Scott Anderson

A narrative chronicle of World War I's Arab Revolt explores the pivotal roles of a small group of adventurers and low-level officers who orchestrated a secret effort to control the Middle East, demonstrating how they instigated jihad against British forces, built an elaborate intelligence ring and forged ties to gain valuable oil concessions.

War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East

Lawrence in Arabia

From the bestselling author of LAWRENCE IN ARABIA, a gripping history of the early years of the Cold War, the CIA's covert battles against communism, and the tragic consequences which still affect America and the world today At the end of World War II, the United States dominated the world militarily, economically, and in moral standing - seen as the victor over tyranny and a champion of freedom. But it was clear - to some - that the Soviet Union was already executing a plan to expand and foment revolution around the world. The American government's strategy in response relied on the secret efforts of a newly-formed CIA. THE QUIET AMERICANS chronicles the exploits of four spies - Michael Burke, a charming former football star fallen on hard times, Frank Wisner, the scion of a wealthy Southern family, Peter Sichel, a sophisticated German Jew who escaped the Nazis, and Edward Lansdale, a brilliant ad executive. The four ran covert operations across the globe, trying to outwit the ruthless KGB in Berlin, parachuting commandos into Eastern Europe, plotting coups, and directing wars against Communist insurgents in Asia. But time and again their efforts went awry, thwarted by a combination of stupidity and ideological rigidity at the highest levels of the government - and more profoundly, the decision to abandon American ideals. By the mid-1950s, the Soviet Union had a stranglehold on Eastern Europe, the U.S. had begun its disastrous intervention in Vietnam, and America, the beacon of democracy, was overthrowing democratically-elected governments and earning the hatred of much of the world. All of this culminated in an act of betrayal and cowardice that would lock the Cold War into place for decades to come. Anderson brings to the telling of this story all the narrative brio, deep research, skeptical eye, and lively prose that made LAWRENCE IN ARABIA a major international bestseller. The intertwined lives of these men began in a common purpose of defending freedom, but the ravages of the Cold War led them to different fates. Two would quit the CIA in despair, stricken by the moral compromises they had to make; one became the archetype of the duplicitous and destructive American spy; and one would be so heartbroken he would take his own life. THE QUIET AMERICANS is the story of these four men. It is also the story of how the United States, at the very pinnacle of its power, managed to permanently damage its moral standing in the world.

Four CIA Spies at the Dawn of the Cold War - a Tragedy in Three Acts

The Quiet Americans

The catastrophic story of how the Arab world has descended into chaos since the 2003 United States invasion of Iraq as told by the National Book Critics Circle Award finalist and New York Times bestselling author of Lawrence in Arabia, a probing and insightful work of reportage. In 2011, a series of anti-government uprisings shook the Middle East and North Africa in what would become known as the Arab Spring. Few could predict that these convulsions, initially hailed in the West as a triumph of democracy, would give way to brutal civil war, the terrors of the Islamic State, and a global refugee crisis. But, as New York Times bestselling author Scott Anderson shows, the seeds of catastrophe had been sown long before. In this gripping account, Anderson examines the myriad complex causes of the region's profound unraveling, tracing the ideological conflicts of the present to their origins in the United States invasion of Iraq in 2003 and beyond. From this investigation emerges a rare view into a land in upheaval through the eyes of six individuals--the matriarch of a dissident Egyptian family; a Libyan Air Force cadet with divided loyalties; a Kurdish physician from a prominent warrior clan; a Syrian university student caught in civil war; an Iraqi activist for women's rights; and an Iraqi day laborer-turned-ISIS fighter. A probing and insightful work of reportage, Fractured Lands offers a penetrating portrait of the contemporary Arab world and brings the stunning realities of an unprecedented geopolitical tragedy into crystalline focus.

How the Arab World Came Apart

Fractured Lands

King of Kings: The Iranian Revolution—A Story of Hubris, Delusion and Catastrophic Miscalculation

Triage

Details the adventure of two men who canoed 1700 miles from Duluth, Minnesota to the shores of Hudson Bay and discusses their battle with mosquitoes, their struggle with a tent that doesn't stay up in the wind, and their diet of macaroni and cheese for countless breakfasts

Distant Fires

Lawrence z Arabii. Wojna, zdrada, szaleństwo mocarstw. Jak powstał dzisiejszy Bliski Wschód

Jon Lee Anderson

The Shocking Expose of how Terrorists, Nazis, and Latin American Death Squads Have Infiltrated the World Anti-Communist League

Inside the League

Who HQ

Patricia Brennan Demuth

An introduction to one of the most famous historical moments in war time: D-Day.

What Was D-Day?

Provides a portrait of Fred Cuny, a renegade engineer who journeyed into countries torn apart by disaster, until his disappearance on a mission to the Russian republic of Chechnya.

The Dangerous Life and Mysterious Disappearance of Fred Cuny

The Man who Tried to Save the World

Tony Dierckins

Includes mosquito repellents--what works; mosquito control--what can help; mosquitoes and disease--the facts; mosquito myths and legends; mosquito trivia and oddities; new information on the West Nile virus; and much, much, so much more!

The Next Edition

The Mosquito Book

From veteran war reporter and novelist Scott Anderson comes a novel rich in intrigue, romance, and dark humor set in the once sleepy, now at war Middle Eastern kingdom of Kutar.

A Novel

Moonlight Hotel

Nick DiBenedetto would be altered along with hundreds of thousands of men from the Los Angeles area. Literally overnight, he would be changed to a more workable form that would be able to survive in a harsh environment. Altered at 85 percent of his former human self, he and those redesigned at 50 percent, would work the mines for the Colar State. His body was now more resilient, though alien encounters would forever educate the man in ways that were both unexpected and dangerous.

Mister 85 Percent

Written for all age groups. The Beginning is the story of what should have been a simple mining operation. Tel of the Taman had no intention of exposing his crew to the daily challenges associated with the people of earth. But an attack on the family of a veteran of the Civil War leads to a situation the Taman cannot ignore. Spanning over 100 years, the crew of this Taman saucer will meet a newspaper reporter, her photographer, and the American military to defend earth from a warring race known as the Colar. Two members of the Taman mining crew will find a friend and ally within the journalist. This woman, who would be young in the 1950’s, but seasoned in the 1990’s, will visit the Taman homeworld with her fiancé. She will learn as much about herself as she will from her hosts, and unknowingly help protect not only her family but her native earth.

The Beginning

The Plague is a novel by Albert Camus, published in 1947, that tells the story of a plague sweeping the French Algerian city of Oran. It asks a number of questions relating to the nature of destiny and the human condition. The characters in the book, ranging from doctors to vacationers to fugitives, all help to show the effects the plague has on a populace. The novel is believed to be based on the cholera epidemic that killed a large percentage of Oran's population in 1849 following French colonization, but the novel is placed in the 1940s. Oran and its environs were struck by disease multiple times before Camus published this novel. According to a research report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Oran was decimated by the plague in 1556 and 1678, but all later outbreaks, in 1921 (185 cases), 1931 (76 cases), and 1944 (95 cases), were very far from the scale of the epidemic described in the novel. The Plague is considered an existentialist classic despite Camus' objection to the label. The narrative tone is similar to Kafka's, especially in The Trial whose individual sentences potentially have multiple meanings, the material often pointedly resonating as stark allegory of phenomenal consciousness and the human condition. Camus included a dim-witted character misreading The Trial as a mystery novel as an oblique homage. The novel has been read as a metaphorical treatment of the French resistance to Nazi occupation during World War II. Additionally, he further illustrates the human reaction towards the "absurd." The Plague represents how the world deals with the philosophical notion of the Absurd, a theory that Camus himself helped to define.

The Plague by Albert Camus Summary & Analysis

“Enthralling. . . . Lying and stealing and invading, it should be said, make for captivating reading, especially in the hands of a storyteller as skilled as Anderson.” —The New York Times Book Review A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR At the end of World War II, the United States was considered the victor over tyranny and a champion of freedom. But it was clear—to some—that the Soviet Union was already seeking to expand and foment revolution around the world, and the American government’s strategy in response relied on the secret efforts of a newly formed CIA. Chronicling the fascinating lives of the agents who sought to uphold American ideals abroad, Scott Anderson follows the exploits of four spies: Michael Burke, who organized parachute commandos from an Italian villa; Frank Wisner, an ingenious spymaster who directed actions around the world; Peter Sichel, a German Jew who outwitted the ruthless KGB in Berlin; and Edward Lansdale, a mastermind of psychological warfare in the Far East. But despite their lofty ambitions, time and again their efforts went awry, thwarted by a combination of ham-fisted politicking and ideological rigidity at the highest levels of the government. Told with narrative brio, deep research, and a skeptical eye, The Quiet Americans is the gripping story of how the United States, at the very pinnacle of its power, managed to permanently damage its moral standing in the world.

Four CIA Spies at the Dawn of the Cold War--a Tragedy in Three Acts

It is a time of great Endarkenment; The year, 1066.The man rode up to Harald's camp. He had no sword. His horse, a dappled palfrey, gray and white, was meant for pretty riding in the countryside, not war. It had no barding, and this man wore naught for armor, nor had he the colors of the kingdom which he served. While dressed in noble clothes, there was neh sign nor symbol on the man to mark his origin.The horse was skittish in among the fighting men. And wary were these men upon arrival of the stranger. This, this lonely man, he spoke their languages but naught, and did not stop to make acquaintance with a single one of them. He walked his horse without a hint of nervousness or fret until he was in earshot of the principal men's tent."King Harald, hail. Earl Tostig, hail," called out the rider. He did not dismount. These Earl and King, now summoned by a man whom no one knew, came out to speak with him."What is't and whence ye from?" Asked Harald."I've now come to parley for our land," the rider then replied."Th'will be no parley," answered Tostig. "All this land be ours anon. You've lost already harrance .""Aye," replied the rider. "Of this, the thing is plain. This yours. You've won it. Killed or turned so many thegns and Earls. But still, the Crown cannot abide by blood what might by good agreement make to pass. Pray, hear our offer, Earl.""What offer have ye make?" Earl Tostig asked."The Saxon Crown doth hereby offer up the land of Umbria to Tostig, and to make him up an Earl again for perpetuity, and for his sons and sons of sons, to have this land for ever and for ever."Tostig and Hardrada took a moment to consider this."And what of Norway? What dost Harold offer up his better from the North for all this trouble?" Asked old Hardrade then.The rider made a mirthless smile. "Six feet of ground, or howsoever much he needs, for he is taller than most other men." At that, the rider turned his horse around. And then behind him, "What's thou sayest, Tostig? Shall your men come home?"The only answers that the rider got were cursing in three languages, and backs of both the men as they returned back to their tents. And so, the rider went."Who was that brazen knave?" Asked Hardrade of his second."'Twas my brother Harold," Tostig then replied.

Lions Red and Gold

Harry Crews

Mary Kay Blakely

A collection of the very best in contemporary first-person journalism compiled by the award-winning former Washington Post reporter and author. Great journalists, at one time or another, have all been characters in their own stories: people with personalities that shaped what they saw and reported, and were touched and changed by the experiences about which they wrote; and innovators who borrowed the storytelling techniques of fiction. The Beholder’s Eye showcases the very best of an increasing trend toward personal narrative: Mike Sager stalking Marlon Brando in the Tahitian jungle; J. R. Moehringer’s quest to discover the true identity of an old boxer; Bill Plaschke’s story about a woman with cerebral palsy who runs an obscure Los Angeles Dodgers Web site; Scott Anderson’s story of his lifetime of covering war after war; Harrington’s own tale of his interracial family’s struggle to persevere; and many others. Written by reporters who were willing to reveal themselves in order to bring readers insights that were deeper than supposedly objective third-person stories, their articles are an invaluable resource for aspiring journalists, students, and teachers of the craft of writing, and any reader with an appreciation for masterful storytelling. “Aims to dispel the old journalistic cliché: that a journalist writing about him/herself is always ‘self-indulgent and, quite likely, narcissistic.’ He couldn’t have put together a better lineup of writers to make the point that it doesn’t have to be . . . Not just some of the country’s finest personal journalism, but some of its finest journalism, period.”—Kirkus Reviews

A Collection of America's Finest Personal Journalism

The Beholder's Eye

„Fascinantă – cea mai bună lucrare de istorie militară din ultimii ani și o analiză edificatoare a disputelor care continuă să mocnească amenințător și azi. O carte extraordinară sub toate aspectele." – The New York Times O relatare palpitantă și revelatoare a uneia dintre cele mai zbuciumate și legendare perioade din istoria secolului al XX-lea – Revolta Arabă și „marele joc" secret de a controla Orientul Mijlociu. CARTE INCLUSĂ PE LISTA CELOR MAI BUNE TITLURI ALE ANULUI DE New York Times • Christian Science Monitor • NPR • Seattle Times • St. Louis Dispatch • Chicago Tribune • American Library Association Bazată pe cercetări extinse și intense, muncă asiduă în arhive, Lawrence în Arabia aduce o nouă perspectivă asupra modului în care s-a configurat lumea Orientului Mijlociu. Cu o acțiune de proporții epice, portretizări expresive, accente critice în condamnarea distrugerilor provocate de comploturile coloniale europene, volumul surprinde strălucit felul în care nesăbuința trecutului declanșează suferința prezentului. Printre numeroasele istorii individuale din Primul Război Mondial care vor fi povestite și repovestite în cadrul centenarelor commemorate între 2014 și 2018, cea a lui T.E. Lawrence iese în evidență... Cartea lui Anderson nu putea fi mai oportună. Acum, când atenția întregii lumi se concentrează asupra Siriei și Egiptului, este uluitor să privești în urmă cu o sută de ani și să vezi un tablou asemănător.... Apelând la o distribuție bogată, Anderson reușește să exploreze haosul din Orientul Mijlociu de la începutul secolului al XX-lea dintr-o varietate de perspective distincte și revelatoare totodată. O mărturie captivantă, de o mare complexitate și profunzime. – The New York Times Book Review Vastă, hipnotică și – să îndrăznim să o spunem – cinematografică în detaliu, Lawrence în Arabia ilustrează modul în care biografia și istoria se potențează reciproc. – The Wall Street Journal Absorbiți de măcelul ce avea loc în tranșeele Europei în Primul Război Mondial, combatanții occidentali acordau prea puțină importanță teatrului de luptă din Orientul Mijlociu. Ca urmare, conflictul de aici a fost influențat surprinzător de mult de o mână de aventurieri și ofițeri de rang mărunt aflați departe de marile coridoare ale puterii: Curt Prüfer – universitar tern, atașat pe lângă Ambasada Germană din Cairo, Aaron Aaronsohn – renumit agronom provenit din România și sionist înflăcărat. William Yale – descendent scăpătat al unei familii aristocratice americane. În centrul acestui cerc se afla Lawrence – la începutul lui 1914, doar un arheolog care lucre la săpături prin deșerturile Siriei. În 1917 ajunsese deja cea mai romantică figură din Primul Război Mondial, luptându-se atât cu inamicii Marii Britanii, cât și cu propriul guvern pentru a-și transforma în realitate viziunea sa asupra destinului poporului arab. Drumurile încrucișate ale acestor patru personaje – intrigile pe care le-au pus la cale, bătăliile pe care le-au purtat, trădările pe care le-au suferit sau le-au uneltit ei înșiși – oglindesc grandoarea, complexitatea și tragedia războiului din deșert.

Scott Anderson

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