"In 1784, travel wrenched Thomas Jefferson out of the darkest period of his life. He sailed to France a broken man, but on the road, he rediscovered a world of hidden beauty and penned a guide he called Hints for Americans Traveling in Europe. During a crisis of his own, Derek Baxter dares himself to follow Jefferson's route. On a series of journeys (piloting a Dutch canal boat, hiking the French Alps, and fishing in the Atlantic), Baxter follows...

"In Saving Freedom, Joe Scarborough recounts the historic forces that moved Truman toward his country's long twilight struggle against Soviet communism, and how this untested president acted decisively to build a lasting coalition that would influence America's foreign policy for generations to come. On March 12, 1947, Truman delivered an address before a joint session of Congress announcing a policy of containment that would soon become known as...

"The summer before his senior year in college, Greg Melville worked at the cemetery in his hometown, and thanks to hour upon hour of pushing a mower over the grassy acres, he came to realize what a rich story the place told of his town and its history. Thus was born Melville's lifelong curiosity with how, where, and why we bury and commemorate our dead. Melville's Over My Dead Body is a lively (pun intended) and wide-ranging history of cemeteries,...

Author's memories of the last stages of the war in the Pacific area.

Discusses how immigration played a key role not only in making America's development possible but also in shaping the basic nature of the society.

This is the story of the specialized U.S. armored force designed specifically to kill enemy tanks in direct combat. It follows the men who fought in the TDs from the formation of the force in 1941 through the victory over the Third Reich in 1945, through North Africa, Italy, France, and Germany, describing a story of American flexibility and pragmatism in military affairs. It draws heavily on the records of the tank destroyer battalions and the units...

Pyle was sent to London in December of 1940 to cover the Blitz-- and to write positive articles about the British that would get Americans on their side in the growing European conflict. His articles, about the out-of-the-way places he visited and the people who lived there, were written in a folksy style much like a personal letter to a friend. This is a compilation of his columns.

Americans today have a love/hate relationship with France, but in How the French Saved America Tom Shachtman shows that without France, there might not be a United States of America. To the rebelling colonies, French assistance made the difference between looming defeat and eventual triumph. Even before the Declaration of Independence was issued, King Louis XVI and French foreign minister Vergennes were aiding the rebels. After the Declaration, that...

Rendezvous with Destiny: A History of the 101st Airborne Division is unique among military histories. Never before has such a detailed study been made of the organization, training, and operations of a single division of the United States Army. Each action in which the Division took part has been minutely studied and checked against available operations reports and the memories of the men who were there. From the beaches of Normandy to Hitler's Berchtesgaden...

Includes the Aerial Warfare In Europe During World War II illustrations pack with over 200 maps, plans, and photos. David Moore Cook, or DMC to his friends and colleagues, was one of the valiant "Few" who flew and fought against the Luftwaffe in the summer and autumn of 1940 during the Battle of Britain. A native of Huddersfield, he joined 609 (West Riding) Squadron before the war, the squadron was posted to RAF Middle Wallop in Hampshire north of...