Book picks similar to
Making Sense of Normandy: A Young Man's Journey of Faith and War by E. Carver McGriff
biography
books-i-have
history-american
history-european
Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage
Sherry Sontag - 1998
Now, after six years of research, those missions are told in Blind Man's Bluff, a magnificent achievement in investigative reporting. It reads like a spy thriller -- except everything in it is true. This is an epic of adventure, ingenuity, courage, and disaster beneath the sea, a story filled with unforgettable characters who engineered daring missions to tap the enemy's underwater communications cables and to shadow Soviet submarines. It is a story of heroes and spies, of bravery and tragedy.
Far Outside the Ordinary
Prissy Elrod - 2014
But it happened.An emotionally honest account, Far Outside the Ordinary chronicles the period in Prissy’s life when, during a routine physical, her fifty-yearold husband is given less than a year to live. Southern black caregivers move into her home and work around the clock to aid her family. Soon, Prissy finds herself a spectator in her own home, observing events far outside the boundaries of her once ordinary life.Far Outside the Ordinary is also a story of happily ever after, a romantic fairy tale. When her high school boyfriend reappears in her life, Prissy learns love has no expiration date. Sometimes a second chance at love can come disguised, and when least expected.
Omar Bradley: General at War
Jim DeFelice - 2011
General”— humble, self-effacing, hard-working, reflecting the small-town virtues of the America whose uniform he wore. But those very virtues have led historians to neglect General Omar Bradley—until now. Bestselling author Jim DeFelice, in this, the first-ever in-depth biography of America’s last five-star general, tells Bradley’s full story, and argues that the neglected G.I. General did more than any other to defeat Hitler in World War II.While General George S. Patton has garnered much of the glory, General Dwight David Eisenhower has claimed much of the world’s respect, and British General Bernard Montgomery has kept the Union Jack flying, as DeFelice proves, it was the unassuming Bradley who actually developed the strategy and the tactics that won the war in Europe. Meticulously researched, using previously untapped documents and unpublished diaries and notes, Omar Bradley: General at War reveals:Why Bradley, not Patton, deserves most of the credit for America’s victories in North AfricaHow Bradley—first Patton’s subordinate, then his superior—was one of Patton’s great defenders, while also recognizing his weaknesses, and tried to cover up the infamous slapping incidentHow Eisenhower panicked—when Bradley didn’t—during the early stages of the Battle of the Bulge, delaying an American counterattack that could have saved thousands of livesWhy Bradley was a radical innovator in the use of combined air, armor, and infantry powerHow Bradley, contrary to those who like to portray him as a staid counterpart to Patton, was one of the most ardent practitioners of fast-moving offensivesWhy Bradley expected the Germans might use radiological weapons at NormandyProvocative, thorough, original, Jim DeFelice’s Omar Bradley: General at War deserves a place on the shelf of every reader of World War II history.
The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation: Stories of My Family's Journey to Freedom
John F. Baker Jr. - 2009
Baker Jr. was in the seventh grade, he saw a photograph of four former slaves in his social studies textbook. When he learned that two of them were his grandmother's grandparents, he began the lifelong research project that would become The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation, the fruit of more than thirty years of archival and field research and DNA testing spanning 250 years. A descendant of Wessyngton slaves, Baker has written the most accessible and exciting work of African American history since Roots. He has not only written his own family's story but included the history of hundreds of slaves and their descendants now numbering in the thousands throughout the United States. More than one hundred rare photographs and portraits of African Americans who were slaves on the plantation bring this compelling American history to life. Founded in 1796 by Joseph Washington, a distant cousin of America's fi rst president, Wessyngton Plantation covered 15,000 acres and held 274 slaves, whose labor made it the largest tobacco plantation in America. Atypically, the Washingtons sold only two slaves, so the slave families remained intact for generations. Many of their descendants still reside in the area surrounding the plantation. The Washington family owned the plantation until 1983; their family papers, housed at the Tennessee State Library and Archives, include birth registers from 1795 to 1860, letters, diaries, and more. Baker also conducted dozens of interviews -- three of his subjects were more than one hundred years old -- and discovered caches of historic photographs and paintings. A groundbreaking work of history and a deeply personal journey of discovery, The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation is an uplifting story of survival and family that gives fresh insight into the institution of slavery and its ongoing legacy today.
Kennedy Weddings: A Family Album
Jay Mulvaney - 1999
For three generations the Kennedy family has been in the public eye, and for three generations their marriages have been the equivalent of "Royal Matches." This book covers the senior generation wedding of Joe and Rose, the second generation weddings--most notably of Jack and Jackie, Bobby and Ethel--and all of the third generation weddings: John Jr. and Carolyn Bessette, Caroline and Ed Schlossberg, Maria Shriver and Arnold Schwarzenegger, Kerry and Andrew Cuomo, Kathleen and Peter Townsend, Courtney and Paul Hill, Michael and Victoria Gifford.The accompanying images, acquired from members of the Kennedy family, private collections of friends, and the JFK Library and National Archives, are as rare as they are unusual--many have never been published, or were published only at the time of the wedding. Kennedy Weddings is the result of years of extensive research and has benefited from the unprecedented cooperation of many members of the Kennedy family, most especially of Senator Edward Kennedy's office.
Brotherly Love
Darrien Lee - 2006
Unbeknownst to him, his wife, Cherise, and younger brother, Vincent, have ignited a passionate love affair. Overcome with guilt, the pair ends the relationship even though they still possess an undeniable attraction to one another. Years later, as Mason decides he's ready for a career change that would give him more time to spend with his family, he's asked to participate in a huge drug case. He concludes that one last job won't hurt, and it might allow him to leave at the top of his game. Besides, Mason realizes that if things get too tough and he has to be away for too long, he can always count on his brother to step in and take care of his family while he's undercover. What Mason doesn't realize is that putting Vincent and Cherise back together again could be as dangerous as his assignment—and tear his family apart once and for all. Darrien Lee takes readers on a roller coaster of emotions as lives, a marriage, and family ties are at stake. Brotherly Love is a book that readers will contemplate long after turning the last page.
The Pope's Last Crusade: How an American Jesuit Helped Pope Pius XI's Campaign to Stop Hitler
Peter Eisner - 2013
Pius enlisted John LaFarge to write a papal encyclical—the Vatican's strongest decree—publicly condemning Hitler, Mussolini, and their murderous Nazi campaign against the Jews. At the same time conservative members of the Vatican's innermost circle were working in secret to suppress the document. Chief among them was Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli, whose appeasement of the Germans underlay a deep-running web of conspiracy. Pacelli, who would become Pope Pius XII, was joined by Wlodimir Ledóchowski, leader of the Jesuit order, to keep the finished encyclical from reaching the increasingly ill Pope. Peter Eisner, award-winning reporter and author of the critically acclaimed The Freedom Line, combines shocking new evidence (released only recently from Vatican archives) and eyewitness testimony to create a compelling journey into the heart of the Vatican and a little-known story of an American's partnership with the head of the Catholic Church. A truly essential work, it brings staggering new light to one of the most critical junctures in modern history.
Haunted Memories Portraits of Women In the Holocaust
Lucille Eichengreen - 2011
Eichengreen exposes the heartbreaks of her closed allies and the brutality of the Jews, prisoners, and women she thought she could trust. Most memoirs about the Haulocaust - at least until about 15 years ago - were written by male survivors. Looking back, both men and women were subjected to various forms of sexual abuse. In female camps there were rapes, as well as sexual favors bartered for a slice of bread or a potato. Do we comdemn these people? Of course not! Driven to both mental and physical limits, anything was and is possible. There were true love stories. There were commitment and devotion. Some of these loves survived separation and war and lasted for years beyond liberation.
Down Milldyke Way
Harry Bowling - 1997
Forced to quit her terraced house in Bermondsey for rent arrears, Kate has to take the unpalatable step of moving to a slum tenement block in Milldyke Street, Dockhead. Here she meets the attractive Amy Almond whose friendship opens new doors of opportunity for fresh relationships. When Kate stumbles over the murdered body of a single woman who lived in the next block, she realises that she, herself, could be a target. She turns to the attractive and sympathetic Sergeant Cassidy for protection and finds that her emotions, as well as her life, are in danger...
Sinfully Loved
Bianca Xaviera - 2020
From dealing with her religious zealot of a grandmother to birthing a child that was a product of rape, Lavender deals with more issues at thirteen than most women twice her age. Not ready to be a mother, Lavender leaves her baby on her grandmother’s doorstep and finds the first ride she can out of the city. On a quest to find herself, Lavender rides a rocky road, teetering between life and death. Fifteen years later, she’s still searching for herself when she meets Shyheim Roosevelt. A caring, charming, and handsome youth pastor, Shyheim Roosevelt has been tasked with finding Lavender and bringing her back home. Carnal opposites attract when, in finding Lavender, Shyheim finds himself. From her outspoken opinions and alluring personality, she’s everything he could ever ask for in a woman. Her past is of no consequence to Shyheim, who also has a rocky past but has been living how his parents wanted him to for a little over a decade: by the Word. However, after spending just a small amount of time with Lavender, he understands that, like the Bible, people are capable of being multifaceted. The only things standing in the way of their love are Lavender’s reservations, his parents—and the woman he’s due to walk down the aisle with.
A Mother's Sacrifice: The most moving and page-turning saga you'll read this year
Jennie Felton - 2020
A Trap King Chose Me
N'Dia Rae - 2017
But when she comes out she finds that her whole world has changed. Her best friend, Meesha, who was supposed to pick her up from prison is murdered. Her trifilin', wellfare stealin' evil mother won't give allow her to take her son back. And her baby daddy has gone M.I.A. What type of man abandon's a woman who took a bid for him? To make matters worse, Heaven has nowhere to go nor a single dime to her name. All Heaven wants to do is get Blake back and start a nail salon but the streets has different plans. Eventually Heaven is taken in by CoCo, a friend that she met in prison. When Heaven meets CoCo's oldest brother Sin, her life takes a turn for the best. Sin is the Trap God of ATL. They eventually fall for each other but his love and lifestyle comes at a cost. Now Heaven has to decided whether she wants to take that risk again. Will Heaven get her life on track so that she can get custody of her son? Find out in this action-packed hood romance!
Cashmere Mafia
Keisha Ervin - 2013
Tired of being alone, Sunday Rose decides to set out on a quest to find the ‘perfect man’ before the year is done. With the help of her family and friends, she’s set up on multiple dates that will make you shake your head and laugh out loud.
Call to Kill: The first in a brand new high-octane SAS series
Billy Billingham - 2021
A Matin Christmas: A Novella
Dominique Thomas - 2017
With Ahmad being released from jail, Sophie is ready to celebrate. The family hasn’t taken a trip together in years so for Christmas Sophie rents out a luxury log cabin in Colorado. She struggles to get everyone on board at first but once they see their only option is to come they quickly relent. Between Drew and Aamil bickering over her working more and being home less and Aamil and Kasam fighting over past family drama the holiday trip is just what the family needs. With a host of supporting characters such as Bucks, Hayward and, Mauri you’ll get to catch up on the Matins and their friends that turned into family. Spend the holidays with them and have one more read about your favorite Matin men.