In Powerful Peace, J. Robert DuBois takes on a crucial, unprecedented mission for a U.S. Navy SEAL: the relentless pursuit of interpersonal and international peacemaking. With gut wrenching candor and surprising moments of comedy, he narrates a personal journey through decades of conflict, its often-absurd origins, its ever-present innocent victims, and its potential solutions. Most importantly, Robert delivers practical recommendations for private citizens and policy makers alike. He offers rare context for students of international relations, community leaders, and soldiers bound for unfamiliar lands.

Powerful Peace is the unvarnished ground truth on face-to-face engagements worldwide. Robert DuBois demonstrates that prevention of hostile intent is far more necessary to genuine security than the race for tactical or technological superiority. Whether countering Soviets, terrorists, insurgents or improvised explosive devices, he observes and reports on the fundamental similarities behind hatreds. Ignorance and misunderstanding poison human potential. Dignity and respect are powerful antidotes.

Powerful Peace is the fascinating story of human beings--in war and peace and school and work and play--learning to better understand others to avoid unnecessary conflict and enrich the world. Seasoned by professional experience in more than thirty countries, Robert has plainly "been there, done that..".yet his insightful conclusions on fighting may surprise you.

'Awesome!' ANDY McNAB | 'You must read this book' Colonel TIM COLLINS OBE | 'Extraordinary' Sir RANULPH FIENNES Forget what you thought you knew. Discover the REAL story of how the SAS was created. From ex-SAS Commander Tom Petch, this is the never-before-told story of how the world's preeminent Special Forces came into existence. Flashing between dramatic accounts from the frontlines and power negotiations in Westminster, it's an adventure that reaches from the trenches of the Western Front to piracy in the deserts of North Africa, to the final assault on Germany. Drawing on hidden archives and told with captivating drama, it focuses on two characters largely overlooked in the traditional narrative - Dudley Clarke the mastermind, and William Fraser the frontline operator. Without them there would never have been an SAS. 'Gripping and fascinating... Packed with unforgettable characters and thrilling adventures' WILL IREDALE, bestselling author of The Pathfinders

This is a first-hand account, never before in English, of a secret World War II mission in 1944 called Operation Salamander, in which Tadeusz Chciuk (writing as Marek Celt) parachuted into German-occupied Poland with the enigmatic political advisor Dr. Jozef Retinger. The goal of the mission was to persuade the Polish underground forces and political leadership to accept the fact that it was imperative to start negotiating with the Soviets right away, as they were now to be considered Poland's allies and had the full support of the British and Americans. The story culminates in Operation Wildhorn III, in which Chciuk and Retinger were picked up in Poland by a British plane that landed just a short distance from a significant detachment of German forces, and flew them to safety.

This is a history of the 370th Fighter Group in World War II, conveyed in the words and photos of the veterans. The 370th was organized in 1943 to fly the P-47 Thunderbolt. When the group arrived in England in early 1944, they were assigned to the 9th Air Force and converted to fly P-38 Lightnings. They were involved in every major Allied offensive from D-Day onward. The group supported Operation Cobra, flew missions over the Falaise Gap, and flew cover over Operation Market Garden. On missions after the weather cleared, the men could actually watch from the base as their planes made dive-bombing runs on German armored columns. The group converted to P-51 Mustangs in March 1945, just in time for cover missions during Operation Varsity, the Rhine River crossing. This is one of the most thorough and comprehensive group histories written and is a must for veterans, their families, and enthusiasts.

A hard-hitting history of the U.S. airborne unit who made a name for themselves in the unforgiving jungles of South Vietnam. "It was easier killing than living." Third Battalion 506th Airborne veteran Drawing on interviews with veterans, many of whom have never gone on the record before, Ian Gardner follows up his epic trilogy about the 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment in World War II with the story of the unit's reactivation at the height of the Vietnam War. This is the dramatic history of a band of brothers who served together in Vietnam and who against the odds lived up to the reputation of their World War II forefathers. Brigadier General Salve Matheson's idea was to create an 800-strong battalion of airborne volunteers in the same legendary "Currahee" spirit that had defined the volunteers of 1942. The man he chose to lead them was John Geraci, who would mold this young brotherhood into a highly cohesive and motivated force. In December 1967, the battalion was sent into the Central Highlands of Lam Dong Province. Geraci and his men began their Search and Destroy patrols, which coincided with the North Vietnamese build-up to the Tet Offensive and was a brutal introduction to the reality of a dirty, bloody war. Gardner reveals how it was here that the tenacious volunteers made their mark, just like their predecessors had done in Normandy, and the battalion was ultimately awarded a Valorous Unit Citation. This book shows how and why this unit was deserving of that award, recounting their daily sanguinary struggle in the face of a hostile environment and a determined enemy. Through countless interviews and rare personal photographs, Sign Here for Sacrifice shows the action, leadership, humor and bravery displayed by these airborne warriors.

The January 1942 Dienstalterliste lists the hundreds of officers in the SS from full Colonel to General. Detailing their post at that time during the war, this wartime publication, available now for the first time in a facsimile edition, also gives significant decorations they were awarded. Their ranks and most recent promotion dates are listed as well as State, Police and NSDAP posts. Illustrated with more than forty rare photos, this rare publication provides detailed information for historians and militaria collectors. Fully indexed.

Jochen Prien, author of the definitive Messerschmitt Bf 109 F/G/K Series, and the extensive three volume study of JG 53, presents JG 3 in its complete history from formation to the end of World War II. This second volume presents the unit history of the "Udet" Geschwader's second Gruppe, II./JG 3, beginning with its formation in 1938 and the subsequent service of the newly formed Gruppe in the Campaign in the West from 1940-1941. Next the Gruppe's 1941 tour of duty in Russia is dealt with, followed by a short spell in the Mediterranean theatre of war, where II./JG 3 was involved in the fighting over Malta in the spring of 1942. In June 1942, the Gruppe was again shifted to the east where it took part in the advance on Stalingrad where it suffered serious losses. 1943 saw the Gruppe still in Russia until it was recalled to the Reich to see further service in the defence of Germany between August 1943 and early June 1944. After its return to the Reich and a short period of rest and re-equiping, II./JG 3 was again called upon for service in the Reichsverteidigung, this coming to an abrupt end when in November 1944 the Gruppe was separated from its parent Geschwader in order to re-equip with the new Me 262 jet fighter and become part of the first jet fighter Geschwader of the Luftwaffe, JG 7. Vol. II then takes up the history of the newly formed II./JG 3, a former bomber unit that was transformed into a fighter Gruppe at the end of 1944; this new Gruppe came too late to see significant service against the Western Allies but was transferred to the east at the beginning of 1945 in order to counter the massive Soviet offensive that overran the eastern parts of the Reich since mid-January 1945. Hopelessly outnumbered, its operations being curtailed now by a lack of fuel, the new II./JG 3 struggled on until the collapse of the Reich.

In this original and revealing work, Jeremiah B. McCall challenges the generally accepted view of the Roman cavalry and explores the fundamental connections between war and society in republican Rome, c.300-100 BC. McCall describes the citizen cavalry's equipment, tactics, and motivation in battle, and argues for its effectiveness in the field. This success is proof that it cannot finally have been disbanded for purely military reasons; he shows that victories in the law-courts, and lavish displays of wealth, came to supersede cavalry service as a way of building the reputations of the Roman elite. The clear structure and fresh approach of the book, combining insights from both Roman military and social history, will be useful to readers at all levels of study.

In 1991, Coalition special forces were active deep inside Iraq, hunting down SCUD missile launchers before they could be fired. In 2011, US Navy SEALs were responsible for the assassination of the world's most wanted terrorist, Osama bin Laden. In 2014, the US Delta Force captured Libyan terrorist Ahmed Abu Khattala, wanted for the attack on the US embassy in Benghazi in 2012. Over the last 25 years elite military formations have played an increasingly important role in the policing of the world's trouble spots, including rescuing hostages in Afghanistan and fighting Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean. Special Forces in Action is a detailed account of the operations of the world's special forces from 1991 to the present day. From the Gulf War to the invasion of Iraq, via the war in Afghanistan, the search for war criminals in the Balkans, drug gang hunting in South America, hostage rescues in Africa, and the counter-terrorist initiatives since 9/11, the book brings the reader full details of the often clandestine and varied roles of the world's elite soldiers. Authoritatively written and illustrated with more than 180 photographs and artworks, Special Forces in Action is an expert account of how the world's special forces have become a vital arm of the modern military machine, playing a key role in recent world events.

Poland was the first country to stand up to Germany in 1939, and maintained an underground army during the years of World War II. The underground army was organized in occupied Poland in October 1939 and worked until April 1945, hoping to establish a legitimate authority in post-war Poland while liberating territory with the aid of Polish Forces from the west. This military history covers the attempts of General Wladyslaw Sikorski and his successor (General Kazimierz Sosnkowski) to integrate the Polish forces into Western strategy, and trying to have their clandestine forces (the Armia Krajowa) declared an allied combatant and legitimized by the Western powers before the eyes of both Germans and Soviets who sought Poland's destruction. The work opens with some general remarks on the inter-war period of 1919-1939, and then concentrates on the period of October 1939 through January 1945 and V-E Day. It covers such topics as Poland's part in the Norwegian and French Campaigns, the Battle of Britain, Polish Intelligence Services, Military Radio Network, Feluccas, the creation of the Polish Parachute Brigade, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, the Bomber Offensive, the Katyn graves, Polish air crews in RAF Transport Command, Tehran, Polish Wings in the 2nd Tactical Air Force, the Bardsea Plan, the invasion of Normandy, the Pierwsza Pancera, the Warsaw Uprising, Operation Freston, the disbanding of the Polish Home Army, and Yalta. A conclusion and several appendices (including a chronology, costs of the Polish forces based in the UK, list of Polish squadrons in UK, and the texts of Polish-British agreements) close the work.

From master storyteller Andy McNab, this is the opening book in an adventure-filled and action-packed new series telling, for the first time ever, the true stories of Special Forces missions. 'McNab's first major non-autobiographical work of non-fiction ... The operation is told like a novel [...] and it is as refreshingly informal and compellingly immediate as his other books' Daily Express 'Part history lesson, part military manual, part fixed-bayonets thriller. A must for Special Forces fans' The Sun It is the early 2000s and 9/11 is fresh in the world's memory. The Taliban have taken over Afghanistan, and armed militants and explosive devices are terrorising the people. And now a new threat is emerging in the country: suicide bombings, ordered by military commander of the Taliban, Mullah Dadullah. Special Forces are sent in to stop him. The Hunt is the thrilling story of the secret mission to catch Dadullah, one of the most dangerous men alive. Using classified sources and his unique insight into the way the SAS works, Andy McNab gives a page-turning account of what it took the Special Forces to find their target and what they would have to do to take him down. An explosive story of hostage negotiations, undercovers missions and a final, epic assault on Dadullah's compound that could leave only one side alive, The Hunt is a powerful retelling of a real-life Special Forces mission.

Alan Careys new book, his fifth on USN and USMC bomber units of the Second World War, is the story of U.S. Navy Fleet Air Wing Seven (FAW-7) and the men who flew the Navy version of the Consolidated B-24 Liberator bomber out of Dunkeswell and Upottery, England during World War II. Navy PB4Y-1 Liberator squadrons were unlike their counterparts in the U.S. Armys 8th Air Force, who battled their way through thick flak and swarms of German fighters while flying to and from targets in continental Europe. The job of U.S. Navy PB4Y-1 Liberator aircrews was to keep German U-boats from successfully operating in the Bay of Biscay and the English Channel by going out day after day, often in miserable weather conditions, on unrelenting search and destroy missions. During the war, FAW-7 Liberators were responsible for the sinking of five U-boats and damaging many more.

Major General Smedley Darlington Butler was a maverick Marine, the emblem of the old corps, and one of the most controversial figures in Marine history. He was a high school dropout who became a major general; a Quaker and a devout family man who was one of the toughest of the Marines; an aristocrat who championed the common man; a leader who thought of himself as striving to help the oppressed of the countries he occupied as the commander of an imperial fighting force. This work is an annotated edition of his letters covering the period from Butler's commissioning as a Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps to his retirement as a Major General.

This is the first time the majority of these letters have been made public, and the book offers the reader a first-hand look at the motivations and attitudes of the American military as it implemented U.S. foreign policy at the turn of the century. There is extensive coverage of U.S. interventions in Nicaragua, Haiti, and China from a man on the scene, offering an immediate perspective to those events. General Butler won two Congressional Medals of Honor, as well as numerous other U.S. and foreign medals, including two Umbrellas of Ten Thousand Blessings from two Chinese cities--honors never before given to a non-Chinese. Military and diplomatic historians, as well as Marine and Navy enthusiasts, will find this superbly edited and annotated collection of interest and value.

This work details the state of British counterinsurgency knowledge by 1945, and shows how wartime special forces and unconventional warfare affected many postwar counterinsurgencies. The vital role of the Special Air Service (SAS) is revealed here for the first time.

Historically, special forces have been prone to misuse or misapplication. In particular, how special operations achieve their strategic effects has not been well understood. This stems in part from the Western historical tradition of the independently decisive 'great raid'. This work examines how a number of different special operations, in conjunction with more conventional military actions, achieve and sustain strategic effect(s) over time. In particular, this thesis argues that the root of effective special operations lies in understanding the relationship that exists between moral and material attrition at the strategic level through an examination of strategic theory and case studies.
The key to understanding how special operations improve strategic performance resides in the concept of strategic attrition, and by extension, the nature of strategy. The nature of strategy reflects the complexities associated with moral and material interactions between competing adversaries. Theorists including Carl von Clausewitz, Hans Delbruck, and Mao Zedong, understood that attrition has a moral dimension at the strategic level in addition to its more commonly known material one. By focusing a number of special operations against enemy moral and material vulnerabilities over time, and in conjunction with conventional operations, an enemy's will to fight can be eroded more quickly and efficiently. However, the use of the Special Air Service Brigade during the Normandy campaign in 1944, in this case incorporating special operations into a campaign of attrition, may not succeed for reasons related to the nature of strategy even when the desired goals are clearly understood.

This is a true account of secret operations carried out by the British Army's most clandestine unit- the Force Research Unit. Through the author's own experiences, the story of an essential instrument in the fight against terrorism, that of covert intelligence gathering, is told.

Featuring specially commissioned artwork and archive illustrations, this engrossing study describes the US Marine Corps’ early operations and illustrates its evolving uniforms and personal equipment. The US Marine Corps’ uniforms, personal equipment, insignia, and weaponry are all described and illustrated in this book, complemented by a succinct history of the Marines’ military record from their beginnings to the eve of the American Civil War, by which time the US Marine Corps had established itself as a small but vitally important part of the United States’ armed forces. Organized in 1775, the first American Marines distinguished themselves throughout the American Revolutionary War, and even raided mainland Britain before being disbanded in 1783. Reestablished in 1798, the US Marine Corps fought in the Barbary Wars and the War of 1812, both at sea and on land. The years after 1815 saw the Corps involved in a wide variety of conflicts, from the Seminole Wars to the Mexican–American War; Marines even reached China and Japan. As the prospect of civil war began to threaten the United States, a small battalion of Marines was responsible for the capture of abolitionist John Brown at Harper’s Ferry on October 18, 1859. The diverse operations and evolving appearance of the Marines are captured in this absorbing study from an acknowledged authority on US military costume.

Covers the use and design of the Panzer IV armored fighting vehicle.

For many, the Waffen-SS soldier represents the archetype of the combatant, if not the warrior: well-armed, well-trained, possessing intelligence in combat, imbued with political and ideological fanaticism, he is an elite soldier par excellence, even if a lack of scruples casts a long shadow. However, is this picture true? In the case of the Battle of Normandy, opinions diverged, not only among today's historians, but also amongst the German generals at the time. In all, the Waffen-SS fielded six divisions during the Battle of Normandy, as well as two heavy battalions of Tiger tanks. But they were by no means a single homogenous entity, for with the exception of II. SS-Panzerkorps, the divisions arrived at the front one after another and were immediately thrown into battle. This volume in the Casemate Illustrated series examines the Waffen-SS in Normandy during the fierce fighting of June 1944, when they struggled to hold back the Allied advance on Caen, though the picture was by no means one-sided. Extensively illustrated with photographs, tank profiles, maps, and accompanied by biographies of key personnel and explanatory text boxes, this volume gives a clear and accessible account of events, challenging some popular perceptions along the way.

Each recipient is presented in a capsule biography including dates of birth, awarding of the various Knights Cross grades, and other particulars to rank and career. Each is also shown in a World War II era photograph.

Like most foreign troops stationed in China, the United States Marines' mission was to protect the American embassy and American consulates, missionaries, tourists, and other citizens in China. During the half century covered by this book, the Marines saw China as it would never again be. The Opium Wars and Boxer Rebellion gave the Europeans a certain standing, with prerogatives and privileges that were looked upon by everyone, even the Chinese, as a natural order of existence. The author discusses early military operations in north China, the early legation guards, the Boxer Rebellion in 1900, and the Marine legation guard in Peking also in 1900. It also discusses Seymour's relief column, Waller's column, the capture of the Walled City of Tien-Tsin, the siege of the legations at Peking, the relief of Peking, and the Marines' return to Peking.

Two sisters. Two special agents. One War. Sisters, Secrets and Sacrifice is the incredible true story of British special agents Eileen and Jacqueline Nearne, two sisters who risked everything to fight for our freedom during the Second World War. The death of an eccentric recluse is rarely an event to be given more than a few lines in a local newspaper. But when, in September 2010, police were called to a tiny, cluttered flat in Torquay and discovered the body of local 'cat lady' Eileen Nearne, they also found a small bundle of possessions that told an amazing story. For Eileen Nearne had been an agent for the Special Operations Executive during the Second World War, going undercover in Nazi-occupied France to send wireless messages of crucial importance to the Allies. Astonishingly, Eileen was not the only special agent in the family - her sister Jacqueline had also been an SOE. Rarely had two members of the same family sacrificed so much to such dangerous work. Sisters, Secrets and Sacrifice pays tribute to these fiercely patriotic women with hearts of courage, who fought for freedom at much personal cost. While Jacqueline narrowly avoided capture several times, tirelessly couriering secret documents for the resistance, Eileen was arrested and tortured by the Gestapo before being incarcerated at Ravensbruck concentration camp. She was only 23. This is a true story of triumph and tragedy, of two sisters who sacrificed themselves to defend our freedom, who stood shoulder to shoulder during the darkest of days.

For readers of American Sniper, the stirring account of a life of service by the "father of the US Navy SEALs" One month after the Bay of Pigs fiasco, when President John F. Kennedy pressed Congress about America's "urgent national needs," he named expanding US special operations forces along with putting a man on the moon. Captain William Hamilton was the officer tasked with creating the finest unconventional warriors ever seen. Merging his own experience commanding Navy Underwater Demolition Teams with expertise from Army Special Forces and the CIA, and working with his subordinate, Roy Boehm, he cast the mold for sea-, air-, and land-dispatched night fighters capable of successfully completing any mission anywhere in the world. Initially, they were used as a counter to the potential devastation of nuclear war, and later for counterterrorism and hostage rescue. His vision led to the formation of the celebrated SEAL Team 6. In this stirring, action-filled book, Hamilton tells his story for the first time. Night Fighter is a trove of true adventure from the history of the late twentieth century, which Hamilton lived, from fighter pilot in the Korean War to operative for the CIA in Vietnam, Africa, Latin America, and Europe, from the Pentagon to Foggy Bottom, and from the Cuban Missile Crisis to the Reagan White House's Star Wars. Like American Sniper, here is the record of a life devoted to patriotic service. Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.