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By 1969, following the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu, over 500,000
US troops were 'in country' in Vietnam. Before America's longest
war had ended with the fall of Saigon in 1975, 450,000 Vietnamese
had died, along with 36,000 Americans. The Vietnam War was the
first rock 'n' roll war, the first helicopter war with its doctrine
of 'airmobility', and the first television war; it made napalm and
the defoliant Agent Orange infamous, and gave us the New Journalism
of Michael Herr and others. It also saw the establishment of the
Navy SEALs and Delta Force. At home, America fractured, with the
peace movement protesting against the war; at Kent State
University, Ohio National Guardsmen fired on unarmed students,
killing four and injuring nine. Lewis's compelling selection of the
best writing to come out of a war covered by some truly outstanding
writers, both journalists and combatants, includes an eyewitness
account of the first major battle between the US Army and the
People's Army of Vietnam at Ia Drang; a selection of letters home;
Nicholas Tomalin's famous 'The General Goes Zapping Charlie Cong';
Robert Mason's 'R&R', Studs Terkel's account of the police
breaking up an anti-war protest; John Kifner on the shootings at
Kent State; Ron Kovic's 'Born on the Fourth of July'; John T.
Wheeler's 'Khe Sanh: Live in the V Ring'; Pulitzer Prize-winner
Seymour Hersh on the massacre at My Lai; Michael Herr's 'It Made
You Feel Omni'; Viet Cong Truong Nhu Tang's memoir; naval nurse
Maureen Walsh's memoir, 'Burning Flesh'; John Pilger on the fall of
Saigon; and Tim O'Brien's 'If I Die in a Combat Zone'.
This selection of the very best writing on Everest begins with the
first attempts and continues, via Mallory's failed bid and Hillary
and Tenzing's triumph, to the disasters of recent years. It
features 35 white-knuckle accounts of climbing on the world's
highest mountain, with all the tragedy and triumph of humankind's
striving for the top of the world, by those who know the 'Death
Zone' best - the climbers themselves. But this is much more than
just the best of exhilarating first-hand accounts of climbing on
Everest. It includes the full history of the conquest of Everest,
and provides an evocative portrait of the cruel, natural beauty of
Chomolungma, 'The Mother Goddess of the World'.
The history of Ancient Rome has been passed down to us through
official accounts, personal letters, annotated words of great
orators and the considered histories of powerful men. It is found
on inscriptions, in private memoirs and official reports from every
corner of the Empire. Over 150 pieces are collected in this
autobiography of Ancient Rome, from the written accounts of Caesars
and slaves, generals and poets on major battles, conspiracy and
politics to the minutiae of everyday life and includes amongst
them: How to keep a slave, by Cato the Elder; The Life of a Roman
Gentleman by Pliny the Younger; Gang Warfare in Rome, by Cicero; a
Chariot Fight, by Julius Caesar; Female Athletes and Gladiators, by
Juvenal; the Eruption of Vesuivius, by Pliny the Younger; Nero
Murders Britannicus, by Tacitus; On Going to bed with Cleopatra, by
Mark Antony; Homosexuals in Rome, Juvenal; Alaric the Visogoth
Sacks Rome,by Jordanes; The Great Fire of Rome, by Tacitus;
Gladitorial Shows, by Seneca; Two Days in the Life of an Emperor's
Son, Marcus Aurelius.
From the start of the 20th century to the most recent major
offensives, here are fifty accounts of the battles that made the
modern world, described in superb detail by historians and writers
including John Keegan, Alan Clark, John Strawson, Charles Mey, John
Pimlott, and John Laffin. All the major conflicts are covered, from
two world wars, through Korea, Vietnam, Bosnia, Chechnya, to Iraq
and Afghanistan. Among the battles featured are: the Somme,
Passchendaele, Battle of Britain, Stalingrad, El Alamein, Monte
Cassino, Omaha Beach, Iwa Jima, Dien Bien Phu, Ia Drang, Hamburger
Hill, Desert Storm, Kabul, Baghdad, and Basra.
Even 100 years on from the First World War it haunts us still. No
other conflict has revealed so dramatically the senselessness of
war, and none has shaped the modern world to the same extent, from
its impact on the Russian Revolution and the rise of Hitler to the
final break-up of the British Empire and the supremacy of America.
These compelling eyewitness accounts - over 180 of them - of the
War to End All Wars cover every facet of the war, from the Flanders
trenches to the staffrooms of the Imperial German Army, from T. E.
Lawrence ('Lawrence of Arabia') in the desert to German figher ace
the Red Baron in the air, and from English Land Girls to German
U-boat crews in the North Atlantic. There are contributions from
all combatant nations, including the UK, USA, France, Germany,
Canada, Italy, Australia, Russia, Serbia, and India and the book
includes a detailed timeline and maps.
In this encyclopedic book, Lewis provides insights into the
origins, training, tactics, weapons and achievements of special
forces and special mission units throughout the world, focusing
particularly on US and UK forces. He also looks at the codes that
that bind the members of these elite units together. He reveals
training secrets in everything from wilderness survival to
hand-to-hand combat. In doing so, he draws extensively on
biographies, autobiographies, training manuals, interviews and
press coverage of key operations. The elite forces covered include:
The British Army's Special Air Service (SAS), established in 1950,
which has served as a model for the special forces of many
countries. Its counter-terrorist wing famously took part in the
hostage rescue during the siege of the Iranian Embassy in London in
1980. The Parachute Regiment, the airborne infantry element of 16
Air Assault Brigade, which spearheads the British Army's rapid
intervention capability. It is closely linked to United Kingdom
Special Forces. The US Navy's SEALS (Sea, Air, Land Teams), trained
to conduct special operations in any environment, but uniquely
specialised and equipped to operate from and in the sea. Together
with speedboat-operating Naval Special Warfare Combatant-Craft
Crewmen, they form the operational arm of the Naval Special Warfare
community, the Navy component of the US Special Operations Command.
Their special operations include: neutralizing enemy forces;
reconnaissance; counter-terrorism (famously in the killing of Osama
bin Laden); and training allies. The US Army's Delta Force: The
Special Mission Unit, 1st Special Forces Operational
Detachment-Delta (1st SFOD-D), known simply as Delta Force, the
Army component of Joint Special Operations Command. Its role is
counter-terrorism, direct action and national intervention
operations, though it has the capability to conduct many different
kinds of clandestine missions, including hostage rescues and raids.
The US Army Rangers, a light infantry combat formation under the US
Army Special Operation Command. The Green Berets - motto: 'to free
the oppressed' - trained in languages, culture, diplomacy,
psychological warfare and disinformation. Russia's Spetsnaz, whose
crack anti-terrorist commandos ended the Moscow theatre siege, and
who have a reputation for being among the world's toughest and most
ruthless soldiers. Spetsnaz units saw extensive action in
Afghanistan and Chechnya, often operating far behind enemy lines.
Israeli Special Forces, especially Shayetet 13 (Flotilla 13), whose
motto, in common with the rest of the Israeli military, is 'Never
again', a reference to the Holocaust. They are particularly adept
at the specifically Israeli martial art Krav Maga, which they dub
'Jew-jitsu'.
The testament to a tragedy. Voices from The Holocaust follows the
whole history of the 'Shoah' from Hitler's rise to power to the
Nuremburg trials, but of course the exterminations and death camps
of 'The Final Solution' take centre stage. It tells the story from
the perspective of the people who were there, and were witnesses -
on both sides - of the horror. While some of the eye-witnesses are
well-known, such as Anne Frank, Primo Levi and Heinrich Himmler,
the book includes recollections of camp inmates, SS Totenkopf
guards and the British soldiers who liberated Belsen. Shocking,
powerful and personal, Voices from the Holocaust retells history,
written by those who were there.
The Assassination of JFK, 9/11, the Da Vinci Code, The Death of
Diana, Men in Black, Pearl Harbor, The Illuminati, Protocols of
Zion,Hess, The Bilderberg Group, New World Order,
ElvisFluoridization, Martin Luther King's murder, Opus Dei, The
Gemstone Files, John Paul I, Dead Sea Scrolls, Lockerbie bombing,
Black helicopters... In other words everything 'they' never wanted
you to know and were afraid you might ask! Jon E. Lewis explores
the 100 most terrifying cover-ups of all time, from the invention
of Jesus' divinity (pace the Da Vinci Code) to Bush's and Blair's
real agenda in invading Iraq. Entertainingly written and closely
documented, the book provides each cover-up with a plausibility
rating. Uncover why the Titanic sank, ponder the sinister
Vatican/Mafia network that plotted the assassination of liberal
John Paul, find out why NASA 'lost' its files on Mars, read why
no-one enters Area 51, and consider why medical supplies were
already on site at Edgware Road before the 7/7 bombs detonated.
Just because you are paranoid, it doesn't mean that they aren't out
to conspire against you.
What does it take, both physically and mentally, to join the
world's most respected--and feared--military units? Lewis looks at
the origins, training, tactics, weapons, and achievements of
regiments such as Britain's SAS and Paratroopers, the US Navy
SEALS, Delta Force, Army Rangers and Green Berets, Russia's
Spetsnaz, and the Israeli Special Forces, as well as the codes that
bind their members together. He looks at training in everything
from wilderness survival to hand-to-hand combat.
Native Americans make up less than one per cent of the total US
population but represent half the nation's languages and cultures.
Here, in one grand sweep, is the full story of Native American
society, culture and religion. Here is everything from the
land-based spirituality of their early creation myths and the late
rise of Indian Pride, to the 88 uses to which the Sioux put the
flesh and bones of the buffalo and the practice of berdache (men
adopted as women). The book offers a chronological history of
America's indigenous peoples. It covers their dramatic early entry
into North America, out of the now submerged continent of Beringia,
then in more recent times the 'forgotten wars' of the 16th and 17th
centuries, which wiped many tribes from the face of the East Coast,
and finally describes to the last struggles of the Cheyenne and the
Comanche. Celebrating these peoples' way of life rather than
focusing narrowly on the manner of their genocide, it does not
ignore uncomfortable facts of the Amerindian past - including the
cannibalism believed to have been practised by some tribes and the
Native Americans' part in the decimation of North America's buffalo
herds.
This extensive collection presents vivid pieces of stunning,
first-hand accounts from the front lines of some of the most
historically significant battles of all time. A must-read for any
military history buff, including Martha Gellhorn on the Battle of
the Bulge, Michael Herr at Khe Sanh, John Pilger on the fall of
Saigon, and more.
"The Mammoth Book of Conspiracies" uncovers 100 cover-ups "they"
really don't want you to know about. This collection delves into
some of the biggest lies in history.
Bang up to date with fresh cover-ups relating to Barack Obama,
Michael Jackson and Afghanistan The 100 military, medical,
religious, alien, intelligence, banking and historical cover-ups
'they' really don't want you to know about: The Military-Industrial
Complex's fomentation of war with Iraq; the construction of
concentration camps in the United States by FEMA (the Federal
Emergency Management Agency); the use of alien 'Foo Fighters' by
the Nazis and the Japanese during the Second World War; the miracle
natural drug suppressed by Big Pharma; the Israelis' responsibility
for the bombing of USS Cole; the real reason why CERN broke down;
the murder of Paul McCartney - and you didn't even know he was
dead. Entertainingly written and closely documented, The Mammoth
Book of Conspiracies uncovers the 100 most secret cover-ups in an
accessible A-Z format. It covers 95 new conspiracies even more
fiendish than those detailed in The Mammoth Book of Cover-Ups by
the same author, and provides fresh revelations regarding the five
furthest-reaching conspiracies in that book, including the
assassination of JFK and 9/11. The book includes a full
bibliography and introduction.
In London: The Autobiography the life of the capital is told, for
the first time, by those who made it and saw it at first hand. From
Roman times to the 21st century, Londoners and visitors to the city
have recounted the extraordinary events, everyday life and
character of this unique and influential city - from politics,
culture, sport, religion, and reportage. This book brings to vivid
life the human trial of the capital including invasions by the
Vikings, the brutal execution of Sir Thomas More, the sight of a
whale swimming up the Thames and the rebuilding of St Paul's by Sir
Christopher Wren, as well as the everyday life of the city.
Includes contributions from George Orwell, Martin Amis, Dr Johnson,
Karl Marx, Winston Churchill, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Virginia Woolfe,
George Melly, Tacitus, Samuel Pepys and many others. Packed with
personality and character, this book is a must-buy for anyone
interested in London as well as a wonderful story of the city at
the heart of the nation. Praise for Jon E Lewis: 'A triumph' Saul
David, author of Victoria's Army 'Harrowing, funny and often
unbelievable book.' Daily Express [A] compelling tommy's eye view
of war from Agincourt to Iraq' Daily Telegraph
Voices from the Napoleonic Wars reveals in telling detail the harsh
lives of soldiers at the turn of the eighteenth century and in the
early years of the nineteenth - the poor food and brutal discipline
they endured, along with the forced marches and bloody,
hand-to-hand combat. Contemporaries were mesmerised by Napoleon,
and with good reason: in 1812, he had an unprecedented million men
and more under arms. His new model army of volunteers and
conscripts at epic battles such as Austerlitz, Salamanca, Borodino,
Jena and, of course, Waterloo marked the beginning of modern
warfare, the road to the Sommes and Stalingrad. The citizen-in-arms
of Napoleon's Grande Armee and other armies of the time gave rise
to a distinct body of soldiers' personal memoirs. The personal
accounts that Jon E. Lewis has selected from these memoirs, as well
as from letters and diaries, include those of Rifleman Harris
fighting in the Peninsular Wars, and Captain Alexander Cavalie
Mercer of the Royal Horse Artillery at Waterloo. They cover the
land campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars (1739-1802), the
Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) and the War of 1812 (1812-1815), in
North America. This was the age of cavalry charges, of horse-drawn
artillery, of muskets and hand-to-hand combat with sabres and
bayonets. It was an era in which inspirational leadership and
patriotic common cause counted for much at close quarters on
chaotic and bloody battlefields. The men who wrote these accounts
were directly involved in the sweeping campaigns and climactic
battles that set Europe and America alight at the turn of the
eighteenth century and in the years that followed. Alongside
recollections of the ferocity of hard-fought battles are the
equally telling details of the common soldier's daily life - short
rations, forced marches in the searing heat of the Iberian summer
and the bitter cold of the Russian winter, debilitating illnesses
and crippling wounds, looting and the lash, but also the
compensations of hard-won comradeship in the face of ever-present
death. Collectively, these personal accounts give us the most vivid
picture of warfare 200 and more years ago, in the evocative
language of those who knew it at first hand - the men and officers
of the British, French and American armies. They let us know
exactly what it was like to be an infantryman, a cavalryman, an
artilleryman of the time.
The Western, though a singularly American art form, is one of the
great genres of world literature with a truly global readership. It
is also durable despite being often unfairly maligned. Ever since
James Fenimore Cooper transformed frontier yarns into a distinct
literary form, the Western has followed two paths: one populist -
what Time magazine famously billed 'the American Morality Play' -
capable of taking many points of view, from red to redneck, but
always populist, with a sentimental attachment to the misfit; the
other literary - eschewing heroism, debunking with unsettling
candour many of the myths of the West. It can sometimes be
difficult to draw a sure line between the two forms, but both are
represented in this outstanding collection which includes stories
by Rick Bass, Walter Van Tilburg Clark, Larry McMurtry, Mari
Sandoz, Christopher Tilghman, and Mark Twain, among many others.
In 1930, the editor of Everyman Magazine requested entries for a
new anthology of Great War accounts. The result was a revolutionary
book unlike any other of the period; for as Malcolm Brown notes in
his introduction 'I believe it might fairly be described as a
rediscovered classic'. It was the very first collection to reveal
the many dimensions of the war through the eyes of the ordinary
soldier and offers heart-stopping renditions of the very first gas
attack; aerial dogfights above the trenches; the moment of going
over the top. Told chronologically, from the first scrambles of
1914, the drudgery of the war of attrition once the trenches had
been dug, to the final joy of Armistice.
No one sees clearer than an individual whose life is hanging by the
finger tips on the edge of an abyss. Probing the furthest reaches
of human daring and endurance, here are 28 of the great first-hand
accounts of extreme mountaineering, from legendary names.
Featuring: *Heinrich Harrer - first conqueror of the notorious
Eigerwand. *Robert Bates - the classic account of the ill-fated
American 1953 expedition to K2. *Maurice Herzog - his unstoppable
ascent of Annapurna at the cost of frostbite. *Walter Bonatti -
tragedy on the Central Pillar of Freney on Mont Blanc. *George
Leigh Mallory - surviving an avalanche on the 1922 Everest
expedition. *Rene Desmaison - his epic story of 14 days stuck on
The Grandes Jorasses in winter. *Jon Krakauer - recalling his solo
ascent of The Devil's Thumb in Alaska. The price of the summit is
often measured in human suffering, yet for those who succeed the
rewards can be incalculable. Nerve-wracking and unputdownable.
The extraordinary and compelling story of the 6th of June, 1944,
and the Battle for Normandy is told here through first-hand
testimonies from civilians and soldiers on both sides. It features
classic accounts by soldiers such as Rommel and Bradley, together
with frontline reports by some of the world's finest authors and
war correspondents, including Ernest Hemingway and Alan Melville.
Highlights of this unique collection include the break-out from
Omaha beach as told by the GI who led it, a French housewife's
story of what it was like to wake up to the invasion, German
soldiers' accounts of finding themselves facing the biggest
seaborne invasion in history, a view from the command post by a
member of Eisenhower's staff, combat reports, diaries and letters
of British veterans of all forces and services, and accounts of the
follow-up battle for Normandy, one of the bloodiest struggles of
the war.
SAS: The Autobiography is the story of the world's most famous
special forces regiment by those who truly know it - the troopers
and officers themselves. From the dust of the wartime desert and
raids on harboured Luftwaffe aircraft to sniping al-Qaeda in the
far mountains of Afghanistan, SAS: The Autobiography takes the
reader on a high adrenaline history of the regiment which
simultaneously lifts the shroud of mystery from the regiment's
operations. Reviews for Jon E Lewis's The English Soldier: An
Autobiography: 'A triumph' - Saul David, author of Victoria's Army
'Harrowing, funny and often unbelievable book.' - Daily Express
'[A] compelling tommy's eye view of war from Agincourt to Iraq' -
Daily Telegraph
A celebration of the machine and the men who took to the skies in
defence of Britain. It is also the dramatic illustration of a
little understood truth: the Spitfire did more than win the Battle
of Britain - it won the war. It was not Stalingrad which turned the
corner of the war against Hitler, it was the Spitfire in the summer
of 1940 when RAF Fighter Command destroyed the myth of Nazi
invincibility. Praise for his previous books: London: The
Autobiography: 'Fascinating ... brings the story of London to life'
Good Book guide The English Soldier: The Autobiography: 'A triumph'
Saul David, author of Victoria's Army 'Harrowing, funny and often
unbelievable book.' Daily Express '[A] compelling tommy's eye view
of war from Agincourt to Iraq' Daily Telegraph
War, as the general said, is hell. But in a few it also brings out
the best. Heroism and horror are the keynotes of this gripping new
collection of war writing. From the Siege of Troy to the present
day, The Mammoth Book of True War Stories includes battle analyses
by celebrated historians, letters home by ordinary Gis,
high-adrenaline memoirs by frontline combatants and memorable
reportage by master chroniclers such as Ernest Hemingway and John
Reed.
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