Book picks similar to
Tarnished Cavalier: Major General Earl Van Dorn by Arthur B. Carter
biography-memoir
civil-war
military
Why Didn't You Get Me Out?: A POW's Nightmare in Vietnam
Frank Anton - 1997
Now, more than thirty years later, he tells the story of how his own government failed him...For give hellish years, American soldier Frank Anton was held as a POW in Vietnam. Subject to disease, starvation, and physical and psychological torture, Anton and his fellow prisoners held out hope that the U.S. government would find and rescue them.When he was finally freed in 1973, Anton returned to the United States bruised and battered. And the most devastating blow of all had yet to even be struck. Upon his release, Anton and debriefed by the government and saw both aerial photographs of the prison camps where he was held and a close-us picture of himself walking the grueling Ho Chi Minh Trail. The government had known all along where and when Anton and his fellow soldiers were being held--and made no attempt to rescue them.now, in this harrowing first-person account and shocking expose, Frank Anton recounts his years as a POW and the aftermath--devoting his life to understanding why and how his own government left him and others to suffer and possibly die in the Vietnamese prison camps. And the answers he's uncovered will forever astound and disturb you.With eight pages of dramatic photosA main selection of the Military Book Club
Clean: A story of addiction, recovery and the removal of stubborn stains
Michele Kirsch - 2019
And yet, when she finally does have something like that life, as a wife and mother in 1980s London, she is the one blaring music from her room, necking vodka and valium and making an almighty mess of her home and family.Cleaning other people’s houses, eventually, is the only option left. At 50 years old, post rehab, living alone in a Hackney bedsit, Michele finds herself finishing her working life as she had begun, “in a dumb job that you do when you can’t really do anything else...”This is a remarkable, powerful, and often unbearably funny memoir in which cleaning and getting clean intertwine as a strange and magical form of redemption. Michele Kirsch is a Nora Ephron for the modern age.
BRAVE AND FUNNY MEMORIES OF WWII: By a P-38 Fighter Pilot
Lyndon Shubert - 2017
Always afraid he was about to die, he climbed into the cockpit anyway ... and lived to tell you about it. How would you feel if you were a new guy in the sky ... attacked by four Messerschmitts? Let me tell you, no matter how much you prepare, no matter how much you read, how much you train, no matter how much you think of yourself as a 'Hot Shot Pilot,' you are never ready for life and death combat! How did it feel to say a 'last goodbye' to your bride believing you would never see her again, as you left to fight WWII? Author's Facebook page at: facebook.com/P38Flyer/ As reviewed by A. L. Hanks, Lieutenant Colonel, USAF (Ret) who said it perfectly: In "Brave and Funny Memories of WWII" Lyndon Shubert, to our great benefit, tells us his story, an engaging tale of his WWII experience as a fighter pilot in WWII. A member of the "greatest generation" he recounts his days (and nights) flying P-38 fighters in the wartime skies of Europe. The tale is told in a relaxed, conversational style, honest and personal. The reader will appreciate the authenticity and the easy humor. He tells us a story that is at once delightfully humorous and deadly serious. He shares that unfettered sense of flying a powerful aircraft free in the vast expanse of the sky. The special sense that pilots have when they "can reach out and touch the face of God". Shubert relates the feelings of men in combat, that gripping apprehension in your gut when you know you're going to die, your senses at full maximum intensity, and then that striking after mission fear when you look back and realize that you cheated death once again. Shubert was indeed a special fellow. We are indebted to him for his service and his book. He captures a special piece of the American character and our history that is essential to pass on to our children and grandchildren. Lt Shubert was exceptional, a USAF officer and a fighter pilot who fought the war and earned the Distinguished Flying Cross. The author reminds us once again why fighter pilots are special. Why they are ubiquitously viewed as swaggering "raconteurs", with big egos and big watches who can sometimes be insufferable. But his tale also captures the reality of one-on-one aerial combat, loser goes home.... to God.
Gallantry in Action (Halberd #1)
John Spearman - 2020
Spearman. A sci-fi military novel set in space, the book follows Captain Jonah Halberd, newly assigned commander of the spaceship HMS Cumberland, an advanced cruiser in the Royal Navy of the Commonwealth, currently under the reign of King Edward XII. There is an ongoing war between the Commonwealth and the Rodinan Federation. After rescuing Lady Julia Hawthorne, the fiancee of First Space Lord Chesterfield, Jonah and his crew set off for yet another dangerous assignment. But an ensuing battle with the Rodinan armada causes heavy casualties, and Jonah finds himself captured by the enemy. A daring rescue led by Lieutenant Commander Fred MacMurray results in Jonah receiving a hero's welcome back home. Now, he must unite the Coalition for war.
Stories I've Heard, Characters I've Met, & Lies We've Told in My 44 Alaskan Years
Tom Brion - 2016
An Off the Grid lodge owner in Fish Lakes, Alaska, Tom enthralls roomfuls of guests every year from the Lower 48 and around the world with tales of his adventures, foibles, and SNAFUs in 44 years living in the Alaskan wilderness. From his start as a Pennsylvania farmboy who ran off to join the United States Air Force, to his arrival in Alaska with less than a hundred dollars in his wallet and a growing family in his back seat, to his forty years as a Bush pilot and his accidental introduction to the fishing lodge business, to his multiple brushes with death, hardship, and questionable characters, Tom Brion has a story to cover it all. A pioneer in sustainable homesteading and off-the-Grid living, Tom Brion built his first lodge in Alaska on five acres in the Lake Creek area, in 1979, and continues to this day building and working heavy machinery 60 miles from any road. Born in 1941, Tom has collected 74 years of humorous, heart-wrenching, and sometimes mind-blowing stories of traveling, hunting, and exploring the backcountry of Alaska in the pilot’s seat of a Vietnam-era Cessna Birddog. A biography in the form of short life stories, Tom Brion’s memoir takes us to a rural Bush life where people live off the land, drill their own wells, put out their own forest fires, and depend on their neighbors to pick up their mail. Surrounded by nature, Tom continues to fly, plow, run his bulldozer, and wrangle his subsistence fishwheel up the river every year in the Skwentna area of Alaska, where temperatures in winter drop to 45 below zero and summers can see entire months without rain. Follow him in this (mostly) nonfiction anthology of (somewhat) true stories from the Last Frontier as he gives the straight scoop about bears, outhouses, farming, flooding, fishing, moose, guns, and aviation in the 49th State.An avid hunter, outdoorsman, fisherman, and jack of all trades, Tom documents his life with photos and illustrations that detail an epic adventure from start to finish.
Struck: A Husband’s Memoir of Trauma and Triumph
Douglas Segal - 2018
Miraculously, his daughter was unharmed, but his wife faced a series of life-threatening injuries, including the same one that famously left Christopher Reeve paralyzed. Following the accident, Segal began sending regular email updates to their circle of friends and family—a list that continued to grow as others heard of the event and were moved by the many emotional and spiritual issues it raised. Segal's compelling memoir is an intimate and honest chronicle built around these email updates, and is a profound example of how people show up for one another in times of crisis.Alternatingly harrowing, humorous, heartbreaking, and hopeful, this is an uplifting tribute to love, determination, and how the compassion of community holds the power to heal, serving as an inspiring testament to the resilience of the human spirit when faced with pain and adversity.
A Simple Life: Living off grid in a wooden cabin in France
Mary-Jane Houlton - 2021
They were already used to a simple life, having spent the last three years living on their boat in France for the summer seasons, and returning to the UK and their caravan for the winters. This tiny cabin would now be their new home for the winter months, taking them a step further along the road to self-sufficiency. They had no electricity, no kitchen, no bathroom or bedroom and the loo was a bucket in a shed, but the property came with five acres of field and woodland.From now on their lives would be simple, pared back to the basics, but they found that an off-grid lifestyle was by no means an uncomfortable experience. Responsibilities didn’t disappear but they changed, becoming less onerous. There was more time to think, and to appreciate the natural world around them. Living in such rural isolation, each day brought something new to marvel at: deer browsing in the field at dusk, salamanders on the doorstep, owls calling by night.If their own world felt increasingly magical, the outside world was far from it. They had moved to a foreign country at an historic time, living through a pandemic and adapting to the day-to-day implications of Brexit.A Simple Life doesn’t just follow Mary-Jane and Michael as they settle into their new lives, it also raises questions about what really matters to people. What makes us happy? How does it feel to have few possessions? Will life become unbearable without a flushing toilet?Thought-provoking and amusing, this book opens a window onto a different way of living. Mary-Jane shares a wealth of information and, if you have ever found yourself longing for a simpler life, this might tempt you to take those first tentative steps on the journey.
Torpedo 8: The Story of Swede Larsen’s Bomber Squadron
Ira Wolfert - 1943
VT-8 rose from the ashes of the Battle of Midway to become an indispensable air arm in the series of engagements for the Solomon Islands and beyond. In three months, the crack squadron carried out thirty-nine attack missions, sixteen against ships, twenty-three against ground targets. Their motto following the tragedy at Midway was "Attack and Revenge." Herman Wouk paid homage to the squadron in his 1971 novel War and Remembrance, referring to the pilots as, "The soul of America in action." *Includes annotations and images.
Sweet Bitter Freedom
David Canford - 2018
While some hope to build a new South, the old South refuses to die.Her husband becoming a politician seems to offer a new dawn, but the ramifications of his election to office are far from what Mosa expected them to be. Can Mosa forgive and forget and will she and her family ever be safe? Will she lose everything or find a way through? Facing danger, she makes a life-changing decision. A saga of struggle, betrayal, loss and the power of family and friendship. The gripping sequel to The Throwback.Praise for the Throwback:"This is a well-written tale full of sadness, anger, joy, and triumph. I enjoyed every minute reading it. The characters were believable and relatable and the story is timeless. I heartily recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading about history, love, tragedy, compassion, and the triumph of good over evil.""This was a great read that was hard to put down. There were new, interesting circumstances, twists and turns. A suspenseful historical novel to the very end.""An excellent book before and after the Civil War. I enjoyed the plot, the characters, and the settings. Mosa made the story come alive.""A wonderful endearing book, even though it was about slavery. The characters were real & memorable. I couldn't wait to read the next page. Would recommend to anyone. I read it in one sitting.""Historical fiction at its best. The characters came to life and readers could empathize with each role."
Broadmoor - My Journey Into Hell
Charlie Bronson - 2015
His journey has, until now, never been told.In the winter of 1979, aged just twenty-seven, the inmate who would come to be known as 'Charlie Bronson' was considered uncontrollable by the prison system. Certified insane, he was transferred from Parkhurst Prison to the most infamous high-security psychiatric hospital in England, Broadmoor Asylum for the Criminally Insane. There he embarked on a one-man campaign to retain his sanity, and to fight against the brutality of a largely hidden regime that relied on enforced drug control.This outstandingly honest account takes the reader back to those dark days. It is a journey filled with sadness, and yet it is one that includes much laughter and pathos, as well as detailing the camaraderie among fellow patients, who included Ronnie Kray and Frankie Fraser.How Charlie Bronson survived Broadmoor, what he endured and the things he witnessed are, for the very first time, documented in this sad, often chilling, sometimes funny and often moving account of one man's journey into madness and his methods for surviving the UK's most feared and notorious psychiatric hospital. Capturing Bronson's unique voice, it is a roller-coaster ride of madness, pain, laughter and tears. It is also a testament to one man's triumph over adversity.
Dearest SEALs Box Set
Blair Grey - 2019
Meet the hot men in the entire Dearest SEALs series: SEAL's Baby SEAL Billionaire SEAL Firefighter SEAL's Secretary SEAL's Virgin Don't miss out on these stunning SEALs. All 5 are full length novels with happily ever afters.
Chasing Charlie: A Force Recon Marine in Vietnam
Richard Fleming - 2018
Marine 1st Force Reconnaissance Company during the bloodiest years of the Vietnam War. Dropped deep into enemy territory, Recon relied on stealth and surprise to complete their mission--providing intelligence on enemy positions and conducting raids, prisoner snatches, and ambushes. Fleming's absorbing memoir recounts his transformation from idealistic recruit to cynical veteran as the war claimed the lives of his friends and the missions became ever more dangerous.
Wings of Fire: A World War 2 Novel
Martin Lake - 2020
The Lynx Series Boxed Set II: Books 4-6 (Iniquus Security Action Adventure Boxed Set Book 3)
Fiona Quinn - 2021
Trident Security Series: A Special Collection: Volume V
Samantha A. Cole - 2021
But that peacefulness is suddenly interrupted when his new next-door neighbor becomes a target for someone with nefarious intentions. Canine rescuer Concetta "Chet" Suarez brings all his protective instincts to the surface, along with feelings he's never experienced with any other woman. Will he lose her before he ever gets a chance to make her his?Trident Security Field ManualThe Trident Security Field Manual: Standard Operating Procedures for FNGs (f*cking new guys—and anyone else who wants to read it) is a fun compilation of extras for fans of the TS series and its spinoffs. Fans will get Character Profiles from the original TS series and the Doms of The Covenant series, a Q&A session with characters from the TS series, the TS Omega Team series, and the Doms of The Convenant series, and Exclusive Short Stories--four of which had been previously published, but are no longer available, on Samantha A. Cole's website, plus a short story featuring fan-favorites Jenn Mullins and Doug Henderson! To wrap things up, family trees for the Sexy Six-Pack are included!Forty Days & One Knight: TS Omega Team Book 2Princess Tahira had grown up not worrying about being pushed into an arranged marriage, but after her mother's near-death illness, King Rajeemh orders his only daughter to choose a husband within forty days or have one chosen for her. While the deadline looms, Tahira and her cousin are kidnapped during a trip to Jamaica.Trident Security operative, Darius Knight, has been working undercover for several months, infiltrating a human-trafficking cartel. Just when he's almost in the position to take them down, a huge wrench is thrown into the mission. If he saves the woman whose body he's guarded in the past, his cover will be blown. But if he doesn't, he'll never be able to live with the results.When the rescue doesn't go as planned, Darius makes a rash decision that will affect both their lives. To keep their secret means he'll probably lose his dream job. To reveal it will destroy the woman who is inching her way into his heart.*If you prefer trigger warnings, please scroll down to the bottom. If you don't want to read the trigger warning, this is your chance to avoid it.Torn in Half: Trident Security BookRetired Navy SEAL and current private-security operative Ian Sawyer had never expected to have a child, much less a wife, but his beautiful Angie has changed all that. Her due date is only days away, and his anticipation outweighs his anxiety, thinking about holding his firstborn.But as he’s learned the hard way, life throws curveballs at the worst possible moment. A frantic phone call in the middle of the night is the beginning of Ian’s nightmare. He has to wake his brothers and teammates, leave his wife’s side, and fly halfway around the world to save the only other woman who could bring him to his knees—his mother......***Trigger warning for Forty Days & One Knight - Elements of rape but with a fade to black effect eliminating the graphic details.