In October 1946, Colonel Presley Rixey arrived by destroyer at Chichi Jima to repatriate 22,000 Japanese who had been bypassed during the war in the Pacific. While waiting for a Marine battalion to arrive, the colonel met daily with a Japanese commission assigned to assist him. When asked what had happened to American prisoners on the island, the Japanese hatched a story to hide the atrocities that they had committed. In truth, the downed flyers had been captured, executed, and eaten by certain senior Japanese officers. This is the story of the investigation, the cover-up, and the last hours of those Americans who disappeared into war's wilderness and whose remains were distributed to the cooking galleys of Chichi Jima. Rixey's suspicion of a cover-up was later substantiated by a group of Americans returning from Japan who had lived on Chichi Jima for generations. It would take five months of gathering testimony to uncover all the details. Thirty war criminals were eventually tried at Guam in 1947, five of whom met their fate on the gallows.

Since World War II, there have been no engagements between carrier air groups, but flattops have been prominent and essential in every war, skirmish, or terrorist act that could be struck from planes at sea. Carriers have political boundaries. They range at will with planes that can be refueled in the air to strike targets thousands of miles inland. From the improvised wooden platforms of the early 20th century to today's nuclear-powered supercarriers, Hearn explores how combat experience of key individuals drove the development, technology, and tactics of carriers in the world's navies. In the early 20th century, during the days of the dreadnaughts, innovators in Europe and North America began to fly contraptions made from wood, canvas, wire, and a small combustion engine. Naval officers soon wondered whether these rickety bi-planes could be launched from the deck of a surface vessel. Trials began from jury-rigged wooden platforms built upon the decks of colliers. The experiments stimulated enough interest for the navies of the world to begin building better aircraft and better aircraft carriers. The novelty of a ship that could carry its own airstrip anywhere on the world's oceans caught fire in the 1920s and helped induce a new arms race. While the rest of the world viewed carriers as defensive weapons, Japan focused on offensive capabilities and produced the finest carrier in the world by 1940. World War II would see the carrier emerge as the greatest surface ship afloat. Since then, no war has been fought without them.

This book tells the story of the scientific talent and technological prowess of two nations that joined forces to connect themselves with a communications cable that would change the world. In 1855 an American visionary named Cyrus West Field, who knew nothing about telegraphy, sought to establish a monopoly on telegraphic revenues between North America and Europe. Field and the wealthy New Yorkers who formed the first Atlantic cable-laying company never suspected that spanning the vast and stormy Atlantic would require 11 years of frustration and horrific financial sacrifice. The enterprise would eventually engage some of the most brilliant minds in England, Scotland, and the United States, attracting men of science, men of wealth, and men of curiosity. Message time would be cut from more than four weeks to about two minutes. Such a feat would not have been possible without the massive ship the Great Eastern, designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, Britain's foremost engineer, or the financial backing of Thomas Brassey, the era's greatest builder of railroads. Despite four failed attempts and the enmity that developed between the Union and Great Britain during America's Civil War, Field never stopped urging his British friends to perfect a cable that could function in water as deep as two and a half miles. Without the unified effort of this small cadre of determined engineers, decades may have passed before submarine cables became reliable. This is the story of these men, their ships, and the technology that made it all possible. Behind the scenes were tough and worthy competitors who tried to beat them to the punch, adding a sense of urgency to their monumental task. Some called theAtlantic cable the greatest feat of the 19th century--with good reason. It perfected transoceanic communications and connected the world with circuits in the sea.

In the Civil War, both sides understood that closing the Souths ports would halt the introduction of war matriel to the industrially weak region. Though the North captured New Orleans in 1862, they did not attack the Confederate navy in Mobile Bay or the city of Mobile, Alabama, until 1864. The two-year delay allowed much needed supplies to enter the Confederacy and changed the face of the ensuing Mobile Campaign, as technological advances in ships submarines, mines and fortification made a striking difference in the fighting. This book examines the politics, preparations, leaders, and battles that made the Mobile Campaign a microcosm of the overall conduct of the Civil War.

While it is commonly known that Andrew Johnson was the first president to be impeached, less well known are the circumstances that led to the unsuccessful campaign to remove him from office. This account of Johnson's political life in Washington (including brief coverage of his early career in Tennessee) focuses on his conflict with the Radical Republicans, a group of fanatical abolitionists who, after Lincoln's assassination, sought to dominate American government and punish the South as harshly as possible. Johnson's focus on healing the nation and his refusal to submit to the Radicals? demands led to his impeachment. Though Johnson was acquitted, his impeachment clearly illustrates the danger when one branch of government tries to dominate the others. This chronicle of the first U.S. presidential impeachment covers in detail the political forces that nearly removed him from office. Numerous illustrations, a bibliography and an index are included.

Soon after the start of the Civil War, during the naval buildup on the central Mississippi River, celebrated engineer Charles Ellet, Jr., formed the Ram Fleet under U.S. secretary of war Edwin M. Stanton. Perhaps the most bizarre unit organized by the Union, the rams were shunned by both the army and the navy as useless instruments of wax. However, on June 6, 1862, they proved their worth by defeating the Confederate ironclads at Memphis while the U.S. Navy simply watched. In this lively study, the first on the rams since 1905, Chester G. Hearn details the formation and wartime exploits of Ellet's fleet, reviving the history of this fascinating but forgotten brigade.

Though a staunch supporter of the Union, Charles Ellet entered the war mainly to test a theory the Navy Department rejected -- that fast, unarmed rams could win battles against conventional gunboats. He manned his original Ram Fleet with daring civilian boatmen, a small sprinkling of infantry to act as boat guards, and thirteen family members as officers, including his brother, Alfred, who assumed command when Charles was mortally wounded at Memphis. The navy had no interest in Ellet's rams and no army commander wanted to be burdened with a small fleet of unarmed riverboats he was forbidden to use as transports, so Stanton retained control of the flotilla himself, leading to months of command confusion.

The force nobody wanted soon grew to include the Mississippi Marine Brigade, another flotilla of fast riverboats formed by Alfred Ellet to transport the brigade's mounted companies to trouble spots along the river. Although the unit performed some useful services, it often followed its own agenda, plundering plantationsand small towns under the pretext of fighting guerrillas. General Grant's subordinates, unable to control the brigade, ultimately disbanded it in the late summer of 1864.

The army lost or destroyed many of the brigade's records upon its dissolution, but through painstaking research Hearn has constructed its colorful history. Filling a void in the annals of operations along the Mississippi, Tennessee, and Red Rivers, Ellet's Brigade is a rare glimpse into one of the few remaining unexplored facets of the Civil War.

On April 24, 1862, Federal gunboats made their way past two Confederate forts to ascend the Mississippi River, and the Union navy captured New Orleans. News of the loss of the Crescent City came to Jefferson Davis as an absolute shock. In this exhaustive study, Chester G. Hearn examines the decisions, actions, individuals, and events to explain why. He directs his inquiry to the heart of government, both Union and Confederate, and takes a hard look at the selection of military and naval leaders, the use of natural and financial resources, and the performances of all personnel involved. His vivid, fast-paced narrative provides fascinating reading, as well as penetrating insight into this crucial campaign.

Much controversy exists concerning Major General Benjamin F. Butler's administration in New Orleans during the second year of the Civil War. Some historians have extolled the general as a great humanitarian, while others have vilified him as a brazen opportunist, agreeing with the wealthy of occupied New Orleans who labeled him "Beast" Butler. In this thorough examination of Butler's career in the Crescent City, Chester G. Hearn reveals that both assessments are right.

As a criminal lawyer prior to entering politics, Butler learned two great lessons -- how to beat the rich and powerful at their own game, and how to succeed as a felon without being caught. In New Orleans, Butler drew on these lessons, visibly enjoying power, removing those who questioned his authority, and delighting in defeating his opponents. Because of his remoteness from Washington, he was able to make up his own rules as he went along, surrounding himself with trusted friends and family members who had no choice but to keep his secrets lest they incriminate themselves.

Butler made every effort to humble the rich, who abhorred him and whose sordid characterizations of his regime -- some true, some not -- became legendary. As Hearn explains, Butler's legacy of corruption clouded many admirable aspects of his administration. He championed the poor, many of whom would have starved had he not fed and employed them. He also established sanitation policies that helped rid the city of disease and saved the lives of thousands of New Orleans' less-fortunate.

Vividly describing Butler's childhood and his political career before and after the war, Hearn deftly places Butler's New Orleans reign in the context of his life. He also offers new information on Butler, including the first investigation of his suspicious accumulation of great wealth late in life.

In a fast-paced, colorful narrative, Hearn shows Butler to be a fascinating case study of contradictions, a remarkable man with a politician's appetite for wealth and power as well as a sincere empathy for the poor. All Civil War historians and buffs will savor this riveting, insightful portrait of the man behind "the Beast."

Most written accounts of Harpers Ferry, Virginia, during the Civil War era begin and end with John Brown's raid in 1859 and his subsequent hanging. In Six Years of Hell, Chester G. Hearn recounts in colorful style the harrowing story of Harpers Ferry's tumultuous war years -- during which it changed hands more often than any town but Winchester, Virginia, and was repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt. Relying heavily on records left by the citizens who weathered the war and the soldiers who garrisoned the town, Hearn treats the civilian experience as fully as he does military activities. He introduces the people who attempted to stay in their homes, protect their possessions, and accommodate the soldiers during the conflict. As Hearn clearly demonstrates, for those stouthearted individuals, the Civil War was truly six years of hell.