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"

The Complete, True, and Initially-Suppressed Story of General George Patton's Boldest and Bloodiest Mission in World War II

On a dark night in March 1945, Task Force Baum dashed through a break in the German Army lines created by troops of the U.S. Third Army and embarked on one of the most dramatic and dangerous rescue missions of World War II. Their target, the Allied POW camp 60 miles behind enemy lines near the German town of Hammelburg. Unknown to all but one member of the 300 men in Task Force Baum was the real reason for the rescue: the POW camp at Hammelburg contained Lieutenant Colonel John Waters -- General Patton's son-in-law! This is the gripping, true, and long-suppressed full story of what exactly happened in the desperate drive to Hammelburg.

THE GRIPPING SAGA OF THE RISE AND FALL OF THE JAPANESE NAVAL AIR FORCE IN WORLD WAR II THROUGH THE CAREER OF ONE OF ITS BEST FIGHTER ACES

Written by Martin Caidin from Saburo Sakai's own memoirs and journalist Fred Saito's extensive interviews with the World War II fighter pilot, Samurai! vividly documents the chivalry and valor of the combat aviator who time after time fought American fighter pilots and, with 64 kills, would survive the war as Japan's greatest living ace. Here are the harrowing experiences of one of Japan's greatest aces: from fighter pilot school -- where the harsh training expelled over half of his class -- to the thrilling early Japanese victories; from his incredible six hundred mile fight for life from Guadalcanal to his base in Rabaul, to the poignant story of the now-handicapped veteran's return to the air during the final desperate months of World War II.

They were outnumbered and underrated. They were fresh from the training fields in America and ordered to fight an enemy that had rewritten the book of war and brutally controlled a continent and the air above it. But the men of the 56th fighter group had courage and, more importantly, they had the P-47 Thunderbolt.

This is the incredible story of the U.S. 56th Fighter Group as told by one of its best pilots, Robert S. Johnson, who would rack up a score of twenty-eight kills against the Luftwaffe and become one of America¹s top aces‹one of a special breed of men who changed the course of history.

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.

The 1936 Olympic Games, held in Berlin, was the most political sporting encounter of the twentieth century. It was famed for its spirit of ferocious competition and the rise of legends such as Jesse Owens. But it also forecast the horrors of World War Two and served as a crucible for these dark forces. The Berlin Games brought together athletes, politicians, socialites, diplomats, journalists, soldiers and artists from all over the world. It was the last time they would meet in peace. But hostilities bubbled below the surface as Hitler determined the Games would showcase Nazi prowess and athletes became pawns in his political game. From the fascinating set-piece of the Games, Guy Walters stretches story across a broad canvas, placing those crucial weeks in August in the wider context of the 30s. With Second World War expertise and brilliant narrative flair, Guy Walters brings a wide cast of characters and complex political situation thrillingly alive.

In summer 1941 Erwin Rommel was Hitler's favourite general: he had driven the British out of Libya and stood poised to invade Egypt. He seemed unbeatable. So the British decided to have him killed. The British opened their counter-attack with a series of special forces raids, including the first ever operation by the newly formed SAS. Rommel was one of the targets. Michael Asher reveals how poor planning and incompetence in high places led to disaster in the desert-- and how fantastic bravery and brilliant improvisation enabled a handful of the Commandos to escape. Classic real life adventure, written by best-selling desert expert and novelist Michael Asher.

The first in a collaborative venture with the DAILY TELEGRAPH in the UK and Borders in the USA, this lavishly illustrated history of the Second World War includes over 100 specially commissioned maps and over 300 photographs. John Ray's narrative incorporates the latest academic research while remaining very accessible. This is the clearest, most understandable account of history's greatest conflict.

A vividly detailed account of life aboard U.S. submarines in the Pacific during World War II.

The story of the African-American crew of the USS Mason that made history in World War II when they escorted six convoys across the Atlantic.

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.

The heroic story of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet at the outbreak of World War II and their disastrous encounter with vastly superior Japanese forces.

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.

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.

This book tells the fascinating story of the creation and response to Rockwell's Four Freedoms.

Examines a controversial period of German history, from the Weimar Republic to nazi Germany, looking at the differences and similarities between the two regimes. The book explores economic, social, political and diplomatic history.

"The story of each POW is unique, every last one of them a man trapped in the valley of the shadow of death, struggling to stay alive and to stay human. Tens of thousands did not make it. Terence Kirk did, and his book brings that terrible time alive."
"Gavan Daws, author of Prisoners of the Japanese: POWs of World War II in the Pacific
"World War II has provided some of the most fascinating tales of survival and heroism in history. Few stories match that of Terence Kirk's The Secret Camera. Kirk endured hunger, biting cold, loneliness, separation from family, and despair with an unfailing courage that inspires anyone who reads his noble account."
"John Wukovits, author of Pacific Alamo: The Battle for Wake Island

On the day the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor, the 203 Marines stationed in North China were in the peak of physical condition. They were young, brave men who were willing to die to defend their country. But on that day, they were forced to surrender to the Japanese and spent the rest of the war-all 1,355 days-as POWs. A Marine was 17.5 times more likely to die in a Japanese prison camp than in battle.
The Secret Camera is the true story of how one North China Marine struggled for survival. From his capture on Pearl Harbor Day through the bombing of Nagasaki, Corporal Terence S. Kirk spent years as slave labor for the Japanese war machine. Watching himself and his fellow Marines wither from strapping young men to mere skeletons, ravaged by starvation, abuse, and disease, he decided to make a difference: to record the atrocities they all endured. With the help of a Japanese interpreter and several other brave Marines, Kirk managed to build a pinhole camera fromscraps of cardboard, take a handful of photos, and then hide them away until the end of the war. These rare images are among the few photos ever taken inside a Japanese POW camp. A record of courage, faith, and ingenuity, his is a story of heroism, unimaginable adversity, and the will to survive.
His photos sat unpublished for nearly four decades, ignored by a U.S. government that seemed indifferent to the atrocities the images documented. But Kirk would not let them languish, and this book is his legacy.

During the Siege of Leningrad in World War II, a young Russian nurse finds Shurik, a near-starved orphan boy, in the rubble of a bombed-out apartment house. How she saves him, cares for him, and eventually submerges her feelings to give him a better life is half of the true story call Shurik. The other half details a boy's journey from a frightened orphan to a young adult capable of caring for others. Together, two victims of larger forces create a family with enough love and sacrifice to endure seemingly endless hardships. Through lively, colorful characters and vivid details, Shurik unveils a WWII saga of unprecedented compassion and perseverance. (51/4 X 81/4, 220 pages, b&w photos, maps)

A blend of memoir and history detailing the story of the soldier-athletes who comprised the 10th Mountain Division during World War II.

The book contains stories from 19 veterans across Texas and is thoroughly engaging. It's an extremely quick read. The stories are tragic and at times humorous. It's told in an interview-style, so you feel the emotions that the veterans are experiencing as they relive their personal accounts. One of my favorite chapters is of the Gibesons, a couple from San Antonio, who met during the War and are still married today. What a love story!