|
Books > Language & Literature > Biography & autobiography > Historical, political & military
This is the fascinating and never before told true-life story of
the man who led the filming of what is the definitive film record
we have today of the aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As one of
the first outsiders into Japan at the end of hostilities, Dan
McGovern started to film firstly amid the death and destruction of
Nagasaki only weeks after the dropping of the atomic bombs. This
three-part, highly researched biography tells the full story of how
the often harrowing footage of those destroyed cities was shot and
of how McGovern safeguarded that footage for posterity despite
decades of US government suppression. Earlier, 'Big Mack' was
designated cameraman and photographer to President Franklin Delano
Roosevelt before being chosen to train the very first combat
cameramen of World War Two for the then United States Army Air
Forces. This was after he had first established the USAAF's Combat
Camera Training School in Hollywood, California where he worked
with some of the most celebrated actors and directors of his day.
'Rebels to Reels', also for the very first time, tells the full
story of how McGovern trained those cameramen before he himself
deployed to England from where he flew perilous combat missions
over Nazi occupied Europe. Readers glean a unique 'fly on the
fuselage' experience as 'Rebels to Reels' brings them on McGovern's
B-17 missions as he filmed. This biography also contains Dan's
remarkable accounts of his involvement in the UFO Roswell Incident
and of the transition of the USAAF into the United States Air Force
- the 75th Anniversary of which occurs in 2022. However, Dan's
story begins not in America, but in his native Ireland where, as a
boy and the son of a policemen of the Royal Irish Constabulary,
McGovern associated with the infamous Black and Tans as he
eye-witnessed the Irish War of Independence unfold and later the
partitioning of Ireland with the foundation of Northern Ireland in
1921 and the Irish Free State the following year the centenary of
which also occurs this year. This biography is a must for anyone
who loves a great story but it will particularly appeal to anyone
with an interest in History, Military History and World War 2;
Photography, Film and the history of both, Aviation and the history
of Policing.
A powerful and authentic account of one soldier's war from Tobruk to
Arnhem and all points in between.
John Humphreys was just a boy soldier in the Royal Engineers when war
was declared in 1939. By the war's end he had jumped into Arnhem with
the Parachute Regiment to spearhead the attack on the bridge. For days
Humphreys and the rest of his squad held on, outnumbered and outgunned
by the German army fighting to the last bullet and refusing to
surrender.
But the Bridge Too Far is only the climax of Humphreys’ remarkable war.
Twice captured as a prisoner of war, he twice escaped from the enemy to
make his way back to Allied lines in order to rejoin the fight.
Aged 101, Humphreys began to pen his extraordinary story, with the help
of bestselling author and former paratrooper Stuart Tootal. The Last
Para is Humphrey’s parting gift, and the final time we will read an
account from a soldier of our Greatest Generation bearing witness to
the heroism and sacrifice of this legendary action – told with
incredible honesty and irrepressible spirit.
Alex Salmond and Nicola Sturgeon's political partnership changed
the face of Scotland, bringing the country to within 200,000 votes
of independence and holding sway at Holyrood for more than a
decade. So how and why has their thirty-year alliance irretrievably
broken down? Break-Up tells the inside story of how the once
unbreakable unity of the Scottish National Party was ripped apart
amid shocking claims of sexual assault. With unrivalled access to
both camps and the women who made the allegations, and with
rigorously fair-minded reporting, journalists David Clegg and
Kieran Andrews go behind the headlines to uncover the truth about
this extraordinary episode, in a piece of political history that
reads like a thriller. Now fully updated, this is a jaw-dropping
tale of inappropriate behaviour in the highest reaches of power, of
lies, distrust and alleged conspiracy, with profound implications
not only for Salmond and Sturgeon themselves but for Scotland's
governing party and the wider independence campaign.
______________________________ THE NUMBER ONE BESTSELLER FROM THE
45th PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES 'I like thinking big. I always
have. To me it's very simple: If you're going to be thinking
anyway, you might as well think big.' - Donald J. Trump Here is
Trump in action - how he runs his business and how he runs his life
- as he meets the people he needs to meet, chats with family and
friends, clashes with enemies, and changes the face of the New York
City skyline. But even a maverick plays by the rules, and Trump has
formulated eleven guidelines for success. He isolates the common
elements in his greatest deals; he shatters myths; he names names,
spells out the zeros, and fully reveals the deal-maker's art. And
throughout, Trump talks - really talks - about how he does it.
Trump: The Art of the Deal is an unguarded look at the mind of a
brilliant entrepreneur and an unprecedented education in the
practice of deal-making. It's the most streetwise business book
there is - and the ultimate read for anyone interested in making
money and achieving success, and knowing the man behind the
spotlight.
A seven-year-old English girl, washed up on the Wild Coast in about
1736, is adopted by the amaMpondo, grows up to become a woman of
surpassing beauty, marries the chief of the clan and becomes an
ancestor of many of the Xhosa royal families in the nineteenth
century. It sounds like the stuff of romance, but this is verified,
documented fact. Although her surname is unknown, in spite of a
persistent 19th-century story that she was the daughter of a
General Campbell, we do know that her name was Bessie. The
amaMpondo named her Gquma - 'The Roar of the Sea' - and she won
their affection for her compassion and generosity, and became
famous for her love of ornament, covering herself with necklaces,
beadwork, seashells and bangles. But she was no mere fashion-plate,
winning renown for her wisdom, becoming involved in the politics of
her adopted people and wielding an influence virtually
unprecedented among women of her time and place. Inspired by the
story of Bessie, in Sunburnt Queen, Hazel Crampton has delved deep
into the history of the castaways from the many ships wrecked on
this beautiful but perilous shore.;In a highly entertaining way she
tells their story, which became inextricably interwoven with those
of the people of the Wild Coast: whole clans, such the abeLungu
('the White People') trace their ancestry to castaways. The book
traces the lives of Bessie's descendants and those of some of the
other castaways whose names are known. Their stories are
intimately, often tragically intertwined in the sad history of
contact between the Xhosa-speaking peoples and the white settlers.
The author, although obviously a person of strong opinions, like
all the best historiographers, she presents people and events in a
non-judgmental way, allowing contemporary voices to pronounce on
the actions, good and bad, of the actors in this drama. If there is
a message to be gleaned from the story of Bessie it is this: South
Africans are far more alike than we are different, and we all have
so much more to gain by emphasizing our similarities rather than
our differences, and by cherishing our common heritage.
"An author's quest to discover what really happened to his uncle
in World War II"
To all appearances, Anthony "Tony" Korkuc was just another
casualty of World War II. A gunner on a B-17 Flying Fortress,
Korkuc was lost on a bombing mission over Germany, and his family
believed that his body had never been recovered. But when they
learned in 1995 that Tony was actually buried at Arlington National
Cemetery, his nephew Bob Korkuc set out on a seven-year quest to
learn the true fate of an uncle he never knew.
"Finding a Fallen Hero" is a compelling story that blends a
wartime drama with a primer on specialized research. Author Bob
Korkuc initially set out to learn how his Uncle Tony came to rest
at Arlington. In the process, he also unraveled the mystery of what
occurred over the skies of Germany half a century ago.
Korkuc dug up military documents and private letters and
interviewed people in both the United States and Germany. He
tracked down surviving crewmembers and even found the brother of
the Luftwaffe pilot who downed the B-17. Dozens of photographs help
readers envision both Tony Korkuc's fateful flight and his nephew's
dogged search for the truth.
A gripping chronicle of exhaustive research, "Finding a Fallen
Hero" will strike a chord with any reader who has lost a family
member to war. And it will inspire others to satisfy their own
unanswered questions.
|
|