Life On The Old Plantation In Ante-Bellum Days


Irving E. Lowery - 2009
    Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment for protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature in affordable, high quality, modern editions that are true to the original work.

Secondhand Scotch: How One Family Survived in Spite of Themselves


Cathy Curran - 2016
    Lillian Low's homespun values-people come in all flavors just like ice cream-bring joy and humor into the Low house. When restless Joe Low ditches one suburb for another because he wants a do-over, Lillian tells him, "How the hell many do you need? Don't you know that wherever you go, you've got to take yourself with you?" Along for the ride is the colorful, extended Low clan, who turn up to celebrate the arrival of Joe and Lillian's army of kids. They eat, sing, Joe gets plastered, and all too often, scotch-fired arguments lead to some good old-fashioned fistfights. The mayhem that actually started the brawl gets swept under the carpet, and when Curran finally pulls it up, pandemonium emerges from hell with a vengeance. Through the vision of a sensitive young girl with a wickedly funny voice, "Secondhand Scotch" uncorks some harsh realities, but never ceases to warm and entertain.

We Escaped: A Family's Flight from Holland During WWII


Alexander H. ter Weele - 2015
    seasoned with the terror of war. We Escaped plunges the reader into the extraordinary World War II escapades of an ordinary couple and their children as they first escape from Nazi-occupied Holland; and then deal with the war years by leavening danger and stress with the joy and love of everyday family life. It is the song and dance of The Sound of Music seasoned with the terror of guns and blood. The story begins in the Netherlands, a peaceful nation protected by a treaty of neutrality and kinship with Hitler's Germany. The calm is shattered by the cacophony and confusion of battle as, under the guns of panzers, German troops overrun Holland's lines. The ter Weele family's subsequent exodus from their home is told from the points of view of the father, Lieutenant Carl ter Weele, a Dutch reservist called up to defend the Grebbeberg; his wife Margery, an American citizen raised in Boston, who delivers her third child in a hospital not far from the Grebbeberg as war threatens; their oldest son, six-year-old Jan, whose dark eyes and hair lead Nazis to suspect he is Jewish; and their second son, Alex, a blond and fair-skinned imp, who at the age of two charms a German border guard into allowing the family to cross into Switzerland. Within weeks of Germany's conquest of Holland, the family has to flee the dragnet of the Gestapo, which is arresting all Dutch military officers. As far as Carl can see, the only way out is through Germany, and from there it's a tortuous and terrifying journey through Switzerland, Vichy France, Spain, and Portugal, with the Gestapo a threat at every turn.

Hard Core Poor - a book on extreme thrift


Kelly Sangree - 2014
    I hope it helps you too!

Abandoned in Hell: The Fight For Vietnam's Firebase Kate


William Albracht - 2015
    He found their defenses woefully unprepared. At dawn the next morning, three North Vietnamese Army regiments—some 6,000 men—crossed the Cambodian border and attacked. Outnumbered three dozen to one, Albracht’s men held off repeated ground assaults by communist forces with fierce hand-to-hand fighting, air support and a dangerously close B-52 strike. For days, the NVA blanketed Kate in a rain of rockets, mortars, artillery, machineguns, and small arms, blocking efforts to resupply, reinforce, or evacuate the outpost. Albracht continually exposed himself to enemy fire to direct air strikes, to guide re-supply helicopters, to distribute ammunition and water to his men, to retrieve the dead and to rescue the wounded, often shielding men with his own body. Wounded by rocket shrapnel, he refused medical attention or evacuation. Exhausted from days without sleep, he continued to rally his men to beat off each new enemy attack. After five days, Kate’s defenders were out of ammo and water. Aerial resupply was suicidal, and reinforcements were denied by military commanders who had written off Kate. Albracht refused to surrender or die in place. Refusing to allow his men to surrender, Albracht led his troops, including many wounded, off the hill and on a daring night march through enemy lines. Abandoned in Hell is an astonishing memoir of leadership, sacrifice, and brutal violence, a riveting journey into Vietnam’s heart of darkness, and a compelling reminder of the transformational power of individual heroism. Not since Lone Survivor and We Were Soldiers Once, And Young has there been such a gripping and authentic account of battlefield courage.INCLUDES PHOTOS

Something Wicked: A Violet Carlyle and Friends Mystery (A Smith Investigates Mystery Book 1)


Beth Byers - 2021
    

Da Nang Diary: A Forward Air Controller's Gunsight View of Flying with SOG


Tom Yarborough - 1990
    This true story of the Prairie Fire FACs describes the impossible rescues and harrowing day-long missions these courageous fliers experienced as they took the war into the enemy's backyard. Photographs. Martin's.

Bat 21


William C. Anderson - 1980
    Col, Iceal E. Hambleton, U.S. Air Force, has been a forgotten hero since 1972. As North Vietnam's hammer was beating out South Vietnam's submission, Hambleton was shot down 12 miles south of the DMZ. He later received the Silver Star and lesser medals. They don't seem enough. For "Bat-21" reveals a military man amidst 12 days of continuous valor, above and beyond other moments of bloody bravery. And it is certainly worth noting that Hambleton, quite out of his element as an airman ducking on the ground, was 53 years old—too ancient for such combat. A navigator aboard an EB-66 radar plane, Hambleton's body was peppered by flak and jolted by ejection after a surface-to-air missile exploded his aircraft. He parachuted, not behind North Vietnamese lines, but into the middle of a major advance. Despite injuries, Hambleton buried himself in a shallow grave while American aircraft ringed his position with gravel, lemon-sized mines to block North Vietnamese searchers. They wanted him. We wanted him. Hambleton's head was stuffed with electronic surveillance secrets. In the literal tug-of-war that followed, with helicopter rescue made impossible by enemy gunfire, Hambleton used his survival radio to call in air strikes against gun emplacements and troop movements in his area. His diet was rainwater and raw corn. He fought pain, infection and eventual dysentery. He survived earth tremors when, for the first time in the history of air search and rescue, a B-52 strike was used to sterilize hostile ground around his hideaway. His movements constantly quarterbacked by a forward air controller orbiting a light plane overhead, Hambleton was eventually ordered to crawl to freedom at night. North Vietnamese were known to be monitoring rescue frequencies, So a code was devised; he was given distances and directions toward freedom that overlaid golf courses he had played. Hazards for Hambleton's deadly 18 holes were a polluted river, leeches, snakes, exhaustion, starvation, dehydration, illness, hallucination and an encounter with a North Vietnamese soldier Hambleton killed in a knife fight. It is a tense, ascending narrative, written capably by Anderson so long after the event. He catches the jargon and humor of airmen. He has no difficulty pegging the depression and euphoria of a man in the middle, the unexpected stamina born of stubbornness and, through it all, the frustration of a 53-year-old man forcing himself to generate the vitality of a 24-year-old."

Kicker


R. Grey Hoover - 2012
    Based on actual experiences and official records from World War II, Kicker is a thrilling war novel of a man’s journey into hell. From the pleasant hills of Pennsylvania to the torrid jungles of Burma, Sam endures relentless enemy attacks against his unarmed aircraft while his family struggles with shortages and rationing at home. This is the tale of "the forgotten front", the bloody, grueling campaign to push the Japanese out of Burma.Although Kicker is an epic work of historical fiction, this World War 2 thriller is based on official military aviation history records and the real experiences of United States veterans who fought in the China-Burma-India Theater (CBI) "the forgotten front". Through unforgettable scenes in Burmese skies filled with monsoon storms and enemy fighter planes, Kicker tells the story of the brave Army Air Corps soldiers who risked their lives in unarmed aircraft to drop supplies to Merrill's Marauders and over 750,000 allied soldiers fighting in the perilous jungles of Burma.In effort to keep Japanese forces occupied in China, the Allies flew unarmed supply missions over the treacherous Himalayan Mountains between India and China. Their route, known as The Hump, saw the loss of over 1500 airmen and 2000 planes due to endless attacks by Japanese Zeros and some of the world's worst flying conditions. The Hump became known as "the skyway to hell" and "the aluminum trail" from the large amount of aircraft wreckage strewn across the Himalayan slopes.Allied soldiers in the jungles of Burma fought everyday just to survive. They faced elite, fearless Japanese soldiers and man-eating beasts. The Allies were surrounded by poisonous snakes, insects, and plants. These brave men suffered through monsoon seasons, so wet and humid, their uniforms rotted off their bodies as they fought fanatical Kamikaze armies through jungle and swamplands.From the Forgotten Front to the Homefront, Kicker brings you the story of America's Greatest Generation through the eyes of the men and women who would be forever haunted by their experiences.Reviews from fans of Kicker:"I could not put this book down, as the story of Sam, the young volunteer and aspiring pilot, unfolds. The author delivers his story telling with a rich back drop of historical details reflecting a thoroughly researched knowledge of the subject matter." Elray"Would recommend this not only to history buffs and WWII aficionados (like myself) but to any reader interested in being transported to another time and place, one that shaped all of our lives and fortunes today, worldwide." W.M. Driscoll"What an interesting story! I learned so much about heroes not mentioned in history books." Jacquie Rhoades"History made real through the telling of one soldier's story. This book made me miss my father and all of the stories he never told me." Linda S. Browning"Hoover leaves nothing out. He shows the sacrifices made on the battle front, as well as sacrifices made on the home front." Candi Silk

Geronimo's Bones


Darrell Bryant - 2018
    Days later, a young, highly decorated Marine corporal named Frank Kidd learns of Geronimo’s death. Kidd’s real name is Chaco, and he is Geronimo’s nephew. Orphaned at birth, Chaco was toughened by the cruelties of the white man’s Indian school, battle-hardened by guerrilla warfare, and severely wounded in the 1906 Cuban Pacification Campaign. Chaco returns to Fort Sill’s Apache POW camp to find his adoptive mother dying and his sister trapped in a brothel. Long-held secrets are soon revealed: Chaco is the old warrior’s last son, and his father’s final wish was to be buried “in the country that knows my name.” To honor that request, Chaco must rescue his sister and liberate Geronimo’s bones from the Apache Cemetery. During the escape, two white men end up dead. Once an honored hero, now a hunted outlaw, Chaco races west with his sister in a stolen motorcar. As the last Apache warrior, he must pay the price with blood in one of the largest manhunts of the 20th century.

What America Was Really Like in 1776


Thomas Fleming - 2012
    New York Times bestselling historian and novelist Thomas Fleming takes us back to the days of the founders, detailing the surprising facts of American life in 1776 - including its resemblance to today.

Churchill and the Avoidable War: Could World War II Have Been Prevented?


Richard M. Langworth - 2015
    Churchill, 1948: World War II was the defining event of our age—the climactic clash between liberty and tyranny. It led to revolutions, the demise of empires, a protracted Cold War, and religious strife still not ended. Yet Churchill maintained that it was all avoidable. Here is a transformative view of Churchill’s theories, prescriptions, actions, and the degree to which he pursued them in the decade before the war. It shows that he was both right and wrong: right that Hitler could have been stopped; wrong that he did all he could to stop him. It is based on what really happened—evidence that has been “hiding in public” for many years, thoroughly referenced in Churchill’s words and those of his contemporaries. Richard M. Langworth began his Churchill work in 1968 when he organized the Churchill Study Unit, which later became the Churchill Centre. He served as its president and board chairman and was editor of its journal Finest Hour from 1982 to 2014. In November 2014, he was appointed senior fellow for Hillsdale College’s Churchill Project. Mr. Langworth published the first American edition of Churchill’s India, is the author of A Connoisseur’s Guide to the Books of Sir Winston Churchill, and is the editor of Churchill by Himself, The Definitive Wit of Winston Churchill, The Patriot’s Churchill, All Will Be Well: Good Advice from Winston Churchill, and Churchill in His Own Words. His next book is Winston Churchill, Urban Myths and Reality. In 1998, Richard Langworth was appointed a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire by HM The Queen “for services to Anglo-American understanding and the memory of Sir Winston Churchill.”

La Vie En Rose: Notes From Rural France


Susie Kelly - 2017
    French ladies slender and chic, French men wearing berets and riding bicycles with baguettes clamped under their arms when they are not flirting outrageously, and all the while the sun shines down benevolently upon uniform rows of ripening vegetables. Dreams are strange and unpredictable, and sometime so is la vie en rose. A pick from some of the best bits of the popular travel author's blog diaries reveal the minutiae of expat day to day life in rural France. A must-read for Susie Kelly fans and anybody thinking of, or dreaming of, moving to France.

Fighting Back: The Rocky Bleier Story


Rocky Bleier - 1975
    Book by Rocky Bleier, Terry O'Neil

One Woman's Journey: Surviving the Streets


Brittany Dodd-Santiago - 2020