During its darkest hour Switzerland was surrounded by aggressive fascist armies, with no allies within reach, its politicians quavering, and its people beginning to lose hope of retaining their freedom. General Henri Guisan stepped into this miasma of growing despair. In July 1940, he assembled the entire Swiss officer corps at the Rutli Meadow, the spot where pike-wielding herdsmen had formed the Swiss Confederation in 1291. Invoking the spirit of their medieval forebears, he informed his officers that Switzerland would fight back against any invader, and if they ran out of ammunition they would use the bayonet. Switzerland, he declared, would never surrender. Guisan lit a torch that would guide the Continent's only remaining democracy until the end of the war. The key to his military strategy was shifting the main strength of the Swiss Army to the Alps. This controversial policy conceded population centers but it also negated German superiority in armor and aircraft. If the Nazis invaded they would only open a bleeding sore that they would not be able to close. Though the Wehrmacht drew up numerous invasion plans, it never took the gamble. As a military man who became the spiritual leader of his country, Guisan was a rarity in the history of democratic nations. His guidance, along with the Swiss system of universal male conscription, meant that the Germans, had they invaded, would have been fighting not just an army but a people. This definitive biography of General Guisan not only describes a man of great complexity and courage, but a fascinating aspect of World War II. WILLI GAUTSCHI is the author of numerous works, including "The National Strike of 1918" and "Lenin as an Emigrant in Switzerland." Having retired from teaching history at the University of Zurich, he currently lives in Baden.

General Henri Guisan: Commander-in-Chief of the Swiss Army in World War II

Biographies & Memoirs

Willi Gautschi

Leaders & Notable People

Front Street Press

This book focuses on the delicate connection between the head of Swiss Intelligence, Colonel Roger Masson, and the German Chief of Espionage, SS General Walter Schellenberg. The author had access to hitherto inaccessible documents, including newly discovered material in American archives, to fully illuminate this secret connection for the first time. The book also includes surprising new details about the alarming military threats Switzerland faced in March 1943. Masson's extraordinary secret channel to Berlin was not, of course, the only Swiss intelligence operation during the war. Braunschweig outlines in detail the gradual buildup, tasks and functions of Swiss Intelligence during World War II. He furthermore describes conflicts between Swiss Intelligence and the Federal government in Bern and within the Intelligence service itself. During World War II, Switzerland was famous as a center of spies and espionage fielded by Allies and Axis alike. Less has been known, however, about Switzerland's own Intelligence activities, including its secret sources in Hitler's councils and its counterespionage program at home. With this intensely researched, scholarly, yet exciting book, that gap in the history of wartime Intelligence operations has been filled.PIERRE-TH. BRAUNSCHWEIG earned a Ph.D. in history from the University of Bern and later served as an assistant to Hans Senn, the Chief of Staff of the Swiss Army. He is a member of the United States Strategic Institute in Washinton DC, the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, and the National Intelligence Study Center in Washington.

SECRET CHANNEL TO BERLIN: The Masson-Schellenberg Connection and Swiss Intelligence in WWII

History

Braunschweig, Pierre Th.

Military

This is the remarkable, 150-year story of continental Europe's leading university. The school was forged at the dawn of the Industrial Age, as the technological progress first demonstrated by Britain spread across Europe and America in the 19th century. On the continent the Swiss were first to perceive the potential of the industrial revolution, and after much democratic debate among their various cantons, created the first national school in their history. It was not only a milestone for the Swiss but a large leap for the continent, as the Zurich-based ETH (in Swiss parlance) went on to produce 21 Nobel Prize winners, including Einstein and Roentgen, and other notables such as psychiatrist Carl Jung and Othmar Amman, the bridge-builder whose beautiful creations now surround the island of Manhattan. The university currently participates in the world's most sophisticated particle physics research facility, and continues to be ranked number one on the continent in surveys undertaken by such disparate institutions as Shanghai University and the Times of London. However prominent ETH may be in today's world - often referred to as the MIT of Europe - Its history provides additional fascination. Spurred by the liberal turmoil of 1848, the institute weathered the political storms of Europe for another hundred years, just as did Switzerland itself, while the school attracted scholars from abroad. Even through the Nazi period, Switzerland remained free, and its Federal Institute comprised an oasis of unfettered thought, undeterred by fascist philosophies. This is not only the story of one of the world's foremost universities, but of an entire epoch in Western history. Based in the center of Europe, and so never a stranger to adversity, ETH persisted in establishing an unsurpassed record of brilliance. As Thomas G. Moore describes in the final parts of this book, the 21st century may become an even greater era for ETH, as opportunities for scientific research and personal talent proliferate.

School for Genius: The Story of the ETH --The Swiss Federal Institute of Technology, from 1855 to the Present

Moore,Thomas

Historical

From November 2002 to May 2003, Steve Tatham worked alongside American military planners in the Gulf, coordinating the huge media campaign that foreshadowed and accompanied the eventual invasion of Iraq. From first hand experience he witnessed how, in advance of the outbreak of hostilities, the US planned to win over skeptical Arab hearts and minds. Yet as the campaign unfolded, Tatham, the Royal Navy's public spokesman in Iraq, saw how differently the British and Americans regarded the media and how badly journalists from the Arab world, in particular from Al-Jazeera satellite television, were treated in comparison to those from coalition nations. His book is highly critical of how the United States handled its information war. Notwithstanding the best efforts of well meaning senior US officials, the mounting death toll, both military and civilian, saw the Americans all but ignore the Arab media , focusing instead on a largely acquiescent domestic press, one still obsessed with Al Qaeda's 9/11 attacks on the homeland and only too happy to fly the Stars and Stripes. Images of dead and captured coalition servicemen led to Arab channels being accused of bias against western forces, and such was the demonisation of some channels that many observers began to wonder if President Bush's declaration that 'you are either with us or against us' applied not just to nation states but also to the world's media.

Losing Arab Hearts and Minds: The Coalition, Al Jazeera and Muslim Public Opinion

Tatham, Steve

At thirty-one, Tricia Downing was in the best shape of her life. In the summer of 2000, Tricia, an avid cyclist, drove across the country for what amounted to eighteen races in twenty-three days. She returned from her adventure to a fresh start: a new job awaited her, and determined to make the next summer the year she would make her mark on the world of cycling, she began a rigorous training strategy. But on September 17, 2000, Tricia Downing’s life took a detour. While training on her bicycle one sunny Colorado afternoon, Tricia collides with a car that turns directly in her path, and instantly becomes paralyzed from the chest down. As a competitive road and track cyclist and lifelong athlete, losing the use of her legs is devastating on all accounts. As she re-learns to do everything from sitting straight up to navigating through her house in a wheelchair to returning to work and operating a handcycle, her grueling recovery takes her to the very core of her athletic mettle. This inner strength helps her to not only learn to live life as a paraplegic—a label that takes time to grow accustomed to—but to have the courage to return to the competitive sport she loves and almost lost. Determined to live life on her terms, Tricia turns her misfortune into opportunity, and is now a wheelchair racer, competing regularly in triathlons around the globe. Cycle of Hope chronicles Tricia’s journey from the first terrifying moments of impact with the car through rehab and her emergence as a world-class athlete.

Cycle of Hope: A Journey From Paralysis to Possiblity

Downing, Tricia

Community & Culture

Elite athlete Rainey Abbott is an intense competitor on the outside, but inside, she feels a daunting apprehension about her chances of finding true love. Her life as a downhill skier and race car driver keeps her on the edge, but her love life is stuck in neutral. A tragedy from her past has left her feeling insecure and unlovable. Now that she’s in her thirties, Rainey’s best friend Natalie insists she take a leap and try online dating. Rainey connects with brian85 and becomes cautiously hopeful as a natural attraction grows between them. Fearful a face to face meeting could ruin the magic, Rainey enlists Natalie to scheme up an encounter between the two where Brian is unaware he is meeting his online mystery woman. Rainey is left feeling both guilty about the deception and disappointed by something Brian says. When they finally meet in earnest, Rainey’s insecurities threaten to derail the blossoming romance. As she struggles with self-acceptance, she reveals the risks we all must take to have a chance for love.

Chance for Rain: A Novel

Sports & Outdoors

Miscellaneous

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