Brian Moynahan

Esta brillante obra de historia cultural, política y militar cuenta las crueldades infligidas por Stalin y Hitler sobre Leningrado y la composición de la famosa Septima Sinfonía de Dmitri Shostakóvich frente al tragico telon de fondo del asedio nazi y de los años de represion y terror estalinistas que lo precedieron. Con elocuente detalle, Brian Moynahan describe la rica y variada vida cultural de Leningrado durante las decadas de 1920 y 1930, y, basandose en una ingente cantidad de nueva documentacion, narra las purgas que ordeno Stalin a partir de 1934, especialmente implacables con sus mas estrechos colaboradores, con los militares de mas alto rango, y contra los mas apreciados intelectuales de Leningrado, incluido Shostakovich. Este relato de persecucion y locura se entrelaza con la dramatica cronica de la brutal invasion nazi de junio de 1941. Mientras los alemanes avanzan a traves de Rusia, sitian Leningrado y la aislan del resto del pais. A medida que iban pasando los meses, la poblacion soporto el hambre, el frio y unas privaciones inimaginables, y sin embargo siguio resistiendo frente a la aparentemente invencible maquina militar alemana. El libro culmina con el estreno de la Septima Sinfonia el 9 de agosto de 1942 en Leningrado. Inmediatamente despues de un bombarde

Forgotten Soldiers is an enthralling work of military history that shows how the courage, intelligence or simple good fortune of the individual can exert a decisive influence on the outcome of a battle or campaign. It tells the stories of fifteen unsung heroes, none of a rank higher than major, whose deeds changed the course of important battles and - arguably - the course of history. These vivid and gripping accounts - largely drawn from the Second World War, but with tales too from other conflicts - have each been selected to illustrate one of the dictums of the great Prussian theorist of war, Carl von Clausewitz, about the importance of having the right man in the right place at the right time. From the Roman standard bearer who plunged into the waves off Deal in 55 BC, saving Julius Caesars military honour and political career, to the young Israeli tank lieutenant who almost single-handedly stalled the advancing Syrian armour in 1973, these are above all tales of courage. But it is not just courage that wins wars, as these stories demonstrate: such elements as surprise, determination, good intelligence, chance, insight, inventiveness and clear thinking all play their parts in eventual victory. And it may only take one man, often of lowly rank, his name largely forgotten, to embody such qualities for the effect to be felt around the world.

La symphonie du siègeLa première de la Septième Symphonie de Chostakovitch eut lieu à Leningrad le 9 août 1942, au 335e jour d’un siège qui tua plus de 1 800 000 personnes. Aucun concert n’a jamais é

Grigory Efimovich Rasputin came to St. Petersburg from his Siberian cabin in 1903 like a projectile from the medieval past, tattered, black-clad, muttering. By the time he was murdered thirteen years later, the peasant was the "beloved" Friend of Tsar Nicholas and Empress Alexandra and the sponsor of the most powerful officials in Russia. He had become, a society lady wrote, "a dusk enveloping all our world, eclipsing the sun. How could so pitiful a wretch throw so vast a shadow? It was inexplicable, maddening, almost incredible. "Rasputins name has become synonymous with evil, but his legend has obscured the facts of his life. In this evocative biography, Brian Moynahan presents us with a flesh-and-blood Rasputin, more fascinating than the myth--a man in whom debauchery coexisted beside a real (if erratic) spiritual sense, a man whose coarseness hid a savvy awareness of human psychology. Drawing on confidential police reports, cabinet meeting memos, and other documents, some available only since the fall of the Soviet Union, Moynahan sheds new light on Rasputins life and disputes some of the widely held details of his death. The young Rasputin was a drinker, thief, and womanizer. He claimed to have religious visions and became a wandering holy man, preaching that exposure to sin could drive out sin. He stormed the fashionable salons of St. Petersburg, and in 1905 he met Nicholas and Alexandra, who, increasingly despised by the sophisticated, found in Rasputin reassurance that the "real Russia, the simple and pious peasantry, loved them. Rasputins mysterious ability to stop the bleeding attacks of their hemophiliac only son, Alexis, sealed the approval of the domineering Alexandra. With royal patronage, Rasputin became increasingly reckless, partying with prostitutes, peddling influence, plotting the disgrace of those who crossed him. Ever contradictory, he was also a devoted family man, a defender of the poor, and a figure of immense charisma. As Germany battered Russia during World War I, as Nicholass ineptitude as a leader became ever more rampant and the masses went hungry, Rasputin seemed to monarchists to be the cause, and not just the symptom, of corrupt government. A group of conspirators gathered--among them a grand duke and a scion of the richest family in Russia--and one of the most famous murders in history was planned. Set against the vivid backdrop of prerevolutionary Russia, Rasputin is a portrait of an age as well as of a man.NOTE: This edition does not include photographs.

Beginning with the birth of Jesus and tracing the religion established by his followers up to the present day, The Faith is a comprehensive exploration of the history of Christianity. Judiciously covering all the signal moments without bogging down in minutia, author Brian Moynahans superbly written and generously illustrated book is of central importance to Christians, historians, and anyone interested in a faith that shaped the modern world.Moynahans research uses little-known sources to tell a magnificent story encompassing everything from the early tremulous years after Jesus death to the horrors of persecution by Nero, from the growth of monasteries to the bloody Crusades, from the building of the great cathedrals to the cataclysm of the Reformation and the Catholic Counter-Reformation, from the flight of pilgrims from Europe in pursuit of religious freedom to the Salem Witch Trials, from the advent of a traveling pope to the rise of televangelists.Coming just in time for Jubilee 2000, this ambitious book reveals and commemorates the significance of the Christian faith.

Esta brillante obra de historia militar, política y cultural poneen escena la composición de la famosa Séptima Sinfoníade Dmitri Shostakóvich frente al trágico telón de fondo delasedio y de los años de represion y terror que la precedieron.Con elocuente detalle, el autor cuenta la historia de lascrueldades infligidas por Stalin y Hitler sobre una ciudadde una belleza exquisita.El libro describe la rica y variada vida cultural de Leningradoel teatro, la musica, el ballet, las artes durante las decadasde 1920 y 1930. Basandose en una ingente cantidad de nuevadocumentacion, Brian Moynahan narra las purgas que ordenoStalin a partir de 1934, especialmente implacables con susmas estrechos colaboradores, con los militares de masalto rango, y contra los mas apreciados intelectuales deLeningrado, incluido Shostakovich. Este relato de persecuciony locura se entrelaza con la dramatica cronica de la brutalinvasion nazi de junio de 1941, mientras los alemanes avanzana traves de Rusia, sitian Leningrado y la aislan del restodel pais. A medida que iban pasando los meses, la poblacionde Leningrado soporto el hambre, el frio y unas privacionesinimaginables, y sin embargo siguio resistiendo frentea la aparentemente invencible maquina militar alemana.La narracion culmina con el estreno de la Septima Sinfoniael 9 de agosto de 1942 en Leningrado. Inmediatamentedespues de un bombardeo de artilleria programado paraacallar los cañones alemanes, el director Karl Eliasberglevanto su batuta y empezaron a sonar las primeras notas.La sinfonia fue interpretada por unos musicos a los que seconsiguio sacar del frente y de las bandas militares, ya quetan solo veinte de los cien interpretes de la orquesta habiansobrevivido, y estaban tan debiles que temian no ser capacesde tocar la partitura entera ante un publico igualmenteextenuado. El estreno de la sinfonia, que se transmitiopor radio a los soldados del frente y a los aliados de todoel mundo, fue un concierto unico, que no ha vueltoa ser igualado.

The great echoing phrases of the King James Bible that have boomed through the English-speaking mind for 400 years - an eye for an eye . . . eat, drink and be merry . . . . death, where is thy sting? . . . man shall not live by bread alone - are largely the work of a man whose genius for words matches Shakespeare. But William Tyndale, the young Gloucestershire tutor who wrote them, paid for them with his life. He was persecuted, exiled and eventually burned at the stake. Book of Fire is the thrilling, moving story of the man who first translated the word of God into the English vernacular. Tyndale did so in defiance of church and state, hunted by the implacable enmity and the agents of the sainted Thomas More. He was finally betrayed, but by then his courage and poetic instinct had provided the backbone of the single most significant work in the English language. The Tudor heretic had changed the literary, religious and political landscape for ever.

Arctic explorer, survival expert and naturalist Freddy Spencer Chapman was trapped behind enemy lines when the Japanese overran Malaya in 1942. His response was to begin a commando campaign of such lethal effectiveness that the Japanese deployed an entire regiment against him, hunting for him as they did for no other. He was wounded, and racked by tropical disease. His companions were killed, or captured and then beheaded. Cut off from friendly forces, his only shelter the deep jungle, Chapman held out for three years and five months. Jungle Soldier recounts the thrilling and unforgettable adventures of the north country orphan who survived against all odds to become a legend of guerrilla warfare.

Shostakovichs Seventh Symphony was first played in the city of its birth on 9 August, 1942. There has never been a first performance to match it. Pray God, there never will be again. Almost a year earlier, the Germans had begun their blockade of the city. Already many thousands had died of their wounds, the cold, and most of all, starvation. The assembled musicians - scrounged from frontline units and military bands, for only twenty of the orchestras 100 players had survived - were so hungry, many feared theyd be too weak to play the score right through. In these, the darkest days of the Second World War, the music and the defiance it inspired provided a rare beacon of light for the watching world. Setting the composition of Shostakovichs most famous work against the tragic canvas of the siege itself and the years of repression and terror that preceded it, Leningrad: Siege and Symphony is a magisterial and moving account of one of the most tragic periods in history.