What We Won

In February 1989, the CIA's chief in Islamabad famously cabled headquarters a simple message: "We Won." It was an understated coda to the most successful covert intelligence operation in American history. In What We Won, CIA and National Security Council veteran Bruce Riedel tells the story of America's secret war in Afghanistan and the defeat of the Soviet 40th Red Army in the war that proved to be the final battle of the cold war. He seeks to answer one simple question—why did this intelligence operation succeed so brilliantly? Riedel has the vantage point few others can offer: He was ensconced in the CIA's Operations Center when the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan on Christmas Eve 1979. The invasion took the intelligence community by surprise. But the response, initiated by Jimmy Carter and accelerated by Ronald Reagan, was a masterful intelligence enterprise. Many books have been written about intelligence failures—from Pearl Harbor to 9/11. Much less has been written about how and why intelligence operations succeed. The answer is complex. It involves both the weaknesses and mistakes of America's enemies, as well as good judgment and strengths of the United States. Riedel introduces and explores the complex personalities pitted in the war—the Afghan communists, the Russians, the Afghan mujahedin, the Saudis, and the Pakistanis. And then there are the Americans—in this war, no Americans fought on the battlefield. The CIA did not send officers into Afghanistan to fight or even to train. In 1989, victory for the American side of the cold war seemed complete. Now we can see that a new era was also beginning in the Afghan war in the 1980s, the era of the global jihad. This book examines the lessons we can learn from this intelligence operation for the future and makes some observations on what came next in Afghanistan—and what is likely yet to come.

The 2000 Winner of the Mary McCarthy Prize in Short Fiction judged by Mark Richard.

How the British, ANZACs and Canadians finally broke the German army on the most decisive day of the Great War. The British attack at Amiens was the most decisive day of the Great War. In earlier offensives, a gain of a few hundred yards counted as a 'victory', but this time our troops advanced seven miles in a day and broke clean through the German defences. The long agony on the Western Front was nearly over. Spearheaded by tanks and armoured cars and supported by the RAF, the attack was led by the Australian and Canadian Corps, with British and French troops on the flanks. Elaborate deception measures were employed to ensure surprise. Drawing on both primary and secondary sources, as well as eyewitness accounts, this book describes how the attack was conceived, the preparations, and the actual assault itself, as well as what happened on the subsequent days and how Amiens paved the way for the final victorious Allied advance.

Since 1994, the UK's National Lottery has created 2,300 millionaires. Expensive cars, big houses and dream holidays are all top of the wish list for those ordinary people whose lives are changed with a winning lottery ticket. But what about buying a boob job for your sister, giving away holidays to children with cancer or hiring a private helicopter for the school prom? For the first time five winners share the details of their shopping sprees and the highs and lows of their lives once they became millionaires. "We Won The Lottery" also goes behind the scenes at the National Lottery to reveal funny facts, the luckiest numbers, the unusual purchases and exactly what happens when you win. "Quick Reads" are exciting, short, fast-paced books by leading, bestselling authors, specifically written for emergent readers and adult learners.

One of The Telegraph's Top 50 Books of 2019! When Luna's family win an island, Luna thinks it will solve everything AND she can finally get a donkey! But things don't go entirely to plan - no one expects Luna's younger brother to win a Sheep Pageant, for example - and the secret festival they hold soon spirals out of control. But the island is beautiful, and the family are happy, and maybe Luna will get her donkey after all... "...this book is definitely a bask in the sun" - Emily Bearn, Telegraph "Watching the family band together and find a new community makes for a funny, heart-warming read." - Scotsman

Dario Fo, one of Italy's foremost playwrights, is a rarity- a Marxist with a sense of humor. This hilarious farce, a success Off Broadway and across the U.S., is set in motion when a housewife comes home with groceries she has swiped as part of a spontaneous community action where 300 women did the same. In her effort to keep her secret from her husband, she hides some of the groceries under her best friend's raincoat. Her husband and his friend the accomplice's husband notice the bulge, of course; but they believe the explanation that the accomplice is pregnant! Hilarity is piled upon hilarity as the characters try to extricate themselves from the mess they have gotten into. Eventually, they all unite to support the spontaneous resistance to eviction in their housing project.

Writings from over 2,000 years of tax resisters and tax resistance campaigns, covering both tax resistance as an act of individual conscience and revenue refusal as a technique of nonviolent resistance.

The War We Won By: L W Swartz At the age of twenty, L W Swartz enlisted in the United States Army. He was motivated by a desire to become a pilot and to serve and protect his country. Little did he know that he would be thrust into the middle of the Viet Nam War, a conflict condemned by the public and neglected by politicians. After saying goodbye to his family, unsure if he would ever see them again, L W set out for training and his eventual deployment. His experiences in the war are described in raw detail: from the few moments of humor and companionship to the all too frequent moments of sorrow that come from losing a fellow soldier. The War We Won sheds light on what the Viet Nam War was really like for the young men who fought in it and gave their lives for it.