Books with author Earle Rice

From a ragtag collection of former colonial militia to the cutting-edge fighting force of the twenty-first century, the United States Army has always answered the call to serve its country. Today, its members are needed throughout the world to protect U.S. interests, provide humanitarian aid, and to maintain peace. The U.S. Army and Military Careers takes the reader inside this military branch s history, describing its current operations and structure, exploring the career paths it offers, and spotlighting the equipment and the soldiers who keep America free.

With the exception of the Sioux, the Cheyenne are perhaps the best known of all the Plains Indians. Famous for their fighting qualities, they fought a series of unforgettable battles with the U.S. Army and white settlers seeking to seize their lands and alter their lifestyle. They claimed a place in history at the Powder River, the Rosebud, and the Little Bighorn. Against the irrepressible surge of U.S. westward expansion during the 1800s, Cheyenne warriors fought and died for the land they loved.-- Publisher's description.

Terror has plagued the world since men in caves flailed away at each other with sticks and stones. Today, international terrorism has become a form of warfare. The U.S. Department of Defense defines terrorism as “the unlawful use of—or threatened use of—force or violence against individuals or property to coerce or intimidate governments or societies.” The American way of life changed forever when 19 Islamic terrorists flew fuel-laden aircraft—flying bombs—into the World Trade Center in New York City and the Pentagon in Washington, DC, on September 11, 2001.

In January 2006, Palestinian voters shocked the Western world by giving Hamas a majority of seats in the parliamentary elections. Stunned Westerners found it hard to imagine how the blood-soaked Islamist terrorist organization could have won the support that brought it to power. Western thinkers found it harder yet to envisage how a Hamas government would play a positive role in Palestinian-Israeli relations. Hamas, an acronym for an Arab phrase meaning Islamic Resistance Movement, emerged from a Muslim Brotherhood branch in Palestine in 1987. At its birth, Hamas announced its intention to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine. It vowed to murder Jews across the world. Its charter declared, Allah as its goal, the Prophet [Muhammad] is the model, the Qur an its constitution, jihad its path, and death for the sake of Allah its most sublime belief. Since then, Hamas has left little doubt about its aims.

Hezbollah Lebanon s Party of Allah wears many faces. Founded by Muslim clerics following Israel s invasion of Lebanon in 1982, it is a powerful political party, a Shia Islamic religious and social movement, Lebanon s largest militia, and a close ally of Iran. Originally, Hezbollah s reason for being was to resist the Israel invaders. Over time, it grew from a small militia to a paramilitary group more powerful than the Lebanese Army. Trained and funded by Iran, it maintains close ties with its benefactor. As a political order, it holds seats with veto power in the Lebanese government. And as a religious and social movement, Hezbollah operates hospitals, clinics, schools, and centers for agricultural training and assistance. Eclipsing whatever good it may do for Lebanese citizens, Hezbollah is known best for the evil it does around the globe as one of the world s foremost terrorist groups. Some call it the Party of Satan.

Boko Haram is running wild, spreading death and destruction deep in the heart of Africa. Its very name has become a national symbol for fear in Nigeria. Allied with the Islamic State, and inspired by a distorted vision of a worldwide caliphate, the threat of its presence casts a dark shadow over the lives of all Nigerians within its grasp. And its grasp is spreading. Roughly translated, Boko Haram means Western education is forbidden. Its members abhor Western influence on traditional Islamic teachings and seek to suppress it. In their quest to establish a world ruled by Sharia (Islamic) law, they routinely kill or maim anything or anyone they consider un-Islamic. Boko Haram is most notorious for its kidnapping of nearly 300 schoolgirls in the town of Chibok in 2014. Most of the girls remain in captivity. The terrorist group has also carried out many bombings and murderous attacks on schools, churches, villages, police stations, and other targets.

A new kind of war came to America on September 11, 2001. It came on the silver wings of four Boeing jet liners. Middle Eastern hijackers turned four commercial aircraft into flying bombs. Two jets smashed into the twin towers at New York Citys World Trade Center. A third rammed into the Pentagon in Virginias Arlington County. And a fourth crashed short of its intended target in a remote Pennsylvania field. Almost 3,000 people died on that bright autumnal day in September. It was a day that Americans promised to never forgeta day that America declared war on terrorists. Responsibility for the heinous attacks went unclaimed for three years. On October 29, 2004, Osama bin Laden, leader of the terrorist group al-Qaeda, finally announced that he had ordered the 9/11 attacks. Today, Osama bin Laden is dead, killed by Navy SEALs on May 2, 2011. But al-Qaeda is alive and welland still represents a real threat to all Americans.