Best of
Abandoned

1948

The Big Show: The Classic Account of WWII Aerial Combat


Pierre Clostermann - 1948
    Perhaps the most viscerally exciting book ever written by a fighter pilot.' Rowland White Pierre Clostermann DFC was one of the oustanding Allied aces of the Second World War. A Frenchman who flew with the RAF, he survived over 420 operational sorties, shooting down scores of enemy aircraft while friends and comrades lost their lives in the deadly skies above Europe. THE BIG SHOW, his extraordinary account of the war, has been described as the greatest pilot's memoir of WWII. ‘A truly remarkable book … the most gripping descriptions of aerial combat I have ever read’ New York Times ‘A thrilling read … ranks among the finest accounts of war’ Guardian ‘A magnificent story’ Daily Telegraph ‘A classic … gripping, ripping, full of action’ Economist ‘Vividly captures the spirit of air combat’ The Times 'The relentlessness of the flying is extraordinary and the casual loss of life chilling. It really is one of the very best war memoirs ever written: exhilarating, exciting, deeply moving and a book that lingers in the mind long after the last page has been turned.' James Holland

The King and the Corpse: Tales of the Soul's Conquest of Evil


Heinrich Robert Zimmer - 1948
    Beginning with a tale from the Arabian Nights, this theme unfolds in legends from Irish paganism, medieval Christianity, the Arthurian cycle, and early Hinduism. In the retelling of these tales, Zimmer discloses the meanings within their seemingly unrelated symbols and suggests the philosophical wholeness of this assortment of myth.

City Boy


Herman Wouk - 1948
    A hilarious and often touching tale of an urban kid's adventures and misadventures on the street, in school, in the countryside, always in pursuit of Lucille, a heartless redhead personifying all the girls who torment and fascinate pubescent lads of eleven.

Time Will Darken It


William Maxwell - 1948
    Pregnant with her second child, Martha King finds her marriage to lawyer Austin King more and more frustrating when her husband befriends his young foster cousin, Nora, and, in the process, unwittingly jeopardizes his marriage, career, and place in the community.

Twelve O'Clock High!


Beirne Lay Jr. - 1948
    They were cut by losses, weakened by endless bombing missions, but they were going back to battle...and Savage was no arm-chair pilot-he was going to lead the attack!

Still Glides the Stream


Flora Thompson - 1948
    

Miss Ulysses from Puka-Puka: The Autobiography of a Sea Trader's Daughter


Florence Johnny Frisbie - 1948
    It tells the amazing story of a young girl growing up on a remote island in the Cook Islands group. Written when Johnny was between the ages of 12 and 14, and published in 1948 when she was 15, Johnny likens her travels through South Pacific islands to those of Ulysses in the Odyssey. Through Johnny’s fresh and unspoiled eyes, we read of a Garden-of-Eden existence on a remote atoll, where the land and the sea provide all that is necessary for life. The sea brings danger as well; Johnny describes the terror of a hurricane that all but destroys a deserted island where she and her family are marooned. The sea rises and floods the entire island to a depth of six feet; they barely survive by tying themselves to the topmost branches of a tall tree. Johnny’s writing sparkles. She has humor and wisdom beyond her years as she describes life and customs on the island where she grew up. Her grandmother’s extended family, the trading station operated by her father, the local witch doctor, a native missionary, her father’s mistress after the death of her mother, and her first boyfriend are among the characters she describes with unflinching honesty. Cut off from the outside world, the island is so remote that six months pass between visits by passing ships. She learns at an early age to be self-reliant. Struck early by tragedy (her mother died when Johnny was nine years old), she helps her father care for four brothers and sisters until he falls ill and dies when she is sixteen. Friends including James A. Michener arrange a foster family in Hawaii where she pursues her education and re-unites with her two sisters. Out of print for more than sixty years, Johnny has added two new chapters to this classic and compelling book and illustrated it with family photos and three maps.

Rendezvous With Destiny: History Of The 101st Airborne Division


Leonard Rapport - 1948
    Never before has such a detailed study been made of the organization, training and operations of a single division of the United States Army. Each action in which the Division took part has been minutely studied and checked against available operations reports and the memories of the men who were there.

The Reappearance of the Christ


Alice A. Bailey - 1948
    This book presents the second coming of the Christ, as the world Teacher for the age of Aquarius, as an imminent event in the continuity of divine revelation. The Christ belongs to all mankind, and can be known and understood as the same great Identity in all the world religions.

Malabar Farm


Louis Bromfield - 1948
    He named the estate Malabar Farm after the Malabar Coast of India, the setting of his 1937 book The Rains Came. Bromfield then set about to restore the land, putting into practice soil and water conservation techniques that later became widely influential. Devoted to educating farmers and the public about soil and water conservation, Bromfield hosted thousands of visitors at Malabar and expounded his ideas in speeches, columns, and over the radio. He also continued to write books, turning to non-fiction to share his experiences. Among these are Malabar Farm (1948) and Out of the Earth (1950). Bromfield died in 1956 and in the following years Malabar passed out of family ownership. Malabar Farm became a state park in 1976, demonstrating techniques that Bromfield put into practice.

Alternative to Futility


Elton Trueblood - 1948
    Is peace possibe, and if it is, how so?