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From the acclaimed master of action and suspense. The all-time classic. Paul Sherman of Interpol's Narcotics Bureau flies to Amsterdam on the trail of a dope king. With enormous skill the atmosphere is built up: Amsterdam with its canals and high houses; stolid police; psychopaths; women in distress; and above all, murder.
The atomic submarine Dolphin has impossible orders: to sail beneath the ice floes of the Arctic Ocean to locate and rescue the men of weather station Zebra, gutted by fire and drifting with the ice pack somewhere north of the Arctic Circle. But the orders do not say what the Dolphin will find if she succeeds - that the fire at Ice Station Zebra was sabotage and that one of the survivors is a killer....
From the acclaimed master of action and suspense. The all-time classic. Millions of pounds in gold bullion are being pirated in the Irish Sea. Investigations by the British Secret Service, and a sixth sense, have bought Philip Calvert to a bleak, lonely bay in the Western Highlands. But the sleepy atmosphere of Torbay is deceptive. The place is the focal point of many mysterious disappearances. Even the unimaginative Highland Police Sergeant seems to be acting a part. But why?
The classic World War II thriller from the acclaimed master of action and suspense. One winter night, seven men and a woman are parachuted onto a mountainside in wartime Germany. Their objective: an apparently inaccessible castle, headquarters of the Gestapo. Their mission: to rescue a crashed American general before the Nazi interrogators can force him to reveal secret D-day plans.
From the acclaimed master of action and suspense. The all-time classic. An airliner crashes in the polar ice cap. In temperatures 40 degrees below zero, six men and four women survive. But for the members of a remote scientific research station who rescue them, there are some sinister questions to answer – the first one being, who shot the pilot before the crash?
Twelve hundred British soldiers isolated on the small island of Kheros off the Turkish coast, waiting to die. Twelve hundred lives in jeopardy, lives that could be saved if only the guns could be silenced. The guns of Navarone, vigilant, savage and catastrophically accurate. Navarone itself, grim bastion of narrow straits manned by a mixed garrison of Germans and Italians, an apparently impregnable iron fortress.
From the acclaimed master of action and suspense. The all-time classic. Paul Sherman of Interpol's Narcotics Bureau flies to Amsterdam on the trail of a dope king. With enormous skill the atmosphere is built up: Amsterdam with its canals and high houses; stolid police; psychopaths; women in distress; and above all, murder.
The atomic submarine Dolphin has impossible orders: to sail beneath the ice floes of the Arctic Ocean to locate and rescue the men of weather station Zebra, gutted by fire and drifting with the ice pack somewhere north of the Arctic Circle. But the orders do not say what the Dolphin will find if she succeeds - that the fire at Ice Station Zebra was sabotage and that one of the survivors is a killer....
From the acclaimed master of action and suspense. The all-time classic. Millions of pounds in gold bullion are being pirated in the Irish Sea. Investigations by the British Secret Service, and a sixth sense, have bought Philip Calvert to a bleak, lonely bay in the Western Highlands. But the sleepy atmosphere of Torbay is deceptive. The place is the focal point of many mysterious disappearances. Even the unimaginative Highland Police Sergeant seems to be acting a part. But why?
The classic World War II thriller from the acclaimed master of action and suspense. One winter night, seven men and a woman are parachuted onto a mountainside in wartime Germany. Their objective: an apparently inaccessible castle, headquarters of the Gestapo. Their mission: to rescue a crashed American general before the Nazi interrogators can force him to reveal secret D-day plans.
From the acclaimed master of action and suspense. The all-time classic. An airliner crashes in the polar ice cap. In temperatures 40 degrees below zero, six men and four women survive. But for the members of a remote scientific research station who rescue them, there are some sinister questions to answer – the first one being, who shot the pilot before the crash?
Twelve hundred British soldiers isolated on the small island of Kheros off the Turkish coast, waiting to die. Twelve hundred lives in jeopardy, lives that could be saved if only the guns could be silenced. The guns of Navarone, vigilant, savage and catastrophically accurate. Navarone itself, grim bastion of narrow straits manned by a mixed garrison of Germans and Italians, an apparently impregnable iron fortress.
A sunken DC-3 lying on the Caribbean floor. Its cargo: $10.25 million in gold ingots, emeralds and uncut diamonds guarded by the remains of two men, one woman and a very small boy. The fortune was there for the taking, and ready to grab it were a blue-blooded oilman with his own offshore rig, a gangster so cold and independent that even the Mafia couldn't do business with him and a psychopathic hired assassin.
Almost before the last echoes of the famous guns have died away, the three Navarone heroes are parachuted into war-torn Yugoslavia to rescue a division of partisans and fulfil a secret mission, so deadly that it must be hidden even from their own allies.
A tense and nerve-shattering classic from the highly acclaimed master of action and suspense. A rolling for Knox. is how the journalists describe the Presidential motorcade as it enters San Francisco across the Golden Gate. Even the ever-watchful FBI believe it is impregnable - as it has to be with the President and two Arab potentates aboard. But halfway across the bridge the unthinkable happens. Before the eyes of the world a master criminal pulls off the most spectacular kidnapping in modern times....
The novel that launched the astonishing career of one of the 20th century's greatest writers of action and suspense - an acclaimed classic of heroism and the sea in World War II. The story of men who rose to heroism, and then to something greater, HMS Ulysses takes its place alongside The Caine Mutiny and The Cruel Sea as one of the classic novels of the navy at war. It is the compelling story of Convoy FR77 to Murmansk - a voyage that pushes men to the limits of human endurance.
Based on four years of intensive primary document research, Lawrence in Arabiadefinitively overturns received wisdom on how the modern Middle East was formed. Sweeping in its action, keen in its portraiture, acid in its condemnation of the destruction wrought by European colonial plots, this is a book that brilliantly captures the way in which the folly of the past creates the anguish of the present.
He remained firmly in the center of the action and at the center of controversy. That's what made General George S. Patton America's most colorful military leader and an endlessly fascinating subject. He's as dynamic in digital audio as he was in life in Alden Hatch's lively, accessible biography, which chronicles Patton from his early days growing up in Southern California to his triumphant march into Germany in World War II.
Although less well known than his famous flight over the North Pole, Admiral Richard E. Byrd's adventures in Antarctica are just as remarkable. Wide-eyed youngsters will feel the excitement and danger as they learn about the isolated and tight little manned station where Byrd lived, separated from his crew; the temperatures that plunged to 60 degrees below zero; and Byrd's brush with death when a small stove he needed to keep warm - and stay alive - filled the air with carbon monoxide.
Before Teddy Roosevelt earned his reputation as a strong, masculine hunter, explorer, and Rough Rider, he actually endured a sickly childhood. That's just one aspect of his life covered in this biography, which follows his transformation into a disciplined athlete and one of the world's best-known public servants and politicians.
June 6, 1944: The greatest amphibious invasion the world had ever seen was launched, involving thousands of ships, incredible planning and preparation, and a million courageous soldiers, sailors, and airmen willing to sacrifice their lives for victory. Author and journalist Bruce Bliven was there that day, on the beaches of France, and he recounts it all, from the risky plans developed by the American and British military leaders through the daring landing itself.
Here is Henrietta Marshall's entertaining biography of this larger than life personality. She takes us through Napoleon's colorful life, from military campaigns to his solitary end on Elba.
Focusing particularly on George Washington's youth, Sterling North fully captures the spirit of the man as he examines his childhood in colonial Virginia, his early experiences as a member of the militia, and his many other adventures leading up to the Revolutionary War. The fully rounded person who emerges from this captivating portrait is uncomfortable with words, shy with women, totally at home in the outdoors, and deeply in love with the country he helped found.
Some say he was the greatest warrior in history, building an empire that extended from Europe to Africa and on to India and Central Asia. In a stirring narrative, famed historian John Gunther tells the story of Alexander the Great who, at only age 21, became King of Macedonia and set off on a 12-year journey to conquer the known world and extend the boundaries of Greek civilization.
Best-selling author and screenwriter Alistair MacLean follows Lawrence as he breaks with tradition to live with Arabs and, using modern-day guerrilla tactics, helps them defeat the Turks and gain an independent state. In addition to the enthralling details of the campaign, MacLean provides valuable insight into the origins of the Middle East we know today.
Finished reading this with my kids, but I probably enjoyed it the most. It was a fun introduction to Lawrence of Arabia written by Alstair MacLean in 1962. It focuses on the role that T.E. Lawrence played in the Arab Revolt during WWI. There is just enough wind-up with his early life, character, etc., and the history/geography of Arabia to insure the thrust of MacLean's small biography doesn't lose nonserious readers in a desert of Arab ignorance. But the book's real brilliance is in MacLean's depiction of the Capture of Aqaba, Battle of Tafileh and the Fall of Damascus. At the end, MacLean also ties the book off with a summary of the post-War years and some of the political results of T.E. Lawrence's work with Winston Churchill and the Colonial Office.
Again, as a biography this is probably not where I would start for T.E. Lawrence. This is more literary hagiography than biography. Alistar MacLean is better known for his war novels like 'The Guns of Navarone' and 'Where Eagles Dare'. MacLean's book came out the same year as Lawrence of Arabia the academy award winning movie (which suggests this was one of those books intended to surf the wave of interest generated by a popular film). But still, if you are going to read one biography to your kids designed around a legend, saint, or mythmaker ... you could certainly feed the kids worse.
15 of 17 people found this review helpful
Alistair MacLean was a best selling writer of wartime advernture thrillers and that's basically what he's done here. It's a short action adventure filled with plenty of accurate historical details, with all the key events well dramatised. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
I wanted to start with something quick and simple to get an outline of Lawrence and this turned out to be exactly that.
I'm currently listening to Lawrence's own book, Seven Pillars of Wisdom, and thankful for having started with this.
Even though Seven Pillars of Wisdom has some wonderful aspects, it lacks a narrative thread that's easy to follow, or much of the kind of character examination books normally rely on to keep readers interested . As such it's hard to keep up with what's happening without leaning on external references such as those provided here. I'm glad to have picked up a good deal of the story from this book before listening to Lawrence's own words.
Some of the other reviews of this title make a point of stressing that the book was written for kids. That may be so, but don't let that put you off. It's short, uncomplicated, omitting the politics and some gory details, but it's not dumbed down, or childish.
Alistair MacLean's books used to be very popular with young teenage boys when I was growing up, in part because he has a simple, direct writing style. This book is not so different in style from his adult books.
The reading is solid and professional.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
The book is an entertaining, albeit sanitized history of the desert war. Written for a younger crowd, it does a great job at conveying the action and excitement of the time. An older, more worldly crowd, might note it avoids the very details that made the story so human; Lawrence's personal doubt's, depressions, and peculiarities are glossed over. So is Lawrence's infamous capture by the Turks, also whitewashed. I understand why, given this book is obviously for a younger crowd, although I wish it had advertised itself as such.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
A fascinating story without unnecessary historical detail. Excellently written and narrated. A must read for lovers of history.
Factually incorrect: e.g. Churchill asking The Indian Government for permission to give Mesopotamia to the Arabs in 1918 and other factual inaccuracies. It all ends happy and smiling however the general concencus is that Lawrence was broken by his failure to deliver on a promise. His cottage, story, and books leave a broken but phenomenal legacy. You're better off watching the PBS documentary on YouTube for more detail and entertainment.
1 of 1 people found this review helpful
Adds to David Lean's film on this extordinary man.
0 of 3 people found this review helpful