Vengeance; at Midway and Guadalcanal (Aviator #2)


Leland Shanle - 2006
    World War II experienced from the cockpits of fighter aircraft, and through the eyes of men trapped in island Tropical Hells. Written by a retired Naval Aviator and former Paratrooper; the author puts the reader in the F-4F Wildcat and jungle, as warriors engage in a titanic struggle around the globe. A diverse and rich cast of characters reveal the sacrifice and frustrations of war. A no holds bar accounting of the actual battles, shown through the eyes of the novels characters, uncovers mistakes and even incompetence at the highest levels. Vengeance shows the disastrous results of these decisions, on the lowest common denominator; the war fighter. Closely following the actual battles of Midway and Guadalcanal the reader gets an insider’s view so vivid the smell of cordite will hang in the air. A rare perspective written by an author that flew modern fighters over the historic battlefields, even from the decks of aircraft carriers that fought in the Pacific. A riveting story, Vengeance tells of the impact at an individual level, a personal level; of an entire world at war. From the struggles of a young man in Officer Candidate School facing down a sadistic Drill Instructor; to entire fleets engaging in War At Sea. Vengeance will pull back the curtain of historical perspective and frame it in reality. The harsh reality will come as a shock to readers who have read of great victories. But know little of the tremendous cost; like fifteen hundred sailors lost in a single nights battle, all five of the Sullivan brothers among them. To the soldier, sailor or airman: war is about the small unit they are a part of and the struggle not only to stay alive, but protect their comrades. Sometimes, even to avenge their deaths. Shanle's latest novel; End Game in the Pacific, will be released in the new year.

Flotilla Attack


Duncan Harding - 2017
    The old sailors, who could remember her past, said that she was jinxed and ought never sail again. But in the last days of 1940, as the phoney war drew to an end, Britain needed every ship she could lay her hands on, to challenge the might of Hitler’s Kriegsmarine. So it was that Lieutenant-Commander John Lamb found himself commanding the old destroyer Rose, with a crew of misfits and troublemakers, and set sail across the dark and icy seas in a desperate race to prevent the German invasion of Norway.... Duncan Harding is a pseudonym for Charles Whiting (1926-2007), who also wrote as Leo Kessler and John Kerrigan. Charles Whiting volunteered for the Army aged 16 in 1943, where he saw active service in Belgium, Holland and Germany with the 52nd Reconnaissance Regiment. He has over 350 books to his credit, encompassing military history, espionage, biography and action fiction and holds the Sir George Dowty Prize for Literature.

Sharks and Little Fish: A Novel of German Submarine Warfare


Wolfgang Ott - 1956
    "A German counterpart to The Caine Mutiny" (Frederic Morton), SHARKS AND LITTLE FISH is based on the author's own experiences as a young submariner. "It is as uncompromising, vivid, and unfalsified an account of war-time naval life as has appeared." (Times Literary Supplement)

Semper Fi


W.E.B. Griffin - 1986
    Now, the bestselling author of the acclaimed BROTHERHOOD OF WAR saga brings to life the men of the U.S. Marine Corps -- their loves and their loyalties -- as they steeled themselves for battle, and prepared to make the ultimate sacrifice...

Away All Boats


Kenneth Dodson - 1954
    A vivid portrayal of the officers and sailors of the fictional amphibious transport USS Belinda in the Pacific of World War II.

Ramage


Dudley Pope - 1964
    In a daring foray, under the very nose of the French Mediterranean fleet, Lieutenant Lord Nicholas Ramage is to sail his tiny cutter close in to the Italian shore and rescue a party of stranded aristocrats from Napoleon's fast-advancing army.

HMS Ulysses


Alistair MacLean - 1955
    Now reissued in a new cover style.The story of men who rose to heroism, and then to something greater, HMS Ulysses takes its place alongside The Caine Mutiny and The Cruel Sea as one of the classic novels of the navy at war.It is the compelling story of Convoy FR77 to Murmansk – a voyage that pushes men to the limits of human endurance, crippled by enemy attack and the bitter cold of the Arctic.

They Met at Shiloh


Phillip Bryant - 2011
    Peace is shattered as Confederate and Federal troops meet on the fields and farms surrounding a tiny Methodist church. In the midst of death and destruction, friendships form as four soldiers struggle to survive the battle. Forced to leave his position as minister, Phillip Pearson knows his life is in danger, but not just from the Confederates. The Harper family, incensed at Pearson's refusal to bury a philandering son, has a vendetta against him that is played out on the battlefield. Demoted from his command by a West Point graduate, Capt.Michael Greirson is forced to choose between ambition and duty. When a bumbling youth becomes his shadow, Private Robert Mitchell gains an unlikely friend—something that has been missing from his life. Afraid to trust, he is forced to confront those fears and depend on others in the heat of battle. War is an adventure to Private Stephen Murdoch and his best friend, William Banks. For months they dream of the glory of war before volunteering together. On the eve of battle, they sense something momentous is about to happen. Their idealistic views fade in the blood of their fallen comrades. Of the 40,000 Confederates and 30,000 Federals about to come face to face along the banks of the Tennessee River, these four soldiers will experience fear and questions of faith for what lies beyond. Two days of horrific fighting turn boys into men and sever the sacred bonds of comradeship in the bloodiest days of the war.

Falling Into Battle


Andrew Wareham - 2020
    Called to Captain Ironside’s cabin, they learn their fate. Three are made sublieutenant, the fourth is pushed out of the Navy, a failure.There was no tolerance in the Royal Navy for weaklings and incompetents who failed to master the basics. They were beaten for every infraction of the rules of seamanship, encouraging them to conform or to get out.Adams, born to the elite, is made sublieutenant and posted to Iron Duke, flagship of the Grand Fleet, and the latest and largest of superdreadnoughts.McDuff goes to Good Hope cruiser bound for the South Atlantic. An old ship, and he had hoped for better, but there were chances to specialise on an armoured cruiser.Sturton, able and slightly maverick, hoped to be sent to another battleship where he could become a gunnery specialist, but instead goes to Sheldrake, a destroyer joining the Mediterranean Fleet. Destroyers were wet, cold, and uncomfortable, but it could be the making of his career.Baker, the failure, had never fit in. He came from the wrong background and was ostracised aboard ship, left on his own to survive the best he could. Rejected by the Navy, he is forced to join the Territorial Army or be disowned by his rich, vulgar father. Nineteen years of age and dumped on the scrapheap.War comes in August and the four young men meet its challenges in surprising ways.

The Enemy: A Novel of Life Aboard a U.S. Navy Destroyer in World War II


Wirt Williams - 1951
    Navy destroyer, the USS Dee (based on the author's experiences while serving aboard the USS Decatur in the North Atlantic). The ships' mission is to locate and destroy German submarines while protecting an aircraft carrier. The book details life aboard the destroyer and the inevitable conflicts that arise between men at sea for long periods. The ship also encounters and engages enemy submarines, receiving slight damage. Following author Wirt Williams' service aboard the USS Decatur, he was transferred to the Pacific theater where he captained a Landing Ship. After the war, Williams worked as a reporter, then became an English professor in California. He continued to write and published six novels, and was nominated for three Pulitzer Prizes, once for his reporting and twice for his novels. The Enemy was his first novel. Williams passed away in 1986 at the age of 64.

Buller's Guns (Commander Buller Book 1)


Richard Hough - 1981
    That doesn't matter now, the sea doesn't discriminate. Assigned to duty aboard HMS Inflexible, Archy Buller follows a long line of men in the Buller family who have become officers in the Royal Navy, often to great acclaim. For Rod Maclewin, a welder’s son, joining the Navy is the only way to escape an inevitable life of poverty. It is during the fierce riots in Alexandria, at a besieged railway station, that the paths of the two men fatefully meet. And in spite of their class differences, Buller and Maclewin strike an immediate friendship. But with the trials and tribulations of life at sea, and the ever-present dangers of battle, will their friendship stand the test of time? Buller’s Guns, set in the late Victorian Era, is an action-packed naval adventure that vividly portrays the realities of life at sea. Praise for Richard Hough ‘Solid entertainment for fans of period naval action’ – Kirkus Review ‘Hough is a good storyteller with a refreshing, breezy style’ – The Wall Street Journal ‘Hough is shrewd and subtle’ – The Sunday Telegraph Richard Hough, the distinguished naval historian and winner of the Daily Express Best Book of the Sea Award (1972) was the author of many acclaimed books in the field including Admirals in Collision, The Great War at Sea: 1914-18, and The Longest Battle: The War at Sea 1939-45. He was also the biographer of Mountbatten, and his last biography, Captain James Cook, became a world bestseller.

A Call to Colors


John J. Gobbell - 2006
    It will take 165,000 troops and 700 ships in the bloody battle of Leyte Gulf to do it. Among them is the destroyer USS Matthew and her skipper, Commander Mike Donovan, a veteran haunted by earlier savage battles. What Donovan doesn’t know is that Vice Admiral Takao Kurita of Japan has laid an ingenious trap as the Matthew heads for the treacherous waters of Leyte Gulf. But Donovan faces something even deadlier than Kurita’s battleships: Explosives secretly slipped on board American ships by saboteurs are set to detonate at any time. Now the Matthew’s survival hinges on the ability of Donovan and his men to dismantle a bomb in the midst of the panic and the chaos of history’s greatest naval battle.“Gobbell’s sea tales . . . will have you looking up your nearest Navy recruiter.” —W.E.B. Griffin“[John Gobbell is] a first-rate storyteller.” — Stephen Coonts“Wonderful . . . a rousing dramatization of history’s greatest sea battle.” — James D. Hornfischer, author of The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors

Das Boot


Lothar-Günther Buchheim - 1973
    Over the coming weeks they must brave the stormy waters of the Atlantic in their mission to seek out and destroy British supply ships. But the tide is beginning to turn against the Germans in the war for the North Atlantic. Their targets now travel in convoys, fiercely guarded by Royal Navy destroyers, and when contact is finally made the hunters rapidly become the hunted. As the U-boat is forced to hide beneath the surface of the sea a cat-and-mouse game begins, where the increasing claustrophobia of the submarine becomes an enemy just as frightening as the depth charges that explode around it. Of the 40,000 men who served on German submarines, 30,000 never returned. Written by a survivor of the U-boat fleet, Das Boot is a psychological drama merciless in its intensity, and a classic novel of World War II.

The Last Commando


Michael Asher - 2009
    . .Libya, 1942 - Rommel's Africa Korps is sweeping across the desert. Ragged Allied forces are being torn apart in brutal fire-fights on the scorched sands. A desperate message to the Prime Minister is entrusted to First Officer Madeleine Rose, WRNS. Her codename: Runefish.When GHQ hears that Runefish's plane is lost behind enemy lines, they send for battle-hardened Sergeant Tom Caine. Caine is a first class soldier who nearly always does what he's told. He will lead a squad of specialist commandos into the heart of enemy territory and either rescue or execute Runefish. If he refuses to take this near-suicide mission he faces court martial. Now the outcome of the war depends on his following orders.Death or glory beckon . . .

Darkness at Chancellorsville: A Novel of Stonewall Jackson's Triumph and Tragedy


Ralph Peters - 2019
    Famed Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson bring off an against-all-odds surprise victory, humiliating a Yankee force three times the size of their own, while the Northern army is torn by rivalries, anti-immigrant prejudice and selfish ambition. This historically accurate epic captures the high drama, human complexity and existential threat that nearly tore the United States in two, featuring a broad range of fascinating—and real—characters, in blue and gray, who sum to an untold story about a battle that has attained mythic proportions. And, in the end, the Confederate triumph proved a Pyrrhic victory, since it lured Lee to embark on what would become the war's turning point—the Gettysburg Campaign (featured in Cain At Gettysburg).