About this product: Here is one of the most riveting first-person accounts ever to come out of World War II. Robert Leckie enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in January 1942, shortly after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. In Helmet for My Pillow we follow his odyssey, from basic training on Parris Island, South Carolina, all the way to the raging battles in the Pacific, where some of the war’s fiercest fighting took place. Recounting his service with the 1st Marine Division and the brutal action on Guadalcanal, New Britain, and Peleliu, Leckie spares no detail of the horrors and sacrifices of war, painting an unvarnished portrait of how real warriors are made, fight, and often die in the defense of their country.
From the live-for-today rowdiness of marines on leave to the terrors of jungle warfare against an enemy determined to fight to the last man, Leckie describes what war is really like when victory can only be measured inch by bloody inch. Woven throughout are Leckie’s hard-won, eloquent, and thoroughly unsentimental meditations on the meaning of war and why we fight. Unparalleled in its immediacy and accuracy, Helmet for My Pillow will leave no reader untouched. This is a book that brings you as close to the mud, the blood, and the experience of war as it is safe to come.
Now producers Tom Hanks, Steven Spielberg, and Gary Goetzman, the men behind Band of Brothers, have adapted material from Helmet for My Pillow for HBO’s epic miniseries The Pacific, which will thrill and edify a whole new generation.
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, Song realizes they're in big trouble. She can't imagine life outside of New York, and Cable has no intention of leaving his beloved town of Highcoal.
Song's visit to the little mining community only makes things worse. 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. There she faces her greatest challenge with choices and courage that will forever impact the life of Cable and the entire town.
About this product: A true story of a helmet's journey home from the WWII battlefield. The helmet was picked up after the liberation of Louge sur Maire, France and stored until the sixtieth anniversary of D-Day. Two neighbors vowed to return it to First Lt. Jason H. Barron's family, whose name was on the inside of the helmet. After two years, they found his brother and wrote, "We have the helmet of your brother. You must come to France to get it." What follows is the heart-warming story of gratitude as Jason and five other soldiers of the 'Spearhead' are honored for their ultimate sacrifice. Linda, Jason's niece, searches for the other soldiers families to let them know of the honor. This story sheds a refreshing light on the French citizens as they remember D-day as their Independence Day.
About this product: Ernie Davis, #44 at Syracuse University, was the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy, then recruited to the Cleveland Browns, 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 play a game in the NFL. In spite of his youth and 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 his 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? This edition contains many pictures of Ernie plus a tribute to #44 President Obama.
Victor Pelevin, the iconoclastic and wildly interesting contemporary Russian novelist who The New Yorker named one of the Best European Writers Under 35, upends any conventional notions of what mythology must be with his unique take on the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur. By creating a mesmerizing world where the surreal and the hyperreal collide, The Helmet of Horror is a radical retelling of the myth of Theseus and the Minotaur set in an Internet chat room. They have never met, they have been assigned strange pseudonyms, they inhabit identical rooms that open out onto very different landscapes, and they have entered a dialogue they cannot escape — a discourse defined and destroyed by the Helmet of Horror. Its wearer is the dominant force they call Asterisk, a force for good and ill in which the Minotaur is forever present and Theseus is the great unknown. The Helmet of Horror is structured according to the way we communicate in the twenty-first century — using the Internet — yet instilled with the figures and narratives of classical mythology. It is a labyrinthine examination of epistemological uncertainty that radically reinvents this myth for an age where information is abundant but knowledge ultimately unattainable.
About this product: This new book explores the history and development of early flying headgear throughout the pioneering nations in military and sport aviation, from the earliest exploits of the Wright Brothers, to the end of World War II. Drawn from aviation museums and private collections from around the world, the illustrated color section features over 1000 photographs depicting more than 650 different items of flying headgear: helmets, goggles, oxygen masks and accessories, including many unique personalizations and rarely seen items.
About this product: The motorcycle helmet has encountered much resistance from bikers who cherish the sense of freedom they get when riding without one. At the same time, the design revolutions it has undergone since its introduction in the 1930s have made it as much a part of the motorcycle culture as the leather jacket. Here the whole history is traced, from the ancient beginnings in warriors helmets to the jet age molded plastic designs of the late twentieth century. All of the worlds major manufacturers are covered, and their helmets are illustrated in detailed full color photographs. In addition, the author has included vintage advertising, racing photographs, and promotional materials. You will see the early football style helmets, leather pilots caps, pudding-style helmets, the Air Force inspired full-coverage helmets introduced by Bell Auto Parts in 1954, and the continuing evolution up to the end of the century. Both technical and decorative aspects are considered, along with the changing culture around motorcyclists. For the motorcycle enthusiast and collector, or those interested in a significant design movement, this book will both entertain and inform.
About this product: The German Stahlhelm is perhaps the most recognizable image of World War II. Manufactured in its millions, it was used or copied by many countries. It is still one of the most collected relics of the war; but despite its relative availability, prices have reached levels that challenge collectors to protect themselves by acquiring in-depth knowledge. This book, by a collector of 30 years' standing, offers a detailed masterclass in the patterns, component parts and finishes of the combat helmets used by the German Army, Navy and Air Force. It is illustrated with a superb selection of rare period photos, colour photos of collected examples, and striking colour paintings.
Considered shocking and provocative back in the sixties, Helmut Newton now enjoys the reputation of a photographer who was able to imagine and visualize women who take the lead rather than follow it; women who are both responsible and willing.
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