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Books > Language & Literature > Biography & autobiography > Historical, political & military
With Colonial troops in South Africa
Many of the small wars of the Victorian era were fought in places
where British colonists were attempting to build new lives in
proximity to indigenous peoples. This led to hostilities and
although regular troops were usually engaged they were often
supplemented by locally raised forces. These could be native troops
officered by Europeans or bodies of European 'irregular' soldiers.
These forces were mixed blessings. They often included local
settlers, farmers, traders or hunters who knew their enemy and his
language and the terrain over which the campaign would be fought;
they were usually expert marksmen and horsemen who were able to
live off the country. These units also attracted soldiers of
fortune and the sweepings of society who-whilst indisputably tough
'customers'-were notoriously difficult to command. The colony at
the tip of southern Africa had been a place of confrontation and
conflict since it was established. There had been numerous wars
against the so called Kaffir tribes and in 1879 the British Empire
determined to neutralise the most significant martial tribe of the
region-the Zulus. All those interested in the period are aware of
the consequences of that decision. The author of this book has left
us a vital account of his time fighting in South Africa with one of
these colourful colonial units and his book is, of course,
absolutely essential.
Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each
title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our
hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their
spines and fabric head and tail bands.
This is an in-depth study of a most important but somewhat
controversial Hua-ch'iao (Overseas Chinese) of the history of
twentieth-century China and South-East Asia, Tan Kah-kee
(1874-1961). For a Chinese immigrant in South-East Asia to make
good is not unique, but what is unique in Tan Kah-kee's case is his
enormous contribution to employment and economic development in
Singapore and Malaya. He was the only Chinese in history to have
single-handedly founded a private university in Amoy and
financially maintained it for sixteen years. He was the only
Hua-ch'iao of his generation to have led the Chinese in South-East
Asia to help China to resist the Japanese invasion in a concerted
and coordinated manner. Moreover, he was the only Hua-ch'iao leader
to have played both Singapore and China politics and affairs in
close quarters, rubbing shoulders with British governors, Chinese
officials and commanders. Finally, it is important to point out
that Tan Kah-kee was the only Hua-ch'iao in his times to have
combined his Pang, community and political power and influences for
the advancement of community, regional and national goals. This is
an in-depth study of not just Tan Kah-kee per se but also the
making of a legend through his deeds, self-sacrifices, fortitude
and foresight. This revised edition sheds new light on his
political agonies in Mao's China over campaigns against capitalists
and intellectuals. Moreover, it analyses more comprehensively the
varied legacies of Tan Kah-kee, including his successors, the style
of his non-partisan political leadership, his educational strategy
for nation-building, social change and "the Spirit of Tan Kah-kee,"
currently in vogue in his home province, Fukien.
Lionel Youst and William R. Seaburg recount the compelling life
story of Coquelle Thompson, an Upper Coquille Athabaskan Indian
little known except by the Siletz Reservation community and a
handful of visiting academics. Thompson's life spanned nearly a
century, from 1849 to 1946. During his lifetime, he worked along
the Oregon coast as farmer, hunting/fishing guide, teamster, tribal
policeman, and, perhaps most importantly, he served as an expert
witness on Upper Coquille and reservation life and culture for
anthropologists.
While captain of the tribal police, Thompson was assigned to
investigate the Warm House Dance, the Siletz Indian Reservation
version of the famous Ghost Dance, which had spread among the
Indians of many tribes during the latter 1800s. Thompson became a
proselytizer for the Warm House Dance, helping to carry its message
and performance from Siletz along the Oregon coast as far south as
Coos Bay.
Thompson lived through the conclusion of the Rogue River Indian
War of 1855-56 and his tribe's subsequent removal from southern
Oregon to the Siletz Reservation. During his lifetime, the Siletz
Reservation went from one million acres to seventy-seven individual
allotments and four sections of tribal timber. The reservation was
legislated out of existence less than a decade after he died.
Youst and Seaburg also examine the works of six anthropologists
who interviewed Thompson over the years: J. Owen Dorsey, Cora Du
Bois, Philip Drucker, Elizabeth Derr Jacobs, Jack Marr, and John
Peabody Harrington.
I am a retired professional engineer. I am seventy-seven years old.
My first attempt at literary work was translating a Hungarian novel
by Wass Albert to English three years ago. It gave me a helpful
literary structure and encouraged me to write my own novel, Find a
Place to Call Home.
The crack shots with the bucktails on their caps
This the first hand account of a young Pennsylvanian soldier who
joined the Union Army to fight the Confederacy during the American
Civil War. He originally joined the 11th Pennsylvania Infantry and
campaigned with it until the Battle of the Wilderness when it
became untenable as a unit and was merged with the renowned
Pennsylvanian Bucktails-a unit principally made up of sharpshooter
backwoodsmen who wore the famous bucktail upon their caps as a sign
of their skill as hunters and marksmen. Together they formed the
190th Pennsylvania and became part of the Third Brigade, Third
Division of the Fifth Army Corps. In honour of the their new
comrades, who had become the largest part of the regiment, the
190th adopted the bucktail as their own insignia. McBride takes us
on campaign with the 190th and its sister regiment the 191st. Much
of McBride's experience was as a skirmisher where he found the
battlefield of independent action both terrifying and liberating,
so his is a different view-of the Union infantryman at war removed
from the formality of the battle line. An excellent first hand
account of these well regarded and distinctive troops, this will be
a welcome addition to the library of any American Civil War
enthusiast.
Leonaur editions are newly typeset and are not facsimiles; each
title is available in softcover and hardback with dustjacket; our
hardbacks are cloth bound and feature gold foil lettering on their
spines and fabric head and tail bands.
I am a Standupster, A Second Generation Survivor's Account, by the
Daughter of David Zauder, is the first-ever biography of
Internationally Acclaimed Holocaust and Anti-bullying Educator and
Speaker, Karen Zauder Brass. Her book is a very rare exploration
into the effects of being raised by a parent who suffered the
inhumanity of genocide and its unimaginable costs. Brass comes out
of the shadows and openly expresses what so few Second Generation
Survivors are willing to discuss. The deep injury to their survivor
parent's psyches cannot simply be put aside and has deep and
lasting effects on their children. From her earliest years, Brass
was fully aware of who her surviving parent needed her to be. This
is a book of deep introspection that also shares the Author's path
to self-acceptance, happiness, and her powerful desire to make
changes in our world by educating audiences, one human being at a
time, to not stand by and allow for the suffering of others; To be
a Standupster(r). Brass provides the descriptive background of her
Father, David Zauder's survival of the Krakow Ghetto and four
concentration camps including Auschwitz. His survival of a true
hell on Earth, and his success in emigrating from Poland, after his
liberation by General Patton's 3rd Army Tank Division, then travel
from Germany to America and becoming one of this country's leading
cornet and trumpet players will inspire you and touch your heart.
For educators, Brass weaves her Father's story into a
groundbreaking international anti-bullying campaign which has been
experienced by thousands of Middle and High School aged students,
adults, and hundreds of high-ranking military officials. Acclaimed
by educators, principals and parents alike, Brass' Standupster(r)
presentations and campaign has been effective in reducing bullying
in schools because it provides a rallying cry for everyone to never
stand by in the face of hatred, bigotry, and injustice; the program
calls on the audience to use personal responsibility and moral
leadership to rise together as being a Standupster(r) to stop the
bul
During World War II, author Dale J. Satterthwaite was a B-25
pilot who flew more than seventy missions over Italy and France in
1944. "Truth Flies with Fiction," his memoir, presents a truthful,
firsthand account of the missions and adventures of the real
Catch-22 airmen.
A personal tale full of humor and tragedy, this memoir provides
insight into the life of a B-25 bomber pilot, as well as the
experience of being part of an elite and highly decorated bomb
group. Satterthwaite was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross
twice, the Presidential Unit Citations twice, and the Air Metal
eight times.
Told through journal entries and letters written home to
Satterthwaite's fiancee, Eleanor, "Truth Flies with Fiction"
includes dozens of photos showing the airplanes in action,
including the aftermath of the Vesuvius eruption that destroyed
eight-eight airplanes at the Pompeii airbase. With a unique
perspective, this firsthand account explains the equipment,
missions, and tactics of World War II airmen and brings their
experiences to life."
Intelligence comes from ignorance as wisdom comes from naivete and
there is nothing like gathering both from people who represent a
diverse swath of nations throughout the world. As cultures require
contact with each other in order to grow and remain viable, and not
succumb to atrophy, man too requires contact with men of different
beliefs and practices. No one nation or culture or religion has a
hold on logic or is immune to extremism. I feel blessed that I've
had the opportunity to absorb and learn about aspects of life that
I'm sure I wouldn't have learned otherwise. In fact, my whole
belief system was changed over the past forty-five years through
this contact. I began to do some research on my family and what I
learned, coupled with what I had experienced in my life, literally
brought me to tears in gratitude and admiration, and hopefully in
wisdom. If you like to sit down and listen to stories told by, say,
an old friend, an uncle, or a person with wrinkles on his face,
grey in his hair, and a sparkle of wisdom in his eyes, coupled with
a smile on his face, then you should so bother. If you don't, then
stop right here and go pick up and read a book on vampires or
love's lost or whatever turns your fancy. My life has been tragic
and wondrous and I have what I call life lessons that I believe you
will find helpful in your life. I'll even go so far as to say that,
given even a fraction of introspection in you, your life will be
significantly altered after you've read this book. I know that
doesn't sound humble but I also know this to be true. I have
learned, forgot, and made up many a good story. Keep this in mind
when you read these chapters (stories) compiled within this book.
Are they all true? Mostly, with only the most embarrassing events
removed. An old retired Air Force fighter pilot once told me "I
have secrets only God and I know - and that's the way it will
remain."
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