Bruce Catton, whose name is identified with Civil War history, grew up in Benzonia, Michigan, probably the only town within two hundred miles, he says, not founded to cash in on the lumber boom. In this memoir, Catton remembers his youth, his family, his home town, and his coming of age. With nostalgia, warmth, and humor, Catton recalls it all with a wealth of detail: the logging industry and its tremendous effect on the face of the state, the veterans of the Grand Army of the Republic who first sparked his interest in the Civil War, the overnight train trips on long-gone sleepers, the days of great resort hotels, and fishing in once clear lakes. Although he writes of a time and place that are no more, his observations have implications that both underline the past and touch the future.

Few escapades of the Second World War have captured the public's imagination more than the successful abduction of German General Kreipe from enemy-occupied Crete in 1944. It was an operation instigated and daringly executed by two British SOE officers - Patrick Leigh Fermor and William (Billy) Stanley Moss. The war didn't stop for Billy Moss after this operation though, and it is his continuing story that is told here. He reflects movingly on what it means to fight and deal in death, how the success of operations behind enemy lines in a foreign country is dependent on the goodwill of local inhabitants, and, surprisingly, on moments of high humour that punctuate the turmoil of war. War of Shadows is a book in three parts - each displaying differing aspects of World War II and its eventual conclusion, and all told with that tell-tale blend of poignancy and humour so characteristic of the time.

In 1862, Private Grant Taylor of the 40th Alabama Infantry regiment began writing home to his wife Malinda. Thus started an almost three year correspondence of some 160 letters that chronicle the impact of the American Civil War on one rural Alabama family. For the Taylors and their kin, the war brought precious little glory or sentimental notions of causes won or lost. Their rough prose provides more evidence of the downside of the Civil War experience that is historically significant and emotionally touching.

Again available in paperback is Eric Sevareid's widely acclaimed Not So Wild a Dream. In this brilliant first-person account of a young journalist's experience during World War II, Sevareid records both the events of the war and the development of journalistic strategies for covering international affairs. He also recalls vividly his own youth in North Dakota, his decision to study journalism, and his early involvement in radio reporting during the beginnings of World War II.