This compelling historical novel set during the Second World War shows that sometimes falling apart is only steps away from falling in love.

The conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan may not enjoy popular support, but the soldiers - who do not have the choice of where and who they're fighting for - certainly do. Each day in these two countries is a desperate battle for survival against deadly and implacable enemy forces, and each day brings new acts of bravery, courage and self-sacrifice that seem to belong to a bygone age. Here, 25 medal winners - the bravest of the brave - from the Army, the Royal Marine Commandos and the RAF describe in their own words the astonishing actions which led to their awards.

In Foreign Fields examines the lives, decisions and challenges faced by transnational sport migrants -- those professionals working in the sports industry who cross borders as part of their professional lives. Despite a great deal of romance surrounding international celebrity athletes, the vast majority of transnational sport migrants -- players, journalists, coaches, administrators and medical personnel -- toil far away from the limelight. Based on twelve years of ethnographic research conducted on three continents, Thomas F. Carter traces their lives, routes and experiences, documenting their travels and travails. He argues that far from the ease of mobility that celebrity sports stars enjoy, the vast majority of transnational sports migrants make huge sacrifices and labor under political restrictions, often enforced by sport's governing bodies. This unique and clearly written study will make fascinating reading for anthropologists, sociologists and anyone interested in the lives of those who follow their sporting dreams.

The conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan may not enjoy popular support, but our soldiers - who do not have the choice of where and who they're fighting for - do. Each day in these two countries is a desperate battle for survival against deadly and implacable enemy forces, and each day brings new acts of bravery, courage and self-sacrifice that seem to belong to a bygone age. Here, 25 medal winners - the bravest of the brave - from the Army, the Royal Marine Commandoes and the RAF describe in their own words astonishing actions which led to their awards.

The division of Korea in August 1945 was one of the most consequential foreign policy decisions of the twentieth century. Despite the enormous impact this split has had on international relations from the Cold War to the present, comparatively little has been done to explain the decision. In Foreign Friends: Syngman Rhee, American Exceptionalism, and the Division of Korea, author David P. Fields argues that the division resulted not from a snap decision made by US military officers at the end of World War II but from a forty-year lobbying campaign spearheaded by Korean nationalist Syngman Rhee. Educated in an American missionary school in Seoul, Rhee understood the importance of exceptionalism in American society. Alleging that the US turned its back on the most rapidly Christianizing nation in the world when it acquiesced to Japan's annexation of Korea in 1905, Rhee constructed a coalition of American supporters to pressure policymakers to right these historical wrongs by supporting Korea's independence. Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Rhee and his Korean supporters reasoned that the American abandonment of Korea had given the Japanese a foothold in Asia, tarnishing the US claim to leadership in the opinion of millions of Asians. By transforming Korea into a moralist tale of the failures of American foreign policy in Asia, Rhee and his camp turned the country into a test case of American exceptionalism in the postwar era. Division was not the outcome they sought, but their lobbying was a crucial yet overlooked piece that contributed to this final resolution. Through its systematic use of the personal papers and diary of Syngman Rhee, as well as its serious examination of American exceptionalism, Foreign Friends synthesizes religious, intellectual, and diplomatic history to offer a new interpretation of US-Korean relations.

The undercover campaign of the Special Operations Executive in the Balkans during World War II was of great significance to the Allies. The campaign involved constant movement and activity, severe hardship and privation, and ever-present danger from the Axis troops as the SOE established relations with partisan forces and sought to establish control of a complex and vital theatre of war. This insider's description of the SOE's foundation and structure is coupled with accounts of many of its wartime missions.