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Volunteers: Growing Up in the Forever War
by Jerad W. Alexander&“Riveting and morally complex, Volunteers is not only an insider&’s account of war. It takes you inside the increasingly closed culture that creates our warriors.&” —Elliot Ackerman, author of the National Book Award finalist Dark at the Crossing As a child, Jerad Alexander lay in bed listening to the fighter jets take off outside his window and was desperate to be airborne. As a teenager at an American base in Japan, he immersed himself in war games, war movies, and pulpy novels about Vietnam. Obsessed with all things military, he grew up playing with guns, joined the Civil Air Patrol for the uniform, and reveled in the closed and safe life &“inside the castle,&” within the embrace of the armed forces, the only world he knew or could imagine. Most of all, he dreamed of enlisting—like his mother, father, stepfather, and grandfather before him—and playing his part in the Great American War Story. He joined the US Marines straight out of high school, eager for action. Once in Iraq, however, he came to realize he was fighting a lost cause, enmeshed in the ongoing War on Terror that was really just a fruitless display of American might. The myths of war, the stories of violence and masculinity and heroism, the legacy of his family—everything Alexander had planned his life around—was a mirage. Alternating scenes from childhood with skirmishes in the Iraqi desert, this original, searing, and propulsive memoir introduces a powerful new voice in the literature of war. Jerad W. Alexander—not some elite warrior, but a simple volunteer—delivers a passionate and timely reckoning with the troubled and cyclical truths of the American war machine.
McCrae's Battalion: The Story of the 16th Royal Scots
by Jack AlexanderMcCrae's Own was the 'Heart of Midlothian Battalion' mentioned all too briefly in Martin Middlebrook's classic book The First Day on the Somme. Raised in Edinburgh shortly after the start of the Great War, it was perhaps the finest unit in Lord Kitchener's volunteer army - a brotherhood of sportsmen, bound together by their extraordinary colonel and their loyalty to a quaintly named Association Football club, the famous Gorgie 'Hearts'. McCrae's were blooded in the Battle of the Somme, losing three-quarters of their strength on the first day alone. The Colonel himself was invalided home. In time the battalion recovered. It came of age at Arras, endured the muddy horror of Passchendaele, and held the line unbroken in the face of furious German attacks on the Lys in 1918. For almost a century their story remained untold. It was all but lost forever. Now, after 12 years of exacting historical detective work, Jack Alexander has reclaimed the 16th Royal Scots for posterity. In this stirring book he draws upon interviews with veterans and a unique archive of letters, diaries and photographs, assembled from the families of more than 1,000 of Sir George McCrae's men.
Second Opinion (The Healing Touch, Book #1)
by Hannah AlexanderLauren McCaffrey, an experienced ER nurse, arrives in Dogwood Springs, Missouri, hoping for a fresh start in her career--and a convenient escape from her family's humiliating pressure for her to find a husband. Dr. Grant Sheldon transfers to the local hospital in search of a nurturing environment for his twins, who are still grieving the death of their mother. His idyllic setting is not free of all the problems he thought he had left behind. When the community's tranquility is threatened by a drug ring and a mysterious epidemic, Grant and Lauren find themselves racing the clock in a desperate search for answers. Second Opinion combines emergency medicine and small-town America in a story of love's discovery and a faith that lasts.
Harry Saves the World
by Gary AlexanderFrom an author whose work has been called &“very, very funny,&” the tale of an all-American guy who runs off to Europe—and gets tangled in WWII espionage (Kirkus Reviews). Horatio Alger (Harry) Antonelli is 1938 college grad and football star who decided to spend a summer in Europe before settling down to teach high-school history, coach the football team, and eventually marry ─ white picket fence, kids, pets, et cetera. Increasingly, that scenario is terrifying him, so his 1938 summer has stretched out to July 1940. Now, keeping one step ahead of the Third Reich—and some enraged husbands—Harry settles in Lisbon. While Portugal is neutral in the war, Lisbon is a clearinghouse for every manner of spy, counterspy, and hustler. Though he barely scrapes by, Harry is right at home. He wheels and deals with a shady Brit, dodges his landlady who&’s after back rent, and has fallen for a sultry and mysterious café singer. But his precarious lifestyle is complicated by the arrival of Dorothy Booth, the girl he left behind, and her brother David, an operative in an ultrasecret government agency he refuses to identify. David&’s agency has information suggesting that the Nazis run a factory in Lisbon where they&’re enriching uranium they plan to somehow release in Allied cities, killing millions. Why Harry Antonelli? David, who strongly disapproves of Harry in general, laments that America has been remiss in getting agents into Lisbon. Harry is all they have. Aided (and babysat) by Dorothy, Harry reluctantly sets out to save the world. To do so, he must thwart the fanatical Nazis, who are dedicated to ensuring that the project succeeds at all costs…
USMC: A Novel of the Marine Corps
by David Stuart AlexanderU.S. Marine Colonel David Saxon has finished five months of bureaucratic hell at the Pentagon. The confines of his office had turned Saxon into a pent-up, caged beast, until he got what he wanted--a mission back to the danger zone...<P><P> Marine Colonel David Saxon's "Big Mean One" Special Ops team is being airlifted to extract hostages seized onboard an ocean liner by the infamous terrorist, Carlos Evangelista. It's a daring mid-sea rescue, one certain to cause heavy casualties. But the "Evangelist" has more in mind than slaughtering innocent civilians. A neo-Soviet plot plans to kill Libya's Kaddafi--so that a new Libyan strongman will welcome placement of Soviet missiles for a nuclear strike against the U.S. Sixth Fleet, on maneuvers in the Gulf of Sidara. To the neo-Soviet leadership and the "Evangelist," it's just the first round in a world-dominating game of nuclear brinkmanship. But to Saxon's team, it's the last round of a game with only once acceptable outcome--the obliteration of America's enemies...
The Long Way Back: Afghanistan's Quest for Peace (Wayfarers Ser.)
by Chris AlexanderChristopher Alexander, Canadian’s former ambassador to Afghanistan, offers an inside look at Afghanistan recent history, and delivers a blueprint for transforming the troubled country into a viable nation. Alexander draws on expertise gained over five years on the ground in Afghanistan, chronicling the country’s initial successes following the Afghan War, the setbacks it incurred thanks to a resurgent Taliban, and the tenuous stability that multilateral diplomacy has brought the war-torn yet rebuilding nation. Readers of Ahmed Rashid’s Descent into Chaos and Alex Berenson’s Lost in Kandahar will find no more penetrating insight into Afghanistan’s past, present, and future than Christopher Alexander’s probing, expert dissection of a nation at war with itself: The Long Way Back.
Battles And Victories Of Allen Allensworth, A.M., Ph.D., Lieutenant-Colonel, Retired, U.S. Army [Illustrated Edition]
by Charles AlexanderIncludes Civil War Map and Illustrations Pack - 224 battle plans, campaign maps and detailed analyses of actions spanning the entire period of hostilities.The story of Allen Allensworth is one of true strength and courage in adversity to become the first African-American to attain the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the U.S. Army; this was not his only singular distinction by any means. Born into slavery, he escaped by joining the 44th Illinois Volunteers and later served two years in the Navy. Having studied theology, he was ordained as a minister, and in 1886 he gained an appointment as a military chaplain to a unit of Buffalo Soldiers and served in the US Army for the next 20 years. He was also notable for founding the township of Allensworth, California in 1908; it was intended as an all-black community to be free of the racial discrimination faced by so many at the turn of the 20th century. Although the town failed due to the environmental conditions that surrounded its founding, the remains are preserved as the Colonel Allensworth State Historic Park.A fascinating biography of an influential and pioneering African-American.
The Bounty: The True Story of the Mutiny on the Bounty
by Caroline AlexanderMore than two centuries after Master's Mate Fletcher Christian led a mutiny against Lieutenant William Bligh on a small, armed transport vessel called Bounty, the true story of this enthralling adventure has become obscured by the legend. Combining vivid characterization and deft storytelling, Caroline Alexander shatters the centuries-old myths surrounding this story. She brilliantly shows how, in a desperate attempt to save one man from the gallows and another from ignominy, two powerful families came together and began to create the version of history we know today. The true story of the mutiny on the Bounty is an epic of duty and heroism, pride and power, and the assassination of a brave man's honor at the dawn of the Romantic age.
Skies of Thunder: The Deadly World War II Mission Over the Roof of the World
by Caroline AlexanderFrom the New York Times bestselling author, a breathtaking account of combat and survival in one of the most brutally challenging and rarely examined campaigns of World War IIIn April 1942, the Imperial Japanese Army steamrolled through Burma, capturing the only ground route from India to China. Supplies to this critical zone would now have to come from India by air—meaning across the Himalayas, on the most hazardous air route in the world. SKIES OF THUNDER is a story of an epic human endeavor, in which Allied troops faced the monumental challenge of operating from airfields hacked from the jungle, and took on &“the Hump,&” the fearsome mountain barrier that defined the air route.They flew fickle, untested aircraft through monsoons and enemy fire, with inaccurate maps and only primitive navigation technology. The result was a litany of both deadly crashes and astonishing feats of survival. The most chaotic of all the war&’s arenas, the China-Burma-India theater was further confused by the conflicting political interests of Roosevelt, Churchill and their demanding, nominal ally, Chiang Kai-shek.Caroline Alexander, who wrote the defining books on Shackleton&’s Endurance and Bligh's Bounty, is brilliant at probing what it takes to survive extreme circumstances. She has unearthed obscure memoirs and long-ignored records to give us the pilots&’ and soldiers&’ eye views of flying and combat, as well as honest portraits of commanders like the celebrated &“Vinegar Joe&” Stillwell and Claire Lee Chennault. She assesses the real contributions of units like the Flying Tigers, Merrill&’s Marauders, and the British Chindits, who pioneered new and unconventional forms of warfare. Decisions in this theater exposed the fault-lines between the Allies—America and Britain, Britain and India, and ultimately and most fatefully between America and China, as FDR pressed to help the Chinese nationalists in order to forge a bond with China after the war. A masterpiece of modern war history.
The Future of Warfare
by Bevin Alexander"With the planet no longer cleanly divided into 'us' and 'them,' leaders are distracted by a thousand conflicting claims and ambitions. We inhabit a much more disorderly world. Disputes within and between nations are frequently violent, divisive, and dangerous..." --from The Future of Warfare
How Great Generals Win
by Bevin Alexander"An astute military historian's appraisal of what separates the sheep from the wolves in the great game of war."--Kirkus Reviews If a key to military victory is to "get there first with the most," the true test of the great general is to decide where "there" is--the enemy's Achilles heel. Here is a narrative account of decisive engagements that succeeded by brilliant strategy more than by direct force. The reader accompanies those who fought, from Roman legionaries and Mongol horsemen to Napoleonic soldiery, American Civil War Rebels and Yankees, World War I Tommies, Lawrence of Arabia's bedouins, Chinese revolutionaries, British Desert Rats, Rommel's Afrika Korps, and Douglas MacArthur's Inchon invaders. However varied their weapons, the soldiers of all these eras followed a commander who faced the same obstacles and demonstrated the strategic and tactical genius essential for victory. "All warfare is based on deception," wrote Sun Tzu in The Art of War in 400 BCE. Bevin Alexander shows how great generals have interpreted this advice, and why it still holds true today.
How Hitler Could Have Won World War II: The Fatal Errors That Led to Nazi Defeat
by Bevin AlexanderMost of us rally around the glory of the Allies' victory over the Nazis in World War II. The story is often told of how the good fight was won by an astonishing array of manpower and stunning tactics. However, what is often overlooked is how the intersection between Adolf Hitler's influential personality and his military strategy was critical in causing Germany to lose the war. With an acute eye for detail and his use of clear prose, acclaimed military historian Bevin Alexander goes beyond counterfactual "What if?" history and explores for the first time just how close the Allies were to losing the war. Using beautifully detailed, newly designed maps, How Hitler Could Have Won World War II exquisitely illustrates the important battles and how certain key movements and mistakes by Germany were crucial in determining the war's outcome. Alexander's harrowing study shows how only minor tactical changes in Hitler's military approach could have changed the world we live in today. How Hitler Could Have Won World War II untangles some of the war's most confounding strategic questions, such as: Why didn't the Nazis concentrate their enormous military power on the only three beaches upon which the Allies could launch their attack into Europe? Why did the terrifying German panzers, on the brink of driving the British army into the sea in May 1940, halt their advance and allow the British to regroup and evacuate at Dunkirk?With the chance to cut off the Soviet lifeline of oil, and therefore any hope of Allied victory from the east, why did Hitler insist on dividing and weakening his army, which ultimately led to the horrible battle of Stalingrad?Ultimately, Alexander probes deeply into the crucial intersection between Hitler's psyche and military strategy and how his paranoia fatally overwhelmed his acute political shrewdness to answer the most terrifying question: Just how close were the Nazis to victory? Why did Hitler insist on terror bombing London in the late summer of 1940, when the German air force was on the verge of destroying all of the RAF sector stations, England's last defense?With the opportunity to drive the British out of Egypt and the Suez Canal and occupy all of the Middle East, therefore opening a Nazi door to the vast oil resources of the region, why did Hitler fail to move in just a few panzer divisions to handle such an easy but crucial maneuver?On the verge of a last monumental effort and concentration of German power to seize Moscow and end Stalin's grip over the Eastern front, why did the Nazis divert their strength to bring about the far less important surrender of Kiev, thereby destroying any chance of ever conquering the Soviets? "Bevin Alexander, an experienced military historian who writes with clarity and alarm, here presents a new and insightful interpretation of Hitler's lost opportunities to win World War II. In the process Alexander gives us a concise history of the war in Europe. "-- Martin Blumenson, author of The Patton Papers and Patton: The Man Behind the Legend"In his latest book, How Hitler Could Have Won World War II, author Bevin Alexander has synthesized and analyzed the military campaigns by Germany under Hitler's control in such a readable fashion as to intrigue both armchair generals as well as serious students of military strategy and tactics. It should be a required text for study at all military schools and war colleges. "-- Thomas H. Moorer, Admiral, U. S. Navy (Ret. ), former chairman, U. S. Joint chiefs of Staff"Speculation is the handmaiden of a historian's search for a story of the past. . . . Bevin Alexander has compiled his 'What if?'s' into a fascinating, plausible and, in retrospect, alarming scenario of what might have been if only Hitler had been a bit more rational, a bit better at grand strategy. "-- F. J. Kroesen, former commander-in-chief, U. S. Army-Europe, and commander, NATO Central Army Group
How the South Could Have Won the Civil War: The Fatal Errors That Led to Confederate Defeat
by Bevin AlexanderAlexander posits the idea that the South could have won the Civil War given some tactical and strategic changes and better communication among the generals, rather than differing views about how to fight the war. He discusses how Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson disagreed on strategy, the turning point battle that was never necessary, how the Confederate army never implemented its strategy to negate the Union's advantages in manpower and weaponry, how Abraham Lincoln saw the Union's problems better than the Confederacy's leaders, and how the South failed to learn from the lessons of its 1863 victory at Chancellorsville. Among the battles examined are those at Fredericksburg, Antietam, Gettsyburg, and Appomattox. Alexander is the author several books on military history, including Lost Victories. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc. , Portland, OR (booknews. com)
How Wars Are Won: The 13 Rules of War--from Ancient Greece to the War on Terror
by Bevin AlexanderFrom ancient Greece to the war on terror, the author of the acclaimed "How Hitler Could Have Won World War II" identifies the 13 rules of war that have determined victory and defeat from ancient times through the 21st century.
Inside the Nazi War Machine: How Three Generals Unleashed Hitler's Blitzkrieg Upon the World
by Bevin AlexanderIn 1940, as Hitler plotted to conquer Europe, only one nation posed a serious threat to the Third Reich's domination: France. The German command was wary of taking on the most powerful armed force on the continent. But three low-ranking generals-Eric von Manstein, Heinz Guderian, and Erwin Rommel-were about to change the face of modern warfare.By grouping tanks into juggernauts to slam through enemy lines, the blitzkrieg was born. With this aggressive, single-minded plan, the Nazis bypassed the supposedly impenetrable Maginot Line, charged into the heart of France, and alerted the world that the deadly might of Germany could no longer be ignored.
Macarthur's War
by Bevin AlexanderGeneral Douglas MacArthur was highly skilled and world famous as a military commander. Under his leadership after World War II, Japan was rebuilt into a democratic ally. But during the Korean War, in defiance of President Harry S. Truman and the Joint Chiefs of Staff, he pushed for an aggressive confrontation with Communist China--a position intended to provoke a wider war, regardless of the consequences. While MacArthur aspired to stamp out Communism across the globe, Truman was much more concerned with containing the Soviet Union. The infamous clash between them was not only an epic turning point in history, but the ultimate struggle between civil and military power in the United States. While other U.S. generals have challenged presidential authority, no other military leader has ever so brazenly attempted to dictate national policy. In MacArthur's War, Bevin Alexander details MacArthur's battles, from the alliances he made with Republican leaders to the threatening ultimatum he delivered to China against orders--the action that led directly to his downfall. INCLUDES PHOTOGRAPHS
Such Troops as These
by Bevin AlexanderAcclaimed military historian Bevin Alexander offers a fresh and cogent analysis of Stonewall Jackson's military genius and reveals how the Civil War might have ended differently if Jackson's strategies had been adopted. The Civil War of 1861-65 pitted the industrial North against the agricultural South, and remains the most catastrophic conflict in terms of loss of life in American history. With triple the population and eleven times the industry, the Union had a decided advantage over the Confederacy in terms of direct conflict and conventional warfare. One general had the vision of an alternative approach that could win the War for the South--his name was Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson. It was Jackson's strategy to always strike at the Union's vulnerabilities, not to challenge its power directly. He won a campaign against the North with a force only a quarter of the size of the Union army, and he was the first commander to recognize the overwhelming defensive power of the new rifles and cannons. With most of its military forces on the offensive in the South, the North was left virtually undefended on its own turf. Jackson believed invading the eastern states along the great industrial corridor from Baltimore to Maine could divide and cripple the Union, forcing surrender. But he failed to convince Confederate president Jefferson Davis or General Robert E. Lee of the viability of his plan. In Such Troops as These, Bevin Alexander presents a compelling case for Stonewall Jackson as a supreme military strategist and the greatest general in American history. Fiercely dedicated to the cause of Southern independence, Jackson would not live to see the end of the War. But his military legacy lives on and finds fitting tribute in this book.
Sun Tzu at Gettysburg: Ancient Military Wisdom in the Modern World
by Bevin Alexander"The world's most fascinating battles and how they were won or lost, according to the Chinese sage."--Kirkus Reviews Imagine if Robert E. Lee had withdrawn to higher ground at Gettysburg instead of sending Pickett uphill against the entrenched Union line. Or if Napoléon, at Waterloo, had avoided mistakes he'd never made before. The advice that would have changed these crucial battles was written down centuries before Christ was born--but unfortunately for Lee, Napoléon, and Hitler, Sun Tzu's The Art of War only became widely available in the West in the mid-twentieth century. As Bevin Alexander shows, Sun Tzu's maxims often boil down to common sense, in a particularly pure and clear form. When Alexander frames these modern battles against 2,400-year-old precepts, the degree of overlap is stunning.
Twins for the Soldier (American Heroes #45)
by Rochelle AlersHe came home for a mission…Will he end up with a family?Army ranger Lee Remington didn’t think he’d ever go back to Wickham Falls, home of some of his worst memories. Now, returning home to help his sister, he’s shocked by a powerful attraction to military widow Angela Mitchell…and floored by this mother of toddler twins, who accepts his proposal. But as he preps for his ready-made family, there’s one thing Lee forgot to tell her…
À beira da Guerra Nuclear: Crise dos Mísseis de Cuba - União Soviética, Cuba e os Estados Unidos
by Aleff E. Oliveira & Jonathan R. Santos Scott S. F. MeakerDurante os anos 50, o grande medo era a guerra nuclear. Do ponto de vista da União Soviética, ter um reduto comunista tão perto da fronteira norte-americana era um sonho realizado. Até o início dos anos 60, houve uma forte corrente de tensão entre os americanos e os soviéticos. Além da perda desastrosa de vidas e dignidade na Baía dos Porcos, muitas outras coisas ocorreram. A linha foi firmemente traçada na areia. O mundo estava à beira de uma guerra nuclear.
End of Days (Chronicles of Brothers #3)
by Wendy AlecBrothers at war. Mankind deceived. Hell on Earth.A man face down in the dirt amid melting Arctic snow, a deep sense of unease but no memory of how he got there – Jason De Vere, once the head of a global media empire.Found and briefly taken to a safe house, Jason&’s soon on the run again – there&’s a 50-million-dollar bounty if he can be taken alive.Thrown together with his ex-wife and a crusading young journalist, Jason begins a desperate search for answers. It&’s a race against time, a fight for survival – and the stakes are higher than he could possibly have imagined.4 billion microchips – promising miraculous benefits – are being shipped to population centres around the world. And soon every human being on Earth will have to make a choice…CHRONICLES OF BROTHERS is the story of three brothers fighting for the future of humanity. From desert tombs, to the towers of Wall Street, to the ancient past, this super-epic tale reveals the hidden history of mankind and the origins of evil itself.
A Pale Horse (Chronicles of Brothers #Vol. 4)
by Wendy AlecA new order. An ancient evil. A battle about to begin.It is the near future. Adrian De Vere, President of the European Union, oversees the signing of an unprecedented international treaty, ushering in a new era of one-world government.Jason De Vere, media mogul, finds himself forced out of the empire he helped create. With friends, allies and even family turning against him, help comes from an unexpected quarter…Nick De Vere, archaeologist and playboy – and newly returned from the dead – leads Jason into an underground world of hidden knowledge and forbidden secrets. Together they must face down the most ruthless of adversaries: their own brother.As the Antarctic ice gives up a grisly secret, and shadowy figures are plotting behind the scenes, armies of good and evil are being marshalled for the conflict to come. Operation Pale Horse is underway…&“There could be no bigger canvas for film-making.&” – Mark Ordesky (Executive Producer – Lord of the Rings) &“Alec not only re-frames pre-history; she also imaginatively illustrates how the realm of spirit impacts the contemporary material world.&” Ileen Maisel (Executive Producer for the Golden Compass)&“This is the best work of fiction I have read since the last installment of Dean Koontz&’ Frankenstein series&” Jim McDonald – 1340Mag – Online Entertainment Magazine.
Son of Perdition (Chronicles of Brothers #1)
by Wendy AlecThree brothers. Power beyond reckoning. And a terrible betrayal.Adrian De Vere is the most powerful and charismatic politician on the planet. To many he heralds a future filled with peace and prosperity.Jason De Vere controls a third of the world&’s media through his communications empire VOX. Brilliant and tenacious, little happens in the world without him knowing.Nick, international playboy (and archaeologist), is dying, a victim of his own recklessness. He has made a remarkable discovery he hopes may save him, but does not know how or what the cost will be.Despite their wealth and fame, the brothers&’ family history is shadowed in lies. Now, with powerful forces both sacred and diabolical at play, one will betray the others – in an almost unimaginable way …&“There could be no bigger canvas for film-making.&” – Mark Ordesky (Executive Producer – Lord of the Rings) &“Alec not only re-frames pre-history; she also imaginatively illustrates how the realm of spirit impacts the contemporary material world.&” Ileen Maisel (Executive Producer for the Golden Compass) &“This is the best work of fiction I have read since the last installment of Dean Koontz&’ Frankenstein series&” Jim McDonald – 1340Mag – Online Entertainment Magazine
Never Mind, We'll Do It Ourselves: The Inside Story of How a Team of Renegades Broke Rules, Shattered Barriers, and Launched a Drone Warfare Revolution
by Bierbauer Alec Col. Mark Cooter Michael E. Marks&“An extraordinary, riveting, page-turning account—finally cleared for publication by the CIA—of the once highly classified effort by the CIA and special military units to develop a truly game-changing, transformational capability: armed drones."—General David Petraeus, US Army (Ret.), former Commander of the Surge in Iraq, US Central Command, and US and Coalition Forces in Afghanistan, and former Director of the CIAThe Inside Story of How a CIA Officer and an Air Force Officer Joined Forces to Develop America&’s Most Powerful Tool in the War on Terror. Never Mind, We&’ll Do It Ourselves is the story behind the origins of the Predator drone program and the dawn of unmanned warfare. A firsthand account told by an Air Force team leader and a CIA team leader, Never Mind, We&’ll Do It Ourselves takes readers into the back offices and secret government hangars where the robotic revolution went from a mad scientist idea to a pivotal part of global airpower. Featuring a foreword by Charlie Allen, an introduction by Lieutenant General John Campbell, USAF (Ret.), and an afterword by Lieutenant Colonel Gabe Brown, the story reveals the often conflicting perspectives between the defense and intelligence communities and puts the reader inside places like the CIA&’s counterterrorism center on the morning of 9/11. Through the eyes of the men and women who lived it, you will experience the hunt for Usama bin Laden and the evolution of a program from passive surveillance to the complex hunter-killers that hang above the battlespace like ghosts.Poised at the junction between The Right Stuff and The Bourne Identity, Never Mind, We&’ll Do It Ourselves documents the way a group of cowboys, rogues, and bandits broke rules and defied convention to change the shape of modern warfare
After the Lost Generation: A Critical Study of the Writers of Two World Wars
by John Watson AldridgeJohn W. Aldridge is one of the few young critics of importance to appear on the literary scene since World War II. In AFTER THE LOST GENERATION he discusses with acumen and discernment the most important works of the young post-war writers of the Forties—Norman Mailer, Irwin Shaw, John Horne Burns, Truman Capote, Gore Vidal, Paul Bowles, Alfred Hayes and others.Aldridge discusses three writers of the 1920’s—Ernest Hemingway, John Dos Passos, and F. Scott Fitzgerald—to introduce the writers of World War II. He draws significant parallels between the work of the two generations—between Hemingway and Hayes, between Fitzgerald and Burns, between Bowles and Hemingway, and between the “lost generation” of the Twenties and the “illusionless lads of the Forties.” More important than the likenesses between the two generations are the new developments. Norman Mailer and Irwin Shaw wrote enormous “encyclopedic” war novels which covered whole armies and had settings in a dozen different lands. John Horne Burns sought relief from the chaos of modernity in Italian culture and Old World tradition. Truman Capote dealt essentially with abnormalities and peculiarities in human nature. Anti-Semitism, the Negro problem, and homosexuality appear time and again in the new writing. The old themes with which Hemingway and Fitzgerald shattered Victorian patterns—sex, drinking, the brutalities of war—are no longer shocking.AFTER THE LOST GENERATION is a penetrating analysis of post-war fiction that already has provoked wide controversy and discussion.“A pioneer study…The first serious and challenging book about the new novelists.”—Malcolm Cowley, New York Herald Tribune