Spanning three generations, this novel of family and myth is told through a series of flashbacks that depict events of staggering horror set against a landscape of gemlike beauty, as the Chinese battle both Japanese invaders and each other in the turbulent 1930s.

A legend in China, where it inspired an Oscar-nominated film, Red Sorghum is a book in which fable and history collide to produce fiction that is entirely new and unforgettable.

Mister Pip by Lloyd Jones is a novel that is intense, beautiful, and fable-like. It celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the power of narrative to transform our lives.

On a copper-rich tropical island shattered by war, where the teachers have fled with most everyone else, only one white man chooses to stay behind: the eccentric Mr. Watts, object of much curiosity and scorn. He sweeps out the ruined schoolhouse and begins to read to the children each day from Charles Dickens's classic Great Expectations.

So begins this rare, original story about the abiding strength that imagination, once ignited, can provide. As artillery echoes in the mountains, thirteen-year-old Matilda and her peers are riveted by the adventures of a young orphan named Pip in a city called London, a city whose contours soon become more real than their own blighted landscape. As Mr. Watts says, “A person entranced by a book simply forgets to breathe.”

Soon come the rest of the villagers, initially threatened, finally inspired to share tales of their own that bring alive the rich mythology of their past. But in a ravaged place where even children are forced to live by their wits and daily survival is the only objective, imagination can be a dangerous thing.

Sunset Song is a poignant tale of young Chris Guthrie, who finds herself torn between her deep love for the land and the harsh realities of farming life. Despite the challenges, she decides to stay in the rural community of her childhood.

The story unfolds as World War I brings about unforeseen changes, making her a widow and mocking the efforts of her youth. This narrative beautifully captures the essence of resilience and the enduring spirit of a woman amid the backdrop of a changing world.

With epic sweep and breathtaking adventure, Sara Donati’s bestselling saga of an Early American family’s struggle for survival in the Northeast wilderness continues. It tells the story of an indomitable woman and an unforgettable journey of redemption across a young nation threatened by the flames of war.

The year is 1812, and Hannah Bonner has returned to her family’s mountain cabin in Paradise. But Nathaniel and Elizabeth Bonner can see that Hannah is not the same woman as when she left. She has come home without her husband and son, and with a story of loss and tragedy that she can’t bear to tell. Yet as Hannah resumes her duties as a gifted healer among the sick and needy, she finds that she is also slowly healing herself. Little does she realize that she is about to be called away to face her greatest challenge ever.

As autumn approaches, news of the latest conflict with Britain finds the young men of Paradise—including eighteen-year-old Daniel Bonner—eager to take up arms. Against their better judgment, Nathaniel and Elizabeth must let him go, just as they must let his twin sister Lily, a stubborn beauty, pursue her independence in Montreal. But on the eve of the War of 1812, an unexpected guest arrives from Scotland: the newly widowed Jennet Scott of Carryckcastle.

Far from home, Lily and Jennet will each learn the price of pursuing their dreams and the possibility of true love. But it’s Hannah herself who must risk everything once more—this time to save Daniel, who’s been taken prisoner by the British. As the distant thunder of war threatens Paradise, Hannah may learn to live—and maybe love—again in one final act of courage, duty, and sacrifice.

Anthony Swofford's Jarhead is the first Gulf War memoir by a frontline infantry marine, and it is a searing, unforgettable narrative. When the marines—or "jarheads," as they call themselves—were sent in 1990 to Saudi Arabia to fight the Iraqis, Swofford was there, with a hundred-pound pack on his shoulders and a sniper's rifle in his hands. It was one misery upon another. He lived in sand for six months, his girlfriend back home betrayed him for a scrawny hotel clerk, he was punished by boredom and fear, he considered suicide, he pulled a gun on one of his fellow marines, and he was shot at by both Iraqis and Americans.

At the end of the war, Swofford hiked for miles through a landscape of incinerated Iraqi soldiers and later was nearly killed in a booby-trapped Iraqi bunker. Swofford weaves this experience of war with vivid accounts of boot camp (which included physical abuse by his drill instructor), reflections on the mythos of the marines, and remembrances of battles with lovers and family. As engagement with the Iraqis draws closer, he is forced to consider what it is to be an American, a soldier, a son of a soldier, and a man.

Unlike the real-time print and television coverage of the Gulf War, which was highly scripted by the Pentagon, Swofford's account subverts the conventional wisdom that U.S. military interventions are now merely surgical insertions of superior forces that result in few American casualties. Jarhead insists we remember the Americans who are in fact wounded or killed, the fields of smoking enemy corpses left behind, and the continuing difficulty that American soldiers have reentering civilian life.

A harrowing yet inspiring portrait of a tormented consciousness struggling for inner peace, Jarhead will elbow for room on that short shelf of American war classics and be admired not only for the raw beauty of its prose but also for the depth of its pained heart.

Monsieur Linh est un vieil homme. Il a quitté son village dévasté par la guerre, n’emportant avec lui qu’une petite valise contenant quelques vêtements usagés, une photo jaunie, une poignée de terre de son pays.

Dans ses bras, repose un nouveau-né. Les parents de l’enfant sont morts et Monsieur Linh a décidé de partir avec Sang diû, sa petite fille. Après un long voyage en bateau, ils débarquent dans une ville froide et grise, avec des centaines de réfugiés.

Monsieur Linh a tout perdu. Il partage désormais un dortoir avec d’autres exilés qui se moquent de sa maladresse. Dans cette ville inconnue où les gens s’ignorent, il va pourtant se faire un ami, Monsieur Bark, un gros homme solitaire. Ils ne parlent pas la même langue, mais ils comprennent la musique des mots et la pudeur des gestes.

Monsieur Linh est un cœur simple, brisé par les guerres et les deuils, qui ne vit plus que pour sa petite fille. Philippe Claudel accompagne ses personnages avec respect et délicatesse. Il célèbre les thèmes universels de l’amitié et de la compassion. Ce roman possède la grâce et la limpidité des grands classiques.

Shake Hands with the Devil is a profound and harrowing account by Lt-Gen. Roméo Dallaire, who served as the force commander of the UN intervention in Rwanda in 1993. This book takes readers on a vivid journey into the heart of the Rwandan genocide, an event that saw the slaughter of 800,000 Rwandans in just 100 days.

Dallaire's mission, intended as a straightforward peacekeeping endeavor, quickly turned into a nightmare of betrayal, naiveté, and international political failure. Despite timely warnings, the international community failed to stop the genocide, leaving Dallaire and his men to witness unimaginable horrors.

Through his unsparing eyewitness account, Dallaire shares his personal journey from a confident Cold Warrior to a devastated UN commander, struggling to reconcile his experiences and find peace. His narrative challenges conventional ideas of military leadership and underscores the moral complexities faced by peacekeepers in conflict zones.

This book is not just a military account but a cri de coeur for the thousands slaughtered and a tribute to the souls lost to the violence. It highlights the critical importance of understanding the moral minefields peacekeepers must navigate when intervening in "dirty wars."

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford resurrects the true history of Genghis Khan, from the story of his relentless rise through Mongol tribal culture to the waging of his devastatingly successful wars and the explosion of civilization that the Mongol Empire unleashed.

This book offers a captivating journey into the life and legacy of one of history's most formidable figures, providing insightful perspectives on how his empire shaped the modern world.

The Radetzky March charts the history of the Trotta family through three generations, spanning the rise and fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. From the Battle of Solferino to the entombment of the last Hapsburg emperor, Roth's intelligent and compassionate narrative illuminates the crumbling of a way of life.

This epic saga offers a vivid portrait of a family entwined with the fate of an empire. Each generation reflects the changing times, with the grandfather's enoblement, the son's dedication to civil virtues, and the grandson's struggle against unattainable family standards. It's a tale rich with psychological penetration and tragic force.

With its blend of dark humor and tragic irony, this novel is a universal story of decline and nostalgia, capturing the essence of a civilization on the brink of transformation.

Jeff Shaara dazzled readers with his bestselling novels Gods and Generals, The Last Full Measure, and Gone for Soldiers. Now, the acclaimed author who illuminated the Civil War and the Mexican-American War brilliantly brings to life the American Revolution, creating a superb saga of the men who helped to forge the destiny of a nation.

In 1770, the fuse of revolution is lit by a fateful command—"Fire!"—as England's peacekeeping mission ignites into the Boston Massacre. The senseless killing of civilians leads to a tumultuous trial in which lawyer John Adams must defend the very enemy who has assaulted and abused the laws he holds sacred.

The taut courtroom drama soon broadens into a stunning epic of war as King George III leads a reckless and corrupt government in London toward the escalating abuse of his colonies. Outraged by the increasing loss of their liberties, an extraordinary gathering of America's most inspiring characters confronts the British presence with the ideals that will change history.

John Adams, the idealistic attorney devoted to the law, who rises to greatness by the power of his words. Ben Franklin, one of the most celebrated men of his time, the elderly and audacious inventor and philosopher who endures firsthand the hostile prejudice of the British government. Thomas Gage, the British general given the impossible task of crushing a colonial rebellion without starting an all-out war.

George Washington, the dashing Virginian whose battle experience in the French and Indian War brings him the recognition that elevates him to command of a colonial army, and many other immortal names from the Founding Family of the colonial struggle—Abigail Adams, Thomas Jefferson, Joseph Warren, Samuel Adams, Richard Henry Lee—captured as never before in their full flesh-and-blood humanity.

More than a powerful portrait of the people and purpose of the revolution, Rise to Rebellion is a vivid account of history's most pivotal events. The Boston Tea Party, the battles of Concord and Bunker Hill—all are recreated with the kind of breathtaking detail only a master like Jeff Shaara can muster. His most impressive achievement, Rise to Rebellion reveals with new immediacy how philosophers became fighters, ideas their ammunition, and how a scattered group of colonies became the United States of America.

Hiroshima Mon Amour is a profound exploration of the influence of war on both Japanese and French culture. The screenplay, written by Marguerite Duras, accompanies the classic film directed by Alain Renais, which gained international acclaim upon its release in 1959.

This story revolves around a love affair between a Japanese architect and a French actress who visits Japan to make a film on peace. Hiroshima Mon Amour delves deeply into the themes of love and inhumanity, offering a stunning portrayal of personal and cultural conflict.

With its compelling narrative and artistic brilliance, this screenplay remains one of the most influential works in the history of cinema.