Historical & Political Biographies

This book explores the complex life of Robert "Bob" Hilliard, a renowned International Brigadista and maverick figure in Irish history, as his granddaughter, Lin Rose Clark, uncovers his legacy of love, war, and personal contradictions while seeking to understand the impact of his choices on their family.

"The P-38 Lightning was one of the fastest operational fighters of World War II, famous for its successes in North Africa and the Pacific. In The P-38 Lightning and the Men Who Flew It, Wolfgang W. E. Samuel shares the stories of the young men who climbed into the cockpits of the P-38 to fight for freedom, and of those who created, tested, and deployed these fearsome machines. The P-38 was the product of the Lockheed Corporation, the first fighter they ever built, principally conceptualized by Kelly Johnson, whose design was to meet Air Corps specifications. To do that he came up with a twin-engine aircraft with a tricycle landing gear unlike any other military aircraft of the time. But it was no easy plane to fly. Many pilots died in training and routine flying before ever meeting an opponent in combat. P-38 units were formed quickly once the United States entered World War II in December 1941. Training was rushed to get pilots and planes to Europe as quickly as possible to serve as bomber escorts. Although the P-38 could fly at the high altitudes the bombers flew, it was not the right aircraft for the mission. At high altitudes without an engine in front of the cockpit to keep the pilot warm, the plane was frigid. Pilots suffered and were sometimes so weakened by the brutal cold that they had to be lifted out of the cockpit upon landing, and the bombers suffered severe losses. In North Africa's warmer air, however, the P-38 came into its own. With four 50-caliber machine guns and a 20mm cannon in its nose, the P-38 was a formidable adversary. With proven success in the Mediterranean, P-38 squadrons were transferred to the Pacific Theater, where they flourished. This book focuses on the men who flew this challenging aircraft and the men who designed and decided how to deploy it. Samuel shares stories of bravery and ingenuity alongside an aviation history long neglected. The P-38's Pacific deployment is covered in some detail, including the actions of Richard Bong, who became the US forces' ace of aces while flying a P-38. In the Pacific skies, the P-38, its pilots, and designers made the heroic history captured here"--

"In 2013, while helping her mother, Ingrid, comb through family possessions, Karin Wagner came across a large folio handwritten in German in the back of a dresser drawer. When Karin asked her mother what the document was, Ingrid replied, "Oh, that is your grandfather's Great War memoir. "Schiller was a seventeen-year-old student in Bromberg, Prussia, when World War I broke out in August 1914. He enlisted in the German army and was assigned to an artillery unit on the Eastern Front. From 1915 to 1917, Schiller saw action in what is now Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. After the Bolshevik Revolution in October 1917 and Russia's withdrawal from the war, Schiller was transferred to the Western Front. He arrived in time for Germany's last great offensive in the west, where the attempt to break the Allied lines included what is believed to be the single greatest artillery bombardment in human history up to that point. After the German retreat and Armistice, Schiller reentered military service in the Freikorps, German mercenary groups fighting in former German territory in Eastern Europe, where the conflict dragged on even after the Treaty of Versailles. Schiller left military service in May 1920. Hans Schiller's Kriegserinnerungen (literally, "memories of war") was written in 1928 and based on diaries, since lost, that Schiller kept during the war. A Tale of Two Fronts, an edition of the memoir with historical context and explanatory notes, provides a vivid first-person account of German army life during World War I. It is a valuable resource for anyone interested in the experiences of common soldiers in World War I"--

The life, dramatic reign, and enduring legacy of the pharaoh Ramesses the Great, with lessons for the present, from internationally acclaimed Egyptologist Toby Wilkinson

"Through illustrating the life of Mayor George Moscone, author Lincoln A. Mitchell explores how today's San Francisco came into being. Moscone-through his work in the State Senate, victory in the very divisive 1975 mayor's race, and brief tenure as mayor-was a key figure in the city's evolution. The politics surrounding Moscone's election as mayor, governance of the city, and tragic death are still relevant issues. Moscone was a groundbreaking politician whose life was cut short, but his influence on San Francisco can still be felt today"--

The gripping story of Indira Gandhi’s premiership—and the profound influence she had on India

A richly drawn biography of Jane Austen, from a beloved 20th-century English novelist Elizabeth Jenkins

Embark on a riveting journey through the life of Lydia Komape, an unsung hero in South African history.

This is the first book about a significant South African figure, Joe Modise, who worked in the shadows for much of his life. His journey took him from an impoverished childhood to being chief of a guerrilla army and then Minister of Defence in a liberated country.