“No mission too difficult, no sacrifice too great—Duty First!” For a century, from the Western Front of World War I to the wars of the 21st century, this motto has spurred the soldiers who wear the shoulder patch bearing the Big Red One. In this comprehensive history of America’s 1st Infantry Division, James Scott Wheeler chronicles its major combat engagements and peacetime duties during its legendary service to the nation. The Centennial Edition adds new chapters on peacekeeping missions in the Balkans (1995 – 2004) and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (2001 – 2017), along with a new introduction and conclusion. The oldest continuously serving division in the U.S. Army, the “Fighting First” has consistently played a crucial role in America’s foreign wars. It was the first American division to see combat and achieve victory in World War I. One of the few intact divisions between the wars, it was the first army unit to train for amphibious warfare. During World War II, the First Division spearheaded the invasions of North Africa and Sicily before leading the Normandy invasion at Omaha Beach and fighting on deep into Germany. By war’s end, it had developed successful combined-arms, regimental combat teams and made advances in night operations. Wheeler describes the First Division’s critical role in postwar Germany and as the only combat division in Europe during the early Cold War. The division fought valiantly in Vietnam for five trying years while pioneering “air-mobile” operations. It led the liberation of Kuwait in Desert Storm. Along the way, Wheeler illuminates the division’s organizational evolution, its consistently remarkable commanders and leaders, and its equally remarkable soldiers. Meticulously detailed and engagingly written, The Big Red One nimbly combines historical narrative with astute analysis of the unit’s successes and failures, so that its story reflects the larger chronicle of America’s military experience over the past century. Published in collaboration with the Cantigny First Division Foundation and the Cantigny Military History Series, edited by Paul H. Herbert.

A panoramic vision of the Chinese literary landscape across the twentieth century. Award-winning literary scholar and poet Yunte Huang here gathers together an intimate and authoritative selection of significant works, in outstanding translations, from nearly fifty Chinese writers, that together express a search for the soul of modern China. From the 1912 overthrow of a millennia-long monarchy to the Cultural Revolution, to China’s rise as a global military and economic superpower, the Chinese literary imagination has encompassed an astonishing array of moods and styles—from sublime lyricism to witty surrealism, poignant documentary to the ironic, the transgressive, and the defiant. Huang provides the requisite context for these revelatory works of fiction, poetry, essays, letters, and speeches in helpful headnotes, chronologies, and brief introductions to the Republican, Revolutionary, and Post-Mao Eras. From Lu Xun’s Call to Arms (1923) to Gao Xinjiang’s Nobel Prize–winning Soul Mountain (1990), this remarkable anthology features writers both known and unknown in its celebration of the versatility of writing. From belles lettres to literary propaganda, from poetic revolution to pulp fiction, The Big Red Book of Modern Chinese Literature is an eye-opening, mesmerizing, and indispensable portrait of China in the tumultuous twentieth century.

Short-listed for the 2000 Arthur Ellis Award for Best Non-Fiction Norman "Red" Ryan was a notorious bank robber, safecracker, and killer. He escaped from Kingston Penitentiary twice - first by force, and then years later by gulling the credulous into believing that he was "reformed." The dupes of Ryan's second emancipation included the prison's Roman Catholic chaplain, several nationally prominent citizens, the country's largest newspaper, and, ultimately, R.B. Bennett, the prime minister of Canada, who made the mistake of arranging a "political parole" for Ryan. Six people - three of them innocent victims - died as a result of Red Ryan's freedom. Dubbed "the Jesse James of Canada" and "Canada's most notorious criminal," Ryan had compiled a record of nineteen convictions for crimes of theft and violence, and had been in nine shooting affrays with police and citizens. He was a "lifer" in an era when "life" meant just that. Yet he got out of Kingston after just eleven and a half years and returned to Toronto, the city of his birth, amid fanfare befitting a national hero. His death in a liquor store robbery in Sarnia on May 23, 1936, just ten months after his release, was a huge jolt to Canada, and especially Toronto. How could such an obvious threat to society be paroled from prison as a paragon of reform? This question is central to The Big Red Fox. The answer lies not with Ryan himself - not even the cunning and deceitful Red Ryan could have hoodwinked his way out of a life sentence - but with those who helped him, and who benefited from his release.

This volume offers the first critical analysis of mass reading events and the contemporary meanings of reading in the UK, USA, and Canada based on original interviews and surveys with readers and event organisers. The authors interrogate the enduring attraction of an old technology for readers, community organizers, and government agencies, exploring the social practices inspired by the sharing of books in public spaces and revealing the complex ideological investments made by readers, cultural workers, institutions, and the mass media in the meanings of reading.

If she pretended that everything was fine, she wouldn't have to explain to anyone how badly she wanted a bike, how unfair it was that another summer had arrived and she was still on the sidelines. Nine-year-old Savannah Tate has just finished the fourth grade. She wants to ride a bicycle more than anything else, but she can't because of a physical handicap. Savannah walks with a crutch, but that isn't as big a problem as convincing her parents that she needs a bike. Maddie and Lucy, Savannah's two best friends, have lived in the same neighborhood since they started school. Whenever the girls want to have some privacy, they head to their favorite spot, an empty lot with a large oak tree. While she works out the details of getting her bike, Savannah and her friends learn that the beloved tree that has always been their haven is in danger of being torn down. The abandoned lot is being sold, and the prospective owner plans to build a new apartment complex. Savannah's spirit of determination helps her discover a long-lost secret about the land the tree sits on and its rightful owner-but will she find a way to save the tree?

Joe Olexa enlisted in the US Army in December 1940, figuring that if he was going to be in a war, he might as well start training. Assigned to the 1st Infantry Division, nicknamed “The Big Red One,” he served in Company L of its 26th Infantry Regiment for the next four years. Along the way he trained with the division in maneuvers in the United States; shipped to England in 1942; landed at Oran, Algeria, in the Operation Torch landings of November 1942; and fought in Tunisia, Sicily, Normandy, Belgium, and Germany. Olexa was one of the first group of enlistees that brought the division up to full strength in the buildup prior to Pearl Harbor, and was a sergeant by the time he went overseas. He served as a squad leader, platoon sergeant, and acting platoon leader, outlasting nearly all the men in his company. His memoir features accounts of unusual adventures in Tunisia when his battalion was detached from the rest of the division, and presents a detailed and intense account of his platoon’s experiences at El Guettar. Later, Olexa became a “Sea Scout,” going ashore on Sicily the night before the invasion to provide signals to guide landing craft onto the beach at Gela. After landing on Omaha Beach on D-Day, Olexa was selected by his battalion commander to hunt snipers and lead patrols in addition to his usual duties, and he fought in Normandy until wounded in late June. He rejoined his company in mid-September 1944 and was heavily involved in the capture of Aachen in October. His memoir, originally composed in the late 1970s and expertly edited and annotated by James Smither, offers remarkable insights into the experiences of an ordinary soldier who found himself in truly extraordinary situations.

The 1972 World Series was a terrific clash between two rising Major League franchises, the Oakland A's and the Cincinnati Reds. Neither had won the pennant in decades. Twice removed from their original home in Philadelphia and unappreciated in Oakland, the A's quietly played excellent ball, their long hair and mustaches symbols of rebellion. Led by manager Sparky Anderson, the clean-cut Reds--baseball's most conservative club--were becoming a powerhouse and were the favorites entering the Series. This book chronicles both the A's and the Reds' journeys to the memorable '72 Fall Classic--where six of seven games were won by a single run--with batter-by-batter coverage of the diamond exploits of Bench, Perez, Rose, Rudi, Odom, Tenace, and others.