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Books > Biography > Historical, political & military
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.
Orhei, Moldova (originally Orheyev, Bessarabia) has had a long
history of a Jewish presence. Gravestones dating to the early 1700
s have been found in the Jewish cemetery. This Memorial (Yizkor)
book has numerous personal accounts of the Holocaust. However, it
is much more than that. It contains detailed discussions of the
history of the town and the area. Most importantly it discusses the
social and political organizations in the town during the early
1900 s, including the people involved in those organizations. This
book was written by a committee of former Orhei residents with the
hope that their town would not be forgotten. This English
translation is an attempt to offer descendants of the inhabitants
of Orhei information about all aspects of their ancestors and their
ancestral town. Let us honor the memories and wishes of the Orhei
victims and survivors by reading this wonderful testimony to the
town and inhabitants of Orhei - our ancestors and our ancestral
town. This publication by the "Yizkor Books in Print Project" of
JewishGen, Inc., serves to provide the English speaking community
with these first-hand accounts in book format, so that researchers
and descendants of Jewish emigrants from the town can learn this
history. 520 pages with illustrations, Hard Cover
Told with humor, intrigue, and a shrewd eye for detail, this
riveting short biography sheds much-needed light on the life of
nineteenth-century Russian icon Grigory Rasputin.
Grigory Rasputin, a Siberian peasant turned mystic and court sage,
was as fascinating as he was unfathomable. He played the role of
the simple man, eating with his fingers and boasting, "I don't even
know the ABC." But, as the only person able to relieve the symptoms
of hemophilia in the Tsar's heir Alexei, he gained almost hallowed
status within the Imperial court.
During the last decade of his life, Rasputin and his band of
"little ladies" came to symbolize all that was decadent, corrupt,
and remote about the Imperial Family, especially when it was
rumored that he was not only shaping Russian policy during the
First World War, but also enjoying an intimate relationship with
the Empress...
Rasputin's role in the downfall of the tsarist regime is beyond
dispute. But who was he really? Prophet or rascal? A "breath of
rank air...who blew away the cobwebs of the Imperial Palace," as
Beryl Bainbridge put it, or a dangerous deviant?
Writing for historical aficionados and curious readers alike,
Frances Welch turns her inimitable wry gaze on one of the great
mysteries of Russian history.
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.
Bruce Hoffman spent four years in the United States Marine Corps.
Two of those years were spent in Vietnam and Okinawa. And My Mother
Danced with Chesty Puller is the story of a young Marine's
adventures during the Vietnam War, sometimes humorous, sometimes
hair-raising. The story begins with a young man drawn into the
Marine Corps to become an Embassy Marine but he ends up stuck with
an office job instead. He struggles to get into the fight in
Vietnam, only to be stationed in South Carolina and is offered a
part-time job with a bootlegger to ride shotgun. When he finally
arrives in Vietnam he discovers that he isn't supposed to be there,
but in Okinawa instead, which turns out to be the land of booze and
brothels. He was able to find a few girlfriends along the way, not
only in South Carolina and Okinawa, but in Singapore, Taiwan, and
Vietnam. Marines weren't all in combat; many were "in the rear with
the beer." After volunteering three times for Vietnam he was able
to transfer to Marine Corps Helicopter Squadron VMO-2, and fly as
an Aerial Gunner in UH-1E Huey Helicopters. Finally, he became a
Marine in combat.
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."
The recollections of a horse soldier in blue
Willard Glazier kept a detailed journal of his time as an officer
in the 2nd New York Cavalry during the American Civil War, making
immediate notes about his experiences in camp, around the campfire
and even during lulls in the fighting. It was that carefully kept
resource that is the basis of the two volumes included in this
special Leonaur edition of Glazier's memoirs. In the first book he
tells of his time on campaign with the Army of the Potomac in
Virginia and describes many interesting scenes of action in cavalry
skirmishes or full battle and camp life. The second volume
continues Glazier's story to the pivotal conflict at Gettysburg and
beyond. Shortly after an engagement with Confederate forces at
Culpepper Courthouse and Liberty Mills, the good fortune that had
seen him safely through the war up to that point abandoned him. In
an ambush at Buckland's Mills in 1863, his horse was shot from
under him and he was knocked senseless and trampled in an enemy
charge. The action was a notable victory for Confederate forces
under J. E. B Stuart commanding Wade Hampton's cavalry division and
Fitzhugh Lee's division; Union forces under Judson Kilpatrick were
routed in a debacle which became known as the Buckland Races.
Glazier regained consciousness in Confederate hands as a prisoner
of war. He spent nearly a year in prison camps and made a daring
bid for freedom which is recorded here in detail.
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.
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