A collection of some of the writings of Generalfeldmarschall Alfred Graf von Schlieffen, one of the more intriguing of Imperial Germany's military figures. Schlieffens 15 years as Chief of the General staff left a stamp upon both military and political institutions of Wilhelmine Germany. View More...
Described as the New York Review of Books for history, Historically Speaking has emerged as one of the most distinctive historical publications in recent years, actively seeking out contributions from a pantheon of leading voices in historical discourse from both inside and outside academia. Recent Themes in Military History represents some of the best writing on military history to appear in the past five years.This collection of forums, interviews, and individual essays drawn from Historically Speaking provides contrasting views on such topics in military history as the existence and functio... View More...
In The Seventy Great Battles of All Time, an international team of military historians reconstructs and analyses the seventy decisive battles that shaped world history - from Cannae to Agincourt, Waterloo to Gettysburg, Stalingrad to the Tet offensive. Organised chronologically into seven parts, the book encompasses the ancient, medieval and Renaissance worlds, as well as the battles of the past 300 years, right up to the current conflict in Iraq. The contributors analyse not only the greatest land battles of all time, but sieges such as Constantinople (1453) and Tenochtitlan (1521); naval bat... View More...
When the U.S. military invaded Iraq, it lacked a common understanding of the problems inherent in counterinsurgency campaigns. It had neither studied them, nor developed doctrine and tactics to deal with them. It is fair to say that in 2003, most Army officers knew more about the U.S. Civil War than they did about counterinsurgency. The U.S. Army / Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Field Manual was written to fill that void. The result of unprecedented collaboration among top U.S. military experts, scholars, and practitioners in the field, the manual espouses an approach to combat that emphasizes... View More...
There is a special breed of Marine for whom the prey is the enemy--and every day is hunting season. This Marine is a HOG--a Hunter of Gunmen. These are the gripping, gut-wrenching true stories of those Marines in Iraq whose sole purpose on the battlefield is to eliminate the enemy--one combatant at a time. Every time a HOG puts his eye to the glass, it means death for his target. Here, former Scout/Sniper Team leader Milo S. Afong reveals what it takes to be a Hunter of Gunmen. He describes the intensive training that turns expert infantrymen into one-shot life-takers, how they operate in the ... View More...
The Few and the BraveConvinced by 1943 that the assault upon Nazi-held Europe would yield swiftly to elite troops, the U.S. Army created parachute regimental combat teams. Drawing on daring volunteers willing to hurl themselves from airplanes and hit the ground fighting, the 517th PRCT became one of the most highly trained airborne units in the world. Blooded in northern Italy in 1944, the Battling Buzzards dropped at night in southern France for the second D-day to spearhead a savage advance through the Champagne region and then into the Alps. Gerald Astor, acclaimed author of A Blood-Dimmed ... View More...
From 1937 to 1994, Lowry Air Force Base, located on the eastern edge of the city of Denver, served the nation and the surrounding community in many distinguished ways. The air base, primarily a technical training center, graduated more than 1.1 million enlisted members and officers in skills ranging from armament to photography, tremendously strengthening the country s war efforts in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Cold War. In addition, from the 1980s, Lowry Air Force Base remained one of Colorado s largest employers, with approximately 10,000 military and civilian men ... View More...
They were the U.S. Marines--the toughest and proudest fighting men of all. Risking their lives in Guadalcanal, Tarawa, Guam, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa, they fought against a foe who would die before surrendering. In this book, those who survived tell what it was like to be amongst the few, the proud. Photos. View More...
In 1905 President Teddy Roosevelt dispatched Secretary of War William Howard Taft on the largest U.S. diplomatic mission in history to Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines, China, and Korea. Roosevelt's glamorous twenty-one year old daughter Alice served as mistress of the cruise, which included senators and congressmen. On this trip, Taft concluded secret agreements in Roosevelt's name. In 2005, a century later, James Bradley traveled in the wake of Roosevelt's mission and discovered what had transpired in Honolulu, Tokyo, Manila, Beijing and Seoul. In 1905, Roosevelt was bully-confident and made... View More...
Castles, Battles, and Bombs reconsiders key episodes of military history from the point of view of economics-with dramatically insightful results. For example, when looked at as a question of sheer cost, the building of castles in the High Middle Ages seems almost inevitable: though stunningly expensive, a strong castle was far cheaper to maintain than a standing army. The authors also reexamine the strategic bombing of Germany in World War II and provide new insights into France's decision to develop nuclear weapons. Drawing on these examples and more, Brauer and Van Tuyll suggest lessons for... View More...
The new American nation fought for its survival against a variety of enemies, both foreign and domestic, during a series of wars from 1775 to 1865. Victor Brooks examines in considerable detail the various battles and campaigns of the early wars fought by the young republic, in search of common factors that may have led to the nation's survival and triumph. The vast distances, sparse population, and supply problems endemic to all the campaigns in North America are carefully examined. In all its early wars, the United States relied upon a small force of professional soldiers backed up by larger... View More...
For the LRRPs, courage was a way of life Vietnam, 1968. All of Sergeant John Burford's missions with F Company, 58th Infantry were deep in hostile territory. As leader of a six-man LRRP team, he found the enemy, staged ambushes, called in precision strikes, and rescued downed pilots. The lives of the entire team depended on his leadership and their combined skill and guts. A single mistake--a moment of panic--could mean death for everyone. Whether describing ambushes in the dreaded A Shau Valley or popping smoke to call in artillery only yards away from his position, Burford demonstrates the s... View More...
December 1967: Richard Burns had just arrived in Vietnam as part of the fourteen-man 101st Pathfinder Detachment. Within just one month, during a holiday called Tet, the Communists would launch the largest single attack of the war--and he would be right in the thick of it. . . . In Vietnam, Richard Burns operated in live-or-die situations, risking his life so that other men could keep theirs. As a Pathfinder--all too often alone in the middle of a hot LZ--he guided in helicopters disembarking troops, directed medevacs to retrieve the wounded, and organized extractions. As well as parachuting i... View More...
