History Books
O Esplendor e a Infâmia
10 de maio de 1940. O dia em que Churchill é nomeado primeiro-ministro, Adolf Hitler invade os Países Baixos e a Bélgica. Ao longo do ano seguinte, a Alemanha nazi bombardeia Inglaterra com uma intensidade inédita. Acossado, o «Velho Leão» tenta preservar, a todo o custo, o moral do seu povo… e convencer o presidente Roosevelt de que é do interesse dos Estados Unidos entrar na guerra. Se durante este período a vida pública de Churchill é simplesmente caótica.
Shadow of the Titanic
A riveting and groundbreaking account of what happened to the survivors of the Titanic.We think we know the story of the Titanic—the once majestic and supposedly unsinkable ship that struck an iceberg on its maiden voyage from Britain to America—but very little has been written about the vessel’s 705 survivors. How did the events of that horrific night in the icy waters of the North Atlantic affect the lives of those who lived to tell the tale? Drawing on a wealth of previously unpublished letters, memoirs, diaries, and interviews with their family members, award-winning journalist Andrew Wilson brings to life the survivors’ colorful voices, from the famous, like heiress Madeleine Astor, to the lesser known second-and third-class passengers, such as the Navratil brothers, who were traveling under assumed names because they were being abducted by their father. More than one hundred years after that fateful voyage, Shadow of the Titanic adds an important new dimension to this enduringly captivating story.
The English Actor
From a leading historian and writer, a delightful exploration of the great English tradition of treading the boards.The English Actor charts the uniquely English approach to stagecraft, from the medieval period to the present day. In thirty chapters, Peter Ackroyd describes, with superb narrative skill, the genesis of acting—deriving from the Church tradition of Mystery Plays—through the flourishing of the craft in the Renaissance, to modern methods following the advent of film and television. Across centuries and media, The English Actor also explores the biographies of the most notable and celebrated British actors. From the first woman actor on the English stage, Margaret Hughes, who played Desdemona in 1660; to luminaries like Laurence Olivier, Peter O’Toole, Maggie Smith, Judi Dench, and Helen Mirren; to contemporary multihyphenates like Gary Oldman, Kenneth Branagh, Sophie Okonedo, and Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ackroyd gives all fans of the theater an original and superbly entertaining appraisal of how actors have acted, how audiences have responded, and what we mean by the magic of the stage.
The History of the Lost Pirate Kingdom
This edition present the history of the period in which the piracy was at its pick in the Caribbean Sea. The entire regions and islands were under their control and rule, at the extent that they subsequently proclaimed Nassau as the seat of the pirate republic. Authors' goal was to show the democracy pirates established, the rules by which they lived and died, their courage and ruthlessness, their most extraordinary exploits and battles. The lives of the most famous pirates of this era are depicted in the book: Charles Vane, Thomas Barrow (who declared himself "Governor of New Providence"), Benjamin Hornigold, Calico Jack Rackham, Anne Bonny, Mary Read, and the infamous Edward Teach, better known as "Blackbeard". Contents: The King of Pirates: Of Captain Avery, And his Crew Of Captain Martel, And his Crew Of Captain Teach, alias Black-beard Of Major Stede Bonnet, And his Crew Of Captain Edward England, And his Crew Of Captain Charles Vane, And his Crew Of Captain John Rackham, And his Crew The Life of Mary Read, And Anne Bonny Of Captain Howel Davis, And his Crew Of Captain Bartho. Roberts, And his Crew Of Captain Anstis, And his Crew Of Captain Worley, And his Crew Of Captain George Lowther, And his Crew Of Captain Edward Low, And his Crew Of Captain John Evans, And his Crew Of Captain John Phillips, And his Crew Of Captain Spriggs, And his Crew An Account of the Pyracies and Murders committed by Philip Roche, &c. An Abstract of the Civil Law and Statute Law now in Force, in Relation to Pyracy Of Captain Misson Of Captain John Bowen Of Captain William Kid Of Captain Tew, And his Crew Of Captain Halsey, And his Crew Of Captain Thomas White, And his Crew Of Captain Condent, And his Crew A Description of Magadoxa Of Captain Bellamy Of Captain William Fly, And his Crew Of Captain Thomas Howard, And his Crew Of Captain Lewis.
The Essential Greek and Roman Collection (27 books)
27 essential works of and about the ancient Greeks and Romans, with active table of contents: The Aeneid- Virgil Meditations- Marcus Aurelius Of The Nature of Things- Lucretius Plato's Republic Alcestis- Euripides The Electra of Euripides Hippolytus/The Bacchae- Euripides The Iphigenia in Tauris- Euripedes The Trojan women of Euripides Agamemnon- Aeschylus The Choephori- Aeschylus Eumenides- Aeschylus The Persians- Aeschylus Prometheus Bound- Aeschylus The Seven Against Thebes- Aeschylus The Suppliants- Aeschylus The Oedipus Trilogy- Sophocles The Bucolics and Eclogues- Virgil The Satyricon, Complete- Petronius Arbiter The Georgics- Virgil The Metamorphoses of Ovid The Odyssey- Homer The Religion of Numa- Jesse Benedict Carter Hesiod, The Homeric Hymns, and Homerica- Homer and Hesiod Outlines of Greek and Roman Medicine- James Sands Elliott A Short History of Greek Philosophy- John Marshall The Common People of Ancient Rome- Frank Frost Abbott
Napoléon - Tome 2
Napoléon a trente ans en ce mois de noembre 1799. Il est Premier consul. Dans cinq ans, il sera Empereur des Français. "Joseph, si notre père nous voyait", murmurera-t-il à son frère aîné lors du sacre. Un an encore et il s'écriera : "Soldats, je suis content de vous !"Voilà la course légendaire. A la suivre jour après jour, on mesure la tension, la lucidité, la volonté, l'énergie, le génie, qu'il a fallu à Napoléon pour franchir les obstacles. Cadoudal le royaliste veut le tuer. L'Angleterre, l'Autriche, la Russie veulent l'abattre. Il faut l'emporter, sinon tout s'effondre. C'est à chaque fois quitte ou double. Au désastre de Trafalgar répond la victoire d'Austerlitz. Et demain ?Max Gallo suit Napoléon pas à pas. De cet homme dévoré par l'action, il ne dissimule rien. Multiple fascinant, brutal et séducteur, conquérant, Napoléon apparaît proche, lucide, humain. "Il remue les âmes", disait de lui de Gaulle. Et le livre de Max Gallo rend à l'épopée ce tremblement de la vie. Napoléon cesse d'être une statue. Il redevient cet homme jeune qui s'élance à cheval, pour vaincre ou périr.Max Gallo, en historien et romancier, est à chaque instant dans l'intimité de Napoléon. Aucun livre sur un héros qui ne cesse de fasciner n'a restitué à ce point le mouvement d'une existence. "Quel roman que ma vie !" s'exclamait Napoléon. Quelle vitalité dans ce livre ! Ici, devant nous, commence à vivre celui qui reste pour le monde entier "le plus illustre des Français". Des milliers de livres ont été écrits sur Napoléon. Aucun ne ressemble à celui-ci. Napoléonde Max Gallo se compose de 4 tomes :-Le chant du départ: 1769 / 1799-Le soleil d'Austerlitz: 1799 / 1805-L'empereur des rois: 1806 / 1812-L'immortel de Sainte-Hélène: 1812 / 1821
Napoléon - Tome 1
Il est arrivé le 15 mai 1779 à l'Ecole royale militaire de Brienne. Il n'a pas encore dix ans et parle à peine le français... Il va rester cinq ans dans cette école, sans la quitter un seul jour, sans revoir sa famille.Vingt ans plus tard, cet enfant sera le général Napoléon, maître de cette France où il n'a d'abord été qu'un étranger. Quel caractère, quelle volonté, quel courage, quelle énergie, quelle imagination, quelle démesure, quelle puissance de rêve, quel sens des situations, quel génie il a fallu à l'enfant arraché à son milieu pour devenir le héros d'une nation !Et ce n'est que le début d'un destin, mais dans ceChant du départ, qui fait surgir de la Révolution un général de trente ans qui a cent fois déjà exposé sa vie, à Arcole ou dans le désert d'Egypte, se trouve en germe toute l'aventure impériale.Max Gallo, en historien et romancier, est à chaque instant dans l'intimité de Napoléon. Aucun livre sur un héros qui ne cesse de fasciner n'a restitué à ce point le mouvement d'une existence. "Quel roman que ma vie !" s'exclamait Napoléon. Quelle vitalité dans ce livre ! Ici, devant nous, commence à vivre celui qui reste pour le monde entier "le plus illustre des Français". Des milliers de livres ont été écrits sur Napoléon. Aucun ne ressemble à celui-ci. Napoléonde Max Gallo se compose de 4 tomes :-Le chant du départ: 1769 / 1799-Le soleil d'Austerlitz: 1799 / 1805-L'empereur des rois: 1806 / 1812-L'immortel de Sainte-Hélène: 1812 / 1821
De Gaulle - Tome 4
"Depuis quelque chose comme trente ans que j'ai affaire à l'Histoire, il m'est arrivé quelquefois de me demander si je ne devais pas la quitter." Charles de Gaulle. Il a soixante-douze ans. Il est président de la République. Il règne sans rival en ce début d'année 1963. Il lui reste sept années à vivre. Face à la mort, face à la tâche inachevée, cet homme - dont le destin est la solitude - finit de bâtir sa légende.Ces dernières années de grandeur et de tourmente, de lassitude et d'espérance, comment de Gaulle les a-t-il vécues ? Max Gallo l'écoute, le suit jour après jour. Nous vivons avec lui ces moments glorieux, incertains et pathétiques. Alors, "la statue du Commandeur" qui domine l'histoire française s'anime.L'homme est là, résolu et tenté par le départ. Il n'est pas de jour qu'il ne s'interroge... Il provoque. Il combat. A chaque instant il se demande si le peuple français le comprend.Les successeurs se préparent, impatients : Mitterrand, Pompidou. Et puis vient le mois de mai 1968. Que faire ? Consulter les citoyens, et partir avec grandeur. Puis, dans la solitude, reprendre la plume. Ecrire pour l'avenir. "Tout est calme ici, je poursuis mon grand travail."La mort frappe un homme resté debout. Et laisse la France en deuil. A la manière qui lui a valu le succès sans précédent deNapoléon(près de 800 000 exemplaires vendus, traduit dans de nombreux pays, de l'Italie... à la Corée), Max Gallo, historien et romancier, ne quitte jamais son personnage. C'est littéralement à travers les yeux de De Gaulle que nous voyons et que nous vivons l'Histoire. De Gaullede Max Gallo se compose de 4 tomes :-L'Appel du destin: 1890 / 1940-La Solitude du combattant: 1940 / 1946-Le Premier des Français: 1946 / 1962-La Statue du commandeur: 1962 / 1970
State of Denial
"Insurgents and terrorists retain the resources and capabilities to sustain and even increase current level of violence through the next year." This was the secret Pentagon assessment sent to the White House in May 2006. The forecast of a more violent 2007 in Iraq contradicted the repeated optimistic statements of President Bush, including one, two days earlier, when he said we were at a "turning point" that history would mark as the time "the forces of terror began their long retreat." State of Denial examines how the Bush administration avoided telling the truth about Iraq to the public, to Congress, and often to themselves. Two days after the May report, the Pentagon told Congress, in a report required by law, that the "appeal and motivation for continued violent action will begin to wane in early 2007." In this detailed inside story of a war-torn White House, Bob Woodward reveals how White House Chief of Staff Andrew Card, with the indirect support of other high officials, tried for 18 months to get Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld replaced. The president and Vice President Cheney refused. At the beginning of Bush's second term, Stephen Hadley, who replaced Condoleezza Rice as national security adviser, gave the administration a "D minus" on implementing its policies. A SECRET report to the new Secretary of State Rice from her counselor stated that, nearly two years after the invasion, Iraq was a "failed state." State of Denial reveals that at the urging of Vice President Cheney and Rumsfeld, the most frequent outside visitor and Iraq adviser to President Bush is former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who, haunted still by the loss in Vietnam, emerges as a hidden and potent voice. Woodward reveals that the secretary of defense himself believes that the system of coordination among departments and agencies is broken, and in a SECRET May 1, 2006, memo, Rumsfeld stated, "the current system of government makes competence next to impossible." State of Denial answers the core questions: What happened after the invasion of Iraq? Why? How does Bush make decisions and manage a war that he chose to define his presidency? And is there an achievable plan for victory? Bob Woodward's third book on President Bush is a sweeping narrative -- from the first days George W. Bush thought seriously about running for president through the recruitment of his national security team, the war in Afghanistan, the invasion and occupation of Iraq, and the struggle for political survival in the second term. After more than three decades of reporting on national security decision making -- including his two #1 national bestsellers on the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, Bush at War (2002) and Plan of Attack (2004) -- Woodward provides the fullest account, and explanation, of the road Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld, Rice and the White House staff have walked.
Le Grand Jaurès
Jaurès ? Quel est cet homme, assassiné le 31 juillet 1914, alors que le mot même de socialisme auquel il était identifié semble vidé de sa part de rêve ? Pour répondre, Max Gallo, avec érudition et passion, a reconstitué jour après jour l'existence de Jaurès. Et l'on découvre un homme extraordinaire que les souvenirs officiels ont enseveli. Voici l'enfant dans la campagne du Tarn, l'étudiant exceptionnel dans le Paris des années 1880, le mari conformiste, le jeune député et le tribun, le visionnaire qui, avec une sensibilité de poète, voit la guerre et l'avenir rels qu'ils seront. Voici l'homme politique qui conciliait raison et passion. L'homme intime qui s'interrogeait sans cesse sur le sens de la vie et la signification de l'univers. Voici l'homme calomnié et admiré. Et l'homme de tous les jours, mangeant comme un paysan, crachant dans son mouchoir et, distrait comme un artiste pris par son rêve, négligeant son apparence, s'épongeant le front avec une chaussette !En utilisant tous les témoignages, Max Gallo rend présents un homme et son temps. Car Jaurès, c'est aussi ce monde autour de lui : Paris en état de siège le Ier Mai, les mineurs de Courrières ensevelis par centaines à la suite d'un coup de grisou, les vignerons en révolte, les régiments qui se rebellent, les anarchistes qui tuent à l'aveuglette et que l'on guillotine, l'affaire Dreyfus qui divise toute la nation. Et puis la tour Eiffel, la bicyclette, la Belle Epoque, l'automobile et l'avion. S'il fut un temps qui ressemble au nôtre, c'est bien celui de Jaurès, cette époque de bouleversements profonds, où la guerre point dans les Balkans, où chacun avec angoisse se demande ce que sera le siècle qui vient, ce XXe siècle, comme nous, nous attendons le XXIe.Que faire, que penser ? Jaurès, parce qu'il a été assassiné, n'a pu faire entendre sa voix. Et ses mots, son élan, après des décennies de glaciation, retrouvent vie aujourd'hui. A l'orée d'un nouveau siècle, Jaurès reste jeune.Celui qui écrivait : "Le premier des droits de l'homme, c'est la liberté individuelle" ou encore : "Il n'y a pas de vérité sacrée, c'est-à-dire interdite à la pleine investigation de l'homme... Ce qu'il y a de plus grand dans le monde, c'est la liberté souveraine de l'esprit", celui-là est non pas un grand ancêtre, mais bien le Grand Jaurès, notre contemporain.
The Path Between the Seas
The National Book Award–winning epic chronicle of the creation of the Panama Canal, a first-rate drama of the bold and brilliant engineering feat that was filled with both tragedy and triumph, told by master historian David McCullough.From the Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Truman, here is the national bestselling epic chronicle of the creation of the Panama Canal. In The Path Between the Seas, acclaimed historian David McCullough delivers a first-rate drama of the sweeping human undertaking that led to the creation of this grand enterprise.The Path Between the Seas tells the story of the men and women who fought against all odds to fulfill the 400-year-old dream of constructing an aquatic passageway between the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It is a story of astonishing engineering feats, tremendous medical accomplishments, political power plays, heroic successes, and tragic failures. Applying his remarkable gift for writing lucid, lively exposition, McCullough weaves the many strands of the momentous event into a comprehensive and captivating tale.Winner of the National Book Award for history, the Francis Parkman Prize, the Samuel Eliot Morison Award, and the Cornelius Ryan Award (for the best book of the year on international affairs), The Path Between the Seas is a must-read for anyone interested in American history, the history of technology, international intrigue, and human drama.
Masters of the Air
Soon to be a major television event from Apple TV+! The riveting history of the American Eighth Air Force in World War II, the story of the young men who flew the bombers that helped bring Nazi Germany to its knees, brilliantly told by historian and World War II expert Donald Miller. The Masters of the Air miniseries will be the companion to Tom Hanks and Steven Spielberg’s Band of Brothers and The Pacific.Masters of the Air is the deeply personal story of the American bomber boys in World War II who brought the war to Hitler’s doorstep. With the narrative power of fiction, Donald Miller takes you on a harrowing ride through the fire-filled skies over Berlin, Hanover, and Dresden and describes the terrible cost of bombing for the German people. Fighting at 25,000 feet in thin, freezing air that no warriors had ever encountered before, bomber crews battled new kinds of assaults on body and mind. Air combat was deadly but intermittent: periods of inactivity and anxiety were followed by short bursts of fire and fear. Unlike infantrymen, bomber boys slept on clean sheets, drank beer in local pubs, and danced to the swing music of Glenn Miller’s Air Force band, which toured US air bases in England. But they had a much greater chance of dying than ground soldiers. The bomber crews were an elite group of warriors who were a microcosm of America—white America, anyway. The actor Jimmy Stewart was a bomber boy, and so was the “King of Hollywood,” Clark Gable. And the air war was filmed by Oscar-winning director William Wyler and covered by reporters like Andy Rooney and Walter Cronkite, all of whom flew combat missions with the men. The Anglo-American bombing campaign against Nazi Germany was the longest military campaign of World War II, a war within a war. Until Allied soldiers crossed into Germany in the final months of the war, it was the only battle fought inside the German homeland. Masters of the Air is a story of life in wartime England and in the German prison camps, where tens of thousands of airmen spent part of the war. It ends with a vivid description of the grisly hunger marches captured airmen were forced to make near the end of the war through the country their bombs destroyed. Drawn from recent interviews, oral histories, and American, British, German, and other archives, Masters of the Air is an authoritative, deeply moving account of the world’s first and only bomber war.
Bombardovacia mafia
V časoch pred druhou svetovou vojnou väčšina vojenských mysliteľov nepovažovala lietadlá za dôležitý prvok ozbrojených síl. Vnímali ho len ako doplnok k pechote. Ale istá malá skupina idealistických stratégov, ktorá si hovorila „bombardovacia mafia“, si položila otázku: „Čo ak by sme dokázali paralyzovať nepriateľa a zároveň výrazne znížiť počty obetí presne cieleným bombardovaním?“ V ostrom protiklade s touto stratégiou stálo bombardovanie Tokia, najsmrteľnejší nálet druhej svetovej vojny, ktorému velil generál Curtis LeMay. Jeho krutý pragmatizmus a taktika spálenej zeme si vyžiadali tisíce nevinných obetí z radov civilného obyvateľstva, na druhej strane odvrátili plánovanú inváziu amerických vojsk do Japonska, ktorá by zrejme zanechala väčšiu spúšť. V Bombardovacej mafii sa Gladwell pýta: „Stálo to za to?“ Možno by všetko dopadlo inak, keby LeMayov predchodca generál Haywood Hansell zotrval vo svojej funkcii veliteľa bombardovacieho letectva na Guame. Hansell bol presvedčený zástanca presného bombardovania, ale z pomyselného ringu o veliteľský post vyšiel napokon ako víťaz Curtis LeMay, ktorý sa krátko nato postaral o najtemnejšiu noc v dejinách druhej svetovej vojny. Bombardovacia mafia prináša pútavý príbeh o vytrvalosti, novátorstve a nevyčísliteľnej cene vojny.
Indian Home Rule: A Quick Read edition
Discover a new way to read classics with Quick Read. This Quick Read edition includes both the full text and a summary for each chapter. - Reading time of the complete text: about 2 hours - Reading time of the summarized text: 17 minutes "Hind Swaraj or Indian Home Rule" is a book written by Mohandas K. Gandhi in 1909. In this book, Gandhi expresses his views on Swaraj (self-rule), modern civilization, and mechanization. He criticizes European civilization while expressing loyalty to higher ideals of empire. The book was banned by the British government in India in 1910 as a seditious text. The book takes the form of a dialogue between two characters, The Reader and The Editor, where Gandhi refutes common arguments for Indian Independence and presents his own arguments. Gandhi argues that Home Rule is Self Rule and that Indian independence can only be achieved through passive resistance. He advocates for Swadeshi, the refusal of all trade and dealings with the British, as a means of exerting passive resistance. Gandhi also argues that India will never be free unless it rejects Western civilization itself. The book received varied responses from notable writers. The Gujarati version of the book was banned by the British authorities upon its publication in India.
Lewis Wetzel
Lewis Wetzel, a famous scout and ranger on the early American frontier just west of the Appalachian Mountains. He is a true American icon, but is he a hero or a villain? Almost all of the early settlers considered him a hero because he vowed to "kill any Indian" who crossed his path and in doing so deterred the Indians from striking the settlements. Others of the time considered him a barbarous, psychotic murderer for killing innocent Indians, including women and children and thus incited the Indians to warfare against the growing population of whites. They claim Lewis Wetzel did everything in his power to prevent peace between the Indians and the settlers so he could keep on killing with impunity. The author of this book wrote the story of Lewis Wetzel in almost novel-like form which makes for very interesting reading and he attempts to keep the middle ground as to whether Wetzel was a hero or a villain. He has left it up to you, the reader, to decide.
Revue des Deux Mondes juillet-août 2014
Aucune revue ne s’était jusqu’alors vraiment penchée sur le phénomène SAS. Des articles avaient paru ici et là mais il manquait un dossier conséquent sur Gérard de Villiers. Sans préjugé, la Revue des Deux Mondes propose une enquête soigneuse et originale sur un des plus grands succès populaires des cinquante dernières années. Pour mener à bien l’investigation, Olivier Cariguel , chef d’orchestre de cette livraison estivale, a fait appel à des personnalités aussi sérieuses qu’un ancien ministre des Affaires étrangères, un grand reporter, des éditeurs... Le dossier s’ouvre sur l’article de Robert F. Worth, paru le 30 janvier 2013 dans le New York Times. Les propos fort élogieux du journaliste américain réveillèrent une presse française quelque peu méprisante à l’encontre de SAS. Avec Renaud Girard, compagnon de route et ami de l’auteur, nous revivons quelques aventures à l’étranger : Gérard de Villiers était un remarquable reporter doté d’une efficace expertise géopolitique. Hubert Védrine appréciait chez l’écrivain cette capacité de comprendre sans juger : celui-ci évita toujours le piège de l’a priori ; parfaitement documenté, il savait informer son lecteur tout en le distrayant. Si l’éditeur Alfu analyse les nombreuses qualités du super héros SAS, Jean des Cars explique l’exceptionnelle longévité de la série : toutes les histoires sont fondées sur des reportages mêlant actualité et secrets d’État. Serge Brussolo évoque certaines facettes de l’homme qu’il côtoya pendant vingt-cinq ans, un être lucide, écrit-il, désenchanté, flirtant toujours avec la provocation. Aurélie Tronchet travailla pour Gérard de Villiers, l’éditeur : elle raconte son expérience. Enfin, Olivier Cariguel clôt le dossier sur une belle surprise : il a retrouvé la trace du premier livre inconnu de Gérard de Villiers, le Visage. Également au sommaire, la première partie d’un bel entretien avec Roger Grenier. Le « doyen des éditions Gallimard » nous fait revivre le savoureux paysage littéraire des années cinquante.
Queer City
A history of the development of London as a European epicenter of queer life.In Queer City, the acclaimed Peter Ackroyd looks at London in a whole new way–through the complete history and experiences of its gay and lesbian population. In Roman Londinium, the city was dotted with lupanaria (“wolf dens” or public pleasure houses), fornices (brothels), and thermiae (hot baths). Then came the Emperor Constantine, with his bishops, monks, and missionaries. And so began an endless loop of alternating permissiveness and censure. Ackroyd takes us right into the hidden history of the city; from the notorious Normans to the frenzy of executions for sodomy in the early nineteenth century. He journeys through the coffee bars of sixties Soho to Gay Liberation, disco music, and the horror of AIDS. Ackroyd reveals the hidden story of London, with its diversity, thrills, and energy, as well as its terrors, dangers, and risks, and in doing so, explains the origins of all English-speaking gay culture.Praise for Queer City“Spanning centuries, the book is a fantastically researched project that is obviously close to the author’s heart…. An exciting look at London’s queer history and a tribute to the “various human worlds maintained in [the city’s] diversity despite persecution, condemnation, and affliction.””—Kirkus Reviews“[Ackroyd’s] work is highly anecdotal and near encyclopedic . . . the book is fascinating in its careful exposition of the singularities—and commonalities—of gay life, both male and female. Ultimately it is, as he concludes, a celebration as well as a history,” —Booklist“A witty history-cum-tribute to gay London, from the Roman “wolf dens” through Oscar Wilde and Gay Pride marches to the present day,” —ShelfAwareness
The Bloody Reign of Napoleon
E-artnow presents this unique collection dedicated to the infamous era of Napoleonic Wars, the short but momentous period that changed the course of history forever and forged the legend that is Napoleon. This collection includes: Historical Works: The History of Napoleonic Wars (Charles Downer Hazen) The Campaign of 1812 (Carl Von Clausewitz) History of the Expedition to Russia (Comte de Philippe-Paul Ségur) Narrative of the Most Remarkable Events Which Occurred in and near Leipzig (Battle of the Nations, 1813) (Frederic Shoberl) England and Napoleon (1801-1815) (S. E. Winbolt) Battle of Waterloo (Charles Cornwallis Chesney) The Waterloo Roll Call (Charles Dalton) The Life & Legacy of Napoleon: Napoleon: Biography (Alexandre Dumas) The Memoirs of Napoleon Bonaparte (Louis Antoine Fauvelet de Bourrienne) Recollections of the Private Life of Napoleon (Louis Constant Wairy) The Life of Napoleon Bonaparte (William Milligan Sloane) The Writings of Napoleon Bonaparte: Maxims of War Proclamations, Speeches & Diplomatic Correspondence Letters to Josephine Napoleonic Wars in Memoirs of Soldiers & Generals The Memoirs of General Baron de Marbot (Marcelin Marbot) Memoirs of Sergeant Bourgogne, 1812-1813 (Adrien Bourgogne) Military Memoirs of Field Marshal the Duke of Wellington (Moyle Sherer) The Life of Horatio Lord Nelson (Robert Southey) The Autobiography of Sergeant William Lawrence (William Lawrence) Twenty-Five Years in the Rifle Brigade (William Surtees) Adventures in the Rifle Brigade, in the Peninsula, France, and the Netherlands from 1809 to 1815 (John Kincaid) Wellington's Men: Some Soldier Autobiographies (William Henry Fitchett) A British Rifle Man (George Simmons) My Adventures During the Late War (Donat Henchy O'Brien)
Hrdina a hriešnik
V prvý deň nástupu Winstona Churchilla do úradu britského premiéra Hitler napadol Holandsko a Belgicko. Rozpadnuté Československo už bolo plne v moci nacistov a ich domácich prisluhovačov. Briti čelili smrteľnému nebezpečenstvu: ak sa im nepodarí urýchlene evakuovať svoju armádu z Dunkirku, Hitlerovi už nebude nič stáť v ceste a nemecké vojská budú pochodovať po Trafalgar Square. A potom nasledovalo dvanásť mesiacov nepretržitého bombardovania Londýna a ďalších miest, pričom zahynulo 45-tisíc Britov a bolo zničených viac ako dva milióny domov. Churchill musel navyše presvedčiť amerického prezidenta Roosevelta, že izolacionizmus nie je odpoveďou na búrku, ktorá sa schyľovala nielen nad Európou. Erik Larson v ságe o tomto roku v živote Winstona Churchilla, jeho rodiny, jeho bezprostredného politického a sociálneho okolia v dramatických kulisách bitky o Britániu s dôverným poznaním archívneho materiálu, denníkov a odtajnených dokumentov britskej tajnej služby zručne prepája obecnú historicko-politickú líniu textu s osobnými peripetiami hlavnej postavy. Darí sa mu odkrývať Churchillovu historickú monumentálnosť a jedinečnosť, no súčasne aj jeho ľudskú slabosť a zraniteľnosť. Originalita Larsonovej knihy spočíva v dramatizácii Churchillovej osobnostnej a politickej robustnosti, výrečnosti, strategického rozhľadu a húževnatosti, ako aj jeho výnimočnej schopnosti byť vodcom národa v hodine jeho smrteľného ohrozenia.