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Wilful Murder: The Sinking Of The Lusitania
by Diana PrestonOn May 7th, 1915 a passenger ship crossing the Atlantic sank with the loss of 1200 lives. On board were some world-famous figures, including multimillionaire Alfred Vanderbilt. But this wasn't the Titanic and there was no iceberg. The liner was the Lusitania and it was torpedoed by a German U-boat.Wilful Murder is the hugely compelling story of the sinking of the Lusitania. The first book to look at the events in their full historical context, it is also the first to place the human dimension at its heart. Using first-hand accounts of the tragedy Diana Preston brings the characters to life, recreating the splendour of the liner as it set sail and the horror of its final moments. Using British, American and German research material she answers many of the unanswered and controversial questions surrounding the Lusitania: why didn't Cunard listen to warnings that the ship would be a target of the Germans? Was the Lusitania sacrificed to bring the Americans into the War? What was really in the Lusitania's hold? Was she armed? Had Cunard's offices been infiltrated by German agents? And did the Kaiser's decision to cease unrestricted U-boat warfare in response to international outrage expressed after the sinking effectively change the outcome of the First World War?Highly readable, highly researched Wilful Murder casts dramatic new light on one of the world's most famous maritime disasters.
Wilfred Owen: A New Biography (Writers And Their Work Ser. #No. 246)
by Dominic HibberdThe definitive biography of the war poet - 'Dominic Hibberd has probably done more more than any other individual to illuminate Owen's life and work. His new Life is a triumph ... it is difficult to believe it will ever be superseded' Mark Bostridge, The Independent on SundayWhen Wilfred Owen died in 1918 aged 25, only five of his poems had been published. Yet he became one of the most popular poets of the 20th century. For decades his public image was controlled by family and friends, especially his brother Harold who was terrified anyone might think Wilfred was gay. In recent years much new material has become available. This book, based on over thirty years of wide-ranging research, brings new information to almost every part of Owen's life. Owen emerges as a complex, fascinating and often endearing character with an intense delight in being alive.
Wilfred Owen: An Illustrated Life (Poet To Poet Ser.)
by Jon StallworthyOf all the poets of the First World War, Wilfred Owen most fires the imagination today. This biography is more than a simple account of his life - the childhood spent in the backstreets of Birkenhead and Shrewsbury, the appalling months in the trenches - it is a poet's enquiry into the workings of a poet's mind. This paperback reproduces all the widely praised illustrations of the original edition, including drawings by the poet and facsimile manuscripts of many of his greatest poems. As 'a portrait of the artist', the book has proved, as the Scotsman predicted, 'indispensable to any student of Wilfred Owen's life and work'. Called by Graham Greene ‘surely one of the finest biographies of our time’, Wilfred Owen won the Duff Cooper Memorial Prize, the W.H. Smith & Son Literary Award, and the E.M. Forster Award of the American Academy of Arts and Letters. In its use of verse manuscripts to reveal the working of the creative imagination, it inaugurated a new form of literary biography. This edition is revised and updated and includes a new preface by the author.
The Wildflower Path: from the author of the million copy bestseller, The Flowers of the Field
by Sarah HarrisonA powerful and moving tale of family, love and loyalty from the author of the million-copy bestseller THE FLOWERS OF THE FIELD and A FLOWER THAT'S FREE.'A secret from the past casts its shadow across all four generations of the family. This saga completes the Flowers Trilogy that began with million-copy bestseller THE FLOWERS OF THE FIELD followed by A FLOWER THAT'S FREE' CANDIS MAGAZINEAll families have secrets and many are taken to the grave. But those that aren't can return with devastating consequences...For Kate Drake, now a great-grandmother, marriage and family brought peace after years of restless uncertainty. Now, watching her own grown-up children, it seems the world is a no less complicated place. Stella, her fiercely independent daughter, and Will, her handsome, self-indulgent son, have challenges of their own to face, while her granddaughter, Evie, is bringing up a son on her own.But when a secret from the past casts its shadow across four generations of the family, a spoiled war veteran gets a second chance, a stubbornly independent woman opens herself to love, and an older one rediscovers it.Praise for Sarah Harrison:'Full of unforgettable people, places and passions' Woman's World 'Sarah Harrison shows herself to be more than equal to the complexities of her plot, handling its developments with impeccable timing' The Times
Wilderness and Spotsylvania 1864: Grant versus Lee in the East (Campaign #267)
by Peter Dennis Andy NunezIn May 1864 the Union Army of the Potomac under General George Meade had been in a leisurely pursuit of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia for nearly a year after the defeat of the Rebels at Gettysburg. Confederate commander General Robert E. Lee still retained his awe-inspiring reputation for wrecking Union armies that got too close to Richmond and Meade was still cautious. His tactics at Gettysburg were defensive and he was unsure that he was able to take the offensive against Lee. However, things changed when President Abraham Lincoln appointed General Ulysses S. Grant to command all Union armies. Grant came east and laid out a comprehensive strategy for the rest of the war. In the deep South, General William T. Sherman would march out of Tennessee to cut the Confederacy in half by taking Atlanta. Grant would lead the Army of the Potomac across the Rapidan River and march on Richmond. He had the manpower and equipment to accomplish his objective, easily outnumbering Lee. Lee, on the other hand, was far from beaten. The stage was set for one of the defining campaigns of the Civil War in the East.
Wilderness and Spotsylvania 1864: Grant versus Lee in the East (Campaign #267)
by Peter Dennis Andy NunezIn May 1864 the Union Army of the Potomac under General George Meade had been in a leisurely pursuit of the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia for nearly a year after the defeat of the Rebels at Gettysburg. Confederate commander General Robert E. Lee still retained his awe-inspiring reputation for wrecking Union armies that got too close to Richmond and Meade was still cautious. His tactics at Gettysburg were defensive and he was unsure that he was able to take the offensive against Lee. However, things changed when President Abraham Lincoln appointed General Ulysses S. Grant to command all Union armies. Grant came east and laid out a comprehensive strategy for the rest of the war. In the deep South, General William T. Sherman would march out of Tennessee to cut the Confederacy in half by taking Atlanta. Grant would lead the Army of the Potomac across the Rapidan River and march on Richmond. He had the manpower and equipment to accomplish his objective, easily outnumbering Lee. Lee, on the other hand, was far from beaten. The stage was set for one of the defining campaigns of the Civil War in the East.
The Wild Rose (Rose Trilogy Ser.)
by Jennifer DonnellyIt is 1914 and World War I looms over Europe. In London Seamus Finnegan – a famous polar explorer – considers settling down and taking up a prestigious position with the Royal Geographical Society. Unfortunately, despite many eager women around him, no one is able to soothe the pain left in his heart by Willa Alden, a childhood sweetheart and fellow traveller, who after an accident on mount Kilimanjaro, disappeared into the Himalayan wilderness, refusing to see Seamus ever again. Seamus' family and friends doubt that he will be able to restrain his hunger for adventure and settle into the society life again, but just as he is to sign up for another mission in Antarctica he meets Jennie Wilcott, a beautiful and spirited young teacher. The passion that sparks between them is more than a mere fling and Seamus begins to believe that he could be happy in this new life with a steady job and a cosy home to come back to. But is this newly found happiness just a trick of his heart? Will his feelings for Jennie survive Willa's unexpected return to London to attend her father's funeral? Just as the moral and emotional dilemmas caused by Willa's reappearance begin to devour Seamus' short-lived bliss, war erupts, allowing him to escape the torments of his soul in the name of fighting for his country. But in a world ploughed by war, the past keeps resurfacing in the least expected places … The Wild Rose, first published in 2011, is the last part of the acclaimed multi-generational saga by Jennifer Donnelly that began with The Tea Rose. Set against the turmoil of World War I and filled with thrilling twists and cliff-hangers The Wild Rose is a satisfying conclusion to an unforgettable trilogy.
The Wild One (Ash)
by Nick PetrieWar veteran Peter Ash tracks a murderer through the most forbidding and stark landscape he has ever encountered, in the fifth thriller from the bestselling author of The Drifter. Losing ground in his fight against his claustrophobia, ex-soldier Peter Ash has no intention of ever getting on a plane – until a grieving woman asks him to find her grandson. The boy's mother was murdered and his father, the sole suspect, has taken his son and fled to Iceland.When Peter is met at Reykjavik airport by a man from the US Embassy, he realises the powers that be don't want him in Iceland. But he isn't going home until he accomplishes his mission – even if it means incurring the wrath of his own government.Peter must confront his growing PTSD and endure a powerful snowstorm to find a killer, save a young boy and keep himself out of prison – and a cold Icelandic grave.
A Wife's Courage: The BRAND NEW Battersea saga for 2023 from the Sunday Times bestselling author
by Kitty NealeLondon, 1944. With bombs raining over London, keeping the Battersea Tavern open is no easy feat for owner Winnie Berry - but the community need the warmth and familiarity of the pub more than ever.After marriage, Maureen Fanning had moved out to Wandsworth with her bad-tempered husband Brancher. But when he loses both his job and their lodgings, the only people who will take them in are her kindly grandparents, Len and Renee. Getting a cleaning job at the Battersea Tavern is the least she can do to pay them back. It would all be fine... if it weren't for Brancher.Winnie is determined to take timid Maureen under her wing. But when tragedy strikes, it will be up to Maureen to find the strength she didn't know she possessed...
Wielding the Dagger: The MarineKorps Flandern and the German War Effort, 1914-1918 (Contributions in Military Studies)
by Mark D. KarauIn August 1914, Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz convinced the German armed forces to create a new unit, called the MarineDivision Flandern, to garrison the Belgian coastline and prepare naval bases in for the implementation of a naval guerrilla war against Great Britain. The Germans called their strategy Kleinkrieg, or little war, and they intended to whittle away at British naval superiority by using their submarines and destroyers. Later expanded into the MarineKorps, the unit soon found itself in the middle of a land war as well. What had been intended as a garrison unit found itself on the frontlines when the war stalemated.The British had traditionally seen Belgium as a dagger pointed at the throat of England, and the Royal Navy feared what use the Germans might make of the position. The result was an active naval campaign in the English Channel. Karau brings to light the contributions of the MarineKorps Flandern, a force often neglected by historians. He examines the role of the MarineKorps in both land and naval wars and reaffirms the increasingly important role played by aircraft in the Flanders theater. If Belgium was a weapon pointed at the British throat, were the Germans properly equipped to wield the dagger?
The Widow's Strike: A gripping military thriller from ex-Special Forces Commander Brad Taylor (Taskforce #4)
by Brad TaylorThe enemy you see isn't the one you should fear. A genetically manipulated disease has fallen into the wrong hands. The Taskforce – a highly classified Special Forces unit – faces their most lethal mission yet. The Black Widows, a group of female suicide terrorists known for their unrivalled kill rate, are ready to unleash it. If an infected Black Widow detonates in the US, she'll begin a global pandemic. The Taskforce now races against the clock to prevent the release of the world's deadliest, invisible army. Will they save the world, or will everything we know be destroyed? Praise for Brad Taylor: 'It's an excellent read, and I greatly enjoyed it' Nelson DeMille. 'Pike ranks right up there with Jason Bourne, Jack Reacher and Jack Bauer' John Lescroart. 'Logan is a tough, appealing hero you're sure to root for' Joseph Finder. 'Fresh plot, great actions, and Taylor clearly knows what he is writing about' Vince Flynn.
The Widow and her Hero
by Thomas KeneallyIn 1943, when Grace and Leo Waterhouse married in Australia, they were part of a young generation ready to sacrifice themselves to win the war, while being confident they would survive. Sixty years on, as Grace recounts what happened to her doomed hero, she can say what she suspected then: that for many men, bravery is its own end. The tale she tells is one of great love, lost innocence, a charismatic but unstable Irish commander, dashing undercover missions against the Japanese in Singapore, and - in her eyes - reckless, foolhardy exploits. As fresh details continue to emerge, Grace is forced to keep revising her picture of what happened to Leo and his fellow commandoes - until she learns about the final piece in the jigsaw, and an ultimate betrayal. As absorbing as it is thought-provoking, this timely novel poses unsettling questions about what drives men to battle and heroic deeds, and movingly conveys the life-long effect on those who survive them.
Wicked Problems: The Ethics of Action for Peace, Rights, and Justice
by Austin Choi-Fitzpatrick, Douglas Irvin- Erickson and Ernesto VerdejaThe ethics of changemaking and peacebuilding may appear straightforward: advance dignity, promote well-being, minimize suffering. Sounds simple, right? Actually acting ethically when it really matters is rarely straightforward. If someone engaged in change-oriented work sets out to "do good," how should we prioritize and evaluate whose good counts? And, how ought we act once we have decided whose good counts? Practitioners frequently confront dilemmas where dire situations may demand some form of response, but each of the options may have undesirable consequences of one form or another. Dilemmas are not merely ordinary problems, they are wicked problems: that is to say, they are defined by circumstances that only allow for suboptimal outcomes and are based on profound and sometimes troubling trade-offs. Wicked Problems argues that the field of peacebuilding and conflict transformation needs a stronger and more practical sense of its ethical obligations. For example, it argues against posing false binaries between domestic and international issues and against viewing violence and conflict as equivalents. It holds strategic nonviolence up to critical scrutiny and shows that "do no harm" approaches may in fact do harm. The contributors include scholars, scholar practitioners in the field, and activists on the streets, and the chapters cover the role of violence in conflict; conflict and violence prevention and resolution; humanitarianism; community organizing and racial justice; social movements; human rights advocacy; transitional justice; political reconciliation; and peace education and pedagogy, among other topics. Drawing on the lived experiences and expertise of activists, educators, and researchers, Wicked Problems equips readers to ask--and answer--difficult questions about social change work.
Wicked Problems: The Ethics of Action for Peace, Rights, and Justice
The ethics of changemaking and peacebuilding may appear straightforward: advance dignity, promote well-being, minimize suffering. Sounds simple, right? Actually acting ethically when it really matters is rarely straightforward. If someone engaged in change-oriented work sets out to "do good," how should we prioritize and evaluate whose good counts? And, how ought we act once we have decided whose good counts? Practitioners frequently confront dilemmas where dire situations may demand some form of response, but each of the options may have undesirable consequences of one form or another. Dilemmas are not merely ordinary problems, they are wicked problems: that is to say, they are defined by circumstances that only allow for suboptimal outcomes and are based on profound and sometimes troubling trade-offs. Wicked Problems argues that the field of peacebuilding and conflict transformation needs a stronger and more practical sense of its ethical obligations. For example, it argues against posing false binaries between domestic and international issues and against viewing violence and conflict as equivalents. It holds strategic nonviolence up to critical scrutiny and shows that "do no harm" approaches may in fact do harm. The contributors include scholars, scholar practitioners in the field, and activists on the streets, and the chapters cover the role of violence in conflict; conflict and violence prevention and resolution; humanitarianism; community organizing and racial justice; social movements; human rights advocacy; transitional justice; political reconciliation; and peace education and pedagogy, among other topics. Drawing on the lived experiences and expertise of activists, educators, and researchers, Wicked Problems equips readers to ask--and answer--difficult questions about social change work.
Wicked Nights (Angels of the Dark #1)
by Gena ShowalterLeader of the most powerful army in the heavens, dark angel Zacharel has been deemed too dangerous, too ruthless – and if he isn’t careful, he’ll lose his wings. But this warrior will not be deterred…until vulnerable mortal Annabelle tempts him. Accused of a crime she did not commit, Annabelle has been imprisoned for four years.
Wicked Loving Lies (Mira Ser.)
by Rosemary RogersBorn of scandal and denied his birthright, Dominic Challenger took to the sea, charting his own future. A true rogue, Dominic answers to no one, trusting only himself. Until Marisa.
Wicked Game (Robert Finlay #1)
by Matt Johnson2001. Age is catching up with Robert Finlay, a police officer on the Royalty Protection team based in London. He’s looking forward to returning to uniform policing and a less stressful life with his new family. But fate has other plans. Finlay’s deeply traumatic, carefully concealed past is about to return to haunt him. A policeman is killed by a bomb blast, and a second is gunned down in his own driveway. Both of the murdered men were former Army colleagues from Finlay’s own SAS regiment, and in a series of explosive events, it becomes clear that he is not the ordinary man that his colleagues, friends and new family think he is. And so begins a game of cat and mouse – a wicked game – in which Finlay is the target, forced to test his long-buried skills in a fight against a determined and unidentified enemy.Wicked Game is a taut, action-packed, emotive thriller about a man who might be your neighbour, a man who is forced to confront his past in order to face a threat that may wipe out his future, a man who is willing to do anything to protect the people he loves. But is it too late?'On every page tension is carefully built, as a portentous revelation is offered or a memory smothered. Johnson litters his tale with the plotting equivalent of incendiaries: cops we don’t quite trust, a career that came abruptly to an end, a secret needing to be kept … Gripping stuff’ New Welsh Review'Terse, tense and vivid writing. Matt Johnson is a brilliant new name in the world of thrillers. And he's going to be a big name’ Peter James‘From the first page to the last, an authentic, magnetic and completely absorbing read’ Sir Ranulph Fiennes‘A barnstormer of a book … Nothing is clear-cut in a labyrinthine plot which is gripping and which – despite thrills and spills aplenty – never falls short of believable’ David Young, author of Stasi Child
Why Would A Dog Need A Parachute? Questions and answers about the Second World War: Published in Association with Imperial War Museums
by Jo FosterWhy did the Second World War start? Who had the best weapons? Why were there no bananas? What was Shanks's pony? Why was food rationed? Could you still buy sweets? Why were spies important? Why should you keep ‘mum’? Why did it go on so long? How did it end? Find out the answers to these and a lot of other exciting questions in this brilliantly informative book which will tell you everything you ever needed to know about World War II. The Imperial War Museum was founded in 1917 to collect and display material relating to the ‘Great War’, which was still being fought. Today IWM is unique in its coverage of conflicts, especially those involving Britain and the Commonwealth, from the First World War to the present. They seek to provide for, and to encourage, the study and understanding of the history of modern war and wartime experience.
Why We Fight: The Roots of War and the Paths to Peace
by Christopher BlattmanWhy do human beings fight one another?In this exhilarating and bracing book, we learn the common logic driving vainglorious monarchs, dictators, mobs, pilots, football hooligans, ancient peoples and fanatics.Distilling decades of economics, political science, psychology and real-world interventions, and through his time studying Columbia, Chicago, Liberia and Northern Ireland, Christopher Blattman lifts the lid on the underlying forces governing war and peace.Why did Russia attack Ukraine? Will China invade Taiwan and launch WWIII? And what can any of us do about it?'Captivating and intelligent' Tim Harford'Wise, intriguing, imaginative' Rory Stewart'Nothing could be more relevant today than war and peace . . . an outstanding and original book on this topic' Martin Wolf, Financial Times'Important, readable, radical' David Miliband'A great storyteller with important insights for us all' Richard Thaler, co-author of Nudge'Essential for understanding the world we live in today' James A. Robinson, co-author of Why Nations Fail
Why We Fight
by Mike Martin"Why are we willing to die for our countries? How can ideology persuade someone to blow themselves up? When we go to war, morality, religion and ideology often take the blame. But Mike Martin boldly argues that the opposite is true: rather than driving violence, these things help to reduce it. While we resort to ideas and values to justify or interpret warfare, something else is really propelling us towards conflict: our subconscious desires, shaped by millions of years of evolution.
Why War?: The Cultural Logic of Iraq, the Gulf War, and Suez
by Philip SmithWhy did America invade Iraq? Why do nations choose to fight certain wars and not others? How do we bring ourselves to believe that the sacrifice of our troops is acceptable? For most, the answers to these questions are tied to struggles for power or resources and the machinations of particular interest groups. Philip Smith argues that this realist answer to the age-old "why war?" question is insufficient. Instead, Smith suggests that every war has its roots in the ways we tell and interpret stories. Comprised of case studies of the War in Iraq, the Gulf War, and the Suez Crisis, Why War? decodes the cultural logic of the narratives that justify military action. Each nation, Smith argues, makes use of binary codes—good and evil, sacred and profane, rational and irrational, to name a few. These codes, in the hands of political leaders, activists, and the media, are deployed within four different types of narratives—mundane, tragic, romantic, or apocalyptic. With this cultural system, Smith is able to radically recast our "war stories" and show how nations can have vastly different understandings of crises as each identifies the relevant protagonists and antagonists, objects of struggle, and threats and dangers. The large-scale sacrifice of human lives necessary in modern war, according to Smith, requires an apocalyptic vision of world events. In the case of the War in Iraq, for example, he argues that the United States and Britain replicated a narrative of impending global doom from the Gulf War. But in their apocalyptic account they mistakenly made the now seemingly toothless Saddam Hussein once again a symbol of evil by writing him into the story alongside al Qaeda, resulting in the war's contestation in the United States, Britain, and abroad. Offering an innovative approach to understanding how major wars are packaged, sold, and understood, Why War? will be applauded by anyone with an interest in military history, political science, cultural studies, and communication.
Why War?: The Cultural Logic of Iraq, the Gulf War, and Suez
by Philip SmithWhy did America invade Iraq? Why do nations choose to fight certain wars and not others? How do we bring ourselves to believe that the sacrifice of our troops is acceptable? For most, the answers to these questions are tied to struggles for power or resources and the machinations of particular interest groups. Philip Smith argues that this realist answer to the age-old "why war?" question is insufficient. Instead, Smith suggests that every war has its roots in the ways we tell and interpret stories. Comprised of case studies of the War in Iraq, the Gulf War, and the Suez Crisis, Why War? decodes the cultural logic of the narratives that justify military action. Each nation, Smith argues, makes use of binary codes—good and evil, sacred and profane, rational and irrational, to name a few. These codes, in the hands of political leaders, activists, and the media, are deployed within four different types of narratives—mundane, tragic, romantic, or apocalyptic. With this cultural system, Smith is able to radically recast our "war stories" and show how nations can have vastly different understandings of crises as each identifies the relevant protagonists and antagonists, objects of struggle, and threats and dangers. The large-scale sacrifice of human lives necessary in modern war, according to Smith, requires an apocalyptic vision of world events. In the case of the War in Iraq, for example, he argues that the United States and Britain replicated a narrative of impending global doom from the Gulf War. But in their apocalyptic account they mistakenly made the now seemingly toothless Saddam Hussein once again a symbol of evil by writing him into the story alongside al Qaeda, resulting in the war's contestation in the United States, Britain, and abroad. Offering an innovative approach to understanding how major wars are packaged, sold, and understood, Why War? will be applauded by anyone with an interest in military history, political science, cultural studies, and communication.
Why They Die: Civilian Devastation in Violent Conflict
by Daniel Rothbart Karina KorostelinaWhy do civilians suffer most during times of violent conflict? Why are civilian fatalities as much as eight times higher, calculated globally for current conflicts, than military fatalities? In Why They Die, Daniel Rothbart and Karina V. Korostelina address these questions through a systematic study of civilian devastation in violent conflicts. Pushing aside the simplistic definition of war as a guns-and-blood battle between two militant groups, the authors investigate the identity politics underlying conflicts of many types. During a conflict, all those on the opposite side are perceived as the enemy, with little distinction between soldiers and civilians. As a result, random atrocities and systematic violence against civilian populations become acceptable. Rothbart and Korostelina devote the first half of the book to case studies: deportation of the Crimean Tatars from the Ukraine, genocide in Rwanda, the Lebanon War, and the war in Iraq. With the second half, they present new methodological tools for understanding different types of violent conflict and discuss the implications of these tools for conflict resolution.
Why the Whales Came
by Michael MorpurgoAn exciting historical adventure from War Horse author and former Children's Laureate Michael Morpurgo.