|
|
Books > Humanities > History > History of specific subjects > Military history
On September 11, 1814, an American naval squadron under Master
Commandant Thomas Macdonough defeated a formidable British force on
Lake Champlain under the command of Captain George Downie,
effectively ending the British invasion of the Champlain Valley
during the War of 1812. This decisive battle had far-reaching
repercussions in Canada, the United States, England, and Ghent,
Belgium, where peace talks were under way. Examining the naval and
land campaign in strategic, political, and military terms, from
planning to execution to outcome, The Battle of Lake Champlain
offers the most thorough account written of this pivotal moment in
American history. For decades the Champlain corridor - a direct and
accessible invasion route between Lower Canada and the northern
United States - had been hotly contested in wars for control of the
region. In exploring the crucial issue of why it took two years for
the United States and Britain to confront each other on Lake
Champlain, historian John H. Schroeder recounts the war's early
years, the failed U.S. invasions of Canada in 1812 and 1813, and
the ensuing naval race for control of the lake in 1814. To explain
how the Americans achieved their unexpected victory, Schroeder
weighs the effects on both sides of preparations and planning,
personal valor and cowardice, command decisions both brilliant and
ill-conceived, and sheer luck both good and bad. Previous histories
have claimed that the War of 1812 ended with Andrew Jackson's
victory at the Battle of New Orleans. Schroeder demonstrates that
the United States really won the war four months before - at
Plattsburgh on Lake Champlain. Through a comprehensive analysis of
politics and diplomacy, Schroeder shows that the victory at Lake
Champlain prompted the British to moderate their demands at Ghent,
bringing the war directly and swiftly to an end before Jackson's
spectacular victory in January 1815.
From Paris to Stalingrad, the Nazis systematically plundered all
manner of art and antiquities. But the first and most valuable
treasures they looted were the Crown Jewels of the Holy Roman
Empire. In "Hitler's Holy Relics, "bestselling author Sidney
Kirkpatrick tells the riveting and never-before-told true story of
how an American college professor turned Army sleuth recovered
these cherished symbols of Hitler's Thousand-Year Reich before they
could become a rallying point in the creation of a Fourth and
equally unholy Reich.
Anticipating the Allied invasion of Nazi Germany, Reichsfuhrer
Heinrich Himmler had ordered a top-secret bunker carved deep into
the bedrock beneath Nurnberg castle. Inside the well-guarded
chamber was a specially constructed vault that held the plundered
treasures Hitler valued the most: the Spear of Destiny (reputed to
have been used to pierce Christ's side while he was on the cross)
and the Crown Jewels of the Holy Roman Empire, ancient artifacts
steeped in medieval mysticism and coveted by world rulers from
Charlemagne to Napoleon. But as Allied bombers rained devastation
upon Nurnberg and the U.S. Seventh Army prepared to invade the city
Hitler called "the soul of the Nazi Party," five of the most
precious relics, all central to the coronation ceremony of a
would-be Holy Roman Emperor, vanished from the vault. Who took
them? And why? The mystery remained unsolved for months after the
war's end, until the Supreme Allied Commander, General Dwight D.
Eisenhower, ordered Lieutenant Walter Horn, a German-born art
historian on leave from U.C. Berkeley, to hunt down the missing
treasures.
To accomplish his mission, Horn must revisit the now-rubble-strewn
landscape of his youth and delve into the ancient legends and
arcane mysticism surrounding the antiquities that Hitler had looted
in his quest for world domination. Horn searches for clues in the
burnt remains of Himmler's private castle and follows the trail of
neo-Nazi "Teutonic Knights" charged with protecting a vast hidden
fortune in plundered gold and other treasure. Along the way, Horn
has to confront his own demons: how members of his family and
former academic colleagues subverted scholarly research to help
legitimize Hitler's theories of Aryan supremacy and the Master
Race. What Horn discovers on his investigative odyssey is so
explosive that his final report will remain secret for decades.
Drawing on unpublished interrogation and intelligence reports, as
well as on diaries, letters, journals, and interviews in the United
States and Germany, Kirkpatrick tells this riveting and disturbing
story with cinematic detail and reveals-- for the first time--how a
failed Vienna art student, obsessed with the occult and dreams of
his own grandeur, nearly succeeded in creating a Holy Reich rooted
in a twisted reinvention of medieval and Church history.
b>'ROBERT FISK HAS BEEN REPORTING FROM THE MIDDLE EAST WITH INCOMPARABLE DEPTH AND UNDERSTANDING…AND EXTRAORDINARY COURAGE' NOAM CHOMSKY In this final work from renowned journalist Robert Fisk, he picks up reporting on the Middle East where his internationally bestselling The Great War of Civilisation left off. From the Arab uprisings and the Syrian civil war to Israel’s conflicts with Palestine and Lebanon, Fisk condemns the West’s ongoing hypocrisy and interference while revealing the horrific truth of life on the ground. Unafraid to criticise authority and unpick complex truths, hecreates a compelling narrative of passionate and engaging journalism, historical analysis and eyewitness reporting. With a Postscript by Nelofer Pazira-Fisk and a foreword by Patrick Cockburn, Night of Power delivers an essential and prophetic account of the last twenty years, which exposes the inescapable consequences of colonial oppression and violence in the Middle East. ‘This is a masterly work by a unique and gifted “historian of the present”, who was unafraid to criticise authority while revealing the horrific realities of life and death on the ground’ Conor O’Clery, Irish Times ‘Every sentence of Robert Fisk radiates his loathe of wars and the inevitable dehumanization they produce, which makes his (sadly) last book an everlasting warning, beyond its value as a meticulous historical recount and analysis of today's events’ Amira Hass, journalist, Haaretz 'Fisk's reporting is clear-eyed and unflinching, a model for what journalists should aspire to practice in their ever more important and widely threatened craft' Anthony Arnove, editor, Iraq Under Siege and author, Iraq: The Logic of Withdrawal ‘I was at the funeral of a friend of mine, in Kilternan cemetery … I came across Robert Fisk’s grave. Someone has to bear witness to the unspeakable, and he did it, whatever the cost to himself’ Neil Jordan, film director and writer
In A Short History of South Africa, Gail Nattrass, historian and educator, presents the reader with a brief, general account of South Africa’s history, from the very beginning to the present day, from the first evidence of hominid existence, early settlement pre-and post-European arrival and the warfare through the 18th and 19th centuries that lead to the eventual establishment of modern South Africa.
This readable and thorough account, illustrated with maps and photographs, is a culmination of a lifetime of researching and teaching the broad spectrum of South African history, collecting stories, taking students on tours around the country, and working with distinguished historians.
Nattrass’s passion for her subject shines through, whether she is elucidating the reader on early humans in the cradle of humankind, or the tumultuous twentieth-century processes that shaped the democracy that is South Africa today. A must for all those interested in South Africa, within the country and abroad.
From the bestselling author of Washington's Immortals and The
Unknowns, an important new chronicle of the American Revolution
heralding the heroism of the men from Marblehead, Massachusetts On
the stormy night of August 29, 1776, the Continental Army faced
capture or annihilation after losing the Battle of Brooklyn. The
British had trapped George Washington's forces against the East
River, and the fate of the Revolution rested upon the shoulders of
the soldier-mariners from Marblehead, Massachusetts. Serving side
by side in one of the country's first diverse units, they pulled
off an "American Dunkirk" and saved the army by transporting it
across the treacherous waters of the river to Manhattan. In the
annals of the American Revolution, no group played a more
consequential role than the Marbleheaders. At the right time in the
right place, they repeatedly altered the course of events, and
their story shines new light on our understanding of the
Revolution. As acclaimed historian Patrick K. O'Donnell
dramatically recounts, beginning nearly a decade before the war
started, and in the midst of a raging virus that divided the town
politically, Marbleheaders such as Elbridge Gerry and Azor Orne
spearheaded the break with Britain and shaped the nascent United
States by playing a crucial role governing, building alliances,
seizing British ships, forging critical supply lines, and
establishing the origins of the US Navy. The Marblehead Regiment,
led by John Glover, became truly indispensable. Marbleheaders
battled at Lexington and on Bunker Hill and formed the elite Guard
that protected George Washington. Then, at the most crucial time in
the war, the special operations-like regiment, against all odds,
conveyed 2,400 of Washington's men across the ice-filled Delaware
River on Christmas night 1776, delivering a momentum-shifting
surprise attack on Trenton. Later, Marblehead doctor Nathaniel Bond
inoculated the Continental Army against a deadly virus, which
changed the course of history. White, Black, Hispanic, and Native
American, this uniquely diverse group of soldiers set an inclusive
standard of unity the US Army would not reach again for more than
170 years. The Marbleheaders' chronicle, never fully told before
now, makes The Indispensables a vital addition to the literature of
the American Revolution.
Written by one of the editors of the new complete works of Henry
Vaughan, Keeping the Ancient Way is the first book-length study of
the poet by a single author for twenty years. It deals with a
number of key topics that are central to the understanding and
appreciation of this major seventeenth-century writer. These
include his debt to the hermetic philosophy espoused by his twin
brother (the alchemist, Thomas Vaughan); his royalist allegiance in
the Civil War; his loyalty to the outlawed Church of England during
the Interregnum; the unusual degree of intertextuality in his
poetry (especially with the Scriptures and the devotional lyrics of
George Herbert); and his literary treatment of the natural world
(which has been variously interpreted from Christian,
proto-Romantic, and ecological perspectives). Each of the chapters
is self-contained and places its topic in relation to past and
current critical debates, but the book is organized so that the
biographical, intellectual, and political focus of Part One informs
the discussion of poetic craftsmanship in Part Two. A wealth of
historical information and close critical readings provide an
accessible introduction to the poet and his period for students and
general readers alike. The up-to-date scholarship will also be of
interest to specialists in the literature and history of the Civil
War and Interregnum.
Sounding Forth the Trumpet brings to life one of the most crucial
epochs in America's history--the events leading up to and
precipitating the Civil War. In this enlightening book, readers
live through the Gold Rush, the Mexican War, the skirmishes of
Bleeding Kansas, and the emergence of Abraham Lincoln, as well as
the tragic issue of slavery.
|
|
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
(4)
