Japanese Victory at Midway What If?

The Battle of Midway in June 1942 was the turning point of the war in the Pacific. Most Americans had no idea how close the Japanese came to a victory which could have changed the outcome of the Second World War. This book provides an account of the plans the Japanese had for Hawaii, the West Coast and even the Panama Canal. It examines and weighs up the tough decisions President Roosevelt had to make to protect the Americans living on the West Coast of the United States, and even the landing of June 6, 1944. Any delay of the invasion of France may have given the Germans the time necessary to make progress in the development of weapons of mass destruction.

Illinois 1000

Illinois 1000 is a quick dive into the lives of the English and the Indians of the Upper Midwest a thousand years ago.

Building on The Year 1000 by British historians Robert Lacey and Danny Danzinger, the author moves from one side of the Atlantic to the other. The contrasts are as much from the past to the present as between the two very different cultures. ‘Primitive’ is often used to describe the Indians’ way of life, and not without at least some reason. So much of what characterized and made English life possible was entirely absent in North America.

Yet, centuries later, hundreds, even thousands of Europeans joined the Indians, preferring their way of living to that which they had known in Europe or colonial America. The Indians, the first people, survived and prospered in what was at that time not amber fields of grain but a very ungenerous landscape. If they were brutal, they were hardly unique. In their affinity to the earth they lived on, there were few like them.

Gen. Park Chung-Hee and South Korea's Han River Miracle

Gen. Park Chung-Hee was born to a poor family in rural Korea when Japan ruled the nation as a colony. After teaching at a rural elementary school for three years, he studied at three different military academies to become an army officer in the liberated Korea. Although he encountered a career-threatening crisis right before the outbreak of the Korean War, he returned to the service and served many key staff positions during the war and important command positions after the war with devoted professionalism. When the nation drifted rudderless in the 1960s, he led the military revolution as the last resort. Hence forth he headed the government that was steadfastly focused on rebuilding the nation. His administration laid the extensive, future-oriented foundation for the nation’s industrial development and advanced defense capability. Gen. Park lived his life aligned with, to the letter, his personal motto: ‘My Whole Life to Fatherland.’

Empowered Ladies

Empowerment doesn’t always follow a fairy-tale script. Neither its beginnings nor its journeys are always paved with acceptance. Women who dared to don trousers lived with the tremor of discovery, particularly those who veiled themselves as men to enlist in early wars, when only men were permitted to serve. Their fear was not just the battle cries, but the disgrace of being unmasked and sent home.

The world paused in disbelief when, upon the death of jazz musician Billy Tipton, it was revealed that he was a she. Similarly, when Dr. James Barry, who ascended to the zenith of medical ranks in the British Army, was uncovered as a woman posthumously, the army swathed the truth in secrecy.

Not all were ‘ladies’ in the conventional sense, but they were undeniably women - women who defied the societal mold. They sometimes cloaked themselves in trousers or other male disguises, challenging the expectations of their eras.

Their ranks encompassed saints and sinners, queens, countesses, and commoners. While names like Joan of Arc and Calamity Jane might ring familiar, their tales, along with those of others, are captivating in Empowered Ladies. This book unearths the narratives of these audacious women, weaving a tapestry of resilience and defiance that continues to inspire the quest for empowerment.

Dresden: Portrait of a City

The world knows Dresden as the victim of vicious Allied bombing at the end of World War II that destroyed its famed Baroque architecture. But Dresden is more than this stereotype implies. This portrait explores the highs and lows of Dresden’s individual experiences. It captures the visions of the princes who created the Baroque city. It displays the talents of the individuals who turned a princely residence into a modern industrial hub. It traces the city’s historically conflicted relationship with its Jewish community. And it reveals how the city’s identification with the arts was often at odds with its economic, social, and political realities. This background led Dresden to act as spearhead of the peaceful revolution that re-united Germany in 1990. The multiple facets of Dresden’s past inspire its current vitality and energize its response to contemporary challenges.

Child Protection in America

Child abuse and neglect are tragically common. Each year, more than 1,000 American children die due to maltreatment. Thousands more suffer physical abuse, sexual abuse, and neglect. Across the country, every community has a system of government-operated and funded child protective services (CPS). But given that social workers of CPS have the authority to remove children from unsafe parents, it is no surprise that CPS is controversial. Does CPS protect children? Does CPS do more good than harm? Is CPS fundamentally racist, as some critics argue? Should CPS be abolished? To answer these questions, it is essential to understand the origins of child protection in America. How did we arrive at the child protection system in place today? This book traces the history of child protection from colonial times to the present and provides the most in-depth analysis ever published of the origins of child protection.

Chasing Rommel

On June 6, 1944, tens of thousands of American soldiers, sailors, and airmen assaulted the German held coast of France at Normandy. Some were killed, some wounded, and all of them were changed as the battles raged against Rommel and his defenders. They fell for yards of sandy beaches, for critical roads, bridges, villages, towns, and cities. Together, we will travel to those places, and we will relive all the bravery and horror, all the mistakes and honor, as we learn their stories - Chasing Rommel.

Bihar Days

Prior to 1947, the Maithil Brahmans dominated North Bihar culturally, politically, and economically. Darbhanga Raj, the richest zamindari estate in British India, was owned by a family of the elite sub-group of Brahmans, the Srotriyas. The high prestige of this elite was based on a lifestyle prescribed by ancient law codes involving simplicity of life, daily Vedic rites, and intermarriage within a small network of lineages 24 generations deep. It was a highly conservative, inward-looking, isolationist community.

In 1980, anthropologist Carolyn Brown Heinz was privileged to see inside this elite community with a one-year grant from the Indo-US Subcommission and return trips over the next two decades. Independence had brought elimination of royal titles and dismantling of the vast Darbhanga Raj estate. The last king had died. These changes upended the old order, and she was able to observe the fall-out at close range. Told in first person, this is a highly personal account, told with grace and compassion.

An unexpected development during the same period was the emergence of a women’s art form known as Mithila or Madhubani Art, which Heinz was also able to observe at first hand and describe in this work.

Aristotle: Physical Force of Time

This book presents an inquiry into the physical dimensions of time as well as its effects on human interiority. It proposes a philosophical model which makes use of Aristotle’s own philosophy of time. This compelling work traverses a rich tapestry of concepts including the power of Being, the acts of individual subjective drives, distinctions between mobility and rest, the general structure of the forms, change, the existential determination, final causes, and the destiny of time.

By meticulously reconstructing the treatise on time, this analytical work opens its doors to citizens of all ages who yearn to acquaint themselves with ancient wisdom. Unbound by boundaries, its accessible nature welcomes a diverse range of readers. On one hand, it provides a methodical approach for those seeking to cultivate their capacity for critical thinking, directly aligned with the principles of this physical inquiry. On the other hand, for those stepping into or returning to the era of Aristotle, it serves as an inventory of perennially relevant categories. Moreover, it offers profound insights for those intrigued by the origins of our geometry and the genesis of the universal ‘geo physic,’ as illuminated through the prism of Aristotelian intellectual thought.

Aristotle: Form and Matter Edification

Aristotle: Form and Matter Edification offers an in-depth exploration of Aristotle’s central metaphysical concepts. This scholarly work meticulously reconstructs Aristotle’s theories, presenting them through the rigorous lens of analytic geometry and metaphysics. Fortin successfully bridges ancient philosophical thought with modern scientific inquiry, making complex ideas accessible and relevant for contemporary scholars.

In this treatise, Fortin delves into the intricate relationship between form and matter, which lies at the heart of Aristotelian ontology. He thoroughly examines Aristotle’s notions of substance, expanse, and quantity, elucidating how these foundational principles underpin existence and change. The text traverses various dimensions of being, from the indivisible unity of numbers to the tangible perceptions of visual and auditory experiences, offering a comprehensive understanding of Aristotle’s enduring impact on both ancient and modern science and philosophy.

Fortin’s focus on the dynamic nature of human intellect underscores the timeless relevance of Aristotelian thought. Aristotle: Form and Matter Edification is an essential read for serious students of philosophy and science, providing a rigorous and thoughtful analysis of Aristotle’s work. This volume not only pays homage to Aristotle’s intellectual legacy but also invites readers to engage with the perennial questions of existence, substance, and the nature of reality.

America's First Soldiers

America’s First Soldiers unfolds with the critical events and people that lead Massachusetts to initiate the American Revolutionary War. These first soldiers were the catalyst for the skirmish at Lexington Green, the battle of the Old North Bridge, and the life and death struggle along a 16-mile road, passing through six Massachusetts towns in a violent, running battle of fire and maneuver.

Dig in on the deadly struggle for a Boston hilltop, Breed’s Hill, known as Bunker Hill. For the British Army, it was the deadliest battle of the American Revolutionary War. This battle, more than any other event, created the moment Massachusetts and the other colonies realized the American Revolution had begun.

Meet a young Boston bookseller who believed he could bomb the mighty British army out of Boston. He became Washington’s Yankee, standing with him from Boston to victory at Yorktown.  He was the man General Washington personally chose to succeed him as the Continental Army’s commanding general.

America’s First Soldiers is the account of extraordinary men whose defeat of the British was so thorough, that during the eight-year struggle of the American Revolutionary War the British never again fought in Massachusetts.

Part 1 of this book chronicles America’s First Soldiers. Part 2 visits some of the well-preserved and fascinating sites in Massachusetts as a 21st-century historical tourist.

This book uncovers the hidden story of the men from Massachusetts—America’s First Soldiers.

A Sword Over the Nile: A Brief History of the Copts Under Islamic Rule

“With Egypt’s Copts targeted as part of a bloody and systematic campaign of genocide against the ancient churches of the Middle East, Adel Guindy has produced a timely and authoritative account of their story. It deserves to be widely read.”

• — Professor Lord Alton, Professor of Citizenship at Liverpool John Moores University