Barletta also recalls the sad times: watching a once-robust Reagan fade into the dark shadows of Alzheimer’s disease, and the painful moment when he had to tell the former president that his days of horseback riding had come to an end. John barletta was a vietnam veteran and secret Service agent who spent over a decade with the Reagans, poised to give his own life at any moment to save the 40th president of the United States.
His riding skills made barletta the perfect choice to protect Reagan during his visits to the ranch, and over time, he got to know the commander-in-chief as few others did. Barletta recalls watching reagan take pleasure in clearing brush from the grounds, and entertaining world figures like Mikhail Gorbachev and Queen Elizabeth, spending quiet time with Nancy, both of whom were surprised by the simplicity of the Reagan ranch.
. Poignant and candid, riding with Reagan is an intimate portrait of the man who remains one of the most popular presidents in our nation’s history. But what most of us did not see was the man who always rode just a few steps behind. A secret service agent’s story of his unlikely friendship with President Ronald Reagan offers “a wonderful portrait of a man who was larger than life” Nelson DeMille.
It is an image etched in the minds of a generation: Ronald Reagan atop his horse, Nancy, riding through the dusty trails and canyons of his California ranch with his beloved wife, at his side.
End of a Berlin Diary
Shirer returned to the European front in 1944 to cover the end of the war. End of a berlin diary chronicles this year-long study of Germany after Hitler. A vivid and unforgettable word picture of the destruction of Nazi Germany” The New York Times. It was in 1940, when he was still a virtual unknown, that Shirer wondered whether his eyewitness account of the collapse of the world around Nazi Germany could be of any interest or value as a book.
Through a combination of shirer’s lucid, copies of captured nazi documents, the weariness, honest reporting, along with passages on the Nuremberg trials, and an eyewitness account of Hitler’s last days, Shirer provides insight into the unrest, and the tentative steps world leaders took towards peace.
As the smoke cleared, shirer—who watched the birth of a monster that threatened to engulf the world—now stood witness to the death of the Third Reich. A radio broadcaster and journalist for Edward R.
Official and Confidential: The Secret Life of J. Edgar Hoover
. A new york times–bestselling author’s revealing, “important” biography of the longtime FBI director The Philadelphia Inquirer. No one exemplified paranoia and secrecy at the heart of American power better than J. Ultimately, summers paints a portrait of a fatally flawed individual who should never have held such power, and for so long.
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Israel: A History
The most comprehensive account of Israeli history yet published” Efraim Karsh, The Sunday Telegraph. Renowned historian martin gilbert crafts a riveting account of israel’s turbulent history, Suez, negotiations, the Intifada, from the birth of the Zionist movement under Theodor Herzl through its unexpected declaration of statehood in 1948, conflicts, and through the many wars, and events that have shaped its past six decades—including the Six Day War, treaties, and the Yom Kippur War.
Martin gilbert has left us in his debt, but also for a restatement of the classic vision of Zion, not only for a superlative history of Israel, in which a Middle East without guns is not a bedtime story but an imperative long overdue. Fleeing persecution in Europe, thousands of Jewish immigrants settled in Palestine after World War II.
This book is tribute to his memory. Jonathan sacks, The Times London .
The Boy Who Talked to Dogs: A Memoir
More importantly, his canine companions helped him understand the vital importance of family, courage, and self-respect. The boy who talked to dogs “is an astonishing, well-told story filled with humor and pathos…I will not look down on a dog ever again after reading this book. Malachy mccourt, author of A Monk Swimming.
The boy who talked to dogs is more than an inspirational, unique, and fascinating look into canine behavior. It shows how modern life has conditioned dogs to act around humans, in some ways helpful, but in other ways unnatural to their true instincts, and how everyone can benefit from learning to “talk dog.
Known as the “dog man” in australia, where he now lives, McKenna dispenses his hard-earned and priceless wisdom to dog owners and dog lovers who are sometimes baffled by what their four-legged friends are trying to tell them. He finally escaped by running away from home at thirteen, and eventually adopted—or was adopted by—an unconditionally supportive pack of six street dogs.
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Bailout Over Normandy: A Flyboy’s Adventures with the French Resistance and Other Escapades in Occupied France
After months living and fighting with the french Resistance, interrogated as a spy, Fahrenwald was captured by the Wehrmacht, and interned in a POW camp--and made a daring escape just before his deportation to Germany. A suspenseful wwii page-turner and an outrageously witty tale of daring and friendship, mischief, and intrigues of fighter pilots, this book brings to vivid life the daily bravery, Resistance fighters, and other Allies in the air and on the ground.
He spent his life in the business world and never again put pen to paper; but his immediate reminiscence of his wartime experience reveals a rare literary talent. Nothing diminished this pilot's talent for spotting the ironic humor in even the most aggravating or dangerous situations--nor his penchant for extracting his own improvised and sometimes hilarious version of justice.
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The Far Shore
But his work was not finished. Then, having served his country for over a decade, he retired to private life. In the far shore, rear admiral ellsberg describes in detail the meticulous preparation and efforts behind the Normandy Invasion—efforts that would keep the flow of men and materials streaming onto the beaches and into the heart of Europe.
. Vividly described by a man who saw firsthand the horrors of war and the cost of victory, The Far Shore takes readers through the brutal surf, onto the bloody beaches, and into the mind of one of World War II’s little-known heroes. His achievements would eventually earn him the Distinguished Service Medal and lead to his appointment as an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.
From dealing with the extremes of engineering possibilities to wrestling with the knowledge that countless lives would depend on the success of his intricate planning, Ellsberg would work himself into exhaustion to do his part. Before world war ii, edward ellsberg had already established himself as a true innovator and master naval engineer, revolutionizing the salvage and rescue of sunken vessels like no one before.
And they would be needed for the greatest military invasion in human history.
Rooster: The Life and Times of the Real Rooster Cogburn, the Man Who Inspired True Grit
It’s an interesting read, especially for history buffs. The only authority the Cogburn clan recognized was God and a gun. The author has done extensive research to bring the times and his ancestor to life. Six foot three, dark eyed, and a dead shot with a rifle, Franklin “Rooster” Cogburn was as hard as the rocky mountain ground his family settled.
Now, in this page-turning account, Cogburn’s great-great-grandson reveals the truth behind the fiction—and the man behind the myth . . . His descriptions of the Fort Smith area, Indian Territory and southeastern Oklahoma are outstanding. The oklahoman “in this book, Cogburn has blended family lore and good research to produce an entertaining portrait.
The dallas Morning News. He was born in 1866 in fancy Hill, Arkansas, the descendant of pioneers and moonshiners.
Apache: Inside the Cockpit of the World's Most Deadly Fighting Machine
A fantastic, totally exhilarating roller-coaster read. Sergeant major dan Mills, author of Sniper One. When a marine goes missing in action, Macy and his team know they are the army’s only hope of bringing him back alive. Apache is the incredible true story of Ed Macy, a decorated Apache helicopter pilot, that takes you inside one of the world’s most dangerous war machines.
Apache is macy’s story—an adrenalin-fueled account of one of the most daring actions of modern wartime, and a tale of courage, danger, and comradeship you won’t be able to put down. In 2007, macy’s apache squadron was dispatched to Afghanistan’s notorious Helmand Province with the mission to fight alongside and protect the men on the ground by any means necessary.
Macy had always dreamed of a career in the army, so when the british Army Air Corps launched its attack helicopter program, Macy bent every rule in the book to make sure he was the first to sign up to fly the Apache—the deadliest, most technically advanced helicopter in the world and the toughest to fly.
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The Big Roads: The Untold Story of the Engineers, Visionaries, and Trailblazers Who Created the American Superhighways
S. These interconnected roads—over 47, 000 miles of them—are man-made wonders, economic pipelines, uniquely American symbols of escape and freedom, agents of sprawl, and an unrivaled public works accomplishment. Eisenhower, this network of roadways has origins that reach all the way back to the World War I era, and The Big Roads—“the first thorough history of the expressway system” The Washington Post—tells the full story of how they came to be.
But during the twentieth century, the interstate highway system dramatically changed the face of our nation. From the speed demon who inspired a primitive web of dirt auto trails to the largely forgotten technocrats who planned the system years before Ike reached the White House to the city dwellers who resisted the concrete juggernaut when it bore down on their neighborhoods, this book reveals both the massive scale of this government engineering project, and the individual lives that have been transformed by it.
Though officially named after President Dwight D. Interstate system” Los Angeles Times. A fast-paced history filled with fascinating detours, “the book is a road geek’s treasure—and everyone who travels the highways ought to know these stories” Kirkus Reviews.
The Nixon Tapes: 1973
The nixon tapes: 1973 tells the concluding chapter of the story, covering such events as the Vietnam cease-fire, of course, and, the Wounded Knee standoff, the final year of taping, the Watergate investigation. Once again, there are revelations on every page. Between 1971 and 1973, president richard Nixon’s voice-activated tape recorders captured 3, 700 hours of conversations.
. This “revealing” transcription captures a dark and dramatic year in presidential history—and the words of Richard Nixon himself The New York Times Book Review.