Other books that might interest you

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  Ambush at Central Park - When...

  Mark Bulik

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  In 1922, three of the Irish Republican Army's top gunmen arrived in New York City seeking ven­geance. Their target: "Cruxy" O'Connor, a young Irishman who kept switching sides as revolution swept his country in the wake of World War I. Cruxy's last betrayal dealt a blow to Ireland's struggle for independence: six of his IRA comrades were killed when he told police the location of their safe house. A year later, the IRA gunned him down before a crowd of horrified New Yorkers. 
   
   
   
  Based primarily on first-hand accounts, most of them never before published, Ambush at Central Park is a cinematic exploration of the enigma of "Cruxy" O'Connor. 
   
   
   
  Author Mark Bulik delved through Irish government archives, newspaper accounts, census data, and unpublished material from the families of the main actors. Together they add to the story of a rebel ambush, a deadly police raid, a dinner laced with poison, a daring prison break, a boatload of tommy guns, an unlikely pair of spies who fall in love, and an assassination plot against the British cabinet. 
   
   
   
  Here is a forgotten chapter of Irish and New York history: the story of the only officially authorized IRA attack on American soil. 
   
   
   
  Contains mature themes.

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  Augustus - Biography of Octavian...

  Kelly Mass

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  Caesar Augustus, originally known as Gaius Octavius, was the first Roman Emperor and one of the most transformative figures in world history. Born into an affluent plebeian family, he belonged to an ancient and influential equestrian branch of the gens Octavia. His path to power began under extraordinary circumstances. Following the assassination of his maternal great-uncle, Julius Caesar, in 44 BC, Octavius was named in Caesar's will as his adopted son and successor. This inheritance not only granted him the prestigious name of Caesar but also gave him control over Caesar’s vast estate and the loyalty of his legions. These legions played a pivotal role in his rise to power, securing his place as one of the most powerful individuals in Roman history. 
  In the aftermath of Caesar's assassination, the Roman Republic was plunged into chaos, and Octavius, together with Mark Antony and Marcus Lepidus, formed the Second Triumvirate to avenge Caesar's death and secure their political dominance. This alliance, however, was marred by internal strife and competing ambitions. After their victory over Caesar’s assassins at the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC, the Triumvirs divided the Republic’s territories among themselves. Yet, the unity that had characterized their alliance quickly began to erode, as their personal and political ambitions led to inevitable conflict. Lepidus was soon sidelined, and in 36 BC, Antony’s support began to wane, leading to the climactic Battle of Actium in 31 BC. The defeat of Antony, coupled with the subsequent suicide of both Antony and his ally Cleopatra, left Octavian as the undisputed ruler of Rome.

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  Afternoons with Harper Lee

  Wayne Flynt

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  Imagine sitting with an esteemed writer on his or her front porch somewhere in the world and swapping life stories. Dr. Wayne Flynt got the opportunity to do just this with Nelle Harper Lee. In a friendship that blossomed over a dozen years starting when Lee relocated back to Alabama after having had a stroke, Flynt and his wife Dartie became regular visitors at the assisted living facility that was Lee's new home. And there the conversation began, with an invitation to "Come in, sit down, and stay a while." 
   
   
   
  The stories exchanged ranged widely over the topics of Alabama history, Alabama folklore, family genealogy, and American literature, of course. Wayne and his wife were often joined by Alice Lee, the oldest Lee sister, a living encyclopedia on the subject of family genealogy, and middle sister Louise Lee Conner. 
   
   
   
  The hours spent visiting, in intimate closeness, are still cherished by Wayne Flynt. They yielded revelations large and small, which have been shaped into Afternoons with Harper Lee. Part memoir, part biography, this book offers a unique window into the life and mind and preoccupations of one of America's best-loved writers. Flynt and Harper Lee and her sisters learned a great deal from each other, and though this is not a history book, their shared interest in Alabama and its history made this extraordinary work possible.

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  Escaping Madness - Eyewitness...

  Klaus G. Förg

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  This fascinating collection of personal narratives challenges the view that all Germans knew of the crimes perpetrated by the Third Reich and were complicit. The five accounts recall the lives of individuals born in the 1920s who resisted joining the SS, were horrified by atrocities, or otherwise remained true to their principals. Spanning their early life during the rise of the Nazi Party, through their adolescence in the war, to the early post-war years, they offer a compelling perspective on the diverse experiences and beliefs of Germans of the wartime generation.From Wehrmacht infantrymen to a Luftwaffe officer and a young woman on the home front, the accounts range from the relative comfort of German-occupied territories to the harrowing front lines against the Soviets. Standout stories include Heinz Polke's haunting description of the Warsaw Ghetto Rising, and three accounts of the often-overlooked aspect of being a prisoner of war in the USSR, providing valuable insights into the post-war German experience.Skillfully compiled by journalist Klaus Förg and with additional commentary by historian Roger Moorhouse, this is a powerful and worthy addition to World War II literature.

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  Martin Luther - The Famous...

  Kelly Mass

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  Martin Luther was a German theologian, priest, author, composer, and previous Augustinian monk who is best recalled as a key figure in the Protestant Reformation and the creator of Lutheranism. 
  In the year 1507, Luther was ordained as a priest. He came to oppose certain Roman Catholic Church theories and practices, specifically the perspective on extravagances. In his Ninety-five Theses of 1517, Luther advised a scholastic evaluation of the practice and effectiveness of extravagances. His rejection to disavow all of his publications at the demand of Pope Leo X in the year 1520 and the Holy Roman Emperor Charles V at the Diet Plan of Worms in the year 1521 culminated in the pope's excommunication and the Holy Roman Emperor's condemnation as a hooligan. 
  Luther preached that redemption and, consequently, immortality aren't won through greats, but are only gotten as a completely free gift of God's grace through a follower's faith in Jesus Christ as sin's redeemer. By preaching that the Bible is the only source of divinely given knowledge, his faith assaulted the pope's power and office, and he battled sacerdotalism by thinking all baptized Christians to be a holy priesthood. Lutherans are the ones who relate to them, and all of Luther's more comprehensive ideas, while Luther demanded Christian or Evangelical as the sole acceptable classifications for anybody who proclaimed Christ. 
  His translation of the Bible into the German vernacular (instead of Latin) made it more available to the laypersons, a substantial event in both the church and German culture. 
  This and many other things did Martin Luther do, all of which were key elements of the reformation of the church and the beginning of protestant denominations.

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  This Box of Darkness

  Madeleine Arnold

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  I’m eighteen and faced with the most difficult decision of my life:Do I follow my crush to the missionary Bible school of my dreams?Do I go to college with my ex-boyfriend to see if we still have a future?Or do I stay home with my dad who's just been diagnosed with a brain tumor? 
  Pick one door. Close the others. Live with the fallout. 
  This Box of Darkness is a raw coming-of-age memoir about love, loss, and learning to trust God. Told through the eyes of Maddie, a pastor’s kid who’s been “saved” for as long as she can remember, it traces the final year of her father’s life: a Marine turned youth pastor and missionary who lived to glorify God, even as brain cancer stripped everything away. Poignant and deeply personal, this memoir explores what it means to wrestle with God when your carefully laid plans completely fall apart.

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