Thurston Clarke

Documents Robert Kennedy's dramatic and ill-fated 1968 presidential campaign, outlining his positions on such issues as the Vietnam War, race, and poverty as well as his private struggles with the assassination of JFK.

Robert F. Kennedy and 82 Days That Inspired America

The Last Campaign

A MAIN SELECTION OF THE MILITARY BOOK CLUB A groundbreaking revisionist history of the last days of the Vietnam War that reveals the acts of American heroism that saved more than one hundred thousand South Vietnamese from communist revenge In 1973 U.S. participation in the Vietnam War ended in a cease-fire and a withdrawal that included promises by President Nixon to assist the South in the event of invasion by the North. But in early 1975, when North Vietnamese forces began a full-scale assault, Congress refused to send arms or aid. By early April that year, the South was on the brink of a defeat that threatened execution or years in a concentration camp for the untold number of South Vietnamese who had supported the government in Saigon or worked with Americans. Thurston Clarke begins Honorable Exit by describing the iconic photograph of the Fall of Saigon: desperate Vietnamese scrambling to board a helicopter evacuating the last American personnel from Vietnam. It is an image of U.S. failure and shame. Or is it? By unpacking the surprising story of heroism that the photograph actually tells, Clarke launches into a narrative that is both a thrilling race against time and an important corrective to the historical record. For what is less known is that during those final days, scores of Americans--diplomats, businessmen, soldiers, missionaries, contractors, and spies--risked their lives to assist their current and former translators, drivers, colleagues, neighbors, friends, and even perfect strangers in escape. By the time the last U.S. helicopter left Vietnam on April 30, 1975, these righteous Americans had helped to spirit 130,000 South Vietnamese to U.S. bases in Guam and the Philippines. From there, the evacuees were resettled in the U.S. and became American citizens, the leading edge of one of America's most successful immigrant groups. Into this tale of heroism on the ground Clarke weaves the political machinations of Henry Kissinger advising President Ford in the White House while reinforcing the delusions of the U.S. Ambassador in Saigon, who, at the last minute, refused to depart. Groundbreaking, page-turning, and authoritative, Honorable Exit is a deeply moving history of Americans at a little-known finest hour.

How a Few Brave Americans Risked All to Save Our Vietnamese Allies at the End of the War

Honorable Exit

JFK's Last Hundred Days reexamines the last months of the President's life to show a man in the midst of great change, finally on the cusp of making good on his extraordinary promise.

the transformation of a man and the emergence of a great president

JFK's last hundred days

Thurston Clarke's gripping account of the last months of the life of President John F. Kennedy weaves together his public and private life and addresses the most tantalizing mystery of all - not who killed him but who he was when he was killed, and where he would have led his country and the world. This re-examination of a critical period looks at all the areas of the president's fascinating life: the progress he made towards ending the Cold War, passing the Civil Rights Act and withdrawing US troops from Vietnam, as well as his grief at the death of his infant son Patrick, his ongoing battle with ill health and his renewed determination to be a good husband and father. The resulting portrait reveals the essence of this charismatic man, his personal transformation and the emergence of a great president. It also explains the widespread and enduring grief following his assassination, mourning the loss of his remarkable promise, which had become increasingly evident during his last hundred days. Thurston Clarke has written eleven widely acclaimed works of fiction and nonfiction on travel and modern history including Ask Not: The Inauguration of John F. Kennedy and the Speech That Changed America. His articles have appeared in Vanity Fair, The New York Times, The Washington Post and many other publications. 'His enthusiasm is infectious . . . he entertains and illuminates, writing gracefully, and with a fine sense of irony . . . He's funny and he's fair and he swims well against powerful cultural cross-currents' New York Times Book Review

An Intimate Portrait of a Great President

JFK's Last Hundred Days

An account of JFK's final months examines his roles in advancing civil rights and the Limited Test Ban Treaty, recounts the death of his premature infant son, and considers what might have occurred had he not been assassinated.

The Transformation of a Man and the Emergence of a Great President

"A landmark book published to rave reviews a decade ago, "Pearl" "Harbor" "Ghosts" has now been updated to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the surprise attack that forever changed the course of history. " Full of gripping drama and vibrant details, here is the intimate human story of the events surrounding that fateful day of December 7, 1941-the glamorous tropical city that seemed too beautiful to suffer devastation . . . the stunned naval personnel whose lives would permanently be divided into before and after Pearl Harbor . . . the ordinary Honolulu residents who were tragically unprepared to be the first target in the Pacific war . . . the Japanese pilots who manned the squadron of deadly silver bombers . . . and the island's community of Japanese-Americans whose lives would never be the same again. Blending meticulous historic recreation with lively reporting, Clarke counterpoints the freeze-frame nightmare of the 1941 bombing with the disturbing realities of present-day Honolulu, where hundreds of veterans, both American and Japanese, converge each year to relive every hour of the attack. Wealthy Waikiki landowners and native Hawaiian farmers, admirals and nurses, Navy wives and government officials-all take their part in Clarke's rich tapestry of memory and insight. In the end, Pearl Harbor emerges as a trauma that spread from Oahu to engulf the nation and the world-an event that continues to reverberate in the lives of all who experienced it. "From the Trade Paperback edition."

Pearl Harbor Ghosts

Reexamines the attack on Pearl Harbor as refracted through the lens of present -day Hawaii.

A Journey to Hawaii, Then and Now

A landmark book published to rave reviews a decade ago, Pearl Harbor Ghosts has now been updated to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the surprise attack that forever changed the course of history. Full of gripping drama and vibrant details, here is the intimate human story of the events surrounding that fateful day of December 7, 1941–the glamorous tropical city that seemed too beautiful to suffer devastation . . . the stunned naval personnel whose lives would permanently be divided into before and after Pearl Harbor . . . the ordinary Honolulu residents who were tragically unprepared to be the first target in the Pacific war . . . the Japanese pilots who manned the squadron of deadly silver bombers . . . and the island’s community of Japanese-Americans whose lives would never be the same again. Blending meticulous historic recreation with lively reporting, Clarke counterpoints the freeze-frame nightmare of the 1941 bombing with the disturbing realities of present-day Honolulu, where hundreds of veterans, both American and Japanese, converge each year to relive every hour of the attack. Wealthy Waikiki landowners and native Hawaiian farmers, admirals and nurses, Navy wives and government officials–all take their part in Clarke’s rich tapestry of memory and insight. In the end, Pearl Harbor emerges as a trauma that spread from Oahu to engulf the nation and the world–an event that continues to reverberate in the lives of all who experienced it.

The Legacy of December 7, 1941

The work of a young woman doing research on "1984" and on a period of Orwell's life when he apparently "disappeared" takes on critical implications as an American executive carries on his plans for an interactive cable television network

A Novel about George Orwell and 1984

Thirteen O'clock

The author journeys around the world to celebrate humankind's enduring love affair with islands on an odyssey that takes him to Scotland's Hebrides, Canada's Campobello, and Mâas a Tierra, off the coast of Chile, which inspired Defoe's Robinson Crusoe.

A Journey Among the Last Real Islands

Searching for Crusoe

In the last days of the Vietnam War, more than 130,000 South Vietnamese were saved from their otherwise dire fate by the heroic acts of ordinary Americans. This groundbreaking account by New York Times-bestselling author Thurston Clarke uncovers a previously untold story of bravery and honour. 1973. US participation in the Vietnam War ends. As troops withdraw, President Nixon pledges to assist the South in the event of invasion by the North. 1975. North Vietnam begins a full-scale assault on the South. Congress does nothing. Hundreds of thousands of South Vietnamese face execution or life in concentration camps. An iconic photograph is taken of the Fall of Saigon, depicting desperate Vietnamese people scrambling to board a helicopter evacuating the last of the American soldiers. It is an image of US failure and shame. Or is it? In Honourable Exit, Clarke revisits the last days of the Vietnam War to uncover the previously untold story of a life-saving mass evacuation. During those final days, a number of Americans — diplomats, businessmen, soldiers, missionaries, contractors, and spies — risked their lives and disobeyed orders to help their translators, drivers, colleagues, neighbours, friends, and even perfect strangers to escape. By the time the last US helicopter left Vietnam on 30 April 1975, these heroic Americans had helped to spirit over 130,000 South Vietnamese to resettlement in the US and life as American citizens. Groundbreaking, page-turning, and authoritative, Honourable Exit is a deeply moving history of Americans in one of their little-known finest hours.

how a few brave Americans risked all to save their Vietnamese allies at the end of the war

Honourable Exit

eine Welt für sich

Die Insel

The Attack on the King David Hotel

By Blood & Fire

On July 22, 1946 six members of the Irgun, a Jewish underground group headed by future Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, entered the basement of Jerusalem’s King David Hotel and planted seven milk churns filled with explosives underneath the wing housing the headquarters of the British Mandatory Government of Palestine. The ensuing explosion killed ninety-one Britons, Arabs, and Jews, in roughly equal numbers, at the time the greatest death toll in any single act of terrorism. The bombing was a pivotal moment in Israeli and Palestinian history, and was one of several dramatic attacks that eventually persuaded the British to leave Palestine. Clarke’s minute-by-minute account of the attack is thrilling, and his narrative brings the perpetrators and victims vividly to life.

July 22, 1946: The Attack On Jerusalem's King David Hotel

By Blood and Fire

Investigates questions surrounding the December 7, 1941 attack and examines how that event is interwoven with the rise of Japanese economics and our response to it.

December 7, 1941--the Day that Still Haunts the Nation

Frederick E. Werbell

Recounts the remarkable, courageous efforts of the Swedish businessman and diplomat turned guerilla fighter in rescuing tens of thousands of Hungarian Jews

Thurston Clarke

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