General Books

Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean: How a Generation of Swashbuckling Jews Carved Out an Empire in the New World in Their Quest for Treasure, Religious Freedom--and Revenge

Edward Kritzler

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Subjects -> History -> Americas -> Caribbean & West Indies -> General
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> Caribbean & West Indies -> General AAS
Subjects -> History -> World -> Jewish -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

At the end of the fifteenth century, the Spanish Inquisition forced many Jews to flee the country. The most adventurous among them took to the high seas as freewheeling outlaws. In ships bearing names such as the Prophet Samuel, Queen Esther, and Shield of Abraham, they attacked and plundered the Spanish fleet while forming alliances with other European powers to ensure the safety of Jews living in hiding.

JEWISH PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN is the entertaining saga of a hidden chapter in Jewish history and of the cruelty, terror, and greed that flourished during the Age of Discovery. Readers will meet such daring figures as “the Great Jewish Pirate” Sinan, Barbarossa’s second-in-command; the pirate rabbi Samuel Palache, who founded Holland's Jewish community; Abraham Cohen Henriques, an arms dealer who used his cunning and economic muscle to find safe havens for other Jews; and his pirate brother Moses, who is credited with the capture of the Spanish silver fleet in 1628--the largest heist in pirate history.

Filled with high-sea adventures—including encounters with Captain Morgan and other legendary pirates—and detailed portraits of cities stacked high with plunder, such as Port Royal, Jamaica, JEWISH PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN captures a gritty and glorious era of history from an unusual and eye-opening perspective.

Europe Between the Oceans: 9000 BC-AD 1000

Barry Cunliffe

Amazon Price: $26.37 List Price: $39.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Yale University Press Amazon Marketplace: 41 new & used starting at $23.99

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Subjects -> History -> Ancient -> Early Civilization
Subjects -> History -> Ancient -> General
Subjects -> History -> Ancient -> General AAS

Editorial Review:

Europe is, in world terms, a relatively minor peninsula attached to the Eurasian land mass. Yet it became one of the most innovative regions on the planet, generating restless adventurers who traversed the globe to trade, to explore, and often to settle. By the fifteenth century Europe was a driving world force, but the origins of its success have until now remained obscured in prehistory.

In this magnificent book, distinguished archaeologist Barry Cunliffe views Europe not in terms of states and shifting political land boundaries but as a geographical niche particularly favored in facing many seas. These seas, and Europe’s great transpeninsular rivers, ensured a rich diversity of natural resources while also encouraging the dynamic interaction of peoples across networks of communication and exchange. The development of these early Europeans is rooted in complex interplays, shifting balances, and geographic and demographic fluidity.

Weaving together titanic concepts while remaining sensitive to specifics, Cunliffe has produced an interdisciplinary tour de force. His is a bold book of exceptional scholarship, erudite and engaging, and it heralds an entirely new understanding of Old Europe.

(20080808)

The Bridge at Dong Ha (Bluejacket Books)

John Grider Miller

Amazon Price: $12.89 List Price: $18.95 Usually ships in 2 to 5 weeks By: US Naval Institute Press Amazon Marketplace: 2 new & used starting at $12.89

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Subjects -> History -> Asia -> Southeast Asia
Subjects -> History -> Asia -> Vietnam -> General
Subjects -> History -> Asia -> Vietnam -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

A "Well Done" Presentation of A Marine Legend 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 5 people found this review helpful.

This is one of the best written "Marine Legend" books that this former Marine has ever read.

John Grider Miller did an excellent job of interviewing Colonel (then Captain) John Ripley and his other sources. He presents what Colonel Ripley, his U.S. Army counterpart Major Jim Smock, and the Vietnamese Marines did at Dong Ha in 1972 in a fascinating story that is a quick and easy read. He also includes some of those intangible details that civilians may not notice, but that any Marine who served in Vietnam (or anywhere else) will recognize and appreciate.

Colonel Ripley's exploits are legendary in the U.S. Marine Corps. So too the courage of those Vietnamese Marines he served with as a "trusted friend" on that Easter Sunday. Colonel Ripley's visit to the gravesite near Di An tells it all. The bond between these "brothers in arms" was formed by honor, courage, commitment, mutual respect and sacrifice.

This book is on the Commandant's Reading list for all Marines, Private through General. And rightly so. It sets the standard high for all of us. It has an honored place in the "Read Again" section of my personal library.

Editorial Review:

In his desperate attempt to blow up the bridge at Dong Ha and keep some 30,000 men and 200 tanks at bay, Ripley endured three hours of direct fire to rig some 500 pounds of explosives. Such a story of raw courage and personal resolve is rarely encountered.

The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour

James D. Hornfischer

Amazon Price: $10.20 List Price: $15.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Bantam Amazon Marketplace: 65 new & used starting at $3.80

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Subjects -> History -> Americas -> General
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> General AAS
Subjects -> History -> Military -> Naval

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 128 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

“This will be a fight against overwhelming odds from which survival cannot be expected. We will do what damage we can.”

With these words, Lieutenant Commander Robert W. Copeland addressed the crew of the destroyer escort USS Samuel B. Roberts on the morning of October 25, 1944, off the Philippine Island of Samar. On the horizon loomed the mightiest ships of the Japanese navy, a massive fleet that represented the last hope of a staggering empire. All that stood between it and Douglas MacArthur’s vulnerable invasion force were the Roberts and the other small ships of a tiny American flotilla poised to charge into history.

In the tradition of the #1 New York Times bestseller Flags of Our Fathers, James D. Hornfischer paints an unprecedented portrait of the Battle of Samar, a naval engagement unlike any other in U.S. history—and captures with unforgettable intensity the men, the strategies, and the sacrifices that turned certain defeat into a legendary victory.


From the Hardcover edition.

Titanic's Last Secrets: The Further Adventures of Shadow Divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler

Brad Matsen

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Subjects -> History -> World -> Transportation -> Ships -> General
Subjects -> History -> World -> Transportation -> Ships -> Titanic
Subjects -> History -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 18 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

After rewriting history with their discovery of a Nazi U-boat off the coast of New Jersey, legendary divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler decided to investigate the great enduring mystery of history's most notorious shipwreck: Why did Titanic sink as quickly as it did?

To answer the question, Chatterton and Kohler assemble a team of experts to explore Titanic, study its engineering, and dive to the wreck of its sister ship, Brittanic, where Titanic's last secrets may be revealed.

Titanic's Last Secrets is a rollercoaster ride through the shipbuilding history, the transatlantic luxury liner business, and shipwreck forensics. Chatterton and Kohler weave their way through a labyrinth of clues to discover that Titanic was not the strong, heroic ship the world thought she was and that the men who built her covered up her flaws when disaster struck. If Titanic had remained afloat for just two hours longer than she did, more than two thousand people would have lived instead of died, and the myth of the great ship would be one of rescue instead of tragedy.

Titanic's Last Secrets is the never-before-told story of the Ship of Dreams, a contemporary adventure that solves a historical mystery.

Titanic: The Last Great Images

Robert Ballard

Amazon Price: $26.40 List Price: $40.00 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Running Press Amazon Marketplace: 41 new & used starting at $24.31

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Subjects -> Arts & Photography -> Photography -> Collections, Catalogues & Exhibitions
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> 20th Century -> General
Subjects -> History -> Americas -> United States -> General

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 3 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

Dead men tell no tales. Dead ships, however, do.

Over seventy years after the great ocean liner sank, marine geologist Robert Ballard discovered the wreck of the Titanic 12,500 feet beneath the surface of the icy North Atlantic. Now Ballard presents the world with an opportunity to live the story of the famous ship through his amazing last great images, before Titanic’s remains are gone forever. This is a story told in rusted, twisted metal and debris, but it is also a human story told in a porcelain doll’s face, an empty shoe, and an abandoned derby hat.

Titanic: The Last Great Images maps the wreck of the ship from a variety of perspectives to give a completely new picture of the triumph and tragedy that was Titanic. This illustrated volume—and a National Geographic special—weave the strands of the ocean liner’s story together in renderings done by the ship’s original designers, charts of the debris field, and period illustrations. Robert Ballard provides the clearest, most accurate view of the ship we have ever seen. In crisply detailed underwater photography, disintegrating ruins and shattered pieces reveal pride of workmanship, a rigidly defined class system, and indelible images of terror and courage. This book shows what makes the Titanic worthy of the world’s undying fascination.

Thunderstruck

Erik Larson

Amazon Price: $10.17 List Price: $14.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Three Rivers Press Amazon Marketplace: 163 new & used starting at $0.82

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Subjects -> History -> Europe -> England -> London
Subjects -> History -> Europe -> England -> General
Subjects -> History -> Europe -> England -> General AAS

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 152 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

A true story of love, murder, and the end of the world’s “great hush”

In Thunderstruck, Erik Larson tells the interwoven stories of two men—Hawley Crippen, a very unlikely murderer, and Guglielmo Marconi, the obsessive creator of a seemingly supernatural means of communication—whose lives intersect during one of the greatest criminal chases of all time.

Set in Edwardian London and on the stormy coasts of Cornwall, Cape Cod, and Nova Scotia, Thunderstruck evokes the dynamism of those years when great shipping companies competed to build the biggest, fastest ocean liners, scientific advances dazzled the public with visions of a world transformed, and the rich outdid one another with ostentatious displays of wealth. Against this background, Marconi races against incredible odds and relentless skepticism to perfect his invention: the wireless, a prime catalyst for the emergence of the world we know today. Meanwhile, Crippen, “the kindest of men,” nearly commits the perfect crime.

With his superb narrative skills, Erik Larson guides these parallel narratives toward a relentlessly suspenseful meeting on the waters of the North Atlantic. Along the way, he tells of a sad and tragic love affair that was described on the front pages of newspapers around the world, a chief inspector who found himself strangely sympathetic to the killer and his lover, and a driven and compelling inventor who transformed the way we communicate. Thunderstruck presents a vibrant portrait of an era of séances, science, and fog, inhabited by inventors, magicians, and Scotland Yard detectives, all presided over by the amiable and fun-loving Edward VII as the world slid inevitably toward the first great war of the twentieth century. Gripping from the first page, and rich with fascinating detail about the time, the people, and the new inventions that connect and divide us, Thunderstruck is splendid narrative history from a master of the form.


From the Hardcover edition.

Over the Edge of the World: Magellan's Terrifying Circumnavigation of the Globe (P.S.)

Laurence Bergreen

Amazon Price: $10.85 List Price: $15.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Harper Perennial Amazon Marketplace: 147 new & used starting at $1.00

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Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Historical -> General
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Historical -> General AAS
Subjects -> Biographies & Memoirs -> Specific Groups -> Adventurers & Explorers

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 115 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

very exciting - couldn't put it down 5 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

this is one of the most exciting adventure/discovery books i've ever read. it was a page-turner from beginning to end.

fascinating history 4 out of 5 stars.
0 of 0 people found this review helpful.

This is a fascinating read, full of details (politics of the time, how ships operate, torture, sexual mores of various tribes around the world, etc.). The story of the first voyage around the world is so amazingly dramatic one would say "too far fetched" if it were fiction. Every page is so rich with detail that you want to just slow down as you read. The only slight flaw is that the characters do not come quite as alive as I would have liked. But everything else about this book is so good, it's well worth reading.

Editorial Review:

Ferdinand Magellan's daring circumnavigation of the globe in the sixteenth century was a three-year odyssey filled with sex, violence, and amazing adventure. Now in Over the Edge of the World, prize-winning biographer and journalist Laurence Bergreen entwines a variety of candid, firsthand accounts, bringing to life this groundbreaking and majestic tale of discovery that changed both the way explorers would henceforth navigate the oceans and history itself.

Shattered Sword: The Untold Story of the Battle of Midway

Jonathan Parshall, Anthony Tully

Amazon Price: $17.79 List Price: $26.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Potomac Books Inc. Amazon Marketplace: 26 new & used starting at $16.01

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Subjects -> History -> Asia -> Japan
Subjects -> History -> Military -> Naval
Subjects -> History -> Military -> World War II -> Naval

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 114 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

Many consider the Battle of Midway to have turned the tide of the Pacific War. It is without question one of the most famous battles in history. Now, for the first time since Gordon W. Prange’s bestselling Miracle at Midway, Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully offer a new interpretation of this great naval engagement.

Unlike previous accounts, Shattered Sword makes extensive use of Japanese primary sources. It also corrects the many errors of Mitsuo Fuchida’s Midway: The Battle That Doomed Japan, an uncritical reliance upon which has tainted every previous Western account. It thus forces a major, potentially controversial reevaluation of the great battle. The authors examine the battle in detail and effortlessly place it within the context of the Imperial Navy’s doctrine and technology. With a foreword by leading WWII naval historian John Lundstrom, Shattered Sword will become an indispensable part of any military buff’s library. Winner of the 2005 John Lyman Book Award for the "Best Book in U.S. Naval History" and cited by Proceedings as one of its "Notable Naval Books" for 2005.

The Titanic Coloring Book

Peter F. Copeland

Amazon Price: $3.95 List Price: $3.95 Usually ships in 24 hours By: Dover Publications Amazon Marketplace: 38 new & used starting at $0.08

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Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Ages 9-12 -> General AAS
Subjects -> Children's Books -> Sports & Activities -> Activity Books -> Coloring Books

Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

If you judge a book by its cover 5 out of 5 stars.
9 of 36 people found this review helpful.

A book that invites children to color in scenes from a well-known disaster is probably as horrifying, as sinking in the ship itself. After being exposed to the media hype and all of the other coverage surrounding the film release and the Oscars, the last thing I would want is for children who color, which means they are usually of pre-school age, let their imagination run wild with a box of crayons. Studies have shown that children are attracted to color, and I can just imagine the 64 crayola packs famed magenta coloring the dresses of the woman jumping into the life boats. The cries for help written in block letters and sky blue for the bitter cold water that took so many lives. Maybe they can start a companion series and have children color in scenes from Kobe or perhaps the fateful plane crashes on the twentieth century. This coloring book makes me worship teletubbies, as I pray to Barney for salvation.

Editorial Review:

Impressive illustrations dramatically portray events leading up to and including the sinking of the "unsinkable" White Star liner. Descriptive captions accompany 29 realistic drawings of the Titanic at dock in Southhampton, England; passengers dining, strolling on deck, and relaxing in the elegant first class lounge; the ship striking the iceberg; more.