Coverage, Quirks and Covert Ops

"Often only hours before you took that first sip of ricard or your martini... you had been watching a medic give up on a kid of eighteen or nineteen and flip a cold poncho over his face. Often you could hear the artillery of a battle across the Saigon River." So Kate Webb, a former UPI correspondent, recalls her days as a reporter in Vietnam, moving back and forth between the devastation of the field and the decadent and chaotic nightlife of Saigon. Her story is part of War Torn: Stories of War from the Women Reporters Who Covered Vietnam, written by former correspondents including Denby Fawcett, Jurate Kazickas and UPI's Webb and Tracy Wood. The book collects nine reporters' memoirs that recall the period of 1966—1975, when women's reportage, as Gloria Emerson notes in her introduction, was much rarer than today. Author tour. (Random, $24.95 288p ISBN 0-375-50628-4; On sale Aug. 20)

The sensationally titled Chariots of the Damned: Helicopter Special Operations from Vietnam to Kosovo documents death-defying chopper-based Special Ops rescue missions. Writers Mike McKinney, an instructor pilot in the U.S. Air Force, and Mike Ryan (Warplanes of the Future) take turns writing chapters recounting both successful rescues and such notorious failures as those in Somalia and Iran, with an analysis of tactics. They also provide lots of technical information about the choppers themselves, tracing the evolution of helicopter technology over the last 30 years or so. (St Martin's/Dunne, $24.95 224p ISBN 0-312-29118-3; July 22)

British Revolutionary War general William Howe was so obviously distracted from the campaign by the charms of his mistress that American Tories wrote a song about it. More gravely, as the Red Army invaded and triumphed over Finland in WWII, Finland ended up losing 25,000 soldiers; the Russians lost 250,000. These and other facts are showcased in Military History's Most Wanted: The Top Ten Book of Improbable Victories, Unlikely Heroes, and Other Martial Oddities. Written by M. Evan Brooks, who served in the U.S. Army and National Guard for more than 30 years, the book gathers 10 brief, encyclopedia-style entries apiece on such topics as "Mercenaries," "Literary Soldiers," "Amphibious Operations" and "Decisive Battles." (Brassey's, $12.95 paper 288p ISBN 1-57488-509-X; July 1)

Although it includes some U.S. Navy deception activities carried out by the late actor Douglas Fairbanks Jr., among others, novelist Philip Gerard's Secret Soldiers: The Story of World War II's Heroic Army of Deception concentrates on the WWII activities of the Army's 23rd Headquarters Special Troops, whose activities were kept secret for many years. The 23rd used sound effects, camouflage and radio to mislead the Germans about Allied plans and conceal Allied troop movements during the liberation of France and the invasion of Germany in 1944—1945. Their story is told here through veteran recollections, memoirs and published works, and includes anecdotes of army life and combat. (Dutton, $24.95 328p ISBN 0-375-50757-4; June)

Freedom and Inner Peace

Marriage and family therapist SaraKay Smullens has written a book about a problem she says plagues children and adults of all levels and backgrounds: emotional abuse. Setting Yourself Free: Breaking the Cycle of Emotional Abuse in Family, Friendships, Work and Love explains the five common types of emotional abuse (rage, "enmeshment," overprotection, abandonment and neglect) and offers advice on how people can put an end to it. Smullens bases her book on her counseling work, and her recommendations are appropriately realistic. In the end, she says, "facing reality, no matter how stony its path, is the only path that can free your present and future." (New Horizon, $14.95 paper 240p ISBN 0-88282-224-1; July)

Popular motivational lecturer and bestselling author Wayne Dyer's latest book is a small volume that reveals some basic principles for changing one's outlook on life. Ten Secrets for Success and Inner Peace is a simple, honest guide to living happily. Among his recommendations: "have a mind that is open to everything and attached to nothing," "treat yourself as if you already are what you'd like to be" and "wisdom is avoiding all thoughts that weaken you." Dyer's words are complemented by pastel-colored watercolors; the plush cover and small size make this a good gift. (Hay House, $12.95 176p ISBN 1-56170-875-5; June)

Taking a spunky approach to self-help, Randy Peyser, the former editor-in-chief of the New Age magazine Catalyst, has written Crappy to Happy: Small Steps to Big Happiness Now. Using humor, parables and personal anecdotes, Peyser explains how readers can learn to be true to themselves, develop spirituality in their lives and cultivate personal integrity. Her advice is straightforward and jargon-free, and her emphasis is on the present. "Asking for support doesn't mean you're a wimp," she says. "Get all the support you need." Those with a sense of humor—or those in need of one—will relish Peyser's quirky book. (Red Wheel/Weiser, $12.95 paper 224p ISBN 1-59003-025-7; May)

May Publications

In a pioneering study of America's "culture of listening," University of Pennsylvania professor of the history and sociology of science Emily Thompson depicts a culture busily rationalizing, quantifying and taming sound in The Soundscape of Modernity: Architectural Acoustics and the Culture of Listening in America 1900—1933. Beginning with the extraordinary (and little known) career of architectural engineer Wallace Sabine, from his felt-covered "acoustical correction" of the Rhode Island House of Representatives to his role in the influential design of Boston's Symphony Hall, Thompson analyzes the checkered (and ultimately futile) history of "noise abatement" and the implications of the introduction of electronics. Her account culminates in the design and construction of Rockefeller Center, and is powered throughout by the utopianism of the scientists, architects and engineers she depicts. (MIT, $44.95 452p ISBN 0-262-20138-0)

Pulitzer Prize—winning New York Times sports columnist Ira Berkow gathers some of his best recent reportage in The Minority Quarterback and Other Lives in Sports. His pieces focus on the exploits of everyone from Michael Jordan to high school athletes, dealing as often with issues like teen suicide, murder trials and drug use as with athletic prowess, game highlights or statistics. Standouts include "The End of Gil McDougal's Silent Seasons," an emotional piece about the former Yankee's hearing loss, and "The Minority Quarterback," a piece that details the experiences of a white quarterback at the traditionally black Southern University. (Ivan R. Dee, $26 312p ISBN 1-56663-422-9)

Will jazz be marginalized in the next hundred years, or will it experience a rebirth? This is the question that looms over the 10 lively essays by such music critics and musicians as Ted Gioia, Ben Ratliff and Greg Tate in The Future of Jazz. Edited by A Cappella Books editor Yuval Taylor, the pieces address topics ranging from the fusion of jazz and rock to the role of race to the business of jazz; aimed at a knowledgeable audience, they're laden with references that go beyond the fair-weather listener's knowledge of John Coltrane and Miles Davis. Each essay is followed by a dialogue in which the other nine writers sound off. (A Cappella, $16.95 paper 240p ISBN 1-55652-446-3)

Miles and Beryl Smeeton were perhaps the most adventurous couple of the 20th century. Separately and together, they traveled around the world—by boat and on foot—along some of the most dangerous routes, trekking across China and sailing around Cape Horn. While the couple wrote several travel books, little has been written about their lives. Writer and photographer Miles Clark, who died in 1993, documented the couple's adventures in High Endeavours: The Extraordinary Life and Adventures of Miles and Beryl Smeeton, first published in Canada 10 years ago and now being released in the U.S. The biographical portrait incorporates some of the couple's own writings. (Greystone [Sterling, dist.], $17.95 paper 480p ISBN 1-55054-058-0)