[CLOSED] GIVEAWAY: Explore History Through the Ages with These Books!

The United States is a nation of immigrants, and the US Army during World War I certainly reflected this. Irish, Italian, Polish, Ukrainian, Cuban, German, Armenian, Greek, Russian, and Turkish immigrants, among others, all had come to America in search of work, citizenship, or both. As a result, they too became part of the US military during the war. For some, military service was a ready-made path to citizenship while others were much less enthusiastic about taking up arms. Nonetheless, in May 1917 the draft became the law of the land and all men between the ages of 18 to 45 were subject to it. The story of the "aliens" in the AEF is compelling and points to a further definition of what citizenship implies. To date, the story of the 800,000 foreign born men and women who served in the US Armed Forces has remained largely untold. The detailed research in this book will serve historians for years to come as the definitive reference on this topic. 

This concise history is the first book in a new series on the Soviet space program, and features many rare photographs, diagrams, and charts. When Soviet rocket experts examined the first Nazi V-2s in early 1945, they immediately realized that their own technology was years behind what the Germans had developed. The dropping of the two American atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 made the path forward clear: the development of a Soviet atomic bomb, and a suitable missile to carry it. This story begins with the Soviet's pre- and early war developments in rocket technology, then covers the discovery and study of the V-2s at Peenemünde, Germany. The Soviets assembled remaining V-2 rockets from existing parts and their mode of operation was studied. Developments in the Soviet R and G series missiles in the early 1950s are discussed in detail, as is the development for the peaceful use of Soviet rocket technology in space.

The journey into space is a dangerous one, and although some aspects of space travel seem to be routine it still takes humanity to the limits of what is technically possible. It is an environment that forgives no mistake, and where carelessness usually has fatal consequences. This book records more than a dozen American and Soviet space disasters from 1967 to the present day. Presented are tragic and near tragic missions such as NASA's Gemini 6A and 8, Apollo 1 and 13, the Challenger and Columbia space shuttle disasters, as well as the Soviets' Soyuz 1, 11, and 18-1, and more. The concise and detailed history is presented along with rare photographs, transcripts of mission conversations, as well as detailed timelines.

In the mid-1950s, an innovative group of women at General Motors (dubbed the Damsels of Design by marketers) and their counterparts at Ford, Hudson, Studebaker, Packard, and Tucker changed automotive history forever. Read the untold story of the women who excelled in the Mad Men era of automobile and industrial design. Recruited by top CEOs at automotive companies, they developed many of the products we take for granted today. Learn about Helene Rother, who designed the instrument panel, hardware, and seat construction for midcentury Cadillacs; Elizabeth Thatcher Oros, the first female trained in industrial design; and discover the history behind the child safety seat latch and car doors with lights. An extraordinary story of exceptional women, Damsels in Design sheds light on those who have too long been in the shadows.

A revelatory narrative of the 535 Pennsylvania and New Jersey privateers, privately owned ships of war some called pirates. Manned by nearly 18,000 men, these privateers influenced the fight for American independence. From the halls of Congress to the rough waterfronts of Delaware River and Bay to the remote privateering ports of the New Jersey coast and into the Atlantic, a stirring portrait emerges of seaborne raiders, battles, and derring-do, as well as incredible escapes from the great British prison ships “vulgarly called Hell,” where more than 11,000 men perished. A work 40 years in the making extracted from archives in both Europe and America, it is a tale unrivaled by any Hollywood fiction.