Focusing on a vast cast of characters -- from Dutch civilians to British and American strategists to common soldiers and commanders -- Ryan brings to life one of the most daring and ill-fated operations of the war. A Bridge Too Far superbly recreates the terror and suspense, the heroism and tragedy of this epic operation, which ended in bitter defeat for the Allies.

    Raymond A. Spruance. Spruance, victor of the battles of Midway and the Philippine Sea and commander of the Fifth Fleet in the invasions of the Gilberts, the Marshalls, the Marianas, and Okinawa, is one of the towering figures in American naval history. Yet his reserved, cerebral personality did not make good copy for correspondents, and until the publication of The Quiet Warrior he remained an elusive figure. Thomas Buell has succeeded in evoking the nature of the man as well as recording the achievements of the admiral in this brilliant biography, which won the Alfred Thayer Mahan Award for Literary Achievement the year of its publication.

    First published in 1974, this work remains in the forefront of the many books, movies, and television programs about the epic World War II drama played out in the stormy Atlantic. It is a thrilling firsthand account of the hunting down and sinking of the battleship 'Bismarck', pride of the German Fleet, told by a member of the Royal Navy's destroyer force who participated in the pursuit. The author's own experiences add fire and immediacy to the account that has come to be considered a classic by critic and general reader alike. The world's largest warship when she first sailed into the Atlantic in May 1941, the 'Bismarck' was a serious threat to Britain's survival and her sinking of the beloved battle cruiser 'HMS Hood' with nearly fifteen hundred aboard sent shock waves throughout Britain. Determined to track her down, the Royal Navy engaged in pursuit, finding the mammoth warship just hours from her safe harbor. The chess-like plotting, the horror and heroism on both sides, the final apocalyptic action have never been portrayed more vividly and objectively - and never with the benefit of such detailed documentation from both British and German sources. A measure of the book's epic qualities is that knowledge of the outcome in no way lessens the tension. When she was sunk just days after her own victorious action with the 'Hood<', the 'Bismarck' took more than two thousand German sailors to the bottom of the ocean and with them the dreams of the German naval high command. For sheer suspense, this book can hardly be equalled. For carefully researched history, it is an admirable example of fine writing. Ludovic Kennedy's introduction to this new edition places the event in perspective for today's audiences.

    The last gentlemans war. Illustrated

    Breckinridge was the vice president of the United States. Later he came closest to defeating Abraham Lincoln for the presidency in 1860. In a short time he became secretary of war in the Confederate cabinet. This -- the first -- comprehensive biography of this remarkable man and his generation covers one of the turbulent eras of the American past. Breckinridge was a Kentucky lawyer and veteran of the Mexican War when he was elected to the state legislature in 1849. Soon thereafter he was elected to Congress and in 1856 became James Buchanan's running mate. After his defeat by Lincoln in the 1860 election, he took his seat in the Senate and supported the Union on the question of succession. Because he opposed most of Lincoln's other policies, he was considered dangerous. When Lincoln ordered him arrested, even though no charges had been filed against him, Breckinridge escaped to the South and joined the Confederate army as a brigadier general. Later he was appointed secretary of war by Jefferson Davis. Prominent in every field he entered, Breckinridge was a leading statesman and soldier. As a moderate and earnest supporter of compromise, he became the symbol of peaceful reconciliation between the states after the Civil War.

    an important addition to the history of those times... here is a book to read and enjoy. The Sunday Times Constance Babington Smith, who worked during the war with the Allied Central Interpretation Unit, tells the story of the men and women who pioneered and fostered photographic intelligence, and of the work they did.

    It was praised for introducing a revolution in the art of war and notorious for the brutality of its discipline, but how did this army really work? This is a study of the greatest army of its time by the finest historian of the wars of the 18th Century. The Prussian military machine is analyzed in detail, from top to bottom, from the mentality of the Junkers who led it to the way the men were clothed. The tactics, the recruitment, the finances of the military are laid bare. This is much more than a technical study, as we see how these regiments stood up to the test of the bloody battles of the Seven Years War and the long years of virtual imprisonment in barracks. The image of a formidable army forged by fear rather than leadership proves to be only partly true, but the tribulations of serving a hard taskmaster like Frederick the Great are well described by soldiers and observers of all ranks. The classic study of one of history's most famous armies has been heavily revised and updated through twenty more years of research and consideration. Now we can see the rise of the cavalry from the ridiculous to the superb, the once invincible infantry bleed white, and the light forces change from being negligible to being the terror of their enemies. A great army is made flesh and blood.

    How did a few thousand British troops hold down a subcontinent of 200 million people? In his superb short history of the Indian army, Philip Mason, himself a longstanding officer in the elite Indian civil service, evokes the threads of loyalty that bound the British and the sepoys together until the threads snapped in 1857, and even after that brutal rupture were sewn up again, so that the British influence lingers on in the far larger army that independent India deploys today.

    

    General Mordechai Gur, who played a major role in Israel's military operations since statehood, has vividly written an unforgettable account of the events surrounding the critical Battle for Jerusalem during the 1967 Six Day War. General Gur's fast-paced narrative brings alive all the tension, terror, uncertainty, hope and desperation of the conflict.

    Mosley, an accomplished journalist & biographer with a long list of books to his credit, offers a readable & entertaining biography of Hitler's onetime deputy. This isn't a scholarly work along the lines of the biographies of other Nazi personalities such as Ian Kershaw has done for Hitler, Peter Padfield for Himmler or Ralf Reuth for Goebbels. Don't look for meticulous endnotes or deep analysis. That isn't because Mosely didn't use sources. He did & lists them at the end. He gives a full-length portrait of Goering the man as he was in real life--bigger than life, that was Goering--& while Mosely is sometimes sympathetic, sometimes judgmental, he's honest & in the end he succeeded in capturing the essence of this intriguing & tragic figure. Mosely has one great advantage over other biographers, however: He actually met Goering before the war, was a guest at his estate in E. Prussia & after the war conducted extensive interviews with people who knew the Reichsmarshal intimately his whole life. That sets him apart from other biographers. While I disagree with Mosely's conclusion that his greatest fault was his lack of moral courage to stand up to Hitler, that certainly was a defect in his makeup. But this book proves that Goering had no control over his relationship with Hitler. He, like many others, couldn't stand up to Hitler because he worshipped him. In Goering's particular case, he was totally under the influence of the Fuhrer's charisma & so dependent upon him for so long that in the end it was impossible for him to contradict the dictator. When his god rejected him & then failed him, & Goering knew in the end that Hitler had failed him, there was nothing he could do but accept his fate. Those who condemn Goering because he didn't have the courage to defy his idol haven't been put to that test themselves. For serious students of the history of the 3rd Reich, this book is valuable.--Daniel J. Cragg (edited)

    The year's special issue (July 1973) was about "The Common Soldier of the Civil War" and was written by Bell I. Wiley.

    

    This book is an illustrated history of Germany from Bismarck to Hitler.

    

    A brilliant field officer, he became a national hero in 1916 as commander of the "Iron Division" in the Brusilov offensive against the Austro-German armies. Churchill later credited the survival of the Allies to Russia's gallant efforts in this campaign.In the chaos following the fall of the Romanov dynasty in 1917, Denikin saw his duty as the defense of Russia and her people against Germany. Although he shared the liberal views of the Russian intelligentsia, he became an outspoken critic of the provisional government for its failure to maintain army discipline, and when the Bolsheviks, who were willing to sacrifice Russian soil to political ends, seized power, Denikin helped form the White Army to oppose them. Shortly after the outbreak of the civil war in 1918, Denikin assumed political and military command of the White movement in South Russia, which at its high tide in 1919 governed forty-two million people.In this definitive biography the author uses Denikin's letters and unpublished papers to show us firsthand the terrible winter campaigns on the steppes, the diplomatic maneuvers, and the personalities of the period. Denikin himself emerges as a sensitive man, isolated by unsought responsibility for the lives of his countrymen.

    

    The electrifying account of two strategically significant surface engagements in Norway's fjords in 1940.