Witness a Green Beret, shot in the back four times and left for dead, who survives to fight savagely against incredible odds to complete his missions. Shudder as an enemy soldier touches a Green Beret’s boot in the dark of night. Cringe as a Sergeant on SOG Spike Team Louisiana calls in an air strike on his team to break an enemy’s wave attack. A team member dies instantly, and a Green Beret has an out-of-body experience as he watches his leg get blown off. “As the commander of SOG, I can say that “Across the Fence” accurately reflects why the secret war was hazardous for our troops and so deadly for the enemy. – Major General John K. Singlaub (U. S. Army Ret.)Black Ops told with the terrifying clarity that only one who was there can tell it.– W.E.B. Griffin & William E. Butterworth IV

    We will do what damage we can.”With these words, Lieutenant Commander Robert W. Copeland addressed the crew of the destroyer escort USS Samuel B. Roberts on the morning of October 25, 1944, off the Philippine Island of Samar. On the horizon loomed the mightiest ships of the Japanese navy, a massive fleet that represented the last hope of a staggering empire. All that stood between it and Douglas MacArthur’s vulnerable invasion force were the Roberts and the other small ships of a tiny American flotilla poised to charge into history.In the tradition of the #1 New York Times bestseller Flags of Our Fathers, James D. Hornfischer paints an unprecedented portrait of the Battle of Samar, a naval engagement unlike any other in U.S. history—and captures with unforgettable intensity the men, the strategies, and the sacrifices that turned certain defeat into a legendary victory.From the Hardcover edition.

    Drawing on original source material, from soldiers' letters to official military records of the war, Stephen W. Sears's Gettysburg is a remarkable and dramatic account of the legendary campaign. He takes particular care in his study of the battle's leaders and offers detailed analyses of their strategies and tactics, depicting both General Meade's heroic performance in his first week of army command and General Lee's role in the agonizing failure of the Confederate army. With characteristic style and insight, Sears brings the epic tale of the battle in Pennsylvania vividly to life.

    Army Special Operations Blackhawk over Somalia, Michael Durant was shot down with a rocket-propelled grenade on October 3, 1993. With devastating injuries, he was taken prisoner by a Somali warlord. With revealing insight and emotion, he tells the story of what he saw, how he survived, and the courage and heroism that only soldiers under fire could ever know.

    For the eighteen men of Charlie Company, it was a last stand. This is the stirring combat memoir written by Ray Hildreth, one of the unit's survivors.On June 13, 1966, men of the 1st Recon Battalion, 1st Marine Division were stationed on Hill 488. Before the week was over, they would fight the battle that would make them the most highly decorated small unit in the entire history of the U.S. military, winning a Congressional Medal of Honor, four Navy Crosses, thirteen Silver Stars, and eighteen Purple Hearts—some of them posthumously.During the early evening of June 15, a battalion of hardened North Vietnamese regulars and Viet Cong—outnumbering the Americans 25-to-1—threw everything they had at the sixteen Marines and two Navy corpsmen for the rest of that terror-filled night. Every man who held the hill was either killed or wounded defending the ground with unbelievable courage and unflagging determination—even as reinforcements were on the way.All they had to do was make it until dawn....

    Based on firsthand accounts from long-lost survivors who have emerged to tell about it, this stirring tale of the “Alamo of the Pacific” will reverberate for generations to come.On December 8, 1941, just five hours after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Japanese planes attacked a remote U.S. outpost in the westernmost reaches of the Pacific. It was the beginning of an incredible sixteen-day fight for Wake Island, a tiny but strategically valuable dot in the ocean. Unprepared for the stunning assault, the small battalion was dangerously outnumbered and outgunned. But they compensated with a surplus of bravery and perseverance, waging an extraordinary battle against all odds.When it was over, a few hundred American Marines, sailors, and soldiers, along with a small army of heroic civilian laborers, had repulsed enemy forces several thousand strong––but it was still not enough. Among the Marines was twenty-year-old PFC Wiley Sloman. By Christmas Day, he lay semiconscious in the sand, struck by enemy fire. Another day would pass before he was found—stripped of his rifle and his uniform. Shocked to realize he hadn’t awakened to victory, Sloman wondered: Had he been given up for dead—and had the Marines simply given up?In this riveting account, veteran journalist Bill Sloan re-creates this history-making battle, the crushing surrender, and the stories of the uncommonly gutsy men who fought it. From the civilians who served as gunmen, medics, and even preachers, to the daily grind of life on an isolated island—literally at the ends of the earth—to the agony of POW camps, here we meet our heroes and confront the enemy face-to-face, bayonet to bayonet.

    You attack the world’s fiercest defenses at 500 knots and share the ultimate thrill of hurling yourself against almost impossible odds–and winning.–JACK BROUGHTON, author of Thud RidgeEd Rasimus straps the reader into the cockpit of an F-105 Thunderchief fighter-bomber in his engaging account of the Rolling Thunder campaign in the skies over North Vietnam. Between 1965 and 1968, more than 330 F-105s were lost–the highest loss rate in Southeast Asia–and many pilots were killed, captured, and wounded because of the Air Force’s disastrous tactics. The descriptions of Rasimus’s one hundred missions, some of the most dangerous of the conflict, will satisfy anyone addicted to vivid, heart-stopping aerial combat, as will the details of his transformation from a young man paralyzed with self-doubt into a battle-hardened veteran. His unique perspective, candid analysis, and the sheer power of his narrative rank his memoir with the finest, most entertaining of the war. “A story that reflects the bravery of the men who flew over enemy territory in a perilous time.”–The Baltimore Chronicle“[A] MODERN-DAY RED BADGE OF COURAGE .”–JOHN DARRELL SHERWOOD, author of Fast Movers: Jet Pilots and the Vietnam ExperienceLook for these remarkable stories of American courage in the Vietnam warDOWN SOUTHOne Tour in Vietnamby William H. HardwickLOST IN TRANSLATIONVietnam: A Combat Advisor’s Storyby Martin J. Dockery MEDIC!The Story of a Conscientious Objector in the Vietnam Warby Ben Sherman WE WERE SOLDIERS ONCE . . . AND YOUNGIa Drang: The Battle that Changed the War in Vietnamby Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore and Joseph L. Galloway

    Flyboys, a story of war and horror but also of friendship and honor, tells the story of those men. Over the remote Pacific island of Chichi Jima, nine American flyers-Navy and Marine pilots sent to bomb Japanese communications towers there-were shot down. One of those nine was miraculously rescued by a U.S. Navy submarine. The others were captured by Japanese soldiers on Chichi Jima and held prisoner. Then they disappeared. When the war was over, the American government, along with the Japanese, covered up everything that had happened on Chichi Jima. The records of a top-secret military tribunal were sealed, the lives of the eight Flyboys were erased, and the parents, brothers, sisters, and sweethearts they left behind were left to wonder. Flyboys reveals for the first time ever the extraordinary story of those men. Bradley's quest for the truth took him from dusty attics in American small towns, to untapped government archives containing classified documents, to the heart of Japan, and finally to Chichi Jima itself. What he discovered was a mystery that dated back far before World War II-back 150 years, to America's westward expansion and Japan's first confrontation with the western world. Bradley brings into vivid focus these brave young men who went to war for their country, and through their lives he also tells the larger story of two nations in a hellish war. With no easy moralizing, Bradley presents history in all its savage complexity, including the Japanese warrior mentality that fostered inhuman brutality and the U.S. military strategy that justified attacks on millions of civilians. And, after almost sixty years of mystery, Bradley finally reveals the fate of the eight American Flyboys, all of whom would ultimately face a moment and a decision that few of us can even imagine. Flyboys is a story of war and horror but also of friendship and honor. It is about how we die, and how we live-including the tale of the Flyboy who escaped capture, a young Navy pilot named George H. W. Bush who would one day become president of the United States. A masterpiece of historical narrative, Flyboys will change forever our understanding of the Pacific war and the very things we fight for.

    Italian aircraft pummel the idyllic Mediterranean island of Malta. It is the first of more than three thousand raids that the island will suffer as it becomes the most bombed place on earth.The day before, Mussolini had declared war on Britain, and in that moment, the tiny island of Malta'slightly larger than Cape Codbecame one of the most important strategic pieces of land in the world.Today, this valiant story is largely forgotten, but James Holland offers a riveting portrait of the siege that helped determine victory or defeat in World War II. For nearly three years, Malta held the key to dominance in the Mediterranean and North Africa. Lying between Italy and Libya, Malta was the ideal place from which to attack shipping lines supplying Italian and German forces in North Africa. To save Egypt, the Suez Canal, and the Middle East oil fields from Nazi control, it was essential that the island be held at all costs.The Axis powers were equally determined to annihilate Malta. In two months aloneMarch and April 1942more bombs fell on Malta than on London during the entire Blitz. A small band of fighter pilots facing the Luftwaffe and Regia Aeronautica; a garrison of British and American troops; and a stubborn local population refused to surrender to vastly superior forces. Despite starvation and disease, the Maltese bravely held out. Not only did they hang on, their torpedo bombers and submariners continued to sink critical amounts of Rommel's supplies. In honor of this tenacity and bravery, George VI bestowed the George Cross, the highest civilian award for valor, upon the entire island.Fortress Malta follows the story through the eyes of individuals who were there: the pilots, submariners, soldiers, and civilians who provide the tales of heroism, resilience, love, and loss. Using interviews with survivors, letters, and diaries never-before-published, James Holland brings to life this extraordinary real-life David-and-Goliath battle in a moving, astonishing narrative.

    They were part of Company A of the 116th Regiment of the 29th Division, and the first wave of American soldiers to hit the beaches in Normandy. Later in the campaign, three more boys from this small Virginia town died of gunshot wounds. Twenty-two sons of Bedford lost--it is a story one cannot easily forget and one that the families of Bedford will never forget. The Bedford Boys is the true and intimate story of these men and the friends and families they left behind.Based on extensive interviews with survivors and relatives, as well as diaries and letters, Kershaw's book focuses on several remarkable individuals and families to tell one of the most poignant stories of World War II--the story of one small American town that went to war and died on Omaha Beach.

    Its organization and tactics were highly advanced and were unequaled until the modern era. Spectacular monuments to its perseverance and engineering skill are still visible today, most notably Hadrian’s Wall and the siegeworks around the fortress of Masada.This book is the first to examine in detail not just the early imperial army but also the citizens’ militia of the Republic and the army of the later Empire. The unprecedented scope and longevity of Roman military success is placed in the context of ordinary soldiers’ daily lives, whether spent in the quiet routine of a peaceful garrison or in arduous campaign and violent combat. Key battles and tactics are described, and there are brief biographies of the great commanders.Drawing on archaeology, ancient art, and original documentary sources, this book presents the most convincing history ever published of the Roman army.

    The book includes 144 contemporary portraits of recipients by award-winning photographer Nick Del Calzo and profiles by National Book Award nominee Peter Collier. First published on Veterans Day 2003, this New York Times bestseller has now been updated and augmented to include new essays plus:• Letters from all living presidents • A foreword by Brian Williams • Profiles of Sergeant Giunta and Sergeant PetryThere are also essays by Tom Brokaw, Senator John McCain, and Victor Davis Hanson, and a multimedia DVD with historic footage and recipients’ first-person reflections. The Medal of Honor recipients in the book fought in conflicts from World War II to Afghanistan, serving in every branch of the armed services.

    In the end, as John Keegan notes, contemporaries felt that Napoleon's defeat had "reversed the tide of European history." Even 190 years later, the name Waterloo resounds. Italian historian Alessandro Barbero's majestic new account stands apart from previous British and French histories by giving voice to all the nationalities that took part. Invoking the memories of British, French, and Prussian soldiers, Barbero meticulously re-creates the conflict as it unfolded, from General Reille's early afternoon assault on the chateau of Hougoumont, to the desperate last charge of Napoleon's Imperial Guard as evening settled in. From privates to generals, Barbero recounts individual miracles and tragedies, moments of courage and foolhardiness, skillfully blending them into the larger narrative of the battle's extraordinary ebb and flow. One is left with indelible images: cavalry charges against soldiers formed in squares; the hand-to-hand combat around farmhouses; endless cannon balls and smoke. And, finally, a powerful appreciation of the inevitability and futility of war. To be published on the 190th anniversary of Waterloo, The Battle is a masterpiece of military history.

    A powerful British force had routed the Americans at New York, occupied three colonies, and advanced within sight of Philadelphia.Yet, as David Hackett Fischer recounts in this riveting history, George Washington--and many other Americans--refused to let the Revolution die. On Christmas night, as a howling nor'easter struck the Delaware Valley, he led his men across the river and attacked the exhausted Hessian garrison atTrenton, killing or capturing nearly a thousand men. A second battle of Trenton followed within days. The Americans held off a counterattack by Lord Cornwallis's best troops, then were almost trapped by the British force. Under cover of night, Washington's men stole behind the enemy and struck themagain, defeating a brigade at Princeton. The British were badly shaken. In twelve weeks of winter fighting, their army suffered severe damage, their hold on New Jersey was broken, and their strategy was ruined.Fischer's richly textured narrative reveals the crucial role of contingency in these events. We see how the campaign unfolded in a sequence of difficult choices by many actors, from generals to civilians, on both sides. While British and German forces remained rigid and hierarchical, Americansevolved an open and flexible system that was fundamental to their success. The startling success of Washington and his compatriots not only saved the faltering American Revolution, but helped to give it new meaning.

    While war is an extension of the politics of a nation, it ultimately falls to the lot of the soldier to face combat on the ground. Schooled in the culture of 'Service before Self', soldiers of the Indian Army take their challenges head-on, turning adversity into opportunity, overcoming impossible situations with a smile. While some of their deeds of valour are rewarded, many more need to be remembered. What makes these men the way they are? This book helps us understand better the Indian soldier and his degree of commitment to the Indian Army, and to the nation that he serves.

    Now a prominent military historian, breaking new ground on the assault, relates the compelling events of that day and the heroic struggle that followed. Thanks to the brave Marines stationed there-and the civilian construction workers who selflessly put their lives on the line to defend the island-what was supposed to be an easy victory became a protracted and costly battle for Imperial Japan. This is the story of that battle, from survivors on both sides, and with a gallery of historic photos.

    John Edmund Delezen felt a kinship with the people he was instructed to kill in Vietnam; they were all at the mercy of the land. His memoir begins when he enlisted in the Marine Corps and was sent to Vietnam in March of 1967. He volunteered for the Third Force Recon Company, whose job it was to locate and infiltrate enemy lines undetected and map their locations and learn details of their status. The duty was often painful both physically and mentally. He was stricken with malaria in November of 1967, wounded by a grenade in February of 1968 and hit by a bullet later that summer. He remained in Vietnam until December, 1968. Delezen writes of Vietnam as a man humbled by a mysterious country and horrified by acts of brutality. The land was his enemy as much as the Vietnamese soldiers. He vividly describes the three-canopy jungle with birds and monkeys overhead that could be heard but not seen, venomous snakes hiding in trees and relentless bugs that fed on men. He recalls stumbling onto a pit of rotting Vietnamese bodies left behind by American forces, and days when fierce hunger made a bag of plasma seem like an enticing meal. He writes of his fallen comrades and the images of war that still pervade his dreams. This book contains many photographs of American Marines and Vietnam as well as three maps.

    the ancient world was torn apart by a conflict that was as dramatic, divisive, and destructive as the world wars of the twentieth century: the Peloponnesian War. Donald Kagan, one of the world’s most respected classical, political, and military historians, here presents a new account of this vicious war of Greek against Greek, Athenian against Spartan. The Peloponnesian War is a magisterial work of history written for general readers, offering a fresh examination of a pivotal moment in Western civilization. With a lively, readable narrative that conveys a richlydetailed portrait of a vanished world while honoring its timeless relevance, The Peloponnesian War is a chronicle of the rise and fall of a great empire and of a dark time whose lessons still resonate today.

    Alarmed by Bismarck's territorial ambitions and the Prussian army's crushing defeats of Denmark in 1864 and Austria in 1866, French Emperor Napoleon III vowed to bring Prussia to heel. Digging into many European and American archives for the first time, Geoffrey Wawro's Franco-Prussian War describes the war that followed in thrilling detail. While the armies mobilized in July 1870, the conflict appeared "too close to call." Prussia and its German allies had twice as many troops as the French. But Marshal Achille Bazaine's grognards ("old grumblers") were the stuff of legend, the most resourceful, battle-hardened, sharp-shooting troops in Europe, and they carried the best rifle in the world. From the political intrigues that began and ended the war to the bloody battles at Gravelotte and Sedan and the last murderous fights on the Loire and in Paris, this is the definitive history of the Franco-Prussian War.

    The story of the Warsaw Rising from the the leading British authority on the history of Poland.

    It was a climactic encounter, the culmination of a fantastically expensive naval race between the two countries, and expectations on both sides were high. For the Royal Navy's Grand Fleet, there was the chance to win another Trafalgar. For the German High Seas Fleet, there was the opportunity to break the British blockade and so change the course of the war. But Jutland was a confused and controversial encounter. Tactically, it was a draw; strategically, it was a British victory.Naval historians have pored over the minutiae of Jutland ever since. Yet they have largely ignored what the battle was actually like for its thousands of participants. Full of drama and pathos, of chaos and courage, JUTLAND, 1916 describes the sea battle in the dreadnought era from the point of view of those who were there.

    The first journalist to be embedded with an Air Force combat unit in the War on Terrorism, Hirsh flew from Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, with the 71st Rescue Squadron to their expeditionary headquarters at a secret location in Central Asia. Unparalleled access to the PJs, as well as to the courageous men and women who fly them where they have to go, often under enemy fire, allowed Hirsh to uncover incredible stories of courage.

    By the time Foley finally managed to grab a few hours sleep three nights later, he'd already fought in a bloody attack that left sixty percent of his battalion dead or wounded. That was just the beginning of one of the toughest, bloodiest challenges the 94th would ever face: breaking through the Siegfried Line. Now, in Visions from a Foxhole, Foley recaptures that desperate, nerve-shattering struggle in all its horror and heroism. Features the author's artwork of his fellow soldiers and battle scenes, literally sketched from the foxhole Look for these remarkable stories of American courage at war BEHIND HITLER'S LINESThe True Story of the Only Soldier to Fight for BothAmerica and the Soviet Union in World War IIThomas H. TaylorTHE HILL FIGHTSThe First Battle of Khe Sanhby Edward F. Murphy NO BENDED KNEEThe Battle for Guadalcanalby Gen. Merrill B. Twining, USMC (Ret.) THE ROAD TO BAGHDADBehind Enemy Lines: The Adventures of an American Soldier in the Gulf Warby Martin Stanton

    This was exciting enough but only a taste of what was to come. The Japanese advance into Burma threatened India and, along with many thousands of British and Colonial troops, Lowry found himself fighting in the Arakan region, where he earned a further Mention in Despatches. Conditions were appalling and the fighting was bitter by any standards. At one point his Battalion was cut off by the Japs for three weeks but surrender was never an option. Yet even worse was to come as the Battalion was thrown into the thick of the action at Kohima which is rated as the most desperate defensive action for the campaign. In one week 173 members of his Battalion were lost. All this is vividly described in this fascinating and inspiring memoir which will enthrall its readers.

    Christopher Duffy’s original research reveals evidence of a wider plot against the Hanoverians and more support for the risings in Scotland, than had been suspected before. Filled with maps and a guide to the key sites, it provides an eye-opening perspective.

    Named "the direct heir to Patrick O'Brian" by The Economist, Bernard Cornwell is the undisputed master of historical battle fi ction, and for more than twenty years, his Richard Sharpe series has thrilled millions of readers worldwide on both the page and on television.Now author Mark Adkin, a major in the British army, has created this indispensable guide covering Sharpe's early career, from his beginnings as an illiterate private fighting on the battlefields of India to his legendary command of the Light Company.A treasure not only for fans of the series but also for anyone interested innineteenth-century warfare, The Sharpe Companion includes:A chapter devoted to each Sharpe bookGlossary of characters, both real and fictionalIllustrations and photographsMaps of every battle and skirmishFull of fascinating historical details, thrilling contemporary accounts of actual battles, and impeccable research, The Sharpe Companion is a must for every student of military history and an essential addition to every Sharpe fan's library.

    A real-life American naval hero in the early nineteenth century, he led an astonishing life, and his remarkable acts of courage in combat made him one of the most celebrated figures of his era.Decatur's dazzling exploits in the Barbary Wars propelled him to national prominence at the age of twenty-five. His dramatic capture of HMS "Macedonian" in the War of 1812, and his subsequent naval and diplomatic triumphs in the Mediterranean, secured his permanent place in the hearts of his countrymen. Handsome, dashing, and fearless, his crews worshipped him, presidents lionized him, and an adoring public heaped fresh honors on him with each new achievement.James Tertius de Kay is one of our foremost naval historians. In "A Rage for Glory," the first new biography of Decatur in almost seventy years, he recounts Decatur's life in vivid colors. Drawing on material unavailable to previous biographers, he traces the origins of Decatur's fierce patriotism ("My country...right or wrong!"), chronicles Decatur's passionate love affair with Susan Wheeler, and provides new details of Decatur's tragic death in a senseless duel of honor, secretly instigated by the backroom machinations of jealous fellow officers determined to ruin him. His death left official Washington in such shock that his funeral became a state occasion, attended by friends who included former President James Madison, current President James Monroe, Chief Justice John Marshall, and ten thousand more.Decatur's short but crowded life was an astonishing epic of hubris, romance, and high achievement. Only a handful of Americans sincehis time have ever come close to matching his extraordinary glamour and brilliance.

    This was a young person's war and these people record their experiences with all the immediacy and passion of youth. They talk to us directly from within the war itself and from all sides of the conflict -- from the testimony of a Serbian teenager, one of Franz Ferdinand's assassins, to the final entry from a French soldier as he revisits a battlefield in 1919, realising he and the rest of the world have changed irrevocably. Most of these letters and diaries have never been published in English before. They were uncovered during extensive research across twenty-eight countries for the major ten-part series THE FIRST WORLD WAR, broadcast on Channel 4 in autumn 2003. The series will introduce many of the characters who appear in this book and will, like the book, recount the complex history of the war though the lives of the individuals caught up in it.

    In "Death of the Leaping Horseman: 24th Panzer-Division in Stalingrad," the untold story of 24th Panzer-Division's savage fighting on Stalingrad's outskirts - and in the devastated ruins of the city itself - is revealed in a detailed day-by-day account. Beginning in the heady days of the victorious march toward Stalingrad in August 1942, the book follows the Division into Stalingrad's suburbs as it is slowly and inexorably suked into the fiery crucible that was Stalingrad. Panzer losses and casualties increased daily until finally, after three months of draining combat, the Division was reduced to a battlegroup consisting of a couple of panzers and a few hundred men. Woven through official combat reports and entries from the Division's war diaries are gripping accounts from the few remaining veterans - including an Oakleaves winner and several Knight's Cross winners. Contains over 200 photos and 85 maps and aerial photos.

    Burnam’s account of his tenure as a scout dog handler patrolling the jungles of Vietnam with his German shepherd, Clipper, at his side.There were 10,000 soldiers in Vietnam like Burnam, accompanied by these intelligent, adaptable scout dogs.  Between hazardous missions, the dogs were loving, playful friends who shared the lives of their human squadmates, while in the combat zone they were all business.  Routinely braving danger, the canines searched for injured GIs, probed for potentially lethal booby traps, located underground weapons caches, and warned of approaching enemy attacks and ambushes.  So valuable was the dogs’  service that the Viet Cong offered a hefty bounty for their lives. Despite their heroism, many of these dogs were abandoned at the conflict’s end, left to fend for themselves.  Since the 1990s, this book has had two runs as a self-published book, and one as a trade title, with all three of these print runs selling out.

    Prussian military prowess became legendary.But the Franco-German army swept away at Rossbach, and the Austrian army routed at Leuthen, were not only larger and had a fair share of professional soldiers, but the Austrians had beaten the Prussians not long before. So how were they so humiliated? What made Frederick Great?For more than a century people believed it was because the Prussians were just naturally suited for war. Until 1945 many Germans, and their foes, remembered how Frederick miraculously saved Prussia against overwhelming odds, by marching through the snow towards Leuthen church.As always it was not so simple. The expert on 18th century armies, Christopher Duffy, shows why French, Austrian and Reichsarmee soldiers, though often enough brave and skilful, marched to defeat, and how Frederick, often unaware of the legend he was creating, won these famous battles. But it is no longer left to myth, but to reliable accounts of hard fighting, quick decisions, and the fate of the soldiers and civilians swept up by the fighting.

    Fighting and thieving their way across Europe, they are clearly no ordinary troops. The 95th are in fact the first British soldiers to take aim at their targets, to take cover when being shot at, to move tactically by fire and manoeuvre. And by the end of the six-year campaign they have not only proved themselves the toughest fighters in the army, they have also - at huge personal cost - created the modern notion of the infantryman.In an exhilarating work of narrative military history, Mark Urban traces the story of the 95th Rifles, the toughest and deadliest sharpshooters of Wellington's Army.'If you like Sharpe, then this book is a must, your Christmas present solved.' Bernard Cornwell, Daily Mail'Urban writes history the way it should be written, alive and exciting.' Andy McNab

    Few on the surface knew of the barbaric and claustraphobic work of the tunnellers, who not only suffered from mine explosions but regularly encountered hazardous gas and waterlogged ground. The result of over twenty-five years of research, Beneath Flanders Fields reveals how this intense underground battle was fought and won. The authors give the first full account of mine warfare in World War I through the words of the tunnellers themselves as well as plans, drawings, and previously unpublished archive photographs, many in colour. Beneath Flanders Fields also shows how military mining evolved. The tunnellers constructed hundreds of deep dugouts that housed tens of thousands of troops. Often electrically lit and ventilated, these tunnels incorporated headquarters, cookhouses, soup kitchens, hospitals, drying rooms, and workshops. A few dugouts survive today, a final physical legacy of the Great War, and are seen for the first time in photographs in Beneath Flanders Fields.

    Lee's goals for the battle. Author and Gettysburg National Military Park historian Troy D. Harman believes this view is misinformed. Lee's Real Plan at Gettysburg presents a provocative new theory regarding Lee's true tactical objectives during this pivotal battle of the American Civil War.

    

    Their instructions were simple: look beyond the daily news headlines, dig beneath the breaking stories, and capture what life is like on an ordinary day for the men and women of the United States Armed Forces around the world.For 24 consecutive hours, this prize-winning team of civilian and military photographers -- working with the cooperation and support of the Department of Defense -- chronicled daily life in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marine Corps, and Coast Guard.The resulting book of photographs documents the lives of elite units and freshly minted recruits; of cadets, generals, fire-fighters, medics, and MPs; of soldiers at desolate outposts and on strategic bases. It illustrates life in the cockpit of a fighter, on a Trident submarine, in an underground missile silo, and at computer terminals in a war room. It shows personnel patrolling borders, jungles, mountains, and harbors; training for special operations; and fighting terrorism.It is a timeless portrait -- in indelible images and eloquent words -- of the men and women who wear the uniforms of the American military. They are your sons, daughters, spouses, neighbors, and friends.Together these photographs provide an inspiring visual reminder of the routine and heroic operations, the sacrifices and dedication, that are necessary to defend America's freedoms 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

    forces met and contained large-scale attacks by Chinese forces. Colonel Paul Freeman and the larger-than-life Colonel Ralph Monclar led the American 23rd Infantry Regiment and the French Bataillon de Corée, respectively, in the fierce and dangerous battles that followed the precipitous U.N. retreat down the Korean Peninsula.In Leadership in the Crucible, Kenneth Hamburger details the actions of the units in the United Nations counteroffensive following the Chinese intervention, including routine patrols, the harrowing battle of Twin Tunnels, and the pivotal siege of Chipyong-ni. The regiment was cut off from artillery fire support and was resupplied only by parachute drops. Repeatedly attacked by superior Chinese forces during the two nights and final day of fighting, the U.N. units finally welcomed relief by the armored Tank Force Crombez of the 1st Cavalry Division.From extensive personal interviews and a careful reconstruction of the written record, Hamburger brilliantly analyzes the roles that training, cohesion, morale, logistics, and leadership play in success or failure on the front lines of limited war. He also addresses the vexing problem of when, and at what level, commanders have the right and even the responsibility to question lawful orders they believe are flawed.In this careful consideration of combat leadership at all levels, Hamburger offers his readers stories of men sustaining themselves and one another to the limits of human endurance. By thoroughly sorting out the chaos, carnage, and courage of the battles, he provides a uniquely detailed description of these two crucial battles and a well-organized discussion of unit cohesion and command that is sure to become a classic in the field of leadership studies.

    Navy's top-secret, four-hundred-ton submarine, an expensive, dangerous vessel with a custom-built miniature nuclear reactor designed as a secret weapon during the Cold War. Reprint. 25,000 first printing.

    The legions and their commanders carved out an empire which eventually included the greater part of the known world. This was thanks largely to the generals who led the Roman army to victory after victory, and whose strategic and tactical decisions shaped the course of several centuries of warfare.This book, by the author of THE PUNIC WARS, concentrates on those Roman generals who displayed exceptional gifts of leadership and who won the greatest victories. With 26 chapters covering the entire span of the Roman Empire, it is a complete history of Roman warfare.

    Illustrated with 120 photographs Carries the reader from the Alps in WWI to North Africa in WWII With many photographs taken by Rommel himself

    1605) are probably the most important works ever written on the Western martial tradition, straddling the medieval and Renaissance worlds and summing up the collective experience of centuries of European warcraft. With in-depth analyses by the author and others, this is an indispensable reference.

    To the great landscape historian WG Hoskins writing in the 1950’s they were profoundly alien: “England of the … electric fence, of the high barbed wire around some unmentionable devilment…. Barbaric England of the scientists, the military men , and the politicians”. Now these survivors of the Cold War are, in their turn , disappearing fast, like medieval monasteries and bastioned forts before them – only with more limited scope for regeneration and reuse. This book is the first to look at these monuments to the Cold War. It is heavily illustrated with photographs of the sites as they survive today, archive photographs (many previously unpublished), modern and historic air photographs, site and building plans, and specially commissioned interpretative drawings. It also endeavours look at the installations within the military and political context of what was one of the defining phenomena of the late 20th century.

    An exceptional photographic history of the changing face of war and combat photo journalism through the last 150 years fully illustrated with over 200 photographs

    They were missions no one else wanted, but the ones all other pilots prayed for when shot down. Flying the World War II-vintage Douglas A-1 Skyraider, a single-engine, propeller-driven relic in a war of “fast-movers,” these intrepid US Air Force pilots, call sign Sandy, risked their lives with every mission to rescue thousands of downed Navy and Air Force pilots.With a flashback memory and a style all his own, George J. Marrett depicts some of the most dangerous aerial combat of any war. The thrilling rescue of “Streetcar 304” and William Jones's selfless act of heroism that earned him the Medal of Honor are but two of the compelling tales he recounts. Here too are the courages Jolly Green Giant helicopter crews, parajumpers, and forward air controllers who worked with the Sandys over heavily defended jungles and mountains well behind enemy lines.Passionate, mordantly witty, and filled with heart-pounding adrenaline, Cheating Death reads like the finest combat fiction, but it is the real deal: its heroes, cowards, jokers, and casualties all have names and faces readers will find difficult to forget.From the Trade Paperback edition.

    The history of the Marine Corps is inextricably intertwined with that of the country it defends—from its formation during the American Revolution through the Civil War, World Wars I and II, Korea, Vietnam, and the Gulf War, right up to its recent role in Afghanistan. Marines not only played a deciding role in many of the moments which have determined our history, but set a standard for honor, self-sacrifice, and courage which has defined the best of military heroism in this country for generations. Including the most compelling excerpts from classics old and new by authors such as Thomas Ricks (Making the Corps), James Brady (The Coldest War), Studs Terkel (The Good War), Lewis B. Puller, Jr. (Fortunate Son), James W. Johnson (The Long Road of War), Joseph Alexander (Edson's Raiders), John C. Stevens III (Court-Martial At Parris Island), Anthony Swofford (Jarhead), and Frank and John Schaeffer (Keeping Faith), this anthology will bring readers the pain, pride, and glory of being a member of America's most renowned fighting group.

    This is a thorough examination of the campaigns of the "war to end all wars." It analyzes the development of military theory and practice from the prewar period of Bismark's Prussia to the creation of the League of Nations.

    A biography of William Joyce, the Irishman who became known as Lord Haw Haw for his Third Reich propaganda broadcasts.

    In their role as “escorts” to Flying Fortresses and Liberators, the fighter squadrons’ ability to blast enemy aircraft from the sky was key to the success of pinpoint bombing raids on German oil refineries, communication and supply lines, and other crucial targets. Flying in formation with the bomber stream, Fortier and the rest of his squadron helped develop dive-bombing and strafing tactics for the Thunderbolts and Mustangs. As the war progressed, fighter squadrons began to carry out their own bombing missions. From blasting V-1 missile sites along France’s “rocket coast” and the hell-torn action of D day to the critical attacks on the Ruhr Valley and massive daylight raids on German industrial targets, Fortier was part of the Allies’ bitter struggle to bring the Nazi war machine to a halt. In describing his own hundred-plus missions and by including the accounts of fellow fighter pilots, Fortier recaptures the excitement and fiery terror of the world’s most dangerous cat-and-mouse game.From the Paperback edition.

    Whereas the earlier half of the war was dominated by a few climactic battles (White Mountain, Lutter, Breitenfeld, and Nordlingen), the later period consisted of a more drawn-out struggle between more evenly matched opponents. The successful general had to conduct strategic campaigns, in which battles, sieges, maneuvers, and logistics would all play a part. Guthrie examines broad questions of strategy, leadership, armaments, organization, logistics, and war finances. Battles detailed in this volume include the Swedish victories of Wittstock, 2nd Breitenfeld, and Jankow; the French victories of Rheinfelden, Rocroi, Freiburg, and 2nd Nordlingen; as well as the anticlimactic action of Zusmarhausen. Guthrie emphasizes the unique aspects of the Thirty Years War, its place in the evolution of warfare and weapons, and the adjustment of the actual waging of war to the rise of the nascent linear system. Based on research previously unavailable in English, each campaign is recreated in detail, including orders of battle, tactics, and maps.

    Even before the Wright Brothers’ first flight, predictions abounded of the devastating and terrible consequences this new invention would have as an engine of war. Soaring over the battlefield, the airplane became an unstoppable force that left no spot on earth safe from attack. Drawing on combat memoirs, letters, diaries, archival records, museum collections, and eyewitness accounts by the men who fought—and the men who developed the breakthrough inventions and concepts—acclaimed author Stephen Budiansky weaves a vivid and dramatic account of the airplane’s revolutionary transformation of modern warfare.On the web: http://www.budiansky.com/

    At the dawn of the 21st Century there seem to be a great interest in hypersonic flight. For the most part this is related to a new generation of missiles - air-to-air and air-to-surface - that are being proposed as the next logical increment in weapons, although the designers of the forever-in-development replacement for the Space Shuttle also have a vested interest in hypersonic research. This book is a tribute to the program, the airplanes, and the people who designed, maintained and flew the most successful of the X-planes. There had never been anything like the X-15; it had a million-horsepower engine and could fly twice as fast as a rifle bullet. Over the course of ten years and 199 flights, pilots from the Air Force, Navy, and NASA would spend 85 minutes at hypersonic velocities flying to the edge of space.

    He begins with a military analysis of Exodus, an unprecedented and hugely significant contribution to Exodus Studies.This book includes collaborative findings from archaelogy, demography, ethnography, and other relevant disciplines. As a seasoned infantry officer and military historian, Gabriel brings a soldier's eye to the infantry combat described in the Bible. Seeking to make military sense of the Biblical narrative as preserved in Hebrew, he renders comprehensible some of the mysterious explanations for famous events.

    Yet it was not until the Carter family received a call from the White House that she discovered he was a heroic force in the Rhineland campaign. President Clinton awarded the Medal of Honor to several black soldiers who served in World War II. Sergeant Edward A. Carter Jr. was among the recipients. Shocked to learn the extent of Carter's service, Allene was determined to uncover both the truth about her father-in-law's wartime record and why his official recognition was so long in coming.Here is the story not only of Sergeant Carter but also of his family's fight to restore his honor. Theirs is a journey that takes them from local veterans organizations to the office of the president and front pages of the national media. An important piece of American history, Honoring Sergeant Carter is an enduring story of determination and family love.

    But the Civil War and Reconstruction left it reeling, impoverished, and so deeply divided that it never regained the level of prosperity it had previously enjoyed. Although most of the major battles of the war occurred elsewhere, Arkansas was critical to the Confederate war effort in the vast Trans-Mississippi region, and Arkansas soldiers served—some for the Union and more for the Confederacy—in every major theater of the war. And the war within the state was devastating. Union troops occupied various areas, citizens suffered greatly from the war’s economic disruption, and guerilla conflict and factional tensions left a bitter legacy. Reconstruction was in many ways a continuation of the war as the prewar elite fought to regain economic and political power. In this, the fourth volume in the Histories of Arkansas series, Thomas DeBlack not only describes the major players and events in this dramatic and painful story, but also explores the experiences of ordinary people. Although the historical evidence is complex—and much of the secondary literature is extraordinarily partisan—DeBlack offers a balanced, vivid overview of the state’s most tumultuous period.

    With the destruction of most of the US battleship fleet at Pearl Harbor, cruisers such as Sweet Pea carried the biggest guns the Navy possessed for nearly a year after the start of World War II. This volume describes in harrowing detail how Portland and her sisters protected the precious carriers and held the line against overwhelming Japanese naval strength. the Coral Sea, the Battle of Midway, and the naval battle of Guadalcanal - conflicts that historians regard as turning points in the Pacific war. Portland was the only cruiser ever to fight twice in night battles against enemy battleships, winning both times, and her skilled crew kept her from being hit during innumerable attacks by kamikazes. She rescued nearly 3000 sailors from sunken ships, some of them while she herself was badly damaged. Only a colossal hurricane ended her career, but she sailed home from that too. of the ship's crew, Sweet Pea at War recounts the history of US Portland, from launching to scrapping, arguing that she deserves to be remembered as one of the most important ships in US naval history.

    In addition, Michno interprets the data to reveal patterns and draw conclusions, some of which challenge the current orthodoxy among historians, such as the revisionist contention that the "wild" West is a myth. Numerous maps, photogrpahs, and tables supplement the text to enhance the reader's understanding. This detailed study is more than a reference book: it's an illuminating portrayal of a violent era and a compelling examination of the machinations of frontier warfare.

    At the time, it was the only way pictures from the front and scenes recreated for the camera could be filmed. Now, for the first time, rare archive footage in black and white from worldwide sources, including Russia, Germany, France, Italy, the USA and the Imperial War Museum, London, has been recast into colour with the greatest care and attention to detail. The results are breathtaking, bringing a remarkable immediacy and poignancy to the war which consumed the lives of 10 million soldiers and civilians. Complemented by an authoritative text by respected historian Charles Messenger and interviews with eye-witness survivors, the book traces in chronological order the development of the war, from the seeds of conflict and the opening shots to the way in which it was fought, whether in the trenches, at sea or in the air. This remarkable book will provide new insights into a war which still resonates and fascinates today.

    This volume of the Aviation Century series also looks at the great individuals who created the world's aviation industries, including Santos-Dumont, Farman, Bleriot, Caproni, Curtiss, and AV Roe.Top aviation photographer Dan Patterson's photographs of preserved and restored aircraft in museum and private collections combine with rare archival photographs to make this the best book on early aviation available anywhere.

    From orientation at Fort Sill, Oklahoma through the fiercest battles of the war right up to the liberation of the death camps and our complicit confrontation with the Soviet Union over Eastern Europe, Don Bennett, not yet thirty, preserved the honor of the corps, and the liberty of the free world.Lindbergh, Patton, Bradley, and Eisenhower are just names in a history book to most-but to Don Bennett they were personal acquaintances.

    Organized at Harpers Ferry, they fought in the first battle of the war at Bull Run, and distinguished themselves for their valor. The Marylanders fought in the Shenandoah Valley under Jackson, bringing new honors to their fame. During the Seven Day Campaign they made an outstanding charge across open fields to help break the Union lines at Gaines's Mill. Disbanded in 1862, they quickly reorganized and gathered new recruits to become the Second Maryland Infantry. These gallant Marylanders defended the Shenandoah Valley during the winter of 1862-63, and then fought in the battle of Winchester in 1863. Joining Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, they charged up Culp's Hill on July 2-3, losing half their number. In june, 1864, the Marylanders charged without orders and closed a gap in the Confederate lines at Cold Harbor. Defending Petersburg, they were in several counterattacks to recover the Weldon Railroad. During the winter of 1864-65 the Marylanders were constantly called on for picket duty, while others around them deserted. They fought to the last at Petersburg in April, 1865, and the survivors surrendered at Appomattox Court House on April 9, 1865. 2003, 6 x 9, index, cloth, 581 pp.

    

    

    The authors explore how stories about collisions between Indigenous people and European settlers have entered and circulate in local folk-memory, and the ways in which the stories differ from myths of national identity.

    This time the subject is mainland South East Asia, with the armies of Burma, Vietnam, Siam, Cambodia and the Lao and Shan states, plus minor tribal groups, being covered in considerable depth. There are details of each army's history, organisation, tactics, dress and arms supported by 168 drawings of warrior types and 75 photographs, illustrations and maps, plus comprehensive bibliographies.

    Although recruited in a slave state where Lincoln received only 0.9 percent of the 1860 presidential vote, the men of the Fifteenth Kentucky fought and died for the Union for over three years, participating in all the battles of the Atlanta campaign, as well as the battles

    

    Embracing an aesthetic seen only in high-end art photography books, RZM presents over 28 rolls of newly discovered combat film shot by six Waffen-SS Kriegsherichters (War Correspondents) during the renowned East Front battle of Kursk, luly 1943. In addition to being a n invaluable visual reference for all students of military history, this poignant six volume series focuses on the pure human experience of the frontline infantryman, a subject too often eclipsed by the grandeur of the political and military landscape of the Second World War. Printed on deluxe European semi-matte art paper for unparalleled photographic repro-duction, each page literally "pulls" you into the images, making you feel as though you are a part of the action. This documentary style series presents the photographs in the actual sequence in which they were taken, creating u visual diary unlike anything pre-viously published on the subiect. Both volumes contain extraordinary images of the men and armored vehicles of the 1st SS-Panzer-Grenadier-Division "Leibstandarte Adolf Hiller" and the 3rd SS-Panzer-Grenadier-Division "Totenkouf, " in action and a t rest.

    Rutter, "was all fun and games with very expensive toys during those bright June days in 1944." Rutter was a pilot in the Army Air Force, and the expensive toys were airplanes--A-20, nicknamed "the Havoc" for the damage they inflicted. He had just completed replacement crew training at Charlotte, North Carolina. Shortly thereafter he was flying with the 312th Bomb Group from Hollanida, New Guinea, over Japanese targets and across "unexplored" areas, and life became more serious. "Wreaking Havoc tells the story of Rutter and his friends at a time when the horrors of war were matched by the energy and enthusiasm of youth. In innocent and understated tones, Rutter relates hijinks and daredevilry, his training stateside, his first mission, large-scale raids on the Philippines and Formosa, routine low-level attacks on Japanese positions, crashes, mishaps, and the deaths of friends. With a wonderful eye for detail, Rutter gives the reader a glimpse into not only the air war in the Pacific but also the culture of the 1940s and the minds of the young men who found themselves far from home on the front lines. In Rutter's story of war, the A-20 is as much a protagonist as the author. If the aircraft emerges as a pilot's plane--a joy to fly--it could also be a temperamental machine whose landing gear might collapse, whose hydraulic system might fail, and whose controls might suddenly malfunction. Rutter and the men who crewed the planes are quiet heroes whose approach to war combines the nonchalance of youth and the seriousness of men who have come close enough to death to take life seriously. From the pages of his memoir, Rutter speaks to those interested in aviation,World War II, and the coming of age of a young man.

    It was the culmination of a life spent at odds with the repressive regime that held his country.Mohammed's story is the tale of what it was like to come of age in a society where violence and betrayal were everyday events, where one in five adult males worked for the state's security apparatus, where a president-for-life demanded absolute loyalty and adulation. Despite his affluent upbringing and a well-connected uncle, Mohammed was hardly sheltered from the surreal cruelties of Iraq. He was arrested and beaten for owning a satellite dish. His young daughter lost a lung to misdiagnosis and unnecessary surgery. An idolized cousin was hanged for joining an Islamic political group. A favorite teacher was carted away for making subversive statements and was never seen again.Yet even as he navigates a culture tarnished by brutality and corruption, Mohammed also reveals unexpected sides of Iraq, scenes of surprising tenderness and stubborn generosity. He writes with insight and humor about the Iraqi schools, the vagaries of its divorce law, the poignant dynamic between its fathers and sons -- between tradition and jolting change.As Mohammed offers his powerful perspective on themost publicized story of this controversial war, he emerges as an unlikely hero, a complex and charming character whose values transcend ideology: honor, compassion, and an unshakable belief in the sanctity of human life.

    The author uses the aircraft's turbulent developmental and operational life to highlight a relatively neglected aspect of air combat history, and the book's wide historical scope sets it apart from others on the subject.

    Britain is gripped by intense cold and in the darkest days of the war. It is six months before D-Day. RAF officer Paget is heading home for Christmas, back to the resurrection of a passion he thought was long over. Sergeant Harris is training his troops for landing on the shores of Normandy, but his thoughts are about how is young wife is coping with his absence. Lieutenant Miller is having an affair with an Englishwoman which is both bittersweet and potentially dangerous. Cook Sergeant Fred Weber is enjoying fishing but his calm will soon be shattered. Each man is heading inexorably towards the beaches of France, where the great battle will commence. . .

    As Cold War tensions escalated, a brutal fight was contested with the rebel tribes of the wild interior as well as terrorist assassins in the back streets of Aden. Revealing the truth behind the 'Mad Mitch' legend and his clash with the high command and the successes and disasters of early SAS operation, this is one of the very few modern studies to examine Britain's clandestine war in neighboring Yemen alongside her conflict in South America.

    John Ray's narrative incorporates the latest academic research while remaining very accessible. This is the clearest, most understandable account of history's greatest conflict.

    Habeck traces the strategies developed between the wars for the use of armored vehicles in battle. Only in Germany and the Soviet Union were truly original armor doctrines (generally known as blitzkreig and deep battle) fully implemented. Storm of Steel relates how the German and Soviet armies formulated and chose to put into practice doctrines that were innovative for the time, yet in many respects identical to one another.As part of her extensive archival research in Russia, Germany, and Britain, Habeck had access to a large number of formerly secret and top-secret documents from several post-Soviet archives. This research informs her comparative approach as she looks at the roles of technology, shared influences, and assumptions about war in the formation of doctrine. She also explores relations between the Germans and the Soviets to determine whether collaboration influenced the convergence of their armor doctrines.

    In this collection, Micah L. Sifry and Christopher Cerf, coeditors of the acclaimed Gulf War Reader, have assembled essays and documents that present an eminently readable, up-to-the-moment guide — from every imaginable perspective — to the continuing crisis in the Gulf and Middle East. Here, in analysis and commentary from some of the world's leading writers and opinion makers — and in the words of the key participants themselves — is the engrossing saga of how oil economics, power politics, dreams of empire, nationalist yearnings, and religious fanaticism — not to mention naked aggression, betrayal, and tragic miscalculation — have conspired to bring us to the fateful collision of the West and the Arab world over Iraq. Contributors include:Fouad AjamiGeorge W. BushRichard ButlerJohn le CarréNoam ChomskyAnn CoulterThomas FriedmanAl GoreSeymour HershChristopher HitchensArianna HuffingtonSaddam HusseinTerry JonesRobert KaganCharles KrauthammerWilliam KristolNicholas LemannKanan MakiyaKevin PhillipsKenneth PollackColin PowellCondoleezza RiceArundhati RoyEdward SaidWilliam SafireJonathan SchellSusan SontagGeorge Will

    Less well known, however, is that the Hunley was not alone under the waters of America during the Civil War. Both the Union and Confederacy built a wide and incredible array of vessels that could maneuver underwater, and many were put to use patrolling enemy waters. In Submarine Warfare in the Civil War, Mark Ragan, who spent years mining factory records and log books, brings this little-known history to the surface.The hardcover edition, Union and Confederate Submarine Warfare in the Civil War, was published to wide acclaim in 1999. For this new paperback edition, Ragan has revised and updated the text to include the full story of the Hunley's recovery and restoration.

    Learn how this modern Joshua inspired not only Israel but the whole free world through the success of this operation . . . described by many as a miraculous mission of biblical proportions. Relates perfectly with our own war on terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq.

    This apprenticeship in arms exposed these aristocrats to the chivalric revival, the military revolution and the values of neostoicism, and revived the martial ethos of the English aristocracy and reinvigorated the martialtraditions of the Irish and Scots.

    Navy's mess attendants, officer's cooks, and stewards compiled a proud legacy of combat service in World War II. The heroism of a few like "Dorie" Miller became well known to the American public, but most have long been forgotten. This book tells the story of those thousands of unheralded sailors of African descent who served in frontline combat with fellow "messmen" of Filipino, Guamanian, and Chinese ancestry from the first day of war to the last. Their story begins with recruit training in the racially segregated confines of Norfolk, Virginia's Units K-West and B-East during the 1930s and proceeds through the perilous early months of war. Though long disparaged as "seagoing chambermaids" and worse, they gallantly upheld the honor of their race while shedding their blood in full proportion in some of history's greatest naval battles.For this first major study of the subject, Richard E. Miller draws on a wealth of previously untapped primary documents and more than forty oral history interviews that he conducted. The men he interviewed served at the Naval Academy and aboard ships of all types prior to their wartime service. Miller focuses on the period from late 1932, when the Navy reopened its doors to black men, to 1943, when the ranks of the re-named "steward's branch" had grown and become transformed by the influx of wartime inductees. Collectively, the interviews cover nearly every naval campaign in the first two years of war. This unexplored perspective of the U.S. Navy puts a face on the "greatest generation's" last overlooked heroes while making a significant contribution to the operational, social, and cultural history of the U.S. Navy.

    In the 1850s, Lakshmi Bai, a horsewoman, good shot, and Rani of the Indian principality of Jhansi, rallied her subjects and defended the principality against a British siege. From antiquity to the present, thousands of women have served in the military as soldiers, sailors, physicians, and pilots, yet their stories have been hidden from history. This book tells their stories, with particular focus on women who fought.Entries profile over 300 remarkable women of the military, covering such groups as the Amazons, women in the Spanish Civil War, and Native Americans. The full sweep of their experience is contextualized through an extensive timeline and introductory survey. Additional tidbits--quotations, statistics, information on women and war--appear in sidebars throughout the text. Lists grouping entries by geographical regions, time periods, and branch of service serve as finding aids for researchers, making this a unique resource for students, scholars, and the general reader.

    Eavesdrop, as a father recounts to his adult children his exploits as an Air Force "Jolly Green" combat rescue helicopter pilot in Vietnam.

    

    They steadfastly guard the futures of millions of people they will never meet. Now over seventy-five riveting stories bring to life these heroes and the loved ones they have fought for. Organized in six themed sections: patriotism, inspiration, faith on the frontlines, love and family, honor and sacrifice, and dedication and courage. Stories from a Soldier's Heart honors those who carry in their warrior hearts the world's hope for freedom.

    Army intelligence, World War II historian Steven H. Newton has translated, compiled, and edited the battle accounts of one of Germany's finest panzer commanders and a skilled tactician of tank warfare. Throughout most of the war, Erhard Raus was a highly respected field commander in the German-Soviet war on the eastern front, and after the war he wrote an insightful analysis of German strategy in that campaign.The Raus memoir covers the Russian campaign from the first day of the war to his relief from command at Hitler's order in the spring of 1945. It includes a detailed examination of the 6th Panzer Division's drive to Leningrad, Raus's own experiences in the Soviet winter counteroffensive around Moscow, the unsuccessful attempt to relieve Stalingrad, and the final desperate battles inside Germany at the end of the war. His battlefield experience and keen tactical eye make his memoir especially valuable for scholars, and his narrative is as readable as Heinz Guderian's celebrated Panzer Leader.

    Not since the 1920s have the Russian Armed Forces undergone such fundamental change. President Boris Yeltsin and his successor Vladimir Putin have both grappled with the issue, with varying degrees of success. An international team of experts here consider the essential features of Russian military reform in the decade since the disintegration of the USSR. Fluctuations in the purpose and priorities of the reform process are traced, as well as the many factors influencing change. Chapters analyse the development of Russia's security policy, structural reform of the services, the social impact of military service and experience of military conflict in Chechnya. Critical evaluations of the impact of social change on the Russian Armed Forces' capabilities and expectations complement the analysis of the on-going debate. Russian Military Reform, 1992-2002 will prove invaluable to all those interested in civil-military relationships and international security as well as to students of military theory and practice.

    

    Arranged in four sections -- steam locomotives, diesel locomotives, electric locomotives, and trains -- listed chronologically within each section. Featuring photographs, artwork, and specification for each locomotive, this book will enthrall general readers and train buffs.

    It slaughtered a generation of young men; claimed limbs, wounded souls; drenched battlefields in blood; made sad legends of the Western Front, Gallipoli, and Jutland, and made heroes of poets; farmers, and factory workers. Clerks it made into Tommies, doughboys, or the Hun. And in this new Mammoth volume the voices of such eyewitnesses to history as these are heard again. So are the words of generals, statesmen, and kings. From the trenches in Flanders to the staff rooms of the Imperial German Army, with the Land Girls in England and U-boat crews in the Atlantic, alongside T. E. Lawrence in Arabia's desert and the Red Baron in the air—with a variety of extracts from letters, speeches, memoirs, diaries, and dispatches, this gripping collection covers each year and every facet of World War I. Among its wide range of witnesses are King George V, Robert Graves, Leon Trotsky, Erwin Rommel, Ernst Junger, Ernest Hemingway, American aviator Eddie Rickenbacker; and Winston S. Churchill. The pieces in this volume compose a stirring human drama of the conflict that redrew the map of the modern world and determined the political course of the twentieth century.

    During the half century covered by this book, the Marines saw China as it would never again be. The Opium Wars and Boxer Rebellion gave the Europeans a certain standing, with prerogatives and privileges that were looked upon by everyone, even the Chinese, as a natural order of existence. The author discusses early military operations in north China, the early legation guards, the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, and the Marine legation guard in Peking also in 1900. It also discusses Seymour's relief column, Waller's column, the capture of the Walled City of Tien-Tsin, the siege of the legations at Peking, the relief of Peking, and the Marines' return to Peking.

    William Bradbury's letters home provide a rare window on the unique relationships among husband, wife, and children while a father was away at war. Yorkshire attorney turned Union volunteer soldier Bradbury became a "privileged private" with extraordinary access to powerful Union generals including Daniel Butterfield, future president Benjamin Harrison, and Clinton B. Fisk, the region's admi

    The 37th North Carolina, made up of men from the western part of the state, served in famous battles like Chancellorsville and Gettysburg as well as in lesser known engagements like Hanover Courthouse and New Bern. This is the account of the unit's four years' service, told largely in the soldiers' own words. Drawn from letters, diaries, and postwar articles and interviews, this history of the 37th North Carolina follows the unit from its organization in November 1861 until its surrender at Appomattox. The book includes maps illustrating the unit's position in several engagements, as well as photographs of the key players in the 37th's story. Appendices include a complete roster of the unit and a listing of individuals buried in large sites such as prison cemeteries. A bibliography and index are also included.

    Doctrine, tactics, and operational art are part of the analysis, as are Nelson's command and leadership abilities and his attitudes and beliefs. But the book's focus is on how all these elements combined to form the man whose infectious ethos spread through his entire force. It shows that Nelson's creative genius, excitable and intense personality, dramatic visage, and fervor for all things martial not only inspired courage and loyalty but so dazzled and enflamed the hearts and minds of his men that he reached near cult status in his lifetime. As a professional military analyst who has devoted his career to researching, writing, and teaching about the tactics and operational art of warfare, the author draws on his own training and experience to view the admiral's war fighting from a vantage point not accessible to many of Nelson's leading biographers. Joel Hayward breaks free from the constraints of chronology to thematically explore in greater-than-usual depth and coherence the key aspects of Nelson's fighting style and to answer questions not previously raised about that style and its supporting ideas, including to what degree Nelson's style can be adopted by modern warriors. Nelson scholars and enthusiasts will consider the book to be a fine companion to the more traditional studies of the great admiral. The book will also appeal to students of warfare in general, especially those who focus on the Napoleonic period. 256 pages. 9 photographs. 7 maps. Notes. Bibliography. Index. Hardcover. 6 x 9 inches.

    Rumour has it that during the Falklands War, Argentinean troops lived in terror of being stalked and killed by Gurkha soldiers, reflecting the Gurkhas' well-founded fearsome reputation. Impressed by the fighting qualities of their Nepalese opponents in a short campaign in 1814, the British East India Company formed the first Regiment of Gurkhas in 1815. After the partition of India in 1947, the Gurkha Rifle Regiments were split between the Indian and British Armies, becoming an integral part of the latter.Following a brief history of the Gurkhas in the nineteenth century, the author examines their role in both World Wars and their extensive post-war active service in Malaya, Brunei and the Falklands and their more recent contributions in Bosnia, Kosovo, East Timor and Sierra Leone. The rigorous selection and training of Gurkhas in Nepal is also reported at first hand, making this book an ideal introduction to the traditions, history and future of an elite fighting force.

    Developed for the USAF as reconnaissance aircraft nearly 40 years ago, SR-71s remained the world's fastest and highest-flying production aircraft throughout their operational existence. For the first time, the stories of the development program, the General Dynamics "Kingfish" competition, the M-21 and D-21 effort, the F-12 saga, and the operational history of the A-12 and SR-71 under the auspices of the CIA and the Air Force are all covered in detail.

    The text covers the political background to each conflict or "police" action and provides a brief campaign narrative accompanied by details of the organisation, tactics, dress and arms of the protagonists. There are 254 line drawings of warriors and soldiers and 34 maps of the various scenes of conflict.

    The companies chosen were Porsche (VK4501P0 and Henschel (VK4501H) and during trials it became obvious that the Henschel model was far superior and was subsequently selected for production. Designated Panzerkampfwagen VI, Tiger I, and fitted with a very powerful 88 mm KwK36 L/56 gun, it became the most feared tank on the battlefield. A total of 1,348 were produced by Henschel from July 1942 until August 1944. A few were converted to Befelswagen (command tanks). Another version built was the 65-ton Sturmorser-Tiger, a heavy assault howitzer, but by 1945 only 18 had been completed. The later model Tiger II was fitted with a smooth streamlined turret and an even more powerful 88 mm KwK L/71 gun (probably the best tank gun of the war). This massive tank was known to Allied troops as the King or Royal Tiger after the Germans nicknamed it Koenigs Tiger. A few were converted to command tanks. During the production period, January 1944 to March 1945, a total of 377 Tiger IIs were completed.Designed with the modeler, preservationist and the wargamer in mind, Ian Allan Publishing's new 'in Detail' series is intended to provide the reader with a comprehensive history of the type of tank, self-propelled propelled gun and military transport featured. Each volume will include detailed history of the unit in service, along with information on variants, markings, unit allocations, etc. Alongside the comprehensive illustrative section, which will include detailed shots of models in color, the books will also include scale drawings and comprehensive guidance notes on camouflage.With interest in all forms of military equipment from World War 2 increasing; this new series from Ian Allan Publishing comes at an appropriate time. It will be much sought after historians, modelers and war gamers alike.

    With formidable Japanese defences along a front of more than 2700 miles spanning the most formidable terrain an army has ever faced, they utterly demolished the Japanese defenders, and forced them to surrender. To accomplish this unprecedented feat, the Soviet High Command had to transfer more than 500,000 troops, 7000 guns and mortars, 2000 tanks, 17,000 trucks, and thousands of tons of military equipment and supplies up to 6000 miles from European Russia to the Far East in one of the most massive and rapid military regroupings in history. Volume II covers the detailed course of operational and tactical fighting in virtually every combat sector.

    The break out of Normandy at Avranches, the isolation of the Brittany peninsula, the armored thrust across France, the tank battles at Arracourt that cemented the reputation of the Fourth Armored, the brutal struggle in Lorraine, and, ultimately, the legendary drive to Bastogne are among the topics. The accounts were assembled through the use of original unit combat diaries and after-action reports, memoirs of key historical figures and abundant supplementary documents and correspondences. But the essence of the book are the first-hand recollections from members of the division gathered by the author. With maps, drawings and photographs.

    In this centennial tribute to flight, two well-known naval aviation historians showcase their selection of the top 100 military aircraft in action since the Wright brothers' historic flight.

    Wellington was fully aware of this and was the first British general to praise his doctors in dispatches. However, despite their importance, Wellington’s doctors receive little attention in most accounts of the wars. In this groundbreaking study, many rare contemporary Napoleonic memoirs and letters have been consulted to give a unique and vivid picture of the army doctor and the sick and wounded soldiers in his care. Dr. Martin Howard addresses the education of army doctors, their reasons for joining the army, their role on the battlefield, sick transport and hospitals, surgery, the treatment of disease, and the life of a doctor on campaign. Some were clumsy "sawbones," but many were well-educated men who grappled heroically with the destructive effects of Napoleonic warfare and the overwhelming impact of disease.