|
Showing 1 - 25 of
36 matches in All Departments
TRAVEL THROUGH A PIVOTAL TIME IN AMERICAN HISTORY
Jeff Shaara, America's premier Civil War novelist, gives a
remarkable guided tour of the ten Civil War battlefields every
American should visit: Shiloh, Antietam,
Fredericksburg/Chancellorsville, Gettysburg, Vicksburg, New Market,
Chickamauga, the Wilderness/Spotsylvania, Cold Harbor, and
Petersburg/Appomattox. Shaara explores the history, the people, and
the places that capture the true meaning and magnitude of the
conflict and provides
- engaging narratives of the war's crucial battles
- intriguing historical footnotes about each site
- photographs of the locations-then and now
- detailed maps of the battle scenes
- fascinating sidebars with related points of interest
From Antietam to Gettysburg to Vicksburg, and to the many poignant
destinations in between, Jeff Shaara's Civil War Battlefields is
the ideal guide for casual tourists and Civil War enthusiasts
alike.
"NEW YORK TIMES" BESTSELLERS
by
MICHAEL SHAARA and JEFF SHAARA
THE CIVIL WAR TRILOGY
GODS AND GENERALS
THE KILLER ANGELS
THE LAST FULL MEASURE
"Brilliant does not even begin to describe the Shaara gift."--"The
Atlanta Journal-Constitution"
Vicksburg, Mississippi. There, in the vaunted Gibraltar of the
Confederacy, a siege for the ages will cement the reputation of one
Union general - and all but seal the fate of the rebel cause. In
May 1863, after months of hard and bitter combat, Union troops
under the command of Major General Ulysses S. Grant at long last
successfully cross the Mississippi River. They force the remnants
of Confederate Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton's army to
retreat to Vicksburg, burning the bridges over the Big Black River
in its path.
Based on meticulous research and told in the voices of characters
from both sides, this novel is Shaara at his best, writing for his
most avid readership. In April of 1862, Major General Ulysses S.
Grant of the Union forces led his troops deep into Tennessee,
setting up camp around a small log church called Shiloh. On the
morning of April 6, Confederate forces led by generals Johnston and
Beauregard launched a surprise attack on the Union Army encampment
to prevent the Union advance into northern Mississippi. Though the
Confederates held the advantage for most of the first day, Union
reinforcements arrived as evening came and launched a counterattack
on the morning of April 7, successfully forcing the Confederates to
retreat and ending what had become one of the bloodiest battles on
American soil to date.
The heartbreaking saga of the years preceding The Killer Angels
"SHAARA'S BEAUTIFULLY SENSITIVE NOVEL DELVES DEEPLY in the empathetic realm of psycho-history, where enemies do not exist--just mortal men forced to make crucial decisions and survive on the same battlefield. . . . [He] succeeds with his historical novel through fully realized characters who were forced to decide their loyalties amid the horrors of their dividing nation." --San Francisco Chronicle
No Less Than Victory is the crowning achievement in master
storyteller Jeff Shaara's soaring World War II trilogy, revealing
the European war's unforgettable and harrowing final act.
After the success of the Normandy invasion, the Allied commanders
are buoyantly confident that the war in Europe will be over in a
matter of weeks, that Hitler and his battered army have no other
option than surrender. But despite the advice of his best military
minds, Hitler will hear no talk of defeat. In mid-December 1944,
the Germans launch a desperate and ruthless counteroffensive in the
Ardennes forest, utterly surprising the unprepared Americans who
stand in their way. Through the frigid snows of the mountainous
terrain, German tanks and infantry struggle to realize Hitler's
goal: divide the Allied armies and capture the vital port at
Antwerp. The attack succeeds in opening up a wide gap in the
American lines, and for days chaos reigns in the Allied command.
Thus begins the Battle of the Bulge, the last gasp by Hitler's
forces that becomes a horrific slugging match, some of the most
brutal fighting of the war. As American commanders respond to the
stunning challenge, the German spear is finally blunted.
Though some in the Nazi inner circle continue the fight to secure
Germany's postwar future, the Fuhrer makes it clear that he is
fighting to the end. He will spare nothing-not even German lives-to
preserve his twisted vision of a "Thousand Year Reich." But in May
1945, the German army collapses, and with Russian troops closing
in, Hitler commits suicide. As the Americans sweep through the
German countryside, they unexpectedly encounter the worst of
Hitler's crimes, the concentration camps, and young GIs find
themselves absorbing firsthand the horrors of the Holocaust.
Presenting his riveting account through the eyes of Eisenhower and
Patton and the young GIs who struggle face-to-face with their
enemy, and through the eyes of Germany's old soldier, Gerd von
Rundstedt, and Hitler's golden boy, Albert Speer, Jeff Shaara
carries the reader on a journey that defines the spirit of the
soldier and the horror of a madman's dreams. No Less Than Victory
further solidifies Shaara's reputation as this era's most
accomplished author of historical military fiction.
"From the Hardcover edition."
Jeff Shaara, America's premier author of military historical
fiction, brings us the centerpiece of his epic trilogy of the
Second World War.
General Dwight Eisenhower once again commands a diverse army that
must find its single purpose in the destruction of Hitler's
European fortress. His primary subordinates, Omar Bradley and
Bernard Montgomery, must prove that this unique blend of Allied
armies can successfully confront the might of Adolf Hitler's
forces, who have already conquered Western Europe. On the coast of
France, German commander Erwin Rommel fortifies and prepares for
the coming invasion, acutely aware that he must bring all his
skills to bear on a fight his side must win. But Rommel's greatest
challenge is to strike the Allies on his front, while struggling
behind the lines with the growing insanity of Adolf Hitler, who
thwarts the strategies Rommel knows will succeed.
Meanwhile, Sergeant Jesse Adams, a no-nonsense veteran of the 82nd
Airborne, parachutes with his men behind German lines into a
chaotic and desperate struggle. And as the invasion force surges
toward the beaches of Normandy, Private Tom Thorne of the 29th
Infantry Division faces the horrifying prospects of fighting his
way ashore on a stretch of coast more heavily defended than the
Allied commanders anticipate-Omaha Beach.
From G.I. to general, this story carries the reader through the
war's most crucial juncture, the invasion that altered the flow of
the war, and, ultimately, changed history.
"From the Trade Paperback edition."
Jeff Shaara dazzled readers with his bestselling novels "Gods""and
Generals, ""The Last Full Measure," and "Gone for Soldiers." Now
the acclaimed author who illuminated the Civil War and the
Mexican-American War brilliantly brings to life the American
Revolution, creating a superb saga of the men who helped to forge
the destiny of a nation.
In 1770, the fuse of revolution is lit by a fateful command--"Fire
"--as England's peacekeeping mission ignites into the Boston
Massacre. The senseless killing of civilians leads to a tumultuous
trial in which lawyer John Adams must defend the very enemy who has
assaulted and abused the laws he holds sacred.
The taut courtroom drama soon broadens into a stunning epic of war
as King George III leads a reckless and corrupt government in
London toward the escalating abuse of his colonies. Outraged by the
increasing loss of their liberties, an extraordinary gathering of
America's most inspiring characters confronts the British presence
with the ideals that will change history.
John Adams, the idealistic attorney devoted to the law, who rises
to greatness by the power of his words . . . Ben Franklin, one of
the most celebrated men of his time, the elderly and audacious
inventor and philosopher who endures firsthand the hostile
prejudice of the British government . . . Thomas Gage, the British
general given the impossible task of crushing a colonial rebellion
without starting an all-out war . . . George Washington, the
dashing Virginian whose battle experience in the French and Indian
War brings him the recognition that elevates him to command of a
colonial army . . . and many other immortal names from the Founding
Family of the colonial struggle--Abigail Adams, Thomas Jefferson,
Joseph Warren, Samuel Adams, Richard Henry Lee-- captured as never
before in their full flesh-and-blood humanity.
More than a powerful portrait of the people and purpose of the
revolution, "Rise to Rebellion" is a vivid account of history's
most pivotal events. The Boston Tea Party, the battles of Concord
and Bunker Hill--all are recreated with the kind of breathtaking
detail only a master like Jeff Shaara can muster. His most
impressive achievement, "Rise to Rebellion" reveals with new
immediacy how philosophers became fighters, ideas their ammunition,
and how a scattered group of colonies became the United States of
America.
In Rise to Rebellion, bestselling author Jeff Shaara captured the origins of the American Revolution as brilliantly as he depicted the Civil War in Gods and Generals and The Last Full Measure. Now he continues the amazing saga of how thirteen colonies became a nation, taking the conflict from kingdom and courtroom to the bold and bloody battlefields of war.
It was never a war in which the outcome was obvious. Despite their spirit and stamina, the colonists were outmanned and outfought by the brazen British army. General George Washington found his troops trounced in the battles of Brooklyn and Manhattan and retreated toward Pennsylvania. With the future of the colonies at its lowest ebb, Washington made his most fateful decision: to cross the Delaware River and attack the enemy. The stunning victory at Trenton began a saga of victory and defeat that concluded with the British surrender at Yorktown, a moment that changed the history of the world.
The despair and triumph of America’s first great army is conveyed in scenes as powerful as any Shaara has written, a story told from the points of view of some of the most memorable characters in American history. There is George Washington, the charismatic leader who held his army together to achieve an unlikely victory; Charles Cornwallis, the no-nonsense British general, more than a match for his colonial counterpart; Nathaniel Greene, who rose from obscurity to become the finest battlefield commander in Washington’s army; The Marquis de Lafayette, the young Frenchman who brought a soldier’s passion to America; and Benjamin Franklin, a brilliant man of science and philosophy who became the finest statesman of his day.
From Nathan Hale to Benedict Arnold, William Howe to “Light Horse” Harry Lee, from Trenton and Valley Forge, Brandywine and Yorktown, the American Revolution’s most immortal characters and poignant moments are brought to life in remarkable Shaara style. Yet, The Glorious Cause is more than just a story of the legendary six-year struggle. It is a tribute to an amazing people who turned ideas into action and fought to declare themselves free. Above all, it is a riveting novel that both expands and surpasses its beloved author’s best work.
From the Hardcover edition.
With his acclaimed New York Times bestsellers Gods and Generals and The Last Full Measure, Jeff Shaara expanded upon his father's Pulitzer Prize-winning Civil War classic, The Killer Angels--ushering the reader through the poignant drama of this most bloody chapter in our history. Now, in Gone for Soldiers, Jeff Shaara carries us back fifteen years before that momentous conflict, when the Civil War's most familiar names are fighting for another cause, junior officers marching under the same flag in an unfamiliar land, experiencing combat for the first time in the Mexican-American War.
In March 1847, the U.S. Navy delivers eight thousand soldiers on the beaches of Vera Cruz. They are led by the army's commanding general, Winfield Scott, a heroic veteran of the War of 1812, short tempered, vain, and nostalgic for the glories of his youth. At his right hand is Robert E. Lee, a forty-year-old engineer, a dignified, serious man who has never seen combat.
Scott leads his troops against the imperious Mexican dictator, General Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana. Obsessed with glory and his place in history, Santa Ana arrogantly underestimates the will and the heart of Scott and his army. As the Americans fight their way inland, both sides understand that the inevitable final conflict will come at the gates and fortified walls of the ancient capital, Mexico City.
Cut off from communication and their only supply line, the Americans learn about their enemy and themselves, as young men witness for the first time the horror of war. While Scott must weigh his own place in history, fighting what many consider a bully's war, Lee the engineer becomes Lee the hero, the one man in Scott's command whose extraordinary destiny as a soldier is clear.
In vivid, brilliant prose that illuminates the dark psychology of soldiers and their commanders trapped behind enemy lines, Jeff Shaara brings to life the haunted personalities and magnificent backdrop, the familiar characters, the stunning triumphs and soul-crushing defeats of this fascinating, long-forgotten war. Gone for Soldiers is an extraordinary achievement that will remain with you long after the final page is turned.
A modern master of the historical novel, Jeff Shaara has painted
brilliant depictions of the Civil War, the Revolutionary War, and
World War I. Now he embarks upon his most ambitious epic, a trilogy
about the military conflict that defined the twentieth century. The
Rising Tide begins a staggering work of fiction bound to be a new
generation's most poignant chronicle of World War II. With
you-are-there immediacy, painstaking historical detail, and
all-inclusive points of view, Shaara portrays the momentous and
increasingly dramatic events that pulled America into the vortex of
this monumental conflict.
As Hitler conquers Poland, Norway, France, and most of Western
Europe, England struggles to hold the line. When Germany's ally
Japan launches a stunning attack on Pearl Harbor, America is drawn
into the war, fighting to hold back the Japanese conquest of the
Pacific, while standing side-by-side with their British ally, the
last hope for turning the tide of the war.
Through unforgettable battle scenes in the unforgiving deserts of
North Africa and the rugged countryside of Sicily, Shaara tells
this story through the voices of this conflict's most heroic
figures, some familiar, some unknown. As British and American
forces strike into the "soft underbelly" of Hitler's Fortress
Europa, the new weapons of war come clearly into focus. In North
Africa, tank battles unfold in a tapestry of dust and fire unlike
any the world has ever seen. In Sicily, the Allies attack their
enemy with a barely tested weapon: the paratrooper. As battles rage
along the coasts of the Mediterranean, the momentum of the war
begins to shift, setting the stage for the massive invasion of
France, at a seaside resort called Normandy.
More than an unprecedented and intimate portrait of those who waged
this astonishing global war, The Rising Tide is a vivid gallery of
characters both immortal and unknown: the as-yet obscure
administrator Dwight D. Eisenhower, whose tireless efficiency
helped win the war; his subordinates, clashing in both style and
personality, from George Patton and Mark Clark to Omar Bradley and
Bernard Montgomery. In the desolate hills and deserts, the Allies
confront Erwin Rommel, the battlefield genius known as "the Desert
Fox," a wounded beast who hands the Americans their first
humiliating defeat in the European theater of the war. From tank
driver to paratrooper to the men who gave the commands, Shaara's
stirring portrayals bring the heroic and the tragic to life in
brilliant detail.
A new level of accomplishment from this already acclaimed author,
The Rising Tide will leave readers eager for the next volume of
this superb saga of the war that saved and changed the world.
"From the Hardcover edition."
Jeff Shaara has enthralled readers with his "New York Times"
bestselling novels set during the Civil War and the American
Revolution. Now the acclaimed author turns to World War I, bringing
to life the sweeping, emotional story of the war that devastated a
generation and established America as a world power.
Spring 1916: the horror of a stalemate on Europe's western front.
France and Great Britain are on one side of the barbed wire, a
fierce German army is on the other. Shaara opens the window onto
the otherworldly tableau of trench warfare as seen through the eyes
of a typical British soldier who experiences the bizarre and the
horrible-a "Tommy" whose innocent youth is cast into the hell of a
terrifying war.
In the skies, meanwhile, technology has provided a devastating new
tool, the aeroplane, and with it a different kind of hero
emerges-the flying ace. Soaring high above the chaos on the ground,
these solitary knights duel in the splendor and terror of the
skies, their courage and steel tested with every flight.
As the conflict stretches into its third year, a neutral America is
goaded into war, its reluctant president, Woodrow Wilson, finally
accepting the repeated challenges to his stance of nonalignment.
Yet the Americans are woefully unprepared and ill equipped to enter
a war that has become worldwide in scope. The responsibility is
placed on the shoulders of General John "Blackjack" Pershing, and
by mid-1917 the first wave of the American Expeditionary Force
arrives in Europe. Encouraged by the bold spirit and strength of
the untested Americans, the world waits to see if the tide of war
can finally be turned.
From Blackjack Pershing to the Marine in the trenches, from the Red
Baron to the American pilots of the Lafayette Escadrille, "To the
Last Man" is written with the moving vividness and accuracy that
characterizes all of Shaara's work. This spellbinding new novel
carries readers-the way only Shaara can-to the heart of one of the
greatest conflicts in human history, and puts them face-to-face
with the characters who made a lasting impact on the world.
"From the Hardcover edition."
In the Pulitzer prize-winning classic The Killer Angels, Michael Shaara created the finest Civil War novel of our time, an enduring bestseller that has sold more than two million copies. In the bestselling Gods and Generals, Shaara's son, Jeff, brilliantly sustained his father's vision, telling the epic story of the events culminating in the Battle of Gettysburg. Now, Jeff Shaara brings this legendary father-son trilogy to its stunning conclusion in a novel that brings to life the final two years of the Civil War.
As The Last Full Measure opens, Gettysburg is past and the war advances to its third brutal year. On the Union side, the gulf between the politicians in Washington and the generals in the field yawns ever wider. Never has the cumbersome Union Army so desperately needed a decisive, hard-nosed leader. It is at this critical moment that Lincoln places Ulysses S. Grant in command--and turns the tide of war.
For Robert E. Lee, Gettysburg was an unspeakable disaster--compounded by the shattering loss of the fiery Stonewall Jackson two months before. Lee knows better than anyone that the South cannot survive a war of attrition. But with the total devotion of his generals--Longstreet, Hill, Stuart--and his unswerving faith in God, Lee is determined to fight to the bitter end.
Here too is Joshua Chamberlain, the college professor who emerged as the Union hero of Gettysburg--and who will rise to become one of the greatest figures of the Civil War.
Battle by staggering battle, Shaara dramatizes the escalating confrontation between Lee and Grant--complicated, heroic, deeply troubled men. From the costly Battle of the Wilderness to the agonizing siege of Petersburg to Lee's epoch-making surrender at Appomattox, Shaara portrays the riveting conclusion of the Civil War through the minds and hearts of the individuals who gave their last full measure.
Full of human passion and the spellbinding truth of history, The Last Full Measure is the fitting capstone to a magnificent literary trilogy.
From the Hardcover edition.
"NEW YORK TIMES "BESTSELLER
Continuing the series that began with "A Blaze of Glory, " Jeff
Shaara returns to chronicle another decisive chapter in America's
long and bloody Civil War. In "A Chain of Thunder, " the action
shifts to the fortress city of Vicksburg, Mississippi. There, in
the vaunted "Gibraltar of the Confederacy," a siege for the ages
will cement the reputation of one Union general--and all but seal
the fate of the rebel cause.
In May 1863, after months of hard and bitter combat, Union troops
under the command of Major General Ulysses S. Grant at long last
successfully cross the Mississippi River. They force the remnants
of Confederate Lieutenant General John C. Pemberton's army to
retreat to Vicksburg, burning the bridges over the Big Black River
in its path. But after sustaining heavy casualties in two failed
assaults against the rebels, Union soldiers are losing confidence
and morale is low. Grant reluctantly decides to lay siege to the
city, trapping soldiers and civilians alike inside an iron ring of
Federal entrenchments. Six weeks later, the starving and destitute
Southerners finally surrender, yielding command of the Mississippi
River to the Union forces on July 4--Independence Day--and marking
a crucial turning point in the Civil War.
Drawing on comprehensive research and his own intimate knowledge
of the Vicksburg Campaign, Jeff Shaara once again weaves brilliant
fiction out of the ragged cloth of historical fact. From the
command tents where generals plot strategy to the ruined mansions
where beleaguered citizens huddle for safety, this is a panoramic
portrait of men and women whose lives are forever altered by the
siege. On one side stand the emerging legend Grant, his irascible
second William T. Sherman, and the youthful "grunt" Private Fritz
Bauer; on the other, the Confederate commanders Pemberton and
Joseph Johnston, as well as nineteen-year-old Lucy Spence, a
civilian doing her best to survive in the besieged city. By giving
voice to their experiences at Vicksburg, "A Chain of Thunder"
vividly evokes a battle whose outcome still reverberates more than
150 years after the cannons fell silent.
Praise for "A Chain of Thunder"
" Jeff] Shaara continues to draw powerful novels from the bloody
history of the Civil War. . . . The dialogue intrigues. Shaara
aptly reveals the main actors: Grant, stoic, driven, not given to
micromanagement; Sherman, anxious, high-strung, engaged even when
doubting Grant's strategy. . . . Worth a Civil War buff's
attention."--"Kirkus Reviews"
" "
"Searing . . . Shaara seamlessly interweaves multiple points of
view, as the plot is driven by a stellar cast of real-life and
fictional characters coping with the pivotal crisis. . . . A]
riveting fictional narrative."--"Booklist"
"Shaara's historical accuracy is faultless, and he tells a good
story. . . . The voices of these people come across to the reader
as poignantly as they did 150 years ago.""--Historical Novels
Review"
"The writing is picturesque and vibrant. . . . an] engrossing
tale.""--Bookreporter"
After the success at Normandy, the Allied commanders are confident
that the war in Europe will soon be over. But in December 1944, in
the Ardennes Forest, the Germans launch a ruthless counteroffensive
that begins the Battle of the Bulge. The Fuhrer will spare nothing
to preserve his twisted vision of a "Thousand Year Reich," but
stout American resistance defeats the German thrust. "No Less Than
Victory" is a riveting account presented through the eyes of
Eisenhower, Patton, and the soldiers who struggled face-to-face
with their enemy, as well as from the vantage point of Germany's
old soldier, Gerd von Rundstedt, and Hitler's golden boy, Albert
Speer. Jeff Shaara carries the reader on a journey that defines the
spirit of the soldier and the horror of a madman's dreams.
General Dwight Eisenhower commands a diverse army that must destroy
Hitler's European fortress. On the coast of France, German
commander Erwin Rommel prepares for the coming invasion, as the
Fuhrer thwarts the strategies Rommel knows will succeed. Meanwhile,
Sergeant Jesse Adams, a veteran of the 82nd Airborne, parachutes
with his men behind German lines. And as the invasion force surges
toward the beaches of Normandy, Private Tom Thorne of the 29th
Infantry Division faces the horrifying prospect of fighting his way
ashore on Omaha Beach, a stretch of coast more heavily defended
than the Allied commanders anticipate. From G.I. to general, The
Steel Wave carries us through the war's most crucial juncture, the
invasion that altered the flow of the war and, ultimately, changed
history.
|
|