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"Golf Architecture in America" by George C. Thomas

From BarnesandNoble.com:

Golf Architecture in America is a masterpiece of early golf literature, written by famed architect George C. Thomas. Considered by historians to be the most influential book ever written on early American golf, this guide provides rare insight into the methods and philosophies used to design, construct, and maintain the most renowned golf courses in the United States.

According to Thomas, "In this book it has been aimed to aid the beginner by giving actual experiences in course building, and to place before him the practical working methods found by the writer to constitute sound practice; to illustrate strategy and construction, and to consider all the factors which must be included in the up-to-date proposition."

Written in 1927, this book features over 150 black-and-white photographs and drawings, including rare photos of Pine Valley, Pinehurst No. 2, and Pebble Beach. Also included is a foreword by the author and an appendix highlighting his design achievements.

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"The Things They Cannot Say: Stories Soldiers Won't Tell You About What They've Seen, Done or Failed to Do in War" by Kevin Sites

From BarnesandNoble.com:

An important look at the unspoken and unknown truths of war and its impact, told through the personal stories of those who have been there.

In The Things They Cannot Say, eleven soldiers and Marines display a courage that transcends battlefield heroics—they share the truth about their wars. For each it means something different: one struggles to recover from a head injury he believes has stolen his ability to love, another attempts to make amends for the killing of an innocent man, while yet another finds respect for the enemy fighter who tried to kill him.

Award-winning journalist and author Kevin Sites asks the difficult questions of these combatants, many of whom he first met while in Afghanistan and Iraq and others he sought out from different wars: What is it like to kill? What is it like to be under fire? How do you know what’s right? What can you never forget?

Sites compiles the accounts of soldiers, Marines, their families and friends, and also shares the narrative of his own failures during war (including complicity in a murder) and the redemptive powers of storytelling in arresting a spiraling path of self-destruction.

He learns that war both gives and takes from those most involved in it. Some struggle in disequilibrium, while others find balance, usually with the help of communities who have learned to listen, without judgment, to the real stories of the men and women it has sent to fight its battles.