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Thanks to an unfortunately tasty-looking radioactive garden slug,
eleven-year-old Murdo McLeod is now the world's worst superhero.
His two powers are pretty unique: the first is sliding up walls.
Quite slowly. The second is secreting slippery slime from his skin.
(Yes, just as disgusting as it sounds.) In a Scotland full of
awesome superheroes, Slugboy has a lot to prove. No one wants help
fighting bad guys from someone with a horrible habit of (quite
literally) messing things up. He's so underrated, in fact, that
when an evil mastermind devises a plan to capture all the other
superheroes, Slugboy isn't even on his list. Now, Slugboy has to
use his not-so-super and oh-so-gross abilities to free the other
superheroes and save the world. Let's hope he doesn't slip up.
General William T. Sherman's 1865 Carolinas Campaign receives scant
attention from most Civil War historians, largely because it was
overshadowed by the Army of Northern Virginia's final battles
against the Army of the Potomac. Career military officers Mark A.
Smith and Wade Sokolosky rectify this oversight with No Such Army
Since the Days of Julius Caesar, a careful and impartial
examination of Sherman's army and its many accomplishments. The
authors dedicate their professional training and research and
writing abilities to the critical days of March 11-16, 1865-the
overlooked run-up to the seminal Battle of Bentonville (March
19-21, 1865). They begin with the capture of Fayetteville and the
demolition of the arsenal there, before chronicling the two-day
Battle of Averasboro in more detail than any other study. At
Averasboro, Lt. Gen. William J. Hardee's Confederates conducted a
well-planned and brilliantly executed defense-in-depth that held
Sherman's juggernaut in check for two days. With his objective
accomplished, Hardee disengaged and marched to concentrate his
corps with Gen. Joseph E. Johnston for what would become
Bentonville. This completely revised and updated edition of"No Such
Army Since the Days of Julius Caesar": Sherman's Carolinas Campaign
from Fayetteville to Averasboro, March 1865 is based upon extensive
archival and firsthand research. It includes new original maps,
orders of battle, abundant illustrations, and a detailed driving
and walking tour for dedicated battlefield enthusiasts. Readers
with an interest in the Carolinas, Generals Sherman and Johnston,
or the Civil War in general will enjoy this book.
Political analyst Mark Smith offers the most original and
compelling explanation yet of why America has swung to the right in
recent decades. How did the GOP transform itself from a party
outgunned and outmaneuvered into one that defines the nation's most
important policy choices?
Conventional wisdom attributes the Republican resurgence to a
political bait and switch--the notion that conservatives win
elections on social issues like abortion and religious expression,
but once in office implement far-reaching policies on the economic
issues downplayed during campaigns. Smith illuminates instead the
eye-opening reality that economic matters have become more central,
not less, to campaigns and the public agenda. He analyzes a half
century of speeches, campaign advertisements, party platforms, and
intellectual writings, systematically showing how Republican
politicians and conservative intellectuals increasingly gave
economic justifications for policies they once defended through
appeals to freedom. He explains how Democrats similarly conceived
economic justifications for their own policies, but unlike
Republicans they changed positions on issues rather than simply
offering new arguments and thus helped push the national discourse
inexorably to the right.
"The Right Talk" brings clarity, reason, and hard-nosed evidence
to a contentious subject. Certain to enrich the debate about the
conservative ascendancy in America, this book will provoke
discussions and reactions for years to come.
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Withdrawal (Paperback)
S V Byrnes; Illustrated by Trestudios; Mark A. Smith
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R587
Discovery Miles 5 870
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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At the outbreak of the Civil War, Massachusetts native Gilbert
Thompson joined the regular army, which assigned him to the
engineer battalion, a unit that provided critical support for the
Union military effort in building bridges and roads and surveying
and producing maps. While serving, Thompson kept a journal that
eventually filled three volumes. The author's early education in a
utopian community called Hopedale left him well read, affording a
journal peppered with literary allusions. Once the war ended,
Corporal Thompson added some postwar reflections to create a
unified single volume, which editor Mark A. Smith has carefully
arranged so that the reader can clearly distinguish between
Thompson's contemporary accounts and his postwar reminiscences. An
accomplished artist and topographer, Thompson illustrated his
journals, adding depth to his narrative with portraits of key
figures, drawings of ordinary scenes such as soldiers playing
chess, and sights of the war. Additionally, he collected
photographs both during and after the war, many of which are
included.Thompson's wartime musings and postwar recollections have
much to offer. Few diaries contain glimpses into the workings of a
highly specialized unit such as the engineer battalion, and
Thompson's skills in depicting daily camp life in both words and
pictures provide a distinctive look at the Union Army during the
Civil War as well as an insightful look into the human condition.
In his 1879 introduction, Thompson writes, 'I wonder how I wrote as
much and as well, and am thankful I was so fortunate as to have the
opportunity to do so.' Students of the Civil War will feel
fortunate he did.
Mark A. Smith knows his stuff. The former firefighter, security
specialist, and Marine not only has lived the Prepared Lifestyle,
he currently is a consultant to private companies and individuals
about preparedness. This comprehensive and detailed book provides a
concise guide to the skills and tools of preparedness -- all
offered in an easy-to-read conversational style. Smith covers the
basics -- food storage, water purification, health, and housing --
with tips that beginners and even seasoned preppers will find
useful. He also addresses more advanced levels of preparedness,
including a discussion of bug-out-vehicles and defensive firearms.
In addition, he offers a detailed questionnaire to help readers
intent on improving home security. The book includes pros and cons
of various types of alternative power sources, lists of items to
include in medical kits and bug-out-bags, a glossary of
preparedness terms, 10-codes, and a set of online resources. From
preparedness basics to advanced levels of knowledge, this book is
ideal for the beginner, as well as the skilled prepper looking to
improve his or her capabilities.
Most people believe that large corporations wield enormous
political power when they lobby for policies as a cohesive bloc.
With this controversial book, Mark A. Smith sets conventional
wisdom on its head. In a systematic analysis of postwar lawmaking,
Smith reveals that business loses in legislative battles unless it
has public backing. This surprising conclusion holds because the
types of issues that lead businesses to band together--such as tax
rates, air pollution, and product liability--also receive the most
media attention. The ensuing debates give citizens the information
they need to hold their representatives accountable and make
elections a choice between contrasting policy programs.
Rather than succumbing to corporate America, Smith argues,
representatives paradoxically become more responsive to their
constituents when facing a united corporate front. Corporations
gain the most influence over legislation when they work with
organizations such as think tanks to shape Americans' beliefs about
what government should and should not do.
When Pope Francis recently answered "Who am I to judge?" when asked
about homosexuality, he ushered in a new era for the Catholic
church. A decade ago, it would have been unthinkable for a pope to
express tolerance for homosexuality. Yet shifts of this kind are
actually common in the history of Christian groups. Within the
United States, Christian leaders have regularly revised their
teachings to match the beliefs and opinions gaining support among
their members and larger society. Mark A. Smith provocatively
argues that religion is not nearly the unchanging conservative
influence in American politics that we have come to think it is. In
fact, in the long run, religion is best understood as responding to
changing political and cultural values rather than shaping them.
Smith makes his case by charting five contentious issues in
America's history: slavery, divorce, homosexuality, abortion, and
women's rights. For each, he shows how the political views of even
the most conservative Christians evolved in the same direction as
the rest of society-perhaps not as swiftly, but always on the same
arc. During periods of cultural transition, Christian leaders do
resist prevailing values and behaviors, but those same leaders
inevitably acquiesce-often by reinterpreting the Bible-if their
positions become no longer tenable. Secular ideas and influences
thereby shape the ways Christians read and interpret their
scriptures. So powerful are the cultural and societal norms
surrounding us that Christians in America today hold more in common
morally and politically with their atheist neighbors than with the
Christians of earlier centuries. In fact, the strongest predictors
of people's moral beliefs are not their religious commitments or
lack thereof but rather when and where they were born. A thoroughly
researched and ultimately hopeful book on the prospects for
political harmony, Secular Faith demonstrates how, over the long
run, boundaries of secular and religious cultures converge.
The Battle of Wise’s (Wyse) Forks, March 7-11, 1865, has long
been thought of as nothing more than an insignificant skirmish
during the final days of the Civil War and relegated to a passing
reference in a footnote if it is mentioned at all. Mark A.
Smith’s and Wade Sokolosky’s “To Prepare for Sherman’s
Coming”: The Battle of Wise’s Forks, March 1865, now in
paperback for the first time, erases this misconception and
elevates this battle and its related operations to the historical
status it deserves. By March 1865, the Confederacy was on its last
legs. Its armies were depleted, food and resources were scarce, and
morale was low. Gen. Robert E. Lee was barely holding on to his
extended lines around Richmond and Petersburg, and Maj. Gen.
William T. Sherman was operating with nearly complete freedom in
North Carolina on his way north to form a junction with Union
forces in Virginia. As the authors demonstrate, the fighting that
is the subject of this book came about when Lt. Gen. Ulysses S.
Grant initiated a broad military operation to assist Sherman. The
responsibility for ensuring a functioning railroad from New Bern to
Goldsboro rested with Maj. Gen. Jacob D. Cox. On March 2, 1865, Cox
ordered his hastily assembled Provisional Corps to march toward
Goldsboro. In response to Cox’s movement, Confederate Gen. Joseph
E. Johnston executed a bold but risky plan to divert troops away
from Sherman by turning back Cox’s advance. Under the command of
the aggressive but controversial Gen. Braxton Bragg, the
Confederates stood for four days and successfully halted Cox at
Wise’s Forks. This delay provided Johnston with the precious time
he needed to concentrate his forces and fight the large and
important Battle of Bentonville. “To Prepare for Sherman’s
Coming” is the result of years of careful research in a wide
variety of archival sources, and relies upon official reports,
diaries, newspapers, and letter collections, all tied to a keen
understanding of the terrain. Sokolosky and Smith, both career army
officers, have used their expertise in military affairs to produce
what is not only a valuable book on Wise’s Forks, but what surely
must be the definitive study of one of the Civil War’s overlooked
yet significant battles. Outstanding original maps by George Skoch
coupled with period photographs reinforce the quality of this
account and the authors’ commitment to excellence.
Thorough examination of the antebellum fortifications that formed
the backbone of U.S. military defense during the National Period
The system of coastal defenses built by the federal government
after the War of 1812 was more than a series of forts standing
guard over a watery frontier. It was an integrated and
comprehensive plan of national defense developed by the US Army
Corps of Engineers, and it represented the nation’s first
peacetime defense policy. Known as the Third System since it
replaced two earlier attempts, it included coastal fortifications
but also denoted the values of the society that created it. The
governing defense policy was one that combined permanent
fortifications to defend seaports, a national militia system, and a
small regular army. The Third System remained the defense paradigm
in the United States from 1816 to 1861, when the onset of the Civil
War changed the standard. In addition to providing the country with
military security, the system also provided the context for the
ongoing discussion in Congress over national defense through annual
congressional debates on military funding.
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