Real heroes aren't born. Rather, they are ordinary people who have risen to meet seemingly insurmountable challenges in the face of adversity. What really defines a person is the way they face those obstacles and overcome them. We don't have to look to Hollywood to find examples; in fact, we need look no further than our backyards. My backyard, that is. My father, is such a man.From humble beginnings to confinement in a German POW camp, he endured incredible hardship. But with his f...

CAPTAIN RICHEMONTE- NOVELCaptain Albin Richemonte, the real master of Castle Ortry, is making final preparations to equip his para-military band of thugs. He sends wheels in motion that will deliver the German military a decisive blow, one they'll never forget. Count Jules Rallion, the captain's trusted ally, has concocted a diabolical plot, that if successful, will not only deprive an American financier of his money, but also his life.Despite Richemonte's best ef...

American bomber pilot, Jack Swaggart, has led his squadron countless times into hostile German territory, hit the assigned target, and returned to base none the worse for wear.Eventually, Jack's luck runs out. With his B-26 Marauder heavily damaged by flak, Jack is forced to ditch his crippled airplane in the German countryside.Separated from his crew, Jack trusts an unlikely ally, Hilde Augsburg, a plucky young woman, a decision which catapults th...

Paris, France-1814. The French emperor, Napoleon Bonaparte, is defeated and faces banishment to Elba, while Prussian forces occupy the capital.A Hussar officer, Lieutenant Hugo von Löwenklau, comes to the rescue of a young Parisian woman, Margot Richemonte. This simple act, while ingratiating Hugo into her family, pits him against her calculating and opportunistic stepbrother, Captain Albin Richemonte.Albin is determined to marry her off to the wealthy Baron de Reillac, all...

The marabout, Hajji Omanah, is dying. Known throughout the vast deserts of Africa as a hermit and devout follower of Islam, Omanah has been keeping a terrible secret, one that has been plaguing him for years. On his deathbed, he plans to reveal it... to his son.What his son doesn't realize is that he's soon to be caught up in the middle of a vicious feud going back over a generation between two powerful European families. Forced to leave France in disgrace, the embittered Albin Ric...

American bomber pilot, Jack Swaggart, has led his squadron countless times into hostile German territory, hit the assigned target, and returned to base none the worse for wear. Eventually, Jack's luck runs out. With his B-26 Marauder heavily damaged by flak, Jack is forced to ditch his crippled airplane in the German countryside. Separated from his crew, Jack trusts an unlikely ally, Hilde Augsburg, a plucky young woman, a decision which catapults them into an adventure ...

**A NYRB CLASSICS ORIGINALDiscover 9 classic short stories by the giant of French literature—whose work inspired Dostoyevsky, Henry James, and Marcel Proust—with this collection showcasing Balzac’s impressive range.**Characters from every corner of society and all walks of life—lords and ladies, businessmen and military men, poor clerks, unforgiving moneylenders, aspiring politicians, artists, actresses, swindlers, misers, parasites, sexual adventurers, crackpots, and more—...

Freaks; Or Spurs pulls back the curtain on the hidden world of a traveling European circus, a place of wonder and unspoken bonds. Here, the beautiful but cruel trapeze artist, Jeanne Marie, makes the mistake of mocking and then falsely marrying the kindly, wealthy dwarf performer, Jacques Courb, purely for his inheritance. But Jacques is not alone. His extended family--the "freaks" of the circus--will not stand for the betrayal of one of their own. The novella descends int...

In a “lively, sparkling, and sharp-edged” (Arthur Goldhammer) new translation, Guy de Maupassant’s most beloved works are reintroduced to twenty-first-century readers.A Parisian civil servant turned protégé of Flaubert, Guy de Maupassant is considered not only one of the greatest short story writers in all of French literature but also a pioneer of psychological realism and modernism who helped define the form. Credited with influencing the likes of Chekhov, Maugha...

Boys & Murderers is the first complete collection in English translation of Hermann Ungar’s novellas and stories. A writer whose unique talent and dark analyses of the human psyche were admired by Thomas Mann, who provides the preface, Ungar’s prose is often grotesque and comical, if not occasionally horrific. Much like his highly acclaimed novel The Maimed, he delves here into the depravities of heart and delusions of mind, the settings ranging from Prague to his hometown...

Set during the occupation of France of 1940 – 44 during which time the author fought as a member of the resistance. The story follows her interrogation imprisonment and subsequent unexpected release by the German Nazi Officer Frank Van Heugen, the official interpreter in the German Kommandatur of Vichy France.

The Tsar had long dreamt of taking Paris in revenge for Moscow ...March 1814. With the allied armies of Russia, Austria and Prussia advancing, Paris is in real danger of falling to occupying forces for the first time in 400 years. But at a moment when all efforts should be directed towards the defence of the city, Joseph Bonaparte is concerned with the murder of a retired colonel, and orders Lieutenant Colonel Quentin Margont to conduct a secret investigation into his death. Once again Arm...