The Round-up: Military History
Bookhugger’s publishers present a selection of true tales of heroism, survival, strategy and tragedy from the all-conquering Ottoman Empire of the mid-sixteenth century to behind lines operations in the ‘Alpine Redoubt’ area of Austria in World War Two…
The Pacific, by Hugh Ambrose
Sidney C. Philips, an easygoing Alabama teenager, enlisted along with a friend. ‘Manila John’ Basilone was the son of immigrants who found happiness in the rough-and-ready life of a marine. Eugene B. Sledge watched his best friend and his brother go off to war and finally rebelled against his parents to follow them. ‘Shifty’ Shofner was the scion of a prominent family with a long record of military service. Ensign Vernon ‘Mike’ Micheel left the family farm to complete flight school. Between America’s retreat from China in late 1941 and the moment that MacArthur’s plane landed in Japan in August 1945, these five men fought many of the key battles of the war in the Pacific. Here, Hugh Ambrose focuses on their real-life experiences and those of their fellow servicemen, enhancing and expanding upon the story told in the HBO® miniseries. Covering nearly four years of combat with unprecedented access to military records, letters, journals, memoirs, photographs and interviews, this volume offers a unique historical perspective on the war against Japan, from the debacle in Bataan to the miracle of Midway, the relentless vortex of Guadalcanal, the black terraces of Iwo Jima and the killing fields of Okinawa and ultimately the triumphant yet uneasy return home. These are the true stories of the men who put their lives on the line for their country, who were dispatched to the other side of the world to fight an enemy who preferred suicide to surrender; men who suffered hardship and humiliation in POW camps; men who witnessed casualties among soldiers and civilians alike; and men whose medals came at a shocking price; a price paid in full by all.
Churchill’s Wizards, by Nicholas Rankin
By June 1940, most of Europe had fallen to the Nazis and Britain stood alone. So, with Winston Churchill in charge, the British bluffed their way out of trouble, drawing on the trickery which had helped them win the First World War. They broadcast outrageous British propaganda on pretend German radio stations, broke secret codes, conjured up phantom armies and fake airfields with model planes, and sent captured spies back to Germany with false intelligence.
Culminating in the spectacular misdirection that was so essential to the success of D-Day in 1944, Churchill’s Wizards is a thrilling work of popular history filled with almost unbelievable stories of bravery, creativity and deception.
Memory of Flames, by Armand Cabasso
“The Tsar had long dreamt of taking Paris in revenge for Moscow…”
March 1814. With the allied armies of Russia, Austria and Prussia advancing, Paris is in real danger of falling to occupying forces for the first time in 400 years. But at a moment when all efforts should be directed towards the defence of the city, Joseph Bonaparte is concerned with the murder of a retired colonel, and orders Major Quentin Margont to conduct a secret investigation into his death.
Once again Armand Cabasson marries his phenomenal knowledge of the Napoleonic period with his psychiatric expertise to create a gripping and totally convincing narrative.
Horse Soldiers, by Doug Stanton
The Horse Soldiers is the true, dramatic account of a small band of Special Forces soldiers who entered Afghanistan immediately following September 11, 2001 and, riding to war on horses, defeated the Taliban. Heavily outnumbered, they capture the strategic Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif, where they are welcomed as liberators as they ride on horseback into the city, the streets thronged with Afghans overjoyed that the Taliban have been kicked out.
The soldiers rest easy, as they feel they have accomplished their mission. Then the action takes a wholly unexpected turn. During a surrender of Taliban troops, the Horse Soldiers are ambushed by the would-be P.O.W.s and, still dangerously outnumbered, they must fight for their lives in the city’s ancient fortress known as Qala-I Janghi, or the House of War…
Admirals, by Andrew Lamber
Why for centuries was the British Navy the most successful organisation in the world? What does it take to lead such a force?
Britain achieved unparalleled global pre-eminence through one critical advantage – her naval power. While other nations looked to armies for their security, Britain looked to the sea and for over three hundred years the Royal Navy dominated the ocean.
Andrew Lambert, described as ‘one of the most eminent naval historians of our age’ by Amanda Foreman, celebrates the rare talents of the men who shaped the most successful fighting force in world history. From the Armada to the Napoleonic Wars to the Second World War, he follows the careers of eleven men who created, refined, and reconfigured the art of the admiral. Through their lives and battles, Admirals charts the evolution of naval command over four centuries, while proving that maritime power is a vital and living element of modern Britain.
They Dared Return, by Patrick K. O’Donnell
It’s July 1943. Frederick Mayer, a German-born Jew is recruited to secret operations unit, the OSS. Along with 4 other German-Jews, he volunteers for behind-enemy-lines operations. All have family members in concentration camps. All want revenge.
Mayer and his comrades are dropped into the ‘Alpine Redoubt’ area of Austria, where Hitler plans to gather his SS units and make a desperate last stand against the Allies. This is the most heavily-policed area of the Third Reich, swarming with Gestapo. Capture means certain death; and for Fred and the other Jews, it means a horrible death. Yet under Hitler’s nose this tiny army blows up trains, steals secrets and even impersonates German officers.
Eventually Mayer is captured and tortured by the Gestapo, but still he does not break. Meanwhile the Allies are approaching, sounding the end for Nazi Germany. Mayer, in his greatest act of chutzpah, convinces his tormentor, the commander of German forces in Innsbruck, to surrender his forces to him, convincing the officer that it would be better to surrender early than risk being shot defending a lost cause. This is a great World War Two story of derring-do and revenge. And it’s never before been told.
Empires of the Sea, by Roger Crowley
In 1521, Suleiman the Magnificent, ruler of the Ottoman Empire at the height of its power, despatched an invasion fleet to the island of Rhodes. This was the opening shot in an epic struggle between rival empires and faiths, and the ensuing battle for control of the Mediterranean would last sixty years.
Empires of the Sea tells the story of this great contest. It is a fast-paced tale of spiralling intensity that ranges from Istanbul to the Gates of Gibraltar and features a cast of extraordinary characters: Barbarossa, the pirate who terrified Europe; the risk-taking Emperor Charles V; the Knights of St John, last survivors of the crusading spirit; and the brilliant Christian admiral Don Juan of Austria. Its brutal climax came between 1565 and 1571, six years that witnessed a fight to the finish, decided in a series of bloody set pieces: the epic siege of Malta; the battle for Cyprus; and the apocalyptic last-ditch defence of southern Europe at Lepanto – one of the single most shocking days in world history that fixed the frontiers of the Mediterranean world we know today.
Empires of the Sea follows Roger Crowley’s first book, the widely praised Constantinople: The Last Great Siege. It is page-turning narrative history at its best – a story of extraordinary colour and incident, rich in detail, full of surprises and backed by a wealth of eyewitness accounts.
July 9th, 2010 at 7:41 pm
I love military history. These look like excellent books. I will have to see if my local library has some of them available to check out. I’d love to read up more on the American Wars and how battles were fought. I believe they really can teach us a lot.