Improve your React Native mobile development skills or transition from web development to mobile development with this practical solution-packed guide Key Features * Learn strategies and techniques to face challenges in React Native mobile development head-on * Leverage the best ways to use iOS and Android for React Native development while maximizing code reuse and cohesion * Build engaging, performant user experiences with React Native Book Description If you are a developer looking to create mobile applications with maximized code reusability and minimized cost, then React Native is here to help. With this practical guide, you will be able to build attractive UIs, tackle common mobile development-related issues, and achieve improved performance in mobile environments. This book starts with common techniques for React Native customization and helps you set up your development platforms. Over the course of the book, a wide variety of step-by-step recipes are designed with both built-in React Native and custom third-party components that you will create, style, and animate. You will create real-world browser-based authentication, build a fully functional audio player, and integrate with Google maps. You will also explore different strategies for working with data, including leveraging the popular Redux library and optimizing your app’s dataflow. You will then get an introduction to writing native device functionality for new and already existing native projects. Finally, you will learn how app deployment works, and tips and tricks for writing performant code. By the end of the book, you'll have gained enough knowledge to build full iOS and Android applications using React Native. What you will learn * Build UI features and components using React Native * Create advanced animations for UI components * Develop universal apps that run on phones and tablets * Leverage Redux to manage application flow and data * Expose both custom native UI components and application logic to React Native * Employ open-source third-party plugins to create React Native apps more efficiently Who this book is for If you're a JavaScript developer looking for a practical guide with step-by-step tutorials for developing feature rich mobile apps using React Native, then this book is for you. Though not required, some experience working with React will help you more easily understand the React Native concepts covered in this book. While React Native development can be done on a Windows machine, certain aspects, such as running your apps on iOS devices and in the iOS simulator, or editing native code with Xcode, can only be done with a Mac.

A quick start guide to visualize your Elasticsearch data Key Features * Your hands-on guide to visualizing the Elasticsearch data as well as navigating the Elastic stack * Work with different Kibana plugins and create effective machine learning jobs using Kibana * Build effective dashboards and reports without any hassle Book Description The Elastic Stack is growing rapidly and, day by day, additional tools are being added to make it more effective. This book endeavors to explain all the important aspects of Kibana, which is essential for utilizing its full potential. This book covers the core concepts of Kibana, with chapters set out in a coherent manner so that readers can advance their learning in a step-by-step manner. The focus is on a practical approach, thereby enabling the reader to apply those examples in real time for a better understanding of the concepts and to provide them with the correct skills in relation to the tool. With its succinct explanations, it is quite easy for a reader to use this book as a reference guide for learning basic to advanced implementations of Kibana. The practical examples, such as the creation of Kibana dashboards from CSV data, application RDBMS data, system metrics data, log file data, APM agents, and search results, can provide readers with a number of different drop-off points from where they can fetch any type of data into Kibana for the purpose of analysis or dashboarding. What you will learn * Explore how Logstash is configured to fetch CSV data * Understand how to create index patterns in Kibana * Become familiar with how to apply filters on data * Discover how to create ML jobs * Explore how to analyze APM data from APM agents * Get to grips with how to save, share, inspect, and edit visualizations * Understand how to find an anomaly in data Who this book is for Kibana 7 Quick Start Guide is for developers new to Kibana who want to learn the fundamentals of using the tool for visualization, as well as existing Elastic developers.

Become proficient in designing, developing and deploying effective software systems using the advanced constructs of Rust Key Features * Improve your productivity using the latest version of Rust and write simpler and easier code * Understand Rust’s immutability and ownership principle, expressive type system, safe concurrency * Deep dive into the new doamins of Rust like WebAssembly, Networking and Command line tools Book Description Rust is an empowering language that provides a rare combination of safety, speed, and zero-cost abstractions. Mastering Rust – Second Edition is filled with clear and simple explanations of the language features along with real-world examples, showing you how you can build robust, scalable, and reliable programs. This second edition of the book improves upon the previous one and touches on all aspects that make Rust a great language. We have included the features from latest Rust 2018 edition such as the new module system, the smarter compiler, helpful error messages, and the stable procedural macros. You’ll learn how Rust can be used for systems programming, network programming, and even on the web. You’ll also learn techniques such as writing memory-safe code, building idiomatic Rust libraries, writing efficient asynchronous networking code, and advanced macros. The book contains a mix of theory and hands-on tasks so you acquire the skills as well as the knowledge, and it also provides exercises to hammer the concepts in. After reading this book, you will be able to implement Rust for your enterprise projects, write better tests and documentation, design for performance, and write idiomatic Rust code. What you will learn * Write generic and type-safe code by using Rust’s powerful type system * How memory safety works without garbage collection * Know the different strategies in error handling and when to use them * Learn how to use concurrency primitives such as threads and channels * Use advanced macros to reduce boilerplate code * Create efficient web applications with the Actix-web framework * Use Diesel for type-safe database interactions in your web application Who this book is for The book is aimed at beginner and intermediate programmers who already have familiarity with any imperative language and have only heard of Rust as a new language. If you are a developer who wants to write robust, efficient and maintainable software systems and want to become proficient with Rust, this book is for you. It starts by giving a whirlwind tour of the important concepts of Rust and covers advanced features of the language in subsequent chapters using code examples that readers will find useful to advance their knowledge.

A hands-on guide to Android programming with Spring MVC, Spring Boot, and Spring Security Key Features * Build native Android applications with Spring for Android * Explore Reactive programming, concurrency, and multithreading paradigms for building fast and efficient applications * Write more expressive and robust code with Kotlin using its coroutines and other latest features Book Description As the new official language for Android, Kotlin is attracting new as well as existing Android developers. As most developers are still working with Java and want to switch to Kotlin, they find a combination of these two appealing. This book addresses this interest by bringing together Spring, a widely used Java SE framework for building enterprise-grade applications, and Kotlin. Learn Spring for Android Application Development will guide you in leveraging some of the powerful modules of the Spring Framework to build lightweight and robust Android apps using Kotlin. You will work with various modules, such as Spring AOP, Dependency Injection, and Inversion of Control, to develop applications with better dependency management. You’ll also explore other modules of the Spring Framework, such as Spring MVC, Spring Boot, and Spring Security. Each chapter has practice exercises at the end for you to assess your learning. By the end of the book, you will be fully equipped to develop Android applications with Spring technologies. What you will learn * Get to grips with the basics of the Spring Framework * Write web applications using the Spring Framework with Kotlin * Develop Android apps with Kotlin * Connect a RESTful web service with your app using Retrofilt * Understand JDBC, JPA, MySQL for Spring and SQLite Room for Android * Explore Spring Security fundamentals, Basic Authentication, and OAuth2 * Delve into Concurrency and Reactive programming using Kotlin * Develop testable applications with Spring and Android Who this book is for If you’re an aspiring Android developer or an existing developer who wants to learn how to use Spring to build robust Android applications in Kotlin, this book is for you. Though not necessary, basic knowledge of Spring will assist with understanding key concepts covered in this book.

Work through exciting recipes to administer your AWS cloud Key Features * Build secure environments using AWS components and services * Explore core AWS features with real-world applications and best practices * Design and build Lambda functions using real-world examples Book Description With this Learning Path, you’ll explore techniques to easily manage applications on the AWS cloud. You’ll begin with an introduction to serverless computing, its advantages, and the fundamentals of AWS. The following chapters will guide you on how to manage multiple accounts by setting up consolidated billing, enhancing your application delivery skills, with the latest AWS services such as CodeCommit, CodeDeploy, and CodePipeline to provide continuous delivery and deployment, while also securing and monitoring your environment's workflow. It’ll also add to your understanding of the services AWS Lambda provides to developers. To refine your skills further, it demonstrates how to design, write, test, monitor, and troubleshoot Lambda functions. By the end of this Learning Path, you’ll be able to create a highly secure, fault-tolerant, and scalable environment for your applications. This Learning Path includes content from the following Packt products: * AWS Administration: The Definitive Guide, Second Edition by Yohan Wadia * AWS Administration Cookbook by Rowan Udell, Lucas Chan * Mastering AWS Lambda by Yohan Wadia, Udita Gupta What you will learn * Explore the benefits of serverless computing and applications * Deploy apps with AWS Elastic Beanstalk and Amazon Elastic File System * Secure environments with AWS CloudTrail, AWSConfig, and AWS Shield * Run big data analytics with Amazon EMR and Amazon Redshift * Back up and safeguard data using AWS Data Pipeline * Create monitoring and alerting dashboards using CloudWatch * Effectively monitor and troubleshoot serverless applications with AWS * Design serverless apps via AWS Lambda, DynamoDB, and API Gateway Who this book is for This Learning Path is specifically designed for IT system and network administrators, AWS architects, and DevOps engineers who want to effectively implement AWS in their organization and easily manage daily activities. Familiarity with Linux, web services, cloud computing platforms, virtualization, networking, and other administration-related tasks will assist in understanding the concepts in the book. Prior hands-on experience with AWS core services such as EC2, IAM, S3, and programming languages, such as Node.Js, Java, and C#, will also prove beneficial.

A step-by-step guide to learning Flutter and Dart 2 for creating Android and iOS mobile applications Key Features * Get up to speed with the basics of Dart programming and delve into Flutter development * Understand native SDK and third-party libraries for building Android and iOS applications using Flutter * Package and deploy your Flutter apps to achieve native-like performance Book Description Google Flutter is a cross-platform mobile platform that makes it easier to write secure and high-performance native apps for iOS and Android. This book begins by introducing you to the Flutter framework and basics of Dart. You’ll learn to set up the development environment to get started with your Flutter project. The book will guide you through designing the user interface and user input functions for your app. As you progress, you’ll explore the navigator widget to manage your app routes and understand how to add transitions between screens. You’ll then get to grips with developing your own plugin and discover how to structure good plugin code. The book will help you display a map from the Flutter app, add markers and interactions to it, and use the Google Places API. You’ll build on your knowledge by not only adding tests to create a bug-free app, but also preparing it for deployment on Apple's App Store and Google Play. In later chapters, you’ll learn to improve the user experience with advanced features such as map integrations, platform-specific code with native programming languages, and personalized animation options for designing intuitive UIs. By the end of this book, you’ll be well-versed with Dart programming and have the skills to develop your own mobile apps or build a career as a Dart and Flutter app developer. What you will learn * Understand the fundamentals of the Dart programming language * Explore the core concepts of the Flutter UI and how it compiles for multiple platforms * Develop Flutter plugins and widgets and understand how to structure good plugin code * Style your apps with widgets and learn the difference between stateful and stateless widgets * Add animation to your UI using Flutter's AnimatedBuilder component * Integrate your native code into your Flutter codebase for native app performance Who this book is for This book is for developers looking to learn Google's revolutionary framework, Flutter from scratch. No knowledge of Flutter or Dart is required. However, basic programming language knowledge will be helpful.

Sure to be hailed alongside H is for Hawk and The Hare with Amber Eyes, an exceptional work that is at once an astonishing journey across countries and continents, an immersive examination of a great artist’s work, and a moving and intimate memoir.In 2012, facing the death of his father and impending fatherhood, Toby Ferris set off on a seemingly quixotic mission to track down and look at—in situ—every painting still in existence by Pieter Bruegel the Elder, the most influential and important artist of Northern Renaissance painting.The result of that pursuit is a remarkable journey through major European cities and across continents. As Ferris takes a keen analytical eye to the paintings, each piece brings new revelations about Bruegel’s art, and gives way to meditations on mortality, fatherhood, and life. Ferris conjures a whole world to which most of us have probably lost the key, and in the process teaches us how to look, patiently and curiously, at the world.Short Life in a Strange World is a dazzlingly original and assured debut—a strange and bewitching hybrid of art criticism, philosophical reflection, and poignant memoir. Beautifully illustrated with sixty-six color images, it subtly alters the way we see the world and ourselves.

Create apps in C++ and leverage its latest features using modern programming techniques. Key Features *Develop strong C++ skills to build a variety of applications *Explore features of C++17, such as containers, algorithms, and threads *Grasp the standard support for threading and concurrency and use them in basic daily tasks Book Description C++ is one of the most widely used programming languages. It is fast, flexible, and used to solve many programming problems. This Learning Path gives you an in-depth and hands-on experience of working with C++, using the latest recipes and understanding most recent developments. You will explore C++ programming constructs by learning about language structures, functions, and classes, which will help you identify the execution flow through code. You will also understand the importance of the C++ standard library as well as memory allocation for writing better and faster programs. Modern C++: Efficient and Scalable Application Development deals with the challenges faced with advanced C++ programming. You will work through advanced topics such as multithreading, networking, concurrency, lambda expressions, and many more recipes. By the end of this Learning Path, you will have all the skills to become a master C++ programmer. This Learning Path includes content from the following Packt products: *Beginning C++ Programming by Richard Grimes *Modern C++ Programming Cookbook by Marius Bancila *The Modern C++ Challenge by Marius Bancila What you will learn *Become familiar with the structure of C++ projects *Identify the main structures in the language: functions and classes *Learn to debug your programs *Leverage C++ features to obtain increased robustness and performance *Explore functions and callable objects with a focus on modern features *Serialize and deserialize JSON and XML data *Create client-server applications that communicate over TCP/IP *Use design patterns to solve real-world problems Who this book is for This Learning Path is designed for developers who want to gain a solid foundation in C++. The desire to learn how to code in C++ is all you need to get started with this Learning Path

A hands-on guide to making system programming with C++ easy Key Features *Write system-level code leveraging C++17 *Learn the internals of the Linux Application Binary Interface (ABI) and apply it to system programming *Explore C++ concurrency to take advantage of server-level constructs Book Description C++ is a general-purpose programming language with a bias toward system programming as it provides ready access to hardware-level resources, efficient compilation, and a versatile approach to higher-level abstractions. This book will help you understand the benefits of system programming with C++17. You will gain a firm understanding of various C, C++, and POSIX standards, as well as their respective system types for both C++ and POSIX. After a brief refresher on C++, Resource Acquisition Is Initialization (RAII), and the new C++ Guideline Support Library (GSL), you will learn to program Linux and Unix systems along with process management. As you progress through the chapters, you will become acquainted with C++'s support for IO. You will then study various memory management methods, including a chapter on allocators and how they benefit system programming. You will also explore how to program file input and output and learn about POSIX sockets. This book will help you get to grips with safely setting up a UDP and TCP server/client. Finally, you will be guided through Unix time interfaces, multithreading, and error handling with C++ exceptions. By the end of this book, you will be comfortable with using C++ to program high-quality systems. What you will learn *Understand the benefits of using C++ for system programming *Program Linux/Unix systems using C++ *Discover the advantages of Resource Acquisition Is Initialization (RAII) *Program both console and file input and output *Uncover the POSIX socket APIs and understand how to program them *Explore advanced system programming topics, such as C++ allocators *Use POSIX and C++ threads to program concurrent systems *Grasp how C++ can be used to create performant system applications Who this book is for If you are a fresh developer with intermediate knowledge of C++ but little or no knowledge of Unix and Linux system programming, this book will help you learn system programming with C++ in a practical way.

When Amelia Allenby escaped a stifling London ballroom for the quiet solitude of the Derbyshire countryside, the very last thing she wanted was an extremely large, if—she grudgingly admits—passably attractive man disturbing her daily walks. Lecturing the surveyor about property rights doesn’t work and, somehow, he has soon charmed his way into lemon cakes, long walks, and dangerously heady kisses.The very last place Sydney wished to be was in the shadow of the ruins of Pelham Hall, the inherited property that stole everything from him. But as he awaits his old friend, the Duke of Hereford, he finds himself increasingly captivated by the maddeningly lovely and exceptionally odd Amelia. He quickly finds that keeping his ownership of Pelham Hall a secret is as impossible as keeping himself from falling in love with her.But when the Duke of Hereford arrives, Sydney’s ruse is revealed and what started out as a delicate deception has become a love too powerful to ignore. Will they let a lifetime of hurt come between them or can these two lost souls find love and peace in each other?

The intriguing futuristic dystopian story begun with The Lost Puzzler continues in this expansive speculative science fiction adventure.There is nothing out of the ordinary in waking up . . . unless you’re dead.Sent on a dangerous mission with little hope of succeeding, the man known as “Twinkle Eyes” has beaten the odds and found the key that could save civilization: Rafik, a teenage boy with the power to unlock the invaluable Tarakan technology that can restart their world. But the world might not be ready for what is unleashed, and now Twinkle Eyes must find a needle in a haystack in order to save himself . . . and perhaps the world.This time, though, he will not go it alone. And while his companions—from the fiery Vincha to the laconic Galinak—have their own motivations, each will be vital in solving the last grand puzzle. One that could bring prosperity and progress to the world or destroy humanity’s last hope for ascension.Now, a lone assassin from another era, two old friends, a dead man, a ruthless rogue mercenary, and a vicious warlord are all hunting for the ultimate prize. But what will happen when the final secret is unlocked, and technology long since buried once again finds its way into the hands of mankind?

Now a National Bestseller!What if the Russians really are colluding with Americans...on the left?#1 New York Times bestselling author Newt Gingrich makes his return to political fiction with this rollicking tale of high-stakes international intrigue—the first book in a new, contemporary series, filled with adventure, betrayal, and politics—that captures the tensions and divides of America and the world today. Valerie Mayberry is the FBI’s counterintelligence expert on domestic terrorism.Brett Garrett is a dishonorably discharged ex-Navy SEAL, now a gun for hire, working as a security contractor in Eastern Europe. When a high ranking Kremlin official must be smuggled out of Russia, Mayberry and Garrett are thrown together to exfiltrate him and preempt a deadly poisonous strike.As these unlikely partners work to protect their human asset, their mission is threatened by domestic politics: leftist protests, congressional infighting, and a culture riven by hatred. Collusion raises many of the most significant issues facing America in real life today. How big a threat is Russia? Are American leftist activists susceptible to influence from abroad? How far will our enemies go to disrupt our politics and weaken the nation? Can we trust the media to differentiate between the good guys and the bad guys? Newt Gingrich and Pete Earley have entertained and educated readers with three previous works. From its explosive opening through several twists and turns to its heart-stopping end, Collusion is their most timely and powerful novel yet.

"纽约时报畅销书，巴诺书店年度图书，多家网站、媒体评价年度小说 《Since We Fell》的作者丹尼斯·勒翰也十分令人期待，他创作的多部作品均被改编为电影，如克林特·伊斯特伍德执导，西恩·潘主演的《神秘河》，马丁·西科塞斯执导，莱奥纳多·迪卡普里奥主演的《禁闭岛》，还有本·阿弗莱克执导并主演的《夜色人生》等等，这些作品以复杂的人性，悬疑惊悚的剧情和反转见长，既给人酣畅淋漓的故事体验，又引人深思。 《Since We Fell》保留了作者的一贯水准，讲述了瑞秋·查尔兹的故事，精神崩溃的瑞秋一直生活在自我封闭中，然而，无论怎么看她其实都拥有这完美的家庭。 直到一个下雨的午后，一次偶然的邂逅使她的生活和婚姻支离破碎，她被卷入一场充满欺骗、暴力，甚至可能是疯狂的阴谋中，她必须找到自己内在的力量来征服难以想象的恐惧和事件的真相。 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Barnes and Noble Best Book of the YearBookpage Best of 2017Booklist Best Crime NovelPopSugar Best Book of 2017The new novel from New York Times bestseller Dennis Lehane, author of Mystic River and Shutter Island“Lehane is the master of complex human characters thrust into suspenseful, page-turning situations.” —Gillian FlynnSince We Fell follows Rachel Childs, a former journalist who, after an on-air mental breakdown, now lives as a virtual shut-in. In all other respects, however, she enjoys an ideal life with an ideal husband. Until a chance encounter on a rainy afternoon causes that ideal life to fray. As does Rachel’s marriage. As does Rachel herself. Sucked into a conspiracy thick with deception, violence, and possibly madness, Rachel must find the strength within herself to conquer unimaginable fears and mind-altering truths. By turns heart- breaking, suspenseful, romantic, and sophisticated, Since We Fell is a novel of profound psychological insight and tension. It is Dennis Lehane at his very best.

“A twisty, jet-fueled thriller… Don’t miss it!” – Lisa GardnerPacked with the electrifying pacing and pulse-pounding suspense of Harlan Coben and Lisa Gardner, a thrilling debut about a mother desperate to find the connections between her missing husband and a deadly stalker who knows too much about her own dark family history.Driving home one rainy night, Cassie Larkin sees a man and woman fighting on the side of the road. After calling 911, the veterinarian makes a split-second decision that will throw her sedate suburban life into chaos. Against all reason and advice, she gets out of her minivan and chases after the violent man, trying to help his victim. When Cassie physically tries to stop him, he suddenly turns on her and spits out an ominous threat: “Let her die, and I’ll let you live.”A veterinarian trained to heal, Cassie can’t let the woman die. But while she’s examining the unconscious victim, the attacker steals her car. Now he has her name. Her address. And he knows about her children. Though they warn her to be careful, the police assure her that the perpetrator—a criminal named Carver Sweet—won’t get near her. Cassie isn’t so sure. The next day—Halloween—her husband disappears while trick-or-treating with their six-year-old daughter. Are these disturbing events a coincidence or the beginning of a horrifying nightmare? Her husband has been growing distant—is it possible he’s become involved with another woman? Is Cassie’s confrontation with the road-side attacker connected to her husband’s disappearance? With all these questions swirling in her mind Cassie can trust no one, maybe not even herself. The only thing she knows for sure is that she can’t sit back while the people she loves are in danger.As she desperately searches for answers, Cassie discovers that nothing is as random as it seems, and that she is more than willing to fight—to go the most terrifying extremes—to save her family and her marriage.

Renée Knight follows up her international sensation Disclaimer with this shivery tale of psychological suspense, featuring a character as disturbing and compelling as Mrs. Danvers in Daphne Du Maurier’s Rebecca.From her first day as Personal Assistant to the celebrated Mina Appleton, Christine Butcher understands what is expected of her. Absolute loyalty. Absolute discretion. For twenty years, Christine has been a most devoted servant, a silent witness to everything in Mina’s life. So quiet, you would hardly know she is there. Day after day, year after year, Christine has been there, invisible—watching, listening, absorbing all the secrets floating around her. Keeping them safe. Christine is trusted. But those years of loyalty and discretion come with a high price. And eventually Christine will pay.Yet, it would be a mistake to underestimate such a steadfast woman. Because as everyone is about to discover, there’s a dangerous line between obedience and obsession.

If you love Susan Mallery and Jill Shalvis, you won’t want to miss this new novel of second chances, dogs, and knitting, from the author of Pupcakes and Sit! Stay! Speak! Laid off, cheated on, mugged: what else can go wrong in Maeve Stephens’ life? So when she learns her birth mother has left her a house, a vintage VW Beetle, and a marauding cat, in the small town of Timber Creek, Washington, she packs up to discover the truth about her past. She arrives to the sight of a cheerful bulldog abandoned on her front porch, a reclusive but tempting author living next door, and a set of ready-made friends at the St. Francis Society for Wayward Pets, where women knit colorful sweaters for the dogs and cats in their care. But there’s also an undercurrent of something that doesn’t sit right with Maeve. What’s the secret (besides her!) that her mother had hidden?If Maeve is going to make Timber Creek her home, she must figure out where she fits in and unravel the truth about her past. But is she ready to be adopted again—this time, by an entire town…?

Foreword by David Perlmutter, MD, author of Grain BrainThe cult-classic health book, now revised and updated with a quick start cleanse, easy recipes, and more.It’s not news that Americans are sicker than ever. Seventy million of us suffer from digestive problems like acid reflux, irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), or gastro esophageal reflex disorder (GERD). Another forty million have been diagnosed with anxiety and/or depression and a staggering fifty million Americans live with an autoimmune disease. But what is newsworthy is that all of these conditions share a common thread you’ve probably never heard of: candida."Candida" is the term for a group of yeast organisms that have lived in our digestive tract for millennia, in harmony with the other thousands of bacteria, viruses, and archaea that make up our microbiome. But due to poor diets, processed foods, overuse of antibiotics, environmental toxins, and increased stress, our microbiome has been under steady and constant attack for decades. Yeast are of a heartier stock than bacterial microbes, and as bacteria die off, yeast begins to overgrow in the digestive tract, a condition known as candidiasis. Mild and moderate cases of candidiasis present with fatigue, IBS, eczema, depression, brain fog, migraines, and weight gain. Severe cases allow the afflicted to develop autoimmune disease (such as Multiple Sclerosis), cancer, and Alzheimer’s.Ann Boroch’s self-published book, The Candida Cure, has been the #1 resource in candida treatment since 2008. Her program—which she used to heal herself from a life-threatening autoimmune disorder—has stood the test of time, and has become a life-changing resource for more than 65,000 people. Now, in this revised edition,  readers have even more tools, with updated information and case histories, a quick start cleanse, and all-new recipes and eating plans.

One of the most lauded historians of our time returns to the Second World War in this magnificent retelling of the awe-inspiring raid on German dams conducted by the Royal Army Force’s 617 Squadron.The attack on Nazi Germany’s dams on May 17, 1943, was one of the most remarkable feats in military history. The absurdly young men of the Royal Air Force’s 617 Squadron set forth in cold blood and darkness, without benefit of electronic aids, to fly lumbering heavy bombers straight and level towards a target at a height above the water less than the length of a bowling alley. Yet this story—and the later wartime experience of the 617 Squadron—has never been told in full. Max Hastings takes us back to the May 1943 raid to reveal how the truth of that night is considerably different from the popularized account most people know. The RAF had identified the Ruhr dams as strategic objectives as far back as 1938; in those five years Wing Commander Guy Gibson formed and trained the 617 Squadron. Hastings observes that while the dropping of Wallis’s mines provided the dramatic climax, only two of the eight aircraft lost came down over the dams—the rest were shot down on the flight to, or back from, the mission. And while the 617 Squadron’s valor is indisputable, the ultimate industrial damage caused by the dam raid was actually rather modest. In 1943, these brave men caught the imagination of the world and uplifted the weary spirits of the British people. Their achievement unnerved the Nazi high command, and caused them to expend large resources on dam defenses—making the mission a success. An example of Churchill’s “military theatre” at its best, what 617 Squadron did was an extraordinary and heroic achievement, and a triumph of British ingenuity and technology—a story to be told for generations to come.Operation Chastise includes three 8-page black-and-white photo inserts and 6 maps.

The next installment in the New York Times bestselling series! From YouTube gamer StacyPlays comes the exhilarating sequel to her Minecraft-inspired adventure novel about a girl raised by wolves. Stacy would do anything to protect the Taiga where she lives with the pack of intelligent wolves who raised her. But when humans start to encroach on their forest, their only choice is escape to a place no Arctic wolf has gone before: the desert. The Mesa, with its canyons, snakes, and coyotes, will be like nothing the pack has ever seen. Even in this unfamiliar territory, Stacy is determined to rescue animals in need. But as she and her wolves face new dangers and old secrets, Stacy can’t help but wonder—where does she truly belong? Fans of DanTDM: Trayasaurus and the Enchanted Crystal and PopularMMOs Presents: A Hole New World will love this illustrated, action-packed series!

The action-packed conclusion to the Lost Rainforest series by award-winning and bestselling author Eliot Schrefer delivers one last thrilling adventure as the shadowwalkers are pushed to the limit to protect Caldera. Perfect for fans of Warriors and Spirit Animals. When the shadowwalkers were victorious in their battle against the Ant Queen, they hoped their work to save Caldera was done. But the rainforest has begun to rumble.Rumi, a scholarly tree frog who can control the wind, must bring his band of animal friends to face the greatest danger they’ve yet encountered—the giant volcano beneath the jungle itself. While the volcano roars, rumors of a mysterious evil blanket Caldera—the Elemental of Darkness has emerged and is building a legion of followers.When the shadowwalkers are forced to divide and conquer, Rumi finds himself an unlikely leader and must grapple with his own secrets before he can unlock the full scope of his magical powers. Can Rumi rally the shadowwalkers to save their rainforest home?

“There is magic, there is good and evil, and there is love all woven into a suspenseful and entertaining mystery.”—School Library Journal (starred review)New York Times bestselling author Gregory Funaro brings us the second installment of the thrilling Watch Hollow series, where magic exists, monsters roam, and wooden animals come to life. Having defeated the Garr, a vicious tree monster who lived within the enchanted woods of Watch Hollow, Lucy and Oliver Tinker now have the home they’ve always dreamed of: Blackford House. Powered by a magical clock and full of curious rooms and improbable knickknacks, Blackford House brims with the promise of new adventures.Yet when a strange governess arrives from England—bringing with her the Kojima twins, Agatha and Algernon—the Tinker children’s once bright future quickly begins to dim. The Kojimas claim to be the rightful heirs to Blackford House, and soon after their arrival, a great evil enters the Tinkers’ new home, cursing it and turning it into an ever-changing labyrinth.As a result, Lucy and Oliver, along with their clock animal friends, must now join forces with the twins to escape this labyrinth and save Blackford House, all while a new monster lurks around the corner.