Alaska represents twenty percent of the land area, twenty percent of the oil production, forty percent of the fresh water of the United States, but after Wyoming, it's the least populated state.

Despite that contradiction, the state has an abundance of natural resources, history, and adventure-especially for the members of the Coast Guard that oversee its massive coastline.

Captain Jeffrey Hartman served four tours of duty in Alaska with the Coast Guard. He outlines the history of Alaska and its culture and describes his experiences overseeing a number of rescue missions there. Hartman illustrates with personal experience the challenges and dangers the Service faces in carrying out its missions protecting the Alaska people, environment and maritime infrastructure. He flew helicopters from Coast Guard icebreakers, on rescue and law enforcement missions and managed the search and rescue program on Alaska's waters.

"Guarding Alaska" explains the many important functions that the Coast Guard serves and also examines how it's changed in the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks. You'll feel like you're in the middle of the action as you gain a deeper appreciation for the state and the people who protect it.

This volume highlights the people and scientific developments in military medicine through the ages, concentrating on medical advances that changed both warfare and societies at home. Thanks to advances in field medicine and improved mobility and efficiency of medical units, the death rate of soldiers injured during battle has dramatically declined in the last 100 years. Nowadays, with forward medical stations operating close to battle lines and medical transports (ground and air) at hand, injured soldiers survive their battle wounds. Military Medicine: From Ancient Times to the 21st Century provides expert coverage of the key role medical advances and practices have played in the evolution of warfare, and how many of those advances and practices have been put to work saving and improving civilian lives as well. Military Medicine surveys the development of military medicine from its prehistoric origins through modern threats and practice. That coverage is followed by over 200 of alphabetically organized entries with special emphasis placed on those areas with the most dramatic applications to civilian medicine, including triage and trauma management, treatment for infections, emergency surgical procedures, and more.

This book uses several fantasy movies or movie series and television series to explain political and international relations (IR) concepts and theories. It begins with an overview of the importance of fantasy in literature, film and television, and its increasing impact on the field of International Relations. It then presents the political, IR, and social issues in each franchise, and in five chapters uses these tales' key story arcs or plot points to illustrate major political and IR themes. The volume pays particular attention to such fantasy franchises as Lord of the Rings, Game of Thrones, the Harry Potter films, recent fairytale and children's stories, and female-led fantasy projects.

This book provides an in-depth examination of the serious security implications that Iran's nuclear program has on a region that is already plagued by insecurity and conflict. Iranian Weapons of Mass Destruction: The Birth of a Regional Nuclear Arms Race? is an expert insider's look at Iran's current and potential ability to wage both conventional and asymmetrical warfare, and the options available for dealing with a nuclear Iran. Are we on the brink of a regional nuclear arms race in the Middle East? In this urgent volume, Anthony Cordesman and Adam Seitz examine how Iran's nuclear ambitions have already altered security policy for the United States, Iran's neighbors, and the international community. Cordesman and Seitz address the full range of issues related to Iran's quest for nuclear weapons, including its emphasis on medium- and long-range missiles, the decline of Iran's conventional military capabilities, and continued Iranian efforts to undercut the spread of democracy in the region.

In 1966, a soft-spoken 32-year old man emerged from relative obscurity and humble background to become Nigeria's Head of State and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. His name was Lt Col (later General)Yakubu Gowon. He emerged as the compromise candidate following the political crisis that engulfed the country after the July 1966 military coup that had led to the assassination of the country's first military Head of State, General Aguiyi Ironsi. At the end of the Civil War in 1970, General Gowon's doctrine of 'No Victor No Vanquished' greatly endeared him to many, and he was variously dubbed 'Abraham Lincoln of Nigeria', 'a soft spoken but dynamic leader' 'a real gentleman' and 'an almost faultless administrator'. However, after he was overthrown in a military coup in July 1975, long knives were drawn out for him, with the hitherto friendly press and public crying 'crucify him', and now variously vilifying him as 'weak' and of managing a purposeless administration that had led to the 'drifting' of the nation. In this book Professor J. Isawa Elaigwu attempts a scholarly political biography of someone he believes has rendered great services to the Nigerian nation despite his weaknesses as a leader. He rejects the notion that Gowon's nine years in office were 'nine years of failure' as the General's ardent critics posit, arguing that if it is possible to identify a number of thresholds in his administration, it is also possible to identify the approximate point in time when the strains of his administration became visible to observers and the public in general. He poses and methodically seeks answers to a number of fundamental questions: Who was Yakubu Gowon? Why and how was the reservoir of goodwill and credibility which he had accumulated by the end of the Civil War expended? What image of Nigeria did he have when he came into power? And did he ever achieve his objectives? The book, first published in 1986, has been revised and expanded for this edition ____________________________________ Dr. J. Isawa Elaigwu is Professor Emeritus of Political Science, University of Jos, Jos, Nigeria. He is currently the President of the Institute of Governance and Social Research (IGSR), Jos, Nigeria. A widely travelled academic, Professor Elaigwu's works have been widely published within and outside Nigeria. He has also served as a consultant to many national and international agencies.

With one of Wellington's heavy cavalry regiments during the war in Iberia
Samuel Broughton was an assistant surgeon for a regiment of militia before transferring to the 2nd Life Guards. He served with this elite cavalry regiment throughout the campaigns in Portugal, Spain and into the South of France and in the concluding battle for Toulouse. Broughton's take on the campaign as it appears in this collection of his letters-originally published in 1815-reveals a man with a keen eye for the details of the countryside through which he travelled and the habits and cultures of the people he met. This a very personal account of war from an observant and thoughtful medical man who clearly wanted to share his experiences of a journey through wartime. It is rich in period colour making it ideal background reference material of this fascinating episode of the Napoleonic War.