Chosen by "WWII History" magazine as one of the Best Books of the Year.
In the dark days after Pearl Harbor, the small, illequipped arm of the Navy known as Submarine Force would stand between the shattered U.S. Pacific Fleet and the might of the Japanese Navy. Unfortunately, the spirit and courage of the Submarine Force is being forgotten as the veterans of that force pass into history.
To preserve their heroic tales of war beneath the sea, critically acclaimed author and military historian Flint Whitlock, in collaboration with decorated World War II submarine veteran Ron Smith, set out on a journey of more than two years to interview submariners and to record their accounts before the memories of their endeavors are lost forever. These are their stories.

The Allied landings at Anzio, on the Italian coast, six months before the Normandy invasion were intended as an "end run" around the stalemate that had developed in Italy. The planners hoped that the Allied invasion would surprise the Germans and threaten their defensive line in southern Europe. But the invasion stalled a few miles inland and the Allies faced a five-month bloody fight. In the end, American and British troops accomplished one of the great defensive stands of all time, turning defeat into victory. Using previously unpublished archival material, including memoirs from American, British, and German veterans, award-winning historian Flint Whitlock reveals the entire allied and German campaign, never forgetting the experiences of the soldiers in muddy, freezing, water-filled foxholes, struggling to hold off endless waves of infantry assaults, aerial bombardments, and artillery barrages. Desperate Valour is the first comprehensive account of the unrelenting slugfest at Anzio and a stirring chronicle of courage beyond measure.

The Fighting First tells the untold story of the 1st Infantry Division's part in the D-Day invasion of France at Normandy Using a variety of primary sources, official records, interviews, and unpublished memoirs by the veterans themselves, author Flint Whitlock has crafted a riveting, gut-wrenching, personal story of courage under fire. Operation Overlord - the Allied invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944 - was arguably the most important battle of World War II, and Omaha Beach was the hottest spot in the entire operation. Leading the amphibious assault on the Easy Red and Fox Green sectors of Omaha Beach was the U.S. Army's 1st Infantry Division - The Big Red One - a tough, swaggering outfit with a fine battle record. The saga of the Big Red One, however, did not end with the storming of the beachhead. The author concludes with an account of the 1st in their fight across France, Belgium, and into Germany itself, playing pivotal roles in the bloody battles for Aachen, the Huertgen Forest, and the Battle of the Bulge. young American soldiers performing their D-Day missions with spirit, humour, and determination.

A soldier's-eye view of the 45th Infantry Division and its heroic efforts during World War II, from the beaches of Italy to the liberation of Dachau, Anzio was one of the greatest battles of World War II - a desperate gamble to land a large amphibious force behind German lines in Italy in the hope that the war could be shortened by capturing Rome. It also turned out to be one of the bloodiest battles in U.S. military history. Based on extensive research into archives, photos, letters, diaries, previously classified official records, and scores of personal interviews with surviving veterans of the 45th, The Rock of Anzio is written with an immediacy that puts the reader right onto the battlefield and shows us war through the eyes of ordinary men called upon to perform extraordinary deeds.

The uniquely American features of the Second World War are unforgettably inscribed through the pen of Richard Tregaskis The Allied invasions of Sicily and Italy in 1943 were bloody and pivotal, securing the Mediterranean, capitalizing on the overthrow of Mussolini, and pinning down German troops that could have been used on the Russian Front or in France after D-Day. The men who made the Allied victories in Sicily and Italy possible - soldiers and officers, bombardiers and drivers, doctors and generals - are honored and remembered in these pages by fames war correspondent Richard Tregaskis. Fresh from his memorable days in the field on the Pacific island of Guadalcanal, Tregaskis shares an intimate and rousing diary of the Sicilian and Italian campaigns. hotels left standing in devastated Palermo, Sicily, to the chaotic front lines in Italy, where he nearly died from a shrapnel wound. The gleaming ivory grips of Gen. George Patton's pistol, the terrified face of a soldier engulfed by the hellfire of combat, the extraordinary skill of a military surgeon - the uniquely American features of the Second World War are unforgettably inscribed through the pen of Richard Tregaskis.

During World War II, prisoners of war were required by the Geneva Conventions to be treated according to established rules. But in late 1944, when a large number of Americans were captured or surrendered during the Battle of the Bulge and elsewhere, their captors had different plans. Those who were Jewish or from some other "undesirable" ethnic or religious group were separated from their fellow captives and sent to the brutal slave-labour camp at Berga. Until now, the story of what these men endured has been a well-guarded secret.