Frank Carlson Library

Helen Carlisle, a young war widow covers her pain with the frenzy of volunteer work until the spark of her romance with Lt. Raymond Novak, a WWII pilot, propels them both into peril.

Will a chance meeting in a time of war change her life forever? Never pretty enough to please her gorgeous mother, Allie will do anything to gain her approval -- even marry a man she doesn't love. While Allie has nearly resigned herself to that fate, Lt. Walter Novak -- fearless in the cockpit but hopeless with women -- takes his last furlough at home in California before being shipped overseas. Walt and Allie meet and begin a correspondence that...

The vivid story of the young Americans who fought and died in the aerial battles of World War I. The Unsubstantial Air is a chronicle of war that is more than a military history; it traces the lives and deaths of the young Americans who fought in the skies over Europe in World War I. Using letters, journals, and memoirs, it speaks in their voices and answers primal questions: What was it like to be there? What was it like to fly those planes, to fight,...

Richly photographed and authentically local, L.A. Mexicano showcases L.A.’s famously rich and complex Mexican-food culture, including recipes, profiles of chefs, bakers, restaurateurs, and vendors, and neighborhood guides. Part cookbook, part food journalism, and part love song to Los Angeles, it's the definitive resource for home cooks nationwide, hungry Angelenos, and food-loving visitors. Features a foreword by Taco USA's Gustavo Arellano and...

In June, 1944, American and Japanese carrier fleets made their way through the Philippine Sea, both hoping to take control of the vital Marianas Islands. When they met, they embarked upon a naval engagement that escalated into the most spectacular aircraft carrier battle in history. Here is the true account of the battle, told from both sides - by those who were there. Drawing upon numerous interviews as well as official sources, Clash of the Carriers...

One of the great untold stories of World War II finally comes to light in this thrilling account of the members of Torpedo Squadron Eight and their heroic efforts in helping an outmatched U.S. fleet win critical victories at Midway and Guadalcanal. These thirty-five American men-many flying outmoded aircraft-changed the course of history, going on to become the war's most decorated naval air squadron, while suffering the heaviest losses in U.S. naval...

Early in the Second World War, in the skies over Rangoon, a handful of American pilots met and bloodied the Japanese Army Air Force, winning immortality as the "Flying Tigers." Arguably America's most famous combat unit, they were hired to defend beleaguered China for $600 a month, plus $500 for each Japanese plane shot down-fantastic money in 1941, when a Manhattan hotel room cost three dollars a night. To bring his prize-winning history of the American...

Conceived in a storytelling workshop given by Spalding Gray, Old Man In a Baseball Cap is not your typical story of World War II. Rochlin recounts in gritty detail how he--an ordinary young man--was thrust into outrageous circumstances during an extraordinary time. Whether he's bumping up against the army's bigotry because he's Jewish, aiding in the delivery of a baby by cesarean section, being ordered to obliterate a Hungarian village, or parachuting...

The 82nd Airborne Division spent more time in combat than any other American airborne unit of World War II, and its fierce battlefield tenacity earned it the reputation of one of the finest divisions in the world. Yet no comprehensive history of the 82nd during World War II exists today. The Sword of St. Michaelcorrects this significant gap in the literature, offering a lively narrative and thoroughly researched history of the famous division. Author...