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Top Secret Files: The Civil War, Spies, Secret Missions, and Hidden Facts From the Civil War
by Stephanie BearceThe pigpen cipher, the Devil's Coffee Mill, and germ warfare were all a part of the Civil War, but you won't learn that in your history books! Discover the truth about Widow Greenhow's spy ring, how soldiers stole a locomotive, and the identity of the mysterious “Gray Ghost.” Then learn how to make a cipher wheel and send secret light signals to your friends. It's all part of the true stories from the Top Secret Files: The Civil War. Take a look if you dare, but be careful! Some secrets are meant to stay hidden . . . Ages 9-12
Top Secret Files: The Cold War, Secrets, Special Missions, and Hidden Facts About the CIA, KGB, and MI6 (Top Secret Files Of History Ser. #0)
by Stephanie BearcePoison dart umbrellas and cyanide guns were all a part of the arsenal of tools used by spies of the Soviet KGB, American CIA, and British MI6, but you won't learn that in your history books! Learn the true stories of the Cold War and how spies used listening devices planted in live cats and wristwatch cameras. Discover how East Germans tried to ride zip lines to freedom, while the Cambridge Four infiltrated Britain and rockets raced to the moon. Then make your own submarines and practice writing secret codes. It's all part of the true stories from the Top Secret Files: The Cold War. Take a look if you dare, but be careful! Some secrets are meant to stay hidden . . .Ages 9-12
Top Secret Files: The Civil War
by Stephanie BearceThe pigpen cipher, the Devil's Coffee Mill, and germ warfare were all a part of the Civil War, but you won't learn that in your history books! Discover the truth about Widow Greenhow's spy ring, how soldiers stole a locomotive, and the identity of the mysterious "Gray Ghost." Then learn how to make a cipher wheel and send secret light signals to your friends. It's all part of the true stories from the Top Secret Files: The Civil War. Take a look if you dare, but be careful! Some secrets are meant to stay hidden...
Top Secret Files: American Revolution
by Stephanie BearceGeorge Washington had his own secret agents, hired pirates to fight the British, and helped Congress smuggle weapons, but you won't learn that in your history books! Learn the true stories of the American Revolution and how spies used musket balls, books, and laundry to send messages. Discover the female Paul Revere, solve a spy puzzle, and make your own disappearing ink. It's all part of the true stories from the Top Secret Files of History. Take a look if you dare, but be careful! Some secrets are meant to stay hidden...
Topgun: An American Story
by Dan PedersenOn the 50th anniversary of the creation of the "Topgun" Navy Fighter School, its founder shares the remarkable inside story of how he and eight other risk-takers revolutionized the art of aerial combat. When American fighter jets were being downed at an unprecedented rate during the Vietnam War, the U.S. Navy turned to a young lieutenant commander, Dan Pedersen, to figure out a way to reverse their dark fortune. On a shoestring budget and with little support, Pedersen picked eight of the finest pilots to help train a new generation to bend jets like the F-4 Phantom to their will and learn how to dogfight all over again. What resulted was nothing short of a revolution -- one that took young American pilots from the crucible of combat training in the California desert to the blistering skies of Vietnam, in the process raising America's Navy combat kill ratio from two enemy planes downed for every American plane lost to more than 22 to 1. Topgun emerged not only as an icon of America's military dominance immortalized by Hollywood but as a vital institution that would shape the nation's military strategy for generations to come. Pedersen takes readers on a colorful and thrilling ride-from Miramar to Area 51 to the decks of aircraft carriers in war and peace-through a historic moment in air warfare. He helped establish a legacy that was built by him and his "Original Eight" -- the best of the best -- and carried on for six decades by some of America's greatest leaders. Topgun is a heartfelt and personal testimonial to patriotism, sacrifice, and American innovation and daring.
Topgun Days: Dogfighting, Cheating Death, and Hollywood Glory as One of America's Best Fighter Jocks
by Dave BaranekDave Baranek (callsign "Bio") was one of 451 young men to receive his Wings of Gold in 1980 as a naval flight officer. Four years later, seasoned by intense training and deployments in the tense confrontations of the cold war, he became the only one of that initial group to rise to become an instructor at the navy's elite Fighter Weapons School. As a Topgun instructor, Bio was responsible for teaching the best fighter pilots of the Navy and Marine Corps how to be even better. He schooled them in the classroom and then went head-to-head with them in the skies.Then, in August 1985, Bio was assigned to combine his day-to-day flight duties with participation in a Pentagon-blessed project to film action footage for a major Hollywood movie focusing on the lives, loves, heartbreaks, and triumphs of young fighter pilots: Top Gun.Bio soon found himself riding in limousines to attend gala premieres, and being singled out by giggling teenagers and awed schoolboys who recognized the name "Topgun" on his T-shirts. The book ends with his reflections on his career as a skilled naval aviator and his enduring love of flight. The paperback and Kindle editions include more than fifty rare full color photographs of fighter jets in action.
Topgun Days: Dogfighting, Cheating Death, and Hollywood Glory as One of America's Best Fighter Jocks
by Dave BaranekDave Baranek (callsign "Bio") was one of 451 young men to receive his Wings of Gold in 1980 as a naval flight officer. <P><P>Four years later, seasoned by intense training and deployments in the tense confrontations of the cold war, he became the only one of that initial group to rise to become an instructor at the navy's elite Fighter Weapons School. As a Topgun instructor, Bio was responsible for teaching the navy's and Marine Corps's best fighter pilots how to be even better. He schooled them in the classroom and then went head-to-head with them in the skies. Then, in August 1985, Bio was assigned to combine his day-to-day flight duties with participation in a Pentagon-blessed project to film action footage for a major Hollywood movie focusing on the lives, loves, heartbreaks, and triumphs of young fighter pilots: Top Gun. Bio soon found himself riding in limousines to attend gala premieres, and being singled out by giggling teenagers and awed schoolboys who recognized the name "Topgun" on his T-shirts. The book ends with his reflections on his career as a skilled naval aviator and his enduring love of flight.
TOPGUN on Wall Street
by Lieutenant Commander Lay Patrick RobinsonTOPGUN on Wall Street chronicles one man's extraordinary journey from the cornfields of Ohio, to the cockpit of an F-14, to the boardrooms on Wall Street. Lieutenant Commander Jeffery Lay and #1 New York Times bestselling author Patrick Robinson bring a provocative, ground-breaking voice to the business landscape with a revolutionary answer for stabilizing corporate America: business--the military way. As a TOPGUN fighter pilot, Lieutenant Commander Lay perfected a tried-and-true military technique: PLAN -BRIEF - EXECUTE -DEBRIEF However, when he retired from active duty in 2006 and went to work for a subsidiary of the ill-fated Lehman Brothers, he noticed that everything about the business world was different: less efficient, awash with excuses for failure, allowance of men with tricky morals to rise to the top, self-gain overshadowing teamwork, and a devastating lack of accountability. With such deeply rooted flaws, is corporate America doomed for perpetual failure? Answer: Not if we put admirals in charge and adopt the military's tight chain of command. This game-changing thesis is interwoven with Lieutenant Commander Lay's dramatic story, including his high-intensity strike fighter aircraft landings, never-before-written details of the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN), and his heart-breaking, humbling, and inspirational battle with cancer at the peak of his military career. TOPGUN on Wall Street is written by a leader determined to show the business world that excellence is a choice and perfection is attainable.
TOPGUN on Wall Street
by Lieutenant Commander Jeffery Lay Patrick RobinsonA revolutionary business approach by Lt. Col. Jeffery Lay and #1 "New York Times" bestselling author Patrick Robinson, describing one manOCOs journey from the cockpit of F-14 fighter bombers to the scandalous boardrooms on Wall Street and why military practices can help stabilize corporate America. "
TOPGUN on Wall Street: A Fighter Pilot's Unique Story--from an F-14 Tomcat to the Heart of American Business
by Patrick Robinson Jeffery LayTOPGUN on Wall Streetchronicles one man's extraordinary journey from the cornfields of Ohio, to the cockpit of an F-14, to the boardrooms on Wall Street. Lieutenant Commander Jeffery Lay and #1New York Timesbestselling author Patrick Robinson bring a provocative, ground-breaking voice to the business landscape with a revolutionary answer for stabilizing corporate America: business-the military way. As a TOPGUN fighter pilot, Lieutenant Commander Lay perfected a tried-and-true military technique: PLAN -BRIEF - EXECUTE -DEBRIEF However, when he retired from active duty in 2006 and went to work for a subsidiary of the ill-fated Lehman Brothers, he noticed that everything about the business world was different: less efficient, awash with excuses for failure, allowance of men with tricky morals to rise to the top, self-gain overshadowing teamwork, and a devastating lack of accountability. With such deeply rooted flaws, is corporate America doomed for perpetual failure? Answer: Not if we put admirals in charge and adopt the military's tight chain of command. This game-changing thesis is interwoven with Lieutenant Commander Lay's dramatic story, including his high-intensity strike fighter aircraft landings, never-before-written details of the United States Navy Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN), and his heart-breaking, humbling, and inspirational battle with cancer at the peak of his military career. TOPGUN on Wall Streetis written by a leader determined to show the business world that excellence is a choice and perfection is attainable.
TOPGUN'S TOP 10: Leadership Lessons from the Cockpit
by Guy M SnodgrassLearn how to be a leader in your own life and career with expert advice from one of the Navy's elite TOPGUN instructors.During a twenty-year career in uniform, Guy Snodgrass became one of the most skilled fighter pilots in the U.S. Navy, commanding combat jets over some of the most dangerous war zones in the world -- and he did it all using the lessons he learned at the Navy's Fighter Weapons School (TOPGUN).The real-life inspiration for the blockbuster films Top Gun and Top Gun: Maverick, the U.S. Navy Fighter Weapons School trains the top one percent of our nation's fighter pilots. Over the course of twelve weeks, these pilots are drilled on aerial tactics, combat, and skills required to win in any organization. Ordinary people are transformed into world-class leaders. Pilots, like Commander Snodgrass, who remain on staff as TOPGUN instructors, are held to even higher and more demanding standards.In TOPGUN's Top 10, Commander Snodgrass distills some of the most important lessons he's learned and taught over the course of his career into a taut, engaging book for readers of all ages and experience levels. It's the perfect gift for anyone looking to change careers, excel in the workplace, or find their way in the world after college graduation. Smart, practical, and direct, Snodgrass's account of real TOPGUN experience will inspire a new generation of leaders.
Toploader
by Ed O'LoughlinIn a novel compared by some reviewers to Catch-22 for its mix of humor and outrage, this brilliant send-up of modern military adventurism is an insightful and darkly comic anti-war masterpiece. Its setting is the Embargoed Zone (or "Easy"), headquarters to the coalition of western allies, somewhere in the Middle East.Spying inside the Easy is expensive and hazardous, and the "terrorist" double agent known as Cobra needs his wages paid in cash in order to survive. But his down-at-heels spymaster from the occupying forces, one Captain Smith, is broke and forced to pay his agent in kind--with a top-loading washing machine pilfered from the American compound. When it turns out that this piece of clothes-washing technology is in fact a critical piece of military hardware essential to the allied war effort, a frantic scramble to retrieve the device is unleashed.Packed with unforgettable characters--including a resourceful teenage girl from the occupied territory, an intrepid local reporter navigating the Easy in search of the truth, an egotistical western blogger with delusions of relevance, a hapless drone pilot with an itchy trigger finger, and at least one very unfortunate donkey--Toploader is a savage and hilarious indictment of remote-control warfare and imperialism by proxy.
Toppling Foreign Governments: The Logic of Regime Change
by Melissa Willard-FosterIn 2011, the United States launched its third regime-change attempt in a decade. Like earlier targets, Libya's Muammar Qaddafi had little hope of defeating the forces stacked against him. He seemed to recognize this when calling for a cease-fire just after the intervention began. But by then, the United States had determined it was better to oust him than negotiate and thus backed his opposition. The history of foreign-imposed regime change is replete with leaders like Qaddafi, overthrown after wars they seemed unlikely to win. From the British ouster of Afghanistan's Sher Ali in 1878 to the Soviet overthrow of Hungary's Imre Nagy in 1956, regime change has been imposed on the weak and the friendless.In Toppling Foreign Governments, Melissa Willard-Foster explores the question of why stronger nations overthrow governments when they could attain their aims at the bargaining table. She identifies a central cause—the targeted leader's domestic political vulnerability—that not only gives the leader motive to resist a stronger nation's demands, making a bargain more difficult to attain, but also gives the stronger nation reason to believe that regime change will be comparatively cheap. As long as the targeted leader's domestic opposition is willing to collaborate with the foreign power, the latter is likely to conclude that ousting the leader is more cost effective than negotiating.Willard-Foster analyzes 133 instances of regime change, ranging from covert operations to major military invasions, and spanning over two hundred years. She also conducts three in-depth case studies that support her contention that domestically and militarily weak leaders appear more costly to coerce than overthrow and, as long as they remain ubiquitous, foreign-imposed regime change is likely to endure.
Toppling Qaddafi
by Christopher S. ChivvisToppling Qaddafi is a carefully researched, highly readable look at the role of the United States and NATO in Libya's war of liberation and its lessons for future military interventions. Based on extensive interviews within the US government, this book recounts the story of how the United States and its European allies went to war against Muammar Qaddafi in 2011, why they won the war, and what the implications for NATO, Europe, and Libya will be. This was a war that few saw coming, and many worried would go badly awry, but in the end the Qaddafi regime fell and a new era in Libya's history dawned. Whether this is the kind of intervention that can be repeated, however, remains an open question - as does Libya's future and that of its neighbors.
Toppling the Taliban
by Walter L. Perry David KassingOn September 11, 2001, the United States was without a plan for military operations in Afghanistan. One was quickly created by the Defense Department and operations began October 7. The Taliban was toppled in less than two months. This report describes preparations at CENTCOM and elsewhere, Army operations and support activities, building a coalition, and civil-military operations in Afghanistan from October 2001 through June 2002.
Tora! Tora! Tora! - Pearl Harbor 1941
by Mark Stille Jim LaurierThe Japanese assault on Pearl Harbor is one of the most famous raids in history, if not the most famous. In the early hours of December 7, 1941, the carriers and aircraft of the Japanese First Air Fleet launched a sudden and unexpected attack on the US naval forces anchored in Pearl Harbor, hoping to cripple America's naval capabilities in one decisive blow.This new study by Mark Stille will address the build-up to, execution of, and fallout from the Pearl Harbor operation. Putting the raid in context, the political and military background will be addressed - Japanese expansion in the Far East, and American responses to it, and the steady increase in tensions between the two powers. The Japanese decision to launch an assault on Pearl Harbor will be considered in detail, from the time constraints faced in planning the raid, alternative operational possibilities, and the bold, stubborn leadership of Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto, who was the driving force behind the concept and planning, to the final adoption of the operation, and its place in Japan's national strategy. It is an illuminating new look at one of the most infamous events in modern history.From the Trade Paperback edition.
Torch: North Africa And The Allied Path To Victory
by Vincent O'Hara"World War II had many superlatives, but none like Operation Torch--a series of simultaneous amphibious landings, audacious commando and paratroop assaults, and the Atlantic’s biggest naval battle, fought across a two thousand mile span of coastline in French North Africa. The risk was enormous, the scale breathtaking, the preparations rushed, the training inadequate, and the ramifications profound. Torch was the first combined Allied offensive and key to how the Second World War unfolded politically and militarily. Nonetheless, historians have treated the subject lightly, perhaps because of its many ambiguities. As a surprise invasion of a neutral nation, it recalled German attacks against countries like Belgium, Norway, and Yugoslavia. The operation’s rationale was to aid Russia but did not do this. It was supposed to get Americans troops into the fight against Germany but did so only because it failed to achieve its short-term military goals. There is still debate whether Torch advanced the fight against the Axis, or was a wasteful dispersion of Allied strength and actually prolonged the war. Torch: North Africa and the Allied Path to Victory is a fresh look at this complex and controversial operation. The book covers the fierce Anglo-American dispute about the operation and charts how it fits into the evolution of amphibious warfare. It recounts the story of the fighting, focusing on the five landings--Port Lyautey, Fédala, and Safi in Morocco, and Oran and Algiers in Algeria--and includes air and ground actions from the initial assault to the repulse of Allied forces on the outskirts of Tunis. Torch also considers the operation’s context within the larger war and it incorporates the French perspective better than any English-language work on the subject. It shows how Torch brought France, as a power, back into the Allied c& how it forced the English and the Americans to work together as true coalitions partners and forge a coherent amphibious doctrine. These skills were then applied to subsequent operations in the Mediterranean, in the English Channel, and in the Pacific. The story of how this was accomplished is the story of how the Allies brought their power to bear on the enemy’s continental base and won the Second World War. "
The Torch We Throw: Amiens/Second to None/The Making of Billy Bishop/Hell in Flanders Fields/It Made you Think of Home
by Brereton Greenhous James Mcwilliams R. James Steel Kevin R. Shackleton George H. Cassar Bruce CaneThe giant conflagration of the First World War created the world we live in today, and its history is replete with stirring battles, mind-boggling strategies, and geopolitical manoeuvring. However, the real story was lived in the trenches of Europe and the lonely households of those left behind. The stories of this period are full of tragedy, anger, and loss but also inspirational courage. This special five-book bundle presents some of these stories, from brave Canadian contributions to the battlefields at Ypres and Amiens, to the specific untold story of Canada’s unheralded 58th Division, to an analysis of the myth and legend of air ace Billy Bishop, to the voice of one single soldier, Deward Barnes, told through his diary. These books provide new and enlightening perspectives on the war. Amiens Hell in Flanders Fields It Made you Think of Home The Making of Billy Bishop Second to None
Torchbearers of Democracy African American Soldiers In The World War I Era
by Patricia Sullivan Chad L. Williams Waldo E. Martin Jr.On April 2, 1917, Woodrow Wilson thrust the United States into World War I by declaring, "The world must be made safe for democracy. " For the 380,000 African American soldiers who fought and labored in the global conflict, these words carried life or death meaning. Relating stories bridging the war and postwar years, spanning the streets of Chicago and the streets of Harlem, from the battlefields of the American South to the battlefields of the Western Front, Chad L. Williams reveals the central role of African American soldiers in World War I and how they, along with race activists and ordinary citizens alike, committed to fighting for democracy at home and beyond. Using a diverse range of sources, Williams connects the history of African American soldiers and veterans to issues such as the obligations of citizenship, combat and labor, diaspora and internationalism, homecoming and racial violence, "New Negro" militancy, and African American historical memories of the war. Democracy may have been distant from the everyday lives of African Americans at the dawn of the war, but it nevertheless remained a powerful ideal that sparked the hopes of black people throughout the country for societal change. Torchbearers of Democracyreclaims the legacy of black soldiers and establishes the World War I era as a defining moment in the history of African Americans and peoples of African descent more broadly.
Tories: Fighting for the King in America's First Civil War (National Geographic Remember Ser.)
by Thomas B. AllenAn “evocatively written examination” of the Americans who fought alongside the British during the American Revolution (American Spectator).The American Revolution was not simply a battle between the independence-minded colonists and the oppressive British. As Thomas B. Allen reminds us, it was also a savage and often deeply personal civil war, in which conflicting visions of America pitted neighbor against neighbor and Patriot against Tory on the battlefield, on the village green, and even in church.In this outstanding and vital history, Allen tells the complete story of the Tories, tracing their lives and experiences throughout the revolutionary period. Based on documents in archives from Nova Scotia to London, Tories adds a fresh perspective to our knowledge of the Revolution and sheds an important new light on the little-known figures whose lives were forever changed when they remained faithful to their mother country.
Torn Country: An Oral History of the Israeli War of Independence
by Lynne Reid Banks"Torn Country" is not so much a history of the Arab-Israeli war but rather a series of recollections and assessments of it by participants. Banks collected interviews and arranged them, to give as clear a picture of the events that took place as possible through the memories and in the words of a wide variety of people who remember them -- sometimes as if they happened yesterday, more often with perspective: events that shaped Jewish history.
Torn Thread
by Anne IsaacsA searing Holocaust novel based on a true story. Twelve-year-old Eva and her sister have been forced to leave their home in Poland and are imprisoned in a Nazi labor camp. There they must spin thread on treacherous machinery to make clothing and blankets for the German Army. As Eva struggles amid ever worsening dangers to save her life and that of her sick sister, readers witness how two teenagers strive to create home and family amidst inhumanity and chaos. Written in exquisite prose, this story of heartbreak and hope that is rich in detail and symbolism will deeply move readers of all ages.
Torn Thread
by Anne IsaacsPraise for ) anne isaacs' Torn Thread "Every word . . . rings as true as any first-person story told by an actual survivor, giving young readers another powerful testament to the horrors of the Holocaust." - Kirkus Reviews, pointered review "A riveting account. . . . This powerful testament to the human spirit provides much opportunity for discussion of this dark time in human history." SfetSeliBatlJbniry Journal - Booklist tells it without exploitation or sentimentality." "The power of the human spirit provides a solid foundation for this Holocaust novel." - Voice of Youth Advocates
Tornado: In the Eye of the Storm
by John NicholFormer Tornado Navigator John Nichol tells the incredible story of the RAF Tornado force during the First Gulf War in 1991; the excitement and the danger, the fear and the losses. It is an extraordinary account of courage and fortitude.&‘We were doing about 620 miles-per-hour, 200 feet above the desert, in total darkness. Everything was running on rails as we approached the target. Then all hell broke loose. I remember the missile being fired at us; I broke left and shouted, &“Chaff!&” &‘All I could see was a flame, like a very large firework, coming towards me. Then there was a huge white flash. I remember an enormous wind and then I was knocked unconscious. My last thoughts were that I was going to die.&’In 1990, Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein ordered the invasion and occupation of neighbouring Kuwait, setting in motion a chain of events that had unimaginable political, military and personal repercussions, which still reverberate around the globe today.This is the story of the aircrew at the heart of Operation Desert Storm, almost none of whom had any prior experience of armed combat. It is the story of the Tornado&’s missions, of those who did not return - and of the families who watched and waited as one of the most complex conflicts in recent history unfolded live on television. It is a story of untold fear and suffering, and astounding courage in the face of hitherto unimaginable adversity.
Tornado Boys: Thrilling Tales From The Men And Women Who Have Operated This Indomitable Modern-day Bomber (The\jet Age Ser. #12)
by Ian HallThe RAF veteran and author of Fast Jets and Other Beasts shares stories from the men and women who have flown the combat aircraft. With the introduction of female pilots to the RAF in 1994, the Tornado was the first aircraft to be flown by both men and women. Another aspect distinguishing this book from the rest of the series is that it covers an aircraft which is still in active service, especially as a key player in current Middle East operations. With focus on the GR1/GR4 versions of the Tornado, readers will get to see what it is like to operate this bomber/reconnaissance aircraft against the backdrop of modern-day scenarios. The book begins in the 1970s with stories from operators and ground crew using the Tornado as a Cold War nuclear deterrent, and continues with tales of later &“hot&” wars as in both Gulf conflicts and in Kosovo. There are also stories of Scud hunting in Iraq and Red Flag exercises in the United States, as well as of a stunning competition victory over the USAF&’s Strategic Air Command in their own backyard. The short-lived anti-shipping role is not neglected. With the transformation of the Tornado to the GR4 standard, the book continues with chapters covering active service supporting Britain&’s increasingly complex international commitments and the employment of new weaponry and sensors. All in all, through the eyes of men and women who have operated this extraordinary aircraft, the volume presents an entertaining and illuminating series of tales and anecdotes. These light and informative stories come from those who were proud to serve on and loved to operate the impressively versatile Tornado.