In his account of World War II, historian Jon Lewis has selected 300 first-hand accounts, from Heinz Guderian rolling his panzer tank into Poland to VJ Day in London and New York. More than a eyewitness chronicle, this collection gives the reader an insight into how the repercussions from the war shaped our modern world, and how nothing from geo-politics to rock 'n' roll can really be understood without considering it.
This is the entire story of the Third Reich at war, covering all the Wehrmacht's major battles and campaigns of World War II, among them Barbarossa, Stalingrad, the Battle of the Bulge, the bitter fighting for Italy, Greece and the Mediterranean, and the final retreat to Berlin.
Hear the cannon roar at Valley Forge with George Washington, dance the night away at a Chicago Speakeasy during Prohibition, take a ringside seat for the gunfight at the OK Corral, ride Apollo 11 to the moon, hear Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech, join with Harry S. Truman on the A-bomb deliberations, land with John Smith at Virginia, ride against Custer at Little Horn, get on down to Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock, march to 'The Grapes of Wrath' at Shiloh, work your fingers to the bone at Henry Ford's car plant . . . this is America - the beautiful, the powerful, the tragic, the glorious. The Mammoth Book of How It Happened: America is the story of the making of America in the very words of those who were there, from its 'discovery' by Christopher Columbus to George W. Bush's War Against Terrorism. Composed of firsthand eye-witness accounts of the seminal moments in US history, this is an intimate, revealing, insightful guide to the greatest nation on earth. In five chronological sections, this volume tracks the main phases of American history: Discovery, including the exploration and settlement of America; Independence, the Revolution and wars against British rule; Destiny, covering expansion into the West and the split between North and South; Frontier, including the settlement of the American West and the Indian Wars; and finally Century, the 100 years that saw America becoming a superpower on the world's political stage.
Begining with the 1921 attempt on the summit of Everest through to the disasters of the 1990s, this work features 30 white-knuckle accounts of climbing endeavour on the world's highest mountain, with all the tragedy and triumph of humankind's striving for the top of the world, by those who know the "Death Zone" best - the climbers of Everest themselves. Yet this is more than a cherry-picking of great true and exhilarating memoirs of Everest. Included are the history of the conquest of Everest, and all the natural and cruel beauty of Chomolungma "The Mother Goddess of the World".
By 1969, following the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu, over 500,000 US troops were ‘in country’ in Vietnam. Before America’s longest war had ended with the fall of Saigon in 1975, 450,000 Vietnamese had died, along with 36,000 Americans. The Vietnam War was the first rock ’n’ roll war, the first helicopter war with its doctrine of ‘airmobility’, and the first television war; it made napalm and the defoliant Agent Orange infamous, and gave us the New Journalism of Michael Herr and others. It also saw the establishment of the Navy SEALs and Delta Force. At home, America fractured, with the peace movement protesting against the war; at Kent State University, Ohio National Guardsmen fired on unarmed students, killing four and injuring nine. Lewis’s compelling selection of the best writing to come out of a war covered by some truly outstanding writers, both journalists and combatants, includes an eyewitness account of the first major battle between the US Army and the People’s Army of Vietnam at Ia Drang; a selection of letters home; Nicholas Tomalin’s famous ‘The General Goes Zapping Charlie Cong’; Robert Mason’s ‘R&R’, Studs Terkel’s account of the police breaking up an anti-war protest; John Kifner on the shootings at Kent State; Ron Kovic’s ‘Born on the Fourth of July’; John T. Wheeler’s ‘Khe Sanh: Live in the V Ring’; Pulitzer Prize-winner Seymour Hersh on the massacre at My Lai; Michael Herr’s ‘It Made You Feel Omni’; Viet Cong Truong Nhu Tang’s memoir; naval nurse Maureen Walsh’s memoir, ‘Burning Flesh’; John Pilger on the fall of Saigon; and Tim O’Brien’s ‘If I Die in a Combat Zone’.
Every short story in this wonderfully varied collection has one thing in common: each features some alteration in history, some divergence from historical reality, which results in a world very different from the one we know today. As well as original stories specially commissioned from bestselling writers such as James Morrow, Stephen Baxter and Ken MacLeod, there are genre classics such as Kim Stanley Robinson's story of how World War II atomic bomber the Enola Gay, having crashed on a training flight, is replaced by the Lucky Strike with profoundly different consequences. Praise for the editors: 'Mr Watson wreaks havoc with what is accepted - and acceptable.' The Times 'One of Britain's consistently finest science fiction writers.' New Scientist
War is becoming increasingly 'SF-ized' with remotely controlled attack drones and robot warriors already in development and being tested. Over the past 100 years the technology of war has advanced enormously in destructive power, yet also in sophistication so that we no longer seem to live under the constant threat of all-out global thermonuclear cataclysm. So what will future wars be like? And what will start them: religion, politics, resources, refugees, or advanced weaponry itself? Watson and Whates present a gripping anthology of SF stories which explores the gamut of possible future conflicts, including such themes as nuclear war, psychological and cyberwars, enhanced soldiery, mercenaries, terrorism, intelligent robotic war machines, and war with aliens. All the stories in this collection of remarkable quality and diversity reveals humankind pressed to the limits in every conceivable way. It includes 24 stories with highlights such as: The Pyre of the New Day' - Catherine Asaro. The Rhine's World Incident' - Neal Asher. Caught in the Crossfire' - David Drake. Politics' - Elizabeth Moon. The Traitor' - David Weber. And others from: Dan Abnett, Tony Ballantyne, Fredric Brown, Algis Budrys, Simon R. Green, Joe Haldeman, John Kessel, John Lambshead, Paul McAuley, Andy Remic, Laura Resnick, Mike Resnick & Brad R. Torgersen, Fred Saberhagen, Cordwainer Smith, Allen Steele, William Tenn, Walter Jon Williams, Michael Z. Williamson, Gene Wolfe.
The most complete guide ever to the real Arthurian world and the legends that surround it He defeated the Saxons so decisively at the Battle of Badon that he held the Saxon invasion of Britain at bay for at least a generation. He has inspired more stories, books and films than any other historical or legendary figure. But who was the real King Arthur? Here is the most comprehensive guide to the real Arthurian world and the legends that surround and often obscure it. Sifting fact from fancy, Mike Ashley reveals the originals not only of King Arthur but also of Merlin. Guinevere, Lancelot and the knights of the Round Table - as well as all the major Arthurian sites. He traces each of the legends as they developed and brilliantly shows how they were later used to inspire major works of art, poetry, fiction and film. There is clear evidence that. The Arthurian legends arose from the exploits of not just one man, but at least three originating in Wales, Scotland and Brittany The true historical Arthur really existed and is distantly related to the present royal family The real Arthur and the real Merlin never knew each other The real Lancelot was not British but was closer to a sixth-century asylum-seeker The Holy Grail legend probably grew out of a cosmic catastrophe that could have destroyed most of civilization
