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This is Paris

Following on the runaway success of This is New York, Universe is thrilled to reissue two more titles from M. Sasek's beloved children's travel series: This is London and This is Paris.
Like This is New York and This is San Francisco, This is London and This is Paris are facsimile editions of Sasek's original titles. His brilliant, vibrant illustrations have been meticulously preserved and remain true to his vision. With the passing of time facts have been updated where applicable in the back of each book. Perfect souvenirs with timely and nostalgic appeal, the books have an elegant, classic look and delightful narrative that will charm both children and their parents, many of whom will remember them from their own childhood.

This is London, first published in 1959, presents impressions of London with its beautiful buildings, historic monuments, bridges, parks, shops and Piccadilly Circus, black cabs, Horse Guards, and famed Underground.

This is Paris, first published in 1959, brings Paris, one of the most exciting cities in the world, to life. There are famous buildings, beautiful gardens, cafes, and the Parisians-artists, concierges, flower girls, and even thousands of cats. Take a tour along the banks of the Seine, through the galleries of the Louvre, and to the top of the Eiffel Tower.

Major Giacomo “Vic” Victore was given command over the first and only squadron of seventeen P-55 Pit Vipers built and flown during WWII. Entering service in early 1945, the P-55’s high efficiency turboprops (rather than turbojets, which early German jet fighters utilized) allowed for longer flight times and high sustained speeds needed to battle the German jet fighters. It is a common misconception of the war that the German jets arrived too late on the scene to cause the Allies any problems- in truth, it was the Pit Vipers chasing the gas-guzzling German jets back to their bases that signified the doom for the Luftwaffe. In just a few short months over the European skies, Major Vic’s Vipers, as they would come to be known, cut a swath through the remains of the German Air Forces.

The only threat to the P-55 was the Horton Ho 409 Blutsauger (Vampire Bat), a sneaky German jet fighter equipped with RADAR and loads of fuel. Blutsaugers would circle hidden in the clouds waiting for Vipers chasing bait fighters and attack when vulnerable. Blutsaugers were equipped with newer, more efficient turbofan engines, and when laden with fuel this enabled the 409’s to outlast the P-55. Viper pilots were prone to calling them “flying fuel tanks” for their ability to stay airborne for such long periods.

The P-55 utilized several ahead-of-its-time features incorporated after the Allies were able to emancipate many of Europe’s most brilliant minds. In addition to the turboprop, which provided the speed of a jet with the relative efficiency of a conventional prop system, the P-55 used a swept forward wing design to cut through the sky. Flaps and air brakes compensated for the smaller surface area on the backs of the wings.

Seen here is Capt. Elias J. Gold II’s P-55A, dubbed “Plane Jane.” Capt. Gold was the Viper Ace, marking 22 official kills as well as wreaking havoc on tanks, infantry, and support units across Europe. Like the other Vipers built, “Plane Jane” did not survive the war. Capt. Gold was shot down deep inside German airspace by a Blutsauger wolfpack days before Germany surrendered.



The Horton Ho 409(b) Blutsauger (Vampire Bat) was the rarest aircraft in WWII to be utilized as a fighter and score a confirmed kill. Only six 409b’s were assembled with the turbofans installed before the German factory was leveled by an Allied bomb, destroying the remaining twenty-five 409a’s awaiting conversion. In addition to being rare, the Blutsauger is one of the more interesting German fighters to see combat during the War.

The 409 was begun as essentially identical in purpose to the American P-61 Black Widow, utilizing RADAR in its infancy to attack unsuspecting Allied planes at night. However, its design was clearly unique. A RADAR operator sat forward and below a pilot, while a gunner led a solitary lifestyle in the rear turret. A large portion of the plane’s body stored fuel, which allowed the Blutsaugers to hide out in the clouds for hours awaiting their RADAR screens to pick up unsuspecting enemy craft. On more than one occasion, the Luftwaffe used bait planes to lure Allied wings into a Blutsauger’s kill zone.
409a’s were able enough, but the emergence of the P-55 Pit Viper saw the need for a faster, more efficient response. Six 409b’s were converted from prop engines to the just-introduced turbofans with astonishing results. Using their bait technique coupled with the wolfpack, a favored German U-boat tactic, the 409’s quickly decimated the small P-55 squadron. Hauptmann Kristoff Schultz, flying in a 409b he called “Death Comes Calling,” shot down four P-55’s in the last month Germany of fighting, including the famed “Plane Jane” piloted by Capt. E.J. Gold. Seen above is Hauptmann Schultz’s younger brother Oberleutnant Erich Schultz’s ride, “Shadow of Death.”

Major Giacomo “Vic” Victore was given command over the first and only squadron of seventeen P-55 Pit Vipers built and flown during WWII. Entering service in early 1945, the P-55’s high efficiency turboprops (rather than turbojets, which early German jet fighters utilized) allowed for longer flight times and high sustained speeds needed to battle the German jet fighters. It is a common misconception of the war that the German jets arrived too late on the scene to cause the Allies any problems- in truth, it was the Pit Vipers chasing the gas-guzzling German jets back to their bases that signified the doom for the Luftwaffe. In just a few short months over the European skies, Major Vic’s Vipers, as they would come to be known, cut a swath through the remains of the German Air Forces.

The only threat to the P-55 was the Horton Ho 409 Blutsauger (Vampire Bat), a sneaky German jet fighter equipped with RADAR and loads of fuel. Blutsaugers would circle hidden in the clouds waiting for Vipers chasing bait fighters and attack when vulnerable. Blutsaugers were equipped with newer, more efficient turbofan engines, and when laden with fuel this enabled the 409’s to outlast the P-55. Viper pilots were prone to calling them “flying fuel tanks” for their ability to stay airborne for such long periods.

The P-55 utilized several ahead-of-its-time features incorporated after the Allies were able to emancipate many of Europe’s most brilliant minds. In addition to the turboprop, which provided the speed of a jet with the relative efficiency of a conventional prop system, the P-55 used a swept forward wing design to cut through the sky. Flaps and air brakes compensated for the smaller surface area on the backs of the wings.

Seen here is Capt. Elias J. Gold II’s P-55A, dubbed “Plane Jane.” Capt. Gold was the Viper Ace, marking 22 official kills as well as wreaking havoc on tanks, infantry, and support units across Europe. Like the other Vipers built, “Plane Jane” did not survive the war. Capt. Gold was shot down deep inside German airspace by a Blutsauger wolfpack days before Germany surrendered.

"Often sidesplitting, mostly heartbreaking...[Tropper is] a more sincere, insightful version of Nick Hornby, that other master of male psyche." --USA Today

The death of Judd Foxman's father marks the first time that the entire Foxman clan has congregated in years. There is, however, one conspicuous absence: Judd's wife, Jen, whose affair with his radio- shock-jock boss has recently become painfully public. Simultaneously mourning the demise of his father and his marriage, Judd joins his dysfunctional family as they reluctantly sit shiva-and spend seven days and nights under the same roof. The week quickly spins out of control as longstanding grudges resurface, secrets are revealed and old passions are reawakened. Then Jen delivers the clincher: she's pregnant.

This Is Where I Leave You is Jonathan Tropper's most accomplished work to date, and a riotously funny, emotionally raw novel about love, marriage, divorce, family, and the ties that bind-whether we like it or not.

Amazon Best of the Month, August 2009: Jonathan Tropper writes compulsively readable, laugh-out-loud funny novels, and his fifth book, This Is Where I Leave You is his best yet. Judd Foxman is oscillating between a sea of self-pity and a "snake pit of fury and resentment" in the aftermath of the explosion of his marriage, which ended "the way these things do: with paramedics and cheesecake." Foxman is jobless (after finding his wife in bed with his boss) and renting out the basement of a "crappy house" when he is called home to sit shiva for his father--who, incidentally, was an atheist. This of course means seven days in his parent's house with his exquisitely dysfunctional family, including his mom, a sexy, "I've-still-got-it" shrink fond of making horrifying TMI statements; his older sister, Wendy, and her distracted hubby and three kids; his snarky older brother, Paul, and his wife; and his youngest brother, Phillip, the "Paul McCartney of our family: better-looking than the rest of us, always facing a different direction in pictures, and occasionally rumored to be dead." Tropper is wickedly funny, a master of the cutting one-liner that makes you both cringe and crack up. But what elevates his novels and makes him a truly splendid writer is his ability to create fantastically flawed, real characters who stay with you long after the book is over. Simultaneously hilarious and hopeful, This Is Where I Leave You is as much about a family's reckoning as it is about one man's attempt to get it together. The affectionate, warts-and-all portrayal of the Foxmans will have fans wishing for a sequel (and clamoring for all things Tropper). --Daphne Durham