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Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence
From one of our foremost public intellectuals, an essential reckoning with the war in Gaza that reframes our understanding of the ongoing conflict, its historical roots, and the fractured global response
The postwar global order was in many ways shaped in response to the Holocaust. That event became the benchmark for atrocity, and, in the Western imagination, the paradigmatic genocide. Its memory orients so much of our thinking, and crucially, forms the basic justification for Israel’s right first to establish itself and then to defend itself. But in many parts of the world, ravaged by other conflicts and experiences of mass slaughter, the Holocaust’s singularity is not always taken for granted, even when its hideous atrocity is. Outside of the West, Pankaj Mishra argues, the dominant story of the twentieth century is that of decolonization.
The World After Gaza takes the current war, and the polarized reaction to it, as the starting point for a broad reevaluation of two competing narratives of the last century: the Global North’s triumphant account of victory over totalitarianism and the spread of liberal capitalism, and the Global South’s hopeful vision of racial equality and freedom from colonial rule. At a moment when the world’s balance of power is shifting, and the Global North no longer commands ultimate authority, it is critically important that we understand how and why the two halves of the world are failing to talk to each other.
As old touchstones and landmarks crumble, only a new history with a sharply different emphasis can reorient us to the world and worldviews now emerging into the light. In this concise, powerful, and pointed treatise, Mishra reckons with the fundamental questions posed by our present crisis — about whether some lives matter more than others, how identity is constructed, and what the role of the nation-state ought to be. The World After Gaza is an indispensable moral guide to our past, present, and future.
What is the role of the war reporter today? Through interviews with
prominent war and foreign correspondents such as John Pilger,
Robert Fisk, Mary Dejevsky and Alex Thomson The War Correspondent
delves into the most dangerous form of journalism. From Crimea to
Vietnam, the Falklands to the Gulf and Afghanistan, Iraq and the
War on Terror, the books examines the attractions and risks of war
reporting; the challenge of objectivity and impartiality in the war
zone; the danger that journalistic independence is compromised by
military control, censorship and public relations; as well as the
commercial and technological pressures of an intensely
concentrated, competitive news media environment. As history and
ideology return to the reporting of international conflict, Greg
McLaughlin asks what will that mean for a new generation of war
correspondents, attuned not to history or ideology but to the
politics of the next conflict.
In recent years there has been a renewed interest in Civil War
sharpshooters. Now there is a new perspective on the subject in the
story of Major William E. Simmons (1839-1931), with emphasis on his
experiences as an infantry officer in the Army of Northern
virginia. Three years after graduating from Emory College, Simmons
joined the first company in his home county and received his
commission. He was later promoted to Captain in the elite 3rd
Battalion Georgia Sharpshooters of Wofford's Brigade. In 1864, he
became acting commander of the brigade's sharpshooter battalion.
The book traces his family heritage and his footsteps from
childhood to Emory College, through many challenging war
encounters, his capture and imprisonment at Fort Delaware, and a
lifetime of service to his state and community that lasted until
the 1930s. A wealth of information from Simmons' journal and
personal papers includes encounters with Generals Nathan Bedford
Forrest and George Armstrong Custer. There are also accounts of his
miraculous escape from Crampton's Gap at South Mountain, his
regiment's heroic efforts at the Bloody Lane in the Battle of
Sharpsburg, the Sunken road at Fredericksburg, the peach Orchard
and Wheat Field at Gettysburg, and his sharpshooters' key role at
Cold Harbor and Wofford's flank attack at the Wilderness. To
provide more in-depth information on Simmons' sharpshooter
battalion, Byrd provides maps, letters, photographs, and a roster
of soldiers compiled from service records and twenty-five other
reference sources.
Discover the brand new instalment in Lizzie Lane's bestselling
Tobacco Girls series! War is fleeting, but true love last
forever...May 1944 Hope and excitement is in the air when news
breaks of the allied forces landing in Normandy. D Day has arrived.
However, the day-to-day struggles for the Tobacco Girls continue.
Carole Thomas wants her old life back. She is burdened with the
guilt of being a young single mother and considers having baby
Paula adopted, but Maisie Miles will do anything to stop her.
Phyllis Mason having found the love of her life is getting married
in Malta to Mick Fairbrother, but will the dangerous legacies of
war plague her happy day? Bridget O'Neill finds herself posted to
one of the hospitals receiving the injured from the D-Day landing
beaches. Her most fervent hope is that her husband, Lyndon, does
not become one of them. Peace is on the horizon, but will their
wishes and dreams win through and bring them a happy ever after?
Praise for Lizzie Lane: 'A gripping saga and a storyline that will
keep you hooked' Rosie Goodwin 'The Tobacco Girls is another
heartwarming tale of love and friendship and a must-read for all
saga fans.' Jean Fullerton 'Lizzie Lane opens the door to a past of
factory girls, redolent with life-affirming friendship, drama, and
choices that are as relevant today as they were then.' Catrin
Collier 'If you want an exciting, authentic historical saga then
look no further than Lizzie Lane.' Fenella J Miller
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