Author: Simon Parkin
Publisher: Little, Brown
ISBN: 0316492086
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 395
Book Description
As heard on the New Yorker Radio Hour: The triumphant and "engaging history" (The New Yorker) of the young women who devised a winning strategy that defeated Nazi U-boats and delivered a decisive victory in the Battle of the Atlantic. By 1941, Winston Churchill had come to believe that the outcome of World War II rested on the battle for the Atlantic. A grand strategy game was devised by Captain Gilbert Roberts and a group of ten Wrens (members of the Women's Royal Naval Service) assigned to his team in an attempt to reveal the tactics behind the vicious success of the German U-boats. Played on a linoleum floor divided into painted squares, it required model ships to be moved across a make-believe ocean in a manner reminiscent of the childhood game, Battleship. Through play, the designers developed "Operation Raspberry," a counter-maneuver that helped turn the tide of World War II. Combining vibrant novelistic storytelling with extensive research, interviews, and previously unpublished accounts, Simon Parkin describes for the first time the role that women played in developing the Allied strategy that, in the words of one admiral, "contributed in no small measure to the final defeat of Germany." Rich with unforgettable cinematic detail and larger-than-life characters, A Game of Birds and Wolves is a heart-wrenching tale of ingenuity, dedication, perseverance, and love, bringing to life the imagination and sacrifice required to defeat the Nazis at sea.
A Game of Birds and Wolves
Author: Simon Parkin
Publisher: Little, Brown
ISBN: 0316492086
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 395
Book Description
As heard on the New Yorker Radio Hour: The triumphant and "engaging history" (The New Yorker) of the young women who devised a winning strategy that defeated Nazi U-boats and delivered a decisive victory in the Battle of the Atlantic. By 1941, Winston Churchill had come to believe that the outcome of World War II rested on the battle for the Atlantic. A grand strategy game was devised by Captain Gilbert Roberts and a group of ten Wrens (members of the Women's Royal Naval Service) assigned to his team in an attempt to reveal the tactics behind the vicious success of the German U-boats. Played on a linoleum floor divided into painted squares, it required model ships to be moved across a make-believe ocean in a manner reminiscent of the childhood game, Battleship. Through play, the designers developed "Operation Raspberry," a counter-maneuver that helped turn the tide of World War II. Combining vibrant novelistic storytelling with extensive research, interviews, and previously unpublished accounts, Simon Parkin describes for the first time the role that women played in developing the Allied strategy that, in the words of one admiral, "contributed in no small measure to the final defeat of Germany." Rich with unforgettable cinematic detail and larger-than-life characters, A Game of Birds and Wolves is a heart-wrenching tale of ingenuity, dedication, perseverance, and love, bringing to life the imagination and sacrifice required to defeat the Nazis at sea.
Publisher: Little, Brown
ISBN: 0316492086
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 395
Book Description
As heard on the New Yorker Radio Hour: The triumphant and "engaging history" (The New Yorker) of the young women who devised a winning strategy that defeated Nazi U-boats and delivered a decisive victory in the Battle of the Atlantic. By 1941, Winston Churchill had come to believe that the outcome of World War II rested on the battle for the Atlantic. A grand strategy game was devised by Captain Gilbert Roberts and a group of ten Wrens (members of the Women's Royal Naval Service) assigned to his team in an attempt to reveal the tactics behind the vicious success of the German U-boats. Played on a linoleum floor divided into painted squares, it required model ships to be moved across a make-believe ocean in a manner reminiscent of the childhood game, Battleship. Through play, the designers developed "Operation Raspberry," a counter-maneuver that helped turn the tide of World War II. Combining vibrant novelistic storytelling with extensive research, interviews, and previously unpublished accounts, Simon Parkin describes for the first time the role that women played in developing the Allied strategy that, in the words of one admiral, "contributed in no small measure to the final defeat of Germany." Rich with unforgettable cinematic detail and larger-than-life characters, A Game of Birds and Wolves is a heart-wrenching tale of ingenuity, dedication, perseverance, and love, bringing to life the imagination and sacrifice required to defeat the Nazis at sea.
The Island of Extraordinary Captives
Author: Simon Parkin
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 198217854X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 432
Book Description
The “riveting…truly shocking” (The New York Times Book Review) story of a Jewish orphan who fled Nazi Germany for London, only to be arrested and sent to a British internment camp for suspected foreign agents on the Isle of Man, alongside a renowned group of refugee musicians, intellectuals, artists, and—possibly—genuine spies. Following the events of Kristallnacht in 1938, Peter Fleischmann evaded the Gestapo’s roundups in Berlin by way of a perilous journey to England on a Kindertransport rescue, an effort sanctioned by the UK government to evacuate minors from Nazi-controlled areas.train. But he could not escape the British police, who came for him in the early hours and shipped him off to Hutchinson Camp on the Isle of Man, under suspicion of being a spy for the very regime he had fled. During Hitler’s rise to power in the 1930s, tens of thousands of German and Austrian Jews like Peter escaped and found refuge in Britain. After war broke out and paranoia gripped the nation, Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered that these innocent asylum seekers—so-called “enemy aliens”—be interned. When Peter arrived at Hutchinson Camp, he found one of history’s most astounding prison populations: renowned professors, composers, journalists, and artists. Together, they created a thriving cultural community, complete with art exhibitions, lectures, musical performances, and poetry readings. The artists welcomed Peter as their pupil and forever changed the course of his life. Meanwhile, suspicions grew that a real spy was hiding among them—one connected to a vivacious heiress from Peter’s past. Drawing from unpublished first-person accounts and newly declassified government documents, award-winning journalist Simon Parkin reveals an “extraordinary yet previously untold true story” (Daily Express) that serves as a “testimony to human fortitude despite callous, hypocritical injustice” (The New Yorker) and “an example of how individuals can find joy and meaning in the absurd and mundane” (The Spectator).
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
ISBN: 198217854X
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 432
Book Description
The “riveting…truly shocking” (The New York Times Book Review) story of a Jewish orphan who fled Nazi Germany for London, only to be arrested and sent to a British internment camp for suspected foreign agents on the Isle of Man, alongside a renowned group of refugee musicians, intellectuals, artists, and—possibly—genuine spies. Following the events of Kristallnacht in 1938, Peter Fleischmann evaded the Gestapo’s roundups in Berlin by way of a perilous journey to England on a Kindertransport rescue, an effort sanctioned by the UK government to evacuate minors from Nazi-controlled areas.train. But he could not escape the British police, who came for him in the early hours and shipped him off to Hutchinson Camp on the Isle of Man, under suspicion of being a spy for the very regime he had fled. During Hitler’s rise to power in the 1930s, tens of thousands of German and Austrian Jews like Peter escaped and found refuge in Britain. After war broke out and paranoia gripped the nation, Prime Minister Winston Churchill ordered that these innocent asylum seekers—so-called “enemy aliens”—be interned. When Peter arrived at Hutchinson Camp, he found one of history’s most astounding prison populations: renowned professors, composers, journalists, and artists. Together, they created a thriving cultural community, complete with art exhibitions, lectures, musical performances, and poetry readings. The artists welcomed Peter as their pupil and forever changed the course of his life. Meanwhile, suspicions grew that a real spy was hiding among them—one connected to a vivacious heiress from Peter’s past. Drawing from unpublished first-person accounts and newly declassified government documents, award-winning journalist Simon Parkin reveals an “extraordinary yet previously untold true story” (Daily Express) that serves as a “testimony to human fortitude despite callous, hypocritical injustice” (The New Yorker) and “an example of how individuals can find joy and meaning in the absurd and mundane” (The Spectator).
Death by Video Game
Author: Simon Parkin
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 1612196209
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
"The finest book on video games yet. Simon Parkin thinks like a critic, conjures like a novelist, and writes like an artist at the height of his powers—which, in fact, he is." —Tom Bissell, author of Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter On January 31, 2012, a twenty-three-year-old student was found dead at his keyboard in an internet café while the video game he had been playing for three days straight continued to flash on the screen in front of him. Trying to reconstruct what had happened that night, investigative journalist Simon Parkin would discover that there have been numerous other incidents of "death by video game." And so begins a journey that takes Parkin around the world in search of answers: What is it about video games that inspires such tremendous acts of endurance and obsession? Why do we so thoroughly lose our sense of time and reality within this medium? How in the world can people play them . . . to death? In Death by Video Game, Parkin examines the medical evidence and talks to the experts to determine what may be happening, and introduces us to the players and game developers at the frontline of virtual extremism: the New York surgeon attempting to break the Donkey Kong world record . . . the Minecraft player three years into an epic journey toward the edge of the game's vast virtual world . . . the German hacker who risked prison to discover the secrets behind Half-Life 2 . . . Riveting and wildly entertaining, Death by Video Game will change the way we think about our virtual playgrounds as it investigates what it is about them that often proves compelling, comforting, and irresistible to the human mind—except for when it’s not.
Publisher: National Geographic Books
ISBN: 1612196209
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
"The finest book on video games yet. Simon Parkin thinks like a critic, conjures like a novelist, and writes like an artist at the height of his powers—which, in fact, he is." —Tom Bissell, author of Extra Lives: Why Video Games Matter On January 31, 2012, a twenty-three-year-old student was found dead at his keyboard in an internet café while the video game he had been playing for three days straight continued to flash on the screen in front of him. Trying to reconstruct what had happened that night, investigative journalist Simon Parkin would discover that there have been numerous other incidents of "death by video game." And so begins a journey that takes Parkin around the world in search of answers: What is it about video games that inspires such tremendous acts of endurance and obsession? Why do we so thoroughly lose our sense of time and reality within this medium? How in the world can people play them . . . to death? In Death by Video Game, Parkin examines the medical evidence and talks to the experts to determine what may be happening, and introduces us to the players and game developers at the frontline of virtual extremism: the New York surgeon attempting to break the Donkey Kong world record . . . the Minecraft player three years into an epic journey toward the edge of the game's vast virtual world . . . the German hacker who risked prison to discover the secrets behind Half-Life 2 . . . Riveting and wildly entertaining, Death by Video Game will change the way we think about our virtual playgrounds as it investigates what it is about them that often proves compelling, comforting, and irresistible to the human mind—except for when it’s not.
Summary of Simon Parkin's A Game of Birds and Wolves
Author: Everest Media,
Publisher: Everest Media LLC
ISBN: 1669380203
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 35
Book Description
Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 In early September, Colin’s parents had asked him how he felt about going to America. He had said he would love to, and they had sent him away. The decision to send their son away had been difficult at first, but they had believed the Germans were poised to invade Britain. #2 The British government began a controversial and, for the parents, heartbreaking scheme to evacuate children from London, Liverpool, and other vulnerable targets of the Luftwaffe. The response was immense: close to a quarter of a million children applied for just 20,000 places. #3 The City of Benares was a luxury cruise liner that would take Colin to Montreal. It was painted a light tan color to reflect the sun’s heat in the Indian Ocean, where it routinely carried passengers between Liverpool and Bombay. #4 The ship was delayed because of a bombing raid the previous night, and the weather worsened. On the morning of 17th September, three and a half days after the City of Benares and the other ships in the convoy departed from Liverpool, the three Royal Navy escorts peeled away and began their return journey to British waters, taking their guns with them.
Publisher: Everest Media LLC
ISBN: 1669380203
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 35
Book Description
Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 In early September, Colin’s parents had asked him how he felt about going to America. He had said he would love to, and they had sent him away. The decision to send their son away had been difficult at first, but they had believed the Germans were poised to invade Britain. #2 The British government began a controversial and, for the parents, heartbreaking scheme to evacuate children from London, Liverpool, and other vulnerable targets of the Luftwaffe. The response was immense: close to a quarter of a million children applied for just 20,000 places. #3 The City of Benares was a luxury cruise liner that would take Colin to Montreal. It was painted a light tan color to reflect the sun’s heat in the Indian Ocean, where it routinely carried passengers between Liverpool and Bombay. #4 The ship was delayed because of a bombing raid the previous night, and the weather worsened. On the morning of 17th September, three and a half days after the City of Benares and the other ships in the convoy departed from Liverpool, the three Royal Navy escorts peeled away and began their return journey to British waters, taking their guns with them.
The Illustrated History of 151 Video Games
Author: Simon Parkin
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780754823902
Category : Video games
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
More than any other entertainment medium, videogames offer the chance for us to participate in a worldbeyond the ordinary. Whether you are playing as asupersonic hedgehog, an athletic archeologist, or amoustachioed Italian plumber, video games allow theirplayers to inhabit spaces where the usual parameters ofexistence do not apply. The medium's history ischronicled through the individual stories of 151 of themost iconic video games. Beginning in the early 1970s, the book charts five decades of the pixel revolution. Thestory of each game is accompanied by trivia andquotations, and illustrated with photographs, screenshotsand artwork. This celebratory reference, and up-to-datehistory, will enthral any video games aficionado. - Chronicles the history of gaming through an analysis of151 of the world's most-iconic and best-loved games - Expert analysis of the story of each game, accompaniedby fascinating trivia, memorable quotes, and informationon the year of publication and where the game can beplayed today - Includes titles across all platforms, including arcade, console, PC, online and handheld games - Charts five decades of video game evolution, fromComputer Space to Fez - Compulsively illustrated with over 1000 actionscreenshots, game artworks and photographs
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780754823902
Category : Video games
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
More than any other entertainment medium, videogames offer the chance for us to participate in a worldbeyond the ordinary. Whether you are playing as asupersonic hedgehog, an athletic archeologist, or amoustachioed Italian plumber, video games allow theirplayers to inhabit spaces where the usual parameters ofexistence do not apply. The medium's history ischronicled through the individual stories of 151 of themost iconic video games. Beginning in the early 1970s, the book charts five decades of the pixel revolution. Thestory of each game is accompanied by trivia andquotations, and illustrated with photographs, screenshotsand artwork. This celebratory reference, and up-to-datehistory, will enthral any video games aficionado. - Chronicles the history of gaming through an analysis of151 of the world's most-iconic and best-loved games - Expert analysis of the story of each game, accompaniedby fascinating trivia, memorable quotes, and informationon the year of publication and where the game can beplayed today - Includes titles across all platforms, including arcade, console, PC, online and handheld games - Charts five decades of video game evolution, fromComputer Space to Fez - Compulsively illustrated with over 1000 actionscreenshots, game artworks and photographs
Secret Britain
Author: Justin Pollard
Publisher: John Murray
ISBN: 1848544545
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 320
Book Description
Some of our most intriguing history is missing. Perhaps there has been a conspiracy, a cover-up? Or maybe some stories have been lost, forgotten or were just too embarrassing to talk about at the time? But now they are back, revealed in all their glory: secret passages, events, societies, loves, identities and even dark secrets of the grave. After much sleuthing, Justin Pollard takes us into undisclosed historical waters to discover why the city of Burlington isn't on the map; how 'Agent Pickle' saved the lost treasure of Bonnie Prince Charlie; what Sir Thomas Overbury knew in 1613 that got him murdered with a poisoned enema and how Virginia Woolf sweet-talked her way aboard HMS Dreadnought dressed as Abyssinian Prince. Secret Britain also reveals the tragic love story behind the Rolls Royce mascot; how agent Garbo managed to get an MBE and an Iron Cross; the sinister properties of the Hand of Glory; the lost smuggling ship Peggy; the Mystery Runner of Nos Galan; the extraordinary history of the Fairy Flag of Dunvegan; London's only Nazi war memorial and the secrets of the WWII Monopoly board.
Publisher: John Murray
ISBN: 1848544545
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 320
Book Description
Some of our most intriguing history is missing. Perhaps there has been a conspiracy, a cover-up? Or maybe some stories have been lost, forgotten or were just too embarrassing to talk about at the time? But now they are back, revealed in all their glory: secret passages, events, societies, loves, identities and even dark secrets of the grave. After much sleuthing, Justin Pollard takes us into undisclosed historical waters to discover why the city of Burlington isn't on the map; how 'Agent Pickle' saved the lost treasure of Bonnie Prince Charlie; what Sir Thomas Overbury knew in 1613 that got him murdered with a poisoned enema and how Virginia Woolf sweet-talked her way aboard HMS Dreadnought dressed as Abyssinian Prince. Secret Britain also reveals the tragic love story behind the Rolls Royce mascot; how agent Garbo managed to get an MBE and an Iron Cross; the sinister properties of the Hand of Glory; the lost smuggling ship Peggy; the Mystery Runner of Nos Galan; the extraordinary history of the Fairy Flag of Dunvegan; London's only Nazi war memorial and the secrets of the WWII Monopoly board.
Death by Video Game
Author: Simon Parkin
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781781254219
Category : Video game addiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Uncovers the real stories behind our video game obsession. Along the way Simon Parkin meets the players and game developers at the frontline of virtual extremism
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781781254219
Category : Video game addiction
Languages : en
Pages : 0
Book Description
Uncovers the real stories behind our video game obsession. Along the way Simon Parkin meets the players and game developers at the frontline of virtual extremism
The Longest Afternoon
Author: Brendan Simms
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465039944
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 209
Book Description
From the prizewinning author of Europe, a riveting account of the heroic Second Light Battalion, which held the line at Waterloo, defeating Napoleon and changing the course of history. In 1815, the deposed emperor Napoleon returned to France and threatened the already devastated and exhausted continent with yet another war. Near the small Belgian municipality of Waterloo, two large, hastily mobilized armies faced each other to decide the future of Europe-Napoleon's forces on one side, and the Duke of Wellington on the other. With so much at stake, neither commander could have predicted that the battle would be decided by the Second Light Battalion, King's German Legion, which was given the deceptively simple task of defending the Haye Sainte farmhouse, a crucial crossroads on the way to Brussels. In The Longest Afternoon, Brendan Simms captures the chaos of Waterloo in a minute-by-minute account that reveals how these 400-odd riflemen successfully beat back wave after wave of French infantry. The battalion suffered terrible casualties, but their fighting spirit and refusal to retreat ultimately decided the most influential battle in European history.
Publisher: Basic Books
ISBN: 0465039944
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 209
Book Description
From the prizewinning author of Europe, a riveting account of the heroic Second Light Battalion, which held the line at Waterloo, defeating Napoleon and changing the course of history. In 1815, the deposed emperor Napoleon returned to France and threatened the already devastated and exhausted continent with yet another war. Near the small Belgian municipality of Waterloo, two large, hastily mobilized armies faced each other to decide the future of Europe-Napoleon's forces on one side, and the Duke of Wellington on the other. With so much at stake, neither commander could have predicted that the battle would be decided by the Second Light Battalion, King's German Legion, which was given the deceptively simple task of defending the Haye Sainte farmhouse, a crucial crossroads on the way to Brussels. In The Longest Afternoon, Brendan Simms captures the chaos of Waterloo in a minute-by-minute account that reveals how these 400-odd riflemen successfully beat back wave after wave of French infantry. The battalion suffered terrible casualties, but their fighting spirit and refusal to retreat ultimately decided the most influential battle in European history.
The Trees
Author: Ali Shaw
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1632862840
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 497
Book Description
The Trees. They arrived in the night: wrenching through the ground, thundering up into the air, and turning Adrien's suburban street into a shadowy forest. Shocked by the sight but determined to get some answers, he ventures out, passing destroyed buildings, felled power lines, and broken bodies still wrapped in tattered bed linens hanging from branches. It is soon apparent that no help is coming and that these trees, which seem the work of centuries rather than hours, span far beyond the town. As far, perhaps, as the coast, where across the sea in Ireland, Adrien's wife is away on a business trip and there is no way of knowing whether she is alive or dead. When Adrien meets Hannah, a woman who, unlike him, believes that the coming of the trees may signal renewal rather than destruction and Seb, her technology-obsessed son, they persuade him to join them. Together, they pack up what remains of the lives they once had and set out on a quest to find Hannah's forester brother and Adrien's wife--and to discover just how deep the forest goes. Their journey through the trees will take them into unimaginable territory: to a place of terrible beauty and violence, of deadly enemies and unexpected allies, to the dark heart of nature and the darkness--and also the power--inside themselves.
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN: 1632862840
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 497
Book Description
The Trees. They arrived in the night: wrenching through the ground, thundering up into the air, and turning Adrien's suburban street into a shadowy forest. Shocked by the sight but determined to get some answers, he ventures out, passing destroyed buildings, felled power lines, and broken bodies still wrapped in tattered bed linens hanging from branches. It is soon apparent that no help is coming and that these trees, which seem the work of centuries rather than hours, span far beyond the town. As far, perhaps, as the coast, where across the sea in Ireland, Adrien's wife is away on a business trip and there is no way of knowing whether she is alive or dead. When Adrien meets Hannah, a woman who, unlike him, believes that the coming of the trees may signal renewal rather than destruction and Seb, her technology-obsessed son, they persuade him to join them. Together, they pack up what remains of the lives they once had and set out on a quest to find Hannah's forester brother and Adrien's wife--and to discover just how deep the forest goes. Their journey through the trees will take them into unimaginable territory: to a place of terrible beauty and violence, of deadly enemies and unexpected allies, to the dark heart of nature and the darkness--and also the power--inside themselves.
Captain Gilbert Roberts R. N. and the Anti-u-boat School
Author: Mark Williams
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 200
Book Description
Publisher: Weidenfeld & Nicolson
ISBN:
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 200
Book Description