Military Collection: Military Life

"The Long Gray Line" is a 25-year saga of the West Point class of 1966. The story focuses on the lives of three classmates and the women they loved - from the boisterous cadet years to the fires of Vietnam, to the hard peace and internal struggles that followed the war. The characters include Douglas MacArthur and William C. Westmoreland. - From the publisher.

Drawing from three centuries of soldiers' personal accounts of combat, "A People's History of the U.S Military" is a compelling first-person account of the experiences of common soldiers in the U.S military, from the American revolution to the present day. Illustrating the reality of military experience and its aftermath with fascinating excerpts from letters, diaries, and memoirs, as well as audio recordings, films, and blogs to illustrate attitudes to war through the ages.- From the Publisher.

As she did so provocatively with military spouses in Army Wives, Tanya Biank gives us the inside story of women in today’s military—the professional and personal challenges that confront female soldiers from the combat zone to the home front... Since 9/11, more than 240,000 women soldiers have fought in Iraq and Afghanistan—more than 140 have died there, and they currently make up fourteen percent of the total active-duty forces. Despite advances, today’s servicewomen are constantly pressed to prove themselves, to overcome challenges men never face, and to put the military mission ahead of all other aspects of their lives, particularly marriage and motherhood. In this groundbreaking, insider’s look at the women defending our nation, Tanya Biank brings to light the real issues—of femininity, belonging to an old boys’ club, veiled discrimination, dating, marriage problems, separation from children, questions about life goals, career trajectories, and self-worth—that servicewomen are facing by focusing on four individual stories. Brigadier General Angela Salinas, the Marine Corps’ first Hispanic female general, faces the challenge of commanding an all-male institution. Second Lieutenant Bergan Flanagan finds herself on the frontlines in Afghanistan, serving in the same military police company as her husband. As a marine drill instructor, Sergeant Amy Stokley demands the very best from the recruits at Parris Island. And Major Candice O’Brien deals with deployment to Afghanistan, with two young children and a strained marriage back home. "Undaunted" is the story of these courageous trailblazers; their struggles, sacrifices, and triumphs in the name of serving the country they love. - From the publisher.

African Americans' long campaign for "the right to fight" forced Harry Truman to issue his 1948 executive order calling for equality of treatment and opportunity in the armed forces. In War! What Is It Good For?, Kimberley Phillips examines how blacks' participation in the nation's wars after Truman's order and their protracted struggles for equal citizenship galvanized a vibrant antiwar activism that reshaped their struggles for freedom. Using an array of sources--from newspapers and government documents to literature, music, and film--and tracing the period from World War II to the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, Phillips considers how federal policies that desegregated the military also maintained racial, gender, and economic inequalities. Since 1945, the nation's need for military labor, blacks' unequal access to employment, and discriminatory draft policies have forced black men into the military at disproportionate rates. While mainstream civil rights leaders considered the integration of the military to be a civil rights success, many black soldiers, veterans, and antiwar activists perceived war as inimical to their struggles for economic and racial justice and sought to reshape the civil rights movement into an antiwar black freedom movement. Since the Vietnam War, Phillips argues, many African Americans have questioned linking militarism and war to their concepts of citizenship, equality, and freedom. - From the publisher.

In September 1939, when Nazi Germany invaded Poland and initiated World War II, a strong strain of isolationism existed in Congress and across the country. The U.S. Army stood at fewer than 200,000 men--unprepared to defend the country, much less carry the fight to Europe and the Far East. And yet, less than a year after Pearl Harbor, the American army led the Allied invasion of North Africa, beginning the campaign that would defeat Germany, and the Navy and Marines were fully engagedwith Japan in the Pacific. The story of America's astounding industrial mobilization during World War II has been told. But what has never been chronicled before Paul Dickson'sThe Rise of the G. I. Army, 1940-1941 is the extraordinary transformation of America's military from a disparate collection of camps with dilapidated equipment into a well-trained and spirited army ten times its prior size in little more than eighteen months. From Franklin Roosevelt's selection of George C. Marshall to be Army Chief of Staff to the remarkable peace-time draft of 1940 and the massive and unprecedented mock battles in Tennessee, Louisiana, and the Carolinas by which the skill and spirit of the Army were forged and out of which iconic leaders like Eisenhower, Bradley, and Clark emerged; Dickson narrates America's urgent mobilization against a backdrop of political and cultural isolationist resistance and racial tension at home, and the increasingly perceived threat of attack from both Germany and Japan. An important addition to American history,The Rise of the G. I. Army, 1940-1941 is essential to our understanding of America's involvement in World War II. - From the publisher.

"Don't Ask, Don't Tell" was the directive of President Clinton's 1993 military policy regarding gay and lesbian soldiers. This official silence continued collective amnesia about the patriotic service and courageous sacrifices of homosexual troops. Ask and Tell recovers these lost voices, offering a rich chronicle of the history of gay and lesbian service in the U.S. military from World War II to the Iraq War. Drawing on more than 50 interviews with gay and lesbian veterans, Steve Estes charts the evolution of policy toward homosexuals in the military over the past 65 years, uncovering the ways that silence about sexuality and military service has affected the identities of gay veterans. These veteran voices--harrowing, heroic, and on the record--reveal the extraordinary stories of ordinary Americans, men, and women who simply did their duty and served their country in the face of homophobia, prejudice, and enemy fire. Far from undermining national security, unit cohesion, or troop morale, Estes demonstrates, these veterans strengthened the U.S. military in times of war and peace. He also examines challenges to the ban on homosexual service, placing them in the context of the wider movement for gay rights and gay liberation. Ask and Tell is an important compilation of unheard voices, offering Americans a new understanding of the value of all the men and women who serve and protect them. - From the publisher.

A topical presentation of firsthand accounts from some of the thousands of army and navy nurses who served both stateside and overseas during World War II, this book tells the stories of the brave women who used any and all resources to save as many lives as possible. Although military nurses could have made more money as civilians, thousands chose to leave the warmth and security of home to care for the young men who went off to war. They were not saints but vibrant women whose performance changed the face of both military and civilian nursing. Jackson's account follows both army and navy nurses from the time they joined the military, through their active service, to their lives today. The jobs done by military nurses were valuable and varied. Some worked in clean stateside hospitals. Some found themselves nursing in tents or bombed-out buildings. Others entered hospitals so recently occupied by Axis forces that Nazi propaganda still covered the walls. While often treating ordinary accidents and illnesses, they were responsible for men with wounds so disfiguring that it took all of their willpower to maintain the hopeful attitude that the men so desperately required. From the humorous account of a nurse in her forties, who joined the war effort despite the smirks of those much younger, to the sorrow shared when men and women were separated and became prisoners of war, these are the stories of women who lived under extraordinary circumstances in an amazing time, women who, even today, bear emotional scars along with their lasting pride. - From the publisher.

There have been many books written about valor in battle. This is not one of them. On the contrary, "On The Run" deals entirely with those men and women who, over thousands of years, have departed with alacrity and for multifarious reasons from life in the armed forces. For as long as there have been wars there have been those who have fled, sometimes precipitously, from the cannon's roar. This fascinating history of deserters and desertion, from the beginning of recorded time to the present day, details many of those characters who, for a multitude of often complex reasons, have gone absent without leave. Among their numbers are poets and pugilists, thieves and thugs, lovers and lunatics, princes and politicians, comedians and conspirators, film stars and fanatics, and even a Pope, all brought together by the simple fact that at one time or another they went on the run. Covering thousands of years in time and over forty different countries, this extraordinary book, the first of its kind, presents a fascinating anecdotal history of perhaps the most controversial and emotive subject in war, in this and any other age. Graeme Kent is a former BBC producer and author of The Strongest Men on Earth. - From the publisher.

Analyzes the dual struggle Blacks have faced in the military against both America's enemies and racial policies and prejudices and examine the contributions they have made on behalf of America's defense over the past two hundred years. - From the publisher.

As many as 20,000 women worked in Union and Confederate hospitals during America's bloodiest war. Black and white, and from various social classes, these women served as nurses, administrators, matrons, seamstresses, cooks, laundresses, and custodial workers. Jane E. Schultz provides the first full history of these female relief workers, showing how the domestic and military arenas merged in Civil War America, blurring the line between homefront and battlefront. Schultz uses government records, private manuscripts, and published sources by and about women hospital workers, some of whom are familiar--such as Dorothea Dix, Clara Barton, Louisa May Alcott, and Sojourner Truth--but most of whom are not well-known. Examining the lives and legacies of these women, Schultz considers who they were, how they became involved in wartime hospital work, how they adjusted to it, and how they challenged it. She demonstrates that class, race, and gender roles linked female workers with soldiers, both black and white, but became sites of conflict between the women and doctors and even among themselves. Schultz also explores the women's postwar lives--their professional and domestic choices, their pursuit of pensions, and their memorials to the war in published narratives. Surprisingly few parlayed their war experience into postwar medical work, and their extremely varied postwar experiences, Schultz argues, defy any simple narrative of pre-professionalism, triumphalism, or conciliation. - From the publisher.

A facsimile of the 1868 edition featuring firsthand accounts of Civil War soldiers when they were not in battle, revealing historic details about what a soldier wore, ate, and did when he was not fighting. Brings another dimension to the history of the Civil War.

Tobbie H. Ingram brings a background of teaching and military service to this book of facts about the Black military serviceperson. Facts about women like Phyllis Mae Dailey and Colonel Charles Young, the only Black West Point graduate on active duty at the start of the Spanish American War, give this book an immeasurable relevance. Blacks have attained a moderate level of equality in America. However, the fact that most of this information remains obscure shows that there is a need for balance in the field of history for American students - From the back cover.

This title brings together twenty-five writings by women who share their rich and varied World War II experiences, from serving in the military to working on the home front to preparing for the postwar world. By providing evidence of their active and resourceful roles in the war effort as workers, wives, and mothers, these women offer eloquent testimony that World War II was indeed everybody's war. Litoff and Smith combine pieces by well-known writers, such as Margaret Culkin Banning and Nancy Wilson Ross, with important-but largely forgotten-personal accounts by ordinary women living in extraordinary times. This volume is divided into the six sections listed below: Preparing for War In the Military At 'Far-Flung' Fronts On the Home Front War Jobs Preparing for the Postwar World

"This book is the first full account of Native American experiences from the 1930s to 1945. It begins with their responses to the drift toward war in the 1930s, including their reactions to propaganda campaigns directed at them by Nazi sympathizers. It is also the only ethnohistory of their experiences during World War II. Included are the voices and recollections of Indian men who resisted the draft, those who fought in Europe and the Pacific, and of Indian women on the homefront. The book is also a careful reinterpretation of John Collier, commissioner of Indian affairs during the Roosevelt years. Townsend argues that Collier's attempt to fundamentally redirect policies to preserve traditional Native American lifeways inadvertently provided Indians the resources, training, and services necessary for assimilation in the postwar years."-- Book Jacket by Blackwell North America, Inc.

When soldiers at Fort Carson were charged with a series of 14 murders, PTSD and other "invisible wounds of war" were thrown into the national spotlight. With these events as their starting point, Jean Scandlyn and Sarah Hautzinger argue for a new approach to combat stress and trauma, seeing them not just as individual medical pathologies but as fundamentally collective cultural phenomena. Their deep ethnographic research, including unusual access to affected soldiers at Fort Carson, also engaged an extended labyrinth of friends, family, communities, military culture, social services, bureaucracies, the media, and many other layers of society. Through this profound and moving book, they insist that invisible combat injuries are a social challenge demanding collective reconciliation with the post-9/11 wars.

Draws on Bradley's diaries and papers to recount his experiences as American commander at Normandy, as a ground-war strategist in Europe, and as the first Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

D-Day, the Battle of the Bulge, the liberation of Paris, the relentless drive through Germany toward Allied victory--Omar Bradley, the "GI General," was there for every major engagement in the European theater. A Soldier's Story is the behind-the-scenes eyewitness account of the war that shaped our century: the tremendous manpower at work, the unprecedented stakes, the snafus that almost led to defeat, the larger-than-life personalities and brilliant generals (Patton, Eisenhower, Montgomery) who masterminded it all. One of the two books on which the movie Patton was based, A Soldier's Story is a compelling and vivid memoir from the greatest military tactician of our time. nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; The books in the Modern Library War series have been chosen by series editor Caleb Carr according to the significance of their subject matter, their contribution to the field of military history, and their literary merit.

Pierre Gustave Toutant-Beauregard was a Confederate general officer of Louisiana Creole descent who started the American Civil War by leading the attack on Fort Sumter on April 12, 1861. Today, he is commonly referred to as P. G. T. Beauregard, but he rarely used his first name as an adult. Most of the officer participants then received their baptism of fire and learned something about how to maneuver and lead troops in the face of an enemy. Some of the younger officers who distinguished themselves went on to greater glory and achievement in the later conflict. Robert E. Lee and Joseph E.Johnston were of this small and select group. Others, barely heard of during the Mexican War, later achieved national fame. In this group were such men as Grant, Sherman, T. J. (Stonewall) Jackson, and James Longstreet. Still, others, distinguished in the Mexican War, were prominent in one way or another in the Civil War but did not measure up to their new larger responsibilities in the later war. Of this group perhaps Beauregard, McClellan, and Braxton Bragg are the best known.

James Brady's "The Coldest War" is a powerful and moving memoir of the Korean War. America's "forgotten war" lasted just thirty-seven months, yet 54,246 Americans died in that time -- nearly as many as died in ten years in Vietnam. On the fiftieth anniversary of this devastating conflict, James Brady tells the story of his life as a young marine lieutenant in Korea. In 1947, seeking to avoid the draft, nineteen-year-old Jim Brady volunteered for a Marine Corps program that made him a lieutenant in the reserves on the day he graduated college. He didn't plan to find himself in command of a rifle platoon three years later facing a real enemy, but that is exactly what happened after the Chinese turned a so-called police action into a war. "The Coldest War" vividly describes Brady's rapid education in the realities of war and the pressures of command. Opportunities for bold offensives sink in the miasma of trench warfare; death comes in fits and starts as too-accurate artillery on both sides seeks out men in their bunkers; constant alertness is crucial for survival, while brutal cold and a seductive silence conspire to lull soldiers into an often fatal stupor. The Korean War affected the lives of all Americans, yet is little known beyond the antics of "M*A*S*H." Here is the inside story that deserves to be told, and James Brady is a powerful witness to a vital chapter of our history. - From the publisher.

Jeremiah Greenman (1758-1828) was a soldier in the American army during the Revolutionary War. His diary covers the Quebec Campaign, Valley Forge, and various actions in New Jersey, New York, and Rhode Island. - From the publisher.

Brian Castner served three tours of duty in the Middle East, two of them in Iraq as the head of an Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit. Whenever IEDs were discovered, he and his men would lead the way in either disarming the deadly devices or searching through rubble and remains for clues to the bomb-makers' identities. And when robots and other remote means failed, one technician would suit up and take the Long Walk to disarm the bomb by hand. This lethal game of cat and mouse was, and continues to be, the real war within America's wars in the Middle East. When Brian returned stateside to his wife and family, he entered an equally inexorable struggle against the enemy within, which he comes to call the "Crazy." This thrilling, heartbreaking, stunningly honest book alternates between two harrowing realities: the terror, excitement, and camaraderie of combat, and the lonely battle against the unshakeable fear, anxiety, and survivor guilt that he--like so many veterans--carries inside.

In honor of the sixtieth anniversary of the end of World War II, Nobel Prize winner Winston Churchill's essential, abridged memoirs of that time are reintroduced with an updated cover and a new low price. The quintessence of the war as seen by it's greatest player, in a one-volume abridged edition that captures all the drama of the original volumes.

"This is a true story. In World War II, Private Donald A. Edwards was a combat infantryman with the 84th (Railsplitter) Infantry Division- the same one of which Henry Kissinger was a member. This autobiography, compiled from and written in a diary form, commences on September 6, 1944, at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana. It ends on May 9, 1945- V.E. Day- at Vietze on-the-Elbe in Germany. The journey of the author, overseas and through England, France, Belgium, Holland, and Germany, can be easily followed on the enclosed map."- From book jacket.

Johann Ewald was acknowledged by the British for whom and with whom he fought in the American Revolution as one of the best light infantry officers (termed outpost officers) in their service. A dedicated, trained professional from Hesse-Cassel, who was hired out by his sovereign for the American War, he knew his job 'from muzzle to butt plate' and was an excellent leader of men, as well as a shrewd observer of what he saw. Fortunately for us, he also wrote all of it down. This book is one of the most valuable, if not the most valuable, memoirs of the period. The petite guerre (little war), also called partisan warfare, of the period, is of great importance in understanding the picture of the whole of the War of the Revolution. The jagers that Ewald commanded were also some of the most deadly light infantry in the world at the time, and they were greatly feared by their American opponents. Armed with short German hunting rifles and dressed in green and brown, they not only blended in with their surroundings but served in almost every action and battle of the war. - From Amazon.

"The Letters of General Richard S. Ewell" provide a sweeping view of the nineteenth century. Such chronological breadth makes this volume truly exceptional and important. Through Ewell's eyes we see the many worlds of an American people at war. His thoughtful observations, biting wit, and ironic disposition offer readers a chance to rethink the paper-thin generalizations of Ewell as a quirky neurotic who simply crumbled under the legacy of Stonewall Jackson." --from the foreword by Peter S. Carmichael
Richard S. Ewell was one of only six lieutenant generals to serve in Lee's Army of Northern Virginia, and of those he was but one of two--the other being Stonewall Jackson, his predecessor as commander of the Second Corps--to have left behind a sizable body of correspondence. Forty-nine of Ewell's letters were published in 1939. This new volume, drawing on more recently available material and scrupulously annotated by Ewell biographer Donald Pfanz, offers a much larger collection of the general's missives: 173 personal letters, 7 official letters, 4 battle narratives, and 2 memoranda of incidents that took place during the Civil War. The book covers the full range of Ewell's career: his days at West Point, his posting on the western frontier, his role in the Mexican War, his Civil War service, and, finally, his postwar years managing farms in Tennessee and Mississippi.

From the former secretary of defense, a strikingly candid, vividly written account of his experience serving Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Before Robert M. Gates received a call from the White House in 2006, he thought he'd left Washington politics behind: after working for six presidents in both the CIA and the National Security Council, he was happy in his role as president of Texas A&M University. But when he was asked to help a nation mired in two wars and to aid the troops doing the fighting, he answered what he felt was the call of duty. Now he takes us behind the scenes of his nearly five years as a secretary at war: the battles with Congress, the two presidents he served, the military itself, and the vast Pentagon bureaucracy; his efforts to help Bush turn the tide in Iraq; his role as a guiding, and often dissenting, voice for Obama; the ardent devotion to and love for American soldiers--his "heroes"--he developed on the job. In relating his personal journey as secretary, Gates draws us into the innermost sanctums of government and military power during the height of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, illuminating iconic figures, vital negotiations, and critical situations in revealing intimate detail. Offering unvarnished appraisals of Dick Cheney, Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, and Presidents Bush and Obama among other key players, Gates exposes the full spectrum of behind-closed-doors politicking within both the Bush and Obama administrations.

This book is the first of a 3 volume account of the war from his perspective, after the war was won and France and the occupied countries of Europe were liberated by Britain, her Commonwealth countries and predominantly, the USA and Russia.

He is the deadliest American sniper ever, called "the devil" by the enemies he hunted and "the legend" by his Navy SEAL brothers . . . From 1999 to 2009, U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle recorded the most career sniper kills in United States military history. The Pentagon has officially confirmed more than 150 of Kyle's kills (the previous American record was 109), but it has declined to verify the astonishing total number for this book. Iraqi insurgents feared him so much they placed a bounty on his head. Kyle earned legendary status among his fellow U.S. warriors, whom he protected with deadly accuracy from rooftops and stealth positions. Gripping and unforgettable, Kyle's masterful account of his extraordinary battlefield experiences ranks as one of the great war memoirs of all time."

"Seven Pillars of Wisdom" is the autobiographical account of the experiences of T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia), a British Army Colonel who served as a military advisor to Bedouin forces in Wadi Rum in Jordan during the Arab Revolt against the Ottoman Turks of 1916 to 1918. It was based on extensive notes that he kept during his time in Africa but at one time, was at risk of not being finished as Lawrence was suffering the psychological effects of the war. With the persuasion of his friends, who believed that finishing it would help his mental state, he produced an abridged version of the book he was originally writing. The title of the book comes from the Book of Proverbs - 'Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars.'

In 1943, Primo Levi, a twenty-five-year-old chemist and “Italian citizen of the Jewish race,” was arrested by Italian fascists and deported from his native Turin to Auschwitz. Survival in Auschwitz is Levi’s classic account of his ten months in the German death camp, a harrowing story of systematic cruelty and miraculous endurance. Remarkable for its simplicity, restraint, compassion, and even wit, Survival in Auschwitz remains a lasting testament to the indestructibility of the human spirit.

America's foremost soldier during World War II, served as chief of staff from 1939 to 1945, building and directing the largest army in history. As Secretary of State, Marshall advocated a U.S. economic and political commitment to post-war European recovery, including the Marshall Plan that bore his name.

Conservative Republican Senator and former presidential candidate John McCain offers a conveniently-timed biographical account of his years fighting, bonding with fellow soldiers, and suffering capture during the Vietnam War. He tirelessly credits his father and grandfather, both WWII naval officers whose stories he also tells, with his own accomplishments.

In this illuminating memoir, McChrystal frankly explores the major episodes and controversies of his eventful career. He delves candidly into the intersection of history, leadership, and his own experience to produce a book of enduring value. Joining the troubled post-Vietnam army as a young officer, McChrystal witnessed and participated in some of our military's most difficult struggles. He describes the many outstanding leaders he served with and the handful of bad leaders he learned not to emulate. He paints a vivid portrait of the traditional military establishment that turned itself, in one gen­eration, into the adaptive, resilient force that would soon be tested in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the wider War on Terror. McChrystal spent much of his early career in the world of special operations, at a time when these elite forces became increasingly effective— and necessary. He writes of a fight waged in the shadows by the Joint Special Operations Command (JSOC), which he led from 2003 to 2008. JSOC became one of our most effective counterterrorism weapons, facing off against Al Qaeda in Iraq. Over time, JSOC gathered staggering amounts of intelligence in order to find and remove the most influential and dangerous terrorists, including the leader of Al Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi. The hunt for Zarqawi drives some of the most grip­ping scenes in this book, as McChrystal's team grappled with tricky interrogations, advanced but scarce technology, weeks of unbroken surveillance, and agonizing decisions. McChrystal brought the same energy to the war in Afghanistan, where the challenges loomed even larger. His revealing account draws on his close relationships with Afghan leaders, giving readers a unique window into the war and the country.  

Winner of the 2017 Ella Dickey Literacy Award for historical preservation through literature, this WWII page-turner is a colorful compilation of 140+ stories laced with illustrations and photos telling the personal accounts of young men and women who risked their lives, were wounded or killed to save the lives of millions. True stories depict their valor, patriotism, and day-to-day exploits during the 1940s. As the proud children of Myron H. Miller, S/Sgt, 83rd Infantry Division, K/331st, we share these stories of fellow WWII veterans in his memory. It is our honor to pass the stories of these brave men and women on to the next generation. We must never forget their sacrifices. The Miller Family pooled their talents and skills to create this beautiful book: Myra Miller, Ph.D.; Ken Miller, illustrator; Del Miller, Marshall Miller, and Lynette Miller Ballard as writers and editors. - From the publisher.

A full-scale edition of all of Gen. George Patton's significant documents, personal letters, and diary entries up to 1940. It shows the formation of the soldier and how he prepared himself for the unique leadership he exercised in World War II. To all who would wish to understand the real Patton, the modern army, and the course of twentieth-century history, the Patton Papers constitute an essential document.

From the invasion of Normandy to the Battle of the Bulge, General George S. Patton, Jr., was the most flamboyant, audacious Allied leader of World War II. Brandishing his famous pearl-handled pistols and driven by a profound belief that wars are won by killing the enemy as fast as possible, Patton slammed the tanks and men of the Third Army across Europe at a breakneck pace. He battled not only the enemy but Supreme Headquarters; he complained that SHAEF was doing all it could to deny him early victory. Now in these fascinating and frank memoirs, Patton speaks out with intense personal feelings about the Second World War, the art of war, and the soldier’s life. He gives us an unforgettable self-portrait of an American professional soldier caught in the toils of war.

Includes Fold-Out Map of Jackson's Campaigns - Photos - Poague first served with the Rockbridge Artillery until promoted to Major in 1863 - Nevins cites this as "One of the few good recollections by a Confederate artilleryman."

Visit www.rumsfeld.com for more.Discover the enhanced e-book edition of Known and Unknown offering an unprecedented reading experience for a memoir by a major public figure. For web-connected readers, it features more than 500 links to never-before-available original documents from Donald Rumsfeld's extensive personal archive. It includes State Department cables, correspondence, and memoranda on topics such as Vietnam, Watergate, the days following 9/11, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and much more. Rumsfeld's memoir is filled with previously undisclosed details and insights about the Bush administration, 9/11, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. It also features Rumsfeld's unique and often surprising observations on eight decades of history.

"In this candid, eagerly awaited autobiography General H. Norman Schwarzkopf reveals the story of his remarkable life and career. Here is the story of his boyhood years during World War II and unique adolescence spent in the Middle East and Europe that would later prove invaluable to his understanding of the Gulf. Here, too, is a frank account of the West Point graduate's early disillusionment with the "real" Army - a disappointment that nearly prompted him to leave the military." "General Schwarzkopf speaks openly about his two tours of duty in Vietnam. He recounts the "dark years" that followed, and his own role in the struggle to reform the military." "For the first time ever General Schwarzkopf provides his personal, behind-the-scenes account of Desert Shield/Desert Storm, including candid portraits of such major figures as Colin Powell, Richard Cheney, and President George Bush. From the general's unique perspective we experience firsthand the complexities of coordinating the campaign in a country deeply suspicious of foreigners; of maintaining strategic secrecy during America's first internationally televised war; and ensuring that this war would not be another Vietnam." "Thoughtful and provocative, It Doesn't Take a Hero is an intensely personal portrait of an American life, the triumphant journey of a soldier who set his star by a simple but timeless motto: duty, honor, and country." - From tr e publisher.

"Eugene Sledge became more than a legend with his memoir, "With The Old Breed." He became a chronicler, a historian, a storyteller who turns the extremes of the war in the Pacific--the terror, the camaraderie, the banal and the extraordinary--into terms we mortals can grasp." - Actor Tom Hanks. In The Wall Street Journal, Victor Davis Hanson named "With the Old Breed" one of the top five books on epic twentieth-century battles. Studs Terkel interviewed the author for his definitive oral history, "The Good War." E. B. Sledge's acclaimed first-person account of fighting at Peleliu and Okinawa returns to thrill, edify, and inspire a new generation. Sledge became part of the war's famous 1st Marine Division--3rd Battalion, 5th Marines. Even after intense training, he was shocked to be thrown into the battle of Peleliu, where "the world was a nightmare of flashes, explosions, and snapping bullets." By the time Sledge hit the hell of Okinawa, he was a combat vet, still filled with fear but no longer with panic. Based on notes Sledge secretly kept in a copy of the New Testament, "With the Old Breed" captures with utter simplicity and searing honesty the experience of a soldier in the fierce Pacific Theater. Here is what saved, threatened, and changed his life. Here, too, is the story of how he learned to hate and kill--and came to love--his fellow man. "There is not a more honest, realistic or moving memoir than Eugene Sledge's, which is unvarnished, brutal, without a shred of sentimentality or false patriotism, a profound primer on what it actually was like to be in that war. It is a classic that will outlive all the armchair generals' safe accounts.

The New York Times bestselling memoir of survival and heroism at Pearl Harbor In this, the first memoir by a USS Arizona survivor, Donald Stratton delivers an inspiring and unforgettable eyewitness account of the Pearl Harbor attack and his remarkable return to the fight. "All the Gallant Men" is a book for the ages, one of the most remarkable--and remarkably inspiring--memoirs of any kind to appear in recent years.

Anthony Swofford's "Jarhead" is the first Gulf War memoir by a frontline infantry marine, and it is a searing, unforgettable narrative. When the marines -- or "jarheads," as they call themselves -- were sent in 1990 to Saudi Arabia to fight the Iraqis, Swofford was there, with a hundred-pound pack on his shoulders and a sniper's rifle in his hands. It was one misery upon another. He lived in the sand for six months, his girlfriend back home betrayed him for a scrawny hotel clerk, he was punished by boredom and fear, he considered suicide, he pulled a gun on one of his fellow marines, and he was shot at by both Iraqis and Americans. At the end of the war, Swofford hiked for miles through a landscape of incinerated Iraqi soldiers and later was nearly killed in a booby-trapped Iraqi bunker. Swofford weaves this experience of war with vivid accounts of boot camp (which included physical abuse by his drill instructor), reflections on the mythos of the marines, and remembrances of battles with lovers and family. As engagement with the Iraqis draws closer, he is forced to consider what it is to be an American, a soldier, a son of a soldier, and a man. - From the publisher.

Mesopotamia, ‘the land of the two rivers, is deemed the birthplace of civilization. Now modern-day Iraq, it has known warfare throughout the millennia that man has inhabited it. By the first years of the twentieth century, the Ottoman Turkish Empire had claimed Mesopotamia as its own and its alliance with Germany during the Great War brought the battle to it once more. For the first time conflict came to its skies in the form of the newly formed air forces of the opposing armies. This book concerns the experiences of an officer of the U.K.'s Royal Flying Corp, fighting a war far different from his comrades on the Western Front but one which was just as deadly. This is a usual account of the early war in the air from one of the great conflicts sideshow theatres.

Primary source material regarding the U.S. Air Force in World War II.

The gripping story of the only military commander in American history to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. General George C. Marshall was a skillful and compassionate leader with a unique legacy. He never fired a shot during WWII and led no troops into battle--his brilliance was purely strategic and diplomatic, and incredibly effective. He was responsible for the building, supplying, and, in part, the deployment of over eight million soldiers. In 1947, as Secretary of State, he created the Marshall Plan, a sweeping economic recovery effort that pulled the war-shattered European nations out of ruin, and gave impetus to NATO and the European Common Market. It was for the Marshall Plan that he won the Nobel Peace Prize--the only time in history a military commander has ever been awarded this honor. H. Paul Jeffers and Alan Axelrod shows Marshall's skilled combination of military strategy and politics, his emphasis on planning as well as execution, and expertise in nation-building holds lessons for military and civilian leaders today.

The two hundred personalities described in this book have a fair claim to being the most significant in the last thousand years of military history. They include warrior kings and sultans, field marshals and ministers, tribal chiefs, and junior officers. Along with the great captains of war, whose exploits achieved conquests unrivaled in recorded history, this volume provides accounts of the careers of lesser-known, even obscure, figures whose actions represent with particular clarity the military events and climates of their times. Even the negative effects of infamous and incompetent generals are detailed. With insights into their early training and development, the stories unfold of such superb commanders as -- Frederick Barbarossa, Richard Lionheart, Genghiz Khan -- Joan of Arc, Selim I, Gustavus Adolphus -- Frederick the Great, George Washington, Napoleon Bonaparte -- Ulysses S. Grant, Robert E. Lee, Geronimo -- Dwight Eisenhower, Erwin Rommel, George Patton. Whenever possible, the authors enliven the factual accounts of careers and campaigns with glimpses into the characters and personalities of these men, who excelled in a calling that has always been colored by the personal touch. - From the publisher.

Urban's narrowly-written criteria produce some interesting selections. Military greats John Churchill, Arthur Wellesley, and Bernard Montgomery are obvious choices. George Monck, William Howe, Herbert Kitchener, and the grand old Duke of York are slightly less obvious selections, although Urban makes a plausible case for each. "Chinese" Gordon, Allenby, and JFC Fuller are interesting choices for whom Urban will have to make a case. Each general gets a short historical sketch and an explanation of his effect on history. Urban notes Britain's reduced international status since 1945 justifies no more recent selections. Urban apparently meant to stir some discussion in his explanations. Howe, for example, is accused of failing to shut down the American Revolution in its opening years, when a more determined pursuit of Washington's small army might have made an end to things. Allenby is included for his innovative and rapid all-arms campaign in Palestine in 1917, a stark contrast to the deadlock on the Western Front. Gordon is included for his supposed role in dragging Britain into an expanded Imperial role in Africa. Urban is likely to stir discussion among knowledgeable readers. His historical sketches are highly selective, thinly resourced, and not necessarily even-handed. Wellesley, for example, gets hammered for his supposed disdainful attitude toward his own troops. Montgomery's very adulatory entry requires the entire US military leadership in Europe to be painted as shallow, envious idiots. The entry on Allenby ignores recent and more nuanced scholarship on British leadership in the First World War.

John McCain's evocative history of Americans at war, told through the personal accounts of thirteen remarkable soldiers who fought in major military conflicts, from the Revolutionary War of 1776 to the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. As a veteran himself, a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and a long-time student of history, John McCain brings a distinctive perspective to this subject. Thirteen Soldiers tells the stories of real soldiers who personify valor, obedience, enterprise, and love. You'll meet Joseph Plumb Martin, who at the tender age of fifteen fought in the Revolutionary War; Charles Black, a freeborn African American sailor in the War of 1812; and Sam Chamberlain, of the Mexican American War, whose life inspired novelist Cormac McCarthy. Then there's Oliver Wendell Holmes, an aristocratic idealist disillusioned by the Civil War, and Littleton "Tony" Waller, court-martialed for refusing to massacre Filipino civilians. Each account illustrates a particular aspect of war, such as Mary Rhoads, an Army reservist forever changed by an Iraqi scud missile attack during the Persian Gulf War, and Monica Lin Brown, a frontline medic in rural Afghanistan who saved several lives in an ambushed convoy. From their acts of self-sacrifice to their astonishing bravery, these thirteen soldiers embody the best America has to offer.

During World War II, SS Hauptsturmführer Nikolaus “Klaus” Barbie earned a reputation for sadistic cruelty unmatched by all but a handful of his contemporaries in Adolf Hitler’s Gestapo. In 1942, he was dispatched to Nazi-occupied France after leaving his bloodstained mark on the Netherlands. In Lyons, Barbie was entrusted with “cleansing” the region of Jews, French Resistance fighters, and Communists, an assignment he undertook with unparalleled enthusiasm. Thousands of people died on Barbie’s orders during his time in France—often by his own hand—including forty-four orphaned Jewish children and captured resistance leader Jean Moulin, who was tortured and beaten to death. When the Allies were approaching Lyons in the months following the D-Day invasion, Barbie and his subordinates fled, but not before brutally slaughtering all the prisoners still being held captive.
But the war’s conclusion was not the end of the Klaus Barbie nightmare. With the dawning of the Cold War, the “Butcher of Lyons” went on to find a new purpose in South America, just as tensions between the United States and the Soviet Union were escalating. Soon, Barbie had a different employer who valued his wartime experience and expertise as an anti-communist man hunter, and murderer: the US intelligence services. In "Klaus Barbie," investigative journalist and documentary filmmaker Tom Bower tells the fascinating, startling, and truly disturbing story of a real-life human monster, and draws back the curtain on one of America’s most shocking secrets of the Cold War.

Alan Axelrod applies his signature insight and compelling prose to the life, strategy and legacy of the general Bradley who remains the model for all commanders today as the man who revolutionized the National Guard, shaped the US army's focus on the individual soldier, and emphasized cooperation and coordination among the military services--a cornerstone of modern U.S. military doctrine. Dubbed by the World War II press as "The GI General" because of his close identification with his men, Omar Bradley rose to command the U. S. 12th Army Group in the European Campaign. By the spring of 1945, this group contained 1,300,000 men--the largest exclusively American field command in U.S. history. Mild mannered, General Bradley was a dedicated mentor, the creator of the Officer Candidate School system, and a methodical tactician who served through World War II. Then, as a five-star general, he lifted the Veterans Administration from corruption and inefficiency to a model government agency, served as U.S. Army chief of staff, first chief of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and head of NATO.

Major Richard “Dick” Ira Bong died at the tender age of 24 on the 6th August 1945 in a flight accident during testing of the P-80 Shooting Star Fighter. His fame was such that news of his death vied with the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima in the US press, his legendary exploits at the helm of his P-38 Lightning had made him a household name. Bong had only recently received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his exploits of downing 40 enemy Japanese planes in the Southwestern Pacific. His tally of 40 victories made him the highest-scoring American ace of all time, a record that is unlikely to ever be broken. In this biography his former commanding officer General George C. Kenney recounts his life; from his early life in Wisconsin, his sweetheart Marge, and his aerial exploits. Kenney enriches the narrative with personal anecdotes that illuminate the modest unassuming but determinedly heroic, Ace of Aces.

Covering the development of the atomic bomb during the Second World War, the origins and early course of the Cold War, and the advent of the hydrogen bomb in the early 1950s, Churchill and the Bomb explores a still neglected aspect of Winston Churchill's career - his relationship with and thinking on nuclear weapons. Kevin Ruane shows how Churchill went from regarding the bomb as a weapon of war in the struggle with Nazi Germany to viewing it as a weapon of communist containment (and even punishment) in the early Cold War before, in the 1950s, advocating and arguably pioneering what would become known as "mutually assured destruction" as the key to preventing the Cold War flaring into a calamitous nuclear war. While other studies of Churchill have touched on his evolving views on nuclear weapons, few historians have given this hugely important issue the kind of dedicated and sustained treatment it deserves. In Churchill and the Bomb, however, Kevin Ruane has undertaken extensive primary research in Britain, the United States and Europe, and accessed a wide array of secondary literature, in producing an immensely readable yet detailed, insightful and provocative account of Churchill's nuclear hopes and fears.

Karl von Clausewitz's study "On War" was described by the American strategic thinker Bernard Brodie as not simply the greatest, but the only great book about war'. It is hard to disagree. Even though he wrote his only major work at a time when the range of firearms was fifty yards, much of what he had to say remains relevant today. Michael Howard explains Clausewitz's ideas in terms both of his experiences as a professional soldier in the Napoleonic Wars, and of the intellectual background of his time.

Custer was one of those larger-than-life figures, whose flamboyant, daring, and dashing personality vigorously defied conventional standards and became symbols of invincibility. Here, military historian Duane Schultz explores the strategies and legacy of one of the most fascinating figures in American military history.

WWII expert John Wukovits explores Dwight D. Eisenhower's contributions to American warfare. American general and 34th president of the United States, Eisenhower led the assault on the French coast at Normandy and held together the Allied units through the European campaign that followed. The book reveals Eisenhower's advocacy in the pre-war years of the tank, his friendships with George Patton and Fox Conner, his service in the Philippines with Douglas MacArthur, and his culminating role assupreme commander of Allied forces in Europe. Wukovits skillfully demonstrates how Eisenhower's evolution as a commander, his military doctrine, and his diplomatic skills are of extreme importance in understanding modern warfare.

In this classic portrait of Dwight D. Eisenhower the soldier, bestselling historian Stephen E. Ambrose examines the Allied commander’s leadership during World War II. Ambrose brings Eisenhower’s experience of the Second World War to life, showing in vivid detail how the general’s skill as a diplomat and a military strategist contributed to Allied successes in North Africa and in Europe, and established him as one of the greatest military leaders in the world. Ambrose, then the Associate Editor of the General’s official papers, analyzes Eisenhower’s difficult military decisions and his often complicated relationships with powerful personalities like Churchill, de Gaulle, Roosevelt, and Patton. This is the definitive account of Eisenhower’s evolution as a military leader—from its dramatic beginnings through his time at the top post of Allied command.

"Damn the torpedoes. . . . Full speed ahead." Admiral David Farragut's bold order at the Battle of Mobile Bay has served as a rallying cry for the United States Navy for a century. Described as "urbane" and "indomitable" by contemporaries, and lionized as an "American Viking" by the Northern press during the Civil War, Farragut was considered gallant, brilliant, and humane by friend and foe alike. Recently discovered primary source material sheds new light on Farragut's life and times. The first full admiral in American naval history, he was small in stature and almost sixty years old at the outbreak of the Civil War. Yet Farragut possessed enormous courage and stamina. He led by example and became an inspiration to the entire nation. At the start of the Civil War, many thought Farragut--a southerner by birth--would join the Confederate cause. But he had spent almost five decades serving aboard ships that flew the American flag. His unwavering loyalty to the Northern cause was founded in the belief that the South's secession was a first, fatal step toward national collapse. Thoroughly researched and compellingly written, "Lincoln's Admiral" examines Farragut's command of the most daring and important assignment of the Civil War: the mission to recapture the vital Southern port of New Orleans. With meticulous detail, Duffy deftly retraces the steps that led up to that critical campaign. "Lincoln's Admiral "also offers new insights into the Battle of Mobile Bay, arguably Farragut's most famous campaign. Farragut launched an attack against one of the forts in Mobile Bay as a ploy to fool the enemy into thinking that he was preparing to capture Mobile itself. His goal was to keep as many troops in and around the city as possible so they weren't diverted north to defend against Sherman's final offensive. There Farragut uttered his famous command. Unsure of where the enemy torpedoes were, but knowing that to hesitate would mean defeat, Farragut gambled and gave the famous order: "Damn the torpedoes. . . . Go ahead, Jouett, full speed ahead." An expansive and compelling chronicle of Farragut's career, Lincoln's Admiral traces the brilliant decisions and wartime strategy of one of history's greatest military leaders.

This book is a biography of Nathaniel Bedford Forrest, famously nicknamed Devil Forrest by Grant, considered by Sherman 'the most remarkable man our civil war produced on either side', and by all one of the most brilliant tacticians of the civil war. The accounts of this biography are primarily based on those who knew Forrest personally, and on contemporary military papers and records.

From New York Times bestselling author H. W. Brands, a masterful biography of the Civil War general and two-term president who saved the Union twice, on the battlefield and in the White House, holding the country together at two critical turning points in our history. Ulysses Grant rose from obscurity to discover he had a genius for battle, and he propelled the Union to victory in the Civil War. After Abraham Lincoln's assassination and the disastrous brief presidency of Andrew Johnson, America turned to Grant again to unite the country, this time as president. In Brands's sweeping, majestic full biography, Grant emerges as a heroic figure who was fearlessly on the side of right. He was a beloved commander in the field but willing to make the troop sacrifices necessary to win the war, even in the face of storms of criticism. He worked valiantly to protect the rights of freedmen in the South; Brands calls him the last presidential defender of black civil rights for nearly a century. He played it straight with the American Indians, allowing them to shape their own fate even as the realities of Manifest Destiny meant the end of their way of life. He was an enormously popular president whose memoirs were a huge bestseller; yet within decades of his death his reputation was in tatters, the victim of Southerners who resented his policies on Reconstruction. In this page-turning biography, Brands now reconsiders Grant's legacy and provides a compelling and intimate portrait of a man who saved the Union on the battlefield and consolidated that victory as a resolute and principled political leader.

A thrilling account of how Civil War general Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson became a great and tragic American hero. Stonewall Jackson has long been a figure of legend and romance. As much as any person in the Confederate pantheon, even Robert E. Lee, he embodies the romantic Southern notion of the virtuous lost cause. Jackson is also considered, without argument, one of our country's greatest military figures. His brilliance at the art of war tied Abraham Lincoln and the Union's high command in knots and threatened the ultimate success of the Union armies. Jackson's strategic innovations shattered the conventional wisdom of how the war was waged; he was so far ahead of his time that his techniques would be studied generations into the future. In April 1862 Jackson was merely another Confederate general in an army fighting what seemed to be a losing cause. By June he had engineered perhaps the greatest military campaign in American history and was one of the most famous men in the Western world. He had, moreover, given the Confederate cause what it had recently lacked--hope--and struck fear into the hearts of the Union. "Rebel Yell" is written with the swiftly vivid narrative that is Gwynne's hallmark and is rich with battle lore, biographical detail, and intense conflict between historical figures. Gwynne delves deep into Jackson's private life, including the loss of his young beloved first wife and his regimented personal habits. It traces Jackson's brilliant twenty-four-month career in the Civil War, the period that encompasses his rise from obscurity to fame and legend; his stunning effect on the course of the war itself; and his tragic death, which caused both North and South to grieve the loss of a remarkable American hero.

Deemed "irreplaceable" by Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson assumed his nickname during the Battle of Bull Run in the Civil War. It is said that The Army of Northern Virginia never fully recovered from the loss of Stonewall's leadership when he was accidentally shot by one of his own men and died in 1863. Davis highlights Stonewall Jackson's a general who emphasized the importance of reliable information and early preparedness (he so believed in information that he had a personal mapmaker with him at all times) and details Jackson's many lessons in strategy and leadership.

This book vividly portrays the illustrious career of John Paul Jones, from his early training at sea in the British West Indian merchant trade to his exploits in the newly independent American navy and his appointment as an admiral in the Russian navy and command of a squadron in the Black Sea. With compelling detail and remarkable insight, the dramatic narrative captures Jones's tenacity and fierce dedication and loyalty to his men and country, despite ill-treatment and only begrudged recognition from his superiors. Jones's incredible victories at sea form an important part of the book. Morison's description of the battle between Jones's Bonhomme Richard and HMS Serapis is considered one of the most vivid accounts of a naval battle in the English language.

In the early morning of August 2, 1943, in Blackett Strait in the Solomon Islands, the Japanese destroyer Amagiri rammed and sank an American PT boat, leaving its crew for dead in a sea covered with flaming gasoline. The skipper of the PT boat was a skinny, handsome boyish lieutenant (jg) from Boston named John Fitzgerald Kennedy. Lieutenant Kennedy spent thirty of the next thirty-six hours in the water. Ten other men on PT 109 survived to tell of his cool courage. This accurate, completely authentic story, not only of PT 109 but of all the late President Kennedy's exploits in World War II, is told here as one of the greatest war adventures of all time.

Lafayette is a hero of the American Revolution. After his return to France, Lafayette became a central figure during the French Revolution, was the main author of the 1789 Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen, and was active in the July Revolution of 1830.

New York Times bestselling author Michael Korda's fresh, contemporary single volume historical biography of General Robert E. Lee--perhaps the most famous and least understood legend in American history and one of our most admired heroes. Michael Korda, author of Ulysses S. Grant and the bestsellers Ike and Hero, paints a vivid and admiring portrait of Lee as a brilliant general, a devoted family man, and principled gentleman who disliked slavery and disagreed with secession, yet who refused command of the Union Army in 1861 because he could not "draw his sword" against his beloved Virginia. Well-rounded and realistic, Clouds of Glory analyzes Lee's command during the Civil War and explores his responsibility for the fatal stalemate at Antietam, his defeat at Gettysburg (as well the many troubling controversies still surrounding it) and ultimately, his failed strategy for winning the war. As Korda shows, Lee's dignity, courage, leadership, and modesty made him a hero on both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line and a revered American icon who is recognized today as the nation's preeminent military leader. Clouds of Glory features dozens of stunning illustrations, some never before seen, including twelve pages of color, twenty-four pages of black-and-white, and nearly fifty in-text battle maps.

Despite the literary outpouring on the life of Robert E. Lee, the southern chieftain remains an enigma. The existing scholarship is so voluminous, complex, and contradictory that it is difficult to penetrate the inner Lee and appreciate him as a general. Peter S. Carmichael has assembled a formidable array of Civil War historians who rigorously return to Lee's own words and actions in interpreting the war in Virginia. This is the first collective volume to scrutinize specific aspects of the general's military career. Carmichael's opening contribution confronts Lee's supposed drive for a victory of annihilation and takes issue with claims that he was too aggressive. William J. Miller's novel analysis of Lee's leadership during the pivotal Seven Days battles reconstructs his strategic thinking and corrects old assumptions. Gordon C. Rhea overturns the common notion that Lee anticipated his adversaries with uncanny precision in the Overland campaign of 1864. Robert E. L. Krick takes aim at the oft-repeated criticism that Lee was not attuned to the demands of modern warfare because he failed to surround himself with enough subordinates to ensure the smooth operation of the army; in fact, Krick argues, Lee continually fine-tuned the performance of his support staff, striving to eliminate deficiencies. Finally, Max R. Williams's examination of the relationship between Lee and North Carolina governor Zebulon B. Vance, and Mark L. Bradley's portrait of Lee's relationships with Jefferson Davis and Joseph E. Johnston, offer contrasting views of the soldier as both politically assertive and reticent, respectively. Falling easily into neither the pro- nor anti-Lee camp, Audacity Personified challenges long-standing beliefs accepted since Douglas Southhall Freeman's influential biography of Lee was published seventy years ago. These diverse scholarly visions of the great Confederate general move beyond cliché, iluuminating Lee's career with fresh interpretations.

Through Bevin Alexander's powerful descriptions and analyses of bloody battles, heroic charges, and desperate retreats, he paints a controversial picture of the South's most revered military figure - Robert E. Lee.

A close look at the controversial command and strategies of the Air Force Chief of Staff, Curtis LeMay--a terrifying, complex, and brilliant general. In World War II, LeMay ordered the firebombing of Tokyo and was in charge when Atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He was responsible for tens of thousands of civilian deaths--a fact he liked to celebrate by smoking Cuban cigars. But LeMay was also the man who single-handedly transformed the American air force from a ramshackle team of poorly trained and badly equipped pilots into one of the fiercest and most efficient weapons of the war. Over the last decades, most U.S. military missions were carried out entirely through the employment of the Air Force; this is part of LeMay's complicated legacy. Packed with breathtaking battles in the air and inspiring leadership tactics on the ground, LeMay will keep readers on the edge of their seats.

James McPherson, a bestselling historian of the Civil War, illuminates how Lincoln worked with and often against his senior commanders to defeat the Confederacy and create the role of commander in chief as we know it. Though Abraham Lincoln arrived at the White House with no previous military experience (apart from a couple of months spent soldiering in 1832), he quickly established himself as the greatest commander in chief in American history. James McPherson illuminates this often misunderstood and profoundly influential aspect of Lincoln's legacy. In essence, Lincoln invented the idea of commander in chief, as neither the Constitution nor existing legislation specified how the president ought to declare war or dictate strategy. In fact, by assuming the powers we associate with the role of commander in chief, Lincoln often overstepped the narrow band of rights granted the president. Good thing too, because his strategic insight and will to fight changed the course of the war and saved the Union. For most of the conflict, he constantly had to goad his reluctant generals toward battle, and he oversaw strategy and planning for major engagements with the enemy. Lincoln was a self-taught military strategist (as he was a self-taught lawyer), which makes his adroit conduct of the war seem almost miraculous. Lincoln faced enormous challenges. He was a masterly molder of public opinion, for instance, defining the war aims initially as preserving the Union and only later as ending slavery, when he sensed the public was at last ready to bear such a lofty burden. How Lincoln overcame feckless generals, fickle public opinion, and his own paralyzing fears is a story at once suspenseful and inspiring.

Douglas MacArthur is best remembered for his ability to adapt, a quality that catalyzed his greatest accomplishments. Adaptability has become an indispensable trait for military leadership in an era of technological leaps that guarantee the nature of war will radically change during the span of an ordinary career. One of the first proponents of a new dimension in warfare--the Air Force--MacArthur was also unmatched historically for his management of peace during the U.S. occupation of Japan.For generations to come, MacArthur's legacy will yield profitable--and entertaining--examples to Americans in and out of uniform.

General George C. Marshall was a skillful and compassionate leader with a unique legacy. He never fired a shot during WWII and led no troops into battle--his brilliance was purely strategic and diplomatic, and incredibly effective. He was responsible for the building, supplying, and, in part, the deployment of over eight million soldiers. In 1947, as Secretary of State, he created the Marshall Plan, a sweeping economic recovery effort that pulled the war-shattered European nations out of ruin, and gave impetus to NATO and the European Common Market. It was for the Marshall Plan that he won the Nobel Peace Prize--the only time in history a military commander has ever been awarded this honor. Marshall's skilled combination of military strategy and politics, emphasis on planning as well as execution, and his expertise in nation-building holds lessons for military and civilian leaders today.

The most authoritative and captivating account ever written of legendary British naval commander Horatio Nelson's early career and rise to prominence Among military and naval commanders, Horatio Nelson stands as one of the finest examples of inspirational leadership. The historian John Sugden charts the period of Nelson's career neglected by earlier writers-from childhood to his breathtaking victory against the Spanish fleet at Cape St. Vincent when he became an admiral, lost an arm, and won international fame. Like Alexander of Macedon, Nelson led from the front (not always a sensible custom). But he was a natural leader and a genuine hero, and his actions invariably raised his stock with his men, who trusted him as a commander willing to share their dangers. Nelson combines groundbreaking scholarship with a vivid and compelling narrative style. Detailing every facet of Nelson's crowded life, the author offers the only full account of Nelson's early voyages and the first complete analysis of the formative incidents in his career. Throughout there are revealing and startling discoveries about Nelson's relationships with family, patrons, officers, and men-and with his women. Previous biographies have failed to penetrate the mythology encrusting one of the world's greatest naval heroes, and none has been based on a thorough examination of original sources. Nelson will immediately become the benchmark against which all subsequent books about Nelson will be judged.

An English social reformer and statistician, Florence Nightingale is celebrated as the founder of modern nursing. She helped abolish prostitution laws that were overly harsh towards women and advocated for significant health reforms for all of British Society. She made significant accomplishments in professionalizing nursing roles for women, such as founding the first secular nursing school in Britain at St. Thomas Hospital. She was a skilled and versatile writer, whose work spread medical knowledge and was often presented in a clear and simple manner for those with poor literacy skills. After her death in 1910, her work survives her in the Nightingale Pledge, an oath still taken by nurses today.

George S. Patton embodied contradiction: a cavalryman steeped in romantic military tradition, he nevertheless pulled a reluctant American military into the most advanced realms of highly mobile armored warfare. An autocratic snob, Patton created unparalleled rapport and loyalty with the lowliest private in his command; an outspoken racist, he led the only racially integrated U.S. military unit in World War II; an exuberantly profane man, he prayed daily and believed God had destined him for military greatness; a profoundly insecure individual, he made his Third Army the most self-confident and consistently victorious fighting force in the European theater. From Patton's boyhood battling dyslexia and becoming an avid reader, to his leadership strategies that modernized the U.S. army, Alan Axelrod delivers a fascinating account of Patton's life and legacy.

Examines General George S. Patton's leadership and strategy as a battlefield commander in North Africa and Europe during World War II.

The riveting story of General "Black Jack" Pershing, the first great modern commander to lead a major campaign in Europe. This persuasive biography sheds light on the nation's first modern combat commander who set the standard for today's four-star officers. Though the U.S. entered WWI with inadequate forces, in just over a year Pershing had built and hurled a one million man army against forty battle-hardened German divisions, defending the hellish Meuse-Argonne and turning the tide of the war. With focus and clarity, Lacey traces the development of Pershing from Indian fighter, to warrior against the Philippines insurgency, to victorious commander in WWI.

An adulatory biography of Powell by his press secretary during the Gulf War.

Early in 1941, the famed British Eighth Army was on the route to victory in North Africa. Just a few months later, this same army was on the verge of total defeat, as the Germans had won victory after victory and were threatening to overrun Egypt and the Middle East. Here is the classic biography of the man who masterminded this great turnabout, Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, commander of the German Afrika Korps. The man who burned Hitler's order to execute British raiders and who gave Allied prisoners the same food and medical treatment as his German troops. The tough general personally conducted reconnaissance under fire in an open car while his tank commanders hid in armored turrets. The author of this book, Brigadier General Desmond Young, fought against Rommel in North Africa, was captured by him, and after his release at the end of the war visited Rommel's family and talked with many of his fellow officers. Thus, he is able to tell us about intrigues that went on in the German High Command during the war, he is able to give a blow-by-blow description of such decisive battles as Tobruk and El Alamein, and he is able to give personal anecdotes about Rommel and to sort out the facts from the legends that have sprung up around this extraordinary general.

An engaging biography that offers a new perspective on one of the most influential figures of the Crusades. In 1187, Saladin marched triumphantly into Jerusalem, ending decades of struggle against the Christians and reclaiming the holy city for Islam. Four years later he fought off the armies of the Third Crusade, which were commanded by Europe's leading monarchs. A fierce warrior and savvy diplomat, Saladin's unparalleled courtesy, justice, generosity, and mercy were revered by both his fellow Muslims and his Christian rivals such as Richard the Lionheart. Combining thorough research with vivid storytelling, Jonathan Phillips offers a fresh and captivating look at the triumphs, failures, and contradictions of one of the Crusades' most unique figures. Bringing the vibrant world of the twelfth century to life, this book also explores Saladin's complicated legacy, examining the ways Saladin has been invoked in the modern age by Arab and Muslim leaders ranging from Nasser in Egypt, Asad in Syria, and Saddam Hussein in Iraq to Osama bin Laden, as well as his huge appeal across popular culture in books, drama, and music.

From a renowned historian and son of President Dwight D. Eisenhower comes the first-ever biography of General Winfield Scott, the towering commander, a hero of the War of 1812, who was instrumental in shaping America's border and who created the modern U.S. military. 16-page photo insert.

Alongside Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman, Philip H. Sheridan is the least known of the triumvirate of generals most responsible for winning the Civil War. Yet, before Sherman's famous march through Georgia, it was General Sheridan who introduced scorched-earth warfare to the South, and it was his Cavalry Corps that compelled Robert E. Lee's surrender at Appomattox Courthouse. Sheridan's innovative cavalry tactics and "total war" strategy became staples of twentieth-century warfare. After the war, Sheridan ruthlessly suppressed the raiding Plains Indians much as he had the Confederates, by killing warriors and burning villages, but he also defended reservation Indians from corrupt agents and contractors. Sheridan, an enthusiastic hunter and conservationist, later ordered the US cavalry to occupy and operate Yellowstone National Park to safeguard it from commercial exploitation.

General William Tecumseh Sherman famously said "War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it." This statement has contributed to his mythic status as a grim-visaged Civil War character who embodied implacable war. Utilizing unique and highly successful maneuvering techniques, Sherman was an original, decisive, and efficient leader. Rising steadily through the ranks during the Civil War, Sherman quickly became Ulysses S. Grant's right hand man. He went on to lead the Union capture of Atlanta, a major victory that contributed to Lincoln's reelection during a tough phase of the war. Legend has him burning a sixty-mile-wide swath of desolation across the South, but while he held the harsh view that the Southern people must feel the pain of the war if it were ever to end, he also showed courtesy and restraint to those Southerners he encountered and strictly limited the destruction to strategic targets. An integral component to the North's success, Sherman was directed and single-minded in his pursuit of Union victory and a re-united country. Acclaimed Civil War historian Steven E. Woodworth delivers a nuanced, insightful portrait of General Sherman, as a man who shied away from the spotlight and only wanted the war to end as quickly as possible.

In this revelatory, dynamic biography, one of our finest historians, Benson Bobrick, profiles George H. Thomas, arguing that he was the greatest and most successful general of the Civil War. Because Thomas didn't live to write his memoirs, his reputation has been largely shaped by others, most notably Ulysses S. Grant and William Tecumseh Sherman, two generals with whom Thomas served and who, Bobrick says, diminished his successes in their favor in their own memoirs. Born in Virginia, Thomas survived Nat Turner's rebellion as a boy, then studied at West Point, where Sherman was a classmate. Thomas distinguished himself in the Mexican War and then returned to West Point as an instructor. When the Civil War broke out, Thomas remained loyal to the Union, unlike fellow Virginia-born officer Robert E. Lee (among others). He compiled an outstanding record as an officer in battles at Mill Springs, Perryville, and Stones River. At the Battle of Chickamauga, Thomas, at the time a corps commander, held the center of the Union line under a ferocious assault, then rallied the troops on Horseshoe Ridge to prevent a Confederate rout of the Union army. His extraordinary performance there earned him the nickname "The Rock of Chickamauga." Promoted to command of the Army of the Cumberland, he led his army in a stunning Union victory at the Battle of Chattanooga. Thomas supported Sherman on his march through Georgia in the spring of 1864, winning an important victory at the Battle of Peachtree Creek. As Sherman continued on his March to the Sea, Thomas returned to Tennessee and in the battle of Nashville destroyed the army of Confederate General John Bell Hood. It was one of the most decisive victories of the war, and Thomas won it even as Grant was on his way to remove Thomas from his command. (When Grant discovered the magnitude of Thomas's victory, he quickly changed his mind.) Thomas died of a stroke in 1870 while still on active duty. In the entire Civil War, he never lost a battle or a movement. Throughout his career, Thomas was methodical and careful, and always prepared. Unlike Grant at Shiloh, he was never surprised by an enemy. Unlike Sherman, he never panicked in battle but always remained calm and focused. He was derided by both men as "Slow Trot Thomas," but as Bobrick shows in this brilliant biography, he was quick to analyze every situation and always knew what to do and when to do it. He was not colorful like Grant and Sherman, but he was widely admired by his peers, and some, such as Grant's favorite cavalry commander, General James H. Wilson, thought Thomas the peer of any general in either army. He was the only Union commander to destroy two Confederate armies in the field. Although historians of the Civil War have always regarded Thomas highly, he has never captured the public imagination, perhaps because he has lacked an outstanding biographer -- until now. This informed, judicious, and lucid biography, at last, gives Thomas his due.

A genuine Soviet hero & favorite of Stalin, who turned against Stalin while in Nazi captivity, led a Nazi-allowed Russian nationalistic movement & army (well, maybe 20,000 troops in 1945), who ended up repatriated & on the end of a rope.

The incredible true story of survival and salvation. On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane's bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard. So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War. The lieutenant's name was Louis Zamperini. In boyhood, he'd been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails. As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile. But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown. Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and hum∨ brutality with rebellion. His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will. Telling an unforgettable story of a man's journey into extremity, Unbroken is a testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit.