Best of
War

1976

A Man Called Intrepid


William Stevenson - 1976
    NBC News calls it, "A historical document of major significance." The focus is on Sir William Stephenson, Britain's urbane spy chief who inspired James Bond.

Adolf Hitler


John Toland - 1976
    At a certain distance yet still with access to many of the people who enabled and who opposed the führer and his Third Reich, Toland strove to treat this life as if Hitler lived and died a hundred years before instead of within his own memory. From childhood and obscurity to his desperate end, Adolf Hitler emerges as, in Toland’s words, “far more complex and contradictory . . . obsessed by his dream of cleansing Europe Jews . . . a hybrid of Prometheus and Lucifer.”

The Use of Man


Aleksandar Tišma - 1976
    Two become Nazis, one joins the Partisans, and one is sent to a concentration camp.Set in Yugoslavia prior to and during World War II, this tale of devastation traces the lives of four friends born in the same small town. They went to school together, took dancing lessons, stole kisses, were taught German by an old maid who kept a diary. But when war comes, half-Jewish Vera is sent to a concentration camp while her German cousin becomes a Nazi; Serbian boyfriend Milinko joins the Partisans; and another classmate, also a Serb, becomes fascinated by the magic of killing. Tisma's portrayal of their situation is certainly poignant, but he belabors the obvious in overly melodramatic fashion.

Another Day of Life


Ryszard Kapuściński - 1976
    In 1975 Kapuscinski's employers sent him to Angola to cover the civil war that had broken out after independence. For months he watched as Luanda and then the rest of the country collapsed into a civil war that was in the author's words 'sloppy, dogged and cruel'. In his account, Kapuscinski demonstrates an extraordinary capacity to describe and to explain the individual meaning of grand political abstractions.

When Hell Was in Session


Jeremiah A. Denton Jr. - 1976
    Navy was shot down during a combat mission over North Vietnam. A prisoner of war for seven and a half years, Denton provided the first direct evidence of torture by the North Vietnamese, blinking in Morse code the word torture during a televised interview before and after which he was tortured. Denton's unshakable faith in God and country sustained him through year of solitary confinement, beatings, starvation and terror. The first edition of When Hell Was In Session sold over 100,000 copies; this special 25th anniversary edition will inspire a whole new generation of readers.

The Face of Battle: A Study of Agincourt, Waterloo and the Somme


John Keegan - 1976
    It examines the physical conditions of fighting, the particular emotions and behaviour generated by battle, as well as the motives that impel soldiers to stand and fight rather than run away.In his scrupulous reassessment of three battles, John Keegan vividly conveys their reality for the participants, whether facing the arrow cloud of Agincourt, the levelled muskets of Waterloo or the steel rain of the Somme.

Playing For Time


Fania Fénelon - 1976
    Captured by the Nazis, she was sent to Auschwitz, and later, Bergen-Belsen. With unnerving clarity and an astonishing ability to find humor where only despair should prevail, the author charts her eleven months as one of "the orchestra girls"; writes of the loves, the laughter, hatreds, jealousies, and tensions that racked this privileged group whose only hope of survival was to make music.

The Mustering of the Hawks (Ira Penaluna #1)


Max Hennessy - 1976
    The average life-expectancy of an RAF pilot on the Western Front is three weeks. Inexperienced young men are hurled into vicious dogfights over the trenches, often without adequate training, and are slaughtered by the German aces.Into this hell arrives Ira Penaluna, only nineteen years old and totally in love with aviation. As those who have become his friends die one-by-one, Ira realises that in a world where skill, speed and killer-instinct are all, there is only one way to survive: to think like a hawk.A searing, moving novel of the First World War, full to the brim with detailed historical research, perfect for fans of Thomas Wood and Wilbur Smith.

The Distant Summer


Sarah Patterson - 1976
    Poignant story of a girl who loves two WWII flyers, written by the daughter of suspense writer Jack Higgins when she was just 17.

The Great Boer War


Byron Farwell - 1976
    1990 1st Thus Norton

Raja Raja Chola (Amar Chitra Katha)


Sita Anantharaman - 1976
    Quiet, firm and dependable he won the heart of every person he met. However, it was his hot-headed brother who was heir to the throne. But no one could stand in the way of what destiny had in store for the young prince. By the strangest twists of fate, Arul ascended the throne as Raja Raja Chola and proved to be one of the greatest rulers in the history of medieval India. During his 30-year-reign the Chola empire not only became a formidable maritime power but was also a hub of art and architecture.

Sherman: A History of the American Medium Tank


R.P. Hunnicutt - 1976
    From its introduction in 1942 until the production line closed in the second half of 1945, tens of thousands of these versatile armored fighting vehicles were produced. In addition to the basic tank, which itself went through numerous modifications during its three year production run, many more Sherman variants were produced. The M4 was adapted for use as armored artillery, self-propelled antiaircraft artillery, tank destroyers, cargo and personnel carriers, and a vast array of specialized armored combat engineer vehicles.As a result of the vast numbers of operational M4s still in service at the end of World War II, the Sherman soldiered on around the world for decades. Indeed, the basic design was so sound and durable that the Israeli Army still had some in use in the 1973 Yom-Kippur War. Heavily modified with a modem, high velocity 75mm gun it was dubbed the Super Sherman.This massive, heavily illustrated book is, without doubt, the definitive work on its subject.

Propaganda: The Art of Persuasion, World War II


Anthony Rhodes - 1976
    Here are the posters of Shahn, Hohlwein, and Fougasse; the cartoons of Fitzpatrick, Low, Seppla, and Kukriniksi; stills from the films of John Huston, Noel Coward, and Leni Riefenstahl; photos of Tokyo Rose and Fritz Kuhn; comic books, magazine covers, paintings, leaflets, newspapers, postcards, sheet music; all the artifacts of the art of persuasion, more than 500 photographs, over 270 in full color, culled from government archives and private collections in the United States and abroad.

P.O.W.: A Definitive History of the American Prisoner-Of-War Experience in Vietnam, 1964-1973


John G. Hubbell - 1976
    This title is organized around several main groupings: first, Practical Matters - quick reference travel information presented in an easy-to-use format; Viewing - information on what see in this land of contrasts, from flora and fauna to folklore, history and food; What to See - alphabetical listings of places to visit, with star ratings, map references and practical information; Features - special sections featuring, for example, winter sports, glaciers, railways and scenic journeys; Where to - detailed listings of the best places to eat, drink, stay, shop and be entertained.

I Deserted Rommel


Gunther Bahnemann - 1976
    'I'm Leaving', he said. 'I'm deserting - tonight'.Hearing that his father had been arrested and killed in Germany, Corporal Gunther Bahnemann, Iron Cross, despatch rider in Rommel's Afrika Korps, described that, for him, the war was over. Hours later equipped with only the barest essentials for survival, he rode out of camp into the hostile desert.So began one of the most bizarre true escape stories of the war.

The Art of Warfare in the Age of Marlborough


David G. Chandler - 1976
    . . a truly valuable source for the serious student of military history.”—Military History

West Of Honor


Jerry Pournelle - 1976
    The final days of Western Civilization are signaled by the joining of the USA and the USSR into a ruthless and imperial state that spans first the Earth and then the Solar System. But, because it fails to hold the loyalty of its soldiers, it falters at the stars.As well as carrying the CoDominium Future History into the galactic period, West of Honor introduces Jerry Pournelle's most important and influential character, John Christian Falkenberg.

Men at Arnhem


Geoffrey S. Powell - 1976
    Geoffrey Powell, himself a veteran of the Arnhem operation, drew on conversations with many other survivors of the battle to write one of the most dramatic of all accounts of the battleWhen the book was first published in 1976 under a pseudonym, it was at once recognized as one of the finest evocations of an infantryman's war ever written.

Voices of the Civil War


Richard Wheeler - 1976
    These searingly vivid eyewitness reports form a continuous narrative of the war on all fronts, in the east and west, on land and sea, in battle and behind the lines in both South and North, from the first guns fired at Fort Sumter to the final stillness at Appomattox. The voices belong to the leaders and the generals, common soldiers and ordinary civilians, all caught up in the tumult and tidal movement of vast events. The result is the Civil War as it really was and what it really meant to America and Americans.

The Grey Goose of Arnhem: The Story of the Most Amazing Mass Escape of World War II


Leo Heaps - 1976
    Ideal for readers of James Holland, Anthony Beevor and Cornelius Ryan. Ten thousand Allied troops landed in the Netherlands in September 1944. This was the largest airborne invasion ever undertaken and it ended in utter disaster. Eight thousand men were killed, wounded, or captured during the Battle of Arnhem. Yet, what of those who escaped? And how did they manage it when surrounded by German troops? Leo Heaps’ remarkable book The Grey Goose of Arnhem charts the activities of two hundred and fifty men who, with the aid of Dutch Resistance, made it back across the Rhine to Allied lines. As a member of the First Airborne, Heaps draws from his own experiences as a soldier who fought, evaded capture, and then returned to work with the Dutch Resistance, for which he was awarded the Military Cross, as well as using material from private diaries, letters, and interviews with about forty paratroopers and Dutch Resistance leaders to record a thorough account of the most amazing mass escape of World War Two. These men never gave up in the face of insurmountable odds. Indeed, as Heaps explains, rather than stay within the safety of allied lines, some of these men returned to the frontlines to assist the Resistance and ensure that as many of their comrades returned as possible. The Grey Goose of Arnhem is a brilliant account of heroism that weaves together the accounts of numerous unforgettable characters to provide insight into what the Battle of Arnhem and its aftermath was like from those who saw it first-hand.

The Last European War: September 1939 - December 1941


John Lukacs - 1976
    Eminent historian John Lukacs presents an extraordinary narrative of these two years, followed by a detailed sequential analysis of the lives of the peoples and then of the political, military, and intellectual relations and events. “Lukacs’s book is consistently interesting, surprising, and provocative.”—James Joll, New York Times Book Review“This dispassionate, humorous, serious, and brilliantly written book marks an important step forward in our understanding of a past that is still within living memory.”—Economist“An excellent, valuable, and highly readable book. . . . It makes both fascinating and extraordinarily valuable reading. It is a major contribution to historical scholarship.”—Joseph G. Harrison, Christian Science Monitor“A brilliant, original study of what this era meant--socially, politically, artistically, intellectually--in the lives of the peoples of Europe. . . . [Lukacs’s] grasp of emotional as well as intellectual history is commanding.”—New Yorker“Deserves to be widely read, seriously considered, and vigorously debated.”—Gordon Wright, American Historical Review

Kill or Get Killed


Rex Applegate - 1976
    Reprinted and in current use by the U.S. Marine Corps as an official training manual, it details methods of self-defense, offensive close combat, combat shooting and crowd-control techniques in riot situations. Colonel Rex Applegate is widely regarded as the father of modern close combat and combat shooting, and this book is considered the standard by which all other books on the subject are judged.

Longbow: A Social and Military History


Robert Hardy - 1976
    Also examined is the longbow as a sporting and hunting weapon, and its status in Britain today.

Clear the Decks!


Daniel V. Gallery - 1976
    Contains Epilogue mentioning Vietnam (1967).

Warships of the Imperial Japanese Navy, 1869-1945


Hansgeorg Jentschura - 1976
    This book covers the development of the Imperial Japanese Navy from its humble beginnings to major sea power.

High Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Impeachment and Trial of Andrew Johnson


Gene Smith - 1976
    

The Illusion of Peace: International Relations in Europe, 1918-1933


Sally Marks - 1976
    Building on the theories of the first edition, Marks argues that the Allied failure to bring defeat home to the German people, and the consequences of this oversight, were partly to blame, and reassesses Europe's leaders and the policies of the powers. Thoroughly revised and updated in the light of recent scholarly and documentary research, the second edition of this highly successful text also includes new material, maps, and an extended bibliography.

Narratives of the American Revolution


Hugh F. Rankin - 1976
    

Yankee Blitzkreig: Wilson's Raid Through Alabama and Georgia


James Pickett Jones - 1976
    Wilson and his three Union cavalry divisions. His aims were to destroy the iron furnaces and the Confederate arms manufacturing centre of Selma, and to capture the then former state capital, Montgomery.

Early To Rise: A Sussex Boyhood


Bob Copper - 1976
    Bob Copper recreates life in and around the farmworker’s cottage: the village shop, encounters with travelling tradesmen, schooldays, fishing scenes, long Sundays as a choirboy in the village church, and that momentous day when at the age of twelve he took his first art-time paid job, flint-picking in the fields, a farming task, which symptomatic of the times, was soon to give way to lathering in one of the village’s vital social arteries, the barber’s shop.Illustrated with many line drawings by the author and many photographs of life in old Rottingdean, Early to Rise also completes the publication of the Copper family’s collection of folksongs begun in his first book.”

Winners & Losers: Battles, Retreats, Gains, Losses, and Ruins from the Vietnam War


Gloria Emerson - 1976
    From soldiers on the battlefield to protesters on the home front, Emerson chronicles the war s impact on ordinary lives with characteristic insight and brilliance. Today, as we approach the fiftieth anniversary of the Gulf of Tonkin incident, much of the physical and emotional damage from that conflict the empty political rhetoric, the mounting casualties, and the troubled homecomings of shell-shocked soldiers is once again part of the American experience. Winners and Losers remains a potent reminder of the danger of blindly applied American power, and its poignant truths are the legacy of a remarkable journalist."

The Greek Adventure


David Howarth - 1976
    s/t: Lord Byron and other eccentrics in the War of Independence

The Struggle For Greece 1941 - 1949


C.M. Woodhouse - 1976
    He analyzes the characters, ideologies, and events behind one of the longest and most bitter civil wars of modern times. With an Introduction by Richard Clogg.