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A Photographic History of Amphibious Warfare 1939–1945
by Simon Forty Jonathan Forty"...contains a plethora of after-action reports, diagrams and text which makes the work a thorough and engaging study of amphibious landings during the war." —WWII History MagazineAmphibious operations have always been an important element of warfare, but they reached their climax during the Second World War when they were carried out on a large scale in every theater of the conflict. That is why this wide-ranging, highly illustrated history of amphibious warfare 1939–1945 by Simon and Jonathan Forty is of such value. Their book gives graphic accounts of the main amphibious assaults launched by the major combatants, in particular the British, American, German and Japanese – not just large-scale landings like those in North Africa, Normandy, the Philippines and Okinawa, but also raids such as Dieppe and St Nazaire and evacuations like Dunkirk and Kerch. The rapid development of amphibious tactics and equipment is an essential element of the story, as are the vital roles played by the navies, air forces, armies and special forces in each complex combined operation. There is also a section on amphibious operations that were planned but didn’t happen, such as the German invasion of Britain and the Italian and German operation against Malta.
Mr. Brading's Collection: [mr. Brading's Collection] (The Miss Silver Mysteries #17)
by Patricia WentworthA clever British mystery about a jewel collector, a criminal, and a governess-turned-sleuth, from &“a first-rate storyteller&” (The Daily Telegraph). He cannot say why, but Lewis Brading is an uneasy man. A collector of valuable jewels, he has taken the utmost precautions to safeguard what is most precious to him. He houses his gems in a concrete annex, protected by a reinforced steel door, the latest security system, and his own watchful eye. No one has a key but himself and his assistant, and he doesn&’t doubt that his servant will remain true. The man in his employ is a criminal, and if anything should happen to Brading or his gems, the police will look to him first. And yet, he suspects something may be wrong. He consults Maud Silver, the demure detective, and she tells him to fire his assistant and send his collection to a museum. Ignoring her advice may be the last mistake Lewis Brading ever makes.
Decoding Anne Lister: From the Archives to ‘Gentleman Jack'
by Chris Roulston Caroline GondaThis is the first edited collection of essays on the nineteenth-century diarist Anne Lister. Now recognized as a UNESCO world heritage document, Lister's five-million-word diaries are paradigm-shifting in terms of their range of material, from social commentary and politics to breath-taking travel accounts. However, they have become most well-known for their explicit descriptions of same-sex practices, written in code and constituting a significant portion of their content. The essays here address the variety and interdisciplinarity of the diaries: Lister's negotiations with her own 'odd' identity, her multiple same-sex relationships, her involvement in politics and her lifelong thirst for knowledge. It also addresses Lister studies in popular culture through the successful Gentleman Jack BBC-HBO series, including an interview with Sally Wainwright and foreword by author Emma Donoghue. This title is part of the Flip it Open Programme and may also be available Open Access. Check our website Cambridge Core for details.
Ahead of Time: My Early Years as a Foreign Correspondent
by Ruth GruberThe renowned journalist and Jewish activist looks back on her first 25 years in &“one of the most evocative journalistic autobiographies to appear&” (Publishers Weekly). In this fascinating memoir, Ruth Gruber recalls her first twenty-five years, from her youth in Brooklyn to her astonishing academic accomplishments and groundbreaking journalistic career. She shares her experiences entering New York University at fifteen and just five years later becoming the world&’s youngest person to earn a PhD. She recounts her time in Cologne, Germany, studying during Hitler&’s rise to power, and her adventures in Europe and the Arctic as a reporter for the New York Herald Tribune. Spirited and compelling, Ahead of Time is a striking account of the early years of a woman at the center of the twentieth century&’s turning points.
Grey Mask (The Miss Silver Mysteries #1)
by Patricia WentworthGoverness-turned-detective Miss Silver investigates a deadly conspiratorial ring Charles Moray has come home to England to collect his inheritance. After four years wandering the jungles of India and South America, the hardy young man returns to the manor of his birth, where generations of Morays have lived and died. Strangely, he finds the house unlocked, and sees a light on in one of its abandoned rooms. Eavesdropping, he learns of a conspiracy to commit a fearsome crime. Never one for the heroic, Charles&’s first instinct is to let the police settle it. But then he hears her voice. Margaret, his long lost love, is part of the gang. To unravel their diabolical plot, he contacts Miss Maud Silver, a onetime governess who applies reason to solve crimes and face the dangers of London&’s underworld.
Specimen Song (The Montana Mysteries Featuring Gabriel Du Pré #2)
by Peter BowenA &“plain-spoken, deep-thinking Montana cattle inspector&” takes on a serial killer in DC (The New York Times Book Review). With misgivings, cattle inspector and sometime deputy Gabriel Du Pré has left his hometown of Toussaint, Montana, for big-city Washington, DC, where the Métis Indian fiddler has agreed to play his people&’s music for a Smithsonian festival. But like the frightened and confused horse galloping wildly down the National Mall, Du Pré is very much out of his element. He does know how to catch and calm a runaway horse, however. If only catching a killer could be so simple. When a Cree woman from Canada who came to sing in the festival is found murdered, her death is just the first in a series of fatal attacks on Native Americans. Each killing is foretold by a shaman, and each time a primitive weapon is used. As the body count rises, Du Pré fears he might be the serial killer&’s ultimate target. New York Times–bestselling author Ridley Pearson says about Peter Bowen&’s Montana mysteries: &“The best of Tony Hillerman meets Zane Grey . . . Du Pré is a character of legendary proportions.&” And Booklist calls Gabriel Du Pré &“one of the most unusual characters working the fictional homicide beat.&”Specimen Song is the 2nd book in The Montana Mysteries Featuring Gabriel Du Pré series, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.
The Paths of the Perambulator: Spellsinger 5 (The Spellsinger Adventures #5)
by Alan Dean FosterA trapped cosmic creature may drive the whole world mad—unless the spellsinger can set it free: &“Foster knows how to spin a yarn&” (Starlog). It&’s an ordinary day in the Bellwoods, save for the fact that Jon-Tom the spellsinger has awoken as a six-foot blue crab. He soon reverts to normal—as normal as a college student trapped in a world of magic and talking animals can be, anyway—but the bizarre changes keep happening, affecting not just him but the whole of this strange world. His wizardly mentor suspects these are the effects of the perambulator, a cosmic being whose presence distorts reality. One has been imprisoned in the mountains, and unless they free it, it will rip the world to shreds one insane illusion at a time.So Jon-Tom sets out, backed by the wizard, a boozehound owl, a gutter-minded otter, and a warrior koala with a taste for leather. Saving the world will be a cinch, as long as they don&’t lose their minds along the way.
The Staked Goat (The John Cuddy Mysteries #2)
by Jeremiah HealyA friend&’s murder takes Cuddy back to the dark days of VietnamAs military policemen, John Francis Cuddy and Al Sachs bonded while patrolling the wild streets of American-occupied Saigon. Over a decade later, Cuddy is a private detective making a living in Boston&’s back alleys. Awoken by a ringing phone at seven a.m., Cuddy is shocked to hear Sachs asking to meet for a drink that night. His old friend&’s voice reminds him of the time a Cagney movie inspired Sachs to say that, if ever captured by enemy agents, he would break his pinkie finger to signal to Cuddy that his death was not an accident. Sachs never shows for the drink, and the next morning he is found naked in a park, his body mangled and his pinkie broken. To avenge his friend, Cuddy confronts a dark military cover-up, and travels back to the war zone he thought he left behind years ago.
The Dick Gibson Show (American Literature Ser.)
by Stanley ElkinA radio host&’s rise is the fodder for this &“funny, melancholy, frightening . . . absolutely American&” National Book Award finalist (The New York Times Book Review).Since childhood, Dick Gibson has longed for a successful radio career to make him a household name. Seeking to hone his craft, Dick travels from stations in Nebraska and New Jersey to the Armed Forces Radio in the Pacific Theater during the Second World War, interviewing crooks, con artists, and hypnotists along the way. His show ignites the imaginations of all who listen to it—until one fateful night when a studio guest&’s irresistible influence on Dick and all those listening to him will change their lives forever. Spirited and compelling, The Dick Gibson Show is a laugh-out-loud journey through the world of talk radio and a compulsively readable account of one man&’s descent into the dark echo chamber of American media. This ebook features rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author&’s estate and from the Stanley Elkin archives at Washington University in St. Louis.
Wireless: Quinsigamond Series (Quinsigamond #2)
by Jack O'ConnellA homicide detective tries to stop an ex–FBI agent&’s murderous rampageThough they posture themselves as revolutionary, the jammers are harmless. Radio nerds who gather each night at a nightclub called Wireless, they get their kicks by jamming commercial radio signals, hijacking their frequencies to broadcast anarchist messages to the ordinary citizens of Quinsigamond. But even though they do no harm, their hobby has attracted murderous attention. Speer&’s killing spree starts with a priest. The one-time seminary student and ex–FBI agent has tired of seeing the city&’s cathedral denigrated by immigrants, addicts, and gang members, and he blames Father Todorov for catering to the undesirables. He corners the priest in the confessional and takes out his rage with a Bowie knife. Now he wants the blood of the fiery young anarchists who hijack his radio dial each evening. Homicide detective Hannah Shaw must infiltrate this strange subculture before it is dismantled by Speer&’s blade.
Agnes Mallory
by Andrew KlavanA decades-old mystery and the memory of a young girl haunt a reclusive man in a thrilling novel of suspense from an Edgar Award winner. He meets her in a stranger&’s backyard. Harry is a child walking home from school, and Agnes is a young girl playing in the creek behind her house. While their parents speak, the children play, and Agnes explains the supernatural. She uses cookie dough to make statues of ghosts, she tells him, which she sets free in the river. So begins an enchantment that will last the rest of Harry&’s life. Years later he is a disbarred lawyer, living a reclusive life outside a Westchester commuter town. Memories of Agnes, dead for a decade, haunt him. He befriends a shivering young runaway, an encounter which forces him to confront his past for the first time, unearthing a mystery which stretches back to the Holocaust, and revolves around that strange young girl he met so long ago.
Rilke on Black (Mask Noir Ser.)
by Ken BruenA South London kidnapping goes violently awry in this &“startlingly original crime novel&” from the award-winning author of The Guards (British GQ). As pretty, well read, and available as she was, most men would have passed on a foul-mouthed jailbait junkie like Lisa. Not Nick. A bouncer from southeast London, he knew what he liked. He went in with both eyes open and stayed there—even when she burned through his savings and cost him his job. Luckily, she had an idea for bringing in extra cash: kidnap a local African American bar owner, a pretentious, yoga obsessed, Rilke-spouting man of means with a white trophy wife. He deserved a good punch to the gut. However, it was Nick&’s bad idea to bring in his neighbor, a clean-cut, Reba McEntire–loving good old boy, and psycho to the bone. But not one of them anticipated Nick&’s ex-girlfriend, Bonny, who came in out of the blue with her own agenda to ignite the biggest spark in the plot. The question isn&’t who&’s going to fire the first shot. It&’s who&’s going to fire the last. &“Fast-paced, tough and pretty sexy&” (Pulp), Rilke on Black is further proof that the author of the Jack Taylor series &“has become the crime novelist to read&” (George Pelecanos).
Trail of Secrets
by Eileen GoudgeFrom the New York Times–bestselling author of Garden of Lies comes this haunting novel of mothers and daughters confronting their family&’s dark past Ellie Nightingale moved to New York in the early 1970s, a scared country girl with a newborn, no money, and no one to run to but her sister, a prostitute with a couch to spare. Ellie worked as hard as she could, determined to make a good life for her child, but one day the baby disappeared—kidnapped and handed over to a wealthy Connecticut couple. Skyler Sutton has grown up with riding lessons, fine clothes, and no idea that the people who raised her aren&’t her real parents. But when an accidental pregnancy forces her into the same desperate circumstances her own mother was in when she gave birth to her, Skyler is finally brought face-to-face with her past. As three women linked together by fate move toward a shocking discovery, Eileen Goudge&’s enthralling novel of romance and suspense &“will keep all who love a secret riveted&” (Publishers Weekly). This ebook features an illustrated biography of Eileen Goudge including rare photos from the author&’s personal collection.
Agrippa's Daughter: A Novel
by Howard FastAn epic novel of Berenice, Queen of Israel—life, love, and war in the shadow of the Roman Empire—from the New York Times–bestselling author of Spartacus. Throughout her rule in the first century AD, Queen Berenice is idolized by some, and hated by others. Though her fiery red hair makes her instantly recognizable, it is her mysterious charm and steely will that make her unforgettable. The daughter of Israel&’s King Agrippa I, Berenice is determined to free the kingdom of Israel from the shadow of the Roman Empire. But her plans are derailed after her husband, Shimeon, dies during a bloody civil war. When Berenice falls in love with Titus, son of the Roman Emperor, they devise an impossible plan to join the ruling lines of Rome and Israel. A master of gripping historical fiction, Howard Fast brings the ancient world to vivid life in this enthralling, epic drama.This ebook features an illustrated biography of Howard Fast including rare photos from the author&’s estate.
Drumbeat – Marianne (The Chester Drum Mysteries #19)
by Stephen MarloweA sadistic KGB colonel hires Drum to locate a dead manAxel Spade would not have liked the way he died. An international fugitive, Spade would have preferred being gored by a bull or gunned down by Interpol to dying quietly in his bed. But a weak heart claimed him in his sleep, and so Chester Drum, Washington PI and the closest thing Spade had to a friend, scatters his ashes in the Atlantic. Drum&’s old flame, Marianne Baker, is by his side, but she leaves before grief has a chance to reignite their faded passion. That night, Drum is awoken by a KGB operative who has kidnapped Marianne. Axel Spade is alive, the agent insists, and he wants Drum to find him. To save Marianne, Drum will do the impossible, and bring Axel Spade back from the dead.
The Case of the Poisoned Eclairs: A Masao Masuto Mystery (The Masao Masuto Mysteries #4)
by Howard FastA dog&’s murder leads detective Masuto to a most unusual poisoning caseIn Beverly Hills, murder has suddenly gone out of style. For five weeks, the head of the city&’s tiny homicide squad, Zen detective Masao Masuto, has worked only robbery investigations. But after more than a month without a corpse, this dry spell is about to end. The dead woman is Ana Fortez, a Chicana whose death was originally classified as terminal food poisoning brought on by a feast of botulism-infested éclairs. But because botulism can only grow in an airtight space, the medical examiner warns Masuto that the fatal bacteria must have been purposefully injected into the pastry. When a wealthy housewife&’s dog drops dead after munching on premium chocolates, Masuto finds that her bonbons have been laced with the same toxin. He begins a search for a killer targeting the sweet tooth of Beverly Hills—proof that crime in Southern California never stays boring for long. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Howard Fast including rare photos from the author&’s estate.
Forsaking All Others: A Novel
by Jimmy BreslinA novel of crime and passion in the South Bronx by the New York Times–bestselling author of The Gang That Couldn&’t Shoot Straight and The Good Rat. The Department of Corrections makes a mistake when it grants parole to a young Puerto Rican man named Teenager. After a few years in jail for dealing narcotics, he promises the parole board that he&’s gone straight. But Teenager has no intention of abandoning his life of crime. He dreams only of money, and will do anything to make himself rich. When Teenager enters business with the Lucchese family, whose boss has a line on the purest heroin in New York, success seems all but assured—until a scorching affair between the boss&’s wife and a young lawyer named Maximo threatens to ruin the entire operation. Their passion is instantaneous, but Teenager will make certain that before they can be together, the Bronx is going to burn. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Jimmy Breslin including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author&’s personal collection.
Trouble in July: A Novel
by Erskine CaldwellA small Southern town lynches a falsely accused man in &“some of the most . . . human and terrifying pages Caldwell has written&” (Richard Wright, author of Native Son). When word spreads through Julie County that Sonny Clark, a black man, has assaulted Katy Barlow, a white woman, the man&’s fate is sealed. With frightening speed, authorities and an outraged mob align to apprehend Clark and condemn him without trial. By the time Barlow confesses that no crime occurred, it is too late. Told from the multiple perspectives of victim and victimizers as well as passive onlookers, Trouble in July depicts in harrowing detail the tragic ignorance of individuals who fail to understand their roles in a hateful miscarriage of justice. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Erskine Caldwell including rare photos and never-before-seen documents courtesy of the Dartmouth College Library.
The Keepers of the House
by Shirley Ann GrauA &“beautifully written&” Pulitzer Prize–winning novel about prejudice and a distinguished family&’s secrets in the American South (The Atlantic Monthly). Seven generations of the Howland family have lived in the Alabama plantation home built by an ancestor who fought for Andrew Jackson in the War of 1812. Over the course of a century, the Howlands accumulated a fortune, fought for secession, and helped rebuild the South, establishing themselves as one of the most respected families in the state. But that history means little to Abigail Howland. The inheritor of the Howland manse, Abigail hides the long-buried secret of her grandfather&’s thirty-year relationship with his African American mistress. Her fortunes reverse when her family&’s mixed-race heritage comes to light and her community—locked in the prejudices of the 1960s—turns its back on her. Faced with such deep-seated racism, Abigail is pushed to defend her family at all costs. A &“novel of real magnitude,&” The Keepers of the House is an unforgettable story of family, tradition, and racial injustice set against the richly drawn backdrop of the American South (Kirkus Reviews). This ebook features an illustrated biography of Shirley Ann Grau, including rare photos and never-before-seen documents from the author&’s personal collection.
The Alington Inheritance (The Miss Silver Mysteries #31)
by Patricia WentworthA family fortune may be motive for murder: &“Miss Silver has her place in detective fiction as surely as Lord Peter Wimsey or Hercule Poirot&” (Manchester Evening News). Jenny has never been one to feel sorry for herself. The illegitimate child of a wealthy man and a statureless woman, she has been an orphan since before she can remember. It is a hard life made bearable only by the kindness of her guardian, an old woman named Miss Garstone, who has always treated Jenny as her own. Struck down by a motorist, &“Garsty&” dies, whispering to Jenny that her parents were actually married, and she is the rightful heir to the Alington fortune. Miss Garstone was not the only one who knew the secret, and as Jenny grieves, her wealthy cousins work to protect their fortune. When the quiet conflict turns deadly, governess-turned-detective Miss Silver is the only one who can unravel the perplexing family saga.
The American: A Middle Western Legend
by Howard FastThe #1 New York Times–bestselling author of Spartacus reimagines the life of John Peter Altgeld, a courageous politician and forgotten national hero. Though Abraham Lincoln is often considered the United States&’ most legendary politician, he wasn&’t the only country lawyer out of Illinois to change the face of the nation. John Peter Altgeld fought for Lincoln as a foot soldier in the Union Army, then followed in his footsteps from law to politics, eventually becoming governor of Illinois in 1896. Howard Fast&’s dazzling fictional account of Altgeld&’s life offers an inspirational example of a man who made great sacrifices for quintessentially American ideals. Inspired by Altgeld&’s social reforms, such as his fight against the dehumanizing economic injustice of the Gilded Age and his trailblazing implementation of some of the nation&’s first child labor laws, Fast celebrates the compelling life of an unsung American luminary. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Howard Fast including rare photos from the author&’s estate.
Hopscotch
by Brian GarfieldBored with retirement, an ex-spy embarks on a dangerous game, in this Edgar Award winner from a crime writer who is &“one of the best&” (The New York Times). Miles Kendig is one of the CIA&’s top deep-cover agents, until an injury ruins him for active duty. Rather than take a desk job, he retires. But the tawdry thrills of civilian life—gambling, drinking, sex—offer none of the pleasures of the intelligence game. Even a Russian agent&’s offer to go to work against his old employers seems dull. Without the thrill of unpredictable conflict, Kendig skulks through Paris like the walking dead. To revive himself, he begins writing a tell-all memoir, divulging every secret he accumulated in his long career. Neither CIA nor KGB can afford to have it in print, and so he challenges them both: Until they catch him, a chapter will go to the publisher every week. Kendig&’s life is fun again, with survival on the line.
To the Barricades: The Anarchist Life of Emma Goldman
by Alix Kates Shulman&“A respectful and relevant biography of the fiery crusader&” from the feminist activist and author of Memoirs of an Ex-Prom Queen (The New York Times Book Review). Writer, anarchist, revolutionary, feminist—Emma Goldman was all these things and more. She was a fiery advocate, taking bold stands on a wide range of issues including women&’s rights, homosexuality, capitalism, and the military draft. Her tumultuous childhood in Tsarist Russia fostered her rebelliousness and emboldened her opposition to violent authority. Upon arriving in New York in 1885, Goldman found a home in the anarchist movement in the United States. She traveled the country to deliver lectures on anarchism, and was jailed for urging unemployed workers to demand the food they needed. Goldman also aggressively supported Margaret Sanger&’s effort to educate women about birth control. Goldman was deported to Russia as fears of an anarchist revolution in the US grew. But back in her homeland, she didn&’t find the socialist paradise of worker equality and empowerment she had hoped would take root after the Bolshevik Revolution. Disillusioned, she left the Soviet Union and traveled the world to write and agitate on behalf of her causes. Goldman&’s radical legacy endures, revived during the Women&’s Liberation Movement of the 1970s. Her story provides inspiration for any woman who ever wanted to make a difference in the world.
Wild Times
by Brian GarfieldAn aged Western showman reflects over his long and colorful careerFew bother to separate the myth of Colonel Hugh Cardiff from his real life. The nation knows him as a sharpshooter, buffalo hunter, moving pictures pioneer, and one-time proprietor of the greatest Wild West show the nation has ever seen. Some of the stories are true, some exaggerated, and some rank among the wildest of tall tales. But for a man who has lived like Colonel Cardiff, the facts trump the myth. In the spring of 1868, Denver is the richest, wildest city west of the Mississippi. When an overweight Easterner named Dr. Bogardus rolls into town to announce a shooting contest with a $1,000 prize, ears prick up. Young Hugh wins the shoot with an ancient muzzle-loading rifle, knocking glass balls out of the air and missing only four out of one hundred targets. He is famous at nineteen, and the Colonel&’s wild life is just getting started.
Citizen Tom Paine
by Howard FastThe New York Times bestseller that&’s &“so glowingly human a picture of Tom Paine and America in the revolutionary days&” (The New York Herald). Thomas Paine&’s voice rang in the ears of eighteenth-century revolutionaries from America to France to England. He was friend to luminaries such as Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and William Wordsworth. His pamphlets extolling democracy sold in the millions. Yet he died a forgotten man, isolated by his rough manners, idealistic zeal, and unwillingness to compromise. Howard Fast&’s brilliant portrait brings Paine to the fore as a legend of American history, and provides readers with a gripping narrative of modern democracy&’s earliest days in America and Europe. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Howard Fast including rare photos from the author&’s estate.