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Showing 2761 - 2780 of 3852 items
By Hank H. Cox, Clarence E. McKnight. 2018
Lt. Gen. John C. H. Lee wore six stars on his helmet, three in front and three in back—an unusual…
affectation. He was a stickler for discipline and a legendary military figure whom servicemen and historians loved to hate. Yet Lee was an intensely religious person and an advocate of opportunity for African Americans in the era of Jim Crow, setting him apart from the conservative officer corps at this time. Lee was also responsible for supplying the Allied armies in Europe during World War II from D-Day through Germany’s surrender. In this long-overdue biography of the brilliant and eccentric commander, Hank H. Cox paints a vivid picture of this enormous logistical task and the man who made it all happen.The General Who Wore Six Stars delves into the perplexing details of how Lee let his idiosyncrasies get the better of him. This “pompous little son-of-a-bitch,” as some historians have called him, who was “only interested in self-advertisement,” famously moved his headquarters to Paris, where during the height of the American Army supply crisis, twenty-nine thousand of his Service of Supply troops shacked up in the finest hotels and, due to sheer numbers, created an enormous black market. Yet, Cox argues, Lee’s strategical genius throughout the war has been underappreciated not only by his contemporaries but also by World War II historians. The General Who Wore Six Stars provides a timely reassessment of this intriguing individual.Colonel Frank Wolford, the acclaimed Civil War colonel of the First Kentucky Volunteer Cavalry, is remembered today primarily for his…
unenviable reputation. Despite his stellar service record and widespread fame, Wolford ruined his reputation and his career over the question of emancipation and the enlistment of African Americans in the army. Unhappy with Abraham Lincoln’s public stance on slavery, Wolford rebelled and made a series of treasonous speeches against the president. Dishonorably discharged and arrested three times, Wolford, on the brink of being exiled beyond federal lines into the Confederacy, was taken in irons to Washington DC to meet with Lincoln. Lincoln spared Wolford, however, and the disgraced colonel returned to Kentucky, where he was admired for his war record and rewarded politically for his racially based rebellion against Lincoln. Although his military record established him as one of the most vigorous, courageous, and original commanders in the cavalry, Wolford’s later reputation suffered. Dan Lee restores balance to the story of a crude, complicated, but talented man and the unconventional regiment he led in the fight to save the Union. Placing Wolford in the context of the political and cultural crosscurrents that tore at Kentucky during the war, Lee fills out the historical picture of “Old Roman Nose.”By Edward G. Longacre. 2010
As the grandson of Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee and the nephew of Robert E. Lee, Fitzhugh Lee—nicknamed “Fitz”—was born into…
one of Virginia’s most distinguished families. Upon graduation from West Point, Fitz Lee served in the U.S. Army until the outbreak of the Civil War, when he joined the Confederate cavalry forces. After participating in the Peninsula Campaign, he rapidly rose in rank, promoted first to brigadier general in July 1862, then to major general in the fall of 1863. Only twenty-seven years old, he commanded with distinction at Antietam, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. Severely wounded in 1864, he subsequently returned to service and was promoted to commander of the cavalry of the Army of Northern Virginia, which he led during the final campaigns of the war. After the war Fitz Lee served as governor of Virginia, commander of the U.S. Volunteers in the Spanish-American War, and postwar occupation commander in Cuba. He also wrote many popular works of military history and biography; his biography of Robert E. Lee is still in print. Acclaimed Civil War author Edward G. Longacre has combed family records, West Point cadet files, and the National Archives to produce a lively biography of one of the South’s youngest and ablest cavalry commanders—a man who later became one of America’s most distinguished military leaders.By Kayla Williams, Tracy Crow, Jerri Bell. 2017
This inspiring anthology is the first to convey the rich experiences and contributions of women in the American military in…
their own words—from the Revolutionary War to the present wars in the Middle East. Serving with the Union Army during the Civil War as a nurse, scout, spy, and soldier, Harriet Tubman tells what it was like to be the first American woman to lead a raid against an enemy, freeing some 750 slaves. Busting gender stereotypes, Josette Dermody Wingo enlisted as a gunner’s mate in the navy in World War II to teach sailors to fire Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns. Marine Barbara Dulinsky recalls serving under fire in Saigon during the Tet Offensive of 1968, and Brooke King describes the aftermath of her experiences outside the wire with the army in Operation Iraqi Freedom. In excerpts from their diaries, letters, oral histories, and pension depositions—as well as from published and unpublished memoirs—generations of women reveal why and how they chose to serve their country, often breaking with social norms, even at great personal peril.By Joseph Kaifala. 2018
Joseph Kaifala recounts the harrowing details of his early life, facing unimaginable violence from the civil wars in Sierra Leone…
and Liberia, and the quest for survival that eventually led him to the United States. 2018.By David Stuttard. 2018
Alcibiades was one of the most dazzling figures of the Golden Age of Athens. A ward of Pericles and a…
friend of Socrates, he was spectacularly rich, bewitchingly handsome and charismatic, a skilled general, and a ruthless politician. He was also a serial traitor, infamous for his dizzying changes of loyalty in the Peloponnesian War. Nemesis tells the story of this extraordinary life and the turbulent world that Alcibiades set out to conquer. David Stuttard recreates ancient Athens at the height of its glory as he follows Alcibiades from childhood to political power. Outraged by Alcibiades’ celebrity lifestyle, his enemies sought every chance to undermine him. Eventually, facing a capital charge of impiety, Alcibiades escaped to the enemy, Sparta. There he traded military intelligence for safety until, suspected of seducing a Spartan queen, he was forced to flee again—this time to Greece’s long-term foes, the Persians. Miraculously, though, he engineered a recall to Athens as Supreme Commander, but—suffering a reversal—he took flight to Thrace, where he lived as a warlord. At last in Anatolia, tracked by his enemies, he died naked and alone in a hail of arrows. As he follows Alcibiades’ journeys crisscrossing the Mediterranean from mainland Greece to Syracuse, Sardis, and Byzantium, Stuttard weaves together the threads of Alcibiades’ adventures against a backdrop of cultural splendor and international chaos. Navigating often contradictory evidence, Nemesis provides a coherent and spellbinding account of a life that has gripped historians, storytellers, and artists for more than two thousand years.By Roger L. Rosentreter. 2018
Grand Rapids responded to President Abraham Lincoln's call for troops with passionate swiftness. Kent County men fought stubbornly on memorable…
battlefields like First Bull Run, Stones River and Gettysburg, as well as obscure places like Boonville, La Vergne and Mossy Creek. An affinity for cavalry earned Grand Rapids the moniker "Michigan's Horse Soldier City," while Valley City engineers designed and constructed spectacular railroad bridges throughout the South. Back home, the soldiers' mothers, wives and sisters faced the conflict's many challenges with patriotic doggedness. Dr. Roger L. Rosentreter chronicles how Grand Rapids citizens responded to wartime trials and tribulations while helping the North save the Union and end slavery.By Robert O'Neill. 2017
A stirringly evocative, thought-provoking, and often jaw-dropping account, The Operator ranges across SEAL Team Operator Robert O’Neill’s awe-inspiring four-hundred-mission career,…
which included his involvement in attempts to rescue “Lone Survivor” Marcus Luttrell and abducted-by-Somali-pirates Captain Richard Phillips and which culminated in those famous three shots that dispatched the world’s most wanted terrorist, Osama bin Laden. In these pages, O’Neill describes his idyllic childhood in Butte, Montana; his impulsive decision to join the SEALs; the arduous evaluation and training process; and the even tougher gauntlet he had to run to join the SEALs’ most elite unit. After officially becoming a SEAL, O’Neill would spend more than a decade in the most intense counterterror effort in US history. For extended periods, not a night passed without him and his small team recording multiple enemy kills—and though he was lucky enough to survive, several of the SEALs he’d trained with and fought beside never made it home. The Operator describes the nonstop action of O’Neill’s deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan, evokes the black humor of years-long combat, brings to vivid life the lethal efficiency of the military’s most selective units, and reveals firsthand details of the most celebrated terrorist takedown in history. A New York Times BestsellerOn February 6, 1945, Robert Brasillach was executed for treason by a French firing squad. He was a writer of…
some distinction—a prolific novelist and a keen literary critic. He was also a dedicated anti-Semite, an acerbic opponent of French democracy, and editor in chief of the fascist weekly Je Suis Partout, in whose pages he regularly printed wartime denunciations of Jews and resistance activists. Was Brasillach in fact guilty of treason? Was he condemned for his denunciations of the resistance, or singled out as a suspected homosexual? Was it right that he was executed when others, who were directly responsible for the murder of thousands, were set free? Kaplan's meticulous reconstruction of Brasillach's life and trial skirts none of these ethical subtleties: a detective story, a cautionary tale, and a meditation on the disturbing workings of justice and memory, The Collaborator will stand as the definitive account of Brasillach's crime and punishment. A National Book Award Finalist A National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist "A well-researched and vivid account."—John Weightman, New York Review of Books "A gripping reconstruction of [Brasillach's] trial."—The New Yorker "Readers of this disturbing book will want to find moral touchstones of their own. They're going to need them. This is one of the few works on Nazism that forces us to experience how complex the situation really was, and answers won't come easily."—Daniel Blue, San Francisco Chronicle Book Review "The Collaborator is one of the best-written, most absorbing pieces of literary history in years."—David A. Bell, New York Times Book Review "Alice Kaplan's clear-headed study of the case of Robert Brasillach in France has a good deal of current-day relevance. . . . Kaplan's fine book . . . shows that the passage of time illuminates different understandings, and she leaves it to us to reflect on which understanding is better."—Richard Bernstein, The New York TimesOn April 23, 1943, the seventy-man crew of the USS Grenadier scrambled to save their submarine—and themselves—after a Japanese aerial…
torpedo sent it crashing to the ocean floor. Miraculously, the men were able to bring the sub back to the surface, only to be captured by the Japanese.No Ordinary Joes tells the harrowing story of four of the Grenadier’s crew: Bob Palmer of Medford, Oregon; Chuck Vervalin of Dundee, New York; Tim McCoy of Dallas, Texas; and Gordy Cox of Yakima, Washington. All were enlistees from families that struggled through the Great Depression. The lure of service and duty to country were not their primary motivations—they were more compelled by the promise of a job that provided “three hots and a cot” and a steady paycheck. On the day they were captured, all four were still teenagers.Together, the men faced unimaginable brutality at the hands of their captors in a prisoner of war camp. With no training in how to respond in the face of relentless interrogations and with less than a cup of rice per day for sustenance, each man created his own strategy for survival. When the liberation finally came, all four anticipated a triumphant homecoming to waiting families, loved ones, and wives, but instead were forced to find a new kind of strength as they struggled to resume their lives in a world that had given them up for dead, and with the aftershocks of an experience that haunted and colored the rest of their days. Author Larry Colton brings the lives of these four “ordinary” heroes into brilliant focus. Theirs is a story of tragedy and courage, romance and war, loss and endurance, failure and redemption. With a scope both panoramic and disarmingly intimate, No Ordinary Joes is a powerful look at the atrocities of war, the reality of its aftermath, and the restorative power of love.From the Hardcover edition.Captain Patterson's adventures are written in a companionable, good natured style which leads the reader through the Peninsular War towards…
the Pyrenees and Southern France Campaign. This account is filled with much essential information of the campaign and the battlefields, as well as entertaining anecdotes of the author's own experiences and those of his soldiers and comrades. An essential addition to the Napoleonic library of every enthusiast.Author -- Captain John PattersonText taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in London : T. & W. Boone, 1837.Original Page Count - x and 436 pages.By W. Francis Aitken. 2013
Baron Baden-Powell is nowadays remembered best for his work as the founder of the Scouting Movement which has gone on…
to become a world-wide success; however his initial reputation rested on his military career centred on the Boer War. Colonel Baden-Powell, as he then was, commanded at Mafeking and was charged with its defence no matter the odds. At his command he had few resources, even fewer men and slim prospects of holding out against overwhelming odds. What this book tells, with great gusto, is the miracle that Baden-Powell contrived to bring about by successfully defending Mafeking for seven months. His tactics were often unconventional but very effective in keeping up both the spirits of the townspeople and the Boers at bay. He set an example of sang-froid that was instrumental in ensuring the troops under his command did not give in to the fears of the odds facing them. The following anecdote is characteristic of him:"Soon after the redoubtable Cronje [The Boer General] took command of the Boer forces, he forwarded a demand for surrender, to avoid further bloodshed, to which the reply [Baden-Powell's] was, "When will the bloodshed begin?""Highly recommended.Author -- W. Francis AitkenText taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in 1900, London, by S W Partridge & Co.Original Page Count - 175 pages.Illustrations -- 1 Portrait.By Captain Alexander Gordon. 2011
This ebook is purpose built and is proof-read and re-type set from the original to provide an outstanding experience of…
reflowing text for an ebook reader. Captain Gordon led a troop of the 15th Hussars during the first of the British army's campaigns into Spain, commanded by Sir John Moore. Unearthed and published many years after it was written by the esteemed Regimental historian Colonel Wylly, his diary bears testimony to the events of the retreat to Corunna. Gordon writes of his adventures with verve, wit and in some places a little venom when talking of his erstwhile commander Moore; he is fulsome in his description of the Portuguese and Spanish people to whom the British had come to aid. For example when relating the qualities of a local wine he could "only compare the taste of it to a mixture of vinegar and ink" On military matters he is no great respecter of rank, and distributes blame and praise where he believes they should be rightly apportioned. He gives a great first-hand account of the famed skirmish of Sahagun, to which he believes started a moral ascendancy of the British cavalry over their French counterparts. Despite some defective equipment and, as Gordon attributes it, dilatory conduct by the commander, he reaches Corunna unlike a number of his comrades and fellow country-men. A fine read, which despite its format as a journal retains some pace, it gives a great view of the retreat from an expert military eye. Text taken, whole and complete from the 1913 edition, John Murray, London Original -238 pages Author - Captain Alexander Gordon (1781-1872) Editor - Colonel Harold Carmichael Wylly (1858-1932) Illustrations - 1 portrait, 2 plans, 1 map not included because of size [A3] Linked TOCBy Anon, General Freiherr Baron Friedrich Karl Ferdinand Von Müffling. 2011
This ebook is purpose built and is proof-read and re-type set from the original to provide an outstanding experience of…
reflowing text for an ebook reader. Baron von Müffling was a prominent figure during the campaign of 1815, as a former Quarter-Master General of the Prussian army of Silesia in 1813-1814, he was appointed to be the Prussian Liaison officer with the Anglo-Dutch army under the Duke of Wellington. Privy to all the details current at the allied headquarters, and present on the field of battle Müffling was well placed to write an account of the campaign which was originally in his native German, although short is of enduring interest. It is set with vivid details and unlike staff-officers of later years his place on the battlefield at the Duke's side was one of grave danger as the Anglo-Dutch army struggled to hold on to the ridge at Waterloo. His own action at the battle was indeed decisive, in two incidents, the first in directing the Prussian reinforcements to the right of the hard-pressed allied line, and secondly in bringing up two British cavalry brigades to take part in the final assault on the French lines. He was appointed the Governor of Paris, a particularly tricky job given the recent struggles and the large numbers of armed men roaming the city, which he dispatched with aplomb. Müffling would go on to many important postings in the Prussian army, and even as an international mediator. Author - General Baron Friedrich Karl Ferdinand von Müffling - (1775-1851) Translator - Anon Text taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in 1850, Brussels, by Gérard Original - 102 pages.This ebook is purpose built and is proof-read and re-type set from the original to provide an outstanding experience of…
reflowing text for an ebook reader. Major-General Lord Andrew Thomas Blayney although previously a successful commander of his own regiment the 89th Regiment of Foot of the British through-out the early stages of the Peninsular war, he is best known for his narrative of events after his capture by Polish forces fighting under the flag of Napoleonic France. Blayney was the leader of an ill-fated Anglo-Spanish force which was assigned the task of attacking from Cadiz toward Malaga, culminating the battle of Fuengirola on 15th October 1810. Outnumbering his Polish foes by a huge margin, a series of unfortunate accidents on the allied side and brave and heroic resistance on the Polish side led to a debacle and his capture. It should be noted that this was far from the only amphibious disaster led by the British in the Peninsular Wars that should throw further perspective on the victories of the main British army under Wellington. Blayney's narrative along with some idiosyncratic spelling recounts his journey from Andulusia to Verdun in the north-east of France. During his journey from one outpost to another as a paroled prisoner he meets a number of famed French generals, as befitted his rank, such as Sébastiani, Kellermann, Belliard and even Marshal Bessiéres who treat him on the whole well. He winds his way through the countryside, and he tells many tales of the people and surroundings that he finds himself somewhat forcibly journeying through. The main strength of the narrative is the author's eye to detail and his flair for recounting a tale, along with the real rarity of accounts from the point of view of an English prisoner of war. Published in two volumes this is the second volume. Author - Major-General Lord Andrew Thomas Blayney, 11th Baron Blayney [30 November 1770 - 8 April 1834] Text taken, less appendices, from the 1814 edition, published in London by E Kerry Original - 519 pages. Linked TOC.This ebook is purpose built and is proof-read and re-type set from the original to provide an outstanding experience of…
reflowing text for an ebook reader. Major-General Lord Andrew Thomas Blayney although previously a successful commander of his own regiment the 89th Regiment of Foot of the British through-out the early stages of the Peninsular war, he is best known for his narrative of events after his capture by Polish forces fighting under the flag of Napoleonic France. Blayney was the leader of an ill-fated Anglo-Spanish force which was assigned the task of attacking from Cadiz toward Malaga, culminating the battle of Fuengirola on 15th October 1810. Outnumbering his Polish foes by a huge margin, a series of unfortunate accidents on the allied side and brave and heroic resistance on the Polish side led to a debacle and his capture. It should be noted that this was far from the only amphibious disaster led by the British in the Peninsular Wars that should throw further perspective on the victories of the main British army under Wellington. Blayney's narrative along with some idiosyncratic spelling recounts his journey from Andulusia to Verdun in the north-east of France. During his journey from one outpost to another as a paroled prisoner he meets a number of famed French generals, as befitted his rank, such as Sébastiani, Kellermann, Belliard and even Marshal Bessiéres who treat him on the whole well. He winds his way through the countryside, and he tells many tales of the people and surroundings that he finds himself somewhat forcibly journeying through. The main strength of the narrative is the author's eye to detail and his flair for recounting a tale, along with the real rarity of accounts from the point of view of an English prisoner of war. Published in two volumes this is the first volume. Author - Major-General Lord Andrew Thomas Blayney, 11th Baron Blayney [30 November 1770 - 8 April 1834] Text taken, whole and complete, from the 1814 edition, published in London by E Kerry Original - 495 pages. Linked TOC.By Pickle Partners Publishing, Napoleon I Emperor of the French, Robert Matteson Johnson. 2011
This ebook is purpose built and is proof-read and re-type set from the original to provide an outstanding experience of…
reflowing text for an ebook reader. Napoleon, died on the lonely island of St Helena in 1821, his life, his actions and thoughts have been written about, re-written and revised ever since. It is noticeable that Napoleon himself never left much in the way of works written by himself to record what he did or how he went about it, or to justify his methods or outline his plans. The works that emanated from St Helena, such as the Memorial, were written by those that shared his captivity and for their own purposes. That having been said Napoleon lived in a time without modern communication methods, leaving his vast empire to be run via the pen. Much that Napoleon wrote survived as a measure of this the official correspondence that he left behind is voluminous, running to 32 volumes in the initial edition published under the orders of Napoleon III, many other volumes were published thereafter. From this vast treasure-trove of information about the thoughts, actions and orders that Napoleon left, the American historian Robert Johnson reconstructed his book "The Corsican". The premise behind the books was to create a diary from Napoleon's own works and utterances as if it has been written contemporaneously by the Emperor himself. The result is an intriguing book which is faithful to the words of it's purported owner and includes the shifting themes of his life and his hopes and fears clearly. Fascinating reading. Text taken, whole and complete, from the 1910 edition, published in Boston and New York by Houghton Mifflin. Original - 546 pages. Author - Napoleon I - Emperor of the French 1769-1821 Editor - Robert Matteson Johnson 1867-1920 Linked TOC.In this anonymously published memoir, the experiences of a "light-bob", or light infantryman, are recounted in a readable and exciting…
account. The Author reveals himself to be a proud Irishman who joined the 43rd in time to join the expedition to Denmark, before embarking on more serious skirmishing and heavy fighting in the Peninsular. First during Sir John Moore's retreat to Coruña and then as part of the famed Light Division under General Craufurd. His view of the actions on the Coa, Masséna's invasion of Portugal, the battle of Fuentes d'Oñoro, the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo follow before his wounds at the storming of Badajoz force his retirement.The author gives an excellent account of the day-to-day life as an N.C.O. in the light infantry, tactics and experience recounted in detail, along with the impact on the Portuguese and Spanish civilians that he encounters.An enjoyable Peninsular read.Author -- AnonText taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in 1835, London, by John Mason.Original Page Count - 278 pages.By General Sir Edward Thomas Henry Hutton. 2013
The Kings Royal Rifle Corps, or the 2nd Battalion the Royal Green Jackets as they are now known, had a…
long and proud fighting tradition that they would exchange with no other regiment in the British Army. Originally raised from American colonists in 1756, their skill in fighting the French and their native American allies in the woods in the north of the nascent America was legendary; the regiment was honoured for its distinguished service with the motto "Swift and Bold" by no less a figure as General Wolfe in the Quebec campaign. During the Napoleonic Wars, companies of the 5th Battalion were attached to the divisions of Wellington's army to provide them with tough, resilient experienced skirmishers. After many significant deployments to overseas theatres during the 1800's, the regiment was hugely expanded for service in the First World War during which the men of the KRRC added much lustre to their reputation and no fewer than seven V.C.s.Lt.-General Sir Edward Hutton was a distinguished officer of the British army, aide-de-camp to Queen Victoria and pioneered the use of mounted infantry in the British Army. He was also the first commander of the Australian Army. He wrote this short history of his old regiment in retirement during the early stages of the First World War.Author -- Lt.-General Sir Edward Thomas Henry Hutton 1848-1923Text taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in 1917, Winchester, by Warren and SonOriginal Page Count - 84 pages.Illustrations -- 4 maps and plans.By John William Fortescue. 2013
Sir John Fortescue holds a pre-eminent place amongst British military historians, his enduring fame and legacy resting mainly on his…
life's work "The History of the British Army", issued in 20 volumes, which took him some 30 years to complete. In scope and breadth it is such that no modern scholar has attempted to cover such a large and diverse subject in its entirety; but Sir John did so and with aplomb, leading to a readable and comprehensive study.According to Professor Emeritus of Military History at King's College, Brian Bond, the work was "the product of indefatigable research in original documents, a determination to present a clear, accurate, and readable narrative of military operations, and a close personal knowledge of the battlefields, which enabled him to elucidate his account with excellent maps. Most important, however, was his motivation: namely, a lifelong affection for the old, long-service, pre-Cardwell army, the spirit of the regiments of which it largely consisted, and the value of its traditions to the nation. An important part of his task was to distil and inculcate these soldierly virtues which, in his conservative view, contrasted sharply with the unedifying character of politicians who habitually meddled in military matters." ODNB.This second volume covers the period from 1713 to 1763, including the Jacobite rebellion of 1715, the wars of Austrian Succession, and British expansion into America and India and the enduring struggle with France for Imperial power.A MUST READ for any military enthusiast.Author -- Fortescue, J. W. Sir, 1859-1933.Text taken, whole and complete, from the second edition published in 1910, London, by Macmillan and Co.Original Page Count - xxii and 606 pages.Illustrations -- Numerous maps and plans