- Table View
- List View
The First Battle of the Marne 1914
by Ian SumnerOsprey's study of the Battle of the Marne, which was one of the decisive encounters of World War I (1914-1918), saving France from a catastrophic defeat that would almost certainly have knocked her out of the war. Germany's failure to defeat the French committed her to a war on two fronts, which would lead to trench warfare and the war of attrition that the General Staff had hoped to avoid. The conduct of the battle served to make and break the reputation of commanders and subordinates alike. Although not an decisive defeat, the battle was a strategic Allied victory. Further attempts by each side to outflank the other led to the formation of a continuous front from the North Sea to Switzerland, which set the pattern for the rest of the war. This title presents the origins of the campaign, followed by a brief chronology, before detailing the opposing commanders and armies. It then breaks out the French orders of battle and the German's opposing plans, the outcome of the fighting and the aftermath of the battle. The book concludes with a look at the battlefield today and suggestions for further reading.
The First Blitz
by Ian CastleThis book tells the story of Germany's strategic air offensive against Britain, and how it came to be neutralized. The first Zeppelin attack on London came in May 1915 - and with it came the birth of a new arena of warfare, the 'home front'. German airships attempted to raid London on 26 separate occasions between May 1915 and October 1917, but only reached the capital and bombed successfully on nine occasions. From May 1917 onwards, this theatre of war entered a new phase as German Gotha bombers set out to attack London in the first bomber raid. London's defences were again overhauled to face this new threat, providing the basis for Britain's defence during World War II.This comprehensive volume tells the story of the first aerial campaign in history, as the famed Zeppelins, and then the Gotha and the massive Staaken 'Giant' bombers waged war against the civilian population of London in the first ever 'Blitz'.
The First Blitz: The German Air Campaign Against Britain, 1917–1918
by Andrew P. Hyde“An interesting account of the German air raids of the First World War, with a better focus on the human face of the raids” (HistoryOfWar.org). In 1917, the Germans launched a major air campaign against the British mainland, which shocked the whole nation and terrorized the southeast of England. These attacks by German bombers caused hundreds of deaths and injuries, but until now, the full details of these raids have never before been told. These range from the massacre of Canadian troops resting in Folkestone on May 25, 1917 to the widespread carnage of shoppers a couple of miles away in the city center. Sheerness, then a major dockyard for the Royal Navy, barely escaped a similar fate when it too was singled out for the same treatment, and a 50kg bomb struck Upper North Street School in London’s Poplar on June 13, 1917. It not only took the lives of eighteen schoolchildren, many as young as five years, but also crippled and mutilated twice as many again. Terrible as this was, it was just one of scores of similar tragedies, which terrified the populace of London and horrified the world. The account of this campaign—plus the political and military circumstances surrounding it—follow years of original and painstaking research, interviews, and correspondence with those who remember that period. “This is a tight and carefully crafted piece of history. It has drama and a slice of shock and awe.” —War History Online “A clear winner from the first page.” —Indy Squadron Dispatch
The First Blitz in 100 Objects (In 100 Objects Ser.)
by Ian CastleA visual history of this forgotten WWI bombing campaign: &“A fantastic book. Remnants of stained glass windows, grocery shop scales . . . and so much more.&” —War History Online The First World War ushered in many new and increasingly deadly weapons and strategies—none more so than Germany&’s sustained aerial bombing campaign against Britain, which opened an entirely new theatre of war—the Home Front. It was a shocking awakening to twentieth-century warfare for the military and civilians alike. There are still fascinating glimpses of this first air campaign, long overshadowed by the Blitz of World War II—to be found in the streets of British towns and cities. Often unnoticed, each tells its own dramatic tale of death and destruction, or maybe of heroism and narrow escapes. Museums hold tantalizing reminders of the air raids, from complete aircraft that defended the country to relics of great Zeppelins that initially brought terror to the British population but ultimately were doomed to become nothing more than great heaps of burnt and twisted wreckage. This first-time assault from the air both terrified and fascinated citizens—and unexpectedly, a significant trade in air raid souvenirs developed, from postcards of wrecked houses and bomb craters to china models of Zeppelins and their bombs and pieces of Zeppelin wreckage. And among the 100 Objects brought together in this book, there can also be found tales of resilience, humor, and determination—which all have their place in the story of this First Blitz
First Blood: The Story of Fort Sumter
by W. A. SwanbergA gripping account of the American Civil War, including eyewitness testimony and profiles of key personalities.
First Blood in North Africa: Operation Torch and the U.S. Campaign in Africa in WWII (Stackpole Military Photo Series) (Stackpole Military Photo Series)
by Jon Diamond Dr.In November 1942, eleven months after Pearl Harbor, the U.S. launched Operation Torch, its first major offensive against the Germans. This photo chronicle covers the initial landings in Morocco and Algeria and the subsequent desert clashes in Tunisia as American forces under Eisenhower and Patton battled the German Afrika Korps of Erwin Rommel, the famous “Desert Fox.”
First Blue: The Story of World War II Ace Butch Voris and the Creation of the Blue Angels
by Robert K. WilcoxRobert K Wilcox's First Blue presents the remarkable story of a true hero of American aviation during World War II.The U.S. Navy's Blue Angels are the most famous flight demonstration team in the world. While millions of aviation enthusiasts see their shows every year, the story of the man who formed the squadron has never been told. He is Roy Marlin "Butch" Voris, a World War II Ace and one of only two aviators ever to command the Blue Angels twice.First Blue details the epic journey of an unassuming man whose strong character and desire to fly launched him into a life of drama, heroism, and accomplishment unique in his field. Because he wanted to serve his country during World War II, a young Butch Voris found himself flying fighter planes as part of the pitifully prepared and outmanned front in the early stages of the Pacific theater. He was nearly killed there but went on to be a leader in one of the most fearsome naval air squadrons in the Pacific. As a pilot, Butch is unquestionably in the same class as more recognized aviator heroes such as Chuck Yeager and Pappy Boyington.While his World War II experience alone could comprise a book, Butch may be best known for his efforts in the creation of the naval air demonstration team, the Blue Angels. After the war, Voris was personally chosen by Admiral Nimitz to start the Blue Angels and to lead them, first in prop planes and later in jets. The story of his efforts is as exciting as it is inspirational, and it's told here in meticulous detail and with great humor. Today the Blue Angels still follow traditions established by Butch.Butch's involvement in military flight didn't end with the Blue Angels; he became a major player in the development of the F-14 Tomcat and NASA's Lunar Explorer Module for Grumman. Butch dedicated his life to his work, and here, finally, is the remarkable, untold account of this true American aviation pioneer and hero: a man whose life had unparalleled influence on naval aviation and whose legacy continues to inspire millions of Americans each year.
First Bull Run 1861
by Alan HankinsonAt Bull Run, two inexperienced, ill-trained and poorly led armies clashed in the opening engagement of the American Civil War (1861-1865). Culminating in a stalwart defensive fight by Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson's Virginia Brigade, this is the story of the Confederacy's first victory. The author investigates the personalities of the principal commanders and examines the opposing armies, showing how the widely varying uniforms of different units caused mistakes of identity which affected the battle at crucial points. Weapons, intelligence and the almost universal inexperience of troops on both sides are all discussed, helping to explain the events of the battle itself.
The First Canadians In France, The Chronicle Of A Military Hospital In The War Zone
by Lt. Col. Frederick McKelvey BellLt. Col. Frederick McKelvey Bell holds an eminent place among the Canadians that were engaged in the war effort in France; his medical unit was the first of the Canadians to land and set to work in France in 1914. A distinguished doctor and medical officer, the author recounts his adventures and japes among his comrades in a relaxed and almost comic tone during the passage across the Atlantic. It is surprising that the sang-froid of he and his friends remained intact as they approached the front and the carnage which they encountered at the military hospital. Bell and his comrades provided vital care to the wounded of the British forces, and even some of the captured German soldiers, of whom he paints vivid portraits.
The First Casualty
by Ben Elton'A work of formidable imaginative scope' Daily Telegraph The first casualty when war comes is truth . . . Flanders, June 1917: a British officer and celebrated poet, is shot dead. , He is killed not by German fire, but while recuperating from shell shock well behind the lines. A young English soldier is arrested and, although he protests his innocence, charged with his murder.Douglas Kingsley is a conscientious objector, previously a detective with the London police, now imprisoned for his beliefs. He is released and sent to France in order to secure a conviction. Forced to conduct his investigations amidst the hell of The Third Battle of Ypres, Kingsley soon discovers that both the evidence and the witnesses he needs are quite literally disappearing into the mud that surrounds him.Ben Elton's tenth novel is a gut-wrenching historical drama which explores some fundamental questions:What is murder? What is justice in the face of unimaginable daily slaughter? And where is the honour in saving a man from the gallows if he is only to be returned to die in a suicidal battle?
First Casualty: The Untold Story of the CIA Mission to Avenge 9/11
by Toby Harnden"Harnden skillfully interweaves dramatic action sequences with the backstories of the book&’s central figures, and briskly highlights the failures of U.S. policy in Afghanistan. Readers will be swept up in this little-known chapter of America&’s 'forever war.'" -Publishers WeeklyThis dramatic true story reveals the secret mission of the eight members of the CIA&’s Team Alpha, the first Americans to be dropped behind enemy lines in Afghanistan after 9/11.America is reeling; Al-Qaeda has struck and thousands are dead. The country scrambles to respond, but the Pentagon has no plan for Afghanistan—where Osama bin Laden masterminded the attack and is protected by the Taliban. Instead, the CIA steps forward to spearhead the war. Eight CIA officers are dropped into the mountains of northern Afghanistan on October 17, 2001. They are Team Alpha, an eclectic band of linguists, tribal experts, and elite warriors: the first Americans to operate inside Taliban territory. Their covert mission is to track down Al- Qaeda and stop the terrorists from infiltrating the United States again. First Casualty places you with Team Alpha as the CIA rides into battle on horseback alongside the warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum. In Washington, DC, few trust that the CIA men, the Green Berets, and the Americans&’ outnumbered Afghan allies can prevail before winter sets in. On the ground, Team Alpha is undeterred. The Taliban is routed but hatches a plot with Al-Qaeda to hit back. Hundreds of suicidal fighters, many hiding weapons, fake a surrender and are transported to Qala-i Jangi—the &“Fort of War.&” Team Alpha&’s Mike Spann, an ex-Marine, and David Tyson, a polyglot former Central Asian studies academic, seize America&’s initial opportunity to extract intelligence from men trained by bin Laden—among them a young Muslim convert from California. The prisoners revolt and one CIA officer falls—the first casualty in America&’s longest war, which will last two decades. The other CIA man shoots dead the Al-Qaeda jihadists attacking his comrade. To survive, he must fight his way out against overwhelming odds. Award-winning author Toby Harnden gained unprecedented access to all living Team Alpha members and every level of the CIA. Superbly researched, First Casualty draws on extensive interviews, secret documents, and deep reporting inside Afghanistan. As gripping as any adventure novel, yet intimate and profoundly moving, it tells how America found a winning strategy only to abandon it. Harnden reveals that the lessons of early victory and the haunting foretelling it contained—unreliable allies, ethnic rivalries, suicide attacks, and errant US bombs—were ignored, tragically fueling a twenty-year conflict.
First Casualty: The Untold Story of the Battle That Began the War in Afghanistan
by Toby Harnden'Gripping ... A terrific action narrative' Max Hastings 'Reads like a Tom Clancy thriller, yet every word is true ... This is modern warfare close-up and raw' Andrew Roberts Bestselling and Orwell Prize-winning author Toby Harnden tells the gripping and incredible story of the six-day battle that began the War in Afghanistan and how it set the scene for twenty years of conflict. The West is in shock. Al-Qaeda has struck the US on 9/11 and thousands are dead.Within weeks, UK Special Forces enter the fray in Afghanistan alongside the CIA's Team Alpha and US troops.Victory is swift, but fragile. Hundreds of jihadists surrender and two operatives from Team Alpha enter Qala-i Jangi – the 'Fort of War' – to interrogate them. The prisoners revolt, one CIA man falls, and the other is trapped inside the fort. Seven members of the SBS – elite British Special Forces – volunteer for the rescue force and race into danger and the unknown.The six-day battle that follows proves to be one of the bloodiest of the Afghanistan war as the SBS and their American comrades face an enemy determined to die in the mud citadel.Superbly researched, First Casualty is based on unprecedented access to the CIA, SBS, and US Special Forces. Orwell Prize-winning author Toby Harnden recounts the gripping story of that first battle in Afghanistan and how the haunting foretelling it contained – unreliable allies, ethnic rivalries, suicide attacks, and errant bombs – was ignored, fueling the twenty-year conflict to come.
The First Clash: The Miraculous Greek Victory at Marathon--and Its Impact on Western Civilization
by Jim LaceyMarathon--one of history's most pivotal battles. Its very name evokes images of almost superhuman courage, endurance, and fighting spirit. But until now, the story of what happened at Marathon has been told exclusively through the narrow viewpoint of specialists in antiquity. In this eye-opening new book, acclaimed journalist Jim Lacey, both a military historian and a combat veteran, takes a fresh look at Marathon and reveals why the battle happened, how it was fought, and whether, in fact, it saved Western civilization. Lacey brilliantly reconstructs the world of the fifth century B.C. leading up to the astonishing military defeat of the Persian Empire by the vastly undermanned but determined Greek defenders. Using the seminal work of Herodotus as his starting point, Lacey reconstructs the tactical and strategic scenario of the battle, including how many combatants each side might have used and who actually led the Greeks. He also disputes the long-repeated myths of Athenian inexperience and effete Persian arrogance. With the kind of vivid detail that characterizes the best modern war reportage, Lacey shows how the heavily armed Persian army was shocked, demoralized, and ultimately defeated by the relentless assault of the Athenian phalanx, which battered the Persian line in a series of brutal attacks. He reveals the fascinating aftermath of Marathon, how its fighters became the equivalent of our "Greatest Generation," and challenges the view of many historians that Marathon ultimately proved the Greek "Western way of war" to be the superior strategy for fighting--and winning--battles to the present day. Immediate, visceral, and full of new analyses that defy decades of conventional wisdom, The First Clash is a superb interpretation of a conflict that indeed made the world safe for Aristotle, Plato, and our own modern democracy. But it was also a battle whose legacy and lessons have often been misunderstood--perhaps, now more than ever, at our own peril.
First Class
by Sharon H. DisherWhen Sharon Hanley Disher entered the U.S. Naval Academy with eighty other young women in 1976, she helped end a 131-year all-male tradition at Annapolis. Her entertaining and shocking account of the women's four-year effort to join the academy's elite fraternity and become commissioned naval officers is a valuable chronicle of the times, and her insights have been credited with helping us understand the challenges of integrating women into the military services. From the punishing crucible of plebe summer to the triumph of graduation, she describes their search for ways to survive the mental and physical hurdles they had to overcome. Unflinchingly frank, she freely discusses the prejudice and abuse they encountered that often went unpunished or unreported. A loyal Navy supporter, nevertheless, Disher provides a balanced account of life behind the academy's storied walls for that first group of teenaged women who charted the way for future female midshipmen. Lively, well researched, and amazingly good humored, the book seems as fresh today as it was when first published in hardcover in 1998.
The First Commandment: A Thriller (The Scot Harvath Series #6)
by Brad ThorFrom #1 New York Times and #1 Wall Street Journal bestselling author Brad Thor, the explosive international thriller featuring Navy SEAL turned Homeland Security operative Scot Harvath, who somewhere, somehow, has left the wrong person alive.Six months ago: in the dead of the night, five of the most dangerous detainees in the war on terror are pulled from their isolation cells in Guantanamo Bay, held at gunpoint, and told to strip off their orange jumpsuits. Issued civilian clothes and driven to the base airfield, they are loaded aboard a Boeing 727 and set free. Present day: covert counterterrorism agent Scot Harvath awakens to discover that his world has changed violently—and forever. A sadistic assassin with a personal vendetta is wreaking havoc of biblical proportions. Unleashing nightmarish horrors on those closest to Harvath, the attacker thrusts everything Harvath holds dear—including his life—into absolute peril. Ordered by the president to stay out of the investigation, Harvath is forced to mount his own operation to uncover the conspiracy and to exact revenge. When he discovers a connection between the attacks and a group of prisoners secretly released from Guantanamo, Harvath must ask himself previously unthinkable questions about the organizations and the nation he has spent his life serving. A renegade from his own government, Harvath will place his life on the line as his search for the truth draws him into a showdown with one of the most dangerous men on the face of the earth. Brad Thor roars through this nonstop adventure full of international intrigue, twisted betrayals, and ultimate revenge.
The First Day of the Somme: Gommecourt to Maricourt, 1 July 1916 (A Visitor's Guide)
by Jon Cooksey Jerry MurlandMany guidebooks cover the Somme offensive in 1916, the five-month struggle that has come to be seen as one of the defining episodes in the history of the fighting on the Western Front during the First World War. But no previous guide has concentrated on the first day, 1 July 1916, when the British Army suffered around 60,000 casualties. That is why, on the centenary of that great battle, this new volume from Pen & Sword is so timely. In a series of tours that can be walked, biked or driven, expert authors Jon Cooksey and Jerry Murland take the visitor along the eighteen-mile front line that was the starting point for the Somme offensive, from Gommecourt in the north to Maricourt in the south. The tours allow the visitor to trace the entire course of the opening day on the ground. In vivid detail the authors describe what happened, where it happened and why and which units were involved, and point out the sights that remain for the visitor to see.
The First Day on the Somme: Revised Edition (Penguin History Ser.)
by Martin MiddlebrookA history of the British Army&’s experience at the Battle of the Somme in France during World War I. After an immense but useless bombardment, at 7:30 AM on July 1, 1916, the British Army went over the top and attacked the German trenches. It was the first day of the battle of the Somme, and on that day, the British suffered nearly 60,000 casualties, two for every yard of their front. With more than fifty times the daily losses at El Alamein and fifteen times the British casualties on D-day, July 1, 1916, was the blackest day in the history of the British Army. But, more than that, as Lloyd George recognized, it was a watershed in the history of the First World War. The Army that attacked on that day was the volunteer Army that had answered Kitchener&’s call. It had gone into action confident of a decisive victory. But by sunset on the first day on the Somme, no one could any longer think of a war that might be won. Martin Middlebrook&’s research has covered not just official and regimental histories and tours of the battlefields, but interviews with hundreds of survivors, both British and German. As to the action itself, he conveys the overall strategic view and the terrifying reality that it was for front-line soldiers.Praise for The First Day on the Somme&“The soldiers receive the best service a historian can provide: their story is told in their own words.&” —The Guardian (UK)
The First Day on the Somme: Revised Edition
by Martin MiddlebrookA history of the British Army&’s experience at the Battle of the Somme in France during World War I. After an immense but useless bombardment, at 7:30 AM on July 1, 1916, the British Army went over the top and attacked the German trenches. It was the first day of the battle of the Somme, and on that day, the British suffered nearly 60,000 casualties, two for every yard of their front. With more than fifty times the daily losses at El Alamein and fifteen times the British casualties on D-day, July 1, 1916, was the blackest day in the history of the British Army. But, more than that, as Lloyd George recognized, it was a watershed in the history of the First World War. The Army that attacked on that day was the volunteer Army that had answered Kitchener&’s call. It had gone into action confident of a decisive victory. But by sunset on the first day on the Somme, no one could any longer think of a war that might be won. Martin Middlebrook&’s research has covered not just official and regimental histories and tours of the battlefields, but interviews with hundreds of survivors, both British and German. As to the action itself, he conveys the overall strategic view and the terrifying reality that it was for front-line soldiers.Revised in 2016 from the 1971 original edition.Praise for The First Day on the Somme&“The remembrance of those lives, difficult as it may be, will start in earnest now, with this wonderful book. It&’s almost like being there yourself... enough said.&”—Books Monthly (UK)
The First Day on the Somme: 1 July 1916
by Martin MiddlebrookThe soldiers receive the best service a historian can provide: their story is told in their own words - Guardian'For some reason nothing seemed to happen to us at first; we strolled along as though walking in a park. Then, suddenly, we were in the midst of a storm of machine-gun bullets and I saw men beginning to twirl round and fall in all kinds of curious ways' On 1 July 1916, a continous line of British soldiers climbed out from the trenches of the Somme into No Man's Land and began to walk towards dug-in German troops armed with machine-guns. By the end of the day there were more than 60,000 British casualties - a third of them fatal.Martin Middlebrook's now-classic account of the blackest day in the history of the British army draws on official sources from the time, and on the words of hundreds of survivors: normal men, many of them volunteers, who found themselves thrown into a scene of unparalleled tragedy and horror.
The First Eagles: The Fearless American Aces Who Flew with the RAF in World War I
by Gavin MortimerAn incredible history of the American WWI pilots who refused to be grounded. There was a time when the United States didn’t believe in aerial warfare. Wars, after all, were for men—not flying machines. When Europe went to war in the summer of 1914, the U.S. military boasted a measly collection of five aircraft, with no training programs or recruitment procedures in place. But that didn’t mean the country lacked skilled pilots. In fact, it was just the opposite. In The First Eagles, award-winning historian Gavin Mortimer engagingly profiles the restless, determined American aviators who grew tired of waiting for the their country to establish an aerial military force during World War I. It was these men who enlisted in Britain’s desperate and battered Royal Flying Corps when, in 1917, it opened a recruitment office in New York. After an intensive and deadly year of training that gave recruits a frighteningly realistic taste of the combat they would face, 247 fresh American RFC pilots were shipped over to Europe, with hundreds more following in the next two months. Twenty-eight of them claimed five or more kills to become feted as “aces,” their involvement lauded as pivotal to the Allied victory. In this book, Mortimer compiles their history through letters, diaries, memoirs, and archives from top museums in the United States and Britain—from John Donaldson, who left for France at age twenty and shot down seven Germans before being downed himself, to the Iaccaci brothers, who accounted for twenty-nine German aircraft between them. Complete with 150 period photographs, The First Eagles captures the bravery of these intrepid American pilots, who chose courage over idleness and saved the European skies.
First Fallen: The Life of Colonel Elmer Ellsworth, the North’s First Civil War Hero
by Meg GroelingOn May 24, 1861, Col. Elmer Ellsworth became the first Union officer killed in the Civil War. The entire North was aghast. First Fallen is the first modern biography of this national celebrity, Northern icon, and mostly forgotten national hero. Ellsworth and his entertaining U.S. Zouave Cadets drill team had performed at West Point, in New York City, and for President, James Buchanan before returning home to Chicago. He helped his friend and law mentor Abraham Lincoln in his quest for the presidency, and when Lincoln put out the call for troops after Fort Sumter was fired upon, Ellsworth responded. Within days he organized more than 1,000 New York firefighters into a regiment of volunteers. When he was killed, the Lincolns rushed to the Navy Yard to view the body of the young man they had loved as a son. Mary Lincoln insisted he lie in state in the East Room of the White House. The elite of New York brought flowers to the Astor House and six members of the 11th New York accompanied their commander’s coffin. When a late May afternoon thunderstorm erupted during his funeral service at the Hudson View Cemetery, eyewitnesses referred to it as “tears from God himself.” The death of the young hero was knocked out of the headlines eight weeks later by the battle of First Bull Run. The trickle of blood had now become a torrent that would not stop for four long years. Groeling’s well-written biography is grounded in years of archival research and includes diaries, personal letters, newspapers, and many other accounts. In the six decades since the last portrait of Ellsworth was written, new information has been found that gives readers and historians a better understanding of the Ellsworth phenomenon and his deep connections to the Lincoln family. First Fallen: The Life of Colonel Elmer Ellsworth, the North’s First Civil War Hero examines every facet of Ellsworth’s complex, fascinating life and adds richly to the historiography of the Civil War.
First Fleet: The U.S. Coast Guard in World War II
by Reg IngrahamFirst Fleet, first published in 1944, is a fast-paced account of the important role played by the U.S. Coast Guard during the Second World War (with background chapters on the early history and peacetime activities of the Coast Guard). Featuring numerous interviews with servicemen in the U.S., Pacific, Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Greenland, First Fleet provides an insider’s look at the unsung heroes and vital work performed by the Coast Guard, not only in the United States, but in every war-time theater of operation. Activities described include ocean- and shore-patrols, U-boat hunting, transport of U.S. Marines in the Pacific, rescue work and the development of better lifeboats, fire-fighting, and the Public Health Service. First Fleet, one of only a handful of books on the Coast Guard in World War II, is a classic account of bravery and courage under difficult conditions. Included are 23 pages of illustrations.
First Flight Around The World: The Adventures Of The American Fliers Who Won The Race
by Tim GroveA 2016 YALSA Award for Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Finalist<P><P> In 1924 the U.S. Army sent eight young men on a bold attempt to be the first to circumnavigate the globe by flight. Men from five other countries—Great Britain, France, Portugal, Italy, and Argentina—had the same goal. The race was on!<P> First Flight Around the World documents the exciting journey of four American planes—the Chicago, Boston, New Orleans, and Seattle—and their crews on a race around the world. The trip held many challenges: extreme weather, tricky navigation, unfamiliar cultures, fragile planes, and few airfields. The world fliers risked their lives for the sake of national pride.<P> Based in part on the journal of one of the crew members, First Lieutenant Leslie Arnold, along with commentary, newspaper reports, and archival images, First Flight Around the World is a captivating tale about American ingenuity, gumption, and perseverance.
First Force Recon Company
by Bill PetersIn 1st Force Recon you performed at a very high level of proficiency. Or you died. . . .In 1969, First Lieutenant Bill Peters and the Force Recon Marines had one of the most difficult, dangerous assignments in Vietnam. From the DMZ to the Central Highlands, their job was to provide strategic and operational intelligence to insure the security of American units as the withdrawal of the troops progressed.Making perilous helicopter inserts deep in the Que Son Mountains, where the constant chatter of AK-47 rifle fire left no doubt who was in charge, Peters and the other men of 1st Force Recon Company risked their lives every day in six-man teams, never knowing whether they would live to see the sunset. Peters's accounts of silently watching huge movements of heavily armed NVA regulars, prisoner snatches, sudden-death ambushes, and extracts from fiercely fought firefights vividly capture the realities of Recon Marine warfare, and offer a gritty tribute to the courage, heroism, and sacrifice of the U. S. Marines. . . .From the Paperback edition.