Best of
World-War-Ii

2001

In Harm's Way: The Sinking of the USS Indianapolis and the Extraordinary Story of Its Survivors


Doug Stanton - 2001
    Interweaving the stories of survivors, Doug Stanton has brought this astonishing human drama to life in a narrative that is at once immediate and timeless. The definitive account of a little-known chapter in World War II history, In Harm's Way is destined to become a classic tale of war, survival, and extraordinary courage.On July 30, 1945, the USS Indianapolis was torpedoed in the South Pacific by a Japanese submarine. An estimated 300 men were killed upon impact; close to 900 sailors were cast into the Pacific Ocean, where they remained undetected by the navy for nearly four days and nights. Battered by a savage sea, they struggled to stay alive, fighting off sharks, hypothermia, and dementia. The captain's subsequent court-martial left many questions unanswered: How did the navy fail to realize the Indianapolis was missing? And perhaps most amazing of all, how did these 317 men manage to survive?

Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission


Hampton Sides - 2001
    troops slipped behind enemy lines in the Philippines. Their mission: March thirty rugged miles to rescue 513 POWs languishing in a hellish camp, among them the last survivors of the infamous Bataan Death March. A recent prison massacre by Japanese soldiers elsewhere in the Philippines made the stakes impossibly high and left little time to plan the complex operation.In Ghost Soldiers Hampton Sides vividly re-creates this daring raid, offering a minute-by-minute narration that unfolds alongside intimate portraits of the prisoners and their lives in the camp. Sides shows how the POWs banded together to survive, defying the Japanese authorities even as they endured starvation, tropical diseases, and torture. Harrowing, poignant, and inspiring, Ghost Soldiers is the mesmerizing story of a remarkable mission. It is also a testament to the human spirit, an account of enormous bravery and self-sacrifice amid the most trying conditions.

The Bravest Man: Richard O'Kane and the Amazing Submarine Adventures of the USS Tang


William Tuohy - 2001
    You’re either alive or dead.”–Richard O’KaneHailed as the ace of aces, captain Richard O’Kane, winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor for his consummate skill and heroism as a submarine skipper, sank more enemy ships and saved more downed fliers than anyone else.Now Pulitzer Prize—winning author William Tuohy captures all the danger, the terror, and the pulse-pounding action of undersea combat as he chronicles O’Kane’s wartime career–from his valiant service as executive officer under Wahoo skipper Dudley “Mush” Morton to his electrifying patrols as commander of the USS Tang and his incredible escape, with eight other survivors, after Tang was sunk by its own defective torpedo.Above all, The Bravest Man is the dramatic story of mavericks who broke the rules and set the pace to become a new breed of hunter/killer submariners who waged a unique brand of warfare. These undersea warriors would blaze their own path to victory–and transform the “Silent Service” into the deadliest fighting force in the Pacific.

Our Yanks


Margaret Mayhew - 2001
    The village had never seen anything like them before - certainly they were different with their wealth, their glamour, and their louche but romantic uniforms. Some of the older villagers, like the Brigadier, resented them on sight, others welcomed them with weak tea and fish paste sandwiches. But in some lives they were to make a long-lasting and emotional impact - most especially young Sally Barnet from the bakery, Agnes Dawe, the Rector's daughter, and newly-widowed Lady Beauchamp from the Manor.

Soldier X


Don L. Wulffson - 2001
    Sent to the killing fields of the Eastern Front, he is surrounded by unimaginable sights, more horrific than he ever thought possible. It's kill or be killed, and it seems clear that Erik's days are numbered. Until, covered in blood and seriously injured, he conceives of another way to survive. Filled with gritty and visceral detail, Soldier X will change the way every reader thinks about the reality of war.

Lying About Hitler: History, Holocaust, and the David Irving Trial


Richard J. Evans - 2001
    No objective historian, declared the judge, would manipulate the documentary record in the way that Irving did. Richard J. Evans, a Cambridge historian and the chief advisor for the defense, uses this pivotal trial as a lens for exploring a range of difficult questions about the nature of the historian's enterprise. For instance, don't all historians in the end bring a subjective agenda to bear on their reading of the evidence? Is it possible that Irving lost his case not because of his biased history but because his agenda was unacceptable? The central issue in the trial -- as for Evans in this book -- was not the past itself, but the way in which historians study the past. In a series of short, sharp chapters, Richard Evans sets David Irving's methods alongside the historical record in order to illuminate the difference between responsible and irresponsible history. The result is a cogent and deeply informed study in the nature of historical interpretation.

From the Holocaust to Hogan's Heroes: The Autobiography of Robert Clary


Robert Clary - 2001
    He was deported to the Nazi concentration camps in 1942 but miraculously was liberated from Buchenwald in 1945, the only one of thirteen deported family members to survive. At age 22, a song he recorded, "Put Your Shoes on Lucy," became a big hit in the United States. He appeared in Cabaret on Broadway, in motion pictures including The Hindenburg with George C. Scott, and in nightclubs. On television he was well-loved for roles on "The Young and the Restless," "Days of our Lives," and of course, as Corporal Louis Lebeau on "Hogan's Heroes." As a Holocaust survivor, Clary has lectured at high schools, colleges, synagogues, and civic groups throughout the U.S. and Canada.

Leo's Girl


Victor Pemberton - 2001
    Although she loves her parents, Peggy has always felt her home life to be narrow and claustrophobic so, when women are urged to help on the home front after the outbreak of the Second World War, she starts training as a conductor on a London Transport bus. Her parents are both appalled; it's hardly a fitting position for the daughter of a local magistrate. It is not just Peggy's parents who make her life difficult. Many of the bus crew haven't adjusted to women from their own class working let alone the likes of Peggy. And her relationship with Leo, who is most definitely from the wrong part of town, serves to create further tensions. It is only when the real enemy strikes, and a bomb explodes in the path of a bus, that these petty differences are cast aside, but, for some, it's too late to say sorry.

Always Faithful: A Memoir of the Marine Dogs of WWII


William W. Putney - 2001
    Putney joined the Marine Corps at the height of World War II. He commanded the Third Dog Platoon during the battle for Guam and later served as chief veterinarian and commanding officer of the War Dog Training School, where he helped train former pets for war in the Pacific. After the war, he fought successfully to have USMC war dogs returned to their civilian owners. Always Faithful is Putney’s celebration of the four-legged soldiers that he both commanded and followed. It is a tale of immense courage as well as of incredible sacrifice.  For anyone who has ever read Old Yeller or the books of Jack London, here is a real-life story that rivals any fiction. At once a wistful tribute and a stirring adventure, Always Faithful will enthrall readers with one of the great animal stories of all time.

Holocaust Survivor


Mike Jacobs - 2001
    With great clarity, Jacobs recounts five years of confinement in ghettos and concentration camps. A story told without hatred or bitterness, "Holocaust Survivor" teaches us that when we recognize that freedom comes from within, we are never completely powerless.

Colditz: The Definitive History: The Untold Story of World War II's Great Escapes


Henry Chancellor - 2001
    Filled with the thrilling never-before-told personal stories of the prisoners of war held within the walls of this medieval fortress turned German high-security prison camp, Colditz offers endlessly intriguing stories of consummate survivors who proved the human spirit to be indomitable.In more than fifty original interviews, the English, French, Dutch, and Polish officers and their guards describe their experiences in the notorious castle. They reveal their boredom and frustrations, as well as the challenges inherent in making maps out of jelly or constructing tunnels with mere cutlery knives. The stories are by turns comic and tragic, as much of their labor and invention ended in failure. But what emerges is a story of breathtaking ingenuity and an intriguing portrait of the fascinating game of wits between captives and captors, who were bound together by mutual respect and extraordinary tolerance.

An Album of Memories: Personal Histories from the Greatest Generation


Tom Brokaw - 2001
    Photographs and time lines also commemorate important dates and events. An Army Air Corps veteran who enlisted in 1941 at age seventeen writes to describe the Bataan Death March. A black nurse tells of her encounter with wartime segregation. Other members of the Greatest Generation describe their war--in such historic episodes as Guadalcanal, the D-Day invasion, the Battle of the Bulge, and Midway--as well as their lives on the home front. Starting with the Depression and Pearl Harbor, moving on through the war years in Europe, in the Pacific, and at home, this unique book preserves a people's rich historical heritage and the legacy of a nation's heroism in war and its courage in peace--in the shaping of their lives and of the world we have today.

Life: World War 2: History's Greatest Conflict in Pictures


Richard B. Stolley - 2001
    Included are remarkable unpublished images, like color photographs of Hitler taken by his personal photographer, alongside the classic Life coverage that brought the war home. From the escalating tensions of the pre-war world to the German blitzkrieg, the shock of Pearl Harbor, the fighting on land, sea, and air, D-Day, the home fronts, the atom bombs, and the war's historic aftermath, legendary journalist Richard B. Stolley takes a fresh look at the most important global event of the 20th century.

With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa


Eugene B. Sledge - 2001
    

An Englishman in Auschwitz


Leon Greenman - 2001
    His father Barnett Greenman and mother Clara Greenman-Morris were also born in London. His paternal grandparents were Dutch, and at an early age, after the death of his mother, his family moved to Holland, where Leon eventually settled with his wife, Esther, in Rotterdam. Leon was an antiquarian bookseller, and as such travelled to and from London on a regular basis. In 1938, during one such trip, he noticed people digging trenches in the streets and queuing up for gas masks. He hurried back to Holland the same evening, intending to collect his wife and return with her to England, because the whispers of war were getting louder and louder." "However, the British Consulate assured the family that, in the likelihood of war, they would be notified to leave with the diplomatic staff should it become necessary. In May 1940, Holland was overrun by the Nazis. Leon had by then entrusted his passports and money to Dutch friends, but when he asked for their return, his friends told him that they had burnt them for fear of the Germans finding them in their home. The British Consulate was now abandoned, and effectively so were Leon and his family. They had no proof of their British nationality and had no money. From then on, Leon fought to obtain papers to prove they were British, but these arrived too late to save the family from deportation to Auschwitz II, Birkenau, where Esther and their small son, Barney, were gassed on arrival. Leon was chosen with 49 others for slave labour. An Englishman in Auschwitz tells the remarkable story of Leon's survival, of the horrors he saw and endured at Auschwitz, Monowitz and during the Death March to Gleiwitz and Buchenwald camp, where he was eventually liberated. Since that time, Leon has been talking about the Holocaust and continues to recount his experiences to this day, at the age of 90, as a warning to young and old alike."--BOOK JACKET.

Warspite


Iain Ballantyne - 2001
    While this book looks at the lives of all eight vessels to bear the name (between 1596 and the 1990s), it concentrates on the truly epic story of the seventh vessel, a super-dreadnought battleship, conceived as the ultimate answer to German naval power, during the arms race that helped cause WW1. Warspite fought off the entire German fleet at Jutland, survived a mutiny between the wars and then covered herself in glory in action from the Arctic to the Indian Ocean during WW2. She was the flagship of Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham when he mastered the Italian Navy in the Mediterranean, her guns inflicting devastating damage on the enemy at Calabria in 1940 and Matapan in 1941. She narrowly avoided destruction by the Japanese carrier force that had earlier devastated Pearl Harbor. She provided crucial fire support for Allied landings in Sicily, Italy, Normandy and Walcheren. A lucky ship in battle, she survived dive-bombers off Crete and glide bomb hits off Salerno. The Spite had a reputation for being obtuse at unexpected moments, running aground and losing her steering several times; she broke free from her towropes on the way to the breakers and ending up beached at St Michael's Mount where it took a decade to dismantle her. She had fought to the end.But this is not just the story of a warship. Wherever possible the voices of those men who fought aboard her speak directly to the reader about their experiences. Warspite is also the story of a great naval nation which constructed her as the ultimate symbol of its imperial power and then scrapped her when the sun set on that empire.About the AuthorIain Ballantyne is a much published naval author. His other books for Pen & Sword are HMS London, HMS Rodney and Victory as well as Strike From the Sea and Killing the Bismarck. He is editor of WARSHIPS IFR magazine. For more details on Iain Ballantyne and his books, visit: www.iainballantyne.com

The Black Devil Brigade


Joseph A. Springer - 2001
    In their ranks were lumberjacks, miners, skiers men from the United States and Canada, accustomed to hardship and living on their own. Their training was extraordinary: forced marches of 100 miles in the Montana wilderness with 50-pound backpacks was typical. Weapons training was equally rigorous and the men became as dangerous with their hands and a knife as they were with rifle and machine gun. In Italy they became the unit called to accomplish the impossible. At Monte Cassino, and at Anzio, they earned the respectful accolade from their German enemies. In this book, the men of the First Special Service Force tell the full story of their unit, regarded as the parent of the Green Berets.

Defiant Courage: Norway's Longest WWII Escape


Astrid Karlsen Scott - 2001
    Before they can unload their cutter, they are betrayed, as a German Schnell boat arrives and turns the quiet fjord into a battle zone. Only one man, Jan Baalsrud, surrvives the attack. This is the story of his perilous journey to freedom. Wounded, the dauntless soldier swims icy fjord waters, climbs snow-laden granite peaks, endures violent snowstorms and is hurled off a mountain by an avalanche. Fleeing the Gestapo and battling the harsh Arctic cold, Jan suffers snowblindness and frostbite. Though he possesses raw courage and an iron will, they are not enough to deliver him all the way to neutral Sweden and safety. The people of northern Norway's Troms district step forward to assist Jan. Selflessly defying Nazi dictates, more than sixty people risk their lives to help the fugitive commando. Flee

Hiding in the Open: A Holocaust Memoir


Sabina S. Zimering - 2001
    They missed the liquidation of their ghetto by mere hours, hiding in a shed all night listening to the screams of their fellow Jews. Then went into Germany and took up work in a hotel housing Gestapo officers. Many close escapes and daring moments make this book chilling.

Reporting World War 2


Samual Hynes - 2001
    Here, for the first time in paperback, the work of more than 50 remarkable reporters has been drawn from original newspaper and magazine reports, radio transcripts, and wartime books to capture the intensity of World War II's unfolding drama. This volume includes the work of Ernie Pyle, A. J. Liebling, E. B. White, William L. Shirer, John Steinbeck, Margaret Bourke-White, Edward R. Murrow, Martha Gellhorn, James Agee, John Hersey-whose Hiroshima appears in full-and many more. Also included are: A detailed chronology (1933-1945) Maps Profiles of the journalists Helpful notes A glossary of military terms, and Notes on the texts

An Uncommon Friendship: From Opposite Sides of the Holocaust


Bernat Rosner - 2001
    In 1944, 13-year-old Fritz was almost old enough to join the Hitler Youth in his German village of Kleinheubach. That same year in Tab, Hungary, 12-year-old Bernie was loaded onto a train with the rest of the village's Jewish inhabitants and taken to Auschwitz, where his whole family was murdered. How to bridge the deadly gulf that separated them in their youth, how not to allow the power of the past to separate them even now, as it separates many others, become the focus of their friendship, and together they begin the project of remembering.The separate stories of their youth are told in one voice, at Bernat Rosner's request. He is able to retrace his journey into hell, slowly, over many sessions, describing for his friend the "other life" he has resolutely put away until now. Frederic Tubach, who must confront his own years in Nazi Germany as the story unfolds, becomes the narrator of their double memoir. Their decision to open their friendship to the past brings a poignancy to stories that are horrifyingly familiar. Adding a further and fascinating dimension is the counterpoint of their similar village childhoods before the Holocaust and their very different paths to personal rebirth and creative adulthood in America after the war.Seldom has a memoir been so much about the present, as we see the authors proving what goodwill and intelligence can accomplish in the cause of reconciliation. This intimate story of two boys trapped in evil and destructive times, who become men with the freedom to construct their own future, has much to tell us about building bridges in our public as well as our personal lives.

Una Storia Segreta: The Secret History of Italian American Evacuation and Internment During World War II


Lawrence Distasi - 2001
    In a collection of essays, Una Storia Segreta brings together the voices of the Italian American community and experts in the field, including personal stories by survivors and their children, letters from internment camps, news clips, photographs, and cartoons.

Strike and Hold: A Memoir of the 82nd Airborne in World War II


T. Moffatt Burriss - 2001
    Moffatt Burriss shows his extraordinary role as a platoon leader and company commander with the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment in Europe and North Africa during World War II. He saw a great deal of combat on Sicily, at Salerno, on Anzio Beach, in Holland during Operation Market Garden, and during the drive into Germany. This book portrays World War II as seen vividly through the eyes of the young American citizen-soldier.

Beyond Valor: World War II's Ranger and Airborne Veterans Reveal the Heart of Combat


Patrick K. O'Donnell - 2001
    For more than fifty years the individual stories that make up this narrative -- shockingly frank reflections of sacrifice and courage -- have been bottled up, buried, or circulated privately. Now, nearing the ends of their lives, our WWII soldiers have at last unburdened themselves. "Beyond Valor" recaptures their hidden history. A pioneering oral historian, Patrick O'Donnell used his award-winning website, The Drop Zone, to solicit oral- and "e-histories" from individual soldiers. Gradually, working from within the community, O'Donnell convinced some of the war's most battle-hardened soldiers to tell their stories. The result is WWII seen through the eyes of the men who saw the most intense of its action. O'Donnell focuses on the elite units of the war -- the Rangers, Airborne, and 1st Special Service Force -- troops that spearheaded the most dangerous operations and often made the difference between victory and defeat.From more than 650 interviews O'Donnell has chosen oral- and e-histories that form a seamless story line, a pointillistic history of the war in Europe from the first parachute drops in North Africa through the final battles in Germany and the long trip home. It is the story of the war not discussed in polite company. O'Donnell presents the wreckage of entire battalions nearly annihilated, invisible personal scars, and hauntingrevelations of wartime atrocities. But more important are the men who recount lives risked without hesitation for comrades and cause, and those who did not return: the friends who died in their arms. Their stories remind all of us that victory came only at the highest price.Remembering the infamous cliffs at Pointe-du-Hoc, bloody Omaha Beach, the bitter fighting at the Battle of the Bulge, and Hill 400 in the Hurtgen Forest, the soldiers reveal war as seen, heard, and smelled by the GIs on the front line. Also included is the unique story of the 555th Parachute Infantry Battalion, and the trailblazing African-American "Experimental" Test Platoon that had to fight its own battle behind the lines."Beyond Valor" captures the truths that exist among soldiers. It is one of the most inspiring accounts of the war ever produced.

Entering Germany: 1944-1949


Tony Vaccaro - 2001
    Photographs and written text are combined in this visual diary of one man's experience of the war, including images such as the famous "White death" depicting a dead soldier nearly covered in snow.

Under a War-Torn Sky


L.M. Elliott - 2001
    In constant danger of discovery by German soldiers, Henry begins a remarkable journey to freedom. Relying on the kindness of strangers, Henry moves from town to town--traveling by moonlight, never asking questions, or even the names of the people who help him along the way. Through his journey, Henry gains an understanding of the French and their struggle; and of his own place in a war that will change the face of Europe forever.

Pearl Harbor: America's Darkest Day


Susan Wels - 2001
    More than three hundred images chronicle the events of December 7, 1941, when Japan launched a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, drawing the United States into World War II.

The Good Fight: How World War II Was Won


Stephen E. Ambrose - 2001
    Ambrose, one of the finest historians of our time, has written an extraordinary chronicle of World War II for young readers.From Japanese warplanes soaring over Pearl Harbor, dropping devastation from the sky, to the against-all-odds Allied victory at Midway, to the Battle of the Bulge during one of the coldest winters in Europe's modern history, to the tormenting decision to bomb Nagasaki and Hiroshima with atomic weapons, The Good Fight brings the most horrific—and most heroic—war in history to a new generation in a way that's never been done before. In addition to Ambrose's accounts of major events during the war, personal anecdotes from the soldiers who were fighting on the battlefields, manning the planes, commanding the ships—stories of human triumph and tragedy—bring the war vividly to life. Highlighting Ambrose's narrative are spectacular color and black-and-white photos, and key campaign and battlefield maps. Stephen E. Ambrose's singular ability to take complex and multifaceted information and get right to its essence makes The Good Fight the best book on World War II for kids.

The Little Boy Star: An Allegory of the Holocaust


Rachel Hausfater - 2001
    At first he is proud of his decoration, but soon finds the star overshadowing him. No-one sees the boy, only the star. This affecting allegory, rich with symbolism, gently educates children about the Holocaust in a way that young minds can grasp."

Jungle Ace: The Story of One of the USAAF's Great Fighter Leaders, Col. Gerald R. Johnson (The Warriors)


John R. Bruning - 2001
    At the age of only twenty-four, he commanded the highest-scoring fighter group in the Pacific. Tragically, though Johnson had survived three combat tours, which included a mid-air collision with a Japanese aircraft and being shot down by friendly fire, the new father disappeared without a trace while flying a courier mission one month after the war’s end.

One Step Ahead: A Jewish Fugitive in Hitler's Europe


Alfred Philip Feldman - 2001
    It is a memoir of horror and hope recounted by a man who survived the organized terror of Hitler’s "Final Solution" as it destroyed entire generations of European Jewish life within ten catastrophic years in the mid-twentieth century. Feldman’s memoir conveys the searing pain that has never left him, while demonstrating the triumphant humanity of a survivor.Feldman vividly describes the impact of the escalating anti-Semitic hatred and violence in Germany during the 1930s, the impact of the notorious Nuremberg Laws in 1935, and the terrifying Kristallnacht pogrom in 1938. By age sixteen, Feldman was living with his parents and three younger sisters in Antwerp, Belgium, during the 1939 German invasions of Poland, marking the start of World War II. In the face of increasing persecution, Feldman’s extended family scattered over the globe in a desperate attempt to remain one step ahead of their Nazi pursuers.Recalling his life on the run, Feldman describes what few survivors have chosen to write about: the Vichy raids of August 26, 1942; the French labor brigades; the Comité Dubouchage; and life in super-vised residence in France under the Italians. While in the south of France, Feldman endured food shortages and Nazi anti-Semitic measures, beginning with work camps and culminating in the deportation and ultimate death of his mother and sisters at Auschwitz.To evade the Germans, Feldman and his father fled into the Italian Alps in September of 1943, hiding between the Allies and the Germans. Aided by local villagers, the Feldmans survived precariously for over a year and a half, along with other Jewish refugees, until that region was liberated. Only then, and only gradually, did Feldman manage to piece together the fate of his surviving family and learn at last of the death of his mother and sisters.Now, as an adult, Alfred Feldman has retraced his escape and exile, taking his wife and children to his hometown in Germany, the mountains in Italy, and Montagnac, where a plaque commemorates his mother and sisters.

European Theater of Operations: the Siegfried Line Campaign


Charles B. MacDonald - 2001
    

America At War In Color


Stewart Binns - 2001
    entry into World War II, following the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. For over 50 years the war has been seen in black-and-white. Now, special research has unearthed a remarkable color record, much of which has never been seen before. 300 photos.

A History of Hitler's Empire


Thomas Childers - 2001
    That's what the wisdom of history teaches us. And Adolf Hitler was surely the greatest enemy ever faced by modern civilization. Over half a century later, the horror and fascination still linger.Professor Childers has designed this course to answer two burning questions that have nagged generations for decades, ever since Hitler and Nazism were destroyed.1) How could a man like Adolf Hitler and a movement like Nazism come to power in 20th-century Germany? An industrially developed country with a highly educated population, it lies within the very heart of Western Europe. 2) How were the Nazis able to establish the foundations of a totalitarian regime in such a short time and hurl all of Europe—and the world—into a devastating war that would consume so many millions of lives?Length: 6hrs 22mins

The Holocaust and the Book: Destruction and Preservation


Jonathan Rose - 2001
    By burning and looting libraries and censoring "un-German" publications, the Nazis aimed to eradicate all traces of Jewish culture along with the Jewish people themselves. The Holocaust and the Book examines this bleak chapter in the history of printing, reading, censorship, and libraries. Topics include the development of Nazi censorship policies, the celebrated library of the Vilna ghetto, the confiscation of books from the Sephardic communities in Rome and Salonika, the experience of reading in the ghettos and concentration camps, the rescue of Polish incunabula, the uses of fine printing by the Dutch underground, and the suppression of Jewish books and authors in the Soviet Union. Several authors discuss the continuing relevance of Nazi book burnings to the present day, with essays on German responses to Friedrich Nietzsche and the destruction of Bosnian libraries in the 1990s. The collection also includes eyewitness accounts by Holocaust survivors and a translation of Herman Kruk's report on the Vilna ghetto library. An annotated bibliography offers readers a concise guide to research in this growing field.

Marine Tank Battles In The Pacific


Oscar E. Gilbert - 2001
    Gilbert's gripping narrative combines exhaustive detail on Marine armor and combat with moving eyewitness accounts, never before published, of what it was actually like to be a Marine tanker in action in the Pacific.

All Brave Sailors: The Sinking of the Anglo-Saxon, August 21, 1940


J. Revell Carr - 2001
    Describes the August 1940 attack on, and sinking of, the Anglo Saxon, a British merchant ship, by the Widder, a German surface raider disguised as a merchant ship from a neutral country, and the ordeal of the survivors of the doomed ship.

Pearl Harbor: The Day of Infamy - An Illustrated History


Dan van der Vat - 2001
    Pearl Harbor is the definitive illustrated account of that momentous day. No other battle of the Pacific War was better documented in photographs than was Pearl Harbor. Everyone has seen some of these images, but few are aware of just how many there are-including many that have never been published. Official government photographers were busy that morning, but so were countless service personnel and shocked civilians. Even the Japanese navy photographed their preparations and the launch of the attack fleet. The visual record of the day includes not just stunning black-and-white shots but also vivid color photos showing the American fleet under attack and burning. Pearl Harbor makes lavish use of these historical photos to vividly re-create what it felt like to be there during every key moment of the battle. A compelling narrative by noted naval historian Dan Van der Vat explains the causes and background of the attack. Moving first-person reminiscences of persons who were there-Japanese and Americans, military and civilians, adults and children-give the pictures even greater immediacy.

World War II Day by Day


Sharon Lucas - 2001
    Uncover the motivations of traitors and collaborators and experience the great battles. Follow the conflict as it unfolds in detailed timelines and discover more about the key figures of the Allied and Axis powers in a comprehensive, illustrated Who's Who. From the secret war waged by spymasters and code breakers to the courageous stories of partisans and resistance fighters, this book is an indispensable guide to understanding the second World War.

Twenty-Five Yards of War: The Extraordinary Courage of Ordinary Men in World War II


Ronald J. Drez - 2001
    Drez takes us to the front lines of World War II. Through Drez's gripping narrative style, we meet twelve men, all ordinary soldiers, and learn what the war was like through their eyes, experiencing their own 'twenty-five yards of war.' The men in these pages represent all branches of the military who were sent on impossible missions, where they witnessed triumphs and tragedies. As a result of Drez's ten years of research and over 1,400 interviews, Twenty-Five Yards of War is a tribute to all of the soldiers who fought in World War II -- those who walked away with amazing stories to tell, and those who did not make it home.

Last Train From Berlin: An Eye-Witness Account of Germany at War


Howard K. Smith - 2001
    Howard K. Smith worked as a young reporter in Berlin during Hitler's rise to power, and for the first two years of the Second World War. Finally granted a visa to leave the country--coincidentally on December 7th, 1941--he wrote everything censors had forbidden about the physical, emotional, and psychological manipulation of the German people by Hitler, Goebbels, and their lackeys. His personal experiences under difficult circumstances are extraordinary enough, but his descriptions of people forced to join the war, compulsory Nazi Youth groups, and of the German high command read like a chilling thriller.

Gunner: An Illustrated History of World War II Aircraft Turrets and Gun Positions


Donald Nijboer - 2001
    Here are the stories from veteran gunners that describe in spirited detail what it was like to fly in and fight from World War II's classic aircraft.Gunner provides documented accounts of men who learned to shoot at moving targets from a moving platform, facing the terrible odds of survival in this highly dangerous combat environment. Aircraft profiled include:Boeing B-17 Superfortress Messerschmitt ME 410 Avro Lancaster Grumman TBF Avenger Douglas A-20 Havoc Ilyushin IL-2 Shturmovik Bristol Blenheim

SS Panzergrenadier: A True Story Of World War II


Hans Schmidt - 2001
    This is the autobiographical true story and personal narrative of the German side of WWII. The author recounts the reasons that led him to decide to join the Waffen-SS in 1943 at the age of 16. He details his service in the German Labor Service (RAD) prior to induction into and training with the W-SS in 1944. The author recounts his extensive schooling prior to posting with the Leibstandarte SS Panzer Div., and his personal experiences in combat with the unit in the Ardennes and the final battles on the Eastern Front in Hungary, ending with American captivity. HB, 20 previously unpublished photos from author's collection, over 400 pages.

German Soldiers of World War Two


Jean de Lagarde - 2001
    Long out of print it has been sought by collectors and enthusiasts commanding high prices in used book market. This long awaited reprint is actually far more than that. The new version includes significant additional material. Every soldier is shown on a full page, front and back with numerous detail shots of head gear, equipment etc. The chronological order of the original edition is retained, while the widest selection of types of IIIrd Reich armed forces members is featured, from the most famous uniforms to the more obscure.

Not as Briefed: From the Doolittle Raid to a German Stalag


C. Ross Greening - 2001
    He piloted a B-25 in the Doolittle Raid, was shot down over Italy, escaped from a POW train, hid out in the mountains of northern Italy, and ended up in a German stalag. His remembrances, as well as his fine artwork illustrating the events of this era, make compelling reading.

Tank Tactics: From Normandy to Lorraine


Roman Johann Jarymowycz - 2001
    and Canadian tank commanders in France in 1944, Tank Tactics also traces the evolution of North American armored doctrine." "Jarymowycz draws on after-action reports, extensive battlefield reconnaissance (involving both Allied and German veterans), and recently discovered battle performance reviews, as well as Allied and German interrogation reports, war diaries, and technical evaluations, to compare and evaluate combat success and failure. He provides detailed tactical diagrams and analyses of tank versus tank engagements - and illustrates the frustrations of commanders attempting maneuver warfare under the exasperating caution of Bradley and the questionable direction of Montgomery." "This penetrating analysis features a review of tank battles in Lorraine, where the U.S. Third Army commanders demonstrated mastery of mission command doctrine. Jarymowycz concludes by comparing U.S. and Soviet approaches to operational maneuver, describing creative tactical mixes found in combat commands well before battle groups became common in NATO parlance."--BOOK JACKET.

Soldier Boys


Dean Hughes - 2001
    Dieter's determined to prove his allegiance and bravery at all costs.Spence, just sixteen, drops out of his Utah high school to begin training as a paratrooper. He's seen how boys who weren't much in high school can come home heroes, and Spence wants to prove to his friends and family that he really can be something.Their worst fear was that the war would end too soon -- that they wouldn't get the chance to prove themselves. But when they finally see the action they were hoping for, it's like nothing they could have ever imagined.

Tiger 1 On the Western Front


Jean Restayn - 2001
    The Tigers were originally intended to counter the heavy tanks of the Russian Front, and were assigned to specially created tank battalions. In 1944 Tiger units were rushed to Normandy and fought in all the major battles of the Western Front. Although they were superior to all the tanks of the Western allies, Tigers in the West faced the added danger of attack from the greatly superior British and American air forces. Each Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS unit equipped with the Tiger I is covered in detail. Each unit's insignia and a representative vehicle with camouflage and markings is shown in color. The operational history of each unit, and in some cases individual vehicles, is described with the aid of 250 black and white photos, most of them never before published.

Pearl Harbor


Randall Wallace - 2001
    Used Book in good condition. No missing/ torn pages. No stains. Note: The above used product classification has been solely undertaken by the seller. Amazon shall neither be liable nor responsible for any used product classification undertaken by the seller. A-to-Z Guarantee not applicable on used products.

The Destruction of the Bismarck


David J. Bercuson - 2001
    Finally, here is the full story of the sinking of the "Bismarck, from the key strategic decisions of the national leaders, to the gripping hour-by-hour account of the battle. This is history of the best sort, vivid and authoritative. Late in the morning of May 27th, 1941, the German battleship "Bismarck was sunk by an overwhelming British armada in a fierce battle that lasted ninety minutes: 2,206 men of her crew were lost; only 115 survived. Five days earlier, an RAF reconnaissance plane flying low off the coast of Norway spotted four large war-ships in the sea below. At 32,000 tons apiece, the sight of the sight of the 42,000-ton sister ships--the pride of the German navy--"Bismarck and "Tirpitz. Ships shrouded in myth, the were awe-some and mysterious behemoths of destruction and their purpose in these waters was obvious and chilling. The German navy was sending this powerful four-battleship task force to seize control of the North Atlantic sea lanes. The fate of Britain and the United States--the fate of the free world--hung in the balance as the German flotilla made for the open seas. All knew that the destruction of the "Bismarck, and the menace she symbolized, would be a dramatic turning point in the war.

Run, Boy, Run


Uri Orlev - 2001
    Srulik is only eight years old when he finds himself all alone in the Warsaw ghetto. He escapes into the countryside where he spends the ensuing years hiding in the forest, dependent on the sympathies and generosity of the poor farmers in the surrounding area. Despite the seemingly insurmountable odds, several chases, captures, attempted executions, and even the loss of his arm, Srulik miraculously survives.