Title search results
Showing 1 - 20 of 161 items
Veterans recall experiences of battle from World War I to the war in Iraq. Soldiers' letters, diaries, memoirs, and oral…
histories provide personal accounts of D-Day, the Tet offensive, heroic actions, and sinking ships. Includes an interview with Senator John McCain about his captivity in Vietnam. 2005Robert E. Lee: a Penguin life
By Roy Blount. 2003
Cultural journalist and humourist with southern upbringing offers character insights on Confederate Civil War general Robert E. Lee (1807-1870). Discusses…
Lee's background, the strengths and weaknesses of his military tactics, and his sense of honor. Appendixes explore Lee's sexuality, quirky humor, and attitude toward slavery. 2003John Paul Jones: sailor, hero, father of the American Navy
By Evan Thomas. 2003
Biography of the "great sea warrior," born in Scotland in 1747, who went to sea at age thirteen. Describes his…
career in the fledgling American Continental Navy, his later exploits in Europe and Russia, and his burial in an obscure Paris grave in 1792. 2003General Ike: a personal reminiscence
By John S. D. Eisenhower. 2003
The son of General Dwight D. Eisenhower draws on his own observations and research as a military historian to describe…
his father's relationships with World War II associates. Essays portray Ike's interactions with George Patton, Bernard Montgomery, Douglas MacArthur, George C. Marshall, Charles de Gaulle, and Winston Churchill, among others. Some strong language. 2003Ace of aces: the life of Captain Eddie Rickenbacker
By H. Paul Jeffers. 2003
A biography of captain Eddie Rickenbacker (1890-1973), the much decorated "Ace of Aces" who destroyed twenty-six enemy planes in World…
War I. Fascinated with engines and speed, he began his career as a race-car driver, becoming third-ranked in the country. He later founded Eastern Airlines. 2003Voices of war: stories of service from the home front and the front lines (The library Of Congress Veterans History Project)
By Veterans History Project. 2004
Personal accounts of American soldiers and medical personnel active in World War I, World War II, the Korean and Vietnam…
wars, and the Persian Gulf conflicts. Extracts from interviews, letters, and diary entries collected by the Library of Congress Veterans History Project are grouped by themes: Answering the Call, Under Fire, Coming Home. 2004A rage for glory: the life of Commodore Stephen Decatur, USN
By James T. De Kay. 2004
Biography of early American hero Stephen Decatur (1779-1820) by well-known naval historian. Portraying Decatur as a brilliant, fearless, and adored…
commander, de Kay recounts his rise to national prominence through exploits in the Barbary wars and the War of 1812. Offers new details on Decatur's tragic death in a senseless duel. 2004His Excellency: George Washington
By Joseph J. Ellis. 2004
Author of Founding Brothers (DB 51469) delves into the life and times of America's first president. Uses personal papers and…
historical accounts to recreate the man who was a French and Indian War soldier, plantation owner, businessman, and savvy politician who forged a new nation. Bestseller. 2004American soldier
By General Tommy Franks. 2004
Retired army general and former commander in chief of U.S. Central Command recollects his childhood and decorated thirty-eight-year military career…
including service in Vietnam, Operation Desert Storm, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Iraqi Freedom. Provides an inside look at the war on terror. Some strong language. Bestseller. 2004Washington's general: Nathanael Greene and the triumph of the American Revolution
By Terry Golway. 2005
Biography of American Revolutionary War commander Nathanael Greene (1742-1786), who was born a Rhode Island Quaker but chose to fight…
for independence. Details his career as George Washington's quartermaster general and his appointment as leader of the southern theater. Outlines how Greene forced the British to concede at Yorktown. 2005Seize the fire: heroism, duty, and the Battle of Trafalgar
By Adam Nicolson. 2005
The author views Admiral Horatio Nelson in terms of a religious but brutal British culture that condoned war. Posits that…
"the twinning of apocalypse and millennium, of violence leading to peace," resulted in the 1805 Battle of Trafalgar, in which England defeated Napoleonic France. Violence. 20051776
By David G. McCullough. 2005
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian chronicles the struggles of the Continental Army during the disastrous year of 1776. Highlights George Washington's failed…
New York campaign and the retreat across New Jersey. Assesses the political, economic, and social problems the young nation encountered during the turbulent months from August to December. Bestseller. 2005My American journey: An Autobiography
By Colin L Powell. 1995
Powell shares with his fellow Americans what he believes has been a great life. The son of immigrants, he was…
raised in New York's South Bronx and was undistinguished in school. But he found his place in life when he joined the ROTC and the army. Powell's is a story of hard work and good luck, of service, and of love from and for the people who helped make the former general and Joint Chiefs chairman a popular figure in the 1990s. Bestseller. 1995Folding paper cranes: an atomic memoir
By Leonard Bird. 2005
Memoir composed of accounts and poems confronting the legacy and future of nuclear warfare. Bird reflects on his visits to…
post-war Hiroshima and his experiences at the Nevada Test Site in 1957, when his marine unit was exposed to radiation during atomic detonations, which later caused his cancer. 2005Soldier: the life of Colin Powell
By Karen DeYoung. 2006
Washington Post reporter interviews retired general Colin Powell to chronicle his rise from a son of Jamaican immigrants to U.S.…
Secretary of State. Highlights his army life that culminated with his role as chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and explains his decision not to run for president. 2006A long way gone: memoirs of a boy soldier
By Ishmael Beah. 2007
The author recalls experiences as a war refuge and as a thirteen-year-old soldier forced to join the Sierra Leone army.…
Beah describes his participation in mass slaughters, rehabilitation, immigration to America, and involvement with UNICEF. Violence. 2007Redemption: the last battle of the Civil War
By Nicholas Lemann. 2006
Chronicles post-Civil War Reconstruction's degeneration into Jim Crow laws. Describes the 1873 Easter Sunday massacre in Colfax, Louisiana, and the…
armed campaign of racial violence. Highlights the attempts of former Union general Adelbert Ames, governor of Mississippi, to preserve black civil rights. Violence and some strong language. 2006Fallen founder: the life of Aaron Burr
By Nancy Isenberg. 2007
Biography of Revolutionary War veteran, lawyer, and vice president Aaron Burr (1756-1836). Portrays the lies, slander, and factionalism of late-eighteenth-…
and early-nineteenth-century American politics. Details rival Alexander Hamilton's subversion of Burr's career before their 1804 duel. Analyzes Burr's involvement with General James Wilkinson and Burr's 1807 trial for treason. 2007How the South could have won the Civil War: the fatal errors that led to Confederate defeat
By Bevin Alexander. 2007
Military historian posits that the South would have been victorious had Confederate president Jefferson Davis and General Robert E. Lee…
followed General Stonewall Jackson's advice and attacked factories, railroads, and farms in the North rather than engaging in frontal assaults. Details crucial battles that support this theory. 2007Nathan Hale: the life and death of America's first spy
By M. William Phelps. 2008
Biography of famed patriot and American Revolution hero Nathan Hale (1755-1776), who was hung by the British for spying. Uses…
primary sources to detail Hale's years at Yale and his teaching career before he joined the Connecticut militia. Some violence. 2008