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Going to Extremes: The Adventurous Life of Harry de Windt
By Stephen Wade. 2016
Harry de Windt (1856–1933) was a man who, by any standards, was a personality, a marked presence in the world…
of Victorian and Edwardian literature and social life. He was a member of the literary circle around Oscar Wilde and his friend and lover, Bosie (Lord Alfred Douglas); he was active in the world of the turf; and he travelled he took on dangerous journeys with relish, crossing vast tracts of the British and Russian empires for the sheer thrill of it. This book traces his life and adventures, at home and abroad, and also gives an account of his early work on military service in Sarawak, Malaysia, his expert knowledge of the Russian prison system, and his later Great War role running a POW camp. Many of his books reflect epic journeys against the odds: From Paris to New York by Land, Savage Europe, Siberia As It Is and others. His autobiographical work, My Restless Life, perhaps sums up his nature.Interesting facts: * Harry de Windt was brother to the Ranee of Sarawak and fought against rebels there in his early career * He visited the penal colony on the Russian island of Sakhalin close to the same time that Anton Chekhov went there * He appeared as a witness in the trial for libel of Lord Alfred Douglas, as he blamed Winston Churchill for the heavy losses in the Battle of Jutland * On his travels he met a host of interesting people from murderers to statesmenBroken Sword: The Tumultuous Life of General Frank Crozier, 1897–1937
By Charles Messenger. 2013
Brigadier General Frank Crozier (1879- 1937) was a highly controversial figure in his day. As a young soldier he saw…
active service in the Boer War and West Africa before being forced to leave the British army because of financial irresponsibility. He tried to start a new life in Canada and then, on his return to Britain, joined the Ulster Volunteer Force.On the outbreak of the First World War he was appointed second-in-command of a battalion in 36th Ulster Division, becoming its commanding officer in autumn 1915 and leading it in action on 1 July 1916. He commanded a brigade with much success for the rest of the war.Forbidden to stay on in the British army after the war, he became inspector-general of the Lithuanian army in 1919, but resigned after six months. Made commandant of the Auxiliary Division of the Royal Irish Constabulary at the height of the Troubles, he resigned in highly controversial circumstances.After being declared bankrupt for a second time, he was involved in the League of Nations Union and then turned topacifism, becoming a founder member of the Peace Pledge Union. By now he had, through his best-selling writings, become a thorn in the side of the establishment. Charles Messenger's meticulously researched and highly readable biography of this maverick soldier is the first full account of his life and times.Charles Darwin: Destroyer of Myths
By Andrew Norman. 2013
Charles Darwin did not deliberately set out to be the 'destroyer of mythical beliefs', some of which, in his early…
days as a young Christian, he had previously espoused. He was a modest man who liked to avoid controversy, yet he was to be the cause of one of the greatest controversies in the history of science and religion. When he embarked on HMS Beagle, he could not have imagined the experience would lead him to formulate a theory that would revolutionize the way in which man viewed the natural world.How did this thoughtful, methodical scientist come to have such an impact on his time – and on ours? That is the question Andrew Norman seeks to answer in this lucid and concise biography of the author of Origin of Species.The narrative looks perceptively at Darwin's early life, at the influences that shaped him during his university years, and at the formative effect of the famous voyage to Galapagos in the Beagle which led him to question orthodox views on how the world was created and how humans evolved. In particular, it concentrates on the progress, over twenty years, of his thinking on natural selection which grew into a great work that disturbed and enlightened his contemporaries.Andrew Norman has produced a fascinating account of the development of Darwin's research and theorizing. But he looks, too, at Darwin the man. The result is a rounded portrait of a pioneering thinker whose revolutionary theories profoundly influence our understanding of the world today.Winston Churchill
By Nigel Blundell. 2011
Winston Churchill was an extraordinary person - a politician, a statesman, a man of letters and a soldier but it…
was for his wartime leadership during the Second World War that he is chiefly remembered. In a study of his life, certain bizarre character traits become discernible. He had excessive energy and required little sleep. His mind would either flit from one idea to another with bewildering speed or focus obsessively on one particular goal. He was impulsive, and his attention was easily drawn to irrelevant or unimportant matters. He enjoyed taking risks almost to the point of self-destruction. He lacked inhibition and was eccentric in the extreme. Yet at other times, when he was afflicted with what he called his 'Black Dog', he became depressed, irritable, aggressive, and preoccupied with death and thoughts of suicide. By closely and painstakingly examining the statements of Churchill's doctor, of Winston himself, his family, his friends and acquaintances, Dr. Norman, as a medical man, has been able to ascertain the true nature of Winston's disorder. The diagnosis having been made, it is now possible for the very first time, and this will remain secret until the book is published, to understand the man himself and what made him 'tick'.Private Beatson's War: Life, Death and Hope on the Western Front
By Edited by Shaun Springer. 1916
Until recently James Beatson was one of the millions of forgotten soldiers of the Great War. But after 90 years…
his diary has been rediscovered, perfectly preserved, and his story can now be told. It is a moving, intensely personal and beautifully written narrative by an extraordinary young man who witnessed one of the darkest episodes in European history. His experience gives us a telling insight into the thoughts and reactions of a self- educated, patriotic and religious individual confronted by the horrors of warfare on the Western Front. Indeed, after reading the diary of a dead German soldier, Beatson begins to identify more with the thoughts and fears of his enemy than he does with those he loves at home. Reminiscent of some of the greatest of the First World War authors, the diary is also the record of a gifted writer whose potential was tragically curtailed. For, shortly after marrying his childhood sweet heart, he was killed in action at the Battle of the Somme in one of the many failed attacks on High Wood. For this, the first publication of Beatsons diary, Shaun Springer and Stuart Humphreys have edited and illustrated the text and provided an introduction, describing Beatsons family background and the campaign on the Western Front in which he took part. James Beatson was the eldest of nine children. He was raised in Scotland by working-class parents. He was a civil engineer until, as with so many, the declaration of war offered him the chance of adventure. He enlisted in the first days of the war in the Royal Scots and was an eyewitness to the first poison gas attack by the Germans in 1915. Despite the horrors he experienced, Private Beatson never lost his love of humanity nor his faith. He now lies buried, lost somewhere on the Somme when in July 1916 he breathed his last in that infamous battle.Women in the Second World War
By Collette Drifte. 2011
Women in the Second World War explores the experiences of women who served in the armed forces, or complimentary services.…
Using interviews, anecdotes, memoirs and/or accounts from the women (or, where appropriate, their children), the book tells the womens personal accounts of what their lives were like and what particular experiences they had while serving.They were all ordinary British women, and tell here in their own words their experiences on active service.Their accounts cover the whole spectrum, from famous battles, such as Monte Cassino, to being shipwrecked by a tornado, to simple acts of kindness, which in themselves seem nothing, but at the same time meant something very special to those young women, and were fondly remembered, even sixty years afterwards. The huge variety of services and experiences featured in the book reflect how widely spread the womens contribution to the war effort was, from tilling the soil below, to servicing the engines of aircraft about to take off to the sky above, and everything in between.The Sword of the Republic: A Biography of Marcus Claudius Marcellus
By Jeremiah McCall. 2012
Marcellus military exploits were largely unmatched by any other aristocrat of Roman Middle Republic. As a young soldier in the…
First Punic War, he won a reputation for his skill in single combat. In his first consulship, he earned a triumph for defeating a Gallic tribe, no small feat in and of itself, and also slew the Gallic chieftain Britomartus in single combat. Consequently, he earned the spolia opima, an honor, according to Roman antiquarians, which had only been earned twice before, once by Romulus himself. He went on to defeat the hitherto-invincible Hannibal in a small battle around the central Italian city of Nola, and subsequently led an army to subdue and plunder the powerful city of Syracuse in an epic 2 year siege (despite the ingenious defensive measures of the inventor Archimedes). Yet, despite his undeniable success as a warrior and commander, Marcellus met with considerable political opposition at Rome.Marcellus career not only makes exciting reading, but gives an excellent vantage point from which to view the military and political struggles of the period and the role of military successes in the aristocratic culture of the Roman Republic. His biography will be an important addition to existing works on Roman military history.Squadron Leader Tommy Broom DFC**: The Legendary Pathfinder Mosquito Navigator
By Tom Parry Evans. 2011
Tommy Broom is one of the RAFs most legendary and popular heroes of World War II. He joined the service…
at eighteen years of age in 1932 and after service in the Middle East, he first saw action against Germany in a Fairey Battle during 1939 with No 105(B) Squadron. He continued to serve with 105 Squadron until November 1940, a period that included the disastrous Battle of France and the low-level attacks on the Channel ports to destroy the invasion barges, in both of which actions the squadron suffered severe losses.Having completed more than his share of front-line flying he was transferred to 13 Operational Training Unit at Bicester, to teach the influx of newly-trained navigators the additional skills required for combat situations. He returned to 105(B) Squadron in January 1942 to complete a further tour. In August of the same year he was again posted to the educational role. In May 1944. He then returned to front-line flying until the end of the war, belonging to numbers 571(B), 128(B) and 163(B) Mosquito Squadrons.Tommy completed 83 operations during the war and teamed up with a namesake as his pilot, Ivor Broom they became known as the Flying Brooms and completed 57 operations together.My Fathers Son
By Dawyck Haig. 2003
Dawyck Haig, the only son of the great Field Marshal, was born in 1918, the year of his father's victory.…
His life has been hugely influenced by the legendary status accorded to his father and, after 1932, to himself. This unique memoir reveals a side of the Field Marshal that has never been seen before and makes mandatory reading for those who seek to understand one of the foremost military figures of the age. The author goes on to tell of his own experiences as a soldier in The Royal Scots Greys in World War Two, of his capture and imprisonment in Colditz. Designated a Prominente, he and other sons of well known men were singled out as potential hostages on the orders of Hitler and, as a result, lived under continuous threat of execution. This important memoir is sensitively written. It is heavily illustrated with photographs of Field Marshal Haig that have never been seen before. A fascinating and compelling book.Shan Hackett: The Biography of Sir General John Hackett GCB DSO MC
By Roy Fullick. 2003
'Shan' Hackett is remembered by his own and succeeding generations for a variety of achievements and attributes. A superb fighting…
soldier, he served with the Trans-Jordan Force, had fought through North Africa and was involved in the formation of the Long Range Desert Group, the SAS and Popski's Private Army. He went on to raise 4th Parachute Brigade which he commanded with flair at Arnhem where he was wounded and captured. He escaped and got back to British lines. He rose to high rank filling key command and staff appointments in the British Army and NATO.Always an intellectual, yet highly practical man, he retired to become Principal of King's College London where he was revered by staff and students. He wrote many acclaimed works including The Third World War and its sequel The Third World War - The Untold Story. He was constantly in demand in Britain for his television programs and radio commentary up to his death in 1997Winston Churchill: Portrait Of An Unquiet Mind
By Andrew Norman. 2012
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill is known chiefly for his leadership of the United Kingdom during World War Two. He served…
as Prime Minister from 1940 to 1945 and again from 1951 to 1955. A noted statesman and orator, Churchill was also an officer in the British Army, a historian, writer and artist. To date, he is the only British Prime Minister to have received the Nobel Prize in Literature, and the second person to be recognized as an Honorary Citizen of the United States. During his army career, Churchill saw military action in India, the Sudan and the Second Boer War. He gained fame and notoriety as a war correspondent and through contemporary books he wrote describing the campaigns. He also served briefly in the British Army on the Western Front in World War One, commanding the 6th Battalion of the Royal Scots Fusiliers. At the forefront of the political scene for almost fifty years, he held many political and cabinet positions. After losing the 1945 election, he became Leader of the Opposition. In 1951 he again became Prime Minister, before finally retiring in 1955. Upon his death, the Queen granted him the honor of a state funeral, which saw one of the largest assemblies of statesmen in the world.This unique images title contains many rare and unpublished photographs of Churchill throughout his military and political career.Special Relationships: People and Places
By Asa Briggs. 2012
July 2011 marked the 90th birthday of a remarkable man Lord Asa Briggs. A Cambridge graduate, Bletchley Park code-breaker, and…
one of the most eminent and influential historians of our time, his experiences could easily fill several autobiographies. Yet, surprisingly this memoir is the first book that he has ever written about himself. In it, Briggs delves deep into his own history-from the origins of his highly distinctive name and his early education; through his recruitment into the Intelligence Corps and his wartime experiences as a Hut Six cryptographer; to his outstanding contributions as a social and cultural historian. Along the way he sets out to trace those personal relationships which have most shaped (his) life his childhood friends and Cambridge professors; his Bletchley Park coworkers; fellow historians; and of course his closest friends and family. Brimming with fascinating insights, and full of warmth, intelligence and good humor, this is a exceptional memoir of an exceptional man.Woody Guthrie: Writing America's Songs (Routledge Historical Americans)
By Ronald D. Cohen. 2013
Woody Guthrie is the most famous and influential folk music composer and performer in the history of the United States.…
His most popular song, "This Land is Your Land" has become the country's unofficial national anthem, known to every school child since the 1960s. His influence exceeded the realm of American music, reaching American politics. Guthrie’s music became the soundtrack to the Great Depression, and iconic of the Dust Bowl migrants. Guthrie and his music came to represent those disenfranchised people who remained committed to making better lives for themselves through the promise of the American Dream. Here, in a short, accessible biography, bolstered with primary documents, including letters, autobiographical excerpts, and reflections by Pete Seeger, Cohen introduces Guthrie’s life and music influence to students of American history and culture.The Roman Emperor Aurelian: Restorer of the World
By John F. White. 2004
The ancient Sibylline prophecies had foretold that the Roman Empire would last for 1000 years. As the time for the…
expected dissolution approached in the middle of the third century AD, the empire was lapsing into chaos, with seemingly interminable civil wars over the imperial succession. The western empire had seceded under a rebel emperor and the eastern empire was controlled by another usurper. Barbarians took advantage of the anarchy to kill and plunder all over the provinces. Yet within the space of just five years, the general, later emperor Aurelian had expelled all the barbarians from with the Roman frontiers, re-united the entire empire and inaugurated major reforms of the currency, pagan religion and civil administration. His accomplishments have been hailed by classical scholars as those of a 'superman', yet Aurelian himself remains little known to a wider audience. His achievements enabled the Roman Empire to survive for another two centuries, ensuring a lasting legacy of Roman civilization for the successor European states. Without Aurelian, the 'Dark Ages' would probably have lasted centuries longer. This is a new, revised edition.The Memoirs of Catherine the Great (Modern Library Classics)
By Catherine The Great, Hilde Hoogenboom, Markus Cruse. 2005
Empress Catherine II brought Europe to Russia, and Russia to Europe, during her long and eventful reign (1762--96). She fostered…
the culture of the Enlightenment and greatly expanded the immense empire created by Czar Ivan the Terrible, shifting the balance of power in Europe eastward. Famous for her will to power and for her dozen lovers, Catherine was also a prolific and gifted writer. Fluent in French, Russian, and German, Catherine published political theory, journalism, comedies, operas, and history, while writing thousands of letters as she corresponded with Voltaire and other public figures. The Memoirs of Catherine the Great provides an unparalleled window into eighteenth-century Russia and the mind of an absolute ruler. With insight, humor, and candor, Catherine presents her eyewitness account of history, from her whirlwind entry into the Russian court in 1744 at age fourteen as the intended bride of Empress Elizabeth I's nephew, the eccentric drunkard and future Peter III, to her unhappy marriage; from her two children, several miscarriages, and her and Peter's numerous affairs to the political maneuvering that enabled Catherine to seize the throne from him in 1762. Catherine's eye for telling details makes for compelling reading as she describes the dramatic fall and rise of her political fortunes.This definitive new translation from the French is scrupulously faithful to her words and is the first for which translators have consulted original manuscripts written in Catherine's own hand. It is an indispensable work for anyone interested in Catherine the Great, Russian history, or the eighteenth century.From the Hardcover edition.The Immortal Irishman: The Irish Revolutionary Who Became an American Hero
By Timothy Egan. 2016
From the National Book Award-winning and best-selling author Timothy Egan comes the epic story of one of the most fascinating…
and colorful Irishman in nineteenth-century America. The Irish-American story, with all its twists and triumphs, is told through the improbable life of one man. A dashing young orator during the Great Famine of the 1840s, in which a million of his Irish countrymen died, Thomas Francis Meagher led a failed uprising against British rule, for which he was banished to a Tasmanian prison colony. He escaped and six months later was heralded in the streets of New York -- the revolutionary hero, back from the dead, at the dawn of the great Irish immigration to America. Meagher's rebirth in America included his leading the newly formed Irish Brigade from New York in many of the fiercest battles of the Civil War -- Bull Run, Antietam, Fredericksburg. Twice shot from his horse while leading charges, left for dead in the Virginia mud, Meagher's dream was that Irish-American troops, seasoned by war, would return to Ireland and liberate their homeland from British rule. The hero's last chapter, as territorial governor of Montana, was a romantic quest for a true home in the far frontier. His death has long been a mystery to which Egan brings haunting, colorful new evidence. A New York Times BestsellerStalin's Scribe: Literature, Ambition, And Survival: The Life Of Mikhail Sholokhov
By Brian Boeck. 2019
A masterful and definitive biography of one of the most misunderstood and controversial writers in Russian literature. Mikhail Sholokhov is…
arguable one of the most contentious recipients of the Nobel Prize in Literature. As a young man, Sholokhov’s epic novel, Quiet Don, became an unprecedented overnight success. Stalin’s Scribe is the first biography of a man who was once one of the Soviet Union’s most prominent political figures. Thanks to the opening of Russia’s archives, Brian Boeck discovers that Sholokhov’s official Soviet biography is actually a tangled web of legends, half-truths, and contradictions. Boeck examines the complex connection between an author and a dictator, revealing how a Stalinist courtier became an ideological acrobat and consummate politician in order to stay in favor and remain relevant after the dictator’s death. Stalin's Scribe is remarkable biography that both reinforces and clashes with our understanding of the Soviet system. It reveals a Sholokhov who is bold, uncompromising, and sympathetic—and reconciles him with the vindictive and mean-spirited man described in so many accounts of late Soviet history. Shockingly, at the height of the terror, which claimed over a million lives, Sholokhov became a member of the most minuscule subset of the Soviet Union’s population—the handful of individuals whom Stalin personally intervened to save.Our Man Down in Havana: The True Cold War Story Behind Graham Greene's Espionage Satire
By Christopher Hull. 2019
Exploring the backstory that led to the writing of Graham Greene's beloved satirical spy novel, Our Man Down in Havana…
evokes this pivotal time and place in the author's life. When U.S. immigration authorities deported Graham Greene from Puerto Rico in 1954, the British author made an unplanned visit to Havana and discovered that “every vice was permissible and every trade possible” in a Caribbean fleshpot of mafia-run casinos and nude revues. The former MI6 officer had stumbled upon the ideal setting for a comic espionage story. Three years later, he returned in the midst of Fidel Castro’s guerrilla insurgency against a U.S.-backed dictator to begin writing his iconic novel Our Man in Havana. Twelve weeks after its publication, the Cuban Revolution triumphed in January 1959, soon transforming a capitalist playground into a communist stronghold. Combining biography, history, and politics, Our Man Down in Havana investigates the real story behind Greene’s fictional one. This includes his many visits to a pleasure island that became a revolutionary island, turning his chance involvement into a political commitment. His Cuban novel describes an amateur agent who dupes his intelligence chiefs with invented reports about “concrete platforms and unidentifiable pieces of giant machinery.” With eerie prescience, Greene’s satirical tale had foretold the Cold War’s most perilous episode, the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis. Exploiting a wealth of archival material and interviews with key protagonists, Our Man Down in Havana delves into the story behind and beyond the author’s prophetic Cuban tale, focusing on one slice of Greene’s manic life: a single novel and its complex history.Becoming Dr. Seuss: Theodor Geisel and the Making of an American Imagination
By Brian Jay Jones. 2019
The definitive, fascinating, all-reaching biography of Dr. Seuss Dr. Seuss is a classic American icon. Whimsical and wonderful, his work…
has defined our childhoods and the childhoods of our own children. The silly, simple rhymes are a bottomless well of magic, his illustrations timeless favorites because, quite simply, he makes us laugh. The Grinch, the Cat in the Hat, Horton, and so many more, are his troupe of beloved, and uniquely Seussian, creations. Theodor Geisel, however, had a second, more radical side. It is there that the allure and fasciation of his Dr. Seuss alter ego begins. He had a successful career as an advertising man and then as a political cartoonist, his personal convictions appearing, not always subtly, throughout his books—remember the environmentalist of The Lorax? Geisel was a complicated man on an important mission. He introduced generations to the wonders of reading while teaching young people about empathy and how to treat others well. Agonizing over word choices and rhymes, touching up drawings sometimes for years, he upheld a rigorous standard of perfection for his work. Geisel took his responsibility as a writer for children seriously, talking down to no reader, no matter how small. And with classics like Green Eggs and Ham, and One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish, Geisel delighted them while they learned. Suddenly, reading became fun. Coming right of the heels off George Lucas and bestselling Jim Henson, Brian Jay Jones is quickly developing a reputation as a master biographer of the creative geniuses of our time.The bestselling guide to the lives, deaths, and final resting places of our most enduring cultural icons, now revised and…
completely updated for 2019. Where Are They Buried? has directed legions of fervent fans and multitudes of the morbidly curious to the graves, monuments, memorials, and tombstones of the nearly 500 celebrities and antiheroes included in the book. The most complete and well-organized guide on the subject by far, every entry features an entertaining capsule biography full of little-known facts, a detailed description of the death, and step-by-step directions to the grave, including not only the name of the cemetery but the exact location of the gravesite and how to reach it. The book also provides a handy index of grave locations organized by state, province, and country to make planning a grave-hopping road trip easy and efficient.