Lamar Public Library

Naples, 1750. In the dead of night, three men with swords burst into the palazzo of a marquis. Their leader, the Prince of San Severo, accuses the marquis of being an imposter. Baghdad, 2003. An army unit on a routine mission makes a horrifying discovery: a state- of-the-art, concealed lab where dozens-men, women, children-have died, the subjects of gruesome experiments.

The author, a Navy SEAL, returned from his star-crossed mission in Afghanistan with his bones shattered and his heart broken. So many had given their lives to save him, and he would have readily done the same for them. As he recuperated, he wondered why he and others, from America's founding to today, had been willing to sacrifice everything, including themselves, for the sake of family, nation, and freedom. In this book, we follow the author to...

"At night, in Huda's fragrant garden, a breeze sweeps in from the desert encircling Baghdad, rustling the leaves of her apricot trees and carrying warning of visitors at her gate. Huda, a secretary at the Australian embassy, lives in fear of the mukhabarat-the secret police who watch and listen for any scrap of information that can be used against America and its allies. They have ordered her to befriend Ally Wilson, the deputy ambassador's wife....

Detailed essays, extensive photos, and informative sidebars describe life in ancient Mesopotamia, focusing on Babylon, the Kanesh letters, and Assyria, showing the results of significant archaeological digs; also includes a time line and a bibliography.

Presents the story of Marine Jay Kopelman's efforts to have Lava, a dog found in Fallujah, sent to the United States, at the same time focusing on Iraqi political corruption, miltary bureaucracy, and the sufferings of ordinary Iraqis who have become the innocent victims of the war.

Jocko Willink is author of Extreme Ownership, a decorated retired Navy SEAL officer, and co-founder of Echelon Front, where he is a leadership instructor, speaker, and executive coach. Jocko spent 20 years in the U.S. Navy SEAL Teams, starting as an enlisted SEAL and rising through the ranks to become a SEAL officer. As commander of SEAL Team Three's Task Unit Bruiser during the battle of Ramadi, he orchestrated SEAL operations that helped the "Ready...

Entrusted with her late husband's discovery of extraterrestrial life and enlisted by her dead husband's friend, anthropologist Pierre Saad, to help him smuggle a newly discovered artifact out of Egypt -- an ancient codex concerning the human authorship of the Book of Genesis -- Lucy Bergmann crash lands her plane on a slip of land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in the Middle East. Burned in the crash landing, she is rescued by Adam, a delusional...

The remarkable true story of one soldier's death in battle, another soldier's journey of discovery and a nation's reverence and gratitude toward its war dead. After hearing of the heroic death of a young Marine in Iraq, veteran officer Lt. Colonel Michael Strobl volunteers to escort the remains of Lance Corporal Chance Phelps back to his hometown in Wyoming. As Strobl crosses America's heartland, he will find himself on an unexpectedly emotional journey...

In this exposé by radical journalist Scahill, you will meet BLACKWATER USA, the world's most secretive and powerful mercenary firm. Based in the wilderness of North Carolina, it is the fastest-growing private army on the planet, with forces capable of carrying out regime change throughout the world. Blackwater protects the top US officials in Iraq, and yet we know almost nothing about the firm's quasi-military operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and...