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44 Days: 75 Squadron and the Fight for Australia
Par Michael Veitch. 2016
The epic World War II story of Australia's 75 Squadron - and the 44 days when these brave and barely…
trained pilots fought alone against the Japanese.In March and April 1942, RAAF 75 Squadron bravely defended Port Moresby for 44 days when Australia truly stood alone against the Japanese. This group of raw young recruits scrambled ceaselessly in their Kittyhawk fighters to an extraordinary and heroic battle, the story of which has been left largely untold.The recruits had almost nothing going for them against the Japanese war machine, except for one extraordinary leader named John Jackson, a balding, tubby Queenslander - at 35 possibly the oldest fighter pilot in the world - who said little, led from the front, and who had absolutely no sense of physical fear.Time and time again this brave group were hurled into battle, against all odds and logic, and succeeded in mauling a far superior enemy - whilst also fighting against the air force hierarchy. After relentless attack, the squadron was almost wiped out by the time relief came, having succeeded in their mission - but also paying a terrible price.Michael Veitch, actor, presenter and critically acclaimed author, brings to life the incredible exploits and tragic sacrifices of this courageous squadron of Australian heroes.Global Shanghai, 1850-2010: A History in Fragments (Asia's Transformations/Asia's Great Cities)
Par Jeffrey N. Wasserstrom. 2009
This book explores the play of international forces and international ideas about Shanghai, looking backward as far as its transformation…
into a subdivided treaty port in the 1840s, and looking forward to its upcoming hosting of China's first World's Fair, the 2010 Expo. As such, Global Shanghai is a lively and informative read for students and scholars of Chinese studies and urban studies and anyone interested in the history of Shanghai.'This account . . . is breathtaking in its scope and riveting in its research' - Sydney Morning HeraldThe gripping…
story of a small force of Australian Special Forces commandos that launched relentless hit and run raids on far superior Japanese forces in East Timor for most of 1942.These Australians were the men of the 2/2nd Australian Independent Company - a special commando unit. Initially stranded without radio contact to Australia, the Japanese declared these bearded warriors `outlaws? and warned they would be executed immediately if captured. The Australians drawn mainly from the bush, were chosen for their ability to operate independently and survive in hostile territory. As film-maker Damien Parer said after visiting in Timor in late 1942, `these men are writing an epic of guerrilla warfare?.Expertly researched by Paul Cleary, who is fluent in Tetum, the main language of the indigenous group of East Timor, it also contains insightful black and white photos.'A cracker of a read' - The Age'Paul Cleary has brought to life one of the great success stories of World War II' - Daily TelegraphWomen in Middle Eastern History: Shifting Boundaries in Sex and Gender
Par Nikki R. Keddie, Beth Baron. 1991
This history of Middle Eastern women is the first to survey gender relations in the Middle East from the earliest…
Islamic period to the present. Outstanding scholars analyze a rich array of sources ranging from histories, biographical dictionaries, law books, prescriptive treatises, and archival records, to the Traditions (hadith) of the Prophet and imaginative works like the Thousand and One Nights, to modern writings by Middle Eastern women and by Western writers. They show that gender boundaries in the Middle East have been neither fixed nor immutable: changes in family patterns, religious rituals, socio-economic necessity, myth and ideology-and not least, women's attitudes-have expanded or circumscribed women's roles and behavior through the ages.'[Mat McLachlan's] knowledge of the front is comprehensive' - Sydney Morning HeraldA complete guide to the Australian battlefields of the…
Western Front 1916-18.Walking with the ANZACs aims to become the new essential companion for Australians visiting the Western Front. Each of the 14 most important Australian battlefields is covered with descriptions of the battles and Australia?s involvement in it.The book presents a well-illustrated walking tour across the old battlefields. The tours are designed along easily accessible walking routes and show readers battlefield landmarks that still exist, memorials to the men who fought there and the cemeteries where many of them still lie. In this way the visitor will see the battlefield in much the same way as the original ANZACs did, and gain a greater appreciation of the site?s significance. Importantly, the tours are not written for military experts, but for ordinary visitors whose military knowledge may be limited.More than just a handy travel guide, Walking with the ANZACs is an absorbing read for armchair travellers and students of the First World War who may not have had the opportunity to visit the battle fields and walk in the footsteps of the first ANZACs.Gallipoli: The battlefield guide
Par Mat Mclachlan. 2015
The essential travel companion for anyone visiting Gallipoli.Each year, thousands of Australians visit Gallipoli to pay homage and see where…
their forebears fought, suffered and died. Anzac Cove, Quinn's Post, Lone Pine - the iconic places where our national legend was forged.In this essential and authoritative guide, practical information is combined with historical detail, alongside revealing and often heartrending quotes from the letters and diaries of the Anzacs themselves.- Detailed easy-to-follow plans for walking and driving tours across the main battlefields- Maps, photos and historical commentary to put the campaign in context- Everything you need to know where to go, where to stay and how to get there.Walk where the Anzacs walked, see where they fought and marvel at their courage.L'impératrice Wu Zetian
Par Laurel A. Rockefeller, Agnès Metanomski. 2016
La femme la plus haïe de l'histoire de la Chine ! Voyagez plus de mille ans en arrière dans le…
temps et rencontrez la première et unique femme empereur de la Chine. Née Wu Zhao et attribuée le titre de règne « Zetian » quelques semaines seulement avant sa mort en 705 CE, elle était la fille indésirable du chancelier Wu Shihuo -- trop intelligente, trop éduquée et trop intéressée par la politique pour être une bonne épouse, selon les interprétations contemporaines des Entretiens de Confucius. Est-il surprenant que jusqu'à ce jour elle demeure la femme la plus haïe de toute l'histoire de la Chine et une de ses plus controversées ? Explorez la vie de l'impératrice Wu et découvrez pourquoi le monde est un endroit bien plus différent parce qu'elle a osé faire ce qu'aucune femme en Chine, avant et depuis, n'a jamais rêvé de faire.A History of Iran: Empire of the Mind
Par Michael Axworthy. 2010
Iran is a land of contradictions. It is an Islamic republic, but one in which only 1.4 percent of the…
population attend Friday prayers. Iran's religious culture encompasses the most censorious and dogmatic Shi'a Muslim clerics in the world, yet its poetry insistently dwells on the joys of life: wine, beauty, sex. Iranian women are subject to one of the most restrictive dress codes in the Islamic world, but make up nearly 60 percent of the student population of the nation's universities. In A History of Iran, acclaimed historian Michael Axworthy chronicles the rich history of this complex nation from the Achaemenid Empire of sixth century B.C. to the present-day Islamic Republic. In engaging prose, this revised edition explains the military, political, religious, and cultural forces that have shaped one of the oldest continuing civilizations in the world, bringing us up modern times. Concluding with an assessment of the immense changes the nation has undergone since the revolution in 1979, including a close look at Iran's ongoing attempts to become a nuclear power, A History of Iran offers general readers an essential guide to understanding this volatile nation, which is once again at the center of the world's attention.The Making of Modern Zionism: The Intellectual Origins of the Jewish State
Par Shlomo Avineri. 1981
An expanded edition of a classic intellectual history of Zionism, now covering the rise of religious Zionism since the 1970sFor…
eighteen centuries pious Jews had prayed for the return to Jerusalem, but only in the revolutionary atmosphere of nineteenth-century Europe was this yearning transformed into an active political movement: Zionism. In The Making of Modern Zionism, the distinguished political scientist Shlomo Avineri rejects the common view that Zionism was solely a reaction to anti-Semitism and persecution. Rather, he sees it as part of the universal quest for self-determination. In sharply-etched intellectual profiles of Zionism's major thinkers from Moses Hess to Theodore Herzl and from Vladimir Jabotinsky to David Ben Gurion, Avineri traces the evolution of this quest from its intellectual origins in the early nineteenth century to the establishment of the State of Israel. In an expansive new epilogue, he tracks the changes in Israeli society and politics since 1967 which have strengthened the more radical nationalist and religious trends in Zionism at the expense of its more liberal strains. The result is a book that enables us to understand, as perhaps never before, one of the truly revolutionary ideas of our time.The Ultimate Ambition in the Arts of Erudition: A Compendium of Knowledge from the Classical Islamic World
Par Elias Muhanna, Shihab al-Din al-Nuwayri. 2016
For the first time in English, a catalog of the world through fourteenth-century Arab eyes--a kind of Schott's Miscellany for…
the Islamic Golden Age An astonishing record of the knowledge of a civilization, The Ultimate Ambition in the Arts of Erudition catalogs everything known to exist from the perspective of a fourteenth-century Egyptian scholar and litterateur. More than 9,000 pages and thirty volumes--here abridged to one volume, and translated into English for the first time--it contains entries on everything from medieval moon-worshipping cults, sexual aphrodisiacs, and the substance of clouds, to how to get the smell of alcohol off one's breath, the deliciousness of cheese made from buffalo milk, and the nesting habits of flamingos. Similar works by Western authors, including Pliny's Natural History, have been available in English for centuries. This groundbreaking translation of a remarkable Arabic text--expertly abridged and annotated--offers a look at the world through the highly literary and impressively knowledgeable societies of the classical Islamic world. Meticulously arranged and delightfully eclectic, it is a compendium to be treasured--a true monument of erudition.From the Trade Paperback edition.The Middle East: A Beginner's Guide (Beginner's Guides)
Par Philip Robins. 2016
The Middle East- the uprisings, the fallen leaders, the insurgencies and civil conflict plaguing the regionIn this pioneering introduction, Oxford…
University's Philip Robins argues that the region is plagued by the same problems that afflict the rest of the developing world. With each chapter focusing on a topic essential to a rounded understanding of the region, Robins weaves together the disparate countries into a coherent and entertaining narrative. From leadership and gender to religion and society, The Middle East: A Beginner's Guide is replete with case studies, astute analysis, profiles of key personalities, and even jokes from the region. There is no better resource for understanding the modern Middle East.The Two Koreas: A Contemporary History
Par Don Oberdorfer, Robert Carlin. 2014
Ever since Korea was first divided at the end of World War II, the tension between its northern and southern…
halves has rivetedand threatened to embroilthe rest of the world. In this landmark history, now thoroughly revised and updated in conjunction with Korea expert Robert Carlin, veteran journalist Don Oberdorfer grippingly describes how a historically homogenous people became locked in a perpetual struggle for supremacyand how they might yet be reconciled.The Fall of the Ottomans: The Great War in the Middle East
Par Eugene Rogan. 2015
In 1914 the Ottoman Empire was depleted of men and resources after years of war against Balkan nationalist and Italian…
forces. But in the aftermath of the assassination in Sarajevo, the powers of Europe were sliding inexorably toward war, and not even the Middle East could escape the vast and enduring consequences of one of the most destructive conflicts in human history. The Great War spelled the end of the Ottomans, unleashing powerful forces that would forever change the face of the Middle East. In The Fall of the Ottomans, award-winning historian Eugene Rogan brings the First World War and its immediate aftermath in the Middle East to vivid life, uncovering the often ignored story of the region’s crucial role in the conflict. Bolstered by German money, arms, and military advisors, the Ottomans took on the Russian, British, and French forces, and tried to provoke Jihad against the Allies in their Muslim colonies. Unlike the static killing fields of the Western Front, the war in the Middle East was fast-moving and unpredictable, with the Turks inflicting decisive defeats on the Entente in Gallipoli, Mesopotamia, and Gaza before the tide of battle turned in the Allies’ favor. The great cities of Baghdad, Jerusalem, and, finally, Damascus fell to invading armies before the Ottomans agreed to an armistice in 1918. The postwar settlement led to the partition of Ottoman lands between the victorious powers, and laid the groundwork for the ongoing conflicts that continue to plague the modern Arab world. A sweeping narrative of battles and political intrigue from Gallipoli to Arabia, The Fall of the Ottomans is essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the Great War and the making of the modern Middle East.The Taste of Empire: How Britain's Quest for Food Shaped the Modern World
Par Lizzie Collingham. 2017
A history of the British Empire told through twenty meals eaten around the worldIn The Taste of Empire, acclaimed historian…
Lizzie Collingham tells the story of how the British Empire's quest for food shaped the modern world. Told through twenty meals over the course of 450 years, from the Far East to the New World, Collingham explains how Africans taught Americans how to grow rice, how the East India Company turned opium into tea, and how Americans became the best-fed people in the world. In The Taste of Empire, Collingham masterfully shows that only by examining the history of Great Britain's global food system, from sixteenth-century Newfoundland fisheries to our present-day eating habits, can we fully understand our capitalist economy and its role in making our modern diets.The Lonely War: One Woman's Account of the Struggle for Modern Iran
Par Nazila Fathi. 1979
As a nine-year-old Tehrani schoolgirl during the Iranian Revolution, Nazila Fathi watched her country change before her eyes. The revolutionaries--most…
of them poor, uneducated, and radicalized--seized jobs, housing, and positions of power, transforming Iranian society practically overnight. But this socioeconomic revolution had an unintended effect. As Fathi shows, the forces unleashed in 1979 inadvertently created a robust Iranian middle class, one that today hungers for more personal freedoms and a renewed relationship with the outside world. And unless an international confrontation allows Iranian leaders to justify an internal crackdown, this internal pressure for reform will soon set the country on a more stable track. In The Lonely War, Fathi describes Iran’s awakening alongside her own, revealing how moderates are retaking the country--and how foreign powers can aid their progress.The Arabs: A History
Par Eugene Rogan. 2009
This excellent history of the Middle East, a paperbound reprint of the 2009 edition, provides readers with a compelling narrative…
that explains the current state of the wider Arab world through an exploration of the major periods in its recent history. Divided chronologically, the work examines the period of Ottoman rule from 1516 to the early 1800s, the era of European colonization, the Cold War era, and the ongoing period of U. S. intervention. Drawing on primary source material, the work discusses the continuity of Arab culture in relation to dominating external powers and provides a cogent analysis of the current political and religious conflicts gripping the nations of the Arab world. The work includes a collection of color plates. Rogan is a professor of Middle East studies at St. Anthony's College, Oxford. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc. , Portland, OR (booknews. com)The World Through Arab Eyes: Arab Public Opinion and the Reshaping of the Middle East
Par Shibley Telhami. 2013
The uprisings that transformed the Middle East beginning in 2011 have left experts scrambling to understand where the region is…
likely to go in years to come. But missing from most of the analysis is a longer view of the evolution of Arab Public opinion and identity and how this is likely to influence this fast-changing region. In The World Through Arab Eyes, Shibley Telhami shows how the roots of these rebellions stretch back decades and explains how they will continue to affect the stability of the Middle East in the years to come. Telhami draws on a decade’s worth of polling data and analysis to provide a comprehensive look at this evolution of Arab identity and opinion. The demand for dignity, which was foremost in the chants of millions of Arab demonstrators, went far beyond being a struggle for food” and individual rights. Telhami identifies the key prisms through which Arabs view issues ranging from democracy and religion to foreign actors, including the United States, European and Asian countries, Iran, Turkey, and, centrally, Israel. These prisms provide a key to interpreting the past, comprehending the seismic changes in Arab politics today, and engaging with the region in the future.Inside Syria: The Backstory of Their Civil War and What the World Can Expect
Par Noam Chomsky, Reese Erlich. 2014
Based on first-hand reporting from Syria and Washington, journalist Reese Erlich unravels the complex dynamics underlying the Syrian civil war.…
Through vivid, on-the-ground accounts and interviews with both rebel leaders and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, Erlich gives the reader a better understanding of this momentous power struggle and why it matters.Through his many contacts inside Syria, the author reveals who is supporting Assad and why; he describes the agendas of the rebel factions; and he depicts in stark terms the dire plight of many ordinary Syrian people caught in the cross-fire. The book also provides insights into the role of the Kurds, the continuing influence of Iran, and the policies of American leaders who seem interested only in protecting US regional interests.Disturbing and enlightening at once, this timely book shows you not only what is happening inside Syria but why it is so important for the Middle East, the US, and the world.Churchill's Secret War: The British Empire and the Ravaging of India during World War II
Par Madhusree Mukerjee. 2010
A dogged enemy of Hitler, resolute ally of the Americans, and inspiring leader through World War II, Winston Churchill is…
venerated as one of the truly great statesmen of the last century. But while he has been widely extolled for his achievements, parts of Churchill's record have gone woefully unexamined. As journalist Madhusree Mukerjee reveals, at the same time that Churchill brilliantly opposed the barbarism of the Nazis, he governed India with a fierce resolve to crush its freedom movement and a profound contempt for native lives. A series of Churchill's decisions between 1940 and 1944 directly and inevitably led to the deaths of some three million Indians. The streets of eastern Indian cities were lined with corpses, yet instead of sending emergency food shipments Churchill used the wheat and ships at his disposal to build stockpiles for feeding postwar Britain and Europe.Combining meticulous research with a vivid narrative, and riveting accounts of personality and policy clashes within and without the British War Cabinet, Churchill's Secret War places this oft-overlooked tragedy into the larger context of World War II, India's fight for freedom, and Churchill's enduring legacy. Winston Churchill may have found victory in Europe, but, as this groundbreaking historical investigation reveals, his mismanagement--facilitated by dubious advice from scientist and eugenicist Lord Cherwell--devastated India and set the stage for the massive bloodletting that accompanied independence.Ancient Chinese Warfare
Par Ralph D. Sawyer. 2011
The history of China is a history of warfare. Rarely in its 3,000-year existence has the country not been beset…
by war, rebellion, or raids. Warfare was a primary source of innovation, social evolution, and material progress in the Legendary Era, Hsia dynasty, and Shang dynasty--indeed, war was the force that formed the first cohesive Chinese empire, setting China on a trajectory of state building and aggressive activity that continues to this day. In Ancient Chinese Warfare, a preeminent expert on Chinese military history uses recently recovered documents and archaeological findings to construct a comprehensive guide to the developing technologies, strategies, and logistics of ancient Chinese militarism. The result is a definitive look at the tools and methods that won wars and shaped culture in ancient China.