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The sixth Odd Thomas thriller from the master storyteller. Our reluctant hero is drawn once more into a strange encounter with the lingering dead. Later that morning when I walked downtown to buy blue jeans & a few pairs of socks I met a guy who offered to neuter me with a. 45 pistol. In a sinister encounter with a rogue truck driver Odd
- who has the gift of seeing the dead & the soon-to-be dead
- has a disturbing vision of the slaughter of three innocent children. Across California into Nevada & back again Odd embarks on a road chase to prevent the tragedy. But he is to discover that he is not up against a single twisted sociopath but a mysterious network of evil men & women whose resources appear supernatural. Luckily in this world that Odd finds so beautiful & full of wonders & deeply odd as well he meets a collection of like-minded eccentrics who will help him to take the next giant step towards his destiny.

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Field Marshal William Slim stands alongside Montgomery as the outstanding British field commander of World War II. Defeat Into Victory" is his classic account of the Burma campaign: a story of retreat attrition & final hard-fought victory over the Japanese. Told by a commander always at the centre of events this is a narrative which captures both the high drama & the harsh reality of war." ...

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In 53BC the Proconsul Marcus Crassus & 36 000 of his legionaries were crushed by the Parthians at Carrhae in what is now eastern Turkey. Crassus' defeat & death & the 20 000 casualties his army suffered were an extraordinary disaster for Rome. The event intensified the bitter destructive struggle for power in the Roman republic curtailed the empire's eastward expansion & had a lasting impact on the history of the Mediterranean & the Middle East. It was also the first clash between two of the greatest civilizations of the ancient world. Yet this critical episode has often been neglected by writers on the period who have concentrated on the civil war between Pompey & Caesar. Gareth Sampson in this challenging & original study reconstructs the Carrhae campaign in fine detail reconsiders the policy of imperial expansion & gives a fascinating insight into the opponents the Romans confronted in the East
- the Parthians.
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After a vicious attack Paladin Hunter Fitzsimon is no longer the warrior he once was. So when hes offered a transfer to the small Pacific Northwest town of Justice Point he takes it. Tate Justice needs a tenant for the apartment above her garage but when Hunter shows up something about him unsettles her
- & its not just his sexy grin. When he doesnt return home one evening & Tate finds him left for dead after another Kalith attack she realizes how much he means to her. & as the Kalith & the Paladins battle it out Hunter begins to realize hed do anything to keep her too.
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The Straits of Dardanelles that separates Europe & Asia Anatolia were fortified in the 15th century with massive bronze bombards & history has proved that unwelcome ships have to run a formidable gauntlet. On 18 March 1915 a powerful fleet of British & French warships attempted to overwhelm the shore defences of the Dardanelles to allow minesweepers to clear the Straits. The attack failed at huge cost; three ships sunk & three more seriously damaged. By bringing together many threads of information including extracts from British intelligence sources that had previously determined that a naval attack alone would not succeed this definitive work examines the flaws of Winston Churchills strategy & identifies the inadequacies of pitting warships against shore fortifications. The Allied inability to control the Straits necessitated the disastrous Allied invasion of Gallipoli that cost the lives of some 250 000 men. From the 19th century the Ottoman army & Turkeys coastal defences relied entirely on the German firm of Krupp for guns. The author describes how this choice was a crucial element to the successful defence of the Dardanelles. Many of the fortifications on the Gallipoli peninsula & the Asian shore are still accessible. The Defence of the Dardanelles identifies those that can be visited many of which still have wrecked guns emplaced. ...

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Gaius Valerius Verrens returns to Rome from the successful campaign against Boudicca in Britain. Now hailed a Hero of Rome Valerius is not the man he once was
- scarred both physically & emotionally by the battles he has fought his sister is mortally ill his father in self-imposed exile. & neither is Rome the same city as the one he left. The Emperor Nero grows increasingly paranoid. Those who seek power for themselves whisper darkly in the emperors ears. They speak of a new threat one found within the walls of Rome itself. A new religious sect the followers of Christus deny Neros divinity & are rumoured to be spreading sedition. Nero calls on his Hero of Rome to become a Defender of Rome to seek out this rebel sect to capture their leader a man known as Petrus. Failure would be to forfeit his life & the lives of twenty thousands Judaeans living in Rome. But as Valerius begins his search a quest which will take him to the edge of the empire he will discover that success may cost him nearly as much as failure.
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Following work recently brought into sharper focus by the Defence of Britain Project this is the first extensive overview of the military structures of the twentieth century combining both documentary & fieldwork research. The book presents details of all those elements of the landscape both urban & rural which have resulted from the need to defend against conflict
- actual or threatened. Defending Britain" explains both the form & purpose of structures such as anti-invasion defences airfields naval installations & barracks munitions dumps & firing ranges Cold War bunkers & radar sites factories & stores all of which are well illustrated. The final section provides the reader with a comprehensive gazetteer of surviving examples to visit throughout Britain."
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When a teenaged boy is discovered stabbed to death in the woods adjoining the local high school a wave of shock ripples through the suburban community of Newton outside of Boston. Assistant district attorney Andy Barber is used to dealing with murder & its after-effects but with his own son Jacob also a student at the school he too is anxious for a swift arrest & conviction. But as the kids appear to be stonewalling the cops & the investigation stalls evidence emerges that ties Jacob to the crime
- & suddenly Andy faces a very different challenge: preventing his son from being convicted of murder. Together with his wife Laurie the family closes ranks in the midst of an increasingly hostile community as Andy prepares for the trial of his life the one trial he cannot afford to lose. Especially when the emergence of his own dark family secrets threatens to undermine Jacobs defence. & as the drama reaches its climax Andy & Laurie have to face every parents toughest questions: how well do you really know your own child & how far would you go to save them?
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Andy Barber's job is to put killers behind bars. & when a boy from his son Jacob's school is found stabbed to death Andy is doubly determined to find & prosecute the perpetrator. Until a crucial piece of evidence turns up linking Jacob to the murder. & suddenly Andy & his wife find their son accused of being a cold-blooded killer. In the face of every parent's worst nightmare they will do anything to defend their child. Because deep down they know him better than anyone. Don't they? ...

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For two thousand years London has been at the heart of Britains development as a nation providing a focus for its political life. The military element is now usually visible only through the pageantry which attends royal occasions but this masks a more serious underlying intent. Frequently the target for both foreign invaders & domestic factions it has been required to defend itself against everything from seaborne raiders to aerial bombardment & the threat of nuclear war. At the same time the direction of military affairs has been centred on London along with the military infrastructure of barracks depots magazines dockyards & munitions factories. The evidence for much of this can be seen in the landscape from the mediaeval Tower of London & the underground nuclear citadels in the urban centre to the royal palaces moated sites airfields & anti-invasion defences in the suburbs & the green belt. This book describes the various elements of Londons military heritage & places them in their historical & social context. From the castles & strong-houses of the mediaeval & Tudor monarchs & statesmen to the pseudo-fortresses of the Victorian militia & rifle volunteers; the airfields of the anti-Zeppelin fighters of the Royal Flying Corps & the Battle of Britain bases of the RAF to the pillboxes of the defences against invasion in 1940 & the anti-nuclear defences of the Cold War & beyond. ...

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Defence Of The Realm

To mark the centenary of its foundation the British Security Service MI5 has opened its archives to an independent historian. The Defence of the Realm" the book which results is an unprecedented publication. It reveals the precise role of the Service in twentieth-century British history from its foundation by Captain Kell of the British Army in October 1909 to root out the spies of the Kaiser up to its present role in countering Islamic terrorism. It describes the distinctive ethos of MI5 how the organization has been managed its relationship with the government where it has triumphed and where it has failed. In all of this no restriction has been placed on the judgements made by the author. The book also casts new light on many events and periods in British history showing for
example that though well-placed sources MI5 was probably the pre-war department with the best understanding of Hitlers objectives and had a remarkable willingness to speak truth to power; how it was so astonishingly successful in turning German agents during the Second World War; and that it had much greater roles than has hitherto been realized during the end of the Empire and in responding to the recurrent fears of successive governments (both Conservative and Labour) and or Cold War Communist subversion. It has new information about the Profumo affair and its aftermath about the Magnificent Five and about a range of formerly unconfirmed Soviet contacts. It reveals that though MI5 had a file on Harold Wilson it did not plot against him and it describes what really happened during the
failed IRA attack in Gibraltar in March 1988."

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Supplier: WHSmith
SKU: 9780141023304

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To mark the centenary of its foundation the British Security Service MI5 has opened its archives to an independent historian. The Defence of the Realm" the book which results is an unprecedented publication. It reveals the precise role of the Service in twentieth-century British history from its foundation by Captain Kell of the British Army in October 1909 to root out the spies of the Kaiser up to its present role in countering Islamic terrorism. It describes the distinctive ethos of MI5 how the organization has been managed its relationship with the government where it has triumphed & where it has failed. In all of this no restriction has been placed on the judgements made by the author. The book also casts new light on many events & periods in British history showing for example that though well-placed sources MI5 was probably the pre-war department with the best understanding of Hitlers objectives & had a remarkable willingness to speak truth to power; how it was so astonishingly successful in turning German agents during the Second World War; & that it had much greater roles than has hitherto been realized during the end of the Empire & in responding to the recurrent fears of successive governments (both Conservative & Labour) & or Cold War Communist subversion. It has new information about the Profumo affair & its aftermath about the Magnificent Five & about a range of formerly unconfirmed Soviet contacts. It reveals that though MI5 had a file on Harold Wilson it did not plot against him & it describes what really happened during the failed IRA attack in Gibraltar in March 1988."

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