War Years

Well-loved author Tomie dePaola brings his childhood memories to audio in this collection of books 5-8 from his 26 FAIRMOUNT AVENUE series.

Most people have heard about the French and Indian War, but you will find that most history classes have “forgotten” to explore some of the most interesting and important facets of this conflict. Its little-told stories and often underrated importance in world history have begun to be buried over the centuries. Was this epic struggle simply another war among many others in history?

Barack Obama’s inauguration as president on January 20, 2009, inspired the world. But the great promise of “Change We Can Believe In” was immediately tested by the threat of another Great Depression, a worsening war in Afghanistan, and an entrenched and deeply partisan system of business as usual in Washington. Despite all the coverage, the backstory of Obama’s historic first year in office has until now remained a mystery.

In 1959, agents acting for British Intelligence mastermind the famous escape of the Dalai Lama from Tibet. Three years later, Whitehall is again behind a spectacular secret mission against the occupying Chinese Forces…. Paul Chavasse is persuaded to return because he is the only man who knows about Tibet. Knows about the evil its oppressors are capable of. Knows just about enough to bring a vitally important scientist back to the West alive.

The 1930s are the darkest days of the Great Depression. Factories are closing their doors, millions of people are out of work, men are riding the rails searching for elusive jobs that seldom exist, and a thriving way of life that has been cherished is disappearing. Desperate people are doing desperate things just to survive, while labor strikes and veterans’ protests are turning violent. Roving gangs of outlaws have become celebrities to many people, who asked themselves why a man robbing a bank with a gun is any worse than a banker in a suit stealing someone’s life savings, home, or ...

A singular life often circles around a singular moment, an occasion when one's life in the world is defined forever and the emotional vocabulary set. For the extraordinary writer James Salter, recipient of the PEN/Faulkner Award, this moment was contained in the fighter planes over Korea where, during his young manhood, he flew more than one hundred missions.

In early 2022, veteran journalist Andrew North was kidnapped by the Taliban. By the time he found himself imprisoned in a jail cell, he had been reporting from Afghanistan for two decades, coming to know hundreds of Afghans along the way. This book brings together both his and their stories.

The opening years of the French and Indian War were disastrous for the British. Hindered by quarrelsome provincial councils, incompetent generals, and the redcoats' inability to adapt to wilderness warfare, Britain was losing the war. Learning that most of Britain's military resources were allocated to Louisbourg, the French launched a campaign along the weakened frontier. French Commander Louis-Joseph de Montcalm and his American Indian allies laid siege to Fort William Henry; Monro could not hold out and was forced to surrender.

Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President of the United States and commander of the Union forces in the Civil War, tells the story of his life in his own words. In this opening volume, Grant covers his early years, including his time at the U.S. military academy at West Point and his service during the Mexican War under Zachary Taylor. Grant wrote his memoirs in order to rescue his family from debt and they were published as he lay dying of throat cancer. Today, they are an American classic.

This story is from The Reminiscences of Sherlock Holmes (His Last Bow) collection. Further adventures by the master of observation and deduction, as faithfully recounted by his companion and greatest admirer, Dr. Watson. "The Adventure of the Bruce-Partington Plans," "The Disappearance of Lady Frances Carfax", and "The Adventure of the Dying Detective" are among the stories. David Timson's award-winning performances continue with this series.

Peter Ratcliffe served in the SAS for 25 years. Blooded in Oman in the 1970s, he also saw action in Northern Ireland, in the Falklands War, and in the Gulf campaign. From his early days in the Paras to his time as Regimental Sergeant-Major in the Gulf, he has lived and fought by the motto 'who dares wins'. Eye of the Storm is his insider's account of that exceptional career.

Farzana had been banned from attending school as a child, but education would take her further than she could have imagined. Bilal's dream of becoming a journalist was about to come true, but it would also expose him to untold danger. Abdul was on the cusp of finally becoming a doctor after his studies were delayed by years of war. Jahan's shoe-shine business was beginning to take a completely unexpected turn. And Naqibullah's life in a quiet province was soon to be shattered by the arrival of Western forces.

Nazis & Reds: A Chronology of the Prewar Years, is the first installment in The Protocols series, a series chronicling the rise of authoritarianism in the modern era from the Industrial Revolution to the implementation of the Final Solution in January 1942. The focus of Nazis & Reds is primarily the 1930s, a decade remarkably similar to our own. Like all the books in the series, Nazis & Reds is the continuing story of people caught in events. It is composed of carefully annotated excerpts taken from diaries, memoirs, newspaper and magazine articles, speeches, trial records, situation ...

The long war between France and England demonstrates the transition from the feudal order of society to the idea of national political organization. Its causes and the motives that kept it alive were rooted in a steadily growing sense of national unity and national honor.

I led a relatively adventurous life, even before I joined the Army. I faced many of the same challenges that most people encounter on a daily basis. When I enlisted and deployed overseas to fight the global war on terror, I knew my odds of surviving depended on my preparedness, my fellow soldiers, and a lot of luck. I had a very bad day at work shortly after returning home to Fort Hood from my second deployment.

Her plans for her Europe trip didn’t include falling in love! When Tiffany Gallagher flies to London to spend the holidays with her family, volunteering at a homeless shelter on Christmas Day isn’t part of her plan. Nor is having to travel to Edinburgh with Mac, the wounded and cynical Scottish photojournalist also volunteering at the shelter, to get the Scottish New Year's Eve she'd dreamed of, a real Hogmanay. Returning to London determined to prove to her family and to herself that she's good at something other than shopping, she sets up an ambitious back-to-work partnership between ...

An unbelievable series of events led to the establishment of the Northwest Electro-development Laboratory, later the U.S. Bureau of Mines Albany Research Center. Though the fledgling lab had difficulty securing staff due to World War II, world-renown metallurgist William J. Kroll was hired early on as a consultant after fleeing Nazi occupation. Kroll, who had pioneered a method for producing commercial titanium, worked with his core group of associates to develop malleable zirconium, just as a need arose for the little-known metal.

By early 1919, the hopeful cheers of Armistice Day have faded into a quiet, uneasy silence. Hettie returns to Canada, married to Alfred — a stranger in many ways — and haunted by the memory of her first husband, Geoffrey, whose death she never fully mourned. Burdened by unresolved grief, Hettie struggles to adjust to civilian life. As she attempts to piece together the remnants of her shattered past, she finds herself facing the cruel judgments of her new family who are hell-bent on making her feel like an outsider in her own home. Facing heartache and Alfred’s family’s cold cruelty...

Revisited 60 years on. Capt Hugh Pilkington enjoyed the full and fun life of a rubber planter in pre-war Malaya. Then war broke out and he found himself fighting in Johor. Blasted by a sniper, he was hospitalised in Singapore, only for the hospital to be overrun by the Japanese in a horrific massacre. Then as a POW he was soon sent to labour on the Death Railway in Thailand. Can you imagine the horrors? All the while he kept secret diaries, written on paper stolen from the Japanese.

Embark on a journey of strategic mastery with "Modern Art of War: Gift to my 7-year-old self" by Yaser Rashidi. This book is not just about chess; it's a blueprint for success in both chess and life. Through engaging storytelling and insightful lessons, Yaser shares the principles he learned as an adult but wishes he had known earlier.