Author: Jon E. Lewis
Publisher: Robinson
ISBN: 1780332831
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 634
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Book Description
From the start of the 20th century to the most recent major offensives, here are fifty accounts of the battles that made the modern world, described in superb detail by historians and writers including John Keegan, Alan Clark, John Strawson, Charles Mey, John Pimlott, and John Laffin. All the major conflicts are covered, from two world wars, through Korea, Vietnam, Bosnia, Chechnya, to Iraq and Afghanistan. Among the battles featured are: the Somme, Passchendaele, Battle of Britain, Stalingrad, El Alamein, Monte Cassino, Omaha Beach, Iwa Jima, Dien Bien Phu, Ia Drang, Hamburger Hill, Desert Storm, Kabul, Baghdad, and Basra.
Author: Jon E. Lewis
Publisher: Running PressBook Pub
ISBN: 9780786706891
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 498
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Book Description
From the massacre at Wounded Knee to the high-tech victory of Operation Desert Storm, this book presents forty gripping accounts of the battles that made the modern world. They are rendered in superb detail and analysis by such award-winning historians as John Keegan, Alan Clark, and Paul Kennedy. Here are the great conflicts of the two World Wars, the wars in Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, the Falklands, and Israel. The Mammoth Book of Battles brings to life for all military historians the awesome scale and destructive power of modern warfare.
Author: Cathal Nolan
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199874654
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 729
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Book Description
History has tended to measure war's winners and losers in terms of its major engagements, battles in which the result was so clear-cut that they could be considered "decisive." Cannae, Konigsberg, Austerlitz, Midway, Agincourt-all resonate in the literature of war and in our imaginations as tide-turning. But these legendary battles may or may not have determined the final outcome of the wars in which they were fought. Nor has the "genius" of the so-called Great Captains - from Alexander the Great to Frederick the Great and Napoleon - play a major role. Wars are decided in other ways. Cathal J. Nolan's The Allure of Battle systematically and engrossingly examines the great battles, tracing what he calls "short-war thinking," the hope that victory might be swift and wars brief. As he proves persuasively, however, such has almost never been the case. Even the major engagements have mainly contributed to victory or defeat by accelerating the erosion of the other side's defences. Massive conflicts, the so-called "people's wars," beginning with Napoleon and continuing until 1945, have consisted of and been determined by prolonged stalemate and attrition, industrial wars in which the determining factor has been not military but matériel. Nolan's masterful book places battles squarely and mercilessly within the context of the wider conflict in which they took place. In the process it help corrects a distorted view of battle's role in war, replacing popular images of the "battles of annihilation" with somber appreciation of the commitments and human sacrifices made throughout centuries of war particularly among the Great Powers. Accessible, provocative, exhaustive, and illuminating, The Allure of Battle will spark fresh debate about the history and conduct of warfare.
Author: Steven A. LeBlanc
Publisher: Macmillan + ORM
ISBN: 1466850191
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 406
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Book Description
With armed conflict in the Persian Gulf now upon us, Harvard archaeologist Steven LeBlanc takes a long-term view of the nature and roots of war, presenting a controversial thesis: The notion of the "noble savage" living in peace with one another and in harmony with nature is a fantasy. In Constant Battles: The Myth of the Peaceful, Noble Savage, LeBlanc contends that warfare and violent conflict have existed throughout human history, and that humans have never lived in ecological balance with nature. The start of the second major U.S. military action in the Persian Gulf, combined with regular headlines about spiraling environmental destruction, would tempt anyone to conclude that humankind is fast approaching a catastrophic end. But as LeBlanc brilliantly argues, the archaeological record shows that the warfare and ecological destruction we find today fit into patterns of human behavior that have gone on for millions of years. Constant Battles surveys human history in terms of social organization-from hunter gatherers, to tribal agriculturalists, to more complex societies. LeBlanc takes the reader on his own digs around the world -- from New Guinea to the Southwestern U.S. to Turkey -- to show how he has come to discover warfare everywhere at every time. His own fieldwork combined with his archaeological, ethnographic, and historical research, presents a riveting account of how, throughout human history, people always have outgrown the carrying capacity of their environment, which has led to war. Ultimately, though, LeBlanc's point of view is reassuring and optimistic. As he explains the roots of warfare in human history, he also demonstrates that warfare today has far less impact than it did in the past. He also argues that, as awareness of these patterns and the advantages of modern technology increase, so does our ability to avoid war in the future.
Author: Graham Burgess
Publisher: Robinson
ISBN: 1849012520
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 884
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Book Description
With a foreword by Dr John Nunn, Grandmaster and four times Olypic gold medallist 'The Mammoth Book of Chess is a cracker . . . nobody will fail to find something new here' British Chess Magazine WINNER OF THE BRITISH CHESS FEDERATION BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD, 1997 Comprehensive, up to date and clear, this latest edition of Graham Burgess's chess classic is an invaluable guide to help even less experienced players to progress to good club level and better. It offers a complete guide to the main opening gambits along with hundreds of test positions for players at every level. Graham Burgess, FIDE Master, shows you all you need to know, from entering the world of chess, through Internet games, to major international tournaments. Expanded sections on online chess, computers and openings. A complete guide to all the main opening gambits. Hundreds of test positions for players of all standards. Courses in tactics and attacking strategy. Analysis of some of the greatest games ever played. Information and advice on club, national, and international tournaments. Glossary of terminology. Practical advice and information for further study.
Author: Paul Mendelson
Publisher: Robinson
ISBN: 1849014965
Category : Games & Activities
Languages : en
Pages : 341
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Book Description
Paul Mendelson offers an indispensable guide to beating the odds in just about every gambling game, both in casinos and online. He reveals how to shift the odds in your favour as he clearly explains every game and analyses optimum strategies in detail with the aim of helping you to win. Other chapters show you how to: get the best out of your casino - pick up free drinks, meals, hotel accommodation, thousand-dollar shopping trips, room upgrades, flights, bonus money etc.; make the most of your trip to Las Vegas or anywhere else - casino information, the best places to gamble (for each game), recommended hotels and attractions; win online - which sites to avoid and which can be trusted, a discussion of every game from poker through to online bingo, including bonuses, incentives, play-through data and the best strategies to use. The Mammoth Book of Casino Games covers every major casino game in detail, as well as many less well known games, including: blackjack, roulette, punto banco (baccarat, chemin de fer, chemmy), poker (including three-card, Caribbean stud and video poker), Chinese dice and domino games (including sic bo, gwat pai and kap tai shap), slots (three-wheel, multi-line, bonus), other casino games (including Keno, Wheel of Fortune, Red Dog and Spanish 21) and tournaments (slots, roulette etc.). Praise for The Mammoth Book of Poker: 'I've won 20 times the price in the last three days!' Gareth Hughes
Author: Mike Ashley
Publisher: Robinson
ISBN: 1849012539
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 704
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Book Description
A superb collection of stories of magic and adventure from the golden age of Arthurian legend by bestselling writers. Enter into the darker realms of the age of the Knights of the Round Table, when magic held sway and Merlin vied with Arthur's heroic new world. Included are: Jane Yolen on Merlin's youth and coming of age; Marion Zimmer Bradley on Nimuë, Merlin's lover and doom; Charles de Lint on Merlin's influence through the centuries; Darrell Schweitzer on the legends of Merlin's birth; plus stories by Tanith Lee, Peter Tremayne, Phyllis Ann Karr, Jennifer Roberson, and many others. There is also a detailed introduction by Mike Ashley on the mystery and magic of Merlin and his world.
Author: Jon E. Lewis
Publisher: Robinson
ISBN: 1780337337
Category : Sports & Recreation
Languages : en
Pages : 384
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Book Description
No one sees clearer than an individual whose life is hanging by the finger tips on the edge of an abyss. Probing the furthest reaches of human daring and endurance, here are 28 of the great first-hand accounts of extreme mountaineering, from legendary names. Written by the bestselling author of Meadowland and The Running Hare, Featuring: ·Heinrich Harrer - first conqueror of the notorious Eigerwand. ·Robert Bates - the classic account of the ill-fated American 1953 expedition to K2. ·Maurice Herzog - his unstoppable ascent of Annapurna at the cost of frostbite. ·Walter Bonatti - tragedy on the Central Pillar of Freney on Mont Blanc. ·George Leigh Mallory - surviving an avalanche on the 1922 Everest expedition. ·René Desmaison - his epic story of 14 days stuck on The Grandes Jorasses in winter. ·Jon Krakauer - recalling his solo ascent of The Devil's Thumb in Alaska. The price of the summit is often measured in human suffering, yet for those who succeed the rewards can be incalculable. Nerve-wracking and unputdownable.
Author: Michael Powell
Publisher: Robinson
ISBN: 1849016690
Category : Humor
Languages : en
Pages : 490
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Book Description
A doorstopper of a collection of the very best of both contemporary and classic British wit and humour. From Monty Python's 'Nudge, nudge, wink, wink, say no more . . .' to Dan Antopolski's 'Hedgehogs. Why can't they just share the hedge?'. From George Bernard Shaw to Michael McIntyre, from Eric Morecombe to Omid Djalili, and from Oscar Wilde to Jimmy Carr, a side-splitting look at Britain, the British and life in general. Including these gems from Britain's finest comedians: I was delighted to learn that my friend's schadenfreude was not as satisfying as mine. Armando Iannucci. I went on a girls' night out recently. The invitation said 'dress to kill'. I went as Rose West. Zoe Lyons For a while I was the perfect mother. Then the Pethidine wore off. Jenny Eclair. My girlfriend was complaining last night that I never listen to her. Or something like that. Jack Dee. Why do dogs always race to the door when the doorbell rings because it's hardly ever for them? Harry Hill. Arse-gravy of the very worst kind. Stephen Fry on The Da Vinci Code. You have to come up with this shit every year. Last week I just wrote "I still love you, see last year's card for full details." Michael McIntyre on Valentines Day. I went to the doctor and he said, 'You've got hypochondria.' I said, 'Not that as well!'Tim Vine. I have the body of an eighteen year old. I keep it in the fridge. Spike Milligan. When someone close to you dies, move seats. Peter Kay. My neighbour asked if he could use my lawnmower and I told him of course he could, so long as he didn't take it out of my garden. Eric Morecambe. My dad's dying wish was to have his family around him. I can't help thinking he would have been better off with more oxygen. Jimmy Carr. Eighty-two point six per cent of statistics are made up on the spot. Vic Reeves. A bird in the hand invariably shits on your wrist. Billy Connolly. Getting divorced isn't like a bereavement at all, because if he's died, I'd have had me mortgage paid, and I could've danced on his grave. Sarah Millican. My greatest hero is Nelson Mandela: incarcerated for 25 years, he was released in 1990, he's been out about 18 years now and he hasn't re-offended. Ricky Gervais. If you want to confuse a girl, buy her a pair of chocolate shoes. Milton Jones. Phil Collins is losing his hearing, making him the luckiest man at a Phil Collins Concert. Simon Amstell. We'll continue our investigation into the political beliefs of nudists. We've already noticed a definite swing to the left. Ronnie Barker. A guy walks into the psychiatrist wearing only Clingfilm for shorts. The psychiatrist says, "Well, I can clearly see your nuts. Tommy Cooper
Author: Mike Ashley
Publisher: Robinson
ISBN: 1849012547
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 722
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Book Description
Many readers are attracted to science fiction for that singular moment when a story expands your imagination, enabling you to see something in a new light. Not all SF works this way! This volume collects the very best of it that does, with 25 of the finest examples of mind-expanding and awe-inspiring science fiction. The storylines range from a discovery on the Moon that opens up vistas across all time to a moment in which distances across the Earth suddenly increase and people vanish. These are tales to take you from the other side of now to the very end of time - from today's top-name contributors including Stephen Baxter, Alastair Reynolds, Robert Silverberg, Gregory Benford and Robert Reed.
