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Violence All Around
by John SiftonA human rights lawyer travels to hot zones around the globe before and after 9/11 to document abuses by warlords, terrorists, and counterterrorism forces. John Sifton reminds us that human rights advocates can only shame the world into better behavior; to invoke rights is to invoke the force to uphold them, including the very violence they deplore.
Under the Drones: Modern Lives In The Afghanistan-pakistan Borderlands
by Shahzad Bashir Robert D CrewsWestern media coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan paints a simplistic picture of ageless barbarity, terrorist safe havens, and peoples in need of either punishment or salvation. Under the Drones looks beyond this limiting view to investigate real people on the ground, and analyze the political, social, and economic forces that shape their lives.
The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution
by Bernard BailynTo the original text of what has become a classic of American historical literature, Bernard Bailyn adds a substantial essay, "Fulfillment," as a Postscript. Here he discusses the intense, nation-wide debate on the ratification of the Constitution, stressing the continuities between that struggle over the foundations of the national government and the original principles of the Revolution. This detailed study of the persistence of the nation's ideological origins adds a new dimension to the book and projects its meaning forward into vital current concerns.
A Land of Aching Hearts: The Middle East in the Great War
by Leila Tarazi FawazA century after the Great War, the experiences of civilians and soldiers in the Middle East during those years have faded from memory. A Land of Aching Hearts traverses ethnic, class, and national borders to recover the personal stories of those who endured this cataclysmic event, and their profound sense of sacrifices made in vain.
Coup d'État: A Practical Handbook, Revised Edition
by Edward N. LuttwakEdward Luttwak’s shocking 1968 handbook showed, step-by-step, how governments could be overthrown and inspired anti-coup precautions around the world. In addition to these instructions, his revised handbook offers a new way of looking at political power—one that considers the vulnerability of stable democracies after prolonged economic distress.
Evil Men
by James DawesA searching meditation on our all-too-human capacity for inhumanity, Evil Men confronts atrocity head-on—how it looks and feels, what motivates it, how it can be stopped. James Dawes’s unflinchingly honest account, drawing on firsthand interviews, is not just about the things Japanese war criminals did, but about what it means to befriend them.
Napalm: An American Biography
by Robert M. NeerNapalm was invented on Valentine’s Day 1942 at a secret Harvard war research laboratory. It created an inferno that killed over 87,500 people in Tokyo—more than died in the atomic explosions at Hiroshima or Nagasaki—and went on to incinerate 64 Japanese cities. The Bomb got the press, but napalm did the work. Robert Neer offers the first history.
Elusive Alliance: The German Occupation of Poland in World War I
by Jesse KauffmanJesse Kauffman explains why Germany’s ambitious attempt at nation-building in Poland during WWI failed. The educational and political institutions Germany built for its satellite state could not alleviate Poland’s hostility to the plundering of its resources to fuel Germany’s war effort.
The English Conquest of Jamaica: Oliver Cromwell’s Bid for Empire
by Carla Gardina PestanaLong before sugar and slaves made Jamaica Britain’s most valuable colony, its conquest sparked conflicts with European powers and opened vast tropical spaces to English exploitation. Carla Gardina Pestana captures the moment when Cromwell’s plan to take Spain’s American empire altered his revolutionary state’s engagement with the wider world.
Empire of Chance: The Napoleonic Wars And The Disorder Of Things
by Anders Engberg-PedersenAnders Engberg-Pedersen shows how the Napoleonic Wars inspired a new discourse on knowledge in the West. Soldiers returning from battle were forced to reconsider what it is possible to know and how decisions are made in a fog of imperfect knowledge. Chance no longer appeared exceptional but normative—a prism for understanding the modern world.
The War Within: Diaries From The Siege Of Leningrad
by Alexis PeriThe German blockade of Leningrad lasted 872 days and cost almost a million civilian lives—one of the longest, deadliest sieges in modern history. Drawing on 125 unpublished diaries written by individuals from all walks of life, Alexis Peri tells the tragic, intimate story of how citizens struggled to make sense of a world collapsing around them.
America's War on Terror (PDF)
by Patrick Hayden Tom Lansford Robert P. Watson9/11 has become more than a date. It has become a noun, an idea shaped and moulded by the media and the American political establishment and the rationale for the subsequent "War on Terror". But what are the real factors that have motivated the world's sole remaining superpower to engage in a permanent war declared on an often elusive and abstract enemy and risk the very relationships that have augmented that global status? While the tragic events of the 11th of September 2001 caused a sea-change in the perception and realities of American security interests and its ability to project a foreign policy agenda, simplistic views that the resulting "War on Terror" is merely "reactionary warfaring" no longer carry any credibility. To fully understand the direction of contemporary US foreign policy requires a detailed understanding of the complex political, historical and personal processes which influence America's new sense of itself and its view of the world. Written by a collection of leading analysts in the field, "America's War on Terror" sheds new light on the causes of the war on terror, the domestic and foreign policy implications and the forthcoming challenges for the United States and the global community.
Theodore Roosevelt
by Theodore RooseveltThe firsthand account of the life of adventurer, scholar, war hero, and twenty-sixth president of the United States Theodore Roosevelt.There must be the keenest sense of duty, and with it must go the joy of living. Here, in his own words, Theodore Roosevelt recounts his remarkable journey from a childhood plagued with illnesses to the US presidency and beyond. With candor and vivid detail, this personal account describes a life guided by a restless intelligence, a love for adventure, and an unflagging duty to his country. Roosevelt sheds light on his wide array of roles, from New York police commissioner, where he waged a battle against corruption, to cattle rancher in the Dakotas to assistant secretary of the US Navy under William McKinley to leader of the legendary Rough Riders at the outbreak of the Spanish–American War, when he led the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry to victory in the Battle of San Juan Hill. These extraordinary accomplishments earned Roosevelt national fame and set the stage for his ascent to the White House. As twenty-sixth president of the United States, he ushered in the Progressive Era with his domestic policies, such as the Square Deal, and trust-busting of monopolies, such as Standard Oil. He was a war hero, scholar, statesman, adventurer, and Nobel Peace Prize winner. Theodore Roosevelt: An Autobiography provides unique insight into the truly remarkable life of one of America’s most beloved presidents. This ebook has been professionally proofread to ensure accuracy and readability on all devices.
Coping with Hunger and Shortage under German Occupation in World War II (PDF)
by Tatjana Tönsmeyer Peter Haslinger Agnes LabaThis volume demonstrates how German expansion in the Second World War II led to shortages, of food and other necessities including medicine, for the occupied populations, causing many to die from severe hunger or starvation. While the various chapters look at a range of topics, the main focus is on the experiences of ordinary people under occupation; their everyday life, and how this quickly became dominated by the search for supplies and different strategies to fight scarcity. The book discusses various such strategies for surviving increasingly catastrophic circumstances, ranging from how people dealt with rationing systems, to the use of substitute products and recycling, barter, black-marketeering and smuggling, and even survival prostitution. In addressing examples from Norway to Greece and from France to Russia, this volume offers the first pan-European perspective on the history of shortage, malnutrition and hunger resulting from the war, occupation, and aggressive German exploitation policies.
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.
Pandora’s Box: A History of the First World War
by Jörn LeonhardIn this monumental history of the First World War, Germany’s leading historian of the twentieth century’s first great catastrophe explains the war’s origins, course, and consequences. With an unrivaled combination of depth and global reach, Pandora’s Box reveals how profoundly the war shaped the world to come. Jörn Leonhard treats the clash of arms with a sure feel for grand strategy, the everyday tactics of dynamic movement and slow attrition, the race for ever more destructive technologies, and the grim experiences of frontline soldiers. But the war was much more than a military conflict, or an exclusively European one. Leonhard renders the perspectives of leaders, intellectuals, artists, and ordinary men and women on diverse home fronts as they grappled with the urgency of the moment and the rise of unprecedented political and social pressures. And he shows how the entire world came out of the war utterly changed. Postwar treaties and economic turbulence transformed geopolitics. Old empires disappeared or confronted harsh new constraints, while emerging countries struggled to find their place in an age of instability. At the same time, sparked and fueled by the shock and suffering of war, radical ideologies in Europe and around the globe swept away orders that had seemed permanent, to establish new relationships among elites, masses, and the state. Heralded on its publication in Germany as a masterpiece of historical narrative and analysis, Pandora’s Box makes clear just what dangers were released when the guns first fired in the summer of 1914.
Somme: Into The Breach
by Hugh Sebag-MontefioreRescuing from history the heroes on the front line whose bravery has been overlooked, and giving voice to their bereaved relatives at home, Hugh Sebag-Montefiore reveals the Battle of the Somme in all its glory and misery, helping us to realize that there are many meaningful ways to define a battle when seen through the eyes of those who lived it.
Preparing for War: The Emergence Of The Modern U.s. Army, 1815-1917
by J. P. ClarkThe U.S. Army has always regarded preparing for war as its peacetime role, but how it fulfilled that duty has changed dramatically between the War of 1812 and World War I. J. P. Clark shows how differing personal experiences of war and peace among successive generations of professional soldiers left their mark upon the Army and its ways.
Economics and Modern Warfare (PDF)
by Michael TaillardThis book demonstrates how economic tools have been used throughout history to accomplish goals of military conflict, how they can be used more effectively than traditional means of warfare in the modern era, and how we can derive a better understanding of economic strategy applicable not just to the military but also to market competition. This new edition includes a thorough updating of chapters on advances in our understanding of economic warfare and more recent examples, such as ISIS’s reliance on obtaining control over oil production facilities, North Korea’s nuclear program, and China’s emphasis on scientific research and technological innovation. This edition also features an entirely new chapter on the commercialization of the conflict over the region of Kashmir.
Nemesis: Alcibiades and the Fall of Athens
by David StuttardAlcibiades was one of the most dazzling figures of the Golden Age of Athens. A ward of Pericles and a friend of Socrates, he was spectacularly rich, bewitchingly handsome and charismatic, a skilled general, and a ruthless politician. He was also a serial traitor, infamous for his dizzying changes of loyalty in the Peloponnesian War. Nemesis tells the story of this extraordinary life and the turbulent world that Alcibiades set out to conquer. David Stuttard recreates ancient Athens at the height of its glory as he follows Alcibiades from childhood to political power. Outraged by Alcibiades’ celebrity lifestyle, his enemies sought every chance to undermine him. Eventually, facing a capital charge of impiety, Alcibiades escaped to the enemy, Sparta. There he traded military intelligence for safety until, suspected of seducing a Spartan queen, he was forced to flee again—this time to Greece’s long-term foes, the Persians. Miraculously, though, he engineered a recall to Athens as Supreme Commander, but—suffering a reversal—he took flight to Thrace, where he lived as a warlord. At last in Anatolia, tracked by his enemies, he died naked and alone in a hail of arrows. As he follows Alcibiades’ journeys crisscrossing the Mediterranean from mainland Greece to Syracuse, Sardis, and Byzantium, Stuttard weaves together the threads of Alcibiades’ adventures against a backdrop of cultural splendor and international chaos. Navigating often contradictory evidence, Nemesis provides a coherent and spellbinding account of a life that has gripped historians, storytellers, and artists for more than two thousand years.
The French Resistance
by Olivier WieviorkaOlivier Wieviorka’s history of the French Resistance debunks lingering myths and offers fresh insight into social, political, and military aspects of its operation. He reveals not one but many interlocking homegrown groups often at odds over goals, methods, and leadership. Yet, despite a lack of unity, these fighters braved Nazism without blinking.
The Politics of Mourning: Death And Honor In Arlington National Cemetery
by Micki McElyaArlington National Cemetery is America’s most sacred shrine, a destination for four million visitors who each year tour its grounds and honor those buried there. For many, Arlington’s symbolic importance places it beyond politics. Yet as Micki McElya shows, no site in the United States plays a more political role in shaping national identity.
Anglo-Australian Naval Relations, 1945–1975 (PDF)
by Mark GjessingThis book examines Anglo-Australian naval relations between 1945-75, a period of great change for both Australia and Great Britain and their respective navies. It explores the cultural and historical ties between the Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), the efficacy of communications between the services, and the importance of personal relations to the overall inter-service relationship. The author assesses the dilemmas faced by Great Britain associated with that nation’s declining power, and the impact of the retreat from ‘East of Suez’ on the strategic relationship between the United Kingdom and Australia. The book also considers operational co-operation between the Royal Navy and the RAN including conflicts such as the Korean War, the Malayan Emergency, and confrontation with Indonesia, as well as peacetime pursuits such as port visits and the testing of atomic weapons in the 1950s. Co-operation in matters of personnel and training are also dealt with in great detail, along with the co-operation between the Royal Navy and the RAN in equipment procurement and design and the increased ability of the RAN to look to non-British sources for equipment procurement. The book considers the impact of stronger Australian-American ties on the RAN and appraises the role it played in the conflict in Vietnam.
Anglo-Australian Naval Relations, 1945–1975: A More Independent Service
by Mark GjessingThis book examines Anglo-Australian naval relations between 1945-75, a period of great change for both Australia and Great Britain and their respective navies. It explores the cultural and historical ties between the Royal Navy and the Royal Australian Navy (RAN), the efficacy of communications between the services, and the importance of personal relations to the overall inter-service relationship. The author assesses the dilemmas faced by Great Britain associated with that nation’s declining power, and the impact of the retreat from ‘East of Suez’ on the strategic relationship between the United Kingdom and Australia. The book also considers operational co-operation between the Royal Navy and the RAN including conflicts such as the Korean War, the Malayan Emergency, and confrontation with Indonesia, as well as peacetime pursuits such as port visits and the testing of atomic weapons in the 1950s. Co-operation in matters of personnel and training are also dealt with in great detail, along with the co-operation between the Royal Navy and the RAN in equipment procurement and design and the increased ability of the RAN to look to non-British sources for equipment procurement. The book considers the impact of stronger Australian-American ties on the RAN and appraises the role it played in the conflict in Vietnam.
German Colonial Wars and the Context of Military Violence
by Susanne KussSome historians have traced a line from Germany’s atrocities in its colonial wars to those committed by the Nazis during WWII. Susanne Kuss dismantles these claims, rejecting the notion that a distinctive military ethos or policy of genocide guided Germany’s conduct of operations in Africa and China, despite acts of unquestionable brutality.