In "Call Signs," former naval aviator Rich Dinkel shares memories and personal stories of several of the brave men and women who shared the profession. These flyers must be able to execute their orders in any circumstance, time, or climate. They are sharply skilled professionals who train and retrain constantly. Each naval aviator has their own call sign-their personal pseudonym, to be used during their service and most likely for many years after their service has ended. Dinkel uses the call signs of his former colleagues as he tells their stories.

Tactical aviation is often described as a very risky business in the eyes of everyday people. Today's fighter and attack aircraft can take-off and land on a runway and shoot off the bow (front) of an aircraft carrier, and be recovered in the cross-deck pendants at the stern (rear) of the ship. In order to perform this sort of flying, a pilot must have steely eyes with perfect vision; quick, cat-like refl exes; and exceptional common sense-something that can occasionally be problematic. He or she must also have a deep and wide knowledge of every system in the aircraft, an equally in depth knowledge of the enemy, and the proper way to use his or her deadly weapons in combat.

"Call Signs" offers personal stories and a unique insider's view of tactical aviation and the challenges that each pilot must meet to succeed.

A New York Times bestseller, A Slave in the White House received glowing reviewsthatpraised its narrative and original research. It is the story of Paul Jennings, who was born into slavery on the plantation of James and Dolley Madison in Virginia and moved with the Madison household staff to the White House. Jennings was a self-taught and self-made man who purchased his own freedom and penned the first ever White House memoir. Nearly two centuries later, Montpelier scholar Elizabeth Dowling Taylor uncovered the memoir. In this amazing narrative she reconstructs his lifeand hisunusual portraits of James and Dolley Madison andSenator Daniel Websterin early nineteenth century Washington, as well as the 1812 assault on British troops and Jennings' heroic saving of George Washington's portrait. Fascinating and original, this is an important contribution to American history.

First president of his generation. Second president to be impeached. Bill Clinton led the nation during eight years of unprecedented economic prosperity and peace, creating millions of new jobs, swapping deficit for surplus, and advancing his agenda of social programs. Yet he was riddled with scandal. This encyclopedia of more than 230 alphabetical entries covers all the major events, issues, and personalities of the Clinton administration, including full treatments of his impeachment, Whitewater, Travelgate, Monica, key members of his administration, Congressional opponents, foreign and domestic policy, elections, laws, terms and catchphrases, and national and foreign events that impacted Clinton's presidency. This balanced account is a perfect reference for students of, detractors from, and supporters of, William Jefferson Clinton.

Among the domestic issues covered are health care reform, gays in the military, abortion, gun control, and welfare reform. Also included are the many foreign policy issues Clinton dealt with such as Bosnia, Northern Ireland, and the Middle East. Numerous charts, tables, and graphs provide vital statistical information about legislation, the economy, federal spending, election returns, and crime during the Clinton years. A chronology of events and many photos accompany the text. Thorough cross-referencing will aid researchers, as will bibliographies of print and Internet sources following each entry.

The Principal of the Matter: the place, Yazoo City, Mississippi; one of the issues, the court-ordered desegregation of the public schools; the antagonists, the school officials. When the civil rights movement intensified in the South, circa 1954, white political leaders who believed in and practiced the ideology of "white supremacy" worked in concert to reverse the direction integration was heading in America. In 1970, some sixteen years out from the U.S. Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision, we were still trying to get bigots to obey the law of the land. In a letter dated August 13, 1971, then U.S. Senator Walter F. Mondale (later Vice President Mondale) wrote: Dear Mr. Ward: I have received your recent letter describing the explosive situation in Yazoo City. I certainly share your concern that unless the discriminatory treatment of black students in the Yazoo City school system is eliminated, the opening of school in September may be a most serious occasion. I have referred your concern to the Justice Department and the Department of Health, Education and Welfare requesting their investigation and corrective action. In The Principal of the Matter, Eugene "Harry" Ward unfurls the calculated practices of de jure and de facto segregation, separation of the races that was supposedly equal under the "law" and "as a matter of fact."

A masterful biography of Lincoln that follows his bitter struggle with poverty, his self-made success in business and law, his early disappointing political career, and his leadership as President during one of America's most tumultuous periods.

This book is a translation of the Ruzhany Memorial (Yizkor) Book that was published in 1957 in Hebrew and Yiddish; it is based upon the memoirs of former Jewish residents of the town who had left before the war. Ruzhany, called Rozana in Polish and Ruzhnoy in Yiddish, is now a small town in Belarus. It was part of Russia at the time of World War I and Poland afterwards for a short period, and then the Soviet Union. In 1939, the Jewish population was at its peak 3,500, comprising 78% of the town's population. In November 1942, every Jewish resident was murdered by the Nazis and their collaborators. Founded in the mid-1500s, Jews were welcomed by the private owner, the Grand Chancellor, Duke Leu Sapeiha. He valued Jewish settlers who would create a variety of businesses that would produce profits and generate collectable taxes. They opened schools, built many small synagogues, and the Great Synagogue in the main square. In addition they established many social institutions. The market town thrived. Starting in the early 1900s, many young Jews immigrated to the United States so that the young men could avoid prolonged conscription into the Czar's army.

Every time Mark W. Merritt puts on the uniform of a US Naval Officer, he is reminded of how thankful he is to be an American. He began compiling his memories in 2008 while serving in Iraq, just after celebrating his fiftieth birthday in a combat zone. In his memoir, he offers a collection of lessons learned from his years in intelligence-through twenty-nine countries, frost bite, two hip replacements, cancer, three wars, five combat zones, eight marathons, multiple parachute jumps, three college degrees, and two black belts. He has been an author, high school hall-of-famer and collegiate NCAA athlete, mountain climber and kayaker, husband, son, brother, warrior, scholar, and gentleman. As a special operations intelligence officer, Merritt has always pushed to do more, but now he can step back and take in what he has accomplished. He has failed many times, but he has succeeded often, as well. Happiness no longer seems like an unobtainable goal. They Rest Not at Night offers both Merritt's personal life history with all its variety and an exploration of his intelligence experience, sharing his own commentary on the wisdom he has gained the hard way.

Louis Botha was ’n briljante Boeregeneraal wie se taktiese vernuf en intuïtiewe aanslag vir etlike oorwinnings oor die Britse magte in die Anglo-Boereoorlog gesorg het. Maar dit was sy enigmatiese karakter en vaste oortuiging om te hou by wat hy geglo het reg was, wat hom as ’n leier van die Boerevolk bevestig het.

Richard Steyn gee op meesterlike wyse insae in die lewe van hierdie grootse Suid-Afrikaanse krygsman en staatsman. Hy beskryf verhelderend hoe Botha saam met sy hegte vriend, Jan Smuts, die vier Suid-Afrikaanse kolonies na Uniewording in 1910 gelei het waarna Botha as die eerste eerste minister van die Unie aangewys is.

Gedurende die Eerste Wêreldoorlog was Botha aan die voorpunt van die Suid-Afrikaanse magte se suksesvolle inval van Duits-Suidwes-Afrika. Tog is hy deur talle Afrikaners verkwalik vir sy steun aan Brittanje, en die Afrikaner-rebellie van 1914, waartydens hy teen voormalige makkers moes optree, het sy hart gebreek.

Botha se groothartig en vrygewige omgang met mense – van Vereeniging tot Versailles – het hom bo sy tydgenote laat uitstaan.

"Shoot" hollered Willie B. "Where" I screamed. "Shoot, Shoot." Screamed Willie B. Again. I clicked my rifle from safe to full auto and let it rip in the direction of the tracers from the other two guys. I fired one complete magazine. I had no idea what was happening. I changed magazines. I buried my face in the dirt attempting to make myself invisible. I was terrified. I lie there cowering by hiding my face in the dirt. I had no idea what to do. "Shoot" screamed Willie B. again . My rifle had a bi-pod attached to the front of it as it was a select fire. (Semi or full auto). I extended the bi-pod and again ripped off full auto rounds. My hands and fingers were moving too slow. It was as if I was moving in slow motion. I couldn't make my hands move any faster. I kept shooting like the other two . At what, I had no idea. My heart was pumping ninety miles an hour. I heard firing erupt from the NDP then stop. A piece of hot brass hit me in the neck and went down my fatigue shirt burning the hell out of me. I kept firing and trying to shake the hot brass out of my shirt at the same time. I had fired six magazines before I noticed the other two had stopped firing. I errently touched the barrel of my rifle and got a burn that bubbled up the skin. We all lie still. My mouth was so dry, I couldn't swallow. I was shaking badly and couldn't catch my breath. Again, I buried my face in the dirt in a futile attempt to escape. I didn't like any of this. This wasn't at all like playing soldier in the back yard as a kid.