- Table View
- List View
Unbroken: An Olympian's Journey from Airman to Castaway to Captive (Young Adult Adaptation)
by Laura HillenbrandOn a May afternoon in 1943, an American military plane crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane's bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary sagas of the Second World War. The lieutenant's name was Louis Zamperini. As a boy, he had been a clever delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and stealing. As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a supreme talent that carried him to the Berlin Olympics. But when war came, the athlete became an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown. Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a sinking raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would respond to desperation with ingenuity, suffering with hope and humor, brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would hang on the fraying wire of his will. In this captivating young adult edition of her award-winning #1 New York Times bestseller, Laura Hillenbrand tells the story of a man's breathtaking odyssey and the courage, cunning, and fortitude he found to endure and overcome. Lavishly illustrated with more than one hundred photographs and featuring an exclusive interview with Zamperini, Unbroken will introduce a new generation to one of history's most thrilling survival epics.
Unburnable: A Novel
by Marie-Elena JohnHaunted by scandal and secrets, Lillian Baptiste fled Dominica when she was fourteen after discovering she was the daughter of Iris, the half-crazy woman whose life was told of in chanté mas songs sung during Carnival—songs about a village on a mountaintop littered with secrets, masquerades that supposedly fly and wreak havoc, and a man who suddenly and mysteriously dropped dead. After twenty years away, Lillian returns to her native island to face the demons of her past—and with the help of Teddy, a man who has loved her for many years, she may yet find a way to heal.Set in both contemporary Washington, D.C., and post-World War II Dominica, Unburnable weaves together West Indian history, African culture, and American sensibilities. Richly textured and lushly rendered, Unburnable showcases a welcome and assured new voice.
Unbuttoning Miss Hardwick
by Deb MarloweA straitlaced spinster yearns for something more—from life and her boss—in this Regency romance by a USA Today–bestselling author.Adopting the guise of a buttoned-up spinster is nothing new for Chloe Hardwick. But under the watchful eye of her unnervingly handsome employer, the Marquess of Marland, for the first time Chloe yearns to be unbuttoned! Yet he sees her only as his assistant, the efficient Hardwick—not as Chloe the woman.Determined to escape Braedon’s cold detachment, Chloe leaves. And when he pursues her to London, determined to entice her back, Braedon is utterly unprepared for what he finds there—the real Chloe Hardwick. . . .Praise for Unbuttoning Miss Hardwick“For an emotional read with passion, touches of humor and dashes of suspense, I gladly recommend Unbuttoning Miss Hardwick.” —Romance Reviews Today“4 stars! With its delightful twist on Cinderella, Marlowe’s latest pits a straitlaced lady with a weapons-obsessed nobleman and lets the battle begin. Along with the charming main storyline Marlowe incorporates several subplots which add interest and danger.” —RT Book Reviews
Unceasing Fury: Texans at the Battle of Chickamauga, September 18-20, 1863
by Scott L. Mingus Sr. Joseph L. Owen&“Focuses on the extensive contributions to the pyrrhic Confederate victory at Chickamauga made by the brave Lone Star State soldiers.&” —Eric J. Wittenberg, award–winning author of Destined to Fail After Gettysburg, it was the Civil War&’s largest battle, but until recently, little of consequence had been written about Chickamauga. You can count on one hand the number of authors who have tackled Chickamauga in any real depth, and most of their works cover the entire battle. Left unmined and mostly forgotten are the experiences of specific brigades, regiments, and state-affiliated troops. Scott Mingus and Joseph Owen&’s Unceasing Fury: Texans at the Battle of Chickamauga, September 18–20, 1863 is the first full-length book to examine in detail the role of troops from the Lone Star State. Texas troops fought in almost every major sector of the sprawling Chickamauga battlefield, from the first attacks on September 18 on the bridges spanning the creek to the final attack on Snodgrass Hill on September 20. Fortunately, many of the survivors left vivid descriptions of battle action, the anguish of losing friends, the pain and loneliness of being so far away from home, and their often-colorful opinions of their generals. The authors of this richly detailed study based their work on hundreds of personal accounts, memoirs, postwar newspaper articles, diaries, and other primary sources. Their meticulous work provides the first exploration of the critical role Texas enlisted men and officers played in the three days of fighting near West Chickamauga Creek in September 1863. Unceasing Fury provides the Lone Star State soldiers with the recognition they have so long deserved.
Uncensored France
by Roy P. PorterUncensored France, first published in 1942, is the eyewitness account of Associated Press correspondent Roy Porter during the Nazi takeover and occupation of France in World War II. The book, covering the author's time in occupied France between June 1940 to November 1941, is a well-written report of daily life in Paris and the provinces, and includes interviews with French citizens, political leaders such as Pierre Laval and Marshal Pétain, and German military officials. Porter provides insight into everyday life in France, including the growth of the black-market to obtain food and gasoline, Paris' nightlife, travel, and roundups by the military of civilians. Porter also describes the initial take-over of France by the German army, and describes a visit to the quickly bypassed Maginot Line on France's eastern border.
Uncertain Glory
by Juan Goytisolo Peter Bush Joan SalesA classic Catalan work about love, family, and class during the Spanish Civil war.Spain, 1937. Posted to the Aragonese front, Lieutenant Lluís Ruscalleda eschews the drunken antics of his comrades and goes in search of intrigue. But the lady of Castel de Olivo—a beautiful widow with a shadowy past—puts a high price on her affections. In Barcelona, Trini Milmany struggles to raise Lluís’s son on her own, letters from the front her only solace. With bombs falling as fast as the city’s morale, she leaves to spend the winter with Lluís’s brigade on a quiet section of the line. But even on “dead” fronts the guns do not stay silent for long. Trini’s decision will put her family’s fate in the hands of Juli Soleràs, an old friend and a traitor of easy conscience, a philosopher-cynic locked in an eternal struggle with himself.Joan Sales, a combatant in the Spanish Civil War, distilled his experiences into a timeless story of thwarted love, lost youth, and crushed illusions. A thrilling epic that has drawn comparison with the work of Dostoyevsky and Stendhal, Uncertain Glory is a homegrown counterpart to classics such as Homage to Catalonia and For Whom the Bell Tolls.
Uncertain Glory
by Joan SalesSPAIN, 1937. Posted to the Aragonese front, Lieutenant Lluís Ruscalleda eschews the drunken antics of his comrades and goes in search of intrigue. But the lady of Castel de Olivo - a beautiful widow with a shadowy past - puts a high price on her affections. In Barcelona, Trini Milmany struggles to raise Lluís' son on her own, letters from the front her only solace. With bombs falling as fast as the city's morale, she leaves to winter with Lluís' brigade on a quiet section of the line. But even on 'dead' fronts the guns do not stay silent for long. Trini's decision will put her family's fate in the hands of Juli Soleràs, old friend and traitor of easy conscience, a philosopher-cynic locked in an eternal struggle with himself. Joan Sales, a combatant in the civil war, distilled his experiences into a timeless story of thwarted love, lost youth and crushed illusions. A thrilling epic that has drawn comparison with the work of Dostoevsky and Stendhal, Uncertain Glory is a homegrown counterpart to classics such as Homage to Catalonia and For Whom the Bell Tolls.
Uncertain Glory
by Joan SalesSPAIN, 1937.Posted to the Aragonese front, Lieutenant Lluís Ruscalleda eschews the drunken antics of his comrades and goes in search of intrigue. But the lady of Castel de Olivo - a beautiful widow with a shadowy past - puts a high price on her affections. In Barcelona, Trini Milmany struggles to raise Lluís' son on her own, letters from the front her only solace. With bombs falling as fast as the city's morale, she leaves to winter with Lluís' brigade on a quiet section of the line. But even on 'dead' fronts the guns do not stay silent for long. Trini's decision will put her family's fate in the hands of Juli Soleràs, old friend and traitor of easy conscience, a philosopher-cynic locked in an eternal struggle with himself. Joan Sales, a combatant in the civil war, distilled his experiences into a timeless story of thwarted love, lost youth and crushed illusions. A thrilling epic that has drawn comparison with the work of Dostoevsky and Stendhal, Uncertain Glory is a homegrown counterpart to classics such as Homage to Catalonia and For Whom the Bell Tolls.
Uncertain Ground: Citizenship in an Age of Endless, Invisible War
by Phil KlayFrom the National Book Award-winning author of Redeployment and Missionaries, an astonishing fever graph of the effects of twenty years of war in a brutally divided America.When Phil Klay left the Marines a decade ago after serving as an officer in Iraq, he found himself a part of the community of veterans who have no choice but to grapple with the meaning of their wartime experiences—for themselves and for the country. American identity has always been bound up in war—from the revolutionary war of our founding, to the civil war that ended slavery, to the two world wars that launched America as a superpower. What did the current wars say about who we are as a country, and how should we respond as citizens? Unlike in previous eras of war, relatively few Americans have had to do any real grappling with the endless, invisible conflicts of the post-9/11 world; in fact, increasingly few people are even aware they are still going on. It is as if these wars are a dark star with a strong gravitational force that draws a relatively small number of soldiers and their families into its orbit while remaining inconspicuous to most other Americans. In the meantime, the consequences of American military action abroad may be out of sight and out of mind, but they are very real indeed. This chasm between the military and the civilian in American life, and the moral blind spot it has created, is one of the great themes of Uncertain Ground, Phil Klay&’s powerful series of reckonings with some of our country&’s thorniest concerns, written in essay form over the past ten years. In the name of what do we ask young Americans to kill, and to die? In the name of what does this country hang together? As we see at every turn in these pages, those two questions have a great deal to do with each another, and how we answer them will go a long way toward deciding where our troubled country goes from here.
Uncharted Strait
by Richard C. BushThe future of the Taiwan Strait is more wide open than at any other time in recent decades. Tensions between China and Taiwan have eased since 2008. But the movement toward full rapprochement remains fragile. Whether the two sides of the Strait can sustain and expand a cooperative relationship after years of mutual distrust and fear is still uncertain.The waters of the Strait are uncharted, and each side worries about shoals beneath the surface. The current engagement between Beijing and Taipei may make possible a solution to their six-decade-long dispute. Whether, when, and how that might happen is, however, shrouded in doubt. China fears the island's permanent separation, by way of either an overt move to de jure independence or continued refusal to unify with the mainland. Taiwan fears subordination to an authoritarian regime that does not have Taipei's interests at heart. And the United States worries about the stability of the East Asian region.Richard Bush, who studied issues surrounding Taiwan during almost twenty years in the U.S. government, explains the current state of relations between China and Taiwan, providing the details of what led to the current situation. And he extrapolates on the likely future of cross-Strait relations. Bush also discusses America's stake, analyzing possible ramifications for U.S. interests in the critically important East Asia region and recommends steps to protect those interests."At the heart of the [Taiwan conundrum] is a question of definition. Does the dispute stem from the protracted division of the Chinese state after World War II, or does the Republic of China on Taiwan in some sense constitute a successor state of the old Republic of China (ROC), one on a par with the People's Republic of China on the Chinese mainland? Whether and how the unification of the two entities might occur hinges on the answer. Indeed, I have argued that the core of the dispute between the two sides has been their disagreement over whether the Republic of China-or Taiwan-is a sovereign entity for purposes of cross-Strait relations. It follows that if unification is a real option, the two sides must form a political union that bridges the disagreement over the island's legal status. Is that possible?"-from the Introduction
Uncle Bill: The Authorised Biography of Field Marshal Viscount Slim
by Russell MillerMasterly biography of the 'greatest commander of the 20th century'.Field Marshal Slim is less well known than other Second World War generals, but is now widely regarded as the best. To the men under his command he was 'Uncle Bill', probably the most respected and loved military leader since the Duke of Marlborough. Born into an impoverished family in Bristol in 1891 and brought up in the Black Country, he was commissioned as a temporary Second Lieutenant on the outbreak of the First World War. Twice seriously wounded, in Gallipoli and Mesopotamia, he was awarded the Military Cross in 1918. After the war he was unable to remain an officer in the class-ridden British Army without private means and transferred to the Indian Army, where he developed an enduring affection for the Ghurkhas and began writing short stories to supplement his income.Slim's career stalled between the wars, but during this time he developed the leadership techniques that would make him a national hero within a decade and which are still taught today at Sandhurst. Promotion came rapidly with the Second World War, and in March 1942 he was sent to Burma to take command of the British-Indian First Burma Corps, then in full flight from the advancing Japanese. Through the force of his leadership, Slim turned disorderly panic into a controlled military withdrawal across the border into India. Two years later, having raised and retrained the largest army ever assembled by Britain, Slim drove the enemy out of Burma and shattered the myth of Japanese invincibility which had hamstrung the Allied operations in the East for so long. Slim returned to Britain laden with awards and honours. He became a popular Governor-General of Australia in 1953, was raised to the peerage, and died in London in 1970.This important biography will be written with the full cooperation of the Slim family, and Russell Miller has had access to all their papers.
Uncle Bill: The Authorised Biography of Field Marshal Viscount Slim
by Russell MillerMasterly biography of the 'greatest commander of the 20th century'.Field Marshal Slim is less well known than other Second World War generals, but is now widely regarded as the best. To the men under his command he was 'Uncle Bill', probably the most respected and loved military leader since the Duke of Marlborough. Born into an impoverished family in Bristol in 1891 and brought up in the Black Country, he was commissioned as a temporary Second Lieutenant on the outbreak of the First World War. Twice seriously wounded, in Gallipoli and Mesopotamia, he was awarded the Military Cross in 1918. After the war he was unable to remain an officer in the class-ridden British Army without private means and transferred to the Indian Army, where he developed an enduring affection for the Ghurkhas and began writing short stories to supplement his income.Slim's career stalled between the wars, but during this time he developed the leadership techniques that would make him a national hero within a decade and which are still taught today at Sandhurst. Promotion came rapidly with the Second World War, and in March 1942 he was sent to Burma to take command of the British-Indian First Burma Corps, then in full flight from the advancing Japanese. Through the force of his leadership, Slim turned disorderly panic into a controlled military withdrawal across the border into India. Two years later, having raised and retrained the largest army ever assembled by Britain, Slim drove the enemy out of Burma and shattered the myth of Japanese invincibility which had hamstrung the Allied operations in the East for so long. Slim returned to Britain laden with awards and honours. He became a popular Governor-General of Australia in 1953, was raised to the peerage, and died in London in 1970.This important biography will be written with the full cooperation of the Slim family, and Russell Miller has had access to all their papers.
Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Salutes the Armed Forces (Uncle John's Bathroom Reader)
by Bathroom Readers' InstituteArmy, Air Force, or Marine—read all about them in the latrine! Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and the Coast Guard—the patriotic folks at the Bathroom Readers Institute have stormed the proverbial beaches of Normandy and beyond to bring you this salute to the greatest force for good on planet Earth! Make your way through the ranks and read about the history, triumphs, trials, trivia, and humor of those who serve. At nearly 500 pages, this is the book you want by your side while you wait it out in the foxhole. Read about . . . * The Semper Fi story * A history of the draft * The real Private Ryan * Dog tags then and now * Medal of Honor winners * M*A*S*H: the true story * The original Flying Tiger * Beetle Bailey and other cartoon soldiers * What it takes to be in the Special Forces * Can you see me now? The story of camouflage * and much, much more!
Uncle Sam Wants You: World War I and the Making of the Modern American Citizen
by Christopher CapozzolaUncle Sam Wants You tells the dramatic story of the mobilization of the American home front in World War I. In April 1917, the United States embarked on its first overseas war - with no history of conscription, an army smaller than Bulgaria's.
Uncle Sarge
by Bonnie Gardner"Kids aren't my specialty."U.S. Air Force Combat Controller Rich Larsen could parachute into danger in a moment's notice. But being besieged by his convalescing sister's two demanding children was an entirely different matter. Well, desperate means called for extreme measures. So the overwhelmed Uncle Sarge sent out an SOS to the pretty lady who had reunited him with his family.Before long, Jennifer Bishop worked a miracle on Rich's adorable wards-and on his heart. So much so that the rootless loner could almost picture them having a family of their own someday. Trouble was, a love-wary Jennifer had sworn off military men. Good thing Rich never backed away from a challenge!
Unclear Physics: Why Iraq and Libya Failed to Build Nuclear Weapons (Cornell Studies in Security Affairs)
by Malfrid Braut-HegghammerMany authoritarian leaders want nuclear weapons, but few manage to acquire them. Autocrats seeking nuclear weapons fail in different ways and to varying degrees—Iraq almost managed it; Libya did not come close. In Unclear Physics, Malfrid Braut-Hegghammer compares the two failed nuclear weapons programs, showing that state capacity played a crucial role in the trajectory and outcomes of both projects. Braut-Hegghammer draws on a rich set of new primary sources, collected during years of research in archives, fieldwork across the Middle East, and interviews with scientists and decision makers from both states. She gained access to documents and individuals that no other researcher has been able to consult. Her book tells the story of the Iraqi and Libyan programs from their origins in the late 1950s and 1960s until their dismantling.This book reveals contemporary perspectives from scientists and regime officials on the opportunities and challenges facing each project. Many of the findings challenge the conventional wisdom about clandestine weapons programs in closed authoritarian states and their prospects of success or failure. Braut-Hegghammer suggests that scholars and analysts ought to pay closer attention to how state capacity affects nuclear weapons programs in other authoritarian regimes, both in terms of questioning the actual control these leaders have over their nuclear weapons programs and the capability of their scientists to solve complex technical challenges.
Uncommon Grit: A Photographic Journey Through Navy SEAL Training
by D. McBurnettRetired Navy SEAL and professional photographer Darren McBurnett takes readers behind the scenes into the elite SEAL training program, BUD/S, in Coronado, California. Striking, beautiful, and haunting, Uncommon Grit takes a unique, unprecedented look at the toughest training in the military -- and the world -- from the vantage point of someone who lived through it. Retired Navy SEAL Darren McBurnett includes vivid descriptions of both the physical and mental evolutions that occur as a result of the immensely challenging SEAL training process.His stunning photographs, partnered with his compelling insights and sharp sense of humor, allow the reader to laugh, cringe, gasp, and even envision themselves going through this extraordinary experience.
Uncommon Valor on Iwo Jima: The Stories of the Medal of Honor Recipients in the Marine Corps' Bloodiest Battle of World War II
by James H HallasThe epic Battle of Iwo Jima is recounted through the stories of twenty-eight American soldiers who showed uncommon valor during one of WWII&’s most bitter conflicts. When the smoke cleared on Iwo Jima in March of 1945, nineteen-thousand American Marines had been wounded and seven-thousand were dead, a casualty rate of nearly thirty-nine percent. Lasting over a month, Iwo was the Marines&’ bloodiest battle of the Second World War and the only Pacific battle in which a U.S. landing force suffered more casualties than it inflicted. It was also the most highly decorated single engagement in Marine Corps history. This volume captures the bravery of those who fought in that epic battle through the stories of twenty-two Marines and five Navy personnel who received the Medal of Honor in recognition of their gallantry under fire.
Uncommon Valor, Common Virtue
by Hal BuellA dramatic photo history of the battle of Iwo Jima and the iconic picture that captured America-DVD included! On February 23, 1945, as the battle for the Japanese island stronghold of Iwo Jima raged below, Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal's camera captured six troops raising the Stars and Stripes on Mt. Suribachi. That photograph would go on to symbolize the Marines' valor and America's determination to win World War II. This is the story of the ten days Rosenthal spent on Iwo Jima-and how his Pulitzer-winning picture came to be. Containing over 120 combat photographs- including shots of the flag-raising by other photographers-quotes from survivors, newspapers and magazines, battle reports and Medal of Honor citations, here is a grunt's eye view of the bloodiest battle in U.S. Marine Corps history. It also recounts "the photograph's" enduring legacy in popular culture, and reveals the fates of the flag raisers- men who became a fixture in their country's history.
Uncommon Valor: The Medal of Honor and the Warriors Who Earned It in Afghanistan and Iraq
by Dwight Jon Zimmerman John D. GreshamUncommon Valor from Dwight Jon Zimmerman and John D. Gresham presents a fascinating look at six of our bravest soldiers and the highest military decoration awarded in this country.Since the Vietnam War ended in 1973, the Medal of Honor, our nation's highest award for valor, has been presented to only eight men for their actions "above and beyond the call of duty." Six of the eight were young men who had fought in the current war in Iraq, Afghanistan, or both. All of these medals were awarded posthumously, as all had made the choice to give their lives so that their comrades might live. Uncommon Valor answers the searing question of who these six young soldiers were, and dramatically details how they found themselves in life-or-death situations, and why they responded as they did. For the first time, this book also provides a comprehensive history of the Medal of Honor itself—one marred by controversies, scandals, and theft. Using an extraordinary range of sources, including interviews with family members and friends, teammates and superiors in the military, personal letters, blogs posted within hours of events, personal and official videos and newly declassified documents, Uncommon Valor is a compelling and important work that recounts incredible acts of heroism and lays bare the ultimate sacrifice of our bravest soldiers.
Uncommon Valour: The Story of the Victoria Cross
by Granville Allen MawerWhat is the nature of courage, how and when should it be recognized, and how has our appreciation of it changed? These are among the questions Granville Allen Mawer seeks to answer in this absorbing study of the history of the Victoria Cross, the highest award in the British honors system for gallantry in the presence of the enemy. His is the first analytical account of the institution of the Victoria Cross, and it is a fascinating study of the ethics of rewarding bravery. It explores in dispassionate detail the thinking behind the creation of the award, the reasons why individual awards were given and how, over the last 160 years, the system has developed and changed. Using vivid and carefully selected examples, he compares individual actions that led to a Victoria Cross and considers the circumstances in which they took place and the reasons given for making the award. So many factors were involved – the character of the individual concerned, the severity of the danger he faced, the situation of the British forces, whether his conduct was seen and recorded, and the interpretation of the criteria for making an award at the time. This unconventional treatment of the Victoria Cross may be controversial, but it should stimulate a deeper understanding of the history of the medal and of the heroism of those to whom it has been awarded.
Uncommon Wrath: How Caesar and Cato's Deadly Rivalry Destroyed the Roman Republic
by Josiah OsgoodA dual biography of Julius Caesar and Cato the Younger that offers a dire warning: republics collapse when partisanship overrides the common good. In Uncommon Wrath, historian Josiah Osgood tells the story of how the political rivalry between Julius Caesar and Marcus Cato precipitated the end of the Roman Republic. As the champions of two dominant but distinct visions for Rome, Caesar and Cato each represented qualities that had made the Republic strong, but their ideological differences entrenched into enmity and mutual fear. The intensity of their collective factions became a tribal divide, hampering their ability to make good decisions and undermining democratic government. The men&’s toxic polarity meant that despite their shared devotion to the Republic, they pushed it into civil war. Deeply researched and compellingly told, Uncommon Wrath is a groundbreaking biography of two men whose hatred for each other destroyed the world they loved.
Uncompromising Honor (Honor Harrington #19)
by David WeberUncompromising Courage. Uncompromising Vengeance. Uncompromising Honor. The Solarian League—for hundreds of years they have borne the banner of human civilization. But the bureaucratic Mandarins who rule today’s League are corrupt and looking for scapegoats. They’ve decided the upstart Star Kingdom of Manticore must be annihilated. Honor Harrington has worn the Star Kingdom’s uniform for half a century. So far, hers has been a voice of caution. But now the Mandarins have committed atrocities such as the galaxy has not known in a thousand years. They have finally killed too many of the people Honor Harrington loves. Now Honor Harrington is coming for the Solarian League. And Hell is riding in her wake.
Unconditional Democracy: Education and Politics in Occupied Japan, 1945-1952 (Hoover Institution Press Publication #244)
by Toshio NishiThe difficult mission of a regime change: Toshio Nishi gives an account of how America converted the Japanese mindset from war to peace following World War II.
Unconditional Surrender
by Evelyn WaughBy 1941, after serving in North Africa and Crete, Guy Crouchback has lost his Halberdier idealism. A desk job in London gives him the chance of reconciliation with his former wife. Then, in Yugoslavia, as a liaison officer with the partisans, Crouch becomes finally and fully aware of the futility of a war he once saw in terms of honor. Unconditional Surrender is the third novel in Waugh's brilliant Sword of Honor trilogy recording the tumultuous wartime adventures of Guy Crouchback ("the finest work of fiction in English to emerge from World War II" -Atlantic Monthly), which also comprises Men at Arms and Officers and Gentlemen.