|
Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence > War & defence operations
Raymond Lodge's death from shell shrapnel in 1915 was unremarkable
in a war where many young men would die, but his father's response
to his untimely death was. Sir Oliver Lodge, physicist, scientist,
part inventor of the wireless telegraph and the spark plug, could
not let go of Raymond and went on a controversial and bizarre
journey into the realm of life after death. Following Sir Oliver's
journey, Dear Raymond, explores the untapped topic of spirituality
pre- and post-war, the influence that a national tragedy can have
on a nation's belief system and the long lasting effects from this
time that we still feel today. Alongside Lodge were some of the
great names of the day, as a member of the Ghost Club and the
Fabian Society he was in contact with famous men such as Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle, who went on his own mission into the afterlife after
losing a son. Lodge's exploration and the controversy it exploded
opens our eyes to how modern religion has been shaped and changed
by the conflicts of the Twentieth Century.
"Unlike cricket, which is a polite game, Australian Rules Football
creates a desire on the part of the crowd to tear someone apart,
usually the referee." This is only one of the entertaining and
astute observations the U.S. military provided in the pocket guides
distributed to the nearly one million American soldiers who landed
on the shores of Australia between 1942 and 1945. Although the Land
Down Under felt more familiar than many of their assignments
abroad, American GIs still needed help navigating the distinctly
different Aussie culture, and coming to their rescue was
"Instruction for American Servicemen in Australia, 1942," The
newest entry in the Bodleian Library's bestselling series of
vintage pocket guides, this pamphlet is filled with pithy notes on
Australian customs, language, and other cultural facts the military
deemed necessary for every American soldier.
From the native wildlife--a land of "funny animals"--to the
nation's colonial history to the general characteristics of
Australians--"an outdoors sort of people, breezy and very
democratic"--"Instructions for American Servicemen in Australia"
gives a concise yet amazingly informative overview of the island
nation. Regarding Aussie slang, it notes that "the Australian has
few equals in the world at swearing. . . . The commonest swear
words are 'bastard' (pronounced 'barstud'), 'bugger, ' and 'bloody,
' and the Australians have a genius for using the latter nearly
every other word." The pamphlet also contains a humorous
explanation of the country's musical traditions--including an
annotated text of "Waltzing Matilda"--as well as amusing passages
on sports, politics, and the Aussies' attitudes toward Yanks and
Brits.
A fascinating look at a neglected Allied front in the Southern
hemisphere, "Instructions for American Servicemen in Australia,
1942" follows its successful predecessors as a captivating
historical document of a pivotal era in history.
Lauded for gallantry at Antietam and demoted for insubordination
after Fredericksburg, Major General William "Baldy" Smith remains a
controversial figure of the Civil War. His criticism of the Union
high command made him unpopular with both peers and superiors. Yet
his insight as an officer and an engineer enabled him to offer
effective solutions to challenges faced by fellow generals. In this
first comprehensive biography, Smith emerges as a field commander
with deep concern for his men and a fearless critic of the failures
of the Union generalship, who was recognized for a strategic
perspective that helped save Federal armies.
Now It Can Be Told comprises of Philip Gibbs recollections
regarding the First World War, in which he served as an officially
commissioned war reporter. Titled in reference to the relieving of
censorship laws following the conclusion of World War One in 1918,
this book is noticeably different from the censored or dumbed-down
accounts published under Gibbs' byline in popular newspapers as the
conflict wore on. In this book, the full scale of the horror
wrought in Europe is told unflinchingly with the aim of showing the
depravity of conflict and the destruction that results. Early in
the war, Gibbs' frank and accurate accounts of the carnage of
modern warfare unnerved the British government, who were concerned
his accounts would demoralize citizens and turn them against the
war effort. Gibbs was ordered home; on refusing to cease reporting,
he was arrested and forcibly brought back to Britain.
Early in 1945 the British Liberation Army (BLA), who had battled
their way from the Normandy beaches to the borders of Germany,
embarked on Operation Eclipse. This was the 'end-game' of the
Second World War, the unique military campaign to invade and
conquer Hitler's Third Reich and liberate 20 million enslaved
nationals from Holland, Denmark and Norway; to free multitudes of
displaced persons (DPs) or slaves; and inter alia to free the
survivors of twenty concentration camps and many Allied POW camps.
The Allied Military Government (AMG) brought law and order to 23
million German nationals in the allocated British zone of
occupation (BAOR) and appropriate retribution too. A thrilling race
with Stalin's Red Army ensued to reach the Baltic. A matter of a
few hours and Denmark and Norway would have been swept into the
evil Soviet empire. The author fought vigorously as a junior RHA
officer in the five great river battles - Rhine, Dortmund-Ems,
Weser, Aller and the Elbe. Soon after VE Day he was the junior
officer in War Crimes Tribunals in Hamburg and Oldenburg and
witnessed Mr Alfred Pierrepoint administering the hanging of prison
camp guards.
The Bosnian war of 1992-1995 was one of the most brutal conflicts
to have erupted since the end of the Second World War. But although
the war occurred in 'Europe's backyard' and received significant
media coverage in the West, relatively little scholarly attention
has been devoted to cultural representations of the conflict.
Stephen Harper analyses how the war has been depicted in global
cinema and television over the past quarter of a century. Focusing
on the representation of some of the war's major themes, including
humanitarian intervention, the roles of NATO and the UN, genocide,
rape and ethnic cleansing, Harper explores the role of popular
media culture in reflecting, reinforcing -- and sometimes
contesting -- nationalist ideologies.
|
|