Aces High

They were forbidden to carry parachutes; they lived in dread of being shot down in flames; their life expectancy was measured in days... But these were the flyers who became legends in their own life-times - Albert Ball, Manfred von Richthofen, Mick Mannock, Rene Fonck, Georges Guynemer. There is something of a myth surrounding the war in the air from 1914 -1918. The myth suggests that while any semblance of chivalry or idealism might have died in the filth and gore of the trenches, in the air above, noble heroes battled in one-on-one dog fights like the knights of old. In Aces High, Clark shoots this myth down in flames. This book serves to remind the readers that while Clark may not have been an entirely scrupulous politician, he was an exemplary military historian. Aces High is his vivid chronicle of aerial warfare during five turbulent years.
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The Persian Night: Iran Under the Khomeinist Revolution

ReviewWritten in sorrow rather than anger, The Persian Night clearly and calmly describes Iran's descent into unreality. It is a masterwork of information and argument. Formerly editor of Iran's most influential paper, Amir Taheri is now perforce an exile but he remains in touch with all sorts of insiders. In addition to his native Farsi, he is fluent in Arabic and the main European languages. Frequent quotations from Persian poetry, old or contemporary, reveal his love of his native country and its culture, but he is equally likely to make good use of Plato and Cicero, Hobbes and Goethe, or even Frantz Fanon to illustrate a point. More than ironic, it seems outright improbable that one and the same Iran could be home to ignorant bigots like Ayatollah Khomeini and his successors--in particular the vicious and narrow-minded president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad--and a sophisticated humanist like Taheri."Killing is the same as mercy," Khomeini wrote. A favorite dictum of his was "To kill and be killed are the supreme duties of Muslims." He also liked to say that war is a "divine blessing." That was the point of departure for the transformation of the state into a cause, which according to Taheri dates to a conference of Islamists in Sudan in 1993. At the time, the collapse of the Soviet Union was taken as evidence that God was indeed making Muslims masters of the world. The turn of the United States had now come.To prepare for jihad and mass mobilization, the ayatollahs had to manufacture multiple fears and hatreds--notably of women, the U.S., and Israel, all reduced to stereotypes that bear no relation to reality. Taheri points out, usefully, that the ayatollahs and Ahmadinejad do not have enemies with whom it might be possible to compromise; they have foes who have to be conquered and subdued.There is hopeful news, however.Iranians know perfectly well that they are victimized by those claiming to be acting on their behalf. The man in the street understands that the U.S. befriended Iran in the past and would willingly do so again, and to call it the "Great Satan" is mere fascist sloganeering. Similarly, the popular perception of Jews tends to be positive and does not correspond to Ahmadinejad's raving about Israel as a "dead rat" and a "cancerous tumor." Women do not accept subordination. Workers demand rights. Minorities are close to armed revolt. Nationalism is likely to prove strong enough for a return to the conventional nation-state. The conditions and the timing for regime change, Taheri maintains, seem right.In the old days of the Cold War, brave spirits used to write books that came to grips with the ideological monstrosity of the Soviet Union. They too had no choice but to publish in the West. In the end, they were vindicated. Honor now goes to The Persian Night for exposing the ideological monstrosity of Iran. --David Pryce-Jones, National Review Review"The Islamic Republic of Iran has three phobias," according to Iranian expatriate journalist Amir Taheri. "Women, Jews and America." Forget bombs. Maybe we should send in Barbra Streisand.Iran is a standing challenge to Western liberal notions of "the intrinsic worth of the individual, freedom of conscience and the rule of law," not that any of that bothers the regime, Taheri says. He describes the activities of the Islamic Morality Brigades, the state-supported Holocaust denial movement, Iran's practice of executing dissidents and homosexuals - the rich tapestry of contemporary Iranian life that should make the country an international embarrassment but for the fact that the regime feels absolutely no shame.Meanwhile, the United States' relationship with Iran has had its embarrassing moments, such as when former President Clinton said that Iran is "the only country where progressive ideas enjoy a vast constituency" or when US Ambassador to the United Nations Andrew Young called the Ayatollah Khomeini "a twentieth-century saint."Mohammed Raza Pahlavi, the former Shah, who is usually dismissed by Western intellectuals as a brutal puppet, was the real progressive saint compared with his successor. Indeed, it is useful to remember that his liberal, pro-Western policies made Iran "the first Muslim nation to acknowledge women as citizens with equal rights."Taheri's Persian Night presents the true nature of the regime in Tehran, its motives, objectives and beliefs. Since the Obama administration seems to think that much can be gained from open dialogue, and Washington think tanks hum with talk of a "grand bargain" with Iran to settle the outstanding issues of the Middle East, we must appreciate the people with whom we are dealing. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, elected in June 2005 under the oddly familiar slogan "We Can!" has recently stated, "Our mission in the arena of foreign affairs is to present the idea of Pure Islam as the only path for the salvation of mankind to all nations. We have to smash the existing models in the world."Taheri concludes that negotiation with the Iranian regime is a waste of time; it would encourage optimism in the West but leave the Khomeinist regime intact and its objectives unchanged. Real progress can only come from regime change from within. Iran is "a heaving volcano, ready to explode," from a variety of internal pressures, and the best role for the United States is to "use its immense bully pulpit" to publicize the cause of the oppressed people of Iran. Can this be effective? The Soviet Union fell, Taheri argues, "so why not Iran, and why not now?"A nice thought, but given the effectiveness of Tehran's secret police and the general climate of fear in Iran, one wonders who can get the job done.
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1215 and All That

1215 is one of the most famous dates in English history, and with good reason, since it marks the signing of the Magna Carta by King John and the English barons, which altered the entire course of English and world history.John Lackland was born to King Henry II and Eleanor, Duchess of Aquitane in December, 1166; he was the youngest of five sons. However, he unexpectedly became the favored heir to his father after a failed rebellion by his older brothers in 1173. He became king in 1199, though his reign was tumultuous and short. After a brief peace with Phillip II of France, war broke out again in 1202 and King John lost most of his holdings on the continent. This, coupled with unpopular fiscal policies and treatment of nobles back home, led to conflict upon his return from battle. Buffeted from all sides, King John was pushed in 1215 to sign along with his barons the Magna Carta, a precursor to constitutional governance. But both sides failed to uphold the agreements terms...
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Torched

Rose Whitfield's senior year was supposed to be about leading her cheerleading squad to nationals, getting into Harvard, and going all the way with her True Love, Ryan Appleton. But when the Appleton family yacht is set on fire and the evidence points overwhelmingly to Rose, not even Ryan believes in her innocence. Faster than her squad can shout, "Go Panthers," Rose's perfect world goes up in smoke.Rose knows exactly who's framing her: Paxton Callaway. Once Rose's best friend, Paxton turned on her in middle school when her vault to popularity outstripped his. He's since caught up, but their unburied hatchet has led to a string of escalating pranks. Sure the arson charge is just the latest attack, Rose sets out to prove her innocence, win Ryan back, and take Paxton down hard. Not necessarily in that order.
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The Touch of Innocents

It is always the innocent who suffer to make the powerful rich.A gripping thriller from the author of the Goodfellowe Series. Paul Deveraux is one of the most powerful politicians in the country. Isadora Dean is the rising star of television news journalism. Two exceptionally talented, successful people brought in to dangerous conflict. Izzy cannot accept the death of her baby daughter Bella. Stubborn and at times irrational, her belief that her daughter is alive leads her to the sordid truth - an international black market where babies are sold for cash. Behind this horrific truth, Isadora detects the sinister hand of Devereux. She is just one woman against the world.The search for her daughter will cost her everything, but as long as she believes that Bella is alive she will never surrender and Paul Devereux must use every means in his power to make sure she is silenced for good.
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Eleanor of Aquitaine

Eleanor of Aquitaine was a remarkable woman. She was an important factor in the reign of four kings, lived to the ripe old age of 82, bore 10 children and outlived all but two of them. Her sons were kings of England and her daughters queens of Castile and Sicily, while her later descendants included a Holy Roman emperor and kings of France and Spain, as well as a couple of saints. In an age of men, she was indeed a powerful woman. Born in 1122 into the sophisticated and cultured court of Poitiers, Eleanor of Aquitaine came of age in a world of luxury, bloody combat, and unbridled ambition. At only fifteen, she inherited one of the great fortunes of Europe - the prize duchy of Aquitaine - yet was forced to submit to a union with the handsome but sexually withholding Louis VII, the teenage king of France. The marriage endured for fifteen fraught years, until Eleanor finally succeeded in having it annulled - only to enter an even stormier match with Henry of Anjou, who would soon ascend to the English throne as Henry II. With astonishing historic detail, mesmerizing pageantry, and irresistible accounts of royal scandal and intrigue, Weir re-creates not only a remarkable personality, but a magnificent past era. As Weir traces the fascinating intersection of public and private lives in Europe's twelfth-century courts, Eleanor comes to life as a complex, boldly original woman who transcended the mores of society. Later, after sixteen years of imprisonment for plotting to overthrow Henry, the humbled Queen emerged, at age sixty-seven, to rule England.
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The Best American Science and Nature Writing 2014

"Undeniably exquisite . . . The essays in the collection [are] meditations that reveal not only how science actually happens but also who or what propels its immutable humanity." — Maria Popova, Brain Pickings "A stimulating compendium." — Kirkus Reviews Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist and author Deborah Blum selects the year's top science and nature writing from writers who balance research with humanity and in the process uncover riveting stories of discovery across the disciplines.
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Spymistress

She was beautiful, she was ruthless. She was Vera Atkins, legendary spy of the 1930s and 1940s. Here is the extraordinary account of the woman whose intelligence, beauty and unflagging dedication proved the key in turning the tide of WWII. Recruited at age 23 by legendary spymaster William Stephenson (known as Intrepid) Vera Atkins undertook countless perilous missions on her own in the 1930s. Her fierce intellect, personal courage, and facility with languages quickly propelled her to the leadership echelon of the Special Operations Executive (SOE), a covert intelligence agency formed by Winston Churchill. During World War II...
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Eastern Passage

Review"For admirers of Farley Mowat -- and we are legion -- this is a necessary work." — *Globe and Mail"An insightful narrative that elucidates Mowat's past." — Quill and Quire"[Mowat's] celebrated style is in evidence from page one." — Canadian Geographic"Thoreau-esque at times. . . . The prose is effortless and entertaining." — Telegraph-Journal*From the Trade Paperback edition.Product DescriptionFollowing Farley Mowat’s bestselling memoir, Otherwise, the literary lion returns with an unexpected triumphEastern Passage is a new and captivating piece of the puzzle of Farley Mowat’s life: the years from his return from the north in the late 1940s to his discovery of Newfoundland and his love affair with the sea in the 1950s. This was a time in which he wrote his first books and weathered his first storms of controversy, a time when he was discovering himself through experiences that, as he writes, "go to the heart of who and what I was" during his formative years as a writer and activist.In the 1950s, with his career taking off but his first marriage troubled, Farley Mowat buys a piece of land northwest of Toronto and attempts to settle down. His accounts of building his home are by turns hilarious and affecting, while the insights into his early work and his relationship with his publishers offer a rare glimpse into the inner workings of a writer’s career.But in the end, his restless soul could not be pinned to one place, and when his father offered him a chance to sail down the St. Lawrence, he jumped at it, not realizing that his journey would bring him face to face with one of Canada’s more shocking secrets – one most of us still don’t know today. This horrific incident, recalling as it did the lingering aftermath of war, and from which it took the area decades to recover, would forge the final tempering of Mowat as the activist we know today.Farley Mowat grows wiser and more courageous with each passing year, and Eastern Passage is a funny, astute, and moving book that reveals that there is more yet to this fascinating and beloved figure than we think we know.From the Hardcover edition.
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