Best of
Military-History

1977

The Lion at Sea


Max Hennessy - 1977
    Confident and strong willed, Kelly Maguire knew from a young age that he could accomplish great things. A constant and abiding love of the ocean would prove to be the making of him.When the call of war is heard in the early 1910s, Kelly knows that he must answer it. Enlisting in the Royal Navy, he hopes to win both the war and personal glory. But from the barbarous battles of Gallipoli to the nightmarish action at Antwerp, Kelly, along with his young shipmates, begins to learn the trials a sailor must face, trials that will forge him from a boy into a man. As the epic battle of Jutland approaches, everything is at stake.A gritty adventure full of danger, blood and guts, perfect for fans of David McDine, Alan Evans and Alexander Fullerton.

Clear the Bridge!: The War Patrols of the U.S.S. Tang


Richard H. O'Kane - 1977
    This is her story as told by her skipper.

A Savage War of Peace: Algeria, 1954-1962


Alistair Horne - 1977
    It brought down six French governments, led to the collapse of the Fourth Republic, returned de Gaulle to power, and came close to provoking a civil war on French soil. More than a million Muslim Algerians died in the conflict and as many European settlers were driven into exile. Above all, the war was marked by an unholy marriage of revolutionary terror and repressive torture.Nearly a half century has passed since this savagely fought war ended in Algerian independence, and yet ,as Alistair Horne argues in his new preface to his now-classic work of history,its repercussions continue to be felt not only in Algeria and France, but throughout the world. Indeed from today's vantage point the Algerian War looks like a full-dress rehearsal for the sort of amorphous struggle that convulsed the Balkans in the 1990s and that now ravages the Middle East, from Beirut to Baghdad struggles in which questions of religion, nationalism, imperialism, and terrorism take on a new and increasingly lethal intensity.A Savage War of Peace is the definitive history of the Algerian War, a book that brings that terrible and complicated struggle to life with intelligence, assurance, and unflagging momentum. It is essential reading for our own violent times as well as a lasting monument to the historian's art.

Lonely Vigil: Coastwatchers of the Solomons


Walter Lord - 1977
    Though their importance has long been acknowledged, the coastwatchers had received relatively little attention until the publication of this book in 1977. The remarkable band of individualists, operating deep behind Japanese lines in the dark days of 1942-43, lived by their wits alone yet gave the Allies their best intelligence and rescued many a man from downed planes and sinking ships-including John f. Kennedy and his PT-109 crew. To piece their story together, Lord traveled 40,000 miles to interview participants, check archives, and examine private letters and diaries. He even made a three-day hike through the Guadalcanal jungle to inspect the coastwatcher hideout on Gold Ridge so he could successfully put readers in their shoes. The book's varied cast of intriguing characters has attracted readers ever since.

Instruments of Darkness: The History of Electronic Warfare, 1939–1945


Alfred Price - 1977
    The result was a continual series of thrusts, parries, and counter-thrusts, as first one side then the other sought to wrest the initiative in the struggle to control the ether. This was a battle fought with strange-sounding weapons---Freya, - -Mandrel, - -Boozer, - and -Window---and characterized by the bravery, self-sacrifice, and skill of those who took part in it. During the war, however, and for many years after, electronic-warfare systems and their employment during the conflict remained closely guarded military secrets. When that veil of secrecy was finally lifted, the technicalities of the subject helped ensure that it remained beyond the reach of many lay researchers and readers.Long regarded as a standard reference work, Instruments of Darkness has been expanded and completely revised.

A Rumor of War


Philip Caputo - 1977
    Caputo landed at Danang with the first ground combat unit deployed to Vietnam. Sixteen months later, having served on the line in one of modern history’s ugliest wars, he returned home—physically whole but emotionally wasted, his youthful idealism forever gone.A Rumor of War is far more than one soldier’s story. Upon its publication in 1977, it shattered America’s indifference to the fate of the men sent to fight in the jungles of Vietnam. In the years since then, it has become not only a basic text on the Vietnam War but also a renowned classic in the literature of wars throughout history and, as the author writes, of "the things men do in war and the things war does to them.""Heartbreaking, terrifying, and enraging. It belongs to the literature of men at war."--Los Angeles Times Book Review

Decent Interval: An Insider's Account of Saigon's Indecent End Told by the Cia's Chief Strategy Analyst in Vietnam


Frank Snepp - 1977
    Still the most detailed and respected account of America's final days in Vietnam, the book was written at great risk and ultimately at great sacrifice by an author who believed in the CIA's cause but was disillusioned by the agency's treacherous withdrawal, leaving thousands of Vietnamese allies to the mercy of an angry enemy. A quarter-century later, it remains a riveting and powerful testament to one of the darkest episodes in American history.

Lancaster Target


Jack Currie - 1977
    Flying Lancaster bombers from RAF Wickenby in Lincolnshire between 1943 and 1944, Jack Currie chronicles the life and death struggles against flak, night fighters and perilous weather with clarity and feeling, while capturing the µlive for the moment' spirit of off-duty escapades.

The Mighty Hood


Ernle Bradford - 1977
     Launched in 1918, she spent the interwar years cruising the oceans of the world, the largest vessel afloat and a proud symbol of the Royal Navy. ‘The greatest and most graceful ship of her time, perhaps of any time, she was the last of the Leviathans — those mighty ships, whose movement upon the high seas had determined policy since the last quarter of the 19th century. A generation of British seamen had been trained in her. To millions of people she had represented British sea power and imperial might. With her passed not only a ship, but a whole era swept away on the winds of the world.’ Bradford tells the fascinating story of two ships coming out — the new Prince of Wales, and the old, world-famous Hood, whose history remained in the memories of all those who sailed on her. Their silhouettes visible now against the lines of the sea and the islands: the long sweep of their foredecks, the banked ramparts of their guns, and the hunched shoulders of bridges and control towers. We shall never see their like again, but no one who has ever watched them go by will forget the shudder that they raised along the spine. The big ships were somehow as moving as the pipes heard a long way off in the hills. There was always a kind of mist about them, a mist of sentiment and of power. Unlike aircraft, rockets, or nuclear bombs, they were a visible symbol of power allied with beauty — a rare combination. The thrilling history of a ship who battled the infamous Bismarck, inspired alliances and revenge in a time of great uncertainty and went out with a bang when her one fatal flaw was exploited... Ernle Bradford (1922-1986) was an historian who wrote books on naval battles and historical figures. Among his subjects were Lord Nelson, the Mary Rose, Christopher Columbus, Julius Caesar and Hannibal. He also documented his own voyages on the Mediterranean Sea.

A Genius For War: The German Army and General Staff, 1807-1945


Trevor N. Dupuy - 1977
     In a very comprehensive study across 150 years, Colonel T. N. Dupuy uses his experience in the US Army to explain the manoeuvrings and characters behind German warfare in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. It is the General Staff who influence the performance of the Army, institutionalising military excellence in direct and indirect ways. Colonel Dupuy begins with the Prussian generals of the 1800s including Frederick the Great, and then tells of the alliance between Prussia and Germany in the aftermath of the German victory in the Franco-Prussian War. Colonel Dupuy goes on to write excellently about the two generals named Moltke, uncle and nephew, who steered the German army from the nineteenth to the twentieth centuries. He extols the military virtues of the man whose idea it was to invade France by using the neutrality of Belgium, von Schlieffen, whose plan seemed so brilliant before Britain saw through it during World War I. Following the Treaty of Versailles, which led to the resignations of Groener and the ascendancy of Hindenburg to President, Germany was saved from dissolution and civil war by the brilliant Seeckt. The rise of the National Socialist party, headed by the charismatic Adolf Hitler, made rearmament a pillar of their policies. The story ends with the offensives of World War II and the lessons historians and military strategists can learn from them. This book is a detailed study of the goings-on in the committee rooms and at the frontline of the nation which had in modern times a genius for war. Praise for Trevor Dupuy: “Superb...enthralling...highly recommended.” — Library Journal “Concise, well-written...a wide selection of paintings and photographs and excellent maps...aid in understanding the complexities of strategy and following the action.” — The New York Times Colonel T. N. Dupuy (1916-1995) commanded American forces during World War II, serving in Burma and China, before becoming a professor and military historian at Harvard University and then on to Ohio State University. Together with his father, he wrote the textbook Military Heritage of America which has for half a century been used widely as a teaching aid. His other books include Brave Men and Great Captains and a series of Military Lives which focussed on great war leaders from Alexander the Great to Winston Churchill. He pioneered the Quantified Judgment Method of Analysis to use the lessons of past combat for today, established the Dupuy Institute for that very purpose, and often appeared on television as a pundit, giving his opinion on contemporary combats. Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent digital publisher. For more information on our titles please sign up to our newsletter at www.endeavourpress.com. Each week you will receive updates on free and discounted ebooks. Follow us on Twitter: @EndeavourPress and on Facebook via http://on.fb.me/1HweQV7. We are always interested in hearing from our readers. Endeavour Press believes that the future is now.

The First South Pacific Campaign: Pacific Fleet Strategy, December 1941-June 1942


John B. Lundstrom - 1977
    

Wings of the Luftwaffe


Eric M. Brown - 1977
    Captain Eric Brown was a pilot in this ferrying operation. Here Brown delivers a detailed assessment of the characteristics of these principal German aircraft: Fw200C; Heinkel He162; Junkers Ju87; Dornier Do217; Messerschmitt Me262, Bf109G, Bf110, Me163, and several others.

The Corvette Navy: True Stories from Canada's Atlantic War


James B. Lamb - 1977
    James Lamb was there, and he brings all the action back -- the fighting, the fear, the loneliness, and the camaraderie born of the intense stress that only war can bring.

The German Wars 1914-1945


D.J. Goodspeed - 1977
    ISBN:0395257131. D. J. Goodspeed. The war with Germany is explored from the end of WWI to the end of WWII.

The Army of Maria Theresa: The Armed Forces of Imperial Austria, 1740-1780


Christopher Duffy - 1977
    

October 25th and the Battle of Mine Creek


Lumir F. Buresh - 1977
    Yet the battle has for years been viewed as little more than a follow up action to the Battle of Westport, fought a few days before. Author Lumir F. Buresh describes Mine Creek's significance to the Trans Mississippi theater and the effect the battle had on the war at large.

Big Story: How the American Press and Television Reported and Interpreted the Crisis of TET ....


Peter Braestrup - 1977
    In its first edition, Big Story won the 1978 Sigma Delta Chi Award for research in journalism. Map.

Submarines of World War Two


Erminio Bagnasco - 1977
    From midgets to large U-cruisers, along with projected and experimental designs, a mass of detail records technical characteristics for each class of submarine. Exhaustive charts and hundreds of valuable photos tell the facts and figures about construction, displacement, dimensions, speed, range, operational depth, fuel load, armament, and complement. Each submarine's performance is chronicled, including the fate of each member of the class. An outline of the evolution of the submarine and the development of submarine warfare offers a rare view of the role of design improvement in the outcome of the war.

Soldiering: Diary Rice C. Bull: The Civil War Diary of Rice C. Bull


Rice C. Bull - 1977
    It is a masterful description of war's grim reality."--VFW Magazine

All The Queen's Men: The Household Cavalry And The Brigade Of Guards


Russell Braddon - 1977
    

Bunch of Five


Frank Kitson - 1977
    

Charlie Company: In Service With C Company, 2nd Queen's Own Cameron Highlanders, 1940 44


James D. Cochrane - 1977
    This is the story of a rifle company of the Cameron Highlanders whose record of service in the Western Desert, Eritrea, and throughout the Italian campaign, deserves a tribute to their courage and endurance.

Nelson: The Essential Hero


Ernle Bradford - 1977
    In this biography of Horatio Nelson, Ernle Bradford discusses Nelson's own battles, but also looks at naval warfare of the period in general. The author describes the strategies, the tactics, the ponderous ship-to-ship bombardments, the terrifying injuries, as well as Nelson's policy of annihilation of the opposing fleet, making the point that Nelson regarded the escape of a single enemy ship as a failure.

Battleship: The Loss Of The Prince Of Wales And The Repulse (Penguin Classic Military History)


Martin Middlebrook - 1977
    They had not requested the air support that could have saved them and 840 men died in the battleship HMS Prince of Wales and the battle cruiser HMS Repulse.

Liddell Hart: A Study of his Military Thought


Brian Bond - 1977
    

Alfred Thayer Mahan: The Man and His Letters


Robert Seager II - 1977
    

Perang Kolonial Belanda Di Aceh =: The Dutch Colonial War in Acheh


Pusat Dokumentasi Dan Informasi Aceh - 1977
    ditulis dalam dua bahasa, melukiskan dahsyatnya perang kolonial Belanda di Aceh disertai dengan foto foto yang istimewa