Second World War Books
Smithsonian Books Angels Zero: P-47 Close Air Support in Europe
Book SynopsisRobert V. Brulle, who flew seventy ground support missions with the 366th Fighter Group, links his daily experiences in the cockpit not only with the battles in which he participated but also with events in the wider European theater. Combining anecdotes from his personal diary, research in US and German records, and interviews with participants from both sides, Brulle details a combat career that began just after D-Day, when he flew column cover for Allied troops as they chased the German military out of France. He then describes the brutal, six-week Hürtgen Forest campaign, during which his fighter group lost 15 pilots and 18 aircraft. He also tells how the otherwise bitterly fought Battle of the Bulge provided the 366th with an opportunity to successfully engage 60 Luftwaffe airplanes in a dogfight directly over their airfield.Angels Zero combines both personal and historical detail to vividly re-create a lesser-known aspect of the air war in Europe.
£23.40
Temple University Press,U.S. Philadelphia Jewish Life, 1940-2000:
Book SynopsisIn a city with a long history of high social barriers and forbidding aristocratic preserves, Philadelphia Jews, in the last half of the twentieth century, became a force to reckon with in the cultural, political and economic life of the region. From the poor neighborhoods of original immigrant settlement, in South and West Philadelphia, Jews have made, as Murray Friedman recounts, the move from 'outsiders' to 'insiders' in Philadelphia life. Essays by a diverse range of contributors tell the story of this transformation in many spheres of life, both in and out of the Jewish community: from sports, politics, political alliances with other minority groups, to the significant debate between Zionists and anti-Zionists during and immediately after the war. In this new edition, Friedman takes the history of Philadelphia Jewish life to the close of the twentieth century, and looks back on how Jews have shaped and have been shaped by Philadelphia and its long immigrant history. Author note: Murray Friedman is Middle-Atlantic Regional Director of the American Jewish Committee and Director of the Myer and Rosaline Feinstein Center for American Jewish History at Temple University. He is the author or editor of numerous books, including, most recently (with Albert D. Chernin), "A Second Exodus: The American Movement to Free Soviet Jews".Table of ContentsForeword E. Digby Baltzell Acknowledgments Introduction to the New Edition: The Eighties to a New Century Murray Friedman and Andrew Harrison Introduction: From Outsiders to Insiders? Philadelphia Jewish Life, 1940-1985, Murray Friedman 1. Philadelphia Jewry, the Holocaust and the Birth of the Jewish State i. Philadelphia Jewry and the Holocaust Philip Rosen, Robert Tabak, and David Gross ii. Four Fateful Years: Philadelphia's Jews and the Creation of the State of Israel Philip Rosen 2. The Opposition to Zionism: The American Council for Judaism Under the Leadership of Rabbi Louis Wolsey and Lessing Rosenwald Thomas A. Kolsky 3. Philadelphia Jews and Radicalism: The American Jewish Congress Cleans House, Paul Lyons 4. From Periphery to Prominence: Jews in Philadelphia Politics, 1940-1985 Dennis Clark 5. An Ambivalent Alliance: Blacks and Jews in Philadelphia, 1940-1985 Murray Friedman and Carolyn Beck 6. Wynnefield: Story of a Changing Neighborhood David P. Varady 7. A Place to Live: The Jewish Builders of Northeast Philadelphia Peter Binzen 8. Home and Haven: Soviet Jewish Immigration to Philadelphia, 1972-1982 Nora Levin 9. Changing Styles of Synagogue Life: Conservative Judaism in Philadelphia Sidney H. Schwartz 10. A Generation of Learning: Jewish Education in Philadelphia, 1940-1980 Diane A. King, William B. Lakritz, and Saul P. Wachs 11. The Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia: A Quarter Century of Change Ernest M . Kahn 12. From A To "Zink": Philadelphia Jews in Sports Ron Avery 13. Jews and the Cultural Revival of Philadelphia Don Harrison Afterword: The Once and Future City-One Jewish Philadelphian's Odyssey Dan Rottenberg Notes About the Contributors Index
£999.99
WW Norton & Co American Soldier of WWII: D-Day, A Visual
Book SynopsisAmerican Soldier of World War II provides a detailed look at the lives, weapons, and equipment of the soldiers who fought in the European Theater through a collection of artifacts and exacting reproductions. While other books examine World War II from a political, tactical, or military perspective, this book focuses on the day-to-day life and the human experience of the American men who fought and often gave their lives to defeat fascism. Illustrated with full-color photographs and historical documents, engagingly written and thoroughly explained, this book is the perfect addition to children’s and adults’ library collections, school libraries, and the personal libraries of history buffs of all ages.
£11.81
PublicAffairs,U.S. Auschwitz
Book SynopsisAuschwitz-Birkenau is the site of the largest mass murder in human history. Yet its story is not fully known. In Auschwitz, Laurence Rees reveals new insights from more than 100 original interviews with Auschwitz survivors and Nazi perpetrators who speak on the record for the first time. Their testimonies provide a portrait of the inner workings of the camp in unrivalled detail--from the techniques of mass murder, to the politics and gossip mill that turned between guards and prisoners, to the on-camp brothel in which the lines between those guards and prisoners became surprisingly blurred. Rees examines the strategic decisions that led the Nazi leadership to prescribe Auschwitz as its primary site for the extinction of Europe's Jews--their "Final Solution." He concludes that many of the horrors that were perpetrated in Auschwitz were driven not just by ideological inevitability but as a "practical" response to a war in the East that had begun to go wrong for Germany. A terrible immoral pragmatism characterizes many of the decisions that determined what happened at Auschwitz. Thus the story of the camp becomes a morality tale, too, in which evil is shown to proceed in a series of deft, almost noiseless incremental steps until it produces the overwhelming horror of the industrial scale slaughter that was inflicted in the gas chambers of Auschwitz.
£14.78
St Augustine's Press Principalities and Powers – Spiritual Combat
Book SynopsisThis book is a “You Are There” approach to a portion of the Second World War, specifically the decisive years of 1942–1943. While referencing the events which are part of well-recorded history, Fr. Rutler gives a monthly commentary on them, drawn from letters, newspapers, and journals. This information might well have been lost, especially as most of these documents are rare and, having been printed on rationed paper, are deteriorating. Besides the concern for generally unknown details of people and events, the book presses the theme that “the Second World War can rightly be understood and probably only fully appreciated as a holy war fought for multiple and mixed motives, but in its deepest meaning as a campaign against evil by defenders, consciously or obliviously, of the good.” While its principle focus is on the way the Catholic Church confronted enemies of humanity, a wide variety of institutions and colorful characters find a place. Of particular interest, and perhaps something of a revelation, are insights into the personalities who played their parts in this titanic spiritual combat: saints and sinners, the famous as well as those who are forgotten today and who were little known even then. A message to be learned is that human nature never changes, and that the test of character in the struggles of the world’s greatest war is a litmus for how we should and should not behave in the challenges of our own generation.
£999.99
Smithsonian Books Why We Fought: Forging American Obligations in
Book SynopsisWhy We Fought is a timely and provocative analysis that examines why Americans really chose to sacrifice and commit themselves to World War II. Unlike other depictions of the patriotic “greatest generation,” Westbrook argues that, strictly speaking, Americans in World War II were not instructed to fight, work, or die for their country—above all, they were moved by private obligations. Finding political theory in places such as pin-ups of Betty Grable, he contends that more often than not Americans were urged to wage war as fathers, mothers, husbands, wives, lovers, sons, daughters, and consumers, not as citizens. The thinness of their own citizenship contrasted sharply with the thicker political culture of the Japanese, which was regarded with condescending contempt and even occasionally wistful respect.Why We Fought is a profound and skillful assessment of America's complex political beliefs and the peculiarities of its patriotism. While examining the history of American beliefs about war and citizenship, Westbrook casts a larger light on what it means to be an American, to be patriotic, and to willingly go to war.
£18.95
The New York Review of Books, Inc A Memoir Of The Warsaw Uprising
Book SynopsisOn August 1, 1944, Miron Białoszewski, later to gain renown as one of Poland’s most innovative poets, went out to run an errand for his mother and ran into history. With Soviet forces on the outskirts of Warsaw, the Polish capital revolted against five years of Nazi occupation, an uprising that began in a spirit of heroic optimism. Sixty-three days later it came to a tragic end. The Nazis suppressed the insurgents ruthlessly, reducing Warsaw to rubble while slaughtering some 200,000 people, mostly through mass executions. The Red Army simply looked on.Białoszewski’s blow-by-blow account of the uprising brings it alive in all its desperate urgency. Here we are in the shoes of a young man slipping back and forth under German fire, dodging sniper bullets, collapsing with exhaustion, rescuing the wounded, burying the dead. An indispensable and unforgettable act of witness, A Memoir of the Warsaw Uprising is also a major work of literature. Białoszewski writes in short, stabbing, splintered, breathless sentences attuned to “the glaring identity of ‘now.’” His pages are full of a white-knuckled poetry that resists the very destruction it records.Madeline G. Levine has extensively revised her 1977 translation, and passages that were unpublishable in Communist Poland have been restored.
£15.29
The New York Review of Books, Inc The Cretan Runner: His story of the German
Book Synopsis
£999.99
Select Books Inc A Cup of Honey: The Story of a Young Holocaust
Book Synopsis " In a chance meeting in the 1980's, I had a discussion with Elie Wiesel, the famous Holocaust author, historian, and teacher. I told him that I had not been able to tell my story. He said that it was my obligation to speak out and to tell the world about the Holocaust. He told me that I had survived for a reason-to tell the world what had happened to my family and to me.Suddenly I remembered that my mother had once told me the same thing-that it was beshert, or meant to be, that I survive to tell the story of my family."-Eliezer AyalonFor ten-year-old Lazorek Hershenfis in Radom, Poland, life with his family is joyful. Lazorek's father, Israel (known as "Srul") operates a leather-cutting business from the front of the family's sparsely furnished, one0romm apartment, and the family spends idyllic summers harvesting fruit from orchards in the nearby countryside. His brothers Mayer and Abush work as tailors to supplement the family's income, slipping Lazorek occasional pocket money for the movies with friends. Lazorek's sister Chaya is a kindergarten teacher and a playmate especially cherished, whether the game is catch the homemade balls of the challenging "strulkies" with stones. A deeply respected healer in the community, Lazorek's beautiful mother Rivka shows him the meaning of caring unselfishly for others, from the breastfeeding the child of an ill friend as if it were her own and preparing special food for Lazorek himself to making middle-of-the-night visits to help sick neighbor. But what is given does not always appear to be returned in kind, as Lazorek discovers on his journey into the ghetto and the concentration camps.Although Lazorek's father and mother sell much of their jewelry and silver for cash to pay for a visa to Palestine the British mandatory government denies the application. It is then that they lose hope of a better life, and according to Lazorek, events begin to happen so quickly that he runs out of time to be afraid.Lazorek survives and journeys to Palestine, taking the name Eliezer Ayalon. A new life begins.. . but can memories be forgotten? With "A Cup of Hone," Neile Sue Friedman and Eliezer Ayalon impart the richness and endurance of the family love that inspires the Holocaust survivor to perpetuate the lives of those he lost by telling their story."Neile played an essential role in bringing my part of this history to lights," notes Mr. Ayalon. "I hope that by reading my story, as well as others like it, the next generation will learn the lessons of the Holocaust—that hate and intolerance were defeated by hope and courage."
£15.15
Westholme Publishing Patriots from the Barrio: The Story of Company E,
Book Synopsis
£22.52
Penguin Putnam Inc Vanished: The Sixty Year Search for the Missing
Book Synopsis
£13.49
Penguin Putnam Inc The Churchill Factor: How One Man Made History
Book Synopsis
£15.30
Thomas Nelson Publishers No Greater Valor: The Siege of Bastogne and the
Book SynopsisJerome Corsi’s newest opus, No Greater Valor, examines the Siege of Bastogne—one of the most heroic victories of WWII—with a focus on the surprising faith of the Americans who fought there.In December of 1944, an outmanned, outgunned, and surrounded US force fought Hitler’s overwhelming Panzer divisions to a miraculous standstill at Bastogne. The underdogs had saved the war for the Allies. It was nothing short of miraculous.Corsi’s analysis is based on a record of oral histories along with original field maps used by field commanders, battle orders, and other documentation made at the time of the military command. With a perspective gleaned from newspapers, periodicals, and newsreels of the day, Corsi paints a riveting portrait of one of the most important battles in world history.
£19.86
Arcadia Publishing Florida in World War II: Floating Fortress
Book Synopsis
£21.24
The Library of America Cornelius Ryan: The Longest Day (D-Day June 6,
Book Synopsis
£31.18
The Library of America World War II Memoirs: The Pacific Theater (LOA
Book Synopsis
£32.00
University of Utah Press,U.S. Gasa-Gasa Girl Goes to Camp: A Nisei Youth Behind
Book SynopsisLily Nakai and her family lived in Southern California, where sometimes she and a friend dreamt of climbing the Hollywood sign that lit the night. At age ten, after believing that her family was simply going on a camping trip, she found herself living in a tar-papered barrack, gazing out instead at the nightly searchlight. She wondered if anything would ever be normal again.In this creative memoir, Lily Havey combines storytelling, watercolour, and personal photographs to recount her youth in two Japanese American internment camps during World War II. She uses short vignettes - snapshots of people, recreated scenes and events - to describe how a ten-year-old girl grew into a teenager inside these camps. Vintage photographs reveal the historical, cultural, and familial contexts of that growth and of the Nakai family’s dislocation. They reveal the recollected lives of her mother and father in Japan and then America, where they began their arranged marriage and had two children. Havey’s vivid and poignant watercolours depict decades-old memories and dreams and reflect moments of daily camp life illuminated by the author’s adult perspective. The paintings and her animated writing draw readers into a turbulent era when America disgracefully incarcerated, without due process, thousands of American citizens because of their race.These stories of love, loss, and discovery recall a girl balanced precariously between childhood and adolescence. In turns funny, wrenching, touching, and biting but consistently engrossing, they elucidate the daily challenges of life in the camp.When, in 1980, Havey travelled across the Pacific and for the first time met her uncle Iwatake, a Zen Buddhist priest, she finally understood, in retrospect, the words her mother had spoken years earlier in camp: “You are American, but you are also Japanese.”Trade Review“The writing is at times highly evocative, but it is the addition of Havey's artwork that sets this work apart from and adds a new dimension to the Japanese concentration camp story. Havey includes numerous small details that make the period come alive and shed new light on the prison camp experience.” —Nancy Matsumoto, writer and contributor to Time, Newsweek, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and The Densho Encyclopedia of the Japanese American Incarceration "Havey has a distinctive voice and a gift for writing—the text flows and is quite easy to read, even when she is discussing emotionally difficult material. The book not only speaks eloquently about the pressures on the camp inmates, but provides useful insight into some hitherto hidden matters." —Greg Robinson, author of A Tragedy of Democracy: Japanese Confinement in North America and After Camp: Portraits in Midcentury Japanese American Life and Politics "Through a sophisticated blend of artwork, prose, and photographic images, Lily Yuriko Nakai Havey has crafted in Gasa Gasa Girl Goes to Camp what is assuredly among the very most exquisite, insightful, and candid memoirs of the World War II Japanese American confinement experience." —Arthur A. Hansen, Professor Emeritus of History and Asian American Studies, California State University, Fullerton "This is a book that must be read, shared, discussed, taught,—and savored!”—Nichi Bei Weekly “This is a one-of-a-kind memoir, reading like the best fiction yet shot through with scenes that, whether in paint or print, evoke the vivid reality of a life unfairly confined. I loved every page.”—The King’s English Bookshop “What an absolutely amazing book! There can be no other estimation for such an important document that is part of the long-standing recovery effort related to the Japanese American internment experience.… One must pick up this essential and new addition to the canon of internment literatures.”–Asian American Literature Fans “This memoir will open your eyes and heart to the history of Japanese internment in America.”—Deseret News “Gasa Gasa Girl Goes to Camp represents an important addition to the Japanese American World War II voices from the camps and a significant artistic contribution in its own right.”—Western American Literature
£999.99
Arcadia Publishing Pittsburgh Remembers World War II
Book Synopsis
£18.69
PublicAffairs Hitler and Stalin: The Tyrants and the Second
Book Synopsis 'Laurence Rees brilliantly combines powerful eye-witness testimony, vivid narrative and compelling analysis in this superb account of how two terrible dictators led their countries in the most destructive and inhumane war in history.'―Professor Sir Ian Kershaw, author of Hitler: Hubris and Hitler: Nemesis Two 20th century tyrants stand apart from all the rest in terms of their ruthlessness and the degree to which they changed the world around them. Briefly allies during World War II, Adolph Hitler and Josef Stalin then tried to exterminate each other in sweeping campaigns unlike anything the modern world had ever seen, affecting soldiers and civilians alike. Millions of miles of Eastern Europe were ruined in their fight to the death, millions of lives sacrificed. Laurence Rees has met more people who had direct experience of working for Hitler and Stalin than any other historian. Using their evidence he has pieced together a compelling comparative portrait of evil, in which idealism is polluted by bloody pragmatism, and human suffering is used casually as a political tool. It's a jaw-dropping description of two regimes stripped of moral anchors and doomed to destroy each other, and those caught up in the vicious magnetism of their leadership.
£19.54
Bancroft Press Hunt for the Peggy C: A World War II Maritime
Book Synopsis
£23.36
Bancroft Press Rescue Run
Book Synopsis
£25.16
Savas Beatie Hunt and Kill: U-505 and the U-Boat War in the
Book SynopsisOne of WWII’s pivotal events was the capture of U-505 on June 4, 1944. The top secret seizure of this massive Type IX submarine provided the Allies with priceless information on German technology and innovation. After the war, U-505 was transported to Chicago, where today several hundred thousand visitors a year pass through its well-preserved hull at the Museum of Science and Industry. Now in paperback, Hunt and Kill offers the first definitive study of U-505. Chapters include her construction, crew and commanders, combat history, an assessment of Type IX operations, naval intelligence, the eight fatal German mistakes that doomed the ill-fated boat, her capture, and final transportation and restoration for posterity. The contributors to this fascinating volume - a Who’s Who of U-boat historians - include: Erich Topp (U-552, Odyssey of a U-boat Commander); Eric Rust (Naval Officers Under Hitler); Timothy Mulligan (Neither Sharks Nor Wolves); Jak Mallmann Showell (Hitler’s U-boat Bases); Jordan Vause (Wolf); Lawrence Patterson (First U-boat Flotilla); Mark Wise (Enigma and the Battle of the Atlantic); Keith R. Gill (former Curator, U-505, Museum of Science and Industry), and Theodore P. Savas (editor, Silent Hunters: German U-boat Commanders of World War II; author, Nazi Millionaires).
£15.80
Michigan State University Press Discourse and Defiance under Nazi Occupation:
Book SynopsisCaptured by German forces shortly after Dunkirk, and not relinquished until May of 1945, nearly a year after the Normandy invasion, the British Channel Islands (Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, Sark, and Herm) were characterised during their occupation by severe deprivation and powerlessness. The Islanders, with few resources to stage an armed resistance, constructed a rhetorical resistance based upon the manipulation of discourse, construction of new symbols, and defiance of German restrictions on information. Though much of modern history has focused on the possibility that Islanders may have collaborated with the Germans, this eye-opening history turns to secret war diaries kept in Guernsey. A close reading of these private accounts, written at great risk to the diarists, allows those who actually experienced the Occupation to reclaim their voice and reveals new understandings of Island resistance. What emerges is a stirring account of the unquenchable spirit and deft improvisation of otherwise ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. Under the most dangerous of conditions, Guernsey civilians used imaginative methods in reacting to their position as a subjugated population, devising a covert resistance of nuance and sustainability. Violence, this book and the people of Guernsey demonstrate, is not at all the only means with which to confront evil.
£999.99
Michigan State University Press Female SS Guards and Workaday Violence: The
Book SynopsisHow did "ordinary women" like their male counterparts, become capable of brutal violence during the Holocaust? Cultural historian Elissa Mailänder examines the daily work of twenty-eight women employed by the SS to oversee prisoners in the concentration and death camp Majdanek/Lublin in Poland. Many female SS overseers in Majdanek perpetrated violence and terrorized prisoners not only when ordered to do so but also on their own initiative.The social order of the concentration camp, combined with individual propensities, shaped a microcosm in which violence became endemic to workaday life. The author's analysis of Nazi records, court testimony, memoirs, and film interviews illuminates the guards' social backgrounds, careers, and motives as well as their day-to-day behavior during free time and on the "job", as they supervised prisoners on work detail and in the cell blocks, conducted roll calls, and "selected" girls and women for death in the gas chambers.Scrutinizing interactions and conflicts among female guards, relations with male colleagues and superiors, and internal hierarchies, Female SS Guards and Workaday Violence shows how work routines, pressure to "resolve problems," material gratification, and Nazi propaganda stressing guards' roles in "creating a new order" heightened female overseers' identification with Nazi policies and radicalized their behavior.Trade ReviewThe book demonstrates that young women often acted to a considerable degree on their own initiative to ensure the functioning of an extermination camp. . . . By elucidating the horrific 'workaday routines' of these female perpetrators in Majdanek and confronting the abysmal anthropological depths of a topic that is still taboo, the author helps to reconstruct how the murder of Europe's Jews could become reality." - Bernward Dörner, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung
£999.99
Casemate Publishers Fogg in the Cockpit: Master Railroad Artist,
Book SynopsisRenowned for decades as the world’s foremost railroad artist, Howard Fogg’s career spanned half a century and some twelve hundred paintings. However, while his art has been welcomed for decades, few of his enthusiasts have been aware of his prior career, as a fighter pilot in the U.S. 8th Air Force during World War II. Fortunately Fogg left behind a detailed diary of his experiences, which illuminate this brief but exciting aspect of his life, as he engaged in direct combat with the Luftwaffe at the controls of a P-47 Thunderbolt.Articulate and insightful, his diary offers a frank and fascinating glimpse into the life of a fighter pilot, both in the sky and in wartime England. Written during 1943 and 1944 it offers a confidential perspective of life as a “flyboy,” during which Howard flew 76 combat missions and was awarded the Air Medal with three clusters and the Distinguished Flying Cross with one cluster.Presented in its entirety, with supplementary material by Richard and Janet Fogg, and supporting illustrations from Fogg himself, including satirical cartoons and military and railroad artwork, Fogg in the Cockpit paints with a broad brush, from the smallest details of a pilot’s day-to-day existence to air combat, and the strategic and political decisions that influenced the course of the war.Trade ReviewFirst-hand account of railroad artist Howard Fogg’s World War II service” * Model Railroader Magazine *Howard Fogg is one of those rare people who managed to keep a diary whilst engaged in fighting during the second world war. It's "witting testimony" of the highest calibre, and a most welcome addition to the library of reminiscences of this most recent world conflict. Add to this the genuine and amazing talent of Fogg as an artist, and you have a most fascinating read - the appendix of beautiful colour paintings by Fogg is a welcome addendum. A remarkable book indeed. * www.booksmonthly.co.uk *As an ex fighter pilot I read the book with great anticipation and was rewarded with a gem. * Rene Burtner, 359th Fighter Group Association *…a firsthand look at his fascinating wartime career…presents a hidden side of one of the 20th century's great artistic geniuses. * Railroad Model Craftsman Dispatcher's Report *Howard Fogg was one talented individual. Not only was he America’s premier railroad artist, but he dropped his palette and brush to become a fighter pilot in WWII… a very detailed diary chronicling his wartime experiences… * WWII History *
£999.99
Casemate Publishers The Lions of Carentan: Fallschirmjager Regiment
Book SynopsisAlthough it is known that Allied airborne forces landed into a German buzzsaw on D-Day, far less is known about the troops they encountered in the dark night of June 6, 1944. One of the formations they encountered was a similarly elite group of paratroopers, who fought on the defensive instead of dropping from the skies, giving their Allied counterparts a tremendous challenge in achieving their objectives.This is the first complete wartime history of the 6th Fallschirmjäger, with numerous firsthand accounts from key members describing the events of 1943–45 vividly and without compromise for the first time. These accounts reveal previously unknown details about important operations in Italy, Russia, on the Normandy Front, Belgium, Holland, the last German Parachute drop in the Ardennes, and the final battle to the end in Germany.With over 220 original photographs, many from private collections and never before published, this book fully illustrates the men, their uniforms, equipment and weapons. Also included is an appendix with maps, battle calendar, staffing plans, a list of field and post-MOB-numbers, and the Knight's Cross recipients of the regiment. Having earned the respect of the Allied forces who fought against them during World War II, this work will inform current readers of the full record of Fallschirmjäger Regiment 6, and why the Allied advance into German-held Europe was so painstaking to achieve.Trade ReviewI found this an interesting insight into the combat history of this group of elite troops who earned much respect from their enemies as well for their actions. * www.militarymodelling.com *This is a good insight into the later Fallschirmjager - not as well trained as the original formations but with a fighting spirit that made up for their critical logistic shortcomings. The book is chock full of little titbits, such as squad and platoon composition and the fact that ‘drop’ training was only abandoned in early 1944. * Wargames Soldiers and Strategy *…wonderfully documented book…Within each chapter are numerous detailed and insightful personal accounts of combat, troop movements and war experiences… provides an excellent account of what it was like fighting in WWII from the German soldier’s perspective. It was an enjoyable and informative read. The many photographs complimented the text nicely, but were also interesting to view as a photo album. * IPMS *
£25.00
Casemate Books The Attack on Pearl Harbor Strategy Combat Myths
Book SynopsisThe attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December, 1941, has been portrayed by historians as a dazzling success, "brilliantly conceived and meticulously planned".
£33.20
Casemate Publishers D-Day with the Screaming Eagles
Book SynopsisMany professional historians have recorded the actions of D-Day but here is an account of the airborne actions as described by the actual men themselves in eyewitness detail. Participants range from division command personnel to regimental, battalion, company and battery commanders to chaplains, surgeons, enlisted medics, platoon sergeants, squad leaders and the rough, tough troopers who adapted quickly to fighting in mixed, unfamiliar groups after a badly scattered drop – and yet managed to gain the objectives set for them in the hedgerow country of Normandy. George Koskimaki was part of the 101st Airborne’s daring parachute landing into occupied France that day. Now, drawing on more than five hundred firsthand accounts, including the never-before-published experiences of the trailblazing pathfinders and glider men, Koskimaki re-creates those critical hours in all their ferocity and terror. Told by those who ultimately prevailed, ordinary Americans who faced an extraordinary challenge, D-Day with the Screaming Eagles is the real history of that climactic struggle beyond the beachhead.
£23.18
Casemate Publishers Hell'S Highway: A Chronicle of the 101st Airborne
Book SynopsisSeptember 17, 1944; thousands of 101st Airborne Division paratroopers, known as the Screaming Eagles, descend from the sky over Holland, dropping deep behind German lines in a daring daylight mission to seize and secure the road leading north to Arnhem and the Rhine. Their success would allow the Allied army to advance swiftly into Germany. The Screaming Eagles accomplish their initial objectives within hours, but keeping their sections of “Hell’s Highway” open takes another 72 days of fierce round-the-clock fighting against crack German troops and tank divisions. Hell's Highway is the dramatic name given to the vital stretch of road that the British 3rd Guards Armoured Division had to advance down rapidly on their route to relieve the American Paras (82nd Airborne) at Nijmegen and the British 1st Airborne Division at Arnhem. Drawing on interviews with more than 600 paratroopers, George E. Koskimaki chronicles, with vivid firsthand accounts, the dramatic, never-before-told story of the Screaming Eagles’valiant struggle. Hell’s Highway also tells of the Dutch citizens and members of the underground who were liberated after five years of Nazi oppression and who never forgot America’s airborne heroes. This renowned force risked their lives for the freedom of a small country . . . and the world. About the Author George Koskimaki is a noted historian of the 101st Airborne Division. His other books include D-Day With The Screaming Eagles and The Battered Bastards of Bastogne. He lives in Northville, MI, USA.
£23.75
Casemate Publishers Battered Bastards of Bastogne: A Chronicle of the
Book SynopsisThe Battered Bastards of Bastogne is the product of contributions by 530 soldiers who were on the ground or in the air over Bastogne. They lived and made this history and much of it is told in their own words.The material contributed by these men of the 101st Airborne Division, the Armour, Tank Destroyer, Army Air Force, and others is tailored meticulously by the author and placed on the historical framework known to most students of the Battle of the Bulge.Pieces of a jigsaw puzzle nearly 60 years old come together in this book, when memories related by one soldier fit with those of another unit or group pursuing the battle from another nearby piece of terrain.
£26.11
Casemate Publishers Bismarck: The Final Days of Germany’s Greatest
Book Synopsis“...essential background and new historical insights make otherwise inexplicable elements of the Bismarck story much clearer, without diminishing the drama of the epic sea chase and its vivid, human details.” – World War II MagazineThe sinking of the German battleship Bismarck – a masterpiece of engineering, well-armoured with a main artillery of eight 15-inch guns – was one of the most dramatic events of World War II. She left the port of Gotenhafen for her first operation on the night of 18 May 1941, yet was almost immediately discovered by Norwegian resistance and Allied air reconnaissance. British battle cruiser Hood was quickly dispatched from Scapa Flow to intercept the Bismarck, together with new battleship Prince of Wales. They were ordered to find the ship quickly because, on their way from the USA, several large convoys were heading for Britain.On 24 May, Bismarck was found off the coast of Greenland, but the ensuing battle was disastrous for the British. The Hood was totally destroyed within minutes (only 3 crewmen surviving), and Prince of Wales was badly damaged. The chase resumed until the German behemoth was finally caught, this time by four British capital ships supported by torpedo-bombers from the carrier Ark Royal. The icy North Atlantic roiled from the crash of shellfire and bursting explosions until finally the Bismarck collapsed, sending nearly 2,000 German sailors to a watery grave.Zetterling and Tamelander’s work rests on stories from survivors and the latest historical discoveries. The book starts with a thorough account of maritime developments from 1871 up to the era of the giant battleship, and ends with a vivid account, hour by hour, of the dramatic and fateful hunt for the mighty Bismarck, Nazi-Germany’s last hope to pose a powerful surface threat to Allied convoys.Trade Review…a thorough treatment, including material from interviews with survivors of their sinkings and the impact they had on the naval war in the Atlantic. * SEAPOWER *A fresh look at the life and death of the most famous German warship of World War II. * NYMAS *outstanding book about naval warfare…real time, you are there style that conveys all of the anxiety of actual combat at sea. * WWII HISTORY MAGAZINE *essential background and new historical insights make otherwise inexplicable elements of the Bismarck story much clearer, without diminishing the drama of the epic sea chase and its vivid, human details. * WORLD WAR II MAGAZINE *…unable to put it down…I highly recommend this book for anyone that likes the study of naval battles or just wants to read about an action-packed sea battle. * IPMS *... a very interesting and useful history …once you start… you will be very hard pressed to stop until the smoke has cleared and the ship is sunk. * INTERNET MODELER *Beautifully written, exhaustively researched and a mine of thought provoking insight...this is not just the best military history book I’ve read for a many a year but the best book full-stop. Essential. Buy it. * ModelArmour November *…a thorough treatment, including material from interviews with survivors of their sinkings and the impact they had on the naval war in the Atlantic. * Seapower *A fresh look at the life and death of the most famous German warship of World War II…a very good read… * STRATEGY PAGE *
£18.04
Casemate Publishers A Footsoldier for Patton: The Story of a Red
Book SynopsisA frank account of the U.S. infantry experience in northern Europe, A Footsoldier for Patton takes the reader from the beaches of Normandy through the giddy drive across France, to the brutal battles on the Westwall, in the Ardennes, and finally to the conquest of Germany itself.Patton’s army is best known for dashing armoured attacks, its commander combining the firepower of tanks with their historic lineage as cavalry. But when the Germans stood firm the greatest fighting was done by Patton’s long undersung infantry; the foot sloggers who were called upon to reduce enemy strongpoints, and who took the brunt of German counterattacks.Michael Bilder, a member of the 5th Infantry, played a unique role in the Third Army’s onslaught. A rifleman foremost, he was also a German-speaker, called upon for interrogations and special duties. An astute observer, he relates dozens of fascinating insights into the campaign, from dealing with German snipers to intoxicated Frenchwomen, as well as relaying the often morbid humour of combat. Laughter, for example, erupts among Bilder’s unit when a hated Graves Registration officer, known for robbing the pockets of the dead, gets his hand blown off by a German booby trap.When the 5th Infantry comes up against the fortress of Metz, the battle is detailed in all its horror, as is the sudden drive into the flank of the Bulge, where the Americans face their first winter battle against enemy veterans of Russia. Incidents common to the ordinary GI, but which seldom see the light of day in histories, are routinely related in this book, enriching the reader’s sense of the true reality of World War II combat.Trade ReviewAltogether, this is a fascinating insight into a rifleman’s everyday life during the later stages of the War in Europe. * Classic Military Vehicle *One of the best memoirs I have ever read about WWII service. * Military Magazine *...a fine book that I would recommend to anyone who has anything to do with the infantryman’s war. It should be compulsory reading for snout-in-trough politicians who thoughtlessly commit better men than themselves to that very experience. * Tank *...a damn good read...a roller coaster of a story filled with the highs and lows of war. * Raider *
£14.24
Casemate Publishers The Battle for Tinian: Vital Stepping Stone in
Book SynopsisIn July 1944, the 9,000-man Japanese garrison on the island of Tinian listened warily as the thunder of the United States Navy and Marine Corps, Army and Air Corps, descended on their neighbouring island, Saipan, just three miles away. There were 20,000 Japanese troops on Saipan, but the US obliterated the opposition after a horrific all-arms campaign. The sudden silence only indicated it was now Tinian’s turn.When the battle for Tinian finally took place the US acted with great skill. Nevertheless, the Japanese resisted with their usual stubbornness, and the already decimated US Marines suffered hundreds of casualties.During the battle Japanese shore batteries were able to riddle the battleship Colorado, killing scores, plus make multiple hits on a destroyer, killing its captain. On the island itself the US used napalm for the first time, paving the way for Marines painstakingly rooting out strongpoints. One last Banzai attack signalled the end to enemy resistance, as Marines fought toe-to-toe with their antagonists in the dark.In the end some 8,000 Japanese were killed, with only 300 surrenders, plus some others who hid out for years after the war. But those Japanese who resisted perhaps performed a greater service than they knew. After Tinian was secured, the US proceeded to build the biggest airport in the world on that island, home to hundreds of B-29 Superfortresses. Among these, just over a year later, were the Enola Gay and Boxcar, which with their atomic bombs would quickly bring the Japanese homeland itself to its knees.
£31.77
Casemate Publishers The True Story of Catch 22: The Real Men and
Book SynopsisAfter the publication of his best-selling novel, Joseph Heller usually chose to deny that any of his richly drawn characters were based on his actual war mates. However, to those who served with Heller in the 340th Bomb Group the novel’s characters were indeed recognisable; from the hard-drinking, vengeful, and disillusioned Chief White Half Oat; young, sliced-in-half Kid Sampson; shrieking, frenzied Hungry Joe; to Colonel Cathcart, Doc Dreedle, Yossarian and that capitalist supreme, Milo Minderbinder.In this book we finally encounter the real men and combat missions on which the novel was based. Blending fact, fancy and history with full-blown original illustrations and rare, previously unpublished photos of these daring USAAF flyers and their Corsican-based B-25 Marauders, along with descriptions of the 340th’s real wartime events, the work includes twelve men of the Bomb Group relating twelve richly told tales of their own.Now all of the men upon whom Heller based his characters are gone. However, the last survivor, George L. Wells, was an extraordinary combat pilot and the model for Catch-22s Capt. Wren, and he is the common thread who weaves through this book, allowing the reader to truly feel the war and even thumb through George’s well-worn mission book describing attacks on Axis ports, ships, bridges, and the notorious Brenner Pass. Author Patricia Chapman Meder has been a professional artist in both fine and commercial art for the past 35 years,13 of them in Europe. When Catch-22 was published it was quickly apparent that this book was based on the Bomb Group her father commanded in World War II. This true-life parallel book thus begged to be written.
£23.75
Casemate Publishers The Battle of the Denmark Strait: A Critical
Book SynopsisTo Great Britain and Germany, the Battle of the Denmark Strait came like a thunderclap in the spring of 1941. The pride of the Royal Navy, HMS Hood, was utterly destroyed, and its newest battleship, Prince of Wales, severely damaged and forced to withdraw. This was at the hands of Germany’s huge battleship Bismarck, on its first foray into North Atlantic waters. The blast of heavy shells between the behemoths resonated both in Whitehall and Berlin. However, despite the wealth of documentary information and photographic evidence available on the battle, there continues to be controversy as to how the conflict was actually fought. This book attempts to resolve the remaining issues by a detailed technical analysis of the circumstances, while new discoveries, revealed for the first time in this book, shed new light on the battle in which the best of both navies traded salvoes and over 1,500 Royal Navy sailors were lost. By carefully considering the factors affecting naval gunnery, such as flight time of shells to their target, reaction time for correcting the fall of shot, and recycle times of the various gun systems, the battle has been painstakingly reconstructed in this book within all of the established time and distance parameters. Not limited to the battle itself, the book also explores the relevant events leading up to the titanic clash, and those events associated with its aftermath. Being a graduate mechanical engineer and professional analyst associated with fielded military weapon systems, the author is uniquely qualified to perform the analytic functions involved in the reconstruction of the battle. His last position was as staff analyst where he provided support to the Federal government in the evaluation of the U.S. Strategic Missile Defence System, and he is also author of the highly acclaimed work, Naval Shipbuilders of the World—From the Age of Sail to the Present Day.
£31.97
Casemate Publishers The Silent Service in World War II: The Story of
Book SynopsisWhen the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, the U.S. Navy had a total of 111 submarines. However, this fleet was not nearly as impressive as the number suggests. It was mostly a collection of ageing boats from the late teens and early twenties, with only a few of the newer, more modern Gato-class boats. Fortunately, with the war in Europe already two years old and friction with Japan ever-increasing, help from what would become known as the Silent Service in the Pacific was on the way: there were 73 of the new fleet submarines under construction. The Silent Service in World War II tells the story of America’s intrepid underwater warriors in the words of the men who lived the war in the Pacific against Japan. The enemy had already begun to deploy advanced boats, but the U.S. was soon able to match them. By 1943 the new Gato-class boats were making a difference, carrying the war not just to the Japanese Imperial Navy, but to the vital merchant fleet that carried the vast array of material needed to keep the land of the Rising Sun afloat. As the war progressed, American success in the Solomons, starting with Guadalcanal, began to constrict the Japanese sea lanes, and operating singly or in wolfpacks they were able to press their attacks on convoys operating beyond the range of U.S. airpower, making daring forays even into the home waters of Japan itself in the quest for ever more elusive targets. Also taking on Japanese warships, as well as rescuing downed airmen (such as the grateful first President Bush), U.S. submarines made an enormous contribution to our war against Japan. This book takes you through the war as you learn what it was like to serve on submarines in combat, the exhilaration of a successful attack, and the terror of being depth-charged. And aside from enemy action, the sea itself could prove to be an extremely hostile environment as many of these stories attest. From early war patrols in obsolescent, unreliable S-boats to new, modern fleet submarines roving the Pacific, the forty-six stories in this anthology give you a full understanding of what it was like to be a U.S. Navy submariner in combat.
£25.00
Casemate Publishers Axis Sally: The American Voice of Nazi Germany
Book SynopsisOne of the most notorious Americans of the twentieth century was a failed Broadway actress turned radio announcer named Mildred Gillars (1900–1988), better known to American GIs as “Axis Sally.” Despite the richness of her life story, there has never been a full-length biography of the ambitious, star-struck Ohio girl who evolved into a reviled disseminator of Nazi propaganda.At the outbreak of war in September 1939, Mildred had been living in Germany for five years. Hoping to marry, she chose to remain in the Nazi-run state even as the last Americans departed for home. In 1940, she was hired by the German overseas radio, where she evolved from a simple disc jockey and announcer to a master propagandist. Under the tutelage of her married lover, Max Otto Koischwitz, Gillars became the personification of Nazi propaganda to the American GI.Spicing her broadcasts with music, Mildred used her soothing voice to taunt Allied troops about the supposed infidelities of their wives and girlfriends back home, as well as the horrible deaths they were likely to meet on the battlefield. Supported by German military intelligence, she was able to convey personal greetings to individual US units, creating an eerie foreboding among troops who realized the Germans knew who and where they were.After broadcasting for Berlin up to the very end of the war, Gillars tried but failed to pose as a refugee, but was captured by US authorities. Her 1949 trial for treason captured the attention and raw emotion of a nation fresh from the horrors of the Second World War. Gillars’s twelve-year imprisonment and life on parole, including a stay in a convent, is a remarkable story of a woman who attempts to rebuild her life in the country she betrayed.Written by Richard Lucas, a freelance writer and lifelong shortwave radio enthusiast, Axis Sally: The American Voice of Nazi Germany is the first thoroughly documented look at this mythologised figure of World War II.
£19.94
Casemate Publishers Leyte, 1944: The Soldier’s Battle
Book SynopsisWhen General Douglas MacArthur arrived in Australia in March 1942, having successfully left the Philippines to organise a new American army, he vowed, "I shall return!" More than two years later he did return, at the head of a large U.S. army to retake the Philippines from the Japanese. The place of his re-invasion was the central Philippine Island of Leyte. Much has been written about the naval Battle of Leyte Gulf that his return provoked, but almost nothing has been written about the three-month long battle to seize Leyte itself. Originally intending to delay the advancing Americans, the Japanese high command decided to make Leyte the"Decisive Battle" for the western Pacific and rushed crack Imperial Army units from Manchuria, Korea, and Japan itself to halt and then overwhelm the Americans on Leyte. As were most battles in the Pacific, it was a long, bloody, and brutal fight. As did the Japanese, the Americans were forced to rush in reinforcements to compensate for the rapid increase in Japanese forces on Leyte. This unique battle also saw a major Japanese counterattack - not a banzai charge, but a carefully thought-out counteroffensive designed to push the Americans off the island and capture the elusive General MacArthur. Both American and Japanese battalions spent days surrounded by the enemy, often until relieved or overwhelmed. Under General Yamashita’s guidance it also saw a rare deployment of Japanese paratroopers in conjunction with the ground assault offensive. Finally there were more naval and air battles, all designed to protect or cover landing operations of friendly forces. Leyte was a three-dimensional battle, fought with the best both sides had to offer, and did indeed decide the fate of the Philippines in World War II.Trade Review'This should become the definitive history of this important battle' -- History of War Magazine, May 2014 * History of War 05/09/2014 *
£34.99
Casemate Publishers The Tigers of Bastogne: Voices of the 10th
Book SynopsisThe gallant stand of the 101st Airborne Division at Bastogne has long become part of historical and media legend. But how many students of the war realize there was already a U.S. unit holding the town when they arrived? And this unit—the 10th Armored Division—continued to play a major role in its defense throughout the German onslaught. In The Tigers of Bastogne, authors King and Collins finally detail the travails of this young armored division, which had only arrived in Europe that fall, yet found itself subject to the full brunt of Manteuffel’s Fifth Panzer Army in the Ardennes. At first overwhelmed, and then falling back to protect the vital crossroads, the 10th Armored was reinforced (not“saved”) by the Screaming Eagles, and its men and tanks went on to contribute largely to America’s victory in its largest battle of the war. The 10th Armored had only arrived in Europe that September, as part of Patton’s Third Army, and their divisional motto,“Terrify and Destroy,” was somewhat belied by the onslaught of Nazi panzers that burst across no-man’s-land on December 16. Instead their nickname, “The Tiger Division,” became fully earned, as they went on the defensive at Bastogne, surrounded by an entire German army, yet refused to concede a single inch of ground not earned with blood. General Anthony McAuliffe, of the 101st Airborne (and“Nuts” fame), said, “It seems regrettable to me that Combat Command B of the 10th Armored Division didn’t get the credit it deserved at the battle of Bastogne. All the newspaper and radio talk was about the paratroopers. Actually the 10th Armored Division was in there a day before we were and had some very hard fighting before we ever got into it.” Fortunately, in this book, the historical record is finally corrected. With their trademark style, King and Collins, through their firsthand interviews with veterans, bring us straight into the combats of the 10th Armored, equaling the balance between the brave paratroopers and gallant tankers who, together, held off Germany’s last major offensive in the West.Trade ReviewThis is a superb detailed account of a less familiar aspect of a famous battle, often providing platoon by platoon and day-by-day details of the role played by the men of the US 10th Armored Division in the defensive of Bastogne, and thus in the wider Allied victory in the Battle of the Bulge. * History of War 21/01/2015 *
£25.00
Casemate Publishers Finland’S War of Choice: The Troubled
Book SynopsisThis book explores the unlikely coalition between Germany and Finland in World War II, and their joint military operations from 1941 to 1945. An oft overlooked participant of the war, Finland fought against the Soviets in the infamous and illegal Winter War, alongside Germany in the Continuation War of 1941, and finally against former ally Germany in the conclusive and bloody Lapland War. In his prologue Lunde covers the turbulent history of Finland, from its separation from the Soviet Union in 1917 to its isolation after being bludgeoned in 1939–40. Lunde examines both Finnish and German motives for forming a coalition against the USSR, and how—as logical as a common enemy would seem—the lack of true planning and preparation would doom the alliance.Lunde posits that it was inconceivable that the highly professional German General Staff allowed itself to accept the militarily unsound and shaky coalition that was waged between Finland and Germany. The war aims were not discussed nor harmonised, there were no campaign plans with tasks and missions spelled out past the initial assault, no effective main effort established, inadequate force levels, and an unsound command structure within various headquarters. Practically every rule in the book was broken.In this book, Henrik Lunde, the renowned author of Hitler’s Pre-emptive War: The Battle for Norway, 1940 (Casemate) once again fills a profound gap in our understanding of World War II.Trade Review…likely to be the best book on the diplomatic and military aspects of the conflict published in English for many years…Finland’s War of Choice receives a very high recommendation, and it looks like a strong candidate to be named as one of the best new books of the year. * Stone and Stone World War II Books *Offers a solid operational analysis.... successfully demonstrates that dining with the Nazi devil required a longer spoon that Finland possessed. * Publishers Weekly *“This is a fascinating look at an important but little known area of fighting during the Second World War. Lunde has produced an excellent history of the crucial fighting in the north, the often confused political and diplomatic background and the troubled relationship between the Finns and their German allies.” * Historyofwar.org *…excellent coverage of otherwise obscure operations near and even above the arctic circle, with word portraits of many commanders and a good many desperate fights, culminating in the brief Finno–German War after the collapse of the alliance. A valuable read for anyone interested in WWII in Europe. * New York Military Affairs Symposium *
£18.99
Casemate Publishers Fabled Fifteen: The Pacific War Saga of Carrier
Book SynopsisThe record of Carrier Air Group 15 in World War II is astonishing by any measure: it scored 312 enemy aircraft destroyed, 33 probably destroyed, and 65 damaged in aerial combat, plus 348 destroyed, 161 probably destroyed, and 129 damaged in ground attacks. Twenty-six Fighting 15 pilots became aces, including their leader, Commander David McCampbell, who became the U.S. Navy’s “Ace of Aces.” Twenty-one squadron pilots were killed in action and one in an operational accident aboard the carrier Essex.The fighter squadron’s partners, Bombing Squadron 15 and Torpedo Squadron 15, scored 174,300 tons of enemy shipping, including 37 cargo vessels sunk, 10 probably sunk, and 39 damaged. As well, Musashi, the world’s largest battleship, was sunk, along with a light aircraft carrier, a destroyer, destroyer escort, two minesweepers and other craft—plus the Zuikaku, the last surviving carrier that participated in the Pearl Harbor attack. Incredibly, every pilot of Torpedo 15 was awarded the Navy Cross, the highest award for bravery after the Medal of Honor.All of this took place between May and November, 1944. No other American combat unit in any service came close to a similar score in such a short time period. Air Group 15 participated in the two greatest naval battles in history, the Philippine Sea—also known as the Marianas Turkey Shoot—and Leyte Gulf, which saw the end of Japanese naval power. On June 19, 1944, Fighting 15 shot down 68.5 attacking Japanese aircraft, a one-day record unmatched by any other U.S. fighter squadron.In documenting the saga of Air Group 15’s momentous six months at war, the author provides an intimate and insightful view of the group’s fabled combat tour, including details of daily life and human interactions aboard the fleet carrier USS Essex during the busiest phase of the Pacific War.
£23.75
Casemate Publishers Panzer Operations: Germany'S Panzer Group 3
Book SynopsisThis book, originally published in German in 1956, has now been translated into English, unveiling a wealth of both experiences and analysis about Operation Barbarossa, perhaps the most important military campaign of the 20th century.Hermann Hoth led Germany’s 3rd Panzer Group in Army Group Center in tandem with Guderian’s 2nd Group during the invasion of the Soviet Union, and together those two daring panzer commanders achieved a series of astounding victories, encircling entire Russian armies at Minsk, Smolensk, and Vyazma, all the way up to the very gates of Moscow.This work begins with Hoth discussing the use of nuclear weapons in future conflicts. This cool-headed post-war reflection, from one of Nazi Germany’s top panzer commanders, is rare enough. But then Hoth dives into his exact command decisions during Barbarossa—still the largest continental offensive ever undertaken—to reveal new insights into how Germany could, and in his view should, have succeeded in the campaign. Hoth critically analyses the origin, development, and objective of the plan against Russia, and presents the situations confronted, the decisions taken, and the mistakes made by the army’s leadership, as the new form of mobile warfare startled not only the Soviets on the receiving end but the German leadership itself, which failed to provide support infrastructure for their panzer arm’s breakthroughs. Hoth sheds light on the decisive and ever-escalating struggle between Hitler and his military advisers on the question whether, after the Dnieper and the Dvina had been reached, to adhere to the original idea of capturing Moscow. Hitler’s momentous decision to divert forces to Kiev and the south only came in late August 1941. He then finally considers in detail whether the Germans, after obliterating the remaining Russian armies facing Army Group Center in Operation Typhoon, could still hope for the occupation of the Russian capital that fall. Hoth concludes his study with several lessons for the offensive use of armored formations in the future. His firsthand analysis, here published for the first time in English, will be vital reading for every student of World War II.
£23.75
Casemate Publishers Tanks in Hell: A Marine Corps Tank Company on
Book SynopsisIn May 1943 a self-described “really young, green, ignorant lieutenant” assumed command of a new Marine Corps company. His even younger enlisted Marines were learning to use an untested weapon, the M4A2 “Sherman” medium tank. His sole combat veteran was the company bugler, who had salvaged his dress cap and battered horn from a sinking aircraft carrier. Just six months later the company would be thrown into one of the ghastliest battles of World War II.On 20 November 1943 the Second Marine Division launched the first amphibious assault of the Pacific War, directly into the teeth of powerful Japanese defenses on Tarawa. In that blood-soaked invasion, a single company of Sherman tanks, of which only two survived, played a pivotal role in turning the tide from looming disaster to legendary victory. In this unique study Oscar Gilbert and Romain Cansiere use official documents, memoirs, interviews with veterans, as well as personal and aerial photographs to follow Charlie Company from its formation, and trace the movement, action—and loss—of individual tanks in this horrific four-day struggle. The authors have used official documents and interviews with veterans to follow the company from training through the brutal 76-hour struggle for Tarawa. Survivor accounts and air photo analysis document the movements –and destruction – of the company’s individual tanks. It is a story of escapes from drowning tanks, and even more harrowing escapes from tanks knocked out behind Japanese lines. It is a story of men doing whatever needed to be done, from burying the dead to hand-carrying heavy cannon ammunition forward under fire. It is the story of how the two surviving tanks and their crews expanded a perilously thin beachhead, and cleared the way for critical reinforcements to come ashore. But most of all it is a story of how a few unsung Marines helped turn near disaster into epic victory.Trade ReviewIt is a very enjoyable read, the style is plain but energetic, and the battle scenes are very clear. As a battle study, the work is a great success, providing a detailed account of the company’s successes and failures on Tarawa. As a unit history, the work provides an excellent mix of personal anecdote and organizational data. * Marine Corp History *
£23.75
Casemate Publishers You Can't Get Much Closer Than This: Combat with
Book SynopsisIn 1943, Andrew Z. Adkins, Jr. joined the 80th Infantry Division, then undergoing its final training cycle in the California-Arizona desert. Upon reaching the division, 2nd Lieutenant Adkins was assigned as an 81 mm mortar section leader in Company H, 2nd Battalion, 317th Infantry Regiment. When the 80th Infantry Division completed its training, it was shipped in stages to the United Kingdom and then on to Normandy, where it landed on 3 August 1944. The first real test came on 20 August 1944, when the battalion attacked high ground near Argentan during the Allied drive to seal German forces in the Falaise Pocket. While scouting for mortar positions in the woods, Andy Adkins ran into a group of Germans and shot one of them dead with his carbine. He later wrote, ‘It was a sickening sight, but having been caught up in the heat of battle, I didn't have a reaction other than feeling I had saved my own life.’Adkins went on to fight in a succession of bloody battles across France. The unit suffered grievous losses as it took hills and towns away from brave German veterans. In the course of fighting, graphically portrayed in this soldier's memoir, Andy Adkins acted with remarkable skill and courage, placing himself at the forefront of the action whenever he could. His delivery of critical supplies to a unit in an embattled French town earned him a Bronze Star Medal, the first such award in his battalion.You Can't Get Much Closer Than This is at heart a young soldier's story of war. In vibrant, piercing terms, it tells of a junior officer's coming of age, and with page after page of action sequences, it gives insight into what modern warfare is really all about.Trade ReviewWe get a vivid picture of what it was like to be under fire at the front line...This is a very moving account of the fighting. * History of War *It is a fascinating account to read of a junior officer learning his trade in difficult circumstances, but where he earned the respect of his men. A personal record like this is a valuable resource to anyone interested in the period and made available to us thanks to his son, Andrew Adkins III.. * Military Model Scene *
£19.64
Casemate The Armored Campaign in Normandy: June-August
Book Synopsis
£999.99
Casemate Publishers Unsung Eagles: Stories of America’s Citizen
Book SynopsisThe nearly half-million American airmen who served during World War II have almost disappeared. And so have their stories. In Unsung Eagles, award-winning writer and former fighter pilot Jay Stout has saved an exciting collection of those accounts from oblivion. These are not rehashed tales from the hoary icons of the war. Rather, they are stories from the masses of largely unrecognized men who―in the aggregate―actually won it. These are “everyman” accounts that are important but fast disappearing. Ray Crandall describes how he was nearly knocked into the Pacific by a heavy cruiser’s main battery during the Second Battle of the Philippine Sea. Jesse Barker―a displaced dive-bomber pilot―tells of dodging naval bombardments in the stinking mud of Guadalcanal. Bob Popeney relates how his friend and fellow A-20 pilot was blown out of formation by German antiaircraft fire: “I could see the inside of the airplane―and I could see Nordstrom's eyes. He looked confused…and then immediately he flipped up and went tumbling down.”
£19.73
Casemate Publishers Operation Barbarossa 1941: Hitler Against Stalin
Book SynopsisiOperation Barbarossa was the largest military campaign in history. Springing from Hitler’s fanatical desire to conquer the Soviet territories, defeat Bolshevism and create ‘Lebensraum’ for the German people, it pitted two diametrically opposed armed forces against one another.The invasion began with 4.5 million troops attacking 2.3 million defenders. On one side was the Wehrmacht, without any doubt the world’s most advanced military force. On the other were the Soviet armed forces, downtrodden, humiliated, decapitated and terrorized by an autocratic and crude dictator with no military education whatsoever.Based on decades of research work in both German and Russian archives, as well as interviews with a large number of key figures and veterans, Operation Barbarossa brings our knowledge on the war on the Eastern Front several big steps forward. It reveals and dispels many myths and misconceptions including: the myth of mass surrenders by Soviet soldiers; the myth about the vast differences in troop casualties between the two sides; the myth of the Soviet partisans and the myth that it was the Arctic cold that halted the German offensive. It also does not shy away from difficult truths such as the true nature of Finland’s participation in Operation Barbarossa, and the massive scale of rapes committed by German troops.Illustrated with over 250 photos, many never previously published, and several clear and detailed maps, this is an objective, balanced account, published in time for the 75th anniversary of the start of Operation Barbarossa on 22nd June 2016. Christer Bergström has once again produced what will be the definitive account of this monumental campaign.”Even readers with a great knowledge on the subject will have much to learn from this book. Bergström presents several totally new aspects. For anyone who wants to understand Operation Barbarossa from the perspective of both sides, this is a must-have book.”- Niclas Sennerteg, military historian and author of several books on World War II.Trade ReviewBergstrom offers far more verifiable facts about far more facets of the war. In particular, he quotes specific numbers of tanks, troops, casualties, aircraft, victories, losses, and more…Operation Barbarossa 1941: Hitler against Stalin is one of the results of that progress in scholarship, bringing better accuracy, balance, and clarity to the old story. * Stone Books *This is a very impressive piece of work, that gives us a much more convincing account of Operation Barbarossa, with convincing reasons for both the German successes and their eventual failure. * History of War 24/07/2019 *Barbarossa was a huge and complex operation launched in the summer of 1941. Using a wealth of photographs and maps Chrster Bergstrom delivers an infromative and easy to follow account of the titanic and desperate struggle that ensued. 5 stars * Soldier Magazine *It is easy enough for a first-time student of the eastern front, but thoughtful enough for those who have done extensive reading. Bergstrom is better at posing important questions than he is at answering them. I found myself thinking this book is the beginning of several debates, not the end. * Armor Modeling and Preservation Society *This book form Christer Bergstrom is illustrated with over 250 photographs, many of which have never been published, and is awash with maps and illustrations. Operation Barbarossa 1941: Hitler Against Stalin is a balanced and objective account that marks the 75th anniversary. * Warfare *The text with all of its tons of details of the day to day operations and human involvement is without a doubt the best covering of this campaign in print. * A Wargamer's Needful Things *Christer Bergström has once again produced what will be the definitive account of this monumental campaign. * Books Monthly *
£33.25
Casemate Publishers The Luftwaffe in Colour: The Victory Years,
Book SynopsisThis remarkable work pulls the lid off one of the legendary air forces in history at the very peak of its powerface=Calibri>–unveiling the and machines as they truly existed dayface=Calibri>–to–day, underneath the propaganda of their own regime and the scare stories of their enemies.In Hitler’s Germany, colour photography was primarily co-opted for state purposes, such as the military publication Signal, or the Luftwaffe’s own magazine, Der Adler (Eagle). But a number of men had cameras of their own, and in this painstakingly acquired collection, originally published in France, we can witness true life on Germany’s airfields during the period of the Luftwaffe’s ascendancy.Thus not only do we see famous planes such as the Me-109, Ju-87 or He-111, but the wide variety of more obscure types with which the Germans began the war. The array of Arados, Dorniers, Heinkels face=Calibri>– not to mention elegant 4-engine Condors face=Calibri>– that were initially employed in the war are here in plain sight and full colour, providing not only an insight into WWII history but a model maker’s dream.Just as fascinating are the shots of the airmen themselves, along with their groundcrews face=Calibri>– full of confidence and cheer as they bested every other air force in Europe during these years, with the single exception of the RAF’s Fighter Command in late-summer 1940. But that was no big stumbling block to the Luftwaffe, which had bigger fish to fry in Russia and North Africa the following year.In the authors’ next work, The Years of Defeat, we will see how the war turned more grim for the Luftwaffe, even as its expertise and skill at more deadly aircraft designs, increased. In The Victory Years we have a uniquely intimate view of an air force at the very apex of its capabilities.Trade Review...Being in colour, camouflage is seen, as are markings, very useful to the aircraft modeller. From origins, through development of the German air arm, the phoney war, Blitzkrieg, expansion south & east and North Africa; Fighters, bombers, transports, floatplanes, trainers are all covered in this book. An excellent publication that should prove popular with the Luftwaffe enthusiast. * Scale Military Modelling International Magazine *Highly recommended to Luftwaffe modellers. * Air Modeller *I highly recommend Luftwaffe in Colour: The Victory Years to anyone with an interest in the World War II German aircraft. The colour photos are a valuable modelling resource that will also help with the interpretation of black and white images of similar subjects…highly recommended. * Hyperscale *This is an essential book to have on your shelf to use for Luftwaffe colour references. * Model Builder International *In one single book you get valuable content, which might influence your next modelling work. Let's hope that we will see a continuation of this series. * DetailScaleView *This is a book to keep close to hand for reference, to dip into constantly. * Flightpath Magazine *The authors have done an outstanding job. Both volumes are a fantastic addition to your aviation library. The reproduction quality is superb...these two are up there with the best. * War History Online *...this is a super collection of images and a real pleasure to see them in colour rather than the more common black and white pictures from the period. * Military Model Scene *Recommended reading for February 2017. * History of War Magazine *The colour photos are a valuable modelling resource that will also help with the interpretation of black and white images of similar subjects…highly recommended. * Reale Model Review *An amazing collection of brilliant colour photographs - there have been many part works of the second world war in colour, and there is colour footage on some of the archival newsreels, but this is first-class, and quite unexpected. The quality of the photography is quite stunning! * Books Monthly *
£18.99
