Learning War

The Vietnam War represented a watershed not only in American and Vietnamese history but also internationally. It wasn’t just a battle between two nations, but between two ideologies, two military strategies, and a fight for the hearts and minds of two vastly different national populations.

Today, the United States of America is one of the largest countries in the world. Comprised of 50 states, this huge nation is filled with diverse topography, as well as a variety of flora and fauna. Not only that, but the USA is also home to a huge population with diverse ethnic backgrounds. A vast number of the white population are the descendants of the European colonists and settlers who ultimately conquered the land, dominating the Native Americans who were the original inhabitants of the land. If you want to learn more about the American Indian Wars, listen to this audiobook!

Though the men of Versailles (and they were overwhelmingly men) had arrived in Paris to put an end to World War I, by the time the conference ended, the main goal of the diplomats and national leaders had turned into ending wars for all time. Obviously, that did not work, and as a matter of fact, the end result of the Paris Peace Conference - the Treaty of Versailles - would likely cause more wars than any of its authors could have possibly dreamed of, including World War II.

The Japanese progressed throughout the eras because of the emperor, but they also progressed despite him. These are people who never let go of their sacred history, and their story is told and retold in art, film, literature, and even graphic novels across the entire world. Terms such as shoguns, samurai, haiku, anime, and manga are familiar to many in the Western world today. Westerners also learn flower arranging, martial arts, meditation, and enjoy a variety of visual and digital art forms because of the unique culture of Japan.

Six family-friendly short stories connected by a common theme of Cold War spies and their families. Stories One Through Four take place in East and West Germany, Story Five (Unexpected Trouble) takes place in North America, and Story Six (Passing the Baton) goes back to Germany, but connects the stories together. The characters are all fictional, but the geography and the history are at least loosely based on what happened in real life. Please join me in a view of what things might have been like during the Cold War!

The Wars of the Roses were a complex set of battles, skirmishes, and kidnappings during the 15th century in England. They had their roots in the nearby Civil War of France, which greatly influenced English politics for years to come. Though there is no one universally-accepted start or end date for these wars, the major events throughout the wars occurred between 1455 and 1485.

A heartwarming, emotional romance about a wounded veteran, a grieving nurse, and the love that gives them both a second chance. Daniel Reid came home from war with one leg, a lifetime of guilt, and no hope for the future. He checks into a coastal rehabilitation clinic expecting nothing more than routine care and quiet isolation. Olivia Carter is the nurse assigned to his case. She’s still grieving the loss of her fiancé and hiding behind professional smiles. But something about Daniel—his silence, his pain, his stubborn courage—pulls her in. What begins as guarded conversations and ...

The United States' role in saving Europe's intellectual elite from the Nazis is often told as a tale of triumph, which in many ways it was. America welcomed Albert Einstein and Enrico Fermi, Hannah Arendt and Herbert Marcuse, Rudolf Carnap and Richard Courant, among hundreds of other physicists, philosophers, mathematicians, historians, chemists, and linguists who transformed the American academy. Yet for every scholar who survived and thrived, many, many more did not. In this rigorously researched book, Laurel Leff rescues from obscurity scholars who were deemed "not worth saving".

Beginning with Charlemagne, the great and educated king who would serve as an inspiration for world leaders from Frederick II to Adolf Hitler, the Holy Roman Empire’s intricate ties with the Roman Catholic Church would provide for plenty of excitement and drama in its early years. However, as the empire staggered through the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance, it would eventually be forced to declare its allegiance with a new way of thinking: Protestantism.

“A lump of coal-taking up space,” is how a fourth-grade nun describes ten-year-old William Chamberlain. Despite his struggle with dyslexia, a precocious and rebellious spirit and labeled dumb, William vows to have money one day; he won’t be poor like his parents. As he grows into adulthood, nothing, not his lack of education, The Great Depression, World War II, or a bad marriage can deter him from seeking his dream. William possesses the innocence, naivety, and warmness of heart of a Forest Gump. This story of William and his family spans nearly three decades.

Born in poverty-stricken Albania, twin sisters Argita and Detina Zalli always dreamed of becoming doctors. Their parents scrimped and sacrificed, committed to giving them a better life. But then the unthinkable happened. In 1997, the government collapsed, plunging the country into anarchy and civil war. The twins' dream unraveled along with their homeland. Their parents had to find a way to leave and save their daughters' futures—not to mention their very lives.

Athan knew it didn’t make sense. Who falls in love with their kidnapper—a sorcerer who freezes people into popsicles and kills without hesitation? But what if that same sorcerer was also kind… and utterly irresistible? Athan is ready for a fresh start—new school, new classmates, new identity, and maybe even a new love. But leaving the past behind is never that simple, especially when Frost remains distant, his secrets just out of reach. The Firelanders are still hunting him, and only he holds the key to finding the legendary Life Stone. No matter how hard he tries to blend in, his ...

Alistair Horne is a leading scholar of French history. Here he trains his sights on one of the most compelling figures of the 19th century, Napoleon Bonaparte. Far from a mere dictator, Napoleon was a military, political and social visionary whose legacy can still be felt in France and all over the world. Horne examines the one-time emperor at his most human, from his greatest triumphs to his disastrous failures.

Louis Freeh led the Federal Bureau of Investigation from 1993 to 2001, through some of the most tumultuous times in its long history. This is the story of a life in law enforcement and of one man's determined struggle to strengthen and reform the FBI while ensuring its freedom from political interference.

D-day, the Allied invasion of German-held Normandy, was one of the most extraordinary achievements not only of the Second World War, but in the whole of military history. Millions of Allied personnel were involved in launching the greatest sea-borne invasion ever undertaken. Incredible acts of cunning and of courage ensured success in an operation that changed the face of the war, opening a vast new front. It led to the liberation of France and the defeat of Nazi Germany.

This is a summary of The 33 Strategies of War (2006), which teaches different approaches to conflict. Robert Greene examines ways to defeat an enemy in contexts ranging from violent battlefields to the sets of famous Hollywood films....

Long before Australia started to be considered one of the best places in the world to live, it was thought to be completely unlivable. In the 15th century, the European race to claim land began. Despite the fact that Australia was a large landmass, no nation believed it was worth colonizing. The land was claimed by the Netherlands. However, little exploration happened there. Many countries actually believed it to be uninhabitable. However, the Aboriginal populations had already been thriving on the land for millennia.

In 1859, the British and Americans coexist on the small island of San Juan, located off the coast of the Pacific Northwest. They are on fairly good terms—until one fateful morning when an innocent hog owned by a British man has the misfortune to eat some potatoes on an American farmer's land. In a moment of rash anger, Lyman Cutlar shoots Charles Griffin's pig, inadvertently almost bringing the two nations to war. Tensions flare, armies gather, cannons are rolled out . . . all because of a pig!

Kim Barker is not your typical, impassive foreign correspondent—she is candid, self-deprecating, laugh-out-loud funny. At first an awkward newbie in Afghanistan, she grows into a wisecracking, seasoned reporter with grave concerns about our ability to win hearts and minds in the region. In The Taliban Shuffle, Barker offers an insider’s account of the “forgotten war” in Afghanistan and Pakistan, chronicling the years after America’s initial routing of the Taliban, when we failed to finish the job.

On a hot day in July 1919, five black youths went swimming in Lake Michigan, unintentionally floating close to the white beach. An angry white man began throwing stones at the boys, striking and killing one. Racial conflict on the beach erupted into days of urban violence that shook the city of Chicago to its foundations. This mesmerizing narrative draws on contemporary accounts as it traces the roots of the explosion that had been building for decades in race relations, politics, business, and clashes of culture.