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The Roar of the Lion: The Untold Story of Churchill's World War II Speeches
by Richard Toye''My aunt, listening to the Prime Minister's speech, remarked of "our greatest orator", "He's no speaker, is he?"' -diary of teacher M.A. Pratt, 11 Nov. 1942. The popular story of Churchill's war-time rhetoric is a simple one: the British people were energized and inspired by his speeches, which were almost universally admired and played an important role in the ultimate victory over Nazi Germany. Richard Toye now re-examines this accepted national story - and gives it a radical new spin. Using survey evidence and the diaries of ordinary people, he shows how reactions to Churchill's speeches at the time were often very different from what we have always been led to expect. His first speeches as Prime Minister in the dark days of 1940 were by no means universally acclaimed - indeed, many people thought that he was drunk during his famous 'finest hour' broadcast - and there is little evidence that they made a decisive difference to the British people's will to fight on. In actual fact, as Toye shows, mass enthusiasm sat side-by-side with considerable criticism and dissent from ordinary people. Yes, there were speeches that stimulated, invigorated, and excited many. But there were also speeches which caused depression and disappointment in many others, and which sometimes led to workplace or family arguments. Yet this more complex reality has been consistently obscured from the historical record by the overwhelming power of a treasured national myth. The first systematic, archive based examination of Churchill's World War II rhetoric as a whole, The Roar of the Lion considers his oratory not merely as a series of 'great speeches', but as calculated political interventions which had diplomatic repercussions far beyond the effect on the morale of listeners in Britain. Considering his failures as well as his successes, the book moves beyond the purely celebratory tone of much of the existing literature. It offers new insight into how the speeches were written and delivered - and shows how Churchill's words were received at home, amongst allies and neutrals, and within enemy and occupied countries. This is the essential book on Churchill's war-time speeches. It presents us with a dramatically new take on the politics of the 1940s - one that will change the way we think about Churchill's oratory forever.
Robert Burns: The Patriot Bard (Canongate Classics Ser. #24)
by Patrick Scott HoggFollowing the 250th anniversary of the birth of Robert Burns (1759-96), Patrick Scott Hogg presents the greatest of Scotland's poets within the true context of his times. Exploding the Burns myth, Robert Burns: The Patriot Bard replaces the ram-stam lad of popular cliché with the real, living Burns - a Scottish patriot of the heart, an idealist who wished for 'Freedom and Liberty' for his beloved country, but also a man who was pragmatically a British patriot and risked his life for democratic reform. Here Burns is painted in his native colours as a highly complex, hyper-intelligent writer in both prose and poetry, not the semi-confused, contradictory simpleton of previous biographies. The fascinating legend of Burns as a ladies' man is placed where it should be - as less important than the message of the bard.The real day-to-day Burns was irascible, stubborn-minded, independent, controversial and opinionated. He detested many of his social superiors within the feudal order and attacked them as hypocrites and oppressors of the common people. The voice of Burns, always in the language of the people, and his idealist vision of a better world endeared him as a poet of humanity 'the world o'er'. Drawing from Burns' existing canon of poetry and letters, plus some newly attributed works suppressed for over two centuries, this life story is a roller-coaster narrative that charts the success and untimely death of the greatest songwriter of all time, the real Robert Burns.
Robert E. Lee: A Biography (Greenwood Biographies)
by Brian C. MeltonThis biography provides a concise, accurate, and lively account of one of the best known yet least understood figures of the Civil War, Robert E. Lee, depicting him as a human being instead of a legend, making him accessible as a person.Robert E. Lee: A Biography takes one of the best known and least understood figures of the American Civic War down from his pedestal as an iconic, legendary hero and transforms him into a human being that 21st-century readers can easily relate to. Author Brian Melton clearly separates fact from the idealized lore and fiction created after the Civil War by members of what has been termed "the Lee cult." Through the book's thorough, clear, and accessible presentation, and its inclusion of accurate historical details—for example, Lee's status as an incurable flirt—General Lee becomes a fascinating and compelling mortal man.Intended for both high school students and the general public, this biography will offer a thorough and unbiased examination of Lee's life and military career. Readers will be able to clearly trace the steps that led Lee to prominence—both before and during the Civil War—and discover how his actions helped shape the American military.
Robert E. Lee: A Biography (Greenwood Biographies)
by Brian C. MeltonThis biography provides a concise, accurate, and lively account of one of the best known yet least understood figures of the Civil War, Robert E. Lee, depicting him as a human being instead of a legend, making him accessible as a person.Robert E. Lee: A Biography takes one of the best known and least understood figures of the American Civic War down from his pedestal as an iconic, legendary hero and transforms him into a human being that 21st-century readers can easily relate to. Author Brian Melton clearly separates fact from the idealized lore and fiction created after the Civil War by members of what has been termed "the Lee cult." Through the book's thorough, clear, and accessible presentation, and its inclusion of accurate historical details—for example, Lee's status as an incurable flirt—General Lee becomes a fascinating and compelling mortal man.Intended for both high school students and the general public, this biography will offer a thorough and unbiased examination of Lee's life and military career. Readers will be able to clearly trace the steps that led Lee to prominence—both before and during the Civil War—and discover how his actions helped shape the American military.
Robert Finlay collection
by Matt JohnsonAll three instalments of the action-packed, emotive Robert Finlay series of thrillersTense, grippingly authentic thrillers featuring Police Inspector Robert Finlay, who must overcome his traumatic past to mete justice and stay alive … by the number-one bestselling author and ex-police officer Matt JohnsonBOOK ONE – Wicked GameLONGLISTED for the CWA John Creasey (New Blood) Dagger award2001. Age is catching up with Robert Finlay, a police officer on the Royalty Protection team based in London. He’s looking forward to returning to uniform policing and a less stressful life with his new family. But fate has other plans. Finlay’s deeply traumatic, carefully concealed past is about to return to haunt him.A policeman is killed by a bomb blast, and a second is gunned down in his own driveway. Both of the murdered men were former Army colleagues from Finlay’s own SAS regiment, and in a series of explosive events, it becomes clear that he is not the ordinary man that his colleagues, friends and new family think he is. And so begins a game of cat and mouse – a wicked game – in which Finlay is the target, forced to test his long-buried skills in a fight against a determined and unidentified enemy.Wicked Game is a taut, action-packed, emotive thriller about a man who is willing to do anything to protect the people he loves. But is it too late?BOOK TWO – Deadly GameReeling from the attempts on his life and that of his family, Police Inspector Robert Finlay returns to work to discover that any hope of a peaceful existence has been dashed. Assigned to investigate the Eastern European sex-slave industry just as a key witness is murdered.Finlay, along with his new partner Nina Brasov, finds himself facing a ruthless criminal gang, determined to keep control of the traffic of people into the UK. On the home front, Finlay’s efforts to protect his wife and child may have been in vain, as an MI5 protection officer uncovers a covert secret service operation that threatens them all… Aided by new allies, he must not only protect his family but save a colleague from an unseen enemy … and a shocking fateDeadly Game is a stunning, terrifying and eye-opening thriller from one of the most exciting new names in crime fiction.BOOK THREE – End GameRobert Finlay seems to have finally left his SAS past behind him and is settled into his new career as a detective. But when the author of a book about secret operations goes missing, along with his agent and an explosive new manuscript, it’s clear that Finlay’s troubles are far from over.With his friend and former colleague, Kevin Jones, in trouble, and police complaints branch gunning for them both, Robert teams up with MI5 agent Toni Fellowes to find out who’s behind the growing conspiracy. Their quest soon reveals a plot that goes to the very heart of the UK’s security services.End Game, the final part in the critically acclaimed Robert Finlay trilogy, sees our hero in an intricate and terrifyingly fast-paced race to uncover the truth and escape those who’d sooner have him dead than be exposed.‘Utterly compelling and dripping with authenticity. This summer’s must-read thriller’ J S Law‘Nothing is clear-cut in a gripping labyrinthine plot, which – despite thrills and spills aplenty – never falls short of believable’ David Young‘Terse, tense and vivid writing. Matt Johnson is a brilliant new name in the world of thrillers’ Peter James‘From the first page to the last, an authentic, magnetic and completely absorbing read’ Sir Ranulph Fiennes‘Johnson, a former solider and Metropolitan Police officer, is at his best in detailing bureaucratic maneuvering’ Publishers Weekly
Robert Graves: From Great War Poet to Good-bye to All That (1895-1929)
by Dr Jean Moorcroft WilsonThe writer and poet Robert Graves suppressed virtually all of the poems he had published during and just after the First World War. Until his son, William Graves, reprinted almost all the Poems About War in 1988, Graves's status as a 'war poet' seems to have depended mainly on his prose memoir (and bestseller), Good-bye to All That. None of the previous biographies written on Graves, however excellent, attempt to deal with this paradox in any depth. Robert Graves the war poet and the suppressed poems themselves have been largely neglected – until now. Jean Moorcroft Wilson, celebrated biographer of poets Siegfried Sassoon, Isaac Rosenberg and Edward Thomas, relates Graves's fascinating life during this period, his experiences in the war, his being left for dead at the Battle of the Somme, his leap from a third-storey window after his lover Laura Riding's even more dramatic jump from the fourth storey, his move to Spain and his final 'goodbye' to 'all that'. In this deeply-researched new book, containing startling material never before brought to light, Dr Moorcroft Wilson traces not only Graves's compelling life, but also the development of his poetry during the First World War, his thinking about the conflict and his shifting attitude towards it. Robert Graves: From Great War Poet to Good-bye to All That casts new light on the life, prose and poetry of Graves, without which the story of Great War poetry is incomplete.
Robert Graves: From Great War Poet to Good-bye to All That (1895-1929)
by Jean Moorcroft WilsonThe writer and poet Robert Graves suppressed virtually all of the poems he had published during and just after the First World War. Until his son, William Graves, reprinted almost all the Poems About War in 1988, Graves's status as a 'war poet' seems to have depended mainly on his prose memoir (and bestseller), Good-bye to All That. None of the previous biographies written on Graves, however excellent, attempt to deal with this paradox in any depth. Robert Graves the war poet and the suppressed poems themselves have been largely neglected – until now. Jean Moorcroft Wilson, celebrated biographer of poets Siegfried Sassoon, Isaac Rosenberg and Edward Thomas, relates Graves's fascinating life during this period, his experiences in the war, his being left for dead at the Battle of the Somme, his leap from a third-storey window after his lover Laura Riding's even more dramatic jump from the fourth storey, his move to Spain and his final 'goodbye' to 'all that'. In this deeply-researched new book, containing startling material never before brought to light, Dr Moorcroft Wilson traces not only Graves's compelling life, but also the development of his poetry during the First World War, his thinking about the conflict and his shifting attitude towards it. Robert Graves: From Great War Poet to Good-bye to All That casts new light on the life, prose and poetry of Graves, without which the story of Great War poetry is incomplete.
Robert Ludlum's™ The Blackbriar Genesis (Blackbriar #1)
by Simon GervaisThe assassination of a Treadstone agent leads two Blackbriar operatives down a rabbit hole of deceit and betrayal in this explosive new series from the world of Robert Ludlum's Jason Bourne. A car explodes on a quiet Prague side street – and among the dead is an undercover Treadstone agent. It's not unusual for such men to meet their fates on an operation, but in this case there's one catch: none of the agent's superiors knows why he was there.Two Blackbriar operatives, Helen Jouvert and Donovan Wade, are sent to investigate. Their search for answers will take them deeper into the world of conspiracy and fake news than they ever expected. Treadstone and Blackbriar, intelligence and counter-intelligence, may be two sides of the same coin, but they have one thing in common: answers can be the deadliest commodity of all.Reviewers on Simon Gervais:'Thriller writing at its level best' Providence Journal 'Non-stop action meets relentless suspense' The Real Book Spy
Robert Ludlum's™ The Bourne Defiance (Jason Bourne #18)
by Brian FreemanJason Bourne is back... and this time he's the hunted one. The latest electrifying entry in Robert Ludlum's #1 New York Times bestselling series.Around the world, Treadstone agents are being hunted down and murdered... and Jason Bourne may be next on the list. Someone high up in the U.S. government is erasing all evidence of a shocking mission from Bourne's past, known as Defiance – and that evidence includes Bourne himself.Staying one step ahead of a team of killers, Bourne follows a global trail that leads him to one of the government's darkest secrets. But exposing the truth about the Defiance mission will also bring Bourne face to face with his arch-enemy, the assassin known as Lennon, for a final deadly confrontation.Reviewers on Brian Freeman:'Freeman has a firm grasp of Bourne's tangled background plus the skills to keep the action front and center. Bourne fans will hope for an encore from this talented author.' Publishers Weekly'This guy can tell a story.' Michael Connelly'Some of the most literate and stylish writing you'll find anywhere today.' Jeffery Deaver
Robert Ludlum's™ The Bourne Evolution (Jason Bourne #12)
by Brian FreemanBourne is Back....and in the crosshairs of every intelligence agency on the planet.New York Congresswoman Sofia Ortiz has been assassinated – and it looks like Jason Bourne was the rogue gunman responsible.Ortiz was about to blow the whistle on a scandal that could tie one of the most powerful tech companies in the country to Treadstone, the shadowy government agency that trained Bourne, and to something even more sinister. If he is to clear his name, Bourne is going to have to get to the bottom of the conspiracy Ortiz was killed to protect.It won't be easy: alone, on the run, with enemies at every turn, Bourne will have to put all his skills to the test – and uncover some new ones.
Robert Ludlum's™ The Bourne Sacrifice: The Bourne Sacrifice (Jason Bourne)
by Brian FreemanJason Bourne tackles a global media conspiracy and a murderous tech giant in the latest electrifying entry in Robert Ludlum's New York Times bestselling series.Bourne is back... Jason Bourne has faced many killers before, but none as dangerous as the assassin who calls himself Lennon. Bourne thought he had Lennon cornered in Iceland, only to have the killer escape in a fiery explosion. Now Lennon's trail leads Bourne to New York and then to Washington D.C. – and the body count rises with each deadly encounter.Bourne believes the assassin has a shadowy new employer called the Pyramid. The only clue to the group's agenda is a young German woman, murdered in D.C. on her way to a covert meeting. But the woman's entire identity turns out to be a lie, and news reports of her death have been strangely twisted and suppressed.Finding the truth about this woman may be Bourne's only chance to catch Lennon – and uncover the conspiracy behind the Pyramid. But the chase comes with high stakes. Bourne's former lover, journalist Abbey Laurent, is digging into the mystery too, and the battle against Lennon and the Pyramid will soon put Abbey in the assassin's crosshairs. Bourne will need to use every bit of his tradecraft and his genius for mayhem to expose this web of lies and murder before Lennon kills the woman he loves.Praise for Brian Freeman's Bourne books: 'Freeman has a firm grasp of Bourne's tangled background plus the skills to keep the action front and center. Bourne fans will hope for an encore from this talented author' Publishers Weekly 'Freeman's first Jason Bourne thriller is a treat for fans of the late Robert Ludlum' Kirkus Reviews
Robert Ludlum's™ The Bourne Treachery (Jason Bourne #13)
by Brian FreemanThe world's most ruthlessly efficient assassin, Jason Bourne, has carved a bloody swathe through all his opponents but now he's facing the one force he can't defeat – his own past – in the latest thrilling entry in Robert Ludlum's New York Times bestselling series.Three years ago, Jason Bourne embarked on a mission in Estonia with his partner and lover, a fiery Treadstone agent codenamed Nova. Their job was to rescue a Russian double agent, recently been smuggled out of St. Petersburg in the midst of an FSB manhunt.They failed. Their charge died at the hands of a shadowy assassin.Now, three years later, everything has changed. Nova is gone, killed in a mass shooting in Las Vegas. Bourne is a lone operative working in the shadows for Treadstone. He's awaiting his next assignment when his handler bring him shocking news.The Estonian mission was a set up. The double agent is still alive, deep in hiding from the Russian State Intelligence Agency. In order to find her, Bourne will have to come face to face with the errors of his past - and the death of the woman he love. And with the body count rising. he comes to an invevitable conclusion:Some secrets should stay buried.
Robert Ludlum's™ The Treadstone Exile (Treadstone #2)
by Joshua HoodFrom the explosive world of Jason Bourne emerges a new hero. Operation Treadstone made Jason Bourne, but he's not the only agent they trained.Adam Hayes was moulded into a weapon by Treadstone, the black-ops CIA programme that turns government agents into nearly superhuman assassins. To atone for his sins, he's left that life behind and is working as a pilot bringing medical supplies to endangered communities in Africa. But during a charitable mission in Burkina Faso, his quiet life is upended, when his aircraft is attacked by extremists. With his plane damaged, Hayes is forced to make an emergency landing, only to find a hornet's nest of trouble waiting for him on the ground.In order to get back in the air, Hayes agrees to transport a passenger – Zoe Cabot, the daughter of a tech baron – to a small coastal city. But what is supposed to be a simple job goes horribly wrong when Zoe is kidnapped right in front of his eyes. Determined to get her back, Hayes mounts a one-man rescue, but after being attacked from all sides, he realizes this is no ordinary kidnapping. Luckily for Zoe, Adam Hayes is no ordinary man and he'll stop at nothing to get her back – even if it means that his path to peace is littered with bodies.
Robert Ludlum's™ The Treadstone Rendition (Treadstone)
by Joshua HoodFrom the explosive world of Jason Bourne emerges a new hero.The final days of the American presence in Afghanistan bring Adam Hayes a summons he can't ignore in the new electrifying thriller from the world of Robert Ludlum.Adam Hayes has stepped away from the field for the very last time. He's promised his wife that he won't put his life on the line any more, and nothing will make him break that promise. Well... almost nothing.With America withdrawing from Afghanistan and the Taliban closing in, Abdul Nassir reaches out to his old partner, Hayes. Ten years ago, Nassir saved the American's life, and the time has come for repayment. Nassir is desperate to get his family out of the country. He is scared of the Taliban... but he can't trust the Americans either: his daughter witnessed a massacre committed by rogue CIA contractors. That only leaves one man who can get them out of the country: Adam Hayes.Reviews for Joshua Hood'A worthy addition to the Ludlum bookshelf' Mark Greaney'The perfect high-octane thriller' Simon Gervais
Robert Ludlum's™ The Treadstone Resurrection (Treadstone #1)
by Joshua HoodFrom the explosive world of Jason Bourne emerges a new hero. Operation Treadstone made Jason Bourne, but he's not the only agent they trained. Treadstone nearly destroyed Adam Hayes. The top-secret CIA Black Ops program trained him to be an all-but-invincible assassin, but it also cost him his family and any chance at a normal life. Which is why he was determined to get out. Working as a carpenter in rural Washington state, Adam thinks he has left Treadstone in the past, until he receives a mysterious email from a former colleague, and soon after is attacked by an unknown hit team at work.Adam must regain the skills that Operation Treadstone taught him – lightning reflexes and a cold conscience – in order to discover who the would-be killers are and why they have come after him now. Are his pursuers enemies from a long-ago mission? Rival intelligence agents? Or, perhaps, forces inside Treadstone? His search will unearth secrets in the highest levels of government and pull him back into the shadowy world he worked so hard to forget.The Treadstone Resurrection is the first novel in an explosive new series inspired by Robert Ludlum's Bourne universe, introducing an unforgettable hero and the covert world that forged him.
Robert Ludlum's™ The Treadstone Transgression: The Treadstone Transgression (Treadstone)
by Joshua HoodA blown mission and a dead team leave Adam Hayes on the run in this high-stakes thriller from Robert Ludlum's Bourne universe.From the explosive world of Jason Bourne emerges a new hero. The CIA has a source in Haiti with proof of corruption at the top of the American intelligence community. Yet a simple smash and grab mission is blown wide open when a powerful element in Haiti is threatened by the breach. The CIA team's only hope for survival is a speedy extraction.None of this matters to Adam Hayes. After years of dangerous operations for Treadstone, he's ready to call it quits, but the feeling isn't mutual. Treadstone want Hayes back for one more mission. And when the mission is blown and Hayes escapes with his life, everyone, it seems, is determined to correct that oversight.Reviewers on Joshua Hood:'A worthy addition to the Ludlum bookshelf' Mark Greaney 'The perfect high-octane thriller' Simon Gervais 'Hood is a master of action' Publishers Weekly
Robot Overlords: A thrilling teen survival adventure in a world invaded by robots
by Mark StayThree years ago, Earth was conquered by a force of robots from a distant world. They have one rule:STAY IN YOUR HOMESStep outside and you get one warning before you're vaporised by a massive robot Sentry, or a crawling Sniper, or a flying Drone. That's if the vast Cube doesn't incinerate you first.But Sean Flynn is convinced that his father - an RAF pilot who fought in the war - is still alive. And when he and his gang figure out a way to break the robots' curfew, they begin an adventure that will pit them against the might of the ROBOT OVERLORDS.This fast-paced, thrilling novelisation is based on the hit British film starring Sir Ben Kingsley (IRON MAN THREE), Gillian Anderson (THE X-FILES) and Callan McAuliffe (THE GREAT GATSBY). A perfect companion to the movie, it expands on the story with additional action, characters, and a special peek behind the scenes.
Rock and Tempest: Surviving Cyclone Tracy and its Aftermath
by Patricia CollinsWhen Cyclone Tracy flattened Darwin on Christmas Day 1974, it was the worst natural disaster Australians had ever experienced. Stationed in the city with the Women's Royal Australian Naval Service, Patricia Collins not only lived through Tracy but was part of the massive clean-up effort. This is her extraordinary story. The experience of living through a terrifying natural disaster is chillingly told by Collins as she recounts her own dark hours that Christmas, along with those of her contemporaries. They sat huddled in doorways and bathtubs as the winds raged, lifting off roofs, picking up cars and sinking ships. Most of the city was destroyed. Seventy-one people died.The Navy suffered terrible losses. A patrol boat was sunk with the loss of two crewmen and another was driven onto rocks. A sailor lost his wife and two children, and another lost his young son.In the days after Tracy, the majority of Darwin's population was evacuated interstate as the Navy's Task Force arrived to clean up and rebuild. Collins was there as a survivor of Tracy and now an integral part of the recovery.Rock and Tempest contains astonishing first-person accounts of terror and uncertainty as well as courage and survival. It is fascinating and moving, and absolutely essential reading.
Rock of Contention: Free French and Americans at War in New Caledonia, 1940-1945
by Kim MunhollandWhat went wrong in Free French relations with Americans during World War Two? Two peoples, presumably sharing a common cause in a war to defeat the axis powers, often found themselves locked in bitter disputes that exposed fundamental differences in outlook and intentions, creating a profound misunderstanding or mésentente that was a major source of Franco-American conflict during the war and has persisted since then. The site for this dispute was the South Pacific colony of New Caledonia. By documenting carefully French policy toward the American presence in New Caledonia during the war, the author demonstrates the existence of a deep-seated suspicion, fear, even paranoia about the Americans that colored almost every phase of Free French policy. Revising traditional views, the author lays bare the roots of the antagonism, which stem from perceptions and biases.
The Rocket Propelled Grenade (Weapon #2)
by Tony Bryan Ramiro Bujeiro Gordon L. RottmanThe RPG-series of weapons is the most widely used family of lightweight antitank weapons in the world today. RPGs have been used not only against their intended targets, but against personnel, fortifications, buildings, soft-skin vehicles, watercraft, and aircraft. Lightweight, relatively compact, easy to operate and maintain, they meet most of the requirements of any armed group. Like any weapon system, RPGs and their ammunition have their limitations. While these limitations are much touted by proponents of more advanced weapons, they lose sight of many armed groups' requirement for lightweight, compact, inexpensive, easy to operate and maintain weapons. Most sophisticated weapons tend to be just the opposite – heavy, cumbersome, excessively expensive, and requiring extensive training and an advanced support infrastructure. They are also more difficult to obtain due to export controls and restrictions. To be effective, an army actually needs a mix of both sophisticated and uncomplicated weapons. Gordon Rottman provides a detailed analysis of perhaps one of the most important weapons to be developed in the 20th century.
The Rocket Propelled Grenade (Weapon #2)
by Tony Bryan Ramiro Bujeiro Gordon L. RottmanThe RPG-series of weapons is the most widely used family of lightweight antitank weapons in the world today. RPGs have been used not only against their intended targets, but against personnel, fortifications, buildings, soft-skin vehicles, watercraft, and aircraft. Lightweight, relatively compact, easy to operate and maintain, they meet most of the requirements of any armed group. Like any weapon system, RPGs and their ammunition have their limitations. While these limitations are much touted by proponents of more advanced weapons, they lose sight of many armed groups' requirement for lightweight, compact, inexpensive, easy to operate and maintain weapons. Most sophisticated weapons tend to be just the opposite – heavy, cumbersome, excessively expensive, and requiring extensive training and an advanced support infrastructure. They are also more difficult to obtain due to export controls and restrictions. To be effective, an army actually needs a mix of both sophisticated and uncomplicated weapons. Gordon Rottman provides a detailed analysis of perhaps one of the most important weapons to be developed in the 20th century.
Rocks and Rifles: The Influence of Geology on Combat and Tactics during the American Civil War (Advances in Military Geosciences)
by Scott HippensteelThis book discusses the relationship between geology and fighting during the American Civil War. Terrain was largely determined by the underlying rocks and how the rocks weathered. This book explores the difference in rock type between multiple battlegrounds and how these rocks influenced the combat, tactics, and strategies employed by the soldiers and their commanding officers at different scales.
The Rodney Papers: Volume I, 1742–1763: Selections from the Correspondence of Admiral Lord Rodney
by David SyrettOverbearing, avaricious and difficult, yet talented and ambitious, George Brydges Rodney has never attracted much sympathy or understanding. He was nevertheless an original thinker and one of the great admirals of the eighteenth century. The contents of this volume, the first of three, document his career from 1742 until 1763 - his private and political life. His early years as a captain were spent in the severe conditions of the North Sea and in taking privateers in the western approaches. During the peace after 1748 he was Governor of Newfoundland and in the Seven Years' War blockaded Le Havre before going, as a flag officer, to command in the Leeward Islands where he participated in the capture of Martinique. This volume also contains letters to his wife which indicate, against past opinion, that Rodney had a heart.
The Rodney Papers: Volume I, 1742–1763: Selections from the Correspondence of Admiral Lord Rodney
by David SyrettOverbearing, avaricious and difficult, yet talented and ambitious, George Brydges Rodney has never attracted much sympathy or understanding. He was nevertheless an original thinker and one of the great admirals of the eighteenth century. The contents of this volume, the first of three, document his career from 1742 until 1763 - his private and political life. His early years as a captain were spent in the severe conditions of the North Sea and in taking privateers in the western approaches. During the peace after 1748 he was Governor of Newfoundland and in the Seven Years' War blockaded Le Havre before going, as a flag officer, to command in the Leeward Islands where he participated in the capture of Martinique. This volume also contains letters to his wife which indicate, against past opinion, that Rodney had a heart.
The Rodney Papers: Volume II: 1763-1780: Selections from the Correspondence of Admiral Lord Rodney
by David SyrettThis, the second of three volumes of the correspondence of George Brydges Rodney, covers the admiral's life from the end of the Seven Years War in 1763 until August 1780. This was perhaps his most eventful, extraordinary and controversial period; from being a successful admiral, a member of Parliament and the Governor of Greenwich Hospital, Rodney plunges into debt and a debtor's exile in France, only to rise again as a victorious admiral and as a national hero. At the end of the Seven Years War Rodney was disappointed and bitter at the failure of the British government to reward him for his prominent part in the capture of Martinique and other French islands in the West Indies. He was made baronet in 1764 and governor of Greenwich Hospital in 1765. He had already been a member of Parliament for Saltash in 1751-4, and sat for Okehampton, Penryn and Northampton consecutively between 1759 and 1774. In 1768 he was involved in one of the most costly elections in eighteenth century parliamentary history. He secured election at Northampton, but his finances were broken. Furthermore, he had begun to gamble heavily and, with a limited income, fell into the hands of moneylenders. In 1770 he attempted to recoup his finances by becoming Commander-in-Chief at Jamaica. Nevertheless in the West Indies until 1774 Rodney managed a successful period of diplomacy with Spain, of intelligence gathering, and of navigational surveying especially off the coast of Florida. Even so, he returned to England deeply in debt and was forced to flee to France to escape his creditors. The war with the American colonies proved to be Rodney's salvation. After war with France had broken out, in 1779 the British government was desperate for an admiral who could fight and win battles. Rodney was appointed Commander-in-Chief in the Leeward Islands. His success in battle and skillful conduct of the naval war in the West Indies in 1780 restored Rodney's public standing. The stage was set for his most famous victory, the Battle of the Saintes in 1782, and the restoration of his private finances. George Brydges Rodney had gone through a dramatic change of fortunes. The character of that man is revealed here. This volume will permit re-assessment of this outstanding British admiral of the American War of Independence for a new generation of historians.