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The Men of War Boxed Set
by Stephen E. AmbroseThe Victors: A breathtaking work that follows the momentous events of the war from D-Day through to the final days, centering this epic drama on the citizen soldiers, the boys who became men as they fought, proving eventually unbeatable. A compelling celebration of military genius and heroism, and of camaraderie and courage. Citizen Soldiers: A riveting account that follows the individual characters of World War II, from the high command down to the ordinary soldier, drawing on hundreds of interviews to re-create the war experience with startling clarity and immediacy. From the hedgerows of Normandy to the overrunning of Germany, this is the real story of World War II from the perspective of the men and women who fought it. Wild Blue: Following this exceptional band of brothers, the young men who flew the B-24s over Germany in World War II against terrible odds, Ambrose recounts their extraordinary brand of heroism, skill, daring, and comradeship with the vivid detail and affection.”
The Men of Wellington’s Light Division: Unpublished Memoirs from the 43rd Light Infantry in the Peninsular War
by Robert Burnham Gareth GloverSome of the most famous memoirs of Britain’s long war against Napoleon have come from the pens of members of Wellington’s Light Division, but many wonderful accounts were never published and have sat in archives, libraries, museums, and private collections, forgotten for 200 years. The regiments of the Light Division, and its predecessor, the Light Brigade, were involved in almost every major battle and skirmish fought by Wellington and Sir John Moore in the Peninsular War. Unlike the line infantry, these men were encouraged to think and fight independently and were, often, of a higher educational standard, resulting in vivid descriptions of warfare and campaign life. However, these memoirs do not simply cover old ground. Many of these accounts were produced within hours, or at most days, after the incidents they describe, and they often portray a very different view of many famous events and cause us to question numerous claims made in those later published memoirs. Never intended to be published, the memoirs in this book were written only for the men themselves and their families, being penned without the dreaded influence of ‘hindsight’ to alter and temper their views. Consequently, they provide brutally honest assessments of their senior officers, how operations were handled and who made mistakes that have subsequently been quietly covered over. The Men of Wellington’s Light Division is certain to be welcomed by historians and enthusiasts alike, providing a glimpse into the past that has not been seen before.
The Men of the Mary Rose: Raising the Dead
by Robert Hardy A J StirlandThe Mary Rose was one of King Henry VIII's favourite warships until she sank during an engagement with the French fleet on 19 July 1545. Her rediscovery and raising were seminal events in the history of nautical archaeology. Apart from the Captain and the Vice Admiral, nothing is known about the crew of the Mary Rose - the only evidence about her complement of 415 men rests with their skeletal remains. In The Men of the Mary Rose A.J. Stirland uses archaeological and skeletal evidence to give the reader a welcome insight into the soldiers of the Mary Rose, from their ages and height to their health, diet and physical condition. This book examines the building, sinking and raising of the Mary Rose and her historical context, before moving on to the examination of what the remain of the crew can reveal to us about the fighting men of that period. Many new findings have been made through analysis of their bones, including the effects of some activities and occupations on the skeletons of the men. This is the first book to deal with the men who made up the crew of the Mary Rose. It provides an exciting glimpse of Tudor life and the Tudor navy, relating archaeological findings to existing documentary evidence, opening a fascinating window into one of Henry VIII's great ships and a frozen moment of sixteenth-century time. This book will appeal both to professionals in the area, and to those for whom Tudor history holds a general fascination.
The Mentality of Partisans of the Polish Anti-Communist Underground 1944–1956 (Routledge Histories of Central and Eastern Europe)
by Mariusz MazurThis book is the first study of the mentality of anti-Communist underground fighters and presents, especially, their thinking, ideals, stereotypes and customs. The models and psychological processes that the volume analyses are relevant not only to the Polish partisans, but also to members of other underground organisations, in East-Central Europe, South America and Asia. It explores how the underground organizations were created, who joined them and why, what thoughts and emotions were involved, and what were the consequences of the decisions to join them. Experiences and situations are illustrated with excerpts of diaries and memoirs which reveal the thinking of people in extreme situations, when their lives are in danger, when they are caught in desperate conflicts, or are fighting against overwhelming government forces. The Mentality of Partisans is useful for upper-level undergraduates, postgraduates, and scholars interested in the history of Europe, resistance movements, anticommunism, military and political conflicts, World War Two and non-classical historiography.
The Mercenaries (The Flying Ace Thrillers)
by Max HennessyA new conflict looms at the very edge of the world for a WWI flying ace in this high-octane thriller from the author of The Mustering of the Hawks. For Ira Penaluna, peace brings frustration and disillusionment. Desperate to continue flying, he accepts an offer to go to China as a commander of the ramshackle air-force of General Tsu, a local warlord. With him he takes a bizarre trio of misfits: Pat, the boozy, bragging Irishman, more interested in bar hopping than flying, Sammy, the mechanical genius, and Ellie, a tough former stunt-pilot. But before long this joyride becomes a desperate flight for life. After centuries of poverty and exploitation, China is rising against brutal, corrupt rulers like General Tsu, and Ira&’s band of adventurers are branded mercenaries. A thrilling adventure in aviation, The Mercenaries is a triumph, perfect for fans of Wilbur Smith, W. E. Johns, and Dale Brown.
The Mercenaries: Mad Dogs and Englishmen
by P. W. StormMichael "Mad Dog" Hertzog lived for soldiering—but he wasn't willing to die following the orders of bureaucrats and incompetents. Now he and his private army of warriors-for-hire are doing war Dog's way.Hertzog's right hand man has vanished . . . along with $30 million of Mad Dog's money. The evidence says a trusted British merc has gone rogue, but there may be a different, more virulent form of treachery at work here. There are answers waiting aboard a train racing east from Moscow, carrying Russian gangsters, stolen Siberian diamonds, a shadow team of Iranian agents . . . and a pair of nuclear warheads. Suddenly the stakes have gotten perilously high for Mad Dog, his team, and the world . . . as time ticks rapidly away on a terrifying plot to bathe the Middle East in nuclear fire.
The Mercenary and the New Mom (Follow That Baby #5)
by Merline LovelaceFollow That BabyDADDY'S HOME...A grizzled stranger was standing at her newborn's crib, and Sabrina Jensen was prepared to do anything to protect her precious child. But when the intruder raised his unforgettable eyes, she froze. She'd once loved this man beyond reason. They'd created a baby together. But Jack Wentworth was supposed to be dead!Jack had been to hell and back, his only comfort the memories of the vivacious woman who'd claimed his heart. But now the beauty who'd borne his heir regarded him as the enemy-not a lover. He had to reclaim her trust...before the real threat struck home....A wealthy dynasty...a pregnant mom on the run. For fast-paced excitement by five fabulous authors...FOLLOW THAT BABY.
The Mercenary: A Novel
by Dan HamptonFrom the New York Times bestselling author of Viper Pilot and USAF F-16 legend Dan Hampton, The Mercenary follows the rogue American gun-for-hire known only as the Sandman. A former military officer haunted by a personal tragedy in his past, the Sandman embarks on a quest for revenge that pits him against friend and country and leads him straight to the heart of the American military establishment.
The Mercenary: A Story of Brotherhood and Terror in the Afghanistan War
by Jeffrey E SternA thrilling and emotional story about the bonds forged in war and good intentions gone wrong. In the early days of the Afghanistan war, Jeff Stern was scouring the streets of Kabul for a big story. He was accompanied by a driver, Aimal, who had ambitions of his own: to get rich off the sudden infusion of foreign attention and cash. In this gripping adventure story, Stern writes of how he and Aimal navigated an environment full of guns and danger and opportunity, and how they forged a deep bond. Then Stern got a call that changed everything. He discovered that Aimal had become an arms dealer, and was ultimately forced to flee the country to protect his family from his increasingly dangerous business partners. Tragic, powerful, and layered, The Mercenary is more than a wartime drama. It is a Rashomon-like story about how politics and violence warp our humanity, and keep the most important truths hidden.
The Merchant Marine in International Affairs, 1850-1950 (Cass Series: Naval Policy and History #Vol. 8)
by Greg KennedyMerchant navies represent economic and industrial strength. This study revises the definition of maritime power through a more comprehensive understanding and appreciation for the roles played by the merchant marine of a nation.
The Merchant Navy
by Richard WoodmanThis title tells the epic story of Britain's merchant shipping, carrying exotic goods from all quarters of the world. At one time, British ships carried half of the world's trade. It reveals how two world wars nearly destroyed our merchant shipping, but convoys battled on to save Britain from starving to death. We see what life was like at sea for merchant seamen and get a first-hand glimpse of them at work.TOC: I: What is the Merchant Navy? /II: Britain Rules the Waves /III: Britain's Life Lines /IV: Life at Sea /V: New Challenges /Suggested reading /Places to visit /Index
The Merchant Navy Seaman Pocket Manual 1939–1945 (The Pocket Manual Series)
by Chris McNabA view into the world of the intrepid but often forgotten seamen who helped the Allies win WWII. They may not have worn gold braid or medals, but the Allied Merchant Navies in World War II provided a vital service to their countries&’ war efforts. Hundreds of thousands of British and American sailors—some as young as fourteen—faced considerable risks to maintain an essential flow of armaments, equipment, and food: submarines, mines, armed raiders and destroyers, aircraft, kamikaze pilots, and the weather itself. Life on board a merchant ship could be tense, with hour after hour spent battling high seas, never knowing if a torpedo was about to hit. In the Arctic convoys, sailors had to cope with extreme cold and ice. But there was also comradeship and more open society than was the norm at the time, free of distinctions of class, race, religion, age, or color, and a mixture of nationalities, especially in the British fleet. The Merchant Navy Seaman Pocket Manual provides a fascinating glimpse into the world of these brave sailors, many of whom did not return. Drawing on documents, diagrams, and illustrations from British and American archives, it combines information on training, gunnery, convoys, and antisubmarine techniques with dramatic personal accounts. Covering the Battle of the Atlantic, the Arctic Convoys, and the Pacific, this book pitches the reader into the heart of this vital but often forgotten arena of WWII.
The Mercy Room
by Gilles RozierA brilliant exploration of sexual obsession and human frailty in a country gripped by war. In a small town in occupied France during World War II, a teacher of German is recruited by the Gestapo to translate sensitive documents. Every week, waiting for the next assignment, our narrator sits outside the commandant's office and watches prisoners being led to detention cells before being deported. Always existing on the fringes of life, caring only for books, the teacher has never done anything heroic. And certainly this is no time to get entangled in other people's problems. But one day a stunning Jewish soldier is among the prisoners. His name is Herman and the teacher recognizes him from their lives before the war. In an unprecedented act of boldness, the teacher sneaks Herman out of headquarters, brings him home, and hides him in the cellar, along with a cache of banned books. So begins an extraordinary and shattering affair in which two people and two antagonistic languages, Yiddish and German, are magnetically attracted. In a tour de force of novelistic technique, Gilles Rozier never reveals the gender of his narrator--opening the question of how many levels of transgression and risk the teacher is taking by hiding Herman. THE MERCY ROOM is an exquisite novel about the power of desire and the competing forces of good or ill in the heart of each of us.
The Mermaid And The Messerschmitt: War Through A Woman's Eyes 1939-1940
by Rulka LangerIn this vivid and compelling memoir, Rulka Langer, tells of the horrible advance of the Wehrmacht into Poland in 1939. Thrown into the chaos of war-torn Warsaw she recounts her struggle to survive as rumours of atrocities fly thick and fast and she attempts to keep her family of two young children and an ailing mother together. A fascinating snapshot of the advent of the Second World War.
The Mermaid from Jeju: A Novel
by Sumi Hahn"A transporting masterpiece." --Booklist starred reviewInspired by true events on Korea's Jeju Island, Sumi Hahn's "entrancing [debut] novel, brimming with lyricism and magic" (Jennifer Rosner, The Yellow Bird Sings) explores what it means to truly love in the wake of devastation.In the aftermath of World War II, Goh Junja is a girl just coming into her own. She is the latest successful deep sea diver in a family of strong haenyeo. Confident she is a woman now, Junja urges her mother to allow her to make the Goh family's annual trip to Mt. Halla, where they trade abalone and other sea delicacies for pork. Junja, a sea village girl, has never been to the mountains, where it smells like mushrooms and earth. While there, she falls in love with a mountain boy Yang Suwol, who rescues her after a particularly harrowing journey. But when Junja returns one day later, it is just in time to see her mother take her last breath, beaten by the waves during a dive she was taking in Junja's place.Spiraling in grief, Junja sees her younger siblings sent to live with their estranged father. Everywhere she turns, Junja is haunted by the loss of her mother, from the meticulously tended herb garden that has now begun to sprout weeds, to the field where their bed sheets are beaten. She has only her grandmother and herself. But the world moves on without Junja.The political climate is perilous. Still reeling from Japan's forced withdrawal from the peninsula, Korea is forced to accommodate the rapid establishment of US troops. Junja's canny grandmother, who lived through the Japanese invasion that led to Korea's occupation understands the signs of danger all too well. When Suwol is arrested for working with and harboring communists, and the perils of post-WWII overtake her homelands, Junja must learn to navigate a tumultuous world unlike anything she's ever known."Original, luminous, and lyrical" (Kirsty Manning, The Song of the Jade Lily), The Mermaid from Jeju deftly captures the resilience of the human spirit, and the courage required in love and survival."Sumi Hahn is a dream weaver whose poetic and powerful prose makes us believe in magic and reconfirms the transformative power of storytelling." --Nguyen Phan Que Mai
The Merman's Children
by Poul AndersonIn the waning years of the Middle Ages, before Christendom had completely scoured the world of magic, both Faery and Man lived on Europe's shores. This is the story of those last days: of the halfling children of the Liri king, who were of both realms but chose the one we call the other; of how they schemed and fought for survival, hounded from the Baltic to the ice caves of Greenland to the Mediterranean coast; of how they loved and how they died. It is the epic master piece, the adventure at once erotic, violent and magnificently sad, that Poul Anderson has always wanted to write.
The Metal Heart: A Novel of Love and Valor in World War II
by Caroline LeaIn the Orkney Isles during WWII, a Scottish woman finds love with an Italian prisoner of war in this “exquisitely researched, beautifully told” novel (Mary Beth Keane, author of Ask Again, Yes).In the wake of the Allies’ victory in North Africa, 1,000 Italian soldiers have been sent to a remote island off the Scottish coast to wait out the war. Their arrival has divided the island’s community. Nerves frayed from the constant threat of invasion, many locals fear the enemy prisoners. But to orphaned sisters Dorothy and Constance, these see sick, wounded men are in need of care. As they volunteer to nurse them, Dorothy finds herself immediately drawn to Cesare, a young man unaccustomed to the bracing Orkney winter, and broken by the horrors of battle.As the war drags on, tensions between the islanders and the outsiders deepen, and Dorothy’s connection to Cesare threatens her community and family bonds. Now she and her sister are each forced to weigh duty against desire . . .
The Metaphysics of Race: Science and Faith in the Nazi Worldview (Routledge Studies in Fascism and the Far Right)
by Amit VarshizkyThis book seeks to reframe debates on the conflicting scientific and spiritual traditions that underpinned the Nazi worldview, showing how despite the multitude of tensions and rivals among its adherents, it provided a coherent conceptual grid and possessed its own philosophical consistency.Drawing on a large variety of works, the volume offers insights into the intellectual climate that allowed the radical ideology of National Socialism to take hold. It examines the emergence of nuanced conceptions of race in interwar Germany and the pursuit of a new ethical and existential fulcrum in biology. Accordingly, the volume calls for a re-examination of the place of genetics in Nazi racial thought, drawing attention to the multi-register voices within the framework of interwar racial theory. Varshizky explores the ways in which these ideas provided new justifications for the Nazi revolutionary enterprise and blurred the distinction between fact and value, knowledge and faith, the secular and the sacred, and how they allowed Nazi thinkers to bounce across these epistemological divisions.This volume will be of interest to scholars of Nazi Germany and World War II, intellectual and cultural history, the history of science, and the philosophy of religion.
The Meuse Heights to the Armistice: The American Expeditionary Forces in the Great War (Battleground The Americans 1918)
by Maarten OtteThe Americans had considerable initial success when they launched their huge offensive against the Germans in the Meuse-Argonne in the last days of September 1918. However, not everything went smoothly and the attack became bogged down, held up by the several lines of the Hindenburg System and logistical challenges. A major additional obstacle was the presence of batteries of German artillery on the high ground on the right bank of the Meuse, almost untroubled by any significant assaults by the allied forces. These guns created severe problems for the American commanders and their troops. Eventually sufficient resources were allocated for an American-French attack on the right bank, with the aim of removing the German artillery and pushing the Germans off the Meuse Heights, part of the renewed offensive on the Left Bank and the Argonne Forest. The action often took place over ground that had already seen ferocious fighting during the Battle of Verdun in 1916 and the French offensive of late summer 1917. It also involved the very difficult achievement of getting large bodies of troops over the River Meuse and its associated canal. The terrain is rugged and, even then, quite heavily wooded. The American and French troops often had to fight uphill and in the face of German defences that had been developed over the previous twelve months. On the other hand, the quality of the defending troops was not high, as Germany faced so much pressure in other sectors, and included a significant number of Austro-Hungarian troops. Popular opinion tends to be dismissive of the fighting quality of these Austrian troops who, in fact, performed well. The tours take the visitor over some beautiful countryside, with stunning views over the Meuse and the Woevre Plain. There are significant vestiges of the war still to be seen, including numerous observation bunkers and shelters as well as trenches. An unusual feature of the area are the traces of part of the Maginot Line, notably bunkers (some of which are very large) and the rail infrastructure to support it, sometimes making use of lines that the Germans built during the First World War. One of these tours follows the fate of Henry Gunther, officially the last American soldier to be killed in action in the Great War. There is substantial myth about Gunther; the facts surrounding his death are examined, as well as placing his last action on the ground. There is a tour dedicated just to him.
The Mexican Revolution 1910-20
by Stephen Walsh Philip JowettSome of the most famous Western movies have been set against the background of the Mexican Revolution of the early 20th century. Now, for the first time in English, Osprey offer a concise but fact-packed account of the events, armies, uniforms and weapons of those ten chaotic and bloody years, putting in context such famous but half-understood names as Diaz, Pancho Villa, Zapata, Madero and Huerta. The text is illustrated with many rare and fascinating period photographs, and with eight detailed color plates of orfiristas and Rurales, Maderisitas, Federales, Villistas, Zapatistas,and US volunteers and intervention troops.
The Mexican Revolution: A Short History, 1910-1920
by Stuart Easterling&“An excellent account and analysis of the Mexican Revolution, its background, its course, and its legacy . . . an important contribution [and] a must read!&” (Samuel Farber, author of Cuba Since the Revolution of 1959). The most significant event in modern Mexican history, the Mexican Revolution of 1910-20 remains a subject of debate and controversy. Why did it happen? What makes it distinctive? Was it even a revolution at all? In The Mexican Revolution, Stuart Easterling offers a concise chronicle of events from the fall of the longstanding Díaz regime to Gen. Obregón&’s ascent to the presidency. In a comprehensible style, aimed at students and general readers, Easterling sorts through the revolution&’s many internal conflicts, and asks whether or not its leaders achieved their goals.
The Mexican-American War Experiences of Twelve Civil War Generals (Conflicting Worlds: New Dimensions of the American Civil War)
by Timothy B. Smith Joseph T. Glatthaar Craig L. Symonds Brian Steel Wills Jennifer M. Murray T. Michael Parrish Sean Chick Dr Thomas W. Cutrer Dr Christian B. Keller Dr Alexander Mendoza Dr Ethan S. Rafuse Dr Stephen D. Engle Dr Cecily N. ZanderLong overshadowed by the American Civil War, the Mexican-American War (1846–1848) has received significantly less attention from historians partly because of its questionable origin and controversial outcome. Rather than treat the conflict with a form of historical amnesia, the contributors to this volume argue that the Mexican-American War was a formative experience for the more than three hundred future Civil War generals who served in it as lower-grade officers. The Mexican War was the first combat experience for many of them, a laboratory that equipped a generation of young officers with practical lessons in strategy, tactics, logistics, and interpersonal relationships that they would use later to command forces during the Civil War.
The Middle East Conflict (Idiot's Guides)
by Alan AxelrodThe Middle East is often a pressure cooker of upheaval and the threat of war. Complex dynamics are at work, both culturally and politically, and understanding conflict in this region starts with understanding both recent and ancient events. Noted history writer, Alan Axelrod, PhD, breaks down the stereotypes and biases and helps readers not only understand what has been happening during the last 100 years, but why it has happened, who was involved, and what might happen in the future. Supplemental maps are also included.
The Middle Parts of Fortune: Somme And Ancre 1916
by Frederic Manning'They can say what they bloody well like, but we're a fuckin' fine mob.'Deep in the mud, stench of the Somme, Bourne is trying his best to stay alive. There he finds the intense fraternity of war and fear unlike anything he has ever known.Frederic Manning's novel was first published anonymously in 1929. The honesty with which he wrote about the horror, the boredom, and the futility of war inspired Ernest Hemingway to read the novel every year, 'to remember how things really were so that I will never lie to myself nor to anyone else about them.
The Middlebrook Guide to the Somme Battlefields: A Comprehensive Coverage from Crécy to the World Wars
by Martin Middlebrook Mary MiddlebrookWhile best known as being the scene of the most terrible carnage in the WW1 the French department of the Somme has seen many other battles from Roman times to 1944. William the Conqueror launched his invasion from there; the French and English fought at Crecy in 1346; Henry Vs army marched through on their way to Agincourt in 1415; the Prussians came in 1870.The Great War saw three great battles and approximately half of the 400,000 who died on the Somme were British a terrible harvest, marked by 242 British cemeteries and over 50,000 lie in unmarked graves. These statistics explain in part why the area is visited year-on-year by ever increasing numbers of British and Commonwealth citizens. This evocative book written by the authors of the iconic First Day on the Somme is a thorough guide to the cemeteries, memorials and battlefields of the area, with the emphasis on the fighting of 1916 and 1918, with fascinating descriptions and anecdotes.