The Unconquerable

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Jan Karski

Jan Karski’s Story of a Secret State stands as one of the most poignant and inspiring memoirs of World War II and the Holocaust. With elements of a spy thriller, documenting his experiences in the Polish Underground, and as one of the first accounts of the systematic slaughter of the Jews by the German Nazis, this volume is a remarkable testimony of one man’s courage and a nation’s struggle for resistance against overwhelming oppression. Karski was a brilliant young diplomat when war broke out in 1939 with Hitler’s invasion of Poland. Taken prisoner by the Soviet Red Army, which had simultaneously invaded from the East, Karski narrowly escaped the subsequent Katyn Forest Massacre. He became a member of the Polish Underground, the most significant resistance movement in occupied Europe, acting as a liaison and courier between the Underground and the Polish government-in-exile. He was twice smuggled into the Warsaw Ghetto, and entered the Nazi’s Izbica transit camp disguised as a guard, witnessing first-hand the horrors of the Holocaust. Karski’s courage and testimony, conveyed in a breathtaking manner in Story of a Secret State, offer the narrative of one of the world’s greatest eyewitnesses and an inspiration for all of humanity, emboldening each of us to rise to the challenge of standing up against evil and for human rights. This definitive edition—which includes a foreword by Madeleine Albright, a biographical essay by Yale historian Timothy Snyder, an afterword by Zbigniew Brzezinski, previously unpublished photos, notes, further reading, and a glossary—is an apt legacy for this hero of conscience during the most fraught and fragile moment in modern history.

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Aileen G. Baron

"It is the summer of 1938 and Jerusalem is in chaos. The atmosphere teems with intrigue as terrorists roam the countryside and the British are losing control of the Mandate, even as Europe nervously teeters on the brink of World War II. Against this backdrop of international tensions, Lily Sampson, an American graduate student, is involved in a dig -- an important excavation directed by the eminent British archaeologist, Geoffrey Eastbourne. As he makes his way to the opening of the Rockefeller Museum, an important member of the dig is murdered. Precious artifacts from the dig are missing, one of which is a beautiful blue glass amphoriskos (a vial about three and a half inches long) which Lily herself had excavated. Upset by this loss, she searches for the vial -- enlisting the help of the military attaché of the American consulate. But when she contacts the British police, they seem evasive and offputting -- unable or unwilling either to find the murderer or to look into the theft of the amphoriskos. Lily realizes that she will get no help from them and sets out on her own to find the vial. When she finds the victim's journal in her tent, she assumes he had left it for her because he feared for his life. Lily's adventurous search for information about the murder and the theft of the amphoriskos lead into a labyrinth of extreme danger and intrigue."--Dust jacket.

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Roger Bax

Wealthy industrialist Charles Collison is found bludgeoned to death shortly after his son, Geoffrey, and nephew, Arthur Cross, return from World War II. As the principal beneficiaries of Charles' will, both men are suspects. Inspector James, called in to investigate, thinks he knows which of them is guilty.

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Philip Singerman

"After his long-lost love and new bride, Clara, is brutally murdered in an Austrian mountain chalet while they are on their honeymoon, supersleuth and undercover operative Roland Troy quits chasing criminals and retreats to the backwoods of Vermont. But when his old friend and former partner McKenzie Rockett travels from Florida to ask a favor, Troy can't say no to Rockett's request for help in solving one last homicide."--Jacket.