The Blackford Oakes Mysteries Volume One


Book Description

Now in one volume—the first three New York Times bestsellers starring a Cold War–era CIA superspy. Following the rules kept Blackford Oakes alive when he was an air force pilot during World War II, and it kept him in line as a student at Yale. But as a CIA agent, he knows that sometimes rules need to be broken . . . Saving the Queen: It’s 1952 and Oakes tackles his first assignment in London. He must uncover a spy within Buckingham Palace and protect the young queen from assassination. Stained Glass: In this National Book Award winner, Oakes must silence a righteous nationalist stirring up trouble in East Germany, because failure to do so could push the United States and the USSR into World War III. Who’s on First: The Hungarian Uprising of 1956 erupts, leaving Oakes trapped in Budapest. He soon finds himself in a race to stop the Soviets from launching a satellite—before KGB spies put an end to him.




Stained Glass


Book Description

The New York Times–bestselling and National Book Award–winning mystery that’s “delightful reading for the spy thriller fan” (UPI.com). When the Wehrmacht took Warsaw, Alex Wintergrin led the charge. But as soon as Hitler’s army occupied the Polish capital, the charismatic young count disappeared, and he was assumed to be dead. But that couldn’t have been further from the truth. Wintergrin had ditched his uniform and turned himself in to Polish security forces, with whom he shared every scrap of Hitler’s plans for the invasion. He then waited out the war in Norway, fighting the Germans with the resistance. Now the fighting may be over, but for Wintergrin, a new battle has just begun. When he starts inciting East Germans to throw off the yoke of Soviet oppression, the USSR threatens to roll its tanks across Europe. In order to keep another war from breaking out, the CIA must send in the charming devil Blackford Oakes to talk sense into Wintergrin—and if necessary, kill him. Stained Glass is the 2nd book in the Blackford Oakes Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.




Saving the Queen


Book Description

New York Times bestseller: The first mystery featuring the sophisticated deep-cover CIA agent: “Rollickingly ribald . . . Consistently witty.” —Los Angeles Times Book Review Blackford Oakes has never been afraid of obeying orders. During the war, it’s what kept him alive. When he leaves the air force for Yale, Oakes is studious, temperate, and polite. He knows how to follow rules—but he also knows the secret to breaking them: Never tell a little lie when a big lie will do. He’s exactly the man the CIA is looking for. Just before Oakes graduates, an old friend recruits him to work for the Company. His military background, knowledge of French, and family in London make Oakes a perfect choice for the most glamorous role the CIA has to offer: deep-cover agent. When his 1st assignment reveals Soviet espionage inside Buckingham Palace and a plot against the young Queen, Oakes will throw the rulebook out the window. Saving the Queen is the 1st book in the Blackford Oakes Mysteries, but you may enjoy reading the series in any order.




High Jinx


Book Description

Blackford Oakes takes on the Russians and a top level traitor during the Cold War in this tale of treason and action-packed adventure. Buckley is the author of See You Later, Alligator and The Story of Henri Tod.




Saving the Queen


Book Description

President Truman is nearing the end of his term in office, and Great Britain has a new queen. It is 1952; the Cold War is beginning to heat up, and vital Western military secrets are falling into Soviet hands. The CIA is faced with a delicate dilemma for the source of the leaks to the KGB has been traced directly to the Queen's chambers. The situation must be resolved, but the young Queen's self-confidence and public credibility must not be damaged. Thus young Blackford Oakes - handsome, debonaire, and audacious, a recent Yale graduate and ex-combat fighter pilot - is selected to penetrate the royal circle, win the Queen's confidence, and plug the leak. The action leads to an explosive showdown in the skies over London, one that could determine the future of the West.




Brothers No More


Book Description

Bestselling author William F. Buckley, Jr., offers a terrific new novel—in the gloriously gripping tradition of Howard Fast, Irwin Shaw, and Jeffery Archer—of men and women caught between the force of history and the power of their own desires. Italy, 1944. Pfc. Danny O'Hara and Pfc. Henry Chafee are part of a regiment ordered to attack a German unit north of Rome. But at the critical moment, one young man's courage fails him. Court-martial and shame are averted only by the other's apparently valiant effort to cover for him. A complex lifelong bond is thus forged between two men who seem an unlikely match. Henry is the son of a widowed librarian, quiet, studious, devoted to his sister, Caroline. Danny is gregarious, charming, aglow with the glamour of wealth and privilege. He is also the President's grandson. Brothers No More is the sweeping story of the lives and times of these two men—one searching to redeem his courage and resolve, the other undone by his own ambition and greed—both spellbound by the devout and beautiful Caroline. From the European theater of World War II to the deadly jungles of Vietnam, from the verdant lawns of Yale to the glittering casinos of the French Riviera, from the intimate warmth of a suburban home to the most rarefied corridors of corporate power, Brothers No More spans continents and decades to touch on some of the most significant events in modern history. With the masterful storytelling power, sophisticated wit, and deft blend of fact and fiction that have won William F. Buckley, Jr., legions of devoted readers around the world, Brothers No More is an unforgettable novel of honor, betrayal, and faith.




God and Man at Yale


Book Description

"For God, for country, and for Yale... in that order," William F. Buckley Jr. wrote as the dedication of his monumental work—a compendium of knowledge that still resonates within the halls of the Ivy League university that tried to cover up its political and religious bias. In 1951, a twenty-five-year-old Yale graduate published his first book, which exposed the "extraordinarily irresponsible educational attitude" that prevailed at his alma mater. The book, God and Man at Yale, rocked the academic world and catapulted its young author, William F. Buckley Jr. into the public spotlight. Now, half a century later, read the extraordinary work that began the modern conservative movement. Buckley's harsh assessment of his alma mater divulged the reality behind the institution's wholly secular education, even within the religion department and divinity school. Unabashed, one former Yale student details the importance of Christianity and heralds the modern conservative movement in his preeminent tell-all, God and Man at Yale: The Superstitions of "Academic Freedom."




Stained Glass


Book Description

With the Cold War raging, Blackford Oakes takes a sabbatical from his work as a CIA superspy in order to help restore the war-damaged windows in a fabled German chapel. He finds no peace or sanctuary there, however. Instead, he ends up in the arms of a beautiful KGB agent - and on the horns of a dilemma. He must either betray her or pull the switch on an old friend who is rallying his countrymen to reunite Germany.




Mothers and Others


Book Description

Somewhere in Africa, more than a million years ago, a line of apes began to rear their young differently than their Great Ape ancestors. From this new form of care came new ways of engaging and understanding each other. How such singular human capacities evolved, and how they have kept us alive for thousands of generations, is the mystery revealed in this bold and wide-ranging new vision of human emotional evolution. Mothers and Others finds the key in the primatologically unique length of human childhood. If the young were to survive in a world of scarce food, they needed to be cared for, not only by their mothers but also by siblings, aunts, fathers, friends—and, with any luck, grandmothers. Out of this complicated and contingent form of childrearing, Sarah Hrdy argues, came the human capacity for understanding others. Mothers and others teach us who will care, and who will not. From its opening vision of “apes on a plane”; to descriptions of baby care among marmosets, chimpanzees, wolves, and lions; to explanations about why men in hunter-gatherer societies hunt together, Mothers and Others is compellingly readable. But it is also an intricately knit argument that ever since the Pleistocene, it has taken a village to raise children—and how that gave our ancient ancestors the first push on the path toward becoming emotionally modern human beings.




The Lexicon


Book Description

The perfect gift for sophisticated word lovers, this handy pocket guide comesfrom the author famous for his addiction to and marvelous skill with words ofall kinds. Illustrations.