The Plevna Battle of 1877 is described through first person accounts. Fighters, military leaders, war correspondents provide a composite description of an epic event that marked the end of Ottoman rule over its European territories. The stories told are at once: shocking / historic / dramatic

The famed General Erwin Rommel served as a First Lieutenant in the elite Wurttemberg Regiment during World War I. His war experiences in Romania during 1916-1917 are recounted from his detailed memoirs, unpublished original archival material and other sources.

Mircea Malitza, a career diplomat from Romania, witnessed and participated in major events during the entire Cold War period. An engaging personality, he earned respect from world leaders in the United States, Western Europe and emerging post-colonial countries. This account is noteworthy for its rare insights into a duality not always apparent when seen through the Cold War lens of Western eyes. There is, on the one hand, the subservience of Romania, and the entire Soviet Bloc, to Russia's dogmas and imperial aspirations. On the other hand, Romania's leaders crafted their own national 'independent path, ' often in highly creative and potentially dangerous ways. This served Romania well in opening doors to favorable Western contact, culminating, during the mid-1960s, in a period of 'liberalization' of internal and foreign policies. In time, though, these achievements were undermined by Nicolae Ceausescu's increasingly dictatorial and cruel slide into a moral and economic abyss. In these memoirs, Ambassador Malitza's recollections of the Cuban Missile Crisis are illuminating: he provides unique eye witness testimony to both the public posturing and tense behind-the-scenes diplomacy as the world was taken to the brink of nuclear war - he is the sole surviving member of the UN Security Council of that time. Revealing, too, are Malitza's accounts of the dramatic day-by-day events and secret conspiracies of the invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1968-and how Romania avoided a similar fate. The author reveals his encounters and professional friendships with world leaders. Private conversations with Averell Harriman - America's master diplomat with unique insights into Russia's policies - are unexpected. So, too, is the relationship with UN Secretary General U-Thant. A unique memoir written in a lively voice, and translated for this edition with great sensitivity to nuance and subtle humor, this book should please both the casual reader and the specialist.

ERWIN ROMMEL - E fara indoiala cel mai faimos general al Germaniei din Al Doilea Razboi Mondial. Mai putin cunoscute sunt insa faptele sale din Primul Razboi Mondial. La 25 de ani a servit ca locotenent-major pe frontul din Romania timp de noua luni, in 1916 si 1917. Sa dovedit un comandant inzestrat si a utilizat mitralierele in moduri inovatoare, folosindu-le ca arme ofensive. In ultima sa batalie, de pe Cosna / Cota 789, trupele romanesti l-au impiedicat sa forteze o strapungere a frontului, cu consecinte strategice majore. In acea mare batalie de pe frontul romanesc, din august 1917, tatal autorului conducea o companie.