The world is at war, from the steamy jungles of South America to the high ice of mountain glaciers. This is the third of a five part tale of global war, and the people under arms, on both sides of the conflict. NATO won the Battle of the Atlantic at terrible cost, and not only in men, women and material but to the planet also. In Europe the NATO army is close to exhaustion, grimly holding its ground along the Elbe and Saale rivers, buying time for the US and Canadian 4 Corps to arrive, but their grit and determination are frustrating an enemy becoming ever more desperate and a finger hovers over a button marked 'Nuclear Release'.

Dublin, 1914. As Ireland stands on the brink of political crisis, Europe plunges headlong into war. Among the thousands of Irishmen who volunteer to fight for the British Army is Stephen Ryan, a gifted young maths scholar whose working class background has marked him out as a misfit among his wealthy fellow students. Sent to fight in Turkey, he looks forward to the great adventure, unaware of the growing unrest back home in Ireland. His romantic notions of war are soon shattered and he is forced to wonder where his loyalties lie, on his return to a Dublin poised for rebellion in 1916 and a brother fighting for the rebels. Everything has changed utterly, and in a world gone mad his only hope is his growing friendship with the brilliant and enigmatic Lillian Bryce. The Soldier's Song is a poignant and deeply moving novel, a tribute to the durability of the human soul.

Berlin, 1922. World War I is over. Most of the world enjoys peace and prosperity, but Germany suffers. People dine on cats and dogs. German money is rapidly becoming worthless. Amid the problems, two boys--Solomon Freund, Jewish, and Erich Weisser, Catholic--declare themselves "brothers in blood." But as their friendship grows, so does Hitler's power over the German people. Their friendship is tested. They like the same girl, the niece of the Foreign Minister. They must face the growing anti-Jewish feelings of their countrymen. And they must cope with personal problems: Erich is able to read dogs' minds, but also feels their pain. Sol becomes possessed by a dybbuk, a wandering soul that brings terrifying nightmares. Sol's Song is an exciting story of friendship and emotional survival in terrible times.

Merriam Press World War 2 History. Some of the most memorable and enduring popular music of the Twentieth Century was written during the Second World War. With patriotism at an all-time high, the war effort became an integral part of the entertainment industry, creating an emotional wartime dream world of heroes, love, remembrance, reflection, and introspection. The Music of World War II tells the stories behind the origins of many of these musical compositions, some of which have survived to become standards still popular today. Contents: Preface; Introduction: The Music of the Second World War; My Sister and I: The True Story; Love, Separation, and Homecoming; Patriotism; Tribute; Military Service; Faith, Hope, and Devotion; Novelty; Epilogue; Acknowledgments; Bibliography. 54 photos and illustrations, bibliography.

It’s called the “Black Widow”, a CIA gunship with three high-speed Gatling guns tasked with interdicting North Vietnamese weapon and supply convoys on the Ho Chi Minh Trail. It has no insignias or markings. Painted black it is invisible in the night’s sky… until it strikes. The communist troops call it a “dragon” because of its red tongues of fire that reach down from the heavens and consume whatever they touch. Officially the Black Widow doesn’t exist and neither does Tom Coyle its pilot. Coyle and his crew fly the world’s most dangerous combat missions in the steep mountains of Laos. The jungle-covered slopes are impenetrable and a death sentence for any unlucky aircrews that crash in them. Desperate to keep their supply lines open, the North Vietnamese deploy their most powerful anti-aircraft guns to hunt the dragonship. To cut off the communist troops already in-country, Coyle and his crew will tempt fate to annihilate the convoys before they enter South Vietnam. It’s a high-stakes game of cat and mouse… where the loser dies. Like all books in the airmen series, A Savage Joy is based on historical events and real people. It’s full of military action and suspense. As the Vietnam War escalates, it seems nothing can stop it.

Leisha knows something’s wrong. Her beloved vocal coach at boarding school would never have resigned and disappeared like this in the midst of preparing her prize students for a major vocal competition. Leisha’s determined to find her, make sure she’s okay. Cody, a sensitive cellist, insists on helping her. Sparks fly, clues multiply, and romance blossoms, despite the disapproval of their families. Leisha’s desire to be with Cody and pursue music rather than medicine puts her on a direct collision course with her African-American grandfather, the only parent she’s ever had. But an even more immediate threat looms—because as Leisha draws closer to the truth about her teacher’s disappearance, she puts her own life in grave danger.

No matter when or where they are fought, all wars have one thing in common: a relentless progression to monuments and memorials for the dead. Likewise all art made from war begins and ends in mourning and remembrance. In The Mourner's Song, James Tatum offers incisive discussions of physical and literary memorials constructed in the wake of war, from the Vietnam Veterans Memorial to the writings of Stephen Crane, Edmund Wilson, Tim O'Brien, and Robert Lowell. Tatum's touchstone throughout is the Iliad, not just one of the earliest war poems, but also one of the most powerful examples of the way poetry can be a tribute to and consolation for what is lost in war. Reading the Iliad alongside later works inspired by war, Tatum reveals how the forms and processes of art convert mourning to memorial. He examines the role of remembrance and the distance from war it requires; the significance of landscape in memorialization; the artifacts of war that fire the imagination; the intimate relationship between war and love and its effects on the ferocity with which soldiers wage battle; and finally, the idea of memorialization itself. Because all survivors suffer the losses of war, Tatum's is a story of both victims and victors, commanders and soldiers, women and men. Photographs of war memorials in Vietnam, France, and the United States beautifully augment his testimonials. Eloquent and deeply moving, The Mourner's Song will speak to anyone interested in the literature of war and the relevance of the classics to our most pressing contemporary needs.