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 Mercenary Option


Dick Couch - 2003
    Officially, the group is a rogue operation with no government affiliation. But when the impossible becomes absolutely necessary, IFOR is...THE MERCENARY OPTIONShortly after the terror attacks on America, the American president announces the construction of an oil pipeline across Afghanistan. To stop this, and deter further Western encroachment in Central Asia, a vindictive Saudi prince retains ex-KGB terror broker Pavel Zelinkow -- a prime mover behind al Qaeda's 9/11 attack. Zelinkow plans to steal two nuclear weapons, detonating one of them among the pipeline construction crews and their military guardians, while the target of the second bomb is a mystery. U.S. special operations forces cannot be used against the terrorists hiding in Iran, so IFOR is called into action for the first time on a mission that will test them to their limits: take out the terrorists, recover the nukes, and get Zelinkow -- dead or alive.

Charlie Rangers


Don Ericson - 1988
    For eighteen months, John L. Rotundo and Don Ericson braved the test of war at its most bloody and most raw, specializing in ambushing the enemy and fighting jungle guerillas using their own tactics. From the undiluted high of a "contact" with the enemy to the anguished mourning of a fallen comrade, they experienced nearly every emotion known to man--most of all, the power and the pride of being the finest on America's front lines.From the Paperback edition.

The Yompers: With 45 Commando in the Falklands War


Ian R. Gardiner - 2012
    It caught the public's imagination during this short but bitter campaign and epitomized the grim determination and professionalism of our troops...Called to action on April 2, 1982, the men of 45 Commando Royal Marines assembled from around the world to sail 8,000 miles to recover the Falkland Islands from Argentine invasion. Lacking helicopters and short of food, they "yomped" in appalling weather carrying overloaded rucksacks, across the roughest terrain. Yet for a month in mid-winter, they remained a cohesive fighting-fit body of men. They then fought and won the highly successful and fierce night battle for Two Sisters, a 1,000-foot-high mountain which was the key to the defensive positions around Stanley.More than just a first-hand story of that epic feat, this book is the first to be written by a company commander in the Falklands War. It offers a vivid description of the "yomp" and infantry fighting, and it also offers penetrating insights into the realities of war at higher levels. It is a unique combination of descriptive writing about frontline fighting and wider reflections on the Falklands War, and conflict in general."This is the real thing, from someone who gave the orders and led from the front, from beginning to bitter end. His account is articulate, poignant and precise, even though thirty years have elapsed . . . highly recommended." --Military History Monthly

Forgotten Voices of the Secret War: An Inside History of Special Operations in the Second World War


Roderick Bailey - 2008
    As their eyewitness testimonies prove, each member of the SOE faced extreme danger and personal risk in their fight to helped tilt the conflict in the Allies’ favor. The stories captured here include tales of parachute drops into enemy territory, capture and torture by the Gestapo, nerve-wracking sabotage missions, and guerrilla fighting alongside groups as varied as the French resistance, partisans in Yugoslavia, and tribes in the Burmese jungle. Both incredible and informative, this is a gripping first-hand account of the efforts and sacrifices of a unique clandestine force.

Life in the French Foreign Legion: How to Join and What to Expect When You Get There


Evan McGorman - 2000
    Many of the legends you grew up with no longer apply, so whatever you've heard probably does not reflect the reality of service today. Evan McGorman explains in detail how to apply to get into this elite corps, what to expect if accepted, and how to make the most of the experience.

Contact


A.F.N. Clarke - 1983
    This edition has additional material previously left out of the hardbacks and paperback version first published by Martin Secker & Warburg, PAN Books and Schocken Books.

America Dark: Post-Apocalyptic EMP Survival Fiction


Keith Taylor - 2018
    For years his prepper father had warned him that it was only a matter of time; that eventually someone would be crazy enough to push the button and plunge the US into the darkness. Shep thought he was prepared for the chaos to come. He thought he knew exactly what to do. He was wrong. Abi Ross had no idea when she boarded her train from D.C. to Charlotte that her July 4th was about to go off the rails, literally. She had no clue that she'd soon find herself stranded in rural Virginia, injured and alone, awaiting a rescue that would never come. Could you survive with nothing but the contents of your pockets? When the lights flicker out for the last time Jim and Abi will find out if they have what it takes to survive, stripped of the bubble wrap and cotton wool of modern society. How far will they go to keep breathing? Who will they save? Who will they leave behind to die? And what will they do when they learn that the attack has only just begun? AMERICA DARK is the first book of the Willow Falls EMP survival series, a thrilling tale of what's to come: a war against an enemy the United States is woefully ill-prepared to face. AMERICA DARK was previously published in 2017 as PULSE, book one of the Little Rocket Man series. Praise for PULSE: In one word: terrifying. If you weren't already afraid of the prospect of an EMP attack from North Korea... well, you soon will be. From page one you get the impression that this is something that not only COULD happen but something that WILL happen. I've no idea of the actual danger of an EMP attack, but the author makes me feel like we've been lucky to survive this long without one. -- BroadHorizons I'm not a worrier at heart, but reading this gave me the chills. I don't want to give away any of the plot but the buildup to the EMP attack really does feel as if it could happen in real life. In this respect I found Pulse very similar to my favorite Keith Taylor novel, This is the Way the World Ends, which explained the buildup to a zombie apocalypse in such incredible detail that I read most of the book while hiding behind my couch. --Chasmmm When I started reading the chapter about the North Koreans ceasing their nuclear program and asking for face to face peace talks with the U.S., I really wondered if this came straight out of a current newspaper or CNN. Spooky! The realistic possibility of the North Koreans hitting us with an EMP has been on my mind a lot lately. I know you had to have written this months ago, but the fact that your fiction has become fact, at least so far, makes the whole story all the more prophetic and too real. --Kindle Customer

The Blue Effect (Cold War Book 3)


Harvey Black - 2014
    Although reinforcements continue to arrive in theatre from all the NATO member countries, the Allies are pushed back relentlessly. The Eastern Bloc armies throw fresh regiments into the fray, their intention to deliver the killing lunge deep into the West’s retreating armies.What are the options open to NATO? Can the West stem the disorderly retreat? Can they gather enough conventional forces to hold? Or will they need to resort to more deadly means?Follow the series of gripping events in ‘The Blue Effect’, the third instalment in Harvey Black’s Cold War trilogy.

The Prisoner's Dilemma: A Military Sci-Fi Series (Liberty of Death Book 1)


Joe Kassabian - 2021
    

None Left Behind: The 10th Mountain Division and the Triangle of Death


Charles W. Sasser - 2009
    Army. Today the War on Terror has drawn it to Afghanistan and Iraq. To Lieutenant Colonel Mike Infanti’s unit fell the pacification of a hellish hotbed of terrorism south of Baghdad dubbed “The Triangle of Death.” Of the more than three thousand Americans killed since the start of the war, over one thousand were in this region.Colonel Infanti assigned Delta Company to the most dangerous sector of the Triangle, a five-mile stretch of road that paralleled the Euphrates River in a series of blind s-curves where death stalked the Americans day and night. Delta knew they were virtually assured of getting hit on a daily basis. Each day and night became something to be dreaded and feared, exacting a heavy psychological toll on soldiers stressed to the limits of their mental and physical endurance.In the predawn of May 12, 2007, two Humvees occupied by seven soldiers and an Iraqi translator were ambushed by insurgents. When the smoke cleared, four soldiers and the translator were dead and three were missing, presumably seized by the enemy. For over a year, Delta searched for their missing comrades, never giving up hope. Their creed of battle: None Left Behind

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Signature Series Guide


Michael Owen - 2011
    -Complete Walkthrough Leads Gamers through Entire Game! -Comprehensive Coverage: Expert Tactics, All Weapons, Killstreaks, and More! -Detailed Maps for all Single and Multiplayer Levels. -Analysis of All Gameplay Features: Survival Mode, Killstreak Rewards and More! -Achievements and Trophies, Unlockable Weapons and Attachments, novel play modes!

The Great Escape


Paul Brickhill - 1950
    With only their bare hands and the crudest of homemade tools, they sank shafts, forged passports, faked weapons, and tailored German uniforms and civilian clothes. They developed a fantastic security system to protect themselves from German surveillance.It was a split-second operation as delicate and as deadly as a time bomb. It demanded the concentrated devotion and vigilance of more than six hundred men—every one of them, every minute, every hour, every day and night for more than a year.Made into the classic 1963 war film of the same name starring Steve McQueen, James Garner, and Richard Attenborough.

One Damned Island After Another: The Saga of the Seventh


Clive Howard - 1946
     Just over a year later the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor devastated this force. Out of a total of 231 aircraft of the Hawaiian Air Force, 64 were destroyed and not more than 79 were left usable. Out of the inferno emerged the newly reformed Seventh Air Force. It faced, in the central Pacific, the largest water theater in the world — sixteen million square miles, five times the size of the United States. The Americans patched up their planes as best they could and began to fly the "Atoll Circuit," the low-lying, white sand atolls and the first stepping stones on the long road to Tokyo. In this huge area and against a fearsome opponent, the men of the Seventh were forced to fly the longest missions in any theater of war, entirely over water and, at first, without fighter escort. They fought at Midway, Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Kwajalein, Eniwetok, Truk, Saipan, Palau, the Philippines, Iwo Jima, and finally Tokyo. Clive Howard and Joe Whitley’s history of this remarkable air force covers from the events at Pearl Harbor through to V-J Day, covering every single island that the force landed on in between. They listened to demand of Corporal Earl Nelson’s article “Heroes Don’t Win Wars”, that criticised the press and radio that only recorded the fantastic achievements of men who wore medals; “Why don’t they talk about the guy who is just a soldier?” So with humor and insight Howard and Whitley have provided us with a history of the Seventh Air Force that doesn’t focus on only the glorious achievements of some men, nor does it simply record the accounts of the “brass hats”, but instead gets to the heart of what the men of this extraordinary force did and thought. Clive Howard and Joe Whitley were both sergeants and served as correspondents for the Seventh Air Force. They were there; they saw it happen. Their book One Damned Island After Another was first published in 1946.

Body Count: A Special Forces thriller set in the Vietnam War


Eric Helm - 1984
    BUT CHARLIE OWNED THE CLOCK! One morning there was nothing but hot, thick jungle and steaming swamp. And the Viet Cong. The next morning there were three hundred sweating, groaning men chopping and chain sawing a hole in that particular hunk of hell. And that's where Captain Mack Gerber and his Scorpion Squad were going to set up shop. Right in the VC's backyard. Gerber's orders were simple: Let the VC know they didn't own the delta anymore; let them know they were in a lastditch fight; and make sure it was the last thing they'd ever know. But Victor Charlie had their own plans. A clock was ticking. Soon all hell would break loose and there wouldn't be enough survivors left to do a ... body count.