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Worcestor, 1651: English Civil War, September 1651 (Battleground Britain 1642 - 1651 Ser.)
By Malcolm Atkin. 2004
The Battle of Worcester on 3 September 1651 was the final decisive engagement of the English Civil Wars. In this…
fascinating guide, Malcolm Atkin sets out in a graphic and easily understood way the movements of the opposing armies of Cromwell and Charles II as they approached Worcester and gives a detailed and gripping account of the deadly combat that followed. He also describes of the fate of 10,000 Scottish prisoners and retraces the route of Charles II as he made his dramatic escape.Demolishing the Myth: The Tank Battle at Prokhorovka, Kursk, July 1943: An Operational Narrative
By Valeriy Zamulin. 2018
&“Comprehensive scholarship and convincing reasoning, enhanced by an excellent translation, place this work on a level with the best of…
David Glantz&” (Dennis Showalter, award-winning author of Patton and Rommel). This groundbreaking book examines the battle of Kursk between the Red Army and Wehrmacht, with a particular emphasis on its beginning on July 12, as the author works to clarify the relative size of the contending forces, the actual area of this battle, and the costs suffered by both sides. Valeriy Zamulin&’s study of the crucible of combat during the titanic clash at Kursk—the fighting at Prokhorovka—is now available in English. A former staff member of the Prokhorovka Battlefield State Museum, Zamulin has dedicated years of his life to the study of the battle of Kursk, and especially the fighting on its southern flank involving the famous attack of the II SS Panzer Corps into the teeth of deeply echeloned Red Army defenses. A product of five years of intense research into the once-secret Central Archives of the Russian Ministry of Defense, this book lays out in enormous detail the plans and tactics of both sides, culminating in the famous and controversial clash at Prokhorovka on July 12, 1943. Zamulin skillfully weaves reminiscences of Red Army and Wehrmacht soldiers and officers into the narrative of the fighting, using in part files belonging to the Prokhorovka Battlefield State Museum. Zamulin has the advantage of living in Prokhorovka, so he has walked the ground of the battlefield many times and has an intimate knowledge of the terrain. Examining the battle primarily from the Soviet side, Zamulin reveals the real costs and real achievements of the Red Army at Kursk, and especially Prokhorovka. He examines mistaken deployments and faulty decisions that hampered the Voronezh Front&’s efforts to contain the Fourth Panzer Army&’s assault, and the valiant, self-sacrificial fighting of the Red Army&’s soldiers and junior officers as they sought to slow the German advance and crush the II SS Panzer Corps with a heavy counterattack at Prokhorovka. Illustrated with numerous maps and photographs (including present-day views of the battlefield), and supplemented with extensive tables of data, Zamulin&’s book is an outstanding contribution to the growing literature on the battle of Kursk, and further demolishes many of the myths and legends that grew up around it.The History of the Port of London: A Vast Emporium of All Nations
By Peter Stone. 2017
&“This meticulously researched account underlines the importance of the capital&’s docklands . . . from Roman landing to modern financial centre.&” —Discover Britain…
The River Thames has been integral to the prosperity of London since Roman times. Explorers sailed away on voyages of discovery to distant lands. Colonies were established and a great empire grew. Funding their ships and cargoes helped make the City of London into the world&’s leading financial center. In the nineteenth century a vast network of docks was created for ever-larger ships, behind high, prison-like walls that kept them secret from all those who did not toil within. Sail made way for steam as goods were dispatched to every corner of the world. In the nineteenth century London was the world&’s greatest port city. In the Second World War the Port of London became Hitler&’s prime target. It paid a heavy price but soon recovered. Yet by the end of the 20th century the docks had been transformed into Docklands, a new financial center. The History of the Port of London: A Vast Emporium of Nations is the fascinating story of the rise and fall and revival of the commercial river. The only book to tell the whole story and bring it right up to date, it charts the foundation, growth and evolution of the port and explains why for centuries it has been so important to Britain&’s prosperity. This book will appeal to those interested in London&’s history, maritime and industrial heritage, the Docklands and East End of London, and the River Thames.Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges into the Universe (Uncle John's Bathroom Reader)
By Bathroom Readers' Institute. 2002
An entertaining trivia compendium flush with fun facts about all things science.Uncle John&’s Bathroom Reader Plunges into the Universe is…
your anecdote to boring science textbooks. Uncle John and his loony lab partners will take you back to the Big Bang and forward to the distant future. You&’ll see the science in everything around (and inside) you, and learn the truth about the most egregious science myths (such as—you can&’t &“sweat like a pig&” because pigs don&’t sweat). How many amazing facts await your visual cortex in these 494 pages made up of atoms (print version) or bits and bytes (e-book)? As Carl Sagan would have said, &“Billions and Billions!&” So put on your thinking cap and check out: · Pluto denied · Kitchen chemistry · Football gets physics-al · Planet Earth&’s sudden hot flashes · Food&’s incredible journey . . .through you · The science of surfing, skating, and snowboarding · How they plugged the hole in the ozone layer · How &“defenseless&” animals stay alive · Sci-fi that&’s more fi than sci · Ancient astronomers · Know your clouds And much, much moreUncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges Into History (Uncle John's Bathroom Reader)
By Bathroom Readers' Institute. 2001
The trivia gurus behind the Uncle John&’s Bathroom Reader series plumb the depths of history in this compendium of easily…
digestible diversions. Whether you&’re a history buff, or you just like reading great stories, you&’ll see the past in a whole new light after reading Uncle John&’s Bathroom Reader Plunges into History. Uncle John uncovers the truth behind some of history&’s most persistent myths and flushes out information you were never taught in school. Where else could you learn about the 10 most-forgotten people in history, mistakes that led to great discoveries, and how a certain fish had a hand (er, fin) in beating Napoleon? Read all about . . . The short history of underwearOdd deaths of famous figuresAbe Lincoln, fashion iconThe real Lady GodivaRoyal inbreeds and promiscuous popesThe true story of Braveheart And much more!Ninja: Unmasking the Myth
By Stephen Turnbull. 2017
This history of the ninja uncovers the truth behind the image—from the exploits of medieval ninjas to their modern incarnation…
as pop culture icons. The ninja is a legendary figure in Japanese military culture, a fighter widely regarded as the world&’s greatest expert in secret warfare. The word alone conjures the image of a masked assassin dressed in black, capable of extraordinary feats of daring; a mercenary who disposes of enemies by sending sharp iron stars spinning towards them. This is, of course, a popular myth, based on exaggerations and Hollywood movies. But the truth, as Stephen Turnbull explains in Ninja, is even more fascinating. A leading expert on samurai culture, Turnbull presents an authoritative study of ninja history based on original Japanese sources, many of which have never been translated before. These include accounts of castle attacks, assassinations and espionage, as well as the last great ninja manual, which reveals the spiritual and religious ideals that were believed to lie behind the ninja&’s arts. Turnbull&’s critical examination of the ninja phenomenon ranges from undercover operations during the age of Japan&’s civil wars to the modern emergence of the superman ninja as a comic book character. The book concludes with a detailed investigation of the ninja in popular culture.The Battle for Cotentin Peninsula: 9–19 June 1944
By Georges Bernage. 2018
In June 1944, the Americans left the Sainte-Mre-Eglise and Utah Beach bridgehead and crossed the Merderet river to the Chausse…
de la Fiere, taking Picauville on 10 June. Their advance was slowed following the failure of the 90th Infantry Division, but they were able to take Pont-l'Abbe on 12 June and Saint-Sauveur-le-Vicomte 16 June. Two days later they cut the Cotentin peninsula at Barneville, before heading north towards Cherbourg.As well as authentic eyewitness testimony, the book also acts as a field guide, including maps and both contemporary and modern photographs.Villa Air-Bel: World War II, Escape, and a House in Marseille
By Rosemary Sullivan. 2006
“Rosemary Sullivan goes beyond the confines of Air-Bel to tell a fuller story of France during the tense years from…
1933 to 1941. . . . A moving tale of great sacrifice in tumultuous times.” — Publishers WeeklyParis 1940. Andre Breton, Max Ernst, Marc Chagall, Consuelo de Saint-Exupery, and scores of other cultural elite denounced as enemies of the conquering Third Reich, live in daily fear of arrest, deportation, and death. Their only salvation is the Villa Air-Bel, a chateau outside Marseille where a group of young people, financed by a private American relief organization, will go to extraordinary lengths to keep them alive. In Villa Air-Bel, Rosemary Sullivan sheds light on this suspenseful, dramatic, and intriguing story, introducing the brave men and women who use every means possible to stave off the Nazis and the Vichy officials, and goes inside the chateau’s walls to uncover the private worlds and the web of relationships its remarkable inhabitants developed.Jews and Their Roman Rivals: Pagan Rome's Challenge to Israel
By Katell Berthelot. 2021
How encounters with the Roman Empire compelled the Jews of antiquity to rethink their conceptions of Israel and the TorahThroughout…
their history, Jews have lived under a succession of imperial powers, from Assyria and Babylonia to Persia and the Hellenistic kingdoms. Jews and Their Roman Rivals shows how the Roman Empire posed a unique challenge to Jewish thinkers such as Philo, Josephus, and the Palestinian rabbis, who both resisted and internalized Roman standards and imperial ideology.Katell Berthelot traces how, long before the empire became Christian, Jews came to perceive Israel and Rome as rivals competing for supremacy. Both considered their laws to be the most perfect ever written, and both believed they were a most pious people who had been entrusted with a divine mission to bring order and peace to the world. Berthelot argues that the rabbinic identification of Rome with Esau, Israel's twin brother, reflected this sense of rivalry. She discusses how this challenge transformed ancient Jewish ideas about military power and the use of force, law and jurisdiction, and membership in the people of Israel. Berthelot argues that Jewish thinkers imitated the Romans in some cases and proposed competing models in others.Shedding new light on Jewish thought in antiquity, Jews and Their Roman Rivals reveals how Jewish encounters with pagan Rome gave rise to crucial evolutions in the ways Jews conceptualized the Torah and conversion to Judaism.The Complete Angler: A Connecticut Yankee Follows in the Footsteps of Walton
By James Prosek. 1999
James Prosek has been called "the Audubon of the fishing world" by the New York Times. A passionate fisherman and…
talented artist from a young age, he published two illustrated books on fish and fishing while still an undergraduate at Yale. After winning a traveling fellowship to follow in the footsteps of Izaak Walton, The Compleat Angler became his obsession. He was fascinated by Walton, a humble man who won the friendship of kings, and he was intrigued by the book's philosophies concerning the timelessness and immortality that could be achieved by fishing. Although Walton was sixty when The Compleat Angler was published and Prosek only twenty when he set off to visit England, they each had traits in common: a love of fishing and an extraordinary ability to make friends.This is the story of a young man's pilgrimage through England, fishing the waters that are now privately held. Along with wonderful stories about good times, great fishing, and fine eating, this trip becomes an exploration of Waltonian ideals: how to live with humor, wisdom, contentment, and simplicity.The original watercolors complementing the text are wonderful. Like Walton's book, The Complete Angler is not about fishing but about life. Or rather, it is about fishing—but fishing is life.The Highly Selective Thesaurus for the Extraordinarily Literate (Highly Selective Reference)
By Eugene Ehrlich. 1994
Anyone looking to improve his or her vocabulary and anyone who loves words will be enthralled by this unique and…
impressive thesaurus that provides only the most unusual -- or is it recondite? --words for each entry.The Hotel on Place Vendôme: Life, Death, and Betrayal at the Hotel Ritz in Paris
By Tilar J. Mazzeo. 2014
Set against the backdrop of the Nazi occupation of World War II, The Hôtel on Place Vendôme is the captivating…
history of Paris’s world-famous Hôtel Ritz—a breathtaking tale of glamour, opulence, and celebrity; dangerous liaisons, espionage, and resistance—from Tilar J. Mazzeo, the New York Times bestselling author of The Widow Clicquot and The Secret of Chanel No. 5When France fell to the Germans in June 1940, the legendary Hôtel Ritz on the Place Vendôme—an icon of Paris frequented by film stars and celebrity writers, American heiresses and risqué flappers, playboys, and princes—was the only luxury hotel of its kind allowed in the occupied city by order of Adolf Hitler.Tilar J. Mazzeo traces the history of this cultural landmark from its opening in fin de siècle Paris. At its center, The Hotel on Place Vendôme is an extraordinary chronicle of life at the Ritz during wartime, when the Hôtel was simultaneously headquarters to the highest-ranking German officers, such as Reichsmarshal Hermann Göring, and home to exclusive patrons, including Coco Chanel. Mazzeo takes us into the grand palace’s suites, bars, dining rooms, and wine cellars, revealing a hotbed of illicit affairs and deadly intrigue, as well as stunning acts of defiance and treachery.Rich in detail, illustrated with black-and-white photos, The Hotel on Place Vendôme is a remarkable look at this extraordinary crucible where the future of post-war France—and all of post-war Europe—was transformed."William C. Davis's Three Roads to the Alamo is far and away the best account of the Alamo I have…
ever read. The portraits of Crockett, Bowie, and Travis are brilliantly sketched in a fast-moving story that keeps the reader riveted to the very last word." — Stephen B. OatesThree Roads to the Alamois the definitive book about the lives of David Crockett, James Bowie and William Barret Travis—the legendary frontiersmen and fighters who met their destiny at the Alamo in one of the most famous and tragic battles in American history—and about what really happened in that battle.X Troop: The Secret Jewish Commandos of World War II
By Leah Garrett. 2021
WALL STREET JOURNAL BOOK OF THE MONTH "This is the incredible World War II saga of the German-Jewish commandos who fought…
in Britain’s most secretive special-forces unit—but whose story has gone untold until now." —Wall Street Journal“Brilliantly researched, utterly gripping history: the first full account of a remarkable group of Jewish refugees—a top-secret band of brothers—who waged war on Hitler.”—Alex Kershaw, New York Times best-selling author of The Longest Winter and The LiberatorThe incredible World War II saga of the German-Jewish commandos who fought in Britain’s most secretive special-forces unit—but whose story has gone untold until now June 1942. The shadow of the Third Reich has fallen across the European continent. In desperation, Winston Churchill and his chief of staff form an unusual plan: a new commando unit made up of Jewish refugees who have escaped to Britain. The resulting volunteers are a motley group of intellectuals, artists, and athletes, most from Germany and Austria. Many have been interned as enemy aliens, and have lost their families, their homes—their whole worlds. They will stop at nothing to defeat the Nazis. Trained in counterintelligence and advanced combat, this top secret unit becomes known as X Troop. Some simply call them a suicide squad. Drawing on extensive original research, including interviews with the last surviving members, Leah Garrett follows this unique band of brothers from Germany to England and back again, with stops at British internment camps, the beaches of Normandy, the battlefields of Italy and Holland, and the hellscape of Terezin concentration camp—the scene of one of the most dramatic, untold rescues of the war. For the first time, X Troop tells the astonishing story of these secret shock troops and their devastating blows against the Nazis.“Garrett’s detective work is stunning, and her storytelling is masterful. This is an original account of Jewish rescue, resistance, and revenge.”—Wendy Lower, author of The Ravine and National Book Award finalist Hitler’s FuriesThe Years of Extermination: Nazi Germany and the Jews, 1939–1945
By Saul Friedländer. 2007
"Establishes itself as the standard historical work on Nazi Germany’s mass murder of Europe’s Jews. . . . An account…
of unparalleled vividness and power that reads like a novel. . . . A masterpiece that will endure." — New York Times Book ReviewThe Years of Extermination, the completion of Saul Friedländer's major historical opus on Nazi Germany and the Jews, explores the convergence of the various aspects of the Holocaust, the most systematic and sustained of modern genocides.The enactment of the German extermination policies that resulted in the murder of six million European Jews depended upon many factors, including the cooperation of local authorities and police departments, and the passivity of the populations, primarily of their political and spiritual elites. Necessary also was the victims' willingness to submit, often with the hope of surviving long enough to escape the German vise.In this unparalleled work—based on a vast array of documents and an overwhelming choir of voices from diaries, letters, and memoirs—the history of the Holocaust has found its definitive representation.The Earth Transformed: An Untold History
By Peter Frankopan. 2023
A NEW YORKER BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • A revolutionary new history that reveals how climate change has dramatically shaped the…
development—and demise—of civilizations across time*The ebook edition now includes endnotes. Anyone who purchased the book previously can re-download this updated edition and access the notes.* Global warming is one of the greatest dangers mankind faces today. Even as temperatures increase, sea levels rise, and natural disasters escalate, our current environmental crisis feels difficult to predict and understand. But climate change and its effects on us are not new. In a bold narrative that spans centuries and continents, Peter Frankopan argues that nature has always played a fundamental role in the writing of history. From the fall of the Moche civilization in South America that came about because of the cyclical pressures of El Niño to volcanic eruptions in Iceland that affected Egypt and helped bring the Ottoman empire to its knees, climate change and its influences have always been with us. Frankopan explains how the Vikings emerged thanks to catastrophic crop failure, why the roots of regime change in eleventh-century Baghdad lay in the collapse of cotton prices resulting from unusual climate patterns, and why the western expansion of the frontiers in North America was directly affected by solar flare activity in the eighteenth century. Again and again, Frankopan shows that when past empires have failed to act sustainably, they have been met with catastrophe. Blending brilliant historical writing and cutting-edge scientific research, The Earth Transformed will radically reframe the way we look at the world and our future.Yet Being Someone Other
By Sir Laurens Van Der Post. 1982
Yet Being Someone Other is the most revealing book that Laurens van der Post wrote about his extraordinary and eventful…
life, and the most far-reaching; it is a distillation of the experiences that have moved him at the deepest level of the imagination and made him the exceptional person and writer he was.The World Turned Upside Down: Radical Ideas During the English Revolution
By Christopher Hill. 1975
'His finest work and one that was both symptom and engine of the concept of "history from below" ... Here…
Levellers, Diggers, Ranters, Muggletonians, the early Quakers and others taking advantage of the collapse of censorship to bid for new kinds of freedom were given centre stage ... Hill lives on' Times Higher EducationIn 'The World Turned Upside Down' Christopher Hill studies the beliefs of such radical groups as the Diggers, the Ranters, the Levellers and others, and the social and emotional impulses that gave rise to them. The relations between rich and poor classes, the part played by wandering 'masterless' men, the outbursts of sexual freedom, the great imaginative creations of Milton and Bunyan - these and many other elements build up into a marvellously detailed and coherent portrait of this strange, sudden effusion of revolutionary beliefs.'Established the concept of an "English Revolution" every bit as significant and potentially as radical as its French and Russian equivalents' Daily Telegraph'Brilliant ... marvellous erudition and sympathy' David Caute, New Statesman'This book will outlive our time and will stand as a notable monument to the man, the committed radical scholar, and one of the finest historians of the age' The Times Literary Supplement'The dean and paragon of English historians' E.P. ThompsonThe World Since 1945
By T. Vadney. 1998
THE COMPLETE HISTORY OF GLOBAL CHANGE FROM 1945 TO THE PRESENT DAY The world since 1945 has witnessed fundamental changes,…
notably the increasing influence of the West - particularly the USA - in a variety of spheres, the emergence and collapse of the USSR, the end of colonial empire in Asia and Africa and the escalation of wars and other conflicts in the Third World. In this incisive survey T. E. Vadney examines the key events without ever neglecting the underlying trends. He explores therapid changes in the Middle East, the end of apartheid in South Africa and the aims of American foreign policy. He concludes with a new epilogue in which he examines the direction of post-1945 history as the world enters the twenty-first century.Wordwatching: Breaking into the Dictionary: It's His Word Against Theirs
By Alex Horne. 2010
Alex Horne loves words. He loves them so much, in fact, that he's decided to invent his own ... and…
get them into the dictionary. But, as Alex discovers, gaining entry into the official lexicon takes more than just a gentle word in the ear of the editor. Evidence is required - Alex needs proof that his words are being spoken by more people than just him and his mum. He needs what the dictionary authorities call a 'corpus' of examples, hard data showing that his new words are in widespread and long-term usage. So a corpus he resolves to create, no matter what obstacles he might meet on the way. This is the epic and ridiculous story of one man's struggle to break into the dictionary. From covert word-dropping on Countdown to wilfully misinforming schoolchildren, Alex tries it all in his quest for dictionary-based immortality. Does he succeed? Are you already using one of Alex's words without realising it? You won't regret spending your hard-earned honk on this hugely entertaining book.