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Books > History > World history > From 1900
First published in 1990, Songs of the Doomed is back in print -- by popular demand! In this third and most extraordinary volume of the Gonzo Papers, Dr. Hunter S. Thompson recalls high and hideous moments in his thirty years in the Passing Lane -- and no one is safe from his hilarious, remarkably astute social commentary. With Thompson's trademark insight and passion about the state of American politics and culture, Songs of the Doomed charts the long, strange trip from Kennedy to Quayle in Thompson's freewheeling, inimitable style. Spanning four decades -- 1950 to 1990 -- Thompson is at the top of his form while fleeing New York for Puerto Rico, riding with the Hell's Angels, investigating Las Vegas sleaze, grappling with the "Dukakis problem," and finally, detailing his infamous lifestyle bust, trial documents, and Fourth Amendment battle with the Law. These tales -- often sleazy, brutal, and crude -- are only the tip of what Jack Nicholson called "the most baffling human iceberg of our time." Songs of the Doomed is vintage Thompson -- a brilliant, brazen, bawdy compilation of the greatest sound bites of Gonzo journalism from the past thirty years.
British Air Power demonstrates how the Royal Air Force sought to
adapt in regard to the roles it could play and the conflicts in
which it could be used, as well as the evolution of air power
doctrine at a time of rapid changes in national politics and in the
international arena. The development of new concepts and theories,
the evaluation of operational experience, the political environment
and budgetary cuts, and the role of academics and personalities in
development of doctrine are thus all explored to show changes in
strategic thinking regarding air power. Fedorchak further examines
the influence of jointery - the process of co-operation between the
army, navy and air force - on thinking, conceptualising, teaching
and using air power in recent operations in Afghanistan, Iraq,
Libya and Syria. A contemporary complement to more historical
studies, British Air Power provides a very detailed look at the
development of air-land doctrine in the RAF since the turn of the
century.
A Liberian academic and former government official accounts for and
reflects upon half a century of work and experience. An important
Liberian political memoir, the book is at once Dunn's critical
exposition on his country and an attempt to explain how Liberia
came to be what it is today. In 26 captivating chapters he recounts
careers as academic, and services as aide to slain Liberian
President Tolbert and consultant to former President Johnson
Sirleaf. Between government service in crisis times (late 1970s)
and in hopeful times (early 2000s) is positioned more than three
decades of University teaching and research.
Based on previously unused French and German sources, this challenging and controversial new analysis of the war on the Western front from 1914 to 1918 reveals how and why the Germans won the major battles with one-half to one-third fewer casualties than the Allies, and how American troops in 1918 saved the Allies from defeat and a negotiated peace with the Germans.
The Battle of the Bulge was the "last hurrah" for the German Army
on the Western Front. With the help of various unpublished sources,
Samuel Mitcham sets out to tell the story of that battle and of the
Ardennes Offensive from the German point of view. The greatest
military disaster the United States suffered in the European
Theater of Operations in World War II occurred in the Ardennes
Offensive, when most of the U.S. 106th Infantry Division was
destroyed in the Schnee Eifel (Snow Mountains). This defeat was not
inflicted by the vaulted panzer troops, the elite paratroopers, the
hardened SS men, or Skorzeny's commandos. It was administered by a
mediocre and unheralded unit-the 18th Volksgrenadier Division.
Mitcham covers the Battle of the Schnee Eifel from the German point
of view in greater depth than any book has ever done, using
unpublished German after-action reports and manuscripts, especially
those of Lieutenant Colonel Dietrich Moll, the chief of operations
of the 18th Volksgrenadier. Similar unpublished works, as well as
the papers of Theodor-Friedrich von Stauffenberg, contribute to a
unique account of the Battle of the Bulge. Readers will find the
organizational structure of Panzers in Winter different from that
of other works on the topic. Mitcham uses the first two chapters to
set the stage for the offensive and details the opening day in
Chapter Three. Thereafter, the battle is discussed by sector, from
north to center to south. This approach allows general readers to
achieve a better feel for the engagement overall. Final chapters
cover the clearing of the bulge and the lives and careers of the
major participants.
Containing just the twentieth-century chapters from Howard Zinn's bestselling A People's History of the United States, this revised and updated edition includes two new chapters -- covering Clinton's presidency, the 2000 Election, and the "war on terrorism." Highlighting not just the usual terms of presidential administrations and congressional activities, this book provides you with a "bottom-to-top" perspective, giving voice to our nation's minorities and letting the stories of such groups as African Americans, women, Native Americans, and the laborers of all nationalities be told in their own words.
Quakers and Native Americans examines the history of interactions
between Quakers and Native Americans (American Indians). Fourteen
scholarly essays cover the period from the 1650s to the twentieth
century. American Indians often guided the Quakers by word and
example, demanding that they give content to their celebrated
commitment to peace. As a consequence, the Quakers' relations with
American Indians has helped define their sense of mission and
propelled their rise to influence in the U.S. Quakers have
influenced Native American history as colonists, government
advisors, and educators, eventually promoting boarding schools,
assimilation and the suppression of indigenous cultures. The final
two essays in this collection provide Quaker and American Indian
perspectives on this history, bringing the story up to the present
day. Contributors include: Ray Batchelor, Lori Daggar, John
Echohawk, Stephanie Gamble, Lawrence M. Hauptman, Allison Hrabar,
Thomas J. Lappas, Carol Nackenoff, Paula Palmer, Ellen M. Ross,
Jean R. Soderlund, Mary Beth Start, Tara Strauch, Marie Balsley
Taylor, Elizabeth Thompson, and Scott M. Wert.
In this biography Rodney Atwood details the life of General Lord
Rawlinson of Trent (1864-1925), a distinguished British soldier
whose career culminated in decisive victories on the Western Front
in 1918 and command of the Indian Army in the early 1920s. He
served his soldier's apprenticeship in the Victorian colonial wars
in Burma, the Sudan and South Africa. His career provides a lens
through which to examine the British Army in the late-19th and
early-20th century. In the South African War (1899-1902)
Rawlinson's ideas aided the defence of Ladysmith, and he
distinguished himself leading a mobile column in the guerrilla war.
In the First World War he held an important command in most of the
British Expeditionary Force's battles on the Western Front. He
bears a heavy part-responsibility for the disastrous first day of
the Somme, but later in the battle his successful tactics inflicted
heavy losses on the enemy. His Western Front career culminated in a
series of victories beginning at Amiens. He commanded the Indian
Army between 1920 and 1925 at a time of military and political
tension following the 3rd Afghan War and the Amritsar Massacre. He
introduced necessary reforms, cut expenditure at a time of postwar
retrenchment and began commissioning Indians to replace British
officers. He would have taken up the post of CIGS (Chief of the
Imperial General Staff), thus being the only British soldier to
hold these two top posts. He died, however, four days after his
sixty-first birthday. Drawing extensively on archival material
including Rawlinson's own engagingly-written letters and diaries,
this thorough examination of his life will be of great interest to
those studying British military history, imperial history and the
First World War.
Total War was the core concept around which military thought
revolved during the interwar period. Total War was also a
multifaceted, confusing concept that affected both civilian and
military life. How did small states conceive of their place in such
a destructive war? Did they close their eyes, relying on
international law to protect them, or did they seek creative
solutions? This book examines how Dutch officers, in the shadow of
three great powers, considered their military future, analysing the
impact of European military ideas on a small state. This approach
offers a new perspective on interwar dealing with assumptions about
a new world war.
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