A World War 1 Adventure

World War I has just exploded in Europe. The peace of the entire world is in danger. How will you help? Will you: Join the Belgian resistance movement? Fight as a British Army soldier? Serve as a volunteer with the American Field Service?

A picaresque series of tales about an ordinary man's successful quest to survive, and a funny but unrelentingly savage assault on the very idea of bureaucratic officialdom as a human enterprise conferring benefits on those who live under its control, and on the various justifications bureaucracies offer for their own existence.

Captain Donald E. Harkness Sr., DSC, RNAS/RAF, the author of the original WWI diaries this book is based on, was born in Nelson, New Zealand on August 27, 1894, where he was raised and educated. He interrupted his undergraduate studies in engineering to sail off to London, at age 21, in hopes of joining the nascent air service and defend his mother country against the Germans in WWI. Stationed in France with the Royal Naval Air Service (RNAS) since early 1916, he soon specialized as a bomber pilot, and led many bombing raids, which included the raid that earned him the Distinguished Service Cross (DSC), as well as his last raid that wounded him and damaged his plane, causing him to crash-land in Holland. There he was interned, and worked with the underground to help Belgian refugees and downed Allied pilots evade capture. Subsequent to WWI he completed his engineering degree at Canterbury College and obtained a position as consulting engineer for New York's Bear Mountain Bridge project. After returning to New Zealand in early 1925, he was appointed Lecturer in Civil Engineering at the Auckland University School of Engineering. In 1926 he married his New York landlord's daughter, and took on additional duties as Acting Head of the Department of Engineering. In 1929 he launched a new aerial delivery service in Auckland, intending in time to include all of New Zealand and Australia. However, on December 12, 1929, he and his mechanic drowned when the seaplane they were test-piloting for this new venture suddenly failed and crashed into Auckland Harbour.

In 1914 Europe descended into a slaughter unlike anything that had been seen before. Yet, far from seeing the conflict as a tragedy, many men welcomed it as a healthy development for society, a relief from peace. The Great Adventure explores the intellectual trends that made war seem a natural and high expression of social values. This is not a book about the specific causes of World War I, but a study of the mood in which it could take place. What the book uncovers is a complex of deeply ingrained attitudes about manhood, sex, power, maturity, boredom, and war that defined a culture in which war came to be seen as a positive option. Although the book focuses on attitudes in Great Britain and the United States of nearly a century ago, it makes a remarkably contemporary statement about men, women, and the culture of war., reviewing a previous edition or volume

"Describes the events of World War II and explains the significance of the war today. The reader's choices reveal the historical details from the perspective of a member of the Dutch resistance, a Canadian soldier, and an American soldier"--Provided by publisher.

"Describes the role pilots played during World War II. Readers' choices reveal various historical details"--Provided by publisher.

Take a journey to a vanished world with the ADVENTURES IN TIME series - stories so exciting you won't believe they're all true Prepare to enter the most dramatic conflict the world has ever seen, as historian Dominic Sandbrook takes us on a spine-tingling, heart-stopping adventure. We witness the Second World War first-hand through the eyes of ordinary people living in extraordinary times, from the women who worked all night in factories to the chess players who cracked unbreakable codes. Because in total war, no life is left untouched... The Adventures in Time series brings the past alive for twenty-first century children. These stories are every bit as exciting as those of Harry Potter or Matilda Wormwood. The only difference is they actually happened...

Fighting the Flying Circus' contains an exciting collection of stories about air battles in France by Eddie Rickenbacker, and is a perfect book for anyone with an interest in the German Air Service looking for an unusual read. Many of the earliest books, particularly those dating back to the 1900s and before, are now extremely scarce and increasingly expensive. We are republishing these classic works in affordable, high quality, modern editions, using the original text and artwork.