FREE/BARGAIN - Non-Fiction - 2016

[sufue]

I am an occasional fan of military history non-fiction. I read this book a while back in DTB and loved it. Then I got my husband to read it, and he loved it too, and he's much more sparing in his praise than I! It describes a siege/battle that I knew little (really nothing more than the name) about, but one that seriously impacted the course of history. Even though it was originally published back in the 1960's, it didn't feel dated. I thought it was well written and gave a good sense of the time and place as well as the fighting. Sadly I notice it's now back up to normal price, but if it goes back on sale, I recommend it. JMTCW...

Originally Posted by itisbomb

The Great Siege: Malta 1565
by Ernle Bradford

is $1.99 at Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Great-Siege-Ma...at+siege+malta

Below is the blurb:
Suleiman the Magnificent, the most powerful ruler in the world, was determined to conquer Europe. Only one thing stood in his way: a dot of an island in the Mediterranean called Malta, occupied by the Knights of St. John, the cream of the warriors of the Holy Roman Empire. A clash of civilizations the likes of which had not been seen since Persia invaded Greece was shaping up. Determined to capture Malta and use its port to launch operations against Europe, Suleiman sent an armada and an overwhelming army. A few thousand defenders in Fort St. Elmo fought to the last man, enduring cruel hardships. When they captured the fort, the Turks took no prisoners and mutilated the defenders’ bodies. Grand Master La Vallette of the Knights reciprocated by decapitating his Turkish prisoners and using their heads to cannonade the enemy. Then the battle for Malta began in earnest: no quarter asked, none given.

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by sufue

I am an occasional fan of military history non-fiction. I read this book a while back in DTB and loved it. Then I got my husband to read it, and he loved it too, and he's much more sparing in his praise than I! It describes a siege/battle that I knew little (really nothing more than the name) about, but one that seriously impacted the course of history. Even though it was originally published back in the 1960's, it didn't feel dated. I thought it was well written and gave a good sense of the time and place as well as the fighting. Sadly I notice it's now back up to normal price, but if it goes back on sale, I recommend it. JMTCW...

Thanks for your recommendation.

I recommend that people learn about this event, however they can.

I listened to an audiobook a good while back about the seige of Malta. Can't remember the title or author (that happens to me a lot with audiobooks, much more than print books). It was a significant event in world history. But, another reason that I would recommend it is that it will open your eyes to the depth of barbarity that mankind can inflict upon his fellowman. Both sides were guilty of it.

[itisbomb]

Stalin's Daughter: The Extraordinary and Tumultuous Life of Svetlana Alliluyeva
by Rosemary Sullivan

is $1.99 at Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/Stalins-Daught...n%27s+daughter

Below is the blurb:
A New York Times Notable Book

A Washington Post Notable Book

The award-winning author of Villa Air-Bel returns with a painstakingly researched, revelatory biography of Svetlana Stalin, a woman fated to live her life in the shadow of one of history’s most monstrous dictators—her father, Josef Stalin.

Born in the early years of the Soviet Union, Svetlana Stalin spent her youth inside the walls of the Kremlin. Communist Party privilege protected her from the mass starvation and purges that haunted Russia, but she did not escape tragedy—the loss of everyone she loved, including her mother, two brothers, aunts and uncles, and a lover twice her age, deliberately exiled to Siberia by her father.

As she gradually learned about the extent of her father’s brutality after his death, Svetlana could no longer keep quiet and in 1967 shocked the world by defecting to the United States—leaving her two children behind. But although she was never a part of her father’s regime, she could not escape his legacy. Her life in America was fractured; she moved frequently, married disastrously, shunned other Russian exiles, and ultimately died in poverty in Wisconsin.

With access to KGB, CIA, and Soviet government archives, as well as the close cooperation of Svetlana’s daughter, Rosemary Sullivan pieces together Svetlana’s incredible life in a masterful account of unprecedented intimacy. Epic in scope, it’s a revolutionary biography of a woman doomed to be a political prisoner of her father’s name. Sullivan explores a complicated character in her broader context without ever losing sight of her powerfully human story, in the process opening a closed, brutal world that continues to fascinate us.

Illustrated with photographs.

[GtrsRGr8]

Title: A Guide to Greek Traditions and Customs in America.
Format: Pdf.
Author(s): Marilyn Rouvelas.
Publisher: Nea Attiki Press.
Pages: xiv + 411.
Ebook Rating/Number of Reviews (Amazon): No ratings for the second (2002) edition at Amazon or GoodReads; 4.9 (28) at Amazon and 4.33 (18) at GoodReads for the 1993 edition.
Price: $0.00.
Lowest Price at (or through Amazon) if available there: $26.46 hardback (Used, "Good").
Book Description (Google Books):
"A clear and comprehensive guide to the religious and secular life of the Greek-American community," including naming a baby, planning a baptism, observing name days, baking communion bread, buying popular Greek music, what to say (in Greek) on special occasions, and much more.
Comments: This is the second edition (2002). I believe this to be a free, legal download. This is based upon the fact that at the location where the link was posted (the webpage of The Center for Hellenic Studies at Harvard University), there is this statement, "Published here by permission of the author."
URL: http://chs.harvard.edu/CHS/article/displayPdf/1273 (direct link).

[Little.Egret]

Checklist of the Lepidoptera of British Columbia, Canada: Entomological Society of British Columbia Occasional Paper No. 3 (506 pp) by Gregory R. Pohl and Robert A. Cannings

Moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera) are one of the most diverse and economically important groups of insects, with approximately 157,000 species worldwide. This book establishes a definitive list of the {2832} species that occur in BC, and clarifies erroneous records in past works. It provides a knowledge baseline that will be useful to resource and conservation managers, biodiversity researchers, taxonomists, amateur collectors, and naturalists.


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B018EYFIIC/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B018EYFIIC/

http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B018EYFIIC/

[Little.Egret]

Memoirs of Louis XIV and His Court and of the Regency - Complete by duc de Louis de Rouvroy Saint-Simon

All 15 volumes are available from Gutenberg, but Wallachia have combined them.


http://www.amazon.com/dp/B01A9O5NU8/

http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01A9O5NU8/
http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B01A9O5NU8/

[GtrsRGr8]

Someone with an interest in electronics might find this interesting.

It seems that the fellow who runs the following website enjoys collecting, and then digitizing, vintage printed things about electronics. Also, he accepts items that have been digitized by other people. On his site are hundreds, maybe thousands, of old electronics books, articles, catalogs, brochures, schematics, and the like.

http://www.pmillett.com/tubebooks/

Not interested in the old stuff, but enjoy building audio projects? He also has, on his homepage, links to instructions for about 50 of those.

http://www.pmillett.com/

[GtrsRGr8]

I have a self-imposed rule against posting ebooks for which I can find less than a total of 20 ratings. However, I'm making an exception for this book because it is about a timely and compelling subject. Too, the publisher, the Pulitzer Center of Crisis Reporting's other books at Amazon generally have high ratings. And, really it's a good thing to make an exception, because, after all, "the exception proves the rule."

FYI--if you like this kind of book, you may be interested in knowing that there are currently 4 other books published by the Pulitzer Center that are free at the present time. You can find all of them, interspersed with the others published by the Pulitzer Center, at this Amazon webpage.

Flight From Syria: Refugee Stories. By Hugh Eakin; Lauren Gelford Feldinger, & 8 more. Rated 5 stars, but from only 3 reviews at Amazon; rated 4.29, but from only 7 ratings at GoodReads. Print list price N/A; digital list price $1.99; Kindle price now $0.00. Pulitzer Center, publisher. 186 pages. http://www.amazon.com/Flight-Syria-R...dp/B01845NT8C/.

I just learned today of a new (new to me, anyway) online publishing platform (think: html on steroids) called Atavist. I really do like it! The books turn out beautifully. I think that we'll be hearing and seeing a lot more of it in future. This book happens to be available on that platform here. Other Pulitzer Center publications may be available on it, too, I just don't know.

Book Description
Flight from Syria: Refugee Stories features the writing and photography of nine Pulitzer Center grantees– journalists who reported on Syrian refugees between 2012 and 2015. Their travels took them from Syria to Sweden, and from crowded camps to cramped apartments in city suburbs. Each of the journalists– Hugh Eakin, Lauren Gelfond Feldinger, Stephen Franklin, Joanna Kakissis, Alia Malek, Holly Pickett, Alisa Roth, Alice Su, and Selin Thomas– lends a unique perspective. Originally published in Al Jazeera, BBC News, Guernica, In These Times, Marketplace, NPR, The Atlantic and The New York Review of Books, these stories tell of an abandoned homeland, an indifferent world, and an uncertain future. They trace the history of one of the biggest displacements of modern times– providing a testament to the suffering and courage of those who fled.

[GtrsRGr8]

When Chronicle Books has a sale on ebooks, it seems like it's always a great one.

They've just started a new sale, and it's a great one. Prices begin at 99 cents and are at least 75% off.

There are 22 titles on sale. There's a mixture of non-fiction and fiction--non-fiction titles predominate. But they all have something to do with love, marriage, dating, and such like. Hmmm . . . I wonder why? Could it be that Saint Valentine's Day is right around the corner?

Here's the link to the Chronicle Books webpage where you can view the selection. If you click on "Buy," you will get a drop-down menu of about 5 or 6 retailers from which you can purchase the title at the sale price.

[murg]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

Could it be that Saint Valentine's Day is right around the corner?

Are you living in a time warp?

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by murg

Are you living in a time warp?

I'm guessing that Valentine's Day has passed? Unfortunately, being presently without a love interest, I had little reason to keep track of it.

[Dngrsone]

Originally Posted by GtrsRGr8

I'm guessing that Valentine's Day has passed? Unfortunately, being presently without a love interest, I had little reason to keep track of it.

You are a couple weeks late. Only reason I know is because Dngrswife set up a minivacation for the two of us under the auspices of said pseudoholiday.

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by Dngrsone

You are a couple weeks late. Only reason I know is because Dngrswife set up a minivacation for the two of us under the auspices of said pseudoholiday.

Makes me wonder now why Chronicle is having a sale now on the love, marriage, dating, etc. ebooks. Perhaps they wanted to be 50 weeks early for Valentine's Day next year, to get the jump on the competition? ha

[GA Russell]

Gtrs, in retail it's called "taking markdowns after the holiday!"

[GtrsRGr8]

Originally Posted by GA Russell

Gtrs, in retail it's called "taking markdowns after the holiday!"

But they're ebooks. Retailers take markdowns on physical inventory that they need to get out of their way for some reason (don't have the storage space, etc.). That does not mean that retailers of ebooks don't have sales, it's just that they never do it for the purpose of getting inventory out of the way.

Reminds me of an advertisement that I saw recently from some bookseller (I don't remember now which) that was having a clearance sale on ebooks.