This timely book provides a balanced and deeply knowledgeable introduction to Cuba since Christopher Columbus's first arrival in 1492. With decades of experience studying and reporting on the island, Philip Brenner and Peter Eisner provide an incisive overview for all readers seeking to go beyond stereotypes in their exploration of Cuba's politics, economy, and culture. As Cuba and the United States open their doors to each other, Cuba Libre gives travelers, policy makers, businesspeople, students, and those with an interest in world affairs an opportunity to understand Cuba from a Cuban perspective; to appreciate how Cubans' quest for independence and sovereignty animates their spirit and shapes their worldview and even their identity. In a world ever more closely linked, Cuba Libre provides a compelling model for US citizens and policy makers to empathize with viewpoints far from their own experiences.

Compared to Casablanca by the Washington Post, this a page-turning story of a group of resistance workers who secreted downed Allied fighter pilots through France and into safety in Spain during World War II.

As war raged against Hitler's Germany, an increasing number of Allied fliers were shot down on missions against Nazi targets in occupied Europe. Many fliers parachuted safely behind enemy lines only to find themselves stranded and hunted down by the Gestapo. The Freedom Line traces the thrilling and true story of Robert Grimes, a 20-year-old American B-17 pilot whose plane was shot down over Belgium on Oct. 20, 1943. Wounded, disoriented, and scared, he was rescued by operatives of the Comet Line, a group of tenacious young women and men from Belgium, France, and Spain who joined forces to rescue the Allied aircrews and take them to safety. And on Christmas Eve 1943, he and a group of fellow Americans faced unexpected sudden danger and tragedy on the border between France and Spain.

The road to safety was a treacherous journey by train, by bicycle, and on foot that stretched hundreds of miles across occupied France to the Pyrenees Mountains at the Spanish border. Armed with guile and spirit, the selfless civilian fighters of the Comet Line had risked their lives to create this underground railroad, and by this time in the war, they had saved hundreds of Americans, British, Australians, and other Allied airmen.

Based on interviews with the survivors and in-depth archival research, The Freedom Line is the story of a group of friends who chose to act on their own out of a deep respect for liberty and human dignity. Theirs was a courage that presumed to take on a fearfully powerful foe with few defences.

This timely book provides a balanced and deeply knowledgeable introduction to Cuba since Christopher Columbus's first arrival in 1492. With decades of experience studying and reporting on the island, Philip Brenner and Peter Eisner provide an incisive overview for all readers seeking to go beyond stereotypes in their exploration of Cuba's politics, economy, and culture. As Cuba and the United States open their doors to each other, Cuba Libre gives travelers, policy makers, businesspeople, students, and those with an interest in world affairs an opportunity to understand Cuba from a Cuban perspective; to appreciate how Cubans' quest for independence and sovereignty animates their spirit and shapes their worldview and even their identity. In a world ever more closely linked, Cuba Libre provides a compelling model for US citizens and policy makers to empathize with viewpoints far from their own experiences.

A conspiracy within the Vatican--to stop an outspoken pope

In 1938, Pope Pius XI was the world's most prominent critic of the Nazi party. To make his voice heard, Pius called upon an American Jesuit, John LaFarge, to write a papal encyclical--the Vatican's strongest decree--publicly condemning Hitler's murderous campaign.

But conservative members in the Vatican like Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli toiled in secret to suppress the document from appearing. Pacelli, who would become Pope Pius XII, colluded with others to keep the finished encyclical from reaching the increasingly ill Pope.

Peter Eisner, award-winning reporter and author of the critically acclaimed The Freedom Line, reports shocking new evidence (released only recently from Vatican archives) of this deceit. An astonishing tale of intrigue and sedition, The Pope's Last Crusade is a compelling journey into the heart of the Vatican. A truly essential work, it brings new light to one of the most critical junctures in modern history.

Two award-winning journalists offer the most comprehensive inside story behind our most significant modern political drama: the House impeachment of Donald Trump. Having spent a year essentially embedded inside several House committees, Michael D'Antonio and Peter Eisner draw on many sources, including key House leaders, to expose the politicking, playcalling, and strategies debated backstage and to explain the Democrats' successes and apparent public failures during the show itself. High Crimes opens with Nancy Pelosi deciding the House should take up impeachment, then, in part one, leaps back to explain what Ukraine was really all about: not just Joe Biden and election interference, but a money grab and oil. In the second part, the authors recount key meetings throughout the run up to the impeachment hearings, including many of the heated confrontations between the Trump administration and House Democrats. And the third part takes readers behind the scenes of those hearings, showing why certain things happened the way they did for reasons that never came up in public. In the end, having illuminated every step of impeachment, from the schemes that led Giuliani to the Ukraine in 2016 to Fiona Hill's rebuking the Republicans' conspiracy theories, High Crimes promises to be Trump's Final Days.

A conspiracy within the Vatican--to stop an outspoken Pope

In 1938, Pope Pius XI was the world's most prominent critic of the Nazi Party. To make his voice heard, Pius called upon an American Jesuit, John LaFarge, to write a papal encyclical--the Vatican's strongest decree--publicly condemning Hitler's murderous campaign.

But conservative members in the Vatican like Cardinal -Eugenio Pacelli toiled in secret to suppress the document from appearing. Pacelli, who would become Pope Pius XII, colluded with -others to keep the finished encyclical from reaching the increasingly-ill Pope.

Peter Eisner, award-winning reporter and author of the critically acclaimed The Freedom Line, reports shocking new evidence (released only recently from Vatican archives) of this deceit.

An astonishing tale of intrigue and sedition, The Pope's Last Crusade is a compelling journey into the heart of the Vatican. A truly essential work, it brings new light to one of the most critical junctures in modern history.