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Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence
The accepted narrative of the interwar U.S. Navy is one of
transformation from a battle-centric force into a force that could
fight on the ""three planes"" of war: in the skies, on the water,
and under the waves. The political and cultural tumult that
accompanied this transformation is another story. Ryan D. Wadle's
Selling Sea Power explores this little-known but critically
important aspect of naval history. After World War I, the U.S. Navy
faced numerous challenges: a call for naval arms limitation, the
ascendancy of air power, and budgetary constraints exacerbated by
the Great Depression. Selling Sea Power tells the story of how the
navy met these challenges by engaging in protracted public
relations campaigns at a time when the means and methods of
reaching the American public were undergoing dramatic shifts. While
printed media continued to thrive, the rapidly growing film and
radio industries presented new means by which the navy could
connect with politicians and the public. Deftly capturing the
institutional nuances and the personalities in play, Wadle tracks
the U.S. Navy's at first awkward but ultimately successful
manipulation of mass media. At the same time, he analyzes what the
public could actually see of the service in the variety of media
available to them, including visual examples from progressively
more sophisticated - and effective - public relations campaigns.
Integrating military policy and strategy with the history of
American culture and politics, Selling Sea Power offers a unique
look at the complex links between the evolution of the art and
industry of persuasion and the growth of the modern U.S. Navy, as
well as the connections between the workings of communications and
public relations and the command of military and political power.
The SAS is probably the world's greatest elite military unit and
its soldiers are renowned for their ability to cope when under
great physical and mental stress. Now you can acquire the unique
range of skills taught to members of the Special Air Service
through the SAS & Special Forces Fitness Training. Written by
an expert author, this book offers a total fitness programme for
both body and mind. Special exercises and routines will help the
reader improve strength, stamina and agility. There are also
chapters on diet and nutrition, to help the trainee's body gain the
maximum benefit from eating the right food and drink. The chapters
on mental agility and self-defence teach the trainee to cope with
the challenges of modern combat, the SAS way. Illustrated with
black-and-white photographs and instructive artworks and including
expert advice throughout, SAS & Special Forces Fitness Training
is an exhaustive, lively guide to achieving a level of fitness that
will match the world's elite military soldiers.
The successful evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from
Belgium and northern France through the port of Dunkirk and across
adjacent beaches is rightly regarded as one of the most significant
episodes in the nation's long history, although Winston Churchill
sagely cautioned in Parliament on 4th June that the country "must
be careful not to assign to this deliverance the attributes of a
victory. Wars are not won by evacuations". Nevertheless, the
Dunkirk evacuation, Operation "Dynamo", was a victory and, like
many others before it, it was a victory of sea power. The Royal
Navy achieved what it set out to do, despite grievous losses, in
the teeth of determined opposition. It denied an aggressive and
ruthless continental power a potentially war-winning total victory
that could have changed the direction of civilization for
generations to come. The loss of the main British field army would
have enfeebled the nation militarily and psychologically, prompting
political upheaval, potentially resulting in a negotiated peace
with Nazi Germany on unfavourable terms dictated by Adolf Hitler.
The undeniable success of the evacuation was certainly a crucial
naval and military achievement but its positive effect on the
nation's morale was just as important, instilling confidence in the
eventual outcome of the war, whatever the immediate future might
hold, and creating optimism in the face of adversity that added
"the Dunkirk spirit" to the English language. This edition of
Dunkirk, Operation "Dynamo" 26th May - 4th June 1940, An Epic of
Gallantry, publishes the now declassified Battle Summary No 41, a
document once classified as 'Restricted' and produced in small
numbers only for official government purposes. This Summary, The
Evacuation from Dunkirk, lodged in the archive at Britannia Royal
Naval College, Dartmouth, is one of the very few surviving copies
in existence and records events in minute detail, being written
soon after the evacuation using the words of the naval officers
involved. This makes it a unique record and a primary source for
the history of Operation "Dynamo" from mid-May 1940 until its
conclusion on 4th June. The original document has been supplemented
in this title by a Foreword written by Admiral Sir James
Burnell-Nugent, formerly the Royal Navy's Commander-in-Chief,
Fleet, whose father commanded one of the destroyers sunk off
Dunkirk when rescuing troops. In addition, there is a modern
historical introduction and commentary, putting the evacuation into
context and this edition is enhanced by the inclusion of a large
number of previously unpublished photographs of the beaches, town,
and harbour of Dunkirk taken immediately after the conclusion of
the operation, together with others illustrating many of the ships
that took part. Britannia Naval Histories of World War II - an
important source in understanding the critical naval actions of the
period.
Again available in paperback is Eric Sevareid's widely
acclaimed Not So Wild a Dream. In this brilliant first-person
account of a young journalist's experience during World War II,
Sevareid records both the events of the war and the development of
journalistic strategies for covering international affairs. He also
recalls vividly his own youth in North Dakota, his decision to
study journalism, and his early involvement in radio reporting
during the beginnings of World War II.
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