Fortress of the Dunes


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Lost Colony


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How a Chinese pirate defeated European colonialists and won Taiwan during the seventeenth century During the seventeenth century, Holland created the world's most dynamic colonial empire, outcompeting the British and capturing Spanish and Portuguese colonies. Yet, in the Sino-Dutch War—Europe's first war with China—the Dutch met their match in a colorful Chinese warlord named Koxinga. Part samurai, part pirate, he led his generals to victory over the Dutch and captured one of their largest and richest colonies—Taiwan. How did he do it? Examining the strengths and weaknesses of European and Chinese military techniques during the period, Lost Colony provides a balanced new perspective on long-held assumptions about Western power, Chinese might, and the nature of war. It has traditionally been asserted that Europeans of the era possessed more advanced science, technology, and political structures than their Eastern counterparts, but historians have recently contested this view, arguing that many parts of Asia developed on pace with Europe until 1800. While Lost Colony shows that the Dutch did indeed possess a technological edge thanks to the Renaissance fort and the broadside sailing ship, that edge was neutralized by the formidable Chinese military leadership. Thanks to a rich heritage of ancient war wisdom, Koxinga and his generals outfoxed the Dutch at every turn. Exploring a period when the military balance between Europe and China was closer than at any other point in modern history, Lost Colony reassesses an important chapter in world history and offers valuable and surprising lessons for contemporary times.




The Fall of Hitler's Fortress City


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“A superb portrait of a forgotten but vital World War II battle of strategic importance and bestial savagery” (Simon Sebag Montefiore, New York Times–bestselling author of The Romanovs) Through firsthand accounts, as well as archival material, The Fall of Hitler’s Fortress City tells the dramatic story of the place and people that bore the brunt of Russia’s vengeance against the Nazi regime. In 1945, in the face of the advancing Red Army, two and a half million people were forced out of Germany’s most easterly province, East Prussia, and in particular its capital, Königsberg. Their flight was a direct result of Hitler’s ill-fated decision to invade the Soviet Union in 1941. The Russians launched Operation Bagration in June 1944, to coincide with the D-Day landings. As US and British forces pushed west, the Russians liberated Eastern Europe and made their first attacks on German soil in the autumn of 1944. Königsberg itself was badly damaged by two British air raids at the end of August 1944, and the main offensive against the city by the Red Army began in January 1945. The depleted and poorly armed German army could do little to hold it back, and by the end of January, East Prussia was cut off. The Russians exacted a terrible revenge on the civilian population, who were forced to flee across the freezing Baltic coast in an attempt to escape. On April 9, the city surrendered to the Russians after a four-day onslaught. “Denny fills in a gap in the historiography of World War II’s European eastern front.” —Booklist




Castle Perilous


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The Limits of Empire: European Imperial Formations in Early Modern World History


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This volume, published in honor of historian Geoffrey Parker, explores the working of European empires in a global perspective, focusing on one of the most important themes of Parker’s work: the limits of empire, which is to say, the centrifugal forces - sacral, dynastic, military, diplomatic, geographical, informational - that plagued imperial formations in the early modern period (1500-1800). During this time of wrenching technological, demographic, climatic, and economic change, empires had to struggle with new religious movements, incipient nationalisms, new sea routes, new military technologies, and an evolving state system with complex new rules of diplomacy. Engaging with a host of current debates, the chapters in this book break away from conventional historical conceptions of empire as an essentially western phenomenon with clear demarcation lines between the colonizer and the colonized. These are replaced here by much more fluid and subtle conceptions that highlight complex interplays between coalitions of rulers and ruled. In so doing, the volume builds upon recent work that increasingly suggests that empires simply could not exist without the consent of their imperial subjects, or at least significant groups of them. This was as true for the British Raj as it was for imperial China or Russia. Whilst the thirteen chapters in this book focus on a number of geographic regions and adopt different approaches, each shares a focus on, and interest in, the working of empires and the ways that imperial formations dealt with - or failed to deal with - the challenges that beset them. Taken together, they reflect a new phase in the evolving historiography of empire. They also reflect the scholarly contributions of the dedicatee, Geoffrey Parker, whose life and work are discussed in the introductory chapters and, we’re proud to say, in a delightful chapter by Parker himself, an autobiographical reflection that closes the book.







Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore


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The Dragonet Prophecy (Wings of Fire #1)


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A thrilling new series soars above the competition and redefines middle-grade fantasy fiction for a new generation!The seven dragon tribes have been at war for generations, locked in an endless battle over an ancient, lost treasure. A secret movement called the Talons of Peace is determined to bring an end to the fighting, with the help of a prophecy -- a foretelling that calls for great sacrifice.Five dragonets are collected to fulfill the prophecy, raised in a hidden cave and enlisted, against their will, to end the terrible war.But not every dragonet wants a destiny. And when the select five escape their underground captors to look for their original homes, what has been unleashed on the dragon world may be far more than the revolutionary planners intended . . .




NexLord: Grim Realities


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The NexLord series is a traditional fantasy in the sense that it deals with strong good and evil. The focus of this epic fantasy story are four young people caught up in a deadly struggle started long ago. It explores the good and evil power of all emotions.The magic system is based on emotion and deals with the power of group beliefs and self fulfilling prophecy. The setting of the story is a unique planet where all normal human emotional tendencies are magnified. Humans are not alone there, and four other intelligent races inhabit the lands as well. Prejudice runs rampant and wars based on racial hatred have plagued the lands for hundreds of years.The emotions of hate and fear have coalesced into one place and continuously inhabit the body of a human, known as the Dreadmaster. This being continuously gathers and wields these evil powers. The ever growing power exists independently of the human vessel it inhabits, and when the body is destroyed it is only a matter of time until the power inhabits a new vessel.To combat the Dreadmaster's power all free humans gathered at one time and created a power fueled by their common belief and emotional need, a power that can be given to a NexLord. Using a check an balance system to keep this power from being abused a test was created. Those who pass this test become Knights of the Realm, known as NexLords. The NexLords and their Bondsmen are the one counter to the Dreadmaster's power.But with the ending of the Final War the last of the NexLords disappeared into the east, warning that the Dreadmaster's power was still out there, but no one listened or believed. For three hundred years now there has not been a new Dreadmaster and no one in the Human Realm has followed the difficult path to become a NexLord. However, there is a Prophecy spreading across the land, a prophecy that tells of the coming of a new NexLord who will bring a golden age. But what it predicts is about to go terribly wrong... for there is another prophecy, a Dark Prophecy, and the world is about to change to that path.Dark Prophecies is the first novel of a three book Fantasy Epic series. A mysterious old woman named Mara comes to teach four children who have been foretold in two dire prophecies. The kids have wild adventures while forming strong bonds. Mara teaches them to fight, and much more, for the mysterious old woman knows what the future holds for these children, and their coming will shake the world.




The Assassin's Blade


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Celaena Sardothien is Adarlan's most feared assassin. As part of the Assassins' Guild, her allegiance is to her master, Arobynn Hamel, yet Celaena listens to no one and trusts only her fellow killer-for-hire, Sam. In these action-packed prequel novellas - together in one edition for the first time - Celaena embarks on five daring missions. They take her from remote islands to hostile deserts, where she fights to liberate slaves and seeks to avenge the tyrannous. But she is acting against Arobynn's orders and could suffer an unimaginable punishment for such treachery ...Explore the dark underworld of this kick-ass heroine and find out how the legend begins in the five page-turning prequel novellas to the New York Times bestselling Throne of Glass series.