In the opening years of the Vietnam War, a small group of American military advisors and their South Vietnamese allies were facing down the Viet Cong. The confident Americans were there to do what seemed elementary: help the South Vietnamese army defeat a ragtag guerrilla enemy. They were assured of swift success. But one officer, John Paul Vann, saw darker omens for the future—and in the Battle of Ap Bac, the Viet Cong proved him correct.Encapsulating the great terrors, mistakes, ironies, and courageous acts of the Vietnam War, "The Battle of Ap Bac" recounts the clash in which the Viet Cong first won their spurs. It is an exciting, terrifying, fast-paced portrait of close-contact warfare in the rice paddies, the story of John Vann's attempt to singlehandedly change the terms of battle and avoid the relentless killing grounds of Vietnam that lay ahead. A key selection from Neil Sheehan's masterpiece, A Bright Shining Lie—which remains the preeminent history... Views: 73
Book 6. Basil, a small, flying lizard who is searching for others like himself, discovers that there is more to him than he knows, as he becomes engaged in Avalon’s great war between the evil Rhita Gawr and the forces of good. Views: 73
War is a jealous lover who is reluctant to release me from her embrace. Pacorus fights for the very survival of the Parthian Empire. ‘Sarmatian’ is the thirteenth volume in the Parthian Chronicles series and follows on from ‘Lord of War’. Views: 73
"A rallying call against authoritarianism everywhere." —Ruth Franklin, author of the NBCC Award–winning Shirley Jackson: A Rather Haunted Life It began with a handful of East Berlin teens who heard the Sex Pistols on a British military radio broadcast to troops in West Berlin, and it ended with the collapse of the East German dictatorship. Punk rock was a life-changing discovery. The buzz-saw guitars, the messed-up clothing and hair, the rejection of society and the DIY approach to building a new one: in their gray surroundings, where everyone's future was preordained by some communist apparatchik, punk represented a revolutionary philosophy—quite literally, as it turned out. But as these young kids tried to form bands and became more visible, security forces—including the dreaded secret police, the Stasi—targeted them. They were spied on by friends and even members of their own families; they were expelled from... Views: 73
Twenty-five-year-old Joey Graceffa has captured the hearts of more than 8.3 million teens and young adults through his playful, sweet, and inspirational YouTube presence. Already a bestselling author with his memoir, In Real Life, Joey now presents his first novel, Children of Eden.Rowan is a Second Child in a world where population control measures make her an outlaw, marked for death. She can never go to school, make friends, or get the eye implants that will mark her as a true member of Eden. Her kaleidoscope eyes will give her away to the ruthless Center government. Outside of Eden, Earth is poisoned and dead. All animals and most plants have been destroyed by a man-made catastrophe. Long ago, the brilliant scientist Aaron al Baz saved a pocket of civilization by designing the EcoPanopticon, a massive computer program that hijacked all global technology and put it to use preserving the last vestiges of mankind. Humans will wait for thousands of years... Views: 73
An incisive new biography of the great secularist who-alongside his spiritual father, Mahatma Gandhi-led the movement for India's independence from British rule and ushered his newly independent country into the modern world. The man who would one day help topple British rule and become India's first prime minister started out as a surprisingly unremarkable student. Born into a wealthy, politically influential Indian family in the waning years of the Raj, Jawaharlal Nehru was raised on Western secularism and the humanist ideas of the Enlightenment under his father's careful guidance. Once he met Gandhi in 1916, Nehru threw himself into the nonviolent struggle for India's independence, a struggle that wasn't won until 1947. India had found a perfect political compliment to her more spiritual advocate, but neither Nehru nor Gandhi could prevent the horrific price for independence: Partition. In this fascinating biography, Tharoor, author of India: From Midnight to the Millennium,... Views: 73
When a friend is wrongly convicted, Deputy Marshal Mason Raines must take his place in a gunfighting competition unlike any other. To survive, he must overcome a handful of unique shooting challenges, each with deadly consequences. As Mason defeats one ruthless competitor after another, he begins to question not only the brutality of the competition but also the guilt of its competitors.Meanwhile, Tanner and Samantha embark on a cross-country journey to find Issa. Along the way, they take up the cause of a cantankerous old nun searching for her missing sisters. Their journey leads them to a sadistic doctor specializing in eugenics, and an abandoned children's insane asylum with a dark inhabitant.Only a handful of miles away, Issa leads a band of infected misfits on a bold rescue mission. While attempting to overcome a community of violent slavers, tragedy strikes, and she is forced accept that the fight cannot be won. Trapped and outnumbered, Issa and those in her charge begin to... Views: 72
It’s coming up on the Fourth of July in tiny Park County, Tennessee, and Sheriff Tony Abernathy must deal with not just the heat and increased traffic, but a sudden wave of crime. Someone is going around assaulting people in an attempt to find "Bob." A man is found impaled on a tree, and a woman is murdered–by sunlight! Good thing the sheriff’s wife Theo runs the local quilting shop, where she can catch the gossip while a charity quilt is being made. Views: 72
