Immediately after the Second World War, the victorious Allies authorized and helped to carry out the forced relocation of German speakers from their homes across central and southern Europe to Germany. The numbers were almost unimaginable—between 12,000,000 and 14,000,000 civilians, most of them women and children—and the losses horrifying—at least 500,000 people, and perhaps many more, died while detained in former concentration camps, while locked in trains en route, or after arriving in Germany exhausted, malnourished, and homeless. This book is the first in any language to tell the full story of this immense man-made catastrophe.Based mainly on archival records of the countries that carried out the forced migrations and of the international humanitarian organizations that tried but failed to prevent the disastrous results, Orderly and Humane: The Expulsion of the Germans after the Second World War is an authoritative and objective account. It examines an aspect of European history that few have wished to confront, exploring how the expulsions were conceived, planned, and executed and how their legacy reverberates throughout central Europe today. The book is an important study of the largest recorded episode of what we now call "ethnic cleansing," and it may also be the most significant untold story of the Second World War.Review“Orderly and Humane is an outstanding and well-written work that fills a significant gap in books written in English about this large subject and the very period of its compass. It ought to be in every serious American library and should be required reading for scholars interested in the history of the end of the Second World War and the years thereafter in Europe.”—John Lukacs, author of The Future of History and Five Days in London, May 1940(John Lukacs )“R.M. Douglas has written a fair-minded, deeply researched and courageous book that carefully demystifies the claims and accusations surrounding the awful history of the expulsion of the ethnic Germans from Eastern Europe. A first-rate work, Orderly and Humane compels us to admit that the postwar expulsions were not simply a regrettable accident but a deliberate policy of ethnic cleansing on a breathtaking scale that decisively shaped postwar Europe’s history.”—William I. Hitchcock, author of The Bitter Road to Freedom: The Human Consequences of Allied Victory in World War II Europe(William I. Hitchcock )“The tragedy of the post-World War II ethnic German refugees and expellees has been told before but no account is based on so many original documents from so many countries as Douglas’s eminently readable work.”—Istvan Deak, Columbia University (Istvan Deak )“This important, powerful, and moving book should be on the desk of every international policymaker as well as every historian of twentieth-century Europe. Characterized by assured scholarship, cool objectivity, and convincing detail, it is also a passionate plea for tolerance and fairness in a multicultural world.”—Richard J. Evans, The New Republic(Richard J. Evans The New Republic )"This is an important book, deserving of the widest readership."—Max Hastings, Sunday Times(Max Hastings Sunday Times 20120805)“R.M. Douglas has written a serious book that deserves the serious commitment it takes to read it."—John B. Saul, The Seattle Times(John B. Saul The Seattle Times 20020729) About the AuthorR. M. Douglas is associate professor of history, Colgate University. He is the author of four previous books, including most recently Architects of the Resurrection: Ailtiri na hAiséirghe and the Fascist "New Order" in Ireland. He lives in Hamilton, NY. Views: 29
After her sister drowns, Ryan McCauley is haunted by the dead girl's past Two sisters walk through a snowy wood, collecting pinecones for Christmas decorations. Something has frightened Marisa, and she's about to explain it to Ryan, her younger sister, when she steps onto a patch of thin ice. Marisa plummets into the frigid water below, and though Ryan tries to save her, there's nothing she can do. Even though the accident wasn't her fault, Ryan is consumed by guilt. But guilt is not what she should be afraid of. Three weeks after Marisa's death, Ryan sees her everywhere. At night she feels something following her, but when she turns around there's nothing there. A creepy college friend of Marisa's shows up at Ryan's house, and her mother asks him to stay through Christmas. To free herself of guilt, Ryan must unlock Marisa's terrible secret—before death takes her too. This ebook features an illustrated biography of Richie Tankersley Cusick including rare photos and... Views: 29
For the first time, the life and mind of Anders Behring Breivik, the most unexpected of mass murderers, is examined and set in the context of wider criminal psychology.*Winner of the 2016 Silver Falchion Award for Best Nonfiction Adult Book*July 22, 2011 was the darkest day in Norway's history since Nazi Germany's invasion. It was one hundred eighty-nine minutes of terror—from the moment the bomb exploded outside a government building until Anders Behring Breivik was apprehended by the police at Utoya Island. Breivik murdered seventy-seven people, most of them teenagers and young adults, and wounded hundreds more. The massacre left the world in shock.Breivik is a new type of mass murderer, and he is not alone. Indeed, he is the archetypal "lone wolf killer," often overlooked until the moment they commit their crime. He has inspired others like him, just as Breivik was inspired by Timothy McVeigh and Theodore Kaczynski. No other killer has... Views: 29
From a debut novelist, a gripping historical thriller and rousing love story set in seventeenth-century ManhattanIt’s 1663 in the tiny, hardscrabble Dutch colony of New Amsterdam, now present-day southern Manhattan. Orphan children are going missing, and among those looking into the mysterious state of affairs are a quick-witted twenty-two-year-old trader, Blandine von Couvering, herself an orphan, and a dashing British spy named Edward Drummond.Suspects abound, including the governor’s wealthy nephew, a green-eyed aristocrat with decadent tastes; an Algonquin trapper who may be possessed by a demon that turns people into cannibals; and the colony’s own corrupt and conflicted orphanmaster. Both the search for the killer and Edward and Blandine’s newfound romance are endangered, however, when Blandine is accused of being a witch and Edward is sentenced to hang for espionage. Meanwhile, war looms as the English king plans to wrest control of the colony.Jean Zimmerman brings New Amsterdam and its surrounding wilderness alive for modern-day readers with exacting period detail. Lively, fast paced, and full of colorful characters, The Orphanmaster is a dramatic page-turner that will appeal to fans of Hilary Mantel and Geraldine Brooks.ReviewPraise for The Orphanmaster:“The Orphanmaster is a sweeping novel of great and precise imaginative intelligence; it's also the most entertaining and believable historical novel I've read in years. Jean Zimmerman is a debut novelist who already writes like an old master. Read any page of The Orphanmaster and you'll become an instant fan.” – Darin Strauss, author of Half a Life and *Chang and Eng*“Jean Zimmerman's seventeenth-century New Amsterdam teems with enough intrigue, lust, and madness to give our twenty-first-century Big Apple a run for its money. And money is what drives this book – liberating, corrupting, forming the only bulwark against a terrifying, chaotic New World. Zimmerman's wit and humanity shine light in a dark woods, creating an uncommonly rich debut.” – Sheri Holman, author of *The Dress Lodger“Here’s American history turned inside out, animated by Jean Zimmerman’s prodigious imagination. Monsters lurk in the shadows, chaos presses in, legends come alive, and one adventure leads with irresistible force to the next. The Orphanmaster is a breathtaking achievement.” – Joanna Scott, author of Arrogance and *Various Antidotes“[A] compulsively readable, heartbreaking, and grisly mystery set in a wild colonial America.” – *ALA Booklist“A feisty young Dutch woman, an English spy, and a local demon all cross paths in 1663 New Amsterdam, in this Ludlumesque historical thriller...a successful mix of historical fiction, spy thriller, and horror.” – *Library Journal"As in the best historical fiction, [Zimmerman] has created a kind of truce between the authority of the past and the accessibility of the present, revealing to us what it once meant to be alive, and what that history means to us now ... on nearly every page there is some unobtrusively offered word or description, of food, of architecture, of dress, that brings the period and its people into clearer focus." – USA Today"Absorbing period fiction with the requisite colorful characters of the era." – The New York Daily NewsAbout the AuthorJean Zimmerman was born in Tarrytown, New York. An honors graduate of Barnard College, she is the author of several works of nonfiction, including Love, Fiercely: A Gilded Age Romance and The Women of the House: How a Colonial She-Merchant Built a Mansion, a Fortune, and a Dynasty. She lives in Ossining, New York. Views: 29
Bestselling author Melody Carlson begins an inspiring new series of adventure and romance on the Oregon Trail.Kentucky, 1854—Elizabeth Martin has mourned her husband's death for three years, but now she feels ready to fulfill the dream they had shared—to take their two children west. The dream becomes reality when her middle-aged parents and bachelor brother surprise her with the news that they want to go as well.After converting three of their best wagons to prairie schooners and thoroughly outfitting them, the little party travels from Kentucky to Kansas City, where they join a substantial wagon train. Elizabeth soon finds herself being drawn to the group's handsome guide, Eli Kincade.The long journey and deepening relationships challenge the travelers to their core, and Eli's mysterious past leaves Elizabeth with more questions than answers. She knows there's no turning back, but she wonders, What have I gotten myself into?About This... Views: 29
This is the game changing book reveals the blueprint for a second term that President Obama and his progressive backers don't want you to know. Months of painstaking research into thousands of documents have enabled investigative journalists and New York Times bestselling authors Aaron Klein and Brenda J. Elliott to expose the secret template for Obama's next four years—the one actually created by Obama's own top advisers and strategists. Just as Obama concealed the true plans for his initial term behind rhetoric of ending partisan differences and cutting the Federal deficit, Obama's re-election theme of creating jobs conceals more than it reveals about his real agenda for a second term. All the main areas of domestic policy are covered—jobs, wages, health care, immigration overhaul, electoral reform, national energy policy. Each of the plans exposed seek to permanently remake America into a government-dominated socialist state.Here are just a few samples from... Views: 29
Product DescriptionThe Dark Tower series is the backbone of Stephen King's legendary career. Eight books and more than three thousand pages make up this bestselling fantasy epic. This revised and updated concordance, incorporating the 2012 Dark Tower novel The Wind Through the Keyhole, is the definitive encyclopedic reference book that provides readers with everything they need to navigate their way through the series. With hundreds of characters, Mid-World geography, High Speech lexicon, and extensive cross-references, this comprehensive handbook is essential for any Dark Tower fan. Includes:Characters and Genealogies Magical Objects and Forces Mid-World and Our World Places Portals and Magical Places Mid-, End-, and Our World Maps Timeline for the Dark Tower Series Mid-World Dialects Mid-World Rhymes, Songs, and Prayers Political and Cultural References References to Stephen King’s Own Work Views: 29
