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Before the Bomb, there were simply 'bombs', lower case. But it was the twentieth century, one hundred years of almost incredible scientific progress, that saw the birth of the Bomb, the human race's most powerful and most destructive discovery. In this magisterial and enthralling account, Gerard DeGroot gives us the life story of the Bomb, from its birth in the turn-of-the-century physics labs of Europe to a childhood in the New Mexico desert of the 1940s, from adolescence and early adulthood in Nagasaki and Bikini, Australia and Siberia to unsettling maturity in test sites and missile silos all over the globe. By turns horrific, awe-inspiring and blackly comic, The Bomb is never less than compelling.
"The military events, the political and strategic contexts, and the social and cultural impact of the Vietnam War are all brought together into this single compelling and readable volume. As well as breadth and incisiveness, it has new things to say on the nature of the communist revolution and the way of war; the flaws in US strategy and tactics, and how these affected the soldier on the ground; and the legacy of the war for Vietnam and America alike."--BOOK JACKET.
Archibald Sinclair, a wealthy landowner from the north of Scotland, was Liberal Party leader from 1935 to 1945 and Air Minister throughout Winston Churchill's ministry during World War II. A widely-admired and talented politician, he played an important part in the major controversies of mid-century: appeasement, unemployment policy, the Abdication, rearmament and the war. His integrity, civility and sense of humour set him apart in an age of opportunism and betrayal.
As well as incorporating the latest scholarship, he makes rich, and often very moving, use of primary sources - newspapers, poetry (both high and low), literature, memoirs and letters - to illuminate the attitudes of society at all its levels, not merely the elite and the articulate. He reveals the extent to which the dominant social force in Britain during the war was not change but continuity.
The question of women's role in the military is extremely topical. A Woman and a Soldier covers the experiences of women in the military from the late mediaeval period to the present day. Written in two volumes this comprehensive guide covers a wide range of wars: The Thirty Years War, the French and Indian Wars in Northern America, the Anglo-Boer War, the First and Second World Wars, the Long March in China, and the Vietnam War. There are also thematic chapters, including studies of terrorism and contemporary military service. Taking a multidisciplinary approach: historical, anthropological, and cultural, the book shows the variety of arguments used to support or deny women's military service and the combat taboo. In the process the book challenges preconceived notions about women's integration in the military and builds a picture of the ideological and practical issues surrounding women soldiers.
The 1960s is a decade often seen through a rose-tinted lens: an era when the young would not only rule the world but change it, too, for the better. But does such fond nostalgia really stand up? Vivid, rich in anecdote, sometimes angry and always persuasive, The Sixties Unplugged is a hugely entertaining and authoritative account of the decade of myth and madness. Read it and remember that even if you weren’t there, you can still find out what really happened. 'A fabulous history of the decade that lacks the usual nostalgia. Gerard DeGroot explores the period with all its horrors from the Chinese Cultural Revolution to the failure of the super powers in the Six-Day War. He does catalogue the free love and flower power festivals but in sharp contrast to the ethnic cleansing in Jakarta and the real threat of nuclear war. This is a really important book to put perspective on such a formative decade and remove some of the romance.' The Bookseller
This topical new study takes a new look at the causes, course and consequences of student activism across the world since its heyday in the 1960s. It starts with analyses of some of the most familiar - and romanticised - Sixties protests themselves, in the US, France, Germany, Mexico and Great Britain. It then goes on to examine more recent, and hazardous, examples of student activism, particularly in China, Korea and Iran. Throughout, the tone is hard-headed and analytical, rather than celebratory, exploring the similarities and differences across these protests and asking what they achieved. The contributors to the volume are: Ingo Cornils; Gerard J. DeGroot; Sylvia Ellis; Sandra Hollin Flowers; Behrooz Ghamari-Tabrizi; Bertram M. Gordon; J. Angus Johnston; Alan R. Kluver; Donald J. Mabry; Gunter Minnerup; A.D. Moses; Frank Pieke; Julie Reuben; Barbara Tischler; Nella Van Dyke; Clare White; James L. Wood; Eric Zolov.
This text reveals how NASA cashed in on the Americans' thirst for heroes in an age of discontent and became obsessed with putting men in space. It explains why the American space program has been caught in a state of purposeless wandering ever since Neil Armstrong descended from Apollo 11 and stepped onto the moon.
The origins of the First World War, both diplomatic and social, are discussed thoroughly examined. The reader is then taken through the major battles on the Eastern and Western fronts, and is given insight into the eventual Allied victory. The war at sea, on the home front, and in distant theaters is carefully examined. The war as it was experienced by the men in the trenches is also explored.
After a long period of suburbanisation, cities have been in vogue again since the 1980s. But why are people prepared to spend far more money on a small house in the city than on a large house in the countryside _ and why doesn't this apply to all citi