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Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence > Air forces & warfare
The international bestselling author returns with an exploration of one of the grandest obsessions of the twentieth century.
In the years before the Second World War, in a sleepy air force base in central Alabama, a small group of renegade pilots put forth a radical idea. What if we made bombing so accurate that wars could be fought entirely from the air? What if we could make the brutal clashes between armies on the ground a thing of the past? This book tells the story of what happened when that dream was put to the test.
The Bomber Mafia follows the stories of a reclusive Dutch genius and his homemade computer, Winston Churchill's forbidding best friend, a team of pyromaniacal chemists at Harvard, a brilliant pilot who sang vaudeville tunes to his crew, and the bomber commander, Curtis Emerson LeMay, who would order the bloodiest attack of the Second World War.
In this tale of innovation and obsession, Gladwell asks: what happens when technology and best intentions collide in the heat of war? And what is the price of progress?
What was it like to fly a MiG or Mirage in combat over Angola? Most books on the Angolan Bush War, especially those in English, present the South African perspective of events. Now a former MiG-23 Squadron Commander of the Cuban Air Force has collaborated with an ex-SAAF pilot to paint a remarkable new picture of the aerial conflict over Angola in the 1980s.
In The MiG Diaries the recollections of Lt-Col Eduardo González Sarría are blended by Lionel Reid with those of air combatants from the Angolan, Cuban and South African air forces. Many are being published for the first time.
Using their own aviation knowledge and experience of the conflict, Sarría and Reid combine the accounts of these diverse combatants – former comrades and foe – to provide original insights into, and a more holistic description of, what happened in the skies over Angola. The results, often quite different to what the opposing sides had believed, reveal a surprising, and more complete, picture of events.
The wonderful sketching pencil of Sean Thackwray, himself a former fighter pilot, helps to bring this unique story to life, along with select images, including many not seen in print in South Africa.
The incredible true story of Louis Zamperini, now a major motion
picture directed by Angelina Jolie. THE INTERNATIONAL NUMBER ONE
BESTSELLER In 1943 a bomber crashes into the Pacific Ocean. Against
all odds, one young lieutenant survives. Louise Zamperini had
already transformed himself from child delinquent to prodigious
athlete, running in the Berlin Olympics. Now he must embark on one
of the Second World War's most extraordinary odysseys. Zamperini
faces thousands of miles of open ocean on a failing raft. Beyond
like only greater trials, in Japan's prisoner-of-war camps. Driven
to the limits of endurance, Zamperini's destiny, whether triumph or
tragedy, depends on the strength of his will ... Now a major motion
picture, directed by Angelina Jolie and starring Jack O' Connell.
Steve Joubert had always wanted to be a pilot and the only way he could afford to do so, was to join the South African Air Force in the late 1970s.
As an adventurous young man with a wicked sense of humour, he tells of the many amusing escapades he had as a trainee pilot. But soon he is sent to fight in the Border War in northern Namibia (then South West Africa) where he is exposed to the carnage of war. The pilots of the Alouette helicopters were witness to some of the worst scenes of the Border War. Often, they were the first to arrive after a deadly landmine accident.
In the fiercest battles their gunships regularly supplied life-saving air cover to troops on the ground.
The Spitfire a " there have been many hundreds, maybe even
thousands, of books written about this beautiful R.J Mitchell
designed, elliptically winged areoplane. But there has yet to be a
book published, which has focused solely on the lesser-known
two-seat variant of graceful Spitfirea |Until now! In two-seater
spitfires, Greg Davis, John Sanderson and Peter Arnold trace the
history of this iconic aircraft a " from its initial design through
to those still taking to the skies today.
Key title in the new Uniform Legends series. Up close and personal
accounts of pilots who were there, first written in the 1960's when
many of the surviving British and German airmen were in or entering
their middle years
Wonderful account of one of the top Battle of Britain fighter
pilots. Written by one of the foremost military aviation authors
who was an RAF Officer himself and personally knew Lacey.
The battles that were waged in Flanders during the First World War
were some of the most costly of the war. All sides paid a very high
price for what only ever amounted to temporary control of the area.
One thing that has never been in doubt is the courage and valour
that was displayed on these battlefields, not only by the men on
the ground, but also by the airmen who waged their own battles
above the sodden fields of Flanders. This book related the five
years of fierce battle in the air above the Ypres Salient. Written
from a German standpoint, this book gives a detailed account of the
growing airpower of the German Air Service and the Naval Air Arm.
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First Wave
(Paperback)
Kenneth James Stuart Ballantyne
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R382
Discovery Miles 3 820
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Ships in 10 - 15 working days
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My grandfather, Frank Carollo, was a prisoner of war in the
infamous POW camp Stalag 17 B during World War II. During these
dark days, he managed to keep a diary of his experiences, depicting
everyday life within, through beautiful short stories, poetry, and
drawings. Now years later, I've taken his accounts, adding
background details from friends and family, to create a memoir of
hope, love, and survival; a story of one man's life before, during,
and after being confined within one of the most notorious of Nazi
camps. 20% of the profits from each book sold will be donated to
the national Alzheimer's Association, in memory of Frank Carollo.
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