"Suzanne Simons is a masterful storyteller. But make no mistake-Master of War is not a work of fiction...A powerful and true account." -Wolf Blitzer, anchor, CNN's The Situation Room Master of War is the riveting true story of Eric Prince, the ex-Navy SEAL who founded Blackwater and built the world's largest military contractor, privatizing war for client nations around the world. A CNN producer and anchor, Suzanne Simons is the first journalist to get deep inside Blackwater-and, as a result of her unprecedented access, Master of War provides the most complete and revelatory account of the rise of this powerful corporate army and the remarkable entrepreneur who brought it into being, while offering an eye-opening, behind-the-scenes look at the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

A detailed look at the deadly battle between US Navy F9F Panther jet fighter-bombers and communist anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) defenses that proliferated throughout the Korean War. The F9F Panther was one of the many fighters converted for ground-attack duties, following an established US tradition. Originally designed as a jet fighter, in April 1951 it became the first jet to launch from a carrier with bombs loaded, using them to destroy a crucial railway bridge at Songjin. The Panther's four 20 mm guns were considered to be very effective for flak suppression and these aircraft were used as escorts for propeller-driven AD Skyraider and F4U Corsair attack aircraft. However, later in 1951, flak damage to Panthers increased as the Chinese established better AAA weapons to defend key transport routes. The communist AAA crews had heavy guns of 37 mm caliber and above. Gunners could use optical height finders, predictors and in many cases radar control. They learned to conceal their weapons in civilian buildings, use wires to bring aircraft down, and set up false targets as "flak traps." Both opponents' tactics and gunnery are explored in depth in this study of the F9F Panthers and of their adversaries. Containing full-color illustrations including cockpit scenes and armament views, this innovative volume also includes a detailed analysis of the US Navy Panthers' loss rates and their causes.

From the author of The Perfect Storm, a gripping book about Sebastian Junger's almost fatal year with the 2nd battalion of the American Army. For 15 months, Sebastian Junger accompanied a single platoon of thirty men from the celebrated 2nd battalion of the U.S. Army, as they fought their way through a remote valley in Eastern Afghanistan. Over the course of five trips, Junger was in more firefights than he could count, men he knew were killed or wounded, and he himself was almost killed. His relationship with these soldiers grew so close that they considered him part of the platoon, and he enjoyed an access and a candidness that few, if any, journalists ever attain. But this is more than just a book about Afghanistan or the 'War on Terror'; it is a book about the universal truth of all men, in all wars. Junger set out to answer what he thought of as the 'hand grenade question': why would a man throw himself on a hand grenade to save other men he has probably known for only a few months? The answer is elusive but profound, and goes to the heart of what it means not just to be a soldier, but to be human. 'War' is a narrative about combat: the fear of dying, the trauma of killing and the love between platoon-mates who would rather die than let each other down. Gripping, honest, intense, it explores the neurological, psychological and social elements of combat, and the incredible bonds that form between these small groups of men.

The first book to give equal weight to the Vietnamese and American sides of the Vietnam war.

In this follow-up to the extremely successful Losing Small Wars, Frank Ledwidge analyses the cost - both financial and human - of Britain's involvement in the Afghanistan war. With the aid of interviews, on-the-ground research and countless Freedom of Information requests, he pieces together the enormous burden the Afghan intervention has placed on the shoulders of British soldiers and their families, UK taxpayers and - by far the greatest sufferers - Afghan civilians. Amongst other issues, he highlights the soldiers left horribly maimed, UK funds poured into the corrupt black hole that is the Afghan government, refugees driven out of Helmand province into disease-ridden camps, and the long-term damage to the international reputation of the UK military. Ledwidge argues that the only true beneficiaries of the conflict are development consultants, Afghan drugs kingpins and international arms companies. This is both an extraordinary piece of investigative journalism and a heart-breaking account of military adventurism gone horribly wrong. A new afterword brings the analysis up to date.

From acclaimed aviation historian Michael Napier, this is a highly illustrated survey of the air war over Korea. The Korean War holds a unique place in aviation history. It saw the first large-scale jet-versus-jet combat and it was the first military action of the Cold War, fought by both the newly independent United States Air Force and the recently formed Chinese People's Liberation Army Air Force. In a meticulously researched volume, former RAF Tornado pilot Michael Napier unravels the complex narrative of events, describing the course of operations in the air and the major campaigns of the land war. He examines in detail the air power of the major combatants, which included North and South Korea, the UK, Australia, Canada and South Africa as well as China, the USA and the USSR. Packed with stunning contemporary images and including first-hand combat reports, Korean Air War is a groundbreaking exploration of a much forgotten conflict, which nevertheless provided lessons about the organization and prosecution of modern aerial warfare that remain relevant through to the present day.

In the highly politicized memory space of postwar South Korea, many families have been deprived of their right to mourn loved ones lost in the Korean War. Only since the 1990s has the government begun to acknowledge the atrocities committed by South Korean and American troops that resulted in large numbers of civilian casualties. The Truth and Reconciliation Committee, new laws honoring victims, and construction of monuments and memorials have finally opened public spaces for mourning. In Right to Mourn, Suhi Choi explores this new context of remembering in which memories that have long been private are brought into official sites. As the generation that once carried these memories fades away, Choi poses an increasingly critical question: can a memorial communicate trauma and facilitate mourning? Through careful examination of recently built Korean War memorials (the Jeju April 3 Peace Park, the Memorial for the Gurye Victims of Yosun Killings, and the No Gun Ri Peace Park), Right to Mourn provokes readers to look at the nearly seven-decade-old war within the most updated context, and shows how suppressed trauma manifests at the transient interactions among bodies, objects, and rituals at the sites of these memorials.

A fully illustrated study of the extraordinarily successful early-generation jet, the F2H Banshee, a frontline aircraft that served with 27 US Navy and US Marine Corps squadrons and three Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) squadrons. The F2H Banshee was an extraordinarily successful early-generation jet that outlasted both contemporary and more modern fighter types on the decks of the US Navy's aircraft carriers in the 1950s. It served in a variety of roles and was a frontline aircraft for more than a decade in an era when jet fighters came and went with relatively short service careers. This book examines the entire service life of the F2H in the service of the US Navy, US Marine Corps and the RCN. Initially created as a replacement aircraft for McDonnell's pioneering FH1 Phantom, the F2H served in the Korean War as a strike fighter, close air support aircraft, B29 escort, and photoreconnaissance aircraft, including the latter's forays over the Soviet Union and China. Post service in Korea, the Banshee served as a carrier based nuclear strike aircraft, followed by its service as a defensive fighter for antisubmarine aircraft carriers. Filled with first-hand accounts and rare colour photographs, this is the engrossing story of the F2H Banshee, exploring its variety of roles in service and detailing the technology development that improved the aircraft's capabilities over time.

Strap in alongside the Sabre pilots as they experienced the world's first large-scale jet-vs-jet combats. Brought to life with innovative tactical artwork and dramatic first-hand accounts from the pilots themselves. The F-86A Sabre had entered USAF service in 1949, and in December 1950 three squadrons were sent to South Korea. Despite primitive basing conditions and overwhelming Chinese opposition, the Sabre pilots stopped communist air forces from attacking UN ground troops and allowed Allied fighter-bombers to operate without threat of interception. The ensuing air battles between Sabres and MiG-15s were the first since World War II, and the last in recent times to involve large numbers of jet fighters in direct confrontation. In all of them the victorious F-86 pilots demonstrated the superiority of their training and tactics and the outstanding qualities of their Sabres. Contemporary photographs and specially commissioned artwork, including a dramatic battlescene, armament views, technical diagrams and ribbon diagrams illustrating step-by-step each main dogfight explored in the book, bring the experiences of the Sabre pilots and their battle tactics vividly to life.

This book is the first detailed, illustrated guide to the military uniforms, civilian clothing, and equipment worn and used by Soviet soldiers and Mujahideen warriors in Afghanistan from December 1979 to February 1989. With over 500 images, this book presents front-line soldiers, NCOs, and officers in the main combat branches of the Soviet armed forces as well as Mujahideen warriors, actually ordinary Afghans, who were thrust by fate into the midst of a relentless guerrilla war against one of the largest regular armies in the world. Uniforms presented in this book are assembled in configurations confirmed by wartime photos. All photographs taken for this book are genuine service-issue or private-purchase Soviet and Afghan Mujahideen items.

Isolated Command Post Keating - one of the most vulnerable US army bases in Afghanistan. Located at the bottom of a deep valley, soliders are exposed. The Taliban can see every move and attack is imminent. Outnumbered Just before sunrise on 3 October 2009, hundreds of Taliban insurgents open fire from all angles. Red Platoon and the Black Knight Troop are pinned down. They hear the message over the radio: Enemy in the Wire. The Taliban are inside the camp. But never outgunned. This is the heart-stopping, awe-inspiring true story of the platoon's brutal struggle for survival, told by the man who fought to defend his men, and who was awarded the Medal of Honor for his extraordinary bravery.

The explosive narrative of the life, captivity, and trial of Bowe Bergdahl, the soldier who was abducted by the Taliban and whose story has served as a symbol for America's foundering war in Afghanistan In the early hours of June 30, 2009, Private First Class Bowe Bergdahl walked off his platoon's base. Since that day, easy answers to the many questions surrounding his case have proved elusive. Why did he leave his post? What kinds of efforts were made to recover him from the Taliban? And why, facing court martial, did he plead guilty to the serious charges against him? In American Cipher, journalists Matt Farwell and Michael Ames persuasively argue that the Bergdahl story is as illuminating an episode as we have as we seek the larger truths of how the United States lost its way in Afghanistan. Telling the parallel stories of an idealistic, misguided young soldier and a nation stalled in an unwinnable war, the book reveals the fallout that ensued when the two collided, and in the process, provides a definitive corrective to the composite of narratives - many simplistic or flawed, unfair or untrue - that have contributed to the Bergdahl myth. Based on years of exclusive reporting drawing on dozens of sources throughout the military, government, and Bergdahl's family, friends, and fellow soldiers, American Cipher is at once a meticulous investigation of government dysfunction and political posturing, a blistering commentary on America's presence in Afghanistan, and a heart-breaking chronicle of a naive young man who thought he could fix the world and wound up as the tool of forces far beyond his understanding.

Eric Blehm, author of the award-winning The Last Season, is back with another true adventure story, The Only Thing Worth Dying For. Set in the immediate aftermath of 9/11, The Only Thing Worth Dying For chronicles the untold story of the team of Green Berets led by Captain Jason Amerine that conquered the Taliban and helped bring Hamid Karzai to power in Afghanistan. In the tradition of Black Hawk Down, The Only Thing Worth Dying For is, in the words of former Congressman Charlie Wilson (from Charlie Wilson's War), "the one book you must read if you have any hope of understanding what our fine American soldiers are up against in Afghanistan."

DON'T MISS OLLIE OLLERTON'S EXPLOSIVE FOLLOW UP TO SCAR TISSUE, THE NEW THRILLER ALL OR NOTHING! PRE-ORDER YOUR COPY NOW. OLLIE OLLERTON CO-HOSTS SAS: WHO DARES WINS ALONGSIDE ANT MIDDLETON, JASON FOX and MARK BILLINGHAM. THIS IS HIS INCREDIBLE TRUE STORY Where is your break point? Is it here? Facing the gruelling SAS selection process on one leg, with a busted ankle and the finish line nowhere in sight? Or here? Under heavy fire from armed kidnappers while protecting journalists en route to Baghdad. Or is it here? At the bottom of a bottle, with a family in pieces, unable to adapt to a civilian lifestyle, yearning for a warzone? Ex-Special Forces soldier and star of TV's SAS: Who Dares Wins, Ollie Ollerton has faced many break points in his life and now he tells us the vital lessons he has learnt. His incredible story features hardened criminals, high-speed car chases, counter-terrorism and humanitarian heroics - freeing children from a trafficking ring in Thailand. Ollie has faced break points in his personal life too, surviving a freak childhood attack, run-ins with the law as a teenager rebelling against a broken home, his self-destructive battles with alcohol and drug addiction, and his struggles with anxiety and depression. His final redemption as an entrepreneur and mental health charity ambassador has seen him overcome adversity to build a new and better life. 'Everyone has the capacity for incredible achievement, because it's only when it's crunch time, when you're down to your last bullet - when you're at break point - that you find out who you really are.'

On September 11, 2001, the world looked in horror at one of the most nefarious acts of terrorism in history. Neamatollah Nojumi explains how Afghanistan became the base for radical fundamentalism and provides critical understanding of how internal divisions and the devastating effects of foreign involvement undermined the resilience of Afghanistan's communities, led to the rise of the Taliban, and now presents a unique challenge to international efforts at nation building. As the cycle of yesterday's allies becoming today's enemies turns once again, The Rise of the Taliban in Afghanistan provides crucial insight into the tangled interaction of domestic, regional, and international politics that have bedeviled outsiders, plagued Afghans, and that threaten, absent judgement based on insight, to be a quagmire for the United States in the years ahead. This is essential reading in our troubled times.

A clear-eyed view of the conflict in Afghanistan and its century-deep roots. The war in Afghanistan has consumed vast amounts of blood and treasure, causing the Western powers to seek an exit without achieving victory. Seemingly never-ending, the conflict has become synonymous with a number of issues - global jihad, rampant tribalism, and the narcotics trade - but even though they are cited as the causes of the conflict, they are in fact symptoms. Rather than beginning after 9/11 or with the Soviet "invasion" in 1979, the current conflict in Afghanistan began with the social reforms imposed by Amanullah Amir in 1919. Western powers have failed to recognize that legitimate grievances are driving the local population to turn to insurgency in Afghanistan. The issues they are willing to fight for have deep roots, forming a hundred-year-long social conflict over questions of secularism, modernity, and centralized power. The first step toward achieving a "solution" to the Afghanistan "problem" is to have a clear-eyed view of what is really driving it.

World champion boxer Lew Jenkins fought his whole life. As a child, he fought extreme poverty during the Great Depression; in his twenties, he fought as a professional boxer and became a world champion; and at the pinnacle of his boxing career, Jenkins fought in World War II and the Korean War. From Boxing Ring to Battlefield: The Life of War Hero Lew Jenkins details for the first time this extraordinary story. Despite his talent for boxing, Jenkins often fought and trained in drunken stupors. Although he became the world lightweight champion, he soon wasted his ring title and all his money. Jenkins eventually found purpose during World War II and the Korean War, fighting in major battles that included D-Day, Bloody Ridge, and Heartbreak Ridge. His efforts earned him one of the highest decorations for bravery, the Silver Star. Unable to find meaning in life at the peak of his boxing success, Jenkins discovered values to which he could cling during war. From Boxing Ring to Battlefield features exclusive interviews with Lew Jenkins's son and grandson, providing a personal perspective on the life of this complicated war hero. The first biography of Jenkins, this book will fascinate boxing fans and historians alike.

The Triangle of Death in Iraq, south of Baghdad, was a raging inferno of insurgent activity in August of 2006; by November 2007, attacks had been suppressed to such an extent as to return the area to near obscurity. In the intervening months, the U.S. Army 4th Battalion, 31st Infantry ("Polar Bears") employed a counterinsurgency approach that set the conditions for a landmark peace agreement that holds to this day. With a focus on counterinsurgency, this book is the first to look at the breadth of military operations in Yusifiyah, Iraq, and analyze the methods the Polar Bears employed. It is a story not of those who fought in the Triangle of Death, but of how they fought.

On 25 June 1950 the invasion of South Korea by the Communist North launched one of the bloodiest conflicts of the last century. The seemingly limitless power of the Chinese-backed North was thrown against the ferocious firepower of the UN-backed South in a war that can be seen today as the stark prelude to Vietnam.

Max Hastings drew on first-hand accounts of those who fought on both sides to produce this vivid and incisive reassessment of the Korean War, bringing the military and human dimensions into sharp focus. Critically acclaimed on publication, with a brand new introduction, The Korean War remains the best narrative history of this conflict.

Following the release of Ridley Scott's Gladiator in 2000 the ancient world epic has experienced a revival in studio and audience interest. Building on existing scholarship on the Cold War epics of the 1950s-60s, including Ben-Hur, Spartacus and The Robe, this original study explores the current cycle of ancient world epics in cinema within the social and political climate created by September 11th 2001. Examining films produced against the backdrop of the War on Terror and subsequent invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan, this book assesses the relationship between mainstream cinema and American society through depictions of the ancient world, conflict and faith. Davies explores how these films evoke depictions of the Second World War, the Vietnam War and the Western in portraying warfare in the ancient world, as well as discussing the influence of genre hybridisation, narration and reception theory. He questions the extent to which ancient world epics utilise allegory, analogy and allusion to parallel past and present in an industry often dictated by market forces. Featuring analysis of Alexander, Troy, 300, Centurion, The Eagle, The Passion of the Christ and more, this book offers new insight on the continued evolution of the ancient world epic in cinema.

The Sunday Times No.1 bestseller. 'Sixty special forces against 100,000 - a feat of British arms to take the breath away' Frederick Forsyth. They were branded as cowards and accused of being the British Special Forces Squadron that ran away from the Iraqis. But nothing could be further from the truth. Ten years on, the story of these sixty men can finally be told. In March 2003 M Squadron - an SBS unit with SAS embeds - was sent 1,000 kilometres behind enemy lines on a true mission impossible, to take the surrender of the 100,000-strong Iraqi Army 5th Corps. From the very start their tasking earned the nickname 'Operation No Return'. Caught in a ferocious ambush by thousands of die-hard fanatics from Saddam Hussein's Fedayeen, plus the awesome firepower of the 5th Corps' heavy armour, and with eight of their vehicles bogged in Iraqi swamps, M Squadron launched a desperate bid to escape, inflicting massive damage on their enemies. Running low on fuel and ammunition, outnumbered, outmanoeuvred and outgunned, the elite operators destroyed sensitive kit and prepared for death or capture as the Iraqis closed their deadly trap. Zero Six Bravo recounts in vivid and compelling detail the most desperate battle fought by British and allied Special Forces trapped behind enemy lines since World War Two. It is a classic account of elite soldiering that ranks with Bravo Two Zero and the very greatest Special Forces missions of our time.

This important reference work is essential reading for students attempting to understand the horrific events of September 11, 2001, and the impact the devastating terrorist attack had on the United States. The World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks of September 11, 2001, continue to have a major impact on the United States. The deadliest day in modern U.S. history reverberates in numerous ways, as its influence is felt in such areas as civil liberties, foreign policy, immigration, and presidential powers. This essential guide features illuminating essays written by top scholars that discuss in detail the impact of 9/11 in these critical areas, as well as how it has changed the lives of Muslim Americans in the 21st century. The core of this reference work are the dozens of A-Z entries on all of the key groups, individuals, and events surrounding the 9/11 terrorist attacks, including the first responders, the heroes of United Airlines Flight 93, the Osama bin Laden raid, and the 9/11 Commission Report. In addition, the book offers a carefully curated group of primary source documents essential to understanding the 9/11 attacks. The book concludes with a detailed chronology and an annotated bibliography. Includes several essays on the impact of 9/11 on such key areas as counterterrorism, Islamist extremism, and U.S. politics Provides dozens of reference entries, gripping images, and important primary source documents Offers a detailed chronology that helps to place significant 9/11-related events in context Includes an annotated bibliography listing the most authoritative works about 9/11

Two years before the action in Lone Survivor, a Green Berets A Team conducted a very different, successful mission in Afghanistan's notorious Pech Valley. Led by Captain Ronald Fry, the Hammerhead Six mission applied the principles of unconventional warfare to "win hearts and minds" and fight against the terrorist insurgency. In 2003, the Special Forces soldiers entered an area later called "the most dangerous place in Afghanistan." Here, where the line between civilians and armed zealots was indistinct, they illustrated the Afghan proverb: "I destroy my enemy by making him my friend." Fry recounts how they were seen as welcome guests rather than invaders. Soon after their deployment ended, the Pech Valley reverted to turmoil. Their success was never replicated. Hammerhead Six finally reveals how cultural respect, hard work (and the occasional machine-gun burst) were more than a match for the Taliban and Al Qaeda.