Flying P-38s, Jerry Johnson shot down 24 aircraft in 265 combat missions in the Pacific theater. At the age of only twenty-four, he commanded the highest-scoring fighter group in the Pacific. Tragically, though Johnson had survived three combat tours, which included a mid-air collision with a Japanese aircraft and being shot down by friendly fire, the new father disappeared without a trace while flying a courier mission one month after the war s end.

Of the more than six hundred American servicemen captured or unaccounted for in Laos during the war in Southeast Asia, Lawrence R. Bailey, Jr., was the first. His terrifying memoir of brutal solitary confinement reveals a little-known aspect of U.S. involvement in Southeast Asia and describes a triumph of the human spirit over the most physically demeaning and mentally challenging circumstances.

When the German Army captured Lw w, Poland, in 1941, the city contained a vibrant Jewish community of 160,000 people. By 1945, all but a few hundred were dead. "Witness to Annihilation" is the book that Samuel Drix vowed he would write. Drix endured nearly a year in the Janowska concentration camp, escaped and hid from the Nazis, was liberated by the Red Army, and eventually fled from behind the Iron Curtain to America. This rare Holocaust memoir by a caring physician will both horrify and inspire.

THE GREATEST WAR
Volume II: D-Day and the Assault on Europe

From the invasion of Normandy to the advance of Allied forces across Europe, this book puts you in the ferocious battle for Omaha beach, the daring aerial strikes that shook Berlin, and the swift, momentous liberation of Paris.

THEIR WAR
THEIR WORDS

American fighting men engaged the enemy on land, at sea, and in the air. Now one of the nation's most acclaimed military historians presents an authoritative and dramatic three-volume oral history of World War II that is both richly sweeping and startlingly intimate. A gripping account of how American warriors, from buck privates to five-star generals, fought, bled, thought, and felt, THE GREATEST WAR is the ultimate tribute to the "greatest generation"—a saga of unparalleled courage, honor, and glory.

Look for Volumes I and III of
THE GREATEST WAR

THE GREATEST WAR
Volume I: From Pearl Harbor to the Kasserine Pass

THE GREATEST WAR
Volume III: The Battle of the Bulge to Hiroshima

From Pearl Harbor to D-Day and beyond and all-star examination of the conflict that shaped the modern world from World War II Magazine.

It was a war that defined a generation of the world, a war that saw America transform itself from an inward-looking isolationist nation to an arsenal of democracy whose reach spanned the globe. The World War II Reader presents in one extraordinary book the thrilling story of the greatest generation in its finest hour in the best essays from the world's most distinguished historians compiled by World War II Magazine, the only magazine that brings the history and drama of the 20th Century's defing conflict to life.

The World War II Reader includes insightful essays on the larger-than-life leaders who made life-and-death decisions that shaped grand strategy and crucial battles. In addition, this book cuts through the fog of war and presents though-provoking revelations of little known events that had far-reaching consequences, including the Niihau Incident, that tragically affected the fate of Japanese-Americans in Hawaii and mainland America.

The World War II Reader is a must-have for every history enthusiast, and for the person serching for the one book that not just tells the story of America's greatest conflict, but makes World War II come vividly alive as if it happened yesterday.

The storming of Berlin had been the Red Army's dream of vengeance ever since the German's invasion of Russia in the summer of 1941. Soviet soldiers had many accounts to settle when they finally reached the frontiers of the Reich in January 1945. The result was the battle for Berlin; the most terrifying example of fire and sword ever known, with mass rape, murder, pillage and destruction.

Antony Beevor has reconstituted the experience of those millions caught up in the nightmare crescendo of the Third Reich's final defeat. Berlin is the unforgettable story of those men, women and children who suffered to the end from folly, cruelty and the naked exercise of power on a scale that is almost incomprehensible.

What the editor says: "Antony Beevor has managed to maintain the high standard he set himself with Stalingrad. Parts of the book make terrible reading as it covers the five awful months from January to May in 1945 with the Soviet and other Allied troops pressing in on Berlin. This book is an extraordinary achievement and is superbly researched and Antony's skill lies in focusing on the big picture whilst also covering the impact on ordinary people's lives. This is an important book which will be read for generations to come."

When Chief Gunner Hashiro Hayashi took dead aim on British Columbia's Estevan Point Lighthouse and wireless station on a June morning in 1942, the realities of war had come to North America. Sixty years later, the fascinating events of that era and their impact on both the Canadian and American psyches remain unknown to much of the world.After conducting decades of research and interviews with veterans on both sides of the conflict, author Brendan Coyle now reveals the campaign that included three attacks on British Columbia, an air raid on Portland, Oregon, and the harsh battles fought in Alaska. From the foreword: "Brendan Coyle has done a magnificent job in this comprehensive review of the war on the West Coast. No other single volume has so neatly tied together the myriad stories of how the war affected people in British Columbia, California, Oregon, Washington, and Alaska,"-Jim Delgado, Executive DirectorVancouver Maritime Museu

This fast-moving memoir of T. Moffatt Burriss shows his extraordinary role as a platoon leader and company commander with the 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment in Europe and North Africa during World War II. He saw a great deal of combat on Sicily, at Salerno, on Anzio Beach, in Holland during Operation Market Garden, and during the drive into Germany. This book portrays World War II as seen vividly through the eyes of the young American citizen-soldier.

Adolf Hitler trusted few men, but his faith in pilot Hans Baur never wavered. Baur, a decorated World War I flier and one of Germany's leading commercial aviators of the 1920s, joined the fledgling Nazi Party in 1926. His skill and daring and his early party membership, catapulted him to the top of the list when Adolf Hitler went in search of a pilot for his political campaign of 1932. Later, Hitler became the first head of state to use air travel extensively, and, from 1932 to 1945, Hitler refused to fly with anyone but Baur at the controls. Baur ate meals with Hitler frequently and was one of the fuhrer's few true confidants. As the tide of war turned against Germany and relations between Hitler and the Luftwaffe leadership deteriorated, Hitler increasingly relied on Baur for advice about air war policy and technical developments. In the end, Baur paid for his blind loyalty to Hitler. Trapped by the Soviet Red Army in the war-torn city of Berlin, Baur was captured after Hitler's suicide and imprisoned in the Soviet Union. Aviation historian C. G. Sweeting provides the reader with fresh insight into the inner workings of the Third Reich and the madness of Adolf Hitler. The book details many surprising episodes, such as the time Baur allowed Italian dictator Benito Mussolini to take the controls of the fuhrer's plane, and an account of Hitler's and Baur's narrow escape from a German air base as Soviet tanks arrived at the perimeter. Aviation buffs will also enjoy the author's in-depth examination of the aircraft used in Hitler's personal transport squadron. "Hitler's Personal Pilot" is a unique book that will fascinate both experts and novices on Nazi Germany with its detail andperspective on Hitler's infamous inner circle.

A former German soldier eloquently reflects on the insidious effects of Nazi propaganda, especially on young people, citing his own experience as the son of an anti-Semitic father whom he loved deeply. Bruno Manz also recounts his wartime experiences fighting the Soviets in Finland and presents a unique perspective on the United States, to which he came in the 1950s during Operation Paperclip along with Werner von Braun and other German rocket scientists. In the epilogue he draws conclusions about Germany??'s guilt and his own, baring his soul to the reader. This heartfelt memoir is for anyone who seeks to understand how a civilized people could plunge into mass insanity.

The story of the siege by the acclaimed author of Hitler's War

In 199 Days, acclaimed historian Edwin P. Hoyt depicts the epic battle for Stalingrad in all its electrifying excitement and savage horror. More than the bloodiest skirmish in history-a momentous conflict costing three million lives-the siege was a hinge upon which the course of history rested. Had the Red Army fallen, the Nazi juggernaut would have rolled over Russia. Had the German's not held out during those last few months, Stalin would have painted Europe red. Now, over 50 years after the most extraordinary battle of the second millenium, the truth about this decisive moment is finally revealed.

In the course of human history there has probably been no more terrible place than Eastern Europe in 1941-45.

Estimates of total Soviet military and civilian deaths in the period now stand at more than 25 million. In Russia's War, Richard Overy recreates the Soviet Union's apocalyptic struggle against Germany both from the point of view of the troops and of the ordinary people.

For the legions of submarine enthusiasts, here is an unforgettable account of submarine warfare. The USS Bowfin, one of the most commended fighting submarines of the Pacific theatre, miraculously survived while sinking 44 Japanese ships. Edwin P. Hoyt drew upon official records and crew interviews to craft this vivid account of the submariner's life.

Today the Bowfin is a popular museum-ship berthed in Honolulu.

Dirty Little Secrets of World War II exposes the dark, irreverent, misunderstood, and often tragicomic aspects of military operations during World War II, many of them virtually unknown even to military buffs. Like its successful predecessor, Dirty Little Secrets, Dunnigan and Nofi's new book vividly brings to life all theaters and participants of the war. Revelations include:

- The real death count for the war, and why it has never been previously released.

- The "new age" general who refused to smoke or drink, who lived on a vitamin-enriched diet, who opposed animal experimentation, and who regularly consulted his astrologer.

- How equipment developed for the war led to such modern high-tech innovations as "smart bombs," electronic warfare, and nuclear missles.

- The lackadaisical relationship between Germany and Japan throughout the war.

- Tricky bits of information about the lingering effects of the war -- like the thousands of live shells and mines that are still buried in Europe and off the East Coast of America.

A widely praised Pacific War historian--and author of The Liberation of Guam--draws on his extensive knowledge and new scholarship to shape this detailed treatment of the war against Japan, carefully examining the close interaction between naval, air, and land forces in every military operation. Photos.

Why do nations cooperate even as they try to destroy each other? Jeffrey Legro explores this question in the context of World War II, the "total" war that in fact wasn't. During the war, combatant states attempted to sustain agreements limiting the use of three forms of combat considered barbarous submarine attacks against civilian ships, strategic bombing of civilian targets, and chemical warfare. Looking at how these restraints worked or failed to work between such fierce enemies as Hitler's Third Reich and Churchill's Britain, Legro offers a new understanding of the dynamics of World War II and the sources of international cooperation.

While traditional explanations of cooperation focus on the relations between actors, Cooperation under Fire examines what warring nations seek and why they seek it the "preference formation" that undergirds international interaction. Scholars and statesmen debate whether it is the balance of power or the influence of international norms that most directly shapes foreign policy goals. Critically assessing both explanations, Legro argues that it was, rather, the organizational cultures of military bureaucracies their beliefs and customs in waging war that decided national priorities for limiting the use of force in World War II.

Drawing on documents from Germany, Britain, the United States, and the former Soviet Union, Legro provides a compelling account of how military cultures molded state preferences and affected the success of cooperation. In its clear and cogent analysis, this book has significant implications for the theory and practice of international relations."

So firmly based upon a close reading of the secondary literature and printed documents, as well as upon archival soundings and interviews, and told with such a sense for the essential drama of the story, that it is easily the most comprehensive and the most interesting history of the Nazi-Soviet pact that we possess. Gordon A. Craig, New York Review of Books"

In August 1942, Hitler directed all German state institutions to assist Heinrich Himmler, the chief of the SS and the German police, in eradicating armed resistance in the newly occupied territories of Eastern Europe and Russia. The directive for “combating banditry� (Bandenbekämpfung), became the third component of the Nazi regime’s three-part strategy for German national security, with genocide (Endlösung der Judenfrage, or “the Final Solution of the Jewish Question�) and slave labor (Erfassung, or “Registration of Persons to Hard Labor�) being the better-known others. An original and thought-provoking work grounded in extensive research in German archives, Hitler’s Bandit Hunters focuses on this counterinsurgency campaign, the anvil of Hitler’s crusade for empire. Bandenbekämpfung portrayed insurgents as political and racial bandits, criminalized to a greater degree than enemies of the state; moreover, violence against them was not constrained by the prevailing laws of warfare. Philip Blood explains how German forces embraced the Bandenbekämpfung doctrine, demonstrating the equal culpability of both the SS police forces and the “heroic� Waffen-SS combat arm and shattering the contrived postwar distinctions between them. He challenges the traditional view of Himmler as an armchair general and bureaucrat, exposing him as the driving force behind one of the most successful security campaigns in history, and delves into the contentious issue of the complicity of ordinary German police, soldiers, and citizens, as well as the citizens of occupied territories, in these state-sponsored manhunts. This book provokes new debates on the Nazi terrorization of Europe, the blind acquiescence of many, and the courageous resistance of the few.

Badly wounded at the battle of Arnhem, and then spirited from his hospital bed by the Dutch Resistance, Brigadier John Hackett spent thewinter of 1944 in Nazi-occupied Holland, hidden by a Dutch family, at great risk to their own lives, in a house a stone's throw from a German military police billet. After four months in hiding, Hackett was at last well enough to strap a battered suitcase to an ancient bicycle and set out on a high adventure which would, he hoped, lead him to freedom.

The relations between memory and history have recently become a subject of contention, and the implications of that debate are particularly troubling for aesthetic, ethical and political issues. Dominick LaCapra focuses on the interactions among history, memory and ethicopolitical concerns as they emerge in the aftermath of the Shoah. Particularly notable are his analyses of Albert Camus's novella The Fall, Claude Lanzmann's film Shoah and Art Spiegelman's comic book Maus. LaCapra also considers the Historian's Debate in the aftermath of German reunification and the role of psychoanalysis in historical understanding and critical theory.

This is the story of a "no military risk" campaign that slowly turned into a nightmare. The book provides new answers to a number of difficult questions beginning with a discussion of why Canadian troops were sent to Hong Kong at the request of the British War Office. Were the British duplicitous in making this request? Was Canadian Chief of the General Staff, Lieutenant-General Harry Crerar, guilty of putting his own interests above those of his men in telling the minister of National Defence that there was "no military risk" in sending the "C" Force? The book recounts the formation of the "C" Force and its departure to Hong Kong where it arrived just three weeks before the Japanese attack. It outlines the course of the battle from December 8, 1941, until the inevitable surrender of the garrison on Christmas Day. It places appropriate emphasis on the Canadian contribution, refuting 1947 allegations by the British General-Officer-Commanding - allegations which were only made public in 1993 - that the Canadians did not fight well. Greenhous attacks these charges with solid evidence from participants and eye-witnesses. Finally, the book tells the story of life and death in the prison camps of Hong Kong and Japan.

Despite all that has already been written on Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Joseph Persico has uncovered a hitherto overlooked dimension of FDR's wartime leadership: his involvement in intelligence and espionage operations.

Roosevelt's Secret War is crowded with remarkable revelations:
-FDR wanted to bomb Tokyo before Pearl Harbor
-A defector from Hitler's inner circle reported directly to the Oval Office
-Roosevelt knew before any other world leader of Hitler's plan to invade Russia
-Roosevelt and Churchill concealed a disaster costing hundreds of British soldiers' lives in order to protect Ultra, the British codebreaking secret
-An unwitting Japanese diplomat provided the President with a direct pipeline into Hitler's councils


Roosevelt's Secret War also describes how much FDR had been told--before the Holocaust--about the coming fate of Europe's Jews. And Persico also provides a definitive answer to the perennial question Did FDR know in advance about the attack on Pearl Harbor?

By temperament and character, no American president was better suited for secret warfare than FDR. He manipulated, compartmentalized, dissembled, and misled, demonstrating a spymaster's talent for intrigue. He once remarked, "I never let my right hand know what my left hand does." Not only did Roosevelt create America's first central intelligence agency, the OSS, under "Wild Bill" Donovan, but he ran spy rings directly from the Oval Office, enlisting well-placed socialite friends.

FDR was also spied against. Roosevelt's Secret War presents evidence that the Soviet Union had a source inside the Roosevelt White House; that British agents fed FDR total fabrications to draw the United States into war; and that Roosevelt, by yielding to Churchill's demand that British scientists be allowed to work on the Manhattan Project, enabled the secrets of the bomb to be stolen. And these are only a few of the scores of revelations in this constantly surprising story of Roosevelt's hidden role in World War II.


From the Hardcover edition.