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Books > Fiction > Genre fiction > War fiction
Based on the true World War II stories of America's first female military pilots, this historic novel follows the story of a young woman from a dirt-poor farm family. Sally Ketchum has little chance of bettering her life until a mysterious barnstormer named Tex teaches her to fly and to dare to love. But when Tex dies in a freak accident, Sally must make her own way in the world. She enrolls in the U.S. military's Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program at a special school known as Avenger, where she learns to fly the biggest, fastest, meanest planes. She also reluctantly becomes involved with Beau Bayard, a flight instructor and aspiring writer who seems to offer her everything she could want. Despite her obvious mastery of flying, many members of the military are unable to accept that a "skirt" has any place in a cockpit. Soon Sally finds herself struggling against a high-powered Washington lawyer that wants to close down Avenger once and for all.
When a mysterious woman suddenly enters his life, wounded veteran Brent Edwards is forced to confront his lack of self-esteem and unwarranted shame. With kind words and a gentle touch, his new friend will encourage him to recount the battle that nearly cost him his life, and come to terms with the wounds that drive him to solitude. As he relives the fateful hour, Brent will find himself forced to wrestle with his demons as he looks for answers in the past-a past that might justify an honor for which he cannot find reason. Intimidated by the awesome power of feminine splendor, Brent struggles to find meaning in a woman's affection for a man ravaged by the throes of war and lost in a world of personal torment. Taken by her beauty and torn by her motives, he will soon discover that his is not a solitary pain, and that honor is found where least expected.
It is the mid-1980s, the era of so-called reformist apartheid, and South Africa is in flames. Police and military are gunning down children at the forefront of the liberation struggle. Far from such action, it seems, a small party of four is traveling by minibus to the north of the country, close to the border with Zimbabwe. Their aim is to shoot a documentary on the discovery of a prehistoric skull that Professor Digby Bamford boasts is evidence that, "True man first arose in southern Africa." Boozy, self-absorbed Professor Bamford is unaware that his young lover, Vicky, brings with her some complications. Rian, the videographer, was once in love with her, and his passion has been reignited. Bucs, a young man from the townships, is doing his best not to be involved in the increasingly deadly tensions. Powerful and provocative, brilliantly written, The Unspeakable is as unforgettable as it is unsettling. Told in the first person by Rian, it centers on the conflicted being of the white male under apartheid. Unlike many of the great novels of the era, it renounces any claim to the relative safety zone of moralistic dissociation from the racist crime against humanity, and cuts instead to the quick of complicity. It is sometimes said of Albert Camus's The Stranger that everything would have turned out very differently, had the murder only taken place "a few hundred miles to the south." This is that South with a vengeance.
Between the Fourth and Fifth Crusades there occurred a lesser known but important Crusade. The Albigensian Crusade, launched in 1209, was mounted to eliminate the "heretical" Christian Cathars of Occitania in the south of what is now modern-day France. It was a decades-long struggle to extirpate both the Cathars and the independence of southern France. Prior to the fall of Montsegur, the last bastion of the Cathars, on the 12th of March 1244, legend has it that Cathar "treasure" was spirited away from Montsegur. Was it gold, religious artifacts, or perhaps ancient documents of great significance to the Catholic Church? The physical efforts required in surreptitiously removing "treasure" from Montsegur, the mountain top fortress, during a siege by the Pope's army, dictates documents Questions scream from the corridors of time: What documents prompted a Crusade of Christians against Christians? Who wrote them? What revelations do they contain? What happened to them? And, why and by what means is the Roman Church now attempting to find the parchments? How and why does the trail lead from the Middle East to the Languedoc region of France, to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, to Oxford University in Great Britain, and finally to Rome where the documents are found in the Vatican's secret archives and translated. Executions of crimes including murder are revealed. Plans for additional murders are revealed and foiled. A plan to stop the probable distribution of the translated documents, if carried out successfully, will change everything.
History records a great deal about ante-bellum southern life. General Sherman's march to the Sea is an indelible part of history. Yet, there is a chapter of that era that has gone by unnoticed even to the point that there is a story that needs to be told. In the Appalachian Mountains of Northern Georgia there was a surprising amount of sentiment felt for the Union. There were Confederate military units created called "Home Guards" with the purpose of removing these elements of Union support. This was the setting for conflict. There were many skirmishes between Federal Cavalry and the Home Guards. Also, the novel gives insight into life of that little known region. Included are details about making whiskey, hunting and trapping, the essentials of survival. There is a story of one such unit led by a man that turned his command into lawless criminals that were no better than common horse thieves. This character provides a psychology subplot of human nature when not restrained by the 'rule of law'.
Early dawn, on June 1950, the North Korean army crossed the 38th Parallel and invaded South Korea. The ten-division North Korean army, spearheaded by 150 Russian-made T-34 tanks advanced, capturing Seoul, the capital of South Korea, in four days and continued advancing to the southeastern corner of the peninsula by August 1st.As the casualties mounted, the U.N. Allied Headquarters sent a landing operation to Inchon in the Yellow Sea to cut off enemy supply lines and take Seoul back from the North Korean Occupation. It shortened the war and saved many lives.In preparation for the successful landing operation, the Allied Headquarters deployed the Under Water Demolition Team of the U.S. Navy and a platoon of Korean Marines. They cleared mines along the shipping lanes, swept the enemy off adjacent islands and reconnoitered the landing sites.At dawn on September 15, 1950, UDT's and Marines led the armada of the landing operation, OPERATION CHROMITE, to the landing site. Under heavy enemy fire, they arrived at the beachhead in the first wave of the landing crafts, spearheaded the fierce firefight against tremendous odds, and finally crushed the enemy. At the summit of Mount Ungbong, they raised the U.N. flag to declare the liberation of Inchon.
Scotsman Billy Ferguson is a fanatical Glasgow Blue Crew supporter and a promising prospect on the football field. Just as he's set to become a sports star, however, he's called up for active duty in Afghanistan. There, everything changes for Billy when a hidden explosive injures him and results in the loss of his leg. Back home, Billy has trouble returning to normal life. With the loss of his leg also comes the loss of dreams on the field-but he refuses to give up. Billy endures an ambitious physical therapy routine with the help of a talented therapist named Isabel. He wears a prosthetic leg, and as his condition improves he even earns himself a nickname with football fans-the Tin Boy. As Billy strives to return to the sport he loves, he develops feelings for Isabel. She has become a strength and support in his life, and despite their professional relationship he can't help but feel a romantic attachment. Now, despite all odds, Billy is ready to take his shot at the goal: on the football field and on the playground of love.
It's Only the Enemy Screaming tells of one man's struggle with faith in the American experiment as the country's first made-for-media war unfolds. Perhaps I would be called upon to fight, I thought. I did not want to go. I did not want to sacrifice my life. I felt remorse for the boys who had already. What would be my family's reaction if I were to go and die? But these are not things to consider if you are in the desert with sand slipping away under your feet, cleaning your gun, smelling the oil, staring in the face of your enemy. The preparations of a warrior do not include doubt. They do not include consideration of the life left behind. The preparations of a warrior consist of absolute commitment, undaunted determination, and complete sobriety. All other considerations are made before the decision to go to war. If they are not, the warrior is doomed. 'It's Only the Enemies Screaming is the emotionally intense story of one man's descent into the psychological underbelly of American culture during the Persian Gulf War. spectator's view during the first Iraq conflict couldn't be timelier - but his ultimate focus transcends the political moment. It is a riveting, occasionally hallucinogenic, and always intelligent portrait of America's love affair with violence. - Michael Lynch, author of True to Life.
In 1953, Alfonso Candela is a likeable rogue who loves his privileged life in Santiago de Cuba. Unfortunately, Fidel Castro has other plans for him. As the Cuban Revolution takes root and irrevocably tears at the fabric of Alfonso's personal paradise, he and his family attempt to go about their daily lives, despite the mounting threats that surround them. When approached by a rebel who wants their weekend home to help dethrone Batista in the name of democracy, the Candelas are seemingly left with no choice but to comply. His wife, Mirta, befriends Teodora, who channels her interest in her neighbors' affairs into revolutionary purpose and tries to recruit Alfonso to join the militia. With their family splintered and in exile, the Candelas must reinvent their lives in an alien land. But when Castro finally opens the gates of Mariel, Alfonso returns, intent on seeking redemption. In this historical saga, the essence of the Cuban Revolution is captured through one family's eyes as they reflect on a life that could have been and the generation that must create a new paradise in exile.
On March 12, 1938, the German Army marched into Austria, greeted enthusiastically by much of the population, making the country part of Nazi Germany. Overnight, 200,000 Austrian Jews were turned from citizens into hated and hunted outsiders, unprotected by law or custom. Jacob Abels is one of them; a young Jewish man in beautiful Vienna, immersed in the youthful world of friendships and new love. Suddenly, his familiar and beguiling city is a place of danger and fear. "Vienna Farewell" is the story of people-Gentiles and Jews, Nazis and anti-Nazis, rich and poor, young and old-lives and fates intertwined, trying in many different ways to make their personal adjustments to this new historical reality; some by attempting to escape abroad, others by resigned and hopeless waiting for the improbable return of better days, and others-Nazis and their allies-by taking brutal advantage of their newly won powers. David Jordan, drawing on his personal experiences, describes the actions and motivations of his contemporaries with the clarity of the inside observer who "knows his Viennese." Part history, part novel, "Vienna Farewell" shines a revealing light on a place in a time of darkness.
"When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again" spotlights the stories of three soldiers in three wars. Three soldiers. Each someone's Johnny. Father, son. Brother, cousin. Husband, lover. Just plain buddy. Three conflicts. Civil War, pitting brother against brother, North against South, Yank against Johnny Reb. Vietnam War, North-South strife with Orwellian overtones. War on Terror, Afghanistan theater. Three life-and-death stories in screenplay format: 'Owl Creek Bridge," based on the Civil War stories of Ambrose Bierce, and expanded to feature-film length by incorporating the Siege of Vicksburg. 'Sleeping With Charlie," adapted from the author's short story 'Cu Chi." 'Dawn's Early Light," P.O.W. drama inspired by a Leo Tolstoy tale and a cinematic rendition thereof by Sergei Bodrov Senior.
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