Best of
Military

2011

Pacific Crucible: War at Sea in the Pacific, 1941-1942


Ian W. Toll - 2011
    Pacific Fleet. Six months later, in a sea fight north of the tiny atoll of Midway, four Japanese aircraft carriers were sent into the abyss, a blow that destroyed the offensive power of their fleet. Pacific Crucible—through a dramatic narrative relying predominantly on primary sources and eyewitness accounts of heroism and sacrifice from both navies—tells the epic tale of these first searing months of the Pacific war, when the U.S. Navy shook off the worst defeat in American military history to seize the strategic initiative.

Lions of Kandahar: The Story of a Fight Against All Odds


Rusty Bradley - 2011
    Lions of Kandahar is an inside account from the unique perspective of an active-duty U.S. Army Special Forces commander, an unparalled warrior with multiple deployments to the theater who has only recently returned from combat there.Southern Afghanistan was slipping away. That was clear to then-Captain Rusty Bradley as he began his third tour of duty there in 2006. The Taliban and their allies were infiltrating everywhere, poised to reclaim Kandahar Province, their strategically vital onetime capital. To stop them, the NATO coalition launched Operation Medusa, the largest offensive in its history. The battlefield was the Panjwayi Valley, a densely packed warren of walled compounds that doubled neatly as enemy bunkers, lush orchards, and towering marijuana stands, all laced with treacherous irrigation ditches. A mass exodus of civilians heralded the carnage to come.Dispatched as a diversionary force in support of the main coalition attack, Bradley’s Special Forces A-team and two others, along with their longtime Afghan Army allies, watched from across the valley as the NATO force was quickly engulfed in a vicious counterattack. Key to relieving it and calling in effective air strikes was possession of a modest patch of high ground called Sperwan Ghar. Bradley’s small detachment assaulted the hill and, in the midst of a savage and unforgettable firefight, soon learned they were facing nearly a thousand seasoned fighters—from whom they seized an impossible victory.Now Bradley recounts the whole remarkable story as it actually happened. The blistering trek across Afghanistan’s infamous Red Desert. The eerie traces of the elusive Taliban. The close relations with the Afghan people and army, a primary mission focus. Sperwan Ghar itself: unremitting waves of fire from machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades; a targeted truck turned into an inferno; the death trap of a cut-off compound. Most important: the men, Americans and Afghans alike—the “shaky” medic with nerves of steel and a surgeon’s hands in battle; the tireless sergeant who seems to be everywhere at once; the soft-spoken intelligence officer with laser-sharp insight; the diminutive Afghan commander with a Goliath-sized heart; the cool maverick who risks all to rescue a grievously wounded comrade—each unique, all indelible in their everyday exercise of extraordinary heroism.Praise for Lions of Kandahar   “A raw and authentic war story about untamed Green Berets in action.”—Dalton Fury, New York Times bestselling author of Kill Bin Laden   “A powerful and gripping account of a battle that helped shape the war in Afghanistan . . . With crisp writing and page-turning action, Lions of Kandahar is one of the best books written about the conflict.”—Mitch Weiss, Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative journalist and co-author of Tiger Force: A True Story of Men and War   “One of the most important documents to emerge from the war in Afghanistan.”—The Seattle Times   “Powerful . . . a riveting account of a strategic battle that doesn’t glorify war or focus on heroic deeds . . . Make room on your military bookshelf for Lions of Kandahar.”—San Antonio Express-News  “Bradley takes the reader into battle.” —Time

The Battle of Midway


Craig L. Symonds - 2011
    At dawn of June 4, 1942, a rampaging Japanese navy ruled the Pacific. By sunset, their vaunted carrier force (the Kido Butai) had been sunk and their grip on the Pacific had been loosened forever.In this absolutely riveting account of a key moment in the history of World War II, one of America's leading naval historians, Craig L. Symonds paints an unforgettable portrait of ingenuity, courage, and sacrifice. Symonds begins with the arrival of Admiral Chester A. Nimitz at Pearl Harbor after the devastating Japanese attack, and describes the key events leading to the climactic battle, including both Coral Sea--the first battle in history against opposing carrier forces--and Jimmy Doolittle's daring raid of Tokyo. He focuses throughout on the people involved, offering telling portraits of Admirals Nimitz, Halsey, Spruance and numerous other Americans, as well as the leading Japanese figures, including the poker-loving Admiral Yamamoto. Indeed, Symonds sheds much light on the aspects of Japanese culture--such as their single-minded devotion to combat, which led to poorly armored planes and inadequate fire-safety measures on their ships--that contributed to their defeat. The author's account of the battle itself is masterful, weaving together the many disparate threads of attack--attacks which failed in the early going--that ultimately created a five-minute window in which three of the four Japanese carriers were mortally wounded, changing the course of the Pacific war in an eye-blink.Symonds is the first historian to argue that the victory at Midway was not simply a matter of luck, pointing out that Nimitz had equal forces, superior intelligence, and the element of surprise. Nimitz had a strong hand, Symonds concludes, and he rightly expected to win.

Service: A Navy SEAL at War


Marcus Luttrell - 2011
    So many had given their lives to save him-and he would have readily done the same for them. As he recuperated, he wondered why he and others, from America's founding to today, had been willing to sacrifice everything-including themselves-for the sake of family, nation, and freedom.In Service, we follow Marcus Luttrell to Iraq, where he returns to the battlefield as a member of SEAL Team 5 to help take on the most dangerous city in the world: Ramadi, the capital of war-torn Al Anbar Province. There, in six months of high-intensity urban combat, he would be part of what has been called the greatest victory in the history of U.S. Special Operations forces. We also return to Afghanistan and Operation Redwing, where Luttrell offers powerful new details about his miraculous rescue. Throughout, he reflects on what it really means to take on a higher calling, about the men he's seen lose their lives for their country, and the legacy of those who came and bled before.A thrilling war story, Service is also a profoundly moving tribute to the warrior brotherhood, to the belief that nobody goes it alone, and no one will be left behind.

The Admirals: Nimitz, Halsey, Leahy, and King—the Five-Star Admirals Who Won the War at Sea


Walter R. Borneman - 2011
    Only four men in American history have been promoted to the five-star rank of Admiral of the Fleet: William Leahy, Ernest King, Chester Nimitz, and William Halsey. These four men were the best and the brightest the navy produced, and together they led the U.S. navy to victory in World War II, establishing the United States as the world's greatest fleet. In THE ADMIRALS, award-winning historian Walter R. Borneman tells their story in full detail for the first time. Drawing upon journals, ship logs, and other primary sources, he brings an incredible historical moment to life, showing us how the four admirals revolutionized naval warfare forever with submarines and aircraft carriers, and how these men-who were both friends and rivals-worked together to ensure that the Axis fleets lay destroyed on the ocean floor at the end of World War II.

Neptune's Inferno: The U.S. Navy at Guadalcanal


James D. Hornfischer - 2011
    Hornfischer created essential and enduring narratives about America’s World War II Navy, works of unique immediacy distinguished by rich portraits of ordinary men in extremis and exclusive new information. Now he does the same for the deadliest, most pivotal naval campaign of the Pacific war: Guadalcanal.Neptune’s Inferno is at once the most epic and the most intimate account ever written of the contest for control of the seaways of the Solomon Islands, America’s first concerted offensive against the Imperial Japanese juggernaut and the true turning point of the Pacific conflict. This grim, protracted campaign has long been heralded as a Marine victory. Now, with his powerful portrait of the Navy’s sacrifice—three sailors died at sea for every man lost ashore—Hornfischer tells for the first time the full story of the men who fought in destroyers, cruisers,  and battleships in the narrow, deadly waters of “Ironbottom Sound.” Here, in brilliant cinematic detail, are the seven major naval actions that began in August of 1942, a time when the war seemed unwinnable and America fought on a shoestring, with the outcome always in doubt. But at Guadalcanal the U.S. proved it had the implacable will to match the Imperial war machine blow for violent blow. Working from new interviews with survivors, unpublished eyewitness accounts, and newly available documents, Hornfischer paints a vivid picture of the officers and enlisted men who took on the Japanese in America’s hour of need: Vice Admiral William “Bull” Halsey, who took command of the faltering South Pacific Area from his aloof, overwhelmed predecessor and became a national hero; the brilliant Rear Admiral Norman Scott, who died even as he showed his command how to fight and win; Rear Admiral Daniel Callaghan, the folksy and genteel “Uncle Dan,” lost in the strobe-lit chaos of his burning flagship; Rear Admiral Willis Lee, who took vengeance two nights later in a legendary showdown with the Japanese battleship Kirishima; the five Sullivan brothers, all killed in the shocking destruction of the Juneau; and many others, all vividly brought to life.The first major work on this essential subject in almost two decades, Neptune’s Inferno does what all great battle narratives do: It cuts through the smoke and fog to tell the gripping human stories behind the momentous events and critical decisions that altered the course of history and shaped so many lives. This is a thrilling achievement from a master historian at the very top of his game.

Sergeant Rex: The Unbreakable Bond Between a Marine and His Military Working Dog


Mike Dowling - 2011
    We took care of each other no matter what. Rex and I have a bond that will last for the rest of our born days. If ever there was a marine who lived up to Semper Fidelis, the motto of the Marine Corps, it’s Rex.” Deployed to Iraq’s infamous Triangle of Death in 2004, Sergeant Mike Dowling and his military working dog Rex were part of the first Marine Corps military K9 teams sent to the front lines of combat since Vietnam. It was Rex’s job to sniff out weapons caches, suicide bombers, and IEDs, the devastating explosives that wreaked havoc on troops and civilians alike. It was Mike’s job to lead Rex into the heart of danger time and time again, always trusting Rex to bring them both back alive. Dowling had turned twenty-five and Rex three just after they arrived in Iraq. Neither of them had any idea what to expect, and no training could fully prepare them for this job. An animal lover since childhood, Dowling had fostered and trained dogs for Guide Dogs for the Blind, and he was determined to serve in the military’s K9 unit after joining the Marines. On their first patrols in Iraq, Rex suffered a seemingly incurable fear of explosions and gunfire, but with Mike at the other end of his leash, Rex gained the courage to perform his duty. Filled with harrowing tales of knife-edge bomb-detection work, including an extraordinary baptism by fire, Sergeant Rex is a heart-pounding account of how an unbreakable human-canine bond helped Mike and Rex to stay focused on their mission and save countless lives. Dowling takes us into the searing 130-degree heat, the choking dust, and the ever-present threat of violent attack that seemed to permeate Iraq’s streets. We experience Dowling’s visceral fear of walking down an IED-laden alley where dismemberment or death can come with any footstep, only his trusted partner, Rex, by his side. Loyalty is one of the hallmarks of any good Marine, and nowhere is that quality more evident than in this astonishing account of Mike Dowling and Rex’s wartime experiences. A moving story of how a man and a dog developed complete trust in each other in the face of terrible adversity, Sergeant Rex is an unforgettable tale of sacrifice, courage, and love.

Tall, Dark and Daring: The Admiral's Bride / Identity: Unknown


Suzanne Brockmann - 2011
    Experience them here, with two classic tales of heroes who face the most daring adventure of all--falling in love.The Admiral's BrideWhen six canisters of a lethal nerve agent are stolen from a military testing lab, Admiral Jake Robinson must recover the chemicals--by any means necessary. With Dr. Zoe Lange at his side he defies convention and decides to infiltrate the compound where religious fanatics have stored the deadly toxin. But Jake fears his instant attraction to Zoe might compromise the mission.Identity: UnknownNavy SEAL Mitchell Shaw woke up one morning with no clue as to who he was. The items hidden in his possession were no help: an address and a .22 caliber sidearm. But the address led him to the Lazy 8 Ranch--and its beautiful manager, Becca Keyes, who made him believe he might have a future. Even if he wasn't sure about his past.

Pacific Glory


P.T. Deutermann - 2011
    Graduation set them on separate paths into the military, but they were all forever changed during the Pearl Harbor attack on December 7, 1941.Glory, now Tommy’s widow, is a tough Navy nurse still grieving her loss while trying to save lives. Marsh, a surface ship officer, finds himself in the thick of terrifying sea combat from Guadalcanal through Midway to a climactic showdown at Leyte Gulf. And Mick, a hotshot fighter pilot with a drinking problem and a chip on his shoulder, seeks redemption after a series of failures leaves him grounded.Filled with wide-screen action, romance, and heroism tinged with the brutal reality of war, Pacific Glory is a dynamic new direction for an acclaimed thriller writer.One of Library Journal's Best Historical Fiction Books of 2011

The Black Banners: The Inside Story of 9/11 and the War Against al-Qaeda


Ali H. Soufan - 2011
    Soufan was handed a secret file. Had he received it months earlier—when it was requested—the attacks on New York and Washington could have been prevented. During his time on the front lines, Soufan helped thwart plots around the world and elicited some of the most important confessions from terrorists in the war against al-Qaeda—without laying so much as a hand on them. Most of these stories have never been reported before, and never by anyone with such intimate firsthand knowledge.This narrative account of America's successes and failures against al-Qaeda is essential to an understanding of the terrorist group. We are taken into hideouts and interrogation rooms. We have a ringside seat at bin Laden's personal celebration of the 9/11 bombings. Such riveting details show us not only how terrorists think and operate but also how they can be beaten and brought to justice.

Before Sunrise


Sienna Mynx - 2011
    Learning to let go after the tragic killing of her Navy Seal husband in the Afghan War proved to be mission impossible. But after five long years and countless hours of tears and healing, Kennedy has moved on.KIA? No. Liam Flanagan is alive! A Special Ops team uncovers the bunker he was held prisoner in and Liam has a second chance at life. However, five years is a long time. Soon life deals another blow. His wife has remarried and his daughter calling a man he hates daddy.Caught between the past and the harsh realities of the present, both Liam and Kennedy fight for the love they've had and forgiveness for all they've lost. Before Sunrise, promises to make you a believer in the happily ever after we all deserve.

Undersea Warrior: The World War II Story of "Mush" Morton and the USS Wahoo


Don Keith - 2011
    Among submariners in World War II, Dudley "Mush" Morton stood out as a warrior without peer. At the helm of the USS Wahoo he completely changed the way the sea war was fought in the Pacific. He would relentlessly attack the Japanese at every opportunity, going through his supply of torpedoes in record time on every patrol. In only nine months, he racked up an astounding list of achievements, including being the first American skipper to wipe out an entire enemy convoy single-handedly.Here, for the first time, is the life and legend of a heroic, dynamic, and ultimately divisive submarine commander who fought the war on his own terms, and refused to do so any other way.

The Gomorrah Principle


Rick DeStefanis - 2011
    Brady Nash was one of those men. When his friend Duff Coleridge is killed in Vietnam, Brady recognizes the mysterious circumstances and is compelled to search for the truth. With an extraordinary ability to shoot and a hard-nosed determination, Brady must face life and death through the scope of a rifle when he gets involved with a clandestine organization. Caught in a web of espionage and black-ops, Brady attempts to find the identity of Duff's killer. However, once he digs too deep, he'll soon find himself on the hit list. While "truth has a resonance to it that fills the cracks where falsehoods lie," Brady will quickly discover his search for truth is leading him to become more and more like the people he despises. Rick DeStefanis' The Gomorrah Principle: A Vietnam Sniper's Story is an exciting new thriller that blurs the line between right and wrong. Filled with gripping espionage and rigid tension, this enthralling story will have readers hooked from the opening pages. Historical fiction mixed with thrilling action, Brady's journey will engross and entertain with its ambitious story and complex themes. Filled with complex characters that eschew traditional cliches, The Gomorrah Principle is an exciting story that grabs readers with thrilling action and espionage but truly captivates them with its surprising depth. Not only perfect for action and thriller fans, this tantalizing novel will fit wonderfully in any casual reader's collection. A page-turner in every sense of the phrase, this mesmerizing story proves easy to pick up and hard to put down. With action, intrigue, and suspense set against a tumultuous time in United States history, The Gomorrah Principle has all of the ingredients to become an instant classic.

Latakia


J.F. Smith - 2011
    He has his friends and his softball and his volunteer work. And he has a very good-looking boyfriend, Brian, who he’s been happily dating for over a year now. So what if his friends tend to question just how good his boyfriend is, and so what if Brian tends to have inexplicable mood swings. And so what if Brian seems to invite Matt’s suspicions on occasion. If he just shows a little faith and trust, he’ll appreciate what he has with Brian the way he should. Right?But suddenly, Matt finds himself in a desperate life-or-death situation on a trip overseas, and he realizes just how much he misses home, and Brian. He’s luckily rescued by a team of US Special Forces, only to immediately find out they’re a bunch of bigoted jerks. Worse, a quirk of his situation forces him to spend time with them that he’d rather not. And that’s when he finds out that first impressions can be misleading. When called upon, he steps up when every fiber of his being tells him not to, and discovers something deep inside himself that he didn’t realize was even there. And his life will never be the same. He finds that he can, after all, make some very overdue changes in his own life.What Matt doesn’t realize is that the bond of brotherhood runs both ways. And he winds up changing the lives of several of the men on that Special Forces team as much as they changed his.All it takes is faith and trust.

No Buddy Left Behind: Bringing U.S. Troops' Dogs and Cats Safely Home from the Combat Zone


Terri Crisp - 2011
    troops deal with the trauma of war, and how one woman risks everything to bring these soldiers’ buddies home.

Until Tuesday: A Wounded Warrior and the Golden Retriever Who Saved Him


Luis Carlos Montalván - 2011
    Army, Luis Montalván never backed down from a challenge during his two tours of duty in Iraq. After returning home from combat, however, his physical wounds and crippling post-traumatic stress disorder began to take their toll. He wondered if he would ever recover.Then Luis met Tuesday, a sensitive golden retriever trained to assist the disabled. Tuesday had lived among prisoners and at a home for troubled boys, and he found it difficult to trust in or connect with a human being--until Luis.Until Tuesday is the story of how two wounded warriors, who had given so much and suffered the consequences, found salvation in each other. It is a story about war and peace, injury and recovery, psychological wounds and spiritual restoration. But more than that, it is a story about the love between a man and dog, and how, together, they healed each other's souls.

Operation Devil's Fire (Sgt. Dunn Novels Book 1)


Ronn Munsterman - 2011
    Dunn Novel series. When Allied intelligence agencies discover the Nazis will complete construction of their atomic bomb before the summer of '44 is out, the race is on to destroy the German facility before the course of the war takes a terrifying turn. Operation Devil's Fire begins two weeks before D-Day with two seemingly unrelated events: a British spy, working in Berlin, steals a top-secret memorandum and is terrified by its contents. Two days, later a P-51 Mustang pilot spots a new German jet bomber while on B-17 escort duty over Germany. When American and British intelligence link the events, there is one inescapable conclusion: Germany will finish the atomic bomb first and, furthermore, possesses a new transatlantic jet bomber. U.S. Army Ranger Sergeant Thomas Dunn and his British Commando rival, Sergeant Malcolm Saunders, receive top secret orders from President Roosevelt and Prime Minister Churchill. Their teams of rugged, lethal soldiers will fly into Germany. Their missions: destroy the German atomic bomb facility and the new jet bomber. Failure means the invasion of Europe was all for nothing. If Hitler drops the atomic weapon on the United States, Roosevelt and Churchill will have no choice but to concede the European continent to the dictator. While the President and Prime Minister wait and worry, the two elite teams fight against enormous odds to complete the missions and return safely home.

A B.A.D. Collection: Phantom in the Night / Whispered Lies / Silent Truth


Sherrilyn Kenyon - 2011
    Working covertly as a new agent for the Bureau of American Defense agency, she's consulting with the New Orleans Police Department to bust an organized crime ring suspected of funding terrorism. But when rumors surface of a phantom ghost terrorizing and killing the very people she's investigating, she's suspicious. Nathan Drake has spent his life protecting his family, the only thing that matters to him...until the most feared drug lord in the southeast takes everything Nathan holds dear. Now he's a man on a mission with nothing to lose. He figures he only needs to stay alive long enough to protect the innocent lives the killers are out to destroy. As the two of them seek a similar goal by different means, Terri and Nathan are drawn deep into an evil underbelly that cuts through all levels of society. Now two people who have no reason to trust must trust in each other or die. And if they die, a deadly attack will be unleashed on thousands of innocent people. Whispered Lies In the suspenseful thriller from New York Times bestselling coauthors Sherrilyn Kenyon and Dianna Love, a Bureau of American Defense agent and an irresistible informant join forces to thwart a deadly global conspiracy. . . . Gabrielle Saxe has hidden from a killer for the past decade, sending anonymous tips on international criminals to intelligence agencies around the world. When a postcard arrives from a friend who is supposed to be dead, she takes a risk that catapults her into the midst of dangerous operatives on a treacherous mission—and into the arms of Bureau of American Defense operative Carlos Delgado. Dutybound to surrender her to Interpol as an international felon, Carlos is the last person Gabrielle should trust and the only one standing between her and death. But little does she know, she holds the key to his survival as well. . . . Silent Truth In the sizzling new adventure from New York Times bestselling authors Sherrilyn Kenyon and Dianna Love, a red-hot BAD boy teams up with a sexy television reporter on an explosive quest for revenge. Tough-as-nails Bureau of American Defense agent Hunter Thornton-Payne is no stranger to uncomfortable top-secret missions, but tonight takes the cake. He just needs to stick out a stuffy charity fund-raiser long enough to find the ruthless assassin he’s hunted for four years. It’s a rogue operation, but Hunter’s got nothing to lose—until a beautiful brunette unexpectedly pulls him into her own dangerous agenda. Abbie Blanton will do anything to cure her mother’s mysterious illness. When a high-profile heiress is murdered as Abbie tries to blackmail her for clues, Abbie realizes she’s stumbled into an unforgiving conspiracy—and she’s the next target. Soon, she and Hunter discover an alarming connection and begin a treacherous battle against an evil enterprise that someone will go to terrifying lengths to keep hidden.

Brothers, Rivals, Victors: Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley and the Partnership that Drove the Allied Conquest in Europe


Jonathan W. Jordan - 2011
     Supreme Allied Commander Dwight D. Eisenhower, General George S. Patton, and General Omar N. Bradley engineered the Allied conquest that shattered Hitler's hold over Europe. But they also shared an intricate web of relationships going back decades. In the cauldron of World War II, they found their prewar friendships complicated by shifting allegiances, jealousy, insecurity, patriotism, and ambition. Meticulously researched and vividly written, Jonathan W. Jordan's Brothers Rivals, Victors recounts the battle for Europe through the eyes of these three legendary generals who fought to liberate two continents. For the first time in such detail, the bonds between these battle captains are explored, and readers are treated to a rare insider's view of life at the summit of raw, violent power. Throughout three years of hard, bloody warfare, Eisenhower, the Alliance's great diplomat, sought victory in the fighting qualities and tactical genius of his most trusted subordinates, Bradley and Patton. Bradley and Patton, in turn, owed their careers to Eisenhower, who protected them from the slings and arrows of politicians, rival generals, their allies, and the U.S. Navy. The twin pillars of their working relationships were duty and trust. Yet their friendship, so genuine and unalloyed before the war, would be put to the ultimate test as life-and-death decisions were thrust upon them, and honor and duty conflicted with personal loyalty. Brothers Rivals Victors is drawn from the candid accounts of its main characters, and strips away much of the public image of "Ike" (Eisenhower), the "G.I.'s General" (Bradley), and "Old Blood and Guts" (Patton) to reveal the men lurking beneath the legend. Adding richness to this insider's story are the words and observations of a supporting cast of generals, staff officers, secretaries, aides, politicians, and wives, whose close proximity to Eisenhower, Bradley and Patton in times of stress and tranquility are brought together to produce a uniquely intimate account of a relationship that influenced a war. The story of how these three great strategists pulled together to wage the deadliest conflict in history, despite their differences and rivalries, is marvelously told in this eye-opening narrative, sure to become a classic of military history.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Signature Series Guide


Michael Owen - 2011
    -Complete Walkthrough Leads Gamers through Entire Game! -Comprehensive Coverage: Expert Tactics, All Weapons, Killstreaks, and More! -Detailed Maps for all Single and Multiplayer Levels. -Analysis of All Gameplay Features: Survival Mode, Killstreak Rewards and More! -Achievements and Trophies, Unlockable Weapons and Attachments, novel play modes!

Nobody's Angel


Kallypso Masters - 2011
    But his SAR partner, Luke, a widower, thinks Angelina has been sent to him by his dead wife. Marc knows only he can fulfill her sexual needs, but won’t hurt his friend. When the abusive Dom stalks her, she turns to Marc for help and learns a submissive has power too.

Normandiefront: D-Day to Saint-Lô Through German Eyes


Vince Milano - 2011
    The presence of 352 Division meant that the number of defenders was literally double the number expected—and on the best fortified of all the invasion beaches. This infantry division would ensure the invaders would pay a massive price to take Omaha Beach. There were veterans from the Russian front among them and they were well trained and equipped. What makes this account of the bloody struggle unique is that it is told from the German standpoint, using firsthand testimony of German combatants. There are not many of them left and these accounts have been painstakingly collected by the authors over many years.

Hunter Killer (Movie Tie-In)


George Wallace - 2011
    But the usual, unspoken game of hide-and-seek between opposing captains is ended when the Americans hear sounds of disaster and flooding, and the Russian sub sinks in a thousand feet of water. The American sub rushes to help, only to join its former quarry in the deep.The situation ignites tensions around the world. As both Washington and Moscow prepare for what may be the beginnings of World War III, the USS Toledo--led by young, untested Captain Joe Glass--heads to the location to give aid. He soon discovers that the incident was no accident. And the men behind it have yet to make their final move. A move only Glass can stop.Previously Published As Firing Point

Dead Men Risen: The Welsh Guards and the Real Story of Britain's War in Afghanistan


Toby Harnden - 2011
    The book draws on interviews, military documents and other sources which raise questions from beyond the grave that will unnerve politicians and generals alike.

The Perfect Pistol Shot: By a Former U.S. Marine Corps Firearms Instructor


Albert H. League III - 2011
    But whether you want to shoot squirrels, punch holes in paper targets, or defend your home, there is only one path to achieving consistent accuracy with a handgun: mastering the fundamentals of marksmanship. Written by a former U.S. Marine Corps firearms instructor who has taught more than a thousand law enforcement, military, and security personnel, The Perfect Pistol Shot uses succinct lessons, uncommon exercises, and real-world stories to provide a fresh look at a vital topic for all gunmen. It includes: The single most important "trick" to perfecting handgun marksmanship A simple concept for learning how to shoot a gun twice as fast A series of unique "Prove It" exercises that allow you to test the concepts offered without the pressure of actual shooting An entertaining chapter on guns, gun magazines, and gun gurus that will help you make wiser choices about your training Knowing how to engage targets is valuable for the defensive shooter, but if "engaging" doesn't translate into "hitting," what's the point? You must have a solid foundation on which to build tactical skills. Your reward will be conversion from just another hapless shooter into an independent marksman.

No Worse Enemy: The Inside Story of the Chaotic Struggle for Afghanistan


Ben Anderson - 2011
    Including interviews with military top brass, from commanding officers to General Petreaus himself, this book reveals the disturbing chasm between official rhetoric and the situation on the ground.Informed by more than 300 hours of firsthand frontline footage with the U.S. Marines, documentary filmmaker Anderson (HBO's "The Battle for Marjah") provides a gripping account of the Afghanistan war in Helmand province.

Three Sips of Gin: Dominating the Battlespace with Rhodesia's famed Selous Scouts


Timothy G. Bax - 2011
    Later we immerse ourselves with the author in the intrigues, scandals and humor of a large corporate boardroom in South Africa where longevity of service was as fleeting as the mists on the Matabele plains.

Tall, Dark and Deadly: Get Lucky / Taylor's Temptation


Suzanne Brockmann - 2011
    So how could it be that feisty journalist Sydney seems immune to his charms? Working a dangerous case together, Lucky’s determined to turn her frosty attitude around – and make her fall head over heels for him. Protecting the innocent is Navy SEAL Bobby’s passion. That’s why his best friend asked him to look out for his little sister. Except Colleen’s all grown up now, which has Bobby wanting to do so much more than keep her safe. He wants her in his arms and his bed!

Trigger Time


Mick Flynn - 2011
    There is no way out but through ambush country. In any case, the British have no intention of running: they have promised the local population that they are here to stay. But every day the attacks on their position become more daring.

Arnhem: The Battle for Survival


John Nichol - 2011
    If all went well, the war could be over by Christmas.But what many trusted would be a simple operation turned into a brutal losing battle. Of 12,000 British airborne soldiers, 1,500 died and 6,000 were taken prisoner. The vital bridge at Arnhem they had come to capture stayed resolutely in German hands.But though this was a bitter military defeat for the Allies, beneath the humiliation was another story - of heroism and self-sacrifice, gallantry and survival, guts and determination unbroken in the face of impossible odds.In the two-thirds of a century that have passed since then, historians have endlessly analysed what went wrong and squabbled over who was to blame. Lost in the process was that other Arnhem story - the triumph of the human spirit, as seen through the dramatic first-hand accounts of those who were there, in the cauldron, fighting for their lives, fighting for their comrades, fighting for their honour, a battle they won hands down.

Faith Deployed...Again: More Daily Encouragement for Military Wives


Jocelyn Green - 2011
    Faith Deployed…Again is for every military wife who wants more encouragement, who wants to deploy her faith—put it into action—again. Faith Deployed...Again: More Daily Encouragement for Military Wives is filled with wisdom and insight from more than twenty-five Christian wives, representing every branch of the military. It explores how the Bible relates to a variety of topics including marriage, deployments, self-care and care-giving, reintegration, combat trauma, parenting, frequent moves, daily perseverance, prayer, spiritual warfare, serving the Lord, and more. Each devotional is based on the unchanging character of God and the anchor we have in Jesus Christ offering encouragement, strength, community, and hope to the heroes at home.Faith Deployed...Again: More Daily Encouragement for Military Wives includes a bonus section of devotions written by and for Blue Star Moms. And a free online study guide is available at FaithDeployed.com.

The Quiet Professional: Major Richard J. Meadows of the U.S. Army Special Forces


Alan Hoe - 2011
    "Dick" Meadows is renowned in military circles as a key figure in the development of the U.S. Army Special Operations. A highly decorated war veteran of the engagements in Korea and Vietnam, Meadows was instrumental in the founding of the U.S. Delta Force and hostage rescue force. Although he officially retired in 1977, Meadows could never leave the army behind, and he went undercover in the clandestine operations to free American hostages from Iran in 1980.The Quiet Professional: Major Richard J. Meadows of the U.S. Army Special Forces is the only biography of this exemplary soldier's life. Military historian Alan Hoe offers unique insight into Meadows, having served alongside him in 1960. The Quiet Professional is an insider's account that gives a human face to U.S. military strategy during the cold war. Major Meadows often claimed that he never achieved anything significant; The Quiet Professional proves otherwise, showcasing one of the great military minds of twentieth-century America.

The Log of the Gray Wolf


Shane VanAulen - 2011
     “The Log of the Gray Wolf" is a self-published science fiction novel. Readers have found it to be a fast-paced and packed with action. This is a story crafted around a young man becoming a man, an officer, and a hero. It is a story set against incredible odds, where this underdog crew of gray wolves and young pups must somehow escape their world, steal a damaged ship and fight their way through enemy forces while raining pain down on the enemies of mankind. The adventure begins in a future time when Earth has colonized new worlds and has also found new enemies. The Karduans are a race of blue-skinned humanoids ruled by a matriarchal society. The Blues, as they are nicknamed - are aggressive and militant with their female rulers possessing telepathy to control their subservient male population. Most human worlds are ruled by the United Confederation of Earth, which had evolved from the old United Nations format after the Apocalypse War. At this time period, Earth has been at war for several years. Our hero, Mike Collins former midshipmen, now an Ensign, finds himself trapped on a breakaway world that has made a deal with the Karduans. This leads him and his classmates along with a group of retired veterans to plan an escape to rejoin Earth's forces. Join the fight! Note from Author: This book has been revised and re-edited since first self-published. Ratings and comments from early readers about editing are from before latest edits. Please look at reader ratings talking about content as editing has been pretty much fixed. I hope you enjoy it.

Rifleman: A Front-Line Life from Alamein and Dresden to the Fall of the Berlin Wall


Victor Gregg - 2011
    Following service in the western desert and at the battle of Alamein, he joined the Parachute Regiment and in September 1944 found himself at the battle of Arnhem. When the paratroopers were forced to withdraw, Gregg was captured. He attempted to escape, but was caught and became a prisoner of war; sentenced to death in Dresden for attempting to escape and burning down a factory, only the allies' infamous raid on the city the night before his execution saved his life.Gregg's fascinating story, told in a voice that is good-natured and completely original, continues after the end of the war. In the fifties he became chauffeur to the Chairman of the Moscow Norodny bank in London, involved in shady dealings and strange meetings with MI5, MI6 and the KGB. His adventures, though, were not over - in 1989, on one of his many motorbike expeditions into Eastern Europe, he found himself at a rally of 700 people in a field in Sopron at a fence that formed part of the barrier between the Soviet Union and the West. Vic cut the wire, and a few weeks later the Berlin Wall itself was destroyed - a truly unexpected coda to an incredible life lived to the full.This is the story of a true survivor.Watch Victor Gregg discuss his experiences

Fighting With Popski’s Private Army


Park Yunnie - 2011
    As the Eighth Army advances towards Tripoli, PPA sets out in jeeps across the desert to mount raids behind the Mareth Line. Yunnie relives the ensuing action at Gafsa and Kasserine, and vividly depicts the sorties which took the men straight across the German Line of Command.As Tunis falls to the Allies on 7 May 1943, PPA train for raids on the Italian mainland. They are dropped by RAF gliders in central Italy, where they set about blowing up strategic targets while waiting for the Allied landings. Yunnie is given his own patrol, and in the narrative that follows, colorful characters flit in and out of the front-line action in the mountains of Southern Italy.Yunnie’s account is an honest, extremely personal, exposé of the thrills and occasional pitfalls of life with Popski and his men.

A House For Spies: SIS Operations into Occupied France from a Sussex Farmhouse


Edward Wake-Walker - 2011
     From 1941 to 1944, Bignor Manor, a farmhouse in Sussex provided board and lodging for men and women of the French Resistance before they were flown by moonlight into occupied France. Barbara Bertram, whose husband was a conducting officer for the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6), became hostess for these daring agents and their pilots during their brief stopovers in their house. But who were these men and women that passed through the Bertram’s house? And what activities did they conduct whilst in France that meant that so many of them never returned? Edward Wake-Walker charts the experiences of numerous agents, such as Gilbert Renault, Christian Pineau and Marie-Madeleine Fourcade, and the networks of operatives that they created that provided top-secret intelligence on German defences and naval bases, U-boats, as well as Hitler’s devastating new weapons, the V-1 and V-2 flying bombs. A House For Spies provides fascinating insight into the lives of SIS agents and their Lysander pilots who provided invaluable intelligence to Allied forces. This is a much-forgotten aspect of the Second World War that is only now being told by Edward Wake-Walker. “Utterly fascinating, very moving and funny. I couldn't have enjoyed it more.” — Hugh Grant “Edward Wake-Walker's meticulously researched chronicles of desperate resistance, audacity, duty, determination and daring are a valuable addition to the history of World War II” — Bel Mooney, Daily Mail “It kept me up at night as I wanted to know what happened to all the various characters [brought] so admirably back to life” — Russell England, Director of Bletchley Park: Codebreaking's Forgotten Genius and Operation Mincemeat

The German Aces Speak: World War II Through the Eyes of Four of the Luftwaffe's Most Important Commanders


Colin D. Heaton - 2011
    As romanticized as any soldier in history, the WWII fighter pilot was viewed as larger than life: a dashing soul waging war amongst the clouds. In the sixty-five-plus years since the Allied victory, stories of these pilots’ heroics have never been in short supply. But what about their adversaries—the highly skilled German aviators who pushed the Allies to the very brink of defeat? Of all of the Luftwaffe’s fighter aces, the stories of Walter Krupinski, Adolf Galland, Eduard Neumann, and Wolfgang Falck shine particularly bright. In The German Aces Speak, for the first time in any book, these four prominent and influential Luftwaffe fighter pilots reminisce candidly about their service in World War II. Personally interviewed by author and military historian Colin Heaton, they bring the past to life as they tell their stories about the war, their battles, their lives, and, perhaps most importantly, how they felt about serving under the Nazi leadership of Hermann Göring and Adolf Hitler. From thrilling air battles to conflicts on the ground with their own commanders, the aces’ memories disclose a side of World War II that has gone largely unseen by the American public: the experience of the German pilot.

The Viper Contract


Chris Broyhill - 2011
    Between the constant travel and his extensive Single-Malt Scotch collection, he manages to keep the demons of has past where they belong. It’s a lucrative, solitary existence and that’s the way he likes it. But then he takes a phone call while making a connection in the Atlanta airport and his life changes forever. The call leads Pearce to a dark corner of a nearby hotel bar, where he finds himself across a table from two CIA operations officers – one of whom looks oddly familiar. Over the last year, they’ve been following the activities of a mercenary F-16 unit which has been conducting bombing raids all over the world. Now, thanks to an informant on the inside, they have solid intelligence on an upcoming strike that could have devastating global consequences. But their informant has gone silent and they need Pearce’s help. Pearce flatly refuses and tells them, “…where all this service to country shit is concerned, my ‘give-a-damn’ has been flat out busted.” Then, they tell Pearce the one thing he wasn’t prepared to hear. Their informant was Burt Magnusson, Pearce’s Air Force Academy roommate and close friend. Before he went missing, Magnusson added Pearce’s name to the unit’s “talent pool” of possible replacements. Now the unit needs a new pilot and the CIA needs someone to stop them. Colin Pearce, a former F-16 instructor with no family ties, seems to be the perfect candidate. But that’s not the only reason the CIA wants him. They also know enough about Pearce’s dark side to be confident he’ll do what must be done. Reluctantly, Pearce goes in and immediately finds himself in a desperate race against time as he frantically tries to thwart the unit’s destructive intentions as the day of the fateful strike rapidly approaches. In the midst of this struggle, Pearce must cope with the competing romantic attentions of the unit’s seductive commander and its voluptuous flight doctor, while simultaneously trying to evade an anonymous assassin who seems intent that Pearce doesn’t leave the island alive.Pearce has lived his life by a single creed: “I’d rather be lucky than good.” With lottery-like odds against his survival, he’s going to have to be very lucky indeed.

Jet Age Man: SAC B-47 and B-52 Operations in the Early Cold War


Earl J. McGill - 2011
    To some, nuclear deterrence appeared as utter madness, and was in fact commonly referred to as M.A.D. The concept of Mutually Assured Destruction provoked protests and marches, and the architect of M.A.D, General Curtis LeMay, became a symbol of madness himself.

Troubleshooters CD Collection 3: Dark Of Night / Hot Pursuit


Suzanne Brockmann - 2011
    After Nash is nearly assassinated, Troubleshooters team leader Lawrence Decker launches a skillful deception to neutralize the threat and protect his friend. With the FBI's help, Decker fakes Nash's death, then brings him to a safe house with his fianc?e, Tess Bailey, to recover from his injuries and strategize their next move. But receptionist Tracy Shapiro puts two and two together, discovering the truth about Nash ? much to Decker's dismay. As passions flare, Decker struggles to keep his scheme afloat, and to keep Nash alive. Hot Pursuit: Alyssa Locke is no stranger to dealing with danger. As team leader of the nation's number one personal security company, Troubleshooters Incorporated, she's seen more than her share of action, survived plenty of close calls, and holds her own with the best of them ? and against the worst of them. Guarding lives is her game, and no one plays it better. But her toughest challenge will be protecting herself from a serial killer she's been after for years, a fiend who is determined to make her his ultimate trophy.

The Lightning Boys: True Tales from Pilots of the English Electric Lightning


Richard Pike - 2011
    It has many thousands of devotees who are a ready market for this timely and entertaining book which, with over twenty individual stories from former Lightning pilots, relates the highs and lows, the dramas and the demands of those who operated this iconic aircraft from the sharp end.

The Heart and the Fist: The Education of a Humanitarian, the Making of a Navy SEAL


Eric Greitens - 2011
    His life and this book remind us that America remains the land of the brave and generous.” — Tom Brokaw Like many young idealists, Eric Greitens wanted to make a difference, so he traveled to the world’s trouble spots to work in refugee camps and serve the sick and the poor. Yet when innocent civilians were threatened with harm, there was nothing he could do but step in afterward and try to ease the suffering. In studying humanitarianism, he realized a fundamental truth: when an army invades, the weak need protection. So he joined the Navy SEALs and became one of the world’s elite warriors. Greitens led his men through the unforgettable soul-testing of SEAL training and went on to deployments in Kenya, Afghanistan, and Iraq, where he faced harrowing encounters and brutal attacks. Yet even in the deadliest combat situations, the lessons of his humanitarian work bore fruit. At the heart of this powerful story lies a paradox: sometimes you have to be strong to do good, but you also have to do good to be strong. The heart and the fist together are more powerful than either one alone. “If you're restless or itching for some calling you can't name, read this book. Give it to your son and daughter. The Heart and the Fist epitomizes — as does Mr. Greitens's life, present and future — all that is best in this country, and what we need desperately right now.” — Steven Pressfield, author of Gates of Fire “Vivid and compelling . . . a great read.” — Washington Times A Hudson Booksellers Top Ten Nonfiction Book of the Year A USA Today and Publishers Weekly Bestseller WITH A NEW AFTERWORD

Scorched Earth, Black Snow: Britain and Australia in the Korean War, 1950


Andrew Salmon - 2011
    As the tide turned, 27th Infantry Brigade – 1st Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders, 1st Middlesex and 3rd Royal Australian Regiment – spearheaded the counterattack into North Korea, decimating North Korea’s army. Meanwhile, the elite 41 Commando, Royal Marines was raiding deep behind enemy lines. With victory imminent, men expected to be ‘home by Christmas’. It was not to be. In a shock onslaught launched out of Manchurian blizzards, Mao’s legions stormed south. Fighting for survival, 27th Brigade broke free of a closing trap before holding open the route for US units escaping a massive ambush. Then, as rearguard, it covered broken UN forces and desperate refugees fleeing through an apocalyptic winter warscape of devastated villages, blown bridges and burning cities. And on the war’s most harrowing battleground, 41 Commando braved ‘Hellfire Valley’ to reinforce besieged US marines surrounded amid North Korea’s most hostile mountains. What followed – the breakout from Chosin Reservoir to the sea - remains the most epic fighting withdrawal of modern history. Though Korea remains the biggest, bloodiest, most brutal war fought by British troops since World War II, the story of their central role in the conflict’s most terrible months has never been fully told. Far more than mere battlefield history, Andrew Salmon’s book draws on interviews with some 90 veterans and survivors to pain an unforgettable portrait of an immense human tragedy. 425 pages, 470 pages in total

Blood on Red Dirt


Gary Cowart - 2011
    The book encompasses the time before enlistment, Boot Camp, Infantry Training Regiment, Artillery School, and his time in Vietnam during the Tet Offensive of 1968. Incorporated with actual pictures from the times and places remembered in this book, it gives the reader a mix of emotions felt during the good times and bad, of combat and of non-combat, with the intent of giving the lay person a more complete picture of the Vietnam experience. After serving in Vietnam, Dr. Cowart earned a B.A. degree in Zoology from the University of Washington, and a Doctor of Dental Surgery degree from the UW School of Dentistry He currently lives, writes, and maintains a general dental practice in Kent, Washington. Visit the "BLOOD ON RED DIRT" Facebook page to see all the pictures in this book in full size and living color.

Shudergay


James F. Christ - 2011
    Scrambling to save the civilian, elements of C Company hurry up the steep, rocky side of Shudergay Valley to try to intercept the insrugents when they themselves are ambushed. Cut off and pinned down by overwhelming numbers and firepower, the element faces annihilation but for the courage of Sergeant David Michael Hierholzer, who single-handedly saves his fellow soldiers from death and buys them time for help to arrive.

Amongst My Enemies


William F. Brown - 2011
    In this WW II spy versus spy action adventure thriller, the only one who knows the truth is Mike Randall, a battle-scarred American aviator who survived the bitter winter of 1945 in the battered old port city of Konigsberg. After his B-17 crashed in East Prussia, rather than internment in a German POW camp or being executed as a spy, Randall and one crew mate find a worse fate, being thrown into in a Nazi forced labor battalion clearing rubble in the frozen hell of the north Baltic shore. Also trapped in Konigsberg is Kapitan Eric Bruckner and one of Germany’s last surviving U-Boats. Bruckner has been ordered east to meet with SS Major Heinz Kruger, Martin Bormann’s sinister hatchet man, for a top secret mission. When a British bomber sends the U-573 to the bottom of the Baltic, it carries a secret that only Mike Randall knows. Seven years later, in this cold war military political thriller, when he does speak up, Randall puts a target on his own forehead, one which the Russians, the West Germans, the U-boat’s former Nazi owners, the US government, and even the Israeli Mossad quickly take aim at. In this KGB CIA spy thriller, some want the gold, some want Randall dead, and some want proof that there is a high-ranking spy inside NATO itself. What Randall wants is much simpler in this historic military political thriller novel. Caught between the Kremlin, spies, killers, and a new, deadly, 4th Reich, he wants his revenge and to satisfy some old debts with a steel-jacketed bullet.

Out of the Blue: The Sometimes Scary and Often Funny World of Flying in the Royal Air Force, as Told by Some of Those Who Were There


Ian Cowie - 2011
    It's a perfect example of the wry humour that permeates the mind-set of Service personnel, and it resonates throughout this book. Whether the tale is set in the air or on the ground, it offers a glimpse of what life was, and probably still is, really like in the RAF.Over a period of two years, three ex-military pilots, who joined the RAF on the same day and have been life-long friends, collected the stories. Sometimes terrifying, occasionally outrageous, and frequently funny, they show that the business of flying military aircraft sporadically throws up challenges that even the most capable of aviators struggle to meet. Without exception, the stories are related with a refreshing candour that acknowledges the failures as well as the triumphs on each author's part. Equally importantly, they are presented in a way that anyone can enjoy, regardless of whether or not they have any knowledge of flying or military life.Many of the events recounted here happened during the Cold War, when the surreal world of potential nuclear conflict was the backdrop to day-to-day operations, and nearly all the stories appear in print for the first time. Indeed, it is true to say that, from an aviation perspective, they are frequently more remarkable for the fact that the protagonist got away with it rather than demonstrated great flying skill.Amount going to charity £3.32/$5.43 (at current rate)

Hell Is So Green: Search and Rescue over the Hump in World War II


William Diebold - 2011
    Lt. William Diebold served in the Army’s Air Transport Command in the China-Burma-India theater, saving the lives of the men who flew the Hump to keep allied China supplied against Imperial Japan. Often flying in zero-visibility, many pilots went down over the eastern Himalayas. Those who survived Bill Diebold rescued. Rich with war slang, wisecracks, and old-fashioned phrases, Diebold’s story is all the more extraordinary for its authentic voice and represents the stories of many men that have never been told. Here is a compelling tale of courage in the wild.

SAS Operation Storm: Nine men against four hundred


Roger Cole - 2011
    The tipping point, Mirbat, South Oman, 19 July 1972 is one of the least-known yet most crucial battles of modern times. If the SAS had been defeated at Mirbat, the Russian and Chinese plan for a communist foothold in the Middle East would have succeeded, with catastrophic consequences for the oil-hungry West. OPERATION STORM is a page-turning account of courage and resilience. Mirbat was a battle fought and won by nine SAS soldiers and a similar number of brave local people - some as young as ten years old - outnumbered by at least twenty-five to one. Roger Cole, one of the SAS soldiers who took part, and writer Richard Belfield have interviewed every SAS survivor who fought in the battle from the beginning to the end - the first time every single one of them has revealed their experience. OPERATION STORM is a classic story of bravery against impossible odds, minute by minute, bullet by bullet.

Fourth and Forever


Bert Carson - 2011
    Josh's son, Bobby, enrolls at The University of Montana, where he hopes to make the football team as a walk-on. Josh, a skilled football kicker and passer, is observed by the Grizzlies coach as he and Bobby work out on the practice field. When tryouts arrive, Josh finds himself being invited to join the team. Thus begins a season of trials and tribulation where Josh becomes mentor and father-figure to his teammates, as the University of Montana Grizzlies make a run for the Division I National Championship.Fourth and Forever is about football, relationships, love, integrity, and honor.

Stormy Weather Baby


Monette Michaels - 2011
    So, when Price Teague's doctor sister, Fiona, calls and says she is in Idaho and needs a ride, Keely takes the opportunity to escape her velvet cage and drive to Grangeville to pick up the woman. She never expected to place her unborn child in danger, but that is exactly what happens when the women find themselves being pursued by mercenaries. Normally, bad guys following her home wouldn't faze Keely, she'd just turn the tables and shoot them. But this time, she is in early labor and doesn't want to mess with them. At least, she has a doctor riding shot gun.

The Gun Digest Book of the Revolver


Grant Cunningham - 2011
    Get to know your revolver inside and out!Gun Digest Book of the Revolver covers all aspects of living with the double-action revolver: shooting, handling, carrying, maintaining and accessorizing--everything you need to know to operate the quintessential American handgun.Self-defense and revolversRevolver sighting options including tips for aging eyesGetting the right hand fitRevolver grips that work and those that don'tSpare ammo carrying optionsRevolver maintenance and cleaning how-to'sThe right holster for the jobWheelgun ammo choices for work, play and self-defenseWhether you use your revolver for sport, hunting, competition or self-defense, you'll learn something from Gun Digest Book of the Revolver!

Transforming Command: The Pursuit of Mission Command in the U.S., British, and Israeli Armies


Eitan Shamir - 2011
    An effective model for doing this has existed for some time in the form of mission command and has been utilized by the U.S., Israeli, and British Armies—but with mixed success.This book examines in depth the experiences of the armed forces of each of these countries in implementing mission command, and reveals the key factors that have determined the success or failure of the implementation—factors such as the Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA), the spread of low-intensity conflicts and operations other than war, and differences in how military cultures interpret, articulate, and exercise the command function. It has significant implications for both the development of military doctrine and the training and education of tomorrow's military leaders.

When Duty Calls


Leighton Harding - 2011
    William Calvert was an exception to the rule. His advancement was due solely to his actions against the enemy. As Admiral the Earl St. Vincent said of him. “Luck! It has nothing to do with luck. I don’t consider being wounded three times in as many years as luck! No this young man plans meticulously, trains and exercises his crew to the highest degree, and then it is a matter of bravery and innovation!”“Like a young Nelson without the vanity!” Added Admiral Gambier.The French Revolution is in progress and Britain awaits war. 17 year old William Calvert joins the Royal Navy as a Master’s Mate. This is the Navy of the time of Nelson. Already fully trained in Navigation and Seamanship by his late Merchant Captain and Owner father, Will soon proves his worth.When the Master falls ill and the second Master is sent to another ship, Will deputises as Master on a 74 gun ship-of-the-line. The Squadron soon becomes aware of Will’s outstanding ability, when with a hurricane threatened; as a result of his precautions his ship comes through the storm with the least damage. Promoted to Master he also saves his ship during a full gale in the Atlantic. Back in Britain, with the country at war, Will is sent as Master to the frigate Artful. Although injured he finds himself the sole officer on the quarterdeck at the moment the frigate is about to engage two French frigates.Promoted to Lieutenant he joins HMS Victory where he is noticed by Admiral Lord Jervis. After the Battle of Cape St. Vincent, Will is sent back to Britain, where with the Admiral’s strong recommendation; he is appointed Commander of the schooner Snipe. A ship to become famous for its daring exploits.

The Last Battle of Winchester: Phil Sheridan, Jubal Early, and the Shenandoah Valley Campaign: August 7 - September 19, 1864


Scott C. Patchan - 2011
    The September 1864 combat was the largest, longest, and bloodiest battle fought in the Shenandoah Valley. What began about daylight did not end until dusk, when the victorious Union army routed the Confederates. It was the first time Stonewall Jackson's former corps had ever been driven from a battlefield, and their defeat set the stage for the final climax of the 1864 Valley Campaign.The Northern victory was a long time coming. After a spring and summer of Union defeat in the Valley, Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant cobbled together a formidable force under Phil Sheridan, an equally redoubtable commander. Sheridan's task was a tall one: sweep Jubal Early's Confederate army out of the bountiful Shenandoah, and reduce the verdant region of its supplies. The aggressive Early had led the veterans of Jackson's Army of the Valley District to one victory after another at Lynchburg, Monocacy, Snickers Gap, and Kernstown.Five weeks of complex maneuvering and sporadic combat followed before the opposing armies ended up at Winchester, an important town in the northern end of the Valley that had changed hands dozens of times over the previous three years. Tactical brilliance and ineptitude were on display throughout the day-long affair as Sheridan threw infantry and cavalry against the thinning Confederate ranks and Early and his generals shifted to meet each assault. A final blow against Early's left flank finally collapsed the Southern army, killed one of the Confederacy's finest combat generals, and planted the seeds of the victory at Cedar Creek the following month.Scott Patchan's vivid prose, which is based upon more than two decades of meticulous research and an unparalleled understanding of the battlefield, is complimented with numerous original maps and explanatory footnotes that enhance our understanding of this watershed battle. Rich in analysis and character development, The Last Battle of Winchester is certain to become a classic Civil War battle study.About the Author: A life-long student of military history, Scott C. Patchan is a graduate of James Madison University in the Shenandoah Valley. He is the author of many articles and books, including The Forgotten Fury: The Battle of Piedmont (1996), Shenandoah Summer: The 1864 Valley Campaign (2007), and Second Manassas: Longstreet's Attack and the Struggle for Chinn Ridge (2011). Patchan serves as a Director on the board of the Kernstown Battlefield Association in Winchester, Virginia, and is a member of the Shenandoah Valley Battlefield Foundation's Resource Protection Committee.

Meantime: The Aesthetics of Soldiering


Stephen Paul Register - 2011
    military memoir detailing accounts of war-fighting in Baghdad, Iraq, Border Patrol in Yuma, Arizona, and Hurricane Katrina disaster relief efforts on the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Heart of A Lion: The Leadership of LT. Michael P. Murphy, U.S. Navy SEAL


Gary Williams - 2011
    First, before you can lead, you must positively influence others. Second, you must develop an unshakable moral character. Third, you must always act with integrity consistent with that character... an integrity and character that transcends position-only leadership and provides the all-important moral authority to lead. On June 28, 2005 LT Michael P. Murphy faced two profound moral leadership questions; the first after capturing three civilian non-combatants. The second to deliberately put himself in the enemy's direct line of fire in a final effort to get help for his men. How Michael P. Murphy chose to answer those two questions will forever separate him from those he fought. This book details the leadership traits of the most celebrated Medal of Honor recipient since World War II.

Special Operations Forces Medical Handbook


U.S. Department of Defense - 2011
    Army Special Operations Forces Medical Handbook2001, is a comprehensive medical reference resource designed for Special Operations Forces (SOF) medics. This “single-source” reference provides many revolutionary approaches to accessing medical information, such as a treatment hierarchy based on available medical resources and mission circumstances commonly facing the SOF Medic. The Special Operations Forces Medical Handbook is an innovative achievement in military medical knowledge, with contributions by over 80 medical specialists organized into a problem-oriented template for reference to diagnoses and treatments.Take a look at the sample for this book and for details about downloading 500 free US military manuals as a thank you for taking the time to look at our book.Few in the civilian (or even military) medical profession ever are challenged with the conditions in which SOF medics practice medicine daily. The SOF medic still has the ultimate medical mission. Despite the proliferation of medical information, no single reference source has emerged addressing the varied and complicated needs of the SOF medic. As a result, conflicting information and even misinformation have created confusion over the most basic medicalquestions, possibly endangering the lives of those we are committed to helping. The SOF medical community had to remedy this dangerous situation by creating a new SOF Medical Handbook, one that provides guidance to medics in our special environment, answering the hard diagnostic and treatment questions as best as possible. These answers are based on the best possible knowledge and tailored to the austere mission — in plain, straightforward language, without excuses, conditions or academic musings.

Stay in the Fight: Warrior's Guide to the Combat Pistol


Kyle E. Lamb - 2011
    Gunfighters know when the moment of truth arrives and it is time for your pistol to clear leather, a shooter must not only be prepared, but also be more prepared than the other guy. Designed to help you Stay in the Fight, the Warriors Guide to the Combat Pistol provides tools to enhance your shooting skills and refine the tactical employment of your combat pistol so when the fight comes, you'll be ready.A combat-proven veteran Special Forces Operator, SGM (R) Kyle E. Lamb served 21 years in the United States Army and is President and Founder of Viking Tactics, Inc. Drawing on combat experiences from Mogadishu, Somalia to Mosul, Iraq, Lamb has become an industry leader in innovative tactical marksmanship shooting techniques. His experience, knowledge, and street credentials have made him one of the most elite and sought after tactical shooting and leadership instructors in the United States.War-torn copies of Lamb's trailblazing and comprehensive book, Green Eyes and Black Rifles: Warriors Guide to the Combat Carbine can be found on ranges throughout the world and is widely considered an authoritative guide to the AR-15. His sophomore book, Stay in the Fight!! Warriors Guide to the Combat Pistol includes common sense and combat proven lessons and techniques designed for law enforcement, military, and civilian shooter alike. From practical exercises for pistol employment to discussions of Training Mentality and Mindset, this book is designed to help you not only survive your next gunfight, but thrive. So learn, enjoy, and most importantly...Stay in the Fight!!

Besieged The Epic Battle For Cholm


Jason D. Mark - 2011
    With only a few thousand men from all branches of the service, including mountain troopers, elderly reservists, police officers, navy drivers, SS partisan hunters and supply troops, Generalmajor Theodor Scherer was ordered to hold Cholm in the face of a superior enemy force. That Scherer and his men prevailed is now an historical fact but analysis of daily radio traffic and combat reports reveals that the pocket’s survival was precarious; at times, even senior commanders doubted if it could be saved. On several occasions the Soviet onslaught looked poised to inflict the death blow but somehow the exhausted men of Cholm grimly clung to a few resistance nests upon which a new line was anchored. General Scherer, a popular leader and inspiration to all his soldiers, despaired many times and was forced to continually plead for more men, more supplies and more aerial support. Urgent demands by other sectors meant Kampfgruppe Scherer was drip-fed just enough supplies and reinforcements to stay alive until, eventually, a relief force forged a permanent link and freed the exhausted survivors. After a catastrophic winter of setbacks and resounding defeats for the Wehrmacht, the General and his men were lauded as heroes and recognised with an arm shield that marked them as “Cholmkämpfer,” men of exceptional courage who had prevailed despite overwhelming odds.Primary sources have been utilised for the first time to present this battle in a detailed day-by-day format, from the forlorn days of January and February to liberation in early May.

The Patrol: Seven Days In The Life Of A Canadian Soldier In Afghanistan


Ryan Flavelle - 2011
    . . . Those who like war are aptly named warriors. Some, like me, are fated never to be warriors, as we are more afraid of war than fascinated by it. But I have the consolation that I have walked with warriors and know what kind of men and women they are. I will never be a warrior, but I have known war.” (The Patrol)In 2008, Ryan Flavelle, a reservist in the Canadian Army and a student at the University of Calgary, volunteered to serve in Afghanistan. For seven months, twenty-four-year-old Flavelle, a signaller attached to the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry, endured the extreme heat, the long hours and the occasional absurdity of life as a Canadian soldier in this new war so far from home. Flavelle spent much of his time at a Canadian Forward Operating Base (FOB), living among his fellow soldiers and occasionally going outside the wire. For one seven-day period, Flavelle went into Taliban country, always walking in the footsteps of the man ahead of him, meeting Afghans and watching behind every mud wall for a sign of an enemy combatant.The Patrol is a gritty, boots-on-the-ground memoir of a soldier’s experience in the Canadian Forces in the twenty-first century. In the tradition of Farley Mowat’s The Regiment and James Jones’ The Thin Red Line, this book isn’t merely about the guns and the glory—it is about why we fight, why men and women choose such a dangerous and demanding job and what their lives are like when they find themselves back in our ordinary world.

The Sword of St. Michael: The 82nd Airborne Division in World War II


Guy LoFaro - 2011
    Yet no comprehensive history of the 82nd during World War II exists today. The Sword of St. Michaelcorrects this significant gap in the literature, offering a lively narrative and thoroughly researched history of the famous division.Author Guy LoFaro, himself a distinguished officer of the division, interweaves the voices of soldiers at both ends of the chain of command, from Eisenhower to the lowest private. Making extensive use of primary sources, LoFaro offers a work of insightful analysis, situating the division's exploits in a strategic and operational context.

Pozières: The Anzac story


Scott Bennett - 2011
    Yet, for the exhausted survivors, the war-weary public, and the families of the dead and maimed, victory came at such terrible cost it seemed indistinguishable from defeat. Via letters and diaries, this account tells the stories of those men who fought at Pozières, revealing a battlefield drenched in chaos, suffering, and fear. Demonstrating how commanders struggled with a war conducted on an unprecedented scale and how the survivors witnessed appalling human tragedy and returned home as both heroes and shattered men, this chronicle uncovers the story behind the official history. Candid and devastating, this book reassesses Australia’s involvement in the Great War.

What Now, Lieutenant?


Robert Babcock - 2011
    Such is this work by Bob Babcock. What makes this work unique is that it is based upon his wartime writing as it occurred, without the softening of time and the refining of modern memory applied to past experience. In it you will find the thinking of a young officer as he struggles to take in all that he is responsible for while experiencing everything himself for the first time. It is an honest, unvarnished look at Soldiering in 1966-1967 and is as fine an example of the early American experience in Vietnam that one is likely to come across...” The personal account of Bob Babcock’s experiences as a platoon leader and executive officer with Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division in Vietnam in 1966 and 1967.

Breakout from Juno: First Canadian Army and the Normandy Campaign, July 4-August 21, 1944


Mark Zuehlke - 2011
    Instead of a speedy victory, the men faced a bloody fight. The Canadians advanced relentlessly against Hitler's finest armoured divisions, at a great cost in bloodshed. Initially, only the 3rd Division was involved, but in a couple of weeks two other Canadian divisions -- 2nd Infantry and 4th Armoured -- along with a Polish division and several British divisions came together as First Canadian Army.While their generals wrangled and planned, the soldiers fought within a narrow landscape extending a mere 21 miles from Caen to Falaise. The Canadians won a two-day battle for Verri�res Ridge starting on July 21, costing them 1,500 casualties. More bloody battles followed, until finally, on August 21, the narrowing gap that had been developing at Falaise closed when American and Canadian troops shook hands. The German army in Normandy had been destroyed, only 18,000 of about 400,000 men escaping. The Allies suffered 206,000 casualties, of which 18,444 were Canadians. Breakout from Juno is a story of uncommon heroism, endurance and sacrifice by Canada's World War II volunteer army and pays tribute to Canada's veterans at a time when many Canadians, young and old, are actively engaged in acts of remembrance.

Living in the Mouth of the Wolf


Salvatore DiVita - 2011
    His hope for survival, tenuous at best, was outweighed only by his tenacity. The youngster, who became a Partisan, was, in many ways, the personification of Italy and of the many Italians who suffered and died under the tyranny of a dictator. When others all around him were meeting their ultimate fate, Antonio seemed, somehow, to be living in the mouth of the wolf and in the embrace of good fortune. Living in the Mouth of the Wolf is based on a true story. It provides authentic accounts of events as experienced by ordinary people in Fascist Italy during the Second World War.

Military Adaptation in War: With Fear of Change


Williamson Murray - 2011
    This work builds on the volume that Professor Williamson Murray edited with Allan Millett on military innovation (a quite different problem, though similar in some respects). In Clausewitzian terms, war is a contest, an interactive duel, which is of indeterminate length and presents a series of intractable problems at every level, from policy and strategy down to the tactical. Moreover, the fact that the enemy is adapting at the same time presents military organizations with an ever-changing set of conundrums that offer up no easy solutions. As the British general, James Wolfe, suggested before Quebec: War is an option of difficulties. Dr. Murray provides an in-depth analysis of the problems that military forces confront in adapting to these difficulties.

Forgotten Voices Desert Victory


Julian Thompson - 2011
    Had the Allies lost in North Africa, the vital life-line through the Suez Canal to Australia and India would have been cut. More crucial was protecting the route to the oilfields of the Persian Gulf. Without oil, Britain could not fight. The initial threat came from a large Italian Army, who, from their bases in Libya, were quick to take British-held ground in Egypt. Yet the professional British soldiers, along with tough all-volunteer regiments from Australia and New Zealand, easily defeated the poorly lead Italians. Churchill, confident that this front was secure, transferred troops and equipment to Greece, little realizing what the remaining troops would face when Rommel and his Panzer Division arrived. With their armies fighting over vast distances on rugged terrain, and supply lines often stretched to breaking point, both Rommel and the then little-known General Montgomery had to take huge tactical risks. Good intelligence was vital, so the elite Long Range Desert Group was formed, capable of covert operations behind enemy lines. David Stirling famously founded the SAS in the Western Desert, trained to perform audacious sabotage missions. Told in the voices of the men who were there this is the story of the Western Desert, and how the Allies struck the first successful blow to Axis forces and achieved this remarkable Second World War victory.

Losing Small Wars: British Military Failure in Iraq and Afghanistan


Frank Ledwidge - 2011
    However, their recent performance in Iraq and Afghanistan is widely seen as—at best—disappointing; under British control Basra degenerated into a lawless city riven with internecine violence, while tactical mistakes and strategic incompetence in Helmand Province resulted in heavy civilian and military casualties and a climate of violence and insecurity. In both cases the British were eventually and humiliatingly bailed out by the US army.In this thoughtful and compellingly readable book, Frank Ledwidge examines the British involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan, asking how and why it went so wrong. With the aid of copious research, interviews with senior officers, and his own personal experiences, he looks in detail at the failures of strategic thinking and culture that led to defeat in Britain's latest "small wars." This is an eye-opening analysis of the causes of military failure, and its enormous costs.

Dambuster


Robert Radcliffe - 2011
    Twenty Lancaster bombers stand poised to fly one of World War 2’s most daring and dangerous missions, 617 Squadron’s legendary bouncing-bomb attack on Germany’s dams. Success could shorten the war, the crews are told, but will inevitably come at a cost. Many of them, hand-picked by their charismatic if volatile leader, Guy Gibson, will not be coming back.After two tours of duty and fifty-nine missions, combat-seasoned pilot Peter Lightfoot and his loyal crew are already on borrowed time. Narrowly escaping death on a disastrous final operation over the Alps, a flight which ends by ditching their wrecked Lancaster into the Atlantic, the seven men are at last relieved from operational flying, job done. But haunted by a face from his past, Lightfoot cannot rest, and unknown to his crew applies to join Gibson’s 617 Squadron, and fly the dams mission. A mission many see as certain suicide.Tense, thrilling, and meticulously researched as always, Robert Radcliffe’s DAMBUSTER - like his bestselling UNDER AN ENGLISH HEAVEN - is an old-fashioned adventure of the most gripping sort.

British Cruisers: Two World Wars and After


Norman Friedman - 2011
    In this handsomely illustrated book, the noted ship historian Norman Friedman provides insights into the cruiser's development and Britain's efforts to come to terms with the competing demands of quality and quantity. The first book to offer a comprehensive explanation of the policy background, it presents an entirely original picture of cruiser development.The book's final chapters cover post-war modernizations, plans for missile-armed ships, and the process that turned the through-deck cruiser into the Invincible-class light carrier. With detailed appendixes of ship data and extensive photos and ship plans by A.D. Baker III, Alan Raven, Paul Webb, and John Dominy, the work matches the high standards set by Friedman's book on British destroyers.

Backbone: History, Traditions, and Leadership Lessons of Marine Corps NCOs


Julia Dye - 2011
    The Corps is among the most lasting institutions in America, though few understand what makes it so strong and how that understanding can be applied effectively in today's world. In her first book, Julia Dye explores the cadre of non-commissioned officers that make up the Marine Corps' system of small unit leadership. To help us better understand what makes these extraordinary men and women such effective leaders, Dye examines the 14 traits embraced by every NCO. These qualities-including judgment, enthusiasm, determination, bearing, and unselfishness-are best exemplified by men like Terry Anderson, the former Marine sergeant who spent nearly seven years as a hostage in Beirut, and John Basilone, the hero of the Pacific. To assemble this extraordinary chronicle, Julia Dye interviewed Anderson and dozens of other Marines and mined the trove of historical and modern NCO heroes that comprise the Marine Corps' astonishing legacy, from its founding in 1775 to the present day.

Tiger Tank Manual: Panzerkampfwagen VI Tiger 1 Ausf.E (SdKfz 181) Model


David Fletcher - 2011
    E (Skiffs 181)—was probably the most feared battle tank of World War II. Its invincibility lay in its main gun and heavy defensive armor. The Tiger’s primary armament was the deadly 88mm Kiwi 36 L/56 gun that was the most powerful antitank gun then in use by any army, capable of penetrating 112mm of armor plate from a range of 1400 meters. The Tiger I also had the toughest armor of any German tank—its frontal armor plate measured 100mm thick. Using the successful approach and format adopted for the Spitfire and Lancaster manuals, Tiger Tank Manual gives an insight into acquiring, owning, and operating one of these awesome fighting vehicles. It also gives an idea through personal recollections of what it was like to command a Tiger in war and what it felt like to be on the receiving end of its 88mm gun.

That's War


William Arthur Sirmon - 2011
    William Arthur Sirmon from January 1, 1918 to November 12, 1918. In this account of a regular soldier in the 82nd Division, 325th Infantry, you are led through ten chapters of a heartfelt, attention-grabbing journey. It starts out at Ft. Gordon, Georgia, where Sirmon was in charge of training soldiers. His story takes you across the beautiful, yet run down, terrain of France.William Arthur Sirmon spent more than four years prior to 1917 as an officer of the Philippine Constabulary, serving primarily in Mindanao, the “Island of Blood”. He was the most highly decorated soldier from Georgia, and it is believed, of the entire Great War. In February of 1919, only he and Sergeant Alvin York were awarded The Legion of Honor of France, Distinguished Service Cross and the Croix de Guerre with Palm by General Pershing. These accolades made him an honorary citizen of France.This diary is not completely blood and guts, but surprisingly light for the most part. It describes the day-to-day life of typical American doughboys and the obstacles they faced through the entire war. That’s War is a great read filled with excitement and humor, with education and entertainment throughout.

Freedom by the Sword: The U.S. Colored Troops, 1862-1867


William A. Dobak - 2011
    Of these changes, none was more important than Emancipation. Besides freeing nearly 4 million slaves, it brought agricultural wage labor to a reluctant South and gave a vote to black adult males in the former slave states. It also offered former slaves of both sexes new opportunities in education and property ownership. Just as striking were the effects of the war on the United States Army. From late 1862 to the spring of 1865, the federal government accepted more than 180,000 black men as soldiers, something it had never done before on such a scale. Known collectively as the United States Colored Troops and organized in segregated regiments led by white officers, some of these soldiers guarded army posts along major rivers; others fought Confederate raiders to protect Union supply trains; and still others took part in major operations like the siege of Petersburg and the battle of Nashville. After the war, many of the black regiments garrisoned the former Confederacy to enforce federal Reconstruction policy."Freedom by the Sword" tells the story of these soldiers' recruitment, organization, and service. Because of the book's broad focus on every theater of the war and its concentration on what black soldiers actually contributed to Union victory, this volume stands alone among histories of the U.S. Colored Troops. Illustrations, maps, bibliographical note, abbreviations, index.

Children of Steel


John Van Stry - 2011
    Extensively trained and conditioned from birth he's now indentured for the next fifty years of his life; assuming he doesn't die first, or somehow manage to pay off his creation and training debts.Created by the corporations to deal with the harsh labor shortages of the twenty second century when humans will no longer take on the dangerous jobs Raj finds himself now in the harsh world of space exploration, trading, corporate maneuverings, and sometimes the even more dangerous fanatics that hate Raj and his fellows. No longer in safe confines of the training academies he must learn how to live and deal with both his fellow workers and the humans he encounters and not get saddled with extra bills or fines because he's screwed up or worse yet, get 'put down' because he's lost his temper one time too many.After all, it's not like he's human...(176740 words / 707 pages)

The Littorio Class: Italy's Last and Largest Battleships 1937-1948


Erminio Bagnasco - 2011
    The three ships of the Littorio class were fast and elegant, but also boasted a revolutionary protective scheme which was tested to the limits, as all three were heavily damaged in the hard-fought naval war in the Mediterranean. The book combines a detailed analysis of the design with an operational history, evaluating how the ships stood up to combat. It is illustrated with an amazing collection of photographs, detailed plans, and colored artwork of camouflage schemes, adding up to as complete a study of this class of battleship ever published.

Basic Training for Dummies


Rod Powers - 2011
    Armed Services. A number of factors during a soldier's training could inhibit successful enlistment, including mental toughness and physical fitness levels. Basic Training For Dummies covers the ins and outs of this initial process, preparing you for the challenges you?ll face before you head off for basic training..You'll get detailed, week-by-week information on what to expect in basic training for each branch of service, such as physical training, discipline, classroom instruction, drill and ceremony, obstacle courses, simulated war games, self-defense, marksmanship, and other milestones.Tips and information on getting in shape to pass the Physical Fitness Test (PFT) All-important advice on what to pack for boot camp Other title by Powers: ASVAB For Dummies Premier, 3rd Edition, Veterans Benefits For DummiesWhether you join the Army, Air Force, Navy, Marine Corps, or the Coast Guard, Basic Training For Dummies prepares you for the challenge and will help you survive and thrive in boot camp!

The Changing Character of War


Hew Strachan - 2011
    They have assumed that the 'old wars' were waged solelybetween states, and were accordingly fought between comparable and 'symmetrical' armed forces. Much of this commentary has lacked context or sophistication. It has been bounded by norms and theories more than the messiness of reality. Fed by the impact of the 9/11 attacks, it has privileged somewars and certain trends over others. Most obviously it has been historically unaware. But it has also failed to consider many of the other dimensions which help us to define what war is - legal, ethical, religious, and social. The Changing Character of War, the fruit of a five-year interdisciplinaryprogramme at Oxford of the same name, draws together all these themes, in order to distinguish between what is really changing about war and what only seems to be changing. Self-evidently, as the product of its own times, the character of each war is always changing. But if war's character is influx, its underlying nature contains its own internal consistency. Each war is an adversarial business, capable of generating its own dynamic, and therefore of spiralling in directions that are never totally predictable. War is both utilitarian, the tool of policy, and dysfunctional. This bookbrings together scholars with world-wide reputations, drawn from a clutch of different disciplines, but united by a common intellectual goal: that of understanding a problem of extraordinary importance for our times.This book is a project of the Oxford Leverhulme Programme on the Changing Character of War.

Articles on Novels by John Steinbeck, Including: The Grapes of Wrath, of Mice and Men, East of Eden (Novel), the Pearl (Novel), to a God Unknown, in Dubious Battle, the Moon Is Down, the Winter of Our Discontent, Tortilla Flat


Hephaestus Books - 2011
    Hephaestus Books represents a new publishing paradigm, allowing disparate content sources to be curated into cohesive, relevant, and informative books. To date, this content has been curated from Wikipedia articles and images under Creative Commons licensing, although as Hephaestus Books continues to increase in scope and dimension, more licensed and public domain content is being added. We believe books such as this represent a new and exciting lexicon in the sharing of human knowledge. This particular book is a collaboration focused on Novels by John Steinbeck.

Victory at Peleliu: The 81st Infantry Division's Pacific Campaign


Bobby C. Blair - 2011
    In fact, capturing this small coral island in the Palaus with its strategic airstrip took two months and involved some of the bloodiest fighting of the Second World War in the Pacific. Rather than the easy conquest they were led to expect, the Marines who landed on Peleliu faced a war of attrition from the island's Japanese defenders, who had dug tunnels and fortified the island's rugged terrain. When the Marines' advance stalled after a week of heavy casualties, the "Wildcats" of the 81st Infantry Division were called in, at first as support. Eventually, the 1st Marines Division was evacuated and the 81st Infantry secured the island.Now Bobby C. Blair and John Peter DeCioccio tell the story of this campaign through the eyes of the 81st Infantry to offer a revised assessment. Previous accounts of the battle have focused on the 1st Marines, all but ignoring the 81st Infantry Division's contributions. Victory at Peleliu demonstrates that without the army's help the marines could not have succeeded on Peleliu.Blair and DeCioccio have mined the 81st Division's unit records and interviewed scores of veteran participants. The new data they offer challenge the orthodox view that the 81st Infantry merely mopped up an already broken enemy. Allowing their interviewees to tell much of the story, the authors also give a human face to a brutal battle.Although American efforts in the Palau Islands proved largely unnecessary to ultimately defeating the Japanese, the lessons learned on Peleliu were crucial in subsequent fighting on Iwo Jima and Okinawa. The 81st Infantry's contributions are now part of that larger story.

An Illustrated Encyclopedia of Uniforms of World War I: An Expert Guide to the Uniforms of Britain, France, Russia, America, Germany and Austria-Hungary, with Additional Detail on the Armies of Portugal, Belgium, Italy, Serbia, the Ottomans, Japan and ...


Jonathan North - 2011
    This unique illustrated book charts the development in military uniform in relation to a shifting world, in an incredible visual directory with expert analysis and commentary.

The War Poets: A Selection of World War I Poetry (a selection of poems from Rupert Brooke, Edward Thomas, Siegfried Sassoon, Ivor Gurney, Isaac Rosenberg and Wilfred Owen, all with an active Table of Contents)


Rupert Brooke - 2011
    The collection includes:RUPERT BROOKEPEACESAFETYTHE DEADTHE DEADTHE SOLDIEREDWARD THOMASADLESTROPTEARSTHE OWLRAINTHE CHERRY TREESAS THE TEAM'S HEAD-BRASSSIEGFRIED SASSOON"THEY"THE REAR-GUARDI STOOD WITH THE DEADSUICIDE IN TRENCHESTHE GENERALHOW TO DIEGLORY OF WOMENTHEIR FRAILTYDOES IT MATTER?SURVIVORSEVERYONE SANGTO ANY DEAD OFFICERSICK LEAVEIVOR GURNEYTO HIS LOVETHE SILENT ONEISAAC ROSENBERGBREAK OF DAY IN THE TRENCHESLOUSE HUNTINGON RECEIVING NEWS OF THE WARDEAD MAN'S DUMPRETURNING, WE HEAR THE LARKSWILFRED OWENANTHEM FOR DOOMED YOUTHAPOLOGIA PRO POEMATE MEODULCE ET DECORUM ESTSTRANGE MEETINGFUTILITYDISABLEDMINERSS.I.W.

Battle for the City of the Dead: In the Shadow of the Golden Dome, Najaf, August 2004


R.D. Camp - 2011
    Sectarian violence pitted Shiite against Sunni. American proconsul L. Paul Bremer had disbanded the Iraqi Army, placing disgruntled young men on the street without jobs or the prospect of getting one. Their anger developed into a full-blown insurgency fed by a relentless campaign by the clergy for jihad against the “occupation force.” In August, a Shiite cleric named Muqtada Al-Sadr called upon his thousands of armed followers, the Mahdi Militia, to resist the occupation. Fighting broke out in several locations, including the holy city of Najaf, the site of the largest Moslem cemetery in the world, and the Imam Ali Mosque. The U.S. forces fought in 120-degree heat through a tangle of crypts, mausoleums, and crumbling graves. The fight was brutal, pitting religious zealots against the highly motivated and disciplined U.S. Army and Marine Corps troops. It makes for a riveting account of Americans in battle.

Beyond the Battlefield: The War Goes on for the Severely Wounded


David Wood - 2011
    Wood spent nine months in their world.The result is our third e-book, "Beyond the Battlefield," an intimate portrait of the soldiers and Marines who volunteered for wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and what happened to them after bomb blasts and bullets changed them forever. First published as a 10-part series, this e-book is an expanded version, including a foreword and several new chapters, as well as some of the most poignant photography and revelatory graphics from the original series.Wood, who has covered wars in Africa, Central America and the Middle East, has made nine reporting trips to Iraq and Afghanistan, where he has accompanied soldiers and Marines on numerous combat operations. A former correspondent for Time Magazine, the Los Angeles Times, Newhouse News Service and the Baltimore Sun, he was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for national reporting.As Wood's work revealed, one of the enduring legacies of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are the young Americans who have come home severely, catastrophically wounded. They come home not to parades and honor guards and flags, but with terribly burned faces, amputated limbs, traumatic brain injury and other psychological wounds. And once home, veterans and their loved ones are often left alone to deal with years of recovery and the lingering effects of those injuries. And yet that is the good news, Wood said. A decade ago most of them would have died on the battlefield. They are now being saved, thanks to fast-paced improvements in military trauma medicine. Yet the long-term quality of life for them is uncertain, and the costs of lifetime care can be staggering. There are more than 16,000 of them, and while many Americans are eager to know them and to offer help where it's needed, they are largely without voice, invisible and unknown to most of us."Beyond the Battlefield" changes that.

The Battle of Adwa: African Victory in the Age of Empire


Raymond Jonas - 2011
    In an age of relentless European expansion, Ethiopia had successfully defended its independence and cast doubt upon an unshakable certainty of the age-that sooner or later all Africans would fall under the rule of Europeans. This event opened a breach that would lead, in the aftermath of world war fifty years later, to the continent's painful struggle for freedom from colonial rule.Raymond Jonas offers the first comprehensive account of this singular episode in modern world history. The narrative is peopled by the ambitious and vain, the creative and the coarse, across Africa, Europe, and the Americas-personalities like Menelik, a biblically inspired provincial monarch who consolidated Ethiopia's throne; Taytu, his quick-witted and aggressive wife; and the Swiss engineer Alfred Ilg, the emperor's close advisor. The Ethiopians' brilliant gamesmanship and savvy public relations campaign helped roll back the Europeanization of Africa.Figures throughout the African diaspora immediately grasped the significance of Adwa, Menelik, and an independent Ethiopia. Writing deftly from a transnational perspective, Jonas puts Adwa in the context of manifest destiny and Jim Crow, signaling a challenge to the very concept of white dominance. By reopening seemingly settled questions of race and empire, the Battle of Adwa was thus a harbinger of the global, unsettled century about to unfold.

Recall! Return of the IRR


Doug DePew - 2011
    In January of 1991, with the fall of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union, many people believed it would take World War III to trigger a recall of the IRR. Many people were wrong. They came from cities and farms and towns in every corner of the country. With only a few days' notice, they quit their jobs, dropped out of college, kissed their girlfriends or wives, and got on planes to Atlanta, Georgia with nothing but the clothes on their backs. They had long hair, beards, and bad attitudes. They descended by the thousands on Fort Benning, Georgia, and they were not happy about it at all. In this entertaining, true story, the author relates his own experiences as one of twenty-thousand IRR recalls who were ordered back to active duty in support of Operation Desert Storm. In a story reminiscent of "The Dirty Dozen" times ten thousand, the author takes you through the entire experience from beginning to end. He carries you along for the ride and explains exactly what it was like to be a recall. With the many IRR recalls over the last ten years of warfare, this first hand account could shed some light on how the current era of recalls began. (29,000 words +/-)

COINTELPRO 101


The Freedom Archives - 2011
    government in the 1950s, 60s, and 70s. "Cointelpro" refers to the official FBI COunter INTELligence PROgram carried out to surveil, imprison, and eliminate leaders of social justice movements and to disrupt, divide, and destroy the movements as well. Many of the government's crimes are still unknown. Through interviews with activists who experienced these abuses first-hand and with rare historical footage, the film provides an educational introduction to a period of intense repression and draws relevant lessons for present and future movements. Interviews in the video include: Muhammad Ahmad, Bob Boyle, Kathleen Cleaver, Ward Churchill, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, Priscilla Falcon, Geronimo Ji-Jaga Pratt, Jose Lopez, Francisco 'Kiko' Martinez, Lucy Rodriguez, Ricardo Romero, Akinyele Umoja, and Laura Whitehorn.

Callsign: King (Jack Sigler)


Jeremy Robinson - 2011
    It contains enough ivory to make Ethiopia a wealthy nation. But the cave contains more than physical riches-it also holds the means to control the world. Fifteen scientists enter the cave. Only one leaves.Jack Sigler, Callsign: King (field leader of the covert, black ops Chess Team) receives a cryptic text from Sara Fogg, his girlfriend and CDC "disease detective". A catastrophic disease has been reported in Ethiopia's Great Rift Valley, but Fogg suspects something more is going on. Her suspicion is confirmed when King's arrival in Africa is met by a high speed assassination attempt.As King fights against two competing, high-tech mercenary forces, each struggling for control of the deadly discovery, Fogg disappears. Working with the surviving member of the science team that made the discovery, King begins a search for Fogg and the source of the potential plague that takes him back to the Great Rift Valley, back to the Elephant Graveyard, and brings him face-to-face with modern man's origins.

Soldiers: Army Lives and Loyalties from Redcoats to Dusty Warriors


Richard Holmes - 2011
    From battlefield to barrack-room, this book is stuffed to the brim with anecdotes and stories of soldiers from the army of Charles II, through Empire and two World Wars to modern times.The British soldier forms a core component of British history. In this scholarly but gossipy book, Richard Holmes presents a rich social history of the man (and now more frequently woman) who have been at the heart of his writing for decades.Technological, political and social changes have all made their mark on the development of warfare, but have the attitudes of the soldier shifted as much we might think?For Holmes, the soldier is part of a unique tribe – and the qualities of loyalty and heroism have continued to grow amongst these men. And while today the army constitutes the smallest proportion of the population since the first decade of its existence (regular soldiers make up just 0.087%), the social organisation of the men has hardly changed; the major combat arms, infantry, cavalry and artillery, have retained much of the forms that men who fought at Blenheim, Waterloo and the Somme would readily grasp.Regiments remain an enduring feature of the army and Lieutenant Colonels have lost nothing of their importance in military hierarchy; the death of Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe in Afghanistan in 2009 shows just how high the risks are that these men continue to face.Filled to the brim with stories from all over the world and spanning across history, this magisterial book conveys how soldiers from as far back as the seventeenth century and soldiers today are united by their common experiences.Richard Holmes died suddenly, soon after completing this book. It is his last word on the British soldier – about which he knew and wrote so much.

Malayan Spymaster: Memoirs of a Rubber Planter, Bandit Fighter and Spy


Boris Hembry - 2011
    Boris Hembry went out to Malaya as a rubber planter in 1930 to work on estates in Malaya and Sumatra. Following the Japanese invasion in December 1941 he volunteered for Freddy Spencer Chapman's covert Stay Behind Party and spent a month in the jungle behind enemy lines before escaping by sampan across the Malacca Strait to Sumatra. Hembry returned to Singapore shortly before its surrender then escaped to Java and subsequently to India, where he joined V Force, a clandestine intelligence unit operating in Burma. In 1943 Hembry was recruited into the Secret Intelligence Service - given the bland cover name Inter-Services Liaison Department (ISLD) - and returned to Sumatra and Malaya several times by submarine on intelligence-gathering missions. He became Head of Malayan Country Section ISLD in 1944, liaised with Force 136, and was responsible for the most successful intelligence coup of the Malayan war. After WWII, Hembry returned to planting at Sungei Siput, Perak, where the murder of three colleagues on 16 June 1948 signalled the start of the Malayan Emergency. Assuming the leadership of the local planting community, he formed the first Home Guard unit in Malaya, was an early proponent of squatter control (later incorporated into the Briggs Plan), served on district, state and federal security committees, and survived several attempts on his life.

True Surrender


Tracey Cramer-Kelly - 2011
    Helping amputees put their lives back together was both heartbreaking and magical. But when her newest patient is the man who once broke her heart, she must confront their past and his uncertain future.His body was broken…His rescue from Afghanistan terrorists offered Major Aaron Bricewick a second chance at life. But what will he do with that life if the loss of his leg derails his military career aspirations? He’s done battle before, but this time it’s personal, as he’s forced to face his internal demons and his feelings for the woman he left behind.Can love mend them both?When Aaron uncovers secrets from the past, it sends him on a hunt for the truth of what happened in Afghanistan and puts their budding romance at a crossroads. He chose the military over Holly once before, and this time it’s not just her heart on the line. When violence touches his life again, will Aaron choose his duty to the military, or will he surrender to a life—and love—he never thought he could have?

Hope Among the Deserted


Xavier Mayne - 2011
    21.8k words

The Gunroom


Mark Arbour - 2011
    This is the first book, and tracks George as he joins his first ship in 1791.

Unholy Sabbath: The Battle of South Mountain in History and Memory


Brian Matthew Jordan - 2011
    In fact, the fight was a decisive Federal victory and important turning point in the campaign, as historian Brian Matthew Jordan convincingly argues in his fresh interpretation Unholy Sabbath: The Battle of South Mountain in History and Memory, September 14, 1862.

Sins of the Father


Melissa Barker-Simpson - 2011
    Now heading up his own unit in the private security world, he lives by the same mottos he served by.When Alicia Gladstone, a star in the entertainment industry, is put under threat, Brad and his team at Morgan and Fairchild must step in to find a killer before it’s too late.At the peak of physical and mental fitness, all his years of training are put to the test when he is forced into a world artificial by nature, and too distracting for his own good. But it isn’t the environment that poses the biggest threat. It is the past he ran away from, one he thought he had overcome.

Johnny's War


Jim Braly - 2011
    As an Army private with the amazing salary of $18,000 a year fueling his dreams, Johnny foresees a bright future that includes a new car and marriage to his girlfriend, Halley. But the Iraq war changes Johnny's plans. He survives harrowing missions in Fallujah and Baghdad, then loses his basic training battle buddy to an explosion. Relentlessly, Johnny's former life recedes amid escalating chaos and random death. The terror is not always on the battlefield; sometimes it's in the battlefield operating rooms, where surgeons do whatever it takes to save wounded soldiers, succeeding in nine out of ten cases. For many of the survivors, however, life changes in agonizing ways. Johnny's tour of duty ends when he is maimed by a roadside bomb. As a double amputee in Ward 57 at Walter Reed hospital, he asks himself a horrible question: Is it better to live or die? In rehab, Johnny builds a bond with a lesbian nurse, Rochelle Rochambeau. She doesn't ask and doesn't tell, and allows him to go AWOL from Ward 57. Johnny embarks on a mysterious road trip, heading home, finding solace in the Northwest's natural grandeur. Ultimately, the trip answers his question. Journalism failed to uncover the full story of the Iraq war because the hearts and minds of American politicians were never on the record, and because the lives of the military men and women who were injured or killed were overlooked. Now it is left to the novelist to pursue the story, to find a different and deeper truth.

Yakah Chinah


James F. Christ - 2011
    On their way back to the KOP (Korengal Outpost) they are followed and ambushed by Anti-coalition militia. Yakah Chinah provides a glimpse into the daily life of a US soldier in the Korengal Valley.Yakah Chinah is the third of four books that follow the 3rd Platoon during their 2006-2007 deployment. (Tsangar is the first; Korengal Valley Road is the second; and Hell is the Korengal is the fourth)

The Joshua Covenant


Diane Munson - 2011
    After years of clandestine spying, Bo?'s new assignment plunges him into Middle East intrigue at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv where he is rocked by a menacing plot against America?'s ally. Julia immerses herself in her role as a diplomatic wife in the ancient land where Jesus lived, only to discover the life changing truths of God?'s promises for the end days. Meanwhile sinister forces challenge Bo?'s loyalty. His battle to regain his stature tests his very core. Will Bo survive the greatest threat ever to his career, his family, and his life?

Courageous Dare


Lacie Nation - 2011
    When she falls completely in love with her mystery man, how will she cope when she has to say goodbye to him as he leaves for war?When a tragedy threatens to tear her world apart, Baylee is left feel lost and has no idea how to help her family in the midst of this loss. Follow Baylee and Nash through a tale of love, passion, longing, war, and tragedy.