Modern War

In the early summer of 1866 half a million men from Prussia and the Austrian Empire fought the largest battle in European history prior to 1914 in the rolling hills of eastern Bohemia. The results of the battle determined that Prussia and not Austria would be paramount in the German world going forward. The Prussian victory at the Battle of Königgrätz has traditionally been ascribed to their possession of a breech-loading rifle and use of railways.

The modern era saw the emergence of individuals who had command over a terrifying array of instruments of control, persuasion and death. Whole societies were re-shaped and wars fought, often with a merciless contempt for the most basic norms. At the summit of these societies were leaders whose personalities had somehow given them the ability to do whatever they wished. Ian Kershaw's new book is a compelling, lucid and challenging attempt to understand these rulers.

It was a watershed year for Canada and the world. 1945 set Canada on a bold course into the future. A huge sense of relief marked the end of hostilities. Yet there was also fear and uncertainty about the perilous new world that was unfolding in the wake of the American decision to use the atomic bomb to bring the war in the Pacific to a dramatic halt.

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Last Witnesses, by Svetlana Alexievich, read by Julia Emelin, Yelena Shmulenson and Allen Lewis Rickman. What did it mean to grow up in the Soviet Union during the Second World War? In the late 1970s, Svetlana Alexievich started interviewing people who had experienced war as children, the generation that survived and had to live with the trauma that would forever change the course of the Russian nation.

Ghosts of a Family is a riveting cold-case investigation that invokes the smoke-filled streets of Belfast during the cataclysmic violence of 1920-22, and explores how the ramifications of the McMahon killings are still being felt to this day.

Jeremy Bowen, the BBC’s Middle East Editor, has been covering the region since 1989 and is uniquely placed to explain its complex past and its troubled present. In this new book, in part based on his acclaimed podcast, Bowen takes us on a journey across the Middle East and through its history. He meets ordinary men and women on the front line, their leaders, whether brutal or benign, and he explores the power games that have so often wreaked devastation on civilian populations as those leaders, whatever their motives, jostle for political, religious and economic control.

En la actualidad, China constituye una de las economías más grandes del mundo, y, según diversos analistas, en las próximas décadas será la primera potencia del globo.

This book provides an examination of the Korean War, including its causes, key players, and lasting legacy. From the invasion of South Korea by North Korea to the armistice that ended hostilities in 1953, this book covers all aspects of this conflict. You will learn about its diplomatic and military history, as well as how it shaped international relations for decades to come.

Considering herself unsuitable for any other contribution to the war effort, Monica Dickens opts for nursing, imagining herself gliding through the wards, serene in a pure white halo cap. On enrolment, however, she is promptly stripped of all illusions. Intelligent and headstrong, Monica struggles to submit to the iron rule of the Matron and toils over the mountains of menial work that are a trainee's lot. But there are friends among the staff and patients, night-time escapades to dances with dashing army men and her secret writing project to keep her going.

All they wanted was a bit of peace and quiet. What they got was drug dealers and carnage! A freak accident on a deserted road in New Zealand causes panic in MI6, Has the location of Scorpion Team been compromised? Are the team in danger? When the ‘accident’ is found not to be one, but a deliberate ‘execution’ style killing they are ordered to investigate. What follows is a ‘white knuckle’ ride as they try to uncover what’s going on. While staying out of the ‘crosshairs’ of an Assassin. One reviewer said ‘An excellent book by Lawrence Hebb if you have read none of his ...

This volume pays tribute to the work of 20 poets whose careers were profoundly influenced by the First World War - "the war to end all wars".

At 31 Laura Valiant is a successful art historian who runs her own art advisory and acquisitions company. She and her husband, Douglas Casson, a Wall Street lawyer, have a happy marriage marred only by the fact that they are still childless. But Laura’s life changes radically in 1997, when her best friend from childhood, Claire Benson, tells her she is dying. Claire, who is divorced, begs Laura to become her daughter Natasha’s guardian upon her death. Laura agrees and brings the 15-year-old girl to live with them in New York City after Claire dies.

The Ottoman Empire lasted more than six centuries. Its soldiers fought, died, and conquered lands on three different continents, making it one of the few stable multi-ethnic empires in history - and likely one of the last. Thus, it's somewhat inevitable that the history of its dissolution is at the heart of complex geopolitical disputes, as well as sectarian tensions that are still key to understanding the Middle East, North Africa and the Balkans.

A new era has begun for the Caskey family. Elinor’s relentless determination and the years of struggle are finally beginning to bear fruit: old hostilities have faded and the town is ripe for change. The conflict in Europe has brought new blood to Perdido, men arriving from far afield wanting to ingratiate themselves with the powerful family. But tangling with the Caskeys comes at a cost, and soon they must ask themselves how close is too close…

Earth was being watched from afar...by creatures far greater than man...and which coveted what man possessed. The War of the Worlds is invasion literature at its finest. H.G. Wells' popular classic has never been out of print, and is presented here in a stunning new, modern edition. Bonnem's insightful narration runs the gamut of emotions, simultaneously communicating both the horror of events and the innate humanity of this timeless tale.

In today’s modern world, every political regime - even the most authoritarian or repressive - describes itself as democracy or a democratic people’s republic. The concept of rule by the people and on behalf of the people has come to be accepted as the norm. Very few would overtly espouse the cause of dictatorship, absolute monarchy, or oligarchy as the most desirable political system upon which to base the government of any country.

You need to know that, in the 21st century, the military fabricates terror events to scare the populace into increasing their budget. This practice has only assumed center stage in recent times, since the 9/11 event. These events consolidate right-wing government and are used to demonize an innocent party which receives the blame, usually Muslims.

Russia has been locked into a winter of authoritarian rule at home and military adventures abroad under Vladimir Putin. In Kremlin Winter, Robert Service, one of our finest historians of Russia, plots the seasonal shifts in events since 2012 and those that may be expected in the immediate future. When Mikhail Gorbachëv introduced perestroika in the mid-1980s, the USSR went through a springtime of growth and release.

ANYA ACHTENBERG is an award-winning author of the novel Blue Earth, and novella, The Stories of Devil-Girl (both with Modern History Press); and poetry books, The Stone of Language (West End Press); and I Know What the Small Girl Knew (Holy Cow! Press). Her fiction has received awards from Coppola’s Zoetrope: All-Story, New Letters, the Asheville Fiction Workshop, the Raymond Carver Story Contest, the Minnesota State Arts Board, and more; and poetry awards include first prizes from Southern Poetry Review and Another Chicago Magazine. Individual works of fiction and poetry have also been ...

In this audiobook, read by Paul Spera, each historical event is replaced into context and presented in clear and easy-to-read snippets, so that younger and older readers can deepen their understanding of how modern France came to be and broaden their culture.