FREE/BARGAIN — Non-Fiction

[sufue]

This weekend, Joffe's third Free Friday book is a Spanish 1800s royal history, Royal Vendetta, by Theo Aronson. I haven't read anything by Aronson, but he seems to have made a career of writing royal histories. And it's got four-stars on Goodreads, which is pretty good.

Kindle US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08M6CSD29
Kindle UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08M6CSD29

Spoiler:

1833. Spain is gripped by a Civil War that will change everything.

On one side the Carlists sought to return to an absolute monarchy under Carlos de Borbón, on the other the Liberals were fighting to defend constitutional monarchy under Isabella II.

Both branches of the family abounded in colourful characters - the shrewd Maria Cristina, the masculine Infanta Carlota, the effete King Francisco, the suave Duke de Montpensier, the showy Carlos VII, and the licentious Alfonso XII.

The drama unfolded across the world - in the court in the Palacio Real in Madrid, Don Juan dying incognito in a house in Brighton, Isabel living out her voluptuous days in Paris, Carlos VII scheming in his palazzo on the Grand Canal, the future Alfonso XII at Sandhurst, the Infanta Eulalia in Chicago, the son of Alfonso XIII dying in a car accident in the U.S.A.

Royal Vendetta is a story of wars, revolutions, exiles and restorations; a parade of kings, queens, regents and pretenders.

[sufue]

My husband read Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story Of American Submarine Espionage, by Sherry Sontag and Christopher Drew, back around the time it came out and really liked it. It's on sale now in the US for $2.99.

Kindle US: https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/blind-man-s-bluff-14
Kobo US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0089EMLGK

Spoiler:

The secret history of America's submarine warfare is revealed for the first time in this "vividly told, impressively documented," (The New York Times) and fast-paced chronicle of adventure and intrigue during the Cold War.

For decades, only a select and powerful few knew the truth about the submarines that silently roamed the ocean in danger and in stealth, seeking information and advantage. Based on six years of groundbreaking investigation into the “silent service,” Blind Man’s Bluff uncovers an epic story of adventure, courage, victory, and disaster beneath the surface. With an unforgettable array of characters from the Cold War to the twenty-first century, Sontag and Drew recount scenes of secrecy from Washington, DC, to the depths of the sea. A magnificent achievement in investigative reporting, Blind Man’s Bluff reads like a spy thriller with one important difference: everything is true.

[Sumanuil]

This month's free University of Chicago Press ebook is Memory: Fragments of a Modern History.

“Impressive. . . . Winter has done an admirable job synthesizing many diverse sources into a tidy cultural history. . . . A compelling demonstration that the science of memory—like all science—is both a product of and an influence on the culture from which it springs” — Bookforum

[salty-horse]

Verso Books is having an ebook sale.
Until 9th August 2024, all ebooks are 80% off.
https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/blo...ash-ebook-sale

They also have a bunch of free books, like Towers of Ivory and Steel by Maya Wind (Link)

How Israeli universities collaborate in Israeli state violence against Palestinians

Israeli universities have long enjoyed a reputation as liberal bastions of freedom and democracy. Drawing on extensive research and making Hebrew sources accessible to the international community, Maya Wind shatters this myth and documents how Israeli universities are directly complicit in the violation of Palestinian rights.

As this book shows, Israeli universities serve as pillars of Israel's system of oppression against Palestinians. Academic disciplines, degree programs, campus infrastructure, and research laboratories all service Israeli occupation and apartheid, while universities violate the rights of Palestinians to education, stifle critical scholarship, and violently repress student dissent. Towers of Ivory and Steel is a powerful expose of Israeli academia’s ongoing and active complicity in Israel’s settler-colonial project.

[Cactus Chef]

Originally Posted by salty-horse

Verso Books is having an ebook sale.
Until 9th August 2024, all ebooks are 80% off.
https://www.versobooks.com/en-gb/blo...ash-ebook-sale

I feel like I'm going to get on a government watchlist just for looking at this site!

[salty-horse]

Originally Posted by Cactus Chef

I feel like I'm going to get on a government watchlist just for looking at this site!

You should always strive to read what the government doesn't want you to.