Two enemies who meet in the line of duty during the early days of the Soviet Union's last war in Afghanistan. Behind enemy lines respect and finally love grow ... but that's only the official version. This epic spans across over twenty-five years of their lives. It's harsh and violent, but life is cruel and they just do what they need to survive. Special Forces - Soldiers is the first cycle of the Special Forces epic, which consists of three cycles and is about a million words. The second cycle is Mercenaries and the third one is Veterans.This print version is the original version of Special Forces (1st edition), as it was edited by the authors of the time of first publication on Marquesate’s website. The Soldiers cycle was published between July 2006 and March 2007. This is the only version that is authorised by Marquesate.The ebook version is available for free download, and the original chapters remain as a free read on Marquesate’s website below:This print version of Special Forces is strictly non-profit and print cost only. The paperback of this original version is available from Lulu.

    They were the men of the now-legendary Easy Company. After almost two years of hard training, they parachuted into Normandy on DDay and, later, Operation Market Garden. They fought their way through Belgium, France, and Germany, survived overwhelming odds, liberated concentration camps, and drank a victory toast in April 1945 at Hitler's hideout in the Alps. Here, revealed for the first time, are stories of war, sacrifice, and courage as experienced by one of the most revered combat units in military history. In We Who Are Alive and Remain, twenty men who were there and are alive today-and the families of three deceased others-recount the horrors and the victories, the bonds they made, the tears and blood they shed...and the brothers they lost.

    Now, from the far future, they have sent their creation back to rule the Malwa Empire, then to conquer and shape the world of the sixth century A.D. into the form that will make their own foul existence possible. Those in the future who never were human have sent their own messenger to the past: Aide, a gleaming jewel who has come to Belisarius, the greatest general of the sixth century and perhaps any century. Between them they have forged an alliance of all the world against the evil fro the far future—and an army that can be the spear through evil’s heart. The Dance of Time: The Malwa and their evil have been driven back to their Indian heartland, but there they coil to strike again. Ruled by a monster from the future that is part computer and part demon, they prepare a fresh attack whose success will leave them rulers of the world—and the monster that guides the Malwa will rule the whole future. Guided by Aide, Belisarius has arrayed the forces of Mankind against the Malwa evil. There is no hope for Mankind if he fails—so he must not fail! The triumphant conclusion of the Belisarius saga.

    2.       Eric Flint is co-author of three New York Times best sellers: 1634: The Galileo Affair, 1634: The Baltic War and 1634: The Bavarian Crisis. 3.       David Drake has written many bestsellers, including the Hammer’s Slammers series for Baen, and the Lord of the Isles series for Tor. 4.     Eric Flint is a brilliant star of fantasy and science fiction. His alternate history novel, 1632, is a strong seller in mass market, with an 87% sell through to date, and strong critical praise, as from Publishers Weekly, which called it “gripping and expertly detailed.” 5.       Advertising in Locus, more 6.       Simultaneous hardcover and trade paperback editions. 7.       Co-op availableContinuing the popular Belisarius saga, with two full-length novels in one volume.   Destiny’s Shield: Evil from beyond time: The Malwa Empire squats like a toad across sixth century India, commanded by ruthless men with depraved appetites. But the thing from the distant future that commands them is far worse. Those who oppose the purulent Hell the Malwa will make of Earth have sent a crystal, Aide, to halt their advance. Aide holds all human knowledge—but cannot act by himself. That requires Count Belisarius, the greatest general fo the age and perhaps of all ages, who must outwit the evil empire—and then, when there is no longer room to maneuver, to meet it sword-edge to sword-edge, lest evil beyond human conception rules the world forever.   Fortune’s Stroke: Link, the supercomputer from a future that should not, must not exist has used terror and gunpowder weapons to forge the Malwa Empire on the Indian subcontinent. Aide and Belisarius have led the armies of Byzantium and blunted the first assault of the Malwa hordes. Now he and his allies from all the world face overwhelming numbers in a ring that tightens about them. The armies of Good and Evil gathered on the fertile plains of Mesopotamia will decide the fate of the world—and the fate of all the future.

    It is the timeless story of a young Marine lieutenant, Waino Mellas, and his comrades in Bravo Company, who are dropped into the mountain jungle of Vietnam as boys and forced to fight their way into manhood. Standing in their way are not merely the North Vietnamese but also monsoon rain and mud, leeches and tigers, disease and malnutrition. Almost as daunting, it turns out, are the obstacles they discover between each other: racial tension, competing ambitions, and duplicitous superior officers. But when the company finds itself surrounded and outnumbered by a massive enemy regiment, the Marines are thrust into the raw and all-consuming terror of combat. The experience will change them forever.Written over the course of thirty years by a highly decorated Vietnam veteran, Matterhorn is a visceral and spellbinding novel about what it is like to be a young man at war. It is an unforgettable novel that transforms the tragedy of Vietnam into a powerful and universal story of courage, camaraderie, and sacrifice: a parable not only of the war in Vietnam but of all war, and a testament to the redemptive power of literature.A graduate of Yale University and a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford University, Karl Marlantes served as a Marine in Vietnam, where he was awarded the Navy Cross, the Bronze Star, two Navy Commendation Medals for valor, two Purple Hearts, and ten air medals. This is his first novel. He lives in rural Washington State.

    They reached Arlington’s highest point, where they encircled an old cream-colored mansion with thick columns and a commanding view of the cemetery, the river, and the city beyond. The mansion’s flag, just lowered to half-staff, signaled that it was time to start another day of funerals, which would add more than twenty new conscripts to Arlington’s army of the dead.” So does Robert Poole describe a day like so many others in the long and storied history of Arlington National Cemetery. Created towards the end of our greatest national crucible, the Civil War, its story—as revealed in On Hallowed Ground—reflects much of America’s own over the past century and a half. The mansion at its heart, and the rolling land on which it sits, had been the family plantation of Robert E. Lee before he joined the Confederacy; strategic to the defense of Washington, it became a Union headquarters, a haven for freedmen, and a burial ground for indigent soldiers before Secretary of War Edwin Stanton made it the latest in the newly established national cemetery system. It would become our nation’s most honored resting place. No other country makes the effort the United States does to recover and pay tribute to its war dead—an effort Poole reveals in poignant details from the aftermaths of the Civil War, Spanish-American War, World Wars I and II, Korea, Vietnam, and the conflicts in the Gulf and Afghanistan today. Every tombstone at Arlington tells a story: from Private William Christman, the first soldier buried at Arlington on May 13, 1864, to Union General Montgomery Meigs, whose idea Arlington was; from Lieutenant Thomas Selfridge, the first casualty of powered flight, to Audie Murphy, America’s most decorated soldier; from the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, so lovingly tended today, to John F. Kennedy’s eternal flame; from scientists and slaves to jurists and generals and tens of thousands of ordinary citizen-warriors, among the more than 300,000 interred on Arlington’s 624 acres. Their sagas, and the rites and rituals that have evolved at Arlington—the horse-drawn caissons, marble headstones, playing of taps, and rifle salutes—speak to us all.

    In January 2007, President George W. Bush announced a new strategy for Iraq. He called it the surge. “Many listening tonight will ask why this effort will succeed when previous operations to secure Baghdad did not. Well, here are the differences,” he told a skeptical nation. Among those listening were the young, optimistic army infantry soldiers of the 2-16, the battalion nicknamed the Rangers. About to head to a vicious area of Baghdad, they decided the difference would be them.Fifteen months later, the soldiers returned home forever changed. Pulitzer Prize-winning Washington Post reporter David Finkel was with them in Bagdad, and almost every grueling step of the way.What was the true story of the surge? And was it really a success? Those are the questions he grapples with in his remarkable report from the front lines. Combining the action of Mark Bowden’s Black Hawk Down with the literary brio of Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried, The Good Soldiers is an unforgettable work of reportage. And in telling the story of these good soldiers, the heroes and the ruined, David Finkel has also produced an eternal tale—not just of the Iraq War, but of all wars, for all time.

    'I don't want to appear fussy, but are we going to be greeted by cheers and kisses from Norwegian blondes, or a hail of gunfire from invisible Huns?' he remarked to his officers on approaching the small town of Andalsnes. returncharacterreturncharacterHis next task - in command first of a corvette and then a destroyer - was escorting East Coast convoys, and his experiences reflect the danger of this work against the menaces of E-boats, enemy aircraft and mines. He then took part in the landings at Anzio and the Normandy landings in 1944; finally, he rescued internees from the Japanese prison camp on Stanley, Hong Kong. His career was much helped by his highly developed sixth sense for danger, the deep affection of his crews and his affinity with cats which he believed brought him luck. returncharacterreturncharacterThis record of varied and almost incessant action ranks among the most thrilling personal stories of the war at sea.

    Ed Macy bent every rule in the book to get to where he wanted to be: on Ops in the stinking heat of the Afghan summer, with the world's greatest weapons system at his fingertips. It's 2006 and he is part of an elite group of pilots assigned to the controversial Apache AH Mk1 gunship programme. So far, though, the monstrously expensive Apache has done little to disprove its detractors. For the first month 'in action' Ed sees little more from his cockpit than the back end of a Chinook. But everything changes in the skies over Now Zad. Under fire and out of options, Ed has one chance to save his own skin and those of the men on the ground. Though the Apache bristles with awesome weaponry, its fearsome Hellfire missile has never been fired in combat. Then, in the blistering heat of the firefight, the trigger is pulled. It's a split-second decision that forever changes the course of the Afghan war, as overnight the gunship is transformed from being an expensive liability to the British Army's greatest asset. From that moment on, Ed and his squadron mates will face the steepest learning curve of their lives - fighting an endless series of high-octane missions against a cunning and constantly evolving enemy. Ed himself will have to risk everything to fly, fight and survive in the most hostile place on earth.

    The author describes how, with no French language ability, he approached recruiters for the French Foreign Legion in Paris and the demanding selection process that followed. When he was accepted, he and other prospective legionnaires were sent to Southern France to begin the harsh recruit training course. The mix of different nationalities and backgrounds among his fellows was enormous. New members are traditionally allowed to change their identities - the author chose to alter his age becoming 28 not 38! Elite paratrooper training followed in Corsica before the author earned his 'wings'.The FFL is never far from the front line and we read of challenging active service in former French colonies in Africa as well as during the First Gulf War, evicting Saddam Hussein from Kuwait and operations in Bosnia and Sarajevo.This is a completely authentic book that lifts the veil of mystery and myth and reveals much about the realities of service in the Foreign Legion. The author is not given to exaggeration - there is no need for it. A gripping read.

    Different in countless ways, they are intimately the same in one: at any moment their lives can be altered with a phone call, and their actions may change the world.They are Special Ops. And one team’s mission is about to hit certain jeopardy status when the discovery of an Al Qaeda base in Venezuela becomes secondary to thwarting the transport of a nuclear weapons expert from that training camp to Iran.Informed by the true combat experience of Captain Jeff Struecker and finessed by award-winning novelist Alton Gansky, Certain Jeopardy is an immersing and pulsating fictional account of what really happens at every level of a stealth engagement: the physical enemy encounter, the spiritual war fought within a soldier, and the emotional battles in families back at home.

    Having reached the end of their usefulness his beloved Corps, the last remaining ACS, are destroyed at the order of the Darhel, by their own Fleet. His staff are shot before his eyes, and he is arrested on the charge of war crimes. He faces a short, one-sided, trial, a trip to the Fleet Penal Facility and a bullet to the back of the head while trying to 'escape'. Yet all is not lost. Just as O'Neal faces certain death an entirely new and more powerful alien enemy threatens the galactic status quo, including the dominant Darhel themselves. This new threat requires that O'Neal take command of all military forces and wage war to save his enemies and humanity.

    Under the command of U.S. General Dwight Eisenhower, the Normandy landings were the culmination of three years’ planning and the most ambitious combined amphibious and airborne assault ever attempted. Its success marked the beginning of the end for Nazi Germany.Drawing on the Imperial War Museum’s vast Sound Archive, Forgotten Voices of D-Day tells the full story of this turning point of the war. From the build up in Britain of a vast invasion force, to the deception measures taken to try to fool the Germans into believing the invasion would take place elsewhere.Featuring remarkable, often untapped first-hand testimonies, Forgotten Voices of D-Day is the definitive oral history of a defining turning point in history.

    Making use of overlooked and new material from over 30 archives in half a dozen countries, 'D-Day' is a vivid and well-researched account yet of the battle of Normandy.

    A gritty portrayal of unforgiving conflict, Danger Close captures the essence of combat, the risks involved and the aftermath.3 PARA was the first unit into Helmand in 2006. Sent on a peace mission, it became engaged in a level of combat that has not been experienced by the British Army since the end of the Korean War. Undermanned and suffering from equipment shortages, 3 PARA fought doggedly to win the break in battle.Numerous gallantry decorations were awarded, but they were not without cost. On returning from Afghanistan, Tootal fought to get proper treatment for his wounded and feeling frustrated with the Government's treatment of its soldiers, he resigned from the Army.This is a dramatic, and often moving, insight into the leadership of soldiers and the sharp end of war.

    

    Track individual regiments through their engagements at fifteen to twenty-minute intervals or explore each army in motion as brigades and divisions maneuver and deploy to face the enemy. The Maps of Chickamauga allows readers to fully grasp the action at any level of interest.Now available as an ebook short, The Maps of Chickamauga: The Tullahoma Campaign, June 22 July 1, 1863 plows new ground in the study of the campaign by breaking down the entire campaign in 7 detailed full page original maps. Situation maps reflect the posture of each army on an hourly basis, while tactical maps reveal the intricacies of regimental and battery movements.The Maps of Chickamauga: The Tullahoma Campaign, June 22 July 1, 1863 offers one action-section: - The Tullahoma CampaignThe text accompanying each map explains the action in succinct detail, supported by a host of primary sources. Eyewitness accounts vividly underscore the human aspect of the actions detailed in the maps as brigades and regiments collide. Meticulously researched and footnoted by David Powell with cartography by David Friedrichs, The Maps of Chickamauga relies on the participants own words to recreate the course of battle.The Maps of Chickamauga is an ideal companion for battlefield bushwhacking or simply armchair touring. Full color brings the movements to life, allowing readers to grasp the surging give and take of regimental combat in the woods and fields of North Georgia

    Smith fought at Peleliu and Okinawa and then commanded the 1st Marine Division in Korea during the assault at Inchon, the recapture of Seoul, and the breakout from the Chosin Reservoir. Called one of the twentieth century's great Marine leaders, Smith was known as an outstanding combat commander and a man of great intellect and moral courage. This biography, written by the granddaughter he helped raise, illuminates the general's remarkable life. It draws on interviews, oral histories and a thorough examination of letters held by the family and not previously available to researchers. Gail Shisler's investigation of Smith's relationship with his Army superiors in Korea and with his Marine Corps peers and superiors takes exception to previously published descriptions and adds new insights into the Corps' postwar battle for survival.

    Yet the might of Rome rests completely on the armored shoulders of the legionaries who hold back the barbarian hordes and push forward the frontiers of empire.This carefully researched yet entertainingly nonacademic book tells you how to join the Roman legions, the best places to serve, and how to keep your armor from getting rusty. Learn to march under the eagles of Rome, from training, campaigns, and battle to the glory of a Roman Triumph and retirement with a pension plan. Every aspect of army life is discussed, from drill to diet, with handy tips on topics such as how to select the best boots or how to avoid being skewered by enemy spears. Combining the latest archaeological discoveries with the written records of those who actually saw the Roman legions in action, this book provides a vivid picture of what it meant to be a Roman legionary.

    Outnumbered forty to one, they pursued the enemy army across the mountainous Afghanistan terrain and, after a series of intense battles, captured the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, which was strategically essential to defeat their opponent throughout the country.The bone-weary American soldiers were welcomed as liberators as they rode into the city, and the streets thronged with Afghans overjoyed that the Taliban regime had been overthrown.Then the action took a wholly unexpected turn. During a surrender of six hundred Taliban troops, the Horse Soldiers were ambushed by the would-be POWs. Dangerously overpowered, they fought for their lives in the city’s immense fortress, Qala-i-Janghi, or the House of War. At risk were the military gains of the entire campaign: if the soldiers perished or were captured, the entire effort to outmaneuver the Taliban was likely doomed.Deeply researched and beautifully written, Stanton’s account of the Americans’ quest to liberate an oppressed people touches the mythic. The soldiers on horses combined ancient strategies of cavalry warfare with twenty-first-century aerial bombardment technology to perform a seemingly impossible feat. Moreover, their careful effort to win the hearts of local townspeople proved a valuable lesson for America’s ongoing efforts in Afghanistan.

    Yet despite the attention lavished on this epic battle by historians, much about it has been greatly misunderstood or hidden from view--as David Glantz, the world's foremost authority on the Red Army in World War II, now shows.This first volume in Glantz's masterly trilogy draws on previously unseen or neglected sources to provide the definitive account of the opening phase of this iconic Eastern Front campaign. Glantz has combed daily official records from both sides--including the Red Army General Staff, the People's Commissariat of Internal Affairs, the German Sixth Army, and the Soviet 62nd Army--to produce a work of unparalleled detail and fresh interpretations. Jonathan House, an authority on twentieth-century warfare, adds further insight and context.Hitler's original objective was not Stalingrad but the Caucasus oilfields to the south of the city. So he divided his Army Group South into two parts--one to secure the city on his flank, one to capture the oilfields. Glantz reveals for the first time how Stalin, in response, demanded that the Red Army stand and fight rather than withdraw, leading to the numerous little-known combat engagements that seriously eroded the Wehrmacht's strength before it even reached Stalingrad. He shows that, although advancing German forces essentially destroyed the armies of the Soviet Southwestern and Southern Fronts, the Soviets resisted the German advance much more vigorously than has been thought through constant counterattacks, ultimately halting the German offensive at the gates of Stalingrad.This fresh, eye-opening account and the subsequent companion volumes--on the actual battle for the city itself and the successful Soviet counteroffensive that followed--will dramatically revise and expand our understanding of what remains a military campaign for the ages.

    Air Force General Curtis E. LeMay (1906–1990) won’t convert those utterly convinced that he was a bomb-happy maniac. The more open-minded, however, will find in it a broader perspective on this controversial officer than we have had elsewhere. His outstanding competence as leader and organizer of strategic airpower in World War II and during the cold war is convincingly presented; so are his limitations in the Pentagon and his poor judgment in being George Wallace’s running mate in 1968. Kozak suggests that LeMay was utterly dedicated to the mission of destroying his country’s enemies and to the men under his command charged with carrying out that mission. This led to what can only be called a certain lack of the social graces and a good many of what might charitably be called misinterpretations of where LeMay’s patriotism led him. A book that definitely belongs in aviation and modern military history collections.

    It's what he was trained to do, all he'd ever wanted, and he relished the prospect of a tour of duty in Afghanistan. And then the unthinkable happened. In one heartstopping moment Mark's life was brutally shattered when a land mine tore off both his legs and his right arm. The catastrophic injuries he sustained, the race to airlift him out of danger and the shocking truth behind the doctors' battle to save him are all described in graphic detail in this remarkable memoir. This is also the story of how, on the brink of despair, Mark began the greatest battle of his life - to walk again and, using state-of-the-art 'bionic' legs, to stand shoulder to shoulder with his comrades to receive his campaign medal. It was a battle he had to win if he was to rebuild his life as a serving marine. Told with brutal honesty, "Man Down" is a searing, action-packed account of courage and comradeship, of life on the front line in the Afghan desert and the terrible legacy of war. It is a story of true grit you will never forget

    Most of the men were from the outback, had a special bond with their horses (which were all brought from Australia) - and they knew how to survive and fight in the desert. The greatest part of the Allied victory over the Turks was theirs. Colonel Lawrence had a strategy for actually defeating the Turks - as opposed to the British High Command's acceptance of the status quo. What Lawrence needed was a mobile, elite force to join his own troops - and in the Light Horse he had them. Battle-hardened by Gallipoli and the repulse of the Turkish invasion of Egypt, the Australians were ready. Under their brilliant commander, Sir Harry Chauvel they won great victories in the Sinai, Palestine and Syria - culminating in the last great cavalry charge in our military history, and the taking of Beersheba in 1917. Every Australian has heard of the Light Horse - but practically none have read their story. Roland Perry brings their story to life, and tells it with colour, emotion - and authority.

    A radical reassessment of this important World War II naval battle

    Military history at its best. Perched on top of a tall promontory, surrounded on three sides by the treacherous St Lawrence River, Quebec -- in 1759 France's capital city in Canada -- forms an almost impregnable natural fortress. That year, with the Seven Years' War raging around the globe, a force of 49 ships and nearly 9,000 men commanded by the irascible General James Wolfe, navigated the river, scaled the cliffs and laid siege to the town in an audacious attempt to expel the French from North America forever. In this magisterial first solus book, tying into the 250th anniversary of the battle, Dan Snow tells the story of this famous campaign which was to have far-reaching consequences for Britain's rise to global hegemony, and the world at large. Snow brilliantly sets the battle within its global context and tells a gripping tale of brutal war quite unlike any fought in Europe, where terrain, weather and native Canadian tribes were as fearsome as any enemy. 'I never served so disagreeable a campaign as this,' grumbled one British commander, 'it is war of the worst shape.' 1759 was, without question, a year in which the decisions of men changed the world forever. Based on original research and told from all perspectives, this is history -- military, political, human -- on an epic scale.

    

     Through the course of the next six months it would see some of the most ferocious fighting of the entire war. As soon as they landed they drove quickly into the Netherlands to prepare for an offensive into Nazi Germany. Their movements were dramatically altered as the German forces attempted to launch a momentous counter-offensive against the allies. The 84th division was sent to Belgium to plug a gap in the Allied line and fought back against the last ditch effort of Nazi forces. Draper takes the reader through every engagement that the division took part in from the first shots fired in anger through to crossing the Rhine into Germany and finally taking Hannover and making contact with Soviet forces in May 1945. Lt. Theodore Draper’s book is a unique account of the allied invasion of Germany. Rather relying on secondhand stories of the division’s actions months after the events had occurred, Draper was encouraged to go direct to the source, to the men themselves, from the commanding general to any private, for the most complete, firsthand information on every action. This book is largely based on hundreds of pages of such interviews, most of them within 48 hours of the unit’s relief and many of them while the unit was still fighting. “Though ostensibly a divisional history, Draper’s well-informed and interesting account is useful for an understanding of the war on the western front in general.” Robert Gale Woolbert, Foreign Affairs “This is the whole operation of the battle of Germany on the broad and individual level, the Siegfried Line, the fight to the Rhine, the Ardennes, the mad race to the Elbo, with credit attributed to men, companies, battalions where it is due.” Kirkus Reviews Theodore Draper was an American historian and political writer. He wrote many notable books during his career on a variety of subjects. During the Second World War he was inducted into the U. S. Army and worked in the historical section of the 84th Infantry Division. His book The 84th Infantry Division In The Battle Of Germany : November 1944-May 1945 was first published in 1946 and he passed away in 2006.

    In this immediate, thrilling, and inspiring memoir, Campbell recounts a timeless and transcendent tale of brotherhood, courage, and sacrifice.As commander of a forty-man infantry platoon called Joker One, Campbell had just months to train and transform a ragtag group of brand-new Marines into a first-rate cohesive fighting unit, men who would become his family: Sergeant Leza, the house intellectual who read Che Guevara; Sergeant Mariano Noriel, the “Filipino ball of fire” who would become Campbell’s closest confidant and friend; Lance Corporal William Feldmeir, a narcoleptic who fell asleep during battle; and a lieutenant known simply as “the Ox,” whose stubborn aggressiveness would be more curse than blessing. Campbell and his men were assigned to Ramadi, that capital of the Sunni-dominated Anbar province that was an explosion just waiting to happen. And when it did happen–with the chilling cries of “Jihad, Jihad, Jihad!” echoing from minaret to minaret–Campbell and company were there to protect the innocent, battle the insurgents, and pick up the pieces. After seven months of day-to-day, house-to-house combat, nearly half of Campbell’s platoon had been wounded, a casualty rate that went beyond that of any Marine or Army unit since Vietnam. Yet unlike Fallujah, Ramadi never fell to the enemy.Told by the man who led the unit of hard-pressed Marines, Joker One is a gripping tale of a leadership, loyalty, faith, and camaraderie throughout the best and worst of times.

    It is unique in that the story is told using first person accounts from RAF aircrew and German night fighter crews who fought each other on raids on occupied Europe and Germany from 1942 onwards. Details of what it was like to be on the receiving end in Hamburg, Berlin, Cologne etc are also included. A whole host of incredible first-hand accounts by British, Commonwealth, American and German air crews permeate the action and describe the aerial battles as only they can. This unique book also includes many accounts and photos that have not previously been seen before while the rich mix of combat accounts from all sides are brought together for the first time in one volume.

    A queen's delight, and it's all too easy for a guy to fall in love with these brave, young warriors. But some of those shipping out won't be coming home, and not all of the wounded wear uniforms.

    Witness sixteen accounts of hardcore military science fiction, from planetside combat to fleet actions up among the stars. Featuring the works of David Sherman, Charles E. Gannon, John C. Wright, James Daniel Ross, Jonathan Maberry, James Chambers, Patrick Thomas, Andy Remic, Danielle Ackley-McPhail, Jeffrey Lyman, Jack Campbell, Mike McPhail, Bud Sparhawk, Tony Ruggiero, and C.J. Henderson. Praise for Breach The Hull, Book One in the Defending the Future series Winner of the 2007 Dream Realm Award "There is more than enough great SF in Breach the Hull for any true fan of the genre, military or not." - Will McDermott, author of Lasgun Wedding "I enjoyed this book and heartily recommend it." -Sam Tomaino, Space and Time Magazine "Pick up Breach the Hull. You're sure to find stories that you like." -David Sherman, author of the DemonTech series and co-author of the Starfist series " Breach the Hull] kicks down the doors in a way that allows anyone access to the genre . . . ]it read like a bunch of soldiers sitting around swapping stories of the wars. Fun, fast-paced, and packed with action. I give it a thumbs up." -Jonathan Maberry, Bram Stoker Award-winning author " Breach the Hull] is worth the purchase. I normally don't partake of anthologies as a general rule . . . but Mike McPhail has done a great job in making me rethink this position." -Peter Hodges, Reviewer "Breach the Hull is full of excellent stories, no two of which are the same. While similar themes crop up throughout, each writer has managed to take the subgenre and make it his own." -John Ottinger III, Grasping for the Wind Reviews "A collection of military science fiction from a well mixed group of authors, both new and established. Found it a good source for some new authors to investigate." -Tony Finan, Philly Geeks

    special operations personnel, the demise of Ahmad Shah, and the impact this incident had on the War on Terror.

    Beginning with first-hand accounts of the reaction to Chamberlain's declaration of war in 1939, Kershaw portrays the many aspects of war through the words of those who were there, from the sailors of the little ships of Dunkirk to German soldiers preparing for Operation 'Sea Lion'. He takes us from the nightly horrors of the Blitz to battles in the limitless desert of North Africa, and from jungle war in Burma to Lancaster bombers over Germany and the beaches of Normandy. Featuring new interviews with veterans and civilians from Britain, the Commonwealth and Germany as well as diaries, letters, and first-hand accounts, this is a testimony to the remarkable men and women who lived through the Second World War -- whose refusal to surrender changed them, and Britain, forever.

    On the way to the peace talks, the convoy is ambushed in Morghab Canyon by militia of the very warlord they are going to meet. Outnumbered 10 to 1 and then 20 to 1, the small force must clover near a small cave and hope for help to arrive. Only, the closest help is hours away. It is amazing any of them survived.

    The fates of nations, and even continents, often rests on the outcome of war and thus on how its practitioners consider war. The Human Face of War is a new exploration of military thought. It starts with the observation that much military thought is poorly developed - often incoherent and riddled with paradox. The author contends that what is missing from British and American writing on warfare is any underpinning mental approach or philosophy. Why are some tank commanders, snipers, fighter pilots or submarine commanders far more effective than others? Why are many generals sacked at the outbreak of war? The Human Face of War examines such phenomena and seeks to explain them.The author argues that military thought should be based on an approach which reflects the nature of combat. Combat - fighting - is primarily a human phenomenon dominated by human behaviour. The book explores some of those human issues and their practical consequences. The Human Face of War calls for, and suggests, a new way of considering war and warfare.

    PETRAEUS (U.S. Army, Ret.)THE PAPER THAT ROCKEDOSAMA BIN LADENTeam members during the May 2, 2011 U.S. military raid that killed Osama Bin Laden seized piles of Al Qaeda intelligence. One piece of evidence found in Bin Laden’s personal sleeping quarters was an English language copy of Jim Gant’s One Tribe at a Time. It contained notes in the margins consistent with others identified as written by Osama Bin Laden. A directive from Osama Bin Laden to his intelligence chief was also discovered. It identified Jim Gant by name as an impediment to Al Qaeda’s operational objectives for eastern Afghanistan.Bin Laden ordered that Gant be assassinated.“[One Tribe at a Time] was hugely important…at a time when I was looking for ideas on Afghanistan…[Gant] was the first to write it down, in a very coherent fashion, very readable, very encouraging frankly…and there is enormous power in that.” --General David H. Petraeus (U.S. Army, Ret.) quoted in American Spartan: The Promise, The Mission, and The Betrayal of Special Forces Major Jim Gant by Ann Scott TysonWashington Post reporter Ann Scott Tyson read “One Tribe at a Time,” and - informed by her combat experience in Afghanistan and Iraq and her eight years as a reporter in China - she realized that Jim’s paper made sense. She decided to write a story about Jim entitled, “Jim Gant, the Green Beret who could win the war in Afghanistan.” After the article appeared in January 2010, as Jim was in Washington, D.C., attending Pashto language training, he met Ann and the two fell in love. She followed his mission in Afghanistan and wrote AMERICAN SPARTAN: The Promise, the Mission, and the Betrayal of Special Forces Major Jim Gant.

    In this searing and inspiring memoir, he tells an unforgettable story of his service overseas–and of the emotional wars that continue to rage long after our fighting men come home.Raised in a tiny blue-collar town in Ohio, Jeremiah Workman was a handsome and athletic high achiever. Having excelled on the sporting field, he believed that the Marine Corps would be the perfect way to harness his physical and professional drives.In the Iraqi city of Fallujah in December 2004, Workman faced the challenge that would change his life. He and his platoon were searching for hidden caches of weapons and mopping up die-hard insurgent cells when they came upon a building in which a team of fanatical insurgents had their fellow Marines trapped. Leading repeated assaults on that building, Workman killed more than twenty of the enemy in a ferocious firefight that left three of his own men dead.But Workman’s most difficult fight lay ahead of him–in the battlefield of his mind. Burying his guilt about the deaths of his men, he returned stateside, where he was decorated for valor and then found himself assigned to the Marine base at Parris Island as a “Kill Hat”: a drill instructor with the least seniority and the most brutal responsibilities. He was instructed, only half in jest, to push his untested recruits to the brink of suicide. Haunted by the thought that he had failed his men overseas, Workman cracked, suffering a psychological breakdown in front of the men he was charged with leading and preparing for war.In Shadow of the Sword, a memoir that brilliantly captures both wartime courage and its lifelong consequences, Workman candidly reveals the ordeal of post-traumatic stress disorder: the therapy and drug treatments that deadened his mind even as they eased his pain, the overwhelming stress that pushed his marriage to the brink, and the confrontations with anger and self-blame that he had internalized for years. Having fought through the worst of his trials–and now the father of a young son–Workman has found not perfection or a panacea but a way to accommodate his traumas and to move forward toward hope, love, and reconciliation.

    Exploring their days before the rebellion, this historical study depicts these modern men within their humble professions—from doctors, lawyers, and students to shoemakers, shopkeepers, and farmers. Revealing them as sons of a restless nation that had unwillingly surrendered its independence a mere generation before, this overview also shows how some were bound by age-old ties of Highland kinship and loyalty while others voluntarily rallied to the cries of "Prosperity to Scotland" and "No Union!"The agonizing personal dilemmas endured by many are also illustrated, demonstrating their hesitancy before committing themselves to Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobite Cause. Portraying those that met their destiny at the battle on Culloden Moor, this powerful evocation represents these men as players in a global conflict that helped shape the world of today. Dramatic and moving, this is an exceptional story of those who risked everything for a better future for themselves, their families, and Scotland.

    Outnumbered 10 to 1, the soldiers must clover around the wrecked hulks of soviet tanks and battle it out until help arrives. But when it does, only 5 US soldiers show up to help. The senior officer of the group is shot 6 times but stays in the fight until a platoon sized Quick Reaction Force shows up from the 10th Mountain Division an hour after the ambush.

    From the debacle in Bataan, to the miracle at Midway and the relentless vortex of Guadalcanal, their solemn oaths to their country later led one to the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot and the others to the coral strongholds of Peleliu, the black terraces of Iwo Jima and the killing fields of Okinawa, until at last the survivors enjoyed a triumphant, yet uneasy, return home. In The Pacific, Hugh Ambrose focuses on the real-life stories of the five men who put their lives on the line for our country. To deepen the story revealed in the miniseries and go beyond it, the book dares to chart a great ocean of enmity known as The Pacific and the brave men who fought. Some considered war a profession, others enlisted as citizen soldiers. Each man served in a different part of the war, but their respective duties required every ounce of their courage and their strength to defeat an enemy who preferred suicide to surrender. The medals for valor which were pinned on three of them came at a shocking price-a price paid in full by all.

    This is a coming-of-age memoir of a prep school boy who enlists in the Marine Corps, gets caught in a horrific three-day assault during some of the heaviest fighting of the Vietnam War, then returns to attend Harvard University amidst a heavy anti-war sentiment.

    Ripley provides readers with the complete story about a great man who is considered by Marines, such as General Carl Mundy, former Commandant of the Marine Corps, to be on the same level as legends Chesty Puller and Dan Daly. Colonel Ripley is most commonly known for his heroics in Vietnam during the Easter Offensive of 1972, where Colonel Gerald Turley ordered him to hold and die, in the face of over 30,000 North Vietnamese and 200 enemy tanks. John Ripley proceeded to blow the Dong Ha bridge, preventing the enemy from crossing. He unhesitatingly obeyed and earned the nation s second highest honor, the Navy Cross.As stunning as the Dong Ha story is, there was much more to Colonel John Ripley. An American Knight: The Life of Colonel John W. Ripley, USMC narrates his early life and the influences which shaped his personality.In youth, he was a rambunctious Huckleberry Finn who spent his days getting into all kinds of mischief

    These men, ranging from teenage boys to men in their eighties from over forty different countries, were detained for years without charges, trial, and a fair hearing. Without any legal status or protection, they were truly outside the law: imprisoned in secret, denied communication with their families, and subjected to extreme isolation, physical and mental abuse, and, in some instances, torture.These are the detainees' stories, told by their lawyers because the prisoners themselves were silenced. It took habeas counsel more than two years--and a ruling from the United States Supreme Court--to finally gain the right to visit and talk to their clients at Guantánamo. Even then, lawyers were forced to operate under severe restrictions designed to inhibit communication and envelop the prison in secrecy. In time, however, lawyers were able to meet with their clients and bring the truth about Guantánamo to the world.The Guantánamo Lawyers contains over one hundred personal narratives from attorneys who have represented detainees held at "GTMO" as well as at other overseas prisons, from Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan to secret CIA jails or "black sites." Mark Denbeaux and Jonathan Hafetz--themselves lawyers for detainees--collected stories that cover virtually every facet of Guantánamo, and the litigation it sparked. Together, these moving, powerful voices create a historical record of Guantánamo's legal, human, and moral failings, and provide a window into America's catastrophic effort to create a prison beyond the law.An online archive, hosted by New York University Libraries, will be available at the time of publication and will contain the complete texts as well as other accounts contributed by Guantánamo lawyers. The documents will be freely available on the Internet for research, teaching, and non-commercial uses, and will be preserved indefinitely as a historical collection.

    Ripley, USMC, Lieutenant Colonel Gerald Turley, USMC and Vietnamese Lieutenant Colonel Le Ba Binh – Botkin tells the real history of the Vietnam War with the grainiest of detail he captured through scores of interviews and thousands of hours of tireless research in Vietnam, Cambodia and the US. Highly readable and thoroughly researched, Ride the Thunder profiles numerous American and Vietnamese warriors who sacrificed themselves and their families in the pursuit of freedom. Many paid the ultimate price in the effort to keep their country free of communism.Reporters would fly into the combat base just long enough to film Marines being shelled and ducking for cover before flying out again to safe areas. Focusing only on dying US soldiers, the American media refused to cover the atrocities committed by the Communists against their own people. Despite thes horrors and the fact that the South Vietnamese were fighting desparately for their fledgling democracy the 93rd Congress pulled the plug on all US support and funding.Even though the American troops were winning on the ground, it was the media and politicians, not warriors, who decided the outcome of the war.

    As the president arrives, the embassy is attacked and isolated by a mob of nationalists. With the Indian government seemingly unwilling to take action to restore order and with an ambitious vice-president seizing this as an opportunity to move up to the White House, it is up to Gunny McCardle and his small band of Marines to keep the president alive. Faced with tremendous odds, Gunny has to lead his Marines in an almost impossible task. That is nothing new to the US Marines. Impossible tasks are the Corps' forte. But can his small detachment keep up the tradition of the Corps and succeed despite tremendous odds?(The Few is Book 1 of the The Return of the Marines Trilogy. Book 2 in the series, The Proud, and Book 3, The Marines, are also available through Amazon.)

    At nearly 500 pages, this is the book you want by your side while you wait it out in the fox hole. Read about . . .The Semper Fi storyA history of the draftThe real Private RyanDog tags then and nowMedal of Honor winnersM*A*S*H: the true storyThe original Flying TigerBeetle Bailey and other cartoon soldiersWhat it takes to be in the Special ForcesCan you see me now? The story of camouflageAnd much, much more!

    Now, a call for help means Ash must take a break from chasing pirates in West Africa and return to the chaos of war-torn Baghdad. Abandoned by the occupying Coalition Forces and at the mercy of the Shia-dominated Iraqi police, Sammy and his family face certain death unless Ash and his crack team can get in and quickly rescue them.Escape from Baghdad is a gripping account of real life and death on the ground in Iraq. From secretly acquiring weapons on the black market, to dodging the fearsome death squads that roam the streets and the suicide bombers that wreak havoc on a daily basis, this is the story of a vulnerable family adrift in the chaos of war, where the only thing that can be relied upon is the bond between former brothers-in-arms.And this time, these guns-for-hire who come with a hefty price-tag aren't even being paid. This time, it's personal.

    

    Soon after joining the U.S. Army Corps, a wiry, baby-faced 17-year-old found himself a seasoned warrior desperately battling head-to-head against the Luftwaffe’s best fighter pilots over Nazi Germany. Having amazingly escaped the fiery wreckage of his B-17, he relied on his ingenuity and determination to get him through two bitter winters in confinement as a POW in the infamous Stalag 17. Along with other American prisoners, he was coerced to flee the rapidly advancing Red Army as the European war came to a close and endure a brutal 18-day march where he witnessed firsthand the horrors of the Mauthausen concentration camp. Weighing an emaciated 110 pounds, he was finally rescued by Patton’s Third Army just days before Germany surrendered.

    Things did not go according to plan in Sleightholm's first years as a police dog handler. The difficulties of finding and keeping the right dog were so great that he was ready to give up. Then Cass came along. The two of them quickly formed a bond, graduated as stars from the training school, and became an outstandingly effective working partnership. Cass became part of the Sleightholm family, too. Car thieves, armed robbers, drug dealers, murderers, burglars—Cassius learned to find them, contain them, intimidate, and attack if he had to. Sometimes it was dangerous for him. Usually it was more dangerous for the criminal. The story of Cassius is by turns thrilling, funny, and moving, and always a fascinating insight into the freemasonry of police dog training.

    In the words of the Washington Post Book World, “With Wings Like Eagles is a skillful, absorbing, often moving contribution to the popular understanding of one of the few episodes in history … to deserve the description ‘heroic.’”

    Gottfried's The Maps of First Bull Run: An Atlas of the First Bull Run (Manassas) Campaign, including the Battle of Ball's Bluff, June - October 1861 is the eagerly awaited companion volume to his bestselling The Maps of Gettysburg (2007, two editions, four printings), part of the ongoing Savas Beatie Atlas Series.The Maps of First Bull Run breaks down the entire operation (and related actions) into numerous map sets or "action-sections" enriched with more than fifty full-color original full-page maps. These cartographic originals bore down to the regimental and battery level and include the march to and from the battlefield and virtually every significant event in between. At least two--and as many as seventeen--maps accompany each "action-section." Keyed to each piece of cartography is a full facing page of detailed text describing the units, personalities, movements, and combat (including quotes from eyewitnesses) depicted on the accompanying map, all of which make the story of First Bull Run come alive.This original presentation makes it easy for readers to quickly locate a map and text on virtually any portion of the campaign. Readers will maneuver with Confederate and Union armies in the Shenandoah Valley, march with General McDowell's Federals to the plains of Manassas, and fight blow-by-blow through the battle up to its stunning climax on Henry House Hill and the final retreat from the battlefield all the way to Washington. The smaller but important Battle of Ball's Bluff is also covered in the same fashion, as is the skirmish at Lewinsville. Serious students will appreciate the extensive and authoritative endnotes, bibliography, and complete orders of battle. They will also want to bring the book along on their trips to the battlefields.Perfect for the easy chair or for walking hallowed ground, The Maps of First Bull Run is a seminal work that, like his earlier Gettysburg study, belongs on the bookshelf of every serious and casual student of the Civil War.About the Author: Bradley M. Gottfried, Ph.D., is the President of the College of Southern Maryland. An avid Civil War historian, Dr. Gottfried is the author of five books, including Brigades of Gettysburg: The Union and Confederate Brigades at the Battle of Gettysburg (2002) and The Maps of Gettysburg (2007). He is currently working with co-editor Theodore P. Savas on a Gettysburg Campaign encyclopedia.

    This is accomplished through 365 one-page stories from America’s greatest conflict presented in a daily devotional format with relevant scripture readings for each day of the year. Additionally, the book presents a unique and concise history of World War II with summaries, maps, and photographs of the major campaigns of the war. On this level, the individual stories provide insights into the war and combat not found in typical historical accounts.

    Fox presents a thoroughly engrossing story, and one worthy of the greatest battle of the age of sail, the Four Days' Battle of 1666.

    This he flew in West Germany at the height of the Cold War operating from Wildenrath and off-base operations with Field Wing operations based in the fields and woods of the German countryside. Jerry saw action during the Falklands War when based on HMS Hermes and flying one of the few RAF Harriers in the Ground Attack role in support of the troops fighting ashore. He then enjoyed flying the American-built Starfighter RF 104G during a 3 year exchange tour with the Dutch Air Force - he describes the Starfighter as ' beautiful to fly, smooth and sophisticated, supremely fast and powerful - if you took liberties with it you knew it would kill you in an instant.' After 3 years with No 1(Fighter) Squadron and again flying the Harrier he moved to the then new Tornado, flying in its bomber role. This he continued to fly operationally and in the instructional role for 13 years until grounded from military flying for medical reasons.

    He was due to retire from the Army in 2007, but that was before his CO made a desperate plea: stay and do just one more tour. This is Beattie's story of that one final tour.

    Its spectacular stable of artists includes such luminaries as Buck Brown, Jack Cole, Eldon Dedini, John Dempsey, Alden Erikson, Jules Feiffer, Phil Interlandi, Kiraz, Bobby London, Don Madden, Marty Murphy, Roy Raymonde, Arnold Roth, Shel Silverstein, Smilby, Doung Sneyd, Erich Sokol, Art Spiegelman, Gahan Wilson, Rowland B. Wilson, and hundreds of others. Hip subversives and sly revolutionaries all, Playboy's artists have continually offered a sophisticated brand of humor sorely missing in other men's magazines. Now, Playboy gathers them together i this glorious collection of the finest and funniest cartoons. Handpicked by Hugh M. Hefner himself, the pages distill the very bet of the cartoons featuring sweet young things, terrible tarts, winsome wives, suitors, and studs–a riotous chronicle of Playboy humor.

    Now Ross Kemp is taking on perhaps his hardest assignment of all - the Taliban. In order to prepare for this life-threatening ordeal, Ross Kemp trains with the First Battalion Royal Anglians in England's subzero temperatures, practicing firing SA 80 rifles and .50 calibre machine guns, getting to know the soldiers and learning the tactics they use to stay alive. Sent with them to Camp Bastion in Afghanistan's Helmand province, he immerses himself fully: he endures the stifling heat, the constant threat of snipers, RPG attacks, suicide bombers and land mines. In short, he discovers first hand what it's like to fight on the frontline. It's the closest he's ever come to dying - bullets fizzing inches from his head as they hit the ground on either side of him. After two harrowing and arduous months Ross returns to England, but there is little relief to be had as he meets the mothers of soldiers killed in the conflict. Then in September 2008 he goes back to the war zone, to see how the men he grew so close to are faring, to check how many of them are still alive. Ross Kemp on Afganistan is a fascinating, horrifying and often moving insight into the brutal reality ordinary soldiers have to face in one of the world's most dangerous and volatile regions.Ross Kemp was born in Essex in 1964, to a father who was a senior detective with the Metropolitan Police and had served in the army for four years. He is a BAFTA award-winning actor, journalist and author, who is best known for his role of Grant Mitchell in Eastenders. His award-winning documentary series Ross Kemp on Gangs led to his international recognition as an investigative journalist.

    In Stories of Faith and Courage from the War in Iraq & Afghanistan you’ll find the experiences and perspectives of deployed soldiers, chaplains, military wives and parents, organizers of humanitarian efforts, veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, loved ones of fallen soldiers, and more. You’ll meet:• The crew member on a Marine transport vessel combating a dust storm during the invasion• a major overcoming bureaucratic challenges to stand up the Iraq Air Force• a three-star general motivating his team to build a stronger Iraq through reconstruction projects• the mother of a Navy SEAL who herself demonstrated tremendous courage under fire after her son's death• and a congressman heralding the founding principles of our nation, ones he passed along to his son who served in IraqReaders will come away appreciating those who have lived loudly for liberty.

    Now in paperback and with a new title, the riveting, behind-the-scenes chronicle of the search for Saddam Hussein - told by the one man who was able to succeed where an entire army could not.

    While he was there he indulged his other great interest - military matters. On his travels he observed first-hand the soldiers of the European Armies in the last days of the colourful and elaborate uniforms that were giving way to grey and khaki across the continent. Realizing that this was a great military heritage that was slipping away, he set out to record these splendid uniforms.In the uncertain days before the assassination of the Archduke Ferdinand in Sarajevo, Haswell Miller sketched and painted hundreds of figures, each wearing a different uniform from the armies of Britain, Germany, France, Austria-Hungary, Belgium, Holland, Italy, Portugal, Russia, Spain and Sweden. Just before the First World War the paintings were exhibited in Leipzig, and it seemed they might be published. But when war broke out they returned home and lay forgotten for nearly one hundred years.Now, published together at last, they represent a unique record of the uniforms of the last great age of military dress. Accompanied by, in Haswell Miller's own words, 'notes and memories of the days before "the lights went out in Europe" in the year 1914', this is a book of great historical importance.

    Grief can not be contained. It can be denied and delayed, but eventually it will burst out of its confinement to take its toll. Debts paid in cash, no matter how deep, are effortless when compared to the balance due Death.

    Rather it represents a collection of experience and wisdom from a perspective most of us will never have. The essence of leadership is caring about people and General Moore was and is a master in the art of caring.

    

    Living in the forest through bitter winter stalking and being stalked Essie s life in the Bielski Partisan camp is full of danger, adventure, and intrigue. Essie Shor was just 16 when the Nazis invaded her town, Novogrudek (then a part of Poland, now in Belarus) and killed 4000 Jews on a single day, including her mother and all her brothers and sisters. The 700 who remained, including Essie and her father, were herded into prison-like conditions in the ghetto the Nazis established. But Essie escaped at night through a hole in the fence, and became one of the first 25 Jews to join her cousins, the Bielski Brothers, in an encampment that would eventually save 1200 Jews. Living in the forest, we no longer felt like cattle, as we had in the ghetto. However, we had to move constantly. There were German soldiers looking for us everywhere, and sometimes villagers living nearby would tell them where we were. Once, we had to leave in a hurry when the Nazis discovered the hoof prints of our cows in the snow. This was a different kind of fear. We went from being caged to being hunted. And to being a hunter. Essie became a teenage Partisan, a guerilla fighter in the resistance. More than 60 years later, Essie still remembers those two years fighting for the freedom of her people. Now, as more people learn about the Bielski Partisans by watching the movie, Defiance, she shares her dramatic story at last.

    Flying over Vietnam in two-seater Cessnas, they often made the difference between a soldier returning alive to his family or having the lonely sound of “Taps” played over his grave. Based on extensive interviews, and often in the men’s own words, A Hundred Feet Over Hell puts the reader in the plane as this intrepid band of U.S. Army aviators calls in fire support for the soldiers and marines of I Corps.

    Orders sent from these secret headquarters would play a massive part in the outcome of the war. Baxter not only utilizes published works, unpublished records, military documents, and archives on the subject, but also digs deep into the contemporary writings of Hitler’s closest personal staff, seeking to disentangle the truth through letters written by wives, friends, adjutants, private secretaries, physicians, and of course his military staff. Baxter extensively examines life within the Führerhauptquartiere, where Hilter planned and gossiped with his associates. However, as defeat loomed, Hitler surrounded himself not with his intimate circle of friends, but what he considered were illiterate soldiers. Baxter shows how Hitler’s contempt for his war staff grew, and describes, during the onset of the traumatic German military reverses in Russia, how Hitler tried to infuse determination into his generals and friends, despite his rapid deterioration in health.

    No explosive entry.Red: Explosive entry using a grenade or charge. Enter firing at will.What happened in Helmand's Sangin Valley in the spring of 2007 was nothing short of extraordinary. After the last gasp defence of the platoon houses by the Paras that preceded them in theatre, the soldiers of the Royal Anglian Regiment arrived in Afghanistan charged with taking the battle to the enemy. Despite brutal, debilitating conditions, the tour that followed became a bloody lesson in how to conduct offensive infantry warfare. Over a six-month tour of duty, the 'Vikings' battlegroup unleashed hell in heavy, relentless fighting that saw teenage soldiers battle toe to toe against hardcore Al Qaeda and Taliban warriors at unprecedented levels of ferocity.The stories that emerged from the Sangin Valley, defined by bravery, comradeship, endurance and, above all, aggression, are remarkable So much so that Sandhurst manuals were re-written to incorporate the lessons of the campaign. But the fight was far from one-sided. May 2007 saw the Anglians suffer the highest number of British military casualties in any single month since the end of World War II. And those that did return home came back changed by the intensity of the experience.In Attack State Red, Colonel Richard Kemp, a former Commanding Office of 1st Battalion, The Royal Anglian Regiment, and Chris Hughes, the Daily Mirror Security Correspondent, tell the story of the Royal Anglian's deployment for the first time. Combining the strategic insight of 3 Para with the adrenaline charge of Sniper One, they have produced the most dynamic, substantial and visceral account of the war in Afghanistan that's ever been written.

    A failure in all respects, the operation ended in disaster, and the Allied forces suffered some 390,000 casualties. This conclusive book assesses the many myths that have emerged about Gallipoli and provides definitive answers to questions that have lingered about the operation.Robin Prior, a renowned military historian, proceeds step by step through the campaign, dealing with naval, military, and political matters and surveying the operations of all the armies involved: British, Anzac, French, Indian, and Turkish. Relying substantially on original documents, including neglected war diaries and technical military sources, Prior evaluates the strategy, the commanders, and the performance of soldiers on the ground. His conclusions are powerful and unsettling: the naval campaign was not “almost” won, and the land action was not bedeviled by “minor misfortunes.” Instead, the badly conceived Gallipoli campaign was doomed from the start. And even had it been successful, the operation would not have shortened the war by a single day. Despite their bravery, the Allied troops who fell at Gallipoli died in vain.

    The army blamed “human error†and a sordid love triangle. Though overshadowed by Three Mile Island, SL-1 remains the only fatal nuclear reactor incident in American history. Todd Tucker, who first heard the rumors about the Idaho Falls explosion as a trainee in the navy’s nuclear program, suspected there was more to the accident than rumors suggested. Poring over hundreds of pages of primary sources and interviewing survivors revealed that the army and its contractors had deliberately obscured the true cause of the accident, which resulted from poor engineering as much as uncontrolled passions. The National Reactor Testing Station, where the meltdown occurred, had been a proving ground where engineers, generals, and admirals attempted to realize the Atomic Age dream of unlimited power—amid the frantic race for nuclear power between the army, the navy, and the air force. The fruit of those ambitious plans included that of the nation’s unofficial nuclear patriarch, Admiral Rickover, whose “true submarine,†the USS Nautilus, would forever change naval warfare. But with the meltdown in Idaho came the end of the army’s program and the beginning of the navy’s long-standing monopoly on military nuclear power. Atomic America provides a fast-paced narrative history, advocating caution and accountability in harnessing nuclear energy.

    Focusing on the glory days of tall ships, Julian Stockwin explores marine myths and unearths the truth behind commonly held beliefs about the sea, such as whether Lord Nelson's body was really pickled in rum to transport it back to England after his death at Trafalgar. Interspersed throughout are salty sayings showing the modern words and phrases that originate from the mariners of old—"cut of his jib," "high and dry," "the coast is clear," "first rate," and "slush fund." Also included is Stockwin's Top 25 list of maritime museums and historic ships around the world for anyone who wishes to explore further. Ranging from the heroic voyages of discovery in the 15th century through the iconic Napoleon wars to the glorious era of clipper ships, this miscellany celebrates and explores a colorful world we will never see again.

    What will Feist require of them? Can they successfully complete the challenge as well as their other missions and tasks for G.U.N.? What would failure mean to Shadow, who considers himself the 'ultimate lifeform?' This action-packed issue co-stars Hope Kintobor and Omega, and features the first assembly of 'Team Dark.' It also paves the way for the next intriguing saga, which promises to bring back everyone's favorite red echidna!

    Their relentless hammering of Germany--totaling more than 1.4 million missions--took out oil refineries, industries, and transportation infrastructures vital to the Reich's war effort. While other accounts have focused on operational details, this is the first book to reveal the crucial role of air intelligence in these dramatic campaigns.Robert Ehlers reexamines these bombings through the lens of both air intelligence and operations, a dual approach that shows how the former was so vital to the latter's success. Air intelligence was essential to both targeting and damage assessment, and by demonstrating its contributions to the Combined Bomber Offensive of 1943-1945, Ehlers provides a wealth of new insight into the war.Ehlers describes the close ties that developed between the Royal Air Force's precision intelligence arm and the U.S. Army Air Force's precision bombardment forces, telling how the RAF's photographic reconnaissance and signals intelligence steered both British and American bombers to the right targets at the right intervals with the right munitions. He shows that the greatest strength of this partnership was its ability to orchestrate all aspects of damage assessment within an effective organizational structure, so that by 1944 senior air commanders--like the RAF's Arthur Bomber Harris and the AAF's Carl Tooey Spaatz--could gauge the accuracy of bombing with a high degree of precision, analyze its effects on the German war effort, and determine its effectiveness in helping the Allies achieve strategic objectives.Ehlers focuses on three key offensives in 1944--against French and Belgian rail supply lines delivering German troops and supplies to Normandy, against German oil refineries, and against railroads and waterways inside the Reich--that had a disastrous effect on the Nazi war effort. In the process, he underscores the degree to which bombers constituted part of a highly effective combined-arms force, giving Allied armies crucial advantages on the battlefield. Drawing on a huge collection of bomb-damage assessment photographs and a wealth of other archival sources, he shows that the success of these and other efforts can be traced directly to the success of air intelligence.Providing a deeper and more accurate understanding of the bomber campaigns' role in the Allied victory, Ehlers's study testifies to the strategic importance of these efforts in that war and provides a tool for understanding the importance of intelligence operations in future conflicts.

    In doing so the book utilizes Caesar's own extant writings and those of his contemporaries.

    This small unit of less than 100 U.S. Army Special Forces amassed a record for bravery that rivals few. For the first time, the Project Delta Quiet Professionals finally share their amazing story.Highly trained as experts in special reconnaissance techniques and procedures, the covert Project Delta missions were accomplished through recon team insertions into enemy territory. As the primary sources of intelligence collection for Project Delta, these tough and tenacious recon men recount hair-raising adventures from personal recollections.The Ether Zone is certain to appeal to those with an interest in Special Operations Group, the Vietnam War, special operations and military history in general.

    First-hand accounts from crewmembers are grouped with archive and commissioned photos of the plane and of items of memorabilia, to bring the stories of "Lib" combat crew alive in truly vivid detail. -Some 75 first-person accounts, many previously unpublished, from Liberator crewmembers in the ETO. -Each crew position is featured in turn-the pilot and copilot, the navigator and nose gunner, the radio operator, the bombardier, the engineer/top turret gunner, the waist gunners, the ball turret gunner, and the tail gunner-to give a complete overview of what it was like to fly a B-24 combat mission. -Illustrated with more than 100 items of memorabilia, some 50 specially commissioned photos of B-24 crew positions, and more than 200 archive photos.

    On 6 March 1944, the first units of the Japanese 15 Army crossed the inhospitable border of what was then Burma, and invaded India. At the township of Kohima they were met by a small, hastily assembled force of Indian and British troops, later reinforced by 2 Division of Slim's 14 Army, who fought valiantly and forced the Japanese to retreat. Described by Mountbatten as 'the British/Indian Thermopylae', Kohima was a turning point in Japanese fortunes, heralding their continued defeat in battle until their formal surrender on 2 September 1945. Using extensive research in primary sources and many previously unpublished first-hand accounts, Leslie Edwards presents a definitive analysis of this pivotal battle.

    Perdition's Gate blends science-fiction, action adventure, and biblical prophecy into an exciting story chock full of cool gadgets and nail-biting thrills."— Craig Alexander, author of THE NINEVAH PROJECT.Praise for James Somers:"James Somers is one of my favorite authors. His pacing, creativity and the unique spiritual perspective he brings to his stories never disappoint!" — Jeremy Robinson, author of PULSE and INSTINCT."Fasten your seat belts when you pick up a James Somers book! The action is so intense there ought to be a medical disclaimer. You'll find yourself hanging on for dear life as you race through the twisting plot, pausing only to catch a breath or to recover from a stunning new development. Perdition's Gate, like most of Somers' work, has sparks of creative genius that will literally make you stop to marvel. This is a perfect beach read and an author to watch." -- Wayne Thomas Batson Bestselling Author of The Door Within Trilogy, Isle of Swords, Isle of Fire, The Berinfell Prophecies, and Sword in the Stars. Praise for "HALLOWED BE THY NAME""This was a fun read! Enjoyed it from the beginning and it kept me turning the page to see what happens next. Before I knew it, I was at the end and saying..oh wow, that was good!" -- E. DIAZ (TX, USA) AMAZON CUSTOMERPraise for "HALLOWED GROUND""First off, this is the sequel to HALLOWED BE THY NAME, so read that first, then sit back and enjoy a well written ending to the story of good science gone bad. From start to finish, the book keeps moving, no jet lag in between, well thought out and thought provoking. Should we really be messing around "improving" on nature? Was the "bad guy" really bad or just a victim of science pushing its limits too fast and too soon? The ending brought closure to the story, but did what a good book does, it made me think what if..." -- DII (MI) AMAZON CUSTOMER

    Apart from the 'standard' counterinsurgency activities of Fireforce operations, ambushing and patrols, to contact and destroy SWAPO guerrillas, he was involved in several massive South African Defence Force (SADF) conventional cross-border operations, such as Protea, Daisy and Carnation, into Angola to take on FAPLA (Angolan MPLA troops) and their Cuban and Soviet allies. Having grown up as an East Rand rebel street-fighter, Korff's military 'career' is marred with controversy. He is always in trouble--going AWOL on the eve of battle in order to get to the front; facing a court martial for beating up, and reducing to tears, a sergeant-major in front of the troops; fist-fighting with Drug Squad agents; arrested at gunpoint after the grueling seven-week, 700km Recce selection endurance march--are but some of the colorful anecdotes that lace this account of service in the SADF.

    Military deployment was practically unknown for a generation. Two income families have become the norm. Kids are often confused and even frightened as to why Daddy or Mommy has to travel. Taking the time to clearly explain can make a world of difference for the child's emotional and mental stability.

    Since special operations forces are such an integral element to counter-insurgency, this volume also contains a large SOF component. Importantly, this book will assist the practitioner of the profession of arms to understand insurgency or, perhaps more accurately, counter-insurgency and those components that are germane to its practice. Moreover, The Difficult War provides insight and knowledge about these complex forms of warfare that are useful and accessible to both the lay reader and the military expert. As such the book is a valuable volume for those connected to or interested in the profession of arms.

    I argued then that in a context of re-medievalization - the world fragmented into "stans" - we are now living an intestinal war, an undeclared global civil war. Borrowing from Zygmunt Bauman's concept of liquid modernity, I called it Liquid War - and not only because of the global scramble for "black gold" oil and "blue gold" gas. Globalistan was essentially a long reportage crisscrossing the world. This text reflects the fact that I spent most of 2008 in the U.S. following the presidential campaign. As far as New Rome is concerned I'm usually outside looking in - the point of view of my dying profession, the foreign correspondent. In this text I'm most of the time inside looking out. Globalistan can be read as an on the ground - and underground - report on the Bush administration wasteland. This text could be something of a last chapter - out of the belly of the beast.2009 is the Mother of all celebratory years. The 20 years of the fall of the Berlin Wall. The 30 years of the Iranian Islamic revolution. The 50 years of the Cuban revolution. The 60 years of NATO. The 70 years of World War II. The 80 years of the Great Depression. The 90 years of the Versailles Treaty. It's as if the world was turning on its gyre as in a psychedelic kaleidoscope reviving modern history in high-speed. And which figure comes out of the kaleidoscope, grinning his cool, calm and collected best to deal with a 1929-style crisis, the new Cold War or perhaps to conduct Versailles-style diplomacy? Barack Hussein Obama.

    The two women unveil a lot more than is intended during their stint as 'trainees', encountering blatant sexism, harassment, discrimination, dead-ends, betrayals and love as the boundaries of friendship, obligation, loyalty and honor are tested to the limit.

    Yet, in spite of the constant influence of his arguments, there is a shortage of books summarizing Kahn's essential contributions, and thus his work is not as well known as it should be. The Essential Herman Kahn is an attempt to cope with this predicament and offer the public for the first time an anthology consisting of the essence of Kahn's work, organized thematically. The two decades that have passed since his death allow us today to approach his work undisturbed by the "sound and fury" of the many public debates and controversies he participated in and to focus on some of the deepest and most enduring dimensions of his intellectual contributions. The anthology will try to bring together, out of the several thousands pages published by Kahn during his life, the "essential Kahn," the most relevant, consequential and interesting themes, ideas and arguments defining his legacy. As such it will met the needs of those who are interested in Kahn's work but do not have the time and energy to access his out-of-print books, to make their way through the voluminous number of pages, and then to sort out the essential from the accidental, the perennial from the contextual.

    A change of government and a new equality initiative places Captain Aidan Sullivan at the helm of the Navy's newest carrier, the USS Jefferson. Her first mission could have serious international consequences if she fails. Aidan's orders are to destroy two sites housing the nuclear program of an unfriendly nation, and she can think of only one person she trusts enough to get the job done: her old lover Berkley. Blue Skies will take you from Fallon, Nevada, to the Sea of Japan and beyond, as Berkley leads an elite group of pilots over enemy territory. As they embark on this adventure, Berkley and Aidan try to rediscover what they gave up for family, duty, and country.

    the best kind of war book. - Alex Kershaw, author of The Bedford Boys and Escape from the Deep ""Through the voices and experiences of five very diverse members of the Virginia National Guard, As You Were gives the great majority of Americans who have not been sent to war a sense of the experiences of our citizen-soldiers and the family, employment, and health problems they face reentering American society after experiencing combat."" - David R. Segal, Drector, Center for Research on Military Organization, University of Maryland""A sad, stirring, sometimes maddening story. Christian Davenport writes not so much about combat, but rather the home front-the struggles of the families left behind while their providers go off to war and of the solders themselves as they stagger back to a civilian world that declines to reward, or even betrays, their sacrifice."" - Fred Kaplan, ""War Stories"" columist, Slate; author of Daydream Believers: How a Few Grand Ideas Wrecked American Power

    Read it the way Kathy and Mark wrote it, that is, don't just look at it, but study it for its lessons! -Massad Ayoob Founder, Lethal Force Institute Author of "In the Gravest Extreme- These are serious words from Massad, the Master of self defense! Don't rely on others to protect yourself and your loved ones. "Lessons from Armed America" is the essential primer for self defense. Kathy and Mark are the experts that answer all your questions on stalking, real-life firefights, prevention and awareness, as well as carjacking and use of nonlethal force. They tell it like it is with candor and compassion, speaking through both experience and well-thought-out-research. If you're serious about protecting your family, this is the one book you MUST read!

    Army's withdrawal . . .The book is a personal memoir of the author's service as a US Army advisor during the end-stages of America's involvement in Vietnam. During the period 1970-71, the US was beginning to draw down its combat forces, and the new watchword was Vietnamization. It was the period when the will of the US to prosecute the war had slipped, and transferring responsibility to the South Vietnamese was the only remaining hope for victory. The author served as a US Army advisor to South Vietnamese Ranger and Airborne units during this critical period. The units that the author advised spearheaded several campaigns in South Vietnam, Cambodia, and Laos, as the US combat units withdrew. Often outnumbered and outgunned, the elite ranger and airborne units fought Viet Cong and North Vietnamese units in some of the most difficult terrain in Southeast Asia, ranging from the legendary U Minh forest and Mo So mountains in the Mekong Delta, to the rugged hills of southern Laos. The role of the small US advisory teams is fully explained in the narrative. With little support from higher headquarters, these teams accompanied the Vietnamese units on highly dangerous combat operations over which they had no command or control authority. When US advisors were restricted from accompanying South Vietnamese forces on cross-border operations in Cambodia and especially Laos, the South Vietnamese forces were badly mauled, raising concerns about their readiness and training, and their ability to operate without their US advisors. As a result, a major effort was placed on training these forces while the clock continued to run on the US withdrawal. Having served with a US infantry battalion during the peak years of the US involvement in Vietnam, Robert Tonsetic-the acclaimed author of Days of Valor-is able to view the war through two different prisms and offer criticisms and an awareness of why the South Vietnamese armed forces were ultimately defeated.REVIEWS ..".unveils an aspect of the war long overlooked in American accounts."MOAA, 12/2009"an insider's account of how South Vietnam's elite fighting forces struggled to carry on the war against the Communists during the US withdrawal." Ranger Register, Winter 2009..".an exciting account of Robert Tonsetic's combat tours during the final stages of our long involvement in the Vietnam War. Soldiers and Marines training for advisory duty in Iraq or Afghanistan would do well to read this excellent work."Proceedings, 12/2009..".takes an unflinching look at both the adventure and trauma of war while aiming to fill the gaps in the record for Vietnam, documenting the contributions of Americans who risked their lives serving in advisory roles by staying behind to train South Vietnamese soldiers, and even joining them in combat." Metro College Magazine, Boston U, 08/2010..".illuminates a largely ignored chapter of American involvement in Southeast Asia...a highly readable and insightful volume."Miniature Wargames..".not only a first rate "I was there" account of a front line combat officer's experiences with two of the most elite Vietnamese units, it is a valuable contribution to the little known aspect of the final years of the Vietnam War. MILTARY, 09/2010"Of special interest is the way in which he recounts the dynamics of personalities and their effect on the indigenous commanders and units. A must read for any soldiers likely to conduct partnering activities in the future."Soldier Magazine, 08/2010

    Prior to the Korean War, the helicopter was all but unknown, and rescue was uncertain at best for downed pilots and wounded soldiers stranded behind enemy lines. In MASH ANGELS Richard Kirkland recounts his experiences on the front lines of rescue flying and military medicine. Kirkland, a fighter pilot in the Pacific theatre in World War II, came to helicopter flying after the war almost by accident. Many military higher-ups had little use for this new, worthless contraption. But its life-saving performances in the Korean War quickly changed minds. The helicopter was the perfect partner for another revolution in military medical care the Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, or MASH, and the book also documents the real-life experiences of the MASH characters so familiar from the hit TV series: the nurses, surgeons (including the real Hawkeye ), and helicopter pilots who forged a new era in military medical care. Helicopters of the Third Air Rescue Group were given credit for picking up 846 pilots and aircrew from behind enemy lines during the Korean War, writes Richard Kirkland. Add to that 8,373 soldiers and airmen we snatched from the battlefields and air-taxied to the front-line MASH. Quite a feat for a handful of taxi drivers. "

    This is the story of his successful escape to Bosnia with two companions & his subsequent adventures.

    excellent history and background of the New Zealand SAS, a very nice book, some b/w photographs.

    Canada’s governor, Frederick Haldimand, was responsible for the defence of the Crown’s largest colony against the threat of Franco-American invasion, while assisting overall British strategy. He cleverly employed his sparse resources to vigorously raid the rebels’ frontiers and create anxiety, disruption, and deprivation, as his Secret Service undermined their morale with invasion rumours and threatened their Union by negotiating with the independent republic of Vermont to return to the British fold.Haldimand flooded New York’s Mohawk and Schoharie valleys with Indian and Loyalist raiders and, once the danger of invasion passed, he dispatched two coordinated expeditions south. One was launched onto Lake Champlain to alarm Albany and further the secret talks with Vermont. The second struck deep into enemy territory, fought a battle at Johnstown, and retreated precipitately. The rebels effectively countered both expeditions.

    The result was a revolutionary book unlike any other of the period; for as Malcolm Brown notes in his introduction 'I believe it might fairly be described as a rediscovered classic'. It was the very first collection to reveal the many dimensions of the war through the eyes of the ordinary soldier and offers heart-stopping renditions of the very first gas attack; aerial dogfights above the trenches; the moment of going over the top. It is told chronologically, from the first scrambles of 1914, the drudgery of the war of attrition once the trenches had been dug, to the final joy of Armistice.

    In Iraq, only one in ten troops is a woman, and she often serves in a unit with few other women or none at all. This isolation, along with the military's deep-seated hostility toward women, causes problems that many female soldiers find as hard to cope with as war itself: degradation, sexual persecution by their comrades, and loneliness, instead of the camaraderie that every soldier depends on for comfort and survival. As one female soldier said, "I ended up waging my own war against an enemy dressed in the same uniform as mine."In The Lonely Soldier, Benedict tells the stories of five women who fought in Iraq between 2003 and 2006. She follows them from their childhoods to their enlistments, then takes them through their training, to war and home again, all the while setting the war's events in context. We meet Jen, white and from a working-class town in the heartland, who still shakes from her wartime traumas; Abbie, who rebelled against a household of liberal Democrats by enlisting in the National Guard; Mickiela, a Mexican American who grew up with a family entangled in L.A. gangs; Terris, an African American mother from D.C. whose childhood was torn by violence; and Eli PaintedCrow, who joined the military to follow Native American tradition and to escape a life of Faulknerian hardship. Between these stories, Benedict weaves those of the forty other Iraq War veterans she interviewed, illuminating the complex issues of war and misogyny, class, race, homophobia, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Each of these stories is unique, yet collectively they add up to a heartbreaking picture of the sacrifices women soldiers are making for this country.Benedict ends by showing how these women came to face the truth of war and by offering suggestions for how the military can improve conditions for female soldiers-including distributing women more evenly throughout units and rejecting male recruits with records of violence against women. Humanizing, urgent, and powerful, The Lonely Soldier is a clarion call for change.

    The boy swiftly develops a crush on the man, feelings that Joe, a Southern gent with a strong moral sense, feels he cannot acknowledge or return. Joe's further adventures and misadventures during the course of the novel involve a clerk's murder, a flight-surgeon's drug abuse, a fist-fight in the officers' club bar, a straight roommate whose taste for leather gets him in trouble, the combat death of Joe's former lover, and participation in an all-male orgy witnessed by two very married but somewhat confused fighter jocks. In the run-up to the 1967 war, a mob attacks the embassy in nearby Tripoli and the deranged colonel sets out to attack an Arab warship. To bring the pilots and their airplanes safely home - and keep the United States out of the war - Joe has two choices: either come out to his closest, straightest buddies or know himself to be a coward, a failure and a traitor to everything that he holds dear.

    Bush summarized U.S. military policy as, Our situation can be summed up this way: as the Iraqis stand up, we will stand down. Embedded offers a firsthand account by a young Marine military advisor serving on the frontlines with the Iraqi Army of the effectiveness of America's efforts to help the Iraqis stand on their own. As a Division I track athlete and a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School, Wes Gray was given a full scholarship to the Ph.D. program in finance at the University of Chicago, the top ranked program in the world. However, after passing his comprehensive exams and while weighing offers from Wall Street, he had an epiphany: the right thing to do before taking on the challenges of the business world was to serve his nation and fulfill a lifelong dream of becoming a United States Marine. In 2006, 1st. Lt. Gray was deployed as a Marine Corps military advisor to live and fight with an Iraqi Army battalion for two hundred and ten days in the Haditha Triad, a small population center in the dangerous and austere al-Anbar Province of western Iraq.What he encountered was an insurgent fire pit recently traumatized by the infamous Haditha Massacre, in which 24 Iraqi civilians - men, women and children - were shot at close range by U.S. Marines at close range in retaliation for the death of a Marine lance corporal in a roadside bombing. Despite the tensions triggered by the shootings, Gray was able to form a bond with the Iraqi soldiers because he had an edge that very few U.S. service members possess 3/4 the ability to communicate because of his proficiency in Iraqi Arabic. His language skills and deep understanding of Iraqi culture were quickly recognized by the Iraqi soldiers who considered him an Arab brother and fondly named him Jamal. By the end of his advisor tour, he was a legend within the Iraqi Army. During his time in Iraq, Wes kept a detailed record of his observations, experiences, and interviews with Iraqi citizens and soldiers in vivid and brutally honest detail. Ranging from tension filled skirmishes against the insurgents to insights into the dichotomy between American and Iraqi cultures, he offers a comprehensive portrait of Iraq and the struggles of its people and soldiers to stand up and make their country a nation once again. His book is a Marine intelligence officer's compelling report about the status and prospects of America's strategy for success in Iraq.

    Through glory and defeat, the Roman warrior adapted to the changing face of warfare. Due to the immense size of the Roman Empire, which reached from the British Isles to the Arabian Gulf, the equipment of the Roman soldier varied greatly from region to region. Through the use of materials such as leather, linen and felt, the army was able to adjust its equipment to these varied climates.Arms and Armour of the Imperial Roman Soldier sheds new light on the many different types of armour used by the Roman soldier, and combines written and artistic sources with the analysis of old and new archaeological finds. With a huge wealth of plates and illustrations, which include ancient paintings, mosaics, sculptures and coin depictions, this book gives the reader an unparalleled visual record of this fascinating period of military history.This book, the first of three volumes, examines the period from Marius to Commodus. Volume II will cover the period from Commodus to Justinian, and Volume III will look at the period from Romulus to Marius.REVIEWS fresh in depth look uses sources such as archaeological evidence ... illustrated throughout magnificent full color plates buy Graham Sumner supporting the new research published in this book Toy Soldier and Model Figure (UK), 08/2010" a significant contribution to the understanding of the Roman Army"Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 09/2010 provides a wealth of textual and archaeological evidence .slaughters some rather old sacred cows, but at the same time it s one of the freshest insights into old sources wealth of information covered is stunning United Nations of Roma Victrix Review, 07/25/2011"

    It is the story of cousins Perkin Berger and Sam Taft's journey from south Texas to the distant shores of wartime Italy. Sam Taft is a rancher, fiercely devoted to his wife Margaret, and intent on surviving the war and returning to Texas. Each skirmish, every battle, is one step closer to home. His cousin Perkin Berger is a student of history at the University of Texas before the war and is eager for adventure. The impulsive Berger finds the war a lark, a grand journey--until the harrowing realities of warfare begin to set in. Set against the backdrop of the battle of Salerno, The Texas Gun Club is meticulously researched and faithful to the saga of the soldiers from Texas in 1943 Italy. Mark Bowlin was the recipient of the 2010 Military Writers Society of America's Gold Medal Award.

    Indeed, the Guard didn't just send its cutters to interdict narcotics-laden vessels attempting to bring their illicit cargo into Uncle Sam's territorial waters, it sent ground troops to foreign lands to train their forces and, when necessary, directly engage the enemy. But to create the type of force needed was no small task and would not be without tribulation, both from within and outside the organization. The road traveled to complete the mission was laden with obstacles. This is not a story about the Coast Guard you know, or think you know. Rather, this is a story about the other side, the side that history nearly forgot; not the standard, but the antithesis of standard. It is a story that will undoubtedly make even the most seasoned Coast Guardsmen question their understanding of the organization to which they belong. To be sure, "This is not your father's Coast Guard."