UNITED KINGDOM OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND AUTHOR · HISTORY · PICTORIAL WORKS
John Keegan
Sir John Desmond Patrick Keegan was a British military historian, lecturer, writer and journalist. He was the author of many published works on the nature of combat between the 14th and 21st centuries concerning land, air, maritime, and intelligence warfare, as well as the psychology of battle. - Wikipedia
NEW WRITERS OFTEN FIND BEGINNINGS DIFFICULT-WHETHER they're starting a story or a novel-because they take the word "beginning" too literally.
— from What if-- ?
Most acclaimed
The American Civil War
"The Civil War is the central event in American history. More than any other event, the war defined the American people and nation." "Following a narrative history, Kingseed offers six stimulating topical chapters covering such issues as the transformation of Abraham Lincoln, why Lee lost the battle of Gettysburg, and the consequences of the War from a contemporary perspective. Eighteen biographical sketches of key civilian, military and political figures such as Clara Barton, Matthew Brady, J.E.B. Stuart, Ulysses S. Grant, and Frederick Douglass personalize the momentous events of the Civil War, while 16 keenly annotated primary documents, ranging from Lincoln's "House Divided against Itself" speech to Jefferson Davis's Inaugural speech to a bluejacket's remembrances of the horrors witnessed during and after the Battle of Antietam. Ten illustrations, a map of the major campaigns, chronology of events, glossary, annotated bibliography, and index complete this one-stop research resource on the American Civil War."--Jacket.
World War II
1999
World War II was the most intensively photographed conflict in history. Military and press photographers, propagandists, camera-wielding soldiers and civilians--all took the opportunity to record the tumultuous events of 1939-45. The scenes they captured of mass suffering and individual heroism, of atrocious cruelty and humanitarianism against the odds, of hate and comradership, misery and hope, remain undiminished in their intensity and constitute a vital record of an extra ordinary period. World War II: A Photographic History features 900 clearly captioned images selected from a wide variety of sources, many of which are seen here for the first time. Every major theatre of conflict is covered, from the ice seas of the Arctic Circle to the jungles of the South Pacific, from the deserts of North Africa to the steppes of Russia. Throughout, proper historical grounding is given by an informative, indexed commentary summarizing the many complex events of the period.
What if-- ?
Millions of people visit xkcd.com each week to read Randall Munroe's iconic webcomic. His stick-figure drawings about science, technology, language, and love have a large and passionate following. Fans of xkcd ask Munroe a lot of strange questions. What if you tried to hit a baseball pitched at 90 percent the speed of light? How fast can you hit a speed bump while driving and live? If there was a robot apocalypse, how long would humanity last? In pursuit of answers, Munroe runs computer simulations, pores over stacks of declassified military research memos, solves differential equations, and consults with nuclear reactor operators. His responses are masterpieces of clarity and hilarity, complemented by signature xkcd comics. They often predict the complete annihilation of humankind, or at least a really big explosion. The book features new and never-before-answered questions, along with updated and expanded versions of the most popular answers from the xkcd website.