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The Jewish Heroes of Warsaw: The Afterlife of the Revolt
by Avinoam PattThe Jewish Heroes of Warsaw: The Afterlife of the Revolt by Avinoam J. Patt analyzes how the heroic saga of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was mythologized in a way that captured the attention of Jews around the world, allowing them to imagine what it might have been like to be there, engaged in the struggle against the Nazi oppressor. The timing of the uprising, coinciding with the transition to memorialization and mourning, solidified the event as a date to remember both the heroes and the martyrs of Warsaw, and of European Jewry more broadly. The Jewish Heroes of Warsaw includes nine chapters. Chapter 1 includes a brief history of Warsaw from 1939 to 1943, including the creation of the ghetto and the development of the Jewish underground. Chapter 2 examines how the uprising was reported, interpreted, and commemorated in the first year after the revolt. Chapter 3 concerns the desire for first-person accounts of the fighters. Chapter 4 examines the ways the uprising was seized upon by Jewish communities around the world as evidence that Jews had joined the struggle against fascism and utilized as a prism for memorializing the destruction of European Jewry. Chapter 5 analyzes how memory of the uprising was mobilized by the Zionist movement, even as it debated how to best incorporate the doomed struggle of Warsaw’s Jews into the Zionist narrative.Chapter 6 explores the aftermath of the war as survivors struggled to come to terms with the devastation around them. Chapter 7 studies how the testimonies of three surviving ghetto fighters present a fascinating case to examine the interaction between memory, testimony, politics, and history. Chapter 8 analyzes literary and artistic works, including Jacob Pat’s Ash un Fayer, Marie Syrkin, Blessed is the Match, and Natan Rapoport’s Monument to the Ghetto Fighters, among others. As this book demonstrates, the revolt itself, while described as a "revolution in Jewish history," did little to change the existing modes for Jewish understanding of events. Students and scholars of modern Jewish history, Holocaust studies, and European studies will find great value in this detail-oriented study.
The Jewish War: Containing Twenty Books Of The Jewish Antiquities, Seven Books Of The Jewish War And The
by JosephusJosephus’ account of a war marked by treachery and atrocity is a superbly detailed and evocative record of the Jewish rebellion against Rome between AD 66 and 70. Originally a rebel leader, Josephus changed sides after he was captured to become a Rome-appointed negotiator, and so was uniquely placed to observe these turbulent events, from the siege of Jerusalem to the final heroic resistance and mass suicides at Masada. His account provides much of what we know about the history of the Jews under Roman rule, with vivid portraits of such key figures as the Emperor Vespasian and Herod the Great. Often self-justifying and divided in its loyalties, The Jewish War nevertheless remains one of the most immediate accounts of war, its heroism and its horrors, ever written.
Jewish Wit
by Theodor ReikHere for the first time is a study on the nature of Jewish wit done by one of the greatest psychoanalysts, Theodor Reik. Over twenty years went into the collecting of the material with the result that this book contains.“He (Thedor Reik) is one of the few masters of applied analysis as is shown especially in his earlier contributions, while his later work is more concerned with matters of general psychological interest. In both ways he has given great proof of a high amount of intelligence, criticism and independent thought”—Sigmund Freud
Jews and Poles in the Holocaust Exhibitions of Kraków, 1980–2013: Between Urban Past and National Memory
by Janek GrytaThis book offers a unique approach to memory studies by focusing on local memory work conducted across the divide of the fall of Communism, whereas other histories have consistently used 1989 as a watershed moment. By examining the ways in which the Holocaust has been exhibited in Kraków, it investigates the impact local memory work has had on Polish collective memory and problematizes the importance of the fall of Communism for memory work. Using the Polish case study, it contributes to international debates on the nature of urban memory. It brings to the fore the role of mid-ranking governmental and municipal activists for local remembrance, investigates the relationship between the form and the content of the exhibitions, and highlights the importance of authenticity and emotional evocations for Holocaust remembrance. In particular, it focuses on the emergence of cosmopolitan memory of the Holocaust, a process with local, Kraków, sources.
Jews and the Civil War: A Reader
by Jonathan D Sarna Adam D MendelsohnA unique collection revealing the experience of Jewish soldiers and civilians during the Civil WarAt least 8,000 Jewish soldiers fought for the Union and Confederacy during the Civil War. A few served together in Jewish companies while most fought alongside Christian comrades. Yet even as they stood “shoulder-to-shoulder” on the front lines, they encountered unique challenges.In Jews and the Civil War, Jonathan D. Sarna and Adam Mendelsohn assemble for the first time the foremost scholarship on Jews and the Civil War, little known even to specialists in the field. These accessible and far-ranging essays from top scholars are grouped into seven thematic sections—Jews and Slavery, Jews and Abolition, Rabbis and the March to War, Jewish Soldiers during the Civil War, The Home Front, Jews as a Class, and Aftermath—each with an introduction by the editors. Together they reappraise the impact of the war on Jews in the North and the South, offering a rich and fascinating portrait of the experience of Jewish soldiers and civilians from the home front to the battle front.
Jews and the Military: A History
by Derek J. PenslarA historical reevaluation of the relationship between Jews, miltary service, and warJews and the Military is the first comprehensive and comparative look at Jews' involvement in the military and their attitudes toward war from the 1600s until the creation of the state of Israel in 1948. Derek Penslar shows that although Jews have often been described as people who shun the army, in fact they have frequently been willing, even eager, to do military service, and only a minuscule minority have been pacifists. Penslar demonstrates that Israel's military ethos did not emerge from a vacuum and that long before the state's establishment, Jews had a vested interest in military affairs.Spanning Europe, North America, and the Middle East, Penslar discusses the myths and realities of Jewish draft dodging, how Jews reacted to facing their coreligionists in battle, the careers of Jewish officers and their reception in the Jewish community, the effects of World War I on Jewish veterans, and Jewish participation in the Spanish Civil War and World War II. Penslar culminates with a study of Israel's War of Independence as a Jewish world war, which drew on the military expertise and financial support of a mobilized, global Jewish community. He considers how military service was a central issue in debates about Jewish emancipation and a primary indicator of the position of Jews in any given society.Deconstructing old stereotypes, Jews and the Military radically transforms our understanding of Jews' historic relationship to war and military power.
Jews, Cinema and Public Life in Interwar Britain
by Gil ToffellThis book investigates a Jewish orientation to film culture in interwar Britain. It explores how pleasure, politics and communal solidarity intermingled in the cinemas of Jewish neighbourhoods, and how film was seen as a vessel through which Jewish communal concerns might be carried to a wider public. Addressing an array of related topics, this volume examines the lived expressive cultures of cinemas in Jewish areas and the ethnically specific films consumed within these sites; the reception of film stars as representations of a Jewish social body; and how an antisemitic canard that understood the cinema as a Jewish monopoly complicated its use as a base for anti-fascist activity. In shedding light on an unexplored aspect of British film reception and exhibition, Toffell provides a unique insight into the making of the modern city by migrant communities. The title will be of use to anyone interested in Britain’s interwar leisure landscape, the Jewish presence in modernity, and a cinema studies sensitised to the everyday experience of audiences.
Jews, Liberalism, Antisemitism: A Global History (Palgrave Critical Studies of Antisemitism and Racism)
by Abigail Green Simon Levis Sullam“This is a timely contribution to some of the most pressing debates facing scholars of Jewish Studies today. It forces us to re-think standard approaches to both antisemitism and liberalism. Its geographic scope offers a model for how scholars can “provincialize” Europe and engage in a transnational approach to Jewish history. The book crackles with intellectual energy; it is truly a pleasure to read.”- Jessica M. Marglin, University of Southern California, USAGreen and Levis Sullam have assembled a collection of original, and provocative essays that, in illuminating the historic relationship between Jews and liberalism, transform our understanding of liberalism itself. - Derek Penslar, Harvard University, USA“This book offers a strikingly new account of Liberalism’s relationship to Jews. Previous scholarship stressed that Liberalism had to overcome its abivalence in order to achieve a principled stand on granting Jews rights and equality. This volume asserts, through multiple examples, that Liberalism excluded many groups, including Jews, so that the exclusion of Jews was indeed integral to Liberalism and constitutive for it. This is an important volume, with a challenging argument for the present moment.”- David Sorkin, Yale University, USAThe emancipatory promise of liberalism – and its exclusionary qualities – shaped the fate of Jews in many parts of the world during the age of empire. Yet historians have mostly understood the relationship between Jews, liberalism and antisemitism as a European story, defined by the collapse of liberalism and the Holocaust. This volume challenges that perspective by taking a global approach. It takes account of recent historical work that explores issues of race, discrimination and hybrid identities in colonial and postcolonial settings, but which has done so without taking much account of Jews. Individual essays explore how liberalism, citizenship, nationality, gender, religion, race functioned differently in European Jewish heartlands, in the Mediterranean peripheries of Spain and the Ottoman empire, and in the North American Atlantic world.
The Jews of Denmark in the Holocaust: Life and Death in Theresienstadt Ghetto (Routledge Studies in Second World War History)
by Silvia Goldbaum Tarabini FracapaneBased on never previously explored personal accounts and archival documentation, this book examines life and death in the Theresienstadt ghetto, seen through the eyes of the Jewish victims from Denmark. "How was it in Theresienstadt?" Thus asked Johan Grün rhetorically when he, in July 1945, published a short text about his experiences. The successful flight of the majority of Danish Jewry in October 1943 is a well-known episode of the Holocaust, but the experience of the 470 men, women, and children that were deported to the ghetto has seldom been the object of scholarly interest. Providing an overview of the Judenaktion in Denmark and the subsequent deportations, the book sheds light on the fate of those who were arrested. Through a micro-historical analysis of everyday life, it describes various aspects of social and daily life in proximity to death. In doing so, the volume illuminates the diversity of individual situations and conveys the deportees’ perceptions and striving for survival and ‘normality’. Offering a multi-perspective and international approach that places the case of Denmark into the broader Jewish experience during the Holocaust, this book is invaluable for researchers of Jewish studies, Holocaust and genocide studies, and the history of modern Denmark.
The Jews of the Middle East and North Africa: The Impact of World War II
by Reeva Spector SimonIncorporating published and archival material, this volume fills an important gap in the history of the Jewish experience during World War II, describing how the war affected Jews living along the southern rim of the Mediterranean and the Levant, from Morocco to Iran. Surviving the Nazi slaughter did not mean that Jews living in the Middle East and North Africa were unaffected by the war: there was constant anti-Semitic propaganda and general economic deprivation; communities were bombed; and Jews suffered because of the anti-Semitic Vichy regulations that left them unemployed, homeless, and subject to forced labor and deportation to labor camps. Nevertheless, they fought for the Allies and assisted the Americans and the British in the invasion of North Africa. These men and women were community leaders and average people who, despite their dire economic circumstances, worked with the refugees attempting to escape the Nazis via North Africa, Turkey, or Iran and connected with international aid agencies during and after the war. By 1945, no Jewish community had been left untouched, and many were financially decimated, a situation that would have serious repercussions on the future of Jews in the region. Covering the entire Middle East and North Africa region, this book on World War II is a key resource for students, scholars, and general readers interested in Jewish history, World War II, and Middle East history.
The Jews, the Holocaust, and the Public: The Legacies of David Cesarani (The Holocaust and its Contexts)
by Larissa Allwork Rachel PistolThis book explores the work and legacy of Professor David Cesarani OBE, a leading British scholar and expert on Jewish history who helped to shape Holocaust research, remembrance and education in the UK. It is a unique combination of chapters produced by researchers, curators and commemoration activists who either worked with and/or were taught by the late Cesarani. The chapters in this collection consider the legacies of Cesarani’s contribution to the discipline of history and the practice of public history. The contributors offer reflections on Cesarani’s approach and provide new insights into the study of Anglo-Jewish history, immigrants and minorities and the history and public legacies of the Holocaust.
The Jews Under Roman Rule: How it Changed the Jewish Temple and Law
by William Douglas MorrisonExplore the turbulent and transformative period of Jewish history during the Roman Empire with William Douglas Morrison's comprehensive and insightful work, "The Jews Under Roman Rule: Rome's Conquest, Occupation and Wars in Israel and Judea." This meticulously researched book offers a detailed examination of the complex relationship between the Jewish people and the Roman authorities from the conquest of Judea to the devastating wars and uprisings that shaped the region.William Douglas Morrison, a distinguished historian, provides an in-depth analysis of the political, social, and religious dynamics that defined this era. "The Jews Under Roman Rule" chronicles Rome's initial conquest of Judea, the establishment of Roman governance, and the subsequent impact on Jewish society and culture. Morrison's narrative vividly portrays the challenges faced by the Jewish population as they navigated the pressures of Roman occupation while striving to maintain their religious and cultural identity.The book delves into key events and figures, including the Herodian dynasty, the rise of Jewish sects, and the profound tensions between Roman authorities and Jewish leaders. Morrison meticulously examines the causes and consequences of the major Jewish revolts, such as the Great Revolt (66-70 CE) and the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132-136 CE), providing a comprehensive account of the strategies, battles, and outcomes of these conflicts.Through detailed historical analysis and engaging storytelling, "The Jews Under Roman Rule" offers readers a nuanced understanding of the period's complexities. Morrison's work highlights the resilience and adaptability of the Jewish people, their struggles for autonomy, and the enduring impact of Roman rule on Jewish history.Join William Douglas Morrison in exploring the rich and tumultuous history of the Jews under Roman rule, and gain a deeper appreciation for the historical forces that have shaped the Jewish experience. This scholarly yet accessible work is a valuable resource for understanding the complexities of ancient Judea and its enduring significance.
JFK and de Gaulle: How America and France Failed in Vietnam, 1961–1963 (Studies in Conflict, Diplomacy, and Peace)
by Sean J. McLaughlin“America’s road to disaster in Vietnam has been endlessly chronicled, but Sean L. McLaughlin takes a fresh approach to that familiar story.” —James Hershberg, George Washington UniversityDespite French President Charles de Gaulle’s persistent efforts to constructively share French experience and use his resources to help engineer an American exit from Vietnam, the Kennedy administration responded to de Gaulle’s peace initiatives with bitter silence and inaction.The administration’s response ignited a series of events that dealt a massive blow to American prestige across the globe, resulting in the deaths of over fifty-eight thousand American soldiers and turning hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese citizens into refugees.This history of Franco-American relations during the Kennedy presidency explores how and why France and the US disagreed over the proper western strategy for the Vietnam War. France clearly had more direct political experience in Vietnam, but France’s postwar decolonization cemented Kennedy’s perception that the French were characterized by a toxic mixture of shortsightedness, stubbornness, and indifference to the collective interests of the West.At no point did the Kennedy administration give serious consideration to de Gaulle’s proposals or entertain the notion of using his services as an honest broker in order to disengage from a situation that was rapidly spiraling out of control. Kennedy’s Francophobia, the roots of which appear in a selection of private writings from Kennedy’s undergraduate years at Harvard, biased his decision-making. This book explores how the course of action Kennedy chose in 1963, a rejection of the French peace program, all but handcuffed Lyndon Johnson into formally entering a war he knew the United States had little chance of winning.
JG26: Top Guns of the Luftwaffe
by Donald Caldwell&“This unique, impressive study presents a history in microcosm of the entire Luftwaffe Fighter Corps . . . [a] spellbinding work.&” —Library Journal Jagdgeschwader 26, the German elite fighter unit, was more feared by the Allies than any other Luftwaffe group. Based on extensive archival research in Europe, personal combat diaries and interviews with more than 50 surviving pilots, Caldwell has assembled a superb day-to-day chronicle of JG 26 operations, from its first air victory in 1939 to its final combat patrol in 1945. A microcosm of World War II exists in the rise and fall of this famous fighter wing. For the first two years of the war it was an even match between the Spitfires and Hurricanes of the Royal Air Force and the Luftwaffe&’s Messerschmitts and Focke Wulfs; but the scales tipped in favor of the Allies in 1943 with the arrival of the Eighth US Air Force and its peerless P-51 Mustang. The book has been endorsed by the top fighter commanders of three air forces: the RAF (Johnnie Johnson), the USAAF (Hub Zemke), and the Luftwaffe (Adolf Galland) and is considered essential reading for anyone interested in the aerial war of 1941–45.
Jihad (Deep Black #5)
by Stephen Coonts Jim DefeliceThe world's most effective anti-terrorist force has the tools to monitor every move the enemy makes. They've planted a listening device inside a terrorist's skull, and activated a video spy drone disguised as a bird. But knowing is only half the battle. Multi-lingual, nerves-of-steel agents Charlie Dean, Lia DeFrancesca, and Tommy Karr prowl the winding streets of Istanbul to the crowded airports of America to stop terrorists in their tracks. Hooked into a real-time, high-tech system, this army of three goes head-to-head with the most dangerous people in the world. Al Qaeda is launching a series of devastating attacks against the West and the ultimate strike is aimed at the heart of the USA! In a war where both sides operate in deep disguise, Deep Black must fight a world where betrayal, trust, faith, and doubt collide.
Jihad Joe: Americans Who Go to War In the Name of Islam
by J. M. BergerThey are Americans, and they are mujahideen. Hundreds of men from every imaginable background have walked away from the traditional American dream to volunteer for battle in the name of Islam. Some have taken part in foreign wars that aligned with U.S. interests while others have carried out violence against Western interests abroad, fought against the U.S. military, and even plotted terrorist attacks on American soil. <p><p> This story plays out over decades and continents: from the Americans who took part in the siege of Mecca in 1979 through conflicts in Lebanon, Afghanistan, and Bosnia, and continuing today in Afghanistan and Somalia. <p><p> Investigative journalist J. M. Berger profiles numerous fighters, including some who joined al Qaeda and others who chose a different path. In these pages he portrays, among others, Abdullah Rashid, who fought the Soviets in Afghanistan; Mohammed Loay Bayazid, who was present at the founding of al Qaeda; Ismail Royer, who fought in Bosnia and Kashmir, then returned to run training camps in the United States; Adam Gadahn, a California Jew who is now al QaedaÆs chief spokesman; and Anwar Awlaki, the Yemeni-American imam with links to 9/11 who is now considered one of the biggest threats to AmericaÆs security.
Jihadist Insurgent Movements
by Paul B. Rich and Richard BurchillThis path-breaking collection of papers examines the phenomenon of jihadist insurgent movements in the Middle East and North, East and West Africa. It argues that military and strategic analysts have paid insufficient attention to the phenomenon of jihadism in insurgent movements, partly due to a failure to take the role of religion sufficiently seriously in the ideological mobilisation of recruits by guerrilla movements stretching back to the era of "national liberation" after World War Two. Several essays in the collection examine Al Qaeda and ISIL as military as well as political movements while others assess Boko Haram in West Africa, Al Shabaab in Somalia and jihadist movements in Libya. Additionally, some authors discuss the recruitment of foreign fighters and the longer-term terrorist threat posed by the existence of jihadist movements to security and ethnic relations in Europe Overall, this volume fills an important niche between studies that look at Islamic fundamentalism and "global jihad" at the international level and micro studies that look at movements locally. It poses the question whether jihadist insurgencies are serious revolutionary threats to global political stability or whether, like Soviet Russia after its initial revolutionary phase of the 1920s, they can be ultimately contained by the global political order. The volume sees these movements as continuing to evolve dynamically over the next few years suggesting that, even if ISIL is defeated, the movement that brought it into being will still exist and very probably morph into new movements. Jihadist Insurgent Movements was originally published as a special issue of Small Wars & Insurgencies.
The Jihadist Threat: The Re-conquest of the West?
by Paul MoorcraftThis timely and controversial book examines the international and domestic threats to the West from Jihadism. It joins the dots in the Middle East, Asia and Africa and explains what it means for the home front, mainly Britain but also continental Europe and the USA. More Brits are trying to join the Islamic State than the reserve forces. Why? It puts the whole complex jigsaw together without pulling any punches.After briefly tracing the origins of Jihadism from the time of the Prophet, The Jihadist Threat analyses the fall-out from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and how far these fuelled the rise of the self-styled Islamic State and other terror groups and the extent these pose to European society. Finally, the Author offers suggestions for defeating this existential threat to the Western way of life.This well-illustrated book is written from the inside. Professor Paul Moorcraft, currently the Director of the Centre for Foreign Policy Analysis, London, has long worked at the heart of the British security establishment and has operated as a war correspondent in over thirty conflict zones since Afghanistan in the 1980s, often alongside frontline Jihadists. Arguably no-one is better qualified to write on this subject and his knowledge coupled with forthright views cannot be ignored.
Jihadists and Weapons of Mass Destruction
by Gary Ackerman Jeremy TamsettExplores the Nexus Formed When Malevolent Actors Access Malignant MeansWritten for professionals, academics, and policymakers working at the forefront of counterterrorism efforts, Jihadists and Weapons of Mass Destruction is an authoritative and comprehensive work addressing the threat of weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in the hands of jihadists,
Jim Farley’s Story: The Roosevelt Years
by James A. FarleyFrank, outspoken and revealing, here is the truth about two of the most controversial political figures in modern America: Franklin D. Roosevelt and Jim Farley. These are the unvarnished facts concerning the man who put Roosevelt into the White House and built up one of the most brilliantly efficient party organizations that America has ever known.Mr. Farley writes of Roosevelt the politician—a human being with human failings—and not a demigod. The full story revealed here for the first time gives a new and surprising picture of the late President, his elaborate political maneuverings, the reasons for the final break with Jim Farley.JIM FARLEY’S STORY is the hard-punching inside account of one man’s meteoric rise to the political genius of the Democratic Party...“Politically, I owe more to Jim Farley than to any other person alive, not excluding my wife!”—Franklin D. Roosevelt
The Jim Hollister Trilogy: Three Novels of Vietnam (The Jim Hollister Trilogy #3)
by Dennis FoleyFrom the author of A Requiem for Crows: A searing trilogy of the Vietnam War as seen through the eyes of a gutsy Long Range Patrol platoon leader. Enriched with a memorable cast of characters and details that only a Vietnam veteran could capture, the Jim Hollister Trilogy is a thrilling tribute to the courage and selfless dedication of the Army Rangers in Vietnam—and the profound costs of war. Long Range Patrol: Young and eager to prove himself, Ranger Lt. Jim Hollister leads his six-man reconnaissance team on risky missions, deep into enemy territory. The special volunteers who make up Long Range Patrols are tasked with setting up ambushes and conducting perilous night patrols, helicopter insertions, and fire support in the hottest of fights. No matter the danger, Hollister’s band of heroes will do anything to keep their brothers alive. “There are few novels about Vietnam, or any other war for that matter, that you can hand to someone and say, this is the way it was, this is what we were. Dennis Foley has written such a book” (Chris Bunch and Allan Cole, authors of A Reckoning for Kings). Night Work: Back home in America, Capt. Jim Hollister often wakes up in the middle of the night in the grip of terrifying nightmares. But nothing—not even his long-suffering fiancée, Susan—can stop him from going back to Vietnam to serve his country. This time around, Hollister serves as operations officer for Juliet Company, a Ranger squad tasked with finding and eliminating Viet Cong forces slipping across the Cambodian border. Take Back the Night: In the increasingly divided Juliet Company, racial tensions are running high and morale is at an all-time low. New commander Captain Hollister’s first order of business is to bring his company back to fighting shape. To survive hot LZs, sleepless nights, and a tireless enemy, the Rangers have to train hard and fight harder. As the US begins its withdrawal, Juliet Company is entrusted with gathering critical intelligence needed to save American lives. But the biggest threat to Hollister’s men might just be from the chain of command.
Jimmy Carter in Africa: Race and the Cold War (Cold War International History Project)
by Nancy MitchellIn the mid-1970s, the Cold War had frozen into a nuclear stalemate in Europe and retreated from the headlines in Asia. As Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter fought for the presidency in late 1976, the superpower struggle overseas seemed to take a backseat to more contentious domestic issues of race relations and rising unemployment. There was one continent, however, where the Cold War was on the point of flaring hot: Africa. Jimmy Carter in Africa opens just after Henry Kissinger's failed 1975 plot in Angola, as Carter launches his presidential campaign. The Civil Rights Act was only a decade old, and issues of racial justice remained contentious. Racism at home undermined Americans' efforts to "win hearts and minds" abroad and provided potent propaganda to the Kremlin. As President Carter confronted Africa, the essence of American foreign policy--stopping Soviet expansion--slammed up against the most explosive and raw aspect of American domestic politics--racism. Drawing on candid interviews with Carter, as well as key U.S. and foreign diplomats, and on a dazzling array of international archival sources, Nancy Mitchell offers a timely reevaluation of the Carter administration and of the man himself. In the face of two major tests, in Rhodesia and the Horn of Africa, Carter grappled with questions of Cold War competition, domestic politics, personal loyalty, and decision-making style. Mitchell reveals an administration not beset by weakness and indecision, as is too commonly assumed, but rather constrained by Cold War dynamics and by the president's own temperament as he wrestled with a divided public and his own human failings. Jimmy Carter in Africa presents a stark portrait of how deeply Cold War politics and racial justice were intertwined.
Jimmy's Stars
by Mary Ann RodmanIt's September 1943, and eleven-year-old Ellie McKelvey's older brother, Jimmy, has just been drafted. Jimmy has a joyful heart and a kind word for everyone, and he's the only person who thinks Ellie is smart and funny and as beautiful as Lana Turner, the movie star. Ellie can hardly stand to see him go. With Jimmy gone, Aunt Toots moves into his bedroom, Ellie's mother takes a war job at a factory, and everything in Ellie's life seems upside down. But she figures that the war will be over and Jimmy home by Christmas, so as much as she misses him, she keeps her spirits up. Even as families in the neighborhood begin to receive telegrams informing them that their boys are wounded or worse, Ellie never stops believing in Jimmy. In her second work of historical fiction, Mary Ann Rodman captures all the authentic details of life on the homefront during World War II, as well as the fierce love a sister has for her beloved big brother.Jimmy's Stars is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.
Jingo: A Discworld Novel (City Watch #4)
by Terry Pratchett“Pratchett’s writing is a constant delight. No one mixes the fantastical and the mundane to better comic effect or offers sharper insights into the absurdities of human endeavor.” —Daily MailCommander Sam Vines, the Ankh-Morpork City Watch, and their compatriots must fight for their country (or something like that) when Discworld goes to war in this wickedly funny Discworld novel from New York Times bestselling author Terry Pratchett.No one would dream of starting a war without a perfectly good reason . . . such as a “strategic” piece of old rock in the middle of nowhere known as Leshp. It isn’t much of an island that rises up one moonless night from the depths of the Circle Sea—just a few square miles of silt and some old ruins. Unfortunately, this historically disputed lump of earth is once again floating directly between two proud lands, Ankh-Morpork and the city of Al-Khali on the coast of Klatch. And that’s enough to ignite the inglorious international pastime known as “war.”It is, after all, every citizen’s right to bear arms to defend their own. Even if it isn’t technically their own. And even if they don’t have much in the way of actual weaponry. Pressed into patriotic service, Commander Sam Vimes thinks he should be leading his loyal watchmen, female watchdwarf, and lady werewolf into battle against local malefactors rather than against Klatchians. But war is, after all, simply the greatest of all crimes—and it’s Sir Samuel’s sworn duty to seek out criminal masterminds wherever they may be hiding . . . and lock them away.As two armies march, Vimes faces unpleasant foes who are out to get him . . . and that’s just the people on his side. The enemy might be even worse.The Discworld novels can be read in any order but Jingo is the 4th book in the City Watch collection and the 21st Discworld book.The City Watch series in order:Guards! Guards!Men at ArmsFeet of ClayJingoThe Fifth ElephantNight WatchThud!Snuff
Jinn: A Novel
by Matthew B. DelaneyIt is May 1943. On the remote island of Bougainville, in the South Pacific, a squad of United States Marines beats their way through the thick jungle. They've landed to do battle with the Japanese soldiers on the island, but in short order, they begin to realize that the forbidding battleground holds an ancient secret a hundred times more terrifying than any enemy army---especially when they start finding the bodies.Flash-forward to July 2008. In the slums---and the skyscrapers---of Boston, a new kind of depraved serial killer is stalking human prey and terrifying the city. The bodies have been found posed and mutilated in bizarre ways that the two police officers in charge of the case have never seen before---and never want to see again. Are the two scenarios connected?Detectives Jefferson and Brogan have no idea that to solve the biggest case of their careers, their investigation must take them around the world and through time and history---from a mysterious salvaged submarine with a shocking secret, to an inhumane prison where the inmates are even more scared than usual of "the Pit," and finally back to the beginning: the sinister island in the South Seas where something inhuman has been biding its time.Matthew B.J. Delaney's Jinn won the 2003 International Horror Guild Award for Best First Novel.