Forsaken Warriors

An insider’s account of the South Vietnamese elites who strove to carry on the war against the Communists during the U.S. Army’s withdrawal. The book is a personal memoir of the author’s service as a U.S. Army advisor during the end-stages of America’s involvement in Vietnam. During the period 1970–71, the U.S. was beginning to draw down its combat forces, and the new watchword was Vietnamization. It was the period when the will of the U.S. to prosecute the war had slipped, and transferring responsibility to the South Vietnamese was the only remaining hope for victory. The author served as a U.S. Army advisor to South Vietnamese Ranger and Airborne units during this critical period. The units that the author advised spearheaded several campaigns in South Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, as the U.S. combat units withdrew. Often outnumbered and outgunned, the elite ranger and airborne units fought Viet Cong and North Vietnamese units in some of the most difficult terrain in Southeast Asia, ranging from the legendary U Minh forest and Mo So mountains in the Mekong Delta, to the rugged hills of southern Laos. The role of the small U.S. advisory teams is fully explained in the narrative. With little support from higher headquarters, these teams accompanied the Vietnamese units on highly dangerous combat operations over which they had no command or control authority. When U.S. advisors were restricted from accompanying South Vietnamese forces on cross-border operations in Cambodia and especially Laos, the South Vietnamese forces were badly mauled, raising concerns about their readiness and training, and their ability to operate without their U.S. advisors. As a result, a major effort was placed on training these forces while the clock continued to run on the U.S. withdrawal. Having served with a U.S. infantry battalion during the peak years of the U.S. involvement in Vietnam, Robert Tonsetic—the acclaimed author of Days of Valor—is able to view the war through two different prisms and offer criticisms and an awareness of why the South Vietnamese armed forces were ultimately defeated. “An exciting account of Robert Tonsetic’s combat tours during the final stages of our long involvement in the Vietnam War. Soldiers & Marines training for advisory duty in Iraq or Afghanistan would do well to read this excellent work.” —Proceedings “Of special interest is the way [Tonsetic] recounts the dynamics of personalities & their effect on indigenous commanders & units. A must read for any soldiers likely to conduct partnering activities in the future.” —Soldier Magazine

The history of Tiseria is littered with ferocious battles. Battles, between the many different races, which threatened to engulf the entire realm. Races and creatures have become extinct, or very close to it, but, no war had been as terrible as the Dark Wars. Over a thousand years ago the Cultists of Volkin tried to bring forth their underworld god into the living realm. They almost succeeded. The cult had been defeated by the allied forces of the Four Kingdoms, and by the Covenant of the Magi. Tiseria prospered and there was general peace in the wake of the Dark Wars. Peace which had gone, relatively, unbroken, until now. The armies of darkness are rising once more. After more than a millennia the Cult of Volkin has returned, returned to finish what they had started. The cult is more devastating than ever, equipped with powers bestowed upon them by Volkin himself. They intend to wreck havoc, spread corruption, fear and distraught, through the kingdoms, and raise their Dark God once again. Releasing a corruption upon the physical realm, and causing the various races to become hosts for evil spirits, the Cult of Volkin is demonstrating their power to all. The descendants of the Covenant of the Magi and Knights Order, combined to create the Order of Light, must once again brave the horrors brought forth by Volkins minions. Two knights have been chosen to undertake the suicidal mission of reuniting the races of Tiseria and retying the bonds of allegiance between them. The fallen, and dishonoured, Knight-Captain, Ryan Quinn, and the proud, and noble, Michael Crow, must traverse the three remaining kingdoms in hopes of uniting the Human, Dwarven and Elven races once more against the terror that is Volkin. With dungeons, dragons, magic and goblins set to cross their path, can these two knights survive and what else will they encounter?

Cultures across the globe have embraced epics: stories of memorable deeds by heroic characters whose actions have significant consequences for their lives and their communities. Incorporating narrative elements also found in sacred history, chronicle, saga, legend, romance, myth, folklore, and the novel, epics throughout history have both animated the imagination and encouraged reflection on what it means to be human. Teaching World Epics addresses ancient and more recent epic works from Africa, Europe, Mesoamerica, and East, Central, and South Asia that are available in English translations. Useful to instructors of literature, peace and conflict studies, transnational studies, women's studies, and religious studies, the essays in this volume focus on epics in sociopolitical and cultural contexts, on the adaptation and reception of epic works, and on themes that are especially relevant today, such as gender dynamics and politics, national identity, colonialism and imperialism, violence, and war. This volume includes discussion of Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso, Giulia Bigolina's Urania, The Book of Dede Korkut, Luís Vaz de Camões's Os Lusíadas, David of Sassoun, The Epic of Askia Mohammed, The Epic of Gilgamesh, the epic of Sun-Jata, Alonso de Ercilla y Zúñiga's La Araucana, Homer's Iliad and Odyssey, Kalevala, Kebra Nagast, Kudrun, The Legend of Poṉṉivaḷa Nadu, the Mahabharata, Manas, John Milton's Paradise Lost, Mwindo, the Nibelungenlied, Poema de mio Cid, Popol Wuj, the Ramayana, the Shahnameh, Sirat Bani Hilal, Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene, Statius's Thebaid, The Tale of the Heike, Three Kingdoms, Gaspar Pérez de Villagrá's Historia de la Nueva México, and Virgil's Aeneid.

This fast-paced, sharply written multiple-perspective YA science-fiction debut opens on a future Earth ravaged by solar radiation. Desperate for money to save his sick mother, seventeen-year-old Matthew agrees to participate in the Exo Project, a government plan to save the human race by flying across the galaxy in search of a habitable planet for resettlement. He thinks he's been given a death sentence: 100 years in cryostasis, followed by a quick death on some barren world. But then he lands on Gle'ah, discovering the strange, beautiful creatures who live there, including Kiva, the captivating teenage girl who leads her planet's matriarchal society. Kiva views Matthew as a threat and for good reason—if he tells Earth that he's found a suitable planet, it will mean the end of her people's way of life. But then Kiva and Matthew discover an emotional connection they never expected—and as they begin to delve into the secrets of Matthew's mission and the dark truth behind the seeming paradise of Gle'ah, the choices they make will have consequences for both of their worlds.

All six books in the #1 New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series, now available in a collectible hardcover boxed set. Enter the secret world of the Shadowhunters with this handsomely packaged boxed set that includes City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels, City of Lost Souls, and City of Heavenly Fire. The Mortal Instruments books have more than five million copies in print, and this collectible set of six hardcover volumes is a perfect gift for newcomers to the series and for loyal fans alike.

The first five books in the #1 New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series, now available in a collectible ebook collection. Enter the secret world of the Shadowhunters with this collection that includes City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass, City of Fallen Angels, and City of Lost Souls. The Mortal Instruments books have more than five million copies in print, and this ebook collection is a perfect gift for newcomers to the series and for loyal fans alike.

The first four books in the #1 New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series are all together in one boxed set! The first four books in the #1 New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series, available in an eBook collection. Enter the secret world of the Shadowhunters with this eBook boxed set that includes City of Bones, City of Ashes, City of Glass, and City of Fallen Angels. The Mortal Instruments books have more than five million copies in print, and this eBook collection of the first four volumes makes a great gift for newcomers to the series and for loyal fans alike.

The first three books in the #1 New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series are all together in one boxed set! The first three books in the #1 New York Times bestselling Mortal Instruments series, available in an eBook collection. Enter the secret world of the Shadowhunters with this eBook boxed set that includes City of Bones, City of Ashes, and City of Glass. The Mortal Instruments books have more than five million copies in print, and this eBook collection of the first three volumes makes a great gift for newcomers to the series and for loyal fans alike.