, despite Hannah’s doubts, no further police action is taken, but Green encourages her to dig deeper on her own. When the husband disappears and his car is found at the airport, the police conclude he is simply fleeing an unhappy home, a floundering law practice, and a mountain of debt. Until a body is discovered.While Green’s old friend Brian Sullivan investigates the victim’s work and family, Hannah is haunted by fear that her actions precipitated the murder. On her own time, she begins to dig into questions that linger at the periphery of the case. What has happened to the family dog, which disappeared the same night as the husband? And who is the odd, solitary young Ph.D. student who was researching ducks near the murder site? Her relentless search for answers leads her into the countryside, straight into the path of danger. And another body.

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Readers fell in love with Jeannette Walls' unforgettable family in The Glass Castle. Now discover how it all began for the Walls family... 'I never knew a girl to have such gumption,' [Mom would] say. 'But I'm not too sure that's a good thing.' Meet Lily Casey Smith: horse-trainer, airplane pilot, flapper, mother and teacher. Born in 1901 in the rolling grassland of West Texas, Lily grows up with a passion for horses and an indomitable spirit. At age 15 she leaves home, riding 500 miles across the American West on her beloved pony Patch, her pearl-handled six-shooter by her side. Her goal: a teaching post in a frontier-town school. Lily will handle everything life throws at her - flash-floods, tornadoes, the Great Depression, a swindling husband, love and heartbreak - with courage, determination and a smile as wide as the Texas skies.*~*~* 'With convincing, unprettified narration, Walls weaves her own ancestor into this collective rough-and-tumble heritage... [Walls is] the third generation of a line of indomitable women whose paths she has inscribed on the permanent record, enriching the common legend of our American past' New York Times 'A commendable chronicle of an admirably tough woman on America's western frontier' Washington Post 'Has immense power and readibility... What it does with aplomb is to track the birth of a nation: the conjuring of modern America from a scorched, dusty wasteland' The Times

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This is the story of D-Day, told through the voices of over 1,000 survivors. 6 June, 1944. 156,000 troops from 12 different countries, 11,000 aircraft, 7,000 naval vessels, 24 hours. D-Day - the beginning of the Allied invasion of Hitler's formidable 'Fortress Europe' - was the largest amphibious invasion in history. There has never been a battle like it, before or since. But beyond the statistics and over sixty years on, what is it about the events of D-Day that remain so compelling? The courage of the men who fought and died on the beaches of France? The sheer boldness of the invasion plan? Or the fact that this, Rommel's 'longest day', heralded the beginning of the end of World War II? One of the defining battles of the war, D-Day is scored into the imagination as the moment when the darkness of the Third Reich began to be swept away. This story is told through the voices of over 1,000 survivors - from high-ranking Allied and German officers, to the paratroopers who landed in Normandy before dawn, the infantry who struggled ashore and the German troops who defended the coast. Cornelius Ryan captures the horror and the glory of D-Day, relating in emotive and compelling detail the years of inspired tactical planning that led up to the invasion, its epic implementation and every stroke of luck and individual act of heroism that would later define the battle.

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Filled with space-saving storage and decorative details, these unique homes under 1,200 square feet prove that bigger is not always better. In recent years, many have turned our backs on the trend for oversized houses and embraced small-space living. Cosy, compact dwellings have so much to offer; they bring families closer together and make it easier than ever to express personal style. In Small Spaces, Big Appeal, Fifi O'Neill captures the zeitgeist by showcasing homes across a spectrum of styles and locations, and stories of contented homeowners who have created unique, imaginative spaces. Living in a small home doesn’t preclude having an elegant aesthetic. In fact, it allows you to focus on the elements you truly appreciate and the spaces you will use the most. Whether classically furnished or boasting a happy informality, the little gems featured in this book are more infused with a spirit than put together according to a set of rules. Rooms are airy yet intimate, with nooks and alcoves that offer daydreaming spots and built-in storage in spite of their modest footprints. Whatever your preferred look – nostalgic, romantic, modern, country, coastal, urban, minimalist or maximalist – living small has big advantages. It encourage us to live more simply and, best of all, to create spaces with style, grace and versatility that rival homes of many times their size.

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BMW Motorcycles: 100 Years celebrates the legendary machines built by Germany’s leading motorcycle manufacturer. BMW’s long history of evolving technology is highlighted in this detailed story beginning with side-valve machines in the 1920s and early overhead-valve performance bikes, then moving to the postwar R-series Airhead and modern Oilhead twins, followed by four-cylinder and six-cylinder K-series touring bikes, the latest parallel twins, and inline-four cylinder sport bikes. From the first R32 that launched BMW’s motorcycle dynasty, to the latest S1000RR superbike and R18 mega-cruiser, BMW Motorcycles captures a century of motorcycling excellence in a combination of historic and contemporary photos sourced from BMW’s archive. The stories behind all the classic and modern BMWs are here: 1920s and 1930s BMWs like the R5 that defined performance in the prewar era The military R12 that supported the Wehrmacht as it battled its way across Europe in World War II The 1960s R69S that offered an excellent platform for both touring and sporting riding The R90S café racer and the R100RS, the latter arguably the world’s first dedicated sports tourer The astounding K1 “flying brick” The GS (Gelände Sport) series that launched the adventure-bike revolution Today’s R18, R nine T, and the world-class S100RR superbike This is a once-in-100-years story captured in a beautiful book sure to be enjoyed by any BMW Fan.

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‘I was on a train, and a German soldier began shouting at me and poking me in the ribs with his machine gun. I just thought that was it, the game was up . . .’Downed airman Bob Frost faced danger at every turn as he was smuggled out of France and over the Pyrenees. Prisoner of war Len Harley went on the run in Italy, surviving months in hiding and then a hazardous climb over the Abruzzo mountains with German troops hot on his heels. These are just some of the stories told in heart-stopping detail as Monty Halls takes us along the freedom trails out of occupied Europe, from the immense French escape lines to lesser-known routes in Italy and Slovenia. Escaping Hitler features spies and traitors, extraordinary heroism from those who ran the escape routes and offered shelter to escapees, and great feats of endurance. The SAS in Operation Galia fought for forty days behind enemy lines in Italy and then, exhausted and pursued by the enemy, exfiltrated across the Apennine mountains. And in Slovenia Australian POW Ralph Churches and British Les Laws orchestrated the largest successful Allied escape of the entire war.Mixing new research, interviews with survivors and his own experience of walking the trails, Monty brings the past to life in this dramatic and gripping slice of military history.

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With easy-to-follow instructions, anyone can make beautiful versions of these classic toys in wood... Over the past century no toys have been more popular, or were made in greater numbers, than die-cast metal vehicles. They were small, about 2 to 5 inches in length, and included the likes of cars, trucks, boats, and planes. You no doubt played with them, collected them, and bought them for your children or grandchildren. You know the more modern names such as Corgi, Matchbox, and Hot Wheels, but before those brands landed on any kiddo's wish list, there was Dinky Toys. Dinky Toys were the most popular diecast vehicles ever made and they led the charge of metal die-cast vehicles populating many a playroom floor. In Wooden Dinky Toys, Les Neufeld, a professional woodworker and wooden toy expert, redesigns the favorites of the Dinky Toy line so anyone who enjoys working with wood can make beautiful versions of these iconic toys.In Wooden Dinky Toys, all the projects have been chosen by the level of historical popularity, as well as the ease of conversion to a wooden counterpart. Each are made to scale -- approximately 1/64, typical of small diecast toys -- making a car between 2-1/2 in. and 3 in. long, an airplane 4 or 5 in. long, and large truck 6 or 7 in. long. Some of the projects have a few moving parts, but they are all simple enough to make in a few hours or, at the most, a weekend. Only basic tools are needed and the materials can be found among the scraps of any shop or garage.Best of all, these are woodworking projects that will appeal to all skill levels. Parents or grandparents can work with children to make a favorite while novice woodworkers will feel comfortable tackling any of the toys. Strict adherence to the "blueprints" isn't required and all the toys can be altered to suit personal preference. Many options are provided along the way, with suggestions for ways to customize further, that allow crafters to put their own stamp on each toy while generating lots of ideas for the next project.While there are several wooden toy books showing how to build larger conventional toys, Wooden Dinky Toys is the only guide you need to successfully craft these popular and realistic small toys.

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Instant National Bestseller! Wall Street Journal and USA Today Bestseller! Three-time New York Times bestseller Adam Carolla is back to take on social media, social justice warriors, and a society gone to s**t. As seen on Fox News's Fox & Friends! “As the revolution reaches its final, most humorless stage, there’s no better, braver, or more insightful observer than Adam Carolla. You may feel despondent about what’s happening right now. This book will remind you that you should also be amused.” —Tucker Carlson In I’m Your Emotional Support Animal, Adam Carolla examines how our culture went careening off a cliff. We used to have one that created real warriors who fought world wars. Now it spawns social justice warriors who fight Twitter wars. He takes on those who are traumatized by Trump and “emotional support animal” owners who proclaim their victimhood at every airport. He stands up for the collateral damage of the #MeToo movement and for freedom of speech on “safe space” filled college campuses. Examining the calculated commercials churned out by Madison Avenue, like the ones about cars “made with love,” Carolla rants on ads designed to either bum us out or make us think the corporation is run by Mr. Rogers. Turning to social media, Adam takes down the “hashtag heroes” who signal their virtue daily from atop Twitter mountain. And in the era of the Roomba, performances by dead celebrity holograms, and meals-on-demand delivery services, he looks down the road at our not-so-bright future as a species. “Adam and I agree on absolutely nothing but he’s a sharp, smart, funny guy to disagree with. And there’s a human heart under all the gruffness, snark, and melted cheese.” —Patton Oswalt Frank, funny, and utterly unapologetic, this is not a book for those who need a trigger warning, but is THE book for everyone who wants to hit the snooze bar on the “woke” culture. “Adam has written a funny, insightful book with a powerful message a bunch of people will manage to be offended by without reading it.” —Tim Allen “Adam has done it again! In this book he’s managed to make me laugh at one moment, then cry out “What an idiot!” in the next. His own blue-collar mastery of the language invites the reader into the conversation—just like the podcast—so much so that I breezed through the book in only one sitting on the toilet.” —Bryan Cranston

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This is the enthralling story of a young man who found himself at the epicentre of one of the biggest turning points in recent history - The Battle of Britain. Guided by the diaries that he meticulously kept throughout his wartime experience and that lay unread for over eighty years, Victor Howard Ekins' story is one of duty, loss, friendship and love. He would meet his wife Kim, a plotter' serving at RAF Kenley, during the intensity of the Battle of Britain and their relationship would go on to flourish against all odds. He also rose through the ranks to become a Squadron Leader who was admired and respected by those who served with him. As an inexperienced Sergeant pilot, Victor was posted to 111 Squadron three weeks into the Battle of Britain. The baptism of fire that he went on to experience would stay with him for a lifetime as his squadron was decimated after relentlessly pursuing the tactic of the head on attack. He was caught on the ground during the bombing of RAF Croydon on 15 August 1940, and would fight in the skies above RAF Kenley during The Hardest Day'. He would also be one of the airmen tasked with defending London against the first of the huge daylight bombing raids that took place on 7 September 1940. After 111 Squadron was withdrawn from the front line due to its extreme losses, Victor was posted to 501 Squadron. On 27 September 1940, he was shot down and seriously injured as a bullet passed through his stomach and smashed into the controls of his Hurricane. Miraculously, he would go on to land by parachute in a Canadian field hospital, the staff of which were able to save his life and would return to the action within just 8 weeks. Victor became part of the brotherhood of 501 Squadron and served on the front line for a gruelling twenty-one months before eventually being given a rest. A promotion to Squadron Leader followed where he was given command of 19 Squadron and placed at the heart of offensive operations over occupied Europe. After a year of intense action, Victor would form an unforgettable bond with his boys' who would forever hold a special place in his heart. One of Our Own is a unique insight into the mind and experiences of one of Churchill's Few', a natural leader and a good man.

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Battleships conjure a golden age of naval history, when these floating powerhouses ruled the waves, carrying the military might of their respective countries around the globe. The battleship was the ultimate embodiment of naval power during the latter stages of the British Empire, with the Royal Navy the first to build the dreadnought battleship in 1906. The new design, with a uniform main battery and steam turbines making it faster and more accurate than ever before, sparked a naval race with the German navy which culminated in the Battle of Jutland in 1916, the only fleet-to-fleet naval battle during the First World War. With major losses on both sides, and several treaties during the inter-war years banning the construction of new battleships, a new generation emerged only in the Second World War, with Japan secretly creating Yamato and Musashi, two of the most powerful battleships ever built. World War Two saw the zenith of the battleship, with many pivotal battles such as the battle of Denmark Strait during which the iconic battleships HMS Hood was sunk, the second battle of Guadacanal and the battle of Leyte Gulf to name but a few. The Germans, the Japanese, the Royal Navy and the US Navy were locked in a titanic struggle across vast distances, in which battleships for a time played a decisive role, until the development of new aircraft carriers and growing use of torpedoes began to make them obsolete. Since the 1990’s, no battleship has seen active service. This accessible short history gives an expert overview of the history of the battleship, looking at its origins, the role played by battleships in both World Wars, famous ships and their stories, as well as the weaponry and technology they employed.

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Taking us from the beginning of our story to the present day, A Cold Spell examines how ice has shaped our thoughts, actions and societies – and what it means for us that it is rapidly disappearing from our planet 'A warm-hearted tale of the bizarre, something to cuddle up with in the bleak midwinter . . . Astonishing' THE TIMES 'Bracingly original . . . As the earth warms threateningly, there could hardly be a more pertinent time for a story like this’ MICHAEL PALIN 'A book of limitless fascinations' OLIVIA LAING 'Brightly written, nimbly researched and really quite delightful' LITERARY REVIEW Ice has confounded, delighted and fascinated us since the first sparks of art and culture in Europe and it now underpins the modern world. Without ice, we would not feed ourselves or heal our sick as we do, and our towns and cities, countryside and oceans would look very different. Science would not have progressed along the avenues it did and our galleries and libraries would be missing many masterpieces. A Cold Spell uses this vital link to understanding our past to tell a surprising story of obsession, invention and adventure – how we have lived and dreamed, celebrated and traded, innovated, loved and fought over thousands of years. It brings together a sacrificial Incan mummy, Winston Churchill’s secret plans for unusual aircraft carriers, strange bones that shook Victorian beliefs about the world and a macabre journey into the depths of the human body. It is an original and unique way of looking at something that is literally all around us, whose loss confronts us daily in the news, but whose impact on our lives has never been fully explored. [An] extraordinary, complete and utter history of the human experience of the cold stuff' JOHN LEWIS-STEMPEL, COUNTRY LIFE ‘A thought-provoking chronicle of humanity . . . Leonard consistently frames ice in surprising and insightful ways, and in doing so lends it a magical quality’ GEOGRAPHICAL

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A Times, Spectator, TLS and BBC Music Magazine Book of the YearA major biography of Ravi Shankar published on the centenary of his birth: the first full portrait of the man and the artist across his extraordinary ninety-two years. As an icon of India, Ravi Shankar ranks not far below Gandhi or the Taj Mahal. He was one of the twentieth century's most important musicians, and India's greatest cultural ambassador. The maestro of the sitar filled the world's leading concert halls, festival stages and airwaves with Indian classical music at a time when it was little known outside its homeland. A sensation at Monterey Pop, the Woodstock Festival and the Concert for Bangladesh, he also helped reshape jazz, minimalism and electronic music, pioneered the sitar concerto, and wrote many film scores, including Pather Panchali and Gandhi. He charted the map for countless global musicians who followed in his wake. The unparalleled breadth of his impact is reflected in his disciples, who included George Harrison, John Coltrane, Philip Glass and Yehudi Menuhin.For this first biography of Ravi Shankar, Oliver Craske has carried out more than 130 new interviews and enjoyed unprecedented access to the Shankar family archives. He presents the first full portrait of the man and the artist, painting a vivid picture of the public and private faces of a captivating, restless workaholic who lived an intense and extraordinary life across ninety-two years. He investigates Shankar's childhood traumas and youthful stardom as a dancer, his intensive study of the sitar and his leading role in the revival of Indian classical music in his homeland, and his subsequent international career that ultimately made his name synonymous with India. Throughout, this biography seeks to answer the question of what impelled Ravi Shankar on an unending creative and emotional quest.

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I love Anna's writing, and I adore stories of adventuring women' Dolly Alderton'Humorous, emotional and useful' Grazia'A beautiful memoir' Dawn O'Porter'Warm, witty and gorgeously written' The Pool 'Even armchair travellers will get a vicarious thrill from Departures' Red***************A call-to-action for adventurers everywhere, Departures is about the power of travel to transform us, heal us, challenge us and turn us into everyday adventure-seekers even after we return to the grind back home.Have you ever turned up on a post-heartbreak holiday hopelessly unprepared and been forced to sleep on the floor wrapped up in a curtain? How about that eagerly-awaited solo adventure when you had to be airlifted home? Or what about the time you went to a fascinating European cultural capital and neglected to visit any of the world-renowned sights because you were in the bar? Well, Anna Hart has been on all those holidays, and more. As an avid traveller and then travel journalist, she's spent most of her working life on a plane somewhere, and over 10 years writing about the places she's ended up. In Departures she brings all of that knowledge together with the signature warmth and wit of her journalism. Anna is here to show that even the experts get it wrong, and how to get it right . . .***************What readers are saying about Departures: 'I couldn't put this book down. It was frank, funny and thought-provoking' 'A glorious big sister of a book' 'Anna makes you remember your own past adventures at the same time as inspiring new ones' 'This book was an amazing companion on my first solo trip abroad' 'A fascinating and illuminating read, especially for someone who hasn't travelled as much as they would have liked, but is full of wonder for all the places the world has to offer''I bought the audio version and ended up listening to Departures . . . 3 TIMES!

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**Sunday Times Bestseller****Book of the Week on Radio 4**'A beautiful book about a part of the modern world which remains genuinely magical’ Mark Haddon'One of the most constantly fascinating, but consistently under-appreciated aspects of modern life is the business of flying. Mark Vanhoenacker has written the ideal book on the subject: a description of what it’s like to fly by a commercial pilot who is also a master prose stylist and a deeply sensitive human being. This is a man who is at once a technical expert – he flies 747s across continents – and a poet of the skies. This couldn’t be more highly recommended.' Alain de BottonThink back to when you first flew. When you first left the Earth, and travelled high and fast above its turning arc. When you looked down on a new world, captured simply and perfectly through a window fringed with ice. When you descended towards a city, and arrived from the sky as effortlessly as daybreak.In Skyfaring, airline pilot and flight romantic Mark Vanhoenacker shares his irrepressible love of flying, on a journey from day to night, from new ways of mapmaking and the poetry of physics to the names of winds and the nature of clouds. Here, anew, is the simple wonder that remains at the heart of an experience which modern travellers, armchair and otherwise, all too easily take for granted: the transcendent joy of motion, and the remarkable new perspectives that height and distance bestow on everything we love.‘A beautiful, contemplative book… What Skyfaring gives is something we need: elevation; another perspective… Normally when I find a volume where prose style and subject matter fuse so pleasingly, I tear through it in a day. Here, I found myself pausing on almost every page, as I absorbed its detail or phrasing.’ Nicholas Lezard, Guardian**A 2015 Book of the Year – The Economist, The New York Times, GQ and more**

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