About this product: Robert Leckie, one of America's greatest military historians, was both an eyewitness and participant to some of the greatest battles in the Pacific. This is Leckie's vivid account of combat and survival in World War II. In January 1942, in the aftermath of the infamous Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor, he enlisted in the United States Marines Corps. From boot camp in Parris Island to the bloody war in the Pacific, Robert Leckie experienced it all. The booze, the brawling, the loving on sixty-two-hour leave; the courageous fighting and dying in combat as the US Marines slugged it out, inch by inch, island by island across the Pacific to the shores of Japan.
About this product: This is the life story of one of the greatest athletes to ever live. Ernie Davis was the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy, recruited to the Cleveland Browns at the highest package ever given in the NFL, and expected to be a running back playing in the backfield with another great African American athlete, Jim Brown. He died of acute leukemia before he could ever play a game in the NFL. In spite of his youth and his incomplete athletic history, Ernie remained an inspiration in the hearts of everyone who met him, knew him or had seen him play. It was not for Ernie's fabulous athletic performances or his exceptional abilities that he is remembered and venerated, but for his loving nature, humility, fairness, honesty and goodness that he took a place in the hearts of everyone in his generation. How did Ernie become such a man, and touch the hearts of all in so few years,making them rethink their prejudices once and for all?
About this product: Following a magical season that ended in Super Bowl glory, one of the NFL’s biggest stars delivers a no-holds-barred, hardhitting hitting account of life in the league.
Michael Strahan is one of the NFL’s most talented players, and he is also one of the game’s most vocal personalities. In Inside the Helmet, Strahan exposes all of the pressure, pain, and glory of life in the NFL, venturing into territory no previous football author has had the nerve to tread.
Bringing the reader right into the middle of the action, Strahan recounts exhilarating victories and reveals the hair-raising details of the ruthless grit required for every win. He gives an honest account of the brutality on the field and the myriad injuries from which he continues to suffer. He describes the relationships among teammates (including an account of his well publicized feuding with Tiki Barber), the practical jokes players use to preserve their sanity and the violent blow-ups that occur when the pressure gets too intense, and the challenges of taking orders from head coach Tom Coughlin and his squadron of assistant coaches.
Strahan also writes about dealing with the relentless media coverage, rabid and demanding fans, and the struggle to live up to a multimillion-dollar salary.
Finally, in two new chapters for the paperback edition, Strahan writes about the ups and downs of a truly sensational 2007 season that saw the Giants overcome the odds to win the Super Bowl. For the millions of rabid NFL fans, Inside the Helmet is an all-access pass into the huddle, the locker room, and the minds of the warriors on the field.
With his past series of books set in Coalwood, West Virginia, New York Times best-selling author Homer Hickam won the praise of critics around the world and the devotion of legions of fans. Now, he returns to his beloved coalfields, not as they were fifty years ago, but today. In this hauntingly beautiful and romantic novel, he brings alive the little Appalachian town of Highcoal and a people dedicated to mining coal according to the old ways while struggling with modern problems--illegal drugs, environmental destruction, and a world economy that threatens their very existence.
Song Hawkins is a beautiful, tough, but lonely New York City businesswoman who thinks she's met the man of her dreams in Cable Jordan, the superintendent of a West Virginia coal mine. But soon after they impulsively marry during a romantic holiday, Song realizes they're in big trouble. She can't imagine life outside of New York, and Cable has no intention of leaving Highland.
Song's visit to the little mining community to meet its quirky citizens only makes things worse and it looks like the marriage is over. But in a shocking turn of events, Song realizes it's up to her to put on the red helmet of the new coal miner and descend into the deep darkness to make a life-changing sacrifice for both Cable and the entire town.
About this product: With his past series of books set in Coalwood, West Virginia, New York Times best-selling author Homer Hickam won the praise of critics around the world and the devotion of legions of fans. Now, he returns to his beloved coalfields, not as they were fifty years ago, but today. In this hauntingly beautiful and romantic novel, he brings alive the little Appalachian town of Highcoal and a people dedicated to mining coal according to the old ways while struggling with modern problems--illegal drugs, environmental destruction, and a world economy that threatens their very existence.
Song Hawkins is a beautiful, tough, but lonely New York City businesswoman who thinks she's met the man of her dreams in Cable Jordan, the superintendent of a West Virginia coal mine. But soon after they impulsively marry during a romantic holiday, Song realizes they're in big trouble. She can't imagine life outside of New York, and Cable has no intention of leaving Highland.
Song's visit to the little mining community to meet its quirky citizens only makes things worse and it looks like the marriage is over. But in a shocking turn of events, Song realizes it's up to her to put on the red helmet of the new coal miner and descend into the deep darkness to make a life-changing sacrifice for both Cable and the entire town.
Tin Hats to Composite Helmets - A Collector's Guide brings together in a single volume the primary protective helmets of the world's military forces from 1915 to modern times. It traces the development of the helmet from the Great War French 'Adrian' through to the current American ACH composite helmet. Included in this work is a selection of the helmet types worn by infantry, armored vehicle crews, paratroopers and military motorcyclists as well as civil defense forces. Principal nations covered include France, Germany, Italy, Great Britain, Russia, United States and many other countries including Argentina, Czechoslovakia, Belgium, Holland, Hungary, Poland, Iraq, Israel, Japan, South Africa and Yugoslavia. With around 700 images of a vast range of helmets, this is an essential work for collectors and historians alike.
About this product: The 1992-1995 battle for Sarajevo was the longest siege in modern history. It was also the most internationalized, attracting a vast contingent of aid workers, UN soldiers, journalists, smugglers, and embargo-busters. The city took center stage under an intense global media spotlight, becoming the most visible face of post-Cold War conflict and humanitarian intervention. However, some critical activities took place backstage, away from the cameras, including extensive clandestine trading across the siege lines, theft and diversion of aid, and complicity in the black market by peacekeeping forces.
In Blue Helmets and Black Markets, Peter Andreas traces the interaction between these formal front-stage and informal backstage activities, arguing that this created and sustained a criminalized war economy and prolonged the conflict in a manner that served various interests on all sides. Although the vast majority of Sarajevans struggled for daily survival and lived in a state of terror, the siege was highly rewarding for some key local and international players. This situation also left a powerful legacy for postwar reconstruction: new elites emerged via war profiteering and an illicit economy flourished partly based on the smuggling networks built up during wartime.
Andreas shows how and why the internationalization of the siege changed the repertoires of siege-craft and siege defenses and altered the strategic calculations of both the besiegers and the besieged. The Sarajevo experience dramatically illustrates that just as changes in weapons technologies transformed siege warfare through the ages, so too has the arrival of CNN, NGOs, satellite phones, UN peacekeepers, and aid convoys. Drawing on interviews, reportage, diaries, memoirs, and other sources, Andreas documents the business of survival in wartime Sarajevo and the limits, contradictions, and unintended consequences of international intervention.
Concluding with a comparison of the battle for Sarajevo with the sieges of Leningrad, Grozny, and Srebrenica, and, more recently, Falluja, Blue Helmets and Black Markets is a major contribution to our understanding of contemporary urban warfare, war economies, and the political repercussions of humanitarian action.
About this product: Here's an in-depth, design practitioner's study of helmet-mounted display and sight technology (HMD/HMS). This unique combination of advanced optics, computing, and electronics gives users a continuous, hands-free display of computer, 3-D, or virtual imaging. Authored by a leading aerospace engineer, Helmet-Mounted Displays and Sights takes a comprehensive look at this increasingly popular technology -- from the human factors associated with the use of HMDs, to design requirements of HMD/HMS, to new and future advances in image source and display technology, and more.
HMD/HMS engineers will find this guide to be valuable reading as it offers practical advice on evaluating various designs and technologies, selecting appropriate image sources, and designing helmet display systems that are more "human friendly." It also provides you with techniques and algorithms for computing and implementing head position and for stabilizing display images.
In addition to illustrating the latest image source display technologies, fiber optic image guides, and holographic optical elements, the book also introduces the concept of biodynamic interference and its effects on HMD systems. Chapters on viewing HMD images in dynamic environments and the problems of integrating HMD/HMS in aircraft and other vehicles add to the book's value for aviators and other HMD operators.
About this product: This wonderful new survey follows the evolution of the sports helmet from early military and aviation uses, through early motorcycle and auto racing, and to modern helmets used in a wide variety of sports today. The science of helmet design and manufacture is covered before moving into the art of the helmet. Helmets for six major sports are extensively covered: auto and motorcycle racing, bicycling, equestrian activities, skiing, football, and ice hockey. Some lesser known sports and their helmets are also included to give a fascinating and complete panorama of the field. The design innovations, both for safety and appearance, the colors, and the fascinating history will engage the reader, while nearly 600 color images will please even the most particular sports fan. For designers, players, scientists, and historians this book is a true delight.
About this product: This book proposes a complete study of the variants in the manufacturing of the M1 helmet, illustrated with more than 700 full-color photos and presents a new selection of helmets coming from the woodwork, stemming from private collections and museums.
The technical evolution of the M1 and its paratrooper conversions M2 and M1 C is summarized in the form of plans and clear synthesis boards. The selection of more than 120 helmets evokes, from Normandy to Germany, the battles of the European Theatre of operation. Numerous photos reveal their peculiarity, pictograms summarize their technical characteristics and legends tell their history. These material witnesses bring to life a conflict which ravaged the western Europe. REVIEWS "At first I thought a book about a type of combat helmet, how interesting can this be? Well, let me tell you, this book covers the M1 helmet completely from design to combat history in World War II. The neat thing is that this book has stories to tell about a collected series of M1 helmets that were found after the war. I was very impressed...a must have for your book collection." Internet Modeler, 06/2008"This forensic look at history one helmet a time will be of interest to any World War II historian, and will also be an excellent resource for World War II figure modelers that are missing out on some very distinctive details that were applied in the theater. Definitely recommended!Cybermodeler, 06/2008