Историческая литература
Различные книги в жанре Историческая литератураStorm Landings
The Pacific War changed abruptly in November 1943 when Admiral Chester Nimitz unleashed a new offensive across the Central Pacific, spearheaded by fast carrier task forces and U.S. Marines. The sudden American proclivity for bold amphibious assaults into the teeth of prepared defenses astonished Japanese commanders. This is the story of seven relentless 'storm landings' executed against murderous enemy fire. Alexander s book vividly portrays the sheer drama of these three-dimensional battles whose magnitude and ferocity may never again be seen in this world.
From Omaha to Okinawa
In this rousing sequel to his classic Can Do! The Story of the Seabees, William Bradford Huie continues the saga of the combat trained civilian plumbers, carpenters, heavy equipment operators, wharf builders, and civil engineers who served in the U.S. Navy construction battalions. The story begins in 1944 with the battle for Iwo Jima when the Seabees braved concentrated enemy fire and Iwo's daunting terrain to rig floating causeways, blow up wrecked landing craft, and drive their bulldozers up three terraces that rose from the ocean to secure the beachhead. This book fully chronicles their heroism, including the unforgettable efforts of the men of the 31st Battalion who crawled the length of a landing strip to pick up shrapnel as Japanese snipers fired away.Huie does equal justice to the historic actions of the Seabees on D-Day at Omaha Beach, where they manned fifteen hundred vehicles during the first wave of landings at Normandy. He provides fascinating accounts of the creation and testing of various pierheads, floating steel bridges, and «Rhino» ferries. His narrative of Seabee accomplishments is heavily laced with colorful stories of moonshining, brawling, and carousing juxtaposed with compassionate stories of the children in the prisoner of war camps. His enthusiasm for the Seabees gained instant acceptance when this book was first published in 1945 and is often cited as inspiring succeeding generations to rise to the same spirit of devotion and loyalty to their task.
The Fleet the Gods Forgot
The heroic story of the U.S. Asiatic Fleet at the outbreak of World War II and their disastrous encounter with vastly superior Japanese forces.
Colder than Hell
During the early, uncertain days of the Korean War, World War II veteran and company lieutenant Joe Owen saw firsthand how the hastily assembled mix of some two hundred regulars and raw reservists hardened into a superb Marine rifle company known as Baker-One-Seven.As comrades fell wounded and dead around them on the frozen slopes above Korea's infamous Chosin Reservoir, Baker-One-Seven's Marines triumphed against the relentless human-wave assaults of Chinese regulars and took part in the breakout that destroyed six to eight divisions of Chinese regulars. COLDER THAN HELL paints a vivid, frightening portrait of one of the most horrific infantry battles ever waged.
Resurrection
The attack on Pearl Harbor is a topic of perennial interest to the American public, and a long line of popular books and movies have focused on the attack or events leading up to it. This work takes an entirely new perspective. Aimed at the general reader with an interest in World War II and the U.S. Navy, the book looks at the massive salvage effort that followed the attack, beginning with the damage control efforts aboard the sinking and damaged ships in the harbour on 7 December 1941 and ending in March 1944 when salvage efforts on the USS Utah were finally abandoned. The author tells the story in a narrative style, moving from activity to activity as the days and months wore on, in what proved to be an incredibly difficult and complex endeavour. But rather than writing a dry operational report, Dan Madsen describes the Navy's dramatic race to clear the harbour and repair as many ships as possible so they could return to the fleet ready for war. Numerous photographs, many never before published in books for the general public, give readers a real appreciation for the momentous task involved, from the raising of the USS Oglala in 1942 and the USS Oklahoma in 1943 to the eventual dismantling of the above-water portions of the USS Arizona. Madsen explains how a salvage organization was first set up, how priorities were scheduled, what specific plans were made and how they worked or, in many cases, did not work. His book is based almost entirely on primary sources, including the records of the fleet salvage unit and the Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard.
The Sheriff of Ramadi
In this ground-breaking book, best-selling author and former U.S. Navy SEAL Dick Couch reports on the actions of the SEAL Task Unit during the Battle of Ramadi in Iraq s al-Anbar Province between 2005 and 2007. When he began his research, the author thought he would be writing about the SEALs courage in the face of a losing cause. Instead, he discovered a startling success story whose importance has gone unrecognized in the war against al-Qaeda. Couch argues that the lessons of Ramadi, with SEALs fighting alongside regular forces in an urban war zone, call for using this strategy more widely. One of the most significant military engagements in the global war against terrorism since 9/11 and the most sustained and vicious engagement ever fought by SEALs, the Battle of Ramadi demonstrates both their code of brotherhood and ability to adapt in an urban battle space, which Couch identifies as the keys to the SEALs success on the battlefield. The story of PO2 Michael Monsoor, who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his bravery during the battle, is a compelling example of their extraordinary brotherhood. First published in hardcover in 2008, the book is now available in paperback for the first time.
The Rescue of Bat 21
When his electronic warfare plane, call sign Bat 21, was shot down on 2 April 1972, fifty-three-year-old Air Force navigator Iceal «Gene» Hambleton parachuted into the middle of a North Vietnamese invasion force and set off the biggest and most controversial air rescue effort of the Vietnam War. After twenty-five years of official secrecy, the story of that dangerous and costly rescue is revealed by a decorated Air Force pilot and Vietnam veteran. Involving personnel from all services, including the Coast Guard, the unorthodox rescue operation claimed the lives of eleven soldiers and airmen, destroyed or damaged several aircraft, and put hundreds of airmen, a secret commando unit, and a South Vietnamese infantry division at risk. It also examines the thorny debates arising from an operation that balanced one man's life against mounting U.S. and South Vietnamese casualties and material losses, the operation's impact on one of the most critical battles of the war, and the role played by search and rescue as America disengaged from that war.
Black Company
The remarkable World War II story of PC 1264's crew of fifty African-American enlisted men as recounted by the ship's captain
Far China Station
This was the first study to put 19th century American naval and diplomatic affairs in the Far East into clear perspective. Johnson examines the origins of the East India Squadron, defines its import role in the implementation of foreign policy and describes the dangers routinely faced by the squadron’s ships and sailors. Great and gallant ships move through the pages from the famous Olympia and the majestic Columbus to the plodding Palos. Naval heroes and the not-so-great, angry mobs, Japanese rebels, leaky boilers, imperious officials and infirm admirals are set against a background of uncertain anchorages, storms at sea, and the ravages of disease in the last years of the Old Navy.
You're Stepping on My Cloak and Dagger
With a sharp eye and wry wit, Roger Hall recounts his experiences as an American Army officer assigned to the Office of Strategic Services (OSS) during World War II. First published in 1957 to critical and popular acclaim, his book has become a cult favorite in intelligence circles. The story follows Hall's experiences from a junior officer fleeing a tedious training assignment in Louisiana to his quirky and rigorous OSS training rituals in the United States, England, and Scotland. Quick to pick up on the skills necessary for behind-the-lines intelligence work, he became an expert instructor. But he was only reluctantly given operational duties because of his reputation as an iconoclast. In his droll story-telling style, Hall describes his first parachute jump in support of the French resistance as a comedy of errors that terminated prematurely. His last assignment in the war zone came when William Colby appointed him section head of an operations group that made its way on foot through Sweden. Called one of the funniest and most perceptive works ever written about life in the OSS, the book includes a wealth of unforgettable personalities that Hall encountered over the years.