Other books that might interest you

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  City on Fire - A Boyhood in Aligarh

  Zeyad Masroor Khan

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  'An intimate new memoir about growing up amid everyday communalism' - The Hindu 
   
  Zeyad Masroor Khan was four years old when he realized that an innocent act of clicking a switch near a window overlooking the street could trigger a riot. As the distant thud of a crowd grew closer and calls for murder rent the air, he got his first taste of growing up in Upar Kot, a Muslim ghetto in Aligarh. Khan's world was far-removed from the Aligarh of popular imagination-of poets, tehzeeb and the intellectual corridors of the Aligarh Muslim University. His was a city where serpentine lanes simmered with violence, homes fervently prayed to dispel the omnipresent fear of a family member turning up dead, and the soft breeze that blew over crowded terraces carried rumours of a bloodthirsty mob on the prowl.  
  In his coming-of-age memoir, Khan writes, with searing honesty and raw power, about the undercurrents of religious violence and the ensuing 'othering' that followed him everywhere he went: from his schooldays in Aligarh, when hopping over to the lending library to the 'Hindu' part of town to find his favourite comic book or lighting candles with neighbours on Diwali was fraught with tension; through his years as a college student in Delhi, where being denied apartments because of his name was the norm; to ultimately becoming a journalist documenting history of his country as it happened.  
  City on Fire is a rare, visceral portrait of how everyday violence and hate become a part of our lives and consciousness; a society where name and clothes mark out a person as the 'other'. It is as much an incisive examination of religion and violence, imagined histories and fractured realities, grief and love in today's India, as it is a paean to the hope of continued unity, to an idea of India

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  The Battle of Gettysburg -...

  Nova Ashford

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  The Battle of Gettysburg stands as one of the most significant events in the American Civil War. Fought from July 1 to July 3, 1863, it marked a turning point in the conflict, shifting momentum firmly in favor of the Union. It was the largest battle ever fought in North America, involving over 160,000 soldiers and resulting in nearly 50,000 casualties. The immense scale of the battle and the high human cost underscore its importance, but Gettysburg's significance goes beyond just the number of lives lost. It was a critical moment in the war, a pivotal clash that ultimately determined the future direction of the United States. 
  Before Gettysburg, the Confederate Army, led by General Robert E. Lee, had gained significant victories in the Eastern Theater, including the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia was emboldened by these successes and was determined to continue its efforts to win independence for the South. In the spring of 1863, Lee decided to take the fight to the North, hoping that a victory on Union soil would weaken Northern morale, pressure the U.S. government for a peace settlement, and gain international recognition for the Confederacy. His strategy was bold but fraught with risk, as it carried the potential to either decisively break the Union or set the stage for a resounding Confederate defeat. 
  On the other side, the Union Army, led by Major General George G. Meade, was in a period of transition. Meade had only recently been appointed to command, replacing General Joseph Hooker. The Union Army had been struggling to achieve decisive victories after a series of failures, and morale was low. However, the Union leadership understood that they could not afford another loss to the Confederacy. Gettysburg would become their test—a chance to halt Lee’s advance and potentially reverse the tide of the war.

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  Elvis Presley: A short biography...

  5 Minutes, 5 Minute Biographies,...

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  Elvis Presley, inventor of rock'n'roll: Life and work in a short biography! Everything you need to know, brief and concise. Infotainment, education and entertainment at its best!

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  A Cup of Tea on The Commode - My...

  Mark Steven Porro

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  Mark enjoyed his carefree bachelor’s life in Los Angeles. He had no steady girlfriend, no children, few responsibilities outside of work. But that all changed when “The Call” came. Genevieve, his eighty-nine-year-old mother, was on her deathbed. He rushed back to New Jersey to be by her side. Hours became days, days became weeks, then she woke up. So, he moved back into his childhood home and took over her care. His first task was to remove all hazards, which included the current caregivers. 
   
  After, Mark asked his mother, “Do you trust me?” She whispered, “Yes.” “Do you understand I will do everything in my power to keep you healthy and safe?” She smiled and nodded. “That means I’m in charge, and that means now you must obey me.” Her mood shifted in an instant. She looked him dead in the eye, then puckered up her lips. He wasn’t sure if this was a sign of surrender or one wishing him luck. He kissed her and hoped for the best. 
   
  The parent/child role reversal may not have been unique to Mark, but how he dealt with it was. One day, hoping to make Genevieve’s time on the commode a tad more pleasant, he offered her a cup of her favorite beverage. It was a hit, and a cup of tea on the commode became a staple on the morning menu, and the clear choice for the title of this intimate, funny, and heartwarming memoir of how eldercare can be done. 
   
  A Cup of Tea on the Commode chronicles Mark’s multitasking adventures of filling his mother’s last years with love, laughter, and joy. Though not always successful, he came pretty damn close.

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  The Men Who Killed the Luftwaffe...

  Jay A Stout

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  San Diego Book Award Winner: “An excellent overview of the U.S. Army Air Forces’ war against Nazi Germany.” —Barrett Tillman, author of Whirlwind: The Air War Against Japan 1942–1945  Bronze medalist, Military Writers Society of America   When World War II began, the U.S. Army Air Corps numbered only forty-five thousand men and a few thousand aircraft—hardly enough to defend the United States, let alone defeat Germany’s Luftwaffe, whose state-of-the-art aircraft and battle-seasoned pilots stood ready to batter any attackers. Yet by the war’s end, the Luftwaffe had been crushed, and the U.S. Army Air Forces, successor to the Air Corps, had delivered the decisive blows. This book tells the story of that striking transformation—one of the marvels of modern warfare—while simultaneously thrusting readers into whirling, heart-pounding accounts of aerial combat.   Britain’s Royal Air Force had been just barely holding the line, and the might of the United States was needed to turn the tide. Almost from scratch, the US built an air force of more than two million men. Thanks to the visionary leadership of Henry “Hap” Arnold, Carl “Tooey” Spaatz, Ira Eaker, James Doolittle, and others, the USAAF assembled a well-trained and superbly equipped force unlike any ever fielded. And thanks to the brave Americans who crewed, maintained, and supported the aircraft, the USAAF annihilated the Luftwaffe, pounding targets deep inside Germany and elsewhere. A stirring tribute to these men as well as an engaging work of history, The Men Who Killed the Luftwaffe vividly describes World War II in the skies above Europe—and captures the personalities of the men who won it, whether on the ground or in the air.

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  A Rare Recording of Ezra Pound

  Ezra Pound

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  Ezra Weston Loomis Pound (October 30, 1885 - November 1, 1972), born in what is now Hailey, Idaho, was a major American figure in the early modernist poetry movement, and a fascist collaborator in Italy during World War II. Angered by the carnage of World War I, Pound blamed the war on finance capitalism, which he called "usury". He moved to Italy in 1924, and through the 1930s and 1940s promoted an economic theory known as social credit, wrote for publications owned by the British fascist Sir Oswald Mosley, embraced Benito Mussolini's fascism, and expressed support for Adolf Hitler. During World War II and the Holocaust in Italy, he made hundreds of paid radio broadcasts for the Italian government attacking the United States, Franklin D. Roosevelt and, above all, Jews. He was arrested in 1945 by American forces in Italy on charges of treason, spending months in a U.S. military camp in Pisa--including three weeks in an outdoor steel cage. Deemed unfit to stand trial, he was incarcerated in St. Elizabeth's psychiatric hospital in Washington, D.C., for over 12 years. After a campaign by his fellow writers, he was released from St. Elizabeth's in 1958 and lived in Italy until his death in 1972.

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