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The Alphabet House
by Jussi Adler-OlsenIn the tradition of Alan Furst, the #1 international bestselling author delivers his first stand-alone novel, a psychological thriller set in World War II Nazi Germany and 1970s England British pilots James Teasdale and Bryan Young have been chosen to conduct a special photo-reconnaissance mission near Dresden, Germany. Intelligence believes the Nazis are building new factories that could turn the tide of the war. When their plane is shot down, James and Bryan know they will be executed if captured. With an enemy patrol in pursuit, they manage to jump aboard a train reserved for senior SS soldiers wounded on the eastern front.In a moment of desperation, they throw two patients off the train and take their places, hoping they can escape later. But their act is too convincing and they end up in the Alphabet House, a mental hospital located far behind enemy lines, where German doctors subject their patients to daily rounds of shock treatments and experimental drugs. The pilots' only hope of survival is to fake insanity until the war ends, but their friendship and courage are put to the ultimate test when James and Bryan realize they aren't the only ones in the Alphabet House feigning madness.Millions of fans around the world--and in this country--know Adler-Olsen for his award-winning Department Q series. His first stand-alone, The Alphabet House, is the perfect introduction for those who have yet to discover his riveting work.
The Altman Code (Covert-One #4)
by Robert Ludlum Gayle LyndsIN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT, ON THE DARK WATERSIDE DOCKS OF SHANGHAI, a photographer is recording cargo being secretly loaded when he's brutally killed and his camera destroyed. Shortly thereafter Covert-One director Fred Klein brings word to the president that there's a Chinese cargo ship rumored to be carrying tons of chemicals to be used by a rogue nation to create new biological weapons. The president cannot let the ship land and risk the consequences of a new stockpile of deadly chemical weapons. Klein is ordered to get the president solid proof of what the Chinese ship is ferrying. Covert-One agent Jon Smith is sent to rendezvous in Taiwan with another agent, who lias acquired the ship's true manifest. But before Smith can get the document, the two agents are ambushed, the second agent is murdered, the proof is destroyed, and Smith escapes with only his life, scant clues to the mystery behind the cargo ship, and a verbal message - the president's biological father is still alive, held prisoner by the Chinese for fifty years. As the Chinese cargo ship draws ever closer to its end port, Smith must race against the clock to uncover the truth about the ship and its cargo, a truth that probes the deepest secrets of the Chinese ruling party, the faction in Washington working to undermine the elected government, and the international cabal who is thrusting the world to the very brink of war.
The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips: Listen To The Moon, The Amazing Story Of Adolphus Tips, The Elephant In The Garden (Oberon Modern Plays Ser.)
by Michael MorpurgoFrom the author of Private Peaceful, a stunning novel about friendship, World War II, a naughty cat, and one girl&’s bravery which changes her life forever. It&’s 1943, and twelve-year-old Lily Tregenza lives on a farm in an idyllic seaside village in England. Apart from her father being away and the &“townie&” evacuees at school, her life is scarcely touched by the war. That is until Lily and her family, along with 3,000 other villagers, are ordered to evacuate their homes to allow the Allied forces to practice their landings for D-day. It&’s a dangerous operation—guns firing and bombs exploding—and the whole area is off-limits. But Adolphus Tips, Lily&’s adored cat, has other ideas—barbed wire and &“Keep out!&” signs mean nothing to her . . . Praise for The Amazing Story of Adolphus Tips&“The personal story of anger and love is as gripping as the war drama, and Morpurgo includes a fascinating note about the invasion rehearsal and why its history is seldom told.&” —Booklist
The Amazing Story of Lise Meitner: Escaping the Nazis and Becoming the World’s Greatest Physicist
by Andrew NormanThe book describes how Lisa Meitner, of Jewish heritage, found herself working as a physicist at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin when the Nazis came to power in 1933; how she was hounded out of the country and forced to relocate to Sweden; how German chemists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassman continued with the project – on the effect of bombarding uranium (the heaviest known element at the time) with neutrons, a project which Lise herself had initiated, being the intellectual leader of the group. It describes how Hahn and Strassmann, with whom she kept in touch, came up with some extraordinary results which they were at a loss to explain; how Lise, and her nephew Otto Frisch, who was also a physicist, confirmed what they had achieved - the ‘splitting of the atom’, no less, and provided them with a theoretical explanation for it. This laid the foundation for nuclear power, medical-scanning technology, radiotherapy, electronics, and of course, the atomic bomb - the creation of which filled Lise with horror. It describes the crucial part that Lise played in our understanding of the world of atoms, and how deliberate and strenuous attempts were made to deny her contribution; to belittle her achievements, and to write her out of the history books, even though Albert Einstein said she was even ‘more talented than Marie Curie herself’. The author is fortunate and honoured to have been granted several interviews with Lise’s nephew Philip Meitner – himself a refugee from the Nazis - who with his wife Anne, provided much valuable information and many photographs.
The Amazon Quest (House of Winslow #25)
by Gilbert MorrisThe Perils of the Amazon Reveal the Depths of the Heart's Entanglements. . . . Emily Winslow meets James Parker, the man who tried to save her brother's life in the trenches of World War I in France, and she and her family feel deeply indebted to him. They offer to help him in any way they can to get a new start after recovering from his own wounds. By the time the family is confronted with the surprising truth of what actually happened on that distant battlefield, Emily has fallen in love with James. Overwhelmed by bitterness and the betrayal of her love, Emily throws herself into her writing career. When an opportunity comes to travel deep into the Amazon rain forest and record the life of an isolated tribe of headhunters, she readily accepts the challenge. But all of her inner turmoil returns with a vengeance when Ian Marlowe walks into her life. Is Emily's faith strong enough to sustain her? Can she trust her heart this time around?
The Ambassador's Son
by Homer HickamIn 1943, the Americans and Japanese are fighting a deadly war. Now a blow has fallen on American morale. Lieutenant Armistead, cousin of the president is missing, and may have gone over to the enemy.
The Ambassador's Son (Josh Thurlow #2)
by Homer HickamIt's 1943 and the Americans and Japanese are fighting a deadly war in the hot, jungle-covered volcanic islands of the South Pacific. The outcome is in doubt and a terrible blow has fallen on American morale. Lieutenant David Armistead, a Marine Corps hero and cousin of the President of the United States, is missing and some say he's gone over to the enemy. Coast Guard Captain Josh Thurlow and his ragtag crew are given the assignment to find Armistead, though not necessarily to bring him back alive. Recruited in the hunt is a tormented and frail PT-boat skipper nicknamed "Shafty" who is also known by another name: John F. Kennedy. When Josh is stranded in the jungles of New Georgia with a mysterious, sensual woman who has a tendency to chop off men's heads, it's up to Kennedy to come to the rescue and complete the mission. But to procure a gunboat, he first has to play high-stakes poker with a young naval supply officer called Nick who happens to be the best gambler in the South Pacific. Nick has another name, too: Richard M. Nixon. Based solidly on historical fact with echoes of James Michener, The Ambassador'sSon is a thrilling tale of the South Pacific and adventure fiction at its finest.
The Amber Road: Warrior of Rome (Warrior Of Rome Ser. #6)
by Harry SidebottomA warrior in enemy territory is on secret mission to raise an army in this historical adventure by the author of Wolves of the North. In AD 264, the Roman Empire has been torn in two. The western provinces—Gaul, Spain, and Britain—have been seized by Postumus, the pretender to the throne. To the east, on the plains of northern Italy, the armies of the emperor Gallienus muster, and he is keen to take his rightful place of power. A war between two emperors is coming, and everyone must choose a side. On a mission shrouded in secrecy and suspicion, Ballista is sent by Gallienus back to his original home of Hyperborea, the place of the people of his birth, to raise an army against Postumus. This means that Ballista must journey along the Amber Road to the far north. Along the way Ballista meets a fearsome, masked warlord who brings fire and sword against Ballista and his men. And in Ballista&’s home of Hyperborea, not all welcome his return. In the battle between Postumus and Gallienus, only one can survive and be emperor. Renowned for their skilled blending of action and historical accuracy, Sidebottom&’s Warrior of Rome novels take the reader from the shouts of the battlefield to the whisperings of the emperor&’s inner circle. Rich in detail and punctuated by harrowing action, there&’s no better way to transport yourself back to the days of the Roman Empire.Praise for the Warrior of Rome series&“Sidebottom&’s prose blazes with searing scholarship.&” —The Times (UK)&“Superior . . . fiction, with depth, authenticity and a sense of place.&” —Times Literary Supplement (UK)&“A storming Roman epic with explosive action and knuckle-whitening drama.&” —The Guardian (UK)&“I don&’t think I&’ve ever experienced antiquity so directly: the brutality, the directness of expression and feeling, the deep bonds formed amid unmitigated violence.&” —David Konstan, Professor of Classics, Brown University&“The best sort of red-blooded historical fiction.&” —Andrew Taylor, author of The American Boy
The Ambiguity of Virtue
by Bernard WassersteinIn May 1941, Gertrude van Tijn arrived in Lisbon on a mission of mercy from Germanâe#144;occupied Amsterdam. She came with Nazi approval to the capital of neutral Portugal to negotiate the departure from Hitler's Europe of thousands of German and Dutch Jews. Was this middleâe#144;aged Jewish woman, burdened with such a terrible responsibility, merely a pawn of the Nazis, or was her journey a genuine opportunity to save large numbers of Jews from the gas chambers? In such impossible circumstances, what is just action, and what is complicity? A moving account of courage and of all-too-human failings in the face of extraordinary moral challenges, The Ambiguity of Virtue tells the story of Van Tijn's work on behalf of her fellow Jews as the avenues that might save them were closed off. Between 1933 and 1940 Van Tijn helped organize Jewish emigration from Germany. After the Germans occupied Holland, she worked for the Naziâe#144;appointed Jewish Council in Amsterdam and enabled many Jews to escape. Some later called her a heroine for the choices she made; others denounced her as a collaborator. Bernard Wasserstein's haunting narrative draws readers into the twilight world of wartime Europe, to expose the wrenching dilemmas that confronted Jews under Nazi occupation. Gertrude van Tijn's experience raises crucial questions about German policy toward the Jews, about the role of the Jewish Council, and about Dutch, American, and British responses to the persecution and mass murder of Jews on an unimaginable scale.
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.
The American Adventuress: A Novel
by C. W. Gortner"No one writes bright, bold, bad, and beautiful women of history like C.W. Gortner, and he outdoes himself with his latest heroine: Jennie Jerome, American heiress, royal mistress, and mother of Winston Churchill. The American Adventuress shines on every page with Jennie's irrepressible thirst for adventure, love, and everything else life has to offer!" -- Kate Quinn, New York Times bestselling author of The Rose CodeThe story of Jennie Jerome Churchill, mother of Winston, a New York born heiress who always lived life on her own terms.Daughter of New York financier Leonard Jerome, Jennie was born into wealth—and scandal. Upon her parents’ separation, her mother took Jennie and her sisters to Paris, where Mrs. Jerome was determined to marry her daughters into the most elite families. The glamorous city became their tumultuous finishing school until it fell to revolt. Fleeing to Queen Victoria’s England, Jennie soon caught the eye of aristocrat Randolph Spencer-Churchill, son of the Duke of Marlborough, one of Britain’s loftiest peers. It was love at first sight, their unconventional marriage driven by mutual ambition and the birth of two sons. Undeterred by premature widowhood or society’s rigid expectations, Jennie brashly carried on a lifelong intimate friendship with Edward, Prince of Wales—a notorious bon vivant—and had two later marriages to younger men. When her son Winston launched his brilliant political career, Jennie guided him to success, his most vocal and valuable supporter.By turns scandalous, tragic, and exciting, Jennie Jerome lived an unconventional life full of defiance—one that enshrined her as an American adventuress.
The American Arsenal: The World War II Official Standard Ordnance Catalogue of Small Arms, Tanks, Armoured Cars, Artillery, Anti-aircraft Guns, Ammunition, Grenades, Mines, et cetera
by Ian V. HoggDuring WWII, various U.S. military agencies produced catalogues of equipment to fill the gaps left by the official War Department manuals, which led to inconsistent data appearing in different sources. In order to standardize information and properly catalogue all the equipment, the U.S. Ordnance Department put together a master guide, published here as The American Arsenal. All the information was checked and authenticated by reference to Ordnance Committee Minutes and similar authorities. No other single source provides so much accurate and authentic detail on U.S. weapons, ammunition, vehicles and other combat equipment, with an authoritative explanation of their development and introduction processes. Profusely illustrated with over 900 photographs and drawings, the facts and figures are set in context in the introduction by weapons expert Ian V. Hogg. This is an invaluable reference work for those interested in the military equipment of WWII.
The American Atom: A Documentary History Of Nuclear Policies From The Discovery Of Fission To The Present (Second Edition)
by Robert C. Williams Philip L. Cantelon Richard G. HewlettEver since the late 1930s, scientists have been sharply divided on the question of atomic energy. It is hardly surprising, then, that the American public is so apprehensive about its use. Hack M. Holl, former chief historian a the U. S. Department of Energy, characterizes the furor over nuclear energy as "one of the great debates in American history. " In this second edition of The American Atom, the editors have updated the collection of primary documents that tell the story of atomic energy in the United States from the discover of fission through the development of nuclear weapons, international proliferation, and attempts at control. Anyone interested in the evolution of the issues will want to examine the book's major sections on the Manhattan Project, the Oppenheimer Case, the hydrogen bomb, nuclear testing and the test ban, proliferation, arms control, and the strategy of deterrence.
The American Bar Association Legal Guide for Military Families
by American Bar AssociationThe one and only legal guide for servicemembers and their families.The American Bar Association Legal Guide for Military Families is the complete resource for servicemembers, veterans, and their families. This guide will help all servicemembers clarify their legal issues, understand the options, and locate assistance. Topics are presented in an easy-to-read format and every chapter includes a resources section with phone numbers, websites, and contacts to help servicemembers find answers and move forward. Topics include:· Working with a Lawyer · Family Law · Debt and Finance · Housing, Landlord/Tenant Issues, and Real Estate · Motor Vehicle Sales, Finance, and Repair · Estate Planning and Insurance · Health Care Law · Employment and Re-employment · Discharge · Disability Issues · Veterans Benefits The American Bar Association Legal Guide for Military Families is a supplement to the popular ABA Homefront website that provides state-by-state legal information for servicemembers. Visit www.abahomefront.com.
The American Black Chamber
by Herbert O. YardleyDuring the 1920s Herbert O. Yardley was chief of the first peacetime cryptanalytic organization in the United States, the ancestor of today's National Security Agency. Funded by the U.S. Army and the Department of State and working out of New York, his small and highly secret unit succeeded in breaking the diplomatic codes of several nations, including Japan. The decrypts played a critical role in U.S. diplomacy. Despite its extraordinary successes, the Black Chamber, as it came to known, was disbanded in 1929. President Hoover's new Secretary of State Henry L. Stimson refused to continue its funding with the now-famous comment, "Gentlemen do not read other people's mail." In 1931 a disappointed Yardley caused a sensation when he published this book and revealed to the world exactly what his agency had done with the secret and illegal cooperation of nearly the entire American cable industry. These revelations and Yardley's right to publish them set into motion a conflict that continues to this day: the right to freedom of expression versus national security. In addition to offering an expose on post-World War I cryptology, the book is filled with exciting stories and personalities.
The American Culture of War: The History of U.S. Military Force from World War II to Operation Enduring Freedom
by Adrian R. LewisNow in its third edition, The American Culture of War presents a sweeping critical examination of every major American war since 1941: World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the First and Second Persian Gulf Wars, U.S. operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the war against ISIS. As he carefully considers the cultural forces that surrounded each military engagement, Adrian Lewis offers an original and provocative look at the motives, people and governments used to wage war, the discord among military personnel, the flawed political policies that guided military strategy, and the civilian perceptions that characterized each conflict. This third edition features: A new structure focused more exclusively on the character and conduct of the wars themselves Updates to account for the latest, evolving scholarship on these conflicts An updated account of American military involvement in the Middle East, including the abrupt rise of ISIS The new edition of The American Culture of War remains a comprehensive and essential resource for any student of American wartime conduct.
The American Expeditionary Forces in World War I
by John VotawUpon the entry of the United States into World War I, the American Expeditionary Forces (AEF) were created by the War Department on short notice from existing units, filled up with men from the training camps and deployed with only their personal weapons and equipment. The US Army was not prepared for combat in France, and the remarkable achievement of the AEF's commanding officer, John J Pershing, was the creation of an American field army, built and nurtured from the bottom up. This book details the organizational structure, training and doctrine of the AEF and illustrates how it came to make a significant contribution to Allied victory in World War I.
The American Expeditionary Forces in the Great War: Meuse Argonne 1918: Breaking the Line (Battleground The Americans 1918)
by Maarten Otte&“An invaluable and extraordinary&” account of the bloodiest battle in American military history (Midwest Book Review). Although the Meuse-Argonne Offensive, which began in late September 1918 and continued through to the Armistice, was not the first major action fought by the AEF, it was the greatest in which it engaged in the Great War. The Argonne was an area that had been heavily fought over, particularly in the early part of the war; its eastern part, towards the Meuse, then became enveloped in the first great attritional battle of the war, Verdun. Maarten Otte gives a background narrative to events before the opening of the Offensive and its development. Taking each of the US corps in turn, he then provides tours that will help the visitor to understand the fighting and the problems that were faced. This opening book on the Meuse-Argonne takes the reader, more or less, to the date when General Pershing handed over command of the US First Army to Major General Liggard in mid-October, a change in command that marked a significant improvement in the American performance as they pushed the Germans ever backwards. The Great War battlefield of the Argonne is marked by numerous physical remains of the war, some fine (some might argue overly grandiose) monuments and by the stunning American cemetery at Romagne, the second largest in the world administered by the American Battle Monuments Commission. There is much to see in a battlefield that has been largely neglected in the decades since the Second World War.
The American Experience in Vietnam: Reflections on an Era
by The Editors of Boston Publishing CompanyThe landmark, Pulitzer Prize–nominated, bestselling illustrated history, updated for the fiftieth anniversary of the Vietnam War.When it was originally published, the twenty-five-volume Vietnam Experience offered the definitive historical perspectives of the Vietnam War from some of the best rising authors on the conflict. This new and reimagined edition updates the war on the fifty years that have passed since the war’s initiation. The official successor to the Pulitzer Prize–nominated set, The American Experience in Vietnam combines the best serious historical writing about the Vietnam War with new, never-before-published photos and perspectives. New content includes social, cultural, and military analysis; a view of post-1980s Vietnam; and contextualizing discussion of US involvement in the Persian Gulf, Iraq, and Afghanistan. Even if you own the original, The American Experience in Vietnam is a necessary addition for any modern Vietnam War enthusiast.Praise for The American Experience in Vietnam“The heart of the book is a well-written, objectively presented history of the war that includes a lot of military history.” —Vietnam Veterans of America
The American Foreign Legion
by Frank E. RobertsStill segregated in World War I, the U.S. Army was reluctant to use its 93d division of black soldiers in combat and instead assigned the division's three National Guard and one draftee regiments to the French Army. The battlefield successes of these African Americans under the French at the height of the German offensives in 1918 turned white expectations of failure upside down. Their bravery and heroism gained the respect of French and German alike and called into question the U.S. Army's policy of racially segregating its divisions. The full story of their accomplishments is told here for the first time through the eyes of the enlisted men and their white and black officers.The book highlights the actions of individuals as well as the various units of the 93d in compelling combat scenes. We join Company C of the 370th Infantry under heavy fire as they capture artillery pieces, machine guns, and even a portion of a railroad track to win a unit citation and the Croix de Guerre. We learn about the extraordinary actions of Corporal Freddie Stowers, the only African American in the war to be nominated for-and seventy years later awarded-the Medal of Honor, and others who earned the Distinguished Service Cross and French awards for gallantry in combat. Their story of overcoming the odds at a time when most believed blacks performed poorly in combat is told by Frank Roberts, who has been researching the subject for years. While his book acknowledges the many problems encountered by the 93d, the focus is on the many triumphs of these tenacious soldiers as they fought the enemy and the prejudices of their fellow Americans. This book is published in cooperation with the Association of the United States Army.
The American Girl Goes to War: Women and National Identity in U.S. Silent Film (War Culture)
by Liz ClarkeDuring the 1910s, films about war often featured a female protagonist. The films portrayed women as spies, cross-dressing soldiers, and athletic defenders of their homes—roles typically reserved for men and that contradicted gendered-expectations of home-front women waiting for their husbands, sons, and brothers to return from battle. The representation of American martial spirit—particularly in the form of heroines—has a rich history in film in the years just prior to the American entry into World War I. The American Girl Goes to War demonstrates the predominance of heroic female characters in in early narrative films about war from 1908 to 1919. American Girls were filled with the military spirit of their forefathers and became one of the major ways that American women’s changing political involvement, independence, and active natures were contained by and subsumed into pre-existing American ideologies.
The American Heroes Collection: Hal Moore, Shadow Commander, and American Guerrilla
by Mike GuardiaThree stirring military portraits—including a biography of the Vietnam War hero who wrote the New York Times bestseller, We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young. Hal Moore: A heroic commander in the Vietnam War, Harold G. Moore cowrote the New York Times–bestselling memoir of the battle at Ia Drang and was portrayed by Mel Gibson in the film We Were Soldiers. This &“outstanding&” and definitive biography expands on the account of that pivotal battle to encompass Moore&’s distinguished military career from the Korean War through his courageous and invaluable service in Vietnam (Armchair General). Shadow Commander: In World War II, US Army legend Donald Blackburn escaped from Bataan along with Russell W. Volckmann and organized the guerrilla fighters known as &“Blackburn&’s Headhunters&” against the Japanese. He would go on to play a key role in the Vietnam War, revitalizing Army Special Forces operations in Southeast Asia, spearheading Operation White Star in Laos, and eventually taking command of the highly classified Studies and Observations Group (SOG). Blackburn was also the architect of the infamous Son Tay Prison Raid, officially termed Operation Ivory Coast, the largest prisoner-of-war rescue mission of the Vietnam War. &“A follow-up to a fine bio of Russell Volckmann, this tale of guerrilla warfare spans from Bataan to Vietnam.&” —World War II Magazine American Guerrilla: Here is Russell Volckmann&’s own story, from his refusal to surrender at Bataan to raising a Filipino army of more than twenty-two thousand men and leading a guerrilla war against the Japanese for the next three years. When General Yamashita finally surrendered, he made his initial overtures not to General Douglas MacArthur, but to Volckmann. The progenitor of modern counterinsurgency doctrine, Volkmann wrote the field manuals that became the US Army&’s first handbooks outlining the precepts for both special warfare and counter-guerrilla operations, making him the true &“father&” of Army Special Forces. &“[Volckmann&’s private army] waged arguably the most successful guerrilla campaign of the entire war . . . Mr. Guardia argues, convincingly, that Volckmann deserves the title of &‘father&’ of Special Forces.&” —The Washington Times
The American Home Front, 1941–1942: 1941-1942
by Alistair CookeIn nearly three thousand BBC broadcasts over fifty-eight years, Alistair Cooke reported on America, illuminating our country for a global audience. He was one of the most widely read and widely heard chroniclers of America-the Twentieth Century’s de Tocqueville. Cooke died in 2004, but shortly before he passed away a long-forgotten manuscript resurfaced in a closet in his New York apartment. It was a travelogue of America during the early days of World War II that had sat there for sixty years. Published to stellar reviews in 2006, though "somewhat past deadline,” Cooke’s The American Home Front is a "valentine to his adopted country by someone who loved it as well as anyone and knew it better than most” (The Plain Dealer [Cleveland]). It is a unique artifact and a historical gem, "an unexpected and welcome discover in a time capsule.” (Washington Post) A portrait frozen in time, the book offers a charming look at the war through small towns, big cities, and the American landscape as they once were. The American Home Front is also a brilliant piece of reportage, a historical gem that "affirms Cooke’s enduring place as a great twentieth-century reporter” (American Heritage).
The American Home Front: Revolutionary War, Civil War, World War I and World War II
by James L. AbrahamsonThis latest National Defense University military history seeks to broaden the perspective of those who are interested in understanding the effects of the wartime mobilization of American society. Through a comparative analysis of the economic, political, and social results of America's four principal wars, this study reveals the major issues faced by each wartime administration and sketches the consequences of the mobilization policies adopted. As the author, Colonel James L. Abrahamson, U.S. Army, explains, each conflict occurred in unique circumstances, required varied policies, and produced different effects on American institutions. He therefore avoids offering a simplistic list of the expected domestic consequences of any future conflict. Nevertheless, certain common factors, which may inform modern mobilization planners, surface in his analysis of these four wars. The author suggests that if planners are aware of the implications of their mobilization choices, they can better devise effective policies for drawing forth the material and human essentials of victory.