It is without question one of the most famous battles in history. Now, for the first time since Gordon W. Prange’s bestselling Miracle at Midway, Jonathan Parshall and Anthony Tully offer a new interpretation of this great naval engagement. Unlike previous accounts, Shattered Sword makes extensive use of Japanese primary sources. It also corrects the many errors of Mitsuo Fuchida’s Midway: The Battle That Doomed Japan, an uncritical reliance upon which has tainted every previous Western account. It thus forces a major, potentially controversial reevaluation of the great battle. Parshall and Tully examine the battle in detail and effortlessly place it within the context of the Imperial Navy’s doctrine and technology. With a foreword by leading World War II naval historian John Lundstrom, Shattered Sword is an indispensable part of any military buff’s library.Shattered Sword is the winner of the 2005 John Lyman Book Award for the "Best Book in U.S. Naval History" and was cited by Proceedings as one of its "Notable Naval Books" for 2005.

      In 1970, on his second tour to Vietnam, Nick Brokhausen served in Recon Team Habu, CCN. Officially, it was known as the Studies and Observations group. In fact, this Special Forces squad, which Brokhausen calls “an unwashed, profane, ribald, joyously alive fraternity,” undertook some of the most dangerous and suicidal reconnaissance missions ever in the enemy-controlled territory of Cambodia and Laos. But they didn’t infiltrate the jungles alone. They fought alongside the Montagnards—oppressed minorities from the mountain highlands, trained by the US military in guerilla tactics, armed, accustomed to the wild, and fully engaged in a war against the North Vietnamese. Together this small unit formed the backbone of ground reconnaissance in the Republic of Vietnam, racking up medals for valor—but at a terrible cost.   “In colorful, military-jargon-laced prose leavened by gallows humor, Brokhausen pulls few punches describing what it was like to navigate remote jungle terrain under the constant threat of enemy fire. A smartly written, insider’s view of one rarely seen Vietnam War battleground.” —Booklist

    They were Easy Company, 101st Army Airborne--the World War II fighting unit legendary for their bravery against nearly insurmountable odds and their loyalty to one another in the face of death. Every soldier in this band of brothers looked to one man for leadership, devotion to duty, and the embodiment of courage: Major Dick Winters.This is the riveting story of an ordinary man who became an extraordinary hero. After he enlisted in the army's arduous new Airborne division, Winters's natural combat leadership helped him rise through the ranks, but he was never far from his men. Decades later, Stephen E. Ambrose's Band of Brothers made him famous around the world.Full of never-before-published photographs, interviews, and Winters's candid insights, Biggest Brother is the fascinating, inspirational story of a man who became a soldier, a leader, and a living testament to the valor of the human spirit--and of America.

    In the early morning darkness on a frigid mountaintop, a U.S. soldier is stranded, alone, surrounded by fanatical al Qaeda fighters. For the man’s fellow Navy SEALs, and for waiting teams of Army Rangers, there was only one rule now: leave no one behind. In this gripping you-are-there account–based on stunning eyewitness testimony and painstaking research–journalist Malcolm MacPherson thrusts us into a drama of rescue, tragedy, and valor in a place that would be known as...ROBERTS RIDGEFor an elite team of SEALs, the mission seemed straightforward enough: take control of a towering 10,240-foot mountain peak called Takur Ghar. Launched as part of Operation Anaconda–a hammer-and-anvil plan to smash Taliban al Qaeda in eastern Afghanistan –the taking of Takur Ghar would offer U.S. forces a key strategic observation post. But the enemy was waiting, hidden in a series of camouflaged trenches and bunkers–and when the Special Forces chopper flared on the peak to land, it was shredded by a hail of machine-gun, small arms, and RPG rounds. A red-haired SEAL named Neil Roberts was thrown from the aircraft. And by the time the shattered helicopter crash-landed on the valley floor seven miles away, Roberts’s fellow SEALs were determined to return to the mountain peak and bring him out–no matter what the cost.Drawing on the words of the men who were there–SEALs, Rangers, medics, combat air controllers, and pilots–this harrowing true account, the first book of its kind to chronicle the battle for Takur Ghar, captures in dramatic detail a seventeen-hour pitched battle fought at the highest elevation Americans have ever waged war. At once an hour-by-hour, bullet-by-bullet chronicle of a landmark battle and a sobering look at the capabilities and limitations of America’s high-tech army, Roberts Ridge is the unforgettable story of a few dozen warriors who faced a single fate: to live or die for their comrades in the face of near-impossible odds.

    Peleliu was the setting for one of the most savage struggles of modern times, a true killing ground that has been all but forgotten—until now. Drawing on interviews with Peleliu veterans, Bill Sloan's gripping narrative seamlessly weaves together the experiences of the men who were there, producing a vivid and unflinching tableau of the twenty-four-hour-a-day nightmare of Peleliu. Emotionally moving and gripping in its depictions of combat, Brotherhood of Heroes rescues the Corps's bloodiest battle from obscurity and does honor to the Marines who fought it.

    One of these is Jason Dunham, a twenty-two-year-old Marine corporal from the one-stoplight town of Scio, New York, whose stunning story reporter Michael M. Phillips discovered while he was embedded with a Marine infantry battalion in the Iraqi desert. Corporal Dunham was on patrol near the Syrian border, on April 14, 2004, when a black-clad Iraqi leaped out of a car and grabbed him around his neck. Fighting hand-to-hand in the dirt, Dunham saw his attacker drop a grenade and made the instantaneous decision to place his own helmet over the explosive in the hope of containing the blast and protecting his men. When the smoke cleared, Dunham’s helmet was in shreds, and the corporal lay face down in his own blood. The Marines beside him were seriously wounded. Dunham was subsequently nominated for the Congressional Medal of Honor, the nation’s highest award for military valor.Phillips’s minute-by-minute chronicle of the chaotic fighting that raged throughout the area and culminated in Dunham’s injury provides a grunt’s-eye view of war as it’s being fought today—fear, confusion, bravery, and suffering set against a brotherhood forged in combat. His account of Dunham’s eight-day journey home and of his parents’ heartrending reunion with their son powerfully illustrates the cold brutality of war and the fragile humanity of those who fight it. Dunham leaves an indelible mark upon all who know his story, from the doctors and nurses who treat him, to the readers of the original Wall Street Journal article that told of his singular act of valor.

    With well-crafted prose that puts you into the Phantom's cockpit, Cobleigh vividly recounts the unexplainable loss of his wingman, the useless missions he flew, the need to trust his reflexes, eyesight, and aggressiveness, and his survival instincts in the heat of combat. He discusses the deaths of his squadron mates and the contradictions of a dirty, semi-secret war fought from beautiful, exotic Thailand. This is an unprecedented look into the state of mind of a pilot as he experiences everything from the carnage of a crash to the joy of flying through a star-studded night sky, from the illogical political agendas of Washington to his own dangerous addiction to risk. Cobleigh gives a stirring and emotional description of one man's journey into airborne hell and back, recounting the pleasures and the pain. the wins and the losses. and ultimately, the return.

    Nathaniel Fick’s career begins with a hellish summer at Quantico, after his junior year at Dartmouth. He leads a platoon in Afghanistan just after 9/11 and advances to the pinnacle—Recon— two years later, on the eve of war with Iraq. His vast skill set puts him in front of the front lines, leading twenty-two Marines into the deadliest conflict since Vietnam. He vows to bring all his men home safely, and to do so he’ll need more than his top-flight education. Fick unveils the process that makes Marine officers such legendary leaders and shares his hard-won insights into the differences between military ideals and military practice, which can mock those ideals.In this deeply thoughtful account of what it’s like to fight on today’s front lines, Fick reveals the crushing pressure on young leaders in combat. Split-second decisions might have national consequences or horrible immediate repercussions, but hesitation isn’t an option. One Bullet Away never shrinks from blunt truths, but ultimately it is an inspiring account of mastering the art of war.

    But nothing offered more fatal choices than being inside a B-17 bomber above Nazi-occupied Europe. From the hellish storms of enemy flak and relentless strafing of Luftwaffe fighters, to mid-air collisions, mechanical failure, and simple bad luck, it?s a wonder any man would volunteer for such dangerous duty. But many did. Some paid the ultimate price. And some made it home. But in the end, all would achieve victory. Here, author Travis L. Ayres has gathered a collection of previously untold personal accounts of combat and camaraderie aboard the B-17 Bombers that flew countless sorties against the enemy, as related by the men who lived and fought in the air?and survived.

    The story begins with the massacre of the 11,000 strong Hicks Pasha column in 1883. Sent to evacuate the country, British hero General Gordon was surrounded and murdered in Khartoum by an army of dervishes led by the Mahdi. The relief mission arrived 2 days too late. The result was a national scandal that shocked the Queen and led to the fall of the British government. Twelve years later it was the brilliant Herbert Kitchener who struck back. Achieving the impossible he built a railway across the desert to transport his troops to the final devastating confrontation at Omdurman in 1898. Desert explorer and author Michael Asher has reconstructed this classic tale in vivid detail. Having covered every inch of the ground and examined all eyewitness reports, he brings to bear new evidence questioning several accepted aspects of the story. The result is an account that sheds new light on the most riveting tale of honour, courage, revenge and savagery of late Victorian times.

    From the first chariot clashes of the ancient world to the bloody conflicts of today's Middle East and the modern era of nuclear weapons, explore 5000 years of armed battles and brutal combat.

    After the last shot was fired and the troops marched home, approximately three million soldiers remained unaccounted for. An unassuming English chaplain first proposed a symbolic burial in memory of all the missing dead; subsequently the idea was picked up by almost every combatant country. Acclaimed author Neil Hanson focuses on the lives of three soldiers — an Englishman, a German, and an American — using their diaries and letters to offer an unflinching yet compassionate account of the front lines. He describes how each man endured nearly unbearable conditions, skillfully showing how the Western world arrived at the now time-honored way of mourning and paying tribute to all those who die in war.

    The West Side Boys were a strange-looking bunch, wearing pink shades, shower caps, fluorescent wigs and voodoo charms they believed made them invulnerable to bullets - an impression re-enforced by ganja, heroine, crack cocaine and gallons of sweet palm wine. In 1999 a twelve man patrol of Royal Irish Rangers, who were training government troops in Sierra Leone, were captured and held hostage by the West Side Boys. They were held prisoner in a fortified jungle hideaway, with severed heads decorating the palisades, defended by some 400 heavily armed soldiers. Operation Barras, the rescue mission, was a combined force of 100 Paras, twelve members of the Special Boat Squadron, helicopters from the Navy and RAF and, spearheading the operation, 40-strong D squadron of the SAS. Against amazing odds the hostages were rescued - over 150 of the enemy were killed. Operation Certain Death is a thrilling true story of all out war. No hostages taken. Blood-letting on a vast scale inflicted on a very blood-thirsty enemy. A gripping piece of true military history, perfect for fans of action adventure stories and anyone interested in the top secret division of the British Army.

    . .Nam-Sense is the brilliantly written story of a combat squad leader in the 101st Airborne Division. Arthur Wiknik was a 19-year-old kid from New England when he was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1968. After completing various NCO training programs, he was promoted to sergeant "without ever setting foot in a combat zone" and sent to Vietnam in early 1969. Shortly after his arrival on the far side of the world, Wiknik was assigned to Camp Evans, a mixed-unit base camp near the northern village of Phong Dien, only thirty miles from Laos and North Vietnam. On his first jungle patrol, his squad killed a female Viet Cong who turned out to have been the local prostitute. It was the first dead person he had ever seen.Wiknik's account of life and death in Vietnam includes everything from heavy combat to faking insanity to get some R & R. He was the first man in his unit to reach the top of Hamburger Hill during one of the last offensives launched by U.S. forces, and later discovered a weapons cache that prevented an attack on his advance fire support base. Between the sporadic episodes of combat he mingled with the locals, tricked unwitting U.S. suppliers into providing his platoon with a year of hard to get food, defied a superior and was punished with a dangerous mission, and struggled with himself and his fellow soldiers as the anti-war movement began to affect his ability to wage victorious war.Nam-Sense offers a perfect blend of candor, sarcasm, and humor - and it spares nothing and no one in its attempt to accurately convey what really transpired for the combat soldier during this unpopular war. Nam-Sense is not about heroism or glory, mental breakdowns, haunting flashbacks, or wallowing in self-pity. The GIs Wiknik lived and fought with during his yearlong tour did not rape, murder, or burn villages, were not strung out on drugs, and did not enjoy killing. They were there to do their duty as they were trained, support their comrades - and get home alive. "The soldiers I knew," explains the author, "demonstrated courage, principle, kindness, and friendship, all the elements found in other wars Americans have proudly fought in."Wiknik has produced a gripping and complete record of life and death in Vietnam, and he has done so with a style and flair few others will ever achieve.

    Over 200 soldiers of the 101st Airborne and 10th Mountain Divisions flew into Afghanistan's Shahikot valley - and into the mouth of a buzz-saw. They were about to pay a bloody price for strategic, higher-level miscalculations that underestimated the enemy's strength and willingness to fight.After the attacks of September 11, 2001, Coalition forces quickly toppled the Taliban regime from the seat of government. But, believing the war to be all but over, the Pentagon and US Central Command refused to commit the forces required to achieve total victory in Afghanistan. Instead, they delegated responsibility for fighting the war's biggest battle to a tangle of untested units thrown together at the last moment.Then the world watched as Anaconda seemed to unravel.Denied the extra infantry, artillery and close air support with which they trained to go to war, the soldiers of this airborne assault fought for survival in brutal high-altitude combat. Backed up by a small, but crucial, team of special forces, they were all that stood between the Coalition and a military disaster.

    The last great sea action of the period, it established British naval supremacy and ended the threat of French invasion. The Trafalgar Companion not only chronicles the campaign and the battle itself in unprecedented detail, but it also charts Admiral Lord Nelson’s life and career as well as his death at the height of the battle. Providing a wealth of background details on contemporary naval life, seamanship, gunnery, tactics, and much else, the narrative is supplemented by informative sidebars, 200 color illustrations, and stage-by-stage battle diagrams.

    Equal parts oral history and meticulous reconstruction, Omaha Beach is the closest the modern reader can get to experiencing the Normandy landings firsthand. About the Author: Joseph Balkoski is a historian specializing in D-Day and the Normandy campaign. He is currently the Command Historian of the Maryland National Guard and is the author of Utah Beach (0811733769) and Beyond the Beachhead (0811732371).

    This book looks afresh at the conflict in Northern Africa, focusing for the first time on the involvement of the US and the way this early collaboration to defeat shaped the whole Anglo-American axis for the rest of the war in Europe.

    No other unit fought for so long and so hard without respite. The 761st defeated more than 6,000 enemy soldiers, captured thirty towns, liberated Jews from concentration camps—and made history as the first African American armored unit to enter the war. This is the true story of the Black Panthers, who proudly lived up to their motto (Come Out Fighting) and paved the way for African Americans in the U.S. military—while battling against the skepticism and racism of the very people they fought for.

    Avery Chenoweth, this tribute to the U.S. Marines shines with all the pride of the Marines themselves.Salute the few, the proud, the Marines. From their founding in 1794 to their most recent actions--including the second battle of Falluja--the entire history of the U.S. Marine Corps comes vividly to life in these lushly illustrated pages. Pore through the comprehensive images of nearly every Marine hero, uniform style, sidearm, saber, weapons platform, recruiting poster, plane, helicopter, boat, and mess kit. Many of the photos were shot recently right at the Historical Center at Quantico, Virginia, and they include rare and never-before-seen artifacts from the Marines' long history. Colonel H. Avery Chenoweth provides fascinating background information and context to compliment the visual journey.

    Now he juxtaposes an ancient conflict with modern concerns to create his most engrossing work to date, A War Like No Other. Over the course of a generation, the Hellenic poleis of Athens & Sparta fought a bloody conflict that resulted in the collapse of Athens & the end of its golden age. Thucydides wrote the standard history of the Peloponnesian War, which has given readers throughout the ages a vivid & authoritative narrative. But Hanson offers something new: a complete chronological account that reflects the political background of the time, the strategic thinking of the combatants, the misery of battle in multifaceted theaters & insight into how these events echo in the present. He compellingly portrays the ways Athens & Sparta fought on land & sea, in city & countryside, & details their employment of the full scope of conventional & nonconventional tactics, from sieges to targeted assassinations, torture & terrorism. He also assesses the crucial roles played by warriors such as Pericles & Lysander, artists, among them Aristophanes, & thinkers including Sophocles & Plato. Hanson’s perceptive analysis of events & personalities raises many thought-provoking questions: Were Athens & Sparta like America & Russia, two superpowers battling to the death? Is the Peloponnesian War echoed in the endless, frustrating conflicts of Vietnam, Northern Ireland & the current Middle East? Or was it more like America’s own Civil War, a brutal rift that rent the fabric of a glorious society, or even this century’s “red state—blue state” schism between liberals & conservatives, a cultural war that manifestly controls military policies? Hanson daringly brings the facts to life & unearths the often surprising ways in which the past informs the present. Brilliantly researched, dynamically written, A War Like No Other is like no other history of this important war.

    Robert Citino takes us on a dramatic march through Prussian and German military history to show how that primal theme played out time and time again. Citino focuses on operational warfare to demonstrate continuity in German military campaigns from the time of Elector Frederick Wilhelm and his great sleigh-drive against the Swedes to the age of Adolf Hitler and the blitzkrieg to the gates of Moscow. Along the way, he underscores the role played by the Prussian army in elevating a small, vulnerable state to the ranks of the European powers, describes how nineteenth-century victories over Austria and France made the German army the most respected in Europe, and reviews the lessons learned from the trenches of World War I.

    He was the FINANCIAL TIMES fiction critic for ten years and reviews regularly for the SUNDAY TIMES and TLS. In his hands the story of Trafalgar comes to life as never before. Beginning with a vivid recreation of Napoleon's army assembling at Boulogne for the invasion of England, he tells how the French fleet joined with their Spanish allies and set out for a decisive battle with the Royal Navy. Following events through the eyes of eyewitnesses on the gundeck as well as the admirals' cabins, he takes us to the Mediterranean and the West Indies and back to the coast of Spain as the rival fleets manoeuvre for advantage. Then follows his gripping minute-by-minute account of the actual battle: a truly murderous affair as the rival fleets trade cannon shots as point blank range. For the fans of MASTER AND COMMANDER, this combines absolute authenticity with real page-turning style.

    How did Horatio Nelson achieve such extraordinary success? Roger Knight places him firmly in the context of the Royal Navy of his time. Nelson was passionate and relentless from the outset of his career; his leadership in battle was unrivalled. But his success depended also on the strength of intelligence available to him, the quality of the ships he commanded, the potency of his guns, and the skill of his seamen.Based on a vast array of new sources, this biography demolishes many of the myths that have surrounded Nelson for two centuries. Knight demonstrates that this great Romantic hero was in his time a shrews political operator and often a difficult subordinate. He was occasionally naïve, often impatient, and only happy when completely in command. While capable of great acts of generosity, he could be deeply ruthless--both aboard ship and in his personal life.Destined to be the definitive account of Horatio Nelson's life for generations, this dazzling biography greatly enriches our understanding of this extraordinary man--brilliant, severely flawed, and never to be crossed.

    

    The mile-a-minute, stream-driven chase that follows will decide not only the fate of Lincoln and the raiders, but also of the Union and Confederacy.

    Always at the forefront of some of the heaviest fighting in WWII, the 82nd helped spearhead the Allied drive to victory. This book is the first to tell the full combat history of these gallant All-Americans -- from their first perilous night drop into Sicily to their acclaimed victory parade up New York's 5th Avenue in 1946. Currently, the 82nd remains the only active American parachute division. The 82nd Airborne Division — dubbed the All-Americans during WWI, when Sgt. Alvin York was among its soldiers — parachuted into history on July, 9, 1943, as the opening salvo in Operation Husky, the invasion of Sicily. This book, the first to tell the full story of the 82nd — America’s first airborne division to see combat, and the only American parachute division still active today — follows these all-Americans from their first perilous drop to their victory parade up 5th Avenue in January 1946. From the shore of Sicily to the beaches of Normandy, from the Rhine to the Elbe to the German surrender and the U.S. occupation of Berlin, this is military history at its best, often told in the words of the soldiers themselves. It is a fitting — and long overdue — tribute to the valorous service of one of America’s most celebrated fighting divisions.

    From before the Domesday Book, through Anglo-Saxon England, medieval Wales and Ireland, the crusades, Bannockburn and the Wars of the Roses, until the time of the Tudors, this book takes us on a wide-ranging and fascinating journey through history. Tactics, myths, origins, defense and armor are all discussed; as are the different types of bow - shortbow, longbow, composite bows and crossbow. Crucial to our understanding of archery through the ages was the discovery of the wreck of the Mary Rose. Built during Henry VIII's reign, she sank in 1545 and it was not until 1979 that a great discovery was made. On board were chests of bows, many in excellent condition, which challenged ideas of historical bow design. Robert Hardy was one of the experts consulted when the bows were found. From this evidence, as from archaeological finds and medieval illustrations, Robert Hardy and Matthew Strickland have produced the definitive work on medieval military archery. This lively and informative book is a must-read for anyone interested in the historical background of the great warbow.

    Drawing on the personal stories of those who have served during this period, he has created a unique narrative history of the senior service. FORGOTTEN VOICES: THE ROYAL NAVY is a memorable and moving testament to the courage, spirit, skill and irrepressible humour of those who served in the Royal Navy during these crucial years.

    Although almost six centuries old, the Battle of Agincourt still captivates the imaginations of men and women on both sides of the Atlantic. It has been immortalized in high culture (Shakespeare's Henry V) and low (the New York Post prints Henry's battle cry on its editorial page each Memorial Day). It is the classic underdog story in the history of warfare, and generations have wondered how the English -- outnumbered by the French six to one -- could have succeeded so bravely and brilliantly. Drawing upon a wide range of sources, eminent scholar Juliet Barker casts aside the legend and shows us that the truth behind Agincourt is just as exciting, just as fascinating, and far more significant. She paints a gripping narrative of the October 1415 clash between outnumbered English archers and heavily armored French knights. But she also takes us beyond the battlefield into palaces and common cottages to bring into vivid focus an entire medieval world in flux. Populated with chivalrous heroes, dastardly spies, and a ferocious and bold king, Agincourt is as earthshaking as its subject -- and confirms Juliet Barker's status as both a historian and a storyteller of the first rank.

    In Colossus Reborn he recounts the miraculous resurrection of the Red Army, which, with a dazzling display of military strategy and operational prowess, stopped the Wehrmacht in its tracks and turned the tide of war.A major achievement in the recovery and preservation of an entire nation's military experience, Colossus Reborn is marked by Glantz's unrivaled access to and use of Soviet archival sources. This allows him to illuminate not only Russian victories in the Battles of Moscow, Stalingrad, and Kursk, but also to rescue a host of major forgotten battles, many of which had been suppressed to preserve reputations and national pride. As he reveals in unprecedented detail, disastrous defeats vied with resounding victories throughout the early years of the conflict, as the Red Army struggled to find itself in the Great Patriotic War.Beyond the battles themselves, Glantz also presents an in-depth portrait of the Red Army as an evolving military institution. Assessing more clearly than ever before the army's size, strength, and force structure, he provides keen insights into its doctrine, strategy, tactics, weaponry, training, officer corps, and political leadership. In the process, he puts a human face on the Red Army's commanders and soldiers, including women and those who served in units--security (NKVD), engineer, railroad, auto-transport, construction, and penal forces--that have till now remained poorly understood.The world's top authority on the Soviet military, Glantz has produced a remarkable study that adds immeasurably to our understanding of the one part of World War II that's still struggling to emerge from the shadows of history.

    Combining research in military, NASA and industrial archives with over 500 photographs and illustrations, this is an in-depth history of the North American Aviation XB-70A Valkyrie - the largest Mach 3 aircraft ever flown.

    To this day, many survivors–most of whom are in their eighties–still cannot talk about their experiences without unearthing terrible memories. Surviving the Sword gives voice to these tens of thousands of Allied POWs and offers us a powerful reminder of the terror and depravations of war and the resilience of the human spirit. In this important book, Brian MacArthur draws on the diaries of American, British, Dutch, and Australian Fepows (Far Eastern prisoners of war), some of whose recollections are published here for the first time. These soldiers wrote and kept their diaries, in secret, because they were determined that to record for posterity how they were starved and beaten, marched almost to death, or transported on “hellships”; how their fellows were summarily executed by guards or felled by the thousands by tropical diseases; and how they were used as slave labor–most notoriously on the Burma-Thailand railway, as depicted in The Bridge on the River Kwai. The diaries excerpted in this book make plain why the Fepows believed that their brutal treatment by Japanese and Korean guards was, literally, incomprehensible to those who did not live it. The prisoners whose stories appear here risked torture and execution to keep diaries and make sketches and drawings that they hid from the guards wherever they could, sometimes burying them in the graves of lost comrades. The survivors’ narratives reveal not just a litany of horrors, but are a moving testament to the nobler instincts of humanity as well, detailing how the POWs prevailed over horrible conditions, even finding or creating a precious few creature comforts and sustaining the rudiments of culture, learning, and play. Forced into solidarity by inhuman conditions, the soldiers showed incredible compassion for one another, improvising ingenious ways to care for the sick, boost morale by subtly mocking their jailers’ authority, or even turn meager rations into the occasional feast. Countless thousands died in Japanese prison camps during World War II. Those fortunate enough to emerge from their ordeal were never the same again. Surviving the Sword at last fills a notable historical gap in our understanding, while also commemorating and memorializing the Fepows’ struggle and sacrifice.

    Steven Muhlberger details these contests, analyzing how their renown was of great politial importance. Drawn from an extensive study of all remaining sources from the 14th century, Dr. Muhlberger brings his considerable scholarly expertise together with a knack for accessible writing to produce what will become the definitive work on the subject.

    Fry shows how anthropology--with its expansive time frame and comparative orientation--can provide unique insights into the nature of war and the potentialfor peace. Challenging the traditional view that humans are by nature primarily violent and warlike, Professor Fry argues that along with the capacity for aggression humans also possess a strong ability to prevent, limit, and resolve conflicts without violence. Raising philosophy of science issues, the author shows that cultural beliefs asserting the inevitability of violence and war can bias our interpretations, affect our views of ourselves, and may even blind us to the possibility of achieving security without war. Fry draws on data from cultural anthropology, archaeology, and sociology aswell as from behavioral ecology and evolutionary biology to construct a biosocial argument that challenges a host of commonly held assumptions. The Human Potential for Peace includes ethnographic examples from around the globe, findings from Fry's research among the Zapotec of Mexico, and results of cross-cultural studies on warfare. In showing that conflict resolution exists across cultures and by documenting the existence of numerouspeaceful societies, it demonstrates that dealing with conflict without violence is not merely a utopian dream. The book also explores several highly publicized and interesting controversies, including Freeman's critique of Margaret Mead's writings on Samoan warfare; Napoleon Chagnon's claims aboutthe Yanomam�; and ongoing evolutionary debates about whether hunter-gatherers are peaceful or warlike. The Human Potential for Peace is ideal for undergraduate courses in political and legal anthropology, the anthropology of peace and conflict, peace studies, political sociology, and the sociologyof war and violence. Written in an informal style with numerous entertaining examples, the book is also readily accessible to general readers.

    displayed its new navy of steel-hulled ships firing explosive shells and wrested an empire from a fading European power- The hairsbreadth American victory at Midway, where aircraft carriers launched planes against enemies 200 miles away--and where the tide of World War II turned in the space of a few furious minutes- Operation Praying Mantis in the Persian Gulf, where computers, ship-fired missiles, and smart bombs not only changed the nature of warfare at sea, but also marked a new era, and a new responsibility, for the United States.Symonds records these encounters in detail so vivid that readers can hear the wind in the rigging and feel the pounding of the guns. Yet he places every battle in a wide perspective, revealing their significance to America's development as it grew from a new Republic on the edge of a threateningfrontier to a global superpower.Decision at Sea is a powerful and illuminating look at pivotal moments in the history of the Navy and of the United States. It is also a compelling study of the unchanging demands of leadership at sea, where commanders must make rapid decisions in the heat of battle with lives--and the fate ofnations--hanging in the balance.

    Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, the writings of these two remarkable men continue to spark interest in the Civil War. Grant's Personal Memoirs and Lee's Recollections and Letters remain not only decisive histories of the Civil War and its military leaders, but also fundamental texts for understanding the character of the United States and her heroes.

    The parallels between Chairman Mao's thoughts on strategy and those of Sun Tzu belie a direct lineage of culture and genius projected across twenty five centuries. First, Problems of Strategy in China's Revolutionary War, considers the rational and classical stratagems underlying the conduct of a successful war. Second, Problems of Strategy in Guerrilla War Against Japan, discusses the conduct of guerrilla actions relative to, and within, conventional warfare. Third, On Protracted War, deals with a wide range of topics including mobile warfare, guerrilla warfare, positional warfare, war of attrition and war of annihilation. Fourth, Problems of War and Strategy summarizes the lessons of the previous discourses and reiterates the famous dictum: Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun. Other Special Editions in this series that deal with the subject of warfare and strategy include: The Art of War By Sun Tzu - Special Edition The Art of War By Baron De Jomini - Special Edition The Art of War & The Prince By Machiavelli - Special Edition

    His troop of Scimitar light-armoured vehicles was attached to the 1 CHESHIRE Battle Group (under the charismatic command of Colonel Bob Stewart). Fresh from Germany he and his men found themselves in a highly political and lethally dangerous civil war. They witnessed appalling atrocities and human tragedy on a giant scale. Both the soldiers and civilians showed massive courage and resilience.Thanks to the Author's diary we have here an extraordinary spontaneous and important account of British troops performing vital military and humanitarian tasks. War correspondent and MP, Martin Bell describes it as 'earning its place among the impartial narratives of the Bosnian War.

    He relates fascinating and hitherto unpublished stories of British, Polish and French prisoners, and their many and varied attempts to escape. In addition, he has amassed a large collection of artifacts and memorabilia, some never seen before, many of which are reproduced throughout this book.Personal recollections abound, and characters like Pat Reid, Dick Howe and Sir Rupert Barry offer their insight into camp activities. This entire collection, sumptuously illustrated, stands as a testament to those who were incarcerated there and is a valuable reference on the subject.

    Peter Marshall immigrated to America in 1927. During the next twenty-two years, before his untimely death in 1949 at the age of forty-six, he became one of the nations most famous preachers, pastor of Washington, D.C's historic New York Avenue Presbyterian Church, and Chaplain of the U.S. Senate. His wife, author Catherine Marshall, wrote his best-selling biography, A Man Called Peter, which was subsequently made into the much heralded 1955 movie. The Wartime Sermons of Dr. Peter Marshall includes many of his most sought-after messages delivered during World War II. Today, as we continue to face a war against global terrorism during the aftermath of Spetember 11, 2001, these wartime sermons, preached more than fifty years ago, have never been more timely, appropriate, or desperately needed. This dynamic book of sermons and prayers should be kept nearby during these challenging times.

    A definitive encyclopedia of the most importnat tanks in history: over 230 tanks are shown in more than 750 color and black and white photographs.

    King managed to commit the Marine Corps to ground action in the South Pacific six months earlier than originally planned, by ignoring the Roosevelt's commitment to defeat Germany prior to fighting Japan, and by outmaneuvering Gen. Douglas MacArthur for leadership. It also explains how Marines under Maj. Gen. A.A. Vandegrift, despite inadequate logistical support, managed to prevail in the Americans' first ground campaign of World War II, making Japan's ultimate defeat inevitable.In addition to recounting these key events, it traces how censorship and patriotism influenced the reporting of the conflict in America, how Hollywood films further shaped public opinion by portraying the significant events in particular ways, and how certain crucial decisions such as the early bombing raid of Tokyo, and giving Douglas MacArthur command of the war effort in Australia, were political rather than strategic, and were made to foster morale rather than to gain any military advantage.This book will be of great interest to all students and scholars of Military History, and to all readers with a general interest in World War II, particularly in the conflicts of the Pacific, Pearl Harbor and Guadalcanal.

    This book offers historical writings of the most monumental events of our time -- military and otherwise.

    They were summoned by the rolling beat of sixteen-year-old William Diamond's brightly painted drum. The order to sound this call to arms had been given by Lexington's militia captain, John Parker. As Diamond's drum rolled, Parker's men had formed up in response to a warning from a rider Parker had sent to scout the Boston road. A British column, he said, was fifteen minutes away. This is just one of the vivid scenes New York Times bestselling author Thomas Fleming sets in First Stroke, his history of the opening days of the American Revolution, beginning with the Boston Tea Party.

    During the Indian Mutiny of 1857 many towns and cities were laid waste by riotous elements of the Indian Army. Many Europeans, having heard of the many slaughters and outrages sought safety were they could, hoping to shield themselves with British troops and loyal Sepoys. The European residency in Lucknow was the refuge of 3000 men, women and children of the surrounding area, it was immediately besieged by at least 20,000 Indian troops and rioters. Pounded by cannon, shot, and shell the besieged were under constant threat, the stocks of food dwindled and the threat of disease was never far away. Despite the severe privations the Mutineers could not crack the resistance, they hatched a plot to tunnel under the walls of the Residency and blow it up from beneath. Captain Wilson’s Diary records the often bloody events of each day in his diary as he and his compatriots fight for their lives and praying for relief.

    The most critically acclaimed account of Australian Prisoners of War of the Japanese ever published.

    The book shows spread-by-spread the relentless progress of the epic war in the European Theater of Operations, and focuses on the world-famous engagements such as Operation Market-Garden (immortalized in the film A Bridge too Far), the Battle of the Bulge, the bombing of Dresden and other German cities, the fall of Berlin, and VE Day itself. Written by a leading military historian and including a wealth of first-hand accounts on an audio CD, the Imperial War Museum's WW2 Victory in Europe Experience contains 30 facsimile items of memorabilia integrated into the pages of the book. The reader can re-live this momentous period of history by examining maps, diaries, letters, and other items which up till now have remained filed or exhibited in the Imperial Wa

    Sahib is a broad and sweeping military history of the British soldier in India, but its focus, like that of Tommy and Redcoat before it, will be on the men who served in India and the women who followed them across that vast and dusty continent, bore their children, and, all too often, mopped their brows as they died. The book begins with the remarkable story of India's rise from commercial enclave to great Empire, from Clive's victory of Plassey, through the imperial wars of the eighteenth century and the Afghan and Sikh Wars of the 1840s, through the bloody turmoil of the Mutiny, and the frontier campaigns at the century's end. With its focus on the experience of ordinary soldiers, Sahib explains to us why soldiers of the Raj had joined the army, how they got to India and what they made of it when they arrived. barrack room' to storming parties assaulting mighty fortresses, cavalry swirling across open plains, and khaki columns inching their way between louring hills. Making full use of extensive and often neglected archive material in the India Office Library and National Army Museum, Sahib will do for the British soldier in India - whether serving a local ruler, forming part of the Indian army, or soldiering with a British regiment - what Tommy has done for the ordinary soldier in the First World War.

    In the last days of World War II, the Japanese unleashed a new breed of warrior. They were the Kamikaze, idealistic young men who believed that there was no greater glory than to sacrifice their lives in suicide attacks to defend their homeland. But, what of those men who took the sacred oath to die in battle and lived? Soon after the 9/11 attacks, ethnographer M.G. Sheftall was given unprecedented access to the cloistered community of Japan's last remaining Kamikaze corps survivors. The result is this poignant and timely glimpse into the lives and mindsets of former Kamikaze pilots who never completed their final missions.

    The Concise Historical Atlas of World War Two: The Geography of Conflict consists of 50 full-color maps that vividly convey not only the key military battles and campaigns but also the cultural and political geography of the war. Each map covers a significant phase of World War Two and is accompanied by an adjacent page of explanatory text that clarifies the shifting frontiers and populations of the region represented. These descriptions explain features of the conflict in question, describe changes in circumstances and the movements of battles, contextualize the events, and suggest longer-term consequences of campaigns. Offering a vivid summary of the war over space and time, this unique, full-color atlas covers all theatres of the war. It is ideal for courses on World War Two, American and European history in the twentieth century, U.S. political and military history, and world history. It is also a fascinating resource for anyone interested in the sprawling landscape of the Second World War.

    Navy's first and only helicopter gunship squadron of the Vietnam War. The squadron was established in country to support the fast, pugnacious river patrol boats of the brown water navy. Flying combat-worn Hueys borrowed from the Army, the mission of the Seawolves quickly expanded to include rapid response air support to any friendly force in the Delta needing immediate, no-holds-barred assistance. Operating in two-plane detachments from specifically configured LSTs, hastily constructed bases, and primitive campsites, the navy gunships and their crews responded to calls within minutes. Flying in all kinds of weather, day and night, they arrived at tree-top level with forward-firing rockets and flex-guns blazing. Door gunners hung outside the violently maneuvering helicopters delivering a hail of fire with their hand-held M-60 machine guns. The Seawolves inserted SEALs deep into enemy territory, and extracted them, often despite savage enemy opposition. They rescued friendly combatants from almost certain capture or death, and evacuated the wounded when Medevac helicopters were not available. Gleaned from historical documents and the colorful recollections of more than sixty Seawolf warriors, this is the first complete history of the most decorated Navy squadron of the Vietnam War. Naval aviator Richard Knott recounts the story of the Seawolves from the dawning of the concept to the moment the last squadron commander turned out the lights.

    Today there is only one.The battleship Texas was for a time the most powerful weapon on earth. When it was commissioned in 1914, the 14-inch guns were the largest in the world. This technological marvel of the time served with the British Grand Fleet in World War I and was the flagship of the entire U.S. Navy between the two World Wars. During the Second World War, an older Texas, past its prime, supported amphibious invasions in North Africa, Normandy, Southern France, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. The ship and her crew were preparing for the invasion of Japan when the war ended and the Texas came home.No longer needed to defend her country, the Texas was saved from the scrap yard to become our nation's first historic ship museum in 1948. Now lying peacefully in her berth at the San Jacinto State Park near Houston, the battleship Texas is still serving her country—teaching instead of fighting.The Texas is the only battleship remaining in the world today that served in World War I and the only ship remaining of any type that served in both World Wars. This is the story of the battleship Texas and the brave men who walked its decks.

    Although many hundreds of books have been published on the battle, few have focused on the artillery. Silent Sentinels fills this flaring gap in the literature. This well-written and illustrated study was designed for both the casual battlefield visitor and the serious scholar. The former will use Silent Sentinels to tour the battlefield, browse existing guns, ponder the many photographs, and learn more about artillery in general; the latter will find the extensive primary sources, diagrams, appendices of numbers and losses, and informative discussion of organization and tactics an indispensable reference resource. Silent Sentinels discusses in detail every gun-type used at Gettysburg, the equipment needed to operate the guns, their organization, and the tactics employed by both Union and Confederate artillery men. In addition to a history of the artillery and how it was used, the author includes chapters on the park’s collection of 436 guns, the pieces on display at the field today, how to identify the different types of cannon, and how to identify the date and place of manufacture. Silent Sentinels concludes with a driving tour of the battlefield, specially designed with the artillery in mind. This lovely historical guide, complete with detailed endnotes and bibliography, will be a welcomed addition to the growing Gettysburg titles.

    When, in the wake of his defeat of Pompey at Pharsalus his victorious legions refused to march another step under his command, he pursued his fleeing rival into Egypt with an impossibly small force of Gallic and German cavalry, raw Italian recruits, and nine hundred Spanish prisoners of war-tough veterans of Pompey's Sixth Legion.Cleopatra's Kidnappers tells the epic saga of Caesar's adventures in Egypt through the eyes of these captured, but never defeated, legionaries. In this third volume in his definitive history of the Roman legions, Stephen Dando-Collins reveals how this tiny band of fierce warriors led Caesar's little army to great victories against impossible odds. Bristling with action and packed with insights and newly revealed facts, this eye-opening account introduces you to the extraordinary men who made possible Caesar's famous boast, "I came, I saw, I conquered."Praise for Caesar's Legion"A unique and splendidly researched story, following the trials and triumphs of Julius Caesar's Legio X. . . . More than a mere unit account, it incorporates the history of Rome and the Roman army at the height of their power and gory glory. Many military historians consider Caesar's legions the world's most efficient infantry before the arrival of gunpowder. This book shows why. Written in readable, popular style, Caesar's Legion is a must for military buffs and anyone interested in Roman history at a critical point in European civilization."-T. R. Fehrenbach author of This Kind of War, Lone Star, and Comanches

    Over the centuries most admirals yielded to the natural temptation to find in new technologies a means to assert centralized control over their forces. But other commanders have recognized the fog for what it is: a constant level of uncertainty resistant to mere technological solution.In this grand history of naval warfare, Michael Palmer observes five centuries of dramatic encounters under sail and steam. From reliance on signal flags in the seventeenth century to satellite communications in the twenty-first, admirals looked to the next advance in technology as the one that would allow them to control their forces. But while abilities to communicate improved, Palmer shows how other technologies simultaneously shrank admirals' windows of decision. The result was simple, if not obvious: naval commanders have never had sufficient means or time to direct subordinates in battle.Successful commanders as distant as Horatio Nelson (1758-1805) and Arleigh Burke (1901-1996) accepted this reality. They sought solutions to the dilemmas of command in the personal indoctrination of subordinates through discussion, comradeship, and displays of trust and confidence. Such leaders created a commonality of vision and fostered a high degree of individual initiative. Their decentralized approach to command resulted in a resiliency that so often provided the key to success in battle.Palmer's exciting and enlightening history reveals the myriad efforts of naval commanders to navigate the fog of war.

    321 EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) Squadron was posted to Northern Ireland at the outset of the Troubles to provide bomb disposal expertise. Since then it has answered over 50,000 'bomb scare' calls, over 5,500 of them to deal with actual devices. It is impossible to estimate the number of lives, or value of property, saved by its work. But the cost is clear. Conspicuous courage is an essential qualification and 321 EOD is the most decorated unit in the entire British Army. Its members have been awarded 2 George Crosses, 29 George Medals and 281 other medals for outstanding gallantry. 20 officers have lost their lives; 24 have been severely injured. One still serves despite the loss of a hand. It is grimly appropriate that the unit has as its mascot and radio call-sign the cartoon cat, Felix, with his nine lives and ability to withstand mayhem. As peace emerges in Northern Ireland, 321 EOD is now ready to tell its story for the first time. Written with its full co-operation, A Special Kind of Courage traces the history and development of bomb disposal and the use of explosives by terrorists; the human courage and techniques used to counter it; and the international dimension - how violent revolutionary groups abroad, such as ETA in Spain, copied the methods of Irish terrorists. It describes how 321 EOD's pioneering devices - notably the remote-controlled 'wheelbarrow' - have been exported around the world, earning it a global expertise that is sought by many other nations facing the threat of terrorism. Written with the full co-operation of past and present members of the squadron, and with a new Postscript for the paperback edition, this is the extraordinary story of the courage, skill and cool professionalism of the most decorated unit in the British Army.

    Basil presided over a Byzantium which was the superpower of the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East in the century before the Crusades. Catherine Holmes peels away the layers of laterinterpretations to reveal an empire that was governed by a potent mixture of subtle persuasion and brute force.

    The book shows spread by spread the relentless progress of the epic war in the European Theatre of Operations, and focuses on the world-famous engagements such as Operation Market-Garden (immortalised in the film A Bridge too Far), the Battle of the Bulge, the bombing of Dresden and other German cities, the fall of Berlin, and VE Day itself. Written by a leading military historian and including a wealth of first-hand accounts on an audio CD, Imperial War Museum's Victory in Europe Experience contains 30 facsimile items of memorabilia integrated into the pages of the book. The reader can re-live this momentous period of history by examining maps, diaries, letters, and other items which up till now have remained filed or exhibited in the Imperial War Museum and other museum collections in Northern Europe.

    Albertini's 'The Origins of the War of 1914' ... which provides a detailed chronology of the crisis and excerpts from the most important documents" (from the cover)

    This is one of the most tense and potentially explosive relationships in world politics.This book explains succinctly the impetus, the methods and the consequences if China is to use force, a prospect that has become greater following the return of President Chen Shui-bian to power in Taiwan for a second term in 2004.If China Attacks Taiwan shows how in reality there can be no real winner in such an eventuality and how the consequences would be dire not just for Taiwan and China, but East Asia as a whole. Whether China will use force depends ultimately on how its policy making apparatus assess potential US intervention, whether its armed forces can subdue Taiwan and counter US military involvement, as well as on its assessment of the likely consequences. Given the extremely high probability of American involvement this volume appeals to not only scholars and students working on China, its foreign policy and the security and prosperity of East Asia, but also to policy makers and journalists interested in China's rise and its defense policy, Taiwan's security and development, regional stability as well as US policy toward China and the East Asia region generally. This text is also essential for understanding China's efforts to achieve a 'peaceful rise', which requires it to transform itself into a global power not by the actual use of force but by diplomacy backed up by rapidly expanding military power.This book is an excellent resource for all students and scholars of military and security studies, Asian (China/Taiwan) studies and international relations

    The Bureau of Military History interviewed those involved in this scheme in the early 1950s with the assurance that the material would not be published in their lifetimes. A few of the contributions were made available by the families of those involved, but the bulk of them have only recently been released. This is the first book to make use of those interviews. It makes fascinating, almost unique reading, because they contain first-hand descriptions in which men speaking candidly of their involvement in killing selected people at close range. As a result it throws a considerable amount of new light on the activities of the Squad and the intelligence operations of Michael Collins.

    This book offers a new perspective on one of the twentieth century's bloodiest battles by examining the development of German military ideas from the end of the Franco-German War in 1871 to the First World War. Its use of recently released German sources held in the Soviet Union since the Second World War sheds new light on German ideas about attrition before and during the First World War.

    A detailed and gripping account of the most famous, and infamous, division to fight in World War II for any side.

    LOST VOICES OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE records the role of the RAF in World War II, and, particularly, the Battle of Britain and the desert battles of North Africa, as well as in the Falklands and in the Gulf War. Through original interviews with air and ground crew, the spirit and comradeship, the stress, courage, isolation, vulnerability and the wonder of the wartime flying experience is vividly explored.

    Full description

    The narrative follows the battalion members as they leave their homes and lives in Western Australia, embark for overseas, experience the excitement and boredom of exotic Egypt, and undergo their baptism of fire in the first wave of the Australian and New Zealand landings at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915. "Game To the Last" casts its net wide to find and tell these men's stories and is the culmination of many years' research. Author James Hurst has visited the men's training grounds and battlefields, homes and graves. Many previously unpublished personal accounts provide the heart of the narrative while extensive research provides context and colour.

    The six million old men and boys of the Volkssturm were initially equipped with shotguns, drillings, hunting rifles, military training rifles and handguns scrounged from the German populace. These few arms were bolstered by foreign rifles and carbines captured during Germany's early wartime advances, and many collectors and historians may be surprised to learn that the rifle issued in the greatest numbers-the "true Volksgewehr"-was the Italian Carcano, some numbers of which were converted to fire the powerful German 7.92x57mm rifle cartridge!In addition, seven types of Volksgewehre were specifically designed for manufacture by German industry during the last months of the war. All are covered in detail, and the book includes many previously unpublished photographs of original Volkssturm weapons, including prototypes and rare presentation examples.Other Volkssturm weapons included the anti-tank Panzerfaust ("tank fist"), a single-shot, rocket-propelled shaped-charge device capable of defeating any Allied tank then in existence, and numerous "clones" of the British Sten machine carbine, which were hastily manufactured by a considerable number of German firms (a memorandum speaks of "30 subcontractors and 14 assembly points"). Programs were also begun to develop special Volkspistolen, made largely from stamped sheet metal.In summing up, the author notes that even if the Volkssturm had been fully trained, well equipped and armed with the best weapons in the world-which they decidedly were not-they could have done no more than delay the inevitable, which in many cases, documented here, they actually did.

    

    When Arms & Armour began a series under the heading of 'Claims to Fame' the first was 'The Lancaster', by well known aviation author and historian Norman Franks. In the event the series only embraced two books, but over the last decade Norman has continued to research and has received more information on the 34 Lancasters covered, and in fact, that total is now 35. Rewritten with all the additional information collected, and with more photographs of the aircraft and then men who flew in these very special Avro Lancasters, Grub Street has decided to reprint the book in a new-size format, to coincide with the 60th anniversary of VE Day. Each Lancaster's history is recorded, supported by stories from aircrew members that flew in these veteran aircraft, along with what happened to them once or if - they had survived. The most famous of course is 'Queenie' (W5868) the only one of these Lancasters that survives, and that can be seen today in the Bomber Command Hall at the Royal Air Force Museum, Hendon, North London. She, as with one or two others, have some controversial accounting as to the actual number of bomber operations flown, but these are all explained in the book. These controversies can also be explained by the detailed listing of each raid these 35 Lancasters flew during 1942-1945, together with the names of the pilot and crew that took them on bomber sorties all over Hitler's Third Reich, Northern Italy, during support missions before and after D-Day in June 1944 as well at attacking V1 rocket launch sites situated in Northern France. The book coversin detail how the research was carried out, the pitfalls that were encountered as well as a well-balanced view from one of the Lancaster's former Skippers on what it was like to fly a bomber tour of operations in Bomber Command. The book will be supported by over 200 photographs of the aircraft and the men who flew in them. Many of these come from personal albums so have not been seen before.

    Weinberg shows the inexorable goal of Nazi Germany's foreign policy and Hitler's key role in setting its course.

    The adventures of Count Felix von Luckner’s three-masted sailing vessel that raided the high seas during the first ironclad sea war.

    This is the story of his war. He tells the tale in his own words, with remarkable clarity of recall, and gives an authentic insight into what combat on the Eastern Front was like for the ordinary soldier. He also provides a detailed, firsthand record of cavalry operations during a highly mechanized war, and this gives his book its special value. The war for him began in Leningrad where he endured the terrifying first winter of the German siege. He describes the perils and privations that beset the city during a period in which over half a million civilians who lost their lives. Yet it is his vivid recollections of his experiences as an artillery man, then a cavalry officer on the Eastern Front that are at the heart of this rare memoir. In the Kursk salient Yakushin was severely wounded in the legs, during the Nevel offensive and Operation Bagration he took part in daring cavalry raids behind the German lines and, as the Soviet army penetrated into East Prussia and Germany itself, he was confronted by increasingly desperate German units struggling to defend their homeland. His descriptions of the merciless fighting during these last months of the war, in particular against the fanatical German Volkssturm, make fascinating reading. The author, Ivan Yakushin survived the Siege of Leningrad as a teenager, completed an artillery lieutenant's course in 1943 and joined the heavy mortar regiment during the Battle of Kursk. After recovering from a wound he was transferred to the elite 5th After the war Captain Yakushin came back to Leningrad and worked as an engineer at Admiralty Shipyards, taking part in construction of over 100 ships, until his retirement in 1992. He lives in St Petersburg, has one son and a grandson.

    The stakes were high: a successful landing at Leyte was critical to a subsequent assault on Luzon and total control of the Philippines. If Japan lost the Philippines, its supply of oil and other strategic raw materials would be cut off and its Navy doomed to an inglorious end. In this comprehensive study, one of the world's leading authorities on the subject addresses all aspects of the two-month-long ground, sea, and air invasion, and presents a complete evaluation of theater-wide command, organization, intelligence, and logistics.Drawing on a wealth of Allied and Japanese primary documents and countless secondary sources, Milan Vego describes and analyzes the operational planning and preparation as well as the execution of actions on both sides. Focusing on the operational versus tactical aspects of the struggle, he critically assesses the major decisions made by the senior commanders. His access to the Allied Magic radio intercepts allows him to shed light on what Allied and Japanese commanders knew and did not know about each other. Unlike other books on the subject, Vego draws conclusions and provides operational lessons learned based on his conclusions. A large number of maps, figures, and tables enhance the text.

    Was it one of the greatest blunders of the war, misconceived from the start and mishandled by tacticians? Or was it a strategic masterstroke, ruined by incompetence on the spot? Whichever view is accepted, the campaign was of decisive importance, its failure paving the way first to the collapse of the Imperial Russian army and later to socialist revolution. The Agony of Gallipoli is much more than just another account of the action in the field. John Laffin has written a critical and challenging analysis of the whole campaign, assisted by detailed maps and contemporary photographs. He examines the premises on which it was conceived, the way it was executed, the personalities of the generals and the conflicts amongst them. The author's introduction declares that 'the purpose of this book is to explain the defeat, to apportion the blame, and to let the soldiers speak. Here he provides a forthright treatment of a subject which still continues to grip the imaginations of people throughout the world.

    Steven A. Ruffin celebrates that spirit, that sense of wonder, with Aviation’s Most Wanted™: The Top 10 Book of Winged Wonders, Lucky Landings, and Other Aerial Oddities. With dozens of top-ten lists focusing on notable flights, memorable planes, famous and infamous aviators, aircraft combat, air travel—even space travel—and so much more, Ruffin provides a treasure trove of fun facts and amazing anecdotes celebrating the world’s love affair with flight, plus the hurt that accompanies any deep love. Will Rogers died in a plane crash near Point Barrow, Alaska, with aviation legend Wiley Post at the controls. Rogers was writing an article at the time of the crash; eerily, the last word he typed was “death.” Isoroku Yamamoto, who masterminded the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, met his fate in similarly sneaky fashion. U.S. forces intercepted and decoded information on Yamamoto’s travel plans and “Pearl Harbored” his plane, shooting it down into the island jungle of Bougainville. The safest seat in a crash depends on if you crash on takeoff or on landing—so flip a coin! You’ll read about the first and worst of flight, aces and races, and everything from crimes, sex, and controversy to planes so fast they can outrun the sun. With Aviation’s Most Wanted™ you’ll get the history of flight from the early balloon adventures of the eighteenth century until the present, laid out with trivia and tales to amuse and amaze!

    Military Liaison Mission (USMLM) to the Commander of the Soviet Army in Communist East Germany. Intelligence collection often led to dangerous encounters with the Soviet and East German armies. On occasion, Allied officers and non-commissioned officers were seriously injured. Before it all ended with the collapse of the Iron Curtain, one French sergeant and one American officer had been killed. Potsdam Mission traces the development of the author into a Soviet/Russian specialist and U.S. Army intelligence officer. The author then relates his own intelligence collection forays into East Germany by taking the reader on trips that include several harrowing experiences and four arrests/detentions by the Soviets Finally, the author describes the challenges and rewards of interpreting at USMLM and comments on the important role played by the Mission in Cold War intelligence.

    Featuring a wealth of new information and the work of acclaimed scholars from around the world, this monumental resource is the new standard reference on the 20th century's most influential conflict.

    Its baptism of fire was in the deadly Normandy bocage. Although suffering heavy losses in Normandy, the Division continued to fight in North-West Europe until the end of the war, seeing particularly notable service during the Ardennes Offensive and in the Ruhr. The first volume in the new Helion series WWII German Military Studies prints an extensive number of reports written by former officers of the Division, principally its commander Fritz Bayerlein. Virtually all of these reports have remained unpublished since they were written soon after the end of WWII. They cover all aspects of the Division's history, although with particular emphasis upon events in Normandy, the Ardennes and Germany. A number of the reports include detailed order-of-battle and other organisational data. A very large number of situation maps are also featured. Important though the reprinting of these documents is, this book is made doubly important thanks to the linking text and expert annotations from editor Fred Steinhardt. In effect, this book provides an extremely detailed chronological history of the Division's activities, in greater detail than has yet appeared in print before. / This new series is designed at bringing into print previously unavailable archival material covering all aspects of the German Armed Forces during the 1933-45 period. / Volume 1 contains an extensive series of previously unpublished reports covering all aspects of Panzer Lehr Division's combat history, especially in Normandy, the Ardennes and Germany 1944-45. / Many reports feature detailed order-of-battle data and are supported by a large number of situation maps. / Extensive linking commentary and annotations from the editor mean the book as a whole provides an extremely detailed narrative of the Division's activities 1944-45. / Publication marks a major contribution to the history of the Panzertruppen during the final year of WWII.

    Disrupting the easy clichés that dominate U.S. journalism, Enders blows away the media fog of war. The result is a book that challenges Americans to see through double speak and reconsider the warfare being conducted in their names."---Norman Solomon, author of War Made Easy: How Presidents and Pundits Keep Spinning Us to Death"Journalism at its finest and on a shoestring to boot. David Enders shows that courage and honesty can outshine big-budget mainstream media. Wry but self-critical, Baghdad Bulletin tells a story that a few of us experienced but every journalist, nay every citizen, should read."---Pratap Chatterjee, Managing Editor and Project Director, CorpWatch"Young and tenacious, Dave Enders went, saw, and wrote it down. Here it is-a well-informed and detailed tale of Iraq's decline under American rule. Baghdad Bulletin offers tragic politics, wacky people, and keen insights about what really matters on the ground in Iraq."---Christian Parenti"I wrote my first piece for Baghdad Bulletin after visiting the mass graves at Al-Hilla in 2003. The Baghdad Bulletin was essential reading in the first few months after the end of the war. I handed that particular copy to Prime Minister Tony Blair. I am only sorry that I cannot read it anymore. David Enders and his team were brave, enterprising, and idealistic." ---Rt. Hon. Ann Clwyd, member of the British ParliamentBaghdad Bulletin is a street-level account of the war and turbulent postwar period as seen through the eyes of the young independent journalist David Enders. The book recounts Enders's story of his decision to go to Iraq, where he opened the only English-language newspaper completely written, printed, and distributed there during the war.Young, courageous, and anti-authoritarian, Enders is the first reporter to cover the war as experienced by ordinary Iraqis. Deprived of the press credentials that gave his embedded colleagues access to press conferences and officially sanitized information, Enders tells the story of a different war, outside the Green Zone. It is a story in which the struggle of everyday life is interspersed with moments of sheer terror and bizarre absurdity: wired American troops train their guns on terrified civilians; Iraqi musicians prepare a recital for Coalition officials who never show; traveling clowns wreak havoc in a Baghdad police station. Orphans and intellectuals, activists and insurgents: Baghdad Bulletin depicts the unseen complexity of Iraqi society and gives us a powerful glimpse of a new kind of warfare, one that coexists with-and sometimes tragically veers into-the everyday rhythms of life.

    ¡Raza Sí! ¡Guerra No! presents an engaging portrait of Chicano protest and patriotism. On a deeper level, the book considers larger themes of American nationalism and citizenship and the role of minorities in the military service, themes that remain pertinent today. Lorena Oropeza's exploration of the evolution, political trajectory, and eventual implosion of the Chicano campaign against the war in Viet Nam encompasses a fascinating meditation on Mexican Americans' political and cultural orientations, loyalties, and sense of status and place in American society.

    Skillfully edited by Robert V. Williams and Ben-Ami Lipetz, the book features contributions by intelligence professionals and technologists from a range of U.S. and British agencies and armed services. The book begins by examining the pivotal strides to utilize technology in the gathering and dissemination of government/military intelligence during World War II. Next, it traces the evolution of the relationship between spymasters, computers, and systems developers through the years of the Cold War-a period notable for the parallel development of high-tech spyware and powerful new systems for encoding, decoding, storing, and manipulating intelligence data. This scholarly work will be welcomed by any researcher, historian, or intelligence professional interested in the vital conjunction of information technology and covert intelligence.

    "An American Demonology" is not a book aimed at research specialists. Easy to read, it discusses the work of Captain Ruppelt, who tried desperately to convince the US Air Force that UFOs were real. It also takes a broad look at the politics of American technology and science within the military culture of the era, sightings of UFOs over Washington in the summer of 1952, Project Grudge and the burgeoning media interest in flying saucers.

    From 1963 to 1970, first as the Army chief, then as Chairman Chief of Staff Committee, General Sir John Wilton was responsible for the conduct of Australia's Vietnam War. The problems he faced when dealing with politicians and senior bureaucrats in time of crisis remain as relevant as ever.

    

    However, Atlantis had the highest score of all German raiders – twice as much tonnage as the famed Graf Spee. She was a Phantom Raider, on of the Ghost Fleet, which terrorized merchant shipping in the Indian and Atlantic oceans. Twenty-one ships were sunk by her hidden guns yet the survivors she picked up had no hatred for their captors. Instead many of those interviewed had ungrudging admiration for the Germany officers and crew who captured them. Here is a fascinating story of the war at sea when Germany was the hunter, and of a ship whose exploits might never have been known but for the tenacious probing of the author, A. V. Sellwood, and the willingness of the Atlantis captain’s ADC, Ulrich Mohr, to recall those incredible 622 days at sea.

    It combines the ultimate balance between firepower, mobility and protection as demonstrated by its superior performance during the two Gulf Wars and in Afghanistan. It routed the Soviet equipment of Saddam Hussein s army and today remains the yardstick by which friends and foes MBTs are judged.Its versatility and continual modernization of weaponry armor and engineering guarantees that the MI Abrams will remain the US Army s spearpoint for years to come.Expert author Michael Green has produced a comprehensive collection of images and highly informed text.REVIEWS there are some impressive photographs, all have been chosen to tell the story, not just to entertain. Mr Green s text describes the history and service of the Abrams in a readable and accessible style. The book is neither anoracky at one end of the scale or too generic at the other. I think I commented that one of his last books on tanks may have been out of place in the Images of War range and could have been an expanded and glossier history in it s own right. I may have missed the point. Having a book of this quality in this range makes it affordable on one level and it adds a strong degree of credibility to the series on the other War History Online"

    Though the VC confers no special title and the medal itself is plain and simple in design, it is nevertheless the hardest-won and most coveted of gallantry awards. In every theatre of war where British and Commonwealth soldiers have served over the past one hundred and fifty years, VCs have been won by men aged from sixteen to sixty-one, soldiers, sailors, airmen and civilians. Since its inception in 1856, well over thirteen hundred VCs have been awarded, reflecting the gallantry of British and Commonwealth forces in action around the world from the Crimea to Iraq. To read the award citations is to be brought face to face with examples of selfless courage and devotion to duty and to encounter deeds that are always remarkable and sometimes astounding. ABOUT THE AUTHORPeter Duckers is Curator of the Shropshire Regimental Museum. Other titles for Shire by this author: British Campaign Medals 1815-1914 British Campaign Medals 1914-2000 British Gallantry Awards 1855-2000 The British Indian Army 1860-1914 British Military Rifles British Orders and Decorations

    In the Shadow of the Sphinx, an absorbing new history of Army counterintelligence, now reveals the real stories of the soldiers and civilians of Army counterintelligence on the front lines of three major wars and the shadowy Cold War conflict of spy versus counterspy.    Explosions in American cities and spies crossing international borders are not unique to the post 9-11 world. In the Shadow of the Sphinx traces the origins of Army counterintelligence to the need to counter such threats as far back as World War I.  This authoritative, profusely illustrated official history follows the Army’s shadowy war of spies versus spies through two World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, and the Cold War.  In the Shadow of the Sphinx includes fascinating tales of:   True spy stories from World War I through the end of the Cold WarSecuring the Manhattan Project Handling denazification in post-war Germany, Grappling with the emerging threat of communism  And much more!

    Organized chronologically by division and formation date. the book offers a complete guide to the Panzerwaffe, from the establishment of the 1st Panzer Division in 1935, to the hasty formation of the 130th Panzer (Lehr) Division in early 1944. The book describes in depth the various models of tank in German service during the war with each individual armored division, with listings of the unit commanders and any famous tank aces. Each divisional section is further broken down by campaign, accompanied by orders of battle. a brief divisional history of the campaign, and any specific unit markings. With information boxes accompanying the full-color artworks, all drawn to the same scale for easy comparison, The Essential Tank Identification Guide: Wehrmacht Panzer Divisions 1939-45 is an essential reference guide for modelers and enthusiasts with an interest in the armored divisions of the Wehrmacht.

    With historical information behind each of the 200 featured vehicles, as well as specifications for each and more than 1,000 detailed photographs - "Standard Catalog of German Military Vehicles" is the best, biggest and most complete book on the market!"

    The accidents of geology and geography produced an island at the center of the Mediterranean with a large harbor and ample resources for the construction of fortifications. As a result, the Maltese bore witness to many of the great conflicts in world history, from the Punic Wars, to Napoleon's conquests, to the North African and Mediterranean campaigns during World War II.Covering the entire sweep of the island's history, Castillo argues that not only was Malta's geographic location critical, its people played a crucial role in many of these struggles. The Maltese contributed largely to the defense of the islands when invaded by the Ottoman Turks in 1565, and the people rebelled against French rule after Napoleon evicted the Knights of Malta. During World War II, Malta became a strategic hub for the Allies' Mediterranean campaign, and the islands endured some of the most sustained and intensive bombing during the war-- up to 15 tons of bombs per square mile. Includes chapters on the Knights of Malta, the 1565 siege, Napoleon's invasion, Malta's role in World War II, and modern Malta.

    The book is the result of many years research on the part of its author, Claire Rose Knott, who has been granted unprecedented access to never before published diary notes, personal correspondence, logbooks, and family photographs. The work also benefits from research in archival resources, technical data and recollections supplied by the Princes' night fighter contemporaries. The text contains firsthand accounts by family, friends and fellow officers who offer unique accounts of the ambition, intensity and actions of the leading characters in time of war. Over the years, the Princes have courted controversy with several conspiracy theories regarding their deaths. The plausibility of such theories when viewed against their aristocratic family backgrounds and placed against the backdrop of intense social upheaval under the Nazi regime, are investigated here.Prince Heinrich Zu Sayn-Wittgenstein was the third highest scoring night fighter ace in the Luftwaffe who served from mid-1941 until his death in 1944. He was killed when his aircraft was hit by return fire from a bomber or by an RAF nightfighter. Zu Sayn-Wittgenstein baled out but was killed by the impact of landing. His victory score at that time of his death was 83 - 29 in the East and 54 in the West.Prince Egmont zur Lippe-Weissenfeld, an Austrian, started his career as a daylight fighter pilot, and became a nightfighter when serving under the famous Helmut Lent as Staffelkapitan. He is accredited with 51 aerial victories while flying - mainly the Messerschmitt Bf 110 - and is ranked 21st among the German night fighter aces. He was killed on 3 March 1944 when his Bf 110 clipped the ground and crashed during a flight over the Ardennes. The text is supported by rare and fascinating photographs of the pilots' aircraft, weaponry (including the upward-firing 'Jazz Music' twin cannon) and radar equipment as well as others in their squadrons, together with commissioned color artwork of Messerschmitt Bf 110 and Junkers Ju 88 night fighters.

    Three months after the landing at Normandy, the Allies were finally within reach of the enemy on his home turf. Among the troops there was even talk of getting home for Christmas. What followed, though, was one of the most grueling campaigns of the war—the nearly six-month-long battle fully recounted for the first time in this powerful work. Combining stirring narrative and meticulous historical detail, The Longest Battle provides a complete and compelling account of what happened after the first breach of the Third Reich by Allied ground combat forces: of the troops’ terrible struggle across the Siegfried Line, Hitler’s vaunted West Wall, through the benighted Hurtgen Forest, and across the Roer. The strategic decisions and setbacks, the incremental advances, and catastrophic losses that marked this still-controversial but critically important battle unfold in all their historical, military, and human significance in Harry Yeide’s book—finally filling a gap in our understanding of World War II.