Then, if he makes it, life doesn’t get easier—he gets tougher. He may get to do the toughest job around: combat infantry. And in 1966, he will almost certainly end up in Vietnam. Frank Evans is a Navy sailor willing to do whatever is necessary to become a Marine. He’s tough enough—and he has a General interested in his success. But success is measured in many ways. Frank finds out combat and the Marine Corps’ definition of success change a man. Some of the changes are a matter of pride. Others—well, you learn to live with them.

    troops slipped behind enemy lines in the Philippines. Their mission: March thirty rugged miles to rescue 513 POWs languishing in a hellish camp, among them the last survivors of the infamous Bataan Death March. A recent prison massacre by Japanese soldiers elsewhere in the Philippines made the stakes impossibly high and left little time to plan the complex operation.In Ghost Soldiers Hampton Sides vividly re-creates this daring raid, offering a minute-by-minute narration that unfolds alongside intimate portraits of the prisoners and their lives in the camp. Sides shows how the POWs banded together to survive, defying the Japanese authorities even as they endured starvation, tropical diseases, and torture. Harrowing, poignant, and inspiring, Ghost Soldiers is the mesmerizing story of a remarkable mission. It is also a testament to the human spirit, an account of enormous bravery and self-sacrifice amid the most trying conditions.

    He was judged by his colleagues to be the best television reporter of the war, however, the traumatic stories Laurence covered became a personal burden that he carried long after the war was over. In this evocative, unflinching memoir, laced with humor, anger, love, and the unforgettable story of Mé a cat rescued from the battle of Hue, Laurence recalls coming of age during the war years as a journalist and as a man. Along the way, he clarifies the murky history of the war and the role that journalists played in altering its course.The Cat from Huéi> has earned passionate acclaim from many of the most renowned journalists and writers about the war, as well as from military officers and war veterans, book reviewers, and readers. This book will stand with Michael Herr's Dispatches, Philip Caputo's A Rumor of War, and Neil Sheehan's A Bright, Shining Lie as one of the best books ever written about Vietnam-and about war generally.

    SEAL training is the distillation of the human spirit, a tradition-bound ordeal that seeks to find men with character, courage, and the burning desire to win at all costs, men who would rather die than quit.

    You’re either alive or dead.”–Richard O’KaneHailed as the ace of aces, captain Richard O’Kane, winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor for his consummate skill and heroism as a submarine skipper, sank more enemy ships and saved more downed fliers than anyone else.Now Pulitzer Prize—winning author William Tuohy captures all the danger, the terror, and the pulse-pounding action of undersea combat as he chronicles O’Kane’s wartime career–from his valiant service as executive officer under Wahoo skipper Dudley “Mush” Morton to his electrifying patrols as commander of the USS Tang and his incredible escape, with eight other survivors, after Tang was sunk by its own defective torpedo.Above all, The Bravest Man is the dramatic story of mavericks who broke the rules and set the pace to become a new breed of hunter/killer submariners who waged a unique brand of warfare. These undersea warriors would blaze their own path to victory–and transform the “Silent Service” into the deadliest fighting force in the Pacific.

    Brief by his standards, but essentially heroic. Shakespeare might have seen it as a tragedy with splendid bit-parts for buffoons and brigands and lots of graveyard scenes. Those thigh bones you occasionally see rearing out of the yellow earth of Gully ravine, snapped open so that they look like pumice, belong to a generation of young men who on this peninsula first lost their innocence and then their lives, and maybe something else as well...'Gallipoli remains one of the most poignant battlefronts of the First World War and L. A. Carlyon's monumental account of that campaign has been rightfully acclaimed and a massive bestseller in Australia. Brilliantly told, supremely readable and deeply moving, Gallipoli brings this epic tragedy to life and stands as both a landmark chapter in the history of the war and a salutary reminder of all that is fine and all that is foolish in the human condition.

    With this book, however, the critical first day's fighting finally receives its due. After sketching the background of the Gettysburg campaign and recounting the events immediately preceding the battle, Harry Pfanz offers a detailed tactical description of events of the first day. He describes the engagements in McPherson Woods, at the Railroad Cuts, on Oak Ridge, on Seminary Ridge, and at Blocher's Knoll, as well as the retreat of Union forces through Gettysburg and the Federal rally on Cemetery Hill. Throughout, he draws on deep research in published and archival sources to challenge many long-held assumptions about the battle.

    Puller has long been considered the greatest of them all. His assignments and activities covered an extraordinary spectrum of warfare. Puller mastered small unit guerrilla warfare as a lieutenant in Haiti in the 1920s, and at the end of his career commanded a division in Korea. In between, he chased Sandino in Nicaragua and fought at Guadalcanal, Cape Gloucester, and Peleliu.With his bulldog face, barrel chest (which earned him the nickname Chesty), gruff voice, and common touch, Puller became--and has remained--the epitome of the Marine combat officer. At times Puller's actions have been called into question--at Peleliu, for instance, where, against a heavily fortified position, he lost more than half of his regiment. And then there is the saga of his son, who followed in Chesty's footsteps as a Marine officer only to suffer horrible wounds in Vietnam (his book, Fortunate Son, won the Pulitzer Prize).Jon Hoffman has been given special access to Puller's personal papers as well as his personnel record. The result will unquestionably stand as the last word about Chesty Puller.

    11/1944. The European war is drawing to a close when the British government agrees to send a brigade of 5000 Jewish volunteers from Palestine to Europe to fight the German army. Among these soldiers are Israel Carmi, a veteran of the Haganah underground, one who serves one army but whose loyalties belong to another; Johanan Peltz, raised on a vast Polish estate, he dreams of returning home as a British officer & gentleman; & Arie Pinchuk, a former student who's returned to Europe with a secret agenda--to rescue his last remaining family member: the little sister he left behind. At the Senio River, Peitz leads the troops in a daring bayonet charge into the German line. When the hand-to-hand combat is finished, the brigade emerges triumphant. At a time when Jews are being victimized, these soldiers--yellow Stars of David emblazoned on their uniform sleeves--show that a Jewish army can fight back & win. But when the war ends they witness 1sthand the horrors their people have suffered in the concentration camps, they launch a calculating campaign of vengeance, forming secret squads to identify, locate & kill Nazi officers in hiding. Their own ferocity threatens to overwhelm them until a fortuitous encounter with an orphaned girl sets the men on a course of action--rescuing Jewish war orphans & transporting them to Palestine--that will not only change their lives but also alter the course of history. Blum has written his most harrowing book to date--a story that will make headlines as well as provoke debate about the moral elements of justice, the line between good & evil, & the possibility of redemption.

    Every crisis that has ripped through this region in the ensuing decades, from the Yom Kippur War of 1973 to the ongoing intifada, is a direct consequence of those six days of fighting. Michael B. Oren’s magnificent Six Days of War, an internationally acclaimed bestseller, is the first comprehensive account of this epoch-making event. Writing with a novelist’s command of narrative and a historian’s grasp of fact and motive, Oren reconstructs both the lightning-fast action on the battlefields and the political shocks that electrified the world. Extraordinary personalities—Moshe Dayan and Gamal Abdul Nasser, Lyndon Johnson and Alexei Kosygin—rose and toppled from power as a result of this war; borders were redrawn; daring strategies brilliantly succeeded or disastrously failed in a matter of hours. And the balance of power changed—in the Middle East and in the world. A towering work of history and an enthralling human narrative, Six Days of War is the most important book on the Middle East conflict to appear in a generation.

    The text, based upon extensive research, describes both the battle and the campaign that preceded it in detail, drawing upon the first-hand accounts of participants on all sides in order to give the reader a vivid feeling for the experiences of those who fought upon this most celebrated of all battlefields. The many full-color maps, all specially commissioned for the book, and the numerous diagrams and photographs, the majority in color, as well as sixteen pages of original paintings, make the book a feast for the eyes and a collector's dream.

    Since then, over 50,000 letters have poured in from around the country. Nearly two hundred of them comprise this amazing collection—including never-before-published letters that appear in the new afterword.Here are letters from the Civil War, World War I, World War II, Korea, the Cold War, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf war, Somalia, and Bosnia—dramatic eyewitness accounts from the front lines, poignant expressions of love for family and country, insightful reflections on the nature of warfare. Amid the voices of common soldiers, marines, airmen, sailors, nurses, journalists, spies, and chaplains are letters by such legendary figures as Gen. William T. Sherman, Clara Barton, Theodore Roosevelt, Ernie Pyle, Gen. Douglas MacArthur, Julia Child, Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf, and Gen. Benjamin O. Davis Sr. Collected in War Letters, they are an astonishing historical record, a powerful tribute to those who fought, and a celebration of the enduring power of letters.

    Filled with the thrilling never-before-told personal stories of the prisoners of war held within the walls of this medieval fortress turned German high-security prison camp, Colditz offers endlessly intriguing stories of consummate survivors who proved the human spirit to be indomitable.In more than fifty original interviews, the English, French, Dutch, and Polish officers and their guards describe their experiences in the notorious castle. They reveal their boredom and frustrations, as well as the challenges inherent in making maps out of jelly or constructing tunnels with mere cutlery knives. The stories are by turns comic and tragic, as much of their labor and invention ended in failure. But what emerges is a story of breathtaking ingenuity and an intriguing portrait of the fascinating game of wits between captives and captors, who were bound together by mutual respect and extraordinary tolerance.

    Moving from the White House to the B-52 cockpits to the missile sites and POW camps of Hanoi, The Eleven Days of Christmas is a gripping tale of heroism and incompetence in a battle whose political and military legacy is still a matter of controversy.

    

    

    Generations after nearly 50,000 soldiers shed their blood there, serious and fundamental misunderstandings persist about Robert E. Lee's generalship during the campaign and battle. Most are the basis of popular myths about the epic fight. Last Chance for Victory: Robert E. Lee and the Gettysburg Campaign addresses these issues by studying Lee's choices before, during, and after the battle, the information he possessed at the time and each decision that was made, and why he acted as he did. Even options open to Lee that he did not act upon are carefully explored from the perspective of what Lee and his generals knew at the time. Some of the issues addressed include:Whether Lee's orders to Jeb Stuart were discretionary and allowed him to conduct his raid around the Federal army. The authors conclusively answer this important question with the most original and unique analysis ever applied to this controversial issue;Why Richard Ewell did not attack Cemetery Hill as ordered by General Lee, and why every historian who has written that Lee's orders to Ewell were discretionary are dead wrong;Why Little Round Top was irrelevant to the July 2 fighting, a fact Lee clearly recognized;Why Cemetery Hill was the weakest point along the entire Federal line, and how close the Southerners came to capturing it;Why Lee decided to launch en echelon attack on July 2, and why most historians have never understood what it was or how close it came to success; Last Chance for Victory will be labeled heresy by some, blasphemy by others, all because its authors dare to call into question the dogmas of Gettysburg. But they do so carefully, using facts, logic, and reason to weave one of the most compelling and riveting military history books of our age.Readers will never look at Robert E. Lee and Gettysburg the same way again.

    As a 24-year-old lieutenant in the King's Own Scottish Borderers, Peter kept an unauthorized journal of his regiment's advance through the Low Countries and into Germany in the closing months of the war in Europe. Forbidden by his commanding officer from doing so for security reasons, Peter's boyhood habit of diary keeping had become an obsession too strong to shake off. In this graphic evocation of a soldier at war, the images he records are not for the faint hearted. There are heroes aplenty within its pages, but there are also disturbing insights into the darker sides of humanity - the men who broke under the strain and who ran away; the binge drinking which occasionally rendered the whole platoon unable to fight; the looting, the rape, and the callous disregard for human life that happens when death is a daily companion. Hidden away for more than 50 years, this is a rare opportunity to read an authentic account of the horrors of war experienced by a British soldier in the greatest conflict of the 20th century.

    Military and press photographers, camera-wielding soliders, and civilians all took the opportunity to record the harrowing events of the 1960s and early '70s. NAM: A Photographic History features the images and stories that document this tumultuous era, revealing sides of the war never seen before and shedding new light on this decades old conflict. With its wealth of unforgettable images, this truly comprehensive book provides an unrivalled -- and unflinching -- overview of the Vietnam War.-- Features more than 700 full-color and black-and-white photographs from a variety of sources, many of which are seen here for the first time-- Every major theater of conflict is covered extensively, from Laos to Hanoi, from the Tet Offensive and Lam Son 719 to the Battle of Long Tan and Operation Homecoming-- Informative, indexed commentary provides historical grounding and summarizes the complex events of the period

    The climax of a campaign that began two months before in northern Mississippi, Perryville came to be recognized as the high water mark of the western Confederacy. Some said the hard-fought battle, forever remembered by participants for its sheer savagery and for their commanders' confusion, was the worst battle of the war, losing the last chance to bring the Commonwealth into the Confederacy and leaving Kentucky firmly under Federal control. Although Gen. Braxton Bragg's Confederates won the day, Bragg soon retreated in the face of Gen. Don Carlos Buell's overwhelming numbers. Perryville: This Grand Havoc of Battle is the definitive account of this important conflict.While providing all the parry and thrust one might expect from an excellent battle narrative, the book also reflects the new trends in Civil War history in its concern for ordinary soldiers and civilians caught in the slaughterhouse. The last chapter, unique among Civil War battle narratives, even discusses the battle's veterans, their families, efforts to preserve the battlefield, and the many ways Americans have remembered and commemorated Perryville.

    It features firsthand accounts of combat action from pilots, hundreds of full-color photographs, color profiles and three-view artworks of the main aircraft types throughout history, and more. Readers will discover the ins and outs of: - The Albatross D. V - Bf 109s - Thunderbolts - B-29s - F-4 Phantoms - B-52s - F-117 `Stealth' fighter - And more! From wire-braced biplanes to the first jet fighters, from the Berlin Airlift to Bosnia, The Encyclopedia of 20th Century Air Warfare covers it all.

    In the darkness and howling winds, in the midst of a horrific, impenetrable storm, the terrified survivors clung to their lives by the thinnest of threads-out of contact and out of the reach of any ship afloat.A thousand miles away, one of the world's most elite rescue teams scrambled into action...This is the gripping and unforgettable true adventure of an astonishing rescue at sea -- a tale of the unparalleled courage and skill of men who endured a record-breaking fifteen-hour, non-stop helicopter ride through bone-jarring turbulence to carry out a mission on the ragged edge of impossibility. It is the story of a unit of the New York Air National Guard, the 106th Rescue Wing, which includes the famed PJs, the Pararescuemen, whose training is so rigorous and standards so high that only a dedicated handful qualify to join; heroes without peer who were willing to brave a maelstrom of forty-foot waves and schools of killer sharks, to risk their own lives "so that others may live."Includes 16 pages of authentic photographs.

    One of this platoon’s section commanders was a 20-year old regular soldier called Bob Kearney, who led a series of deadly patrols, operating in isolation and extreme danger ahead of the main Australian forces.

    Through their youth, education, and military training, both men experienced similar triumphs and failures that shaped their lives, though they met only for the first time upon the eve of war in 1941.Eisenhower and Churchill tells the magnificent story of these two great leaders and their exemplary partnership in war and peace. Through enlivened pages and fascinating anecdotes, author James C. Humes illuminates the human side of each man, who had more in common with each other than a world war. You'll discover the extraordinary stories of how both were born to domineering mothers and failed fathers, both did not qualify for the military academy on the first try, both were traumatized by experiences in World War I, both were talented writers, and both lost a child in the very same year (1921). Remarkably, each man did not warm to the other at first; but as they worked together, their respect for one another grew to become a powerful friendship that lived long after the echoes of war had receded into the past.As allies, they shared a hatred for tyranny and led the world through the greatest war of the twentieth century. As friends, they shared a sense of trust and cooperation that should be raised as a standard. Containing new research and memorable insights, Eisenhower and Churchill brings to life the two lions of the twentieth centruy."Who would not welcome an intimate book about Churchill and Eisenhower, and who is better situated to write it than Professor Humes, who knew them both, and studiously—and ardently—records their careers and their friendship?"—William F. Buckley Jr."James C. Humes's Eisenhower and Churchill is a wonderful dual biography laced with lively anecdotes, engaging prose, and shrewd analysis. A truly welcome addition to our growing literature on the Second World War."—Douglas Brinkley, professor of history and director of the Eisenhower Center, University of New Orleans

    More than three hundred images chronicle the events of December 7, 1941, when Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, drawing the United States into World War II.

    The New York Times Book Review acclaimed Keegan as "the best military historian of our day," and the Washington Post called the book "a grand narrative history [and] a pleasure to read." Now Keegan gives us a lavishly illustrated history of the war, brilliantly interweaving his narrative--some of it derived from his classic work and some of it new--with a brilliant selection of photograps, paintings, cartoons and posters drawn from archives across Europe and America, some published here for the first time. These images take us into the heart of battles that have become legend: Ypres, Gallipoli, Verdun, the Somme. They show us the generals' war and the privates' war--young soldiers, away from home for the first time, coming of age under fire. We see how a civilization at the height of its power and influence crippled itself as the faith in progress, rationalism and liberalism that had prevailed in Europe since the Enlightenment was shattered. We see how four empires--the German, the Russian, the Austro-Hungarian and the Ottoman--collapsed, and how the seeds for the Second World War were planted. Keegan tells how ambition, mistrust and failures of diplomacy and communication all played a part in allowing this conflict to set ablaze what was then the world's most prosperous society. And he describes how the effects of this war lasted long after it ended; its ghosts still haunt Europe today. An Illustrated History of the First World War carries us across the Europe of nearly a century ago, revealing the devastation, camaraderie, political machinations and battlefield maneuverings that changed the world. It presents the essential cast of that cataclysmic drama, from the decision makers at the top--Haig, Joffre, Hindenberg, Pershing--to the troops in the trenches. Through its unique amalgam of pictorial and narrative brilliance, the book illuminates the war as no other work has done.

    An intriguing mix of proven World War II concepts and 1950s high-tech, the aircraft would spark more controversy than any weapon system ever built until the ill-fated Star Wars system of the late 1980s. Includes extensive photographic coverage of the devastating 1952 Texas tornado that almost wiped out a good part of the B-36 fleet. A detailed serial number list covers each airplane and its final disposition, and a chapter covers the efforts to reclaim and scrap the aircraft as they were taken out of service.

    Third part of trilogy documenting modern-day Northern Ireland, by the author of Provos and Loyalists

    He transforms exhaustive research into a moving narrative account of the assault from both Union and Confederate perspectives, analyzing its planning, execution, aftermath, and legacy.

    Each chapter deals with a particular battle, but Guthrie also examines wider questions of strategy, leadership, armaments, organization, logistics, and war finances. The main emphasis is on the unique character and aspects of the Thirty Years War, with attention to the evolution of warfare and weapons, the impact of this evolution on actual operations, and the replacement of the previously dominant tercio style of warfare by the nascent linear system.The Thirty Years War is considered within its own context, rather than merely as a poor relation to the linear or Napoleonic periods. The campaigns covered in this volume include the defeat of the Bohemian and German Protestants (1618-1623), the Danish War (1625-1629), the victories of the Swedes under Gustavus Adolphus (1630-1632), and the final defeat of the Swedes at Nordlingen in 1634. Guthrie also pays particular notice to the important battle of Breitenfeld. With the inclusion of many secondary theaters and minor actions, the whole of this work constitutes a complete military history of the German War.

    Every variation in every part is documented and matched to the serial number range of its use. Thirty-one different variations of the rifle were developed over the 41 year course of its production and all are described and identified

    In thrilling detail, it covers the majors wars of history, their significant battles and outstanding commanders, and discusses the ever-changing technology of war and the life and experience of the ordinary soldier. Numerous boxes throughout focus on particularly noteworthy aspects of the history of the conflict, such as weapons development. All of the techniques and requirements of warfare are covered, particularly the strategy and tactics that have had a decisive impact on the outcome of the fighting. Covered in concise detail are many of history's greatest battles, such as Agincourt, Waterloo and Verdun, accompanied by full-color maps for ease of reference. Particularly close study is given to the campaigns of the great commanders -- giants like Caesar, Hannibal and Napoleon. And the development of naval warfare and warship design is analyzed in full. An important undertaking, THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WARFARE belongs on the shelf of every history enthusiast.

    Told from the viewpoint of the European crusaders, it recounts the fall of the crusader kingdom of Jerusalem to Saladin in 1187 and the subsequent expeditions to recover it, led by the Emperor Frederick I, King Philip II of France and King Richard I of England, the Lionheart. This is the most comprehensive account of the crusade. Much of the account is from eyewitness sources and provides vivid and colourful details of the great campaigns. The translator gives background details of the events described, comparing this account with other accounts from Europe, the Christians of the Holy Land and Muslim writers. She also sets out the evidence for the authorship and sources of the chronicle.

    This book makes extensive use of previously unpublished, primary-source material-much recently declassified. It gives an insight into a secret world where the public has had little idea of what was going on, while at the same time presenting a coherent nationwide picture of fighter development and evolution. Particular emphasis is placed on tender design competitions and some of the events that led to certain aircraft either being canceled or produced. Some of the many and varied types included are the Hawker P.1103/P.1136/P.1121 series, and the Fairey "Delta III". The book includes many illustrations, plus specially commissioned renditions of "might-have-been" types in contemporary markings.

    James J. Kirschke’s mortar platoon and then rifle platoon knew the stakes: the Marines are America’s military elite, expected to train harder, fight longer, sacrifice more. Kirschke led by example in the hotly contested zone just south of the DMZ and in the dangerous AnHoa region southwest of DaNang. There Kirschke’s units, with resources stretched to the limit, saw combat almost daily in some of the fiercest fighting of 1966.Sustained through the toughest firefights and bloodiest ambushes, the men’s morale proved a testament to Kirschke’s leadership and his dedication to what the U.S. Marines stand for. Those beliefs, and the faith of his men, in turn helped Kirschke through his long recovery after he was wounded by the triple explosion of a box mine rigged to an anti-tank rocket round and a frag grenade.The Marines’ legend and reputation are based on the blood, courage, and discipline of warriors like Jim Kirschke. Sparing no one, he has written a powerful chronicle of the deadly war his Marines fought with valor.

    These photographs, together with firsthand accounts and day-to-day, minute-by-minute history of the 101st Airborne, tell the story of this elite fighting group. These extremely rare images, together with more than 200 previously unpublished archival photographs from the author's own collection, provide a dynamic look at these daring World War II paratroopers.

    The Civil War not only pitted brother against brother but also Christian against Christian, with soldiers from North and South alike devoutly believing that God was on their side.Steven Woodworth, one of our most prominent and provocative Civil War historians, presents the first detailed study of soldiers' religious beliefs and how they influenced the course of that tragic conflict. He shows how Christian teaching and practice shaped the worldview of soldiers on both sides: how it motivated them for the struggle, how it influenced the way they fought, and how it shaped national life after the war ended.Through the diaries, letters, and reminiscences of common soldiers, Woodworth illuminates religious belief from the home front to the battlefield, where thoughts of death and the afterlife were always close at hand. Woodworth reveals what these men thought about God and what they believed God thought about the war.Wrote one Unionist, "I believe our cause to be the cause of liberty and light . . . the cause of God, and holy and justifiable in His sight, and for this reason, I fear not to die in it if need be." With a familiar echo, his Confederate counterpart declared that "our Cause is Just and God is Just and we shall finally be successful whether I live to see the time or not."Woodworth focuses on mainstream Protestant beliefs and practices shared by the majority of combatants in order to help us better understand soldiers' motivations and to realize what a strong role religion played in American life throughout the conflict. In addition, he provides sharp insights into the relationship between Christianity and both the abolition movement in the North and the institution of slavery in the South.Ultimately, Woodworth shows us how opposing armies could put their trust in the same God while engaging in four years of organized slaughter and destruction. His compelling work provides a rich new perspective on religion in American life and will forever change the way we look at the Civil War.

    He piloted a B-25 in the Doolittle Raid, was shot down over Italy, escaped from a POW train, hid out in the mountains of northern Italy, and ended up in a German stalag. His remembrances, as well as his fine artwork illustrating the events of this era, make compelling reading.

    Spanning the years 1945 to 1975, it is the definitive story of the well-meaning, but often misguided, American political leaders whose unquestioning adherence to the crusading, anti-Communist Cold War dogma of the 1950's and 1960's led the nation into its tragic misadventure in Vietnam.At the center of this narrative are seven political leaders-Dwight Eisenhower, John F. Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson, Richard Nixon, J. William Fulbright, Mike Mansfield, and George McGovern. During their careers, each occupied center-stage in the nation's debate over U.S. policy in Vietnam.This is a piercing analysis of political currents and an epic tragedy filled with fascinating characters and antagonisms and beliefs that divided the nation.

    None -- not one -- suffered more deaths in battle than the Fifth New Hampshire Volunteers. At the center of this regiment's searing experience is Colonel Edward Cross, a journalist and adventurer who infused the Fifth with his formidable personality. Concord Monitor editors Mike Pride and Mark Travis spent eight years digging for the story of Cross and his men in letters, diaries, memoirs, official records, and newspaper accounts. The result is a military history unfolded in human terms, as the men themselves experienced it.As Walter Holden, a longtime student of the Fifth, writes in his foreword: The reader will see how an outstanding regiment was formed and outfitted, how the men camped and marched, how they reacted to battle. Here are the deft personal touches that bring events to life. Here are the heroics but also the gripes and backbiting, the conflicts between leaders and the subjugation of the individual for the success of the group. This is a book for any Civil War buff or student of history, but it will be of particular interest in the state that produced this extraordinary regiment long ago.

    Such cinematic scenes, played out with increasing frequency as World War II ground to a close, were more than mere stock material for movie melodramas. As Edward Westermann reveals, they point to a key but largely unappreciated aspect of the German war effort that has yet to get its full due.Long the neglected stepchild in studies of World War II air campaigns, German flak or anti-aircraft units have been frequently dismissed by American, British, and German historians (and by veterans of the European air war) as ineffective weapons that wasted valuable material and personnel resources desperately needed elsewhere by the Third Reich. Westermann emphatically disagrees with that view and makes a convincing case for the significant contributions made by the entire range of German anti-aircraft defenses.During the Allied air campaigns against the Third Reich, well over a million tons of bombs were dropped upon the German homeland, killing nearly 300,000 civilians, wounding another 780,000, and destroying more than 3,500,000 industrial and residential structures. Not surprisingly, that aerial Armageddon has inspired countless studies of both the victorious Allied bombing offensive and the ultimately doomed Luftwaffe defense of its own skies. By contrast, flak units have virtually been ignored, despite the fact that they employed more than a million men and women, were responsible for more than half of all Allied aircraft losses, forced Allied bombers to fly far above high-accuracy altitudes, and thus allowed Germany to hold out far longer than it might have otherwise.Westermann's definitive study sheds new light on every facet of the development and organization of this vital defense arm, including its artillery, radar, searchlight, barrage balloon, decoy sites, and command components. Highlighting the convergence of technology, strategy, doctrine, politics, and economics, Flak also provides revealing insights into German strategic thought, Hitler's obsession with micromanaging the war, and the lives of the members of the flak units themselves, including the large number of women, factory workers, and even POWs who participated.

    It was a war that defined a generation of the world, a war that saw America transform itself from an inward-looking isolationist nation to an arsenal of democracy whose reach spanned the globe. The World War II Reader presents in one extraordinary book the thrilling story of the greatest generation in its finest hour in the best essays from the world's most distinguished historians compiled by World War II Magazine, the only magazine that brings the history and drama of the 20th Century's defing conflict to life. The World War II Reader includes insightful essays on the larger-than-life leaders who made life-and-death decisions that shaped grand strategy and crucial battles. In addition, this book cuts through the fog of war and presents though-provoking revelations of little known events that had far-reaching consequences, including the Niihau Incident, that tragically affected the fate of Japanese-Americans in Hawaii and mainland America. The World War II Reader is a must-have for every history enthusiast, and for the person serching for the one book that not just tells the story of America's greatest conflict, but makes World War II come vividly alive as if it happened yesterday.

    Throughout, conflict seldom abated, whether between the European powers on their own continent or between their colonial proxies around the world. Byron Farwell, an authoritative and engaging chronicler of military history, illuminates here all aspects of this colorful, horrifying, compelling century of war.Global in reach, the encyclopedia covers Latin American rebellions; African, Indian, and Southeast Asian conflicts; Chinese and Japanese actions; and the Indian wars of North America. It is comprehensive, with coverage of weapons development, battles and campaigns, military leaders, and more. Farwell's treatment of military medicine and wartime journalism is unmatched, and his interpretive essays relate events and people to one another and to the century's technological and scientific trends.Including nearly 1,000 illustrations reproduced from period sources, this groundbreaking encyclopedia is destined to become a much-used and desired reference.

    A comprehensive guide to the battles, commanders, tactics, formations, fortifications, and weapons of war in Europe, North Africa, the Middle East, India, China, and Japan from ancient times to the 16th century.

    John Horne and Alan Kramer mine military reports, official and private records, witness evidence, and war diaries to document the crimes that have long been denied: a campaign of brutality that led to the death of some 6500 Belgian and French civilians. Contemporary German accounts insisted that the civilians were guerrillas, executed for illegal resistance. In reality this claim originated in a vast collective delusion on the part of German soldiers. The authors establish how this myth originated and operated, and how opposed Allied and German views of events were used in the propaganda war. They trace the memory and forgetting of the atrocities on both sides up to and beyond World War II. Meticulously researched and convincingly argued, this book re-opens a painful chapter in European history while contributing to broader debates about myth, propaganda, memory, war crimes, and the nature of the First World War. Winner of the Fraenkel Prize for Contemporary History in 2000.

    Early Carolingian Warfare is the first book-length study of how the Frankish dynasty, beginning with Pippin II, established its power and cultivated its military expertise in order to reestablish the regnum Francorum, a geographical area of the late Roman period that includes much of present-day France and western Germany. Bernard Bachrach has thoroughly examined contemporary sources, including court chronicles, military handbooks, and late Roman histories and manuals, to establish how the early Carolingians used their legacy of political and military techniques and strategies forged in imperial Rome to regain control in the West.Pippin II and his successors were not diverted by opportunities for financial enrichment in the short term through raids and campaigns outside of the regnum Francorum; they focused on conquest with sagacious sensibilities, preferring bloodless diplomatic solutions to unnecessarily destructive warfare, and disdained military glory for its own sake. But when they had to deploy their military forces, their operations were brutal and efficient. Their training was exceptionally well developed, and their techniques included hand-to-hand combat, regimented troop movements, fighting on horseback with specialized mounted soldiers, and the execution of lengthy sieges employing artillery. In order to sustain their long-term strategy, the early Carolingians relied on a late Roman model whereby soldiers were recruited from among the militarized population who were required by law to serve outside their immediate communities. The ability to mass and train large armies from among farmers and urban-dwellers gave the Carolingians the necessary power to lay siege to the old Roman fortress cities that dominated the military topography of the West.Bachrach includes fresh accounts of Charles Martel's defeat of the Muslims at Poitiers in 732, and Pippin's successful siege of Bourges in 762, demonstrating that in the matter of warfare there never was a western European Dark Age that ultimately was enlightened by some later Renaissance. The early Carolingians built upon surviving military institutions, adopted late antique technology, and effectively utilized their classical intellectual inheritance to prepare the way militarily for Charlemagne's empire.

    The Tigers were originally intended to counter the heavy tanks of the Russian Front, and were assigned to specially created tank battalions. In 1944 Tiger units were rushed to Normandy and fought in all the major battles of the Western Front. Although they were superior to all the tanks of the Western allies, Tigers in the West faced the added danger of attack from the greatly superior British and American air forces. Each Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS unit equipped with the Tiger I is covered in detail. Each unit's insignia and a representative vehicle with camouflage and markings is shown in color. The operational history of each unit, and in some cases individual vehicles, is described with the aid of 250 black and white photos, most of them never before published.

    Yet this study challenges the traditional interpretations of the role of the army as an instrument of the emerging absolutist state, and shows how the expansion of the French war effort contributed to weakening Richelieu's hold on France and heightened levels of political and social tension. This is the first detailed account of the French army during this formative period of European history. It also contributes more generally to the "military revolution" debate among early modern historians.

    Through World War II, where submariners' prospects of returning safely from a mission were only 50:50, the Falklands conflict and the sinking of the Belgrano, to present-day elite machines, the Silent Service has played an enormous part in British defence. John Parker's in-depth investigation is very much personality led with diaries from the early part of the century to substantial first-person testimony from survivors of wartime heroics (when many VCs were won).

    Long out of print it has been sought by collectors and enthusiasts commanding high prices in used book market. This long awaited reprint is actually far more than that. The new version includes significant additional material. Every soldier is shown on a full page, front and back with numerous detail shots of head gear, equipment etc. The chronological order of the original edition is retained, while the widest selection of types of IIIrd Reich armed forces members is featured, from the most famous uniforms to the more obscure.

    Vastly outnumbered by enemy forces, the First Marine Division was cut off from its base at Wonson.General Oliver Prince Smith, commander of the First Marine Division, is credited with bringing the division and attached army units to safety, leaving no wounded behind and, in the process, destroying the effectiveness of several Chinese units.Using the general's own notes and diaries, Clifton La Bree describes Smith's long and distinguished career, his command in Iceland in 1940, in the Pacific campaigns, and in Korea. La Bree also acknowledges the key role the army's 31st Regimental Combat Team played in conducting a successful withdrawal from the Chosin reservoir and discusses Smith's wartime dealings with military and political leaders.

    For more than fifty years the individual stories that make up this narrative -- shockingly frank reflections of sacrifice and courage -- have been bottled up, buried, or circulated privately. Now, nearing the ends of their lives, our WWII soldiers have at last unburdened themselves. "Beyond Valor" recaptures their hidden history. A pioneering oral historian, Patrick O'Donnell used his award-winning website, The Drop Zone, to solicit oral- and "e-histories" from individual soldiers. Gradually, working from within the community, O'Donnell convinced some of the war's most battle-hardened soldiers to tell their stories. The result is WWII seen through the eyes of the men who saw the most intense of its action. O'Donnell focuses on the elite units of the war -- the Rangers, Airborne, and 1st Special Service Force -- troops that spearheaded the most dangerous operations and often made the difference between victory and defeat.From more than 650 interviews O'Donnell has chosen oral- and e-histories that form a seamless story line, a pointillistic history of the war in Europe from the first parachute drops in North Africa through the final battles in Germany and the long trip home. It is the story of the war not discussed in polite company. O'Donnell presents the wreckage of entire battalions nearly annihilated, invisible personal scars, and hauntingrevelations of wartime atrocities. But more important are the men who recount lives risked without hesitation for comrades and cause, and those who did not return: the friends who died in their arms. Their stories remind all of us that victory came only at the highest price.Remembering the infamous cliffs at Pointe-du-Hoc, bloody Omaha Beach, the bitter fighting at the Battle of the Bulge, and Hill 400 in the Hurtgen Forest, the soldiers reveal war as seen, heard, and smelled by the GIs on the front line. Also included is the unique story of the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, and the trailblazing African-American "Experimental" Test Platoon that had to fight its own battle behind the lines."Beyond Valor" captures the truths that exist among soldiers. It is one of the most inspiring accounts of the war ever produced.

    Yet the means of supply, transportation, maintenance, and a variety of other supporting services frequently affect the daily lives of soldiers, the tactics of divisions, and the strategies of nations. Battles have been won, and wars have been lost, at least in part because of an army's ability to sustain itself in combat. U.S. Army Logistics, 1775-1992: An Anthology is designed to introduce to the soldier and the student of logistics a variety of topical selections that cover over 200 years of our army's history. In many cases, the reader may be intrigued by how often problems were repeated in different conflicts. There were remarkable similarities in transportation problems during the Mexican War and World War II, and comparable supply management difficulties arose during the Korean War and the war in Vietnam. How military personnel dealt with these issues and what successive generations learned from these experiences provide valuable insights for logisticians and commanders today. The selections for this anthology were made by Lt. Col. Charles R. Shrader, who was eminently qualified for this task. Blending his years of experience as an Army logistician and historian, Colonel Shrader has assembled a unique collection of essays that cover both the breadth and depth of Army logistics from the frozen hills of Valley Forge to the burning deserts of Southwest Asia. For the commander and the logistician, the soldier and the student, here is a book that will stimulate thought, encourage discussions, and provide perspective to an essential element of military science.

    With this study, military historian Dwight Messimer examines the weapons, tactics, and organization used by all the belligerents during the war and provides some surprising findings. Because he draws heavily from personal accounts as well as from official records, his book will appeal to both serious readers seeking hard facts and to general readers who like stories about war at sea.Messimer tells the story from both sides. German survivors who escaped from sunken U-boats explain what it was like to face the newly developed ASW weapons beneath the surface, and pilots tell what it was like from above. The author describes the German's well-organized and efficient ASW organization in the Baltic and the Helgoland Bight. He also discusses the weapons developed during the war that proved to be largely ineffective or outright failures. While his evaluations of the contributions made by aircraft and Q-ships put them in the category of only marginally effective, his analysis of the effectiveness of politics deems that ASW "weapon" the most effective of all. Solidly grounded in the best primary sources available in England, the United States, and Germany, this book is the first to address the ASW of all World War I belligerents.

    David Wooliscroft is a specialist on Hadrian's Wall and an experienced air photographer. He is currently Director of "The Roman Gask project," a long-term program to study the Roman frontier on and around the Gask Ridge in Perthshire.

    A memoir of a B-26 crewman, as well as a lovingly told history of the bomber.

    it retraces not only the course of events of the war years as experienced by both Allied and Axis pilots, but also offers vivid descriptions of weaponry, aircraft and tactical developments during the extensive bombing campaign against Germany.Richly illustrated with some 300 photographs, many of which previously unpublished, Battles with the Luftwaffe is a fascinating account of the realities of air-combat during World War II.

    I don't believe it is realized how much that one man, with his leadership, his calm judgment and his skill, did to save not only this country, but the world.' So wrote Marshal of the RAF Lord Tedder in 1947. As commander of No. 11 Group, Fighter Command and responsible for the air defense of London and South-East England, Keith Park took charge of the day-to-day direction of the battle. In spotlighting his thoughts and actions during the crisis, Vincent Orange reveals a man whose unfailing energy, courage and cool resourcefulness won not only supreme praise from Churchill but the lasting respect and admiration of all who served under him. However, few officers in any of the services packed more action into their lives, and this book covers the whole of his career - youth in New Zealand, success as an ace fighter pilot in World War I, postings to South America and Egypt, Battle of Britain, Command of the RAF in Malta 1942/43, and finally Allied Air Commander-in-Chief of SE Asia under Mountbatten in 1945. His contribution to victory and peace was immense and this biography does much to shed light on the Big Wing controversy of 1940 and give insight into the war in Burma, 1945, and how the huge problems remaining after the war's sudden end were dealt with. Drawn largely from unpublished sources and interviews with people who knew Park, and illustrated with maps and photographs, this is an authoritative biography of one of the world's greatest unsung heroes.Professor Vincent Orange was born in the UK, gained a PhD at Hull University, and now lives in New Zealand lecturing in History at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch. He enjoyed the privilege of unrestricted access to Park's papers while writing this book. Park was originally published in hardback by Methuen in 1984. This is the first paperback edition.

    

    Arranged regionally and, to the extent possible, chronologically according to when islands entered the war, entries provide complete background information. Along with island names, nicknames, Allied code names, location, and wartime time zones, the entries include such topics as the island's physical characteristics, weather, health hazards, historical background, native population, natural resources, and military value. Japanese and Allied strategies and operations, military problems caused by terrain, military installations, Japanese units and key commanders, Allied units and key commanders, and brief battle descriptions are also covered along with the island's postwar status.A valuable resource for researchers, historians, military history enthusiasts, and war gamers, the book provides complete background information on the geo-military aspects of the Pacific Ocean region, its islands, and the roles they played in the war. 108 maps provide specific information. Until now, geo-military information could only be found by searching four to ten publications on each island.

    For many of these bewildered children this was the first time away from their families or even their home town. But for overseas British nationals evacuated to the mother country from the Channel Islands and Gibraltar, the shock of the upheaval was great indeed. Carrying pitifully few belongings, they had no idea where they were being sent - for many it was the beginning of a great adventure, for some a nightmare. Mike Brown combines factual narrative with contemporary eyewitness accounts and oral history extracts to create a popular look at the phenomenon of evacuation in Britain during the Second World War. Illustrated with a variety of contemporary photographs and ephemera, Evacuees provides a fascinating, amusing and sometimes disturbing glimpse of how children and adults coped with the trials and tribulations of evacuation. It will appeal to anyone who is interested in reading about life on the Home Front during the Second World War, and especially to anyone who was an evacuee.

    For more than three years the Axis armies had seemed invincible. Now, in the Egyptian desert, they had been decisively beaten. The opening phase of the Second World War was over. The architect of this triumph was an almost unknown British general, Bernard Montgomery. Nigel Hamilton's award-winning three-volume official life, "Monty", worked within the constraints of the time and circumstances under which it was written. Now, at last, he is able to present us with "The Full Monty", based on new sources and a new interpretation of Monty's legendary ability to inspire young men on the field of battle. The story (the first of two volumes) is an extraordinarily rich and fascinating one revealing a withdrawn, stubborn, difficult individual who remained both highly characteristic of the Imperial tradition in which he was raised and yet utterly revolutionary in his criticism of that world. With immense skill Hamilton shows how Montgomery's repressed homosexuality was the key to his behaviour - homosexuality that distanced him from the conventional world which surrounded him, yet which made him uniquely value the welfare and lives of the soldiers under his care. Hamilton gives a superb re-creation of the worlds in which Montgomery lived: Tasmania, the Western Front 1914-18, the uneasy Imperial Britain, Egypt, India and Palestine of the 1920s and 1930s, the coming of the Second World War, the disasters of Dunkirk and Dieppe, and finally the bloody Allied victory of El Alamein. In re-examining Montgomery's life, Hamilton believes that we must now see him in terms of his ability to forge a unique relationship with the men under his command - a revolutioanry approach that put paid to the butchery and bungling of the First World War, and laid the foundations of successful battlefield leadership in modern democracy. Hamilton's powerful biography gives us a gripping and unflinching portrait of one of Britain's greatest heroes. This is, in all manner of ways, "The Full Monty".

    Navy's role in the Korean conflict to be written for the general public.

    -- Some of the modern world's most devastating disasters are profiled -- The reforms and improvements that grew out of these tragedies are explained and put in perspective -- Historically accurate, compelling accounts -- Selected titles contain quotes from eyewitnesses Learn about two American submarines that sank in the 1960s and the Russian submarine Kursk in 2000.

    Much of Bomber Command s effort was what was defined as area bombing, in which whole cities or districts were targeted. The ultimate aim of an attack on a town area, Sir Arthur Harris wrote in one of his dispatches, is to break the morale of the population which occupies it ... namely, to produce (i) destruction and (ii) fear of death. This strategy was so successful it almost brought Germany to the point of collapse until Churchill, worried about the devastation it was causing and the number of civilian deaths which resulted, ordered it to cease.Harris dispatches explain in great detail the success of his methods which, if given full reign, may have brought the war to a speedier conclusion but would have meant even more German casualties. Such was the controversy surrounding Bomber Command s operations; Harris dispatches were not published by the government, even though the dispatches of every other branch of the armed services, and all of their operations, were made public. The full text of Harris dispatches is reproduced here along with an explanation why these documents were withheld for so many years."

    This is especially true for those German theorists who wrote during the half century preceding World War I. However, as Antulio Echevarria argues, although none of those thinkers approached Clausewitz's stature, they were nonetheless theorists of considerable vision. The Kaiser's theorists have long been portrayed as narrow-minded thinkers rigidly attached to an outmoded way of war, little altered since Napoleon's time. According to this view, they ignored or simply failed to understand how industrialization and modernization had transformed the conduct of war. They seemed unaware of how numerous advances in technology and weaponry had so increased the power of the defensive that decisive victory had become virtually impossible. But Echevarria disputes this traditional view and convincingly shows that these theorists-Boguslawski, Goltz, Schlieffen, Hoenig, and their American and European counterparts-were not the architects of outmoded theories. In fact, they duly appreciated the implications of the vast advances in modern weaponry (as well as in transportation and communications) and set about finding solutions that would restore offensive maneuver to the battlefield. Among other things, they underscored the emerging need for synchronizing concentrated firepower with rapid troop movements, as well as the necessity of a decentralized command scheme in order to cope with the greater tempo, lethality, and scope of modern warfare. In effect, they redefined the essential relations among the combined arms of infantry, artillery, and cavalry. Echevarria goes on to suggest that attempts to apply new military theories and doctrine were uneven due to deficiencies in training and an overall lack of interest in theory among younger officers. It is this failure of application, more than the theories themselves, that are responsible for the ruinous slaughter of World War I.

    Patricia O'Meara Robbins, a professional photographer, documented everyday life as the shocked Oahu community recovered from one attack and prepared for another. In Hawaii Goes to War, the Joneses skillfully interweave Carroll's childhood remembrances and her mother's photographs with the history of the fleet salvage operations that enabled the navy to take on the Japanese armed forces. They follow the war from Pearl Harbor to the battles of the Coral Sea that led up to the triumph of Midway.

    entering World War II are reported as they happened in the local and national newspapers. Read about the attack in the December 7, 1941 edition of Honolulu Star Bulletin for a bird's eye view of the events. Both the US and Japanese papers are represented, accentuating the vast difference of perspective from both sides.

    During the reigns of Henry VII, Henry VIII, and Elizabeth I England was involved in a constant series of conflicts with Ireland and Scotland, and frequently sent expeditions to the territories now known as Belgium and the Netherlands to keep the Spanish and French at bay.

    Describes the August 1940 attack on, and sinking of, the Anglo Saxon, a British merchant ship, by the Widder, a German surface raider disguised as a merchant ship from a neutral country, and the ordeal of the survivors of the doomed ship.

    This guide to the area of the Arnhem operation features hundreds of color photographs, detailed tours of all the monuments and battle sites, and a large color map in addition to numerous ones in the text.Besides tourists, re-enactors, gamers and readers fascinated with the drama of the Arnhem epic will find this an invaluable guide.

    In the early months of 1642, when the Munster army of the Irish rebellion was admitted to Limerick, the Protestant and Anglo-Irish citizenry fled to the king's castle for protection, and were immediately besieged. To breach the masonry the besiegers used miners to make tunnels for the placing of timber props, ready for firing, underneath the foundations. The castle's defenders reacted by opening countermines to intercept the encroaching mines, hoping to save the walls from ruin. Substantial evidence for this 'military mining, ' unusually, has survived to yield their secrets to today's archaeologists and military historians, providing a fascinating record of the exceptional events of the siege. Kenneth Wiggins brings together detailed documentary sources and unique archaeological discoveries in an expert assessment of the siege, embracing the drama central to the story while highlighting technology and strategies characteristic of 'underground' siege warfare'. KENNETHWIGGINS is an archaeologist based in Limerick; his master's thesis, undertaken at University College, Cork, was on the subject of military mining.

    Intended as a primer for future aerospace officers; of likely interest to officers from other services and more experienced aerospace leaders as well. Annotation © Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

    Coverage includes the Taipeng and Boxer rebellions, Formosa, the Mongols and Gordon's Ever Victorious Army. Ian Heath's accompanying text is one of the most coherent accounts available of Chinese history during this turbulent period. Includes extensive bibliography. All the volumes in this series have a high quality traditional gold-embossed cloth cover and no dust jacket.

    While this alliance held out the prospect of significant religious and constitutional concessons this achievement was nullified by the subsequent Cromwellian catastrophe: the Confederate regime failed. In attributing this failure to political factionalism, historians have neglected the potential and limitations of the Confederate war effort. This study does not substitute crude military determinism but acknowledges that political indecision and strategic incoherence inhibited the war effort at critical junctures. From the conflicting political priorities of Confederates two partially exclusive military strategies, insular, and expeditionary, can be identified. Both strategies were proactive and so demanded standing armies rather than local militia units. This book emphasizes the crucial importance of the tax gathering apparatus in fueling the incremental growth of standing armies. In the absence of large scale foreign patronage, exacting money from an agrarian economy, rather than the shortages of material, or still less, manpower representing the crucial extrinsic limit to Confederate military potential. Given these limits, it was a considerable achievement to contain two British interventions (in 1642 and 1646/7 respectively). The influence of the contemporaneous "military revolution" on the European mainland was mediated by the cadre of returned mercenary officers. Consequently, the Confederates developed a qualitative edge in fortification and siegecraft. The application of the continental model and the shift from putatively "celtic" or irregular tactics of raiding and running battles would be more problematic. This and other explanations for the poor battlefield performance of the Confederate armies are discussed.

    This plan was a failure, chiefly because Hitler was not a statesman who would ultimately conform to familiar norms. Chamberlain's policy was doomed because he had greatly misjudged Hitler's basic beliefs and thus his behavior. U.S. Cold War nuclear deterrence policy was similarly based on the confident but questionable assumption that Soviet leaders would be rational by Washington's standards; they would behave reasonably when presented with nuclear threats. The United States assumed that any sane challenger would be deterred from severe provocations because not to do so would be foolish. Keith B. Payne addresses the question of whether this line of reasoning is adequate for the post-Cold War period. By analyzing past situations and a plausible future scenario, a U.S.-Chinese crisis over Taiwan, he proposes that American policymakers move away from the assumption that all our opponents are comfortably predictable by the standards of our own culture. In order to avoid unexpected and possibly disastrous failures of deterrence, he argues, we should closely examine particular opponents' culture and beliefs in order to better anticipate their likely responses to U.S. deterrence threats.

    

    Fully documents the scope of the allied POW ordeal on the Japanese ships that moved them from island to island for work in World War II.

    Their successes and failures resulted in the catastrophic event that globalized the Cold War ---the Korean War. Based on recently released secret documents, Richard Thornton puts the reader inside the American, Soviet and Chinese decision-making processes during these earth-shaking events, events that have been misinterpreted for decades.

    Ewell's first battle as a corps commander. Robert H. Milroy commanded the Union division occupying Winchester, thus blocking the Confederates' route into Pennsylvania. Larry B. Maier chronicles not only the battle but also Milroy's occupation of Winchester and Milroy's personality which compelled him to fight against overwhelming odds.

    

    And as this book shows, the debacle of the Second World War, the scorn of the German populace, and the control of the Allies did not entirely diminish the officers' critical role. By tracing the changing role of the officer corps from its position in the National Socialist dictatorship to its current status in a Western-style democracy, Soldiers as Citizens illuminates both the development of a democratic ideology in the Federal Republic and the influence of warfare in German society. Jay Lockenour details how former officers in West Germany founded quasi-legal organizations with memberships numbering in the hundreds of thousands; how they lobbied the German and Allied governments for their pensions, waged public relations campaigns to restore their lost "honor," and sought input into the rearmament plan after 1950; and how, as officers, they claimed to speak with the "voice of the soldier" whose wartime experiences and sacrifices earned him a special place in the new republic. In Lockenour's analysis, the officer corps provides an enlightening example of a social group, ravaged by war and defeat, trying to orient itself in a hostile world. In their alternative model for democracy based on "soldierly" values, they also give us a clearer, more complex understanding of postwar history.

    This relatively small area was made up of hills and almost impenetrable jungle and contained a remarkable number of warring tribes. Ian Heath has assembled 125 drawings, 52 other illustrations and 9 maps to chronicle this colorful but little-known part of the colonial world. This quality European hardcover has a gold-embossed cloth cover rather than an American style dust jacket.

    

    Written by a foremost authority on the British Army, this superbly narrated account of the war brings to life the ebb and flow of the fighting, the color of eighteenth-century warfare and the harsh realities of warfare in North America and the West Indies.

    With an introduction that describes the events that led up to the assault, extensive captions offering detailed explanations of each phase of the battle, and sidebars commemorating those whose courage will never be forgotten, this is truly a thoughtful tribute as well as an outstanding pictorial re-creation of this earth-shattering event.

    Upon his arrival in England in the fall of 1916, John discovered that the British Army did not want Canadian militia officers, whom they considered to be rank amateurs. Unwanted by the British Army but not allowed by the Canadian government to return home, John determined to serve his country in any way he could. He did this by becoming an Agricultural Officer for the British 2nd Army — one of many unwanted Canadian officers who served in ways they could not have imagined when they enlisted. Working at Army Headquarters, John rubbed shoulders on a daily basis with dozens of high-ranking officers, many of whom were members of the British upper-class. As an outsider, he was able to see them simply as men, not as lords, dukes, and earls, yet, by virtue of his HQ posting and his own skills as a farmer and organizer, he was often treated as an insider, one of the club. The work John was doing — raising food for the Army immediately behind the front lines — was new to everyone involved. There were no regulations detailing how it was to be done, and he often had to improvise as he went along, breaking the rules that applied to other military operations, aided and abetted by his commanding officers, who often made sure he didn’t know the rules! After the war, John was seconded to the Armistice Commission and posted to Cologne, Germany, where he inspected agricultural equipment and enjoyed a season of opera. He returned to Canada in 1919.

    Color photos showing re-enactors in authentic settings help to create a realistic picture of what it was like to live and fight in remote areas and often under very trying conditions. From front-line infantrymen to logistical support, and from private soldier to officers, this volume delivers color photos accompanied by explanatory text to make this an invaluable reference for military buffs.

    Participants on both sides considered it the hardest-fought battle between them in the eighteenth century, and both sides felt they attained their objectives: the British captured or sank seven French battleships, and the French saved their big grain convoy from America.In this book, experts explore the naval campaign from both British and French perspectives, setting it in its wider context of the war strategy of the rival powers. The intensity of the encounter is demonstrated through the accounts of eyewitnesses, three of which are here published for the first time, and the impact of the battle on public imagination is traced through plays, prints and paintings, and through the artefacts and memorials by which it was commemorated.

    One of the only full-length treatments of the heroic struggle of the Irish clansmen in their effort to defend their faith and country against English encroachment and conquest in the 16th century.

    A fascinating look at ancient Japanese weaponry, complete with 150 dazzling full-color photographs.

    Focusing on the bitterly fought battle between the American 22d Infantry Regiment and elements of the German LXXIV Korps around Grosshau, Rush chronicles small-unit combat at its most extreme and shows why, despite enormous losses, the Americans persevered in the Hurtgenwald meat grinder, a battle similar to two punch-drunk fighters staggering to survive the round.On 16 November 1944, the 22d Infantry entered the Hurtgen Forest as part of the U.S. Army's drive to cross the Roer River. During the next eighteen days, the 22d suffered more than 2,800 casualties--or about 86 percent of its normal strength of about 3,250 officers and men. After three days of fighting, the regiment had lost all three battalion commanders. After seven days, rifle company strengths stood at 50 percent and by battle's end each had suffered nearly 140 percent casualties.Despite these horrendous losses, the 22d Regiment survived and fought on, due in part to army personnel policies that ensured that unit strengths remained high even during extreme combat. Previously wounded soldiers returned to their units and new replacements, green to battle, arrived to follow the remaining battle-hardened cadre. The attack halted only when no veterans remained to follow.The German units in the Hurtgenwald suffered the same horrendous attrition, with one telling difference. German replacement policy detracted from rather than enhanced German combat effectiveness. Organizations had high paper strength but low manpower, and commanders consolidated decimated units time after time until these ever-dwindling bands of soldiers disappeared forever: killed, wounded, captured, or surrendered.The performance of American and German forces during this harrowing eighteen days of combat was largely a product of their respective backgrounds, training, and organization. This pre-battle aspect, not normally seen in combat history, helps explain why the Americans were successful and the Germans were not.Rush's work underscores both the horrors of combat and the resiliency of American organizations. While honoring the sacrifice and triumph of the common soldier, it also compels us to reexamine our views on the requisites for victory on the battlefield.

    Examination of one of the least-known battles of the Civil War, fought on May 13, 1865 -- six weeks after the Army of Northern Virginia's surrender at Appomattox Court House.

    Covers U.S. involvement in conflicts from Vietnam to Kosovo.

    A study of East European and Middle Eastern Collaboration with Nazi Germany in World War II.Hundreds of color, b&w photos, diagrams, tables, charts, line drawings, etc.

    It also addresses rifle platoon and squad non-combat operations across the spectrum of conflict. Content discussions include principles, tactics, techniques, procedures, terms, and symbols that apply to small unit operations in the current operational environment (COE). FM 3-21.8 supersedes FM 7-8, Infantry Rifle Platoon and Squad, dated 22 April 1992. The primary audiences for this manual are Infantry rifle platoon leaders, platoon sergeants, and squad and fire team leaders. Secondary audiences include instructors in U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) schools, writers of Infantry training literature, other Infantry leaders and staff officers, and Reserve Officer Training Candidate (ROTC) and military academy instructors.