Books about Reprisals from Amazon.com

Kylara Vatta, risk-taking, rule-breaking, can-do heroine of Trading in Danger, is back in business–the kind that’s anything but usual–in the new military science fiction adventure by ace action storyteller Elizabeth Moon.

The exciting military career she hoped for never got off the ground–but Ky Vatta ended up seeing plenty of combat when she took the helm of one of the commercial transport vessels in her family’s fleet . . . and steered it into a full-blown war. Now the lessons she learned in that trial by fire are about to pay off: because this time, the war has come to her. To be exact, someone unknown has launched a full-throttle offensive against Vatta Transport Ltd., Ky’s father’s interstellar shipping empire. In short order, most of Ky’s family is killed, and subsequent attacks sever vital lines of communication, leaving Ky fighting, in every sense, to survive.

Determined to identify the ruthless mystery enemy and avenge her family’s name, Ky needs not only firepower but information. And she gets both in spades–from the band of stranded mercenaries she hooks up with, from her black-sheep cousin, Stella, who’s been leading a secret life, and from Stella’s roguish ex-lover, Rafe. Together they struggle to penetrate the tangled web of political intrigue that’s wreaking havoc within InterStellar Communications, whose effective operation their own livelihoods–and perhaps lives–depend on.

But the infighting proves to be infectious, and it isn’t long before Ky’s hired military muscle are turning their suspicions on the enigmatic Rafe, whose wealth of knowledge about ISC’s clashing factions and startling new technologies has begun to make him smell like a rat . . . or a mole. With swift, violent destruction a very real possibility, the last thing Ky needs is a crew divided against itself–and she’s prepared to take whatever measures are necessary to ensure that Vatta stays in business, as well as in one piece.

What she’s not prepared for is the shocking truth behind the terror– and a confrontation with murderous treachery from a source as unexpected as it is unrelenting.


From the Hardcover edition..
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Poised and waiting for the moment he can unleash an ancient wave of horror that will extinguish humanity, Jonah poses as a graduate student in a small southern town to hide his venomous vampiric identity. .
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William W. Johnstone's Gunfighter novels have made him a national bestselling author and confirmed his standing as America's most popular chronicler of the wild West--and of the men and women who tamed it. Now, he brings his gritty, hard-edged vision of the frontier to a story of greed, power and courage, as a beautiful land is caught in the grips of a dirty little war...

The Burning

When Frank Morgan sets up camp in a lush valley in Montana, the last thing he expects to see is fires lighting up the night sky as fields, farms and homes are torched by so-called "range detectives" working for two powerful ranchers. For the ranchers, the battle lines have been drawn in the form of newly settled farmland that's cutting through the ranges, separating cattle from grazing land and water. But the settlers are breaking no law, and no one is going to prevent them from building their homes and towns--until the ranchers turn to a pair of vicious mercenaries who won't stop until they run out of bullets. Now, Frank Morgan finds himself taking gun in hand once more to help folks who desperately need it. Having fought his way across the frontier, he knows his time may be up--but anyone fixing to kill the last gunfighter had better to be ready to die..
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Jennie Gravatt's sense of independence and freedom challenged her family's Pennsylvania Dutch tradition This chronicle of Jennie's lucid dreams forges a compelling romance beyond conventional concepts of time, space, and consciousness. Explore past times and passion, experience the ancient past as it becomes the future -- Atlantis, Ancient Egypt, the Roman Empire, the Dark Ages, the Renaissance, the Enlightenment, the Aquarian Age. Skillful tempering of science fiction with science and history leaves you spellbound as Jennie's soul seeks perfection from Atlantis to Eternity. Jennie's reprisal for the bigotry that she experienced in lifetime after lifetime becomes the ultimate lesson in gender equity. You will unknowingly complete Metaphysics 101 while reading this profound life's lesson..
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Among the five nations authorized under the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty to possess nuclear weapons, China has the smallest nuclear force and maintains the most restrained nuclear posture. In The Minimum Means of Reprisal, Jeffrey Lewis examines patterns in Chinese defense investments, strategic force deployments, and arms control behavior to develop an alternative assessment of China's nuclear forces.

The Minimum Means of Reprisal finds that China's nuclear deployment and arms control patterns stem from the belief that deterrence is relatively unaffected by changes in the size, configuration, and readiness of nuclear forces. As a result, Lewis argues, Chinese policy has tended to sacrifice offensive capability in favor of greater political control and lower economic costs.

The future of cooperative security arrangements in space will depend largely on the U.S.-Chinese relationship. Lewis warns that changes in U.S. defense strategy, including the development of new strategic forces and the weaponization of space, will prevent the United States from reassuring China in the event that its leaders begin to lose confidence in their restrained deterrent. The result may further damage the already weakened arms control regime and increase the threat to the United States and the world. Lewis provides policy guidance for those interested in the U.S.-Chinese security relationship and in global security arrangements more generally..
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A revelatory work that examines the intricate relationship between history and literature, truth and fiction—with some surprising conclusions.

Focusing on three literary masterpieces—Charles Dickens's Bleak House (1853), Gustave Flaubert's Madame Bovary (1857), and Thomas Mann's Buddenbrooks (1901)—Peter Gay, a leading cultural historian, demonstrates that there is more than one way to read a novel.

Typically, readers believe that fiction, especially the Realist novels that dominated Western culture for most of the nineteenth century and beyond, is based on historical truth and that great novels possess a documentary value. That trust, Gay brilliantly shows, is misplaced; novels take their own path to reality. Using Dickens, Flaubert, and Mann as his examples, Gay explores their world, their craftsmanship, and their minds. In the process, he discovers that all three share one overriding quality: a resentment and rage against the society that sustains the novel itself. Using their stylish writing as a form of revenge, they deal out savage reprisals, which have become part of our Western literary canon. A New York Times Notable Book and a Best Book of 2002..
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Black Flag over Dixie: Racial Atrocities and Reprisals in the Civil War highlights the central role that race played in the Civil War by examining some of the ugliest incidents that played out on its battlefields. Challenging the American public’s perception of the Civil War as a chivalrous family quarrel, new and previously published essays by twelve rising and prominent historians show the conflict to be a wrenching social revolution with bloody excesses exacerbated by racial hatred. Twenty photographs and a map of massacre and reprisal sites accompany the volume. The contributors are Gregory J. W. Urwin, Anne J. Bailey, Howard C. Westwood, James G. Hollandsworth Jr., David J. Coles, Albert Castel, Derek W. Frisby, Weymouth T. Jordan Jr., Gerald W. Thomas, Bryce A. Suderow, Chad L. Williams, and Mark Grimsley.

"In this compact, well-organized collection of essays, editor Gregory J. W. Urwin probes the intersection of war crimes and the complexities of remembrance in the American Civil War. He has assembled a useful set of articles that chronicle Confederate racial violence directed at fugitive slaves and free blacks, the U.S. Colored Troops, and their white officers. . . . [A] valuable primer for students and general readers." —The American Historical Review

"The most painful topics to revisit in any war’s history are those involving atrocities. Never entirely forgotten but rarely probed in depth, massacres easily become the subject of politics, rumors, and denials. . . . [T]hose who wish to base their statements about this controversial topic on solid evidence should definitely read this book." —North & South

"Urwin has brought together a group of essays that explores a still nearly untouched aspect of this conflict. . . . [A] fascinating examination. . . . [A]n essential addition to Civil War historiography." —Civil War Book Review

"[R]emarkable scope for such a compact work. . . . This reviewer looks forward to the volumes that will expand on the excellent work begun here, although they will have a tough act to follow." —Georgia Historical Quarterly

"The atrocities discussed in this book are a reminder that truth is the first casualty of war. Urwin has performed a service, and it is to be hoped others will take up this disturbing topic." —Virginia Magazine.
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Covert activity has always been a significant element of international politics. When it has served their interests, governments have secretly disseminated propaganda in other countries, manipulated foreign economies, and abetted coups against their adversaries. What are the circumstances, if any, in which it is lawful, under international law or United States law, to resort to covert action either directly or through local proxies? When is it right to do so? This book is the first to assess the lawfulness of covert action under international law. It includes as well a chapter on United States law and a candid discussion of the implications for democratic states that covert operations pose. W. Michael Reisman and James E. Baker identify different types of covert actions, discussing a variety of cases that include the Trujillo assassination in 1961, the Rainbow Warrior in 1985, and the raid on Libya in 1986. After explaining the complex operations of the international legal system, they explore trends in decision making and the conditions that accounted for them--whether the covert operations were proactive, defensive, or reactive. They examine in detail the procedures followed in the United States to authorize and oversee covert activity and propose guidelines for political leaders who may contemplate using covert techniques. An appendix reviews twenty years of allegations of covert aggression brought to the attention of the United Nations Security Council..
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