Book picks similar to
Vortex of Conflict: U.S. Policy Toward Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq by Dan Caldwell
non-fiction
featured-conversations-w-history
foreign-policy
iraq
Father, Son and Return to the Pennine Way
Mark Richards - 2018
Now comes the sequel… ‘Father, Son and Return to the Pennine Way’ picks up where Mark and Alex left off two years ago and sees them complete the last 100 miles of the Pennine Way. It’s a walk that tests them to their limits (well, one of them…) as they come close to exhaustion, even closer to being eaten alive and – armed only with a pair of shorts and a cup of tea – face-to-face with an assassin. …And, of course, they meet the inevitable cast of ‘characters.’ Barefoot Jimmy, Mr & Mrs Mad Eye, Lonesome Pete and ‘Theresa May.’ But there’s a serious side to the walk as well. It’s two years since they were last on the Pennine Way. They’re both two years older: how has their father/son relationship changed? Who’s really in charge this time? ‘Father, Son and the Pennine Way’ has been a consistent bestseller with over 130 5* reviews on Amazon. “My partner sent me to read in the spare room. All he could hear was me laughing! Would recommend this book to everyone, walkers or not.” ‘Return to the Pennine Way’ will make you laugh, smile and shed the occasional tear. You’ll be on the journey with Mark and Alex – and you won’t want it to end.
Duck Dynasty: Family Faith and Family Fun
Kevin Michael Byrne - 2013
(Hence the “Dynasty” part of the show.)But even though they may have large homes, the Robertson brothers love hunting and fishing and proudly proclaim themselves “rednecks.”Phil was a star quarterback at Louisiana Tech but turned down the offer to play in NFL because he didn’t want to miss the duck season where he began his business and spent 25 years making duck calls from Louisiana cedar trees.The now multi-million dollar enterprise is managed by Phil’s third son Willie who is CEO of the company, while his brother Jase is the COO.Despite their wealth, they still wear camouflage prints, they hunt - shooting anything that flies or walks, they’re religious, and they’re full of subtle humor.The Robertsons are a traditional family who believe in guns and God.In the following pages you’ll get to know the family members in the Robertson family and learn why the show Duck Dynasty is watched by millions.As Willie Robertson said when asked by he believes the show is so popular – “We try to stick to our roots.We grew up not rich at all.We try to stay humble. We’ve been successful and God has blessed us. We always have a family prayer at the end of the show.”
Creepy Tales of Unexplained Disappearances & Mysterious Deaths
Steph Young - 2017
Everyone loves a mystery….right? In this book, we travel down some winding and twisting paths as the stories become stranger and ever more mysterious as we look into the most mysterious, baffling and cryptic of cases. We meet a range of the most intriguing characters, a whole host of the strangest of circumstances, and the most interesting clues that have been found along the way. Creepy Tales of Mysteries of the Unexplained; Mysterious Vanishings and Unexplained Disappearances, Missing People, and Unexplained deaths…….. Perhaps you can solve some of these cases…… Many have tried…….But can you find the answers? True Tales of the most baffling & cryptic Unexplained Vanishings & Mysterious Deaths & the cryptic clues left behind. Unexplained Vanishings & Mysterious Deaths; there are Creepy Mysteries of the Unexplained....by bestselling author Steph Young. Join me on my Podcast, "Creepy Mysteries of the Unexplained," The Masquerade Podcast with Steph Young, for more strange and unexplained cryptic cases, missing people, and unexplained mysteries.
Kabul
M.E. Hirsh - 1986
Hirsh's internationally acclaimed 1986 novel, Kabul, provides an almost miraculous window into a country and its people that now have captured the world's attention.When the last Afghan king is deposed in the summer of 1973, the family of Omar Anwari, his loyal cabinet minister, is torn apart along with their country. Over seven turbulent years while Catherine, their American mother, struggles to hold them together, Mangal, the eldest son, breaks with his father to follow his own political conscience; daughter Saira in New York is torn between two cultures; and Tor, the youngest, most passionate of the three grows up to become perhaps the bravest of them all.An epic tale of civil war, political intrigue, and family tragedy, Kabul is a moving, insightful portrayal of a proud nation brought to chaos.
The Fighting 69th: One Remarkable National Guard Unit's Journey from Ground Zero to Baghdad
Sean Michael Flynn - 2007
Most of its soldiers were immigrant kids with no prior military experience and no intention of serving their country any longer than it took to get a paycheck or college credit. Once a respected all-Irish outfit, the 69th was now a Technicolor mix of Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Colombians, African Americans, Russians, Poles, Koreans, Chinese, and a few token Irish Americans. Their uniforms were incomplete and their equipment was downright derelict. The thought of deploying such a unit was laughable. But that is exactly what happened. With a charismatic mix of irreverent humor and eye-opening honesty, Sean Flynn, himself a member of the 69th, memorably chronicles the transformation of this motley band of amateur soldiers into a battle- hardened troop at work in one of the most lethal quarters of Baghdad: the notorious Airport Road, a blood- soaked strand that grabbed headlines and became a bellwether for progress in postinvasion Iraq. At home on the concrete and asphalt like no other unit in the U.S. Army, Gotham’s Fighting 69th finally brings its own rough justice to this lawless precinct by ignoring army discipline and turning to the street-fighting tactics they grew up with and know best. The Fighting 69th is more than a story about the impact of terrorism, the war on Iraq, or the current administration’s failures. It is the story of how regular citizens come to grips with challenges far starker than what they have been prepared for. Flynn’s dark humor, empathy, and candor make for a fresh look at who our soldiers are and what they do when faced with their toughest challenges.
The History of the Sunni and Shia Split: Understanding the Divisions within Islam
Jesse Harasta - 2014
The schism between the Orthodox and Catholic Churches influenced relationships between nations across Europe, and religious intolerance based on different Christian faiths led to persecution and outright violence across the continent for centuries. The Protestant Reformation split Christianity further, and the results culminated in the incredibly destructive Thirty Years’ War in the 17th century. Today, the most important religious split is between the Sunnis and the Shias (Shiites) within Islam. Unlike divisions in other faiths - between Conservative and Orthodox Jews or Catholic and Protestant Christians - the split between the Sunnis and Shia has existed almost as long as the faith itself, and it quickly emerged out of tensions created by the political crisis after the death of the Prophet Muhammad. In a sense, what are now two different forms of Islam essentially started as political factions within the unified body of Muslim believers. Over the past few centuries, Christians have mostly been able to live alongside their co-religionists, but the split between the Sunnis and Shias is still so pronounced that many adherents of each branch view each other with disdain if not as outright apostates or non-believers. The religious divide is perhaps the most important fault line in the turbulent Middle East today, with Sunni nations like Egypt and Saudi Arabia at odds with Shiite nations like Iran. At lower levels, non-state groups like the Islamic State and Hezbollah are fighting each other in ways that cross state lines in places like Lebanon, Iraq, and Syria. Although it is technically a split in religion, the divide has had substantial global ramifications for decades, and there seems to be no end in sight. The History of the Sunni and Shia Split traces the origins of the split and the historic effects of the main divide within Islam. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about the history of the Sunnis and Shias like never before, in no time at all.
The Forever War
Dexter Filkins - 2008
We go into the homes of suicide bombers and into street-to-street fighting with a battalion of marines. We meet Iraqi insurgents, an American captain who loses a quarter of his men in eight days, and a young soldier from Georgia on a rooftop at midnight reminiscing about his girlfriend back home. A car bomb explodes, bullets fly, and a mother cradles her blinded son.Like no other book, The Forever War allows us a visceral understanding of today’s battlefields and of the experiences of the people on the ground, warriors and innocents alike. It is a brilliant, fearless work, not just about America’s wars after 9/11, but ultimately about the nature of war itself.
The Forgotten Prince William: The House of Windsor's First Modern Prince
Parker Healy - 2012
A young page in Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip’s wedding, in thirty short years William became the House of Windsor's first modern prince but has been largely forgotten. He tested the limits of royal convention in work and love by pursuing a career in business and diplomacy and dating women who could never be accepted as a royal bride. William also lived an adventurous life, escaping several near death experiences during travels around the world, witnessing one of the most tragic periods in American history, and becoming a competitive pilot before his life was cut short in a tragic accident.Based on personal accounts by the family and friends who knew William best, extracts from his own reflections on his life and family, and photographs at different stages of his life, this book provides a unique glimpse into a prince’s coming of age and what growing up in the British royal family is really like.
Reading Laurell K. Hamilton
Candace R. Benefiel - 2011
Hamilton was reshaping the image of the vampire with her own take on the vampire mythos in her Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter fantasy novel series. While Hamilton's work draws on traditional vampire and fairy lore, her interpretation of these subjects brought new dimensions to the genres, influencing the direction of urban fantasy over the past two decades.Reading Laurell K. Hamilton focuses upon Hamilton's two bestselling series, the Anita Blake, Vampire Hunter series and the Merry Gentry series. The volume is intended as a resource for leaders of book clubs or discussion groups, containing chapters that examine Hamilton's role in the current vampire literature craze, the themes and characters in her work, and responses to Hamilton on the Internet. The book also provides a brief overview of Hamilton's life.
Manhunt: The Ten-Year Search for Bin Laden--from 9/11 to Abbottabad
Peter L. Bergen - 2012
Other key elements of the book will include:A careful account of Obama’s decision-making process as the raid was plannedThe fascinating story of a group of CIA analysts—largely women—who never gave up assembling the tiniest clues about OBL’s whereaboutsThe untold and action-packed history of the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC) and the SEALsAn analysis of what the death of OBL means for al Qaeda, and for Obama’s legacy. Just as Too Big to Fail captured, in riveting detail, the anatomy of this decade’s financial disaster, so too is Manhunt one of the key stories of this decade: the authoritative, immersive account of the operation that killed the man who organized the largest mass murder in American history.
The Amazing SAS: The Inside Story of Australia's Special Forces
Ian McPhedran - 2007
For the soldiers and officers of Australia's Special Air Service (SAS) Regiment, this is not just their professional motto, but a creed that shapes their lives. the SAS is among the world's most respected special forces units, a crack team of men from the Australian Defence Force who can be relied upon to handle the most difficult, strategically sensitive and dangerous of military tasks. Now The Amazing SAS provides a thrilling insight into the way this country's SAS soldiers are selected and trained, and reveals fascinating details about recent SAS deployments: East Timor, the 2000 Olympic games, the Tampa, the Afghanistan campaign and the regiment's action-packed mission in Iraq. The Amazing SAS draws on interviews with General Peter Cosgrove, Prime Minister John Howard, Chief of Army Lieutenant General Peter Leahy, former SAS commanding officers Gus Gilmore and tim McOwan, and many SAS soldiers and officers.
The Wit Of Cricket
Barry Johnston - 2009
Cricket is a funny old game - even when rain stops play! Now you can read not only the most popular stories by five of the game's all-time great characters - Richie Benaud, Dickie Bird, Henry Blofeld, Brian Johnston and Fred Trueman - but also the humour and insights of modern players including Michael Atherton, Andrew Flintoff, Darren Gough, Kevin Pietersen and Shane Warne. Crammed full of dozens of hilarious anecdotes about legendary Test cricketers such as Ian Botham, Geoffrey Boycott, Denis Compton, Michael Holding and Merv Hughes - plus broadcasting gaffes, sledging, short-sighted umpires and the first male streaker at Lord's!
Kill or Capture: The War on Terror and the Soul of the Obama Presidency
Daniel Klaidman - 2012
Behind the scenes, wrenching debates between hawks and doves—those who would kill versus those who would capture—have repeatedly tested the very core of the president’s identity.Top investigative reporter Dan Klaidman has spoken to dozens of sources to piece together a riveting Washington story packed with revelations. As the president’s inner circle debated secret programs, new legal frontiers, and the disjuncture between principles and down-and-dirty politics, Obama vacillated, sometimes lashed out, and spoke in lofty tones while approving a mounting toll of assassinations and kinetic-war operations. Klaidman’s fly-on-the-wall reporting reveals who has his ear, how key national security decisions are really made, and whether or not President Obama has lived up to the promise of candidate Obama. Readers making up their minds about him during the 2012 election year will turn to Kill or Capture to decide.
Happy Land - A Lover's Revenge: The nightclub fire that shocked a nation
OJ Modjeska - 2020
Who Killed Karkare? The Real Face Of Terrorism In India
S.M. Mushrif - 2010
The allegation that sections of and individual Indian Muslims indulged in "terrorism" surfaced for the first time with the ascent of the Hindutva forces in mid-1990s and became state policy with the BJP coming to power at the Centre. With even "secular" media joining the role as stenographers of security agencies, this became an accepted fact so much so that common Indians and even many Muslims started believing in this false propaganda. This book, by a former senior police officer, with a distinguished career that included unearthing the Telgi scam, peeps behind the propaganda screen, using material mostly in the public domain as well as his long police experience. It comes out with some startling facts and analysis, the first of its kind, to expose the real actors behind the so-called "Islamic terrorism" in India whose greatest feat was to murder the Maharashtra ATS chief Hemant Karkare who dared to expose these forces and paid with his life for his courage and commitment to truth. While unearthing the conspiracy behind the murder of Karkare, this book takes a hard look at some of the major incidents attributed to "Islamic terrorism" in India and finds them baseless.