Alexander the Great is considered one of the most successful commanders of all time and was known to be undefeated in battle. He is mentioned in the Bible as well as the Qur'an, and is on the shortest of short lists whenever the world's best military leaders are cataloged. When asked to name other great military leaders, Caesar reportedly said Alexander was the only great one. Born in 356 BC, the son of Philip II of Macedonia, Alexander was educated by Aristotle, became a consummate horseman, and commanded a wing of his father's army in the victory over the Thebans and Athenians at the Battle of Chaeronea - all when he was still a teenager. By the time of his death at age 32, he had united Greece and had amassed an empire that stretched from the Adriatic Sea to the Indus River and included all of Persia and most of Egypt. He ruled as both the Shah of Persia and as a Pharaoh of Egypt by right of conquest, and he was also crowned King of Asia. As Yenne shows in this masterful biography, Alexander's influence on the course of cultural and political history and the scope of his military prowess remains awe-inspiring to this day.

A perfectly poured history of the world's greatest beer.

"Joseph Conrad was wrong. The real journey into the Heart of Darkness is recounted within the pages of Bill Yenne's fine book. Guinness (the beer) is a touchstone for brewers and beer lovers the world over. Guinness (the book) gives beer enthusiasts all the information and education necessary to take beer culture out of the clutches of light lagers and back into the dark ages. Cheers!"
--Sam Calagione, owner, Dogfish Head Craft Brewery and author of Brewing Up a Business, Extreme Brewing, and Beer or Wine?

"Marvelous! As Bill Yenne embarks on his epic quest for the perfect pint, he takes us along on a magical tour into the depths of all things Guinness. Interweaving the tales of the world's greatest beer and the nation that spawned it, Yenne introduces us to a cast of characters worthy of a dozen novels, a brewery literally dripping with history, and--of course--the one-and-only way to properly pour a pint. You can taste the stout porter on every page."
--Dan Roam, author of The Back of the Napkin: Solving Problems and Selling Ideas with Pictures

A remarkable collection of accounts of intrepid American aircrew shot down over enemy lines during World War II and how they got away. To be an airman in the Eighth Air Force flying over the war-torn skies of Europe required skill, tenacity, and luck. Those who were shot down and evaded capture needed all of that and more if they were to make it back to friendly lines. These are their stories. Each compiled from the original intelligence debrief written by the pilots or aircrew themselves. Bill Yenne details how a spider web of escape routes sprang up created by local Résistance. Downed airmen were clothed, given false papers, and hidden so they could be smuggled back to England. These efforts were then supplemented by Allied intelligence agents. But the risks remained the same. Capture could mean death. Their accounts are sometimes funny, often heartbreaking. P-47 pilot Joel McPherson feigned appendicitis and was able to escape from the local German military hospital - after he had his appendix removed. He spent weeks operating with the Maquis before making it across the Pyrenees. Glenn Loveland was the ball turret gunner aboard the B-17 Skywolf. Shot down over Germany he was imprisoned. He escaped a total of 7 times before making it across the border and connecting with guerrilla forces. The accounts of McPherson, Loveland and their compatriots make this a story of defiance, foolhardiness and bravery against the odds.

America's Few delves into the history of US Marine Corps aviation in World War II, following the feats of the Corps' top-scoring aces in the skies over Guadalcanal. Marine Corps aviation began in 1915, functioning as a self-contained expeditionary force. During the interwar period, the support of USMC amphibious operations became a key element of Marine aviation doctrine, and the small force gradually grew. But in December 1941 came the rude awakening. Within hours of Pearl Harbor, heroic Marine aviators were battling the Japanese over Wake Island. In the South Pacific, the aviators of the US Marine Corps came out of the shadows to establish themselves as an air force second to none. In the summer of 1942, when Allied airpower was cobbled together into a single unified entity - nicknamed 'the Cactus Air Force' - Marine Aviation dominated, and a Marine, Major General Roy Geiger, was its commander. Of the twelve Allied fighter squadrons that were part of the Cactus Air Force, eight were USMC squadrons. It was over Guadalcanal that Joe Foss emerged as a symbol of Marine aviation. As commander of VMF-121, he organized a group of fighter pilots that downed 72 enemy aircraft; Foss himself reached a score of 26. Pappy Boyington, meanwhile, had become a Marine aviator in 1935. Best known as the commander of VMF-214, he came into his own in late 1943 and eventually matched Foss's aerial victory score. Through the parallel stories of these two top-scoring fighter aces, as well as many other Marine aces, such as Ken Walsh (21 victories), Don Aldrich (20), John L. Smith (19), Wilbur Thomas (18.5), and Marion Carl (18.5), many of whom received the Medal of Honor, acclaimed aviation historian Bill Yenne examines the development of US Marine Corps aviation in the South Pacific.

General Douglas MacArthur is one of the towering figures of World War II, and indeed of the twentieth century, but his leadership of the second largest air force in the USAAF is often overlooked. When World War II ended, the three numbered air forces (the Fifth, Thirteenth and Seventh) under his command possessed 4004 combat aircraft, 433 reconnaissance aircraft and 922 transports. After being humbled by the Japanese in the Philippines in 1942, MacArthur and his air chief General George Kenney rebuilt the US aerial presence in the Pacific, helping Allied naval and ground forces to push back the Japanese Air Force, re-take the Philippines, and carry the war north towards the Home Islands. Following the end of World War II, MacArthur was the highest military and political authority in Japan and at the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950 he was named as Commander-in-Chief, United Nations Command. In the ten months of his command, his Far East Air Forces increased dramatically and saw the first aerial combat between jet fighters. Written by award-winning aviation historian Bill Yenne, this engrossing and widely acclaimed book traces the journey of American air forces in the Pacific under General MacArthur's command, from their lowly beginnings to their eventual triumph over Imperial Japan, followed by their entry into the jet age in the skies over Korea.

Black '41 opens with the arrival of the class of 1941 at the gates of West Point in the spring of 1937. It follows that class-nicknamed "Black '41" for their misdeeds while at the Academy-over the course of the next four years, as they absorb the lessons that will help them become military leaders. Their cadet days provide the backdrop for the ominous events in a world headed toward war. It would be a war, as Secretary of War Henry L. Stimson underscored in his commencement address to the class in June 1941, that "may fall, in large measure, upon your shoulders." The U.S. Army into which those new graduating second lieutenants were commissioned in 1941 was in many ways a holdover from the army of an earlier era, with plenty of cavalry but without a single armored division. Black '41 became a key part of the new army, quickly transitioning to a mechanized force and growing its air arm. By the time of the major Pacific and European action, Black '41's officers were captains and majors, and leading soldiers into some of the critical fighting in the war. Told largely through the words of the graduates, Black '41 is the coming-of-age story of West Point's finest, during the hour of our country's greatest need.

They were two of the greatest heroes of World War II. But only one could be top gun...
Capturing the hearts of a beleaguered nation, the fighter pilots of World War II engaged in a kind of battle that became the stuff of legend-and those who survived showdowns earned the right to be called aces. But two men in particular rose to become something more.
Richard "Dick" Bong was a bashful, pink-faced farm boy from the Midwest. Thomas "Tommy" McGuire was a wise-cracking, fast-talking kid from New Jersey. What they shared was an unparalleled gallantry under fire which earned them each the Medal of Honor.
What they had between them was a closely watched rivalry to see who would emerge as the top-scoring American ace of the war. What they left behind is a legacy and a record of aerial victories that has yet to be surpassed anywhere in the world.

THE BEGINNINGS OF VICTORY

Shortly after the D-Day invasion, the Allied forces in Europe had stalled. A limited operation was set in motion to punch a small hole in the enemy defenses, starting on July 25, 1944. It was called Operation Cobra, and it would become one of the greatest offensives in all of military history.

In the sixty days following the launch of the operation, the Allies -- commanded by Dwight Eisenhower and led by men such as the irascible General George Patton and General Omar Bradley -- attacked the enemy relentlessly. And what began as a desperate attempt to break a stalemate turned into an unstoppable armored juggernaut that swept the Germans out of virtually all of France, Belgium, and Luxembourg. Here is a penetrating account of that incredible feat of military skill, bravery, and daring that changed the course of the war, and signaled the end of Germany's domination of Europe.