Admiral Chester W. Nimitz: The Life and Legacy of the U.S. Pacific Fleet’s Commander in Chief during World War II


Charles River Editors - 2019
    soil.” – Admiral Nimitz All Americans are familiar with the “day that will live in infamy.” At 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, December 7, 1941, Pearl Harbor, the advanced base of the United States Navy’s Pacific Fleet, was ablaze. It had been smashed by aircraft launched by the carriers of the Imperial Japanese Navy. All eight battleships had been sunk or badly damaged, 350 aircraft had been knocked out, and over 2,000 Americans lay dead. Indelible images of the USS Arizona exploding and the USS Oklahoma capsizing and floating upside down have been ingrained in the American conscience ever since. In less than an hour and a half the Japanese had almost wiped out America’s entire naval presence in the Pacific. Despite fighting in North Africa and the Atlantic, the United States still had the resources and manpower to fight the Japanese in the Pacific. Though the Japanese had crippled the American fleet at Pearl Harbor, its distance from Japan made an invasion of Pearl Harbor impossible, and Japan had not severely damaged important infrastructure. Thus, the United States was able to quickly rebuild a fleet, still stationed at Pearl Harbor right in the heart of the Pacific. This forward location allowed the United States to immediately push deeply into the Pacific Theater. The Americans would eventually push the Japanese back across the Pacific, and one of the most instrumental leaders in the effort was Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, who commanded the U.S. Pacific Fleet and helped coordinate joint operations with the legendary General Douglas MacArthur, the Supreme Commander, Southwest Pacific Area. The ensuing strategies would lead to decisive operations at places like Midway, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and others before the use of the atomic bombs compelled Japan’s surrender in August 1945. Admiral Chester W. Nimitz: The Life and Legacy of the U.S. Pacific Fleet’s Commander in Chief during World War II chronicles Nimitz’s life and examines the decisions he made during history’s deadliest war. Along with pictures of important people, places, and events, you will learn about Admiral Nimitz like never before.

Desert War


Stephen W. Sears - 2014
    The desert proved a real test of generalship, pitting Germany's Erwin Rommel against Britain's Bernard Montgomery and America's George Patton. Here, from award-winning military historian Stephen W. Sears, is the dramatic story of the generals, politicians, and soldiers who changed the course of the war.

Bloody Heroes


Damien Lewis - 2006
    This is the story of the trials and exploits, the victories and defeats, of one of those units. This book takes us from the first ever assault against a terrorist ship carrying weapons of mass destruction to attack London, to the epic siege of the terrorist-held Qala-I-Janghi fortress in Afghanistan. In the interim, our half-a-dozen soldier-characters deliver suitcases stuffed with millions of dollars in cash to 'friendly' Afghan warlords; they penetrate the towering heights of the uncharted Naka Valley, where allied intelligence has identified the mother of all terrorist training camps; they fight in the labyrinthine tunnels running beneath the Afghan mountains; and they risk all to rescue their fellow soldiers from a downed aircraft stranded on a snow-blasted mountain peak. The book culminates in the single battle in which more terrorists were killed than any other in Afghanistan: the siege of Qala-I-Janghi, an ancient mud-walled fortress used to imprison the most dangerous Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters. The battle for Qala-I-Janghi would last a staggering eight days, from the moment of the first shots being fired at the start of the uprising to the hour that the fort yielded up the last Al Qaeda fighters. It is a battle in which over 500 terrorists would die - but which would also claim the life of a US serviceman and dozens of Northern Alliance allies, with scores of severely wounded British and American soldiers. And in the final denouement, this savage battlefield turns out to be populated by the most ultimately shocking enemy - John Walker Lindh, the white American Taliban who held out in the forts' bunker until the very last. At the same time as the story of the fort siege played out on TV screens all across the world, our band of British and American special forces were involved in a secret, deadly dual to rescue their fellow men - a duel that only one side could win.

Backwoods Genius


Julia Scully - 2012
    After his death, the contents of his studio, including thousands of glass negatives, were sold off for five dollars. For years the fragile negatives sat forgotten and deteriorating in cardboard boxes in an open carport. How did it happen, then, that the most implausible of events took place? That Disfarmer’s haunting portraits were retrieved from oblivion, that today they sell for upwards of $12,000 each at posh New York art galleries; his photographs proclaimed works of art by prestigious critics and journals and exhibited around the world? The story of Disfarmer’s rise to fame is a colorful, improbable, and ultimately fascinating one that involves an unlikely assortment of individuals. Would any of this have happened if a young New York photographer hadn't been so in love with a pretty model that he was willing to give up his career for her; if a preacher’s son from Arkansas hadn't spent 30 years in the Army Corps of Engineers mapping the U.S. from an airplane; if a magazine editor hadn't felt a strange and powerful connection to the work? The cast of characters includes these, plus a restless and wealthy young Chicago aristocrat and even a grandson of FDR. It’s a compelling story which reveals how these diverse people were part of a chain of events whose far-reaching consequences none of them could have foreseen, least of all the strange and reclusive genius of Heber Springs. Until now, the whole story has not been told.

The Curse: The Colorful & Chaotic History of the LA Clippers


Mick Minas - 2016
    Author Mick Minas goes behind the scenes-- interviewing players, coaches, and front office personnel--to create the first in-depth look at the history of the Clippers.The Curse is filled with drama: the unauthorized relocation of the franchise that led to the NBA filing a multi-million dollar lawsuit against the Clippers, the disruption of the team's first playoff appearance by the Los Angeles riots, the bold but unsuccessful attempt to sign Kobe Bryant at the peak of his career, and the scandal that ultimately resulted in owner Donald Sterling being banned from the NBA for life. Featuring some of basketball's biggest names, including World B. Free, Elgin Baylor, Danny Manning, Doc Rivers, Larry Brown, Dominique Wilkins, Elton Brand, Baron Davis, Blake Griffin, and Chris Paul, The Curse delves into the disasters of the past and the complications of the present. This is the definitive history of the NBA's most dysfunctional franchise.

The 84th Infantry Division In The Battle Of Germany: November 1944-May 1945


Theodore Draper - 2009
     Through the course of the next six months it would see some of the most ferocious fighting of the entire war. As soon as they landed they drove quickly into the Netherlands to prepare for an offensive into Nazi Germany. Their movements were dramatically altered as the German forces attempted to launch a momentous counter-offensive against the allies. The 84th division was sent to Belgium to plug a gap in the Allied line and fought back against the last ditch effort of Nazi forces. Draper takes the reader through every engagement that the division took part in from the first shots fired in anger through to crossing the Rhine into Germany and finally taking Hannover and making contact with Soviet forces in May 1945. Lt. Theodore Draper’s book is a unique account of the allied invasion of Germany. Rather relying on secondhand stories of the division’s actions months after the events had occurred, Draper was encouraged to go direct to the source, to the men themselves, from the commanding general to any private, for the most complete, firsthand information on every action. This book is largely based on hundreds of pages of such interviews, most of them within 48 hours of the unit’s relief and many of them while the unit was still fighting. “Though ostensibly a divisional history, Draper’s well-informed and interesting account is useful for an understanding of the war on the western front in general.” Robert Gale Woolbert, Foreign Affairs “This is the whole operation of the battle of Germany on the broad and individual level, the Siegfried Line, the fight to the Rhine, the Ardennes, the mad race to the Elbo, with credit attributed to men, companies, battalions where it is due.” Kirkus Reviews Theodore Draper was an American historian and political writer. He wrote many notable books during his career on a variety of subjects. During the Second World War he was inducted into the U. S. Army and worked in the historical section of the 84th Infantry Division. His book The 84th Infantry Division In The Battle Of Germany : November 1944-May 1945 was first published in 1946 and he passed away in 2006.

Carrier! (Annotated): Life Aboard a World War II Aircraft Carrier


Max Miller - 2015
    Author Max Miller spent many weeks at sea gathering material for his book, and presents his observations in an easy-to read fashion. Carrier! is intended to provide civilians with a glimpse into what life aboard these massive ships was like during World War 2.*New 2019 edition includes footnotes and images.

Gray Ghost: The Life of Col. John Singleton Mosby


James A. Ramage - 1999
    This book provides an analysis of his impact on the Civil war from the Union viewpoint.

The Boats of Cherbourg: The Navy That Stole Its Own Boats and Revolutionized Naval Warfare


Abraham Rabinovich - 1988
    The boats, ordered by Israel from a local shipyard, had been embargoed for more than a year by French President Charles de Gaulle. In a brazen caper, the Israelis were now running off with them. As the boats raced for home and Paris fumed, the world media chortled at Israel’s hutspa. But the story was far bigger than they knew.Eight years before, the commander of the Israeli navy had assembled senior officers for a brainstorming session. The navy faced downgrading to a coast guard unless it could reconstitute itself as a fighting force on a starvation budget. What to do? A desperate proposal emerged from the two-day meeting.Israel’s fledgling military industries had developed a crude missile which was rejected by both the army and air force. The navy would now try adapting it. If placed on small patrol boats, the missiles, with their large warheads, could give these cheap vessels the punch of a heavy cruiser.Over the next decade, engineers working virtually round-the-clock developed the first missile boats in the West. Of a dozen boat platforms ordered in Cherbourg seven sailed before the embargo. The five that escaped completed the flotilla. But the Soviets had meanwhile also developed missile boats which they distributed to their Arab allies. Their powerful and accurate missiles had twice the range of Israel’s. To secure Israel’s sea lanes, the navy devised electronic countermeasures that would hopefully divert the enemy missiles.On the first night of the Yom Kippur War, an Israeli squadron engaged three Syrian missile boats in the first ever missile-to-missile battle at sea. The Syrian boats fired first but all three were sunk. Two nights later, three Egyptian missile boats were sunk. The electronic umbrella had worked and no Israeli boat was hit. A new naval age had dawned.

Rendezvous By Submarine: The Story Of Charles Parsons And The Guerrilla-Soldiers In The Philippines


Travis Ingham - 2018
     Manila had fallen and MacArthur had retreated with the famous words, “I shall return.” Many thousands of American and Filipino prisoners of war were forced to march in atrocious conditions from Bataan to various prison camps with huge numbers dying along the way. Yet the Imperial Japanese Army was not able to subdue all of its enemies. A motley group of American and Filipino soldiers escaped into the depths of Mindanao and began to form a new force that would fight with coordinated guerrilla tactics against the occupying forces. Charles “Chick” Parsons, who previously had been in charge of the naval docks of Manila, led his men to cause terror among the Japanese as they stuck time and again in hit-and-run raids. Endlessly spying on the Japanese forces they became the eyes and ears for MacArthur’s forces who were preparing to retake the Philippines. Parsons became instrumental in organization of the guerrilla movement as they moved ammunition, medicine and arms from under the noses of the Japanese, installed coast watchers and radio stations, evacuated American and Allied personnel and civilians, and undertaking secret submarine missions to the Philippines. Travis Ingram drew much of the material for this book directly from Parsons who frequently interjects through the book with his own opinion of certain situations. This is the remarkable story of the man that MacArthur described as “the bravest man I ever met” and deserves to be read by all who wish to find out more about individual acts of heroism that took place in the most trying of circumstances. “A story of military and morale building that paid dividends to our advantage, told with the flourish and zest it deserves.” Kirkus Reviews “No small part of the credit for the reconquest of the Philippines goes to an American businessman turned Navy Commander — Mr. Charles Parsons — who organized guerrilla forces in a number of islands. This is the exciting narrative of how he did this job.” Foreign Affairs Travis Ingham was an American writer. His book Rendezvous By Submarine: The Story Of Charles Parsons And The Guerrilla-Soldiers In The Philippines was first published in 1945. He passed away in 1969.

Ken Burns: The Kindle Singles Interview (Kindle Single)


Tom Roston - 2014
    In this illuminating, in-depth Q & A, “America’s storyteller” lets readers in on his philosophical approach to understanding our nation’s past, as well as a little family secret for overcoming your fears.Tom Roston is a veteran journalist who began his career at The Nation and Vanity Fair magazines, before working at Premiere magazine as a senior editor. He writes a regular blog about nonfiction filmmaking on PBS.org and he is a frequent contributor to The New York Times. He lives with his wife and their two daughters in New York City. Cover design by Adil Dara.

Life and Death in Assisted Living


A.C. Thompson - 2013
    What she and her family got was an introduction to what many think is the country’s next great health crisis.

Unbelievable!: The Bizarre World of Coincidences


Jenny Crompton - 2013
    So the next time the fates collide and you're reminded of what a small world it can be, you'll realize we're all victims of coincidence ...

Beat the Last Drum: The Siege of Yorktown (The Thomas Fleming Library)


Thomas Fleming - 1963
     Along with French General Jean-Baptiste Rochambeau, George Washington made an astonishing march through New Jersey and trapped British General Charles Cornwallis and his forces in Yorktown, Virginia, where they unleashed a tremendous artillery assault, with the support of the French navy. But victory was never certain - both sides made a series of dramatic attacks and counterattacks. Using the diaries and letters of participants in the siege, Fleming creates a moving and exciting depiction of the days in October 1781 that ended the American Revolution and changed the world.

Napoleon: His Life and Legacy | The True Story of Napoleon Bonaparte (Short Reads Historical Biographies of Famous People)


Jack Hughes - 2016
    Did his dictatorship crush the French Revolution, or carry its ideals to their logical conclusion? Was he a conqueror-tyrant who sought war for the sake of glory, or was he forced into conflict to defend his beloved France? Was he a throwback to sixteenth-century “absolute monarchs,” or the great modernizer of nineteenth-century Europe? Or was he all of these things at once? In this compact, highly readable biography, Jack Hughes examines these questions and more. He traces Napoleon’s history back to the bloody hillsides of Corsica, from his rise as a young artillery officer to the summit of greatness. We see at how Napoleon’s rule forever changed a continent, but also how his overreach led to his shocking fall from power. To understand the story of Napoleon, Hughes persuasively shows, is to understand Europe itself—both in Napoleon’s era and today. "If you want a thing done well, do it yourself." - Napoleon Bonaparte Buy Now to Discover: Napoleon’s tactics at Austerlitz, Waterloo, and other crucial battles. How the French conquest of Corsica shaped Napoleon’s childhood. Napoleon’s troubled marriage to the faithless Josephine. The French invasion of Egypt and discovery of the Rosetta Stone. The sale of Louisiana to the United States. Napoleon’s 1814 suicide attempt. The daring escape from Elba that allowed Napoleon to make his final stand. Read Your Book Now Your book will be instantly and automatically delivered to your Kindle device, smartphone, tablet, and computer. Money Back Guarantee If you start reading our book and are not completely satisfied with your purchase, simply return it to Amazon within 7 days for a full refund. Go to Your Account -> Manage Your Content and Devices -> Find the Book -> Return for Full Refund. Buy Now and Read The True Story of Napoleon Bonaparte...