An “exciting and informative” account of the Civil War battle that opened the 1864 Shenandoah Valley Campaign, with illustrations included (Lone Star Book Review). Charles Knight’s Valley Thunder is the first full-length account in decades to examine the combat at New Market on May 15, 1864 that opened the pivotal Shenandoah Valley Campaign. Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, who set in motion the wide-ranging operation to subjugate the South in 1864, intended to attack on multiple fronts so the Confederacy could no longer “take advantage of interior lines.” A key to success in the Eastern Theater was control of the Shenandoah Valley, an agriculturally abundant region that helped feed Gen. Robert E. Lee’s Army of Northern Virginia. Grant tasked Maj. Gen. Franz Sigel, a German immigrant with a mixed fighting record, and a motley collection of units numbering some 10,000 men to clear the Valley and threaten Lee’s left flank. Opposing Sigel was Maj. Gen. (and former US Vice President) John C. Breckinridge, who assembled a scratch command to repulse the Federals. Included in his 4,500-man army were Virginia Military Institute cadets under the direction of Lt. Col. Scott Ship, who’d marched eighty miles in four days to fight Sigel. When the armies faced off at New Market, Breckinridge told the cadets, “Gentlemen, I trust I will not need your services today; but if I do, I know you will do your duty.” The sharp fighting seesawed back and forth during a drenching rainstorm, and wasn’t concluded until the cadets were inserted into the battle line to repulse a Federal attack and launch one of their own. The Union forces were driven from the Valley, but would return, reinforced and under new leadership, within a month. Before being repulsed, they would march over the field at New Market and capture Staunton, burn VMI in Lexington (partly in retaliation for the cadets’ participation at New Market), and very nearly capture Lynchburg. Operations in the Valley on a much larger scale that summer would permanently sweep the Confederates from the “Bread Basket of the Confederacy.” Valley Thunder is based on years of primary research and a firsthand appreciation of the battlefield terrain. Knight’s objective approach includes a detailed examination of the complex prelude leading up to the battle, and his entertaining prose introduces soldiers, civilians, and politicians who found themselves swept up in one of the war’s most gripping engagements.

When Henry Cooper inherits property in Thunder Point, Oregon, the fate of the entire small town rests on whether he decides to stay there or move on, a decision that is influenced by his growing attraction for Sarah Dupree.

Trapped within the confines of a multilevel prison world, Clive Folliot and his fellow captives face a new death daily. Torn between continuing the search for his twin, Neville, and helping his comrades return home, Clive splits their forces to double their chances of success--or failure!

• Reveals the close relationship between the eight basic postures of T'ai Chi and the hexagrams of the I Ching. • As handed down in the teachings of the Yellow Emperor and Chang San-Feng. • Explains the physical and spiritual benefits that result from the practice of the Before Heaven T'ai Chi form. • An essential reference book for any serious student of T'ai Chi and the I Ching. T'ai Chi is a physical expression of Taoist thought--a philosophy in motion. The relationship between the I Ching, Taoist philosophy, and T'ai Chi is well established in many of the classical texts and teachings handed down by the Yellow Emperor and Chang San-Feng, yet it has essentially remained a mystery in the West. Stuart Alve Olson, a longtime student of renowned T'ai Chi Ch'uan Master T. T. Liang, shows how the hexagrams of the I Ching relate to the eight basic postures of T'ai Chi, and how together they comprise the orderly sequence of the postures in the Before Heaven T'ai Chi form. The practice of this form initiates a process of internal alchemy that allows for the stimulation and accumulation of chi through the major energy systems of the body. Physically, this process restores youthful flexibility. Spiritually, it frees the mind to roam the sublime Tao. Because the Before Heaven sequence of postures is the foundation of all T'ai Chi forms, this book provides valuable advice for all practitioners, regardless of the style they practice or the depth of their experience. An essential reference book for any serious student of Taoism, T'ai Chi According to the I Ching is an invaluable guide to how even the most esoteric aspects of Chinese philosophy are firmly rooted in a physical practice.

Welcome to Thunder Point! Discover the warmth and humor of this fan-favorite series from New York Times bestselling author Robyn Carr, in a box set containing the first three stories. A small town on the Oregon coast is home to kind people who are ready to open their arms to newcomers, and their hearts to love. The Wanderer When Thunder Point newcomer Hank Cooper learns he’s been left an old friend’s entire beachfront property, he finds himself with a community’s destiny in his hands. With the whole town watching for his next move, Cooper has to choose between his old life and a place full of new possibilities. A place that just might be home. The Newcomer Single dad and Thunder Point’s deputy sheriff “Mac” McCain has worked hard to keep his town safe and his daughter happy. Now he’s found his own happiness with Gina James. But when Mac’s long-lost ex-wife shows up in town, drama takes on a whole new meaning. Mac and Gina know they’re meant to be together, but can their newfound love withstand the pressure? The Hero In a moment of desperation, Devon McAllister takes her daughter and escapes to Thunder Point, a place she hopes to be invisible, a place she’s pretty certain can’t be worse than what they’ve left behind. But as the widowed father of a vulnerable young boy, Spencer Lawson knows something about needing friendship…and is just the kind of man who could heal Devon’s wounded heart.