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The Length of Days: An Urban Ballad (Harvard Library of Ukrainian Literature #6)
by Volodymyr RafeyenkoThe Length of Days features a wild cast of characters—Lithuanian, Russian, and Ukrainian—and cameo appearances by Rosa Luxemburg, Amy Winehouse, and others. Embedded narratives attributed to one character, an alcoholic chemist-turned-massage-therapist, broaden the reader’s view of the funny, ironic, or tragic lives of people who remained in the ill-fated Donbas after Russia’s initial aggression in 2014. Unexpected allies emerge to try to stop the war, as characters criticize Ukraine’s government at the time, its self-interest, and failures to support its citizens in the east.With elements of magical realism, the work combines poetry and a wicked sense of humor with depth of political analysis, philosophy, and moral interrogation. Witty references to popular culture—Ukrainian and European—underline the international and transnational aspects of Ukrainian literature. The novel ends on a hopeful note even though by then the main characters have already died twice: they return with greater power each time. As the author’s last novel written originally in the Russian language, The Length of Days is a deeply Ukrainian work, set mostly in the composite Donbas city of Z—an uncanny foretelling of what this letter has come to symbolize since February 24, 2022, when Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
The Lengthening War: The Great War Diary of Mabel Goode
by Michael GoodeThe First World War was an event so important, so catalytic, so transformative that it still hangs in the public memory and still compels the Historians pen. It was a conflict which, by the end of the struggle, had created a world unfamiliar to the one in existence before it and brought levels of destruction and loss all too unimaginable to the generation of minds which created it. Despite this, we still find it hard to picture what it was like to live through this war. Right from its start, Mabel Goode realised that the First World War would be the biggest event to take place in her lifetime. Knowing this, she took to recording it, taking us day by day through what living in wartime Britain was like. The diary shows us how the war came to the Home Front, from enrolment, rationing, the collapse of domestic service and growth of war work, to Zeppelin attacks over Yorkshire, and the ever mounting casualty lists. Above all else, Mabels diary captures a growing disillusionment with a lengthening war, as the costs and the sacrifices mount. Starting with great excitement and expecting a short struggle, the entries gradually give way to a more critical tone, and eventually to total disengagement. The blank pages marked for 1917 and 1918 are almost as informative as the fearful excitement captured at the onset of that tremendous conflict. This is a strong narrative of the war, easy to read, mixing news with personal feelings and events (often revealing gap between official news and reality). Also included are several poems written by Mabel and a love story in the appendix, giving a complete insight into the life of the diarist. Of note is the fact that Mabel and her brothers (the main serving protagonists in the diary) lived in Germany for some time, meaning they could all speak German and knew 'the enemy nation' as many Britons did not.
The Lenin Plot: The Unknown Story of America's War Against Russia
by Barnes CarrIt remains the most audacious spy plot in American history—a bold and extremely dangerous operation to invade Russia, defeat the Red Army, and mount a coup in Moscow against Soviet dictator Vladimir Ilich Lenin. After that, leaders in Washington, Paris, and London aimed to install their own Allied-friendly dictator in Moscow as a means to get Russia back into the war effort against Germany. The Lenin Plot had the &“entire approval&” of President Woodrow Wilson. As he ordered a military invasion of Russia, he gave the American ambassador, the U.S. Consul General in Moscow, and other State Department operatives a free hand to pursue their covert action against Lenin. The result was thousands of deaths, both military and civilian, on both sides. A must-read for anyone seeking to understand the true beginning of the Cold War, The Lenin Plot tells the shocking story of this untold episode in American history in fascinating and striking detail.
Leningrad: Hero City (Images of War)
by Nik CornishThe 900-day siege of the Soviet city of Leningrad by the combined forces of the Germans and the Finns is one of the most remarkable, and terrible, events of the Second World War, yet until recently it has not received the attention it deserves it has been overshadowed by other massive confrontations on the Eastern Front, at Stalingrad and Kursk. And rarely has the compelling story of the siege been told through graphic wartime photographs like those that author Nik Cornish has collected for this book. Many of these images have not been published before, and they give an unflinching insight into the reality of the conditions of the siege as it was experienced by the soldiers on each side and by the civilians trapped in the city who were threatened by starvation, disease, shelling and assault. The entire course of the siege is covered, from the encirclement of September 1941, through the successive attempts by the Wehrmacht to break in and the dogged, sometimes desperate defense put up by the Red Army, to the withdrawal of the Germans and the lifting of the siege in January 1944. Nik Cornishs portrait of the ruthless struggle of Hitlers armies to capture the second city of the Soviet Union and the determination and suffering of the defenders will be fascinating reading for everyone who is interested in the war on the Eastern Front.
Leningrad: The Advance of Panzer Group 4, 1941 (Die Wehrmacht Im Kampf Ser.)
by W. Chales de BeaulieuTranslated into English for the first time: A personal account of Operation Barbarossa by the Panzer Group 4 chief of general staff. When Operation Barbarossa launched, Army Group North was tasked with the operational objective of Leningrad. But between them and the city lay eight hundred kilometers of Baltic states, eighteen to twenty infantry divisions, two cavalry divisions, and eight or nine mechanized Red Army brigades. To succeed, it was apparent they would have to race through to the western Dvina and establish a bridgehead before the Russians exploited this natural feature to organize a defensive front. Panzer Group 4, which included LVI Panzer Corps and XLI Panzer Corps, was to lead the way. By the end of the first day, the group had pushed seventy kilometers into enemy territory. Red counterattacks on their unprotected flanks slowed them down, resulting in the tank battle of Raseiniai, but the group managed to capture Dünaburg on the Western Dvina on June 26, with a bridgehead established shortly thereafter. The group then pushed northeast through Latvia to the Stalin Line. In mid-July, General Erich Hoepner was preparing to push the last one hundred kilometers to Leningrad. But Wilhelm von Leeb, commander of the army group, had other plans for the group and the advance did not continue for several more weeks. In Leningrad—first published in German in 1961 and now translated into English for the first time—W. Chales de Beaulieu, Panzer Group 4 chief of staff, offers a detailed account of the group&’s advance, as well as an assessment of the fighting, an examination of the limitations imposed on Army Group North and their effects on the operation, and the lessons to be learned from their experiences in the Baltic States, concluding with a discussion of whether Leningrad could ever have been taken in the first place.
Leningrad: State of Siege
by Michael JonesWhen the German High Command encircled Leningrad it was a deliberate policy to eradicate the city’s civilian population by starving them to death. As winter set in and food supplies dwindled, starvation and panic set in. A specialist in battle psychology and the vital role of morale in desperate circumstances, Michael Jones tells the human story of Leningrad. Drawing on newly available eyewitness accounts and diaries, he shows Leningrad in its every dimension including taboo truths, long-suppressed by the Soviets, such as looting, criminal gangs and cannibalism. But, for many ordinary citizens, Leningrad marked the triumph of the human spirit. They drew deeply on their inner resources to inspire, comfort and help one another. At the height of the siege an extraordinary live performance of Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony profoundly strengthened the city's will to resist. When German troops heard it in their trenches one remarked: ‘We began to understand we would never take Leningrad. Yet, Leningrad’s self-defence came at a huge price. When the 900-day siege ended in 1944 almost a million people had died and those who survived would be permanently marked by what they had endured, as this superbly insightful and moving history shows.
Leningrad: Siege and Symphony
by Brian MoynahanShostakovich's Seventh Symphony was first played in the city of its birth on 9 August, 1942. There has never been a first performance to match it. Pray God, there never will be again. Almost a year earlier, the Germans had begun their blockade of the city. Already many thousands had died of their wounds, the cold, and most of all, starvation. The assembled musicians - scrounged from frontline units and military bands, for only twenty of the orchestra's 100 players had survived - were so hungry, many feared they'd be too weak to play the score right through. In these, the darkest days of the Second World War, the music and the defiance it inspired provided a rare beacon of light for the watching world. Setting the composition of Shostakovich's most famous work against the tragic canvas of the siege itself and the years of repression and terror that preceded it, Leningrad: Siege and Symphony is a magisterial and moving account of one of the most tragic periods in history.
The Leningrad Blockade, 1941-1944
by Richard Bidlack Nikita Lomagin Marian SchwartzBased largely on formerly top-secret Soviet archival documents (including 66 reproduced documents and 70 illustrations), this book portrays the inner workings of the communist party and secret police during Germany's horrific 1941–44 siege of Leningrad, during which close to one million citizens perished. It shows how the city's inhabitants responded to the extraordinary demands placed upon them, encompassing both the activities of the political, security, and military elite as well as the actions and attitudes of ordinary Leningraders.
Leningrad in the Days of the Blockade
by A. Fadeyev R. D. CharquesThe 900 day siege of Leningrad (now St. Petersburg) on the Baltic was perhaps one of the most iconic clashes of Nazi versus Soviet clashes to take place during the Second World War. Two and a half million Russians were trapped and encircled by Germand and Finnish forces, but despite freezing cold, scant supplies and little if any food, the city held out. In this book, noted Soviet author Alexander Alexandrovitch Fadeyev gives an eyewitness account of the horrific conditions of the city in the iron jaws of the Wehrmacht.
Leningrado: La tragedia de una ciudad asediada 1941-1944
by Anna ReidEl libro que rescata del olvido a los ciudadanos que quedaron atrapados entre los dos peores sistemas totalitarios de la historia. El 8 de septiembre de 1941, once semanas después de que Hitler lanzara el brutal ataque sorpresa contra la Unión Soviética, la denominada Operación Barbarroja, la ciudad de Leningrado fue sitiada. El asedio duró casi tres años y más de setecientos cincuenta mil civiles murieron de inanición. De haber caído la ciudad, la historia de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, y del siglo XX, habría sido muy distinta. Leningrado es un relato entreverado de historias personales que, a partir de crónicas y testimonios reales de diarios de ambos bandos, refleja la vida cotidiana de quienes vivieron el asedio, civiles europeos del siglo XX que soportaron terribles penurias: la búsqueda incesante de comida y agua; el desánimo progresivo y la pérdida de lazos familiares; saqueos, asesinatos y canibalismo; pero, al mismo tiempo, extraordinarias historias de valentía y entrega. Anna Reid revela también la decisión deliberada de los nazis de matar de hambre a los habitantes de Leningrado para llevarlos a la rendición, las consecuencias del error de cálculo de Hitler, la incompetencia y la crueldad de los altos mandos soviéticos. Asimismo, aborda una serie de preguntas que aún hoy piden respuesta: ¿el abrumador número de muertos fue tanto culpa de Stalin como de Hitler? ¿Cómo contribuyó al desastre la desconfianza de Stalin y Moscú hacia la antigua San Petersburgo, de tendencia occidental? ¿Por qué los alemanes no tomaron la ciudad? ¿Qué impidió que cayera en la anarquía? ¿Cómo lograron sobrevivir algunos? Un clásico indispensable, libro de referencia sobre el tema, hasta ahora inédito en castellano. La crítica ha dicho: «Una obra maestra. Con rigor y sin sensiblería, nos acerca una historia terrible, documentada con maestría y narrada de manera hermosa».Anthony Beevor «Magistral».Orlando Figes «Una forma admirable de narrar la extraordinaria historia del asedio. Retrata con intensidad lo que algunos consideramos el más espantoso episodio de la Segunda Guerra Mundial».Max Hastings «Impactante y necesario. Un estudio asombroso y conmovedor del precio impuesto por el poder político sin restricciones en ambos bandos».The Daily Mail «Un relato magistral y bellamente escrito, que genera un poderoso sentido de cercanía. Reid presta especial atención a los vívidos detalles humanos, sin ignorar el contexto más amplio».The Spectator «Documentado de manera impecable, con buen ritmo y una escritura bellísima, Leningrado es el nuevo libro de referencia sobre el tema, con una interpretación más afinada y objetiva para un nuevo siglo».Financial Times «Un relato detallado y desgarrador de la vida y la muerte en Leningrado que devuelve sus voces a las personas».The Wall Street Journal
Lentolaivue 24
by John Weal Kari StenmanFinland's premier fighter squadron during World War 2, Lentolaivue 24 (Flying Squadron 24) first saw action during the bloody Winter War of 1939-40, when the Soviet Red Army launched a surprise attack on the small Scandinavian country - the squadron enjoyed great success against numerically superior opposition. LLv 24 was once again in the thick of the action following the outbreak of the Continuation War in June 1941. Easily the air force's most successful fighter unit, LLv 24 claimed 877 kills, and its pilots won five direct and two indirect Mannerheim Crosses (Finland¹s highest military award) out of a total of 19 presented to all Finnish soldiers. Most top aces also scored the bulk of their kills flying with this unit.
Leo Thorsness: Vietnam: Valor in the Sky (Medal of Honor #3)
by Michael P. SpradlinFor middle-grade readers, the true story of a pilot in the U.S. Air Force who received the Medal of Honor for his great acts of aerial valor. Lieutenant Colonel Leo K. Thorsness was a Wild Weasel pilot in the Vietnam War, targeting enemy missile sites. On a 1967 mission, when his wingmen ejected from their burning aircraft, Thorsness initiated attacks on enemy planes and other daring maneuvers in order to protect them. Two weeks later, he was shot down and would become a P. O. W. for the next six years.This is the third nonfiction middle-grade book in the Medal of Honor series, which profiles the courage and accomplishments of recipients of the Medal of Honor, the highest and most prestigious personal military decoration, awarded to recognize U.S. military service members who have distinguished themselves through extraordinary acts of valor.
Léon y Louise
by Alex CapusExquisita por su ligereza y conmovedora por su intensidad, la verosimilitud del relato sorprenderá al lector más avezado. Obra finalista del Deutscher Buchpreis -uno de los premios literarios de referencia en Alemania-, esta última novela de Alex Capus es la máxima expresión de una historia de amor que desafía todas las convenciones. El verano de 1918, la Primera Guerra Mundial está a punto de terminar, pero sus consecuencias perdurarán durante décadas. Para algunas personas, incluso toda una vida. Léon le Gall es un joven rebelde de apenas diecisiete años que ha decidido dejar los estudios y trabaja como ayudante en la estación ferroviaria de Saint-Luc-sur-Marne, en la costa de Normandía. Allí es donde conoce a la hermosa y esquiva Louise Janvier, y entre ellos surge un sentimiento puro, noble y profundo. Sin embargo, todo salta por los aires cuando Louise desaparece durante un bombardeo de la aviación alemana. Abatido porla pérdida, Léon logra reconstruir su vida. Se casa, tiene hijos y empieza a trabajar como científico para la policía, pero nunca conseguirá olvidar a Louise. La crítica ha dicho...«Entre todas las parejas de enamorados, felices o infelices, que nos ha presentado la literatura, la de Léon y Louise es una de las más originales y creíbles.»Süddeutsche Zeitung «El libro de esta primavera. Una historia maravillosa que deja un vacío cuando uno termina de leerla. Y que nos hace desear secretamente encontrar a alguien como Léon en la próxima vida. O a alguien como Louise.»WDR «La historia de un amor que se opone a la historia del mundo. Una pieza literaria finamente trabajada sobre el deseo de lograr la felicidad, sobre la conformidad y la supervivencia.»Tages-Anzeiger «Este libro elige a sus lectores. [...] Alex Capus ha escrito una fascinante historia de amor en circunstancias difíciles [...]. Una historia bellísima que lo es tanto por su estilo como por todo aquello que el lenguaje no puede describir.»Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung «A simple vista, ésta es una historia de un amor que perdura. Pero también habla de los abusos de poder, especialmente en tiempos de guerra, y de los sacrificios que el ser humano debe hacer para preservar aquello que más ama.»Publishers Weekly
Leonard Wood: Rough Rider, Surgeon, Architect of American Imperialism
by Jack MccallumOne of the most fascinating but least remembered figures in modern American history, Major General Leonard Wood (1860-1927) was, with his close friend Theodore Roosevelt, an icon of U.S. imperialism as the nation evolved into a global power at the dawn of the twentieth century. The myriad of roles that Wood played in his extraordinary career offer a mirror image of the country's expansion from the urban Northeast to the western frontier to Latin America and the Far East. Boston surgeon, Indian fighter, U.S. Army Chief of Staff, Medal of Honor winner, commander of the Rough Riders in the Spanish-American War, Governor General of the Philippines, and presidential candidate, Wood was one of a select cadre of men that transformed the American military at the turn of the century, turning it into a modern fighting force and the nation into a world power.Throughout his life, Wood tested the division between military and civilian power to its very limits. His 1920 presidential campaign and his conflicts with civilian politicians were harbingers of the struggles that Generals Douglas MacArthur and Dwight D. Eisenhower would face as they moved from the battlefield to Washington following World War II.Jack McCallum has mined Wood's extensive personal records--including diaries, correspondence, and photographs--to create a vivid portrait of a complex man and the legacy he left on U.S. imperialism. America's rapid conquest of Cuba and the Philippines and the subsequent political and economic reconstruction it imposed under Wood's military supervision in these regions have important parallels to current U.S. involvement in the Middle East, both in its successes and its failures.
Leonardo Da Vinci: Cong Fan Ren Dao Tian Cai De Chuang Zao Li Mi Ma = Leonardo Da Vinci
by Walter Isaacson'To read this magnificent biography of Leonardo da Vinci is to take a tour through the life and works of one of the most extraordinary human beings of all time in the company of the most engaging, informed, and insightful guide imaginable. Walter Isaacson is at once a true scholar and a spellbinding writer. And what a wealth of lessons there are to be learned in these pages.' David McCullough Based on thousands of pages from Leonardo&’s astonishing notebooks and new discoveries about his life and work, Walter Isaacson weaves a narrative that connects his art to his science. He shows how Leonardo&’s genius was based on skills we can improve in ourselves, such as passionate curiosity, careful observation, and an imagination so playful that it flirted with fantasy. He produced the two most famous paintings in history, The Last Supper and the Mona Lisa. But in his own mind, he was just as much a man of science and technology. With a passion that sometimes became obsessive, he pursued innovative studies of anatomy, fossils, birds, the heart, flying machines, botany, geology, and weaponry. His ability to stand at the crossroads of the humanities and the sciences, made iconic by his drawing of Vitruvian Man, made him history&’s most creative genius. His creativity, like that of other great innovators, came from having wide-ranging passions. He peeled flesh off the faces of cadavers, drew the muscles that move the lips, and then painted history&’s most memorable smile. He explored the math of optics, showed how light rays strike the cornea, and produced illusions of changing perspectives in The Last Supper. Isaacson also describes how Leonardo&’s lifelong enthusiasm for staging theatrical productions informed his paintings and inventions. Leonardo&’s delight at combining diverse passions remains the ultimate recipe for creativity. So, too, does his ease at being a bit of a misfit: illegitimate, gay, vegetarian, left-handed, easily distracted, and at times heretical. His life should remind us of the importance of instilling, both in ourselves and our children, not just received knowledge but a willingness to question it—to be imaginative and, like talented misfits and rebels in any era, to think different.
Leonora in the Morning Light: A Novel
by Michaela Carter*One of Oprah Daily&’s Most Anticipated Historical Fiction Novels That Will Sweep You Away*&“Michaela Carter&’s training as a poet and painter shines through from the first page of this vivid, gorgeous novel based on the lives of Leonora Carrington and Max Ernst. Told with all the wild magic and mystery of the Surrealists themselves, Leonora in the Morning Light fearlessly illuminates the life and work of a formidable female artist.&” —Whitney Scharer, bestselling author of The Age of LightFor fans of Amy Bloom&’s White Houses and Colm Tóibín&’s The Master, a &“gorgeously written, meticulously researched&” (Jillian Cantor, bestselling author of Half Life) novel about Surrealist artist Leonora Carrington and the art, drama, and romance that defined her coming-of-age during World War II.1940. A train carrying exiled German prisoners from a labor camp arrives in southern France. Within moments, word spreads that Nazi capture is imminent, and the men flee for the woods, desperate to disappear across the Spanish border. One stays behind, determined to ride the train until he reaches home, to find a woman he refers to simply as &“her.&”1937. Leonora Carrington is a twenty-year-old British socialite and painter when she meets Max Ernst, an older, married artist whose work has captivated Europe. She follows him to Paris, into the vibrant world of studios and cafes where rising visionaries of the Surrealist movement like Andre Breton, Pablo Picasso, Lee Miller, Man Ray, and Salvador Dali are challenging conventional approaches to art and life. Inspired by their freedom, Leonora begins to experiment with her own work, translating vivid stories of her youth onto canvas and gaining recognition under her own name. It is a bright and glorious age of enlightenment—until war looms over Europe and headlines emerge denouncing Max and his circle as &“degenerates,&” leading to his arrest and imprisonment. Left along as occupation spreads throughout the countryside, Leonora battles terrifying circumstances to survive, reawakening past demons that threaten to consume her.As Leonora and Max embark on remarkable journeys together and apart, the full story of their tumultuous and passionate love affair unfolds, spanning time and borders as they seek to reunite and reclaim their creative power in a world shattered by war. When their paths cross with Peggy Guggenheim, an art collector and socialite working to help artists escape to America, nothing will be the same.Based on true events and historical figures, Leonora in the Morning Light is &“a deeply involving historical tale of tragic lost love, determined survival, the sanctuary of art, and the evolution of a muse into an artist of powerfully provocative feminist expression&” (Booklist, starred review).
Leopard 1 Main Battle Tank 1965-95
by Peter Sarson Michael JerchelDevelopment of the Leopard 1 can be traced back to November 1956, when the operational requirement for a new battle tank was formulated by the Federal German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr). Originally a Franco-German project, the tank under design was named the 'Standard-Panzer'. The French later dropped out, however, and on 1 October 1963 the 'Standard' tank was officially named 'Leopard', an appropriate choice considering Germany's wartime pedigree with the formidable Tiger and Panther. This book traces the development and service record of the Leopard 1, detailing its control systems, modifications and variants.
Leopard 2: NATO's First Line of Defence, 1979–2020 (TankCraft #28)
by David GrummittA modeler’s guide to one of the most powerful tanks operating today: “Highly recommended.” —AMPS IndianapolisWhen the Leopard 2, a third-generation main battle tank, first entered service with the Bundeswehr in 1979, at the height of the Cold War, it was indisputably the most advanced and potent tank in the world. Over four decades it has undergone numerous upgrades and modifications to ensure it remains one of the most powerful tanks operating today. It currently serves with the armies of seventeen nations, from Canada to Turkey and many European states.The Leopard 2 is also a popular subject for modelers, which is why David Grummitt’s highly illustrated expert guide is so valuable. As well as describing in detail the Leopard 2’s design, development, and combat history, he gives a full account of the wide range of modeling kits and accessories available in all the popular scales. Included is a modeling gallery, which features six builds covering a range of Leopard 2s serving with different nations and a section of large-scale color profiles which provide both reference and inspiration for modelers and military enthusiasts alike.
Leopard 2 Main Battle Tank 1979-98
by Mike Badrocke Michael JerchelIn 1963 West Germany and the United States signed an agreement to develop the best tank in the world - the MBT/KPz-70. Though by 1970 this project was stopped, West Germany used the components created for the MBT/KPz-70 to develop a new main battle tank - the Leopard 2. Since 1979, when the first Leopard 2 rolled off the production line, the Leopard 2 has undergone various modifications, and has been exported to various European countries. Enhanced by Osprey's signature colour plates and cutaway artwork, this book examines the development of the Leopard 2 from the first batch to its evolution into the improved Leopard 2 A5, detailing its features and variants.
The Leopard Is Loose: A novel
by Stephen HarriganThe fragile, 1952 postwar tranquility of a young boy&’s world explodes one summer day when a leopard escapes from the Oklahoma City zoo, throwing all the local residents into dangerous excitement, in this evocative story of a child&’s confrontation with his deepest fearsFor Grady McClarty, an ever-watchful but bewildered five-year-old boy, World War II is only a troubling, ungraspable event that occurred before he was born. But he feels its effects all around him. He and his older brother Danny are fatherless, and their mother, Bethie, is still grieving for her fighter-pilot husband. Most of all, Grady senses it in his two uncles: young combat veterans determined to step into a fatherhood role for their nephews, even as they struggle with the psychological scars they carry from the war. When news breaks that a leopard has escaped from the Oklahoma City Zoo, the playthings and imagined fears of Grady&’s childhood begin to give way to real-world terrors, most imminently the dangerous jungle cat itself. The Leopard Is Loose is a stunning encapsulation of America in the 1950s, and a moving portrait of a boy&’s struggle to find his place in the world.
Leopards Kill
by Jim DeFeliceA journey into the hell that is the War on Terror—a Heart of Darkness for the new century.Former Army Special Forces soldier Jack Pilgrim has it all – big bucks, a successful security business with plush government contracts, a beautiful wife. Then Pilgrim's partner, Merc Conrad, goes missing in Afghanistan with a chunk of government cash and most of the company's assets. The CIA threatens to throw Pilgrim in jail if he doesn't find Merc and return the money. Pilgrim knows his business--and his extravagant lifestyle--are on the line, but Merc saved Jack's life three times while they served together in the Army in Afghanistan. So Jack owes him. Big.Determined to find Conrad, Pilgrim returns to Afghanistan. The country in chaos as the US prepares to pull out. Pilgrim follows Merc's trail to the border area of Pakistan; with every step he seems to descend deeper into a Dantesque hell. Rumor has it that Conrad has fielded a guerilla army and is hot on the trail of Osama bin Laden. The further into the uncharted border zone Jack Pilgrim goes, the larger the legend of Merc Conrad becomes. Warding off insurgent attacks and pockets of terror cells, Pilgrim's odyssey into the Afghan badlands has him questioning his own reality, and the closer he seems to get to Conrad, the more peril he faces. If Jack Pilgrim wants to get out of Afghanistan alive, he may need Merc Conrad now more than ever. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Lepanto 1571: The Madonna's Victory
by Nic FieldsA military historian’s enlightening reassessment of the famous 16th century naval battle between the Ottoman Empire and Pope Pius V’s Holy League.The battle of Lepanto has long been considered one of the decisive naval battles of history. Yet, the savage fighting on October 7th, 1571, left the strategic map unchanged. The defeated Ottoman Turks were able to replace their losses and launch a new fleet the following year. In Lepanto 1571, historian Nic Fields reexamines the battle and concludes that its importance was psychological. It sank the perception of Ottoman dominance and the inevitability of Islam’s westward encroachment beyond the Balkans.With over 200 ships per side, it was the largest naval battle in sixteen centuries and the last major fight between fleets composed entirely of the muscle-driven galley. These slender ships were the direct descendants of the Classical trireme but carried cannon and marines bearing firearms, although massed archery and cold steel still played a major role on the fateful day. Nic Fields gives an excellent account of this fascinating and spectacular battle.
Lepanto 1571: The Madonna's Victory
by Nic FieldsA military historian’s enlightening reassessment of the famous 16th century naval battle between the Ottoman Empire and Pope Pius V’s Holy League.The battle of Lepanto has long been considered one of the decisive naval battles of history. Yet, the savage fighting on October 7th, 1571, left the strategic map unchanged. The defeated Ottoman Turks were able to replace their losses and launch a new fleet the following year. In Lepanto 1571, historian Nic Fields reexamines the battle and concludes that its importance was psychological. It sank the perception of Ottoman dominance and the inevitability of Islam’s westward encroachment beyond the Balkans.With over 200 ships per side, it was the largest naval battle in sixteen centuries and the last major fight between fleets composed entirely of the muscle-driven galley. These slender ships were the direct descendants of the Classical trireme but carried cannon and marines bearing firearms, although massed archery and cold steel still played a major role on the fateful day. Nic Fields gives an excellent account of this fascinating and spectacular battle.
The Leper Spy: The Story of an Unlikely Hero of World War II
by Ben MontgomeryThe GIs called her Joey. Hundreds owed their lives to the tiny Filipina who stashed explosives in spare tires, tracked Japanese troop movements, and smuggled maps of fortifications across enemy lines. As the Battle of Manila raged, Josefina Guerrero walked through gunfire to bandage wounds and close the eyes of the dead. Her valor earned her the Medal of Freedom, but what made her a good spy was also destroying her: leprosy, which so horrified the Japanese they refused to search her. After the war, army chaplains found her in a nightmarish leper colony and fought for the US government to do something it had never done: welcome a foreigner with leprosy. This brought her celebrity, which she used to publicly speak for other sufferers. However, the notoriety haunted her and she sought a way to disappear. Ben Montgomery now brings Guerrero's heroic accomplishments to light.
Leroy Pope Walker: Confederate Secretary of War
by William C. HarrisLEROY POPE WALKER, the first Secretary of War of the Confederate States, is probably the least known of the five men who occupied that office. His brief administration of the War Department has long been considered undistinguished. Nevertheless, his accomplishments of organizing the department and placing an army of 200,000 men in the field by September, 1861 reveal that he played a vital role in shaping the military effort of the Confederacy during its formative months. Nor was Walker altogether a man of straw in Jefferson Davis’ Cabinet, as has been sometimes depicted. Few Confederate leaders were as dedicated and energetic in the performance of their public duties as he was.