Six days of war

Six days of war: [June 1967 and the making of the modern Middle East] / Michael B. Oren ; read by Robert Whitfield. -- [Ashland] : Blackstone Audio ; [Boulder] : NetLibrary, 2006.
1 sound file (18 hr., 1 min.) : digital, wma file (259029 KB)
First published by Oxford University, 2002, Blackstone Audio edition, 2003, NetLibrary edition, 2006
Mode of access: World Wide Web
ISBN: 9780786152384 (electronic audio bk.)

1. Israel-Arab War, 1967.

956.046

Although Oren’s masterful narrative concentrates on the 1967 war between Israel, Egypt, Lebanon, and Syria he is careful to put the war in the context of conflicts that erupted in 1948, 1956 and continued after the June 1967, conflicts that continue to this day. In addition to the actual fighting he gives a comprehensive diplomatic history on the events that led up to the war. He includes all of the participants: Arab, Israeli, Soviet, American, the United Nations and their leaders, the internal political conflicts within each, how the involvement of the American military in Vietnam and the Egyptian military in Yemen constrained their governments. Of nerve-wracking concern for Israeli Prime Minister Levi Eshkol and Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser was how the outbreak of hostilities would be perceived by the United Nations, the Cold War superpowers, and their allies. There were also tensions between each head of state and his generals who, on both sides, were pleading to be allowed to launch the first preemptive strike against the enemy. Oren, an Israeli army veteran, did extensive research for his book using now declassified documents from all the major participants with the exception of Syria and personal reminisces of participants on both sides to produce his comprehensive and fascinating history.

Rites of peace

Rites of peace : the fall of Napoleon & the Congress of Vienna / Adam Zamoyski .— New York : HarperCollins Publishers, 2007.
xviii, 634 p., [16] p. of plates : ill. (some col.), maps ; 25 cm.
ISBN: 9780060775186 (hbk.)
Includes bibliographical references (p. 599-617) and index.

1. Congress of Vienna (1814-1815) 2. Napoleonic Wars, 1800-1815 -- Peace. 3. Napoleonic Wars, 1800-1815 -- Diplomatic history. 4. Europe -- History -- 1789-1815.

940.2714

For two decades the scourge of the ancien régime Napoleon Bonaparte had been the fear and master of the crowned heads of Europe, but his attempt to add Russia to his list of conquests proved the beginning of his downfall. In December 1812 he was forced back to Paris in advance of his retreating army by the Russians, who as they advanced across Europe, turned his former allies Prussia, Austria, and the other German states into theirs. In April 1813 the allied armies joined by England and several exiled kings arrived in Paris and forced Napoleon’s surrender. But months before the question of how to undo what revolutionary and then imperial France had done to Europe occupied the minds of the kings and their diplomats as much as defeating the French army.

Following victory parades and triumphal visits they convened in the Austrian capital in 1814 to work out the details of the peace. They were filled with a hope for a lasting peace and the new ideal of international law. They even invited the defeated power, France, represented by newly restored monarchy to attend the Congress. Ironically the French ambassador, Charles-Maurice de Talleyrand-Périgord, had previously done the same job for the last French ruler, Napoleon. The Congress with its multiple attending sovereigns immediately became the new center of European diplomacy and social life, compete with accompanying diversions. As the author puts it,

“Perhaps the most striking aspect of the great charade known as the Congress of Vienna is the continuous interplay between the serious and the frivolous, an almost parasitical co-existence of activities which might appear to be mutually exclusive. The rattling of sabres and talk of blood mingled with the strains of the waltz and court gossip, and the most ridiculously trivial pursuits went hand in hand with impressive work.” Page 385

Zamoyski has plowed though voluminous official archives and memoirs of the participants to give a detailed, highly readable, account of the preparation for and the proceedings of the Congress, both official and social, followed by his own assessment of what it accomplished: consultation and cooperation between multiple states, what we would now call a Summit Meeting, as a means of resolving an international crisis, and what it failed to accomplish: a permanent peace and stable boundaries.

Batman : Hush / Jeph Loeb, Jim Lee, Scott Williams

Batman : Hush / Jeph Loeb, writer; Jim Lee, penciller; Scott Williams, inker; Richard Starkings, letterer; Alex Sinclair, colorist.—New York : DC Comics, 2003.
2 v. (320 p.): col. ill. ; 26 cm.
ISBN: 9781401200602 (v.1) 9781401200923 (v.2)
Originally published in single magazine form as Batman 608-619 in 2002-2003
Volume 1 128 p.+ Volume 2 [192] p.

1. Batman (Fictitious character) – Comic books, strips, etc. 2. Catwoman (Fictitious character) – Comic books, strips, etc.

741.5973

A conspiracy of villains, occasional allies, old acquaintances, and romantic interests seem bent on finally doing in the Batman. And to further confuse things, they appear to keep switching sides, so it becomes difficult to tell friend from foe.

Picture and plot are carefully, artistically composed to display the vitality of about two dozen of DC’s characters as they parade through the story. The series is also drawn, inked and colored in exquisite detail.

Usagi Yojimbo : Book 3: The Wanderer's Road

Usagi Yojimbo : Book 3: The Wanderer's Road / Stan Sakai.—Seattle : Fantagraphics Books, 1989.
146 p. : ill. ; 23 cm.
ISBN: 9781560970095
"The stories in this volume originally appeared in Usagi Yojimbo # 7-12 and Turtle Soup"

1. Rabbits – Comic books, strips, etc. 2. Samurai – Comic books, strips, etc.

741.5973

In his wandering, ronin Miyamoto Usagi rescues and then acquires a pet lizard. His next encounters with the mother of an evil son, another ronin that he has blinded, and a bizarre character who’s convinced that he’s been sent by the gods to kill evildoers, are more harrowing. His next adventures, involving the safe delivery and then the rescuing of two precious items have more satisfactory endings for the samurai. Sakai’s art and storytelling are of consistently high quality in this collection.