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Don Carlos Buell
By Stephen D. Engle. 1999
Major General Don Carlos Buell stood among the senior Northern commanders early in the Civil War, led the Army of…
the Ohio in the critical Kentucky theater in 1861-62, and helped shape the direction of the conflict during its first years. Only a handful of Northern generals loomed as large on the military landscape during this period, and Buell is the only one of them who has not been the subject of a full-scale biography.A conservative Democrat, Buell viewed the Civil War as a contest to restore the antebellum Union rather than a struggle to bring significant social change to the slaveholding South. Stephen Engle explores the effects that this attitude--one shared by a number of other Union officers early in the war--had on the Northern high command and on political-military relations. In addition, he examines the ramifications within the Army of the Ohio of Buell's proslavery leanings.A personally brave, intelligent, and talented officer, Buell nonetheless failed as a theater and army commander, and in late 1862 he was removed from command. But as Engle notes, Buell's attitude and campaigns provided the Union with a valuable lesson: that the Confederacy would not yield to halfhearted campaigns with limited goals.In the Shadow of Freedom: A Heroic Journey to Liberation, Manhood, and America
By Tchicaya Missamou, Travis Sentell. 2010
FROM POVERTY TO WEALTH, FROM AFRICA TO AMERICA, AND FROM CHILD SOLDIER TO U.S. MARINEBorn into the Congolese wilderness, Tchicaya…
Missamou became a child soldier at age 11. As a horrific civil war loomed across his country, Tchicaya began using his militia connections to ferry jewels, cash, computers, and white diplomats out of the country. By 17, he was rich. By 18, he was a hunted man, his house destroyed, his family brutalized in front of him by his own militia. By 19, he’d left behind everything he’d ever known, escaping to Europe and, eventually, to America. Incredibly, that was only the start of his journey.In the Shadow of Freedom is the uplifting story of one man’s quest to achieve the American Dream. Tchicaya Missamou’s life is a shining example of why America is a gift that should not be taken for granted, and why we are limited only by the breadth of our imagination and the strength of our will.Backbone
By Julia Dye. 2011
Non-commissioned officers stand as the Backbone of the United States Marine Corps. The Corps is among the most lasting institutions…
in America, though few understand what makes it so strong and how that understanding can be applied effectively in today's world. In her first book, Julia Dye explores the cadre of non-commissioned officers that make up the Marine Corps' system of small unit leadership. To help us better understand what makes these extraordinary men and women such effective leaders, Dye examines the 14 traits embraced by every NCO. These qualities--including judgment, enthusiasm, determination, bearing, and unselfishness--are best exemplified by men like Terry Anderson, the former Marine sergeant who spent nearly seven years as a hostage in Beirut, and John Basilone, the hero of the Pacific. To assemble this extraordinary chronicle, Julia Dye interviewed Anderson and dozens of other Marines and mined the trove of historical and modern NCO heroes that comprise the Marine Corps' astonishing legacy, from its founding in 1775 to the present day.From the Hardcover edition.Child Soldiers: From Recruitment to Reintegration
By Alpaslan �zerdem, Sukanya Podder. 2011
This book examines the complex and under-researched relationship between recruitment experiences and reintegration outcomes for child soldiers. It looks at…
time spent in the group, issues of cohesion, identification, affiliation, membership and the post demobilization experience of return, and resettlement.Wellington: The Path To Victory 1769-1814
By Rory Muir. 2013
The Duke of Wellington was not just Britain's greatest soldier, although his seismic struggles as leader of the Allied forces…
against Napoleon in the Peninsular War deservedly became the stuff of British national legend. Wellington was much more: a man of vision beyond purely military matters, a politically astute thinker, and a canny diplomat as well as lover, husband, and friend. Rory Muir's masterful new biography, the first of a two-volume set, is the fruit of a lifetime's research and discovery into Wellington and his times. The author brings Wellington into much sharper focus than ever before, addressing his masterstrokes and mistakes in equal measure. Muir looks at all aspects of Wellington's career, from his unpromising youth through his remarkable successes in India and his role as junior minister in charge of Ireland, to his controversial military campaigns. With dramatic descriptions of major battles and how they might have turned out differently, the author underscores the magnitude of Wellington's achievements. The biography is the first to address the major significance of Wellington's political connections and shrewdness, and to set his career within the wider history of British politics and the war against Napoleon. The volume also revises Wellington's reputation for being cold and aloof, showing instead a man of far more complex and interesting character.Statesmanship, Character, and Leadership in America
By Terry Newell. 2012
Newell examines noted Americans at seven critical turning points in American history to look at what it takes to be…
a statesman. Through a powerful speech and the events preceding and following it, they show us how they grappled with conflicting values, varying demands, and the uncertainties of trying to forge a good society.Bombing the People
By Thomas Hippler. 2013
Giulio Douhet is generally considered the world's most important air-power theorist and this book offers the first comprehensive account of…
his air-power concepts. It ranges from 1884 when an air service was first implemented within the Italian military to the outbreak of the Second World War, and explores the evolution and dissemination of Douhet's ideas in an international context. It examines the impact of the Libyan war, the First World War and Ethiopian war on the development of Italian air-power strategy. It also addresses the issue of Douhet's advocacy of strategic bombing, exploring why it was that Douhet became an advocate of city bombing; the meaning and the limits of his core concept of 'command of the air'; and the mutual impact of air power, military and naval thought. It also takes into account alternatives to Douhetism such as the theories developed by Amedeo Mecozzi and others.Zhang Xueliang
By Aron Shai. 2012
The first book to tell the strange and fascinating story of General Zhang Xue-liang, the Chinese-Manchurian 'Young Marshall' - a man who left…
an indelible mark on the history of modern China, but few know his story. Unlocking the mystery of this man's life, Aron Shai helps to shed light on 20th-century China.An explosive eyewitness account of the 2012 attack on the American Embassy in Benghazi--told by the army veteran who risked…
his life to help American citizens and who found and identified the body of Ambassador Christopher Stevens. After the tragic siege on the US Embassy mission in Benghazi on September 11, 2012, Americans were left angry and confused, wondering: How could this have happened? So many questions were left unanswered by the Obama administration about that night in Benghazi...until now. Sergeant Morgan Jones, writing under a pseudonym for security purposes, is a twelve-year veteran of the British army who was the Project Manager for the security of the US Embassy in Benghazi. In The Embassy House, he delivers a riveting first-hand narrative of how the first American ambassador to die in a hostile act for over thirty years was killed and of the men who fought and died in an effort to save him. Reminiscent of the harrowing stories in military accounts like No Easy Day and American Sniper, The Embassy House is the gripping tale of a bloody, dark and desperate night. *Sergeant Jones's name and the names of others mentioned in The Embassy House have been changed for their security.Admiral Bill Halsey: A Naval Life
By Thomas Alexander Hughes. 2016
William Halsey, the most famous naval officer of World War II, was known for fearlessness, steely resolve, and impulsive errors.…
In this definitive biography, Thomas Hughes punctures the popular caricature of the fighting admiral to present a revealing human portrait of his personal and professional life as it was lived in times of war and peace.The Guerrilla Factory
By Tony Schwalm. 2012
THE NAVY HAS THE SEALS, and the Army has the Green Berets. They are masters of asymmetrical warfare, trained to…
immerse themselves in hostile territory, sleeping near their enemies and building relationships with people who may want to kill them. Retired lieutenant colonel Tony Schwalm knows this group well, because he is one of them and he trained them. In The Guerrilla Factory, he provides an unbelievably gripping inside look into the grueling training that every Army officer must endure to become one of America's elite Green Berets. The Special Forces Qualification Course, also known as the Q Course, is infamous in U.S. Army lore. It transforms conventional soldiers, through blood, sweat, and tears, into unconventional guerrillas. As a young soldier, Schwalm earned his own Green Beret there. Later, he was the commander of Special Forces officer training at Fort Bragg, evaluating and redesigning the crucible in which leaders face brutal tests of physical strength, stamina, and wits. The Guerrilla Factory is the engaging and compelling story of Schwalm's experience there as a student (from selection to graduation) and his time as the commander of training at Fort Bragg. It is a story of young soldiers striving to become the elite of the elite--of their trials, physical and emotional, and of their triumphs and losses. In this dramatic account of the challenges faced by these young soldiers, Schwalm describes how men are forced to demonstrate ingenuity under intensely adverse conditions as they are pushed to the point of hallucination, walk until their feet are bloody, and fight off packs of angry dogs with nothing but a rubber rifle. Soldiers today face an entirely different kind of warfare and must be schooled to deal with unusual circumstances. They must have intricate knowledge of how to gather information in a dangerous, unstable atmosphere, and they need to be able to adapt quickly to differences in their surroundings. Schwalm's book takes readers deep into this world, showing exactly how soldiers acquire the necessary skills. Revealing details never before shared outside military circles, Schwalm provides a rare and rousing look inside the courageous hearts and souls of soldiers who put their lives on the line for duty, honor, and our country.U. S. Grant
By Joan Waugh. 2003
At the time of his death, Ulysses S. Grant was the most famous person in America, considered by most citizens…
to be equal in stature to George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. Yet today his monuments are rarely visited, his military reputation is overshadowed by that of Robert E. Lee, and his presidency is permanently mired at the bottom of historical rankings. In U. S. Grant, Joan Waugh investigates Grant's place in public memory and the reasons behind the rise and fall of his renown, while simultaneously underscoring the fluctuating memory of the Civil War itself.Fighting for the Confederacy
By Gary W. Gallagher. 1989
Originally published by UNC Press in 1989, Fighting for the Confederacy is one of the richest personal accounts in all…
of the vast literature on the Civil War. Alexander was involved in nearly all of the great battles of the East, from First Manassas through Appomattox, and his duties brought him into frequent contact with most of the high command of the Army of Northern Virginia, including Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, and James Longstreet. No other Civil War veteran of his stature matched Alexander's ability to discuss operations in penetrating detail-- this is especially true of his description of Gettysburg. His narrative is also remarkable for its utterly candid appraisals of leaders on both sides.Transnational Soldiers
By Nir Arielli, Bruce Collins. 2013
Warfare in the modern era has often been described in terms of national armies fighting national wars. This volume challenges…
the view by examining transnational aspects of military mobilization from the eighteenth century to the present. Truly global in scope, it offers an alternative way of reading the military history of the last 250 years.Sherman's Civil War
By Brooks D. Simpson, Jean V. Berlin. 2013
The first major modern edition of the wartime correspondence of General William T. Sherman, this volume features more than 400…
letters written between the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 and the day Sherman bade farewell to his troops in 1865. Together, they trace Sherman's rise from obscurity to become one of the Union's most famous and effective warriors.Arranged chronologically and grouped into chapters that correspond to significant phases in Sherman's life, the letters--many of which have never before been published--reveal Sherman's thoughts on politics, military operations, slavery and emancipation, the South, and daily life in the Union army, as well as his reactions to such important figures as General Ulysses S. Grant and President Lincoln. Lively, frank, opinionated, discerning, and occasionally extremely wrong-headed, these letters mirror the colorful personality and complex mentality of the man who wrote them. They offer the reader an invaluable glimpse of the Civil War as Sherman saw it.Convenience Voting and Technology
By Claire M. Smith. 2014
One of modern democracy's biggest challenges is the overseas voter. This book is the first of its kind to explore…
the issues of military and overseas voting, an often neglected voting bloc, by investigating the successfulness of overseas voting initiatives, technologies, and policy efforts.Richard S. Ewell
By Donald C. Pfanz. 1998
General Richard Stoddert Ewell holds a unique place in the history of the Army of Northern Virginia. For four months…
Ewell was Stonewall Jackson's most trusted subordinate; when Jackson died, Ewell took command of the Second Corps, leading it at Gettysburg, the Wilderness, and Spotsylvania Court House. In this biography, Donald Pfanz presents the most detailed portrait yet of the man sometimes referred to as Stonewall Jackson's right arm. Drawing on a rich array of previously untapped original source materials, Pfanz concludes that Ewell was a highly competent general, whose successes on the battlefield far outweighed his failures. But Pfanz's book is more than a military biography. It also examines Ewell's life before and after the Civil War, including his years at West Point, his service in the Mexican War, his experiences as a dragoon officer in Arizona and New Mexico, and his postwar career as a planter in Mississippi and Tennessee. In all, Pfanz offers an exceptionally detailed portrait of one of the South's most important leaders.General Richard Stoddert Ewell holds a unique place in the history of the Army of Northern Virginia. For four months Ewell was Stonewall Jackson's most trusted subordinate; when Jackson died, Ewell took command of the Second Corps, leading it at Gettysburg, the Wilderness Campaign, and Spotsylvania Court House. By the end of the war he was in charge of the defense of Richmond. With this book, Donald Pfanz provides more than just a military biography. He also examines Ewell's life before and after the Civil War, offering an exceptionally detailed portrait of one of the South's most important leaders.-->One of Lee's Best Men
By William W. Hassler. 1965
On the day that Lincoln was inaugurated in 1861, twenty-seven-year-old William Dorsey Pender, en route to the provisional Confederate capital…
in Montgomery, Alabama, hurriedly scribbled a note to his wife, Fanny. So began a prolific correspondence between a rising Confederate officer and his cherished wife that would last until Pender was mortally wounded at Gettysburg.First published by UNC Press in 1965, Pender's letters are filled with personal details, colorful descriptions, and candid opinions of such important figures as Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, J. E. B. Stuart, and A. P. Hill. His comments on his military activities and aspirations and the challenges of command, combined with his husbandly advice and affection, sketch an intimate and unvarnished portrait of the man who was perhaps the most distinguished North Carolina commander.John M. Schofield and the Politics of Generalship
By Donald B. Connelly. 2006
In the first full biography of Lieutenant General John McAllister Schofield (1831-1906), Donald B. Connelly examines the career of one…
of the leading commanders in the western theater during the Civil War. In doing so, Connelly illuminates the role of politics in the formulation of military policy, during both war and peace, in the latter half of the nineteenth century.Connelly relates how Schofield, as a department commander during the war, had to cope with contending political factions that sought to shape military and civil policies. Following the war, Schofield occupied every senior position in the army--including secretary of war and commanding general of the army--and became a leading champion of army reform and professionalism. He was the first senior officer to recognize that professionalism would come not from the separation of politics and the military but from the army's accommodation of politics and the often contentious American constitutional system. Seen through the lens of Schofield's extensive military career, the history of American civil-military relations has seldom involved conflict between the military and civil authority, Connelly argues. The central question has never been whether to have civilian control but rather which civilians have a say in the formulation and execution of policy.Force Recon Diary, 1969
By Major Bruce H. Norton. 1991
The riveting, true-to-life account of survival, heroism and death in the elite Marine 3d Force Recon unit, one of one…
two Marine units to receive the Valorous Unit Citation during the Vietnam War. Doc Norton, leader of 3d Force Recon, recounts his team's experiences behind enemy lines during the tense patrols, sudden ambushes and acts of supreme sacrifice that occurred as they gathered valuable information about NVA operations right from the source.