LITMIR.BIZ

THE FIRST TUNNEL RATS<br><br>This is the thrilling, hilarious and inspiring true story of a ragtag band of Aussie Army Engineers who redefined the word heroes … and reinvented larrikin too.<br><br>Among the first Australians to fight in Vietnam, they faced death every day defusing Viet Cong booby traps&mdash;then partied all night in a casino they&#39;d built in secret.<br><br>They led hundreds of American troops to safety, but fought US military police to a standstill in the bars of South Vietnam.<br><br>They built the Australian Task Force&#39;s base&mdash;then sabotaged a headquarters conference, booby trapped showers and blew up a generator rather than kowtow to newly arrived officers.<br><br>And that&#39;s before we even mention sex …<br><br>Most importantly, the men of Three Field Troop discovered a huge Viet Cong tunnel complex and were the first allied troops to follow the enemy down into their underground city.<br><br>They were the original Tunnel Rats and this is their story.

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Between the two World Wars, the most famous employee of the British Museum was a cat called Mike. For some twenty years, Mike made it his home and his friend was a most irregular Egyptologist, Wallis Budge, a freebooting fieldworker and smuggler of antiquities. It was a time when the wildest spiritualist ideas were in full resurgence, when ghosts, mummies and lethal curses were held to stalk the earth and many leading scientists, writers and thinkers saw no contradiction between science and belief in the supernatural. And through such tempestuous times, Budge and Mike remained friends and allies as unearthly forces flickered all about them and the objects of the museum collection refused to be mere exhibits but pursued their own dark purposes across the years.

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Imagine sitting across from a member of the German Secret State Police and negotiating with him to allow for the release of Jewish youngsters and for the establishment of a Jewish school. What can a teenager do when forced to march past the gallows and see how two of his campmates were hung? These are just some of the very real experiences that afflicted the 46 featured Holocaust survivors, who remained resilient and went on to rebuild their lives in the United States, Canada, Israel, Australia, England, and Germany. Through their bios and 70 writings, Marking Humanity provides a first-hand glimpse into their hardships, triumphs, courage, personal reflections, prayers, and growth, while also illuminating lessons from the survivors and Holocaust and emphasizing their relevancy today. Readers are encouraged to consider how every person helps to shape the world and the collective shifts that can be created so future generations discover the true meaning of &quot;Never Again.&quot;

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An adventure novel dealing with brutal murders, smuggling, archeological discovery, and a life&#39;s validation. <br><br>An unsuspecting retired military officer attempts to retrace steps of early manhood by revisiting the venue of his first and only love. He quickly finds himself involved in a series of baffling situations which tax his situational awareness, personal relationships, combat skills, and lead to a reassessment of goals and friendships. <br><br>He finds his first love and attempts to rebuild the relationship in spite of the emotional and physical barriers erected to hinder his progress. With the help of wise and astute Native Americans he overcomes the setbacks and begins to revive his true character and ability to love and nurture.<br><br>Contemporary themes underscore this Southwestern adventure, which embraces the paramount values of family, close relationships and enduring love.

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Linking Science and Science History with Culture – Essential Science for the Non-scientist. <br>The Davey Dialogues is an easy-to-understand history and background to key discoveries which have altered our perception of our universe and of ourselves, couched as a dialogue between the writer and a mysterious extra-terrestrial being with an agenda that may surprise you. <br>The dialogues provide background on the historical development of carefully selected scientific topics which are important to our understanding of ourselves and our surroundings. Amongst the questions discussed are: What do we know about our universe and how did we find out? How do we know how old it is, and, for that matter, how far away individual stars and galaxies are? How might life have originated? How does life replicate and change over time? How did religion evolve and why? To what extent do our brains resemble computers? How do we remember faces, facts and figures, and how do we think laterally? Do we have a free will? What is happiness and how can we maximize it?<br><br>&quot;[A] rich, intelligent . . important book . . . clearly written.&quot; <br>J. Fraser Mustard, CC, Founding President, The Canadian Institute for Advanced Research

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Of the 7000 Jews living in the Baltic seaport of Libau (Liepaja), Latvia when the Germans invaded on June 21, 1941, only 200 remained alive when the city was liberated May 9,1945. Of these, maybe two dozen were hiding within Libau itself. This story is about 12 of them. Eleven adults were in the care of Robert and Johanna Sedols who hid them in a cellar behind a false wall constructed with the &quot;holy bricks&quot; of the demolished Choral Synagogue; the lone child was cared for by a widow, Otilija Schimelpfenig, in the secure comfort of her home. For their courage and moral stature, the Sedols and Mrs. Schimelpfenig are memorialized as &quot;Righteous Among the Nations&quot; at Yad Vashem. How these 12 Jews arrived at their hiding places, and how they endured until liberation, is a remarkable story, one of miracles. Inscrutable miracles, cast naked upon the ruins by men and women of courage and cunning, not saints.<br><br>The narrational vigor of the telling reflects the striking skill of a sagacious diarist, Kalman Linkimer. When the Germans invaded Libau, Kalman was just shy of 30. He was already a veteran of the Latvian Army, a broadly educated teacher and poet who tutored wealthy gymnasium students, and an habitu&Atilde;&copy; of cafes where he endlessly played chess, sipped espresso, and smoked cigarettes. And more…he was a gay, religious Jew who was an athlete and an avid leftist. Faced with a defiled social contract, Kalman threw off the mask of the gentle aesthete and exposed his true grit. He conceded to no one the mission of chronicling the terror; he was consumed with the need to transmit the pain of evil to those who were not there. Kalman Linkimer was a moral witness.<br><br>Kalman&#39;s chronicle begins on Erev Yom Kippur, 26 September 1944: &quot;Just eleven of us now, buttoned up in a cellar beneath the heat of baking ovens....&quot; With this painful metaphor as backdrop, Kalman recounts how they all came to be there; the twists and turns through the endless night of murder, torture and humiliation inflicted by evil actors entirely empty of empathy; the mass murders in the dunes of Skede, the liquidation of the ghetto, the escapes, the events that taught each of them that a drowning man is not troubled by rain.<br><br>Two-thirds into the narrative, Kalman returns to the &quot;present.&quot; Far from growing familiar with their privileged prison, they behold it every moment with a new horror. The hunger, the illness, the conflicts, and the bombing ever more near. The bipolar illusions, the catatonic routine, and the adulterous entanglement. Their quarantine a panic room bricked in, their world narrows in increments only animals know....Liberation arrives nearly four years after the nightmare began. They emerge from the cellar malnourished, maladroit, and cautiously hopeful. The lone child, wearing a white hat and a flowered dress, stands in the Spring sunshine. Only she is destined to fully heal.

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Grounded in the maintenance of balance and the pursuit of peace, the Cherokee Nation has always had a difficult task. In The Cherokee accompany these Principle People on their quest &ndash; from the first 1,000 years of harmony preceding conflict with DeSoto in 1540 to the present-day resurgence of tribal unity.<br><br>The Cherokee&#39;s pre-contact world was peaceful and often unrecognized or misrepresented by American history books. It encompassed a deep reverence for nature and commitment to equality between men and women that acknowledged certain strengths and weaknesses of the sexes, but was devoid of shame. The systems of war, religion, and justice encouraged prudent thought and action and frowned upon carelessness and waste.<br><br>The approach of whites threw a wrench into their peaceful balance and forced the Cherokee into a series of never-ending land disputes, a battery of inhumane and unjust treatment, and a process of decision-making that would profoundly impact the next several hundred years of their history.<br><br>After undergoing a long period of suffering culminating in The Trail of Tears of 1839, certain Cherokee, known as &#39;the Progressives,&#39; made a conscious decision to embrace white culture. These Cherokee were able to remain in the East while most of their brethren were marched West to the wastelands of Oklahoma. In the short term, this sparked a period of achievement called the Renaissance, where the Eastern Cherokee attained literacy, saw economic prosperity, clung to a portion of their ancestral lands, and forged a much needed strength and nationalism.<br><br>In the long term the choice would show them to be an exceedingly adaptable and flexible union. Faced with complete tribal bifurcation at the hands of &quot;the Traditionalists&quot; who opposed the decision, and with elimination due to removal and disease, the Cherokee persevered. Empowered by pride and fueled with a desire to restore harmony again, they regrouped and fought for the signing at Red Clay. It is here that a common Cherokee culture was reinstated and harmony and balance restored &ndash; at least for now.

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This is a simple, fully illustrated value guide for Confederate currency. All major designs are illustrated with simple pricing for heavily used and lightly used notes. One need not learn to grade nor learn catalog numbers. Ideal for the person who comes into some Confederate money via inheritance or other means and wants to get a quick understanding of what dealers might pay for it.

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Escape to the perfect world! A world where prejudice is passé, order is normal, and function is favored. This is the world of the Shakers.<br><br>Best-known as an eighteenth-century utopian religious community, and often liken to the Amish, few are aware of the many accomplishments that are distinctly Shaker. Shakers have excelled as architects and chemists, craftsmen and inventors. During a twenty-five-year heyday they had a hand in everything from circular saws to textiles, decorative boxes, and home furnishings. Museographs&#39; Shaker Design explores the depth of some of their many achievements. It preserves the integrity and uniqueness of the community dispelling misconceptions about these God-fearing few.<br><br>A special focus on the dearly loved and ever recognizable Shaker chair celebrates technical precision, beauty and variety that stands as a testament to God&#39;s presence in both Shaker lifestyle and in Shaker art.

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If you are searching for a succinct yet thorough introduction to Mexican painting in the modern age, you have arrived. Spanning more than 150 years of history, Mexican Painting: Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries is academically formidable, yet captivating and accessible to every reader.<br><br>Learn the role that the Academy of San Carlos played in dictating tastes and in reforming public arts of architecture, portraiture, and decorative painting. Delve further into the debate between the established, conservative nineteenth-century Academy, and a newly emerging and more liberal twentieth-century Academia de Belles Artes designed to reflect a rise in secularization and an abandonment of traditional faith. Witness the inception of art criticism and gallery openings, the development of plein air technique and the integration of Art Nouveau.<br><br>This issue contains beautiful plates including the renowned Dance in Tehuantepec by Diego Rivera and the Candelabrum of Oaxaca by Jose Maria Velasco. It provides a consummate survey of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Mexican painting in a scholarly and an artistic sense.

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