Best of
Military-History

1968

Iron Coffins: A Personal Account of the German U-boat Battles of World War II


Herbert A. Werner - 1968
    Herbert A. Werner, one of the few surviving German U-boat commanders, served on five submarines from 1941 to 1945. From the Atlantic to the Mediterranean, from the English Channel to the North Sea, he takes the reader with him through the triumphant years of 1941 and 1942, when German U-boats nearly strangled England, to the apocalyptic final years of destruction, disillusionment, and defeat.

The Gettysburg Campaign: A Study in Command


Edwin B. Coddington - 1968
    This book contends that Gettysburg was a crucial Union victory, primarily because of the effective leadership of Union forces—not, as has often been said, only because the North was the beneficiary of Lee's mistakes. Scrupulously documented and rich in fascinating detail, The Gettysburg Campaign stands as one of the landmark works in the history of the Civil War.

No Parachute: A Classic Account of War in the Air in WWI


Arthur Gould Lee - 1968
    

The Arms of Krupp: The Rise and Fall of the Industrial Dynasty that Armed Germany at War


William Manchester - 1968
    William Manchester's account of the rise and fall of the Krupp dynasty is history as it should be written, alive with all its terrifying power.

History of the Second World War


B.H. Liddell Hart - 1968
    H. Liddell Hart's last work as well as his magnum opus, embodies the fruits of twenty years of research and a lifetime of thinking on war. It abounds with controversial judgments, including provocative assertions about the true causes behind France's defeat in 1940, Hitler's failed invasion of Russia, and Japan's stunning victory at Pearl Harbor; the effectiveness of the Allies' strategic bombing of Germany; the questionable necessity of detonating atom bombs over Hiroshima and Nagasaki; and much more. This monumental history is both a crowning achievement and a final summation by one of the greatest military thinkers of the twentieth century.

History of US Naval Operations in WWII, 15 Vols


Samuel Eliot Morison - 1968
    When the U.S. Marines landed on Iwo Jima, they expected to secure it within a few days. No one had anticipated Japan's determination to defend the island to the last man. Morison describes the Japanese defense system of camouflaged rifle pits and fortified gunning positions that held the Allies at bay and the heavy and continuous cover of naval gunfire that prevented even greater losses. As it was, the securing of Iwo Jima cost the United States more casualties than had been incurred in taking any other island in the Pacific. On Okinawa, the conflict stretched over six long, bloody months. As land forces struggled for every inch they took on the islands, the U.S. Navy faced the desperate fury of the kamimaze corps and its harvest of flaming terror: explosions, burning and flooded ships, searing injuries and death. Fierce weather, logistical complexities, Japanese submarines, and the unexpected death of President Roosevelt also took their toll. Morison concludes his epic account with the final skirmishes of the war, the fateful decision to drop the atomic bomb, and the delicate negotiations leading to Japanese surrender.

Horrido! Fighter Aces Of The Luftwaffe


Raymond F. Toliver - 1968
    Ride into combat with such Luftwaffe luminaries as ace of aces Erich Hartmann, Gunther Rall, Gerhard Barkhorn and dozens of others as they provide first-hand accounts of the German fighter arm's epic battle for the skies over Europe, Africa, and Russia. Accurate pen portraits illuminate outstanding fighter leaders and tutor like Werner Molders, Adolph Galland, "Macky" Steinhoff and many more, who invested the Luftwaffe Fighter Arm with its characteristic spirit and vigor. Legendary air heros like Marseille, and mercurial "Star of Africa", are shown in hundreds of photos from German collections. Personal combat accounts appear against the backdrop of Reichsmarschall Hermann Goring, who undermined his own pilots. From early aerial ascendancy, followed by its triumphant assault on the Red Air Force, the Luftwaffe Fighter Arm was inexorably crushed by overwhelming Allied air power. Unquenchable courage, devotion to the defense of their country's civilians, and unmatched combat skills were of no avail. The great aces, even in Germany's revolutionary Me 262 jet fighter, could not win, yet they fought to the final hour in an unforgettable combat saga. All of it is here, exactly as it was lived by the German aces. This book is considered by surviving Luftwaffe aces to be their monument. Also included are data lists covering all known Luftwaffe aces, night fighter aces, jet aces, and tops & firsts., over 600 photographs, 8 1/2" x 11"

Waterloo: A Near Run Thing


David Howarth - 1968
    From the recollections of the men who were there, esteemed author David Howarth has recreated the battle as it appeared to them on the day it was fought. He follows the fortunes of men of all ranks and on both sides. But it is on the French side that the mysteries remain. Why did Ney attack with cavalry alone? And was Napoleon's downfall really due to the minor ailment he suffered that day? Beautifully written, vivid, and unforgettable, this illuminating history is impossible to put down.

Charles XII of Sweden


Ragnhild Hatton - 1968
    Behind the façade of enemy and Swedish propaganda the central character is discovered: more dependent on others, more complex and with wider interests than usually assumed – a man who regarded someone without mathematics as 'lacking one sense', who cared for social justice as well as for architecture and deserved in some measure the label of 'philosopher' bestowed on him by one of Louis XIV's diplomats.Riddles no doubt remain, but answers have been attempted to the questions which contemporaries and posterity alike have asked: did Charles' just war of defence have aggressive aspects? Why did he pay homage to Mars but not to Venus? How was the offensive of 1718 mounted and what were its objectives? Was he, as many historians still hold, murdered by someone on his own side or was the shot that ended his life that of an 'honest enemy bullet'?

The Eighteenth Missouri


Leslie Anders - 1968
    The book uses first hand accounts such as letters and diaries.

Rifleman Costello: The Adventures of a Soldier of the 95th (Rifles) in the Peninsular & Waterloo Campaigns of the Napoleonic Wars


Edward Costello - 1968
    THE ADVENTURES OF A SOLDIER OF THE 95TH (RIFLES) IN THE PENINSULAR & WATERLOO CAMPAIGNS OF THE NAPOLEONIC WARS

The Essence Of Security: Reflections In Office


Robert S. McNamara - 1968
    

Guns in Paradise The Saga of the Cruiser Emden


Fred McClement - 1968