Winner of the 2010 Eudora Welty Book Prize and the Mississippi Library Association’s Nonfiction Author’s Award for 2011 Under Surge, Under Siege shows how Hurricane Katrina tore into Bay St. Louis, Mississippi, raking away lives, buildings, and livelihoods in a place known for its picturesque, coastal views; its laid-back, artsy downtown; and its deep-dyed southern cordiality. The tragedy also revealed the inner workings of a community with an indomitable heart and profound neighborly bonds. Those connections often brought out the best in people under the worst of circumstances. In Under Surge, Under Siege, Ellis Anderson, who rode out the storm in her Bay St. Louis home and sheltered many neighbors afterwards, offers stories of generosity, heroism, and laughter in the midst of terror and desperate uncertainty. Divided into two parts, this book invites readers into the intimate enclave before, during, and after the storm. “Under Surge” focuses on connections between residents, and then it demonstrates how those bonds sustained them through the worst hurricane in US history. “Under Siege” documents the first three years of the grinding aftermath, detailing the unforeseen burdens of stress and depression, insurance scandals, and opportunists that threatened to complete the annihilation of the plucky town. A blend of memoir, personal diary, and firsthand reportage, Under Surge, Under Siege creates a compelling American testament to the strength of the human spirit.

Cities are the new battleground of our increasingly urban world. From the slums of the global South to the wealthy financial centers of the West, Cities Under Siege traces the spread of political violence through the sites, spaces, infrastructure and symbols of the world’s rapidly expanding metropolitan areas. Drawing on a wealth of original research, Stephen Graham shows how Western militaries and security forces now perceive all urban terrain as a conflict zone inhabited by lurking shadow enemies. Urban inhabitants have become targets that need to be continually tracked, scanned and controlled. Graham examines the transformation of Western armies into high-tech urban counter-insurgency forces. He looks at the militarization and surveillance of international borders, the use of ‘security’ concerns to suppress democratic dissent, and the enacting of legislation to suspend civilian law. In doing so, he reveals how the New Military Urbanism permeates the entire fabric of urban life, from subway and transport networks hardwired with high-tech ‘command and control’ systems to the insidious militarization of a popular culture corrupted by the all-pervasive discourse of ‘terrorism.’

An epic novel of war from the Man Booker International Prize–winning Albanian author who “has been compared to Gogol, Kafka, and Orwell” (The Independent). Ismail Kadare’s The Siege dramatizes a fictional fifth century assault by the Ottoman Army on a Christian fortress in the Albanian mountains. As the bloody and psychologically crushing struggle for control unfolds, Kadare’s narrative opens a window onto the eternal clash between religions and empires. His masterful prose brings to life the exhilaration, despair, and immediacy of the battlefield—as well as a dramatic view of those who command and those who fight and die. Hailed by The New Yorker as “Albania’s most distinguished novelist,” Kadare is a hero to his countrymen, as well as an outspoken critic of all forms of totalitarianism. Here, with this epic novel, he proves himself “an original voice, universal yet deeply rooted in his own soil” (The Independent).

Learn important survival skills from thirteen captivating stories of people stranded and fighting for their lives against harsh, unmerciful conditions. A unique combination of fictional scenarios, true accounts, and instructive sidebars, Getting Out Alive reveals the three vital ways to cheat death when all seems lost: avoid panic, know your survival skills, and maintain a relentless determination to make it out alive. Teaching by example, the characters in these adventures use real-life survival tactics—including navigating, building shelters, finding water, and signaling for help. Featuring tales of being surrounded by a forest fire, lost in the Amazon, marooned on an island, caught in an icy blizzard, and many more.DESC> survival;emergency preparedness;disaster preparedness;guides;reference;emergency;disaster;self-help;safety;security;outdoor skills;survival skills;survivalist;survivalism;survival stories;hiking;amazon basin;hurricane;category 4 hurricane;gunfight;gunfire;in the line of fire;castaway;marooned on an island;forest fire;snowbound;blizzard;adrift;mauled by a bear;bear attack;animal attack;plane crash;power outage SEL049010 SELF-HELP / Safety & Security / Survival & Emergency Preparedness * SPO030000 SPORTS & RECREATION / Outdoor Skills 9781612430904 The Pulse: A Novel of Surviving the Collapse of the Grid Scott B. Williams

Called "elegantly, starkly beautiful" by "The New York Times Book Review, The Siege" is Dunmore's masterpiece. Her canvas is monumental--the Nazi's 1941 winter siege on Leningrad that killed 600,000--but her focus is heartrendingly intimate.

Noted clinical psychologist Robert Firestone and his co-authors explore the struggle that all of us face in striving to retain a sense of ourselves as unique individuals.

With more than 1,100 cross-referenced entries covering every aspect of conflict in the Middle East, this definitive scholarly reference provides readers with a substantial foundation for understanding contemporary history in the most volatile region in the world. This authoritative and comprehensive encyclopedia covers all the key wars, insurgencies, and battles that have occurred in the Middle East roughly between 3100 BCE and the early decades of the twenty-first century. It also discusses the evolution of military technology and the development and transformation of military tactics and strategy from the ancient world to the present. In addition to the hundreds of entries on major conflicts, military engagements, and diplomatic developments, the book also features entries on key military, political, and religious leaders. Essays on the major empires and nations of the region are included, as are overview essays on the major periods under consideration. The book additionally covers such non-military subjects as diplomacy, national and international politics, religion and sectarian conflict, cultural phenomena, genocide, international peacekeeping missions, social movements, and the rise to prominence of international terrorism. The reference entries are augmented by a carefully curated documents volume that offers primary sources on such diverse topics as the Greco-Persian Wars, the Crusades, and the Arab-Israeli Wars.