Search results for ""Pacific""

The twenty-first century geopolitics is gradually concentrating on the maritime world with the increase in the global economic interaction in the post liberalization world. The sea lanes of communication are attracting attention with the growing emphasis on economic interactions among the emerging economies with emphasis on military strength, especially in Asia. According to some scholars the twenty-first century global power is shifting from the Atlantic to the Pacific world where the maritime world has historically played significant role. This growing economic interdependencies promoting economic prosperity and resultant military modernization are shaping the geopolitics of Asia today as it is found in East Asia. In this part of the world the geopolitics has been maritime in character and today they are significant with the growing importance of maritime disputes in East and South China Sea among the emerging power China and her neighbours in the region, and with special role of the USA.South China Sea is fast emerging as a major zone of conflict in the East Asian, especially Southeast Asian, geopolitics. Although the soul of the conflict remains the centuries old territorial dispute over possession of some geographical features of this maritime zone, it is gradually transcending the periphery of inter-state territorial feud and emerging as the driving force of an Asian cold war of the twenty-first century. In this context it is important to study the South China Sea geopolitics with reference to its history. The book here is an attempt to study the South China Sea geopolitics of today with reference to its past and investigate its character. The study here does not revolve round the territorial disputes and their historical character and legality but rather attempts to focus on the larger context of traditional intermingling of regional and extra-regional actors shaping the maritime geopolitics there in the past and at present, sometimes independent of the disputes while sometimes in their context. Here reference of India is also made given her growing interest and role in the South China Sea maritime zone.

Read more less

A study of the natural world as imagined by contemporary writers, specifically their portrayals of nature as monster In Zombiescapes and Phantom Zones: Ecocriticism and the Liminal from “Invisible Man” to “The Walking Dead,” Lee Rozelle chronicles the weirdest, ugliest, and most mixed-up characters to appear on the literary scene since World War II—creatures intimately linked to damaged habitats that rise from the muck, not to destroy or rule the world, but to save it. The book asks what happens to these landscapes after the madness, havoc, and destruction. What monsters and magic surface then? Rozelle argues that zombiescapes and phantom zones depicted in the book become catalysts for environmental reanimation and sources of hope. Liminality offers exciting and useful new ways to conceptualize places that have historically proven troublesome, unwieldy, or hard to define. Zombiescapes can reduce the effects of pollution, promote environmental justice, lessen economic disparity, and localize food production. The grotesques that ooze and crawl from these passages challenge readers to consider new ways to re-inhabit broken lands at a time when energy efficiency, fracking, climate change, the Pacific trade agreement, local food production, and sustainability shape the intellectual landscape. Rozelle focuses on literary works from 1950 to 2015—the zombiescapes and monsterscapes of post–World War II literature—that portray in troubling and often devastating ways the “brownfields” that have been divested of much of their biodiversity and ecological viability. However, he also highlights how these literary works suggest a new life and new potential for such environments. With an unlikely focus on places of ruination and an application of interdisciplinary, transnational approaches to a range of fields and texts, Rozelle advances the notion that places of distortion might become a nexus where revelation and advocacy are possible again. Zombiescapes and Phantom Zones has much to offer to various fields of scholarship, including literary studies, ecocriticism, and environmental studies. Research, academic, and undergraduate audiences will be captivated by Rozelle’s lively prose and unique anthropological, ecocritical, and literary analyses.

Read more less

The Whale in the Living Room follows the thrilling adventures of film-maker, John Ruthven, as he travels the globe, dives into our oceans and passionately recounts his life-affirming experiences.What creatures could remain undiscovered in the 95 per cent of the seas that have not been thoroughly explored? How vast, really, are our oceans? The surface of Mars and Venus are better known to us than Earth's seabed. Yet to map the world's ocean to even 100-metre blocks of accuracy, something that environmentalists say is essential for its protection, could take another 300 years. Even creatures that are known to us, like the giant squid, have proved too difficult to accurately capture on film. Quite literally immersed in his subject, John can help readers understand the magnitude of our planet's oceans and why it is so important for us to protect our seas and the creatures that inhabit them. He is the only producer to have worked full-time on both series of Blue Planet, as well as nearly fifty other films about the sea. Through his first-hand experience, John shows us the loneliness of whale calves in the deep blue, the fear of seals as they dodge great white sharks near the coast, or the curiosity of octopus staring back at us through the camera. His book takes us through the blue rings of South Pacific coral atolls, on submarine rides into the abyss with ancient life forms, and up close and personal encounters with singing humpback whales that make you feel the water around you.The Whale in the Living Room, like the proverbial 'elephant in the room', is also about how, until recently, we have been largely blind to our polluting of the seas. John, for example, explores how plastic 'went wild' in the ocean; tries to understand how we got into this mess; and see if we can ever untangle the oceans from its grip.

Read more less

Captain Cook claimed the honour of being the first man to sail into the Antarctic Ocean in 1773, which he then circumnavigated the following year. Cook, though, did not see any land, and he declared that there was no such thing as the Southern Continent. Fifty years later, an Irishman who had been impressed into the Royal Navy at the age of eighteen and risen through the ranks to reach the position of master, proved Cook wrong and discovered and charted parts of the shoreline of Antarctica. He also discovered what is now Elephant Island and Clarence Island, claiming them for the British Crown. Edward Bransfield's varied naval career included taking part in the Bombardment of Algiers in 1816 onboard the 50-gun warship HMS _Severn_. Then, in 1817, he was posted to the Royal Navy's Pacific Squadron off Valpara so in Chile, and it was while serving there that the owner and skipper of an English whaling ship, the _Williams_, was driven south by adverse winds and discovered what came to be known as the South Shetland Islands where Cook had said there was no land. Bransfield's superior officer, Captain Sherriff, decided to investigate this discovery further. He chartered Williams and sent Bransfield with two midshipmen and a ship's surgeon into the Antarctic - and the Irishman sailed into history. Despite his achievements, and many parts of Antarctica and an Antarctic survey vessel being named after him, as well as a Royal Mail commemorative stamp being issued in his name in 2000, the full story of this remarkable man and his historic journey, have never been told - until now. Following decades of research, Sheila Bransfield MA, a member of the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, has produced the definitive biography of one of Britain's greatest maritime explorers. The book has been endorsed by the UK Antarctic Heritage Trust, whose patron the Princess Royal, has written the Foreword.

Read more less

A parable on Darwinian theory, and a biting social satire, H.G. Wells's science fiction classic The Island of Dr Moreau is a fascinating exploration of what it is to be human. This Penguin Classics edition is edited by Patrick Parrinder with notes by Steven McLean and an introduction by Margaret Atwood, author of The Handmaid's Tale.Adrift in a dinghy, Edward Prendick, the single survivor from the good ship Lady Vain, is rescued by a vessel carrying a profoundly unusual cargo - a menagerie of savage animals. Tended to recovery by their keeper Montgomery, who gives him dark medicine that tastes of blood, Prendick soon finds himself stranded upon an uncharted island in the Pacific with his rescuer and the beasts. Here, he meets Montgomery's master, the sinister Dr. Moreau - a brilliant scientist whose notorious experiments in vivisection have caused him to abandon the civilised world. It soon becomes clear he has been developing these experiments - with truly horrific results.This edition includes a full biographical essay on Wells, a further reading list and detailed notes. Margaret Atwood's introduction explores the social and scientific relevance of this influential work.H.G. Wells (1866-1946) was a professional writer and journalist. Wells's prophetic imagination was first displayed in pioneering works of science fiction, but later he became an apostle of socialism, science and progress. Among his most popular works are The Time Machine (1895); The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), filmed with Bela Lugosi in 1932, and again in 1996 with Marlon Brando; The Invisible Man (1897); The War of the Worlds (1898), which was the subject of an Orson Welles radio adaptation that caused mass panic when it was broadcast, and a 2005 film directed by Stephen Spielberg; and The First Men in the Moon (1901), which predicted the first lunar landings.If you enjoyed The Island of Doctor Moreau, you might like Wells's The Time Machine, also available in Penguin Classics.

Read more less

A luminous exploration of exile - the people who have experienced it, and the places they inhabit - from the award-winning travel writer and author of The Immeasurable World and The Moor. 'Breathtakingly good . . . Exiles is completely sui generis.'EDMUND DE WAAL'Atkins spins a marvellous tapestry of colourful tales, beautifully weaving history and travel accounts.'ANDREA WULF, author of The Invention of Nature'A volume for our times.'SARA WHEELER, THE SPECTATOR'A fascinating study of exile and its effects.'OBSERVERThis is the story of three unheralded nineteenth-century dissidents, whose lives were profoundly shaped by the winds of empire, nationalism and autocracy that continue to blow strongly today: Louise Michel, a leader of the radical socialist government known as the Paris Commune; Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo, an enemy of British colonialism in Zululand; and Lev Shternberg, a militant campaigner against Russian tsarism.In Exiles, William Atkins travels to their islands of banishment - Michel's New Caledonia in the South Pacific, Dinuzulu's St Helena in the South Atlantic, and Shternberg's Sakhalin off the Siberian coast - in a bid to understand how exile shaped them and the people among whom they were exiled. In doing so he illuminates the solidarities that emerged between the exiled subject, on the one hand, and the colonised subject, on the other. Rendering these figures and the places they were forced to occupy in shimmering detail, Atkins reveals deeply human truths about displacement, colonialism and what it means to have and to lose a home.Occupying the fertile zone where history, biography and travel writing meet, Exiles is a masterpiece of imaginative empathy.'[Atkins] is humane, humble, and empathetic . . . beautiful and moving.'ILYA KAMINSKY, author of Deaf Republic and Dancing in Odessa'An incredible, brilliant act of retrieval.'PHILIP HOARE, author of Albert & the Whale'A finely crafted and lyrical meditation.' TLS'Gracefully written . . . Brilliant.' THE ECONOMIST'Rarely has a book been more timely.' HISTORY TODAY***Read The Moor and The Immeasureable World for more award-winning writing from William Atkins

Read more less

115 vibrant and diverse recipes for vegetables that will revitalize your approach to plant-based eating. Roots, stalks, shoots, bulbs, brassicas, and leafy greens. Vegetables come in all shapes and sizes, flavors and colors, tastes and textures, and there's an abundance of fresh, local vegetables available right here in the Pacific Northwest. Whether you grow or forage them yourself, or you purchase them from local farmers, this book will provide you with exciting and unexpected ways to prepare all that goodness from the garden. These ideas for everyday plant-based cooking respect the seasons and provide you with healthy, simple meals. Bill Jones, renowned chef and award-winning author of 12 cookbooks including The Deerholme Mushroom Book and The Deerholme Foraging Book, has had a lifetime love affair with garden fare since he was a teenager. These recipes are a love letter to vegetables, borne from his travels and his experiences living the professional growing and cooking lifestyle. Aside from delicious recipes and gorgeous full-colour photography throughout, The Deerholme Farm Vegetable Cookook contains detailed information on more than 40 vegetables, and outlines the basics of professional vegetable preparation. Learn how to julienne, slice, peel, dice and shred, as well as blanche, braise, steam, roast, saute, and grill. Moreover, it suggests how to source good quality vegetables and ways to store different kinds of veggies to keep them fresh. Trade in your everyday veggie recipes for original and delicious dishes like Cider-Braised Leek & Morel Gratin, Pickled Fennel with Honey and Lemon, Kohlrabi Slaw with Pumpkin Seed Pesto, or Baked Acorn Squash with Porcini Custard. Try incorporating vegetables into unique staple dishes like Yam Flatbread. And get innovative with vegetable-based desserts like Blueberry and Fennel Cobbler and Beet and Apple Crumble with Maple and Hazelnut. You can't beat fresh and vital foods that combine flavor and flair from around the world. It's easy to keep things interesting while enjoying the health benefits, environmental sustainability, and economic impact of eating more local veggies.

Read more less

“A Winner . . . Blood Tide is the best high-adventure escape I’ve taken in years.” —Elmore LeonardIn the tradition of Clive Cussler and Alistair MacLean, Blood Tide is a gripping novel of betrayal and revenge set in a remote and lawless corner of the Philippines.Unjustly blamed for a failed escape attempt from a North Vietnamese prison, James Culdee, a career US Navy noncom who has served his country with distinction for twenty years, is suddenly and unfairly forced into a disgraceful retirement. Devestated, Culdee retreats into alcoholism until he is rescued by his daughter, Miranda, a charter-boat skipper whose sloop, the Seamark, has been stolen.When Miranda learns that the Seamark has been sighted into the dangerous and primitive Flyaway Islands of the Philippines, father and daughter sail off in pursuit, on a voyage that will carry them across the Pacific. Arriving in the Flyaways, where local pirates and drug smugglers are as treacherous as the hidden shoals and reefs, Culdee and Miranda join a band of Filipinio insurgents plotting to overthrow a tyrannical American drug lord, who may or may not be the same “slimy” who betrayed Culdee in Vietnam.Filled with action, suspense, and nautical lore, Blood Tide is a tale of intrigue, courage, and passion—of a father and a daughter’s battle against overwhelming odds in infernal jungles where murder is a sport and madness a way of life.Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade, Yucca, and Good Books imprints, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in fiction—novels, novellas, political and medical thrillers, comedy, satire, historical fiction, romance, erotic and love stories, mystery, classic literature, folklore and mythology, literary classics including Shakespeare, Dumas, Wilde, Cather, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

Read more less

An eye-opening and compelling ethnography about how doctors make decisions The oath that doctors take to "do no harm" suggests that patient welfare is at the center of what it means to be a successful medical professional. It is also understood, however, that hospitals are not only vessels for medical care—they are businesses, educational institutions, and complex bureaucracies with intricate codes of etiquette that dictate how each staff member should approach situations with patients. In Conflicted Care, Hyeyoung Oh Nelson provides an in-depth look at the decision-making processes of physicians at a large, prestigious academic medical center—that she calls Pacific Medical Center—and finds that more often than not patient wellbeing is only one of several factors governing day-to-day decisions. The steps physicians take reveal a kind of hidden curriculum of the medical world, one that is guided by status and hierarchy, bureaucracy, norms for consulting with third-parties, regulations for interactions with patients, and medical uncertainty. While at an institutional and individual level patient care continues to be integral to everything the physicians do, they are forced to reconcile that vow with these other, often-conflicting internal logics. Harm, Nelson argues, is thus built into the practice of medicine in the United States. This harm can take the form of unnecessary treatments and consultations or inadequate treatment for pain to motivate specialist intervention that would otherwise be resisted. These and other practices have the overall consequence of significantly driving up inpatient care costs, which then results in patients forgoing needed, ongoing treatment once they receive their medical bills. Drawing on a deep ethnography of physicians in the Internal Medicine Service unit, Nelson offers a sharp assessment of current policies aimed at alleviating medical costs and explains why they are ineffective. She concludes by offering novel policy and practice recommendations for health care practitioners, policy makers, and healthcare institutions.

Read more less

A sweeping narrative of America's imperial history and its long entanglement with China.In Terminus, Stuart Rollo examines the origins and trajectory of American empire in the Asia-Pacific region, focusing on its westward expansion and historic entanglement with China. American foreign and strategic policy in this region, Rollo argues, has always been shaped by broader economic and political concerns centered on China. China's current rise, and the economic and strategic systems that China is developing, represents the most serious challenge to the structure of American empire to date. Rollo paints a sweeping historical narrative of American imperial history and its relationship with China from 1776 to the present. Grounded in archival research, official and personal correspondence, policy documents, declassified intelligence material, and congressional records, Terminus traces the development of American empire building from the pre-independence period to the eve of World War I, arguing that this new empire was primarily driven by commercial interests in China. Rollo explores shifts in global power, resource politics, and international economic structures that led the United States to transition from one of several imperial powers to the world's sole superpower by the last decade of the twentieth century. Finally, he examines the decline of American empire since its brief period of unipolarity in the 1990s, explaining the new pressures and challenges posed by the rise of China.Rollo proposes three scenarios for how the United States might manage its inevitable imperial decline: a vain attempt to shore up and extend the empire, an exploitative hegemony, or a post-imperial foreign policy. This last option would work to repair the damaged fabric of American social and political life, providing a long-term, stable foundation for national security, prosperity, and the well-being of its citizens. All empires eventually end, but with the benefit of hindsight, Rollo urges us to consider how to engineer a softer landing.

Read more less

Essential information for architects, designers, engineers, equipment suppliers, and other professionals who are working in or entering the biopharmaceutical manufacturing field Biomanufacturing facilities that are designed and built today are radically different than in the past. The vital information and knowledge needed to design and construct these increasingly sophisticated biopharmaceutical manufacturing facilities is difficult to find in published literature—and it’s rarely taught in architecture or design schools. This is the first book for architects and designers that fills this void. Process Architecture in Biomanufacturing Facility Design provides information on design principles of biopharmaceutical manufacturing facilities that support emerging innovative processes and technologies, use state-of-the-art equipment, are energy efficient and sustainable, and meet regulatory requirements. Relying on their many years of hands-on design and operations experience, the authors emphasize concepts and practical approaches toward design, construction, and operation of biomanufacturing facilities, including product-process-facility relationships, closed systems and single use equipment, aseptic manufacturing considerations, design of biocontainment facility and process based laboratory, and sustainability considerations, as well as an outlook on the facility of the future. Provides guidelines for meeting licensing and regulatory requirements for biomanufacturing facilities in the U.S.A and WHO—especially in emerging global markets in India, China, Latin America, and the Asia/Pacific regions Focuses on innovative design and equipment, to speed construction and time to market, increase energy efficiency, and reduce footprint, construction and operational costs, as well as the financial risks associated with construction of a new facility prior to the approval of the manufactured products by regulatory agencies Includes many diagrams that clarify the design approach Process Architecture in Biomanufacturing Facility Design is an ideal text for professionals involved in the design of facilities for manufacturing of biopharmaceuticals and vaccines, biotechnology, and life-science industry, including architects and designers of industrial facilities, construction, equipment vendors, and mechanical engineers. It is also recommended for university instructors, advanced undergraduates, and graduate students in architecture, industrial engineering, mechanical engineering, industrial design, and industrial interior design.

Read more less

The history of US imperialism remains incomplete without this consideration of long-overlooked nineteenth-century American commercial and whaling ventures in the Indian Ocean. Yankees in the Indian Ocean shows how nineteenth-century American merchant and whaler activity in the Indian Ocean shaped the imperial future of the United States, influenced the region’s commerce, encouraged illegal slaving, and contributed to environmental degradation. For a brief time, Americans outnumbered other Western visitors to Mauritius, Madagascar, Zanzibar, and the East African littoral. In a relentless search for commodities and provisions, American whaleships landed at islands throughout the ocean and stripped them of resources. Yet Americans failed to develop a permanent foothold in the region and operated instead from a position of weakness relative to other major colonizing powers, thus discouraging the development of American imperial holdings there. The history of American concerns in the Indian Ocean world remains largely unwritten. Scholars who focus on the region have mostly ignored American involvement, despite arguments for the ocean’s importance in powering global connections during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. Historians of the United States likewise have failed to examine the western Indian Ocean because of a preoccupation with US interests in Asia and the Pacific. Failing to understand the scale of American trade in the Indian Ocean has led to a fixation on European commercial strength to the exclusion of other maritime networks. Instead, this book reveals how the people of Madagascar and East Africa helped the United States briefly dominate commerce and whaling. This book investigates how and why Americans were drawn to the western Indian Ocean years before the United States established a formal overseas empire in the late nineteenth century. Ship logs, sailor journals, and travel narratives reveal how American men transformed foreign land- and seascapes into knowable spaces that confirmed American conceptions of people and natural resources; these sources also provide insight into the complex social and ecological worlds of the Indian Ocean during this critical time.

Read more less

A luminous exploration of exile - the people who have experienced it, and the places they inhabit - from the award-winning travel writer and author of The Immeasurable World and The Moor. 'Breathtakingly good . . . Exiles is completely sui generis.'EDMUND DE WAAL'Atkins spins a marvellous tapestry of colourful tales, beautifully weaving history and travel accounts.'ANDREA WULF, author of The Invention of Nature'A volume for our times.'SARA WHEELER, THE SPECTATORThis is the story of three unheralded nineteenth-century dissidents, whose lives were profoundly shaped by the winds of empire, nationalism and autocracy that continue to blow strongly today: Louise Michel, a leader of the radical socialist government known as the Paris Commune; Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo, an enemy of British colonialism in Zululand; and Lev Shternberg, a militant campaigner against Russian tsarism.In Exiles, William Atkins travels to their islands of banishment - Michel's New Caledonia in the South Pacific, Dinuzulu's St Helena in the South Atlantic, and Shternberg's Sakhalin off the Siberian coast - in a bid to understand how exile shaped them and the people among whom they were exiled. In doing so he illuminates the solidarities that emerged between the exiled subject, on the one hand, and the colonised subject, on the other. Rendering these figures and the places they were forced to occupy in shimmering detail, Atkins reveals deeply human truths about displacement, colonialism and what it means to have and to lose a home.Occupying the fertile zone where history, biography and travel writing meet, Exiles is a masterpiece of imaginative empathy.'A fascinating study of exile and its effects.'OBSERVER'[Atkins] is humane, humble, and empathetic . . . beautiful and moving.'ILYA KAMINSKY, author of Deaf Republic and Dancing in Odessa'An incredible, brilliant act of retrieval.'PHILIP HOARE, author of Albert & the Whale'Thrilling.' FINANCIAL TIMES'A finely crafted and lyrical meditation.' TLS'Gracefully written . . . Brilliant.' THE ECONOMIST'Rarely has a book been more timely.' HISTORY TODAY***Read The Moor and The Immeasureable World for more award-winning writing from William Atkins

Read more less

CHANGE YOUR THINKING CHANGE YOUR LIFE "Every line in this book is bursting with truth, wisdom, and power. Brian Tracy is the preeminent authority on showing you how to dramatically improve your life. Let him be your guide. I've learned so much from Brian myself that I can't thank him enough!" —Robert G. Allen, #1 New York Times bestselling author "This book gives you a step-by-step system to transform your thinking about yourself and your potential, enabling you to achieve greater success in every area of your life." —Lee Iacocca, Chairman, Lee Iacocca & Associates "Once again, Brian Tracy has written an incredible book which shows individuals how to delve into their inner resources so that they can not only identify realistic goals but develop a plan on how to achieve these goals. This book promises to be a bestseller and to influence the lives of so many. It is must reading." —Sally Pipes, President, Pacific Research Institute "Outstanding! Brian Tracy's Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life is a must-read. Use the powerful 'mental software' program in this book to tap your vast inner resources and bring the life you've been dreaming about into reality." —Ken Blanchard, coauthor of The One Minute Manager and Full Steam Ahead! "As usual, Brian Tracy has hit another home run with Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life. It's a must-read!" —Mac Anderson, founder, Successories, Inc. "Brian's new book, Change Your Thinking, Change Your Life, will show you how to attract the people and resources you need to achieve any goal you set for yourself." —Tony Jeary, Mr. Presentation, author of Life Is a Series of Presentations "This is a masterful book laden with wisdom and knowledge. It'll catapult you from intention to implementation. It arms you with the information and insights you need to achieve success and significance in your life." —Nido R. Qubein, founder, National Speakers Association Foundation Chairman, Great Harvest Bread Company

Read more less

"An American hero...finally gets her due in this riveting narrative. You will absolutely love Florence Finch: her grit, her compassion, her fight. This isn't just history; she is a woman for our times." -KEITH O'BRIEN, the New York Times bestselling author of Fly GirlsWhen Florence Finch died at the age of 101, few of her Ithaca, NY neighbors knew that this unassuming Filipina native was a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, whose courage and sacrifice were unsurpassed in the Pacific War against Japan. Long accustomed to keeping her secrets close in service of the Allies, she waited fifty years to reveal the story of those dramatic and harrowing days to her own children.Florence was an unlikely warrior. She relied on her own intelligence and fortitude to survive on her own from the age of seven, facing bigotry as a mixed-race mestiza with the dual heritage of her American serviceman father and Filipina mother.As the war drew ever closer to the Philippines, Florence fell in love with a dashing American naval intelligence agent, Charles "Bing" Smith. In the wake of Bing's sudden death in battle, Florence transformed from a mild-mannered young wife into a fervent resistance fighter. She conceived a bold plan to divert tons of precious fuel from the Japanese army, which was then sold on the black market to provide desperately needed medicine and food for hundreds of American POWs. In constant peril of arrest and execution, Florence fought to save others, even as the Japanese police closed in.With a wealth of original sources including taped interviews, personal journals, and unpublished memoirs, The Indomitable Florence Finch unfolds against the Bataan Death March, the fall of Corregidor, and the daily struggle to survive a brutal occupying force. Award-winning military historian and former Congressman Robert J. Mrazek brings to light this long-hidden American patriot. The Indomitable Florence Finch is the story of the transcendent bravery of a woman who belongs in America's pantheon of war heroes.

Read more less

Shadow Tribe offers the first in-depth history of the Pacific Northwest’s Columbia River Indians -- the defiant River People whose ancestors refused to settle on the reservations established for them in central Oregon and Washington. Largely overlooked in traditional accounts of tribal dispossession and confinement, their story illuminates the persistence of off-reservation Native communities and the fluidity of their identities over time. Cast in the imperfect light of federal policy and dimly perceived by non-Indian eyes, the flickering presence of the Columbia River Indians has followed the treaty tribes down the difficult path marked out by the forces of American colonization. Based on more than a decade of archival research and conversations with Native people, Andrew Fisher’s groundbreaking book traces the waxing and waning of Columbia River Indian identity from the mid-nineteenth through the late twentieth centuries. Fisher explains how, despite policies designed to destroy them, the shared experience of being off the reservation and at odds with recognized tribes forged far-flung river communities into a loose confederation called the Columbia River Tribe. Environmental changes and political pressures eroded their autonomy during the second half of the twentieth century, yet many River People continued to honor a common heritage of ancestral connection to the Columbia, resistance to the reservation system, devotion to cultural traditions, and detachment from the institutions of federal control and tribal governance. At times, their independent and uncompromising attitude has challenged the sovereignty of the recognized tribes, earning Columbia River Indians a reputation as radicals and troublemakers even among their own people. Shadow Tribe is part of a new wave of historical scholarship that shows Native American identities to be socially constructed, layered, and contested rather than fixed, singular, and unchanging. From his vantage point on the Columbia, Fisher has written a pioneering study that uses regional history to broaden our understanding of how Indians thwarted efforts to confine and define their existence within narrow reservation boundaries.

Read more less

"Esalen is on the edge. Located in Big Sur, California, just off Highway 1, Esalen is, geographically speaking, a literal cliff, hanging rather precariously over the Pacific Ocean. The Esselen Indians used the hot mineral springs here as healing baths for centuries before the European settlers arrived.... Today the place is adorned with a host of lush organic gardens; mountain streams; a cliffside swimming pool; an occasional Buddha or garden goddess; the same hot springs now embedded in a striking multimillion-dollar stone, cement, and steel spa; and a small collection of meditation huts tucked away in the trees. These are grounds that both constitute the very edge of the American frontier and look due west to see the East...." —from the IntroductionThe renowned Esalen Institute, founded in 1962 by Stanford graduates Michael Murphy and Richard Price, was created as a place "where the body can manifest the glories of the spirit." It offered guests a heady mixture of world mythology, hypnosis and psychic research, spiritual healing, sport mysticism, and Tantric eroticism. Among the notables who have spent time at the Institute are Abraham Maslow, Timothy Leary, Paul Tillich, Carlos Castaneda, B. F. Skinner, and former California governor Jerry Brown.Despite its cultural significance, remarkably little has been written about Esalen itself. In On the Edge of the Future: Esalen and the Evolution of American Culture, 11 original essays, plus an afterword by co-founder Murphy, examine the Institute’s roots, the place of its beliefs in American religious history, and its influence. This lively volume will fascinate anyone interested in the history of American religion as well as those who regard this remarkable place as the epicenter of the human potential movement.The contributors are Catherine L. Albanese, Erik Erickson, Robert Fuller, Marion S. Goldman, Wouter J. Hanegraaff, Don Hanlon Johnson, Jeffrey J. Kripal, Timothy Miller, Michael Murphy, Glenn W. Shuck, Ann Taves, and Gordon Wheeler.

Read more less

The thunderous roar of exploding depth charges was a familiar and comforting sound to the crew members of the USS Barb, who frequently found themselves somewhere between enemy fire and Davy Jones's locker. Under the leadership of her fearless skipper, Captain Gene Fluckey, the Barb sank the greatest tonnage of any American sub in World War II. At the same time, the Barb did far more than merely sink ships-she changed forever the way submarines stalk and kill their prey. This is a gripping adventure chock-full of "you-are-there" moments. Fluckey has drawn on logs, reports, letters, interviews, and a recently discovered illegal diary kept by one of his torpedomen. And in a fascinating twist, he uses archival documents from the Japanese Navy to give its version of events. The unique story of the Barb begins with its men, who had the confidence to become unbeatable. Each team helped develop innovative ideas, new tactics, and new strategies. All strove for personal excellence, and success became contagious. Instead of lying in wait under the waves, the USS Barb pursued enemy ships on the surface, attacking in the swift and precise style of torpedo boats. She was the first sub to use rocket missiles and to creep up on enemy convoys at night, joining the flank escort line from astern, darting in and out as she sank ships up the column. Surface-cruising, diving only to escape, "Luckey Fluckey" relentlessly patrolled the Pacific, driving his boat and crew to their limits. There can be no greater contrast to modern warfare's long-distance, videogame style of battle than the exploits of the captain and crew of the USS Barb, where they sub, out of ammunition, actually rammed an enemy ship until it sank. Thunder Below! is a first-rate, true-life, inspirational story of the courage and heroism of ordinary men under fire.

Read more less

As people come to understand more about animals’ inner lives—the intricacies of their thoughts and the emotions that are expressed every day by whales and cows, octopus and mice, even bees—we feel a growing compassion, a desire to better their lives. But how do we translate this compassion into helping other creatures, both those that are and are not our pets? Bringing together the latest science with heartfelt storytelling, Animals’ Best Friends reveals the opportunities we have in everyday life to help animals in our homes, in the wild, in zoos, and in science labs, as well as those considered to be food. Barbara J. King, an expert on animal cognition and emotion, guides us on a journey both animal and deeply human. We meet cows living relaxed lives in an animal sanctuary—and cows with plastic portals in their sides at a university research station. We observe bison free-roaming at Yellowstone National Park and chimpanzees confined to zoos. We learn with King how to negotiate vegetarian preferences in omnivore restaurants. We experience the touch of a giant Pacific octopus tasting King’s skin with one of his long, neuron-rich arms. We reflect on animal testing as King shares her own experience as the survivor of a particularly nasty cancer. And in a moment all too familiar to many of us, we recover from a close encounter with two spiders in the home. This is a book not of shaming and limitation, but of uplift and expansion. Throughout this journey, King makes no claims of personal perfection. Though an animal expert, she is just like the rest of us: on a journey still, learning each day how to be better, and do better, for animals. But as Animals’ Best Friends makes clear, challenging choices can bring deep rewards. By turning compassion into action on behalf of animals, we not only improve animals’ lives—we also immeasurably enrich our own.

Read more less

Professor Kuang-Chao Chou (also known as Guang-Zhao Zhou) is the former President of Chinese Academy of Sciences. He has been elected as the Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Foreign Associate of the US National Academy of Sciences, Fellow of the Third World Academy of Science, Foreign Member of Soviet (Russian) Academy of Sciences, Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, Romania Academy of Sciences, Mongolian Academy of Sciences, the European Academy of Arts, Sciences and Humanities, Membre fondateur Academie Francophone d'Ingenieurs.He also served as the director of Institute of Theoretical Physics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Dean of the Science School of Tsinghua University, the Chairman of the China Association for Sciences and Technology, the President of Pacific Science Association, Vice President of Third World Academy of Sciences.”Zhou is a first rate physicist: broad, powerful and very quick in grasping new ideas. His style of doing physics reminds me of that of Landau, Salam, and of Teller.”C N Yang”His published papers have won uniformly high praises by the international scientific community and his articles are always written with depth and elegance.”T D LeeThis volume presents a collection of selected papers written by Prof Chou. The papers are organized into four parts according to the subject of research areas and the language of publishing journals. Part I (in English) and Part III (in Chinese) are papers on field theories, particle physics and nuclear physics, Part II (in English) and Part IV (in Chinese) are papers on statistical physics and condensed matter physics. From the published papers, it illustrates and is clearly evident how Prof Chou was constantly at the frontiers of theoretical physics in various periods and carried out creative research works experimenting with initial ideas and motivations, as well as how he has driven and worked in different key research directions of theoretical physics, all for which he has made significant contributions to various interesting research areas and interdisciplinary fields.

Read more less

One of the most significant differences between the New World's major areas of high culture is that Mesoamerica had no beasts of burden and wool, while the Andes had both. Four members of the camelid family--wild guanacos and vicunas, and domestic llamas and alpacas--were native to the Andes. South American peoples relied on these animals for meat and wool, and as beasts of burden to transport goods all over the Andes. In this book, Duccio Bonavia tackles major questions about these camelids, from their domestication to their distribution at the time of the Spanish conquest. One of Bonavia's hypotheses is that the arrival of the Europeans and their introduced Old World animals forced the Andean camelids away from the Pacific coast, creating the (mistaken) impression that camelids were exclusively high-altitude animals. Bonavia also addresses the diseases of camelids and their population density, suggesting that the original camelid populations suffered from a different type of mange than that introduced by the Europeans. This new mange, he believes, was one of the causes behind the great morbidity of camelids in Colonial times. In terms of domestication, while Bonavia believes that the major centers must have been the puna zone intermediate zones, he adds that the process should not be seen as restricted to a single environmental zone. Bonavia's landmark study of the South American camelids is now available for the first time in English. This new edition features an updated analysis and comprehensive bibliography. In the Spanish edition of this book, Bonavia lamented the fact that the zooarchaeological data from R. S. MacNeish's Ayacucho Project had yet to be published. In response, the Ayacucho's Project's faunal analysts, Elizabeth S. Wing and Kent V. Flannery, have added appendices on the Ayacucho results to this English edition. This book will be of broad interest to archaeologists, zoologists, social anthropologists, ethnohistorians, and a wide range of students.

Read more less

* A Campsite for Everyone: A variety of campgrounds and RV parks, from secluded Sierra hike-ins to convenient roadside stopovers, including dog-friendly, family-friendly, and wheelchair accessible options* Ratings and Essentials: All campsites are rated on a scenic scale and marked with amenities like restrooms, trailhead access, picnic areas, laundry, piped water, showers, and playgrounds* Recreation Highlights: Discover nearby hiking, swimming, fishing, water-skiing, whitewater rafting, hot springs, and options for winter sports* Maps and Directions: Easy-to-use maps and detailed driving directions for each campground* Skip the Crowds: Moon California Camping contains many secluded spots and campgrounds that aren't available in the state's online reservation system* The Top RV and Tent Sites for You: Pick the right campsite for your travel style with lists like "Best for Families," "Scenic Campgrounds," and "Best Island Retreats"* Trailhead Access Campgrounds: Find sites that offer access to the John Muir Trail, the Pacific Crest Trail, and more, plus essential information on hiking* Trusted Advice: Expert outdoorsman Tom Stienstra knows his stuff; he's hiked 25,000 miles in and around these campgrounds for over 30 years* Helpful resources on Covid-19 and camping in California* Tips and Tools: Information on equipment, food and cooking, first aid, and insect protection, plus background on the climate, landscape, and history of the campgrounds Whether you're a veteran or a first-time camper, Moon's comprehensive coverage and trusted advice will have you gearing up for your next adventure.Narrowing your search? Try Moon Northern California Camping. Hitting the road? Check out Moon California Road Trip.About Moon Travel Guides: Moon was founded in 1973 to empower independent, active, and conscious travel. We prioritize local businesses, outdoor recreation, and traveling strategically and sustainably. Moon Travel Guides are written by local, expert authors with great stories to tell-and they can't wait to share their favorite places with you.For more inspiration, follow @moonguides on social media.

Read more less

Lonely Planet's Colombia is our most comprehensive guide that extensively covers all the country has to offer, with recommendations for both popular and lesser-known experiences. Journey to Ciudad Perdida, explore Cartagena's old town, and trek in El Cocuy; and see the giant statues of Easter Island; all with your trusted travel companion. Inside Lonely Planet's Colombia Travel Guide: Lonely Planet's Top Picks - a visually inspiring collection of the destination's best experiences and where to have them Itineraries help you build the ultimate trip based on your personal needs and interestsLocal insights give you a richer, more rewarding travel experience - whether it's history, people, music, landscapes, wildlife, politics Eating and drinking - get the most out of your gastronomic experience as we reveal the regional dishes and drinks you have to try Toolkit - all of the planning tools for solo travellers, LGBTQIA+ travellers, family travellers and accessible travel Colour maps and images throughoutLanguage - essential phrases and language tips Insider tips to save time and money and get around like a local, avoiding crowds and trouble spots Covers Bogota, Boyaca, Santander and Norte de Santander, Caribbean Coast, San Andres and Providencia, Medellin and Zona Cafetera, Cali and Southwest Colombia, Pacific Coast, Los Llanos, Amazon Basin and more About Lonely Planet: Lonely Planet, a Red Ventures Company, is the world's number one travel guidebook brand. Providing both inspiring and trustworthy information for every kind of traveller since 1973, Lonely Planet reaches hundreds of millions of travellers each year online and in print and helps them unlock amazing experiences. Visit us at lonelyplanet.com and join our community of followers on Facebook (facebook.com/lonelyplanet), Twitter (@lonelyplanet), Instagram (instagram.com/lonelyplanet), and TikTok (@lonelyplanet). 'Lonely Planet. It's on everyone's bookshelves; it's in every traveller's hands. It's on mobile phones. It's on the Internet. It's everywhere, and it's telling entire generations of people how to travel the world.' Fairfax Media (Australia)

Read more less

The Brooklyn-class light cruiser USS Boise (CL-47) was one of the most famous US combat ships of World War II, already internationally renowned following her participation in the naval battles in the Solomons in 1942. After repairs and modifications, in 1943 the Boise was sent to the Mediterranean theatre, there to participate in the invasions of Sicily, Taranto, and Salerno, and enhancing her fame by destroying enemy tanks during armoured counterattacks in both Sicily and Salerno.From the Mediterranean, Boise was sent to the Southwest Pacific theatre to join the US 7th Fleet for the campaign in New Guinea in 1943–44 and then the invasion of the Philippines. She fought in the battle of Leyte Gulf, notably in the night engagement in the Surigao Strait, where battleships faced off against each other for the last time in maritime history. Boise was credited with helping to sink a Japanese battleship. She also fought off the suicide planes known as kamikazes at Leyte and later at Lingayen Gulf during the invasion of Luzon. MacArthur used her as his flagship for the Luzon attack, thereby adding to her already considerable fame, then after helping retake Corregidor and other islands in the Philippines, Boise carried the general on a triumphant tour of the islands. This tour was interrupted for the invasion of Borneo, but completed when the beach was secured. After MacArthur left the ship in June 1945, she returned to the US for overhaul which was just complete as the war ended, by which time she had been awarded 11 battle stars, more than any other light cruiser in her class.This full account of USS Boise’s war not only gives us an insight into how one ship navigated a global conflict, but also an insight into the experiences of the men who served on her, and a new perspective on the naval campaigns of the war.

Read more less

“FASCINATING . . . Dramatic and timely.” —New York Times Book Review, Editors' ChoiceIn this grand and thrilling narrative, the author of the 200,000-copy paperback bestseller Over the Edge of the World reveals the singular adventures of Sir Francis Drake, whose mastery of the seas during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I changed the course of history.“Entrancing . . . Very good indeed.” —Wall Street JournalBefore he was secretly dispatched by Queen Elizabeth to circumnavigate the globe, or was called upon to save England from the Spanish Armada, Francis Drake was perhaps the most wanted—and successful—pirate ever to sail. Nicknamed “El Draque” by the Spaniards who placed a bounty on his head, the notorious red-haired, hot-tempered Drake pillaged galleons laden with New World gold and silver, stealing a vast fortune for his queen—and himself. For Elizabeth, Drake made the impossible real, serving as a crucial and brilliantly adaptable instrument of her ambitions to transform England from a third-rate island kingdom into a global imperial power.In 1580, sailing on Elizabeth’s covert orders, Drake became the first captain to circumnavigate the earth successfully. (Ferdinand Magellan had died in his attempt.) Part exploring expedition, part raiding mission, Drake’s audacious around-the-world journey in the Golden Hind reached Patagonia, the Pacific Coast of present-day California and Oregon, the Spice Islands, Java, and Africa. Almost a decade later, Elizabeth called upon Drake again. As the devil-may-care vice admiral of the English fleet, Drake dramatically defeated the once-invincible Spanish Armada, spurring the British Empire’s ascent and permanently wounding its greatest rival. The relationship between Drake and Elizabeth is the missing link in our understanding of the rise of the British Empire, and its importance has not been fully described or appreciated. Framed around Drake’s key voyages as a window into this crucial moment in British history, In Search of a Kingdom is a rousing adventure narrative entwining epic historical themes with intimate passions.

Read more less

'Mary careens across these pages with her usual wit, wisdom and honesty' - Julie Andrews'Having had the pleasure of meeting Mary Rodgers personally its so wonderful to read her story in her own words . . . I couldn't put it down' - Elaine Page'[A] thoughtful chronicle of one woman's journey through experience to understanding - and a lot of fun to read' - The Washington Post'Pure pleasure . . . jaw-droppingly shocking' - Daniel Okrent, The New York Times'Mary Rodgers's book has a humour and honesty that is very rare in entertainment memoirs'. - Sir Tim RiceThe wonderfully funny, candid and outrageous NYT bestselling memoirs of Mary Rodgers - writer, composer, Broadway royalty, and 'a woman who tried everything.'Mary Rodgers was the daughter of Richard Rodgers, who, with Oscar Hammerstein, wrote some of the biggest musicals of the 20th century-from Oklahoma! and Carousel to South Pacific and The King and I. Shy is the story of how Mary went from angry child, constrained by a self-absorbed mother and her father's overwhelming gift, to finally living life on her own terms-falling in love, often unwisely, marrying twice, having six children, and forging a career of her own.Through her long and rich life Mary grabbed every chance possible-and then some. Her musical Once Upon A Mattress remains one of the rare revivable Broadway hits written by a woman. She was the renowned author of the much-loved Freaky Friday books, as well as a close friend and collaborator of Stephen Sondheim, falling in love with him at 13 over a game of chess. She also dated producer Hal Prince and worked alongside composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein.With copious annotations, contradictions, and interruptions from Mary's collaborator Jesse Green, the chief theatre critic of The New York Times, the result is laugh-out-loud funny and frequently moving. Above all, Shy is a chance to sit at the feet of the kind of woman they don't make any more. They make themselves.

Read more less

Weather has always affected human life. Understanding how weather events form and predicting what kind of weather is coming can help enormously to manage weather-risk and will become even more important as we shift towards strongly weather-dependent energy sources. Some big steps forward in numerical weather prediction have been made in the past 40 years, thanks to advances in four key areas: the way we observe the Earth, the scientific understanding of the phenomena, advances in high-performance computing (that have allowed the use of increasingly complex models), and improved modelling techniques. Today we are capable of predicting extreme events such as hurricanes and extra-tropical windstorms very accurately up to 7 to 10 days ahead. We can predict the most likely path and intensity of storms before they hit a community, estimate the confidence level of the forecast, and can give very valuable indications of their probable impact. Larger-scale phenomena that affect entire countries, such as heat or cold waves, periods with extremely high or low temperatures lasting for days, can be forecast up to 2-to-3 weeks before the events occur. Phenomena that affect a big portion of the oceans or of a continent and that evolve slowly, such as the warming of the sea-surface temperature in the Pacific Ocean when an El Nino event occurs, can be predicted months ahead, and in some cases even longer. Weather Prediction: What Everyone Needs to Know® discusses some of the key topics linked to weather prediction and explains how we got here. It discusses questions that are often asked, such as: how are weather forecasts generated? How complex are the models used in numerical weather prediction, and how to solve them? Was this event predictable? Why was this forecast wrong? How did you manage to predict this hurricane path 10 days before the event? Will weather forecast continue to improve, or is there a predictability limit?

Read more less

Marriage has not always meant just one man and one woman. For much of human history, over much of the globe, the most common alternative was polygamy: marriage involving more than one spouse. Polygamy, or plural marriage, has long been an accepted form of union in human societies, involving people living on every continent. However, polygamy has come to symbolize a problematic, even "barbaric," form of marriage that is often labeled as "backwards," less modern and progressive, embodying the oppression of women by men. In Polygamy: A Very Short Introduction, Sarah M. S. Pearsall explores what plural marriages reveal about the inner workings of marriage and describes the controversies surrounding it. The book emphasizes the diversity of historical polygamist societies, from the Shi'ite Muslims and Wendat men who practiced short-term marriages to the Mixteca, Maori, Inca, Algonquin, and Marta indigenous people of North America and the Pacific Islands, as well as medieval Irish kings, rulers of the Kingdom of Buganda in east Africa, and residents of the Ottoman Empire. Pearsall also explains the Old Testament origins of polygamy in the book of Genesis, making note of vocal Protestant defenders of the practice such as Martin Luther and John Milton, and the divides within Christianity that led to Joseph Smith's establishment of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormonism) and the Mormons' fight throughout the 19th-century under his successor Brigham Young's leadership to freely practice plural marriage. Polygamy: A Very Short Introduction looks at how polygamous domestic and sexual relationships have influenced larger dynamics of power, gender, rank, race, and religion in societies all over the world, while also attempting to untangle the paradox of female constraint and liberty for women who advocated for polygamy, arguing that plural marriage offered security and stability rather than restraint for women. In balancing an explanation of the many complexities and misunderstandings of plural marriage, the book reveals how polygamy continues to have an influence on society today.

Read more less

Publishers Weekly "Book of the Year" Firecracker Award Finalist "Sheds brilliant light along the meteoric path of American westward expansion...[A] pithy, compact beautifully conducted version of the American Dream, from its portrait of the young wounded soldier in the beginning to its powerful rendering of Crazy Horse's prophecy for life on earth at the end." --NPR "Like all Mr. Lock's books, this is an ambitious work, where ideas crowd together on the page like desperate men on a battlefield." --Wall Street Journal In this panoramic tale of Manifest Destiny, Stephen Moran comes of age with the young country that he crosses on the Union Pacific, just as the railroad unites the continent. Propelled westward from his Brooklyn neighborhood and the killing fields of the Civil War to the Battle of Little Big Horn, he befriends Walt Whitman, receives a medal from General Grant, becomes a bugler on President Lincoln's funeral train, goes to work for railroad mogul Thomas Durant, apprentices with frontier photographer William Henry Jackson, and stalks General George Custer. When he comes face-to-face with Crazy Horse, his life will be spared but his dreams haunted for the rest of his days. By turns elegiac and comic, American Meteor is a novel of adventure, ideas, and mourning: a unique vision of America's fabulous and murderous history. Norman Lock is the award-winning author of novels, short fiction, and poetry, as well as stage, radio, and screenplays. His recent works of fiction include the short story collection Love Among the Particles, a Shelf Awareness Best Book of the Year, and three books in The American Novels series: The Boy in His Winter, a re-envisioning of Mark Twain's classic The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn; American Meteor, an homage to Walt Whitman and William Henry Jackson named a Firecracker Award finalist and Publishers Weekly Best Book of the Year; and The Port-Wine Stain, a gothic psychological thriller featuring Edgar Allan Poe. Lock lives in Aberdeen, New Jersey.

Read more less

"Follow the Sun is just plain fantastic. Edward J. Delaney has orchestrated a tight, tense page-turner and a harrowing, deeply imagined literary portrait of an entire family. . . . What a knockout read." —Paul Harding"In this pungent, gritty novel, hardscrabble lives are rendered with utter realism, terrific dialogue, and a slow-burning tenderness for all concerned. Delaney's knowledge of this milieu is never in doubt, and his control of the material is masterful." —Phillip Lopate Quinn Boyle is a lobsterman afloat in a shambled vessel, haunted by his battles with lobsters and with heroin, and ever behind on his child support. Since Quinn lost a man off his boat and served time for possession, only naïve beginners will work with him. On his final lobster run, Quinn's down to his last options. He hires on an old nemesis, Freddy Santoro, who's facing prison time of his own. Three days later, they're both gone, lost without a trace.Robbie Boyle, a small-time local sportswriter, looked after his younger brother as best he could. Now that Quinn has disappeared, Robbie reaches out to Quinn's estranged daughter, Christine, and assumes the fatherly role his brother never shouldered. A year later, as they admit they might be better off without Quinn's complicated presence in their lives, Robbie gets a strange tip: Santoro is apparently living in the Pacific Northwest. Telling no one and risking everything, Robbie sets out to find Santoro and determine what happened to Quinn. What he discovers will remap the course of their lives.Edward J. Delaney is an award-winning journalist, filmmaker, and author of three previous works of fiction. He has received the PEN/New England Award, the O. Henry Prize, and a National Endowment for the Arts Fellowship. His short fiction has appeared in the Atlantic and Best American Short Stories, in anthologies, and on PRI's Selected Shorts program. Born and raised in Massachusetts, Delaney lives and teaches in Rhode Island.

Read more less

Fighting Back is the story of Stan Andrews, an assimilated American Jew and World War II veteran who became one of the first fighter pilots in the history of the Israeli Air Force.“Jeffrey and Craig Weiss have uncovered the story of a Jewish hero in the mold of a Leon Uris character. Readers will enjoy trying to keep up with Stan Andrews—a typical Jewish New Yorker turned daring combat pilot—as he chases history from the air force planes of the United States and the nascent state of Israel.” –Dan Senor, New York Times bestselling co-author of Start-Up Nation: The Story of Israel’s Economic Miracle. “Absorbing and beautifully written, Fighting Back tells the thrilling story of an unlikely American Jewish hero. At a time when some American Jews are distancing themselves from the Jewish state, this book is a powerful reminder of the deep roots connecting American Jewry and Israel.” –Yossi Klein Halevi, senior fellow, Shalom Hartman Institute, author, Letters to My Palestinian Neighbor In 1948, Stan Andrews left a comfortable postwar life in Los Angeles to travel to the war-torn Middle East, where a four-front Arab invasion threatened to destroy the newly-declared State of Israel. There he joined the Israeli Air Force and became one of its first fighter pilots. Andrews was an unexpected volunteer for the fight for a Jewish state. He was many things—an artist, writer, assimilated Jew, ladies’ man, pilot, and combat veteran of the Pacific War. He had previously been aloof from the struggle for Jewish independence but found himself so roused by the anti-Semitism of 1940s America that he decided to go to Israel and risk everything. Stan made the most of his time in Israel, serving in fighter and bomber squadrons and leaving his mark on an Israeli Air Force that has since become the stuff of legend.

Read more less

In May 1943 a self-described “really young, green, ignorant lieutenant” assumed command of a new Marine Corps company. His even younger enlisted Marines were learning to use an untested weapon, the M4A2 “Sherman” medium tank. His sole combat veteran was the company bugler, who had salvaged his dress cap and battered horn from a sinking aircraft carrier. Just six months later the company would be thrown into one of the ghastliest battles of World War II.On 20 November 1943 the Second Marine Division launched the first amphibious assault of the Pacific War, directly into the teeth of powerful Japanese defenses on Tarawa. In that blood-soaked invasion, a single company of Sherman tanks, of which only two survived, played a pivotal role in turning the tide from looming disaster to legendary victory. In this unique study Oscar Gilbert and Romain Cansiere use official documents, memoirs, interviews with veterans, as well as personal and aerial photographs to follow Charlie Company from its formation, and trace the movement, action—and loss—of individual tanks in this horrific four-day struggle. The authors have used official documents and interviews with veterans to follow the company from training through the brutal 76-hour struggle for Tarawa. Survivor accounts and air photo analysis document the movements –and destruction – of the company’s individual tanks. It is a story of escapes from drowning tanks, and even more harrowing escapes from tanks knocked out behind Japanese lines. It is a story of men doing whatever needed to be done, from burying the dead to hand-carrying heavy cannon ammunition forward under fire. It is the story of how the two surviving tanks and their crews expanded a perilously thin beachhead, and cleared the way for critical reinforcements to come ashore. But most of all it is a story of how a few unsung Marines helped turn near disaster into epic victory.

Read more less

Lonely Planet: The world's leading travel guide publisher*Unexpected stories from unexpected places.Many places can feel like nowhere: a desert, an isolated village, even the middle of a bustling, impersonal city. And then something happens: an adventure, a revelation, an experience that changes the whole landscape. The discovery that every place is the centre of the world to somebody and has its own riches and wonders. The authors of these 30 real-life tales find passion, surprise and illumination in the middle of Borneo or Beijing, in a Mayan mountain village, along a timeworn trail in Tuscany, on an isolated South Pacific island, or under a desert moon in Mali.These richly varied stories all celebrate and illuminate one simple truth: if we embark on each adventure with an open heart and an open mind, travel will take us places we never planned to go, and enrich and enlighten us in ways we never otherwise would have known.Featuring stories by: Anthony Sattin, Danny Wallace, Jason Elliot, Pam Houston, Ralph Potts, Pico Iyer, Tim Cahill, Simon WinchesterAbout Lonely Planet: Started in 1973, Lonely Planet has become the world's leading travel guide publisher with guidebooks to every destination on the planet, as well as an award-winning website, a suite of mobile and digital travel products, and a dedicated traveller community. Lonely Planet's mission is to enable curious travellers to experience the world and to truly get to the heart of the places where they travel.TripAdvisor Travellers' Choice Awards 2012 and 2013 winner in Favorite Travel Guide category'Lonely Planet guides are, quite simply, like no other.' - New York Times'Lonely Planet. It's on everyone's bookshelves, it's in every traveller's hands. It's on mobile phones. It's on the Internet. It's everywhere, and it's telling entire generations of people how to travel the world.' - Fairfax Media (Australia) *#1 in the world market share - source: Nielsen Bookscan. Australia, UK and USA. March 2012-January 2013

Read more less

Governments around the world have been trying to find ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions for decades. This detailed Handbook considers the spectrum of legal and market-based instruments as well as strategies and policies adopted around the world and suggests more effective, comprehensive and responsive ways of managing climate change mitigation.As well as taking stock of the current and proposed legal instruments, the book looks at the wider policy and economic aspects of coping with climate change. It provides a comparative overview of key issues across Europe, the United States, Asia-Pacific and the BRICS countries, and discusses domestic, regional and international law and governance. With perspectives from academia, government and private practice, the expert contributors analyse key sectors such as energy, transport, buildings, industry, land use and waste. Important issues such as carbon trading, financing and litigation are also addressed. The book demonstrates the variety of approaches taken and their challenges with a view of fostering more effective and pragmatic ways of managing climate change mitigation.This timely book will be an authoritative resource for scholars of climate change law and policy, whilst also providing a rigorous overview for upper-level students. Policymakers will gain insights from the comparative perspectives, and practitioners will appreciate the broad range of practical issues addressed.Contributors: M. Alessi, J. Allmon, H. Van Asselt, D. Belis, L. Berzanskis, S. Bogojevic, D. Conway, C. Egenhofer, J.B. Eisen, B. Evans, N. Fujiwara, M.B. Gerrard, K. Hussey, M. Iguchi, S. Kakade, C.K. Siebert, E. Knight, A. Korppoo, J. Li, J. Lin, H. Masondo, M. Mehling, K. Hannon Michel, A. Monroe, H. Nakamura, J. Núñez Ferrer, A.S. Olesen, U. Outka, S.-L. Penttinen, F. Rambau, L. Reins, L. Ristino, A. Rohatgi, R. Seroa da Motta, I. Skinner, N. Srivastava, K. Talus, T.S.A. Loi, C.Tung, K. Upston-Hooper, G. Van Calster, W. Vandenberghe, S. Wattiaux, P. Wehrheim, J. Wettestad, A. Yamamoto, E. Yliheljo, N. Bin Zahur

Read more less

National parks are the places that present ideas of nature to Americans: Zion, Yosemite, Grand Canyon, Yellowstone bring to mind quintessential and awe-inspiring wilderness. By examining how rhetoric—particularly visual rhetoric—has worked to shape our views of nature and the “natural” place of humans, Observation Points offers insights into questions of representation, including the formation of national identity.As Thomas Patin reveals, the term “nature” is artificial and unstable, in need of constant maintenance and reconstruction. The process of stabilizing its representation, he notes, is unavoidably political. America’s national parks and monuments show how visual rhetoric operates to naturalize and stabilize representations of the environment. As contributors demonstrate, visual rhetoric is often transparent, structuring experience while remaining hidden in plain sight. Scenic overlooks and turnouts frame views for tourists. Visitor centers, with their display cases and photographs and orientation films, provide their own points of view—literally and figuratively. Guidebooks, brochures, and other publications present still other ways of seeing. At the same time, images of America’s “natural” world have long been employed for nationalist and capitalist ends, linking expansionism with American greatness and the “natural” triumph of European Americans over Native Americans.The essays collected here cover a wide array of subjects, including park architecture, landscape painting, public ceremonies, and techniques of display. Contributors are from an equally broad range of disciplines—art history, geography, museum studies, political science, American studies, and many other fields. Together they advance a provocative new visual genealogy of representation.Contributors: Robert M. Bednar, Southwestern U, Georgetown, Texas; Teresa Bergman, U of the Pacific; Albert Boime, UCLA; William Chaloupka, Colorado State U; Gregory Clark, Brigham Young U; Stephen Germic, Rocky Mountain College; Gareth John, St. Cloud State U, Minnesota; Mark Neumann, Northern Arizona U; Peter Peters, Maastricht U; Cindy Spurlock, Appalachian State U; David A. Tschida, U of Wisconsin, Eau Claire; Sabine Wilke, U of Washington.

Read more less

"Will 69 million baby boomers suddenly drop out of the workforce when they turn 65? It is difficult to imagine this generation, with its talent, education, and experience, idling away the last thirty years of life."-From the Foreword, by Robert N. Butler, M.D., The Mount Sinai Medical Center Old age has been historically thought of as a period of frailty and dependence, yet studies show that with the help of advances in health and medicine, current populations will live longer and remain healthier than previous generations. As average life expectancies rise, traditional concepts of retirement need to be reconsidered on all levels-from government policy to business practice to individual life planning. In this volume, leaders in the field of gerontology explore these changing conditions through the concept of "productive aging," which has been developed by leaders in the field to promote older adults' contributions to society in social and economic capacities. Productive Aging: Concepts and Challenges treats the implications of productive aging for the discipline of gerontology and for society in general. The first section defines the principles, historical perspectives, and conceptual frameworks for productive aging. The second section takes a disciplinary approach, treating the biomedical, psychological, sociological, and economic implications of a more capable older generation. The third section considers advances in theories of gerontology, and the fourth section suggests future directions in practice, theory, and research. Contributors: W. Andrew Achenbaum, University of Houston * Scott A. Bass, University of Maryland-Baltimore * Vern L. Bengtson, University of Southern California * James E. Birren, UCLA * Francis G. Caro, University of Massachusetts Boston * Carroll L. Estes, University of California-San Francisco * Marc Freedman, Civic Ventures (co-founder of Experience Corps) * James Hinterlong, Washington University * James S. Jackson, University of Michigan * Jane L. Mahakian, Pacific Senior Services * Harry R. Moody, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation * Nancy Morrow-Howell, Washington University * Philip Rozario, Washington University * James H. Schulz, Brandeis University * Michael Sherraden, Washington University * Alvar Svanborg, University of Illinois-Chicago and Goteburg University, Sweden * Brent A. Taylor, San Diego State University

Read more less

WINNER OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES PRIZE FOR HISTORY FINANCIAL TIMES AND NEW STATESMAN BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2014On the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, Deluge is a powerful explanation of why the war's legacy continues to shape our world - from Adam Tooze, the Wolfson Prize-winning author of The Wages of DestructionIn the depths of the Great War, with millions of dead and no imaginable end to the conflict, societies around the world began to buckle. As the cataclysmic battles continued, a new global order was being born.Adam Tooze's panoramic new book tells a radical, new story of the struggle for global mastery from the battles of the Western Front in 1916 to the Great Depression of the 1930s. The war shook the foundations of political and economic order across Eurasia. Empires that had lasted since the Middle Ages collapsed into ruins. New nations sprang up. Strikes, street-fighting and revolution convulsed much of the world. And beneath the surface turmoil, the war set in motion a deeper and more lasting shift, a transformation that continues to shape the present day: 1916 was the year when world affairs began to revolve around the United States. America was both a uniquely powerful global force: a force that was forward-looking, the focus of hope, money and ideas, and at the same time elusive, unpredictable and in fundamental respects unwilling to confront these unwished for responsibilities. Tooze shows how the fate of effectively the whole of civilization - the British Empire, the future of peace in Europe, the survival of the Weimar Republic, both the Russian and Chinese revolutions and stability in the Pacific - now came to revolve around this new power's fraught relationship with a shockingly changed world. The Deluge is both a brilliantly illuminating exploration of the past and an essential history for the present.

Read more less

What happened at Pearl Harbor?What really happened?The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor is one of those rare moments where, in the space of a few hours, the "hinge of Fate" turned and the course of history was utterly changed. Nearly eight decades later, it has become one of those events which almost everyone knows of, but hardly anyone seems to know about. How—and why—did the Empire of Japan and the United States of America collide on blood and flames that Sunday morning when the sun rose and the bombs fell?Pearl: The 7th Day of December 1941 is the story of how America and Japan, two nations with seemingly little over which to quarrel, let peace slip away, so that on that "day which will live in infamy," more than 350 dive bombers, high-level bombers, torpedo planes, and fighters of the Imperial Japanese Navy did their best to cripple the United States Navy's Pacific Fleet, killing 2,403 American servicemen and civilians, and wounding another 1,178.It's a story of emperors and presidents, diplomats and politicians, admirals and generals - and it's also the tale of ordinary sailors, soldiers, and airmen, all of whom were overtaken by a rush of events that ultimately overwhelmed them. Pearl shows the real reasons why the America's political and military leaders underestimated Japan's threat America's security, and why their Japanese counterparts ultimately felt compelled to launch the Pearl Harbor attack.Pearl offers more than superficial answers, showing how both sides blundered their way through arrogance, over-confidence, racism, bigotry, and old-fashioned human error to arrive at the moment when the Japanese were convinced that there was no alternative to war. Once battle is joined, Pearl then takes the reader into the heart of the attack, where the fighting men of both nations showed that neither side had a monopoly on heroism, courage, cowardice, or luck, as they fought to protect their nations.

Read more less

Across small cottages and lavish villas, beach houses and forest refuges, discover the world’s finest crop of new homes. This cutting-edge global digest features such talents as Shigeru Ban and Marcio Kogan alongside up-and-coming names like Aires Mateus, Xu Fu-Min, Vo Trong Nghia, Desai Chia, and Shunri Nishizawa. Here, there are homes in Australia and New Zealand, from China and Vietnam, in the United States and Mexico, and on to less expected places like Ecuador and Costa Rica. The result is a sweeping survey of the contemporary house and a revelation that homes across the globe may have more in common than expected. Among guava trees and abandoned forts in Western India is a sanctuary designed for and by Kamal Malik of Malik Architecture. The House of Three Streams is a sprawling spectacle with high ceilings, verandas, and pavilions, perched atop a ridge overlooking two ravines. A medley of steel, glass, wood, and stone, the house weaves along the contour of the landscape, almost as an extension of the forest. Encina House by Aranguren & Gallegos, an elegant, sloping structure reminiscent of a gazebo, similarly inhabits its surrounding vista. Ensconced in a pine forest north of Madrid, the lower level is embedded in rock and connected to the upper by a natural stone wall. Shinichi Ogawa’s Seaside House is an immaculate two-story minimalist marvel in Kanagawa that overlooks the Pacific. Its living area spills onto a cantilevered terrace and infinity pool, almost dissolving into the ocean as one seamless entity. In Vietnam, Shunri Nishizawa’s House in Chau Doc exudes tropical sophistication with exposed timber beams, woven bamboo, plants, concrete panels, and inner balconies and terraces. Its corrugated iron panels act as moveable walls and shutters, ushering in views of surrounding rice fields.These homes—along with more than 50 others—are each remarkably distinct in design. They all, however, toe the line between inside and outside, each one symbiotic with its surroundings.

Read more less

Across small cottages and lavish villas, beach houses and forest refuges, discover the world’s finest crop of new homes. This cutting-edge global digest features such talents as Shigeru Ban, MVRDV, and Marcio Kogan alongside up-and-coming names like Aires Mateus, Xu Fu-Min, Vo Trong Nghia, Desai Chia, and Shunri Nishizawa. Here, there are homes in Australia and New Zealand, from China and Vietnam, in the United States and Mexico, and on to less expected places like Ecuador and Costa Rica. The result is a sweeping survey of the contemporary house and a revelation that homes across the globe may have more in common than expected. Among guava trees and abandoned forts in Western India is a sanctuary designed for and by Kamal Malik of Malik Architecture. The House of Three Streams is a sprawling spectacle with high ceilings, verandas, and pavilions, perched atop a ridge overlooking two ravines. A medley of steel, glass, wood, and stone, the house weaves along the contour of the landscape, almost as an extension of the forest. Encina House by Aranguren & Gallegos, an elegant, sloping structure reminiscent of a gazebo, similarly inhabits its surrounding vista. Ensconced in a pine forest north of Madrid, the lower level is embedded in rock and connected to the upper by a natural stone wall. Shinichi Ogawa’s Seaside House is an immaculate two-story minimalist marvel in Kanagawa that overlooks the Pacific. Its living area spills onto a cantilevered terrace and infinity pool, almost dissolving into the ocean as one seamless entity. In Vietnam, Shunri Nishizawa’s House in Chau Doc exudes tropical sophistication with exposed timber beams, woven bamboo, plants, concrete panels, and inner balconies and terraces. Its corrugated iron panels act as moveable walls and shutters, ushering in views of surrounding rice fields. These homes—along with more than 50 others—are each remarkably distinct in design. They all, however, toe the line between inside and outside, each one symbiotic with its surroundings.

Read more less

Shortlisted for the 2023 Illustrated Sports Book of the Year Remarkable Football Grounds is a collection of some of the most memorable places to watch and play football around the world. Ranging from the stellar stadiums of the Premier League to windswept islands in the Scottish Hebrides or the far-flung Pacific, including stadia that resemble flying saucers, a crocodile and an armadillo! Remarkable Football Grounds features a range of the oldest, biggest, highest, quirkiest and furthest flung stadia and the stories behind their existence. Italian Serie B team Venezia can be reached by canal, with moorings nearby; Bamburgh Castle football ground lies in the shadow of a Game of Thrones-scale fortress, while Estadio Silvestre is a full-size pitch on the roof of a building in Tenerife. Some of the oldest, storied stadiums are here, including Anfield for Liverpool, Fulham, which has a tunnel under the pitch and the two Dundee football clubs, that have sizeable grounds, Tannadice and Dens Park, just 183 metres (200 yards) apart. At the quirkier end of the scale, the Aveiro stadium in Portugal looks like a giant children's playset, while in Gangwon, South Korea, the football pitch doubles as a ski jump landing area. Many of the stadiums come with spectacular views. The Faroe Islands have produced some strong football teams in the past and many of their grounds are set in picture perfect landscapes. The same can be said of Norway’s Lofoten Islands where flat land is at a premium and the pitch sides are used for drying fish. In Slovakia, the Janosovka football pitch has a narrow gauge railway that runs between the pitch and the grandstand. Others are located in some of the most dangerous parts of the world. Nobody loves the ‘away’ fixture at Coroico which entails tackling the ‘Death Road’. Grounds include: the impressive new Qatari World Cup venues, Wembley Stadium, Camp Nou, Monaco, Old Trafford, Allianz Arena, Petrovsky (Zenit St.Petersburg), Trogir in Croatia, Longgang in China and the Mercedes Benz Stadium in Atlanta.

Read more less

A survey of thirty well-conceived and beautiful contemporary landscapes and gardens in which design is driven first and foremost by ecologically appropriate plant selection. In contemporary American garden design, beauty for beauty’s sake is making a comeback. The sixty gardens featured here trace current planting trends across the country, showcasing the best designs of recent years from the verdant Pacific Northwest to the tailored Eastern Seaboard, as well as prairies in Denver and Texas and exquisitely detailed private gardens in the Southwest that create a sense of lushness even while working exclusively within the vocabulary of cactuses and succulents. Plants are used to reinforce meaningful content, ecological strategies, and, most importantly, to create immersive and emotional experiences. As the movements of architectural, naturalistic, meadow, matrix, graphic, and ecological planting design have been adopted in such notable incarnations as the High Line in New York and Citygarden in St. Louis, they have rekindled interest in using plants that suit a given site’s ecology - and in letting plants, rather than hardscape elements, lead design. Residential as well as public gardens are featured, and all are united by an immediately perceptible, intelligent selection of plants that create an enthralling, memorable, and fitting sense of place: this is what makes a garden truly authentic. Over 250 full-color images reveal gardens created by the top American firms working today, including Andrea Cochran, Jack deLashmet, Doyle Herman, Elysian Landscapes, Gustafson Guthrie Nichol, Hoerr Schaudt, Ron Lutsko, Steve Martino, Nelson Byrd Woltz, Nievera Williams, Oehme van Sweden, OLIN, Raymond Jungles, Christine Ten Eyck, Bernard Trainor, and Michael Vergason, as well as beautiful gems of gardens by lesser known regional firms. Detail as well as overview images of gardens throughout the seasons and abundant plant identifications make this volume a valuable reference for all home gardeners as well as landscape design professionals interested in tracing the themes prevalent in contemporary American gardens.

Read more less

_____________ 'It is almost impossible not to fall under the spell of Eustace Conway ... his accomplishments, his joy and vigor, seem almost miraculous' - New York Times Review of Books 'Gilbert takes a bright-eyed bead on Eustace, hitting him square with a witty modernist appraisal of folkloric American masculinity' - The Times 'Conversational, enthusiastic, funny and sharp, the energy of The Last American Man never ebbs' - New Statesman _____________ A fascinating, intimate portrait of an endlessly complicated man: a visionary, a narcissist, a brilliant but flawed modern hero At the age of seventeen, Eustace Conway ditched the comforts of his suburban existence to escape to the wild. Away from the crushing disapproval of his father, he lived alone in a teepee in the mountains. Everything he needed he built, grew or killed. He made his clothes from deer he killed and skinned before using their sinew as sewing thread. But he didn't stop there. In the years that followed, he stopped at nothing in pursuit of bigger, bolder challenges. He travelled the Mississippi in a handmade wooden canoe; he walked the two-thousand-mile Appalachian Trail; he hiked across the German Alps in trainers; he scaled cliffs in New Zealand. One Christmas, he finished dinner with his family and promptly upped and left - to ride his horse across America. From South Carolina to the Pacific, with his little brother in tow, they dodged cars on the highways, ate road kill and slept on the hard ground. Now, more than twenty years on, Eustace is still in the mountains, residing in a thousand-acre forest where he teaches survival skills and attempts to instil in people a deeper appreciation of nature. But over time he has had to reconcile his ambitious dreams with the sobering realities of modernity. Told with Elizabeth Gilbert's trademark wit and spirit, The Last American Man is an unforgettable adventure story of an irrepressible life lived to the extreme. The Last American Man is a New York Times Notable Book and National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist.

Read more less

Once known as the "Last of the Gunfighters", the Vought F-8 Crusader has since become a legend in the histories of the U.S. and French navies, as well as a scourge in the skies over North Vietnam in the late 1960s! CRUSADER! is a vital oral history of one of the most controversial fighter planes in carrier aviation. A key to the authenticity of this story are the author's personal interviews with sixteen of the seventeen living Crusader pilots who became MiG killers in the Vietnam air war. His analysis of their aerial engagements over North Vietnam from 1965 to 1973 contains some startling surprises, as well as a validation of many of the tactical lessons learned from World War II and Korea. CRUSADER! also contains personal accounts by F-8 speed record holders such as U.S. Marine Corps Major (now Senator) John Glenn and Captains Bob Dose and "Duke" Windsor. Other aviation records held by the Crusader, (not so enviable) are told, in anecdotal form, for the first time by the author, an F-8 driver and participant in some of them! Colorful, and sometimes humorous, accounts of events involving the F-8 and "Crusader Drivers" abound in this chronicle of carrier aviation covering the three decades when this remarkable airplane was an important element of the U.S. Navy's carrier strike forces. Rear Admiral Paul T. Gillcrist commanded a fleet Crusader squadron, then a carrier air wing and finally, as a flag officer, became wing commander for all Pacific Fleet fighter squadrons. During his fleet squadron command he completed three carrier deployments to the Tonkin Gulf and flew 167 combat missions in the Crusader for which he was awarded seventeen combat decorations. The author of FEET WET, Reflections of a Carrier Pilot (1990) and TOMCAT, The Grumman F-14 Story (1994), Admiral Gillcrist is well qualified to write the story of the Crusader!

Read more less

On the 250th anniversary of Captain Cook’s successful navigation to the coast of Australia, this is Alistair MacLean’s absorbing story of one of Britain’s great national heroes, from his obscure beginnings to his sudden and violent death at the age of fifty-one. When James Cook was hacked to death by Hawaiian islanders on 14 February 1779, he was already considered the greatest explorer of his age. Born in obscurity but gripped by a boundless passion for new horizons, he became the greatest combination of seaman, explorer, navigator, and cartographer that the world had ever known. He still is. He had driven himself mercilessly, and his men likewise, and yet the surgeon’s mate on the Resolution was able to write: ‘In every situation he stood unrivalled and alone; on him all eyes were turned; he was our leading star, which at its setting left us involved in darkness and despair’. Between 1768 and 1779, Captain Cook circumnavigated the globe three times in voyages of discovery that broke record after record of exploration, endurance, and personal achievement. He explored and charted the coasts of New Zealand, landed in Botany Bay, explored the Pacific, mapped its islands, and travelled further south than any man before him; he explored the Great Barrier Reef and travelled thousands of miles north to tackle the North-West Passage. He excelled in all aspects of his craft and inspired in his men an affection for him and an enthusiasm for his undertakings that provoked constant loyalty and unfailing endeavour in frequently savage conditions. Alistair MacLean presents a graphic and lively account of this great explorer, his three amazing voyages and the adventures that befell him, his crews, and his ships in lands that until he sailed were in many cases unknown. Cook’s life was a resounding success and the story of it is a thrilling exemplification of his own description of himself as a man ‘who had ambition not only to go farther than anyone had done before, but as far as it was possible for man to go’.

Read more less

At the start of World War One the Imperial German Navy had a large number of surface warships deployed around the world. These posed a considerable threat to British mercantile interests, particularly the import of food and fuel supplies. Their elimination was a matter of urgency. This book covers the major actions and includes the following: The escape of the Goeben and Breslau to Turkey, where they became units of the Turkish Navy serving in the Black and Aegean Seas. The remarkable cruise of the Emden. Detached from the German East Asia Squadron she sank a Russian cruiser, a French destroyer, 21 merchant ships and destroyed cargo valued at 3 million. She was cornered and sunk by the Australian cruiser Sydney while raiding the Cocos Islands. The mystery of the Karlsruhe, destroyed by an internal explosion. The German East Asiatic Squadron, consisting of the armoured cruisers Schanhorst and Gneisienau and several light cruisers made passage across the Pacific to the west coast of South America where they encountered and sank two British cruisers, the Monmouth and Good Hope. The Konigsberg operated from Germanys colony of Tanga. After sinking a British cruiser she hid in the upper reaches of the Rufiji River. After a lengthy naval and air campaign by British forces she was finally destroyed by the indirect fire from two RN Monitors. By the middle of 1915 the high seas had been mostly cleared of German surface warships, but two armed German ships dominated Lake Tanganyika. Two British armed motor boats were shipped to the West African coast from England and made their way by river and overland haulage to the lake, a 400 mile journey. The result was the destruction of the German lake boats and the invasion of Tanganyika by British forces. This operation became the inspiration for CS Foresters novel The African Queen and the film that followed.

Read more less

A Times History Book of the Year 2022 From Sunday Times bestselling historian Saul David, the dramatic tale of the first American troops to take the fight to the enemy in the Second World War, and also the last. The ‘Devil Dogs’ of K Company, 3/5 Marines, were part of the legendary first Marine Division. They landed on the beaches of Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands in 1942 – the first US ground offensive of the war – and were present when Okinawa, Japan’s most southerly prefecture, finally fell to American troops after a bitter struggle in June 1945. In between they fought in the ‘Green Hell’ of Cape Gloucester on the island of New Britain, and across the coral wasteland of Peleliu in the Palau Islands, a campaign described by one K Company veteran as ‘thirty days of the meanest, around-the-clock slaughter that desperate men can inflict on each other.’ Ordinary men from very different backgrounds, and drawn from cities, towns, and settlements across America, the Devil Dogs were asked to do something extraordinary: take on the victorious Imperial Japanese Army, composed of some of the most effective soldiers in world history – and defeat it. This is the story of how they did just that and, in the process, forged bonds of brotherhood that still survive today. Remarkably, the company contained an unusually high number of talented writers, whose first-hand accounts and memoirs provide the colour, emotion, and context for this extraordinary story. In Devil Dogs, award-winning historian Saul David sets the searing experience of K Company into the broader context of the brutal war in the Pacific and does for the U.S. Marines what Band of Brothers did for the 101st Airborne. Gripping, intimate, authoritative and far-reaching, this is a unique and incredibly personal narrative of war. Saul David’s previous book SBS -Silent Warriors was in the Sunday Times Bestseller Chart in the 35th and 36th week of 2021.

Read more less

In 1939 a group of artists, designers, architects, scientists and military experts met in Sydney, Australia, to discuss the impending war. Convinced that the need for regional innovations in the military science of concealment and deception was urgent, they nominated a zoologist to lead a campaign to camouflage Australia.Camouflage Australia tells a once secret and little known story of how the Australian government accepted the advice of zoologist William John Dakin and seconded the country's leading artists and designers, including Max Dupain and Frank Hinder, to deploy optical tricks and visual illusions for civilian and military protection. Their work was an array of ingenious constructions for the purpose of disguise and subterfuge. Drawing on previously unpublished photographs and documents, Camouflage Australia exposes the story of fraught collaborations between civilian and military personnel who disagreed over camouflage's value to wartime operations and the usefulness of artists to warfare. In this engrossing book, Ann Elias provides international context for the historical circumstances and events of the organisation of camouflage in World War II in Australia and the Pacific region. She elaborates on the parallel involvement of British and American artists in the field of concealment and deception, and reveals the widespread interest shown by western naturalists and scientists in the application to warfare of the behaviours and aesthetics of animals.Camouflage Australia, by redressing the near invisible contribution of Australian artists and designers to defence in World War II, makes a major contribution to the history of art and to the history of Australia. Importantly, by discussing how citizens dutifully transformed themselves into servants of the war enterprise as camouflage labourers, camouflage designers and camouflage field officers, the author provides a valuable historical perspective for the 21st century, when ethical conflicts and moral struggles dominate debates on war participation. And camouflage itself, even in an age of nuclear warfare, retains many of its historical methods and controversies.

Read more less