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Almost A Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence
by John FerlingIn this gripping chronicle of America's struggle for independence, award-winning historian John Ferling transports readers to the grim realities of that war, capturing an eight-year conflict filled with heroism, suffering, cowardice, betrayal, and fierce dedication. As Ferling demonstrates, it was a war that America came much closer to losing than is now usually remembered. General George Washington put it best when he said that the American victory was "little short of a standing miracle." Almost a Miracle offers an illuminating portrait of America's triumph, offering vivid descriptions of all the major engagements, from the first shots fired on Lexington Green to the surrender of General Cornwallis at Yorktown, revealing how these battles often hinged on intangibles such as leadership under fire, heroism, good fortune, blunders, tenacity, and surprise. Ferling paints sharp-eyed portraits of the key figures in the war, including General Washington and other American officers and civilian leaders. Some do not always measure up to their iconic reputations, including Washington himself. The book also examines the many faceless men who soldiered, often for years on end, braving untold dangers and enduring abounding miseries. The author explains why they served and sacrificed, and sees them as the forgotten heroes who won American independence.
Alone at Dawn: Medal of Honor Recipient John Chapman and the Untold Story of the World's Deadliest Special Operations Force
by Dan Schilling Lori LongfritzThe New York Times bestselling true account of John Chapman, Medal of Honor recipient and Special Ops Combat Controller, and his heroic one-man stand during the Afghan War, as he sacrificed his life to save the lives of twenty-three comrades-in-arms.In the predawn hours of March 4, 2002, just below the 10,469-foot peak of a mountain in eastern Afghanistan, a fierce battle raged. Outnumbered by Al Qaeda fighters, Air Force Combat Controller John Chapman and a handful of Navy SEALs struggled to take the summit in a desperate bid to find a lost teammate.Chapman, leading the charge, was gravely wounded in the initial assault. Believing he was dead, his SEAL leader ordered a retreat. Chapman regained consciousness alone, with the enemy closing in on three sides.John Chapman's subsequent display of incredible valor -- first saving the lives of his SEAL teammates and then, knowing he was mortally wounded, single-handedly engaging two dozen hardened fighters to save the lives of an incoming rescue squad -- posthumously earned him the Medal of Honor. Chapman is the first airman in nearly fifty years to be given the distinction reserved for America's greatest heroes.Alone at Dawn is also a behind-the-scenes look at the Air Force Combat Controllers: the world's deadliest and most versatile special operations force, whose members must not only exceed the qualifications of Navy SEAL and Army Delta Force teams but also act with sharp decisiveness and deft precision -- even in the face of life-threatening danger.Drawing from firsthand accounts, classified documents, dramatic video footage, and extensive interviews with leaders and survivors of the operation, Alone at Dawn is the story of an extraordinary man's brave last stand and the brotherhood that forged him.
Along the Infinite Sea (The Schuyler Sister Novels #3)
by Beatriz WilliamsDecadent and evocative storytelling at its very best., by New York Times bestseller, Beatriz Williams
Altered Memories of the Great War: Divergent Narratives of Britain, Australia, New Zealand and Canada (International Library of War Studies)
by Mark David SheftallThe experiences of World War I touched the lives of a generation but memories of this momentous experience vary enormously throughout the world. In Britain, there was a strong reaction against militarism but in the Dominion powers of Canada, Australia and New Zealand the response was very different. For these former colonial powers, the experience of war was largely accepted as a national rite of passage and their pride and respect for their soldiers' sacrifices found its focus in a powerful nationalist drive. How did a single, supposedly shared experience provoke such contrasting reactions? What does it reveal about earlier, pre-existing ideas of national identity? And how did the memory of war influence later ideas of self-determination and nationhood?Altered Memories of the Great War is the first book to compare the distinctive collective narratives that emerged within Britain and the Dominions in response to World War I. Britain, Canada, Australia and New Zealand endured equally grim experiences on the battlefield and all experienced major social upheaval as a result of the war. So why did Canadians, Australians and New Zealanders typically reject the more bitter representations of the war that so many people in Great Britain found compelling? During the inter-war years, men and women throughout the Empire struggled to come to terms with the huge losses of the Great War. Mark Sheftall explores how different communities re-imagined the experiences of war to form a collective memory which reflected the dominant opinion, although clearly not every individual conformed to the same views. This collective memory, he argues, can only be understood by exploring how new responses to the unprecedented experience of the conflict were shaped by long-standing conceptions of identity. Altered Memories of the Great War powerfully illuminates the differences as well as the similarities between different memories of war and offers fascinating insights into what this reveals about developing concepts of national identity in the aftermath of World War I.
Altered State
by Don PendletonKabul, Afghanistan, remains a front line within a bureaucratic civil war, where spooks, soldiers, fanatics and narcotics collide in profit and death. Added to the mix are rumors of a heroin operation now run by America's largest and most respected private security firm.
Alternative Conventional Defense Postures In The European Theater: Military Alternatives for Europe after the Cold War
by Hans G. Brauch Robert F. Jr. KennedyFirst published in 1993. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
Alternative Conventional Defense Postures In The European Theater: Military Alternatives for Europe after the Cold War (Alternative Conventional Defense Postures In The European Theater Ser.)
by Hans Günter Brauch Robert KennedyFirst published in 1993. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
Alternative Defence Policy (Routledge Library Editions: International Security Studies #1)
by Gordon BurtThis book, first published in 1988, represents a unique attempt to combine a discussion of an alternative British defence policy in terms of military strategy and new technology, with a consideration of how this policy might be secure in political terms. Written against a background of a possible future Labour government in the late 1980s with a radically different defence policy to the Conservative Government of the day, it considers questions such as: Would conventional deterrence really be effective? Just what is the Labour Party’s defence policy? How precisely might Britain be transformed into a non-aligned, non-militarist state?
Alternative Defence Policy (Routledge Library Editions: International Security Studies #1)
by Gordon BurtThis book, first published in 1988, represents a unique attempt to combine a discussion of an alternative British defence policy in terms of military strategy and new technology, with a consideration of how this policy might be secure in political terms. Written against a background of a possible future Labour government in the late 1980s with a radically different defence policy to the Conservative Government of the day, it considers questions such as: Would conventional deterrence really be effective? Just what is the Labour Party’s defence policy? How precisely might Britain be transformed into a non-aligned, non-militarist state?
Alternatives to Appeasement: Neville Chamberlain and Hitler's Germany
by Andrew David StedmanNeville Chamberlain's policy of appeasing Hitler's Germany has been widely condemned. However, historians (and politicians) have been divided about the viability of alternative courses of action. Andrew David Stedman here charts the origins, development and viability of the various alternatives to Chamberlain's policy of appeasement. Using a wide range of sources, many previously unpublished, he provides a fascinating study of British foreign policy before World War II, surveying the main advocates of the other strategies available and outlining the complexities of each rival option. Providing a valuable new contribution to appeasement historiography, this is the first work to offer a comprehensive synthesis of all the alternatives available to Chamberlain, as well as to illuminate the policy debate within Government itself. Stedman provides a unique analysis of how realistic Chamberlain deemed each policy to be, as well as a bold assessment of strengths and weaknesses.Stedman asserts that it was understandable that Chamberlain rejected the other policies he had available to him and that, contrary to popular belief, Chamberlain did in fact consider and explore each alternative as part of his wider strategy and his foreign policy often contained elements of the rival options. Ultimately, this book shows that none of the alternatives would have maintained a lasting peace in the troubled conditions of the 1930s. Although some might have affected the favourability, timing and circumstances of conflict, war could not have been avoided given the rapid rise of Hitler and Nazi Germany. Also contributing to debates on the use of appeasement in the modern world, this book will be essential reading for historians of World War II and the twentieth century, as well as scholars of International Relations.
Always a Marine: The Return to Civvy Street
by Steven PreeceIn Amongst the Marines, Steven Preece vividly depicted his excessive, violent lifestyle as an elite Royal Marine Commando. Now Always a Marine covers the author's struggle to leave that lifestyle behind following his departure from the service. Back on civvy street for the first time in over seven years, Preece finds it extremely difficult to adapt and struggles to shake off the belligerent mentality he developed while in the Marines. Despite these difficulties, he marries and starts a family, but this positive change is not enough to turn his life around. Preece soon discovers that his tendency towards violence will not be tolerated in the civilian workplace and, after finding himself blacklisted by many companies in his area, he is forced to look for employment abroad. This quest for work takes Preece to France, where he is caught up in a hotel fire; Germany, where he is double-crossed out of his job and later teams up with an ex-SAS trooper; Morocco, where an incident lands him in jail and he is later shot at by border police; and Thailand, where he fights in a boxing ring with a former French Legionnaire and gets caught up in a business scam.Having settled back in the UK, Preece's behaviour remains excessive. He severely injures his head and suffers minor brain damage after a heavy-drinking session. Upon recovering, he looks for something else to believe in and begins training in ninjutsu, the martial art of the ninjas, who view aggression as a sign of weakness. This, combined with the love of his family, finally enables him to put his past behind him. Always a Marine is the action-packed, often shocking account of one ex-Marine's 13-year struggle to control the aggression he learnt as a serviceman in order to become a respectable civilian.
Always By My Side: Losing the love of my life and the fight to honour his memory
by Christina SchmidA LOVE LOST.A LIFE CUT SHORT.'From the moment I set eyes on him I adored him. The connection between us was so strong it went beyond everything else. His job, my job, his lifestyle, my lifestyle. All that fell away.'And then one earth-shattering day Christina's worst nightmare came true when Oz was killed on his final day of duty before flying home to his family.This is Christina and Oz's story: a story about love and loss, hope and despair and of living in constant fear. Christina's extraordinary bravery and composure is an inspiration to anyone who has ever lost someone they love.
Amanda’s Wedding: A Novel
by Jenny ColganA deliciously warm novel from the best-selling author of Meet Me At The Cupcake Cafe and The Loveliest Chocolate Shop in Paris.
Amateur Soldiers, Global Wars: Insurgency and Modern Conflict (Praeger Security International)
by Michael C. FowlerTransnational politics, modern communications, and access to the tools of warfare have combined to give political movements the ability to wage global war to promote their own agendas, a development that has changed the face of both politics and warfare. Fowler examines current aspects of conducting war, including mobilization, funding, training, fighting, and intelligence to demonstrate how they are accessible to anyone and are well-suited to waging insurgency efforts in many places around the world. Such efforts force governments to deal with unforeseen enemies who violently advance their agendas in a quest for increased power and authority.Because global insurgents, such as al Qaeda, build more direct connections between politics and the use of force, confronting them requires solutions that emphasize politics as much as the use of force. National governments must unite to seek cooperative solutions to issues that affect them. The implications of the adoption of such strategies by groups with varied agendas will undoubtedly change foreign policy planning for decades to come.
Amateurtheaterprojekte zu Holocaust und Nationalsozialismus: Eine qualitative Studie zur Erinnerungskultur im 21. Jahrhundert (Holocaust Education – Historisches Lernen – Menschenrechtsbildung)
by Lisa SchwendemannIn diesem Buch wird das Rezeptionsverhalten von Zuschauer(inne)n erforscht, welche Amateurtheaterprojekte zu ‚Holocaust und Nationalsozialismus‘ besuchen. Die Studie ist qualitativ angelegt, indem Interviews mit Hilfe der Grounded Theory ausgewertet werden. Es wird der Frage nachgegangen, welcher Personenkreis von Amateurtheaterprojekten angesprochen wird, wie diese Projekte von den Theaterbesucher(inne)n wahrgenommen werden und welche Wirkungen die Rezipient(inn)en während und nach dem Theaterbesuch an sich feststellen. Es kann herausgearbeitet werden, dass die in dieser Arbeit untersuchten Projekte eine intellektuelle Auseinandersetzung mit ‚schwieriger‘ Geschichte fokussieren. Die in den Amateurtheaterprojekten gewählte theatrale Darstellungsweise spricht tendenziell ein ‚bildungsnahes‘ Publikum an, das bereits über Vorwissen zur Thematik verfügt und bereit ist, sich während und nach dem Theaterbesuch aktiv mit ‚Holocaust und Nationalsozialismus‘ auseinanderzusetzen. Hierzu hat die Autorin ein Rezeptionsmodell herausgearbeitet, das die intellektuelle Auseinandersetzung mit ‚schwieriger‘ Geschichte umfasst.
The Amazing Story Of Adolphus Tips
by Michael Morpurgo Michael ForemanA heart-warming tale of courage and warmth, set against the backdrop of the second world war, about an abandoned village, a lifelong friendship and one very adventurous cat!'Classic Morpurgo brilliance' - Publishing News "Something's up. Something big too, very big. At school, in the village, whoever you meet, it's all anyone talks about. It's like a sudden curse has come down on us all. It makes me wonder if we'll ever see the sun again. " It's 1943, and Lily Tregenze lives on a farm, in the idyllic seaside village of Slapton. Apart from her father being away, and the 'townie' evacuees at school, her life is scarcely touched by the war. Until one day, Lily and her family, along with 3000 other villagers, are told to move out of their homes - lock, stock and barrel. Soon, the whole area is out of bounds, as the Allied forces practise their landings for D-day, preparing to invade France. But Tips, Lily's adored cat, has other ideas - barbed wire and keep-out signs mean nothing to her, nor does the danger of guns and bombs. Frantic to find her, Lily makes friends with two young American soldiers, who promise to help her. But will she ever see her cat again? Lily decides to cross the wire into the danger zone to look for Tips herself. . . Now, many years later, as Michael is reading his Grandma Lily's diary, he learns about The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips - and wonders how one adventurous cat could still affect their lives sixty years later.
Amber
by Stephan CollishawDescription: Antanas is a young Lithuanian conscripted to fight in the Soviet War in Afghanistan where he falls in love with a young Afghani nurse. She opens his eyes to the politics of the war, while making bearable the brutal reality of their situation -until her sudden death sends him spiralling into a breakdown and to a psychiatric hospital back home in Vilnius. Vassily, a war comrade, rescues him and teaches him his trade -crafting amber jewellery -helping Antanas to let go of the past.But Vassily has a guilty secret -eight years later, on his deathbed, he cannot make a full confession, but charges Antanas with retrieving the priceless amber bracelet he smuggled out of Afghanistan during the war. After Antanas reluctantly agrees, he discovers not only that a dangerous rival is also searching for it, but also the terrible price Vassily paid for it. Only then can he truly make peace with the past and with his estranged wife.Praise for Amber 'Collishaw's latest evokes Hemingway's war-torn landscapes with spare language and haunting imagery... a sensuous tale of survival... an intensely moving account of this war and the scars it has left.' Good Book Guide'Gripping... A haunting and ultimately uplifting tale of love, friendship and betrayal.' Waterstones Book Quarterly'Collishaw is impressive in his descriptions of war... The struggle of a man to return from such horrors and try to live as a loving husband and father is described by him in heartbreaking detail. This is a compulsive read.' Nottingham Evening Post 'A tumultuous tale of friendship distorted by love, greed and the distorting effects of war... a captivating read.' Yorkshire Post
The Ambiguity of Virtue: Gertrude Van Tijn And The Fate Of The Dutch Jews
by Bernard WassersteinWorking with the Nazi-appointed Jewish Council in Amsterdam, Gertrude van Tijn helped many Jews escape. But she faced difficult moral choices. Some called her a heroine; others, a collaborator. Bernard Wasserstein's haunting narrative draws readers into this twilight world, to expose the terrible dilemmas confronting Jews under Nazi occupation.
The Ambiguity of Virtue: Gertrude Van Tijn And The Fate Of The Dutch Jews
by Bernard WassersteinWorking with the Nazi-appointed Jewish Council in Amsterdam, Gertrude van Tijn helped many Jews escape. But she faced difficult moral choices. Some called her a heroine; others, a collaborator. Bernard Wasserstein's haunting narrative draws readers into this twilight world, to expose the terrible dilemmas confronting Jews under Nazi occupation.
Ambon: The truth about one of the most brutal POW camps in World War II and the triumph of the Aussie spirit (Hachette Military Collec Ser.)
by Roger MaynardSurvival, heroism, courage and mateship in Ambon - a place of nightmares.In February, 1942, Ambon, an Indonesian island north of Darwin, fell to the Japanese army and the Allied forces defending it were captured. Over a thousand of these soldiers were Australian. By the end of the war, just one-third of them had survived and Ambon became a place of nightmares, one of the most notorious of all POW camps the war had seen.Many of the men captured were massacred, and of those who initially survived, many later succumbed to the sadistic brutality of the Japanese guards. Starvation also took a fearful toll, and then there were the medical 'experiments'. It was a place almost without hope for those who held on, made worse by the fact that the savagery inflicted on them wasn't limited to their captors but also came from their own. One soldier described their hopelessness towards the end with the bleak words: 'The men knew they were dying.'Yet astoundingly there were survivors and in Ambon they speak of not just the horrors, but the bravery, endurance and mateship that got them through an ordeal almost impossible to imagine.The story of Ambon is one of both the depravity and the triumph of the human spirit; it is also one that's not been widely told. Until now.
The Ambulance Drivers: Hemingway, Dos Passos, and a Friendship Made and Lost in War
by James McGrath MorrisAfter meeting for the first time on the front lines of World War I, two aspiring writers forge an intense twenty-year friendship and write some of America's greatest novels, giving voice to a "lost generation" shaken by war.Eager to find his way in life and words, John Dos Passos first witnessed the horror of trench warfare in France as a volunteer ambulance driver retrieving the dead and seriously wounded from the front line. Later in the war, he briefly met another young writer, Ernest Hemingway, who was just arriving for his service in the ambulance corps. When the war was over, both men knew they had to write about it; they had to give voice to what they felt about war and life.Their friendship and collaboration developed through the peace of the 1920s and 1930s, as Hemingway's novels soared to success while Dos Passos penned the greatest antiwar novel of his generation, Three Soldiers. In war, Hemingway found adventure, women, and a cause. Dos Passos saw only oppression and futility. Their different visions eventually turned their private friendship into a bitter public fight, fueled by money, jealousy, and lust.Rich in evocative detail--from Paris cafes to the Austrian Alps, from the streets of Pamplona to the waters of Key West--The Ambulance Drivers is a biography of a turbulent friendship between two of the century's greatest writers, and an illustration of how war both inspires and destroys, unites and divides.
Ambulance Girls At War
by Deborah BurrowsYoung Maisie Halliday has escaped the grinding poverty of the northern town where she was born to live in the glittering world of professional dancing. At the outbreak of the Second World War, she volunteers as an ambulance driver, finding joy both in helping the wounded during the Blitz and also in her friends among the other drivers in the Bloomsbury Auxiliary Ambulance Depot. Maisie is at the Cafe de Paris nightclub when it is bombed. In the chaos, she attempts to help an injured man, and by this charitable act she becomes mixed up in what may well be a murder. A series of incidents, all connected to a handsome, arrogant American, throw Maisie's life into a dangerous spin. Is anything what it seems in wartime? With one serious misjudgement, Maisie risks losing everything she holds dear...
Ambulance Girls Under Fire
by Deborah BurrowsIn times of war, how do you know who to trust?Celia Ashton has driven ambulances throughout the Blitz for the Bloomsbury Auxiliary Ambulance Depot. Cool under fire, she revels in her exciting and extremely dangerous job. When her husband, a known Nazi supporter, is released from prison, Celia refuses to return to her unhappy marriage. Instead she joins forces with Simon Levy, a man who appears to despise her, to help a young Jewish orphan. In so doing she discovers that one ruthless traitor can be more dangerous than any German bomber, and that love can cross any boundary.A heartwarming saga about a woman doing her bit for the war effort. Full of wartime adventure, romance and heartbreak, this is perfect for fans of Daisy Styles, Donna Douglas and Nancy Revell
Ambush
by Geraint Jones'A BLOODY PAGE-TURNER' Mail on SundayFor fans of Bernard Cornwell, Simon Scarrow, Ben Kane and Conn Iggulden, a spectacular debut where honour and duty, legions and tribes clash in bloody, heart-breaking glory . . . ____________ AD 9. Fifteen thousand battle-hardened Roman legionaries strike deep into dense forest. Awaiting them are deadly, hostile Germanic tribes. In a clearing they find twelve massacred and strung-up legionaries. Is this a threat, or a warning? There is just one bloodied, broken survivor. He has no idea who he is. Only that he is a soldier. And now he must fight. As the legions are mercilessly cut down, the nameless soldier joins a small band of survivors trapped in the forest. If they fight together they have a slim chance of staying alive. But whose side is the soldier on? And is it the right one?_____________'Blood and guts, but also a clever exploration of the moral ambiguity of war and loyalty to a flag' Mail on Sunday 'Gives Rome's legionaries a contemporary voice - brutal, audacious and fast paced' Anthony Riches, author of the Empire series 'Historical fiction written by a real war veteran who knows all there is to know about blood and bonding in battle. An earthy and powerful read' SportPREVIOUSLY PUBLISHED UNDER THE TITLE BLOOD FOREST