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  Travels Through American History...

  Charles W. Mitchell, Elizabeth...

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  This regional travel guide seeks out “engaging reenactments and the best exhibits, where remarkable artifacts and excellent displays bring history alive.” —Kathryn Schneider Smith, author of Washington at Home: An Illustrated History of Neighborhoods in the Nation’s Capital 
   
  Few regions of the United States boast as many historically significant sites as the mid-Atlantic. Travels through American History in the Mid-Atlantic brings to life sixteen easily accessible historical destinations, and additional side trips, in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington, D.C., the Potomac Valley, and Virginia. 
   
  Charles W. Mitchell walked these sites, interviewed historians and rangers, and read the letters and diaries of the men and women who witnessed—and at times made—history. He reveals in vivid prose the ways in which war, terrain, weather, and illness have shaped the American narrative. Each attraction, reenactment, and interactive exhibit in the book is described through the lens of the American experience, beginning in the colonial and revolutionary eras, continuing through the War of 1812, and ending with the Civil War. Mitchell contrasts the ornate decor of Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, for example, with the passionate debates that led to the Declaration of Independence, and the tranquil beauty of today’s Harpers Ferry with the trauma its citizens endured during the Civil War, when the town fell six times to opposing forces. 
   
  Excerpts from eyewitness accounts further humanize key moments in the national story. Hand-drawn maps evoke the historical era by depicting the natural features that so often affected the course of events. This engaging blend of history and travel is ideal for visiting tourists, area residents seeking weekend diversions, history buffs, and armchair travelers.

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  Italy's Hidden Gems - A Tour of...

  Daniel Cornwallis

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  Unearth the Undiscovered Beauty of Italy 
   
  Imagine yourself strolling through the cobblestone streets of an enchanting Italian town, untouched by the rush of modern tourism. Italy's Hidden Gems: A Tour of the 25 Most Mesmerizing Vacation Spots is your passport to these unexplored corners of Italy. 
   
  This is not your typical travel guide. This book takes you off the beaten path, revealing the secret locales only locals know about. From the rolling vineyards of Tuscany to the serene canals of Venice, each page is a discovery. 
   
  Authored by seasoned traveler Daniel Cornwallis, this book culminates years of exploration and a deep love for Italy. Cornwallis's vivid descriptions and captivating storytelling will transport you to these hidden gems, making you feel like you're already there. 
   
  Each location is accompanied by a comprehensive guide, including the best times to visit, local cuisines to try, and unique cultural experiences to indulge in. This book is more than just a travel guide—it's a journey that inspires the desire to pack your bags and embark on your own Italian adventure. 
   
  So why wait? Start your journey today with Italy's Hidden Gems: A Tour of the 25 Most Mesmerizing Vacation Spots. Experience Italy like never before, and create memories that will last a lifetime.

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  When Men & Mountains Meet - Like...

  H.W. Tilman

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  'We had climbed a mountain and crossed a pass; been wet, cold, hungry, frightened, and withal happy. One more Himalayan season was over. It was time to begin thinking of the next. "Strenuousness is the immortal path, sloth is the way of death."'
  First published in 1946, the scope of H.W. 'Bill' Tilman's When Men and Mountains Meet is broad, covering his disastrous expedition to the Assam Himalaya, a small exploratory trip into Sikkim, and then his wartime heroics.
  In the thirties, Assam was largely unknown and unexplored. It proved a challenging environment for Tilman's party, the jungle leaving the men mosquito-bitten and suffering with tropical diseases, and thwarting their mountaineering success. Sikkim proved altogether more successful. Tilman, who is once again happy and healthy, enjoys some exploratory ice climbing and discovers Abominable Snowman tracks, particularly remarkable as the creature appeared to be wearing boots—'there is no reason why he should not have picked up a discarded pair at the German Base Camp and put them to their obvious use'.
  And then, in 1939, war breaks out. With good humour and characteristic understatement we hear about Tilman's remarkable Second World War. After digging gun pits on the Belgian border and in Iraq, he was dropped by parachute behind enemy lines to fight alongside Albanian and Italian partisans. Tilman was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his efforts—and the keys to the city of Belluno, which he helped save from occupation and destruction.
  Tilman's comments on the German approach to Himalayan climbing could equally be applied to his guerrilla warfare ethos. 'They spent a lot of time and money and lost a lot of climbers and porters, through bad luck and more often through bad judgement.' While elsewhere the war machine rumbled on, Tilman's war was fast, exciting, lightweight and foolhardy—and makes for gripping reading.

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  Collection of Sand

  Italo Calvino

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  This “brilliant collection of essays” and travelogues by the celebrated author of Invisible Cities “may change the way you see the world around you” (The Guardian, UK).   Italo Calvino’s boundless curiosity and ingenious imagination are displayed in peak form in Collection of Sand, his last collection of new works published during his lifetime. Delving into the delights of the visual world—both in art and travel—the subjects of these 38 essays range from cuneiform and antique maps to Mexican temples and Japanese gardens. In Calvino’s words, this collection is “a diary of travels, of course, but also of feelings, states of mind, moods…The fascination of a collection lies just as much in what it reveals as in what it conceals of the secret urge that led to its creation” (from Collection of Sand).   Never before translated into English, Collection of Sand is an incisive and often surprising meditation on observation and knowledge, “beautifully translated by Martin McLaughlin” (The Guardian, UK).

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  Visiting the Fallen: Arras North

  Peter Hughes

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  Like Ypres, Arras was a front line town throughout the Great War. From March 1916 it became home to the British Army and it remained so until the Advance to Victory was well under way. In 1917 the Battle of Arras came and went. It occupied barely half a season, but was then largely forgotten; the periods before and after it have been virtually ignored, and yet the Arras sector was always important and holding it was never easy or without incident; death, of course, was never far away. The area around Arras is as rich in Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries as anywhere else on the Western Front, including the Somme and Ypres, and yet these quiet redoubts with their headstones proudly on parade still remain largely unvisited. This book is the story of the men who fell and who are now buried in those cemeteries; and the telling of their story is the telling of what it was like to be a soldier on the Western Front. 'Arras-North' is the first of three books by the same author. This volume contains in depth coverage of almost sixty Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries and is a veritable 'Who's Who' of officers and other ranks who fell on this part of the Western Front. It provides comprehensive details of gallantry awards and citations and describes many minor operations, raids and other actions, as well as the events that took place in April and May 1917. It is the story of warfare on the Western Front as illustrated through the lives of those who fought and died on the battlefields of Arras.There are many unsung heroes and personal tragedies, including a young man who went out into no man's land to rescue his brother, an uncle and nephew killed by the same shell, a suicide in the trenches and a young soldier killed by a random shell whilst celebrating his birthday with his comrades. There is an unexpected connection to Ulster dating back to the days of Oliver Cromwell and William of Orange, a link to Sinn Fein and an assassination, a descendant of Sir Isaac Newton, as well as a conjuror, a friend of P.G. Wodehouse, a young officer said to have been 'thrilled' to lead his platoon into the trenches for the first time, only to be killed three hours later, and a man whose headstone still awaits the addition of his Military Medal after almost a century, despite having been involved in one of the most daring rescues of the war. This is a superb reference guide for anyone visiting Arras and its battlefields.

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  The Punjab - Understanding the...

  Kelly Mass

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  Punjab could be mainly in Pakistan at this moment, but the Punjabi people live and have resided in India also. As disputes emerged between the Indians and Pakistani, the border has moved from one area to another. Still, the Punjabi society is probably a vital aspect of India's history. 
  Punjab is a geopolitical, cultural, and historic area in South Asia, situated in the northern area of the Indian subcontinent and incorporating parts of Pakistan and India. The area's limitations are ill-defined and based upon historic accounts. 
  With time, the geographical definition of the name "Punjab" has moved. It described a really minimal terrain between the Indus and the Sutlej rivers at the time of the Mughal Empire's 16th century reign. 
  So, if this is your cup of tea, I invite you to get started with this book. You will learn about this interesting people, who value their religion and their traditions more than anything, and who stick to old habits despite of technological advances.

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