The great Latin American writer: an inspiration to Vargas Llosa and Carlos Fuentes

An extraordinary story of American can-do, an inside look at the building of the most dangerous aircraft carrier in the world, the John F. Kennedy. Tip the Empire State Building onto its side and you’ll have a sense of the length of the United States Navy’s newest aircraft carrier, the most powerful in the world: the USS John F. Kennedy. Weighing 100,000 tons, Kennedy features the most futuristic technology ever put to sea, making it the most agile and lethal global weapon of war. Only one place possesses the brawn, brains and brass to transform naval warfare with such a creation – the Newport News Shipbuilding yard in Virginia and its 30,000 employees and shipyard workers. This is their story, the riggers, fitters, welders, electricians, machinists and other steelworkers who built the next-generation aircraft carrier. Heavy Metal puts us on the waterfront and into the lives of these men and women as they battle layoffs, the elements, impossible deadlines, extraordinary pressure, workplace dangers and a pandemic to complete a ship that will be essential to protect America’s way of life. The city of Newport News owes its very existence to the company that bears its name. The shipyard dominates the town—physically, politically, financially, socially, and culturally. Thanks to the yard, the city grew from a backwater to be the home of the premier naval contractor in the United States. Heavy Metal captures an indelible moment in the history of a shipyard, a city, and a country.

Caroline worries that British spies may be lurking in Sackets Harbor. When strange things start happening at Abbott's Shipyard, Caroline wonders if a spy, either someone she has known all her life or Papa's long-lost friend, is responsible.

Senator Ted Kennedy said, "My father worked here. The Fore River Shipyard will once again be a symbol of our leadership. And I will do all I can to insure that this leadership continues to thrive. The shipbuilding industry has been struggling in this country as a whole. Employment has dropped to a 40 year low. American-built ships carry less than one percent of world trade. That is unacceptable." Senator John McCain said, "We have an obligation to protect the taxpayers' dollars by ensuring that this is a viable project. It is my desire that the Quincy shipyard, into which the state of Massachusetts and the city of Quincy have invested significant resources, will be a successful venture." President Clinton said about shipbuilding and the Quincy yard in particular, "Shipbuilding is one of the keys to America's national defense and helping our shipbuilders succeed commercially is an important goal of defense conversion. This administration is committed to preserving highly skilled American jobs and we believe that American shipbuilding can compete and win in world markets." What happened ? SHIPBUILDING USED TO BE ONE OF THE TOP FIVE INDUSTRIES IN THE U.S.A.

In Organizing the Shipyards, David Palmer documents the history of union organizing at three of America's largest private shipyards from the Great Depression and the beginning of the New Deal to the end of World War II. These yards had tremendous strategic importance because of their location in the Northeast's three port regions: New York Shipbuilding in the port of Philadelphia, Bethlehem Fore River Shipyard in the port of Boston, and Federal Shipbuilding in the port of New York. The Industrial Union of Marine and Shipbuilding Workers of America, which led each of the drives, pioneered industrial unionism and became one of the largest of the new CIO unions, with a quarter of a million members in an industry that employed more wartime workers than any other. Using oral history interviews with former union officials, organizing staff, and rank-and-file workers, Palmer presents both a narrative and a scholarly account. He covers the successes and the failures of union organizing in the yards themselves, in neighboring communities, and sometimes in outreach to political leaders as elevated as Secretary of Labor Frances Perkins and President Franklin D. Roosevelt. In the process, Palmer offers a reassessment of the basis for the early gains of the CIO and also for its subsequent bureaucratization.

THE TENTH NOVEL IN THE BESTSELLING SHIPYARD GIRLS SERIES 'Emotional and gripping' Take a Break December 1943 As the war effort gathers steam in Europe, it's all hands on deck on the home front. Gloria is over the moon to be reunited with her sweetheart Jack. But her sons Bobby and Gordon are away with the Navy and still know nothing of their mother's divorce and new half-sister. Rosie's squad of welders must work gruelling hours in the yard as they prepare for the Allied invasion of Normandy. All the while Rosie herself waits anxiously for news of her husband Peter, who is carrying out dangerous work as an undercover operative in France. Meanwhile welder Dorothy has a feeling that her beau Toby is planning to pop the question when he's next on leave. But it seems that her head is being turned by someone closer to home... It will take great strength and friendship if the shipyard girls are to weather the storms to come. ______________________________ Praise for Nancy Revell 'Nancy Revell knows how to stir the passions and soothe the heart!' Northern Echo 'Stirring and heartfelt storytelling' Peterborough Evening Telegraph

THE FINAL NOVEL IN THE *BESTSELLING* SHIPYARD GIRLS SERIES! January 1945. Spring is in the air. And so is victory. Wedding bells are ringing at long last for Gloria and her soon-to-be husband Jack. But she cannot rest until her youngest son is safely home. Head welder Rosie is delighted her own husband has returned from enemy territory. But the promise of victory brings more change. . . Her squad has come so far - what will happen when the war ends? Meanwhile Helen is caught between two men - but must hide her true feelings from the one she loves. Can her fellow women welders help Helen follow her heart? Only by working together will the Shipyard Girls win the day! ______________________________ Praise for Nancy Revell: 'Nancy Revell knows how to stir the passions and soothe the heart' Northern Echo 'Stirring and heartfelt storytelling' Peterborough Evening Telegraph