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Kapo
by Aleksander TismaA devastating novel about the attrocities of WWII, and the unspeakable things people did to survive, by one of Yugoslavia's great literary voices.Lamian is a survivor, but a survivor of a very special kind. He was a Kapo, a prisoner who served as a camp guard in order to save himself. But has Lamian saved himself?The war over, he resumes life in the Bosnian town of Banja Luka, works in a land-surveying office, rents a room, eats as many hot potatoes as he likes, not even bothering to salt them—the quantity is what matters. If only he could stop looking over his shoulder and flinching on the street in the fear that some stranger will step forward, smack his face, and say in a loud voice, &“Here&’s one!&”If only he could stop worrying about Helena Lifka, who turned out to be a Yugoslav, and Jewish too; one of the women he made come naked into the toolshed where he hid the gold, and sit on his lap in exchange for bread and butter and a little warm milk. She could turn up any day, an old woman now, and point an accusing finger.In this masterful novel, Aleksandar Tišma shows step by step how fear can turn an ordinary human being into a monster.
Legion of Videssos
by Harry TurtledoveSince the Roman legion had been mysteriously transported to this world of magic, tribune Marcus Scaurus had served the rulers of war-torn Videssos well. He had been largely responsible for ousting the Pretender and putting Thorish Gavras on the throne. That, of course, made him a hero.Rome or Videssos, however, Fortune was a fickle goddess.Now he and the legion were returning in triumph to Videssos the city after defeating a well-entrenched army of rebel mercenaries. But Marcus, betrayed by the one closest to him, was returning to be seized, dragged before the Emperor, and questioned under truth-drug like a traitor.Of the court, only Alypia Gavra stuck by him -- but consorting with the Emperor's niece was dangerous. It could lead to exile -- or death!Yet Alypia was attractive. And Marcus was lonely . . .From the Paperback edition.
Life During Wartime
by Lucius ShepardIn Guatemala, David is slugging it out the rotting vegetation and his despairing foot soldiers. Beyond the warzone, he meets Debora, who may be working for the enemy, and stumbles into a deadly psychic conflict where the mind is the greatest weapon.
Life During Wartime (S.F. MASTERWORKS)
by Lucius ShepardIn the jungles of Guatemala, David Mingolla is struggling to survive amongst the rotting vegetation and his despairing fellow foot soldiers. He knows he is nothing but an expendable pawn in an endless war. On R & R a few miles away from the warzone he meets Debora - an enigmatic young woman who may be working for the enemy - and stumbles into a deadly psychic conflict where the mind is the greatest weapon.
Line Doggie: Foot Soldier in Vietnam
by Charles GaddCharles Gadd served in Vietnam in late 1967 and 1968 and had experiences very similar to what most enlisted men endured. He describes the mud, blood, leeches, loss of friends, and low morale due to constant harassment by guerrillas. The author, a squad leader with the 101st Airborne, was wounded twice and saw nearly constant action in the Central Highlands. This memoir is a vivid and accurate description of the Vietnam War.
Lines of Battle: Letters from American Servicemen, 1941-1945
by Annette TapertLetters from American Servicemen 1941-1945.
Luxury Fleet: The Imperial German Navy 1888-1918
by Holger HerwigThis book reviews the building of the German Imperial navy from a small coastal defense fleet to the world's second largest navy by the First World War. The term "Luxury Fleet" (as coined by Winston Churchill) denotes British view of the German navy as a luxury while the British navy was vital to its existence. This dichotomy is detailed in the monograph and the rivalries that ensued.
Maverick Marine: General Smedley D. Butler and the Contradictions of American Military History
by Hans Schmidt&“Traces Butler&’s stormy career . . . As pure biography, Maverick Marine is a colorful story about a swashbuckling establishment-shaker.&”—Publishers Weekly Smedley Butler&’s life and career epitomize the contradictory nature of American military policy through the first part of this century. Butler won renown as a Marine battlefield hero, campaigning in most of America&’s foreign military expeditions from 1898 to the late 1920s. He became the leading national advocate for paramilitary police reform. Upon his retirement, however, he renounced war and imperialism and devoted his energy and prestige to various dissident and leftist political causes. This biography of Smedley Butler is &“a sympathetic portrait of a Victorian officer-warrior who lost his way as he advanced in rank and his America and his Marine Corps changed after World War I&” (The Journal of American History). &“This long-awaited biography is as crisp as a David Brinkley commentary. Fact-packed and exquisitely documented.&”—Naval Institute Proceedings
Moon Tiger
by Penelope LivelyThe last thoughts of a dying writer are captured in this intelligent novel. The moving and poignant story of life as a writer, historian, and mother ends as a saga of unfulfilled love.<P><P> Man Booker Prize winner
Mort: A Discworld Novel (Death #1)
by Terry PratchettNew York Times bestselling author Terry Pratchett makes Death a central character in Mort, a fabulous installment in Discworld, the fantasy cosmos where even the angel of darkness needs some assistance. Death comes to everyone eventually on Discworld. And now he's come to Mort with an offer the young man can't refuse. (No, literally, can't refuse since being dead isn't exactly compulsory.) Actually, it's a pretty good deal. As Death's apprentice, Mort will have free board and lodging. He'll get use of the company horse. And he won't have to take any time off for family funerals. But despite the obvious perks, young Mort is about to discover that there is a serious downside to working for the Reaper Man . . . because this perfect job can be a killer on one's love life.Terry Pratchett's profoundly irreverent, bestselling novels have garnered him a revered position in the halls of parody next to the likes of Mark Twain, Kurt Vonnegut, Douglas Adams, and Carl Hiaasen.
Murder Unrenovated (Maggie Ryan #4)
by P. M. CarlsonRealtor Len Trager is anxious to sell the brownstone in Brooklyn’s Park Slope neighborhood, but prospective buyers don’t want to deal with Julia Northrup, who rents the basement apartment. Maggie Ryan and her husband Nick O'Connor love the property. They see though Julia’s act, and they’re not scared off by the corpse on the top floor.
New Conventional Weapons and Western Defence
by Ian Bellany Tim HuxleyGiving an overview of research and development in weaponry in the maritime and aviation sphere as well as land-based technology, this study looks forward to the effects of emerging innovations on defence policy-making.
Night Never Falls
by Edwin ShrakeHarry Sparrow, an American journalist determined to win a Pulitzer, travels to Dien Bien Phu and becomes involved with an ex-Nazi legionnaire and his girlfriend, Claudette Frontenac, in the midst of a confrontation between the French Army and a Communist force.
Nights at the Alexandra: A Novella
by William TrevorFrom the award-winning author of Love and Summer: A short novel about coming of age in WWII-era provincial Ireland that &“certainly lingers in the mind&” (Harriet Waugh, Spectator). At fifty-eight, Harry is a lifelong bachelor who never left the Irish village where he was born. But he will never forget the beautiful Englishwoman, and her much older German husband, who brought a new world into view when they escaped Hitler&’s Germany to come and live at Cloverhill. To fifteen-year-old Harry, Frau Messinger was a vision of elegance and culture unlike any he&’d ever known. Ignoring his family&’s suspicions, he was happy to fetch her packages in exchange for time spent in her company. But it wasn&’t only the horrors of history that drove Herr and Frau Messinger to Harry&’s village. And when Herr Messigner begins building a lavish art cinema, the Alexandra, as a gift to his dying wife, the project becomes Harry&’s lifelong obsession.
Nordic Security And The Great Powers
by John C. AuslandThis book contains a remarkable amount of information about Soviet intelligence activities. It includes a partial list of Soviet agents which the Nordic countries expelled after 1970 and discusses the security policies of these countries.
On Yankee Station
by Barrett Tillman John B. NicholsCombining vivid personal narrative with historical and operational analyses, this book takes a candid look at U.S. naval airpower in the Vietnam War. Coauthors John Nichols, a fighter pilot in the war, and Barrett Tillman, an award-winning aviation historian, make full use of their extensive knowledge of the subject to detail the ways in which airpower was employed in the years prior to the fall of Saigon. Confronting the conventional belief that airpower failed in Vietnam, they show that when applied correctly, airpower was effective, but because it was often misunderstood and misapplied, the end results were catastrophic. Their book offers a compelling view of what it was like to fly from Yankee Station between 1964 and 1973 and important lessons for future conflicts. At the same time, it adds important facts to the permanent war record.Following an analysis of the state of carrier aviation in 1964 and a definition of the rules of engagement, it describes the tactics used in strike warfare, the airborne and surface threats, electronic countermeasures, and search and rescue. It also examines the influence of political decisions on the conduct of the war and the changing nature of the Communist opposition. Appendixes provide useful statistical data on carrier deployments, combat sorties, and aircraft losses.
Out Of The Wilderness: Diaries 1963-67
by Tony Benn1963 saw Labour's emergence from its 'wilderness years' in Opposition, and the election of Harold Wilson following the unexpected death of Hugh Gaitskell. In the first Wilson government of 1964 Benn was made Postmaster General and became known as an innovator for his introduction of the Giro and arguing for a radical broadcasting policy. After Labour's landslide victory of 1966 he was appointed to the Cabinet as Minister of Technology, but Labour's honeymoon came to an abrupt end in 1967 with the introduction of devaluation, leading to disilliusionment with the Government.Tony Benn's account on his relations with the industrialists, television and press chiefs, the Palace and the diplomatic world as well as trade unionists, civil servants, and his Cabinet colleagues, reveals the workings of our political and economic systems at the highest level.Out of the Wilderness is a unique political record of the 1960s, told by a man who served in five Labour administrations and who today is one of the most experienced figures both in and out of the House of Commons.'No-one interested in the political influence of the Crown, the intrigues of the civil service or the highly traditionalist character of Harold Wilson can afford to ignore it' The Observer
Patriot Games And The Hunt For Red October
by Tom ClancyFor the first time in one volume, two action-packed novels of adventure and suspense from Tom Clancy, the unrivalled master of thriller writing. THE HUNT FOR RED OCTOBER: Silently, beneath the chill Atlantic waters, an ultra-secret Soviet submarine, the Red October, is heading west. Captain Marko Ramius is finally putting into action a desperate plan — to defect to the US, taking the Red October with him. The Americans want her. The Soviets want her back. With all-out war only moments away, the superpowers race across the ocean on a terrifying, heart-stopping mission. The most incredible chase in history is on… PATRIOT GAMES: When Jack Ryan foils an Ulster Liberation Army terrorist attack on the Royal Family, his courageous actions not only win him the admiration of an entire nation, they also rouse the enmity and hatred of that nation’s most dangerous men. Now a ULA target himself, Ryan plunges into the murky world of counter-intelligence, where he uncovers connections between the ULA and an international underground network that place him at the forefront of the deadly battle against international terrorism, and pitch him into the most desperate struggle of his life…
Peace on Earth: A Novel
by Stanislaw LemRobot armies, an arms race in space, and a brain at war with itself add up to &“a futuristic version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde&” (The Boston Phoenix). Anxious to avoid a war that would destroy the entire planet, the major powers of Earth have come to an ingenious compromise. Each country sends a force of adaptable, self-programming robots to the surface of the moon to play out the conflict there and, hopefully, reach a mutually agreeable stalemate. But when the robots stop responding, it is up to Ijon Tichy to travel to the lunar war zone and discover what went wrong. Tichy finds what he needs to know, but falls victim to an attack that severs the left and right sides of his brain: one of which knows nothing about the status of the moon, the other of which isn&’t telling. Now Tichy finds himself at the center of a new sort of war of attrition, with each world power clamoring for his knowledge and each half of his stubborn brain clamoring for control. Wry and action-packed in equal measure, Stanislaw Lem&’s absurd, insightful sendup of the Cold War is required reading for any fan of science fiction. Here, &“humor and a breathless pace create a delightful and thought-provoking read&” (Publishers Weekly).
Philip K Dick is Dead, Alas (Gateway Essentials #381)
by Michael BishopIt is 1982. The United States has a permanent Moonbase. Richard M. Nixon is in the fourth term of the "imperial Presidency." And an eccentric novelist named Philip K. Dick has just died in California.Or has he? Psychiatrist Lia Pickford, M.D., is nonplussed when Dick walks into her office in small-town Georgia, with a cab idling outside, to ask for help. And Cal Pickford, a longtime Dick fan stunned by the news of his hero's death, is electrified when his wife tells him of the visit.So begins a sequence of events involving Cal in the repressive politics of the Nixon regime, the affairs of an aging movie queen, a hip but frightened Vietnamese immigrant and an old black man who works as a groom - all leading up to a fateful confrontation between Dick, Cal, and Nixon himself on the moon.
Prussian Reserve, Militia & Irregular Troops 1806-15
by Peter Hofschroer Bryan FostenIrregular, semi-regular and reserve formations comprised a substantial part of the armed forces at the disposal of the Prussian Army throughout the Napoleonic Wars, particularly during the campaigns of the Wars of Liberation, 1813-15. The scale of the uprising of 1813 required the mobilization of all available forces and the utilization of all available equipment, and meant that the Prussian Army of the Wars of Liberation was very much a patchwork affair. This book examines and illustrates the reservists (or Kruemper), the Freikorps and foreign units, and the militia who fought in the Prussian Army.
Redcoat (Isis Cassettes Ser.)
by Bernard CornwellIt is autumn 1777, and the cradle of liberty, Philadelphia, has fallen to the British. Yet the true battle has only just begun.On both sides, loyalties are tested and families torn asunder. The young Redcoat Sam Gilpin has seen his brother die. Now he must choose between duty to a distant king and the call of his own conscience. And for the men and women of the prosperous Becket family, the Revolution brings bitter conflict between those loyal to the crown and those with dreams of liberty.Soon, across the fields of ice and blood in a place called Valley Forge, history will be rewritten, changing the lives and fortunes of these men and women forever.
Rethinking German History: Nineteenth-Century Germany and the Origins of the Third Reich (Routledge Revivals)
by Richard J. EvansIn Rethinking German History, first published in 1987, Richard J. Evans argues for a social-historical approach to the German past that pays equal attention to objective social structures and subjective values and experiences. If German history has been seen as an exception to the ‘normal’ development of Western society, this is not least because historians have until recently largely failed to look beyond the world of high politics, institutions, organizations and ideologies to broader historical problems of German society and German mentalities. By applying and adapting approaches learned from French and British social history as they have been developed over the last quarter of a century, it is possible to achieve a rethinking of German history which does away with many of the textbook myths that have encrusted the historiogrpahy of Germany for so long. This book will be valuable for students of German history and politics, and brings together essays widely used in teaching. Its broad coverage of social history will also be useful to all those interested in contemporary historiography or the comparative study of European history.
Revolutionary Mexico: The Coming and Process of the Mexican Revolution
by John Mason HartThis acclaimed reinterpretation of the Mexican Revolution, based on new evidence obtained in Mexican and American archives and on the historical literature of recent years, is available here in the tenth anniversary edition, complete with a new Preface by the author.
Rogue Warrior of the SAS: The Blair Mayne Legend
by Martin Dillon Roy BradfordMore than half a century after his death, Lt Col. Robert Blair Mayne is still regarded as one of the greatest soldiers in the history of military special operations. He was the most decorated British soldier of the Second World War, receiving four DSOs, the Croix de Guerre and the Légion d'honneur, and he pioneered tactics used today by the SAS and other special operations units worldwide. Rogue Warrior of the SAS tells the remarkable life story of 'Colonel Paddy', whose exceptional physical strength and uniquely swift reflexes made him a fearsome opponent. But his unorthodox rules of war and his resentment of authority would deny him the ultimate accolade of the Victoria Cross. Drawing on personal letters and family papers, declassified SAS files and records, together with the Official SAS Diary compiled in wartime and eyewitness accounts from many who served with him, the picture emerges of a soldier who, although a flawed hero, was unquestionably one of the most distinctive combatants of the campaigns in the Western Desert and Europe.