Jim Corrigan – författare

In June 1864, Grant attempted to seize the Confederate rail hub of Petersburg, Virginia. General P.G.T. Beauregard responded by rushing troops to Petersburg to protect the vital supply lines. A stalemate developed between the entrenched armies. Union commander General Ambrose Burnside advanced the idea of allowing the 48th Pennsylvania--a regiment from the mining town of Pottsville--to tunnel under Confederate entrenchments and place explosives there. The plan should have guaranteed Union victory, yet the battle turned into an astonishing Confederate triumph.This thorough history of the Battle of the Crater shows how bickering among Federal commanders allowed shattered Confederate troops the opportunity to regroup, costing the Union an opportunity to capture Petersburg and bring an early end to the war. It also reveals how the cooperation of Confederate commanders helped to avert certain defeat. Appendices include a list of forces in the Battle of the Crater, a table of casualties, and a list of soldiers decorated for gallantry during the conflict.

In June 1864, Grant attempted to seize the Confederate rail hub of Petersburg, Virginia. General P.G.T. Beauregard responded by rushing troops to Petersburg to protect the vital supply lines. A stalemate developed between the entrenched armies. Union commander General Ambrose Burnside advanced the idea of allowing the 48th Pennsylvania-a regiment from the mining town of Pottsville-to tunnel under Confederate entrenchments and place explosives there. The plan should have guaranteed Union victory, yet the battle turned into an astonishing Confederate triumph. This thorough history of the Battle of the Crater shows how bickering among Federal commanders allowed shattered Confederate troops the opportunity to regroup, costing the Union an opportunity to capture Petersburg and bring an early end to the war. It also reveals how the cooperation of Confederate commanders helped to avert certain defeat. Appendices include a list of forces in the Battle of the Crater, a table of casualties, and a list of soldiers decorated for gallantry during the conflict.

The air campaign that opened the Gulf War in January 1991 was one of the most stunning in history. For five weeks, American and other Coalition aircraft pounded enemy targets with 88,000 tons of bombs. Sorties—more than 100,000 of them—were launched from bases in Saudi Arabia, from aircraft carriers in the Persian Gulf and Red Sea, and even from bases in the United States. The skies over Iraq and Kuwait were filled with a dizzying array of new and improved weapons—Tomahawk and Hellfire missiles, stealth aircraft, and laser-guided smart bombs—and the results were impressive. The Coalition swiftly established air superiority and laid the foundation for the successful five-day ground campaign that followed. The results were also highly visible as the American people watched the bombings unfold in grainy green video-game-like footage broadcast on CNN and the nightly news. The overwhelming success of the Desert Storm air campaign has made it influential ever since, from the “shock and awe” bombing during the Iraq War in 2003 to more recent drone operations, but the apparent ease with which the campaign was won has masked the difficulty—and the true achievement—of executing such a vast and complex operation. Using government reports, scholarly studies, and original interviews, Jim Corrigan reconstructs events through the eyes of not only the strategists who planned it, but also the pilots who flew the missions.

After Christopher Columbus and other European adventurers landed in the Americas during the 15th and 16th centuries, the lands they explored were often called the "New World." However, North, South, and Central America were new only to the people of Europe. Native Americans had lived on the land for millions of years.In some cases, the natives and Europeans were able to live in peace and even learned from each other. Most of the time, however, the European invaders brought with them disease and violence, which spelled the end of the Native Americans'' way of life.

Ethiopia, unlike most African countries, remained mostly free from European colonial influence. This landlocked country in East Africa had been the site of a powerful ancient kingdom, which was overthrown by a military coup in 1974. A socialist government was established, under which millions of Ethiopians starved during the famines of the 1970s and 1980s. Rebel groups initiated a civil war and overthrew the government in 1991. Although Ethiopia adopted a new constitution in 1994 and held democratic elections the next year, the country is not truly a democracy. Instead, Ethiopia''s government has been recognized as an authoritarian regime that uses force to stifle dissent. Ethiopia''s economy grew rapidly in the late 2000s, but the country''s people are among the poorest in Africa. In addition, a terrible drought in 2011 has caused a food crisis that threatens the lives of many people.

Many anthropologists believe the human species originated in Kenya''s Rift Valley, where hominid skulls more than 2 million years old have been discovered. That fact alone would make Kenya an important place. But this East African nation has many other extraordinary characteristics: diverse terrain, a remarkable variety of plant and animal life, and a fascinating blend of cultures and languages among its people. The political system in Kenya is far from ideal. Historically, government corruption has been a major problem. However, the country adopted a new constitution in 2010 and is considered one of the most stable in Africa. Kenya has a free press and multiple political parties that compete in national elections. The country has also been fortunate to escape the chaos that has affected many neighboring countries in East Africa.