This book records the exploits of the airmen of the first Australian Beaufort squadron in action in World War II. Developed as a torpedo and general reconnaissance bomber, the Beaufort was the heaviest, most powerful and most complex aircraft ever built in this country. It entered service with the Royal Australian Air Force at a time when Japanese invasion seemed imminent. As the tide of the war in the South-West Pacific turned from one mostly fought over the ocean to a land-based operation, the original squadron was joined by additional Beaufort units to form the RAAF's No 71 Wing. Employing new methods of warfare, the Beaufort crews closely supported American and Australian ground forces. Using participants' own words to describe events, from the hazards of training to the fury of offensive operations, the author vividly brings to life the bravery of the aviators and the dedication and skill of the ground crews who operated Beauforts during the protracted campaign across the South-West Pacific.
“Nature, rightly questioned, never lies.” —A Manual of Scientific Enquiry, Third Edition, 1859 Scott Huler was working as a copy editor for a small publisher when he stumbled across the Beaufort Wind Scale in his Merriam Webster Collegiate Dictionary. It was one of those moments of discovery that writers live for. Written centuries ago, its 110 words launched Huler on a remarkable journey over land and sea into a fascinating world of explorers, mariners, scientists, and writers. After falling in love with what he decided was “the best, clearest, and most vigorous piece of descriptive writing I had ever seen,” Huler went in search of Admiral Francis Beaufort himself: hydrographer to the British Admiralty, man of science, and author—Huler assumed—of the Beaufort Wind Scale. But what Huler discovered is that the scale that carries Beaufort’s name has a long and complex evolution, and to properly understand it he had to keep reaching farther back in history, into the lives and works of figures from Daniel Defoe and Charles Darwin to Captains Bligh, of the Bounty, and Cook, of the Endeavor. As hydrographer to the British Admiralty it was Beaufort’s job to track the information that ships relied on: where to lay anchor, descriptions of ports, information about fortification, religion, and trade. But what came to fascinate Huler most about Beaufort was his obsession for observing things and communicating to others what the world looked like. Huler’s research landed him in one of the most fascinating and rich periods of history, because all around the world in the mid-eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, in a grand, expansive period, modern science was being invented every day. These scientific advancements encompassed not only vast leaps in understanding but also how scientific innovation was expressed and even organized, including such enduring developments as the scale Anders Celsius created to simplify how Gabriel Fahrenheit measured temperature; the French-designed metric system; and the Gregorian calendar adopted by France and Great Britain. To Huler, Beaufort came to embody that passion for scientific observation and categorization; indeed Beaufort became the great scientific networker of his time. It was he, for example, who was tapped to lead the search for a naturalist in the 1830s to accompany the crew of the Beagle; he recommended a young naturalist named Charles Darwin. Defining the Wind is a wonderfully readable, often humorous, and always rich story that is ultimately about how we observe the forces of nature and the world around us.
"The Age of Innocence" is a novel by American writer Edith Wharton. Her twelfth novel, it was originally presented in 1920 as a serial in four parts in the magazine "Pictorial Review". In 1921, Wharton became the first woman to win Pulitzer Prize for Fiction after the book's successful nomination. The story is set in upper-class New York City in the 1870s, during the Gilded Age, and centres around an impending marriage and arrival of a scandalous relative that threatens to disrupt the couple's happiness. Edith Wharton (January 24, 1862 - August 11, 1937) was an American novelist, writer of short stories, and designer. She was nominated for the Nobel prize in 1927, 1928 and 1930. Wharton was famous for her novels, within which she married her person experience of life in America's privileged classes with brilliant wit and mastery of language. Many vintage books such as this are becoming increasingly scarce and expensive. It is with this in mind that we are republishing this volume now in an affordable, modern, high-quality edition complete with a specially commissioned new biography of the author.
Featuring an appendix of discussion questions, the Diversion Classics edition is ideal for use in book groups and classrooms. Thrilled by his engagement to the beautiful May Welland, Newland Archer is ready to take his place among New York City's elite society. But when May's cousin Ellen arrives, fleeing a scandal in Europe, Newland's happiness, status, and marriage are threatened. With this rich exploration of life in New York during the Gilded Age, Edith Wharton became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
Welcome to the 3 Books To Know series, our idea is to help readers learn about fascinating topics through three essential and relevant books. These carefully selected works can be fiction, non-fiction, historical documents or even biographies. We will always select for you three great works to instigate your mind, this time the topic is: Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. - The Magnificent Ambersons by Booth Tarkington. - The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton. - One of Ours by Willa Cather.This is one of many books in the series 3 Books To Know. If you liked this book, look for the other titles in the series, we are sure you will like some of the topics.
This special ebook edition includes four of Edith Wharton's best-known novels: The Age of Innocence, The House of Mirth, Ethan Frome, and Madame de Treymes.
This eBook features the unabridged text of ‘The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton - Delphi Classics (Illustrated)’ from the bestselling edition of ‘The Complete Works of Edith Wharton’. Having established their name as the leading publisher of classic literature and art, Delphi Classics produce publications that are individually crafted with superior formatting, while introducing many rare texts for the first time in digital print. The Delphi Classics edition of Wharton includes original annotations and illustrations relating to the life and works of the author, as well as individual tables of contents, allowing you to navigate eBooks quickly and easily. eBook features: * The complete unabridged text of ‘The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton - Delphi Classics (Illustrated)’ * Beautifully illustrated with images related to Wharton’s works * Individual contents table, allowing easy navigation around the eBook * Excellent formatting of the textPlease visit www.delphiclassics.com to learn more about our wide range of titles
