The fascinating story of a lost city and anunprecedented American civilization While Mayanand Aztec civilizations are widely known and documented, relativelyfew people are familiar with the largest prehistoric NativeAmerican city north of Mexico-a site that expert Timothy Pauketatbrings vividly to life in this groundbreaking book. Almost athousand years ago, a city flourished along the Mississippi Rivernear what is now St. Louis. Built around a sprawling central plazaand known as Cahokia, the site has drawn the attention ofgenerations of archaeologists, whose work produced evidence ofcomplex celestial timepieces, feasts big enough to feed thousands,and disturbing signs of human sacrifice. Drawing on thesefascinating finds, Cahokia presents a lively and astonishingnarrative of prehistoric America.

The First Battle is a graphic account of the first major clashof the Vietnam War. On August 18, 1965, regiment fought regiment onthe Van Tuong Peninsula near the new Marine base at Chu Lai. On theAmerican side were three battalions of Marines under the command ofColonel Oscar Peatross, a hero of two previous wars. His opponentwas the 1st Viet Cong Regiment commanded by Nguyen Dinh Trong, aveteran of many fights against the French and the South Vietnamese.Codenamed Operation Starlite, this action was a resounding successfor the Marines and its result was cause for great optimism aboutAmerica's future in Vietnam. Those expecting a book about Americansin battle will not be disappointed by the detailed de*ions ofhow the fight unfolded. Marine participants from private to colonelwere interviewed during the book's research phase. The battle isseen from the mud level, by those who were at the point of thespear. But this is not just another war story told exclusively fromthe American side. In researching the book, t

The Battle of Iwo Jima, fought in the winter of 1945 on arocky island south of Japan, brought a ferocious slice of hell toearth: in a month's time, more than 22,000 Japanese soldiers woulddie defending a patch of ground a third the size of Manhattan,while nearly 26,000 Americans fell taking it from them. The battlewas a turning point in the war in the Pacific, and it produced oneof World War II's enduring images: a photograph of six soldiersraising an American flag on the flank of Mount Suribachi, theisland's commanding high point. One of those young Americans was John Bradley, a Navy corpsmanwho a few days before had braved enemy mortar and machine-gun fireto administer first aid to a wounded Marine and then drag him tosafety. For this act of heroism Bradley would receive the NavyCross, an award second only to the Medal of Honor. Bradley, who died in 1994, never mentioned his feat to hisfamily. Only after his death did Bradley's son James begin to piecetogether the facts of his father's h

This brief and illuminating account of the ideas of worldorder prevalent in the Elizabethan age and later is anindispensable companion for readers of the great writers of thesixteenth and seventeenth centuries—Shakespeare and the Elizabethandramatists, Donne and Milton, among many others. The basic medievalidea of an ordered Chain of Being is studied by Professor Tillyardin the process of its various transformations by the dynamic spiritof the Renaissance. Among his topics are: Angels; the Stars andFortunes; the Analogy between Macrocosm and Microcosm; the FourElements; the Four Humours; Sympathies; Correspondences; and theCosmic Dance—ideas and symbols which inspirited the minds andimaginations not only of the Elizabethans but of all men of theRenaissance.

There were no dry runs for Seawolves in Vietnam. They put their lives on the line—every time. In the Viet Cong-infested Mekong Delta, where smallSEAL teams were always outgunned and outnumbered, discovery broughtswift, deadly consequences— and a radio call for backup from theUnited States Navy’s very best: the Seawolves. The whir ofapproaching rotor blades signaled their arrival as they torethrough the jungle at treetop level, gunners hanging off the skids,shooting M-60s, raining down their lethal mix of high explosivesand incendiary death. Seawolf Dan Kelly describes the origins of this extraordinaryoutfit. Put through a training program unlike any other, these menemerged to perform unparalleled feats of courage. The stories ofthese elite warriors capture America’s real heroes in all theirguts and glory, and demonstrate why the Seawolves are known as themost successful and most decorated unit in the Vietnam War.

Around 330 b.c., a remarkable adventurer named Pytheas set outfrom the Greek colony of Massalia (now Marseille) on theMediterranean Sea to explore the fabled, terrifying lands ofnorthern Europe. Renowned archaeologist Barry Cunliffe herere-creates Pytheas's unprecedented journey, which occurred almost300 years before Julius Caesar landed in Britain. Beginning with aninvaluable pocket history of early Mediterranean civilization,Cunliffe illuminates what Pytheas would have seen andexperienced-the route he likely took to reach Brittany, thenBritain, Iceland, and Denmark; and evidence of the ancient cultureshe would have encountered on shore. The discoveries Pytheas madewould reverberate throughout the civilized world for years to come,and in recounting his extraordinary voyage, Cunliffe chronicles anessential chapter in the history of civilization.

John Keegan, widely considered the greatest military historianof our time and the author of acclaimed volumes on ancient andmodern warfare--including, most recently, The First World War, anational bestseller--distills what he knows about the why’s andhow’s of armed conflict into a series of brilliantly conciseessays. Is war a natural condition of humankind? What are the origins ofwar? Is the modern state dependent on warfare? How does war affectthe individual, combatant or noncombatant? Can there be an end towar? Keegan addresses these questions with a breathtaking knowledgeof history and the many other disciplines that have attempted toexplain the phenomenon. The themes Keegan concentrates on in thisshort volume are essential to our understanding of why war remainsthe single greatest affliction of humanity in the twenty-firstcentury, surpassing famine and disease, its traditionalcompanions.

Here is an oral history of the Vietnam War by thirty-threeAmerican soldiers who fought it. A 1983 American Book Awardnominee.

From the deadly shores of North Africa to the invasion ofSicily to the fierce jungle hell of the Pacific, the contributionof the World War II Ranger Battalions far outweighed their numbers.They were ordinary men on an extraordinary mission, experiencingthe full measure of the fear, exhaustion, and heroism of combat innearly every major invasion of the war. Whether spearheading alanding force or scouting deep behind enemy lines, these highlymotivated, highly trained volunteers led the way for other soldiers-- they were Rangers. With first-person interviews, in-depth research, and a completeappendix naming every Ranger known to have served, author RobertBlack, a Ranger himself, has made the battles of WWII come to lifethrough the struggles of the men who fought to win the greatest warthe world has ever seen.