'Gripping' Wall Street Journal ________________________ At first, gunner Clarence Smoyer and his fellow crewmen in the legendary 3rd Armored Division - 'Spearhead' - thought their tanks were invincible. Then they met the German Panther, with a gun so murderous it could shoot through one Sherman and into the next. Soon a pattern emerged: the lead tank always gets hit. After seeing his friends cut down breaching the West Wall and holding the line in the Battle of the Bulge, Clarence and his crew are given a weapon with the power to avenge their fallen brothers: the Pershing, a state-of-the-art 'super tank', one of twenty in the European theatre. But with it comes a harrowing new responsibility: now they will spearhead every attack and, in doing so, will lead the US Army into its largest urban battle of the war, the fight for Cologne, the 'Fortress City' of Germany... 'Spearhead shimmers in eclipsing moments of valor, luck and compassion.' Washington Times

Why were some, but not all the Arab mass social protests of 2011 accompanied by relatively quick and nonviolent outcomes in the direction of regime change, democracy, and social transformation? Why was a democratic transition limited to Tunisia, and why did region-wide democratization not occur? After the Arab Uprisings offers an explanatory framework to answer these central questions, based on four key themes: state and regime type, civil society, gender relations and women's mobilizations, and external influence. Applying these to seven cases: Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Bahrain, Libya, Syria, and Yemen, Valentine M. Moghadam and Shamiran Mako highlight the salience of domestic and external factors and forces, uniquely presenting women's legal status, social positions, and organizational capacity, along with the presence or absence of external intervention, as key elements in explaining the divergent outcomes of the Arab Spring uprisings, and extending the analysis to the present day.

There is increasing competition for water resources in the face of declining aquifer reserves and increasing risk in many areas of drought related to climate change. At the same time poor water management is damaging agriculture with problems such as salinization, waterlogging, erosion and run-off. This volume summarises the wealth of research on understanding and better management of water resources for agriculture. Part 1 reviews fundamental issues such as plant water use and soil water retention. Part 2 discusses ways of mapping and monitoring groundwater and surface water resources whilst Part 3 covers other sources such as rain and floodwater, waste and brackish water. Part 4 surveys developments in irrigation techniques such as drip irrigation and fertigation. The final sections in the book discuss ways of using water resources more efficiently such as site-specific and deficit irrigation techniques. With its distinguished editor and international team of expert authors, this wlll be a standard reference for agronomists, scientists involved in water and irrigation science as well as government and non-governmental organisations responsible for agriculture and water resource management.

This instant Sunday Times bestseller tells the story of two fighter pilots whose remarkable encounter during the Second World War became the stuff of legend. Five days before Christmas 1943, a badly damaged American bomber struggled to fly over wartime Germany. At its controls was a twenty-one-year-old pilot. Half his crew lay wounded or dead. Suddenly a German Messerschmitt fighter pulled up on the bomber's tail - the German pilot was an ace, a man able to destroy the American bomber with the squeeze of a trigger. This is the true story of the two pilots whose lives collided in the skies that day - the American - 2nd Lieutenant Charlie Brown and the German - 2nd Lieutenant Franz Stigler. A Higher Call follows both Charlie and Franz's harrowing missions and gives a dramatic account of the moment when they would stare across the frozen skies at one another. What happened between them, the American 8th Air Force would later classify as 'top secret'. It was an act that Franz could never mention or else face a firing squad. It was the encounter that would haunt both Charlie and Franz for forty years until, as old men, they would seek out one another and reunite.

***SOON TO BE A MAJOR HOLLYWOOD FILM*** 'This is aerial drama at its best. Fast, powerful, and moving.' Erik Larson Devotion tells the gripping story of the US Navy's most famous aviator duo - Tom Hudner, a white New Englander, and Jesse Brown, a black sharecropper's son from Mississippi. Against all odds, Jesse beat back racism to become the Navy's first black aviator. Against all expectations, Tom passed up Harvard to fly fighter planes for his country. While much of America remained divided by segregation, the two became wingmen in Fighter Squadron 32 and went on to fight side-by-side in the Korean War. Adam Makos follows Tom and Jesse's dramatic journey to the war's climatic battle at the Chosin Reservoir, where they fought to save an entire division of trapped Marines. It was here that one of them was faced with an unthinkable choice - and discovered how far they would go to save a friend.

THE "NEW YORK TIMES" AND INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
December, 1943: A badly damaged American bomber struggles to fly over wartime Germany. At the controls is twenty-one-year-old Second Lieutenant Charlie Brown. Half his crew lay wounded or dead on this, their first mission. Suddenly, a Messerschmitt fighter pulls up on the bomber's tail. The pilot is German ace Franz Stigler--and he can destroy the young American crew with the squeeze of a trigger...
What happened next would defy imagination and later be called "the most incredible encounter between enemies in World War II."
The U.S. 8th Air Force would later classify what happened between them as "top secret." It was an act that Franz could never mention for fear of facing a firing squad. It was the encounter that would haunt both Charlie and Franz for forty years until, as old men, they would search the world for each other, a last mission that could change their lives forever.
INCLUDES PHOTOS

All 61 episodes from the American animated series made in the style of original Japanese anime. The series takes place in a fantasy world, home to humans, fantastic animals, and supernatural spirits. Human civilisation is divided into four nations, the Water Tribes, the Earth Kingdom, the Air Nomads, and the Fire Nation. Within each nation, an order of men and women called 'Benders' have the ability to manipulate their native element. These bending arts combine a certain style of martial arts and elemental mysticism. The series follows the adventures of the successor to a long line of Avatars, Aang (voice of Zach Tyler), and his friends in their quest to save the world from the ruthless Fire Nation.

THE "NEW YORK TIMES" AND INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
Four days before Christmas 1943, a badly damaged American bomber struggled to fly over wartime Germany. At its controls was a 21-year-old pilot. Half his crew lay wounded or dead. It was their first mission. Suddenly, a sleek, dark shape pulled up on the bomber's tail--a German Messerschmitt fighter. Worse, the German pilot was an ace, a man able to destroy the American bomber in the squeeze of a trigger. What happened next would defy imagination and later be called "the most incredible encounter between enemies in World War II." This is the true story of the two pilots whose lives collided in the skies that day--the American--2nd Lieutenant Charlie Brown, a former farm boy from West Virginia who came to captain a B-17--and the German--2nd Lieutenant Franz Stigler, a former airline pilot from Bavaria who sought to avoid fighting in World War II. "A Higher Call" follows both Charlie and Franz's harrowing missions. Charlie would face takeoffs in English fog over the flaming wreckage of his buddies' planes, flak bursts so close they would light his cockpit, and packs of enemy fighters that would circle his plane like sharks. Franz would face sandstorms in the desert, a crash alone at sea, and the spectacle of 1,000 bombers each with eleven guns, waiting for his attack. Ultimately, Charlie and Franz would stare across the frozen skies at one another. What happened between them, the American 8th Air Force would later classify as "top secret." It was an act that Franz could never mention or else face a firing squad. It was the encounter that would haunt both Charlie and Franz for forty years until, as old men, they would search for one another, a last mission that could change their lives forever.

Ever since she was little, Nunnally has always wanted to be one of the graceful, capable receptionists of the Hall. As only top-rate mages are accepted to the position, she enrolls in the kingdom’s magic academy to hone her skills, where she feels out of place amid a classroom of nobles—including a genuine prince. She decides that despite being a commoner, she’s going to be the top of her class...but for some reason she just can’t beat the one person she’d most like to—the snobbish boy in the seat next to her, Alweiss Rockman...!

It’s Nunnally’s first day at her dream job as a receptionist of the Hall. With a staff to serve as her weapon and a new, powerful uniform for protection, things are off to a great start...only for everything to immediately descend into chaos when searching for someone who went missing in the woods leads Nunnally’s party to run into a magical beast only ever sighted once in history. To make matters worse, she teleports them away from it straight into...the Rockmann estate?!

Why were some, but not all the Arab mass social protests of 2011 accompanied by relatively quick and nonviolent outcomes in the direction of regime change, democracy, and social transformation? Why was a democratic transition limited to Tunisia, and why did region-wide democratization not occur? After the Arab Uprisings offers an explanatory framework to answer these central questions, based on four key themes: state and regime type, civil society, gender relations and women's mobilizations, and external influence. Applying these to seven cases: Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco, Bahrain, Libya, Syria, and Yemen, Valentine M. Moghadam and Shamiran Mako highlight the salience of domestic and external factors and forces, uniquely presenting women's legal status, social positions, and organizational capacity, along with the presence or absence of external intervention, as key elements in explaining the divergent outcomes of the Arab Spring uprisings, and extending the analysis to the present day.