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The Adventures of Sir Samuel White Baker: Victorian Hero
by M. J. TrowSir Samuel White Baker is one of those larger-than-life heroes only the Victorians could invent. For too long, the British Empire has been denigrated and equated with arrogance at best and racial bigotry at worst. Samuel Baker transcends that. He was an explorer and naturalist, recording new species on his many travels; a big game hunter with huge expertise across continents; an engineer of skill and ingenuity; a general of ability; an administrator second to none; and an ardent opponent of African slavery. M. J. Trow, in this the first biography of Baker for twenty years, draws heavily on Bakers prolific writings to bring the extraordinary character of this Victorian adventurer and his achievements to life.
The Adventures of Thomas Williams of St. Ives, Cornwall: A Prisoner Of War In France, 1804-1814 (1901)
by Thomas WilliamsThis ebook is purpose built and is proof-read and re-type set from the original to provide an outstanding experience of reflowing text for an ebook reader. An oft-forgotten number of British sailors, soldiers and merchantmen were taken prisoner during the long years of the Napoleonic Wars. Ranging from men such as Captain Moyle Sherer, who was captured in 1813, suffering less than a year of imprisonment, to Thomas Williams, who was captured only a year into the conflict. Thomas Williams was a sailor on a merchant ship and was captured after his ship lost its convoy en route to England. Williams left his memoir of his ten years in French captivity: ranging from mistreatment at the hands of his captors to his numerous escape attempts and the various characters he fell in with. A witty reminiscence on what was clearly a dark time for him, enlivened by a good sense of humour. Title - The Adventures of Thomas Williams of St. Ives, Cornwall Sub-Title - Who was a Prisoner of War in France from March 1804 to May 1814. Author -- Thomas Williams (1787-1862) Text taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in 1901, London, by Brentford Printing & Publishing Co. Original - 88 pages. Illustrations -- 3 Illustrations.
The Aeronaut: A Steampunk Tale of World War I
by Bryan YoungAn American soldier in WWI France flies a jetpack over no man&’s land in this steampunk historical adventure of action, espionage, and romance. At the beginning of the twentieth century, Europe is in the grip of bitter and bloody war. Computational machinery has allowed great technological leaps on both sides—making trench warfare even deadlier for soldiers at the front. Some men fight to defend their homeland. But Robert Preston flees America and joins the French Army to escape heartbreak. Placed in the elite 5th Aeronautic Corps, he learns to use high-tech jetpacks to leap over trenches—and the deadly no man&’s land between them. It&’s a dangerous job with a low survival rate, but Preston is determined to make a difference. There, he meets a man he calls his best friend, and a woman he believes is the love of his life. But a top-secret mission behind enemy lines, and a heart full of jealousy, threatens to tear the three of them apart forever.
The Aesthetics of Resistance, Volume III: A Novel, Volume 3
by Peter WeissA major literary event, the publication of the final volume of Peter Weiss’s three-volume novel The Aesthetics of Resistance makes one of the towering works of twentieth-century German literature available to English-speaking readers for the first time. Weiss’s crowning achievement, The Aesthetics of Resistance spans the period from the late 1930s to the end of World War II, dramatizing antifascist resistance and the rise and fall of proletarian political parties in Europe.Volume III, initially published in 1981, teems with characters, many of whom are based on historical figures. It commences in May of 1940, as the narrator’s parents flee Nazi forces in Eastern Europe and reunite with their son in Sweden. While in Stockholm, the narrator and other Communist activists living in exile struggle to build structures in the German underground. The story then follows Communist resistance fighter Charlotte Bischoff as she is smuggled to Bremen on a freighter. In Berlin, she contacts the narrator’s friends and joins the Red Orchestra resistance group. Soon, the Gestapo cracks the underground group’s code, arrests a number of its members, and takes them to Plötzensee Prison, where most of them are executed. Featuring the narrator’s meditations on paintings, sculpture, and literature throughout, The Aesthetics of Resistance demonstrates the affinity between political resistance and art. Ultimately, Weiss argues that we must look to art for new models of political action and social understanding.
The Affair at Honey Hill
by Berry FlemingWhile Berry Fleming's interest in history has produced two books of non-fiction, one of which dealt with the Civil War (Autobiography of a City in Arms), The Affair at Honey Hill marks the first time he has used the Civil War as a setting for any of his novels. The story is presented through the eyes of Edwin Daws, a 56 year old Confederate soldier, from his present day (winter, 1864) awareness, as well as his memories, both recent and past. Assigned with his militia company, The Silver Grays, to repel an assault on the railroad leading into Savannah near Honey Hill Plantation, he recalls the month he spent there 18 years earlier, working as a scribe for the Reverend Trezevant Ferebee, and of his growing love for the Reverend's enigmatic daughter-in-law, Julia. What is to become of them now with Sherman's forces moving fast to attack the city? Where is Julia? Can he find her in all this desperate confusion and extricate her? The Affair at Honey Hill is a tight and graphic narrative of human beings--civilians and soldiers--caught in the stress of war and defeat, ripe with the sounds and smells and textures of loves and battles, of opportunities lost and gained, and of hard moral decisions.
The Affair at Néry: 1 September 1914 (Battleground Early Battles 1914)
by Patrick TakleEarly on 1 September 1914, the Germans surprised 1st Cavalry Brigade harboring in the little town of Nry. Their initial bombardment caused chaos and destruction and the British took time to organize themselves. The actions of two batteries of the Royal Horse Artillery were eventually so successful that even today there is a battery known as Nry Battery RHA. The Queens Bays a cavalry regiment, charged in classic style and the Germans, who mistakenly thought they were out numbered, withdrew with heavy casualties.Of the three VCs, two were posthumous.While a small engagement by later Great War standards, Nry is a classic case study of an artillery duel and cavalry action.
The Affair of the Brains
by Anthony GilmoreHawk Carse himself goes to keep Judd the Kite's rendezvous with the sinister genius Ku Sui.
The Affair: A Jack Reacher Novel (Jack Reacher #16)
by Lee Child#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Don&’t miss the hit streaming series Reacher! &“A veritable tour de force . . . brilliantly executed and deliciously plotted.&”—The Washington TimesEverything starts somewhere. For elite military cop Jack Reacher, that somewhere was Carter Crossing, Mississippi, way back in 1997. Reacher is ordered undercover to investigate the murder of a young woman. Evidence points to a U.S. soldier with powerful friends. Once in Carter Crossing, Reacher meets local sheriff Elizabeth Deveraux, who has a thirst for justice and an appetite for secrets. Uncertain they can trust each other, they reluctantly join forces. Reacher works to uncover the truth, while others try to bury it forever. The conspiracy threatens to shatter his faith in his mission— and turn him into a man to be feared.
The Afghan Papers: Committing Britain to War in Helmand, 2005–06 (Whitehall Papers #Vol. 77)
by Michael ClarkeIn 2006, British forces entered the Helmand Province of Afghanistan in what would become one of the defining military campaigns of the decade. At great cost in blood and treasure, the UK waged a protracted counter-insurgency against a resurgent Taliban. But how was the decision taken to commit Britain to such a difficult and drawn out campaign? The Afghan Papers is the result of private interviews with and frank contributions by some of the most important actors in the fateful decision. Former generals, politicians and civil servants contribute to an original RUSI analysis that provides a startling insight into the decision to commit the UK to a war – a decision wracked by conflict, incoherence and confusion.
The Afghanistan Papers: A Secret History of the War
by The Washington Post Craig WhitlockA Washington Post Best Book of 2021 The #1 New York Times bestselling investigative story of how three successive presidents and their military commanders deceived the public year after year about America&’s longest war, foreshadowing the Taliban&’s recapture of Afghanistan, by Washington Post reporter and three-time Pulitzer Prize finalist Craig Whitlock.Unlike the wars in Vietnam and Iraq, the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 had near-unanimous public support. At first, the goals were straightforward and clear: defeat al-Qaeda and prevent a repeat of 9/11. Yet soon after the United States and its allies removed the Taliban from power, the mission veered off course and US officials lost sight of their original objectives. Distracted by the war in Iraq, the US military become mired in an unwinnable guerrilla conflict in a country it did not understand. But no president wanted to admit failure, especially in a war that began as a just cause. Instead, the Bush, Obama, and Trump administrations sent more and more troops to Afghanistan and repeatedly said they were making progress, even though they knew there was no realistic prospect for an outright victory. Just as the Pentagon Papers changed the public&’s understanding of Vietnam, The Afghanistan Papers contains &“fast-paced and vivid&” (The New York Times Book Review) revelation after revelation from people who played a direct role in the war from leaders in the White House and the Pentagon to soldiers and aid workers on the front lines. In unvarnished language, they admit that the US government&’s strategies were a mess, that the nation-building project was a colossal failure, and that drugs and corruption gained a stranglehold over their allies in the Afghan government. All told, the account is based on interviews with more than 1,000 people who knew that the US government was presenting a distorted, and sometimes entirely fabricated, version of the facts on the ground. Documents unearthed by The Washington Post reveal that President Bush didn&’t know the name of his Afghanistan war commander—and didn&’t want to meet with him. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld admitted that he had &“no visibility into who the bad guys are.&” His successor, Robert Gates, said: &“We didn&’t know jack shit about al-Qaeda.&” The Afghanistan Papers is a &“searing indictment of the deceit, blunders, and hubris of senior military and civilian officials&” (Tom Bowman, NRP Pentagon Correspondent) that will supercharge a long-overdue reckoning over what went wrong and forever change the way the conflict is remembered.
The African Wars: Warriors and Soldiers of the Colonial Campaigns
by Chris PeersA military history of native sub-Saharan African armies during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, exploring their training, weapons, tactics and more.In The African Wars, Chris Peers provides a graphic account of several of the key campaigns fought between European powers and the native peoples of tropical and sub-tropical Africa in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. His pioneering and authoritative study describes in vivid detail the organization and training of African warriors, their weapons, their fighting methods and traditions, and their tactics. He concentrates on the campaigns mounted by the most successful African armies as they struggled to defend themselves against the European scramble for Africa. Resistance was inconsistent, but some warlike peoples fought long and hard—the Zulu victory over the British at Isandhlwana is the best known but by no means the only occasion when the Africans humiliated the colonial invaders.
The Afrika Reich: A Novel
by Guy SavilleWhat if Dunkirk had been the end of Britain's war against the Nazis?'Fatherland for an action movie age.' Daily Telegraph1952. It is more than a decade since humiliation at Dunkirk brought an end to Britain's war and the beginning of an uneasy peace with Hitler.In Africa, the swastika flies from the Sahara to the Indian Ocean. Gleaming autobahns bisect the jungle, jet fighters patrol the skies. The brutal presence of the SS is visible everywhere. Now, however, the demonic plans of Walter Hochburg - architect of Nazi Africa - threaten Britain's ailing colonies.In England, ex-mercenary Burton Cole is offered one last contract. Burton jumps at the chance to settle an old score with Hochburg, despite the protests of the woman he loves. If Burton fails, unimaginable horrors will be unleashed in Africa. No one - black or white - will be spared.But when his mission turns to disaster, Burton is forced to flee for his life. His flight takes him from the unholy killing ground of Kongo to SS slave camps and on to war-torn Angola, finally reaching its thrilling climax in a conspiracy that leads to the dark heart of the Afrika Reich itself.Guy Saville combines meticulous research with edge-of-the seat suspense to produce a superb novel of alternate history.
The After Iraq: The Imperiled American Imperium
by Charles W. Kegley Gregory A. RaymondAs the year 2001 unfolded, the United States stood at the apex of global power, possessing unrivaled military capabilities, a vibrant economy, and-most of all-great self-confidence in its sense of national security. However, after the terrorist attacks of 9/11 shattered those illusions of invincibility, the world's sole superpower embarked on a revolutionary new national strategy based on preventive uses of military force. Although this aggressive approach was formulated to enhance U.S. security, it has actually created new perils for the next generation of Americans.
The Afterdeath of the Holocaust (The Holocaust and its Contexts)
by Lawrence L. LangerThis book consists of ten essays that examine the ways in which language has been used to evoke what Lawrence L. Langer calls the ‘deathscape’ and the ‘hopescape’ of the Holocaust. The chapters in this collection probe the diverse impacts that site visits, memoirs, survivor testimonies, psychological studies, literature and art have on our response to the atrocities committed by the Germans during World War II. Langer also considers the misunderstandings caused by erroneous, embellished and sentimental accounts of the catastrophe, and explores some reasons why they continue to enter public and printed discourse with such ease.
The Aftermath
by Rhidian BrookHamburg, 1946. Thousands remain displaced in what is now the British Occupied Zone. Charged with overseeing the rebuilding of this devastated city and the de-Nazification of its defeated people, Colonel Lewis Morgan is requisitioned a fine house on the banks of the Elbe, where he will be joined by his grieving wife, Rachael, and only remaining son, Edmund. But rather than force its owners, a German widower and his traumatized daughter, to leave their home, Lewis insists that the two families live together. In this charged and claustrophobic atmosphere all must confront their true selves as enmity and grief give way to passion and betrayal. The Aftermath is a stunning novel about our fiercest loyalties, our deepest desires and the transformative power of forgiveness.
The Aftermath of Battle: The Burial of the Civil War Dead (Emerging Civil War Series)
by Meg GroelingThe stories of what happened after the shooting stopped and the process of burying bodies in the wake of Civil War carnage and chaos.The clash of armies in the American Civil War left hundreds of thousands of men dead, wounded, or permanently damaged. Skirmishes and battles could result in casualty numbers as low as one or two and as high as tens of thousands. The carnage of the battlefield left a lasting impression on those who experienced or viewed it, but in most cases the armies quickly moved on to meet again at another time and place. When the dust settled and the living armies moved on, what happened to the dead left behind? Unlike battle narratives, The Aftermath of Battle picks up the story as the battle ends.The burial of the dead was an overwhelming experience for the armies or communities forced to clean up after the destruction of battle. In the short-term action, bodies were hastily buried to avoid the stench and the horrific health concerns of massive death; in the long-term, families struggled to reclaim loved ones and properly reinter them in established cemeteries.Visitors to a battlefield often wonder what happened to the dead once the battle was over. This compelling, easy-to-read overview, enhanced with extensive photos and illustrations, provides a look at the aftermath of battle and the process of burying the Civil War dead.
The Aftermath of Dunkirk: Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives (Images of War)
by Stephen WynnOperation Dynamo, the successful evacuation of Belgian, British, Dutch, French and Polish troops from the beaches at Dunkirk between 27 May and 4 June 1940, was not only a pivotal moment of the war, but one that changed its final outcome. There has been much debate in the years since the end of the war concerning the “Hitler Halt” order, which was given to German Panzer units waiting patiently on the outskirts of Dunkirk to be allowed to finish the job they had started. Many theories have been put forward as to the reasons behind this, but the consequence was that it allowed Britain to remain in the war. A total of 338,226, British and Allied troops were rescued from the beaches of Dunkirk, aboard a total of 861 vessels, of which 243 were sunk. For those left behind, official figures record that up to 80,000 French and British troops were captured, whilst during the time of the actual evacuation, somewhere in the region of 16,000 French and 1,000 British soldiers were killed. Equipment wise British forces left behind somewhere in the region of 90,000 rifles, 11,000 machine guns, huge supplies of ammunition, 880 field guns, 310 large calibre artillery pieces, 500 anti-aircraft guns, 850 anti-tank guns, 700 tanks, 45,000 cars and lorries, and 20,000 motor cycles – enough equipment to arm nearly ten divisions of soldiers. It is known that two atrocities took place during the Battle of Dunkirk: the Massacre at Le Paradis, and another at Wormhoudt, carried out by Waffen- SS soldiers, against British and French troops who had already surrendered. Although the Battle of Dunkirk must ultimately go down tactically as a German victory, the rescue of so many of its men, ensured that like a phoenix, Britain rose from the ashes of defeat to gain a great and lasting victory.
The Age of Airpower
by Martin Van CreveldAirpower, more than any other factor, has shaped war in the twentieth century. In this fascinating narrative history, Martin van Creveld vividly portrays the rise of the plane as a tool of war and the evolution of both technology and strategy. He documents seminal battles and turning points, and relates stories of individual daring and collective mastery of the skies. However, the end of airpower's glorious age is drawing near. The conventional wisdom to the contrary, modern precision guided munitions have not made fighter bombers more effective against many kinds of targets than their predecessors in World War II. U. S. ground troops calling for air support in Iraq in 2003 did not receive it any faster than Allied forces did in France in 1944. And from its origins on, airpower has never been very effective against terrorists, guerrillas, and insurgents. As the warfare waged by these kinds of people grow in importance, and as ballistic missiles, satellites, cruise missiles and drones increasingly take the place of quarter-billion-dollar manned combat aircraft and their multi-million-dollar pilots, airpower is losing utility almost day by day.
The Age of Hiroshima
by David Holloway Avery Goldstein Campbell Craig Srinath Raghavan Shampa Biswas Holger Nehring Alex Wellerstein Sean L. Malloy Takuya Sasaki Shinsuke Tomotsugu Wakana Mukai Matias Spektor Kiichi Fujiwara Sonja D. Schmid Nina Tannenwald Francis GavinA multifaceted portrait of the Hiroshima bombing and its many legaciesOn August 6, 1945, in the waning days of World War II, the United States dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. The city's destruction stands as a powerful symbol of nuclear annihilation, but it has also shaped how we think about war and peace, the past and the present, and science and ethics. The Age of Hiroshima traces these complex legacies, exploring how the meanings of Hiroshima have reverberated across the decades and around the world.Michael D. Gordin and G. John Ikenberry bring together leading scholars from disciplines ranging from international relations and political theory to cultural history and science and technology studies, who together provide new perspectives on Hiroshima as both a historical event and a cultural phenomenon. As an event, Hiroshima emerges in the flow of decisions and hard choices surrounding the bombing and its aftermath. As a phenomenon, it marked a revolution in science, politics, and the human imagination—the end of one age and the dawn of another.The Age of Hiroshima reveals how the bombing of Hiroshima gave rise to new conceptions of our world and its precarious interconnectedness, and how we continue to live in its dangerous shadow today.
The Age of Invincible: The Ship that Defined the Modern Royal Navy
by Nick ChildsA gripping account of one of the Royal Navy&’s most significant modern warships. The HMS Invincible is a ship whose eventful life story, it is argued, embodies that of the Royal Navy itself during the second half of the 20th century and into the 21st. From her conception and design, through her various deployments (including the Falklands) and her evolving role and technical adaptation to meet changing strategic requirements, her fluctuating fortunes have been intertwined with those of the Royal Navy as a whole. Now, as a new breed of carriers is being commissioned to replace her, this thoroughly researched analysis of her career is the perfect platform from which to ask the important questions regarding the future role of the Royal Navy and Britain&’s place in the world.&“An exceptional story that integrates all various internal and external institutional forces that shape the life of a ship.&” —PowerShips
The Age of Light: A Novel
by Whitney Scharer"Sweeping from the glamour of 1930's Paris through the battlefields of World War II and into the war's long shadow, The Age of Light is a startlingly modern love story and a mesmerizing portrait of a woman's self-transformation from muse into artist."--Celeste Ng, New York Times bestselling author of Little Fires EverywhereShe went to Paris to start over, to make art instead of being made into it. A captivating debut novel by Whitney Scharer, The Age of Light tells the story of Vogue model turned renowned photographer Lee Miller, and her search to forge a new identity as an artist after a life spent as a muse. "I'd rather take a photograph than be one," she declares after she arrives in Paris in 1929, where she soon catches the eye of the famous Surrealist Man Ray. Though he wants to use her only as a model, Lee convinces him to take her on as his assistant and teach her everything he knows. But Man Ray turns out to be an egotistical, charismatic force, and as they work together in the darkroom, their personal and professional lives become intimately entwined, changing the course of Lee's life forever. Lee's journey takes us from the cabarets of bohemian Paris to the battlefields of war-torn Europe during WWII, from discovering radical new photography techniques to documenting the liberation of the concentration camps as one of the first female war correspondents. Through it all, Lee must grapple with the question of whether it's possible to reconcile romantic desire with artistic ambition-and what she will have to sacrifice to do so. Told in interweaving timelines, this sensuous, richly detailed novel brings Lee Miller-a brilliant and pioneering artist-out of the shadows of a man's legacy and into the light.
The Age of Napoleon
by Alistair HorneThe age of Napoleon transformed Europe, laying the foundations for the modern world. Now Alistair Horne, one of the great chroniclers of French history gives us a fresh account of that remarkable time. Born into poverty on the remote island of Corsica, he rose to prominence in the turbulent years following the French Revolution, when most of Europe was arrayed against France. Through a string of brilliant and improbable victories (gained as much through his remarkable ability to inspire his troops as through his military genius), Napoleon brought about a triumphant peace that made him the idol of France and, later, its absolute ruler.Heir to the Revolution, Napoleon himself was not a revolutionary; rather he was a reformer and a modernizer, both liberator and autocrat. Looking to the Napoleonic wars that raged on the one hand, and to the new social order emerging on the other, Horne incisively guides readers through every aspect of Napoleon’s two-decade rule: from France’s newfound commitment to an aristocracy based on merit rather than inheritance, to its civil code (Napoleon’s most important and enduring legacy), to censorship, cuisine, the texture of daily life in Paris, and the influence of Napoleon abroad. At the center of Horne’s story is a singular man, one whose ambition, willpower, energy and ability to command changed history, and continues to fascinate us today.
The Age of Napoleon
by Thomas DyerTHE celebrated phrase of Louis XIV, “I am the State”, proclaimed the consummation of despotism. He asserted, and it was true, that the people, as a body politic, had been annulled by the Crown. Before a century had elapsed the maxim was reversed. The head of Louis’s second successor fell upon the scaffold, and the revolutionary disciples of Rousseau established the principle that the real sovereign is the people itself. Hence it would appear that, for all practical purposes, the causes of the French Revolution may be sought between the reigns of Louis XIV and Louis XVI; or, in other words, that the inquiry may be limited to the nature of the institutions left by the former Monarch, and the causes which gradually led the people to desire their overthrow under the latter. Even within these limits the extent of the subject might demand a volume rather than a chapter. We can pretend only to indicate its principal heads, leaving the historical student to fill up the outline from his own researches and reflections.
The Age of Napoleon: The Story of Civilization, Volume XI (The Story of Civilization #11)
by Will Durant Ariel DurantThe Story of Civilization, Volume XI: A history of European civilization from 1789 to 1815. This is the eleventh and final volume of the classic, Pulitzer Prize-winning series.
The Age of Reason
by Jean-Paul Sartre Eric SuttonParis in the agonizing years before World War II provides the background and sets the tone of this famed novel. A guilt-ridden intellectual; his pregnant mistress; the impulsive university girl he loves; an aging nightclub singer and her young lover; a cruel and self-tormented homosexual; and a coldly implacable Communist logician - these characters play their parts in a taut drama that is both a dissection of a society in moral crisis and a piercing examination of the basic questions of human existence.