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Toowoomba to Torokina: The 25th Battalion in peace and war, 1918-1945
by Bob DoneleyToowoomba to Torokina traces the proud history of the 25th Battalion from the end of one war to end of the next. It tells the story of the men from Toowoomba and the Darling Downs who answered the call to fight a war that would threaten their country's very existence. Like their First World War predecessors, they fought a determined foe in hellish conditions with, as the Battalion's motto decrees, `Never a Backwards Step'.
Top Dog
by Maria GoodavageThe New York Times bestselling author of Soldier Dogs returns with the incredible story of K-9 Marine hero Lucca, and the handlers who fought alongside her through two bloody wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Top Dog, Maria Goodavage takes readers into the life of Lucca K458, a decorated and highly skilled military working dog. An extraordinary bond develops between Lucca and Marine Corps dog handlers Chris Willingham and Juan Rodriguez, in what would become a legendary 400-mission career. A Specialized Search Dog, Lucca belongs to an elite group trained to work off-leash at long distances from her handler. She served alongside both Special Forces and regular infantry, and became so sought-after that platoons frequently requested her by name. The book describes in gritty detail Lucca's adventures on and off the battlefields, including tense, lifesaving explosives finds and firefights, as well as the bravery of fellow handlers and dogs they served with. Ultimately we see how the bond between Lucca and her handlers overcame the endless brutalities of war and the traumas this violence ignites. Here is a portrait of modern warfare with a heartwarming and inspiring conclusion that will touch dog lovers and the toughest military readers.
Top Nazi
by Jochen Von LangDeeply involved in the Holocaust as Heinrich Himmler's deputy for administration, Karl Wolff personally arranged for the transportation of 300,000 Jews from Poland to the Treblinka death camp in 1943. He went to trial in Germany and received a short prison sentence in 1964. But Wolff, even more than Reinhard Heydrich, could claim to enjoy Adolf Hitler's complete confidence. He was appointed SS police chief in northern Italy in 1943-1945 and ordered by the Führer himself to kidnap the Pope and the cardinals and take them to Germany. Wolff managed to talk Hitler out of the wild scheme and escaped hanging at Nuremberg by negotiating the surrender of the German armies in Italy with Allen Dulles in Switzerland.
Top Secret (Clandestine Operations #1)
by William E. Butterworth W.E.B. GriffinFrom the #1 New York Times-bestselling author, a brand-new series about the Cold War--and a different breed of warrior. In the first weeks after World War II, a squeaky-clean new second lieutenant named James D. Cronley Jr. is spotted and recruited for a new enterprise that will eventually be transformed into something called the CIA. One war may have ended, but another one has already begun, against an enemy that is bigger, smarter, and more vicious: the Soviet Union. The Soviets have hit the ground running, and Cronley's job is to help frustrate them, harass them, and spy on them any way he can. His recruiter thinks he has the potential to become an asset--though, of course, he could also screw up spectacularly. And in his first assignment, it looks like that's exactly what might happen. He's got seven days to extract a vital piece of information from a Soviet agent, but Cronley's managed to rile up his superior officers (he seems to have a talent for it), and if he fails, it could be one of the shortest intelligence careers in history. There are enemies everywhere--and, as Cronley is about to find out, some of them even wear the same uniform he does.
Top Secret Alien Abduction Files: What the Government Doesn't Want You to Know
by Nick RedfernWhy and how the government monitors those who have been kidnapped by strange, unearthly beings with even stranger agendas, from the author of Final Events.For decades, people have reported close encounters with extraterrestrial entities. Witnesses describe being kidnapped by large-headed, black-eyed creatures from other worlds. Those same creatures have become popularly known as “the Grays.” There is, however, another aspect to the alien abduction controversy.Abductees very often report being followed and spied upon by military and government personnel. It is typical for abductees to see black helicopters hovering directly over their homes in an intimidating manner. Phone calls are monitored. Emails are hacked into. Strange men dressed in black suits are seen photographing the homes of the abductees. All of this brings us to the matter of what have become known in the domain of alien abduction research as “Military Abductions,” or “MILABS.”According to numerous abductees, after being kidnapped by aliens they are kidnapped again . . . by the government. These follow-up events are the work of a powerful group hidden deep within the military and the intelligence community. It is the secret agenda of this highly classified organization to figure out what the so-called Grays are really up to. And, the best way for the government to get the answers is to interrogate those who have come face-to-face with the UFO phenomenon: the abductees. Why is the government secretly compiling files on alien abductees? Is the alien abduction issue so sinister that it has become a matter of national security proportions?
Top Secret Files: American Revolution
by Stephanie BearceGeorge Washington had his own secret agents, hired pirates to fight the British, and helped Congress smuggle weapons, but you won't learn that in your history books! Learn the true stories of the American Revolution and how spies used musket balls, books, and laundry to send messages. Discover the female Paul Revere, solve a spy puzzle, and make your own disappearing ink. It's all part of the true stories from the Top Secret Files of History. Take a look if you dare, but be careful! Some secrets are meant to stay hidden...
Top Secret Files: Pirates and Buried Treasure, Secrets, Strange Tales, and Hidden Facts About Pirates (Top Secret Files Of History Ser. #0)
by Stephanie BearcePirates of the Golden Age had to deal with scurvy, fight ferocious battles, and eat everything from monkeys to snakes to sea turtles, but you won't learn that in your history books! Discover the truth about Anne Bonny, the Irish woman who was a true Pirate of the Caribbean, and the secrets of Blackbeard and the daring pirate Cheng I Sao. Then learn how to talk like a pirate and make a buried treasure map for your friends. It's all part of the true stories from the Top Secret Files: Pirates and Buried Treasure. Take a look if you dare, but be careful! Some secrets are meant to stay hidden . . . Ages 9-12
Top Secret Files: The American Revolution, Spies, Secret Missions, and Hidden Facts From the American Revolution
by Stephanie BearceGeorge Washington had his own secret agents, hired pirates to fight the British, and helped Congress smuggle weapons, but you won't learn that in your history books! Learn the true stories of the American Revolution and how spies used musket balls, books, and laundry to send messages. Discover the female Paul Revere, solve a spy puzzle, and make your own disappearing ink. It's all part of the true stories from the Top Secret Files: The American Revolution. Take a look if you dare, but be careful! Some secrets are meant to stay hidden . . . Ages 9-12
Top Secret Files: The Civil War
by Stephanie BearceThe pigpen cipher, the Devil's Coffee Mill, and germ warfare were all a part of the Civil War, but you won't learn that in your history books! Discover the truth about Widow Greenhow's spy ring, how soldiers stole a locomotive, and the identity of the mysterious "Gray Ghost." Then learn how to make a cipher wheel and send secret light signals to your friends. It's all part of the true stories from the Top Secret Files: The Civil War. Take a look if you dare, but be careful! Some secrets are meant to stay hidden...
Top Secret Files: The Civil War, Spies, Secret Missions, and Hidden Facts From the Civil War
by Stephanie BearceThe pigpen cipher, the Devil's Coffee Mill, and germ warfare were all a part of the Civil War, but you won't learn that in your history books! Discover the truth about Widow Greenhow's spy ring, how soldiers stole a locomotive, and the identity of the mysterious “Gray Ghost.” Then learn how to make a cipher wheel and send secret light signals to your friends. It's all part of the true stories from the Top Secret Files: The Civil War. Take a look if you dare, but be careful! Some secrets are meant to stay hidden . . . Ages 9-12
Top Secret Files: The Cold War
by Stephanie BearcePoison dart umbrellas, lipstick pistols, and cyanide guns were all a part of the arsenal of tools used by spies of the Soviet KGB, American CIA, and British MI6, but you won't learn that in your history books! Learn the true stories of the Cold War and how spies used listening devices planted in live cats and wristwatch cameras. Discover how East Germans tried to ride zip lines to freedom, while the Cambridge Four infiltrated Britain and master spy catchers like Charles Elwell were celebrated. Then make your own secret codes and practice sending shoe messages. It's all part of the true stories from the Top Secret Files: The Cold War. Take a look if you dare, but be careful! Some secrets are meant to stay hidden...
Top Secret Files: The Cold War, Secrets, Special Missions, and Hidden Facts About the CIA, KGB, and MI6 (Top Secret Files Of History Ser. #0)
by Stephanie BearcePoison dart umbrellas and cyanide guns were all a part of the arsenal of tools used by spies of the Soviet KGB, American CIA, and British MI6, but you won't learn that in your history books! Learn the true stories of the Cold War and how spies used listening devices planted in live cats and wristwatch cameras. Discover how East Germans tried to ride zip lines to freedom, while the Cambridge Four infiltrated Britain and rockets raced to the moon. Then make your own submarines and practice writing secret codes. It's all part of the true stories from the Top Secret Files: The Cold War. Take a look if you dare, but be careful! Some secrets are meant to stay hidden . . .Ages 9-12
Top Secret Files: World War I
by Stephanie BearceFlame throwers, spy trees, bird bombs, and Hell Fighters were all a part of World War I, but you won't learn that in your history books! Uncover long-lost secrets of spies like Howard Burnham, "The One Legged Wonder," and nurse-turned-spy, Edith Cavell. Peek into secret files to learn the truth about the Red Baron and the mysterious Mata Hari. Then build your own Zeppelin balloon and mix up some invisible ink. It's all part of the true stories from the Top Secret Files of History. Take a look if you dare, but be careful! Some secrets are meant to stay hidden...
Top Secret Files: World War I, Spies, Secret Missions, and Hidden Facts from World War I (Top Secret Files Of History Ser. #0)
by Stephanie BearceFlame throwers, spy trees, bird bombs, and Hell Fighters were all a part of World War I, but you won't learn that in your history books! Uncover long-lost secrets of spies like Howard Burnham, “The One-Legged Wonder,” and nurse-turned-spy, Edith Cavell. Peek into secret files to learn the truth about the Red Baron and the mysterious Mata Hari. Then learn how to build your own Zeppelin balloon and mix up some invisible ink. It's all part of the true stories from the Top Secret Files: World War I. Take a look if you dare, but be careful! Some secrets are meant to stay hidden . . . Ages 9-12
Top Secret Files: World War II (Top Secret Files of History)
by Stephanie BearceSpy school, poison pens, exploding muffins, and Night Witches were all a part of World War II, but you won't learn that in your history books! Crack open secret files and read about the mysterious Ghost Army, rat bombs, and doodle bugs. Discover famous spies like the White Mouse, super-agent Garbo, and baseball player and spy, Moe Berg. Then build your own secret agent kit and create a spy code. It's all part of the true stories from the Top Secret Files of History. Take a look if you dare, but be careful! Some secrets are meant to stay hidden...
Top Secret Files: World War II, Spies, Secret Missions, and Hidden Facts From World War II
by Stephanie BearceSpy school, poison pens, exploding muffins, and Night Witches were all a part of World War II, but you won't learn that in your history books! Crack open secret files and read about the mysterious Ghost Army, rat bombs, and doodlebugs. Discover famous spies like the White Mouse, super-agent Garbo, and baseball player and spy, Moe Berg. Then build your own fingerprint kit and crack a spy code. It's all part of the true stories from the Top Secret Files: World War II. Take a look if you dare, but be careful! Some secrets are meant to stay hidden . . . Ages 9-12
Topgun Days: Dogfighting, Cheating Death, and Hollywood Glory as One of America's Best Fighter Jocks
by Dave BaranekDave Baranek (callsign "Bio") was one of 451 young men to receive his Wings of Gold in 1980 as a naval flight officer. <P><P>Four years later, seasoned by intense training and deployments in the tense confrontations of the cold war, he became the only one of that initial group to rise to become an instructor at the navy's elite Fighter Weapons School. As a Topgun instructor, Bio was responsible for teaching the navy's and Marine Corps's best fighter pilots how to be even better. He schooled them in the classroom and then went head-to-head with them in the skies. Then, in August 1985, Bio was assigned to combine his day-to-day flight duties with participation in a Pentagon-blessed project to film action footage for a major Hollywood movie focusing on the lives, loves, heartbreaks, and triumphs of young fighter pilots: Top Gun. Bio soon found himself riding in limousines to attend gala premieres, and being singled out by giggling teenagers and awed schoolboys who recognized the name "Topgun" on his T-shirts. The book ends with his reflections on his career as a skilled naval aviator and his enduring love of flight.
Topgun Days: Dogfighting, Cheating Death, and Hollywood Glory as One of America's Best Fighter Jocks
by Dave BaranekDave Baranek (callsign "Bio") was one of 451 young men to receive his Wings of Gold in 1980 as a naval flight officer. Four years later, seasoned by intense training and deployments in the tense confrontations of the cold war, he became the only one of that initial group to rise to become an instructor at the navy's elite Fighter Weapons School. As a Topgun instructor, Bio was responsible for teaching the best fighter pilots of the Navy and Marine Corps how to be even better. He schooled them in the classroom and then went head-to-head with them in the skies.Then, in August 1985, Bio was assigned to combine his day-to-day flight duties with participation in a Pentagon-blessed project to film action footage for a major Hollywood movie focusing on the lives, loves, heartbreaks, and triumphs of young fighter pilots: Top Gun.Bio soon found himself riding in limousines to attend gala premieres, and being singled out by giggling teenagers and awed schoolboys who recognized the name "Topgun" on his T-shirts. The book ends with his reflections on his career as a skilled naval aviator and his enduring love of flight. The paperback and Kindle editions include more than fifty rare full color photographs of fighter jets in action.
Topgun: An American Story
by Dan PedersenOn the 50th anniversary of the creation of the "Topgun" Navy Fighter School, its founder shares the remarkable inside story of how he and eight other risk-takers revolutionized the art of aerial combat. When American fighter jets were being downed at an unprecedented rate during the Vietnam War, the U.S. Navy turned to a young lieutenant commander, Dan Pedersen, to figure out a way to reverse their dark fortune. On a shoestring budget and with little support, Pedersen picked eight of the finest pilots to help train a new generation to bend jets like the F-4 Phantom to their will and learn how to dogfight all over again. What resulted was nothing short of a revolution -- one that took young American pilots from the crucible of combat training in the California desert to the blistering skies of Vietnam, in the process raising America's Navy combat kill ratio from two enemy planes downed for every American plane lost to more than 22 to 1. Topgun emerged not only as an icon of America's military dominance immortalized by Hollywood but as a vital institution that would shape the nation's military strategy for generations to come. Pedersen takes readers on a colorful and thrilling ride-from Miramar to Area 51 to the decks of aircraft carriers in war and peace-through a historic moment in air warfare. He helped establish a legacy that was built by him and his "Original Eight" -- the best of the best -- and carried on for six decades by some of America's greatest leaders. Topgun is a heartfelt and personal testimonial to patriotism, sacrifice, and American innovation and daring.
Toploader
by Ed O'LoughlinIn a novel compared by some reviewers to Catch-22 for its mix of humor and outrage, this brilliant send-up of modern military adventurism is an insightful and darkly comic anti-war masterpiece. Its setting is the Embargoed Zone (or "Easy"), headquarters to the coalition of western allies, somewhere in the Middle East.Spying inside the Easy is expensive and hazardous, and the "terrorist" double agent known as Cobra needs his wages paid in cash in order to survive. But his down-at-heels spymaster from the occupying forces, one Captain Smith, is broke and forced to pay his agent in kind--with a top-loading washing machine pilfered from the American compound. When it turns out that this piece of clothes-washing technology is in fact a critical piece of military hardware essential to the allied war effort, a frantic scramble to retrieve the device is unleashed.Packed with unforgettable characters--including a resourceful teenage girl from the occupied territory, an intrepid local reporter navigating the Easy in search of the truth, an egotistical western blogger with delusions of relevance, a hapless drone pilot with an itchy trigger finger, and at least one very unfortunate donkey--Toploader is a savage and hilarious indictment of remote-control warfare and imperialism by proxy.
Toppling Foreign Governments: The Logic of Regime Change
by Melissa Willard-FosterIn 2011, the United States launched its third regime-change attempt in a decade. Like earlier targets, Libya's Muammar Qaddafi had little hope of defeating the forces stacked against him. He seemed to recognize this when calling for a cease-fire just after the intervention began. But by then, the United States had determined it was better to oust him than negotiate and thus backed his opposition. The history of foreign-imposed regime change is replete with leaders like Qaddafi, overthrown after wars they seemed unlikely to win. From the British ouster of Afghanistan's Sher Ali in 1878 to the Soviet overthrow of Hungary's Imre Nagy in 1956, regime change has been imposed on the weak and the friendless.In Toppling Foreign Governments, Melissa Willard-Foster explores the question of why stronger nations overthrow governments when they could attain their aims at the bargaining table. She identifies a central cause—the targeted leader's domestic political vulnerability—that not only gives the leader motive to resist a stronger nation's demands, making a bargain more difficult to attain, but also gives the stronger nation reason to believe that regime change will be comparatively cheap. As long as the targeted leader's domestic opposition is willing to collaborate with the foreign power, the latter is likely to conclude that ousting the leader is more cost effective than negotiating.Willard-Foster analyzes 133 instances of regime change, ranging from covert operations to major military invasions, and spanning over two hundred years. She also conducts three in-depth case studies that support her contention that domestically and militarily weak leaders appear more costly to coerce than overthrow and, as long as they remain ubiquitous, foreign-imposed regime change is likely to endure.
Toppling Qaddafi
by Christopher S. ChivvisToppling Qaddafi is a carefully researched, highly readable look at the role of the United States and NATO in Libya's war of liberation and its lessons for future military interventions. Based on extensive interviews within the US government, this book recounts the story of how the United States and its European allies went to war against Muammar Qaddafi in 2011, why they won the war, and what the implications for NATO, Europe, and Libya will be. This was a war that few saw coming, and many worried would go badly awry, but in the end the Qaddafi regime fell and a new era in Libya's history dawned. Whether this is the kind of intervention that can be repeated, however, remains an open question - as does Libya's future and that of its neighbors.
Toppling the Taliban
by Walter L. Perry David KassingOn September 11, 2001, the United States was without a plan for military operations in Afghanistan. One was quickly created by the Defense Department and operations began October 7. The Taliban was toppled in less than two months. This report describes preparations at CENTCOM and elsewhere, Army operations and support activities, building a coalition, and civil-military operations in Afghanistan from October 2001 through June 2002.
Tora! Tora! Tora! - Pearl Harbor 1941
by Jim Laurier Mark StilleThe Japanese assault on Pearl Harbor is one of the most famous raids in history, if not the most famous. In the early hours of December 7, 1941, the carriers and aircraft of the Japanese First Air Fleet launched a sudden and unexpected attack on the US naval forces anchored in Pearl Harbor, hoping to cripple America's naval capabilities in one decisive blow.This new study by Mark Stille will address the build-up to, execution of, and fallout from the Pearl Harbor operation. Putting the raid in context, the political and military background will be addressed - Japanese expansion in the Far East, and American responses to it, and the steady increase in tensions between the two powers. The Japanese decision to launch an assault on Pearl Harbor will be considered in detail, from the time constraints faced in planning the raid, alternative operational possibilities, and the bold, stubborn leadership of Admiral Isoruku Yamamoto, who was the driving force behind the concept and planning, to the final adoption of the operation, and its place in Japan's national strategy. It is an illuminating new look at one of the most infamous events in modern history.From the Trade Paperback edition.
Torch: North Africa And The Allied Path To Victory
by Vincent O'Hara"World War II had many superlatives, but none like Operation Torch--a series of simultaneous amphibious landings, audacious commando and paratroop assaults, and the Atlantic’s biggest naval battle, fought across a two thousand mile span of coastline in French North Africa. The risk was enormous, the scale breathtaking, the preparations rushed, the training inadequate, and the ramifications profound. Torch was the first combined Allied offensive and key to how the Second World War unfolded politically and militarily. Nonetheless, historians have treated the subject lightly, perhaps because of its many ambiguities. As a surprise invasion of a neutral nation, it recalled German attacks against countries like Belgium, Norway, and Yugoslavia. The operation’s rationale was to aid Russia but did not do this. It was supposed to get Americans troops into the fight against Germany but did so only because it failed to achieve its short-term military goals. There is still debate whether Torch advanced the fight against the Axis, or was a wasteful dispersion of Allied strength and actually prolonged the war. Torch: North Africa and the Allied Path to Victory is a fresh look at this complex and controversial operation. The book covers the fierce Anglo-American dispute about the operation and charts how it fits into the evolution of amphibious warfare. It recounts the story of the fighting, focusing on the five landings--Port Lyautey, Fédala, and Safi in Morocco, and Oran and Algiers in Algeria--and includes air and ground actions from the initial assault to the repulse of Allied forces on the outskirts of Tunis. Torch also considers the operation’s context within the larger war and it incorporates the French perspective better than any English-language work on the subject. It shows how Torch brought France, as a power, back into the Allied c& how it forced the English and the Americans to work together as true coalitions partners and forge a coherent amphibious doctrine. These skills were then applied to subsequent operations in the Mediterranean, in the English Channel, and in the Pacific. The story of how this was accomplished is the story of how the Allies brought their power to bear on the enemy’s continental base and won the Second World War. "