Books with author Mark Thomason

In May 1915, Italy declared war on the Habsburg Empire. Nearly 750,000 Italian troops were killed in savage, hopeless fighting on the stony hills north of Trieste and in the snows of the Dolomites. To maintain discipline, General Luigi Cadorna restored the Roman practice of decimation, executing random members of units that retreated or rebelled.With elegance and pathos, historian Mark Thompson relates the saga of the Italian front, the nationalist frenzy and political intrigues that preceded the conflict, and the towering personalities of the statesmen, generals, and writers drawn into the heart of the chaos. A work of epic scale, The White War does full justice to the brutal and heart-wrenching war that inspired Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms.

In May 1915, Italy declared war on the Habsburg Empire. Nearly 750,000 Italian troops were killed in savage, hopeless fighting on the stony hills north of Trieste and in the snows of the Dolomites. To maintain discipline, General Luigi Cadorna restored the Roman practice of decimation, executing random members of units that retreated or rebelled.With elegance and pathos, historian Mark Thompson relates the saga of the Italian front, the nationalist frenzy and political intrigues that preceded the conflict, and the towering personalities of the statesmen, generals, and writers drawn into the heart of the chaos. A work of epic scale, The White War does full justice to the brutal and heart-wrenching war that inspired Hemingway's A Farewell to Arms.

Moonrunner brings Casey a j3-month old filly to raise. The filly almost dies from lack of milk. He takes Little Lady across the Mitta Mitta River to visit the wild stallion and gets caught in a flood. Little Lady runs away in the storm. Moonrunner fights another stallion to get her back. When Casey finally returns home, his parents are gone. His mother has typhoid so his parents went to a hospital in Melbourne. Casey runs the farm alone, and goes to school, while he searches for his grandfather's buried box of gold. The entire school comes to the farm at the end to help Casey preserve the fruits and vegetables for winter.

Moonrunner is hurt. Casey nurses him back to health. Little Lady is now over two years old. Casey and his gang scare the Chinese along Livingston Creek. Casey tries to protect a Chinese girl. The gang turn on him. Casey is hurt and must stay in the Chinese camp. Casey races Little Lady in the half-mile race but she doesn't have the spirit to win. He races Moonrunner and wins. He gives the money to Pui Yee to bring her father back from China. Pui Yee's grandfather travels to China but comes back empty and dies. Moonrunner fights a panther to save Casey's life. He races Little Lady in the two-mile race and, by default, wins the race. Pui Yee goes to China and brings her father back. Casey now has a girlfriend.

A very determined boy being bullied at school forms an unbreakable bond with a wild brumby stallion in 1895 Australia. Casey just immigrated from America. At first, he hates Australia. He works to earn his horse Lady, then enters her in a race to save Moonrunner's life. Lady must winter with the wild brumby because they have no money for feed. Moonrunner shows Casey how to love the wild country called around the Mitta Mitta River.

In May 1915, Italy declared war on the Habsburg Empire, hoping to seize its 'lost' territories of Trieste and Tyrol. The result was one of the most hopeless and senseless modern wars - and one that inspired great cruelty and destruction. Nearly three-quarters of a million Italians - and half as many Austro-Hungarian troops - were killed. Most of the deaths occurred on the bare grey hills north of Trieste, and in the snows of the Dolomite Alps. Outsiders who witnessed these battles were awestruck by the difficulty of attacking on such terrain. General Luigi Cadorna, most ruthless of all the Great War commanders, restored the Roman practice of 'decimation', executing random members of units that retreated or rebelled. Italy sank into chaos and, eventually, fascism. Its liberal traditions did not recover for a quarter of a century - some would say they have never recovered. Mark Thompson relates this nearly incredible saga with great skill and pathos. Much more than a history of terrible violence, the book tells the whole story of the war: the nationalist frenzy that led up to it, the decisions that shaped it, the poetry it inspired, its haunting landscapes and political intrigues; the personalities of its statesmen and generals; and also the experience of ordinary soldiers - among them some of modern Italy's greatest writers. A work of epic scale, The White War does full justice to one of the most remarkable untold stories of the First World War.