Western Wars

"Bones" Malone earned his moniker collecting buffalo bones on the plains. Even in 1881, Bones is still haunted by his role in the war 18 years earlier. Now his cousin, Wade, has started a big ranch in the area. Bones cannot escape the past, or the idea that he is the designated protector of the Malone family. He will have to reconcile his past and the conflicts of the present, including his relationships with Wade and his wife, Sassy - the woman Bones had once loved.

Through the discovery of a precious friendship album which belonged to 12-year-old Alie, a Jewish schoolgirl in Amsterdam, Claudia Carli has traced and preserved the lives of an entire class of girls, most of whom did not survive the war. Alie and her friends are brought touchingly and vividly to life, along with their writings, in this extraordinary book. Their everyday hopes, pleasures and longings are offset by the constant fear of a knock on the door, a missing friend from class, a family member taken away.

George Mergenthaler, the grandson of the inventor of the Linotype, was an only child, and at the time of his birth in 1920, became the sole male heir the family fortune. Tall, handsome, Ivy League educated, speaking fluent German and French, "Merg" as he was know to his friends, did what many in his generation did following the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor: He enlisted in the Army.

Born and raised a cowboy, Vietnam vet Joshua Jacobs looks out across the West Texas plain. All the land stretching to the uncluttered western horizon is his. From just a patch of land, he built an empire, one he runs by his own rules. Yet, Joshua learned a hard lesson...that his family couldn’t be run the same way. Joshua deeply regretted not being on speaking terms with his only son when James died serving his country. James’s wife Katy never forgave Joshua for trying to run their lives. Heartache upon heartache, Joshua’s beloved wife Sarah passed away not long after.

When an old friend’s family is massacred, legendary mountain man Smoke Jensen hits the vengeance trail. He’s soon riding into a bloody Colorado war that has militia cavalry volunteers and Kiowa warriors stalking each other across the territory — matching kill for kill, outrage for outrage. Defying both sides, Smoke uncovers a sinister conspiracy to set ranchers and Kiowas at each other’s throats.

Laura Elliston and William Kindle are on the run - from the army and from every miscreant in the West eager to claim the $500 bounty for Laura's capture as their own. But the danger isn't just from those pursuing them. Laura and Kindle both have demons of their own and pasts that won't stay dead. Exhausted, scared, scarred, and surrounded by enemies, neither realizes the greatest danger is yet to come.

This engrossing and meticulously researched volume reexamines the decisions made by Dwight D. Eisenhower and his staff in the crucial months leading up to the Battle of the Bulge. In late August 1944, defeat of the Wehrmacht seemed assured. On December 16, however, the Germans counterattacked. Received wisdom says that Eisenhower's Broad Front strategy caused his armies to stall in early September, and his subsequent failure to concentrate his forces brought about deadlock.

Robbers Roost was a hideout for outlaws and hunted men long before Butch Cassidy found it in 1884. The wastelands of the high desert in Southeastern Utah seemed impenetrable. Cut through by canyons along the Green and Colorado rivers, bounded by the Dirty Devil river, the terrain was a natural barrier discouraging lawmen from pursuit.

The war between the Protestant Netherlands, mostly led by William of Orange, and Catholic Spain was one of the marks in Dutch history. This war had determined the beliefs of many people who now lived along the three rivers that went through the country. Most of the people north of the rivers were Protestant, and most of the believers below them (even throughout Belgium as well) were Catholic. This was no coincidence. The war in the 1600s had become a symbol of Dutch resistance, independence, and the royal family (of Orange).

Fred Bracken, son of a small-town Montana rancher, enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1968 and was sent to the jungles of Vietnam, where he served his time in the elite Marine Force Recon. Months later, wounded and fraught with nightmares, he returns home to his Montana ranch to face not only the demons of his childhood but also those he brought home with him from the jungle. His plans? College, marriage, and a normal future. The problem is, after a drunk driver kills his parents in a car crash, Fred is forced to drop out of school to run the ranch now heavily in debt.

On the run from trouble in 1824 St. Louis, James Beckwourth joins an expedition out West. As a freed slave, he struggles for respect, but makes a name for himself as a fighter in engagements with hostile tribes. He is captured by the Crow, who mistake him for a lost member of their tribe, kidnapped as a child. Celebrated in his own time but forgotten since, this is the astonishing story of James Beckwourth: A freed slave who became a prominent war chief of the Crow tribe, and later returned to white society on his own terms.

Edward Jennings travels from the Eastern battlefields of the Civil War to turbulent New Mexico Territory's Tularosa Basin in his quest for a fresh start! This land of sun-blasted desert is empty for a reason. Harsh nature, wild Indians, and desperate refugees are only a few of the obstacles in his way!

In the shadow of a nation’s rebirth, two brothers ride against the echoes of war. As America struggles to mend its divided heart after the Civil War, the peace Elijah and Moses Barber worked so hard to achieve in Omaha is shattered by a vengeful blaze. As the transcontinental railroad pioneers a new frontier, it stirs a brutal gang hell-bent on keeping the past's violent embers alight.

Matt Stone rode a huge, sleek black horse with a bullet scar showing in white hairs across one flank. Its name was Lucky. That horse had carried him through Gettysburg alive, and then taken him west, where he'd spent three years wandering, trying to get the echoes of battle out of his head. He managed to escape death in Gettysburg, and just when he begins to believe he has something good with Anne, destiny takes a shot and sends everything spinning out of control.

Orphaned at the age of seven and adopted by Indians, Jami Ian MacCallister grew into a man more at ease in the wilderness than among men. But when the westward strike drove him across the Arkansas Territory into Texas, he finally found himself a home — in the middle of a bloody war. Texans like Jim Bowie and Sam Houston were waging a fierce struggle against Santa Ana’s Mexican army and Jami MacCallister made the perfect scout for the fledgling volunteer force. What lay ahead of them was a place called the Alamo, 13 days of blood, dust, and courage.

It was supposed to be a cozy winter in their new cabin, but it started with a cantankerous grizzly wreaking havoc on everything. After a trading foray to visit the Salish, everything seemed to get turned upside down. They found themselves in contested territory with a band of young bucks from the Siksika band that sought to gain scalps and captives from their sworn enemies, the Salish. And that wasn’t enough to upset their peaceful plans, but when Gabe found out the Blackfoot had stolen the mares bred by his stallion and were carrying foals that belonged to him, it became personal.

This gripping tale follows Paul and his mates as they navigate the horror, boredom, and stupidity of the First World War. We see the pain of one comrade, who loses a leg, while his friends covet the pair of boots he can no longer wear. We follow Paul’s company as it is whittled down in combat from 150 men to 32. Paul, wounded, goes home on leave, but he feels alienated from his family, who do not understand what he has gone through and to whom he cannot explain it.

Frank Christian and Morg Wheelon were going to build something great. After the two veteran cattle punchers saved up enough to start their own outfit, Frank was to ride down to Texas and buy whatever herd he could, then bring them up the Chisholm Trail through Indian country to the rich grasslands of the Cheyenne in Wyoming. Morg would be waiting with the grazing rights in hand. It was a risky plan, but Frank and Morg weren’t about to give up their dream.

The story of Texas Ranger Zack Branson continues when he is reassigned to El Paso, Texas. He collaborates with his cousin, US Marshal Cal Branson, to try to control the rustling and banditry on the border between the US and Mexico. Zack and Cal chase a group of Mexican bandits across the Rio Grande River, confront them in a cantina at a small pueblo, and get involved in a shootout. While Cal is honeymooning, Zack and El Paso County Sheriff White go after cattle rustlers that were busted out of jail. Who will walk away and who will die is uncertain until the last shot is fired.

This meticulously researched book reveals how the Revolution’s attack on tradition—from the Church to family structures—created a new order still felt today. Whether you're a history enthusiast or curious about the forces that shaped Western modernity, this book uncovers the Revolution's war on established authority and its far-reaching effects.