Specific wars and military campaigns Books
Oxford University Press Inc The Vietnam War
Book SynopsisHailed as a pithy and compelling account of an intensely relevant topic (Kirkus Reviews), this wide-ranging volume offers a superb account of a key moment in modern U.S. and world history. Drawing upon the latest research in archives in China, Russia, and Vietnam, Mark Lawrence creates an extraordinary, panoramic view of all sides of the war. His narrative begins well before American forces set foot in Vietnam, delving into French colonialism''s contribution to the 1945 Vietnamese revolution, and revealing how the Cold War concerns of the 1950s led the United States to back the French. The heart of the book covers the American war, ranging from the overthrow of Ngo Dinh Diem and the impact of the Tet Offensive to Nixon''s expansion of the war into Cambodia and Laos, and the final peace agreement of 1973. Finally, Lawrence examines the aftermath of the war, from the momentous liberalization--Doi Moi--in Vietnam to the enduring legacy of this infamous war in American books, films, and poTrade Review"Crisply concise.... Delves into the 'whys' of the war: why the Vietnamese fought against the United States, why the great powers were involved, why the war turned out as it did and why legacies of the war linger."-Philip Seib,Dallas Morning News"[A] succinct history of a frustrating war that raised several painful issues America's leaders are now encountering for a second time.... A pithy and compelling account of an intensely relevant topic."-Kirkus Reviews"Distills the US's longest war into a short, readable narrative.... This brief summary of the tangled negotiations that prolonged the suffering caused by the war is perhaps Lawrence's most valuable contribution, since it covers an area that more extensive histories overlook.... A valuable addition to any academic library.... Essential."-C.C. Lovett, CHOICE"The book lives up to its brief and accessible billing...."-Publishers Weekly"In an elegant, almost elegiac prose style, Mark Lawrence takes us through the history of the Vietnam War in a narrative that transcends the usual focus on Vietnam and the United States. There is no other one volume history of the war that so thoroughly captures the war as an event in world history."-Marilyn B. Young, author of The Vietnam Wars, 1945-1990"A succinct and persuasive account of the Second Indochina War in its global context. At a time when the current U.S. involvement in Iraq evokes uneasy memories of America's controversial 'war of choice' in Vietnam, Mark Lawrence's thoughtful analysis of that previous conflict is highly welcome."-William J. Duiker, author of Ho Chi Minh: A Life"It takes skill to condense a massive subject into a concise, entertaining, and accessible book. This is what Mark Atwood Lawrence accomplishes in his 224 page book The Vietnam War: A Concise International History.... This book might be even more attractive than the larger volumes on the subject because it is succint and focuses on the primary issues of the war."-Shelton Woods, ResourcesTable of ContentsINTRODUCTION; FURTHER READING
£17.99
Oxford University Press Smell of Battle the Taste of Siege
Book SynopsisHistorical accounts of major events have almost always relied upon what those who were there witnessed. Nowhere is this truer than in the nerve-shattering chaos of warfare, where sight seems to confer objective truth and acts as the basis of reconstruction. In The Smell of Battle, the Taste of Siege, historian Mark M. Smith considers how all five senses, including sight, shaped the experience of the Civil War and thus its memory, exploring its full sensory impact on everyone from the soldiers on the field to the civilians waiting at home. From the eardrum-shattering barrage of shells announcing the outbreak of war at Fort Sumter; to the stench produced by the corpses lying in the mid-summer sun at Gettysburg; to the siege of Vicksburg, once a center of Southern culinary aesthetics and starved into submission, Smith recreates how Civil War was felt and lived. Relying on first-hand accounts, Smith focuses on specific senses, one for each event, offering a wholly new perspective. At Bull Run, the similarities between the colors of the Union and Confederate uniforms created concern over what later would be called friendly fire and helped decide the outcome of the first major battle, simply because no one was quite sure they could believe their eyes. He evokes what it might have felt like to be in the HL Hunley submarine, in which eight men worked cheek by jowl in near-total darkness in a space 48 inches high, 42 inches wide. Often argued to be the first total war, the Civil War overwhelmed the senses because of its unprecedented nature and scope, rendering sight less reliable and, Smith shows, forcefully engaging the nonvisual senses. Sherman''s March was little less than a full-blown assault on Southern sense and sensibility, leaving nothing untouched an no one unaffected. Unique, compelling, and fascinating, The Smell of Battle, The Taste of Siege, offers readers way to experience the Civil War with fresh eyes.Trade ReviewSmiths choice of episodes is inspiring. Perhaps not evident from the last two chapters titles, themes are introduced with playful language, his enjoyment in writing this volume evident throughout ... I would be surprised if this book does not change historical accounts of warfare. The twentieth century brought total war to greater numbers of civilians of many other nations, but historians have yet to write the sort of total history, which adequately conveys the full meaning of such collective trauma. Yet again, Smith has provided us with a model. * Jonathan Reinarz, University of Birmingham, The American Historical Review *Read this book for an original methodology that encourages readers to consider the influence of the confusions of battle, the noise of shells, and the stench of death. Smith describes some of the key encounters of the civil war, including the Battle of Bull Run and Gettysburg, in terms of assaults on the senses and shows how that affected outcomes. * Books of the year 2014, War on the Rocks *Historians often ask readers to imagine the intense sights, sounds, and smells of battle. Smith goes one step further and explores how such sensory assaults affect the conduct of war itself. * Lawrence D. Freedman, Books of the year 2014, Foreign Affairs *Table of ContentsIntroduction ; 1. The Sounds of Secession ; 2. Eying First Bull Run ; 3. Cornelia Hancock's Sense of Smell ; 4. Hollowing Out Vicksburg ; 5. The Hunley's Impact ; Epilogue: Experiencing Total War
£55.10
Oxford University Press, USA Grand Design
Book SynopsisDespite the abundance of books on the Civil War, not one has focused exclusively on what was in fact the determining factor in the outcome of the conflict: differences in Union and Southern strategy. In The Grand Design, Donald Stoker provides for the first time a comprehensive and often surprising account of strategy as it evolved between Fort Sumter and Appomattox. Reminding us that strategy is different from tactics (battlefield deployments) and operations (campaigns conducted in pursuit of a strategy), Stoker examines how Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis identified their political goals and worked with their generals to craft the military means to achieve them--or how they often failed to do so. Stoker shows that Davis, despite a West Point education and experience as Secretary of War, ultimately failed as a strategist by losing control of the political side of the war. Lincoln, in contrast, evolved a clear strategic vision, but he failed for years to make his generals implementTrade ReviewThe Grand Design is an excellent military study of the Civil War. It is well researched and written. It flows smoothly and keeps the reader's interest. It is critical of both sides ... and Stoker is not afraid to offer controversial interpretations. * Dr. J. Boone Bartholomees Jr., Parameters *Table of ContentsPreface ; 1. 'We only want to be left alone.' - The Confederacy's Political Objective and the Union's Rebuttal ; 2. Making War a Little at a Time ; 3. Mr. Lincoln Goes to War ; 4. The Border States: Policy, Strategy, and Civil-Military Relations ; 5. King Cotton's Tarnished Crown: Confederate Economic and Diplomatic Strategies ; 6. McClellan on Top: The Evolution of Union Strategy, July 1861 - March 1862 ; 7. The Foundations of Naval Strategy ; 8. The War in the West - Breaking the Cordon ; 9. A New Year and a New Strategy ; 10. War in Virginia ; 11. The Summer of 1862 in the West ; 12. To Free Maryland and Tennessee! ; 13. The Union Rebuffed: The Autumn of 1862 ; 14. The Emancipation Proclamation - Strategy, Policy, and Escalation ; 15. 1863: A New Year and New Hopes ; 16. Vicksburg and Exhaustion ; 17. The Cruel Summer: 1863 - The Gettysburg Campaign ; 18. From Vicksburg, to Chickamauga, to the Rappahannock ; 19. Indecision and the West ; 20. Decision and Desperation, 1864 ; 21. The Full Fury of Modern War - Exhaustion and Attrition ; 22. War Termination ; Some Conclusions ; Acknowledgments ; Notes ; Index
£18.49
Oxford University Press The Civil War at Sea
Book SynopsisLincoln Prize-winning author Craig L. Symonds offers an authoritative history of the Civil War navies and considers how aspects of the naval conflict affected the trajectory of the American Civil War.Trade ReviewWell written, fast paced, and illustrated with a number of fine maps...this book provides a perfect offing for the general reader who wants to explore the Civil War at sea. However, scholars too should pay close attention, for...Symonds challenges us to think about the struggle [at sea and on the rivers] in new ways. Here we have the best in history - readable, informative, and provocative. * Historian *Symonds writes briskly and with great competence, and The Civil War at Sea (and on the rivers) is a masterful overview of a most meaningful topic. * Naval History *Excellent.... Crisp writing, incisive assessments of leading personalities, and attention to details often overlooked enhance Symonds's book. * CHOICE *Symond's account of the campaigns, strategies, tactics, and personalities that characterized the naval conflict is both detailed and comprehensible for laypersons. He effectively places the naval war within the broader context of an emerging industrial age, as steam and steel led to great changes in the construction and use of warships. The author uses a topical approach, with his descriptions of the Union blockade and Confederate efforts to thwart it are particularly interesting. A good addition to Civil War collections. * Booklist *Covering river and sea, tradition and technology, strategy and happenstance, admirals and sailors, this is as comprehensive and authoritative a book as has ever been written on the naval side of the Civil War. Craig Symonds' hand at the tiller guarantees superb scholarship and lucid prose. All hands aboard! * Harold Holzer, Chairman of The Lincoln Bicentennial Foundation *Craig Symonds combines his talents as a fine historian of the U.S. Navy and of the Civil War to produce this outstanding study of the Union and Confederate navies. Focusing on the ways in which Southern technological innovations and Northern industrial productivity shaped the strategy and tactics of the naval war, he offers important insights on the course and outcome of the conflict. * James M. McPherson *Distinguished naval historian Craig Symonds' well-researched and engagingly written overview, The Civil War at Sea, touches all the major areas of the naval war, including the ships and their guns, the differing strategies pursued by the North and South, and the contest that ensued. Simply put, it is a splendid introduction to the naval side of the conflict. * Spencer C. Tucker *The Civil War at Sea is crisp and well written, well researched and insightful as well as a timeless contribution to that neglected aspect of Civil War literature. * B. Franklin Cooling *This is a superb read that melds emerging technology and captivating personalities, both of which continue to mold the U.S. Navy to this day. Craig Symonds masterfully brings this largely overlooked piece of our country's history to life, in a fine book that will appeal to a wide range of interests. * Admiral Bruce DeMars, USN (Ret) *Craig Symonds' timely and readable tour-de-force, detailing the actions of the U.S. and Confederate navies, sheds new light on both well-known strategies, battles, and personalities as well as on those less well known. Here is a book for Civil War buffs and those looking for good history. * Vice Admiral Robert F. Dunn, USN (Ret), and President of the Naval Historical Foundation *Symonds has a gift for making complex and technical issues easy to understand, and his straightforward style makes for enjoyable reading. This book will appeal to general readers interested in either U.S. naval history or naval aspects of the Civil War. His thematic structure allows readers to understand the big picture of naval tactics and strategy without being overwhelmed by minutiae." * Library Journal *[A] comprehensive and outstanding history of the Navy during that period...Symonds' book provides an excellent introduction and an insightful look at naval strategy and technology for those familiar with the naval war and those who have devoted their Civil War study to armies and land battles." * ivil War News *Table of Contents1. The Ships and the Guns: Civil War Navies and the Technological Revolution ; 2. The Blockade and Blockade Runners ; 3. The War on Commerce: The Hunters and the Hunted ; 4. "Unvexed to the Sea": The River War ; 5. Civil War Navies and the Siege of Charleston ; 6. The End Game: Mobile, Wilmington, and the Cruise of the Shenandoah
£23.74
Hachette Books Sherman
Book SynopsisWhen Liddell Hart''s Sherman was first published in 1929, it received encomiums such as these: A masterly performance . . . one of the most thorougly dignified, one of the most distinguished biographies of the year.- Henry Steele Commager, New York Herald Tribune It is not often that one comes upon a biography that is so well done as this book. Nearly every page bears evidence of the fact that it is the product of painstaking and exhaustive research, mature thought, and an expert understanding of the subject in hand . . .- Saturday Review of Literature
£17.99
Random House USA Inc Black Hearts
Book Synopsis“Riveting. . . a testament to a misconceived war, and to the ease with which ordinary men, under certain conditions, can transform into monsters.”—New York Times Book ReviewThis is the story of a small group of soldiers from the 101st Airborne Division’s fabled 502nd Infantry Regiment—a unit known as “the Black Heart Brigade.” Deployed in late 2005 to Iraq’s so-called Triangle of Death, a veritable meat grinder just south of Baghdad, the Black Hearts found themselves in arguably the country’s most dangerous location at its most dangerous time. Hit by near-daily mortars, gunfire, and roadside bomb attacks, suffering from a particularly heavy death toll, and enduring a chronic breakdown in leadership, members of one Black Heart platoon—1st Platoon, Bravo Company, 1st Battalion—descended, over their year-long tour of duty, into a tailspin of poor discipline, substance abuse, and brutality.<
£18.00
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group Gettysburg
Book Synopsis
£16.98
Random House USA Inc We Were Soldiers Once...and Young
Book Synopsis
£19.55
Random House Publishing Group Embers of War
Book Synopsis
£16.99
Random House USA Inc Bravo Two Zero
Book Synopsis
£9.49
Penguin Putnam Inc Sog The Secret Wars of Americas Commandos in
Book Synopsis
£8.54
Lulu Press Vietnam Naval and Riverine Weapons
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£33.72
Combat Chaplain Ministries Memoirs from Babylon
£17.59
iUniverse Company C The Real War in Iraq
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£18.07
iUniverse Men of Color To Arms Vermont AfricanAmericans in the Civil War
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£25.99
iUniverse Way Down Upon the Suwannee River Sketches of Florida During the Civil War
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iUniverse Shermans March and Vietnam
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iUniverse The Lost Story The Civil War Diaries of a Country Gentleman
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iUniverse TANS The TANS Collection Volume I
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iUniverse War In The Shadows The Guerrilla In History Volume II 2
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iUniverse Coming Like Hell The Story Of The 12th Tennessee Cavalry Richardsons Brigade Forrests Cavalry Corps Confederate States Army 18621865
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iUniverse Ribald Tales Stories From UT Confessions of a Staff Weenie
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iUniverse Tirailleurs A History of The 4th Louisiana and The Acadians of Company H
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iUniverse Raising the Banner of Freedom The 25th Ohio Volunteer Infantry in the War for the Union
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iUniverse Lady Rebel The Story of Private Jane Perkins CSA
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iUniverse Batcats The United States Air Force 553rd Reconnaissance Wing in Southeast Asia
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iUniverse Vietnam Voices An Oral History of Eleven Vietnam Veterans
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iUniverse Fredericksburg Squandered Courage and Uncertain Allegiance
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iUniverse Hell On A Hill Top Americas Last Major Battle In Vietnam Americas Last Major Battle In Vietnam
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iUniverse No Soap No Pay Diarrhea Dysentery Desertion A Composite Diary of the Last 16 Months of the Confederacy from 1864 to 1865
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iUniverse Nickel On The Grass Reflections of a US Air Force Pilot
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iUniverse Campaigning with the 67supthsup Indiana 1864 An Annotated Diary of Service in the Department of the Gulf
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iUniverse Another Day in Lincolns Army The Civil War Journals of Sgt John T Booth
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iUniverse The Old Nineteenth The Story of the Second Connecticut Heavy Artillery in the Civil War
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iUniverse FATED STARS III Confederate Brigadier Generals Killed in Action 186365
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iUniverse The Old Doctors Rigmarole Memoirs of a Civil War Surgeon
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iUniverse Fredericksburg Squandered Courage and Uncertain Allegiance
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iUniverse Hell On A Hill Top Americas Last Major Battle In Vietnam
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iUniverse Campaigning with the 67th Indiana 1864 An Annotated Diary of Service in the Department of the Gulf
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iUniverse The Old Nineteenth The Story of the Second Connecticut Heavy Artillery in the Civil War
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iUniverse Thunder from a Clear Sky Stovepipe Johnsons Confederate Raid on Newburgh Indiana
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iUniverse Another Day in Lincolns Army The Civil War Journals of Sgt John T Booth
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Simon & Schuster Why the North Won the Civil War
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AuthorHouse Tattletale A TwoTour Vietnam Veterans Combat Experiences on the Ground and in the Air
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AuthorHouse Till death do us part A Civil War Story
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