Wednesday, July 21, 2021

iTunes Store: Top 25 Books in History 2021-07-21

Judy Batalion - The Light of Days artwork The Light of Days
The Untold Story of Women Resistance Fighters in Hitler's Ghettos
Judy Batalion
Genre: History
Price: $3.99
Publish Date: April 06, 2021
Publisher: William Morrow
Seller: Harper Collins Canada Limited

THE INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! Also on the USA Today, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Globe and Mail, Publishers Weekly, and Indie bestseller lists. One of the most important stories of World War II, already optioned by Steven Spielberg for a major motion picture: a spectacular, searing history that brings to light the extraordinary accomplishments of brave Jewish women who became resistance fighters—a group of unknown heroes whose exploits have never been chronicled in full, until now. Witnesses to the brutal murder of their families and neighbors and the violent destruction of their communities, a cadre of Jewish women in Poland—some still in their teens—helped transform the Jewish youth groups into resistance cells to fight the Nazis. With courage, guile, and nerves of steel, these “ghetto girls” paid off Gestapo guards, hid revolvers in loaves of bread and jars of marmalade, and helped build systems of underground bunkers. They flirted with German soldiers, bribed them with wine, whiskey, and home cooking, used their Aryan looks to seduce them, and shot and killed them. They bombed German train lines and blew up a town’s water supply. They also nursed the sick, taught children, and hid families. Yet the exploits of these courageous resistance fighters have remained virtually unknown. As propulsive and thrilling as Hidden Figures, In the Garden of Beasts, and Band of Brothers, The Light of Days at last tells the true story of these incredible women whose courageous yet little-known feats have been eclipsed by time. Judy Batalion—the granddaughter of Polish Holocaust survivors—takes us back to 1939 and introduces us to Renia Kukielka, a weapons smuggler and messenger who risked death traveling across occupied Poland on foot and by train. Joining Renia are other women who served as couriers, armed fighters, intelligence agents, and saboteurs, all who put their lives in mortal danger to carry out their missions. Batalion follows these women through the savage destruction of the ghettos, arrest and internment in Gestapo prisons and concentration camps, and for a lucky few—like Renia, who orchestrated her own audacious escape from a brutal Nazi jail—into the late 20th century and beyond. Powerful and inspiring, featuring twenty black-and-white photographs, The Light of Days is an unforgettable true tale of war, the fight for freedom, exceptional bravery, female friendship, and survival in the face of staggering odds.  



Robert Sherrod - Tarawa artwork Tarawa
The Incredible Story of One of World War II's Bloodiest Battles
Robert Sherrod
Genre: Military
Price: $1.99
Publish Date: February 22, 2013
Publisher: Skyhorse
Seller: Simon & Schuster Canada

In the summer of 1943, at the height of World War II, battles were exploding all throughout the Pacific theater. In mid-November of that year, the United States waged a bloody campaign on Betio Island in the Tarawa Atoll, the most heavily fortified Japanese territory in the entire Pacific. They were fighting to wrest control of the island to stage the next big push toward Japan—and one journalist was there to chronicle the horror. Dive into war correspondent Robert Sherrod’s battlefield account as he goes ashore with the assault troops of the U.S. Marines 2nd Marine Division in Tarawa. Follow the story of the U.S. Army 27th Infantry Division as nearly 35,000 troops take on less than 5,000 Japanese defenders in one of the most savage engagements of the war. By the end of the battle, only seventeen Japanese soldiers were still alive. This story, a must for any history buff, tells the ins and outs of life alongside the U.S. Marines in this lesser-known battle of World War II. The battle itself carried on for three days, but Sherrod, a dedicated journalist, remained in Tarawa until the very end, and through his writing, shares every detail.



Larissa Vasilieva & Cathy Porter - Kremlin Wives artwork Kremlin Wives
The Secret Lives of the Women Behind the Kremlin Walls—From Lenin to Gorbachev
Larissa Vasilieva & Cathy Porter
Genre: History
Price: $1.99
Publish Date: September 01, 2015
Publisher: Arcade
Seller: Simon & Schuster Canada

For over seventy years the Kremlin was the bastion of the all-powerful Soviet rulers. A great deal is known about the men who held millions of fates in their iron grip, yet little is known about the women—the wives and mistresses—who shared their lives. They took part in the Revolution and its aftermath, bore children, and suffered abuse; some were arrested and sent to Siberia, driven to suicide, or even murdered. In 1991 the KGB granted the author access to its secret files, which, together with the author’s own research and interviews, provided the material for this book. Here for the first time the stark and sometimes scandalous truth about these women is revealed. Lenin’s wife worked passionately for the Revolution alongside her husband, from the time of Lenin’s exile until her death. His mistress was also a close friend of his wife. Stalin married Nadezhda Alliluyeva when she was only sixteen. Earlier, he had had a relationship with Nadezhda’s mother, and there is strong evidence that his wife may also have been his daughter. When she was found dead in a pool of blood, the official verdict was suicide, but many believe she was murdered. Secret Police Chief Lavrenti Beria, known as “The Butcher,” roamed the streets in Moscow in a curtain-drawn limousine, stalking young girls who would later be abducted by his agents. One was forced to marry Beria—his wife Nina Teimurazovna. Among the many other Kremlin “wives” portrayed here are: Alexandra Kollontai, feminist and supporter of “free love”; Larissa Reisner, Boris Pasternak’s muse; Olga Kameneva, Trotsky’s sister; Nina Khrushchev; Victoria Brezhnev; Galina Brezhneva; Tatyana Fillipovna Andropov, and Raisa Gorbachev—supposedly the only Soviet ruler’s wife to have married for love. Skyhorse Publishing, along with our Arcade, Good Books, Sports Publishing, and Yucca imprints, is proud to publish a broad range of biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs. Our list includes biographies on well-known historical figures like Benjamin Franklin, Nelson Mandela, and Alexander Graham Bell, as well as villains from history, such as Heinrich Himmler, John Wayne Gacy, and O. J. Simpson. We have also published survivor stories of World War II, memoirs about overcoming adversity, first-hand tales of adventure, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.



Patrick Wyman - The Verge artwork The Verge
Reformation, Renaissance, and Forty Years that Shook the World
Patrick Wyman
Genre: Europe
Price: $18.99
Publish Date: July 20, 2021
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
Seller: Hachette Digital, Inc.

The creator of the hit podcast series Tides of History and Fall of Rome explores the four explosive decades between 1490 and 1530, bringing to life the dramatic and deeply human story of how the West was reborn. In the bestselling tradition of The Swerve and A Distant Mirror , The Verge tells the story of a period that marked a decisive turning point for both European and world history. Here, author Patrick Wyman examines two complementary and contradictory sides of the same historical coin: the world-altering implications of the developments of printed mass media, extreme taxation, exploitative globalization, humanistic learning, gunpowder warfare, and mass religious conflict in the long term, and their intensely disruptive consequences in the short-term. As told through the lives of ten real people—from famous figures like Christopher Columbus and wealthy banker Jakob Fugger to a ruthless small-time merchant and a one-armed mercenary captain— The Verge illustrates how their lives, and the times in which they lived, set the stage for an unprecedented globalized future. Over an intense forty-year period, the seeds for the so-called "Great Divergence" between Western Europe and the rest of the globe would be planted. From Columbus's voyage across the Atlantic to Martin Luther's sparking the Protestant Reformation, the foundations of our own, recognizably modern world came into being. For the past 500 years, historians, economists, and the policy-oriented have argued which of these individual developments best explains the West's rise from backwater periphery to global dominance. As The Verge presents it, however, the answer is far more nuanced.  



Malcolm Gladwell - The Bomber Mafia artwork The Bomber Mafia
A Dream, a Temptation, and the Longest Night of the Second World War
Malcolm Gladwell
Genre: Military
Price: $18.99
Publish Date: April 27, 2021
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Seller: Hachette Digital, Inc.

An exploration of how technology and best intentions collide in the heat of war A  New York Times Book Review Editors’ Choice In The Bomber Mafia , Malcolm Gladwell weaves together the stories of a Dutch genius and his homemade computer, a band of brothers in central Alabama, a British psychopath, and pyromaniacal chemists at Harvard to examine one of the greatest moral challenges in modern American history.   Most military thinkers in the years leading up to World War II saw the airplane as an afterthought. But a small band of idealistic strategists, the “Bomber Mafia,” asked: What if precision bombing could cripple the enemy and make war far less lethal?     In contrast, the bombing of Tokyo on the deadliest night of the war was the brainchild of General Curtis LeMay, whose brutal pragmatism and scorched-earth tactics in Japan cost thousands of civilian lives, but may have spared even more by averting a planned US invasion. In The Bomber Mafia, Gladwell asks, “Was it worth it?”   Things might have gone differently had LeMay’s predecessor, General Haywood Hansell, remained in charge. Hansell believed in precision bombing, but when he and Curtis LeMay squared off for a leadership handover in the jungles of Guam, LeMay emerged victorious, leading to the darkest night of World War II. The Bomber Mafia is a riveting tale of persistence, innovation, and the incalculable wages of war.



Truth and Reconcilation Commission of Canada - Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Volume One: Summary artwork Final Report of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada, Volume One: Summary
Honouring the Truth, Reconciling for the Future
Truth and Reconcilation Commission of Canada
Genre: Americas
Price: $8.99
Publish Date: July 22, 2015
Publisher: James Lorimer & Company Ltd., Publishers
Seller: eBOUND Canada

This is the Final Report of Canada's Truth and Reconciliation Commission and its six-year investigation of the residential school system for Aboriginal youth and the legacy of these schools. This report, the summary volume, includes the history of residential schools, the legacy of that school system, and the full text of the Commission's 94 recommendations for action to address that legacy. This report lays bare a part of Canada's history that until recently was little-known to most non-Aboriginal Canadians. The Commission discusses the logic of the colonization of Canada's territories, and why and how policy and practice developed to end the existence of distinct societies of Aboriginal peoples. Using brief excerpts from the powerful testimony heard from Survivors, this report documents the residential school system which forced children into institutions where they were forbidden to speak their language, required to discard their clothing in favour of institutional wear, given inadequate food, housed in inferior and fire-prone buildings, required to work when they should have been studying, and subjected to emotional, psychological and often physical abuse. In this setting, cruel punishments were all too common, as was sexual abuse. More than 30,000 Survivors have been compensated financially by the Government of Canada for their experiences in residential schools, but the legacy of this experience is ongoing today. This report explains the links to high rates of Aboriginal children being taken from their families, abuse of drugs and alcohol, and high rates of suicide. The report documents the drastic decline in the presence of Aboriginal languages, even as Survivors and others work to maintain their distinctive cultures, traditions, and governance. The report offers 94 calls to action on the part of governments, churches, public institutions and non-Aboriginal Canadians as a path to meaningful reconciliation of Canada today with Aboriginal citizens. Even though the historical experience of residential schools constituted an act of cultural genocide by Canadian government authorities, the United Nation's declaration of the rights of aboriginal peoples and the specific recommendations of the Commission offer a path to move from apology for these events to true reconciliation that can be embraced by all Canadians.



Bob Joseph - 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act: Helping Canadians Make Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples a Reality artwork 21 Things You May Not Know About the Indian Act: Helping Canadians Make Reconciliation with Indigenous Peoples a Reality
Bob Joseph
Genre: Americas
Price: $9.99
Publish Date: April 10, 2018
Publisher: Bob Joseph
Seller: Smashwords, Inc.

Since its creation in 1876, the Indian Act has dictated and constrained the lives and opportunities of Indigenous Peoples, and is at the root of many enduring stereotypes. Bob Joseph’s book comes at a key time in the reconciliation process, when awareness from both Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities is at a crescendo. Joseph examines how Indigenous Peoples can return to self-government, self-determination, and self-reliance—and why doing so would result in a better country for every Canadian. He dissects the complex issues around the Indian Act, and demonstrates why learning about its cruel and irrevocable legacy is vital for the country to move toward true reconciliation. * * * * * * * Bob Joseph, founder of Indigenous Corporate Training Inc., has provided training on Indigenous relations since 1994. As a certified Master Trainer, Bob has assisted both individuals and organizations in building Indigenous relations. His Canadian clients include all levels of government, Fortune 500 companies, financial institutions, including the World Bank, small and medium-sized corporate enterprises, and Indigenous Peoples. He has worked internationally for clients in the United States, Guatemala, Peru, and New Caledonia in the South Pacific. Bob Joseph is an Indigenous person, or more specifically a status Indian, and is a member of the Gwawaenuk Nation. The Gwawaenuk is one of the many Kwakwaka’wakw tribes located between Comox and Port Hardy on Vancouver Island and the adjacent mainland of British Columbia. He comes from a proud potlatch family and is an initiated member of the Hamatsa Society. As the son of a hereditary chief, he will one day, in accordance with strict cultural laws, become a hereditary chief. * * * * * * * Advance praise: “I have a deep hope for Canada that there can be reconciliation. I want every Canadian to imagine a Canada in which every person will live with dignity, value, and purpose. But to do that, there must be reflection on our shared history and the harmful periods and events that continue to haunt us as a nation. Understanding the Indian Act is fundamental to understanding why those harmful periods and events took place. Bob Joseph’s book is an invaluable tool for Canadians who want to understand the past in order to contribute to reconciliation in our country.” --Chief Dr. Robert Joseph, O.B.C., Ambassador, Reconciliation Canada “From declaring cultural ceremonies illegal, to prohibiting pool hall owners from granting Indigenous Peoples entrance, from forbidding the speaking of Indigenous languages, to the devastating policy that created residential schools, Bob Joseph reveals the hold this paternalistic act, with its roots in the 1800s, still has on the lives of Indigenous Peoples in Canada in the twenty-first century. This straightforward book is an invaluable resource. There is much for non-Indigenous people to learn and to do. But equally important, there is much to unlearn and to undo. The time is right for this book. Thank you, Bob Joseph. Gilakas’la.” --Shelagh Rogers, O.C., Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada “Increasing Canadians' knowledge about the terrible foundation this country has been built on is a critical part of reconciliation. Bob Joseph has highlighted some of the unbelievable provisions of the Indian Act and how they have impacted First Nations in Canada, and gives a brief overview of what we may replace it with going forward. His book provides helpful context to the dialogue that needs to take place in Canada.” --Kim Baird, O.C., O.B.C.; Owner, Kim Baird Strategic Consulting; Member of the Tsawwassen First Nation



Yuval Noah Harari - Sapiens artwork Sapiens
A Brief History of Humankind
Yuval Noah Harari
Genre: History
Price: $16.99
Publish Date: October 28, 2014
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
Seller: Penguin Random House Canada

NATIONAL BESTSELLER NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Destined to become a modern classic in the vein of Guns, Germs, and Steel , Sapiens is a lively, groundbreaking history of humankind told from a unique perspective.      100,000 years ago, at least six species of human inhabited the earth. Today there is just one.      Us. Homo Sapiens .      How did our species succeed in the battle for dominance? Why did our foraging ancestors come together to create cities and kingdoms? How did we come to believe in gods, nations, and human rights; to trust money, books, and laws; and to be enslaved by bureaucracy, timetables, and consumerism? And what will our world be like in the millennia to come?      In Sapiens , Dr. Yuval Noah Harari spans the whole of human history, from the very first humans to walk the earth to the radical -- and sometimes devastating -- breakthroughs of the Cognitive, Agricultural, and Scientific Revolutions. Drawing on insights from biology, anthropology, palaeontology, and economics, he explores how the currents of history have shaped our human societies, the animals and plants around us, and even our personalities. Have we become happier as history has unfolded? Can we ever free our behaviour from the heritage of our ancestors? And what, if anything, can we do to influence the course of the centuries to come?      Bold, wide-ranging and provocative, Sapiens challenges everything we thought we knew about being human: our thoughts, our actions, our power...and our future.



S. C. Gwynne - Empire of the Summer Moon artwork Empire of the Summer Moon
Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History
S. C. Gwynne
Genre: Americas
Price: $13.99
Publish Date: May 25, 2010
Publisher: Scribner
Seller: Simon & Schuster Canada

*Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award* *A New York Times Notable Book* *Winner of the Texas Book Award and the Oklahoma Book Award* This New York Times bestseller and stunning historical account of the forty-year battle between Comanche Indians and white settlers for control of the American West “is nothing short of a revelation…will leave dust and blood on your jeans” ( The New York Times Book Review ). Empire of the Summer Moon spans two astonishing stories. The first traces the rise and fall of the Comanches, the most powerful Indian tribe in American history. The second entails one of the most remarkable narratives ever to come out of the Old West: the epic saga of the pioneer woman Cynthia Ann Parker and her mixed-blood son Quanah, who became the last and greatest chief of the Comanches. Although readers may be more familiar with the tribal names Apache and Sioux, it was in fact the legendary fighting ability of the Comanches that determined when the American West opened up. Comanche boys became adept bareback riders by age six; full Comanche braves were considered the best horsemen who ever rode. They were so masterful at war and so skillful with their arrows and lances that they stopped the northern drive of colonial Spain from Mexico and halted the French expansion westward from Louisiana. White settlers arriving in Texas from the eastern United States were surprised to find the frontier being rolled backward by Comanches incensed by the invasion of their tribal lands. The war with the Comanches lasted four decades, in effect holding up the development of the new American nation. Gwynne’s exhilarating account delivers a sweeping narrative that encompasses Spanish colonialism, the Civil War, the destruction of the buffalo herds, and the arrival of the railroads, and the amazing story of Cynthia Ann Parker and her son Quanah—a historical feast for anyone interested in how the United States came into being. Hailed by critics, S. C. Gwynne’s account of these events is meticulously researched, intellectually provocative, and, above all, thrillingly told. Empire of the Summer Moon announces him as a major new writer of American history.



Yuval Noah Harari - 21 Lessons for the 21st Century artwork 21 Lessons for the 21st Century
Yuval Noah Harari
Genre: History
Price: $13.99
Publish Date: September 04, 2018
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
Seller: Penguin Random House Canada

New York Times Bestseller National Bestseller With Sapiens and Homo Deus , Yuval Noah Harari first explored the past, then the future of humankind, garnering the praise of no less than Barack Obama, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg, to name a few, and selling millions of copies in the over 30 countries it was published. In 21 Lessons for the 21st Century , he devotes himself to the present. 21 Lessons For the 21st Century provides a kind of instruction manual for the present day to help readers find their way around the 21st century, to understand it, and to focus on the really important questions of life. Once again, Harari presents this in the distinctive, informal, and entertaining style that already characterized his previous books. The topics Harari examines in this way include major challenges such as international terrorism, fake news, and migration, as well as turning to more personal, individual concerns, such as our time for leisure or how much pressure and stress we can take. 21 Lessons for the 21st Century answers the overarching question: What is happening in the world today, what is the deeper meaning of these events, and how can we individually steer our way through them? The questions include what the rise of Trump signifies, whether or not God is back, and whether nationalism can help solve problems like global warming. Few writers of non-fiction have captured the imagination of millions of people in quite the astonishing way Yuval Noah Harari has managed, and in such a short space of time. His unique ability to look at where we have come from and where we are going has gained him fans from every corner of the globe. There is an immediacy to this new book which makes it essential reading for anyone interested in the world today and how to navigate its turbulent waters.



Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore & Joseph L. Galloway - We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young artwork We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young
Ia Drang—The Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam
Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore & Joseph L. Galloway
Genre: Military
Price: $13.99
Publish Date: November 06, 2012
Publisher: Open Road Media
Seller: OpenRoad Integrated Media, LLC

New York Times Bestseller: A “powerful and epic story . . . the best account of infantry combat I have ever read” (Col. David Hackworth, author of About Face ) .  In November 1965, some 450 men of the First Battalion, Seventh Cavalry, under the command of Lt. Col. Harold Moore, were dropped into a small clearing in the Ia Drang Valley. They were immediately surrounded by 2,000 North Vietnamese soldiers. Three days later, only two and a half miles away, a sister battalion was brutally slaughtered. Together, these actions at the landing zones X-Ray and Albany constituted one of the most savage and significant battles of the Vietnam War. They were the first major engagements between the US Army and the People’s Army of Vietnam.  How these Americans persevered—sacrificing themselves for their comrades and never giving up—creates a vivid portrait of war at its most devastating and inspiring. Lt. Gen. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway—the only journalist on the ground throughout the fighting—interviewed hundreds of men who fought in the battle, including the North Vietnamese commanders. Their poignant account rises above the ordeal it chronicles to depict men facing the ultimate challenge, dealing with it in ways they would have once found unimaginable. It reveals to us, as rarely before, man’s most heroic and horrendous endeavor.



Moustafa Gadalla - L’architecture métaphysique des anciens Égyptiens artwork L’architecture métaphysique des anciens Égyptiens
Moustafa Gadalla
Genre: Ancient
Price: $9.99
Publish Date: January 25, 2019
Publisher: Moustafa Gadalla
Seller: Tehuti Research Foundation

Applications de la géométrie sacrée et mysticisme des nombres dans les temples égyptiens pour produire de l'énergie cosmique. Cette édition traduite en français vous révèle la connaissance qu’avaient les anciens Égyptiens de la proportion harmonique, de la géométrie sacrée, et du mysticisme des nombres comme elles se manifestent dans leurs textes, temples, tombes, dans leur art, dans leurs hiéroglyphes, etc. tout au long de leur histoire. Ce livre vous montre comment les Égyptiens pensaient la construction de leurs bâtiments afin de générer l’énergie cosmique et l’application mystique des nombres dans les ouvrages égyptiens. Il vous explique en détail la proportion harmonique d’une vingtaine de constructions de l’Ancienne Égypte tout au long de leur histoire dont on a gardé la trace. Ce livre comprend trois parties contenant 10 chapitres au total. La Partie I: Concepts d’architecture – Fonction et Forme comprend les deux chapitres 1 et 2: Le Chapitre 1: Le canon architectural traitera de la croyance égyptienne profondément ancrée du « là-haut comme ici-bas » et de son application dans l’art et l’architecture égyptiens, ..... Le Chapitre 2: Les temples égyptiens des forces divines abordera la fonction principale des temples égyptiens, à savoir la génération divine, le plan général conceptuel du temple, la conception du conduit canalisateur métaphysique,.... La Partie II: La manifestation physique de concepts métaphysiques comprend six chapitres, du 3 au 8 : Le Chapitre 3: Formes de composants architecturaux de fonctions métaphysiques traitera des différentes formes architecturales comme étant la manifestation de leurs fonctions correspondantes [tant physiques que métaphysiques] pour les « fausses portes », les panneaux de cloison en renfoncement, les colonnes et les piliers, les chapiteaux de colonnes, les portiques, les péristyles, ...... Le Chapitre 4: Les principales formes/figures géométriques présentera les principes et l’application de la géométrie sacrée de l’Architecture Divine,...... Le Chapitre 5: Les rectangles racines carrées générateurs – « Nombres irrationnels » présentera les rectangles racines générateurs comme l’hypoténuse des triangles rectangles, commençant par un carré et générant les racines carrées de 2, 3 et 5 ; .... Le Chapitre 6: La progression génératrice arithmétique abordera le rôle des nombres en tant que générateurs d’une croissance et d’une progression ordonnées, Le Chapitre 7: Conception harmonique combinée – arithmétique et graphique des monuments égyptiens présentera la combinaison des éléments arithmétiques et graphiques ....... Le Chapitre 8: Analyse harmonique des œuvres des anciens Égyptiens présentera plusieurs exemples en ancienne Égypte de toutes les époques et sur l’ensemble du territoire ... La Partie III: Les communications animées comprend les deux chapitres 12 et 13: Le Chapitre 9: Les images métaphysiques animées sur les murs présentera l’importance métaphysique des décorations murales, Le Chapitre 10: Activités humaines traitera des rôles des êtres humains dans l’activation,



J. P. Daughton - In the Forest of No Joy: The Congo-Océan Railroad and the Tragedy of French Colonialism artwork In the Forest of No Joy: The Congo-Océan Railroad and the Tragedy of French Colonialism
J. P. Daughton
Genre: Africa
Price: $20.99
Publish Date: July 20, 2021
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Seller: W.W. Norton & Company, Inc.

The epic story of the Congo-Océan railroad and the human costs and contradictions of modern empire. The Congo-Océan railroad stretches across the Republic of Congo from Brazzaville to the Atlantic port of Pointe-Noir. It was completed in 1934, when Equatorial Africa was a French colony, and it stands as one of the deadliest construction projects in history. Colonial workers were subjects of an ostensibly democratic nation whose motto read “Liberty, Equality, Fraternity,” but liberal ideals were savaged by a cruelly indifferent administrative state. African workers were forcibly conscripted and separated from their families, and subjected to hellish conditions as they hacked their way through dense tropical foliage—a “forest of no joy”; excavated by hand thousands of tons of earth in order to lay down track; blasted their way through rock to construct tunnels; or risked their lives building bridges over otherwise impassable rivers. In the process, they suffered disease, malnutrition, and rampant physical abuse, likely resulting in at least 20,000 deaths. In the Forest of No Joy captures in vivid detail the experiences of the men, women, and children who toiled on the railroad, and forces a reassessment of the moral relationship between modern industrialized empires and what could be called global humanitarian impulses—the desire to improve the lives of people outside of Europe. Drawing on exhaustive research in French and Congolese archives, a chilling documentary record, and heartbreaking photographic evidence, J.P. Daughton tells the epic story of the Congo-Océan railroad, and in doing so reveals the human costs and contradictions of modern empire.



袁腾飞 - 历史是个什么玩意儿3:袁腾飞说世界史上 artwork 历史是个什么玩意儿3:袁腾飞说世界史上
袁腾飞
Genre: World
Price: $18.99
Publish Date: April 01, 2010
Publisher: BEIJING BOOK CO. INC.
Seller: BEIJING BOOK CO. INC.

《历史是个什么玩意儿3:袁腾飞说世界史上》是“百家讲坛*受欢迎主讲人”袁腾飞继讲述中国史之后,又一重新诠释的世界历史。嬉笑怒骂的历史段落,将那些原本枯燥乏味的教科书内容变得趣味横生、精彩绝伦。《历史是个什么玩意儿3:袁腾飞说世界史上》是袁腾飞讲历史系列之《世界史》上部。其文风新颖,措辞犀利,锋芒毕露,一针见血,幽默风趣,内容涉及:资本主义兴起、新航路开辟、资产阶级革命等话题,文中更是谈及对英、法、美、日等国看法,个性十足的历史课堂为我们继续再现那些早已尘封的历史,让读者在如同听相声般的快乐中感受世界历史的百年变迁。除了文字内容之外,还插入了大量的彩色图片,采用四色印刷,集趣味性、知识性和可读性于一身。《历史是个什么玩意儿3:袁腾飞说世界史上》卖点:1、**的超高人气:袁腾飞之《历史是个什么玩意儿1袁腾飞说中国史上》,上市一个月销售突破60万册!据央视**收视统计,袁腾飞成为百家讲坛有史以来**收视率主讲人!新浪等各大门户网络调查,袁腾飞为百家讲坛历年来*受欢迎主讲人!



Élisabeth Crouzet-Pavan - La Mort lente de Torcello artwork La Mort lente de Torcello
Histoire d'une cité disparue
Élisabeth Crouzet-Pavan
Genre: History
Price: $20.99
Publish Date: April 03, 2017
Publisher: Albin Michel
Seller: ADILIBRE

Torcello, aujourd'hui, est un îlot quasi déserté au nord de la lagune de Venise, une cathédrale, un baptistère, une église et un décor de mosaïques célèbres. Torcello, hier, fut une communauté humaine nombreuse, un paysage de campaniles et de petites maisons, un horizon de vignes, de jardins, de bois... élisabeth Crouzet-Pavan part à la recherche de ce monde perdu, oublié et abandonné dans les derniers siècles du Moyen âge, à l'époque même où Venise imposait son image providentielle de beauté, de puissance et de richesse. Ce livre est donc l'histoire d'une mort lente, à laquelle se seraient résignés ceux qui la subirent au rythme du flux et du reflux des marées, en se laissant glisser sans drame vers l'irrémédiable. Cette sortie de l'histoire est aussi assumée par Venise, comme si la disparition de Torcello pouvait permettre à la Sérénissime de conjurer la conscience de sa fragilité, ses fantasmes de déclin, ses angoisses d'engloutissement. Torcello meurt, et Venise demeure seule au milieu des eaux de la lagune, dominante et triomphante. En exhumant l'obscur destin de Torcello, cet ouvrage met en lumière une dimension capitale, et méconnue, de la création vénitienne.



Frederic Pouhier & François Jouffa - Perles de Churchill artwork Perles de Churchill
Frederic Pouhier & François Jouffa
Genre: History
Price: $8.99
Publish Date: June 17, 2016
Publisher: Leduc Humour
Seller: immateriel.fr

La politique, la guerre, l'amour, l'alcool et les femmes en 300 perles so british ! « En Angleterre, tout est permis, sauf ce qui est interdit. En Allemagne, tout est interdit, sauf ce qui est permis. En France, tout est permis, même ce qui est interdit. En URSS, tout est interdit, même ce qui est permis. » Winston Churchill (1874-1965) est resté dans les annales pour son rôle important durant la Seconde Guerre Mondiale, mais également pour ses réparties cinglantes et so british. Retrouvez plus de 300 citations cultes de cet homme politique, Prix Nobel de littérature et réputé pour sa verve légendaire !



Élisabeth Crouzet-Pavan - Le Moyen-Âge de Venise artwork Le Moyen-Âge de Venise
Des eaux salées au miracle de pierres
Élisabeth Crouzet-Pavan
Genre: History
Price: $32.99
Publish Date: November 12, 2015
Publisher: Albin Michel
Seller: ADILIBRE

À Venise, le niveau des eaux s'élève inéluctablement, ronge les pilotis qui soutiennent les palais, érode les rives... De pharaoniques travaux sont entrepris pour empêcher que l'eau s'engouffre dans la lagune et inonde toujours plus les rues et les maisons. Cette ville à présent fragile fut pourtant triomphante hier, et ce livre raconte l';histoire de sa construction dans un milieu hostile, sopra le acque salse , sur les eaux salées. Dans les derniers siècles du Moyen Âge, quand Venise comptait bien plus d'habitants qu'aujourd'hui, au gré de chantiers innombrables et d'un effort humain et financier considérable, sans cesse de la terre fut charriée et amassée pour conquérir toujours plus d'espace. Grâce à ce travail de création ininterrompue, accompli malgré la menace permanente de l'écosystème, la ville sur l'eau a été bâtie, ornée, pour devenir ce « miracle de pierres ». Mais Venise n'est pas qu'un décor de marbre et de briques. Retracer l'aventure de l'invention de Venise, c'est aussi faire revivre les acteurs de cette histoire collective, restituer une culture urbaine et un imaginaire civique, ou comment les Vénitiens plaçaient leur histoire sous la protection et la providence divines. Cet ouvrage capital est la synthèse la plus aboutie et la plus complète qui existe à l'heure actuelle sur la naissance et le développement de Venise au Moyen Âge; une ville qui, à la Renaissance, deviendra la Sérénissime.



Charles Mercer - Alexander the Great artwork Alexander the Great
Charles Mercer
Genre: Ancient
Price: $12.99
Publish Date: December 09, 2015
Publisher: New Word City, Inc.
Seller: New Word City

Alexander the Great has fascinated people for centuries - and still does. Here, from award-winning historian and journalist Charles Mercer, is the story of the military genius who became a king at twenty told with all the color and drama characteristic of Alexander's time.



W B Bartlett - The Mongols artwork The Mongols
From Genghis Khan to Tamerlane
W B Bartlett
Genre: Asia
Price: $7.99
Publish Date: June 01, 2012
Publisher: Amberley Publishing
Seller: Amberley Publishing Holdings Limited

In the space of 200 hundred years, the Mongols built the greatest empire that the world had ever known and then lost it again. At its greatest extent, the lands they held dwarfed those under the control of Rome at its prime whilst the conquests of its founder, Genghis Khan, outshone those of even Alexander the Great. There were few parts of the known world that were not touched by the Mongols in one way or another: China, India, the Middle East, Europe, Egypt. This was truly a world empire. This is a tale of fiercely fought battles and political intrigue, of unrivalled ferocity and burning ambition. It is a tale not just of military campaigns, though these are of course a vital part of the building of the empire, but also of the many other ways that it grew. The Mongols truly believed that it was their destiny to conquer the world and they came mightily close to doing it. W.B. Bartlett has a longstanding relationship with Mongolia and has used his knowledge of the country and its history to tell this fascinating tale of how a tribe of little known nomads became the most feared warriors that the world has ever seen. W. B. Bartlett is a writer and historian. He is the author of seven history books. He has family links to Mongolia and visits regularly. He lives in Bournemouth.



Winston Groom - Kearny's March artwork Kearny's March
The Epic Creation of the American West, 1846-1847
Winston Groom
Genre: United States
Price: $18.99
Publish Date: November 08, 2011
Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
Seller: Penguin Random House Canada

A thrilling re-creation of a crucial campaign in the Mexican-American War and a pivotal moment in America's history.   In June 1846, General Stephen Watts Kearny rode out of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, with a thousand cavalrymen of the First United States Dragoons. When his fantastic expedition ended a year and two-thousand miles later, the nation had doubled in size and now stretched from Atlantic to Pacific, fulfilling what many saw as its unique destiny. Kearny's March has all the stuff of great narrative history: hardships on the trail, wild Indians, famous mountain men, international conflict and political intrigue, personal dramas, gold rushes and land-grabs. Winston Groom plumbs the wealth of primary documentation--journals and letters, as well as military records--and gives us a sleek, exciting account that captures our imaginations and enlivens our understanding of the sometimes dirty business of country-making.



Barbara Frale, Gregory Conti & Umberto Eco - The Templars artwork The Templars
The Secret History Revealed
Barbara Frale, Gregory Conti & Umberto Eco
Genre: History
Price: $16.99
Publish Date: May 01, 2011
Publisher: Arcade
Seller: Simon & Schuster Canada

Barbara Frale gives us an explosive, exhaustively researched history of the medieval world’s most powerful military order, the Templars. At its height, the Order of the Knights Templar rivaled the kingdoms of Europe in military might, economic power, and political influence. For 700 years, the tragic demise of this society of warrior-monks amid accusations of heresy has been plagued by controversy, in part because the transcript of their trial by the Inquisition—which held the key to the truth—had vanished. Templar historian Barbara Frale happened to be studying a document at the Vatican Secret Archives when she suddenly realized that it was none other than the long-lost transcript! It revealed that Pope Clement V had absolved the order of all charges of heresy. The Templars chronicles the spectacular rise and fall of the organization against a sweeping backdrop of war, religious fervor, and the struggle for dominance, and finally lifts the centuries-old cloak of mystery surrounding one of the world’s most intriguing secret societies.



Richard Dunlop - Behind Japanese Lines artwork Behind Japanese Lines
With the OSS in Burma
Richard Dunlop
Genre: Military
Price: $16.99
Publish Date: February 04, 2014
Publisher: Skyhorse
Seller: Simon & Schuster Canada

In early 1942, with World War II going badly, President Roosevelt turned to General William “Wild Bill” Donovan, now known historically as the “Father of Central Intelligence,” with orders to form a special unit whose primary mission was to prepare for the eventual reopening of the Burma Road linking Burma and China by performing guerilla operations behind the Japanese lines. Thus was born OSS Detachment 101, the first clandestine special force formed by Donovan and one that would play a highly dangerous but vital role in the reconquest of Burma by the Allies. Behind Japanese Lines , originally published in 1979, is the exciting story of the men of Detachment 101, who, with their loyal native allies—the Kachin headhunters—fought a guerilla war for almost three years. It was a war not only against a tough and unyielding enemy, but against the jungle itself, one of the most difficult and dangerous patches of terrain in the world. Exposed to blistering heat and threatened by loathsome tropical diseases, the Western-raised OSS men also found themselves beset by unfriendly tribesmen and surrounded by the jungle’s unique perils—giant leeches, cobras, and rogue tigers. Not merely a war narrative, Behind Japanese Lines is an adventure story, the story of unconventional men with an almost impossible mission fighting an irregular war in supremely hostile territory. Drawing upon the author’s own experiences as a member of Detachment 101, interviews with surviving 101 members, and classified documents, Dunlop’s tale unfolds with cinematic intensity, detailing the danger, tension, and drama of secret warfare. Never before have the activities of the OSS been recorded in such authentic firsthand detail. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.



Tony Judt - Postwar artwork Postwar
A History of Europe Since 1945
Tony Judt
Genre: Europe
Price: $16.99
Publish Date: October 06, 2005
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Seller: Penguin Random House Canada

Finalist for the Pulitzer Prize •  Winner of the Council on Foreign Relations Arthur Ross Book Award •  One of the  New York Times '   Ten Best Books of the Year "Remarkable . . . The writing is vivid; the coverage-of little countries as well as of great ones-is virtually superhuman; and above all, the book is smart. Every page contains unexpected data, or a fresh observation, or a familar observation freshly turned." — Louis Menand,  The New Yorker "Impressive . . . Mr. Judt writes with enormous authority." — The Wall Street Journal Almost a decade in the making, this much-anticipated grand history of postwar Europe from one of the world's most esteemed historians and intellectuals is a singular achievement. Postwar is the first modern history that covers all of Europe, both east and west, drawing on research in six languages to sweep readers through thirty-four nations and sixty years of political and cultural change-all in one integrated, enthralling narrative. Both intellectually ambitious and compelling to read, thrilling in its scope and delightful in its small details, Postwar is a rare joy.



Tom Holland - In The Shadow Of The Sword artwork In The Shadow Of The Sword
The Battle for Global Empire and the End of the Ancient World
Tom Holland
Genre: History
Price: $9.99
Publish Date: April 05, 2012
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Seller: Hachette Digital, Inc.

In this 'thrilling. . .profoundly important book' (Christopher Hart, Sunday Times ) and Sunday Times Top Ten Bestseller, the acclaimed author of Rubicon gives a panoramic-and timely-account of the rise of Islam In the 6th century AD, the Near East was divided between two great empires: the Persian and the Roman. A hundred years on, and one had vanished for ever, while the other was a dismembered, bleeding trunk. In their place, a new superpower had arisen: the empire of the Arabs. So profound was this upheaval that it spelled, in effect, the end of the ancient world. But the changes that marked the period were more than merely political or even cultural: there was also a transformation of human society with incalculable consequences for the future. Today, over half the world's population subscribes to one of the various religions that took on something like their final form during the last centuries of antiquity. Wherever men or women are inspired by belief in a single god to think or behave in a certain way, they bear witness to the abiding impact of this extraordinary, convulsive age - though as Tom Holland demonstrates, much of what Jews, Christians and Muslims believe about the origins of their religion is open to debate. In the Shadow of the Sword explores how a succession of great empires came to identify themselves with a new and revolutionary understanding of the divine. It is a story vivid with drama, horror and startling achievement, and stars many of the most remarkable rulers ever seen. 'A compelling detective story of the highest order, In the Shadow of the Sword is also a dazzlingly colourful journey into the world of late antiquity. Every bit as thrilling a narrative history as Holland's previous works, In the Shadow of the Sword is also a profoundly important book. It makes public and popular what scholarship has been discovering for several decades now; and those discoveries suggest a wholesale revision of where Islam came from and what it is' (Christopher Hart, Sunday Times )



Livy & Wyatt North - The History of Rome: All Books artwork The History of Rome: All Books
Livy & Wyatt North
Genre: Ancient
Price: $0.99
Publish Date: November 18, 2018
Publisher: WYatt North Publishing, LLC
Seller: Wyatt North Publishing, LLC

The History of Rome comes complete with a Touch-or-Click Table of Contents, divided by each section. Livy’s History of Rome was in high demand from the first time it was published. Titus Livius, as Livy in English, was a Roman historian who wrote a monumental history of Rome and the Roman people covering the period from the earliest legends of Rome well before the traditional foundation in 753 BC through the reign of Augustus in Livy's own time. He was on familiar terms with the Julio-Claudian family, advising Augustus's grandnephew, the future emperor Claudius, as a young man not long before 14 AD in a letter to take up the writing of history. Livy and Augustus's wife, Livia, were from the same clan in different locations, although not related by blood. Enjoy.