history war

NY, Simon & Schuster, 1st, 2021, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. 609 pages, b&w illustrations. They say that history is written by the victors. But not in the case of the most famous dissenter on the Supreme Court. Almost a century after his death, John Marshall Harlan's words helped end segregation and gave us our civil rights and our modern economic freedom. But his legacy would not have been possible without the courage of Robert Harlan, a slave who John's father raised like a son in the same household. After the Civil War, Robert emerges as a political leader. With Black people holding power in the Republican Party, it is Robert who helps John land his appointment to the Supreme Court. At first, John is awed by his fellow justices, but the country is changing. Northern whites are prepared to take away black rights to appease the South. Giant trusts are monopolizing entire industries. Against this onslaught, the Supreme Court seemed all too willing to strip away civil rights and invalidate labor protections. So as case after case comes before the court, challenging his core values, John makes a fateful decision: He breaks with his colleagues in fundamental ways, becoming the nation's prime defender of the rights of Black people, immigrant laborers, and people in distant lands occupied by the US. Harlan's dissents, particularly in Plessy v. Ferguson, were widely read and a source of hope for decades. Thurgood Marshall called Harlan's Plessy dissent his "Bible"--and his legal roadmap to overturning segregation. In the end, Harlan's words built the foundations for the legal revolutions of the New Deal and Civil Rights eras.

Hardcover. Oxford UK, Clarendon Press, reprint, 1992, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Six hardcover volumes. Navy blue cloth with gilt lettering to spines. 1992 reissue of 1888 edition; the book was originally written by Edward, Earl of Clarendon, an advisor to both Charles I and Charles II. One of the most significant histories of the 1642-to-1646 English Civil War, it was the first detailed account from a key player in the events it covered. Written at first as a defense of Charles I, it was extensively revised after 1667 and became far more critical and frank, particularly in its assessments of his contemporaries. Vol. 1 with pencil notations on front fly leaf. Otherwise a clean, bright set. DUE TO WEIGHT, DOMESTIC SHIPPING ONLY.

Hardcover. Berkeley, University of California Press, 1st, 1977, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Good, Hardcover in a dust jacket with edge wear and chipping. 305 pages, maps, glossary, bibliography, index. This is a unique and fascinating account of how a World War II resistance movement become communist and its violent struggle against the Philippine government and USA backing. The Huk Rebellion is fundamental to the understanding of Philippines politics and its evolution. This account is written from the rebel's point of view and contains many interviews with combatants from both sides. It provides many lessons for both guerillas and counter-insurgent forces. Clean copy.

Softcover. New Haven CT, Yale University Press, 1st, 2014, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Softcover, 339 pages, b&w illustrations. The Hundred Years War (1337-1453) dominated life in England and France for well over a century. It became the defining feature of existence for generations. This sweeping book is the first to tell the human story of the longest military conflict in history. Historian David Green focuses on the ways the war affected different groups, among them knights, clerics, women, peasants, soldiers, peacemakers, and kings. He also explores how the long war altered governance in England and France and reshaped peoples' perceptions of themselves and of their national character. Clean copy.

Softcover. NY, American Italian Historical Association, 1st, 2007, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 244 pages, 35th Conference of the American Italian Historical Association . "'Italian Americans and World War II, ' explores many facets of the dynamic period of the 1940s and the consequences of war and peace. Scholars within AIHA and outside the academy have been slow to recognize the significance of World War II, now recognized as a seminal event in Italian-American life and culture. . . . "This volume is dedicated to all Italian Americans who lived and died, fought and prayed during World War II." Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Burdick Brothers, reprint, 1857, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, embossed brown cloth with gilt lettering on spine. Ninth thousand. The Impending Crisis is often considered the only popular antislavery work by a southern author prior to the outbreak of the Civil War. Helper (1829-1909)'s argument that "slavery was economically unsound" caused this work to be "officially banned in the South"; in the North, it "vied in popularity and influence with Uncle Tom's Cabin" (Howes). The book stoked fears among southern slaveholders that the "North would promote a class conflict among southern whites," and helped drive many towards secessionism. Bookplate on inside front cover, front fly leaf missing. Otherwise a clean copy in exceptionally nice condition.

Hardcover. Boston, Little, Brown and Company, 1st, 1957, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, blue cloth with gilt lettering on spine. Volume XI in The History of United States Naval Operations in World War II. 360 pages, illustrated with maps (one fold-out) and b&w photos. Gilt on spine with light fading, lacks dust jacket, dj flap copy pasted inside front cover, otherwise clean, tight copy.

Hardcover. NY, Oxford University Press, 1st, 1985, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket, 364 pages. The Second World War's Pacific conflict was one of the most complex in history. It embrioled peoples from opposite sides of the globe; it was fought in China, across the expanses of the Pacific, and in the jungles of Southeast Asia; and it was devastating in its consequences for civilians and servicemen alike. It saw the first use of atomic weapons, hastened the end of the Western empires in Asia, and marked America's rise to the position of the most powerful nation in the world.Christopher Thorne, whose previous studies of the war in the Pacific have become landmarks in the field, here weaves together both the entire network of international relations surrounding the war and the impact the war had on all the societies involved--Indian as well as American; Australian and New Zealand as well as Japanese; Korean, Chinese, and Southeast Asian as well as British, French, and Dutch. The Issue of War draws on material gathered over many years in the Far East, Western Europe, and the U.S.--material including wartime films, broadcasts, and newspapers,as well as countless private and offical papers. Representing a synthesis of military, diplomatic, economic, intellectual, and social history, it not only places the war in the context of developments before 1941, but illuminates various patterns that cut across the familiar distinctions between Asia and the West or between Japan and the Allies. Name on front fly leaf, otherwise clean.

Softcover. Bloomington IN, Indiana University Press, reprint., 1987, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 300 pages. Illustrated with maps. Contents: Poland, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Bibliographical Essay, Index. Clean copy.

Softcover. NY, Oxford University Press, reprint, 1989, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 310 pages. Jacques Adler (1927-2017) was born in 1927. Jacques brought his experience in the Resistance to the study of history and used it in his pioneering Ph.D. Jacques joined the Jewish underground in Paris and was active throughout the war. During the Liberation, Jacques was involved in the Resistance takeover of the offices of the Union generale des israelites de France (UGIF), the organization which the Vichy regime forced French Jews to create and pay for in order to control the Jewish community. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY/Oxford UK, Berghahn Books, 1st, 2003, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, 232 pages, pictorial boards. Milena Jesenska, born in Prague in 1896, is most famous as one of Franz Kafka's great loves. Although their relationship lasted only a short time, it won the attention of the literary world with the 1952 publication of Kafka's letters to Milena. Her own letters did not survive. Later biographies showed her as a fascinating personality in her own right. In the Czech Republic, she is remembered as one of the most prominent journalists of the interwar period and as a brave one: in 1939 she was arrested for her work in the resistance after the German occupation of Bohemia and Moravia, and died in Ravensbruck concentration camp in 1944. It is estimated that Jesenska wrote well over 1,000 articles but only a handful have been translated into English. In this book her own writings provide a new perspective on her personality, as well as the changes in Central Europe between the two world wars as these were perceived by a woman of letters. The articles in this volume cover a wide range of topics, including her perceptions of Kafka, her understanding of social and cultural changes during this period, the threat of Nazism, and the plight of the Jews in the 1930s. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, WW Norton, 1wst, 2014, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. A landmark collection, spanning ninety years of U.S. history, of the never-before-published diaries of George F. Kennan, America's most famous diplomat. Through it all, Kennan kept a diary. Spanning a staggering eighty-eight years and totaling over 8,000 pages, his journals brim with keen political and moral insights, philosophical ruminations, poetry, and vivid descriptions. In these pages, we see Kennan rambling through 1920s Europe as a college student, despairing for capitalism in the midst of the Depression, agonizing over the dilemmas of sex and marriage, becoming enchanted and then horrified by Soviet Russia, and developing into America's foremost Soviet analyst. But it is the second half of this near-century-long record--the blossoming of Kennan the gifted author, wise counselor, and biting critic of the Vietnam and Iraq wars--that showcases this remarkable man at the height of his singular analytic and expressive powers, before giving way, heartbreakingly, to some of his most human moments, as his energy, memory, and finally his ability to write fade away.

Hardcover. NY, Alfred A. Knopf, 1st, 2010, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. He was the greatest Indian warrior of the nineteenth century. His victory over General Custer at the battle of Little Bighorn in 1876 was the worst defeat inflicted on the frontier Army. And the death of Crazy Horse in federal custody has remained a controversy for more than a century. The Killing of Crazy Horse pieces together the many sources of fear and misunderstanding that resulted in an official killing hard to distinguish from a crime. A rich cast of characters, whites and Indians alike, passes through this story, including Red Cloud, the chief who dominated Oglala history for fifty years but saw in Crazy Horse a dangerous rival; No Water and Woman Dress, both of whom hated Crazy Horse and schemed against him; the young interpreter Billy Garnett, son of a fifteen-year-old Oglala woman and a Confederate general killed at Gettysburg; General George Crook, who bitterly resented newspaper reports that he had been whipped by Crazy Horse in battle; Little Big Man, who betrayed Crazy Horse; Lieutenant William Philo Clark, the smart West Point graduate who thought he could "work" Indians to do the Army's bidding; and Fast Thunder, who called Crazy Horse cousin, held him the moment he was stabbed, and then told his grandson thirty years later, "They tricked me! They tricked me!" With the Great Sioux War as background and context, drawing on many new materials as well as documents in libraries and archives, Thomas Powers recounts the final months and days of Crazy Horse's life not to lay blame but to establish what happened.

Softcover. Chicago, University of Chicago Press, reprint, 2005, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 311 pages. After decades of bloodshed and political terror, many lament the rise of the left in Latin America. Since the triumph of Castro, politicians and historians have accused the left there of rejecting democracy, embracing communist totalitarianism, and prompting both revolutionary violence and a right-wing backlash. Through unprecedented archival research and gripping personal testimonies, Greg Grandin powerfully challenges these views in this classic work. In doing so, he uncovers the hidden history of the Latin American Cold War: of hidebound reactionaries holding on to their power and privilege; of Mayan Marxists blending indigenous notions of justice with universal ideas of equality; and of a United States supporting new styles of state terror throughout the region. With Guatemala as his case study, Grandin argues that the Latin American Cold War was a struggle not between political liberalism and Soviet communism but two visions of democracy--one vibrant and egalitarian, the other tepid and unequal--and that the conflict's main effect was to eliminate homegrown notions of social democracy.

Hardcover. NY, Frederick Ungar, 1st thus, 1974, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a lightly worn dust jacket, 263 pages. 1st American Edition of this Abridged Translation. This is Kraus's masterpiece, with half of Europe as its stage. It is presented here in English for the first time, in an abridged version that preserves the essence of the 800-page original. Its influence on Brecht, Ionesco, and other playwrights is acknowledged. Mingling actual quotations, news reports, and government orders with Kraus's own satiric dialogue, this immense drama (never meaning to be performed) offers a vast fresco of events at the front and at home during, as it prophesied, the last days of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Indeed, Kraus anticipated the development of atomic warfare and its threat to all mankind. Some of Kraus is untranslatable, but, as Stanley Kauffmann wrote in his New Republic review, "Ungar has done us a benefit at least by bringing us a bit closer to this sharp-eyed, angry, prickly, lover-hater of mankind." INSCRIBED BY FREDERICK UNGAR, the editor and publisher on the half-title page. He also wrote the 14 page introduction. Clean copy.

Hardcover. Princeton NJ, Princeton University Press, 1st, 2021, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 408 pages. A book that casts new light on the history of China and the West at the turn of the nineteenth century. George Macartney's disastrous 1793 mission to China plays a central role in the prevailing narrative of modern Sino-European relations. Summarily dismissed by the Qing court, Macartney failed in nearly all of his objectives, perhaps setting the stage for the Opium Wars of the nineteenth century and the mistrust that still marks the relationship today. But not all European encounters with China were disastrous. The Last Embassy tells the story of the Dutch mission of 1795, bringing to light a dramatic but little-known episode that transforms our understanding of the history of China and the West. Drawing on a wealth of archival material, Tonio Andrade paints a panoramic and multifaceted portrait of an age marked by intrigues and war. China was on the brink of rebellion. In Europe, French armies were invading Holland. Enduring a harrowing voyage, the Dutch mission was to be the last European diplomatic delegation ever received in the traditional Chinese court. Andrade shows how, in contrast to the British emissaries, the Dutch were men with deep knowledge of Asia who respected regional diplomatic norms and were committed to understanding China on its own terms.

Hardcover. NY, Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1st, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Hardcover, tan cloth with gilt lettering on black title blocks, 650 pages. "This is the only complete history of the Latin American Republics that takes into account the important subject of inter-American relations in the present war {World War II}. It brings Latin American history down to the conferences in which Under-Secretary of State Sumner Welles helped to cement North and South solidarity." The book presents, in separate chapters, the history of each of the twenty Latin American nations since independence. Bookplate and name on front endpapers, otherwise a clean, tight copy.

NY, Random House, 1st, 2013, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. An advisor to presidents, two-time Pulitzer Prize winner, and tireless champion of progressive government, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., was also an inveterate letter writer. Indeed, the term "man of letters" could easily have been coined for Schlesinger, a faithful and prolific correspondent whose wide range of associates included powerful public officials, notable literary figures, prominent journalists, Hollywood celebrities, and distinguished fellow scholars. The Letters of Arthur Schlesinger, Jr. reveals the late historian's unvarnished views on the great issues and personalities of his time, from the dawn of the Cold War to the aftermath of September 11. Here is Schlesinger's correspondence with such icons of American statecraft as Harry Truman, Adlai Stevenson, Hubert Humphrey, Henry Kissinger, Bill Clinton, and, of course, John and Robert Kennedy (including a detailed critique of JFK's manuscript for Profiles in Courage). There are letters to friends and confidants such as Eleanor Roosevelt, John Kenneth Galbraith, Gore Vidal, William Styron, and Jacqueline Kennedy (to whom Schlesinger sends his handwritten condolences in the hours after her husband's assassination), and exchanges with such unlikely pen pals as Groucho Marx, Sammy Davis, Jr., and Bianca Jagger. Finally, there are Schlesinger's many thoughtful replies to the inquiries of ordinary citizens, in which he offers his observations on influences, issues of the day, and the craft of writing history.

Hardcover. NY, Schwartz & Wade Books, 2nd pr, 2008, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright dust jacket, 180 pages. Profusely illustrated in b&w. Here are the extraordinary lives of Abraham and Mary, from their disparate childhoods and tumultuous courtship, through the agony of the Civil War, to the loss of three of their children, and finally their own tragic deaths. Readers can find Mary's recipe for Abraham's 'favorite cake' and bake it themselves; hear what Abraham looked like as a toddler; see a photo of the Lincoln's dog; discover that the Lincoln children kept goats at the White House; see the Emancipation Proclamation written in Lincoln's own hand. Perfect for reluctant readers as well as history lovers, The Lincolns provides a living breathing portrait of a man, a woman, and a country. Clean copy.

Softcover. Cambridge University Press, 1st, 2006, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 485 pages, b&w illustrations. By analytically de-coupling war and violence, this book explores the causes and dynamics of violence in civil war. Against the prevailing view that such violence is an instance of impenetrable madness, the book demonstrates that there is logic to it and that it has much less to do with collective emotions, ideologies, and cultures than currently believed. Kalyvas specifies a novel theory of selective violence: it is jointly produced by political actors seeking information and individual civilians trying to avoid the worst but also grabbing what opportunities their predicament affords them. Violence, he finds, is never a simple reflection of the optimal strategy of its users; its profoundly interactive character defeats simple maximization logics while producing surprising outcomes, such as relative nonviolence in the 'frontlines' of civil war. Clean copy.

Hardcover. NY, Liveright, 1st, 2012, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover in a bright, unclipped dust jacket. In the summer of 1862, after a year of protracted fighting, Abraham Lincoln decided on a radical change of strategy-one that abandoned hope for a compromise peace and committed the nation to all-out war. The centerpiece of that new strategy was the Emancipation Proclamation: an unprecedented use of federal power that would revolutionize Southern society. In The Long Road to Antietam, Richard Slotkin, a renowned cultural historian, reexamines the challenges that Lincoln encountered during that anguished summer 150 years ago. In an original and incisive study of character, Slotkin re-creates the showdown between Lincoln and General George McClellan, the "Young Napoleon" whose opposition to Lincoln included obsessive fantasies of dictatorship and a military coup. He brings to three-dimensional life their ruinous conflict, demonstrating how their political struggle provided Confederate General Robert E. Lee with his best opportunity to win the war, in the grand offensive that ended in September of 1862 at the bloody Battle of Antietam. 10 illustrations; 8 maps.

Hardcover. NY/London, Booth-Clibborn, 1st, 2011, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: Very Good, Hardcover, 300 pages. Basil Hyman, a keen amateur photographer, took hundreds of photographs of everyday life in Britain during the 1950s. The Lost Album is a nostalgic look back at this long-gone era, filled with photographs made during a time of enormous social change--just after World War II and before the "Swinging Sixties"--and a wealth of ephemera: theater tickets and playbills, newspaper advertisements, ration books, and much more. Special inserts include actual facsimiles of some of these now-obscure items--talismans from a slower time, when formality, pride, and courtesy prevailed. There are special sections on two major events: the Festival of Britain in 1951, and the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in 1953. With brief, lively introductions and captions, this is a captivating snapshot of how people lived and played in Britain in those years.

Softcover. UK, Pearson Education, 1st, 2007, Book: Very Good, Dust Jacket: None, Softcover, 411 pages. Recounts the development of the nations of England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland from the time of the Anglo-French dual monarchy under Henry VI through the Wars of the Roses, the Reformation crisis, the reigns of Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, the Anglo-Scottish dynastic union, the British multiple monarchy and the Cromwellian Republic, ending with the acts of British Union and the Restoration of the Monarchy. Clean copy.