Showing titles in Military & Wars

It's March 2, 1955, and an ordinary 15-year-old girl from Montgomery, Alabama is about to do something extraordinary. When a white bus driver orders Claudette Colvin to give up her seat for a white passenger, she refuses to move. After Claudette is arrested, her brave actions help inspire Civil Rights leaders organize bus boycotts and perform similar acts to defy segregation laws.

On December 7, 1941, Japan’s surprise attack on the U.S. naval base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, propelled the United States into World War II. Now, listeners can step back in time to learn what led up to the attack, how the tragic event unfolded, and the ways in which one infamous day changed America forever.

In the early 1940s, during World War II, Germany’s Nazi regime expanded into neighboring European countries. In France, groups of anti-Nazi citizens, known as the French Resistance, fought to stop Germany’s reign of terror. A brave woman named Nancy Wake became one of the movement’s greatest assets as a spy.

For years, the relationship between Great Britain and the American colonists had been wearing thin. Colonists felt they were being treated unfairly. The British thought they were putting down a rebellion. On April 19, 1775, the two sides clashed at Lexington and Concord. The American Revolution was about to begin. Now listeners can step back in time to learn about what led up to the battles, how the historic events unfolded, and the ways in which one shot changed America forever.

On April 9, 1861, soldiers gathered outside Fort Sumter. They were fighting for the Confederacy, which was made up of southern states that had left the United States. The soldiers demanded the U.S. Army leave the fort. Even though the fort had less than a week’s worth of supplies, the Army refused. Three days later, a fight for the fort began. That battle was the start of the Civil War. Now listeners can step back in time to learn about what led up to this historic conflict, how the costly event unfolded, and the ways in which one explosive day changed America forever.

In 1777, the American Revolution is well underway. At 16, Sybil Ludington knows the war all too well. Her father is a colonel in the Continental Army, battling for America's independence from Great Britain. Colonel Ludington and his regiment are home for the season when word comes that the British Army is attacking nearby. With her father too ill to ride, it's up to young Sybil to alert the American militia that the British are coming.

On September 11, 2001, an entire country ground to a halt as terrorists attacked the World Trade Center in New York City, the U.S. Pentagon in Washington D.C., and crashed an airliner near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Now listeners can step back in time to learn what led up to the 9/11 terrorist attacks, how the tragic events unfolded, and the ways in which one devastating day changed America forever.

Michaela DePrince was born in Sierra Leone and grew up in the United States. She rose to fame as a ballet dancer in the late 2000s. Learn more about DePrince's life as a famous ballerina!

Nuclear weapon bunkers keep the world's dangerous nuclear weapons safe. Guards, electronic security systems, and barriers protect the bunkers. Learn more about these high-security places!

How can important information and valuable items be kept safe as years pass? Many of these items are stored in underground vaults, including recordings and photos from U.S. history, important documents, and more. Locks, guards, secret passwords, and technology all play a part in the protection of the items.

A Japanese war map, a collection of U.S. military uniforms, and a gas mask are all part of the story of Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. By examining artifacts and primary sources like these, listeners are drawn into the event that brought the United States into World War II.

If the founding fathers and mothers of the United States had built a time capsule to tell the story of the nation's beginnings, what artifacts would be packed inside? Tea leaves, a lantern, yellowed documents, and more tell a part of the story of the colonists' fight for independence. In this Time Capsule History book, listeners can examine primary sources of the Revolutionary Era to explore this exciting moment in history!

The world can be a dangerous place. Over time, animals evolved many natural defenses to help them survive. Combat during wartime is extremely dangerous. Why not look to nature to find the best defenses for soldiers on the battlefield? Military forces have done just that for hundreds of years. From the armor of medieval knights to tomorrow's advanced camouflage, learn how military technology often mimics the traits of animals to help protect soldiers in combat. Then be sure to catch the other amazing titles in the Beasts and the Battlefield series.

Animals have played an important role in warfare throughout history. Military forces have long relied on animals' natural abilities to achieve their missions. From medieval warriors charging into combat on horseback to dolphins locating explosive mines at sea, learn about the many ways animals have helped armies find success on the battlefield. Then be sure to catch the other amazing titles in the Beasts and the Battlefield series.

In the wild, animals use teeth, claws, and other natural weapons to attack their prey. On the battlefield, soldiers need weapons to fight the enemy. Military forces have often looked to nature for inspiration to develop effective weapons and combat tactics. From the first feathered arrows to tomorrow's high-tech weaponry, learn how military technology often imitates the natural weapons of animals to help soldiers succeed in combat. Then be sure to catch the other amazing titles in the Beasts and the Battlefield series.

Three Summers is the story of five young cousins who grow closer than sisters as ethnic tensions escalate over three summers in 1980s Bosnia. They navigate the joys and pitfalls of adolescence on their family’s little island in the middle of the Una River. When finally confronted with the harsh truths of the adult world around them, their bond gives them the resilience to discover and hold fast to their true selves.

Adults wage war, while children are unwitting victims, pulled into a maelstrom of fear and hate without any choice. This is a story about two groups of teenagers on opposite sides of the world, forever connected by an act of war. It is a story about the adults some of those teens became, forever connected by acts of forgiveness, understanding, and peace. And it is a story about one remarkable man, whose heart belonged to both America and Japan, who put that peace and understanding in motion.

The Tuskegee Airmen heroically fought for the right to be officers of the US military so that they might participate in World War II by flying overseas to help defeat fascism. However, after winning that battle, they faced their next great challenge at Freeman Field, Iowa, where racist white officers barred them from entering the prestigious Officers' Club that their rank promised them. The Freeman Field Mutiny, as it became known, would eventually lead to the desegregation of the US armed forces, forever changing the course of American history and race relations.

As the Germans waged a brutal war across Europe, details of every Nazi plan, every attack, every troop movement were sent over radio. But to the Allied troops listening in―and they were always listening―the crucial messages sounded like gibberish. The communications were encoded with a powerful cipher, making all information utterly inaccessible … unless you could unlock the key to the secret code behind the German’s powerful Enigma machine.

How did the United States become the country it is today? What led to its creation? Adapted from Pulitzer Prize-winner Rick Atkinson’s deeply researched and stunningly vivid The British Are Coming, the young readers edition explores these questions and so much more as it delves into the American Revolution. A collection of key battles from the beginning of the war, including Lexington and Concord and the Battle of Bunker Hill, sets the scene, telling a story of liberation fraught with contradiction and intrigue.