Book picks similar to
My Eighty Years in Texas by William Physick Zuber
military
pioneers
true-adventure
biographies
So Few Got Through: Gordon Highlanders with the 51st Division from Normandy to the Baltic
Martin Lindsay - 2000
The original 51st had gotten separated from the main British army before Dunkirk in 1940 and had been captured at St. Vale'ry, the surrender being taken by Irwin Rome in person. The reconstituted 51st had fought Rome in the desert and knew that 10,000 Scotsmen were now entering their fourth year in German prison camps.The original edition of So Few Got Through appeared just after the war and chronicles the campaigns of the 1st Gordon Highlanders from Normandy to V-E Day. Martin Lindsay was the Gordons' commander and his book has long been considered the best account of a British battalion in the war.
The World According to Harry
Harry Redknapp - 2019
This book is full of my best stories – kickabouts with jumpers for goalposts with Bobby Moore, mine and Sandra’s disastrous honeymoon to Torquay in a dodgy car and my funniest ‘Mr Pastry’ moments – as well as my thoughts on the important things in life. I’m finally sharing what I’ve learned on and off the pitch: from growing up poor in Poplar to the heights of the Premiership and even lying in a coffin with a load of rats on national television. It’s everything I know about true team spirit, hard work, tough times, why family are so important and why everyone deserves respect no matter whether they’re royal or sleeping rough – and, of course, the real joy of a jam roly-poly.'
The B-58 Blunder: How the U.S. Abandoned its Best Strategic Bomber
George Holt Jr. - 2015
This work is a case study on how the B-58 supersonic bomber came to a premature death in the U.S. military, largely because of infighting among military and civilian leaders, who failed to understand the value of this fantastic airplane. It was a technological marvel for its time and the very best pilots and navigators were chosen to fly this unique aircraft. At its maximum speed of 2.2 Mach (1,452 mph) it was 2½ times faster than the muzzle velocity of a .45 caliber bullet. It could fly faster and out turn must fighters of its day and was also capable of flying close to tree top level just below the speed of sound. It was nearly undetectable by enemy radars due to its speed and low radar cross section and was better at flying through heavy turbulence due to its solid delta wing design. It had a highly accurate navigation and bombing system. It had a capsule ejection system for the safety of the aircrew and was capable of getting airborne in only half the time required by other bombers. Told for the first time, this is the inside story that dispels the unproven myths surrounding the demise of the B-58 and why this magnificent airplane should have been saved. Its loss from the nuclear armory was a severe blow to our “Cold War” deterrence strength. The B-58 was a bomber that set the standard for fear in the heart of an enemy. Its loss was a strategic mistake. The author provides lessons learned and recommendations for military and civilian leaders, going forward, to hopefully prevent future blunders—like what happened to the B-58.
Crack! and Thump: With a Combat Infantry Officer in World War II
Charles Scheffel - 2007
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.
Gallipoli Sniper: The Life Of Billy Sing
John Hamilton - 2008
Scrub, cliffs, spurs and hills meant that both Anzac and Turkish positions often overlooked one another. The unwary or unlucky were prey to snipers on both sides, and the sudden crack of a gunshot and instant death were an ever-present menace. The most successful and most feared sniper of the Gallipoli campaign was Billy Sing, a Light Horseman from Queensland, who was almost unique among the Australian troops in having a Chinese-born father. A combination of patience, stealth and an amazing eye made him utterly deadly, with the incredible - and horrifying - figure of over 200 credited 'kills'. John Hamilton has written an extraordinary account of a hidden side of the campaign - the snipers' war. Following Sing from his recruitment onwards, Hamilton takes us on a journey into the squalor, dust, blood and heroism of Gallipoli, seen from the unique viewpoint of the sniper. Gallipoli Sniper is a powerful and very different account of war and its effect on those who fight.
Hidden Soldier
Padraig O'Keeffe - 2007
He served with the Legion in Cambodia and Bosnia, then returned to civilian life, but military habits would not allow him to settle.His need for intense excitement and extreme danger drove him back to the lifestyle he knew and loved, and using his Legion training, he became a ?hidden soldierOCO by opting for security missions in Iraq and Haiti.In Iraq he was the sole survivor of an ambush in no manOCOs land between Abu Ghraib and Fallujah, the most dangerous place on earth.An intense, exciting and vivid account of extraordinary and sometimes horrific events, "Hidden Soldier" lifts the veil on the dark and shadowy world of security contractors and what the situation is really like in Iraq as well as other trouble spots.This bestseller also includes photographs taken by Padraig OOCOKeeffe while he was a Legionnaire and when he was in Iraq."
Blood on the Plains
John D. Fie Jr. - 2015
Matt Hutchins, the lone survivor of a wagon train massacre Found and raised by the Sioux, Matt not only learns the ways of the Sioux, but his survival skills are keenly honed with his tracking abilities used by both the Army and later by the sheriff of a town named Buffalo Flats Matt lives alone on the open plains with his trusted friend and horse ‘Ole Friend, a gift given to him by the Chief Buffalo Robes, the one who taught him how to survive
The Day Before 9/11
Tucker Elliot - 2013
In Germany, a military family welcomes the birth of a second child. In the aftermath of 9/11, both families - dads, moms, and kids - will fight the war on terror. A harrowing true story that spans America's first decade post-9/11, The Day Before 9/11 portrays in riveting detail the sacrifices made by military families serving overseas and the enduring pain that accompanies the tragic loss of life.
Maverick One: The True Story of a Para, Pathfinder, Renegade
David Blakeley - 2013
Pathfinder selection is a brutal physical and psychological trial lasting many weeks. It rivals that of the SAS and takes place over the same spine-crushing terrain, in the rain-and-snow-lashed wastes of the Welsh Mountains. For two decades no one has been able to relate the extraordinary trials of British elite forces selection - until now.Captain David Blakeley goes on from completing selection to serve with the Pathfinders in Afghanistan post 9/11, where he had a gun held to his head by Al Qaeda fighters. From there he deploys to Iraq, on a series of dramatic behind- enemy-lines missions - wherein he and his tiny elite patrol are outnumbered, outgunned and trapped. Maverick One is unique and extraordinary, chronicling the making of a warrior. It culminates in Blakeley fighting back to full recovery from horrific injuries suffered whilst on operations in Iraq, to go on to face SAS selection.
Soldiers! A Chronicle from the 31st century (Part One)
John Dalmas - 2001
War is now a horror from the past—until aliens arrive with 14,000 ships. They’ve come to wipe humanity from the universe and repopulate the planets with their own life forms.Mankind must learn to fight once more. This time for its very survival.
The Suicide Battalion
James L. McWilliams - 1978
An essential book for readers of Peter Hart, Tim Cook and Nick Lloyd.The men of the 46th Canadian Infantry Battalion were some of the most effective shock troops of the Allied forces in the Great War. They drove back German forces wherever they met and refused ever to surrender. Such tactics struck fear in their enemies, yet, it came at a tremendous cost. Of the 5374 officers and men who passed through the unit, a total of 4917, or 91 per cent, were either killed or wounded.J.L. McWilliams and R. James Steel chart the history of this battalion from when it was formed on 7th November 1914 through all of its major battles, including the Somme, Vimy Ridge, Hill 70, Passchendaele, Amiens, the Hundred Days Offensive and breaking through the Hindenburg Line, to when it was finally disbanded at the end of the war. Rather than focus simply on the grand strategies of generals, McWilliams and Steel use numerous personal accounts, both written at the time and afterwards, to depict what life was like for the regular soldier of the 46th Battalion during these treacherous years spent in muddy trenches in France and Belgium.
Jack: A Biography of Jack Nicholson
Edward Douglas - 2006
This sizzling biography goes deep in-depth, relating exclusive interviews with past flames and flings, to shed light on the unique charisma and magnetism of one of America's most respected and desired movie stars.Among the startling revelations: A longtime girlfriend who describes Jack's reaction when he at last discovered the long-buried, dark secret of his childhoodJack's notorious penny-pinching, such as the time he came home from a movie set with a doggie bag of catered Mexican foodThe woman Jack "shared" with Robert Evans and Warren BeattyThe night Christina Onassis, who'd had a fling with Jack in Los Angeles, got mad at him for seducing a girl in her party at XenonThe beauty queen who was still married to drug dealer Tom Sullivan when she was drawn to JackThe beautiful, talented costar who showed up at Jack's house at 1 A.M. and what happened when live-in girlfriend Anjelica Huston answered the intercomThe night Steve Rubell ran around Studio 54 saying, "We got to keep Ryan O'Neal and Jack Nicholson away from each other. There's going to be a big fight."Why Rebecca Broussard refused him when Jack asked for her hand in marriage in 1993, even after having two children with himWhy Katharine Hepburn's goddaughter still loves Jack and has spent years looking for a man who can measure up to himDiane Keaton's reaction to Jack passing gas during filming of a love scene for Something's Gotta GiveJennifer Howard, who found Jack's lovemaking "very oomph! He knows what he's doing. You can kind of just let go. Let him le-e-e-ad the way!"In Jack, Edward Douglas offers us a provocative, fascinating portrait of the man, the legend, the star: Jack Nicholson.
Peter Charlie: The Cruise of the PC 477
Art Bell - 2017
Navy, assigned to duty aboard the PC 477. The PCs were 173-foot, steel-hulled submarine fighters. Uncle Sam had thousands of seamen on hundreds of PCs convoying and patrolling in WWII. They were introduced in the desperate, early days of World War II, when the waters off America’s Atlantic coast were a graveyard of torpedoed ships. They performed essential, hazardous, and sometimes spectacular missions, yet the PCs were scarcely known at all outside the service. Here is the story of the wartime service of one of those ships. From Pearl Harbor to Guadalcanal, from Australia to the Solomon Islands, the PC 477 saw action throughout the South Pacific. Collecting numerous first-hand accounts from his shipmates, Art Bell, who eventually took command of the 477, gives us a detailed, compelling and often humorous memoir of life aboard a Navy ship during the war. It is a feast for World War II buffs and an essential reference for historians studying that period. The Navy didn’t even dignify PCs with names. But the crew of the PC 477 did. They called her “Peter Charlie.” Art Bell (1919 - 1988) was a respected Los Angeles attorney. He played baseball at UCLA with Jackie Robinson, saw action in World War II, and graduated from the USC Law School in 1951. His son, James Scott Bell, aided in the writing and editing of the book.
Fighter Pilot
Mac 'Serge' Tucker - 2012
Now, for the first time, Serge takes you behind the scenes of the fighter pilot world to reveal what it's really like. Find out how it feels to be shot at by SAS snipers, to be lost in a $50 million jet over Northern Australia with nothing but car lights to guide you home, to rupture your sinuses while flying, to inadvertently bomb a yacht and to face death on an almost daily basis. Relive the adventures of a real-life Top Gun and find out what it takes to become part of this elite force. From the Pentagon to the South China Sea, the deserts of Australia to the wars of the Middle East, this book is as action-packed as it is entertaining. Sit back and strap yourself in for an exhilarating ride to the sound barrier and beyond with Mac Tucker, an Australian fighter pilot and real life Top Gun.
The Team
David M. Salkin - 2012
There’s only one catch—the United States Navy doesn’t have an All-Star baseball Team.A special team of elite warriors is assembled from the SEALs, Marine Recon, Army Rangers and the CIA to be used as a rapid deployment force when unconventional or covert operations are needed anywhere on the globe. Using the baseball team as a cover story, the Navy All-Stars fly to Qatar to find the leader of the New Wahabi Jihad and prevent a terrorist attack. Intelligence leads point to missing Sarin gas from Syria, and possible targets include The Al Udeid Air Base in Doha, as well as the new soccer stadium built for the FIFA World Cup in Qatar—a location chosen perhaps because of a few million dollars in bribery money.Operating without the approval of foreign governments, The Team works covertly to try and locate the Sarin before a major attack can take place. With bodies piling up in Saudi Arabia and Qatar and the clock ticking, The Team plays hardball, on and off the field.The Team is loosely based on a real covert military operation run in the sixties in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War.