A selection of the Military Book Club Copiously illustrated and carefully described, this is the first full treatment of two of the Third Reich's most important figures. While Nazi Germany’s temporary ascendancy owed much to military skill, the talent of its engineers not only buoyed the regime but allowed it to survive longer than would normally be expected. This unique work focusing on Dr. Fritz Todt and Albert Speer, based on many previously-unpublished photographs and artwork from captured Nazi records, describes how engineering, as well as military skill, allowed the Third Reich to survive. Dr. Todt was the brilliant builder of the world's first superhighway system (the Autobahn) that still exists today, as well as the architect of the German West Wall (Siegfried Line) that predated the later Atlantic and East Walls. The builder, also, of each of the wartime “Fuhrer Headquarters,” as well as the submarine pens, Dr. Todt was killed in a still-mysterious airplane crash that may well have been a Nazi death plot, though he was given a State Funeral by Hitler, Todt was succeeded in death as German Minister of Armaments and War Production by the Fuhrer's longtime personal architect (actually one of several), Albert Speer, who was credited by the Allies after the war as having prolonged the conflict by at least a year. Called a genius by Hitler himself, Speer designed and built the prewar Nuremberg Nazi Party Congress rally stands and buildings, many of which can still be visited. More importantly, under the constant rain of Allied bombs and the encroachment of Soviet advances from the East, Speer managed to keep the German industrial machine running until the spring of 1945, though it was driven ever further underground. He also allocated resources to fortifications and counterattacks (the V-missile installations) against both West and East, in attempts to stave off defeat. Convicted as a war criminal at Nuremberg, Speer served his entire 20 year-long sentence at Spandau Prison, then went on to become a best-selling author as a Nazi apologist who died in London suddenly in the arms of his lover on Sept. 1, 1981, the anniversary of the German invasion of Poland. Together, Todt and Speer were the pillars that supported the Third Reich throughout the vicissitudes of battlefield fortune. With over 300 photographs, this is the first work that examines their unique role in history’s most terrible war. BLAINE TAYLOR is the author of eight previous photographic studies on the World War II era. The winner of six awards for writing and editing, he is a veteran of the US Army’s 199th Light Infantry Brigade in Vietnam, and has 12 medals and decorations, including the Combat Infantryman's Badge. An international magazine writer, Mr. Taylor lives and works in Towson, Maryland.

Hitler's Engineers: Fritz Todt and Albert Speer - Master Builders of the Third Reich

Biographies & Memoirs

Taylor, Blaine

Historical

Casemate Pub

In 1993 The Macmillan Publishing Company set the Napoleonic enthusiast community alight when it produced the major two volume work, Napoleonic Uniforms by John R. Elting, featuring the superb works of the famous illustrator Herbert Knötel. Now, in an unprecedented transatlantic co-operation, Greenhill Books in London and Casemate Publishing in the USA are together bringing these books back into print after some 14 years. This new edition, as before, is sold as a two volume set. In addition, the new edition is presented in a cloth bound slipcase. Pagination and an index have been added, significantly enhancing its reference value. Napoleonic Uniforms is the only reference work of its kind to depict accurately the entire Grande Armée in detail. It portrays the French armies as seen by their contemporaries, and combines authoritative text with lavish illustrations, enabling the reader to experience the spectacle first hand. Napoleonic Uniforms also depicts the various types of soldiers within the various regiments of the Grande Armée - officers, sergeants, color-bearers, bandsmen, drummers and trumpeters, privates and surgeons. In addition the volumes contain material on lesser-known formations such as the Army of Egypt (1798 - 1801), the pre-Revolutionary French Army, and Napoleon's police and internal security organizations. Nine hundred and eighteen original watercolors by Herbert Knötel, an internationally acclaimed authority on military uniforms, with a special talent for depicting men and horses in action, bring the nineteenth-century French soldier to life. Together with the late Colonel John R. Elting's definitive captions, they preserve a significant aspect of this famous era for historians, researchers, teachers, students, model makers, "uniformologists", and the general reader interested in this historical period.

NAPOLEONIC UNIFORMS: Volumes 1 & 2 (2 Volume Boxed Set)

History

Elting, John

Europe

Exodus from the Alamo: The Anatomy of the Last Stand Myth

A Selection of the Military and History Book Clubs A startling new analysis of one of America’s most glorious battles . . . Contrary to movie and legend, we now know that the defenders of the Alamo in the war for Texan independence—including Davy Crockett, Jim Bowie and William B. Travis—did not die under brilliant sunlight, defending their positions against hordes of Mexican infantry. Instead the Mexicans launched a predawn attack, surmounting the walls in darkness, forcing a wild melee inside the fort before many of its defenders had even awoken. In this book, Dr. Tucker, after deep research into recently discovered Mexican accounts and the forensic evidence, informs us that the traditional myth of the Alamo is even more off-base: most of the Alamo’s defenders died in breakouts from the fort, cut down by Santa Anna’s cavalry that had been pre-positioned to intercept the escapees. To be clear, a number of the Alamo’s defenders hung on inside the fort, fighting back every way they could. Captain Dickinson, with cannon atop the chapel (in which his wife hid), fired repeatedly into the Mexican throng of enemy cavalry until he was finally cut down. The controversy on Crockett still remains, though the recently authenticated diary of the Mexican de la Pena offers evidence that he surrendered. The most startling aspect of this book is that most of the Texans, in two gallantly led groups, broke out of the fort after the enemy had broken in, and the primary fights took place on the plain outside. Still fighting desperately, the Texans’ retreat was halted by cavalry, and afterward Mexican lancers plied their trade with bloodcurdling charges into the midst of the remaining resisters. Notoriously, Santa Anna burned the bodies of the Texans who had dared stand against him. As this book proves in thorough detail, the funeral pyres were well outside the fort—that is, where the two separate groups of escapers fell on the plain, rather than in the Alamo itself. PHILLIP THOMAS TUCKER earned his Ph.D. in American History from St. Louis University in 1990. The author or editor of more than 20 books on military history, several of which have won national and state awards for scholarship, he has worked as a U.S. Air Force Historian for nearly two decades in Washington, DC. Table of Contents PREFACE FOREWORD by Antonio Zavaleta, Ph.D. INTRODUCTION: From Fact to Fantasy 1: GOLDEN PRIZES: Land and Slaves 2: NAPOLEONIC INFLUENCES 3: THE ULTIMATE FOLLY: Defense of the Alamo 4: LULL BEFORE THE STORM: Fatal Overconfidence 5: AN INEFFECTIVE SIEGE 6: THE PREDAWN ASSAULT 7: FLIGHT RATHER THAN FIGHT 8: THE ALAMO’S MOST BITTER LEGACIES 9: FLAMES RISING HIGH NOTES BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX

Phillip Thomas Tucker

Americas

A comprehensive look at the brutal wilderness war that secured America's independence . . . With Musket and Tomahawk is a vivid account of the American and British struggles in the sprawling wilderness region of the northeast during the Revolutionary War. Combining strategic, tactical, and personal detail, this book describes how the patriots of the recently organized Northern Army defeated England's massive onslaught of 1777, thereby all but ensuring America’s independence. Conceived and launched by top-ranking British military leaders to shatter and suppress the revolting colonies, Britain’s three-pronged thrust was meant to separate New England from the rest of the nascent nation along the line of the Hudson River. Thus divided, both the northern and southern colonies could have been defeated in detail, unable to provide mutual assistance against further attacks. Yet, despite intense planning and vast efforts, Britain's campaign resulted in disaster when General John Burgoyne, with 6,000 soldiers, emerged from a woodline and surrendered his army to the Patriots at Saratoga in October 1777. Underneath the umbrella of Saratoga, countless battles and skirmishes were waged from the borders of Canada southward to Ticonderoga, Bennington, and West Point. Heroes on both sides were created by the score, though only one side proved victorious, amid a tapestry of madness, cruelty, and hardship in what can rightfully be called "the terrible Wilderness War of 1777." MICHAEL O. LOGUSZ has served in both the Regular and Reserve branches of the U.S. Army, most recently during Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2007–08. He holds a B.A. from Oswego State College and an M.A. in Russian Studies from Hunter College in New York. The author of numerous articles and a previous book on WWII, Lt. Colonel Logusz has personally examined the ground of each battle he describes. He currently lives in Florida. Table of Contents Introduction: The Wilderness War of 1777 1 The Strategic Dilemma in the Northern Theater 2 Lord Germain’s Proposal 3 Burgoyne’s Plan to Advance on Albany 4 The British Army in Canada 5 The Northern Campaign Commences 6 British Moves and Patriot Uncertainty 7 Burgoyne Advances and Fort Ticonderoga Falls 8 Cries of Retreat and Forest Combats 9 The Battle of Hubbardton 10 Fighting Off Marauders and Raiders 11 Samuel Kirkland: Chaplain and Intelligence Agent 12 Burgoyne’s Plan to Reach Fort Edward 13 Bolstering Forces on Both Sides 14 Burgoyne Hacks His Way South 15 The Tragic Case of Jane McCrea 16 The Battle of Bennington 17 Schuyler Is Relieved of Command 18 The Patriots Raid Fort Ticonderoga 19 The First Battle of Saratoga: Freeman’s Farm 20 Troops Dig In and Patriot Generals Collide 21 Burgoyne’s Strategy Unravels 22 The Second Battle of Saratoga: Bemis Heights 23 The British Begin to Collapse 24 Burgoyne Surrenders Acknowledgments Notes Bibliography Index

With Musket and Tomahawk: Volume I - The Saratoga Campaign and the Wilderness War of 1777

Logusz, Michael O.

Hidden Battles on Unseen Fronts: Stories of American Soldiers with Traumatic Brain Injury and PTSD

When the war comes home . . . This book is crafted around soldiers’ personal descriptions of their war experiences in Iraq and Afghanistan that culminate in life-altering injuries to the brain and psyche, along with the equally dramatic story of their recoveries. An irony of America’s 21st century wars has been that while our combat medical and medevac capabilities have grown enormously (from a rough average of 4:1 wounded to dead in WWII to 8:1 today), the nature of many of our soldiers’ wounds has undergone a subtle change. Men and women who survive the thick of combat, including repeated concussion blasts, increasingly present a difficult-to-detect kind of injury, no less debilitating then wounds from bullets or shrapnel. Hidden Battles on Unseen Fronts documents the ever-increasing cases of physical or mental brain trauma among our vets that has risen as a direct result of more soldiers surviving their flesh wounds on the battlefield. The chapters are crafted from interviews with troops and their family members, and bridged with essays by internationally known mental health professionals, veterans’ advocates, and members of the Veterans Administration and Department of Defense, all of whom are working in the front lines of what is quickly developing into a national crisis of unfathomable cost in both lives and money. From combat Army soldiers and Marines, even amputees, who eventually discover that their greatest disability is in their head, to support personnel such as Devore Barlowe, who returns from Iraq having witnessed atrocities that leave her with severe PTSD, but perseveres juggling her job and the single mothering of two young children, the voices of these warriors reinforce the book’s over-arching theme of resilience and courage. Thankfully the U.S. military’s battlefield support has vastly improved since prior wars. However, the signature wound of 21st century warfare—Traumatic Brain Injury, as well as PTSD—may lie beyond the current reach of standard medical procedures, and is more evidenced by the postwar stories of the soldiers themselves. In this book we get a thorough look at the travails of our veterans who may currently be undiagnosed and without help, but whom we are all committed to support. Celia Straus is author of the national bestseller, Prayers On My Pillow, and an award-winning film writer/producer who has been writing about the war-related experiences of service members and their families since 2003. The Armed Forces Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to serving the men and women of America’s military. All royalties from this work will go directly to the front line of support for wounded warriors with PTSD and TBI, and their families . Table of Contents Foreword World War II Introduction 1. DEPLOYED, DECORATED AND LIVING IN A CAR: The Story of Marine Corps Sergeant Christopher Horman 2. DECIDING WHO IS SANE ENOUGH TO FIGHT: The Ethics of Military Medicine in a Time of War by Alice Psirakis, LCSW 3. LANDMINE BLAST TO A SOUL: The Story of Army SPC Walter Blackston 4. AMERICA KEEPS ITS PROMISE: The Truth About Military Care of Warriors with Traumatic Brain Injury by Colonel Christopher S. Williams 5. BRINGING THE WAR HOME: The Story of Army Chief Warrant Officer Richard Gutteridge 6. HEALING THE HUMAN SPIRIT, HOUR BY HOUR by Barbara V. Romberg, PhD 7. DEEPER THAN WAR: The Story of US Marine Corps Captain Tyler Boudreau 8. THE VA’S SUICIDE PREVENTION HOTLINE: Saving the Lives of Veterans by Dr. Janet Kemp 9. A SHARPSHOOTER FIRES BACK: The Story of Army PFC Robert Kislow 10. THE EXPERT CONSULTANTS: OUR PATIENTS by Kelly Petska, PhD, and Donald MacLennan, PhD 11. WAR CHANT: The Story of Army Sergeant John “Medicine Bear” Radell 12. THE WEAPON OF CHOICE—PATIENCE by Dr. Charles “Chip” West 13. A WOMAN AT WAR: The Story of Army 2nd Lieutenant Sylvia Blackwood-Boutelle 14. I JUST WANT TO BE BACK IN IRAQ by Alice Psirakis, LCSW 15. AT HOME OUTSIDE THE WIRE: The Story of Marine Corps Corporal William Berger 16. WINNING HIDDEN BATTLES: Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury by Bill Yamanaka 17. A NEVERENDING BATTLE: The Story of Army Corporal Jonnei Campaz 18. THE REAL STORY BEHIND YOUR STORY by Dr. Rick Levy 19. AGAINST ALL ODDS: The Story of Marine Corps Corporal Joshua Hoffman 20. A VETERANS’ GUIDE TO MENTAL HEALTH SERVICES IN THE VA by Ira R. Katz, MD, PhD, and Bradley Karlin, PhD 21. WHEN MOMMY COMES HOME: The Story of Army Sergeant Devore Barlowe 22. WHY ARE YOU ALWAYS ANGRY, MOMMY? Children in Wartime—How to Know When Help Is Needed by Michael Genhart 23. A GOOD WACKING: The Story of Army Sergeant David Emme 24. THE MENTAL TRANSCEIVER by Norman McCormack 25. I’LL NEVER LEAVE YOU: The Story of Army National Guard Sergeant Jose Pequeno and His Mother, Nelida Bagley 26. THE FACES BEHIND THE FILES: The VA’s Polytrauma System of Care by Dr. Barbara Sigford, MD, PhD 27. PORTRAIT OF RESILIENCE: The Story of Army Sergeant Brent Bretz 28. FAMILIES OF HONOR by Dr. Mary Car-Blanchard 29. DELTA FORCE DOWN: The Story of Army Special Operations Sergeant Bryan Lane 30. REALIZING THE PROMISE OF EVIDENCE-BASED PSYCHOTHERAPIES IN THE VHA by Bradley Karlin, PhD, Josef Ruzek, PhD, and Kathleen Chard, PhD 31. A WOUNDED WARRIOR: The Story of Army Sergeant Nathan Toews 32. FALLING THROUGH THE CRACKS: Why Time Is Running Out by Lt. Colonel Cynthia Rasmussen 33. COURAGE TO HEAL: The Story of Army National Guard Sergeant Michael Mills and Suki Mills 34. TENDING, ATTENDING, AND HEALING: All Together, One by One by Dr. Joseph Bobrow 35. SLEEPLESS IN SILVER SPRING: The Story of National Guard Specialist 1st Class Duval Diaz 36. THE BATTLE FOR LOVE by Mitchell S. Tepper, PhD 37. ONE FOOT IS BETTER THAN TWO: The Story of Army Corporal Nicholas Firth and His Mother, Faye Firth 38. FACING OUR FEARS by Barbara V. Romberg, PhD 39. AFRAID TO TRUST: The Story of Marine Corps Sergeants Kelly Meister and Cody Sepulvida 40. THE ROAD BACK TO SELF: It’s the Journey, Not the Destination by David Carroll, PhD 41. A FAMILY AFFAIR: The Story of Army Sergeant John Weinburgh and Lindsey Weinburgh 42. PREPARING OURSELVES TO HELP WITH THE JOURNEY HOME by Barbara Tiner Acknowledgments About the contributors Resources For Military Service Members And Families

Patricia Driscoll

Celia Straus

Military

On sand and snow for Hitler . . . This book is built around two recently discovered war diaries—one by a member of the 23rd Panzer Division which served under Manstein in Russia, and the other by a member of Rommel’s AfrikaKorps. Together, along with detailed timelines and brief overviews, they comprise a fascinating “you are there” look at the German side of World War II. The stories are told primarily in the first person present tense, as events occurred, and without the benefit (or liability) of postwar reflection. The assignment of keeping the first diary was given to a soldier in the 2nd Battalion, 201st Panzer Regiment by a commanding officers and the author never saw fit to include his own name. This diary covers the period from April 1942 to March 1943, the momentous year when the tide of battle turned in the East. It first details the unit’s combat in the great German victory at Kharkov, then the advance to the Caucasus, and finally the brutal winter of 1942–43. The second diary’s author was a soldier named Rolf Krengel, and the diary was the original, handwritten copy. It starts with the beginning of the war and ends shortly after the occupation. Serving primarily in North Africa, Krengel recounts with keen insight and flashes of humor the day-to-day challenges of the AfrikaKorps. During one of the swirling battles in the desert, Krengel found himself sharing a tent with Rommel at a forward outpost. Neither of the diarists was famous, nor of especially high rank, and no books have been written on their military careers. However, these are the brutally honest accounts written at the time by men of the Wehrmacht who participated in two of history’s most crucial campaigns. DON A. GREGORY, is a Professor at the University of Alabama in Huntsville. WILHELM R. GEHLEN joined the French Foreign Legion and served in Indochina and North Africa. The authors previously collaborated on Mr. Gehlen’s childhood memoir, Jungvolk: The Story of a Boy Defending Hitler’s Third Reich (Casemate 2008). Table of Contents Preface PART I: TO STALINGRAD AND BACK Introduction 1: Departure from Paris and Arrival in Charkov 2: The Battle for Charkov, 5–29 May 1942 3: Forward to the Oskol River, 31 May–22 July 1942 4: Toward the Don and Ssal, 23–30 July 1942 5: Advance to the Caucasus, 1 August–24 November 1942 6: Our Part at Stalingrad, 25 November–25 December 1942 7: Our Retreat from Stalingrad, 26 December–19 March 1942 Historical Timeline Part II: TO NORTH AFRICA AND BACK Introduction 1: Conscription and On to France (“Case Yellow”), 1939 2: My North Africa Campaign, 1941 3: Chase and Being Chased through the Desert, 1942 4: Home to Germany 1943 5: The End of the War, 1945 6: After the End Epilogue: The Fall of Berlin and the Airlift Historical Timeline Appendix 1: Biography of Ludwig Bloos Appendix 2: Obituary of Rolf Krengel Bibliography and Sources

Two Soldiers, Two Lost Fronts: German War Diaries of the Stalingrad and North Africa Campaigns

Gehlen, Wilhelm R.

Gregory, Don A.

The Sustainable Rose Garden - A Reader in Rose Culture was awarded the World Federation of Roses Literary Award at the 16th World Federation of Rose Societies Convention, which took place October 2012 in South Africa. The guide to creating a NEW generation of American roses . . . This work brings together experts from around the world to inform gardeners about developments in the new—irresistible yet long overdue—trend toward creating environmentally friendly yet enduring rose gardens, with “sustainability” as the key. Pick up any popular gardening magazine and browse through it. Chances are you will soon encounter one word—"sustainability." Sustainability has, indeed, become the catchword of 21st century gardening. And for tens of millions of environmentally conscious gardeners it has become a "must" goal, rapidly being realized as part of the much heralded NEW GARDENING. This means gardening that is consciously aware of the dangerous health and environmental risks posed by using traditional synthetic chemicals and pesticides, and that seeks to return to the principles of Mother Nature, while also growing low-maintenance plants that make fewer demands on environmental resources. The Queen of Flowers, the rose—by Presidential declaration America's National Floral Emblem—was initially left behind as “green consciousness” and the concept of sustainability took hold among the gardening public. But the rose is now making up for lost time. From the workshops of breeders—both in the U.S. and abroad—a new generation of disease-resistant and low-maintenance rose varieties has emerged in the last decade to fill popular demand. In this book, you will learn how to make your own sustainable rose garden. With 38 lavishly illustrated articles and descriptions of the best new (as well as old) rose varieties designed for the sustainable rose garden, this is a must-have book for today's new generation of avid but environmentally conscious gardeners. Table of Contents Foreword - Marilyn Wellan Introduction: Winston &amp; Roses - Pat Shanley Growing Tea Roses - Lynne Chapman, Noelene Drage, Di Durston, Jenny Jones, Hillary Merrifield, Billy West A Close Look at Tea Roses -Lynne Chapman, Hillary Merrifield and Billy West Hennessey Revisited: Sustainability, or The Accidental Environmentalist -James Delahanty Rose Poems by Emily Dickinson -Historic Disease and Pest Control among Roses -Alice Flores Rose Studies: Watercolors and Drawings Documenting the Genus Rosa -Maria Cecilia Freeman Tea and Roses -Bill Grant Earth-Kind® Rose Trials — Identifying the World’s Strongest, Most Beautiful Landscape Roses - Derald A. Harp, David Zlesak, Gaye Hammond, Steve George, and Wayne Mackay Charmed by the “Thereness” of My Roses -Pat Henry Beautiful Foliage, an Important Design Element - Janet Inada Secret Garden Musk Climber - Jeri Jennings Rodents versus Roses - Jeri Jennings The Peggy Rockefeller Rose Garden’s Dual Mission of Disease Resistance and Protecting ‘Eva’ - Peter E. Kukielski The Roosevelt Island Rose Garden - Marjorie Marcallino Health in David Austin’s English Roses - Michael Marriott Mankind’s Second-Oldest Occupation (Cont’d.) - Clair G. Martin iii The Birth of a Rose Garden - Karl Mckoy Soil and Water and Roses - Dan Mills Notes from the Sacramento Historic Rose Garden - Barbara Oliva A Life Filled with Roses - William M. Patterson The Pillar Rose - William Paul (1822–1905) Report on Kordes® ADR Roses in the United States, 2010 - Gary Pellett Sustainable Gardening Practices at the San Jose Heritage Rose Garden - Jill Perry and Brian Debasitis Memoirs of a Condo Rose Grower and Composter: Containers for Roses - Ellen Spector Platt Talking about My Work with Roses - William J. Radler The Days of … Chickens and Roses? - Ron Robertson Garden Valley Ranch Compost Tea Program - Ron Robertson An Accidental Sustainable Rose Garden - Stephen Scanniello The Historical Significance of ‘Knock Out’ - Pat Shanley Probiotic Rose Growing - John Starnes Etiquette of the Rose Rustle - Allison Strong It’s Only Water! - Billy Styles and Alan Talbert Fire Ants versus Molasses - Betty Vickers Sustainable Rose Growing and the Breeding of New Roses: The View from India - Viru Viraraghavan Sustainability Genes: Breeding the Blackspot-Resistant Rose - Vance Whitaker A Century (or Two) of Hybrid Musks - Jeff Wyckoff Contributors

Sustainable Rose Garden: A Reader in Rose Culture

A main selection of the Military Book Club and a selection of the History Book Club. Finalist - Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Book Award Bronze Medal Book Award - Military Writers Society of America With his parting words "I shall return," General Douglas MacArthur sealed the fate of the last American forces on Bataan. Yet one young Army Captain named Russell Volckmann refused to surrender. He disappeared into the jungles of north Luzon where he raised a Filipino army of over 22,000 men. For the next three years he led a guerrilla war against the Japanese, killing over 50,000 enemy soldiers. At the same time he established radio contact with MacArthur's HQ in Australia and directed Allied forces to key enemy positions. When General Yamashita finally surrendered, he made his initial overtures not to MacArthur, but to Volckmann. This book establishes how Volckmann's leadership was critical to the outcome of the war in the Philippines. His ability to synthesize the realities and potential of guerrilla warfare led to a campaign that rendered Yamashita's forces incapable of repelling the Allied invasion. Had it not been for Volckmann, the Americans would have gone in "blind" during their counter-invasion, reducing their efforts to a trial-and-error campaign that would undoubtedly have cost more lives, materiel, and potentially stalled the pace of the entire Pacific War. Second, this book establishes Volckmann as the progenitor of modern counterinsurgency doctrine and the true "Father" of Army Special Forces- a title that history has erroneously awarded to Colonel Aaron Bank of the ETO. In 1950, Volckmann wrote two Army field manuals: "Operations Against Guerrilla Forces" and "Organization and Conduct of Guerrilla Warfare," though today few realize he was their author. Together, they became the Army's first handbooks outlining the precepts for both special warfare and counter-guerrilla operations. At a time when U.S. military doctrine was conventional in outlook, Volckmann marketed the ideas of guerrilla warfare as a critical force multiplier for any future conflict, ultimately securing the establishment of the Army's first special operations unit-the 10th Special Forces Group. Volckmann himself remains a shadowy figure in modern military history, his name absent from every major biography on MacArthur, and in much of the Special Forces literature. Yet as modest, even secretive, as Volckmann was during his career, it is difficult to imagine a man whose heroic initiative had more impact on World War II. This long overdue book not only chronicles the dramatic military exploits of Russell Volckmann, but analyzes how his leadership paved the way for modern special warfare doctrine.

American Guerrilla: The Forgotten Heroics of Russell W. Volckmann

Guardia, Mike

On July 3rd, 1866 a Prussian army overwhelmed and defeated an Austrian army near the fortress city of Königgrätz in a bloody battle that lasted all day. At a stroke, the foremost power in Germany and central Europe had been reduced to a second rate player. The event caused anxiety and alarm in the capitals of the western world. How was an upstart country like Prussia able to upset the balance of power in Europe? Only sixteen years before it had been put in its place by Austria with the treaty of Olmütz. Its performance as an Austrian ally had been less than stellar in the 2nd Schleswig War of 1864 despite its defeat of the Danes at Düppel. Yet within five years a Prussian led army would humble France and a Prussian King would be crowned Emperor of a united Germany. The history of the world would be changed forever. The story of this army is the subject of a new book by Bruce Bassett-Powell The Armies of Bismarck’s Wars – Prussia 1860-1867. He chronicles its growth from the end of the Napoleonic Wars to the reforms of the eighteen sixties followed by a full account of the wars against Denmark in 1864 and Austria in 1866. He shows how the confluence of three men’s lives; King William I, Helmuth von Molkte and Otto von Bismarck provided the essential ingredients that created this victorious army. The growth and influence of the General Staff is examined along with the recruitment and training of officers and men. He fully describes the organization of the army and the fledgling navy as well as the weapons with which they fought. In particular he gives a detailed account of their dress and accouterments accompanied by 24 full page color illustrations depicting over 70 uniforms. Table of Contents Acknowledgements Introduction PART 1. PRELUDE 1. Europe 1815–50 2. Prussia and Germany 1848–62 3. The Second Schleswig War and the final crisis PART 2.THE SEVEN WEEKS WAR 4. The advance to the Elbe 5. The Battle of Königgrätz 6. The final weeks of the war PART 3.THE PRUSSIAN ARMY AND NAVY 7. The Roon reforms and the General Staff 8. The Prussian soldier 1860–67 9.Weapons, strategy, and tactics 1860–67 10. The Royal Prussian Navy 11. Organization and war strength 1860–67 PART 4. UNIFORMS OF THE PRUSSIAN ARMY 1860–67 12. General uniform notes 13. General officers 14. Cavalry 15. Supporting corps 16. Naval uniforms 17. Uniform plate commentary APPENDICES A. Order of Battle for the Royal Prussian Army, Denmark 1 February 1864 B. Order of Battle for the Royal Prussian Army, June 1866 C. Ships of the Royal Prussian Navy, January 1864–August 1866 D. Prussian Army of 1866 Bibliography Index

Armies of Bismarck's Wars: Prussia, 1860–67

Basset Powell, Bruce

“Anybody who says that the pen is mightier than the sword hasn’t spent time in Somalia, or in Beirut during its bloody heyday.” So begins this fascinating memoir of a journalist, filmmaker, and just plain raconteur who has made a career of examining warfare—on the ground and as the bullets are flying. While the average citizen is aware of violent conflicts broiling all around the globe, Al J. Venter—from some strange compulsion unexplainable even by him—has felt the need to see them all in person, preferably at the center of the action. Born in South Africa, Venter has found no shortage of horrific battles on his own continent, from Rhodesia to Biafra, and Angola to Somalia. He has ridden with the legendary merc group Executive Outcomes, jumped into combat with South Africa’s crack Parachute Regiment (the Parabats), and traipsed the jungles with both guerrillas and national troops under whichever strongman in the country then held power. During Sierra Leone’s civil war he flew in the government’s lone Mi-24 Hind gunship as it blasted apart rebel villages and convoys, his complaint being that the Soviet-made craft leaked when it rained. In the Mideast he went into southern Lebanon with the invading Israeli army as it encountered resistance from multiple Muslim groups, including the newly formed Hezbollah. Curious about the other side of the hill, he joined up with General Aoun’s Christian militias while that conflict was at its height. Touching down in Croatia during the Balkan wars, and in Congo during their perpetual one, as well as the Uganda of Idi Amin, Venter never lost his lust for action, even as he sometimes had to put down his camera or notebook to pick up an AK-47. In his journeys, Venter associated with an array of similarly daring soldiers and journalists, from “Mad Mike” Hoare to Danny Pearl, as well as elite soldiers from around the world, many of whom, he sadly relates, never emerged from the war zones they entered. The creator of countless documentaries and books, from warfare to shark diving to nuclear proliferation, Al Venter has here offered the reader his own personal combat experiences, in all their multi-faceted fascination. http://www.talkradioeurope.com/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=2043:al-venter&amp;catid=160 Table of Contents Prologue: The Dubious Life of a War Correspondent 1 Getting to a Lebanon at War 2 Death of a Young Man 3 Levantine Woes 4 Lagos and an Army Mutiny 5 Biafra: The Build-Up 6 Survival in a West African Conflict 7 A Dirty Distant War: El Salvador 8 Patrol in No Man’s Land 9 A Central American Conflagration 10 Somalia: Wars of No Consequence 11 Air Operations in the Horn of Africa 12 Somali Aftermath 13 Search and Destroy in the Eastern Mediterranean 14 Israel’s Border Wars 15 Marj’Ayoun and the South Lebanese Army 16 Uganda: Africa’s Killing Fields 17 Bounty Hunt in Rhodesia 18 On the Ground in Rhodesia’s Bush War 19 Zaire: Road to an African War 20 Into the Congo’s Cauldron 21 Jailed for Espionage in Lubumbashi 22 Isolated in a Congolese Prison 23 ‘Kill all Infidels – Allahu Aqbar!’ 24 Tete Convoy in Mozambique 25 Serengeti Must Not Die 26 The Balkan Beast: Landmines in Croatia 27 Balkan War Joint-STARS Offensive 28 Helicopter Drug Raids in Zululand Postscript Endnotes Acknowledgements

Barrel of a Gun: A War Correspondent’s Misspent Moments in Combat

Venter, Al J.

World

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