Between 1982 and 1989, Pelafina H. Lièvre sent her son, Johnny Truant, a series of letters from The Three Attic Whalestoe Institute, a psychiatric facility in Ohio where she spent the final years of her life. Beautiful, heartfelt, and tragic, this correspondence reveals the powerful and deeply moving relationship between a brilliant though mentally ill mother and the precocious, gifted young son she never ceases to love. Originally contained within the monumental House of Leaves, this collection stands alone as a stunning portrait of mother and child. It is presented here along with a foreword by Walden D. Wyhrta and eleven previously unavailable letters.

History tells us that a big lie, repeated often enough, can begin to sound as if it could be the truth. In her new book, Letters from Jenny, Heidi Laird tells the story of just such a big lie which had a profound influence on world events following the end of the First World War: That Germany in 1918 had not lost, but actually won the war. It was claimed that "treasonous elements in Berlin had banded together with an international conspiracy and stabbed Germany in the back", robbing her of her victory. This lie was repeated over and over until it clouded the thinking of the German population after the end of the war, and many people became convinced that their fledgling democratic republic was weak and corrupt, unable to govern. In the end, a majority enthusiastically welcomed a leader who promised to clean up the corruption, and who told them that they were a superior race, destined to rule the world. The beating heart of the book is a collection of thirty-one letters written by Jenny, a Jewish woman living in Mainz, Germany, to her twin sister Martha on the other side of the Rhine River, in Wiesbaden. In these letters, Jenny's observations record how a large part of the population resists acceptance of the military defeat and the humiliating Versailles Peace Treaty. The deeply engaging descriptions of Jenny's private life reflect how the country endures famine, a pandemic, military occupation, hyperinflation, assassinations, fierce street battles between opposing political factions - crisis after crisis - until the exhausted republic gives itself over to Hitler and his followers. The events of this period come to life in Jenny's riveting letters and convey an intimate sense of how it felt to live through this crucial period in history leading up to World War II.

In Hollywood, the world of the spying is a glamorous male driven world full of gadgets and fast cars. But real life isn't Hollywood. It takes more than a bit of charm and whiskey to steal secrets…it takes skill. And skill is often a task left up to a woman! The ten female spies profiled in this book, are largely forgotten in history books; they risked their lives for their country and the honor of serving their country was their only reward…and for them that was reward enough.

Protesters called it an act of war when the U.S. Coast Guard sank a Canadian-flagged vessel in the Gulf of Mexico in 1929. It took a cool-headed codebreaker solving a "trunk-full" of smugglers' encrypted messages to get Uncle Sam out of the mess: Elizebeth Smith Friedman's groundbreaking work helped prove the boat was owned by American gangsters. This book traces the career of a legendary U.S. law enforcement agent, from her work for the Allies during World War I through Prohibition, when she faced danger from mobsters while testifying in high profile trials. Friedman founded the cryptanalysis unit that provided evidence against American rum runners and Chinese drug smugglers. During World War II, her decryptions brought a Japanese spy to justice and her Coast Guard unit solved the Enigma ciphers of German spies. Friedman's "all source intelligence" model is still used by law enforcement and counterterrorism agencies against 21st century threats.

Would you spy for your country? Discover the World War II spies who lived among the shadows and the ones who lived in the limelight--disguised in plain sight! Josephine Baker. Virginia Hall. Roy Hawthorne. These are but a few of the daring spies who risked it all to deliver and protect crucial intel for the Allied powers. From housing refugees and resistance members while extracting secrets from diplomats to developing a groundbreaking, war-changing code and keeping it top secret for over twenty years, the actions of these legendary World War II spies are unbelievable but true. This thoroughly researched collection of biographies profiles several courageous individuals who resisted the Axis Powers via espionage and heroism. Includes numerous photos and features such fascinating accounts like that of Moe Berg, a major-league baseball player and potential assassin; Noor Inayat Khan, a Sufi princess and wireless operator; and Juan Pujol Garcia, a storyteller and double agent. Also features sections on invisible ink, ciphers and codes, resistance fighters, and infamous missions such as Operation Mincemeat. Back matter includes a time line, source notes, a bibliography, recommended reading, online resources, and an index.