“A beautifully memorable and unusual story about war and what it does to us” from the bestselling author and founder of Doctors Without Borders (The Independent). In 1919, in a small town in the province of Berry, France, under the crushing heat of summer, a war hero is being held prisoner in an abandoned barracks. In front of the door to his prison, a mangy dog barks night and day. Miles from where he is being held, in the French countryside, a young extraordinarily intelligent woman works the land, waiting and hoping. A judge whose principles have been sorely shaken by the war is traveling to an unknown location to sort out certain affairs of which it is better not to speak. Three characters. In their midst, a dog who holds the key both to their destinies and to this intriguing plot. Full of poetry and life, The Red Collar is at once a delightfully simple narrative about the human spirit and a profound work about loyalty and love. “A superbly crafted little gem that does everything a novel can do in less than 150 pages . . . It’s a lucky reader who gets to experience the power of The Red Collar.” —Shelf Awareness “A graceful, unpretentious little miracle, a morality play of immense skill.” —The Irish Times “In The Red Collar, a delicate and poetic novel, Rufin examines that which makes us human.” —L’express (France) “Without special effects, with simplicity and the pure pleasure of telling a story, Jean-Christophe Rufin explores the meaning of faithfulness, loyalty, and honor.” —Le Figaro (France)

June issues, 1941-44 and Nov. issue, 1945, include a buyers' guide section.

The First Carlist War broke out after the death of King Ferdinand VII, the king restored at the end of the Peninsular War thanks to Wellington's victory. The crown was claimed by both his daughter Isabella, backed by the Liberal party and his brother Don Carlos, at the head of northern ultra-conservatives centred in the Basque provinces and Navarre. The Liberals or 'Cristinos' were supported by a 10,000-strong British Legion of volunteers led by a former aide to Wellington as well as the British Royal Navy, a Portuguese division, and the French Foreign Legion. With both armies still using Napoleonic weapons and tactics, early victories were won by the Basque general Zumalacarregui. After his death in 1835 a see-saw series of campaigns followed, fought by conventional armies of horse, foot and guns, supported by many irregulars and guerrillas. This little known multi-national campaign provides a fascinating postscript to the Peninsular War of 1808–14, and its uniforms present a colourful and varied spectacle.

Born in 1946, in Murton, a mining village in County Durham, in the aftermath of WWII, Thomas was to find himself growing up in interesting times. Coming from a working-class family where his parents had struggled to make a good home in which to raise their children, he was to follow the same pattern in trying to make life a little easier for his own children. He experienced the educational system of the 1950s and ’60s with all the failings encompassed within it and suffered failure at the eleven, plus an examination that would determine his future education. A taste of what school life was during this era is expressed with concern and humor both with equal quantities, including the teaching styles and some of the characters he was to spend his school days with, which are told with affection. As a child, life was good in his eyes, and he appreciated the efforts made by his parents to improve his childhood experience. In his early youth, he found himself having to constantly change course to achieve the goals he had set himself, and this continued throughout his adult life. His desire to achieve good academic qualifications never faltered, despite some of the obstacles that seemed to be in the way of his progress. Married at an early age and while studying for his higher national diploma, he became a father to a beautiful baby girl, which now added to this cocktail of life. Although at times life seemed a constant struggle, it was no different to many other young couples of that era, but there was always time for laughter and fun. Many of these times are reflected in the book and still bring a smile to both Thomas and his family and friends. Life’s Journey: Love, Live and Learn is a story many young couples can relate to as they may have experienced the same types of issues in their own life’s journey.

Featuring rare photos, detailed colour illustrations and insignia tables, this study explores the contribution made by Czech and Slovak troops fighting alongside Allied forces during World War II. Following the Anglo-French failure at the Munich Conference in March 1938 to prevent a Nazi take-over of Bohemia-Moravia (modern Czech Republic/Czechia), many frustrated Czech and Slovak soldiers sided with Allied forces and fought alongside their armies – first in Poland, then in France, and finally from Britain. Using depictions of relevant uniforms and equipment plus photos of the troops in action, military uniformology expert Nigel Thomas explains how the Czech Army was organized and how it fought alongside Allied forces in the Middle East and at Normandy. He describes the involvement of free Czech agents operating from Britain in Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of Nazi governor Reinhard Heydrich in occupied Bohemia-Moravia, and the part Czech soldiers played in mutinies in both Italy and Prague against German occupation which ultimately helped to secure a final Allied victory.

In the heyday of its water commerce, Lake Coeur d’Alene in northern Idaho was the scene of more steamboating than any other lake, salt or fresh, west of the Great Lakes. The old steamers brought gold, silver, and lead from the mines; lumber from the forests; mail to lonely homesteaders; and romance down the shadowy St. Joe River, whose silken waters flow into the Coeur d’Alene. The old steamboats are gone now from the lake—but here is their story, exciting, nostalgic and complete. Across Lake Coeur d’Alene, in the early days, the big mining boom in the Coeur d’Alene Mountains was carried out, and the ore-hauling stammers came and went. Across the lake water went the timber seekers in their rush to grab the white pine riches of the St. Joe country; and a new fleet of stammers carried timber barons, homesteaders and lumberjacks up the twisting, cottonwood-shaded St. Joe. On holidays the old stammers were transformed into excursion boats. The beauty of the mountain lake and its two rivers lured thousands of people from Spokane and the Palouse farmlands, who crowded into special trains and headed for the banner-draped boats. Gay crowds danced on deck, children had a hectic day, and amorous couples gazed languorously at the blue-and-silver waters as the excursion steamer trailed homeward in the moonlight. Here you will visit the bustling waterfront boom towns of Coeur d’Alene, Harrison, St. Maries, Ferrell, and St. Joe, just as they were in the glory days of steamboating, and as they are today. Romantic and factual history skilfully merge as the old towns, the rivermen, and the boats glide by in easy, informed narrative.

This book (Volume One) gives an historical overview of 36 countries whose armed forces served in Europe 1900-2000, together with uniform descriptions. Includes 200 full colour paintings of the regular armies, marines, airforce and para-military troops engaged in land exercises, operations and warfare in Europe, including non-European troops serving in Europe. Each entry is accompanied by a history and description of the uniforms illustrated. The author and illustrator Ron Kidd, has been interested in both police and military history, uniforms and insignia since he was a school boy in the 1950's. He has visited over 300 police and military museums world-wide, and has written and illustrated a number of magazine articles on both police and military history and uniforms. He is a member of both the Military Heraldry Society and the Military Historical Society. It is anticipated that Volume Two will be published in 2013.