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Robert Henry: A Western Carolina Patriot
By Wayne Caldwell, Richard Russell. 2013
Robert Henry is a character more suited for fiction than nonfiction. While just a boy, he fought with the Overmountain…
Men at Kings Mountain and battled British troops along the Catawba River. As a surveyor, he helped mark the boundary line between Tennessee and North Carolina. He had a long career as a prominent attorney and owned the famous Sulphur Springs resort. Yet while Henry is one of western North Carolina's most accomplished ancestors, he is also one of the most eccentric. He preferred to dress in moccasins and traveled with a walking stick nearly as tall as he. Some said he had the gift of foresight and was able to predict his own death. Join author Richard Russell as he navigates the unusual, contradictory and fascinating life of Robert Henry.Ike: An American Hero
By Michael Korda. 2007
Ike is acclaimed author Michael Korda's sweeping and enthralling biography of Dwight David Eisenhower, arguably America's greatest general and one…
of her best presidents--a remarkable man in an extraordinary time, the hero who won the war and thereafter kept the peace.Eisenhower
By Paul Johnson. 2014
Acclaimed historian Paul Johnson's lively, succinct biography of Dwight D. Eisenhower explores how his legacy endures today In the rousing…
style he's famous for, celebrated biographer Paul Johnson offers a fascinating portrait of Dwight D. Eisenhower, focusing particularly on his years as a five-star general and his time as the thirty-fourth President of the United States. Johnson chronicles President Eisenhower's modest childhood in Kansas, his college years at West Point, and his rapid ascent through the military ranks, culminating in his appointment as Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces in Europe during World War II. Beginning when Eisenhower assumed the presidency from Harry Truman in 1952, Johnson paints a rich portrait of his two consecutive terms, exploring his volatile relationship with then-Vice President Richard Nixon, his abhorrence of isolationism, and his position on the Cold War, McCarthyism, and the Civil Rights Movement. Johnson notes that when Eisenhower left the White House at age 70, reluctantly passing the torch to President-elect John F. Kennedy, he feared for the country's future and prophetically warned of the looming military-industrial complex. Many elements of Eisenhower's presidency speak to American politics today, including his ability to balance the budget and skill in managing an oppositional Congress. This brief yet comprehensive study will appeal to biography lovers as well as to enthusiasts of presidential history and military history alike.Becton
By Julius Becton. 1898
This autobiography, published in cooperation with the Association of the United States Army (AUSA), highlights Lt. Gen. Becton's remarkable career…
and reveals the influences that contributed to his success. Becton's autobiography reflects on his youth in the suburban Philadelphia area, his parental and family influences, and his almost forty years of service in the U.S. Army and in subsequent civilian appointments. His devotion to leadership, education, service, race, and his spiritual upbringing are all central themes in the book.After finishing high school, Becton entered a segregated Army at age eighteen and over nearly forty years rose to the rank of lieutenant general. Two years after enlisting in the Army Air Corps Enlisted Reserve, he was commissioned a second lieutenant of infantry and subsequently fought with distinction in the Korean War. Integrated into the Regular Army in 1951, he went on to earn undergraduate and graduate degrees in mathematics and economics and held combat commands in the 101st Airborne Division in Vietnam. He commanded the legendary 1st Cavalry Division in 1975-76. Promoted to lieutenant general in 1978, he served as commanding general of the U.S. VII Corps in Germany and deputy commander of Training and Doctrine Command and the Army Inspector of Training before retiring in 1983.Following retirement he entered fields of international disaster assistance, emergency management, and education. Becton joined the Reagan administration in 1984 as Director of the Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance for the Agency for International Development. From 1985 to 1989 he was Director of the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Over the next six years, he was the COO of American Coastal Industries and president of Prairie View A&M University. His final civilian post was as CEO/Superintendent of public schools in the District of Columbia.Becton was listed several times by Ebony magazine as 'One of the 100 Most Influential Blacks in America.' In 2007 he was selected to receive the George Catlett Marshall Medal, the highest award presented by the Association of the U.S. Army (AUSA) for being a 'soldier, combat commander, administrator, educator, public servant, government leader, and role model.'Ushering In A New Republic: Theologies Of Arrival At Rome In The First Century Bce
By Trevor S. Luke. 2014
The ancient Romans are well known for their love of the pageantry of power. No single ceremony better attests to…
this characteristic than the triumph, which celebrated the victory of a Roman commander through a grand ceremonial entrance into the city that ended in rites performed to Rome's chief tutelary deity, Jupiter Optimus Maximus, on the Capitoline hill. The triumph, however, was only one form of ceremonial arrival at the city, and Jupiter was not the only god to whom vows were made and subsequently fulfilled at the end of a successful assignment. Ushering in a New Republic expands our view beyond a narrow focus on the triumph to look at the creative ways in which the great figures of Rome in the first century BCE (men such as Sulla, Caesar, Augustus, and others) crafted theological performances and narratives both in and around their departures from Rome and then returned to cast themselves in the role of divinely supported saviors of a faltering Republic. Trevor S. Luke tackles some of the major issues of the history of the Late Republic and the transition to the empire in a novel way. Taking the perspective that Roman elites, even at this late date, took their own religion seriously as a way to communicate meaning to their fellow Romans, the volume reinterprets some of the most famous events of that period in order to highlight what Sulla, Caesar, and figures of similar stature did to make a religious argument or defense for their actions. This exploration will be of interest to scholars of religion, political science, sociology, classics, and ancient history and to the general history enthusiast. While many people are aware of the important battles and major thinkers of this period of Roman history, the story of its theological discourse and competition is unfolded here for the first time.God And Sea Power: The Influence Of Religion On Alfred Thayer Mahan
By Suzanne Geissler. 2015
This book focuses on the religious beliefs and writings of naval historian and theorist Alfred Thayer Mahan. Mahan was a…
devout Christian and an active Episcopal layman. His religious beliefs had a major influence on his theories of sea power, naval command, war, and politics. Some historians and biographers have completely ignored his these beliefs. Others have acknowledged them, but viewed them as irrelevant to Mahan’s thinking on naval matters. Some have acknowledged them as important, but viewed them as being a negative influence on Mahan. All these views are wrong. Mahan devoted a lifetime to studying and developing his views on religion and they were a major source of his thinking on his naval and political theories. And his religious writings also demonstrate that many of the negative stereotypes of him (such as imperialist, war-monger, racist, Social Darwinist) are inaccurate. There is a large body of material that has either been overlooked or only superficially studied that give us insight into Mahan’s religious life, thoughts, and writings. There is a large collection of correspondence to family and friends in which Mahan discuses his Christian faith. There is his diary, kept while he was a young officer on a three-year voyage aboard the USS Iroquois. This document, also frequently misunderstood, gives a dramatic account of his struggles to achieve a right relationship with God. Lastly, there is a significant corpus of his published writings on religious topics. Once he retired from the Navy Mahan began to publish extensively on theological topics in both the secular and religious press. These writings included letters to the editor, book reviews, articles, and a book, The Harvest Within: Thoughts on the Life of a Christian published in 1909. In addition to his writings he also gave a number of speeches to church groups. Copies of most of these speeches still exist. All this material gives us a very full picture of his faith, a fascinating combination of born-again evangelicalism and High Church Anglicanism. Mahan was also an active layman in the Episcopal Church and these activities are discussed as well. Mahan’s father, Dennis Hart Mahan, was a West Point professor of engineering and military science for many years, and was a notable military figure in his own right. Mahan’s uncle, Milo Mahan, was a noted church historian and professor at General Theological Seminary. Both these men had a strong influence on Alfred and their lives and careers are discussed as well.The Heart of Hell
By Mitch Weiss. 2016
The Battle of Iwo Jima, a major event in the Pacific Theater of World War II--and one of the bloodiest…
in United States history--began on February 19, 1945. But what happened two days earlier has largely been a footnote, until now... On February 17, Landing Craft Infantry 449 was among a dozen gunboats helping to prepare the area for their invasion two days later. U.S. military leaders thought they had weakened Japanese forces in the area so they were not expecting any action... From the towering slopes of Mount Suribachi, Japanese forces opened fire, forcing the U.S. commanders to recalculate battlefield plans. They shelled and bombed the newly discovered enemy positions. It was a move that saved countless lives two days later, when tens of thousands of Marines stormed the beach. The Heart of Hell is the untold story of the crew of Landing Craft Infantry 449. Based on 130 exclusive interviews with sailors who survived the battle, the families of the men killed in the fight, and more than 1,500 letters the sailors mailed to loved ones during their long months at sea, this is a story of duty, brotherhood, love, and courage.As We Recall
By Edited by Vice Admiral James A. Sagerholm. 2015
As We Recall is the first book of its kind. A collection of reminiscences written by members of the U.…
S. Naval Academy class of 1952, it is a testament to the value of a Naval Academy education. Some stories are of combat in Korea, exploits in space, aerial combat over Vietnam, or development of major weapons systems. Others are stories of life at sea or of the challenges faced by the families supporting their husbands and fathers. It is safe to say, this book is an edifying, intimate, and inspiring history.GI Joe & Lillie: Remembering a Life of Love and Loyalty
By Joseph S. Bonsall. 2003
In the early morning hours of June 6, tens of thousands of boys from the shores of Maine, the rivers…
of Mississippi, and the lakes of Minnesota were taking a boat ride that would go down in history. With the ocean spray in their faces and hearts practically beating out of their chests, American G.I.s peers through the mist and saw the beaches of France. The Allied invasion of Hitlers Europe was on! A skinny kid from Philly checked his rifle for the umpteenth time and swallowed hard. A strip of beach codenamed Utah lay just ahead.... The 1944 D-Day landings preserved freedom all over the world and affected countless individual lives including G.I. Joe and his wife, Lillie. After the war, G.I. Joe and Lillie settled into a life that included two children. Old wounds, though, never quite let G.I. Joe leave France. Nightmares and crippling injuries left him with only one true friend, but she was all he'd ever need. Lillie embarked on a decades-long love affair, from the moment she saw that skinny boy from Philly in an army hospital. Five days of courtship and 55 years of marriage strengthened by faith saw to that. Lillie prayed daily for her husband and children in the difficult years ahead. Together, they made it all the way home. In Lillie's America, it was sacrifice that preserved cherished freedoms, and loyalty kept families united and strong. Lillie's steadfast faith and heartfelt devotion is a lesson for our time. This story of patriotism, bravery abroad and at home, and most of all, deep commitment, sets in a gold frame the very essence of America. The story of G.I. Joe and Lillie helps us all remember that true love never, ever dies.Written on the Knee
By Helen Electrie Lindsay, Theodore Electris. 1956
During the Greek-Italian conflict of World War II, Dr. Theodore Electris, newly married and idealistic, was called up to the…
Greek-Italian front in the remote mountains of Albania. Homesick, hungry and desperately missing his young wife, Chrysoula, he kept an intimate journal to preserve his experiences for her. Translated by his daughter, Helen Electrie Lindsay, Electris’s entries and letters come together in Written on the Knee. Fully illustrated and accompanied by supporting reference material, the collection serves as both an authentic historical document of Greek involvement in WWII and a story of love, separation and family ties threatened and strengthened by war. Often overlooked in the scope of WWII, Greece’s six-month conflict with Mussolini’s forces played a pivotal role in the war’s outcome. The small country’s fierce resistance against the Italians delayed Hitler’s move into the Soviet Union, which many historians believe turned the war in favor of the Allies. From Dr. Electris’s first entry to his last, Written on the Knee captures the true story of love and war during a crucial time in modern history.Death Valley: The Summer Offensive, I Corps, August 1969
By Keith Nolan. 1987
Recollections of a Tejano Life: Antonio Menchaca in Texas History
By Jesús F. de la Teja, Timothy Matovina. 2013
San Antonio native, military veteran, merchant, and mayor pro tem José Antonio Menchaca (1800–1879) was one of only a few…
Tejano leaders to leave behind an extensive manuscript of recollections. Portions of the document were published in 1907, followed by a “corrected” edition in 1937, but the complete work could not be published without painstaking reconstruction. At last available in its entirety, Menchaca’s book of reminiscences captures the social life, people, and events that shaped the history of Texas’s tumultuous transformation during his lifetime. Highlighting not only Menchaca’s acclaimed military service but also his vigorous defense of Tejanos’ rights, dignity, and heritage, Recollections of a Tejano Life charts a remarkable legacy while incorporating scholarly commentary to separate fact from fiction. Revealing how Tejanos perceived themselves and the revolutionary events that defined them, this wonderfully edited volume presents Menchaca’s remembrances of such diverse figures as Antonio López de Santa Anna, Jim Bowie, Davy Crockett, Sam Houston, General Adrián Woll, Comanche chief “Casamiro,” and Texas Ranger Jack Hays. Menchaca and his fellow Tejanos were actively engaged in local struggles as Mexico won her independence from Spain; later many joined the fight to establish the Republic of Texas, only to see it annexed to the United States nine years after the Battle of San Jacinto. This first-person account corrects important misconceptions and brings previously unspoken truths vividly to life.Silent and Unseen
By Alfred Scott Mclaren. 2015
In Silent and Unseen, veteran submarine commander Captain Alfred S. McLaren describes in riveting detail the more significant events that…
occurred early in the Cold War during his seven years, 1958-1965, onboard three attack submarines: the USS Greenfish (SS-351), USS Seadragon (SSN-584), and USS Skipjack (SSN-585). Through myriad stories and anecdotes, his book focuses on the development of attack-boat tactics and under-ice exploration techniques. The commanding officers that a young submarine officer serves with will determine how well prepared he will be to assume his own command years later. This was particularly true in attack submarines, during the early high-risk years of the Cold War. They were continually at sea, and each reconnaissance and intelligence collection mission was of potentially great, and sometimes extraordinary, value to the government of the United States of America. The missions more often than not required closing of the potential enemy to collect the intelligence desired, generally within weapons range. But, unlike a war patrol, the U. S. attack boat had to remain completely undetected; then withdraw as silently and unseen as it approached. Greenfish was one of the most successful Pacific diesel submarines when McLaren served aboard her as a watch and weapons officer during an era when she and other diesel boats executed all Cold War missions and overseas deployments. McLaren then reported to Seadragon in time to serve as a watch officer, as she became the first nuclear submarine to transit from the Atlantic to the Pacific via the Arctic Ocean. En route, she examined the underside of icebergs, conducted the first underwater survey and passage through the Northwest Passage, and surfaced at the North Pole. He subsequently served as diving officer, an engineering department division officer and as weapons officer during a series of Cold War missions and a lengthy Western Pacific deployment. Silent and Unseen concludes with a recounting of the author’s experiences as diving officer, navigator, and chief engineer onboard what was then world’s fastest and most advanced submarine, USS Skipjack (SSN-585) during the Cuban Missile Crisis, two Cold War missions, and the very intensive and exciting period of new tactical and weapons development which followed to counter a rapidly emerging Soviet nuclear submarine threatThe Marquis
By Laura Auricchio. 2014
A major biography of the Marquis de Lafayette, French hero of the American Revolution, who, at age nineteen, volunteered to…
fight under George Washington; a biography that looks past the storybook hero and selfless champion of righteous causes who cast aside family and fortune to advance the transcendent aims of liberty and justice commemorated in America's towns, streets, parks, and schools named after the French nobleman. Laura Auricchio gives us a rich portrait of the man, fully revealed, a man driven by dreams of glory and felled by tragic, human weaknesses. In The Marquis, we come to understand the personal struggles, social quandaries, and idealistic visions that inspired an orphaned young man to cross an ocean and fight a war that was none of his concern; we see a guileless provincial whose unexpected inheritance allowed him to marry into the highest echelons of the French aristocracy, and become a self-consciously awkward presence at the palace of Versailles. Here is the young Lafayette, removed from the French army as a result of sweeping reforms, trapped in a gilded cage until American emissaries reached Paris seeking support for their revolution. In the American cause, Lafayette, whose only vision had been of martial glory, saw a way to reach his dreams, and seized it with gusto. Americans welcomed him with open arms, and he returned their affection fully. His American éclat was so brilliant and his enthusiasm so great that he quickly became the symbol of the Franco-American alliance that ultimately defeated Great Britain. We see how Lafayette's reputation rose to great heights during the American Revolution but collapsed during the French; that when the Bastille fell on July 14, 1789, Parisians hailed Lafayette as the French Washington and appointed him commander of their National Guard, hoping that he would be able to restore order to a city wracked by starvation and violence. As revolutionaries hurtled in radical directions and staunch monarchists dug in their heels, Lafayette lost control, remaining steadfast in his belief that the French monarchy needed to be reformed but not abolished, and doing everything in his power to prevent an American-style republic from taking root in his native land. Formerly seen as France's heroic figure, Lafayette was now viewed as opportunistic, a dreamer, and a traitor to his nation--and today remains a murky figure in French memory. In America, Lafayette's momentous departure from his homeland for the War of Independence has long been hailed as the start of an extraordinary career to be celebrated for generations. In France, it is often seen as just one of his many misbegotten undertakings. Yet no one has managed to offer a satisfactory answer to the crucial question of why: Why did Americans shower Lafayette with so much acclaim in his own time that he remains a hero today, being named an honorary U.S. citizen in 2002--becoming only the seventh person ever granted this distinction? And why, in contrast, does his memory continue to be denigrated in his own land? Auricchio, drawing on substantial new research conducted in libraries, archives, museums, and private homes in France and the United States, gives us history on a grand scale as she answers these crucial questions, revealing the man and his complex life, and challenging and exploring the complicated myths that have surrounded his name for more than two centuries.From the Hardcover edition.The Psychology of the Athenian Hoplite
By Jason Crowley. 2012
Throughout the Classical period, the Athenian hoplite demonstrated an unwavering willingness to close with and kill the enemies of Athens,…
whenever and wherever he was required to do so. Yet, despite his pugnacity, he was not a professional soldier; he was an untrained amateur who was neither forced into battle nor adequately remunerated for the risks he faced in combat. As such, when he took his place in the phalanx, when he met his enemy, when he fought, killed and died, he did so largely as an act of will. By applying modern theories of combat motivation, this book seeks to understand that will, to explore the psychology of the Athenian hoplite and to reveal how that impressive warrior repeatedly stifled his fears, mustered his courage and willingly plunged himself into the ferocious savagery of close-quarters battle.Delayed Legacy: A Son's Search for the Story of His Father's Death after D-Day
By Conrad John Netting IV. 2005
The Japanese Ground Self-Defense Force
By Paul Midford, Robert D. Eldridge. 2017
Based on extensive Japanese-language materials, this book is the first to examine the development of Japan's Ground Self-Defense Force. It…
addresses: how the GSDF was able to emerge as the post-war successor of the Imperial Japanese Army despite Japan's anti-militarist constitution; how the GSDF, despite the public skepticism and even hostility that greeted its creation, built domestic and international legitimacy; and how the GSDF has responded to changes in international and domestic environments. This path-breaking study of the world's third-largest-economic power's ground army is timely for two reasons. First, the resurgence of tensions in Northeast Asia over territorial disputes, and the emphasis recent Japanese governments have placed on using the GSDF for defending Japan's outlying islands is driving media coverage and specialist interest in the GSDF. Second, the March 11, 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami has focused global attention on the GSDF as Japan's lead disaster relief organization. This highly informative and thoroughly researched book provides insight for policy makers and academics interested in Japanese foreign and defense policies.Boy Colonel of the Confederacy
By Archie K. Davis. 1985
Henry King Burgwyn, Jr. (1841-63), one of the youngest colonels in the Confederate Army, died at the age of twenty-one…
while leading the twenty-sixth North Carolina regiment into action at the battle of Gettysburg. In this sensitive biography, originally published by UNC Press in 1985, Archie Davis provides a revealing portrait of the young man's character and a striking example of a soldier who selflessly fulfilled his duty. Drawing on Burgwyn's own letters and diary, Davis also offers a fascinating glimpseinto North Carolina society during the antebellum period and the Civil War.Grant: A Biography
By John Mosier. 2006
A modest and unassuming man, Grant never lost a battle, leading the Union to victory over the Confederacy during the…
Civil War, ultimately becoming President of the reunited states. Grant revolutionized military warfare by creating new leadership tactics by integrating new technologies in classical military strategy. In this compelling biography, Mosier reveals the man behind the military legend, showing how Grant's creativity and genius off the battlefield shaped him into one of our nation's greatest military leaders.Lee and His Army in Confederate History
By Gary W. Gallagher. 2006
Was Robert E. Lee a gifted soldier whose only weaknesses lay in the depth of his loyalty to his troops,…
affection for his lieutenants, and dedication to the cause of the Confederacy? Or was he an ineffective leader and poor tactician whose reputation was drastically inflated by early biographers and Lost Cause apologists? These divergent characterizations represent the poles between which scholarly and popular opinion on Lee has swung over time. Now, in eight essays, Gary Gallagher offers his own refined thinking on Lee, exploring the relationship between Lee's operations and Confederate morale, the quality of his generalship, and the question of how best to handle his legacy in light of the many distortions that grew out of Lost Cause historiography.Using a host of contemporary sources, Gallagher demonstrates the remarkable faith that soldiers and citizens maintained in Lee's leadership even after his army's fortunes had begun to erode. Gallagher also engages aspects of the Lee myth with an eye toward how admirers have insisted that their hero's faults as a general represented exaggerations of his personal virtues. Finally, Gallagher considers whether it is useful--or desirable--to separate legitimate Lost Cause arguments from the transparently false ones relating to slavery and secession. Was Robert E. Lee a gifted soldier whose only weaknesses lay in the depth of his loyalty to his troops, affection for his lieutenants, and dedication to the cause of the Confederacy? Or was he an ineffective leader and poor tactician whose reputation was drastically inflated by early biographers and Lost Cause apologists? These divergent characterizations represent the poles between which scholarly and popular opinion on Lee has swung over time. In eight essays, Gary Gallagher offers his own refined thinking on Lee, exploring the relationship between Lee's operations and Confederate morale, the quality of his generalship, and the question of how best to assess his legacy in light of the many distortions that grew out of Lost Cause historiography.-->