Peculiar Liaisons: In War, Espionage, and Terrorism in the Twentieth Century

Presenting famous and infamous individuals and events that have shaped the current Western civilization, this book illustrates how America has arrived at our present dilemma of a unique "war on terror." John Craig details the unusual and often profound connections between important historical figures whose lives have left a wake that affect all our lives. These figures are a combination of heroes, villains, and eccentrics who created some of the most profound changes in contemporary society. Each chapter presents two or three characters and elaborates on their lives and how they relate to historical events in the twentieth century. The book starts with an incident in 1903 in the Balkans and moves chronologically to the post-World War II era, with some attention to pre-twentieth century events that have influenced the personalities in question. The public's interest in certain personalities never seems to wane - Mata Hari, Gavrilo Princip, Sidney Reilly, T.E. Lawrence, Jimmy Doolittle, Hitler, Reinhard Heydrich, and Lee Harvey Oswald among others. * John S. Craig has researched and published in the field of military history, American history, and Technical Communications. He has published articles in JFK/Deep Politics Quarterly, Back Channels, I.E.E.E. Transactions in Professional Communication, Journal of Educational Technology System, etc. He is a graduate of the University of Colorado. As an adjunct professor, he teaches at the University of Colorado at Denver in the English, Technical Communications, Communications, and Business departments.