|
Books > Biography > Historical, political & military
A dramatisation of Martin Monath's short life (1913-1944) would
need little artistic embellishment; his identity shrouded in
mystery, and executed by the Gestapo - twice - the historical
record reads like a detective novel. Pieced together for the first
time by Wladek Flakin, this biography tells the story of the Jewish
socialist and editor of Arbeiter und Soldat ('Worker and Soldier'),
and his efforts to turn German rank-and-file soldiers against their
Nazi officers in occupied France. Born in Berlin in 1913, Martin
Monath was a child of war and revolution. In the 1930s he became a
leader of the socialist Zionist youth organisation Hashomer Hatzair
in Germany. Fleeing from Berlin to Brussels in 1939, he joined the
underground Trotskyist party led by Abraham Leon, and soon became a
leading member of the Fourth International in Europe. His
relocation to Paris in 1943 saw the birth of Arbeiter und Soldat
and his work organising illegal cells of German soldiers for a
revolutionary struggle against the Nazis. Drawing on extensive
archival research, Flakin uses letters, testimonies and unpublished
documents to bring Monath's story to life - weaving a tale rich
with conviction and betrayal, ideology and espionage.
Christiaan De Wet, commander of the Boer forces in the Anglo-Boer
War, had the ability to lead his burghers, many of them
individualists, with a strong hand, subjecting them to his
stringent discipline. He was also a masterful strategist who could
anticipate the moves of his opponents. But it was his ability to
evade the British forces in what became known as the "First De Wet
Hunt" that contributed significantly to his legendary status. Lord
Roberts, Commander-in-Chief of the British forces in South Africa,
believed that the capture of De Wet would lead to the end of the
Anglo-Boer War. When De Wet slipped over Slabberts Nek on July 15,
1900, breaking through Lieutenant General Sir Archibald Hunter's
cordon and taking with him 2,000 Free Staters, including President
Steyn and the government of the Orange Free State, Roberts
organized a massive pursuit. From all sides British columns entered
the chase. However, from July to August, 1900, De Wet, along with
2,500 men, managed to evade the elaborate net Lord Roberts had so
carefully prepared to ensnare him. In so doing, the "Boer
Pimpernel" ran rings around 50,000 British troops. Significantly,
De Wet's successful evasion of the British ultimately led to the
adoption of guerilla tactics by the Boers. This compelling story of
a watershed event in the course of the war and the colorful
personality of the man behind it is masterfully told, and brings an
important personal dimension to the history of the Anglo-Boer War.
"Makes a reader feel like a time traveler plopped down among men
who were by turns vicious and visionary."--"The Christian Science
Monitor"""
The modern American economy was the creation of four men: Andrew
Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Jay Gould, and J. P. Morgan. They
were the giants of the Gilded Age, a moment of riotous growth that
established America as the richest, most inventive, and most
productive country on the planet.
Acclaimed author Charles R. Morris vividly brings the men and their
times to life. The ruthlessly competitive Carnegie, the imperial
Rockefeller, and the provocateur Gould were obsessed with progress,
experiment, and speed. They were balanced by Morgan, the gentleman
businessman, who fought, instead, for a global trust in American
business. Through their antagonism and their verve, they built an
industrial behemoth--and a country of middle-class consumers. "The
Tycoons" tells the incredible story of how these four determined
men wrenched the economy into the modern age, inventing a nation of
full economic participation that could not have been imagined only
a few decades earlier.
 |
Rough Edges
(Hardcover)
James Rogan; Foreword by Newt Gingrich
|
R868
Discovery Miles 8 680
|
Ships in 10 - 15 working days
|
|
|
You may like...
Becoming
Michelle Obama
Hardcover
(6)
R760
R642
Discovery Miles 6 420
Albertina Sisulu
Sindiwe Magona, Elinor Sisulu
Paperback
R389
Discovery Miles 3 890
|