This book, the second in a planned three-part series, looks at the remainder of Sankes aviator cards numbered 544-685. Sanke, Liersch and NPG postcards featuring German World War I aviators have been collected, traded, and reproduced in many publications over the years, but no author until now has focused on determining when, where, why, and by whom these pictures were taken, or when and why they were issued as postcards. This work pursues the answers to those questions, and while doing so unfolds like a detective story. At its heart is the vast collection of supportive photographs, including some of the original images behind the postcards - many have rarely, if ever, been viewed by the modern public.

When Martin Hogan began training on a vacant lot to be a soldier, he had no idea that he was about to become part of one of the most famed fighting units of World War I. But soon he and other citizen soldiers from the Irish neighborhoods of New York City were locked in deadly combat with the German army. Hogan's book records his recollections of the 165th Infantry in World War I, a regiment in the famed Rainbow Division. Company K of the Third or Shamrock Battalion had a part in every fight, and those who survived had more wound stripes than soldiers of any other company in the American Expeditionary Forces. Few soldiers saw as much of the war in eighteen months as did young Martin Hogan, and in this stirring account he tells of his experiences with graphic power, humility, and humor. Hogan depicts World War I at its most human level, with memories of combat in the trenches and on blood-soaked battlefields at St. Mihiel and in the Argonne Forest. His account tells us much about how unprepared for service the United States really was, with the National Guard woefully undersupplied and seriously undertrained. His experiences as a gassed, then wounded, soldier also show the reader a side of war that was far from glorious - in a time before penicillin, when the dangers of gangrene ran high - and his memoir conveys rare insight about conditions in American military hospitals where he found care. This insider view of the frontline experience during the Great War, complete with well-known figures such as Chaplain Father Francis Duffy and Colonel ""Wild Bill"" Donovan, attests that the Rainbow Division ""epitomized the best of the best spirit in the world - the American spirit."" James Cooke's new introduction to this edition places that renowned division in historical context. Now that other part-time American soldiers are facing new challenges abroad, Hogan's account also attests that the National Guard, citizen soldiers who bore the brunt of much decisive fighting, measured up to the highest standards of professional fighting men.

Although the French fielded the largest number of Allied troops on the Western Front in the First World War, the story of their soldiers is little known to English readers. The immense size of the French armies, the number of battles they fought, and the enormous losses they incurred, make it difficult for us to comprehend their experience. But we can gain a genuine insight by focusing on one of the defining battles of that war, at Verdun in 1916, and by looking at it through the eyes of a small group of soldiers who served there. That is what Johnathan Bracken does in this meticulously researched, detailed and vivid account. The French 151st Infantry Regiment spent fifty days under fire at Verdun in 1916 and another thirty-five in 1917, and lost 3,200 soldiers killed or wounded. Yet their ordeal was no different from that of hundreds of other infantry units that fought and endured in this meat-grinder of a battle. Their diaries and memoirs tell their story in the most compelling way, and through their words the larger human story of the French soldier during the war comes to life.

For years, one of the most essential sources for study of the Normandy invasion was known only to a select few and nearly unobtainable even to those who knew of its existence. It has never before been translated. None of the major English language histories of the Normandy Invasion refer to it, even though it is the history of the only German armoured division that was in place in the Caen area at the moment of the invasion. It reveals key facts that are missing elsewhere. At long last, Werner Kortenhaus' history of the 21. Panzer Division has been published in English. Kortenhaus' account of the division's subsequent commitment, in the Lorraine - Saar Region - Alsace area provides intriguing detail on this little known sector as the southern wing of Patton's 3rd Army strove for the Upper Rhine area of Germany. The last section follows the division after its hasty transfer to the Oder Front, facing the final Russian onslaught on Berlin. In revising and updating his account, originally released in two massive typed volumes, Die Schlacht um Caen, 1944, Caumont, Falaise Seine, der Einsatz der 21. Panzer Division in 1989 and Lothringen Elsass, der Ostfront, der Einsatz der 21. Panzer Division in 1990, Werner Kortenhaus has exhaustively researched all available sources in German, French and English to supplement his own experiences and those of his fellows and the many individuals whom he interviewed. The result is a seamless account of the Normandy invasion in the British sector from the German viewpoint that sheds new light on many controversial issues. The account continues, following the division and surrounding events during the retreat to the Seine and the division's later commitment in Alsace - Lorraine and, finally, on the Oder Front against the Soviet Union, and its eventual demise in the horrors of the Halbe pocket. The account is not restricted to the history of the 21. Panzer Division, but includes detailed analysis and exposition of actions of adjoining divisions and of the larger picture, from the German viewpoint. Helion's English edition includes a large number of rare photographs and a separately-bound book of newly-commissioned colour maps. Werner Kortenhaus' study represents a significant contribution to English language material available regarding a Heer Panzer division, besides its extensive coverage of German armoured operations in Normandy, Lorraine, Alsace and elsewhere.

Scorned by allies and enemies alike, the Army of the Republic of Vietnam (ARVN) was one of the most maligned fighting forces in modern history. Cobbled together by U.S. advisers from the remnants of the French-inspired Vietnamese National Army, it was effectively pushed aside by the Americans in 1965. When toward the end of the war the army was compelled to reassert itself, it was too little, too late for all concerned.

In this first in-depth history of the ARVN from 1955 to 1975, Robert Brigham takes readers into the barracks and training centers of the ARVN to plumb the hearts and souls of these forgotten soldiers. Through his masterly command of Vietnamese-language sources-diaries, memoirs, letters, oral interviews, and more-he explores the lives of ordinary men, focusing on troop morale and motivation within the context of traditional Vietnamese society and a regime that made impossible demands upon its soldiers.

Offering keen insights into ARVN veterans' lives as both soldiers and devout kinsmen, Brigham reveals what they thought about their American allies, their Communist enemies, and their own government. He describes the conscription policy that forced these men into the army for indefinite periods with a shameful lack of training and battlefield preparation and examines how soldiers felt about barracks life in provinces far from their homes. He also explores the cultural causes of the ARVN's estrangement from the government and describes key military engagements that defined the achievements, failures, and limitations of the ARVN as a fighting force. Along the way, he explodes some of the myths about ARVN soldiers' cowardice, corruption, and lack of patriotism that have made the ARVN the scapegoat for America's defeat.

Ultimately, as Brigham shows, without any real political commitment to a divided Vietnam or vision for the future, the ARVN retreated into a subnational culture that redefined the war's meaning: saving their families. His fascinating book gives us a fuller understanding not only of the Vietnam War but also of the problems associated with U.S. nation building through military intervention.

Much of the Civil War west of the Mississippi was a war of waiting for action, of foraging already stripped land for an army that supposedly could provision itself, and of disease in camp, while trying to hold out against Union pressure. There were none of the major engagements that characterized the conflict farther east. Instead, small units of confederate cavalry and infantry skirmished with Federal forces in Arkansas, Missouri, and Louisiana, trying to hold the western Confederacy together. The many units of Texans who joined this fight had a second objective - to keep the enemy out of their home state by placing themselves ""between the enemy and Texas."" Historian Anne J. Bailey studies one Texas unit, Parsons's Cavalry Brigade, to show how the war west of the Mississippi was fought. Historian Norman D. Brown calls this ""the definitive study of Parsons's Cavalry Brigade; the story will not need to be told again."" Exhaustively researched and written with literary grace, ""Between the Enemy and Texas"" is a ""must"" book for anyone interested in the role of mounted troops in the Trans-Mississippi Department.

The Home Guard was created in July 1940, and all Officers were listed in the Home Guard Lists which were issued at intervals throughout the war, each covering one of the UK Military Commands. These Command Lists give details of the relevant units down the chain of command. Officers are listed by unit and rank (with details of any decorations awarded during the Second World War up to 1941 or previously). Some entries identify service in previous units. These volumes are of great use to family and local historians wanting to track down the commissioned service of individuals; and for military enthusiasts and collectors they are also a useful way of tracking military service and Defence Medal entitlement. This volume on the South Eastern Command covers the Greater London Area.

Created in July 1940, the Home Guard was not entitled to use military ranks until February 1941. All Officers were then listed in the Home Guard List, which was compiled in seven separate sections. Each section gives details of the relevant units proceeding down the chain of command from Areas to Zones, Groups, and Battalions. Officers are listed within their units together with details of ranks (with dates) and any decorations. Some entries identify service in previous units. By making the Home Guard Lists available to a wider audience, it now becomes possible to trace Home Guard Service and Defence Medal entitlements. A useful volume for military historians and collectors, as well as family historians.

Created in July 1940, the Home Guard was not entitled to use military ranks until February 1941.All officers were then listed in the Home Guard List that was compiled in seven separate section. Each List gives details of all units proceeding down the chain of command from Areas to Zones, Groups, and Battalions. Officers are listed within their unit together with details of ranks (and dates) and decorations. Some entries identify service in previous units. These volumes allow for a much wider dissemination of this information that identifies personnel that did Home Guard service as officers and thus traces entitlements to the Defence Medal. This is a very useful volume for military historians and collectors, as well as family historians.