Thanks to Gavin Davies of John Hunt Publishing, I am giving away one print copy of ‘In the shadows Of An Enigma’ by Alex Rosenberg. This giveaway also includes his 2020 publication of ‘The Intrigues of Jennie Lee’.
Description In the shadows Of An Enigma by Alex Rosenberg
The greatest undisclosed secret of the war haunts the lives of 4 people across three continents and 15 years.
In this standalone sequel to The Girl From Krakow, the greatest undisclosed secret of the Second World War haunts the lives of four people across three continents and fifteen years.
The only Second World War secret not revealed soon thereafter was that the Allies had broken the German Enigma codes. This secret was kept for 30 years after the war. In the Shadows of Enigma is a 15 year-long narrative of how knowing the secret changed the lives of four people: Rita Feuerstahl, who learned that the German Enigma had been deciphered by the Poles just before she escaped a Polish ghetto, Gil Romero, her prewar lover whom Rita marries after the war, Stefan Sajac, the infant son Rita had smuggled out of the ghetto and lost track of, and Otto Schulke, the German Gestapo detective who apprehended Rita during the war and suspected that she knew the secret of the Enigma’s decoding.
Praise In the shadows Of An Enigma by Alex Rosenberg
I’d read The Girl from Krakow so was looking forward to reading another of Rosenberg’s book with eager anticipation and I was not disappointed. Firstly, the quality of the writing style was reliably exquisite and I enjoyed reading the words, as much as the story. The story itself was a fascinating insight into the unique challenges of life in post-war Germany There is a theme of leaving, sacrifice and returning that is woven through the novel. I was gripped from beginning to — Kate Kennett ― Netgalley
I just loved this beautifully written story which gives a fascinating insight in the lives of people in those difficult times after the war……… — Jannelies Smit ― Netgalley
A brilliant novel with a seamless blend of fact and fiction. I found the novel compulsive reading and a ‘sit on the edge of your seat’ ending. For those who enjoy espionage thrillers, this should certainly be amongst those at the top of their reading list. I loved it. — Jill Walker – Netgalley
About Alex Rosenberg
Alex Rosenberg is a professor of philosophy at Duke University, North Carolina, and he has written extensively in this field, most notably his 2011 book, The Atheist’s Guide to Reality which was widely reviewed in the NY Times, New Republic, The Atlantic and more. As a novelist, Alex is the author of two historical thrillers, The Girl From Krakow and Autumn in Oxford. The Intrigues of Jennie Lee is his first novel from
Publisher: Sunbury Press, February 2019 Category: Memoir, History, Military, WWII, and Biography Tour Dates June and July, 2020 ISBN: 978-1620061145 Available in Print and ebook, 284 pages
Description Keeping the Lights On for Ike by Rebecca Daniels
Daily Life of a Utilities Engineer at AFHQ in Europe During WWII; or, What to Say in Letters Home When You’re Not Allowed to Write about the War
Most people don’t realize that during the war in Europe in the 1940s, it took an average of six support soldiers to make the work of four combat soldiers possible. Most of what’s available in the literature tends toward combat narratives, and yet the support soldiers had complex and unique experiences as well. This book is based on personal correspondence, and it is primarily a memoir that creates a picture of the day-to-day realities of an individual soldier told in his own words [as much as he could tell under the wartime rules of censorship, that is] as well as giving insight into what it was actually like to be an American soldier during WWII.
It explores the experiences of a non-combat Army utilities engineer working in a combat zone during the war in Europe and takes the protagonist from basic training through various overseas assignments—in this case to England, North Africa, and Italy as a support soldier under Eisenhower and his successors at Allied Force Headquarters. It also includes some reflections about his life after returning to Oregon when the war was over.
The soldier involved is Captain Harold Alec Daniels [OSU, Class of 1939, ROTC] and most of the letters were written to his wife, Mary Daniels [attended U of O in the late 1930s]. They are the author’s parents, and she inherited the letter collection, photos, and all other primary source materials after her mother’s death in 2006.
Praise Keeping the Lights On for Ike by Rebecca Daniels
“The book moves swiftly along, while at the same time capturing the frustration of their prolonged separation. The historical timeline provides just the right bit of historical context to these war years behind at the tail of the army. This is not the typical WWII combat book.”- The Montague Reporter
“The lack of military detail — the focus on everyday life and on the relationship between Alec and Mary — ends up being one of the book’s greatest assets. Many works of history detail the story of great battles. Fewer dwell on individual wartime experiences. The book is also strengthened by the affection expressed in Alec’s relatively inarticulate yet moving letters to his wife on the home front.”- Tinky Weisblat, Greenfield Recorder, author of “The Pudding Hollow Cookbook,” “Pulling Taffy,” and “Love, Laughter, and Rhubarb”
“Carefully researched history and a beautiful remembrance of one soldier’s letters home. A poignant and personal look into the lives of two very private people and an extraordinary first hand example of why it’s called the Greatest Generation. In detail and in truly first class research one is left with the sense that they know these two people very well. Not only is this a well written historical account of World War II, it is a touching and gentle love story from a remarkable author with a most deft touch and turn. Got five stars from me. So worth it.”-W. Richards, Amazon
“This book made me feel almost like I was right there with Alec and Mary as they experienced that time of their lives. My parents, being the same age, also had a similar experience and I thought of them as I read every word. The author cleverly brought to life their story and for that I shall be forever grateful.”- Sunbury Press Reader Review
Excerpt Keeping the Lights On for Ike by Rebecca Daniels
An officer, possibly Lt. Col. W.E. Northrop (one of Alec’s “bosses”), with two members of the 149th Post Headquarters Company of WAACs in Algiers.
Excerpt from Chapter 7: Settling Into Algiers (January—April 1943)
At this point in January, it’s clear he had received more letters from her and that she had been complaining about a gender double standard, possibly in relation to the fact that women were not permitted to serve in the military at that time, so she was forbidden to join up to be near him:
What you say about the double standard is quite true. In fact, too true. It is a shame the people have to consider that women must be different from men. It must be an inheritance we have from the Arabs. For even the Arab women think women are nothing and are disgusted when they have girl children. The Arab women have no rights at all, are purchased as wives and told to scram when the man wants a divorce. The Arabs also have more than one wife if they can afford it. That has its good points and its bad ones. At times, why more than one wife might be enjoyable, as I do like women, but if I had more than one wife there would be something lacking between me and my wives. You see, just by my being your hub alone and you being my wif (his pet name for her) alone there is a close relationship that exists between us and I wouldn’t want to change it for all the queens in the world, and there are some beauties here as I have seen when going through the town. There seem to be more beautiful women here than there were in England. I don’t imagine I will be meeting any, though, as I have very little spare time in the day and every place closes after 7:30 at night. Then, too, there is the difference between the languages. (January 8, 1943)
Early in the war, many men, including members of Congress, the press, and the military establishment, had joked about the notion of women serving in the military, but as America increasingly recognized the demands of conducting a war on two fronts—Japan and Germany—leaders also faced an acute manpower shortage. So, in May 1942, the House and the Senate approved a bill creating the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC). At first, though the women who joined considered themselves in the Army, technically they were civilians working with the Army. By spring of 1943, however, 60,000 women had volunteered, and finally, in July 1943, a new congressional bill transformed the WAAC into the Women’s Army Corps (WAC), giving the women true military status.[i] In late January, Alec wrote:
The WAACs have taken over here now and things are in a hubbub to get them fixed up. They seem to be a very conscientious bunch and very much enthusiastic about the work, and also a little acclimated to Army life. I understand some of them can and do swear as bad as any of the soldiers, but that’s only the minority. As for any getting jealous, it’s not necessary as they are by far a homely bunch and I never have enough spare time to do any chasing, which I don’t care about doing anyway. All I want to do with my spare time is sleep and possibly go to a movie. (January 31, 1943)
In a special history of the Women’s Army Corps, published by the Army’s Center of Military History, the group of women Alec described in January of 1943, was identified as a unique unit:
The 149th WAAC Post Headquarters Company, called by newspapers “the first American women’s expeditionary force in history,” was one of the most highly qualified WAAC groups ever to reach the field. Hand-picked and all-volunteer, almost all members were linguists as well as qualified specialists, and almost all eligible for officer candidate school. The company was shipped from the United States on a regular military transport, which encountered no enemy action. …
The unit reported on 27 January 1943 to General Eisenhower’s headquarters in Algiers, a location now considered safe, except for air attack, from the conflict still raging to the east. …Working hours were long; women were carried in trucks to the headquarters at an early hour, and home again for an early curfew. The nightly bombings, with brilliant displays of antiaircraft fire, made sleep difficult for the first weeks.
Nevertheless, most women managed a satisfactory adjustment. … Morale was high, and women called themselves the luckiest in the Corps. …
The largest part of the company went to the Signal Corps and to the newly organized Central Postal Directory. Others were assigned, by twos and threes, to various headquarters offices: three to the Office of Psychological Warfare; three to the adjutant general’s office; one as General Eisenhower’s secretary and one as his driver; more than a half dozen to drive other officers. Ten more were assigned as cooks and bakers to keep food ready for workers on three shifts.[ii]
Alec having lunch with two of the WAACs at AFHQ.
Based on Alec’s reaction to things Mary said in her letters, it seemed that she might have been thinking of becoming a WAAC in hopes of being closer to him. He tried to dissuade her, but not because he disapproved of women in the military:
You have hinted so much about the WAACs that I must say it would probably be interesting to you if you could get to travel, but you would never get to see me, as that is forbidden. So make up your own mind, as I am quite a ways away to do it for you. Many of the soldiers don’t seem to like the fact that the WACs are over here. What I think is it is jealousness in finding that women can get into a war as well as men. I think lots of the soldiers feel that they are protecting their women and so want them to stay where they are safe. Personally I think it is a good idea to have them here, as they are just suited to some of the work that must be done. Anyway I think a woman’s place is where she wants to be, not where someone puts her because of her sex. (undated, probably mid-March 1943)
This was an unusual point of view for a man of his time. In fact, a reporter in Washington, DC, printed the protest of a soldier to his girl, who wanted to join the Women’s Army Corps: “‘I won’t have a girl of mine called a WAC.’ When the girl defended the [idea] the soldier said firmly: ‘All right, you can be a WAC, but you won’t be mine.’”[iii] ________________________________________________________________________
[i] Women in the Army online, “Creation of the Women’s Army Corps,” accessed October 17, 2016, https://www.army.mil/women/history/wac.html. [ii] Mattie E. Treadwell, The Women’s Army Corps. Center of Military History US Army, Washington, DC, 1954: 381. [iii] Richard R. Lingeman Don’t You Know There’s a War On? The American Home Front 1941-1945. G.P. Putnam’s Sons, New York, 1970: 161.
About Rebecca Daniels
Rebecca Daniels has been a university professor for many years who has also simultaneously had a vital creative career in the theatre. Throughout her career, her work has always been a mix of performance, teaching, and her own writing.
Her groundbreaking book on women directors and the effects of gender on their work is currently still in print [Women Stage Directors Speak: Exploring the Effects of Gender on Their Work, McFarland, 1996], and she has been published in several theatre-related professional journals over the years as well. After her retirement in the summer of 2015, she was finally able to focus all her energies on this book.
Giveaway Keeping the Lights On for Ike by Rebecca Daniels
This giveaway is for 1 print copy open to Canada and the U.S. only. There are also 2 pdf copies open worldwide. There will be 3 winners. This giveaway ends August 1, 2020,midnight pacific time. Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only.
Medellin: Acapulco Cold ( Rick Fontain Book 3) by Bill Fortin
Publisher: Cold War Publications (May, 2019) Category: Action/Adventure, Cold War, Military, Crime, Historical Fiction Tour dates: July/August, 2019 ISBN: 978-0996478670 Available in Print and ebook, 356 pages
Description Medellin: Acapulco Cold ( Rick Fontain 3) by Bill Fortin
In March 1987, the CIA’s Operation Acapulco Cold took on the Medellín cartel. The journey would be dangerous. The alternative for not recovering the nuke would be too horrible to imagine.
A theft occurs as a result of President Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev’s treaty agreement in January 1986. Russian SS-20 medium-range missiles were removed from Eastern Europe and their nuclear MIRV packages removed. A shadow group inside the failing Russian government steals three of the nose-cone assembles.
A Russian named Geonov is charged with selling one of these devices to the Medellin cartel. The asking price was $40 million dollars in cash. Pablo Escobar did not even blink when he was offered one. Operation Acapulco Cold is the detailed action taken by the CIA to address this life-altering situation.
Trailer Medellin: Acapulco Cold (Rick Fontain 3) by Bill Fortin
Excerpt Medellin: Acapulco Cold ( Rick Fontain 3) by Bill Fortin
In 1953, at the age of 25, Geonov was posted to Mexico City where he learned Spanish and met Raúl Castro. It was onboard a ship while he was returning from a European youth festival. When he arrived in Mexico, he was given an assignment to a minor post in the Soviet Embassy.
In 1955, Geonov met Che Guevara through Raúl Castro in Mexico City. If you have studied the works of WEB Griffin, you can clearly see that this happenstance was not going to benefit the United States. Geonov proceeded to violate embassy procedures by befriending Guevara who was fascinated with the Soviet way of life. Guevara’s questions prompted Geonov to provide him with a variety of Soviet books, magazines, and pamphlets. Both men promised to keep in touch, and so they did.
Recalled to Moscow in November 1956, Geonov was discharged from the Foreign Service. He went to work as a Spanish translator for the state-run Soviet Spanish-language publishing company, Editorial Progreso. Two years later, in the late summer of 1958, he was drafted into the KGB. In that same year, on 1 September, Valentin Geonov, began a two-year training course as an intelligence officer. This was interrupted by the Cuban Revolution. In October 1959, his training was halted. He was ordered by the newly appointed Soviet deputy premier, Anastas Mikoyan, to accompany him to Mexico.
In February 1960, Mikoyan took Geonov on an arranged visit to Havana, Cuba. Geonov made a gift of a handgun to his old friend Che Guevara on behalf of Mother Russia. Geonov return to Mexico City the next month as a senior KGB officer with a rank of major. During the October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, he coordinated the intelligence reporting from his agents in Florida.
All information-gathering on American military preparations during the saga of missiles in Cuba was his responsibility. Geonov noted in his written assessment of the crisis in Cuba that at no time would there be any danger of war. He stated on more than one occasion that a nuclear confrontation was not very likely. Also, just as an aside, it is unclear whether or not he befriended a man named Lee Harvey Oswald during his time in Mexico . . . and the moon is made entirely of blue cheese!
Geonov did provide his services as an interpreter to Fidel Castro on the dictators’ visit to the Soviet Union in 1963. In 1968, as I was making my way through the missile ranges of White Sands and Fort Bliss, Geonov was recalled to Moscow, where he again was promoted to senior analyst on Caribbean, Central, South, and North America policy.
A report he compiled in 1975 recognized the growing peril to the power of the Soviet Union in geopolitical terms. Citing the example of the British Empire, he warned that the Soviet commitments should be tailored to a few key areas. This recommendation would allow Soviet influence to be able to operate in a more efficient fashion and with a higher success rate. One section of the report suggested the establishment of a Soviet foot- hold on the Arabian Peninsula, the most Marxist country at the time in this region. Of course we have all been exposed to how unimportant the ports, coastline, and airfields in South Yemen are viewed in today’s world.
Praise Stinger: Operation Cyclone (Rick Fontain 2) by Bill Fortin
“Maryland author Bill Fortin served in the US Army 3rd Armor Division from 1968 to 1970 he understands and has witness the horrors of war and its aftermath on soldiers. He places the facts of the Cold War before us in a manner that will prevent us from forgetting that period in history and its impact on global politics today. Not only is he a very fine writer, but he also is a standard bearer who reminds the reader of the atrocities of the Cold War and the manner in which we as a country dealt with it. Very highly recommended.- Grady Harp, Amazon Hall of Fame & Top 100 Reviewer
“Stinger Operation Cyclone was a page turner from page 1. I was swept in and ended up on a fast paced ride to the end. Bill Fontin knows how to weave a story with the details, descriptions of people and places to intrigue the reader and keep you engaged. Fontin writes expertly about the Middle East and military topics in a way that your drawn in and unable to put the book down. A cast of characters from each location of the story is provided at the end that helps keep the reader involved in this fast paced story. I look forward to reading more in the series.”-Sherry, My Reading Journeys
“I really like this Book 2 in the Rick Fontain series by Bill Fortin. Bill Fortin is a US Army veteran himself, and has chosen to write some excellent “cold war” fiction, describing the day-to-day implementation of “Charlie Wilson’s War” which described the US assistance to the Afghan mujahideen. I agree with other readers who reported that this book felt like reading history. The first person narrative is as lively and engaging as the depiction of the Battle of Gettysburg in KILLER ANGELS by Michael Shaara. There is excellent dialogue and interesting interplay between CIA operative Rick, along with US Army Special Forces, Delta Force, and the Afghan mujahideen fighting the invading Soviet goliath. It was fascinating for me to read the ground-level description of how this new technology allowed the Afghans, most often fighting from horseback, to level the playing-field with the Soviets. I served in Afghanistan 2002-2003, and really appreciated his word pictures of the terrain. Strong work, Bill Fortin. I look forward to the third in the series.”- Robert Enzenauer, Amazon Review
Praise Redeye Fulda Cold: (Rick Fontain 1) by Bill Fortin
“With a smooth, wry touch, Bill Fortin spins a page-turning Cold War tale capturing both the great bravery and the occasional comic moments — some intentional, some classic SNAFUs — of U.S. military intelligence saving the world from Russia invasion.”- W.E.B. Griffin & William E. Butterworth IV, #1 New York Times and Wall Street Journal Bestselling Authors
““Bill Fortin’s, Redeye Fulda Cold, is a historically accurate, yet humorous account of one soldier’s mission during the Cold War. Although written as fiction, the novel is an exercise in authenticity, with stretches illuminating the technical expertise required for a unit to accommodate seemingly never-ending revisions to Cold War objectives. Fortin cloaks the technical military facts and technology in character moments, using them to highlight Fontain’s sarcasm and tongue-in-cheek humor. Can’t wait to read the next Rick Fontain novel!”-Lisa Wieman Meerdter, Amazon Review
About Bill Fortin
Bill Fortin served in the United States Army, 3rd Armored Division, from 1968 to 1970. He retired from AT&T/Lucent Bell Labs in 2001 and is currently the CEO of Cold War Publications. Bill earned a Bachelor and Master degrees in Management Sciences from the University of Baltimore.
A native of Westminster, Maryland Bill is an active member of Rotary and retains membership in the Association of the 3AD. He is married to Judy and is surrounded by a host of 4-legged children (Border Collies and cats) plus 2 very noisy feathered companions.
Giveaway Medellin: Acapulco Cold (Rick Fontain 3) by Bill Fortin
This giveaway is for 3 winners choice of one print or ebook copy of the book. Print is open to the U.S. only and ebook is available worldwide. This giveaway ends August 30, 2019, midnight pacific time. Entries are accepted via Rafflecopter only. a Rafflecopter giveaway
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In the shadows Of An Enigma by Alex Rosenberg
