Hardcover. NY, Ecco, 1st, 2007, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. From Bernd Heinrich, the bestselling author of Winter World, comes the remarkable story of his father's life, his family's past, and how the forces of history and nature have shaped his own life. Although Bernd Heinrich's father, Gerd, a devoted naturalist, specialized in wasps, Bernd tried to distance himself from his "old-fashioned" father, becoming a hybrid: a modern, experimental biologist with a naturalist's sensibilities. In this remarkable memoir, the award-winning author shares the ways in which his relationship with his father, combined with his unique childhood, molded him into the scientist, and man, he is today. From Gerd's days as a soldier in Europe to the family's daring escape from the Red Army in 1945 to the rustic Maine farm they came to call home, Heinrich relates it all in his trademark style, making science accessible and awe-inspiring. Clean copy.
Hardcover. NY, Riverhead, 1st, 2004, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 349 pages. A heartwarming memoir describes growing up in Czechoslovakia during the 1970s as the child of dissidents involved with the failed Prague Spring uprising in a loving family--her mother, the disowned daughter of two Party elite parents; her inventor and cab driver father; her beautiful teenage sister; and her dog, a famed Czech TV star. Clean copy.
Softcover. St. Paul MN, Pogo Press, 1st, 1998, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 158 pages, b&w illustrations. During World War I, soldiers in the American Expeditionary Force rarely fought in the newly developed tank, and those who did manned British and French tanks since American models did not become available until after the war. Harris joined the Tank Corps because it was considered the elite unit of the ground forces and had a certain amount of romance connected with it. Initially assigned as a driving instructor, he later saw action at the St. Mihiel salient and on the Meuse-Argonne front. This book, which offers an extensive preface, summarizing Harris's life before, during, and after the war, along with some penetrating insights into his character, collects 46 letters he wrote home while in service. As they show, Harris saw war as a game not unlike the football games he played in his youth. Although he spent only 18 months in Europe, he looked upon it as a bold adventure, surviving the bad periods and enjoying the better moments. He returned from war apparently unscathed in both body and mind. The letters provide an entertaining if hardly probing portrayal of World War I from a tank officer's point of view. Clean copy.
Hardcover. Rockport MA, Protean Pree, 1st, 2008, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, b&w illustrations. In 1943, the author was on track to become a doctor like his parents when he flunked organic chemistry at Harvard and enlisted in the army, finding himself heading off to fight in Europe with the 45th Infantry Division (in which famed editorial cartoonist Bill Mauldin also served). Garland chronicles the division's journey from the landing at Sicily through the liberation of Dachau and then, some 60 years later, also seeks to come to terms with his experiences and those of his comrades. Part personal and collective memoir and part history, Garland's book is loaded with recollections compiled from interviews, diaries, drawings, and photographs that he neatly fits into the historical framework. His writing is highly engaging and shares the story of the 45th and its 511 days in combat and four amphibious landings, providing an excellent narrative history of the division during World War II, as well as a personal reckoning.
Hardcover. New York , Farrar Straus Giroux , 1st, 2007, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Non-paginated. Hardcover with dust jacket. Theft protection sticker on front fly leaf. Clean, tight copy otherwise. Color illustrations by Sis.
Hardcover. New York, Alfred A. Knopf, 1st, 1956, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover, 178 pages. Dust jacket slightly worn and with short tears. Some foxing on endpages, top edge stained red.
Hardcover. Boston, Little Brown, reprint, 1913, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, maroon cloth with gilt lettering on spine. 470 pages with index, b&w frontis of an English church. A detailed history of the Willard family first published 1n 1848. Clean copy.