Fall of the Double Eagle


Book Description

"Examination of the Battle for Galicia (23 August-11 September 1914), the most historically and strategically consequential of the Great War's three opening campaigns"--




Fall of the Double Eagle


Book Description

Although southern Poland and western Ukraine are not often thought of in terms of decisive battles in World War I, the impulses that precipitated the battle for Galicia in August 1914—and the unprecedented carnage that resulted—effectively doomed the Austro-Hungarian Empire just six weeks into the war. In Fall of the Double Eagle, John R. Schindler explains how Austria-Hungary, despite military weakness and the foreseeable ill consequences, consciously chose war in that fateful summer of 1914. Through close examination of the Austro-Hungarian military, especially its elite general staff, Schindler shows how even a war that Vienna would likely lose appeared preferable to the “foul peace” the senior generals loathed. After Serbia outgunned the polyglot empire in a humiliating defeat, and the offensive into Russian Poland ended in the massacre of more than four hundred thousand Austro-Hungarians in just three weeks, the empire never recovered. While Austria-Hungary’s ultimate defeat and dissolution were postponed until the autumn of 1918, the late summer of 1914 on the plains and hills of Galicia sealed its fate.




Double Eagle


Book Description

After several hard-fought weeks, the war-torn world of Enothis hangs in the balance. Only the day and night efforts of the valiant flyers of the Phantine Fighter Corps can keep the enemy host at bay long enough for the Imperial ground forces to regroup for a last battle. Original.




The Fall of Eagles


Book Description




Fall of the Double Eagle


Book Description

Despite the renewed interest in the First World War, the opening campaigns that decided the course of the global conflict remain under-examined; this is especially true for the Battle for Galicia in August 1914. Not only was Galicia, a historical region located in today's southern Poland and western Ukraine, the site of the bloodiest battle of the conflict, but the impulses that precipitated the engagement and the unprecedented carnage that resulted also effectively doomed the Austria-Hungarian Empire just six weeks into the war. In "The Fall of the Double Eagle," John R. Schindler draws on extensive archival research, memoirs, and diverse secondary sources in a dozen languages to explain how Austria-Hungary, despite military weakness and the inevitable consequences, consciously chose war in 1914. Through close examination of the Austro-Hungarian military, especially its elite General Staff, Schindler shows how even a war Vienna would likely lose appeared a preferable option to the "foul peace" the top generals loathed. The study considers how the polyglot empire was outgunned and unable to subdue Serbia, resulting in a humiliating defeat that generals sought to cover up. Worse was to come, when Austro-Hungarian divisions launched an offensive into Russian Poland in hopes of defeating the numerically superior enemy. By the time the Russians were halted at the gates of Cracow, over 400,000 Austro-Hungarian troops had been lost in just three weeks, a figure equal to the prewar standing army and a loss from which the empire would never recover. While Austria-Hungary's ultimate defeat and dissolution was postponed until the autumn of 1918, its fate was preordained in in the late summer of 1914 on the plains and hills of Galicia.




Eagle Down


Book Description

A Wall Street Journal national security reporter takes readers into the lives of frontline U.S. special operations troops fighting to keep the Taliban and Islamic State from overthrowing the U.S.-backed government in the final years of the war in Afghanistan. A FINANCIAL TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR “Powerful, important, and searing." —General David Petraeus, U.S. Army (ret.), former commander, U.S. Central Command, former CIA director In 2015, the White House claimed triumphantly that “the longest war in American history” was over. But for some, it was just the beginning of a new war, fought by Special Operations Forces, with limited resources, little governmental oversight, and contradictory orders. With big picture insight and on-the-ground grit, Jessica Donati shares the stories of the impossible choices these soldiers must make. After the fall of a major city to the Taliban that year, Hutch, a battle-worn Green Beret on his fifth combat tour was ordered on a secret mission to recapture it and inadvertently called in an airstrike on a Doctors Without Borders hospital, killing dozens. Caleb stepped on a bomb during a mission in notorious Sangin. Andy was trapped with his team during a raid with a crashed Black Hawk and no air support. Through successive policy directives under the Obama and Trump administrations, America came to rely almost entirely on US Special Forces, and without a long-term plan, failed to stabilize Afghanistan, undermining US interests both at home and abroad. Eagle Down is a riveting account of the heroism, sacrifice, and tragedy experienced by those that fought America’s longest war.




The Double Eagle


Book Description

They are the most valuable coins on earth . . . Only a handful still exist, each one worth millions . . . Now they have vanished from an impenetrable fortress . . . and the killings have begun. Somehow, impossibly, someone has invaded Fort Knox and stolen five of the world's last remaining Double Eagles -- the $20 gold coin ordered destroyed by President Roosevelt during the Great Depression. Now, one has resurfaced during an autopsy in France -- in the stomach of a murdered priest. Disgraced FBI agent Jennifer Browne needs to recover the priceless coins to resuscitate her stalled career -- and her investigation is pointing her toward Tom Kirk, a brilliant international art thief who wants to get out of the game. But Kirk's only chance for freedom -- and survival -- is to find the missing coins, joining Browne, an unlikely ally, on a breakneck race across the globe and into the lethal heart of a shocking conspiracy of greed and power . . . and death.




Eagle and Empire


Book Description

The award-winning author of Clash of Eagles and Eagle in Exile concludes his masterly alternate-history saga of the Roman invasion of North America in this stunning novel. Roman Praetor Gaius Marcellinus came to North America as a conqueror, but after meeting with defeat at the hands of the city-state of Cahokia, he has had to forge a new destiny in this strange land. In the decade since his arrival, he has managed to broker an unstable peace between the invading Romans and a loose affiliation of Native American tribes known as the League. But invaders from the west will shatter that peace and plunge the continent into war: The Mongol Horde has arrived and they are taking no prisoners. As the Mongol cavalry advances across the Great Plains leaving destruction in its path, Marcellinus and his Cahokian friends must summon allies both great and small in preparation for a final showdown. Alliances will shift, foes will rise, and friends will fall as Alan Smale brings us ever closer to the dramatic final battle for the future of the North American continent. Praise for Eagle and Empire “Smale delivers in spades . . . the best of the trilogy. Highly recommended.”—Historical Novels Review “The pace . . . is breathless and the action relentless. . . . A satisfying culmination to the adventures of a Roman warrior in the New World.”—Kirkus Reviews “The final volume of Smale’s Clash of Eagles trilogy is relentless, with characters and readers hardly getting a breath before the next threat comes crashing down. . . . Smale’s hard-hitting and satisfying conclusion will be a must for his readers, as the trilogy will be for any fan of alternate history.”—Publishers Weekly (starred review) “[Eagle and Empire] had awesome worldbuilding, worthy and interesting characters, and a great plot. . . . Altogether, a very satisfying journey.”—The Nameless Zine




Hawksong


Book Description

DANICA SHARDAE IS an avian shapeshifter, and the golden hawk’s form in which she takes to the sky is as natural to her as the human one that graces her on land. The only thing more familiar to her is war: It has raged between her people and the serpiente for so long, no one can remember how the fighting began. As heir to the avian throne, she’ll do anything in her power to stop this war—even accept Zane Cobriana, the terrifying leader of her kind’s greatest enemy, as her pair bond and make the two royal families one. Trust. It is all Zane asks of Danica—and all they ask of their people—but it may be more than she can give. A School Library Journal Best Books of the Year A VOYA Best Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror List selection




The Fall of Altdorf


Book Description

With the hordes of Chaos marshalling in the north and the Emperor lost, it falls to Reiksmarshal Kurt Helborg to prepare to meet the forces of the Ruinous Powers. The End Times are coming. With the hordes of Chaos marshalling in the north, Emperor Karl Franz leads his armies in defence of his realm. But when the worst happens and the Emperor is lost, it falls to Reiksmarshal Kurt Helborg to return to Altdorf, capital of the Empire, and prepare to meet the forces of the Ruinous Powers in a final battle for that ancient city. As plague spreads and the defences weaken, all seems lost, until help arrives from a most unexpected source... if Helborg can bring himself to accept it.