Book picks similar to
Over There: A Marine in the Great War by Carl Andrew Brannen


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wwi-memoirs
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The Names of My Mothers


Dianne Sanders Riordan - 2013
    In 1942 Elizabeth Bynam Sanders was a young woman who left home under false pretenses and travelled to Our Lady of Victory, a home for unwed mothers in upstate New York. Shortly after surrendering her daughter for adoption, she returned to her life in Johnston County, North Carolina. She never married and never had another child of her own. This powerful and moving memoir speaks of the profound need for connection. It is a story about identity, the hunger we feel for a sense of belonging and the ineffable significance of blood.

In the Shadow of Majdanek. Hiding in Full Sight . : A Holocaust Survival Story


Irene R. Skolnick - 2017
    This is what mother decided would be our best chance at survival. This was not an easy undertaking. To blend into the Polish community it was essential not to look Jewish; not to sound Jewish; to know a fair amount about Catholicism; and be able to think on your feet when unexpected events occurred. Above all one needed to be lucky. With counterfeit documents we changed our name and moved to Lublin, the site of Majdanek, the second largest concentration camp in Poland. At that time I was five years old and my brother was seven. We had to learn new names and to never reveal our past. No sooner we got settled that members of my father’s family descended on us seeking shelter. In a small, primitive house we hid up to eight members of my father’s family.

The Carroll Shelby Story


Carroll Shelby - 2019
    He was born to race —some of the fastest cars ever to tear up a speedway.  Carroll Shelby wasn’t born to run. He was born to race—some of the fastest cars ever to tear up a speedway. The exciting new feature film Ford v Ferrari--starring Matt Damon as Shelby and Christian Bale as fellow racer Ken Miles--immortalizes the small-town Texas boy who won the notorious Le Mans 24-hour endurance challenge, and changed the face of auto racing with the legendary Shelby Cobra. But there’s much more to his high-velocity, history-making story.A wizard behind the wheel, he was also a visionary designer of speed machines that ruled the racetrack and the road. While his GT40s racked up victories in the world’s most prestigious professional racing showdowns, his masterpiece, the Ford Cobra, gave Europe’s formidable Ferrari an American--style run for its money. If you’ve got a need for speed, strap in next to the man who put his foot down on the pedal, kept his eyes on the prize, and never looked back.

To Quell The Korengal


Darren Shadix - 2015
    Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade posted to northeastern Afghanistan's Kunar Province. Battle Company, the best within the Brigade, was assigned the toughest Area of Operations. It was called the Korengal Valley. During their 15-month tour, Battle Company saw more combat than any unit since Vietnam. Raw and unapologetic, To Quell The Korengal is a first-hand account of life on the front lines. Written by a grunt on the ground, it is rife with gun fights, grueling foot patrols, a villainous Company Commander, the austere routines of the American Soldier, and the kind of humor only a war could love. Though equally appealing to combat-hardened readers, the story is told in a manner any civilian can comprehend. It was the author's wish that the book could serve as a bridge of understanding for a veteran's wife or mom, or anyone curious about the conflict and sacrifices of our nation's troops.

The Dream Shall Never Die: 100 Days that Changed Scotland Forever


Alex Salmond - 2015
    In September 2014, he came close to realising that dream.In a riveting daily diary, written with his trademark wit and charm, Salmond takes us into the heart of the YES campaign, revealing what was said and done behind the scenes as the referendum reached its dramatic climax.He explains how the YES campaign energised the entire Scottish nation and rewrote the rulebook for grassroots political campaigning, not just in the UK but throughout the world.He also looks ahead to the critical role of the ‘national question’ in the future of British politics, making clear that the referendum was not the end of a process, but the beginning of one. The dream of Scottish independence is very much alive.

Pathfinder: First In, Last Out


Richard R. Burns - 2002
    Within just one month, during a holiday called Tet, the Communists would launch the largest single attack of the war--and he would be right in the thick of it. . . .In Vietnam, Richard Burns operated in live-or-die situations, risking his life so that other men could keep theirs. As a Pathfinder--all too often alone in the middle of a hot LZ--he guided in helicopters disembarking troops, directed medevacs to retrieve the wounded, and organized extractions. As well as parachuting into areas and supervising the clearing of landing zones, Pathfinders acted as air-traffic controllers, keeping call signs, frequencies, and aircraft locations in their heads as they orchestrated takeoffs and landings, often under heavy enemy fire.From Bien Hoa to Song Be to the deadly A Shau Valley, Burns recounts the battles that won him the Silver Star, Bronze Star, Purple Heart, and numerous other decorations. This is the first and only book by a Pathfinder in Vietnam . . . or anywhere else.From the Paperback edition.

The Bremer Detail: Protecting the Most Threatened Man in the World


Frank Gallagher - 2014
    In May 2003 President George W. Bush appointed Paul Bremer as presidential envoy to Iraq. Bremer banned the Ba'ath party and dismantled the Iraqi army, which made him the prime target for dozens of insurgent and terrorist groups. Assigned to protect him during his grueling sixteen-hour days were Blackwater security expert Frank Gallagher and a team of former Marines, SEALs, and other defense professionals. When they arrived, Baghdad was set to explode. As the insurgency gathered strength Bremer and the men who guarded him faced death daily. They were not in the military, but Gallagher and his team were on the front lines of the Iraq War. This fascinating memoir takes the reader deep behind the scenes of a highly dangerous profession.

Winged Warfare


William Avery Bishop - 1918
     After months as an observer with the British Royal Flying Corps he eventually earned his wings in November 1916. By March of the next year he was posted in France with No. 60 Squadron RFC near Arras along with his Niewport 17 fighter. Prospects for a newly fledged pilot were not promising at this point of the war as the average life expectancy was eleven days and German pilots were shooting down British planes at a rate of five to one. Bishop’s initial flying days did not begin in glory as during his first flight he became separated from his group and was nearly shot down by anti-aircraft fire, and two days after this he was forced to crash land during a practice flight. Shortly after these events he was ordered to return to flight school. Yet, his poor luck quickly changed, and less than a month later he had shot down his fifth enemy plane and had become an ace. By the end of the war he had claimed a total of seventy-two air victories, making him one of the most successful pilots of the entire war. Bishop’s fascinating book Winged Warfare takes the reader to the heart of what it would have been like to have been a World War One fighter pilot. It is essential reading for anyone who is interested in learning about the development of aviation warfare and the story of one remarkable man. William Avery Bishop was a First World War flying ace who received a Victoria Cross for his actions. After the war he recorded his experiences in his memoir Winged Warfare which was first published in 1918. During the Second World War Bishop was a key part of developing the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan. He passed away in 1956.

The Last Fighting Tommy: The Life of Harry Patch, the Oldest Surviving Veteran of the Trenches


Harry Patch - 2007
    He left school in 1913 to become an apprentice plumber but three years later was conscripted, serving as a machine gunner in the Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry. Fighting in the mud and trenches during the Battle of Passchendaele, he saw a great many of his comrades die, and in one dreadful moment the shell that wounded him kill his three closest friends. In vivid detail he describes daily life in the trenches, the terror of being under intense artillery fire, and the fear of going over the top. Then, after the Armistice, the soldiers' frustration at not being quickly demobbed led to a mutiny in which Harry was soon caught up.The Second World War saw Harry in action on the home front as a fire-fighter during the bombing of Bath. He also warmly describes his friendship with American GIs preparing to go to France, and, years later, his tears when he saw their graves.Late in life Harry achieved fame, meeting the Queen and taking part in the BBC documentary The Last Tommies, finally shaking hands with a German veteran of the artillery and speaking out frankly to Prime Minister Tony Blair about the soldiers shot for cowardice in the First World War.The Last Fighting Tommy is the story of an ordinary man's extraordinary life. Please note eBook edition does not the contain the images included in original print edition.

Six Wives: The Women Who Married, Lived, And Died For Henry VIII


Michael W. Simmons - 2017
    Anne Boleyn: ambitious upstart. Jane Seymour: virtuous mother. Anne of Cleves: Flanders Mare. Katherine Howard: adulterous whore. Katherine Parr: the one that got away. These are our lingering historical afterimages of the six women who married Henry VIII over the course of his thirty-six-year reign. At the age of 18, Henry succeeded to the English throne and married the Spanish princess who had briefly been the wife of his brother Arthur. Katherine of Aragon was both a virgin and a widow when the prince died at the age of fifteen, enabling Henry to marry her himself. Their marriage lasted sixteen contented years, until suddenly, Henry fell in love with Anne Boleyn and sundered England from Rome in order to keep her. But Henry VIII would not be satisfied even after he took Anne Boleyn for his wife. His vanity, his ego, and his desperate need for a male heir, led him to marry four more women during the last ten years of his life. In this book, you will read about the lives, loves, and secret passions of these women. Four of them died for Henry’s pleasure—but two escaped to tell their stories.

Tiger Bravo's War: An epic year with an elite airborne rifle company of the 101st Airborne Division's Wandering Warriors, during the height of the Vietnam War


Rick St. John - 2017
    A band of paratroopers that defied the odds. A bond that couldn’t be broken. In the bloodiest year (1968) of a decade long war, a company called “Tiger Bravo” fought across the battlefields of Vietnam, as part of an elite Strike Force nicknamed the “Wandering Warriors.” By the time the last chopper departed, Tiger Bravo had amassed a staggering 150 Purple Hearts and mourned the loss of 30 brothers in arms. In Tiger Bravo’s War, you’ll discover the trials and tribulations of life in the combat zone from soldiers’ letters and the personal stories of survivors. You’ll learn what it was like to trudge through the dark heart of the jungle, take to the streets in the Tet Offensive, launch a daring rescue mission, and dodge booby-traps deep within enemy territory. Through unbearable hardships, gut wrenching losses and rare moments of joy and laughter, you’ll watch as a company of America’s youth transforms itself from a collection of total strangers in civilian life to an elite unit of highly trained paratroopers and, as their Vietnam odyssey unfolds, to battle-hardened, war-weary veterans willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for their brothers. In St John's compelling memoir, you’ll discover: - An episodic narrative taking the reader on a journey with Tiger Bravo, from stateside training through its first year of combat. - Light-hearted antics between missions, featuring rock n’ roll in the mess hall and drunken hijinks. - Personal stories from surviving veterans, including a west Texas oilfields high school dropout, a medic abandoned by his mother, and the son of a World War II Japanese fighter pilot turned Silver Star recipient.- A glimpse of the lasting impact of the war, including failed marriages, alcoholism, and PTSD.- In-depth research, including interviews from more than 20 veterans, battlefield journals and letters, seven hundred plus primary source footnotes and much, much more!

Attack the Lusitania!


Jerry Borrowman - 2011
    As war escalates around the world, Germany has shocked mankind by firing on civilian as well as military targets, including the doomed American cargo ship. Amid the international chaos, duty calls Bill Shafer from his humble home in Liverpool, and business draws Everett Stringham from his comfortable life in the United States. Their paths cross aboard the pride of the British fleet, the luxury cruise liner R.M.S. Lusitania, where Everett's small copy of the Book of Mormon sparks a friendship with Bill, as well as outrage from Bill's supervisor, John Todd. Once docked in New York, each of the three men is changed forever as they experience in very different ways the heartache and the healing of living the restored gospel. But after a bold threat from the German Embassy, the safety of their return voyage is in doubt. And in the deep waters of the Atlantic, that danger becomes certain as the crew and passengers of the Lusitaniaface a bitter enemy, a foolish captain, and a single torpedo.

Boy Soldiers of the Great War: Their Own Stories for the First Time


Richard van Emden - 2005
    Many were to serve in the bloodiest battles of the war, like Frank Lindley, who seeking to avenge his dead brother, went over the top on the first day of the Battle of the Somme. He was just sixteen. Drawing on unpublished diaries and letters, as well as the testimonies of the last survivors, Boy Soldiers of the Great War records their stories of sacrifice and heroism.

Self-Portrait Of A Hero: The Letters Of Jonathan Netanyahu (1963-1976)


Jonathan Netanyahu - 1980
    Col. Jonathan Netanyahu, brother of Israel's current prime minister, was killed in battle during Israel's 1976 daring hostage rescue mission in Africa, his personal reflections live on in these letters written to his family and friends. 21 illustrations.

1001 Nights in Iraq: The Shocking Story of an American Forced to Fight for Saddam Against the Country He Loves


Shant Kenderian - 2005
    But then Saddam Hussein invaded Iran and sealed off Iraq's borders to every man of military age -- including Shant. Suddenly forced onto the front lines, his two-week visit turned into a nightmare that lasted for ten years. 1001 Nights in Iraq presents a human story that provides unique insight into a country and culture that we only get a hint of in the headlines. After surviving the horrors of the Iran-Iraq War, Shant was then forced to fight on the front lines of Desert Storm without being given the proper equipment, including a gun, but miraculously survived to be captured by the Americans and become a POW. He underwent starvation, heavy interrogations, and solitary confinement, but what broke him in the end was his love affair with a female American soldier. Yet throughout this whole ordeal, Shant never lost his respect for people, his faith in God, or his sense of humor.