Altri libri che potrebbero interessarti

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  Mercury and Gemini: The History...

  Editors Charles River

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  The successful Apollo 11 mission was certainly an astonishing technological triumph, but what is less well remembered now are that many programs preceded Apollo and were essential to its success. Project Mercury was one of those, and in many ways it represented the greatest step forward in terms of the conquest of space. Before Project Mercury, there was no certainty that a human could survive the rigors of a space launch or live outside Earth’s atmosphere. There was no agreement on just what an astronaut should be, and various individuals involved debated whether they should be pilots, technicians, scientists, or even merely observers in an automated craft. Before Project Mercury, no one was entirely certain what a rocket capable of taking a person into space would look like, or even whether building such a craft was within the capabilities of engineering in the 1950s. 
  Gemini also marked another important milestone as America finally surpassed the Soviet Union in space technology. Before Gemini, the US was playing a desperate game of catch-up as it attempted to match Soviet accomplishments. The last Project Mercury flight launched in May 1963, and before then, Russia had put the first satellite in Earth’s orbit and the first man in space and had followed these with longer flights than the tiny Mercury spacecraft. In terms of military significance, it was recognized that the ability to dominate space was very important, and to many people in America, it seemed that Russia was well on the way to doing this. No one could have guessed that it would be almost three years before the next American manned space flight occurred when Gemini 3 left the launch pad in March 1965. It seemed to many people that the Russian lead in space exploration had become unassailable and, in order to reestablish the credibility of the US space program, the Gemini flights simply had to succeed.

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  The American Operations in WW2:...

  U.S. Army Center of Military...

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  World War II was the largest and most violent armed conflict in the history of mankind. Highly relevant today, World War II has much to teach us, not only about the profession of arms, but also about military preparedness, global strategy, and combined operations in the coalition war against fascism. This book follows military operations in Italy from 5 April to 8 May 1945. 
  The Allies had begun their invasion of the Italian mainland in early September 1943 with the promise of a quick drive north, up the "soft underbelly" of Europe and into the German heartland. Yet nineteen months later, after hard fighting up the rugged mountainous spine of the narrow Italian peninsula, such goals still eluded the Anglo-American military leaders of the Mediterranean Theater. To be sure, long before April 1945 Rome had fallen to Allied arms and fascist Italy had been knocked almost completely out of the war. But in the interval France had also been liberated, and the Soviet Union had reclaimed almost all of its territory previously conquered by the once invincible German war machine.
  Italy had in fact become a sideshow, a secondary theater, since the spring of 1944 when the western Allies had shifted their military resources north to support the buildup and execution of Operation OVERLORD, the invasion of Normandy. After that, there had been no turning back on the Anglo-American side, with its main effort directed east through the northern European plains. Thus, by April Germany was besieged on three sides, although the Allied forces in the south, those strung out along the northern Apennines overlooking the Po Valley, were now the farthest away from the tottering Third Reich. British Prime Minister Winston Churchill continued to strongly support an advance from northern Italy into the Balkans and southern Germany. However, the ability of the Italian-based Allied armies to sustain such an effort with minimal support in men and materiel seemed problematic…

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  Cult Following - The Extreme...

  J.W. Ocker

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  From the author of Cursed Objects and The United States of Cryptids comes an eye-popping compendium of the most infamous, audacious, and dangerous cults in history. 
  Have you ever wondered how smart, normal people end up enmeshed in extreme cults? Weird history expert J. W. Ocker strives to answer that question in Cult Following. Everything you’ve ever wanted to know about history’s most notorious cults–and the psychology of the people who join them–is packed into this accessible, engaging volume. Walk in the footsteps of the followers who were lured into these sinister groups, including: 
  Branch Davidians: Led by David Koresh, this cult was waiting out the apocalypse in 1993 when the FBI infamously raided their compound in Waco, Texas. 
  Narcosatanists: This cult of drug traffickers in 1980s Mexico was led by Adolfo de Jesús Constanzo, who believed he had magic powers and committed human sacrifice. 
  Brotherhood of the Seven Rays: The earliest known UFO cult, the infiltration and study of the Brotherhood by psychologists inspired the term “cognitive dissonance.” 
  Ho No Hana Sanpogyo: The founder, Hogen Fukunaga, claimed to be able to tell someone’s fortune by examining their feet. 
  Breatherianism: Breatherians believe that humans can live on air alone. Their founder, Wiley Brooks, claimed to have gone without food for nineteen years. 
  NXIVM: This twenty-first century cult attracted several members of Hollywood and engaged in sex trafficking, forced labor, and racketeering under the guise of personal development seminars.  
  In Cult Following, Ocker sheds light on the terrifying attraction of cults, demonstrating the elasticity of belief, the desperateness of belonging, and the tragedy of trust.

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  The New Censorship - How the War...

  Ayala Panievsky

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  'Essential' - Alan Rusbridger'Riveting' - Arash Azizi, The Atlantic'Exceptional' - Michael Hauser-Tov, Haaretz 'Profound, compelling, and fascinating' - Emily Maitlis, The News Agents'A must-read' - Jane Martinson, The GuardianAs we find ourselves in a time of democratic decay all over the world, with relentless attempts to undermine truth and facts and unprecedented technological tools to spread disinformation and incite violence, brave journalism is needed more than ever. In The New Censorship esteemed academic, former journalist and activist Ayala Panievsky focuses on the unfortunate and unexpected mechanisms through which today's media has inadvertently amplified the anti-democratic movement that looms over our societies. From the birth of 'the strategic bias' to weaponising liberal norms against liberal democracy, the populist right has found a way to exercise a more effective and socially acceptable type of silencing and manipulation. Instead of banning stories, they spread flows of disinformation, which take hours and days to debunk. Instead of silencing, they shout louder. Instead of blue-pencilling, they employ fake users, bots, and outrageous smear campaigns to dominate the conversation. Heavy-handed censorship is unnecessary when one can manipulate people to censor themselves, or simply stop listening. Based on cutting-edge empirical research, personal experience in newsrooms and parliament corridors and a decade of living under populism in power in Israel, Panievsky will not only explain how we got here but also lay out what we all could (and should) do to restart the conversation and protect our right to know.

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  The Antichrist Is Here! - His...

  E. J. Carmel

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  This audiobook is narrated by an AI Voice.  
  They thought the end would come with fire and brimstone. They never expected Alex. In a sleepy town where nothing ever happens, a boy named Alex arrives with a chilling gaze and a smile that never quite reaches his eyes. Miracles follow him. So do shadows. As strange events ripple across the globe, ancient prophecies whisper of a name: Alex. Is he humanity's salvation? Or the final seal of its doom? Bold, provocative, and crackling with tension, The Antichrist is Here! His Name is Alex! is a modern apocalyptic thriller that will leave you questioning everything-faith, fate, and the face of evil.

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  Clara: From Victorian Governess...

  Dorian Shellan

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  While working in the Chester household as a governess, the innocent Clara becomes sexually involved with Herbert Chester, her employer. Then, when the beautiful Catherine, Herbert's sister-in-law and secret lover, comes to stay at the house, Catherine introduces Clara into the pleasures of being with a woman.  On learning how the women are enjoying each other, Herbert encourages them into a threesome with him. This spurs jealousy in Catherine, however, and Clara is dismissed. 
  Now sexually awakened and excited by life in London, Clara has no desire to return to work as a governess and contemplates what form of employment best suits her ambitions. Her friend, Anna Quinlan, suggests the ideal solution. Anna is Madame Q and runs The Nunnery, an exclusive brothel catering only to the most select clientele. Tempted by a generous salary, room, board, freedom and independence, will Clara accept and become one of Madame Q's ladies of pleasure?

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