Contains previously classified material on US offensive movements and offers original, authoritative, and thought-provoking arguments from a highly regarded author.

    He then plunges right into the action: the massing of Chinese forces in about ten-to-one strength; the Marines' command problems due to the climate and terrain and high-level over confidence; and the onset of the overwhelming Chinese assault.With a wealth of tactical detail and small-unit action Chosin: Heroic Ordeal of the Korean War is the most complete book written to date on this iconic battle. Author Eric Hammel's masterful account offers invaluable perspective on war at the gut level.

    Burnside; embarrassed Abraham Lincoln; and distinguished Robert E. Lee as one of the greatest military strategists of his era. Francis Augustin O'Reilly draws upon his intimate knowledge of the battlegrounds to discuss the unprecedented nature of Fredericksburg's warfare. Lauded for its vivid description, trenchant analysis, and meticulous research, his award-winning book makes for compulsive reading.

     They had raced four hundred miles across northern France, from the beaches of Normandy to the banks of the Moselle River, in less than one month. Facing them were the German forces that held the territory between the Moselle and the Sarre Rivers. Having had such success in the invasion of France the men of the Third Army were confident that they could smash their way into Nazi Germany. Yet, almost immediately, their progress was halted. A drastic shortage of fuel slowed the advance to a crawl, giving time for German reinforcements to arrive from across Germany and Italy. New Panzer divisions also arrived to support the Nazi forces and drive back the Allied forces. Over the next three and a half months Patton and his men fought against these battle-hardened troops and brutally powerful tanks in operations that have become subsequently known as the Lorraine Campaign. Hugh M. Cole’s The Lorraine Campaign is the definitive history of these bloody months of conflict. It records each phase of the campaign in brilliant detail, including the initial days when Patton’s army was brought to a halt at the banks of the Moselle, the Battle of Metz, and the offensive across the Saar River towards the Siegfried Line before the Germans launched their counteroffensive in the Ardennes. This book is essential reading for anyone interested in the European Theater of World War Two and how Patton and his Third Army were able to overcome huge obstacles in their drive to reach Berlin. Hugh M. Cole was an American historian and army officer, best known as the author of The Lorraine Campaign and The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge, two volumes of the U.S. Army official history of World War II. During the Second World War he was assigned as a historical officer on the staff of General Patton's Third Army, with whom he participated in four campaigns in northern Europe. The Lorraine Campaign was first published in 1950. Cole passed away in 2005.

     By mid-1942 the Japanese forces were threatening to take the colonial capital of Port Moresby and therefore gain a base to launch their proposed invasion of Australia. The allied forces needed to blunt the Japanese thrust toward Australia and thus protect the transpacific line of communications, as well as to secure a favorable position to take the offensive to the Japanese. Yet this was easier planned than executed; the Australians had been battered through two years of combat with their enemies and although the Americans were bringing large numbers of reinforcements, they were living under intolerable conditions, plagued by disease, short of equipment, ill-prepared for jungle fighting, and pitted against a skilled and resolute foe. According to Australian military historian, John Laffin, the campaign "was arguably the most arduous fought by any Allied troops during World War II". Milner uncovers every aspect of the campaign in 1942 from its early planning stages through to the many conflicts with Japanese troops that culminated in the brutal Battle of Buna-Gona in early 1943. However, rather than simply giving an overview of these turbulent months Milner focuses particularly on the actions of the 32nd Infantry Division who were at the frontline of the offensive to give the reader a direct view of what life was like during the campaign. To develop a picture of this dramatic campaign Milner drew from not only the official records but also spoke to men who were there and saw it, including Robert L. Eichelberger, as well as drawing from many Australian sources and historians. “Samuel Milner’s Victory in Papua, the official U.S. Army history, provides a thorough narrative of the Papua New Guinea campaign and is an excellent starting point.” Major Matthew H. Fath, Intrepidity, Iron Will, and Intellect: General Robert L. Eichelberger and Military Genius “a solid and valued work.” James Jay Carafano, www.heritage.org “a thorough account of the actions of the 32nd Division in the Papuan campaign of 1942.” Henry L. Roberts, Foreign Affairs “In telling the story of a comparatively limited number of troops, the author has been able to present the combat experience of small units in sharper focus than has been possible in most of the other full-scale campaign volumes.” Maj. Gen. A. C. Smith, Chief of Military History Samuel Milner was a historian who held a graduate degree in history from the University of Alberta and had done further graduate work in political science at the University of Minnesota. He had served during the war as a historian with the Army Air Transport Command in Australia and New Guinea, and worked for the Army office of the chief of military history after the war. After this he worked as government historian for many years before passing away in 2000. His book Victory in Papua was first published in 1957.

    Most of its soldiers were immigrant kids with no prior military experience and no intention of serving their country any longer than it took to get a paycheck or college credit. Once a respected all-Irish outfit, the 69th was now a Technicolor mix of Puerto Ricans, Dominicans, Colombians, African Americans, Russians, Poles, Koreans, Chinese, and a few token Irish Americans. Their uniforms were incomplete and their equipment was downright derelict. The thought of deploying such a unit was laughable. But that is exactly what happened. With a charismatic mix of irreverent humor and eye-opening honesty, Sean Flynn, himself a member of the 69th, memorably chronicles the transformation of this motley band of amateur soldiers into a battle- hardened troop at work in one of the most lethal quarters of Baghdad: the notorious Airport Road, a blood- soaked strand that grabbed headlines and became a bellwether for progress in postinvasion Iraq. At home on the concrete and asphalt like no other unit in the U.S. Army, Gotham’s Fighting 69th finally brings its own rough justice to this lawless precinct by ignoring army discipline and turning to the street-fighting tactics they grew up with and know best. The Fighting 69th is more than a story about the impact of terrorism, the war on Iraq, or the current administration’s failures. It is the story of how regular citizens come to grips with challenges far starker than what they have been prepared for. Flynn’s dark humor, empathy, and candor make for a fresh look at who our soldiers are and what they do when faced with their toughest challenges.

    Showcasing seventy-two true stories told by American servicemen who fought from the skies, this unique and historically significant collection is a stunning record of the air war in Southeast Asia during the 1960s and 1970s. There is no political agenda. There is no partisan opinion. There is no romanticizing. These are simply tales from the thick of an endlessly complex conflict, raw and uncut, told directly by the men who were foisted into its napalm- and sweat-soaked clutches. Occasionally funny, sometimes tragic, and often harrowing, these true accounts bring new and personal perspectives to one of the most studied and most maligned wars in America’s history, revealing with no Hollywood glamorizing what the war was really like for members of the US Air Force of all ranks and myriad functions who answered the call to fight. They saw no choice but to follow the orders they were given. And for better or for worse, by the time they returned, each of them would be changed forever.

    Raymond A. Spruance. Spruance, victor of the battles of Midway and the Philippine Sea and commander of the Fifth Fleet in the invasions of the Gilberts, the Marshalls, the Marianas, and Okinawa, is one of the towering figures in American naval history. Yet his reserved, cerebral personality did not make good copy for correspondents, and until the publication of The Quiet Warrior he remained an elusive figure. Thomas Buell has succeeded in evoking the nature of the man as well as recording the achievements of the admiral in this brilliant biography, which won the Alfred Thayer Mahan Award for Literary Achievement the year of its publication.

    Fought during the worst blizzard in a century, the ensuing battle is considered by the United States Marine Corps to be 'the Corps' Finest Hour.' The soldiers who fought there would later become known as the 'Frozen Chosen'.Published now in paperback, this incredible story is based on first hand interviews from surviving veterans, telling of heroism and bravery in the face of overwhelming odds, as a handful of Marines fought desperately against wave after wave of Chinese forces. Sometimes forced into desperate hand to hand combat, the fighting retreat from Chosin marked one of the darkest moments for Western forces in Korea, but would go on to resonate with generations of Marines as a symbol of the Marine Corps' dogged determination, fighting skill, and never-say-die attitude on the battlefield.

    The Blues, as they were called, were perpetually understrength and considered to be acceptable losses in hopeless situations—but their amazingly successful record proved otherwise.A firsthand account of mortal combat with the Ninth Cavalry, Flashing Saber is the remarkable story of the brave men who served in the First Air Cavalry Division's reconnaissance squadron. Included is an account of an air-ground raid that overran a regimental command post and killed more high-ranking enemy officers than any similar engagement of the war. The story begins when a teenager, an Eagle Scout and West Point Prep School student, goes to Vietnam in 1965. Motivated by patriotism and the desire to see combat firsthand, Brennan volunteers for front line duty and spends years as an artillery forward observer and infantryman. Promoted to sergeant and then to lieutenant, Brennan participates in hundreds of assault landings.An expansion and careful reworking of his previous work, Brennan's War, published in 1985, and in the vein of classic memoirs by Johnnie Clark and Frederick Downs, Flashing Saberis a harrowing firsthand account of life and death in war, one filled with breathtaking details about a renowned unit.

    For many, it defined a generation.The Very Brief History series is intended to give the reader a short, concise account of the most important events in world history. Each book provides the reader with the essential facts concerning a particular event or person; no distractions, just the essential facts, allowing the reader to master the subject in the shortest time possible. With The Very Brief History series, anyone can become a history expert!

    Originally published by UNC Press in 1984, the book was the first investigation of colonial military life to give equal attention to official records and to the diaries and other writings of the common soldier. The provincials' own accounts of their experiences in the campaign amplify statistical profiles that define the men, both as civilians and as soldiers. These writings reveal in intimate detail their misadventures, the drudgery of soldiering, the imminence of death, and the providential world view that helped reconcile them to their condition and to the war.

    From Normandy through the breakout in France to the German army's last gasp in the Battle of the Bulge, Doubler deals with the deadly business of war--closing with the enemy, fighting and winning battles, taking and holding territory. His study provides a provocative reassessment of how American GIs accomplished these dangerous and costly tasks.Doubler portrays a far more capable and successful American fighting force than previous historians--notably Russell Weigley, Martin Van Creveld, and S.L.A. Marshall--have depicted. True, the GIs weren't fully prepared or organized for a war in Europe and have often been viewed as inferior to their German opponent. But, Doubler argues, they more than compensated for this by their ability to learn quickly from mistakes, to adapt in the face of unforeseen obstacles, and to innovate new tactics on the battlefield. This adaptability, Doubler contends, was far more crucial to the American effort than we've been led to believe.Fueled by a fiercely democratic and entrepreneurial spirit, GI innovations emerged from every level within the ranks-from the novel employment of conventional weapons and small units to the rapid retraining of troops on the battlefield. Their most dramatic success, however, was with combined arms warfare--the coordinated use of infantry, tanks, artillery, air power, and engineers--in which they perfected the use of air support for ground operations and tank-infantry teams for breaking through enemy strongholds.Doubler argues that, without such ingenuity and imaginative leadership, it would have been impossible to defeat an enemy as well trained and heavily fortified as the German army the GIs confronted in the tortuous hedgerow country of northern France, the narrow cobble-stoned streets of Aachen and Brest, the dark recesses of the Huertgen Forest, and the frigid snow-covered hills of the Ardennes.Doubler offers a timely reminder that the tremendous effects of firepower and technology will still not relieve ground troops of the burden of closing with the enemy. As even Desert Storm suggests, that will likely prove true for future high-tech battlefields, where an army's adaptability will continue to be prized.

    The first part recognizes, indeed celebrates, what the military has done well in attracting and developing leadership talent. The book then examines the causes and consequences of the modern military's stifling personnel system, with a close look at strategic failures in Iraq and Afghanistan. The book also reports a new survey of active duty officers (done by the author) that reports what is driving the best and brightest to leave the service in frustration. Solutions round out the book, grounded in an economic emphasis on market forces.

    CRACK! AND THUMP is Scheffel's chilling account of ground combat of a young company-grade officer who fought with the 9th Infantry Division in North Africa, Sicily, France, Belgium, and Germany. Scheffel vividly recalls the terror, mind-numbing fatigue, raw emotions, and horrific conditions fighting men endured to achieve victory in World War II.