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Books > Fiction > True stories > War / combat / elite forces

Codebreaker in the Far East (Paperback): Alan Stripp Codebreaker in the Far East (Paperback)
Alan Stripp
R1,515 Discovery Miles 15 150 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

This is the first book to describe British wartime success in breaking Japanese codes of dazzling variety and great complexity which contributed to the victory in Burma three months before Hiroshima. Written for the general reader, this first-hand account describes the difficulty of decoding one of the most complex languages in the world in some of the most difficult conditions. The book was published in 1989 to avoid proposed legislation which would prohibit those in the security services from publishing secret information.

The Traitor of Colditz - The Untold Story of Britain's Bravest Double Agent (Paperback): Robert Verkaik The Traitor of Colditz - The Untold Story of Britain's Bravest Double Agent (Paperback)
Robert Verkaik
R287 Discovery Miles 2 870 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

'A vastly entertaining tale, bursting with astonishing stories and extraordinary characters ... A fascinating read' Sunday Telegraph 'Brilliant ... An amazing story, one I hadn't heard too much about' Dan Snow IT IS THE DEPTHS OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR. The Germans like to boast that there is 'no escape' from the infamous fortress that is Colditz. The elite British officers imprisoned there are determined to prove the Nazis wrong and get back into the war. As the war heats up and the stakes are raised, the Gestapo plant a double-agent inside the prison in a bid to uncover the secrets of the British prisoners. Captain Julius Green of the Army Dental Corps and Sergeant John 'Busty' Brown must risk their lives in a bid to save the lives of hundreds of Allied servicemen and protect the secrets of MI9. Drawn from unseen records, The Traitor of Colditz brings to light an extraordinary, never-before-told story from the Second World War, an epic tale of how MI9 took on the Nazis and exposed the traitors in their midst.

Remember the Ramrods - An Army Brotherhood in War and Peace (Hardcover): David Bellavia Remember the Ramrods - An Army Brotherhood in War and Peace (Hardcover)
David Bellavia
R670 R578 Discovery Miles 5 780 Save R92 (14%) Ships in 5 - 10 working days

The Iraq War's only living Medal of Honor recipient reveals the untold story of the remarkable brotherhood behind one of the war's legendary acts of valor In 2004, he stormed an enemy stronghold to save his platoon. Fourteen years later, his unit reunited and saved him. This is their story. "Acting on instinct to save the members of his platoon from an imminent threat, Staff Sergeant Bellavia ultimately cleared an entire enemy-filled house." So reads the Medal of Honor citation describing one of the Iraq War's most celebrated acts of heroism. But the full story of the brotherhood at the heart of these events is untold-and far more remarkable. In 2004, David Bellavia's U.S. Army unit, an infantry bat talion known as the Ramrods-2nd Battalion, 2nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Infantry Division-fought and helped win the Battle of Fallujah, the bloodiest episode of the Iraq War. On November 10, 2004, Bellavia single-handedly cleared a forti fied enemy position that had pinned down a squad from his platoon. Fourteen years later, Bellavia got a call from the pres ident of the United States: he had been awarded a Medal of Honor for his actions in Fallujah and would receive America's highest award for bravery in combat during a ceremony at the White House. The news was not welcome. Bellavia had put the war behind him, created a quiet life for himself in rural western New York, and lost touch with most of his fellow Ramrods, who were once like brothers to him. The first time they gath ered as a unit after the war was at Bellavia's medal ceremony, six days in Washington, D.C., that may have saved them all. As they revisited what they had seen and done in battle and revealed to one another their journeys back into civilian life, they discovered that the bonds had not been broken by time. A decoration for one became a healing event for all. This book-beginning in brutal war and ending with this momentous, transformative reunion-covers the journey of Bellavia's platoon through fifteen years. A quintessential and timeless American tale, it is the story of how forty battle-hardened soldiers became ordinary citizens again; what they did during that time, and how November 10, 2004, rattled within them; and how their reunion brought them home at last.

My Country - A Syrian Memoir (Paperback): Kassem Eid My Country - A Syrian Memoir (Paperback)
Kassem Eid; Introduction by Janine di Giovanni 1
R328 R266 Discovery Miles 2 660 Save R62 (19%) Ships in 10 - 15 working days

'Powerful . A humbling and important first-hand account of a brutal civil war in which as many as 500,000 people have died' Guardian

'A memoir of resistance and survival unique in the annals of modern war . If the shedding of blood can be beautiful in words, he makes it so' Wall Street Journal

Born to Palestinian refugees, Kassem Eid grew up in the small town of Moadamiya on the outskirts of the ancient city of Damascus, playing in streets perfumed with jasmine. But it didn't take long for Kassem to realise that he was treated differently at school because of his family's resistance to the brutal government regime. When Bashar al-Assad succeeded his father in 2000, hopes that things might change for the better were swiftly crushed. When the 2011 Arab Spring protests in Syria were met with extreme violence, it was yet another blow - and as Kassem reached young adulthood, the country spiralled into civil war.

Then, on 21 August 2013, Kassem nearly died in a sarin gas attack that killed hundreds of civilians. Later that day, he would pick up a gun for the first time, to join the Free Syrian Army as they fought government forces. For Kassem, this marked the moment that he and his country changed forever - even as the rest of the world turned its face away.

We Die Alone (Paperback, Main): David Howarth We Die Alone (Paperback, Main)
David Howarth; Introduction by Andy McNab 1
R273 Discovery Miles 2 730 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

In March 1943 a team of expatriate Norwegian commandos sailed from the most northerly part of Britain for Nazi-occupied Norway. Their mission was to organise and support the Norwegian resistance. They were betrayed, and only one man survived the ambush by the Nazis. Crippled by frostbite, snow-blind and hunted by the Nazis, Jan Baalstrud managed to find a tiny arctic village. There - delirious, near death - he found villagers willing to risk their own lives to save him. David Howarth narrates his incredible escape in this gripping tale of courage and the resilience of the human spirit.

The Infiltrators - The Lovers Who Led Germany's Resistance Against the Nazis (Hardcover, Main): Norman Ohler The Infiltrators - The Lovers Who Led Germany's Resistance Against the Nazis (Hardcover, Main)
Norman Ohler 1
R704 Discovery Miles 7 040 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

A Daily Telegraph History Book of the Year 'An astonishing story... brilliantly told' Antony Beevor 'Gripping... Will appeal to anyone who relishes Ben Macintyre's tales of wartime espionage and cryptic codes.' Sunday Telegraph 'A detailed and meticulously researched tale about a pair of young German resisters that reads like a thriller.' New York Times 'Deeply engaging, enticingly written and extremely affecting.' Philippe Sands, Spectator Summertime, 1935. On a lake near Berlin, a young man is out sailing when he glimpses a woman reclining in the prow of a passing boat. Their eyes meet - and one of history's greatest conspiracies is born. Harro Schulze-Boysen had already shed blood in the fight against Nazism by the time he and Libertas Haas-Heye began their whirlwind romance. She joined the cause, and soon the two lovers were leading a network of antifascists that stretched across Berlin's bohemian underworld. Harro himself infiltrated German intelligence and began funnelling Nazi battle plans to the Allies, including the details of Hitler's surprise attack on the Soviet Union. But nothing could prepare Harro and Libertas for the betrayals they would suffer in this war of secrets - a struggle in which friend could be indistinguishable from foe. Drawing on unpublished diaries, letters and Gestapo files, Norman Ohler spins an unforgettable tale of love, heroism and sacrifice.

The Quiet Americans - Four CIA Spies at the Dawn of the Cold War - A Tragedy in Three Acts (Paperback): Scott Anderson The Quiet Americans - Four CIA Spies at the Dawn of the Cold War - A Tragedy in Three Acts (Paperback)
Scott Anderson
R285 R258 Discovery Miles 2 580 Save R27 (9%) Ships in 5 - 10 working days

'A darkly entertaining tale about American espionage, set in an era when Washington's fear and skepticism about the agency resembles our climate today.' New York Times At the end of World War II, the United States dominated the world militarily, economically, and in moral standing - seen as the victor over tyranny and a champion of freedom. But it was clear - to some - that the Soviet Union was already executing a plan to expand and foment revolution around the world. The American government's strategy in response relied on the secret efforts of a newly-formed CIA. The Quiet Americans chronicles the exploits of four spies - Michael Burke, a charming former football star fallen on hard times, Frank Wisner, the scion of a wealthy Southern family, Peter Sichel, a sophisticated German Jew who escaped the Nazis, and Edward Lansdale, a brilliant ad executive. The four ran covert operations across the globe, trying to outwit the ruthless KGB in Berlin, parachuting commandos into Eastern Europe, plotting coups, and directing wars against Communist insurgents in Asia. But time and again their efforts went awry, thwarted by a combination of stupidity and ideological rigidity at the highest levels of the government - and more profoundly, the decision to abandon American ideals. By the mid-1950s, the Soviet Union had a stranglehold on Eastern Europe, the US had begun its disastrous intervention in Vietnam, and America, the beacon of democracy, was overthrowing democratically elected governments and earning the hatred of much of the world. All of this culminated in an act of betrayal and cowardice that would lock the Cold War into place for decades to come. Anderson brings to the telling of this story all the narrative brio, deep research, sceptical eye, and lively prose that made Lawrence in Arabia a major international bestseller. The intertwined lives of these men began in a common purpose of defending freedom, but the ravages of the Cold War led them to different fates. Two would quit the CIA in despair, stricken by the moral compromises they had to make; one became the archetype of the duplicitous and destructive American spy; and one would be so heartbroken he would take his own life. Scott Anderson's The Quiet Americans is the story of these four men. It is also the story of how the United States, at the very pinnacle of its power, managed to permanently damage its moral standing in the world.

War Stories - Gripping Tales of Courage, Cunning and Compassion (Paperback): Peter Snow, Ann MacMillan War Stories - Gripping Tales of Courage, Cunning and Compassion (Paperback)
Peter Snow, Ann MacMillan 1
R322 Discovery Miles 3 220 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

'Highly readable . . . an intimate and varied account of fascinating stories of people at war' History of War War Stories is a fascinating account of ordinary men and women swept up in the turbulence of war. These are the stories - many untold until now - of thirty-four individuals who have pushed the boundaries of love, bravery, suffering and terror beyond the imaginable. They span three centuries and five continents. There is the courage of Edward Seager who survived the Charge of the Light Brigade; the cunning of Krystyna Skarbek, quick-thinking spy and saboteur during the Second World War; the skullduggery of Benedict Arnold, who switched sides in the American War of Independence and the compassion of Magdalene de Lancey who tenderly nursed her dying husband at Waterloo. Told with vivid narrative flair and full of unexpected insights, War Stories moves effortlessly from tales of spies, escapes and innovation to uplifting acts of humanity, celebrating men and women whose wartime experiences are beyond compare.

Eleven Bravo - A Skytrooper's Memoir of War in Vietnam (Paperback): E.Tayloe Wise Eleven Bravo - A Skytrooper's Memoir of War in Vietnam (Paperback)
E.Tayloe Wise
R624 R510 Discovery Miles 5 100 Save R114 (18%) Ships in 10 - 15 working days

E. Tayloe Wise served in Vietnam from May 1969 through April 1970. During those 11 months, he wrote an estimated 750-800 letters home. This memoir is based on those letters, which recounted the details of his experiences and also served as an outlet where he could express the terror, tedium and even boredom of his daily life while in Vietnam. It tells the story of the Vietnam War as this foot soldier viewed it from the jungle, as both a rifleman and a combat medic who was forced to learn his medical skills under fire, and who later became a personal waiter in the private mess hall of Major General E.B. Roberts, the Commanding General of the 1st Cavalry Division (Air Mobile).

The story begins with a record of Wises military history, his training as an infantryman in Leesville, Louisiana and his arrival in Vietnam on May 2, 1969. Chapter two details his first experience under enemy fire on May 11, when suicide squads penetrated their perimeter with the purpose of inflicting the maximum amount of damage with disregard to even the attackers' own lives. Chapters five and six recount the August 1969 battle of LZ Becky, a landing zone that was constructed just south of the Cambodian border and was destroyed only four weeks later. Chapter seven relates Wises experiences after receiving a job as a waiter in the Commander Generals mess hall. On April 9, 1970, his service ended and he headed home. The book contains diagrams of several battles and the authors personal photographs taken while he was in the jungle and in the rear echelon area of Phuoc Vinh.

My Boy Jack? (Paperback): Tonie Holt, Valmai Holt My Boy Jack? (Paperback)
Tonie Holt, Valmai Holt
R373 Discovery Miles 3 730 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

Republished to coincide with the new ITV film, My Boy Jack? starring Daniel Radcliffe, this is the full account of the tragic life of John 'Jack" Kipling. On 27th September 1915 John Kipling, the only son of Britain's best loved poet, disappeared during the Battle of Loos. The body lay undiscovered for 77 years. Then, in a most unusual move, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC)re-marked the grave of an unknown Lieutenant of the Irish Guards, as that of John Kipling. There is considerable evidence that John's grave has been wrongly identified and for the first time in this book, the authors name the soldier they believe is buried in 'John's grave'. This is the first biography of John's short life, analysing the devastating effect it had on his famous father's work.

War and Enlightenment in Russia - Military Culture in the Age of Catherine II (Hardcover): Eugene Miakinkov War and Enlightenment in Russia - Military Culture in the Age of Catherine II (Hardcover)
Eugene Miakinkov
R2,256 R1,381 Discovery Miles 13 810 Save R875 (39%) Ships in 10 - 15 working days

War and Enlightenment in Russia explores how members of the military during the reign of Catherine II reconciled Enlightenment ideas about the equality and moral worth of all humans with the Russian reality based on serfdom, a world governed by autocracy, absolute respect for authority, and subordination to seniority. While there is a sizable literature about the impact of the Enlightenment on government, economy, manners, and literature in Russia, no analytical framework that outlines its impact on the military exists. Eugene Miakinkov's research addresses this gap and challenges the assumption that the military was an unadaptable and vertical institution. Using archival sources, military manuals, essays, memoirs, and letters, the author demonstrates how the Russian militaires philosophes operationalized the Enlightenment by turning thought into reality.

Thousands of Roads - A Memoir of a Young Woman's Life in the Ukrainian Underground During and After World War II... Thousands of Roads - A Memoir of a Young Woman's Life in the Ukrainian Underground During and After World War II (Paperback)
Maria Savchyn Pyskir; Translated by Ania Savage
R605 R503 Discovery Miles 5 030 Save R102 (17%) Ships in 10 - 15 working days

Before, during, and after World War II, Maria Savchyn Pyskir served in the Ukrainian Underground resistance. Her dramatic and poignant memoir tells of her recruitment into underground service at age 14, her participation in resistance activities during the War, her bittersweet marriage to revolutionary leader "Orlan," her struggle against Stalinist forces, and her captures by and escapes from the KGB. In the 1950s when she escaped to the West, she began these memoirs, which were not published in Ukrainian until after the fall of the Soviet Union. Their appearance in Ukrainian caused a sensation, as she remains the only survivor of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) to have told her tale, now offered in English. Pyskir, whose escape came at the cost of her husband, children, and family, recreates in her memoir an astonishing account of her experiences as a Ukrainian partisan, a woman, a wife, a mother, and an outcast from her own land. The book contains maps, many of the author's own photographs, and a foreword by John A. Armstrong.

Call to Kill - The first in a brand new high-octane SAS series (Paperback): Billy Billingham, Conor Woodman Call to Kill - The first in a brand new high-octane SAS series (Paperback)
Billy Billingham, Conor Woodman
R308 Discovery Miles 3 080 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

BOOK TWO IN THE SERIES, SURVIVE TO FIGHT, IS AVAILABLE NOW! THE FIRST IN A BRAND NEW SERIES FROM SAS: WHO DARES WINS STAR. A country in turmoil. A rescue mission gone wrong. A hero on unlike any other fighting to save a broken world. Matt 'Mace' Mason is deployed on a deniable SAS mission in war-torn Yemen, becoming embroiled in a hostage rescue that goes terribly wrong. Pulling at the strings of the local political scene is not only the local warlord who is destined to become Mace's nemesis, General Ruak Shahlai, but hardbitten American arms dealer Erica Atkins, who controls a whole international network to her advantage. As well as his own team, Mace has to work, initially unwillingly, with female CIA Agent (and Islamic scholar) Redford. Together they will need to prevent an attack that would spark a regional war and create the largest environmental disaster the world has ever seen. DON'T MISS THE FIRST IN THE NEW MACE MASON SERIES FROM AN AUTHOR WHO HAS BEEN THERE AND DONE IT ALL, BILLY BILLINGHAM. About the Author Billy Billingham spent 17 years in the SAS. He was responsible for planning and executing strategic operations and training at the highest level in locations including Iraq, Afghanistan, South America and Africa, and has led countless hostage rescues. He later became a bodyguard to A list celebrities such as Brad Pitt, Sir Michael Caine, and Tom Cruise. Since 2015, Billy has been one of the lead presenters on the popular Channel Four series SAS: Who Dares Wins. Of the lead line-up, he is the only one with a genuine SAS career.

Silent Running - My Years on a World War II Attack Submarine (Hardcover): James F. Calvert Silent Running - My Years on a World War II Attack Submarine (Hardcover)
James F. Calvert
R884 R721 Discovery Miles 7 210 Save R163 (18%) Ships in 10 - 15 working days

"The boat was eerily quiet and hot as an oven. Shirts came off and men were either in skivvy shirts or bare from the waist up. Every body glistened with sweat—some from the heat and some from just raw fear. Click . . . BANG! Click . . . BANG! Two more [depth charges], still very close. A couple of lightbulbs shattered. . . ."

In this riveting personal account, an authentic American hero relives the perils and triumphs of eight harrowing patrols aboard one of America's most successful World War II submarines. Courageous deeds and terror-filled moments—as well as the endless hard work of maintaining and operating a combat sub—are vividly recalled in James Calvert's candid portrait. From rigorous training and shakedown cruises off the coast of New England, to tense patrols within shouting distance of Japan's major cities, the progress of the newly commissioned USS Jack parallels Calvert's own growth from callow ensign to charter member of one of the sharpest attack teams in the fleet.

In June 1943, the Jack made its first patrol into Japanese waters, and Calvert began to build a reputation as a crack TDC operator—the crew member who set the torpedo's course based on the approach officer's readings. With Calvert at the TDC and his much admired skipper Tommy Dykers at the periscope, the Jack had five hits and four confirmed kills on its first patrol. The Jack's fame grew. Despite recurring engine trouble, and the notorious failure of American torpedo detonators early in the war, the sub continued to take its toll on enemy shipping. At one point, Calvert hit an enemy vessel at 5,000 yards, roughly three times the maximum distance recommended for accurate torpedo shooting. The ship earned its nickname, "Jack the Pack," when a besieged Japanese admiral radioed for help, saying that he was under attack by a "wolf pack."

Telling his story with sensitivity and great affection for his shipmates, Calvert combines an intimate knowledge of the nitty-gritty technical details of submarine warfare with the fast-paced action and nail-biting tension of a Tom Clancy novel. He relives long and terrifying hours spent hundreds of feet beneath the ocean's surface, punctuated by the relentless click-BANG of exploding depth charges. He recounts the perilous nighttime cat-and-mouse games that Dykers played with convoy escorts, accompanied on the bridge by a crewman renowned for his night vision—and the disconcerting habit of singing "Nearer My God to Thee" whenever the situation got tense. And a lively account of a completely unauthorized tour of Tokyo before the official surrender recalls an escapade that nearly cost Calvert his career.

Advance praise for Jim Calvert's Silent Running

"I am just one of many who experienced life on a submarine during World War II. Silent Running is a story sincerely told—free of any revisionism or cynicism—and I commend Vice Admiral Calvert for sharing this dramatic personal account of that difficult and exciting time." —President George Bush

"Hardened old sub vet that I am, I still felt the need for two weeks R&R after reliving Jim's only too realistic war patrolling adventures." —C. W. Nimitz, Jr., Rear Admiral, USN (Ret.)

"I believe it is the best personal account yet written on U.S. submarine operations in the Second World War. . . . [Calvert] writes with lucidity and a rare candor. We get an extraordinary sense of what it was like, feeling the tensions and emotions, sharing the successes and disappointments.

. . . This is a true story with real people, always gripping and sometimes tender. It is exciting to read and hard to put down. —J. L. Holloway, Admiral, USN (Ret.) President, Naval Historical Society Chief of Naval Operations, 1974-1978

"I knew Jim Calvert throughout the war, and in this book he has told the submarine story in a way that catches the flavor and tang of the real thing. This is the way it really was." —Frederick B. Warder, Rear Admiral, USN (Ret.) Legendary WWII skipper of the Seawolf

North Atlantic Civilization at War - World War II Battles of Sky, Sand, Snow, Sea and Shore (Hardcover): Patrick Lloyd Hatcher North Atlantic Civilization at War - World War II Battles of Sky, Sand, Snow, Sea and Shore (Hardcover)
Patrick Lloyd Hatcher
R4,130 Discovery Miles 41 300 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

This book recounts the World War II journeys of a soldier, a ship, and a bottle of spirits through, and around, five great turning-point battles. Those battles were influenced more by geography and climate than by generals and admirals. Properly titled they would be known as the Battles of the Sky (Britain), the Sand (El Alemein), the Snow (Stalingrad), the Sea (North Atlantic), and the Shore (Normandy). Slogging their way through this quintet are an eighteen-year-old G.I. from Missouri (as seen through his letters home), an "ugly duckling" of a Liberty ship (as seen through its Armed Guard reports), and a bottle of rum (as traced by those who, after the war, made money in selling war souvenirs). It is the history of the North Atlantic sea basin and its extensions at war: the story of the lulls between battles, when America's teenage warriors often watched war movies (Humphrey Bogart made and Warner Brothers released seven during the war), sang or listened to popular tunes by songsmiths like Irving Berlin, and drank rum-and-Coke (while listening to Dick Haymes sing the hit "Rum & Coca-Cola"). While accessible and vastly entertaining, this is a serious work of history. By treating World War II in Europe much as Fernand Braudel treated the origins of Western civilization in his masterpiece The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II, Hatcher brings Braudelian detachment to his narrative.

Dogs of Courage - When Britain's Pets Went to War 1939-45 (Paperback): Clare Campbell, Christy Campbell Dogs of Courage - When Britain's Pets Went to War 1939-45 (Paperback)
Clare Campbell, Christy Campbell 1
R382 Discovery Miles 3 820 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

In Bonzo's War, Clare Campbell told the fascinating story of what it was like for Britain's pets when the world was at war. This time, she follows the incredible journey of the dogs who conscripted to fight for their country, with some even returning with medals for their bravery. During the most dangerous days of the Second World War, the British government set out to recruit an army of canines - a 'Guard Dog Unit'. This experimental team of brave hounds would later use their incredible sense of smell to sniff out the anti-personnel mines that barred the way to reclaiming Europe. Dog owners countrywide shed tears as they bid farewell to their beloved 'Brian', 'Rex', or 'Molly' and packed them off to the War Dogs Training School to learn the skills they'd need to 'do their bit for Britain' on the very frontiers of the Third Reich. The soldiers waiting out in the field to greet their canine counterparts were under strict instructions: do not get too attached to your new four-legged companion. That bit proved disastrously impossible. Based on original documents, first-hand accounts and interviews, Dogs of Courage tells a story of human determination, heartbreak and uncompromising canine courage that has never been told before.

The Bodyguard (Paperback): Lee Sansum The Bodyguard (Paperback)
Lee Sansum; As told to Howard Linskey
R293 R278 Discovery Miles 2 780 Save R15 (5%) Ships in 10 - 15 working days

This is the story of the real bodyguard, Lee Sansum, ex-Royal Military Policeman, martial arts champion, and expert in close protection. Part of Mohamed and Dodi Al-Fayed's protection team, Lee had to guard the most famous woman in the world, Princess Diana. He formed a close bond with Diana and the young princes, particularly Harry, and it was only by a stroke of luck that he was not in the car the night Diana died. That night proved to be the turning point in his own life. Over the course of his career, Lee has worked with the rich and famous, such as Hollywood stars Tom & Nicole, Pele and Sylvester Stallone, and he gives a candid account of what it's like to work in a job where lives are literally at stake. Growing up in a tough part of Greater Manchester, Lee learnt the hard way that to survive you need to stand up to bullies and be harder than your opponent. A career in the Royal Military Police took him to the "Bandit Country" of South Armagh, where he pulled an AWOL squaddie out of a honey trap moments before an IRA active service unit arrived to kill him. He worked undercover in Northern Ireland and joined the SIB, the Army's own internal affairs unit, before entering the world of private security, operating in the world's hotspots, such as Libya and the breakaway state of Somaliland. Lee's story is one of quiet strength, of how reading a situation is invaluable to getting out of trouble. It is one of achieving personal goals and overcoming trauma through the help of his wife, Kate, and through his love of martial arts. It is also a fitting tribute to one of the outstanding figures of our age.

Monty and the Canadian Army (Hardcover): John A. English Monty and the Canadian Army (Hardcover)
John A. English
R782 Discovery Miles 7 820 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

General Bernard Law Montgomery, affectionately known as "Monty," exerted an influence on the Canadian Army more lasting than that of any other Second World War commander. In 1942 he assumed responsibility for the exercise and training of Canadian formations in England, and by the end of the war Canada's field army was second to none in the practical exercise of combined arms. In Monty and the Canadian Army, John A. English analyses the way Montgomery's operational influence continued to permeate the Canadian Army. For years, the Canadian Army remained a highly professional force largely because it was commanded at almost every lower level by "Monty men" steeped in the Montgomery method. The era of the Canadian Army headed by such men ceased with the integration and unification of Canada's armed forces in 1964. The embrace of Montgomery by Canadian soldiers stands in marked contrast to largely negative perceptions held by Americans. Monty and the Canadian Army aims to correct such perceptions, which are mostly superficial and more often than not wrong, and addresses the anomaly of how this gifted general, one of the greatest field commanders of the Second World War, managed to win over other North American troops.

Albanian Escape - The True Story of U.S. Army Nurses Behind Enemy Lines (Paperback, New edition): Agnes Jensen Mangerich Albanian Escape - The True Story of U.S. Army Nurses Behind Enemy Lines (Paperback, New edition)
Agnes Jensen Mangerich
R494 R407 Discovery Miles 4 070 Save R87 (18%) Out of stock

On November 8, 1943, U.S. Army nurse Agnes Jensen stepped out of a cold rain in Catania, Sicily, into a C-53 transport plane. But she and twelve other nurses never arrived in Bari, Italy, where they were to transport wounded soldiers to hospitals farther from the front lines. A violent storm and pursuit by German Messerschmitts led to a crash landing in a remote part of Albania, leaving the nurses, their team of medics, and the flight crew stranded in Nazi-occupied territory. What followed was a dangerous nine-week game of hide-and-seek with the enemy, a situation President Roosevelt monitored daily. Albanian partisans aided the stranded Americans in the search for a British Intelligence Mission, and the group began a long and hazardous journey to the Adriatic coast. During the following weeks, they crossed Albania's second highest mountain in a blizzard, were strafed by German planes, managed to flee a town moments before it was bombed, and watched helplessly as an attempt to airlift them out was foiled by Nazi forces. Albanian Escape is the suspense-filled story of the only group of Army flight nurses to have spent any length of time in occupied territory during World War II. The nurses and flight crew endured frigid weather, survived on little food, and literally wore out their shoes trekking across the rugged countryside. Thrust into a perilous situation and determined to survive, these women found courage and strength in each other and in the kindness of Albanians and guerrillas who hid them from the Germans.

Vietnam War Stories - Innocence Lost (Paperback, New): Tobey C. Herzog Vietnam War Stories - Innocence Lost (Paperback, New)
Tobey C. Herzog
R1,333 Discovery Miles 13 330 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

The Gulf War and its aftermath has testified once again to the significance placed on the meanings and images of Vietnam, by the US media and culture. Almost two decades after the end of hostilities, the Vietnam war remains a dominant moral, political and military touchstone in American cultural consciousness. "Vietnam War Stories" provides an introduction to ten key narratives, including personal accounts as well as novels. The work of, amongst others, Philip Caputo, Michael Herr, Tim O'Brien and Bobbi Ann Mason is located in the context of contemporary cinema and TV and a tradition of modern war literature from Crane and Hemingway to Mailer and Jones. By tracing cultural and literary themes generated by the conflict, Tobey Herzog charts the transformations undergone by US soldiers and by the American nation in their experience of modern war. He examines the "John Wayne syndrome" of pre-war innocence through the "Heavy Heart of Darkness trip" of the conflict itself and beyond to the "aftermath novels" of the post-war adjustment period.

Alpha - Eddie Gallagher and the War for the Soul of the Navy SEALs (Paperback): David Philipps Alpha - Eddie Gallagher and the War for the Soul of the Navy SEALs (Paperback)
David Philipps
R462 R384 Discovery Miles 3 840 Save R78 (17%) Out of stock
Black Ice - The memoir of a soldier, double amputee and world champion (Hardcover): Corie Mapp Black Ice - The memoir of a soldier, double amputee and world champion (Hardcover)
Corie Mapp; Preface by Les Ferdinand MBE; Foreword by Sir Hugh Robertson KCMG PC DL
R483 Discovery Miles 4 830 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

On 31st January 2010, Trooper Corie Mapp of The Life Guards was driving his armoured vehicle on combat operations in Afghanistan when it ran over an IED. The explosion that followed caused him massive injuries. But this was not the end of his active life but rather the beginning. The next thing Corie remembers was waking in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Selly Oak, Birmingham, not realising that he was a double amputee. Two months later, and having made an almost miraculous against-the-odds recovery, Corie was back with his regiment in Windsor, and continued to serve until 2013. Sport was an important part of Corie's life before the explosion and a vital one after. In rehabilitation, he rediscovered his sporting skills, and competed successful in disabled cricket at a national level, and was a member of Team GB for sitting volley ball and athletics at the Warrior and the Invictus Games. However, when he was offered the chance to bobsleigh, his horizons widened considerably. After just one year of training, in 2014 Corie won gold in the inaugural Para Bobsleigh World Cup competition in St Moritz, was second overall in the World Cup 2014/15 season and became the overall World Cup champion in 2018. In the 2021-22 season, he will continue to train and compete at the highest levels in North America and Europe. On the international bobsleigh circuit he is affectionately known 'Black Ice'. This book is Corie Mapp's remarkable story of triumph over adversity.

SAS Ghost Patrol - The Ultra-Secret Unit That Posed As Nazi Stormtroopers (Paperback): Damien Lewis SAS Ghost Patrol - The Ultra-Secret Unit That Posed As Nazi Stormtroopers (Paperback)
Damien Lewis 1
R357 Discovery Miles 3 570 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

Praise for Sunday Times No.1 bestselling author Damien Lewis' SAS mission series: 'One of the great untold stories of WWII' - Bear Grylls on SAS Ghost Patrol 'The untold story' - Daily Mail on SAS Nazi Hunters 'A tale of bravery against desperate odds' - Sunday Times on Churchill's Secret Warriors 'True adventures laced with staggering bravery and sacrifice' - Sun on Hunting the Nazi Bomb The Ultra-Secret Unit That Posed As Nazi Stormtroopers The Most Daring Mission Ever Undertaken SAS Ghost Patrol is the explosive true story of the day in 1942 when the SAS donned Nazi uniforms to perpetrate the most audacious and daring mission of the war. Beyond top secret, deniable in the extreme (and of course enjoying Churchill's enthusiastic blessing),this is one of the most remarkable stories of wartime lawlessness, eccentricity and raw courage in the face of impossible odds - a thoroughly British undertaking. What unfolded - the longest mission ever undertaken by Allied special forces - was an epic of daring, courage, tragedy and survival that remains unrivalled to this day, and which rightly became a foundation stone of Special Forces legend. Written with Lewis's signature authenticity and dramatic verve, SAS Ghost Patrol is peopled by a cast of the utterly maverick and the extraordinary. In its quirky eccentricities and outrageous rule-breaking,this is a story that only the British could have authored, and with such panache and aplomb. It may read like the stuff of impossible myth or folklore, but every single word is true.

Conspiracy, Calamity and Cover-up - The Truth Behind the Hess Flight to Scotland, May 10th 1941 (Hardcover): John Harris,... Conspiracy, Calamity and Cover-up - The Truth Behind the Hess Flight to Scotland, May 10th 1941 (Hardcover)
John Harris, Richard Wilbourn
R792 Discovery Miles 7 920 Ships in 10 - 15 working days

The Hess affair requires an understanding of a variety of disciplines and practices: Wartime aviation, political history and human psychology to name but three. Harris and Wilbourn have over an extended period tried to learn as much as possible about all relevant aspects of what is in concert a complicated subject, one that has not yet been satisfactorily explained even after more than 80 years. In the past there have been works that have concentrated on single aspects of the affair; usually in great detail, but in Conspiracy, Calamity and Cover-up the authors' work on the individual components provides the best ever yet plausible explanation of the affair as a whole. Official secrecy on the grounds of 'National Security', obfuscation and downright lying have all played a part in preserving the truth behind the flight. Through dogged perseverance and endeavour Harris and Wilbourn now present what they believe is the ultimate truth behind the affair.

Hasidic Tales of the Holocaust (Paperback, New Ed): Yaffa Eliach Hasidic Tales of the Holocaust (Paperback, New Ed)
Yaffa Eliach
R368 R293 Discovery Miles 2 930 Save R75 (20%) Out of stock

Derived by the author from interviews and oral histories, these eighty-nine original Hasidic tales about the Holocaust provide unprecedented witness, in a traditional idiom, to the victims' inner experience of "unspeakable" suffering. This volume constitutes the first collection of original Hasidic tales to be published in a century.

"An important work of scholarship and a sudden clear window onto the heretofore sealed world of the Hasidic reaction to the Holocaust. Its true stories and fanciful miracle tales are a profound and often poignant insight into the souls of those who suffered terribly at the hands of the Nazis and who managed somehow to use that very suffering as the raw material for their renewed lives." -- Chaim Potok

"A beautiful collection." -- Saul Bellow

"Yaffa Eliach provides us with stories that are wonderful and terrible -- true myths. We learn how people, when suffering dying, and surviving can call forth their humanity with starkness and clarity. She employs her scholarly gifts only to connect the tellers of the tales, who bear witness, to the reader who is stunned and enriched." -- Robert J. Lifton

"In the extensive literature on the Holocaust, this is a unique book. Through it we can attain a glimpse of the victims' inner life and spiritual resources. Yaffa Eliach has done a superb job." -- Jehuda Reinharz

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