Europa - In The Dark Valley Between The World Wars


Book Description

This is a book about anti war poetry but North West of England Writers, Andy N (author of 'Return of Kemptown' and co author of 'A means to an End) and Nick Armbrister (author of various books) who have fused together a short collection of poetry tackling the way war affects the ordinary man.




Return to the Dark Valley


Book Description

“Fans of Roberto Bolaño will feel right at home in this globetrotting tale of misfit poets and ultraviolent drug lords . . . A page turner” (Miami Rail). Manuela is a woman haunted by a troubled childhood that she tries to escape through books and poetry. Tertullian is an Argentine preacher who claims to be the Pope’s son, ready to resort to extreme methods to create a harmonious society. Ferdinand Palacios is a Colombian priest with a dark paramilitary past, now confronted with his guilt. Rimbaud was the precocious, brilliant poet whose life was incessant exploration. Along with Juana and the consul, these are the central characters in Santiago Gamboa’s “complex, challenging story that speaks to the terror and dislocation of the age” (Kirkus Reviews). “Action-packed plotting . . . examines the movement of people across the shifting geopolitical landscape, the impossibility of returning and the potential redemptive power of poetry.” —The New York Times Book Review “An unsettling and brilliant document of contemporary life; highly recommended.” —Library Journal (starred review) “Gamboa possesses considerable talent at creating energetic scenes that spiral off in intriguing directions.” —San Francisco Chronicle




British Strategy and Politics during the Phony War


Book Description

The so-called Phony War from September 1939 to May 1940 occupies a peculiar yet distinct place in popular memory. All the sensations of war, except the fighting, were present; yet, instead of massed air attacks and great land battles, very little happened. The British government was said to be complacent, and the people downright bored. Then, France fell to German attack, and the small British army was evacuated (minus its equipment) from Dunkirk. Reaction to this major strategic catastrophe was naturally to blame the men deemed guilty for bringing the nation to the verge of humiliating defeat. In sharp contrast to previous studies, Smart argues that there was more to the phony war than governmental complacency, that the period was more than a foolish or frivolous ante-chamber to a later more heroic phase. The extent to which the guilty men verdict on the first nine months of Britain's Second World War has stuck remains surprising. The notion that the phony war was a necessary, indeed over-determined, prelude to catastrophe has become cemented over time. Examining the workings of the Anglo-French leadership during this period, Smart picks this thesis apart and argues that disaster was not necessarily, still less inevitably, just around the corner. He concludes that Anglo-French decision-making during this time was basically sound, that the soldiers were well equipped and in good-heart, and that there was no malaise eating away at the entente. This study offers a challenging reappraisal of the phony war from a British perspective.







The Cambridge History of the European Union: Volume 1, European Integration Outside-In


Book Description

Volume I considers the history of the European Union from an outside-in perspective, evaluating which outside forces shaped and guided the process of European integration. Taking an innovative, thematic approach, this volume will be of interest to students and researchers of European integration.




The Triumph of the Dark


Book Description

Following on from her acclaimed study of the collapse of international security during the early 1930's, Zara Steiner gives an account of the coming catastrophe. She shows that the era of Hitler's rise to power, an ascent bent on war, was founded on ideologies which the democratic perceptions could neither penetrate nor arrest. --




A Short History of the Spanish Civil War


Book Description

The years of the Spanish Civil War filled twentieth-century Spain with hope, frustration and drama. Not only did it pit countryman against countryman, and neighbour against neighbour, but from 1936-39 this bitterly contended struggle sucked in competing and seemingly atavistic forces that were soon to rage across the face of Europe, and then the rest of the world: nationalism and republicanism; communism and fascism; anarchism and monarchism; anti-clerical reformism and aristocratic Catholic conservatism. The 'Guerra Civil' is of enduring interest precisely because it represents much more than just a regional contest for power and governmental legitimacy. It has come to be seen as a seedbed for the titanic political struggles and larger social upheavals that scarred the entire twentieth century. In elegant and accessible prose, Julián Casanova tells the gripping story of these years of anguish and trauma, which hit the country with a force hitherto unknown at any time in Spain's history. Charting the most significant events and battles alongside the main players in the tragedy, he provides answers to some of the pressing questions (such as the roots and extent of anti-clerical violence) that have been asked in the seventy years that have passed since the painful defeat of the Second Republic.




Public Library Catalog


Book Description







War Crimes and War Crime Trials


Book Description

This is both a casebook of selected war crime decisions by various national and international tribunals in the twentieth and early twenty-first centuries as well as a brief historical account of the geopolitical, diplomatic and military events surrounding them. The text is divided into six parts arranged in chronological order, beginning with the Hague Peace Conferences of 1899 and 1907 up to the Summer 2004 decisions by the Supreme Court of the United States, which dealt with transnational terrorism committed by United States' citizens as well as the Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, detainees held under the authority of the Bush Administration. War Crimes and War Crime Trials contains edited excerpts from forty-four judicial opinions embellished with a congeries of international, national, military and political documents that add context to the case law. The editors have included fairly extensive selections from some of the major materials that have surrounded subsequent war crime litigation. Also included are an epilogue by Michael Ignatieff; an eleven-entry appendix; a glossary containing over 200 words; a reference section of over 1,400 citations from a wide variety of legal, historical and international relations literature; and a name and subject index. "War Crimes and War Crime Trials: From Leipzig to the ICC and Beyond -- Cases, Materials and Comments edited by John C. Watkins, Jr. and John Paul Weber is the most complete book on the subjects to date. In these challenging times, it is an essential reference for all who study or are engaged in the events brought about by September 11, 2001." -- Frank J. Williams, Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Rhode Island and Member of the Military Commissions Review Panel "Skillfully edited, the book weaves together an eclectic tableau of primary and secondary sources drawn from major court decisions and scholarly commentary over the past century. The result is a versatile stand-alone text and reference that should appeal to students of law, political science, criminal justice, history, and international relations alike." -- CHOICE Magazine