Fall of Giants

Πώς ένας ήσυχος δρόμος γίνεται πεδίο μάχης.

They had taken no more than a dozen steps away from the cottages when a musket barrel came smashing through an unbroken window in one of the cottages ahead. The door flew open, three more muskets poked out. The muskets boomed, killing two of the surprised soldiers a yard to Orry’s left.

North and South · John Jakes

Το πλοίο μπορεί να σβήσει τα φώτα του, όχι όμως το περίγραμμά του.

With all but a few lights extinguished and all shades pulled and curtains drawn, the great liner slid forward through the sea, at times in fog, at times under a lacework of stars. But even in darkness, in moonlight and mist, the ship stood out. At one o’clock in the morning, Friday, May 7, the officers of a New York–bound vessel spotted the Lusitania and recognized it immediately as it passed some two miles off. “You could see the shape of the four funnels,” said the captain, Thomas M. Taylor; “she was the only ship with four funnels.”

Dead Wake · Erik Larson

The argument you have with yourself before doing the frightening thing.

The idea made her sick and scared, but so what? Why did it matter if something scared you, when it simply had to be done anyway?

The Alice Network · Kate Quinn