Books about Allegiances from Amazon.com

Never before has the incendiary mix of action, politics, and intrigue that has become Timothy Zahn’s trademark, been mmore evident that in this new Star Wars epic. On the heels of the stunning events chronicled in Star Wars: A New Hope, the newly minted heroes of the Rebellion–fledgling Jedi Luke Skywalker, smuggler turned reluctant freedom-fighter Han Solo, and Princess Leia Organa, a bold leader with a world to avenge–must face the harsh realities of the cataclysmic conflict into which they have so bravely plunged. From this point forward, legends will grow, treachery will abound, and lives will be irrevocably altered, in the long, hard fight to counter the fist of tyranny and restore hope to a galaxy too long in darkness.

The destruction of the Death Star by the Rebel Alliance was a decisive blow against the Empire, but Palpatine and his monstrous enforcer, Darth Vader, are no less of a threat. The brutal extermination of Alderaan not only demonstrated the magnitude of their murderous power, but served as a chilling testament to their resolve to crush the Rebel uprising. Standing against them, Skywalker, Solo, and the Princess remain uncertain opponents. Luke is gifted and brave, but unschooled in the power he possesses. Han has doubts about waging someone else’s war–and his contentiousness is one more burden for Leia to bear as she struggles to help keep the Rebellion alive. The three have been sent to mediate a dispute between Rebel Alliance factions in Shelsha Sector–agitating matters by forcing Han to deal not only with pirates, but with his more dreaded enemy, politics. At the same time, Mara Jade–all of eighteen and years away from her fateful meeting with Luke–is serving her evil master, Palpatine, well in her role as the Emperor’s Hand: tracking suspected treachery in the Empire to what may be high places–while trying to stay out of Darth Vader’s way.

But the Rebels will prove to be only one of the Empire’s concerns. For Imperial Stormtrooper Daric LaRone, his faith in the Empire shaken by the wanton destruction of Alderaan, will commit a sudden and violent act of defiance, and take four other enforcers with him, in a desperate bid to elude their masters’ wrath.

Each of these fateful actions, whether sanctioned, secret, or scandalous, will expose brutality and corruption, spur upheavals destined to shake the Empire to its core, and shape momentous events yet to come.


From the Hardcover edition..
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The text of the Pledge of Allegiance is illustrated with stunning photographs of American landscapes, monuments, and flags. The meaning of the pledge, its history, and information about the flag are included. .
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Whether kids want to recite the Pledge of Allegiance or respectfully decline, this straightforward and playfully illustrated guide clears up what the pledge really means--word by word, and line by line.

Two pledge-loving literacy experts (Michael Sampson and Bill Martin, Jr.) and one polite pledge-abstainer (Caldecott Honor-winning illustrator Chris Raschka) have come together to explicate America's time-honored oath in plain, kid-friendly language: "I pledge (A pledge is a promise) allegiance to (Allegiance is loyalty) the flag (A flag is a symbol that stands for a place, a thing, or an idea. Making a promise to a flag usually means the same thing as making a promise to whatever the flag stands for.)." Sampson and Martin's annotations adequately convey the essential meaning behind the words, although understandably less so in the thornier sections: "under God (Many people believe that a democracy is a reflection of how God thinks--every single person is important.)"

I Pledge Allegiance also covers some of the history behind the pledge and the flag, but what kids will probably remember best--aside from the pledge itself--is Raschka's clever, winning collage work, which somehow manages to sum up ideas like liberty, justice, and God with a few quick strokes and scraps. (An 18-by-24-inch flag poster is included with the book.) (Ages 4 to 8) --Paul Hughes.
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In 1968, Istvan Pinter, a young Hungarian, escapes from political prison and heads for the Austrian border. Thirteen years later, Frank Manion's first assignment as a newly-minted CIA case officer is to recruit a Russian diplomat the agency calls "Bagatelle". Frank travels to Rio de Janeiro to work with an older female officer, Julie d'Andrade. He pursues his target over three continents and when the case is compromised he leaves love and Julie behind and risks his life to salvage the operation. What went wrong? To find the answer, Manion has to go back to where it all began..
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Set in the enchanted mountain of a spirit-queen presiding over an unnamed, postcolonial country, this ethnographic work of ficto-criticism recreates in written form the shrines by which the dead--notably the fetishized forms of Europe's Others, Indians and Blacks--generate the magical powers of the modern state..
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