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  Poilu - The World War I...

  Louis Barthas

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  “An exceptionally vivid memoir of a French soldier’s experience of the First World War.”—Max Hastings, New York Times bestselling author   Along with millions of other Frenchmen, Louis Barthas, a thirty-five-year-old barrelmaker from a small wine-growing town, was conscripted to fight the Germans in the opening days of World War I. Corporal Barthas spent the next four years in near-ceaseless combat, wherever the French army fought its fiercest battles: Artois, Flanders, Champagne, Verdun, the Somme, the Argonne.   First published in France in 1978, this excellent new translation brings Barthas’ wartime writings to English-language readers for the first time. His notebooks and letters represent the quintessential memoir of a “poilu,” or “hairy one,” as the untidy, unshaven French infantryman of the fighting trenches was familiarly known. Upon Barthas’ return home in 1919, he painstakingly transcribed his day-to-day writings into nineteen notebooks, preserving not only his own story but also the larger story of the unnumbered soldiers who never returned. Recounting bloody battles and endless exhaustion, the deaths of comrades, the infuriating incompetence and tyranny of his own officers, Barthas also describes spontaneous acts of camaraderie between French poilus and their German foes in trenches just a few paces apart. An eloquent witness and keen observer, Barthas takes his readers directly into the heart of the Great War.   “This is clearly one of the most readable and indispensable accounts of the death of the glory of war.”—The Daily Beast (“Hot Reads”)

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  Lost in America - A Dead-End...

  Colby Buzzell

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  "Nothingless than the soul of an extremely interesting human being at war on ourbehalf." —Kurt VonnegutAstunning portrait of modern America by Colby Buzzell,the critically acclaimed author of My War: Killing Time in Iraq.Recounting his five-month journey through the country, from its thrivingcoastlines to its rust-belt wrecks, Buzzell reveals aparadoxical landscape of American dreams both achieved and broken, manifestdestinies claimed and refuted, and community ties pulled apart and patchedtogether. In the tradition of John Steinbeck’s Travels with Charley, Buzzell’s Lost in America uncovers the starkrealities of our national character even as it explores the deepest questionsof identity, unity, and fatherhood.

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  The Ballad of Bob Dylan - A...

  Daniel Mark Epstein

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  Through the lens of four seminal concerts,acclaimed poet and biographer DanielMark Epstein offers an intimate, nuancedlook at Bob Dylan: a vivid, full-bodiedportrait of one of the most influential artistsof the twentieth century, from his birth tothe Never Ending Tour.Beginning with 1963’s Lisner Auditoriumconcert in Washington, D.C., Epstein revisitsDylan’s astonishing rise as the darling ofthe folk revival, focusing on the people andbooks that shaped him, and his struggle tofind artistic direction on the road in the1960s. Madison Square Garden, 1974, shedslight on Dylan’s transition from folk iconto rock star, his family life in seclusion,his subsequent divorce, and his highly anticipatedreturn to touring. Tanglewood,1997, reveals how Dylan revived his flaggingcareer in the late 1990s—largelyunder the influence of Jerry Garcia—discoveringnew ways of singing and connectingwith his audience, and assembling the greatbands for his Never Ending Tour. In abreathtaking account of the Time Out of Mindsessions, Epstein provides the most completepicture yet of Dylan’s contemporary workin the studio, his acceptance of his laurels,and his role as the éminence grise ofrock and roll today. Aberdeen, 2009, bringsus full circle, detailing the making of Dylan’striumphant albums of the 2000s, as well ashis long-running radio show.Drawing on anecdotes and insights fromnew interviews with those closest to theman—including Maria Muldaur, Happy Traum,D. A. Pennebaker, Nora Guthrie, Ramblin’ JackElliott, and Dylan’s sidemen throughout the years—The Ballad of Bob Dylan is a singulartake on an artist who has transformed generationsand, as he enters his eighth decade,continues to inspire and surprise today.

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  Sea Ice and Rock - Sailing and...

  Robin Knox-Johnston, Chris...

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  When leading mountaineer Sir Chris Bonington was researching Quest for Adventure, his study of post-war adventure, he contacted Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, the first person to sail single-handed and non-stop around the world, for an interview. This simple request turned into an exchange of skills, which then grew into a joint expedition to Greenland's unexplored Lemon Mountains. Sea, Ice and Rock is the story of this epic journey.
  With both Bonington and Knox-Johnston having little experience in the other's craft, their expedition was not without difficulty. But through one another's support, the two men and their team sailed from Britain to Greenland, going on to twice attempt the Lemon Mountain's forbidding highest peak, the Cathedral. Though their attempts ended in a dramatic descent, this could not dampen the unfailing optimism with which the two approached their task. They recount their experiences not only with appreciation for the awe-inspiring nature that surrounded them, but also for one another.
  Layers of alternate narration between Bonington and Knox-Johnston make this a truly collaborative memoir. In the same way they exchanged skills on their expedition, the two authors rely on one another's recollections to fill the gaps in their own. Full of ambition and perseverance, anyone wondering why Bonington and Knox-Johnston are masters in their fields need only read Sea, Ice and Rock.

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  The PILOT Method - The 5...

  Elizabeth McCormick

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  Becoming a Black Hawk helicopter pilot wasn't easy, and from that experience came the realization that pilots- rotary or fixed wing, military or civilian, have a different thought process.  The rigors of flight training and the heightened state of awareness during flight changes who they are.  What makes pilots different?  Why are they revered as an industry and looked up to by children with awestruck eyes?   And how can the lessons learned as pilots translate into personal leadership and high level performance? The P.I.L.O.T. Method breaks down the 5 elemental truths to being a better leader of yourself through the experiences of pilots.  P-  Potential:  You have potential, are you confident in that potential, and how to boost it.  I-  Implementation:  What are you doing with your potential, and how to get more out of it.L-  Leadership:  The three pillars of leadership based on aviation principles and how they apply to you.O- Optimize:   Are you living your best life?  Learn how you CAN be more, do more, and live more.T- Tenacity:  Never give up.  How to find that toughness within you.   Through Elizabeth McCormick’s stories and those of her pilot friends, you’ll learn how to FLY-  First Lead Yourself.

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  A Doctor's War

  Aidan MacCarthy

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  An “engrossing” memoir of a Royal Air Force doctor’s World War II experiences, from surviving Dunkirk to witnessing Nagasaki (The Irish Times).   As an RAF medical officer, Aidan MacCarthy served in France, survived Dunkirk, and was interned by the Japanese in Java, where his ingenuity helped his fellow prisoners through awful conditions. While en route to Japan in 1944, his ship was torpedoed, sending him into the Pacific. Miraculously, MacCarthy was rescued by a whaling boat—only to be re-interned in Japan. Ironically, it was the dropping of the atomic bomb at Nagasaki that saved his life, though it also meant being an eyewitness to the horror and devastation it caused.   Long out of print, this remarkable war memoir was rediscovered during a journey through Ireland by Pete McCarthy, author of McCarthy’s Bar, who describes it as “jaw-dropping.”   “Written in a straightforward, matter-of-fact tone, this book is marked by the author’s ability to keep cool under adversity and by his admirable sense of humor and irony. A wonderful, if chilling work.” —Publishers Weekly   “A gripping read.” —Evening Echo

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