It is the story of an idealistic schoolboy who couldn't believe his luck when the RAF agreed to take him on as a "pupil pilot" at the minimum age of seventeen and a half in 1939. In his fervor to fly, he gave little thought to the coming war." "Writing with wit, compassion, and a great deal of technical expertise, Wellum relives his grueling months of flight training, during which two of his classmates crashed and died. He describes a hilarious scene during his first day in the prestigious 92nd Squadron when his commader discovered that Wellum had not only never flown a Spitfire, he'd never even seen one." A battle-hardened ace by the winter of 1941, though still not out of his teens, 'Boy' Wellum flew scores of missions as fighter escort on bombing missions over France. Yet the constant life-or-death stress of murderous combat and anguish over the loss of his closest friends sapped endurance. Tortured by fierce headaches, even in the midst of battle, he could not bear the thought of "not pulling your weight," of letting the other pilots risk their lives in his place. Wellum's frank account of his long, losing bout with battle fatigue is both moving and enlightening.

    TO SURVIVEDan Evans arrived in Vietnam on October 7, 1968, a 21- year-old Army medic who couldn't stand the sight of blood. Thrust into the cauldron of combat, he soon became a seasoned veteran of emergency medicine and the brutal realties of war. Before his time was up, he would master the skills of a surgeon, acquire the patience of a saint, and demonstrate the courage of a lion... Here, in his own words, is the gripping true story of Dan Evans, the highly decorated soldier whom the men of First Platoon, Bravo Company, called the "fighting medic." Experience the rage, the sorrow and the remarkable spirit of Dan Evans - the PLATOON MEDIC who became a true American hero.

    In this first volume of the Liberation Trilogy, Rick Atkinson shows why no modern reader can understand the ultimate victory of the Allied powers without a grasp of the great drama that unfolded in North Africa in 1942 and 1943. That first year of the Allied war was a pivotal point in American history, the moment when the United States began to act like a great power.Beginning with the daring amphibious invasion in November 1942, An Army at Dawn follows the American and British armies as they fight the French in Morocco and Algeria, and then take on the Germans and Italians in Tunisia. Battle by battle, an inexperienced and sometimes poorly led army gradually becomes a superb fighting force. Central to the tale are the extraordinary but fallible commanders who come to dominate the battlefield: Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley, Montgomery, and Rommel.Brilliantly researched, rich with new material and vivid insights, Atkinson's narrative provides the definitive history of the war in North Africa.

    Within just one month, during a holiday called Tet, the Communists would launch the largest single attack of the war--and he would be right in the thick of it. . . .In Vietnam, Richard Burns operated in live-or-die situations, risking his life so that other men could keep theirs. As a Pathfinder--all too often alone in the middle of a hot LZ--he guided in helicopters disembarking troops, directed medevacs to retrieve the wounded, and organized extractions. As well as parachuting into areas and supervising the clearing of landing zones, Pathfinders acted as air-traffic controllers, keeping call signs, frequencies, and aircraft locations in their heads as they orchestrated takeoffs and landings, often under heavy enemy fire.From Bien Hoa to Song Be to the deadly A Shau Valley, Burns recounts the battles that won him the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and numerous other decorations. This is the first and only book by a Pathfinder in Vietnam . . . or anywhere else.From the Paperback edition.

    Hackworth had just completed the writing of a tactical handbook for the Pentagon, and now he had been ordered to put his counterguerilla-fighting theories into action. He was given the morale-drained 4/39th—a battalion of poorly led draftees suffering the Army's highest casualty rate and considered its worst fighting battalion. Hackworth's hard-nosed, inventive and inspired leadership quickly turned the 4/39th into Vietnam's valiant and ferocious Hardcore Recondos. Drawing on interviews with soldiers from the Hardcore Battalion conducted over the past decade by his partner and coauthor, Eilhys England, Hackworth takes readers along on their sniper missions, ambush actions, helicopter strikes and inside the quagmire of command politics. With Steel My Soldiers' Hearts, Hackworth places the brotherhood of the 4/39th into the pantheon of our nation's most heroic warriors.

    Sledge's story in the HBO miniseries The Pacific !China Marine is the extraordinary sequel to E.B. Sledge's memoir, With the Old Breed, which remains the most powerful and moving account of the U.S. Marines in World War II. Sledge continues his story where With the Old Breed left off and recounts the compelling conclusion of his Marine career.After Japan's surrender in 1945, Sledge and his company were sent to China to maintain order and to calm the seething cauldron of political and ideological unrest created by opposing factions. His regiment was the first Marine unit to return to the ancient city of Peiping (now Beijing) where they witnessed the last of old China and the rise of the Communist state. Sledge also recounts the difficulty of returning to his hometown of Mobile, Alabama, and resuming civilian life while haunted by shadows of close combat. Through the discipline of writing and the study of biology, he shows how he came to terms with the terrifying memories that had plagued him for years.Poignant and compelling, China Marine provides a frank depiction of the real costs of war, emotional and psychological as well as physical, and reveals the enduring bond that develops between men who face the horrors of war.

    naval history.Sailors to the End tells the dramatic and until now forgotten story of the 1967 fire on board the USS Forrestal during its time at Yankee Station off the coast of Vietnam. The aircraft carrier, the mightiest of the U.S. fleet, was preparing to launch attacks into North Vietnam when one of its jets accidentally fired a rocket across the flight deck and into an aircraft occupied by pilot John McCain. A huge fire ensued, and McCain barely escaped before a 1,000-pound bomb on his plane exploded, causing a chain reaction with other bombs on surrounding planes. The crew struggled for days to extinguish the fires, the five thousand men on board experiencing different kinds of hell -- some trapped in damaged compartments waiting to die, some battling rivers of flaming jet fuel in order to rescue their buddies. Almost all of them were innocent eighteen- and nineteen-year-olds, but in an instant they were thrust into a tragedy that nearly destroyed the ship and took the lives of 134 men.Written with the intensity and excitement of a thriller, and based on never-before-disclosed information and extensive interviews with the fire's survivors, here is the first full, minute-by-minute account of the disaster. Told through the stories of a dozen sailors, including John Beling, the carrier's beloved captain who was made a scapegoat for the disaster, Sailors to the End follows the Forrestal from its home in Norfolk, Virginia, through its mission in Vietnam. Focusing on the fateful fire and its aftermath, this book provides a gripping tale of heartache and heroism as young men find themselves trapped on a burning ship with bombs exploding all around them.Sailors to the End also corrects the official view of the fire, providing evidence that the U.S. government compromised the ship's safety by insisting on increased bombing despite the shortage of reliable weapons. For thirty-five years, the terrible loss of life has been blamed on the sailors themselves, but this meticulously documented history shows that they were truly the victims and heroes, deserving recognition for their efforts during a sweeping tragedy that until now has been only a footnote in history. Gregory A. Freeman dramatically brings this story to life, creating a work that is both riveting and moving.

     When Rick Rescorla got home from Vietnam, he tried to put combat and death behind him, but he never could entirely. From the day he joined the British Army to fight a colonial war in Rhodesia, where he met American Special Forces' officer Dan Hill who would become his best friend, to the day he fell in love with Susan, everything in his remarkable life was preparing him for an act of generosity that would transcend all that went before. Heart of a Soldier is a story of bravery under fire, of loyalty to one's comrades, of the miracle of finding happiness late in life. Everything about Rick's life came together on September 11. In charge of security for Morgan Stanley, he successfully got all its 2,700 men and women out of the south tower of the World Trade Center. Then, thinking perhaps of soldiers he'd held as they died, as well as the woman he loved, he went back one last time to search for stragglers.

    They are the U.S. Army's most elite top-secret strike force. They dominate the modern battlefield, but you won't hear about their heroics on CNN. No headlines can reveal their top-secret missions, and no book has ever taken readers inside—until now. Here, a founding member of Delta Force takes us behind the veil of secrecy and into the action-to reveal the never-before-told story of 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-D (Delta Force).Inside Delta Forece The Story of America's Elite Counterterrorist Unit He is a master of espionage, trained to take on hijackers, terrorists, hostage takers, and enemy armies. He can deploy by parachute or arrive by commercial aircraft. Survive alone in hostile cities. Speak foreign languages fluently. Strike at enemy targets with stunning swiftness and extraordinary teamwork. He is the ultimate modern warrior: the Delta Force Operator.In this dramatic behind-the-scenes chronicle, Eric Haney, one of the founding members of Delta Force, takes us inside this legendary counterterrorist unit. Here, for the first time, are details of the grueling selection process—designed to break the strongest of men—that singles out the best of the best: the Delta Force Operator.With heart-stopping immediacy, Haney tells what it's really like to enter a hostage-held airplane. And from his days in Beirut, Haney tells an unforgettable tale of bodyguards and bombs, of a day-to-day life of madness and beauty, and of how he and a teammate are called on to kill two gunmen targeting U.S. Marines at the Beirut airport. As part of the team sent to rescue American hostages in Tehran, Haney offers a first-person description of that failed mission that is a chilling, compelling account of a bold maneuver undone by chance—and a few fatal mistakes.From fighting guerrilla warfare in Honduras to rescuing missionaries in Sudan and leading the way onto the island of Grenada, Eric Haney captures the daring and discipline that distinguish the men of Delta Force. Inside Delta Force brings honor to these singular men while it puts us in the middle of action that is sudden, frightening, and nonstop around the world.From the Hardcover edition.

    His images, published in Life magazine, brought the war home, scorching the consciousness of the public and inspiring much of the anti-war sentiment that convulsed American society in the 1960s. To see these photo essays today, gathered in one volume and augmented by unpublished images from the Burrows archive, is to experience (or to relive), with extraordinary immediacy, both the war itself and the effect and range of Larry Burrows’s gifts—his courage: to shoot “The Air War,” he strapped himself and his camera to the open doorway of a plane . . . his reporter’s instinct: accompanying the mission of the helicopter Yankee Papa 13, he captured the transformation of a young marine crew chief experiencing the death of fellow marines . . . and his compassion: in “Operation Prairie” and “A Degree of Disillusion” he published profoundly affecting images of exhausted, bloodied troops and maimed Vietnamese children, both wounded, physically and psychologically, by the ever-escalating war.The photographs Larry Burrows took in Vietnam, magnificently reproduced in this volume, are brutal, poignant, and utterly truthful, a stunning example of photojournalism that recorded history and achieved the level of great art. Indeed, in retrospect, says David Halberstam in his moving introduction, “Larry Burrows was as much historian as photographer and artist. Because of his work, generations born long after he died will be able to witness and understand and feel the terrible events he recorded. This book is his last testament.”With 150 illustrations, 100 in full color

    The bestselling saga of Falkenberg's legion, complete in one huge volume, this contains stories that were originally published in four parts as "Falkenberg's Legion, Prince of Mercenaries, Go Tell the Spartans" and "Prince of Sparta."

    He was 20 years old, unblooded, fresh from a public-school background and Officer Cadet training. He was going to war. Two days later, his tank sunk, he and his crew landed from a rubber dinghy with just the clothes they stood in. After that, the struggles through the Normandy bocage in a replacement tank (of the non-swimming variety), engaging the enemy in a constant round of close encounters, led to a swift mastering of the art of tank warfare and remarkable survival in the midst of carnage and destruction. His story of that journey through hell to victory makes for compulsive reading.

    Roosevelt sought to restore the honor of the United States with a dramatic act of vengeance: a retaliatory bombing raid on Tokyo. On April 18, 1942, eighty brave young men, led by the famous daredevil Jimmy Doolittle, took off from a navy carrier in the mid-Pacific on what everyone regarded as a suicide mission but instead became a resounding American victory and helped turn the tide of the war. The First Heroes is the story of that mission. Meticulously researched and based on interviews with twenty of the surviving Tokyo Raiders, this is a true account that almost defies belief, a tremendous human drama of great personal courage, and a powerful reminder that ordinary people, when faced with extraordinary circumstances, can rise to the challenge of history.

    Written in the tone of the quixotic lieutenants who populate its pages, this novel vividly illustrates the pressures on the new generation of war fighters. Along the way the book introduces an engaging cast of characters: a self-centered squadron commander hell-bent on fixing his tainted professional reputation; a reluctant air-wing commander more suited for life within the walls of the Pentagon than on a flight deck at sea; a battle-group commander trained in the art of driving ships, now thrust into the snap-decision matrix of supersonic jets; and a host of junior officers. Seeking only the ideals they were promised, these technology-savvy aviators are products of pop culture, unimpressed by rank for its own sake and unresponsive to petitions in the name of the profession's lofty mottoes. But for all of its irreverance, Punk's War is a loving tribute to those called to service during an unsteady peace and a definitive statement about why flying fighters for a living remains among the most noble of professions.

    For more than thirty years, virtually the only people who knew about the Hill Fights were the Marines who fought them. Now, for the first time, the full story has been pieced together by acclaimed Vietnam War historian Edward F. Murphy, whose definitive analysis admirably fills this significant gap in Vietnam War literature. Based on first-hand interviews and documentary research, Murphy’s deeply informed narrative history is the only complete account of the battles, their origins, and their aftermath.The Marines at the isolated Khe Sanh Combat Base were tasked with monitoring the strategically vital Ho Chi Minh trail as it wound through the jungles in nearby Laos. Dominated by high hills on all sides, the combat base had to be screened on foot by the Marine infantrymen while crack, battle-hardened NVA units roamed at will through the high grass and set up elaborate defenses on steep, sun-baked overlooks.Murphy traces the bitter account of the U.S. Marines at Khe Sanh from the outset in 1966, revealing misguided decisions and strategies from above, and capturing the chain of hill battles in stark detail. But the Marines themselves supply the real grist of the story; it is their recollections that vividly re-create the atmosphere of desperation, bravery, and relentless horror that characterized their combat. Often outnumbered and outgunned by a hidden enemy—and with buddies lying dead or wounded beside them—these brave young Americans fought on.The story of the Marines at Khe Sanh in early 1967 is a microcosm of the Corps’s entire Vietnam War and goes a long way toward explaining why their casualties in Vietnam exceeded, on a Marine-in-combat basis, even the tremendous losses the Leathernecks sustained during their ferocious Pacific island battles of World War II. The Hill Fights is a damning indictment of those responsible for the lives of these heroic Marines. Ultimately, the high command failed them, their tactics failed them, and their rifles failed them. Only the Marines themselves did not fail. Under fire, trapped in a hell of sudden death meted out by unseen enemies, they fought impossible odds with awesome courage and uncommon valor.From the Hardcover edition.

    Fortunately, D-Day paratrooper Joseph Beyrle met author Thomas H. Taylor in time to record Behind Hitler's Lines, the true story of the first American paratrooper to land in Normandy and the only soldier to fight for both the United States and the Soviet Union against Nazi Germany. It is a story of battle, followed by a succession of captures, escapes, recaptures, and re-escapes, then battle once more, in the final months of fighting on the Eastern Front. For these unique experiences, both President Bill Clinton and President Boris Yeltsin honored Joe Beyrle on the fiftieth anniversary of V-E Day. Beyrle did not strive to be a part of history, but history kept visiting him. Twice before the invasion he parachuted into Normandy, bearing gold for the French resistance. D Day resulted in his capture, and he was mistaken for a German line-crosser - a soldier who had, in fact, died in the attempt. Eventually Joe was held under guard at the American embassy in Moscow, suspected of being a Nazi assassin. Fingerprints saved him, confirming that he'd been wounded five times, and that he bore a safe-conduct pass written by marshal Zhukov after the Wehrmacht wrested Joe, at gunpoint, from execution by the Gestapo. In the ruins of Warsaw his life was saved again, this time by Polish nuns. Some of Joe's story is in his own words - a voice that will be among the last and best we hear firsthand from World War II.

    Jonathan Shay uses the Odyssey, the story of a soldier's homecoming, to illuminate the pitfalls that trap many veterans on the road back to civilian life.Seamlessly combining important psychological work and brilliant literary interpretation with an impassioned plea to renovate American military institutions, Shay deepens our understanding of both the combat veteran's experience and one of the world's greatest classics.

    Their crews carried out intelligence-collection operations, sought out and stood ready to destroy opposing submarines, and, from the early 1960s, threatened missile attacks on their adversary’s homeland, providing in many respects the most survivable nuclear deterrent of the Cold War. For both East and West, the modern submarine originated in German U-boat designs obtained at the end of World War II. Although enjoying a similar technology base, by the 1990s the superpowers had created submarine fleets of radically different designs and capabilities. Written in collaboration with the former Soviet submarine design bureaus, Norman Polmar and K. J. Moore authoritatively demonstrate in this landmark study how differing submarine missions, antisubmarine priorities, levels of technical competence, and approaches to submarine design organizations and management caused the divergence.

    Or that, as the machine gun bullets whistled past and shells exploded, he could maintain his own morale to lead a platoon, keeping its discipline and cohesion, in spite of desperate losses. Norman Collins, the author of this superb memoir, was this remarkable man.Despite being wounded three times, Norman lived to see his hundredth birthday so becoming one of the last surviving combatants of this terrible conflict. Through his eloquent memories recorded late in life and a rare collection of letters that he wrote from the front, he tells the story of his life as a young subaltern at the front during 1916 and 1917. Using Norman’s own words, this book follows him from his childhood in Hartlepool to his subsequent service in France. The book also covers such shattering events as the German naval assault on Hartlepool in December 1914 when, as a seventeen-year-old, Norman was subjected to as big a bombardment as any occurring on the Western Front at that time.Norman’s enlistment and training are covered in detail in his letters, as is his posting to France and the epic attack at Beaumont Hamel in November 1916. Service at Arras in April 1917 and in the weeks prior to the Third Battle for Ypres is also recorded before serious injury hospitalized him for a year.Norman’s love for, and devotion to, the men under his command shine out in this book and his stories are gripping and deeply moving. They are illustrated by a rare collection of private photographs taken at or near the front by Norman himself, although the use of a camera was strictly proscribed by the Army. Most of the images have never been published before.

    The Ice Road is the gripping story of young Stefan Waydenfeld and his family, deported by cattle car in 1940 to the frozen wastes of the Russian arctic north.

    Everyone on board is killed, including two admirals and a U.S. ambassador. The U.S. vows a swift reprisal.Enter squadron skipper Brick Maxwell and his Roadrunners--the F/A-18 Hornet strike fighter pilots aboard the Reagan. Their mission: strike deep in northern Yemen's highlands. The target: Colonel Jamal Al-Fasr, the charismatic commander who has masterminded the plot to kill the Americans.Al-Fasr is also a skilled fighter pilot who learned his craft in the U.S. He has laid a deadly trap for Maxwell and the warriors of the Reagan Strike Group. The danger lies not only in the hills of Yemen. Lurking beneath the surface of the Arabian Sea is an ex-Russian Kilo submarine, whose mission is to sink the Reagan..."More thrilling than a back-to-back showing of Top Gun and Iron Eagle... some of the most suspenseful battle scenes in recent military fiction..." --Publishers Weekly.

    

    For Sam Brantley it was a harsh and horrific lesson in the realities of jungle combat. The war had always been somewhat distant, flying thousands of feet above the trees and rice paddies. Now, during the summer of the Tet Offensive, the war was in his face and what he saw -- and did -- changed his life forever.

    He served with the SAS during the Falklands War and on subsequent counter-terrorist operations. He tells his personal odyssey from boy-soldier to paratrooper with insight and wisdom. His enemies were not just terrorists: he fought the institutionalized brutality of the Parachute Regiment -- and his own inner demons. He learned the difference between physical and moral courage; between officers who expect you to be ready to die for them, and those who actually want you to get killed so they can win a medal. It's an action-packed narrative, but much more than another RAMBO-style romp. Robin reveals some painful truths, not least the ordinary SAS men's view of General de la Billiere and his orders for a kamikaze mission to Argentina. This is the best, no-holds barred, personal account of an SAS trooper ever published.

    His Civil War paintings and limited edition prints hang in the finest collections in the country and are noted by collectors from around the world. Now, in Don Troiani's Regiments and Uniforms of the Civil War, the artist turns his brush to one of the most colorful and captivating aspects of Civil War history: the individual units that earned their reputations on the battlefield and the distinctive uniforms they wore. In addition to 130 paintings of battle scenes and individual figures, the book also includes more than 250 full-color photographs of the uniforms the soldiers wore and the accouterments they carried. Supporting the illustrations is text by two of the leading military artifact experts. Taken together, it makes for one of the most comprehensive books on Civil War uniforms ever undertaken

     The soldiers of the 77th Infantry Division saw some of the bloodiest action of the Second World War. Ours to Hold It High is brilliant history of the division’s actions through the course of World War Two as it island-hopped its way towards victory in the face of ferocious Japanese resistance. The story begins in America in 1942 when the division was re-activated and the units were formed and given training before they sailed west to fight. Part one of the book covers these initial two years and the various forms of rigorous training that the men went through to prepare them for the amphibious warfare that they would meet in the islands of the Pacific Ocean. Parts two, three, four, and five of the book provides brilliant insight into the combat history of the unit from Guam to Okinawa. The actions of each unit of the division are uncovered to give a thorough overview of the tumultuous and chaotic action that the men saw. This is account is not written by a historian sitting at a desk in the United States, instead it was written by the soldiers who were there on the frontlines. Max Myers, the unit historian, has compiled their accounts to form this fascinating book. The actions of the 77th have become famous throughout the globe, particularly with the assistance of films such as Hacksaw Ridge that have immortalized the division. Almost every member of the 77th contributed in one way or another to this history. The Commanding General and members of his staff, the commanders and staff members from the organizations, and many other individuals devoted some of their time to revision and correction of preliminary manuscripts. Ours to Hold It High was initially published in 1947 and Max Myers, the main editor, passed away in 2011.

    The book covers: preparation and departure; at sea; planners and hoaxers; Ascension Island; and HMS Intrepid in bomb alley.

    Spearheading this vast undertaking were crack British and American airborne forces.

    Each interview in Testaments of Honour: Personal Histories of Canada’s War Veterans begins with the question: “Why did you go?” In answering this question, history comes alive in the words and memorabilia of the veterans themselves, and through then-and-now photographs. These stories are undeniably powerful: a bomber relives the terror of his night-blind raids and the controversy of some of his attacks; one prisoner of war describes the unlikely friendship that developed between a German soldier and two of his Canadian prisoners. In every case, veterans detail their war years not to entertain or remember, but to understand themselves and be understood by others. In the words of our veterans — their memories and their unspoken courage — we see a mirror of who we are as a nation.“Canadian Veterans understand that life is a gift. They know this because they were given the chance to marry, to raise families, and build careers, when those who stood next to them in battle had these possibilities denied them. Our vets know what their lives cost and that to be Canadian means to have been given the boon of selfless determination. They also know that each of us is living on mortgaged time, because the men and women of their generation left their own lives to put their community and country first. We owe our veterans a debt. As you read these stories, look up from your own life and remember those who made it possible.” — From the Introduction to Testaments of Honour

     It was the biggest British-led break-out of the Second World War. But the men paid a high price for their bravery: of the 73 POWs re-captured, 30 were brutally executed on Hitler’s direct orders. The tireless RAF investigation into the atrocity affords us an extraordinary insight into the last hours of many of the victims and the actions of the killers. Drawing together the meticulous research carried out for the war-crimes trial, interviews with the families and friends of the murdered men and with surviving veterans of the camp, Anton Gill provides us with a definitive account of this unique event and its shocking aftermath. The sheer determination and wit involved in the lead up to the design of the greatest tunnel ever built is captured thoroughly. The tenacity of the prisoners has become the stuff of legend, as they saw through their plan to dig the longest and most sophisticated tunnel ever conceived. 'Resounds with authenticity ... a wonderful tale' - Charles Spencer, Mail on Sunday Anton Gill, only child of an English mother and a German father, worked for the English Stage Company, the Arts Council and the BBC before becoming a full-time writer in 1984. He has published over twenty books, mainly in the field of contemporary history, including The Journey Back from Hell: Conversations with Concentration Camp Survivors (winner of the H. H. Wingate Award), A Dance between Flames: Berlin between the Wars; and An Honourable Defeat: A History of the German Resistance to Hitler. Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent digital publisher. For more information on our titles please sign up to our newsletter at www.endeavourpress.com. Each week you will receive updates on free and discounted ebooks. Follow us on Twitter: @EndeavourPress and on Facebook via http://on.fb.me/1HweQV7. We are always interested in hearing from our readers. Endeavour Press believes that the future is now.

    Covers subjects not covered by other manuals such as turbine engines, performance, flight manuals, automatic flight controls, legal aspects, introductory stability and control and multi-engine helicopters.

    Providing only one 14-minute performance, the Drill’s activities were always secret and steeped in controversy. The biggest question was always, what could possibly motivate someone to take on such a challenge? Sword Drill is a fiction-based-on-fact story of one man’s aspiration to join the ranks of the 1980 Junior Sword Drill, and what drove him to make endless sacrifices just for the chance to endure the trial of his life. Enter the secret world of the 14 Nights, and experience the heartaches and hell of being a “roach” who seeks the glory and honor of knights from days gone by.

    Now, with Into the Rising Sun, O'Donnell tells the story of the brutal Pacific War, based on hundreds of interviews spanning a decade. The men who fought their way across the Pacific during World War II had to possess something more than just courage. They faced a cruel, fanatical enemy in the Japanese, an enemy willing to use anything for victory, from kamikaze flights to human-guided torpedoes. Over the course of the war, Marines, paratroopers, and rangers spearheaded D-Day-sized beach assaults, encountered cannibalism, suffered friendly-fire incidents, and endured torture as prisoners of war. Though they are truly heroes, they claim no glory for themselves. As one soldier put it, "When somebody gets decorated, it's because a lot of other men died." By at last telling their stories, these men present a hard, unvarnished look at the war on the ground, a final gift from aging warriors who have already given so much. Only with these accounts can the true horror of the war in the Pacific be fully known. Together with detailed maps of each battle, Into the Rising Sun offers a complete yet deeply personal account of the war in the Pacific, and a ground-level view of some of history's most brutal combat.

    After the U.S.-Filipino remnants surrendered to a far stronger force, they unwittingly placed themselves at the mercy of a foe who considered itself unimpaired by the Geneva Convention. The already ill and hungry survivors, including many wounded, were forced to march at gunpoint many miles to a harsh and oppressive POW camp; many were murdered or died on the way in a nightmare of wanton cruelty that has made the term "Death March" synonymous with the Bataan peninsula. Among the prisoners was army pilot William E. Dyess. With a few others, Dyess escaped from his POW camp and was among the very first to bring reports of the horrors back to a shocked United States. His story galvanized the nation and remains one of the most powerful personal narratives of American fighting men. Stanley L. Falk provides a scene-setting introduction for this Bison Books edition. William E. Dyess was born in Albany, Texas. As a young army air forces pilot he was shipped to Manila in the spring of 1941. Shortly after his escape and return to the United States, Colonel Dyess was killed while testing a new airplane. He did not survive long enough to learn that he had been awarded a Congressional Medal of Honor.

    Building on official Marine Corps chronologies, the magnificently illustrated large-format book presents year-by-year summaries of significant Marine activities, with sidebars on historical events, major operations, technological advances, and instrumental people.

    A comparative section with post-war fabrications is added as a tool for authentication. More than ten different camouflage patterns are covered, including the super rare carbon overprint and Leibermuster. Authentic zeltbahns, helmet covers, caps, smocks, winter clothing, anti-gas outfits, body aprons, tents and more are shown in over 580 full color, and contemporary black and white photographs (most published here for the first time).

    This once highly classified program is fully revealed through the words of pilots, commanders, mechanics, and instructors involved in the Blackbird's creation and flight-testing. From grueling reconnaissance missions to the Persian Gulf conflict, this insightful book tells stories of bravery and daring determination.

    Gottfried pieces together each brigade’s experience at Gettysburg. Whether stories of forced marches, weary troops, or the bitter and tragic end of the battle, you’ll experience every angle of this epic battle. Learn what happened when the guns stopped firing and the men were left with only boredom and dread of what was to come.This collection is a lively and fascinating narrative that empowers the everyday men who fought furiously and died honorably. Every detail of the Battle of Gettysburg is included in this comprehensive chronicle.

    It was the development of the internal combustion engine that allowed a vehicle to possess both features on the battlefield. The Encyclopedia of Tanks and Armored Fighting Vehicles is a definitive guide to over 1500 armored vehicles that have emerged from the first gasoline engine to the present day. In 1916, during World War I, the tank made its debut on the Western Front for the British, and the face of warfare changed almost overnight. In each nation's quest for battlefield dominance, many different types of armored vehicles have been produced, some more successful than others, all of which are covered in the encyclopedia, with each entry being accompanied by a photograph or artwork, full specifications and a development and career history. The book is divided into sections by country, with entries arranged chronologically. A detailed index is provided for easy cross-referencing. With such in-depth coverage of the subject, The Encyclopedia of Tanks and Armored Fighting Vehicles is an essential reference guide for anyone interested in the history of military vehicles.

    The story opens with the planning and preparation of the double undertaking - of Market by the newly created First Allied Airborne Army in the UK and Garden by the British Second Army on the Belgian-Dutch border. The scene then switches to describe the German military situation in the Netherlands on the eve of battle. The massive initial airborne landings of September 17, 1944, are then recounted with equal attention to each of the three airborne divisions involved. The break-out battle by the Guards Armoured Division, spearhead of the ground army, is likewise illustrated with a wealth of photographs. The second day of the operation, September 18, sees the Guards reaching the 101st Airborne at Eindhoven, making their first contact with the airborne army.

    This is part of an account by Erwin Gostner, a prisoner who survived Mauthausen concentration camp. He was one of very few survivors, because nearly six million other people died as a result of the Nazis' "Final Solution"--the mass murder of Jews and other "undesirables" that we now call the Holocaust. This book shows what happened in the labor, concentration, and death camps, including the processing of arrivals, living and working conditions, and the methods used to kill the prisoners. This book explains how some people managed to survive the appalling conditions, and why millions of others did not. Each book includes: first-hand accounts from people involved in the Holocaust; an in-depth study of a key topic mentioned in the book; detailed timeline to help place important events; and a further reading and sources section."

    Reprint of Department of the Air Force field manual.

    Leger led a crucial expedition from Lake Ontario into the Mohawk Valley. The goal was to travel by waterways to join Lieutenant General John Burgoyne in the siege of Albany. But Leger encountered obstacles along the way. While laying siege to Fort Stanwix, Leger received word that Benedict Arnold was leading a massive relief column that was headed their way. Leger and his men retreated, and despite a later attempt to carry on, were never able to help Burgoyne. The Americans then destroyed the British-held Fort Ticonderoga, marking the end of the campaign.The results of the failed St. Leger expedition were historic. Not only was the loss of Fort Ticonderoga was a major blow to the British war effort, but the campaign also brought about the disillusionment of the Iroquois Confederacy, and saw the founding of the infamous Butler’s Rangers and the first major campaign of Sir John Johnson’s King’s Royal Regiment.

    One of the first military engagements in World War II, the battle for this tiny, strategically located atoll in the Pacific began on December 8, 1941, just five hours after Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. It ended on December 23, when the marines—despite diminished forces, incapacitated fighter planes, and no communications—strove to stem an overwhelming Japanese invasion until their commanding officers ordered them to surrender. No sooner had the surviving marines—the author's eighteen-year-old brother among them—laid down their arms than they were stripped and bound. For two days they sat naked in the hot sun; at night they shivered in the cold. For the next three weeks they slogged in the ruins of their bombed-out camp. They were then jammed into the hold of the ship that would take them to prison camps in China and Japan, where they would endure the cruelest indignities and grimmest tortures until their liberation in August 1945. Hell Wouldn't Stop tells their often horrific, frequently heroic, and unforgettable if long-forgotten World War II story.

    Accompanying the informative text are 300 photographs and illustrations, most of them rare, some never before published. Highlights include accounts of:- The Rhode Island 1st Regiment, the first all-black regiment in the U.S. Army.- The New Orleans Battalion of Free Men of Color.- The Battle for Richmond, which resulted in the largest loss of black life in the Civil War.- The 1863 New York City Draft Riot.- The 1919 lynchings of black war vets.- The Navy's reluctant integration during World War II.- The dramatic story of the Tuskegee Airmen.- The war against terrorism in Afghanistan, and much more.The book also features portraits of famous and lesser-known soldiers, including Crispus Attucks, Salem Poor, John Brown, Sergeant William Carney, Dorie Miller and Colin Powell. This dramatic visual history is a moving tribute to the essential and often unsung contributions of African-American soldiers through every generation. AUTHORBIO: KAI WRIGHT is a freelance journalist based in Washington, D.C. His work on social and political issues relevant to communities of color around the world has appeared in the Chicago Tribune, The Village Voice and The Progressive, among other publications. He is the author of The African-American Archive: The History of the Black Experience Through documents.

    intervention in the Philippines began with the little-known 1899 Philippine-American War. Using the war as its departure point in analyzing U.S.-Philippine relations, Vestiges of War retrieves this willfully forgotten event and places it where it properly belongs--as the catalyst that led to increasing U.S. interventionism and expansionism in the Asia Pacific region. This seminal, multidisciplinary anthology examines the official American nationalist story of benevolent assimilation and fraternal tutelage in its half century of colonial occupation of the Philippines. Integrating critical and visual art essays, archival and contemporary photographs, dramatic plays, and poetry to address the complex Philippine and U.S. perspectives and experiences, the essayists compellingly recount the consequences of American colonialism in the Philippines. Vestiges of War will force readers to reshape their views on what has been a deliberately obscure but significant phase in the histories of both countries, one which continues to haunt the present. Contributors include: Genara Banzon, Santiago Bose, Ben Cabrera, Renato Constantino, Doreen Fernandez, Eric Gamalinda, Guillermo Gomez-Pena, Jessica Hagedorn, Reynaldo Ileto, Yong Soon Min, Manuel Ocampo, Paul Pfeiffer, Christina Quisumbing, Vicente Rafael, Daniel Boone Schirmer, Kidlat Tahimik, Mark Twain, and Jim Zwick.

    Each entry gives specifications, followed by development and battle histories where relevant.

    The squadron's numerous actions including harrowing engagements between ships and forts, daring amphibious assaults, battles between ironclad vessels, the harassment of Confederate blockade runners, and combating the incredible evolution of underwater warfare in the form of the CSS Hunley. But the blockade's success was constantly hampered by indecisive leaders in Washington who failed to express their strategic vision as well as by reputation-conscious naval commanders who were reluctant to press the fight when the specter of failure loomed. Despite lost opportunities, unfulfilled expectations, and failures along the way, the bravery, sacrifice, and vigilance of these fighting men played an important role in the Union's ultimate victory.Success Is All That Was Expected joins Robert Browning's previous award-winning volume on the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron to create the benchmark for Civil War naval history. Together they tell the definitive story of Union naval operations off the Atlantic coast.

    This spectacular work is a heavily documented record of all major clothing articles of the Waffen-SS. Hundreds of unpublished bw photos were used in production. Original and extremely rare SS uniforms of various types are carefully photographed and presented here.

    in anthropology, he didn’t realize he would be there for most of the next eighteen years—through the entire Vietnam War. After working with the country folk of the Mekong Delta for several years, in 1963 Hickey was recruited by the Rand Corporation, which was contracted by the U.S. government to study and report on the highland tribes.From the buildup to war, when mountain tribespeople still lived in longhouses and cut and burned brush to clear fields for nice, to near the end of the conflict, when he sailed away from Vietnam on the S.S. Idaho, Gerald Hickey experienced it all. He lived through the horrible Viet Cong night attack on the Nam Dong Special Forces Camp in July 1964, and he survived the full-scale battle at Ban Me Thuot during Tet, 1968. Worst, he witnessed the decline of the mountain people from proud highlanders to refugees from a war none of them wanted and few understood.Hickey became respected by all parties as a fair intermediary between the highlanders, the American mission, and to some extent the Saigon government. His understanding of the montagnards, and his representation of their interests, helped to resolve their conflict with Saigon in 1965 and assured their alliance with U.S. forces through the rest of the war.These are his experiences, told with the calm yet deep emotion of a man who invested a major portion of his life and career in the events of the war and with the people among whom he lived and worked. His is a unique viewpoint and one to which we should attend."[Hickey's] studies of these independent, brave, and misunderstood people provide the scholarly record; this fine book expresses his devotion and his despair at their inevitable and often cruel assimilation."—Douglas Pike

    It is the true story of a fascinating character in an impossible situation with thousands of lives at stake--and he pulls off a miracle.

    From 1861 to 1863 the corps contributed invaluable surveillance and reconnaissance information to the Union Army's war effort during the Virginia campaign. It also accomplished such significant military feats as the initial air-to-ground communication by telegraph, the first use of the "aircraft carrier" for launch of the balloon, and the first artillery barrage directed by an aerial observer where gun batteries were unable to see their targets from the ground. This book traces the history of the intrepid airborne force, from its creation by pioneer balloonist Thaddeus Lowe to its unceremonious disbanding in 1863.

    But firefighters throughout America risk life and limb every day, many times without any acknowledgement whatsoever, let alone fame or fortune.In The Greatest Firefighter Stories Never Told, authors Mike Santangelo, Mara Bovsun and Allan Zullo have collected more than two dozen gripping accounts of America's bravest heroes, those who save lives every day as they rush in to rescue others. From airport firefighters to hazardous materials experts, from forest firefighters to high-elevation rescuers, from smoke jumpers to harbor firefighters, The Greatest Firefighter Stories Never Told captivates readers with its focus on the fresh and fascinating tales of real heroes and those they save.Several stories highlight some of the courageous firefighters of the New York Fire Department who were on hand during the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center. Already, the department's heroism has captured America's heart. These gripping, in-depth stories will put names and faces to those most deserving of worldwide recognition.

    In the months following the attack, Japan was successful in a series of victories throughout Southeast Asia and the Western Pacific. Then, from May 1942 to October 1943, the Japanese and the United States engaged in a series of fierce clashes in the Southwest Pacific. Both the U.S. and Japanese forces were evenly matched, and their troops fought one another to exhaustion. This engrossing book looks at the war with Japan, focusing on this "period of balance" between American and Japanese forces. The War with Japan explains how the battles fought in the Coral Sea in May and off Midway Islands in June 1942 represented the first engagements that were not the result of decisions made by the Japanese before the outbreak of war. Both the U.S. and Japanese had to consider their next moves in a strategic situation that was much like a gun lying in the street: it was there for either side to pick up and use. H. P. Willmott examines the conflict in this context. The campaigns that raged in the lower Solomons and along the Kakoda Trail for control of eastern New Guinea, along with the ferocious battles in the Coral Sea and off Midway Islands, were the turning point of the war in the Pacific. The fight for control of Guadalcanal saw the Imperial Navy and U.S. Navy fight one another, and themselves, until they were completely spent. But between February and October 1943, the Americans gained a critical edge when the U.S. Navy took delivery of the first of the massive warships that were to carry the fighting to the Japanese home islands. After November 1943, this strong U.S. fleet-built during the period of hostilities-outfought the Japanese navy. The War with Japan explores all these aspects of Japanese defeat. This fascinating probe into the war with Japan is ideal for all readers who are interested in military history and World War II.

    Arising from beliefs and states of mind, a variety of warrior styles manifested themselves in differences of dress, weaponry and fighting technique. Fully illustrated with over fifty photographs, this vivid and fascinating survey adds a colourful new dimension to our understanding of the history of Europe.

    Here are the best of their works, oversized reproductions of the most moving paintings and illustrations ever created in the field of combat art. Encompassing the many wars that have involved U.S. troops, this gallery of outstanding images captures the fighting from every angle. The highly expressive paintings range from majestic land-, sea-, and airscapes, with all the branches of the armed services portrayed, to dramatic close-ups of hand-to-hand combat. Charts and maps clarify particular scenes, and first-hand testimonies of the men and women who participated in the battles add an extra dimension.

    Drawn from declassified documents in the British Public Record Office, the book compares the secret dossiers that wartime agents studied with the postwar knowledge of each aircraft. This unique format features photos of captured aircraft, reconnaissance and gun-camera images taken by RAF and USAAF pilots, and enemy photos obtained by MI6, OSS, and SOE agents.

    Army to gain social mobility and regular paychecks. Stationed in the West prior to 1898, these black soldiers protected white communities, forced Native Americans onto government reservations, patrolled the Mexican border, and broke up labor disputes in mining areas. African American men, themselves no strangers to persecution, aided the subjugation of Indian and Hispanic peoples throughout the West. It can hardly be surprising, then, that the relations among these groups became complex and often hostile–hardly surprising, but rarely examined. Despised by the white settlers they protected, many black soldiers were sent to posts along the Texas-Mexico border— perceived to be a “safe place to put them.” The interactions there among blacks, whites, and Hispanics during the period leading up to the Punitive Expedition and World War I offer the opportunity to study the complicated, even paradoxical nature of American race relations. James N. Leiker has applied the sophisticated perspectives of new social history to the experience of the buffalo soldiers and their legacy in southern and western Texas in an effort to gain new insight about race in the West.Racial Borders establishes the army’s fundamental role in transforming the Rio Grande from a “frontier” into a “border” and shows how that transformation itself brought a tightening of racial and national categories. But more importantly, it warns about the dangers of simplifying history into groupings of “white and non-white,” “oppressors and oppressed.” Leiker draws on Mexican and U.S. military records and Texas state and black national newspapers to do more than provide an account of the shifting loyalties of race and nationalism along the Rio Grande over a fifty-year span; he reminds scholars and reformers about the tangled history of race relations in America.

    It was at Cherkassy where the last German offensive strength in the Ukraine was drained away. Hell's Gate is a riveting hour by hour and day by day account of this desperate struggle analyzed on a tactical level through maps and military transcripts, as well as on a personal level, through the words of the enlisted men and officers were there.

    Marines as the premier warriors on planet Earth.See timeless Marine Corps quotations, fighting words from fighting men. Read the words of praise from the wannabes -- the Army, Navy, and Air Force. Delve into the storied legacy of the Corps.It's all here! The history of Tun Tavern. The Marine Corps birthday. USMC slogans, mascots, Commandants, and Creeds. The USMC War Memorial on hallowed ground.Air America? Blood chit? Blood stripe? Battle colors? Mameluke and NCO swords? Yes, all of that and much more, including lots of unique Marine Corps humor. No profanity.Gung-ho! Up-beat! Politically In-Correct and proud of it. The ultimate book for Marine Warriors.Gung-bho

    It has persisted for more than 50 years despite wars, summits and declarations, and seems to be as intractable as ever." "This important book sheds fresh light on the genesis of the problem and examines the consequences of the often ignored fact that British officers commanded the armed forces of both India and Pakistan at that time. Based on documents that have now been declassified, it reveals the roles played by Mountbatten and the British service chiefs in India and Pakistan during the Kashmir War of 1947-48." Analysing the role of the great powers in third world conflict, this exciting and insightful book will be of great interest both to the lay reader and to those involved in international studies, political science, modern Indian and military history, strategic affairs, conflict/peace studies and South Asian politics.

    On 1 September 1939, the date of Hitler's assault on Poland, his army numbered 3,180,000 - this figure would grow to 9,500,000 before dropping back to 7,800,000 by the time of the unconditional German surrender in May 1945. The range of specialist uniforms and equipment that were developed in response to the different demands of each theatre of war, from the days of Blitzkrieg advance to the final retreat, are all described and illustrated. Hilter's major campaigns in Western Europe, the Soviet Union, North Africa and the Balkans are also summarized.

    None was more feared by its battlefield foes or more hated by political enemies of the Nazi regime than the Waffen-SS. Six decades after the last SS unit capitulated or was annihilated, the facts about many aspects of this organization are still shrouded in legend and half-truth. Loathed ... Full description

    In a question and answer format that simulates an in-depth interview, Bui Tin, a former colonel in the North Vietnamese Army shares his insights into many aspects of the Vietnam War. Once a presidential palace guard for Ho Chi Minh and a participant in the decisive battle of the French-Indochina War at Dien Bien Phu, he later served as a frontline commander and war correspondent in the fighting against the United States. In 1973 Colonel Tin was an official spokesman for the North Vietnamese delegation that arranged the return of American POWs and rode a tank onto the presidential palace grounds in Saigon to accept the South Vietnamese surrender. In September 1990, he left Vietnam to reside in Paris, where he has become a leading critic of the Hanoi leadership. Believing that a dialogue between old enemies is both desirable and necessary for the well being of the two nations, Bui Tin is open-minded and candid in his views about the policies and operations of the Vietnamese and U.S. governments. In the book he addresses such matters as the performance of U.S. military forces, varying strategies that might have yielded different outcomes, and the degree of involvement by the Soviet Union and Communist China along with a thought-provoking analysis of the long struggle that eventually brought his side victory but, ultimately, personal disappointment and alienation. To enhance the dialogue, some of his views are supported and others are challenged in a stimulating foreword by the Emmy Award-winning writer, former secretary of the Navy, and outspoken Vietnam War hero, James Webb. The result is a book that offers a rare glimpse into the mind of an enemy we never fully understood.

    The contents are compiled from the work of researchers at universities around the world, as well as military officers devoted to the sector of study. Beginning with a review of studies prior to contemporary research, the book provides a comprehensive survey of the topic. The scope of coverage extends to civic-military relations, including issues surrounding democratic control of the armed forces; military culture; professional training; conditions and problems of minorities in the armed forces; an examination of structural change within the military over the years including new duties and functions following the Cold War.

    USMA Bicentennial Book featuring contributions by: Stephen Ambrose, William F. Buckley Jr., Arthur Miller, George Plimpton, David Halberstam plus rare photos, recruiting posters and magazine covers. Great for any West Point grad or potential plebe.

    Launched in 1817, the 38-gun Fifth Rate was the vanguard of a new class built for longevity and resistance to climatic extremes. Designed of teak wood in Bombay, India, under the supervision of master shipbuilder Jamsetjee Bomanjee, the sturdy ship fulfilled its promise in waters from the West Indies to the Arctic, combining imperial policing duties with oceanography and exploration voyages. Once the ship's sailing days were over, even a century of neglect could not destroy the resilient teak hull and the now restored Trincomalee lies dockside at Hartlepool, England, where it helps visitors appreciate the realities of naval life in the age of sail. For those unable to visit her, the book's selection of photographs and drawings of the ship at each stage of her life as well as details of her dimensions, spars, and armament provide a "virtual" tour of one of the few Nelson frigates still in existence.

    His diary is the most comprehensive published account of the daily activities of these soldier swashbucklers

    

    Run by the Germany army, despite the Geneva Convention's decree that aircrew should be the responsibility of the Luftwaffe, their story has been neglected in the concentration on Stalag Luft III and VI in which aircrew officers were assembled from 1942 onwards. 4 maps. 32pp b/w photos. 296 pages. Hardback

    Second to None tells the story of this important, yet forgotten, battalion. The soldiers who formed the 58th exemplified the ideal citizen soldiers and later evolved into the tough, battle-savvy veterans who destroyed the cream of the German Imperial Army and won battle honours. The author uses the men’s letters and diaries and family oral histories to amplify the terse account of the 58th’s war diary, bringing to life once more the men who paid the price for freedom.

    What they have to say--which is remarkably similar across generational, national, and ideological divides--is a fascinating take on military history by those who lived it. It is also worthwhile reading for anyone, from any walk of life, who makes executive decisions.The leaders showcased here range from Frederick the Great to Norman Schwarzkopf. They include such diverse figures as Napoleon Bonaparte, commanders on both sides of the Civil War (William Tecumseh Sherman and Stonewall Jackson), German and American World War II generals (Rommel and Patton), a veteran of the Arab-Israeli wars (Moshe Dayan), and leaders from both sides of the Vietnam War (Vo Nguyen Giap and Harold Moore). What they have had in common is an unrivaled understanding of the art of command and a willingness to lead from the front. All earned the respect and loyalty of those they led--and moved them to risk death.The practices of these commanders apply to any leadership situation, whether military, business, political, athletic, or other. Their words reveal techniques for anticipating the competition, leading through example, taking care of the troops, staying informed, turning bad luck to advantage, improvising, and making bold decisions.Leader after leader emphasizes the importance of up-front muddy boots leadership and reveals what it takes to persevere and win. Identifying a pattern of proven leadership, this book will benefit anyone who aspires to lead a country, a squadron, a company, or a basketball team. It is a unique distillation of two and a half centuries of military wisdom.

    In GIs and Fräuleins, Maria Höhn offers a rich social history of this German-American encounter and provides new insights into how West Germans negotiated their transition from National Socialism to a consumer democracy during the 1950s.Focusing on the conservative reaction to the American military presence, Höhn shows that Germany's Christian Democrats, though eager to be allied politically and militarily with the United States, were appalled by the apparent Americanization of daily life and the decline in morality that accompanied the troops to the provinces. Conservatives condemned the jazz clubs and striptease parlors that Holocaust survivors from Eastern Europe opened to cater to the troops, and they expressed scorn toward the German women who eagerly pursued white and black American GIs. While most Germans rejected the conservative effort to punish as prostitutes all women who associated with American GIs, they vilified the sexual relationships between African American men and German women. Höhn demonstrates that German anxieties over widespread Americanization were always debates about proper gender norms and racial boundaries, and that while the American military brought democracy with them to Germany, it also brought Jim Crow.

    In most cases, writes veterans' advocate John D. Roche, the claimant didn't understand the procedures needed to meet the myriad requirements of the Department of Veterans Affairs. With the appeals process requiring years to resolve disputes, deserving veterans and their dependents are left confused and frustrated by the agency and a system that was created to serve them. The answer is to submit a well-grounded claim initially, which The Veteran's Survival Guide, now in a revised, second edition, analyzes in detail. This unique book, written in an accessible self-help style, will be required reading for any veteran or veteran's dependent who wishes to obtain his or her well-earned benefits and for those officials of veterans' service organizations who assist veterans with their claims.

    

    It suggests that the strategy should include political warfare, placing at risk things the terrorists hold dear, while maintaining co-operation with other nations engaged in the war of terror.

    Essays also highlight the ideological conflict between Westernization and Russiafication, and the revolution that brought down the Romanovs in 1917.

    It details illicit contacts between officers of the Abwehr (German military intelligence) and leaders of the Irish Republican Army with the intent of co-ordinating actions against British targets and the Irish state. Irish Secrets also examines the extent of pro-German support in Ireland, the fledgling Nazi party in Ireland, and the activities of Irish civilians and diplomats abroad who offered to serve Hitler's Germany. It scrutinises the personalities and mission profiles of the eleven German agents (from both the Abwehr and the SD (the SS intelligence service), who operated with widely varying degrees of success on Irish soil, and unearths the stories of previously unknown German operatives and Irish supporters. Many of the most compelling scenarios revolve around the use of recruited Irish nationals for espionage work, some details of which are still classified by the British and Irish governments. This book explores why German intelligence ultimately failed, and proposes that the German effort represented a genuine threat to the Irish state and the Allies alike, which seriously threatened the official position of Irish neutrality. It makes for a gripping account of the intelligence war and highlights the brilliant, creative success of Irish military intelligence in waging a counter-espionage campaign that effectively neutralized the German threat. Drawing from newly released intelligence files in several countries, in-depth interviews conducted with the participants, and on other previously unpublished primary sources, Mark Hull conclusively rewrites what is presently known about a fascinating aspect of the Second World War.

    Book for children about the invasions and occupations in the British Isles between 700BC and 1065AD.

    

    The Treaty of Versailles contained a "war guilt" clause pinning the blame on the aggression of Germany and accusing her of "supreme offence against international morality". Here, Ponting rejects this thesis, having made a thorough study of the incredibly complex international diplomatic documents. His interpretation rejects also the thesis that Europe in 1914 had reached such a boiling point it was bound to erupt or that the origins of the war lay in a mighty arms race. Instead, he argues that the war occurred becauase of the situation in the Balkans, while he gives full weight to Austria-Hungary's desire to cripple Serbia instead of negotiating and to Russia's militaristic programme of expansion. Ponting begins with a dramatic recreation of the assassination in Sarajevo (he agrees that this was the starting point). He then examines what happened in the 13 days that led to war. His story criss-crosses Europe city-by-city - Belgrade, Paris, London, Budapest, St Petersburg, Vienna, Rome etc - and describes developments day by day, latterly indeed hour by hour, as the tension builds.

    He contends that the demise of the Soviet Union presents the perfect transitional period for SEAD planners to create new approaches to countering the information-based integrated air defense system nets. He looks at the foundations and evolution of SEAD, identifies pertinent variables, and shows how they have changed. Colonel Brungess concludes that fiscal reality demands that the services forge joint SEAD tactics and doctrine.Contents * FOREWORD * PREFACE * INTRODUCTION * Chapter 1 * HISTORY AND DOCTRINE * The Evolutionary Construct * Vietnam * Bekaa Valley * Libya * Persian Gulf * The Larger Context * Notes * Chapter 2 * CRITERIA FOR ASSESSING SEAD EFFECTIVENESS * Methods of Analysis * The Historical Approach * The Engineering Approach * The Commonsense Approach * The Objective-based Approach * Setting the Context: Continuums as Assessment Tools * Challenges for Objective-based Criteria * Notes * Chapter 3 * SERVICE APPROACHES TO SEAD * Navy SEAD * Air Force SEAD * Army SEAD * Marine SEAD * Notes * Chapter 4 * THE MERITS OF JSEAD: THE QUEST TO ACHIEVE EFFECTIVENESS * The Personality of JSEAD and the Threat * The World of "Joint" and JSEAD * Brave New World: 'True" Joint SEAD * The Four Continuums: How to Use Them * The Need: Resource-based Continuum * The Threat: Capability-based Continuum * The Piecemeal/Integrated Tactics Continuum * The Defensive/Offensive Continuum * The General Context: A New Way of Looking at JSEAD * Notes * Chapter 5 * JSEAD: STRATEGY, TACTICS, AND THE CHANGED THREAT * The Essence of the Threat * Requirements of the Information-based IADS * Detecting * Locating and Identifying * Tracking * Weapons Allocation and Employment * Defeating the IADS: Information Denial * Detection as Information * Locating and Identifying as Information * Information Denial in the "Endgame" * Adjusting to Fiscal Reality * SEAD Tactics: Variations, Combinations, and Innovations * Variations: The "IADS Sweep" * Combining Old Tactics: SEAD and the Modern Long-Range SAM * Innovations: Information Denial via Computer Warfare * Joint SEAD Strategy: Dividing the Turf * JSEAD Tactics: So What? * Notes * Chapter 6 * WHERE TO NEXT: CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS * Conclusions * SEAD as an Evolutionary Concept * Requirement for a Paradigm Shift * The Lead/Lag Issue: Joint Doctrine and JSEAD * Shifting the Focus of Criteria: * Overall Objectives * Recommendations * Education * Training * Equipment * Full Circle: The Strategy-Doctrine-Tactics Continuum

    But at Arnhem the tide of battle has already turned. The main force of lst Airborne is thrown back to the Oosterbeek perimeter, leaving John Frost's isolated force at the road bridge to fight it out till the end. As the Polish Brigade is dropped south of the Rhine, and the ground army desperately tries to relieve the beleaguered British paras, down in the south the Germans launch repeated attacks on the narrow corridor in an attempt to cut the Allied supply artery. As savage battles rage for possession of Hell's Highway, the airborne battle is lost and on September 26 the survivors of lst Airborne are evacuated back across the Rhine.

    It seeks to translate what we have learned about the phenomenon of globalization into the language of strategy and defense policy. This book uses a general knowledge of globalization to deduce its impact on the maritime world, and applies inductive reasoning to the maritime impacts of defense planning. Its intent is to provide national security leaders with analyses applicable to the future security environment.

    In a year of stellar triumphs by Union armies across the South, the Red River Campaign stands out as a colossal failure. General William Tecumseh Sherman's scathing summation describes it best, "One damn blunder from beginning to end." Taking its title from Sherman's blunt description, One Damn Blunder from Beginning to End: The Red River Campaign of 1864 is a fresh inspection of what was the Civil War's largest operation between the Union Army and Navy west of the Mississippi River. In a bold, but poorly managed effort to wrest Louisiana and Texas from Confederate control, a combined force of 40,000 Union troops and 60 naval vessels traveled up the twisting Red River in an attempt to capture the capital city of Shreveport. Gary D. Joiner provides not a recycled telling of the campaign, but a strategic and tactical overview based on a stunning new array of facts gleaned from recently discovered documents. This never-before-published information reveals that the Confederate army had laid a clever trap by engineering a drop in the water level of the Red River to try to maroon the Union naval flotilla. Only the equally amazing ingenuity of the Union troops saved the fleet from certain destruction, despite a humiliating defeat at the Battle of Mansfield. The Red River campaign had lasting implications. One Damn Blunder from Beginning to End magnifies just how devastating the diversion of so many men and so much material to this failed campaign was to the Union effort in the pivotal year of 1864. Because of the Union Army's failures, Northern plans to capture Mobile were scrapped. Military careers were made and lost. And at time when the Confederacy was teetering on the brink of oblivion, Southern morale was bolstered. Joiner puts together

    

    If you enjoyed Münch's previous work on sPJA 653, you'll love this one. The complete battle diaries of the battalion are provided and complement the text which covers the unit from its formation through its receipt of the Ferdinand and its fighting at Kursk and, later, the Jagdpanther and its employment in the West. More great Ferdinand photos and, if you're tired of seeing the same old photos of the Jagdpanther, this book will be especially enjoyable for you. There are at least 100 photos of the rare beast, of which about 90% are previously unpublished.

    A young battle weary Marine sent to China following the end of WWII witnesses the withdraw of the Japanese and the emerging communist revolution.