- Table View
- List View
Flash Point
by Richard Aellenhatred erupted like a volcano Sam saw it coming and yelled her name. Too late. Without hesitation or warning she spit in Tayib's face. There was a gasp, Tayib's features darkened, his hand moved in a blur beneath his robe and emerged with a knife. Sam rushed forward but soldiers wrestled him back. Tracy was shouting, "Get your hands off." Two of the shaheen pinned Katherine's arms. Tayib grabbed her hair, yanked her head back and brought the blade to her throat. "No," Sam yelled. He rammed an elbow into one man's stomach, broke free and threw himself at Tayib. Something smashed the back of his head, jagged pinwheels of light, the room tilted and he was on his hands and knees. A drop of blood glistened and disappeared into the rug. Dead, he thought. We're all dead.
Flash Point
by Matt Croucher GCDan Coldrain is a former elite Royal Marine Commando haunted by the death of his best mate Reese, killed in action by enemy forces. Coldrain used to believe in honour, service, and the call of duty, but haunted by Reese's death, he drops out of service and instead seeks the lucrative pay cheques on the private military contractor's circuit.Soon the Sandman, a shadowy figure with connections to the political underworld, lurks into view, with a proposal for Coldrain: find a man called Dogan - a terrorist responsible for a slew of lethal IED attacks in both Iraq and Afghanistan - detain him and hand him over to the Sandman. For this simple task Coldrain will be granted a four-man team, access to high-grade weapons and explosives and vehicles, and a cool £1 million per head once the mission is completed. And so the hunt begins, with the contractors dragged through hell and back in search of their deadly suspect. Will Coldrain and his team complete their mission successfully? And, most importantly, will Coldrain battle the demons which so haunt him over his friend's death?
Flash Point North Korea
by Richard MobleyDuring a dark period of U.S. military history in the late 1960s, North Korean forces captured an American naval vessel and shot down an unarmed reconnaissance aircraft, taking the lives of thirty-one U.S. sailors and Marines and striking a damaging blow to American honor. This look back to that earlier time of crisis provides serious food for thought as contemporary strategists again grapple with a North Korean regime that threatens regional security and U.S. national interests. The capture of USS Pueblo has been written about extensively but rarely in context with the shoot down four months later of an EC-121 aircraft and never with so much relevant documentation Richard Mobley, a veteran naval intelligence officer who served on the staff of U.S. forces in Korea during the late 1990s--confronting many of the same challenges faced in the 1960s and today--has uncovered a vast array of recently declassified documents that shed new light on these events and address lingering questions about U.S. reactions and its failure to retaliate. The formerly top secret answers to these and many other frequently asked questions are all covered in Mobley's groundbreaking investigation. His careful examination of the resource strains caused by concurrent U.S. involvement in Vietnam the unexecuted retaliatory plans, and lessons learned confirms many criticisms long leveled at U.S. planners and decision-makers. It also challenges other criticisms by revealing new information and by placing these facts in the context of the time. The author couples the wisdom of hindsight with the revelation of new information for a timely new work on a subject of ongoing and vital importance.
Flashback (Star Trek )
by Diane CareyA hundred years before the Starship VoyagerTM was transported to the Delta Quadrant, Lieutenant Tuvok served under one of Starfleet's most famous officers: Captain Hikaru Sulu of the Starship ExcelsiorTM. Now those days have come back to haunt him. While traveling through an uncharted nebula, Tuvok is besieged by recurring memories of his time with Captain Sulu -- repressed memories that may well kill him unless their source is determined in time. To save her closest friend, Captain Kathryn Janeway follows Tuvok to the century-old bridge of the Excelsior during a desperate battle. There Tuvok, Captain Janeway, Captain Sulu and Commander Janice Rand must face a menace to galactic life unlike anything known before. . . .
Flashback: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Suicide, and the Lessons of War
by Penny ColemanWith the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, once again America's men and women who have seen war close-up are suddenly expected to return seamlessly to civilian life. In <i>Flashback</i>, Penny Coleman tells the cautionary and timely story of posttraumatic stress disorder in the hope that we can sensitively assist those veterans who return from combat in need of help, and the families struggling to support them.
Flashback
by Penny ColemanWith the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, once again America's men and women who have seen war close-up are suddenly expected to return seamlessly to civilian life. In Flashback, Penny Coleman tells the cautionary and timely story of posttraumatic stress disorder in the hope that we can sensitively assist those veterans who return from combat in need of help, and the families struggling to support them.From the Trade Paperback edition.
Flashes of War: Short Stories
by Katey SchultzIlluminating the intimate, human faces of war, this unique series of short stories by award-winning author Katey Schultz questions the stereotypes of modern war by bearing witness to the shared struggles of all who are touched by it. Numerous characters-returning U.S. soldier and pragmatic jihadist, Afghan mother and listless American sister, courageous amputee and a ghost that cannot let go-appear in Flashes of War, which captures personal moments of fear, introspection, confusion, and valor in one collection spanning nations and perspectives.
Flashpoint (Seal Team Seven, #11)
by Keith DouglassAfter a successful mission in Iran, Lieutenant Commander Blake Murdock and his team of Navy SEALs get some new toys to play with. The Bull Pup is the most advanced infantry rifle ever, able to shoot around corners with a range up to a thousand yards. And they've gotten it just in time for a little test run... A corrupt election has given Colombia a new president: the country's second biggest drug lord. The SEAL team is sent in to ruin his business--and take him out. They're the most dangerous drug cops the Colombians have ever seen. And with the Bull Pups, these old dogs are about to learn some new tricks...
Flatlands
by Sue HubbardA moving tale of unlikely friendship and the beauty of nature, set in the wild wetland landscape of the English Fens during World War II Perfect for fans of Atonement, this gorgeous coming of age explores the connection between Philip, a conscientious objector, and Freda, a young London evacuee housed by a cruel familyFreda is a twelve-year-old evacuee from East London, who has been sent away at the start of the war, leaving behind everything familiar to her, to escape the expected German bombing.In her new temporary home in Lincolnshire, Freda finds herself billeted with a strange, cold and, ultimately, abusive couple, whose lives mirror the barren landscape in which they live a hand to mouth existence, based upon subsistence farming and poaching. There, deprived of any warmth, she meets a young man - Philip Rhayader -a conscientious objector who has left Oxford and his prospective vocation in the church following a nervous breakdown.Together they explore the wild, beautiful landscape of the Wash, teeming with migrating birds, and nurse an injured goose back to health. As they do so, Philip introduces Freda to the wonders of the natural world and its enduring power to heal.
The Flatpack Bombers: The Royal Navy and the Zeppelin Menace
by Ian GardinerOur vision of aviation in the First World War is dominated by images of gallant fighter pilots duelling with each other high over the Western Front. But it was the threat of the Zeppelin which spurred the British government into creating the Royal Flying Corps, and it was this menace, which no aircraft could match in the air at the beginning of the war, which led Winston Churchill and the Royal Navy to set about bombing these airships on the ground. Thus in 1914, the Royal Naval Air Service, with their IKEA-style flatpack airplanes, pioneered strategic bombing. Moreover, through its efforts to extend its striking range in order to destroy Zeppelins in their home bases, the Royal Navy developed the first true aircraft carriers.This book is the story of those largely forgotten very early bombing raids. It explains the military and historical background to the first British interest in military and naval aviation, and why it was that the Navy pursued long distance bombing, while the Army concentrated on reconnaissance. Every bomber raid, and every aircraft carrier strike operation since, owes its genesis to those early naval flyers, and there are ghosts from 1914 which haunt us still today.
The Flechas: Insurgent Hunting in Eastern Angola, 1965–1974 (Africa@War #11)
by John Cann<p>In 1961, Portugal found itself fighting a war to retain its colonial possessions and preserve the remnants of its empire. It was almost completely unprepared to do so, and this was particularly evident in its ability to project power and to control the vast colonial spaces in Africa. Following the uprisings of March of 1961 in the north of Angola, Portugal poured troops into the colony as fast as its creaking logistic system would allow; however, these new arrivals were not competent and did not possess the skills needed to fight a counterinsurgency. While counterinsurgency by its nature requires substantial numbers of light infantry, the force must be trained in the craft of fighting a ‘small war’ to be effective. The majority of the arriving troops had no such indoctrination and had been readied at an accelerated pace. Even their uniforms were hastily crafted and not ideally suited to fighting in the bush. <p>In reoccupying the north and addressing the enemy threat, Portugal quickly realized that its most effective forces were those with special qualifications and advanced training. Unfortunately, there were only very small numbers of such elite forces. The maturing experiences of Portuguese and their consequent adjustments to fight a counterinsurgency led to development of specialized, tailored units to close the gaps in skills and knowledge between the insurgents and their forces. The most remarkable such force was the flechas, indigenous Bushmen who lived in eastern Angola with the capacity to live and fight in its difficult terrain aptly named ‘Lands at the End of the Earth’. Founded in 1966, they were active until the end of the war in 1974, and were so successful in their methods that the flecha template was copied in the other theaters of Guiné and Mozambique and later in the South African Border War. <p>The flechas were a force unique to the conflicts of southern Africa. A flecha could smell the enemy and his weapons and read the bush in ways that no others could do. He would sleep with one ear to the ground and the other to the atmosphere and would be awakened by an enemy walking a mile away. He could conceal himself in a minimum of cover and find food and water in impossible places. In short, he was vastly superior to the enemy in the environment of eastern Angola, and at the height of the campaign there (1966–1974) this small force accounted for 60 per cent of all enemy kills. This book is the story of how they came to be formed and organized, their initial teething difficulties, and their unqualified successes.</p>
Fleeing France: A WWII Novel of Sacrifice and Rescue in the French Ambulance Service
by Alan HladInspired by real wartime events, including the evacuation of Dunkirk and the sinking of RMS Lancastria—one of the most harrowing disasters in British maritime history—this is a riveting, superbly researched slice of historical fiction, and a timeless story of strength and sacrifice. Will appeal to fans of Beneath a Scarlet Sky and Eternal.France, 1939: A talented singer, Ruth Lacroix has left Maine to live with her aunt and uncle, dreaming of performing at the Casino de Paris. But with the outbreak of war, and the heartbreaking news that her cousin has been killed by German forces, that goal is supplanted by another—to support France in any way she can. Though Ruth has never driven a vehicle larger than the tractor on her parents&’ farm, she joins a friend in enlisting as a driver for the French ambulance corps. On their way to transfer injured soldiers to Dunkirk for evacuation, they encounter Jimmie, a British Royal Air Force pilot with No. 73 Squadron RAF, who has bailed out of his burning plane. As Dunkirk falls, blocking off the route to the northern coast, word spreads of a daring Allied plan to rescue the remaining troops and civilians from ports in western France: code name Operation Aerial. Over two hazardous weeks, Ruth and Jimmie will journey hundreds of miles together, helping other refugees as they rush to reach the sea before they are overtaken by the Germany army. But all their courage and resilience offer no certainty in wartime, when a single stroke of luck, or a split-second decision, can mean the difference between life and death . . .
The Fleet Air Arm: Recollections from Formation to Cold War (Voices in Flight)
by Malcolm SmithThe author Malcolm Smith has been the Editor of Jabberwock, the bi-annual journal of the Fleet Air Arm Museum, for two years and has inherited the complete archive of editions dating back to the formation of SOFFAAM in 1979. In browsing through these, it quickly became apparent to him that they provided a unique archive of reminiscence of the men and (occasionally) women who served in, or have been associated with, the Fleet Air Arm since its formation in 1918. The Fleet Air Arm were the branch of the British Royal Navy responsible for the operation of naval aircraft, and its history is a varied one as these accounts attest.The Royal Navy, in common with the other armed services, expanded enormously during the Second World War, so anecdotes from this period naturally predominate. To illustrate the varied experiences of the contributors, these are grouped into War in the West and War in the East. Whether drawn from peace or war, however, what emerges from these pages is a particular spirit, peculiar to the Fleet Air Arm and reflecting its somewhat hybrid nature; a spirit derived from a high level of professional competence combined with a certain irreverence towards Authority.
The Fleet Air Arm and the War in Europe, 1939–1945
by David HobbsA comprehensive history of the Royal Navy&’s naval aviation component&’s campaigns during World War II. For the first time, this book tells the story of how naval air operations evolved into a vital element of the Royal Navy&’s ability to fight a three-dimensional war against both the Kriegsmarine and Luftwaffe. An integral part of RN, the Fleet Air Arm was not a large organization, with only 406 pilots and 232 front-line aircraft available for operations in September 1939. Nevertheless, its impact far outweighed its numbers—it was an RN fighter that shot down the first enemy aircraft of the war, and an RN pilot was the first British fighter &“ace&” with 5 or more kills. The Fleet Air Arm&’s rollcall of achievements in northern waters went on to include the Norwegian Campaign, the crippling of Bismarck, the gallant sortie against Scharnhorst and Gneisenau as they passed through the Channel, air attacks on enemy E-boats in the narrow seas, air cover for the Russian convoys, air attacks that disabled Tirpitz, and strikes and minelaying operations against German shipping in the Norwegian littoral that continued until May 1945. By the end of the war in Europe the FAA had grown to 3243 pilots and 1336 aircraft. This book sets all these varied actions within their proper naval context and both technical and tactical aspects are explained with &“thumbnail&” descriptions of aircraft, their weapons and avionics. Cross reference with the Fleet Air Arm Roll of Honour has been made for the first time to put names to those aircrew killed in action wherever possible as a mark of respect for their determination against enemy forces on, above and below the sea surface which more often than not outnumbered them.The Fleet Air Arm and the War in Europe completes David Hobbs&’s much-praised six-volume series chronicling the operational history of British naval aviation from the earliest days to the present.Praise for The Fleet Air Arm and the War in Europe &“In this masterly addition to his series on the Fleet Air Arm at war, David Hobbs addresses naval air operations in the Atlantic, the North Sea, the Arctic, and the English Channel.&” —Professor Andrew Lambert, Warship 2023 &“With lots of action it rattles along and is a very good read.&” —The Armourer Magazine, May 2022
Fleet Air Arm Boys: Strike, Anti-Submarine, Early Warning and Support Aircraft since 1945
by Steve BondSince the end of World War 2 the primary role of the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm has been airborne power projection; the ability rapidly to respond to any trouble spot across the globe and to protect the interests of the United Kingdom and its partner nations. The principal tools in that response were the strike aircraft which took the offensive to the aggressor. Although from 2010 to 2020 fixed-wing carrier aviation was not part of the Fleet Air Arm, with the advent of the navy’s two new aircraft carriers, HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales, that capability has been restored. This renewed focus has not only seen the return of flying high performance aircraft from a carrier, but also the regeneration of the necessary skills, and courage, needed to cope with the extremes of weather and the nature of air operations in a very high-risk environment. However the lessons of the past have not been forgotten, and so many of those previous experiences are related within these pages – true stories of the last 76 years from aircrew, maintainers, aircraft handlers and many other supporting staff both men and women. Following on from the success of volume one, this second volume covers every fixed-wing aircraft type flown from carriers in the strike, anti-submarine warfare and the vital airborne early warning roles; from Scimitars to Hunters, Buccaneers to Skyraiders and many more, plus an extensive fleet of land-based aircraft. As with the first volume, involvement in operations such as Suez, the Beira Patrol, the Falklands, Belize, Bosnia and elsewhere is included. Despite the intensity and all-to-frequent tragedy of operations, the esprit de corps, and the ability to find the necessary release through laughter, shine through. Here are the words of the man and women themselves, profusely illustrated in black and white and color.
Fleet Air Arm Boys: Air Defence Fighter Aircraft Since 1945: True Tales from Royal Navy Aircrew, Maintainers and Handlers
by Steve BondA history of the Royal Navy’s FAA since 1945, featuring a survey of the aircraft flown, the conflicts fought, and the daily life of those in service.The RAF’s continuing role in the projection of air power in the defence of the United Kingdom and its overseas interests since the end of the Second World War is well known. However, the same cannot always be said about the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm (FAA), in part due to the ten-year gap between the retirement of the Harrier and the arrival of the F-35B and the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers.Flying high performance aircraft off a carrier demands not only a high level of skill, but also a considerable amount of courage and determination, not least to land back on a very small piece of real estate bobbing about in a rough sea, often at night, with no possibility of diversion. The nature of these operations has meant that the accident rate and aircrew losses were very high—and accepted as part of the job.With the arrival of the Queen Elizabeth and the Prince of Wales, it is time to redress the balance and bring the FAA’s extraordinary story to the audience it so richly deserves through the words of those air and ground crews who have been part of it since 1945. What emerges is an amazing close-knit esprit de corps, often accompanied by a long-standing and still simmering rivalry between the RAF and the Royal Navy over who should project air power overseas. Enormous respect is shown by the aviators and ships’ senior officers for the aircraft handlers and maintainers, who work long hours in a highly dangerous environment on the flight deck.This first volume looks chronologically at every aircraft type flown in an air defence role since 1945. Involvement in conflicts including Korea, Suez, the Falklands, Bosnia and elsewhere is included, and perforce the cost in human lives, even in everyday operations, frequently emerges. Balancing this are the everyday grind, the good times, the humour, the “runs ashore” and the sense of pride in a job well done. All delivered in the words of the men themselves.
Fleet Air Arm Boys: True Tales from Royal Navy Men and Women Air and Ground Crew
by Steve BondHelicopters have been going to sea with the Royal Navy’s Fleet Air Arm for over 70 years. Initially used for search and rescue (SAR) duties from aircraft carriers, the rapid development of both the helicopters and service experience resulted in them taking on the vital anti-submarine (and later anti-ship) attack roles. The 1956 Suez campaign saw the first operational use of Whirlwind helicopters for the insertion of troops by air into a battle zone, a capability which was expanded with more helicopters such as the Wessex, Sea King and today’s Merlin. Through their vital role in the 1960s Indonesian Confrontation, the Commando helicopter force became universally referred to as the ‘Junglies’. It is often said that if either of the 1982 Task Force aircraft carriers had been lost the Falklands War could not have been won. The same would surely have been true without helicopters. Their vital tasks, including inserting Special Forces behind enemy lines, protecting the Task Force from Exocet missile attack and recovering wounded troops whilst under enemy fire, are rightly hailed as being instrumental. At home, the essential SAR effort by both the Royal Navy and their RAF counterparts has resulted in incredible stories of saving lives against the odds. Royal Navy destroyers and frigates have also long since benefitted from having their own helicopter Flight aboard. Frequently operating in extremes of weather, flying a Wasp, Lynx or today’s Wildcat from and back to a heaving deck is every bit as risky as flying fixed-wing aircraft off the carriers of old. Once dismissed as a novelty, the helicopter has more than proved itself. Indeed, for ten years until the arrival of the Queen Elizabeth-class aircraft carriers, the Fleet Air Arm’s operational force was entirely rotary-wing. Today’s Merlins and Wildcats, with their dedicated aircrew, maintenance and support staff continue to demonstrate just how vital an asset the helicopter has become. Here are the words of the men and women themselves, skillfully brought to life by Steve Bond and profusely illustrated in color and b/w.
Fleet Air Arm Carrier War: The History of British Naval Aviation
by Kev DarlingThis is the story of British naval flying from aircraft carriers, from its conception in World War One to the present day. It includes the types of aircraft and the men who flew them, the carriers and the evolution of their designs, the theatres of war in which they served and their notable achievements and tragedies. It traces navy flying from the early days of the biplane, through the rapid developments during World War Two to the post-war introduction of jet-powered flight. The British inventions of the angled flight deck and later vertical landing jets revolutionised sea warfare and allowed the carrier to play a vital part in many recent land wars when naval aircraft flew in support of Allied land forces.Although the British carriers have always been smaller than their American counterparts, the Royal Navy and its aircraft have always been in the van of the development of ships and aircraft. This is the proud history of British Naval flying and ships such as HMS Eagle, HMS Hermes, HMS Glorious, HMS Ark Royal and many more.
The Fleet Air Arm in the Second World War, Volume II, 1942-1943: The Fleet Air Arm in Transition – the Mediterranean, Battle of the Atlantic and the Indian Ocean (Navy Records Society Publications)
by Ben JonesThis is the second of three volumes covering the transformation of the Fleet Air Arm during the Second World War. As the subtitle of this volume ‘The Fleet Air Arm in Transition’ suggests, the years 1942-1943 marked a stepping stone between the small pre-war cadre operating from a small number of carriers to a naval air arm flying modern aircraft types from a large number of ships and as will be seen in Volume III capable of operating a number of Fleet Carriers in the Pacific Ocean for sustained periods. Whereas the majority of Volume I dealt with operations, this volume has a much more even balance covering planning and policy on the one hand and operations on the other. This reflects the crucial nature of this period as the development and expansion of the Fleet Air Arm gathered pace, whilst an increasingly diverse range of operations took place with those in the Mediterranean and the Atlantic reaching a climax. The reader will gain a clear appreciation of the growing importance, indeed primacy, of the aircraft carrier within the proposals for the future composition of Royal Navy’s surface fleet together with the nature of the Fleet Air Arm’s expansion programmes. Such expansion programmes were hindered by the constraints of aircraft production and the acquisition of sufficient shore facilities for the formation of new squadrons and the continued support of others. Some of the Fleet Air Arm’s most famous operations occurred during these years such as the escort of the ‘Pedestal’ convoy to Malta, air cover for the landings in North Africa, Sicily and at Salerno and the gallant, but ill-fated attack of 825 Squadron during the Channel Dash. The increasing role played by the Fleet Air Arm aircraft operating from Escort Carriers and Merchant Aircraft Carriers in the Battle of the Atlantic during 1943 is also apparent. The documents in this volume will bring to life the difficulties of operating aircraft at sea, the nature of air combat and the complexities involved in expanding an organisation such as the Fleet Air Arm under wartime conditions. As such it will enhance our understanding of the history of the Royal Navy’s air arm during the Second World War.
The Fleet at Flood Tide: America at Total War in the Pacific, 1944-1945
by James D. Hornfischer<P>The extraordinary story of the World War II air, land, and sea campaign that brought the U.S. Navy to the apex of its strength and marked the rise of the United States as a global superpower <P>One of America's preeminent military historians, James D. Hornfischer has written his most expansive and ambitious book to date. Drawing on new primary sources and personal accounts by Americans and Japanese alike, here is a thrilling narrative of the climactic end stage of the Pacific War, focusing on the U.S. invasion of the Mariana Islands in June 1944 and the momentous events that it triggered. <P>With its thunderous assault into Japan's inner defensive perimeter, America crossed the threshold of total war. From the seaborne invasion of Saipan to the stunning aerial battles of the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot, to the largest banzai attack of the war and the strategic bombing effort that led to Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Marianas became the fulcrum of the drive to compel Tokyo to surrender--with consequences that forever changed modern war. <P>These unprecedented operations saw the first large-scale use of Navy Underwater Demolition Teams; a revolution in the fleet's ability to sustain cross-hemispheric expeditionary warfare; the struggle of American troops facing not only a suicidal enemy garrison but desperate Japanese civilians; and the rise of the U.S. Navy as the greatest of grand fleets. From the Marianas, B-29 Superfortresses would finally unleash nuclear fire on an enemy resolved to fight to the end. <P>Hornfischer casts this clash of nations and cultures with cinematic scope and penetrating insight, focusing closely on the people who rose to the challenge under fire: Raymond Spruance, the brilliant, coolly calculating commander of the Fifth Fleet; Kelly Turner, whose amphibious forces delivered Marine General Holland "Howlin' Mad" Smith's troops to the beaches of Saipan and Tinian; Draper Kauffman, founder of the Navy unit that predated today's SEALs; Paul Tibbets, who created history's first atomic striking force and flew the Enola Gay to Hiroshima; and Japanese warriors and civilians who saw the specter of defeat as the ultimate test of the spirit. <P> From the seas of the Central Pacific to the shores of Japan itself, The Fleet at Flood Tide is a stirring and deeply humane account of World War II's world-changing finale. <P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>
Fleet Elements (A Novel of the Praxis #2)
by Walter Jon Williams"Space opera the way it ought to be . . . Bujold and Weber, bend the knee; interstellar adventure has a new king, and his name is Walter Jon Williams."—George R. R. MartinFollowing The Accidental War, the second book of a brand-new series set in the Praxis—an epic mix of space opera and military science fiction, from a grand master of science fiction, Walter Jon Williams.The Praxis, the empire of now extinct Shaa, has again fallen into civil war, with desperate and outnumbered humans battling several alien species for survival. Leading the human forces are star-crossed lovers Gareth Martinez and Caroline Sula, who must find a way to overcome their own thorny personal history to defeat the aliens and assure humanity’s survival.But even if the human fleet is victorious, the divisions fracturing the empire may be too wide to repair, as battles between politicians, the military, and fanatics who want to kill every alien threaten to further tear the empire apart. While Martinez and Sula believe they have the talent and tactics to defeat an overwhelming enemy, what will prevent their fellow humans from destroying themselves?
The Fleet of Stars: Harvest of Stars Book 4 (HARVEST OF STARS)
by Poul AndersonThe Fleet of Stars sees the return of Anson Guthrie, Poul Anderson's iconoclastic hero from Harvest of Stars. Suspecting a conspiracy to suppress humankind's freedom, Guthrie begins a dangerous journey across the realm of comets...
Fleet of Stars (Harvest of Stars #4)
by Poul AndersonThe multiple Hugo and Nebula Award–winning Grand Master of Science Fiction delivers “an exciting culmination to an ambitious saga” (Publishers Weekly). Far into the reaches of space, Anson Guthrie and a band of colonists have forged a new existence on Amaterasu not as physical beings but as downloaded consciousness watched over by the benevolent Life Mother. Yet as idyllic as their lives may be, back home on Earth the situation is growing grim. Earth’s inhabitants are now completely dependent—and so controlled—by an intelligent machine known as the Teramind. But the instinctual human desire to be free is not something the Teramind has included in its calculations. The seeds of rebellion are growing. Suspecting a conspiracy to suppress humankind’s last vestiges of freedom, Guthrie and his loyal companions make a dangerous journey back to Earth—risking everything to preserve humanity’s independent destiny. The thrilling conclusion to Anderson’s four-volume, award-winning epic vision of mankind’s evolution, begun in Harvest of Stars, “Fleet of Stars is a grand story that gets bigger and better with every page” (Larry Bond).
Fleet Tactics and Coastal Combat
by Wayne P. HughesThis major revision updates Wayne Hughes's 1986 landmark study that is credited with providing decision makers a sound foundation for battle planning and tactical thinking. The book integrates the historical evolution of tactics, analysis, and fleet operations, and today it can serve as a primer for anyone who wants to learn how navies fight and win. This second edition includes much new material on combat in the missile age and reflects the reconfiguration of many tactics for littoral operations after the fall of the Soviet Union.Hughes recreates famous battles to show how tactics have changed through the ages and the ways in which they have remained unchanged. He covers tactical interaction between land and sea, the sensory revolution of WWII, secret weapons and maritime surprise, the role in battle of leadership and morale, and the importance of surface warships in today's U.S. fleet. He suggests that naval tactics, unlike ground combat, are dominated by the offense and concludes that the great tactical maxim must be attack effectively first.A new chapter traces the evolution of missile tactics at sea and includes details of attacks on ships. Many changes emphasize joint operations and coastal combat. The already extensive appraisal of command and control and information warfare is further expanded to cover modern naval operations and the character of modern salvo warfare. In the tradition of Mahan and Clauswitz, this classic text incorporates literature, politics, and a knowledge of human nature. Indispensable reading for all those interested in naval tactics, it is also a valuable reference for wargamers
The Fleet the Gods Forgot
by Walter G. WinslowThe heroic story of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet at the outbreak of World War II and their disastrous encounter with vastly superior Japanese forces.