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With Our Backs to the Wall: Victory and Defeat in 1918
by David StevensonWith so much at stake and so much already lost, why did World War I end with a whimper-an arrangement between two weary opponents to suspend hostilities? After more than four years of desperate fighting, with victories sometimes measured in feet and inches, why did the Allies reject the option of advancing into Germany in 1918 and taking Berlin? Most histories of the Great War focus on the avoidability of its beginning. This book brings a laser-like focus to its ominous end-the Allies' incomplete victory, and the tragic ramifications for world peace just two decades later. In the most comprehensive account to date of the conflict's endgame, David Stevenson approaches the events of 1918 from a truly international perspective, examining the positions and perspectives of combatants on both sides, as well as the impact of the Russian Revolution. Stevenson pays close attention to America's effort in its first twentieth-century war, including its naval and military contribution, army recruitment, industrial mobilization, and home-front politics. Alongside military and political developments, he adds new information about the crucial role of economics and logistics. The Allies' eventual success, Stevenson shows, was due to new organizational methods of managing men and materiel and to increased combat effectiveness resulting partly from technological innovation. These factors, combined with Germany's disastrous military offensive in spring 1918, ensured an Allied victory-but not a conclusive German defeat.
With Our Army in Palestine (The World At War)
by Antony BluettA fascinating book by a British soldier who tells of the efforts in WWI in the Middle East. This was a time when much of the battling was with bayonet and face to face. There are a lot of interesting facts of the brutality of that war. Toward the end he mentions that 60,000 people died of starvation in 'Beyrout' during the War out of a population of 80,000. (Excerpt from Goodreads)
With My Shield: An Army Ranger in Somalia
by James LechnerThis is the inside story of an Army Ranger, surrounded and outnumbered, fighting a desperate action on the ground during the Black Hawk Down raid in Somalia in 1993. In 1993 Lieutenant James Lechner, a member of the 3rd Ranger Battalion, was selected for a top secret special operations task force being sent to Mogadishu, Somalia, to capture the insurgent leader Mohamed Farah Aideed. In early October, after weeks on the ground and conducting a number of raids in the city, the Task Force is called upon to conduct a daring daylight mission into the heart of Aideed's territory. During the raid, following the initial dangerous fast rope insertion and subsequent capture of a group of Aideed's lieutenants, one of the Task Force Black Hawk helicopters is shot down and Lechner and his comrades are soon caught up in the fiercest combat involving US forces since the Vietnam War. In the middle of the hostile city, deep in the enemy's stronghold, the small group of Rangers and special operators now find themselves fighting not only to rescue the downed helicopter's crewmen, but also to save their own lives. This first-hand account tells the story of how these elite warriors were able to stand together and prevail against incredible odds. It gives the reader the perspective of an Army Ranger fighting on the ground, combined with professional military analysis, in a groundbreaking book that tells the complete story with never-before-revealed details.
With My Shield: An Army Ranger in Somalia
by James LechnerThis is the inside story of an Army Ranger, surrounded and outnumbered, fighting a desperate action on the ground during the Black Hawk Down raid in Somalia in 1993. In 1993 Lieutenant James Lechner, a member of the 3rd Ranger Battalion, was selected for a top secret special operations task force being sent to Mogadishu, Somalia, to capture the insurgent leader Mohamed Farah Aideed. In early October, after weeks on the ground and conducting a number of raids in the city, the Task Force is called upon to conduct a daring daylight mission into the heart of Aideed's territory. During the raid, following the initial dangerous fast rope insertion and subsequent capture of a group of Aideed's lieutenants, one of the Task Force Black Hawk helicopters is shot down and Lechner and his comrades are soon caught up in the fiercest combat involving US forces since the Vietnam War. In the middle of the hostile city, deep in the enemy's stronghold, the small group of Rangers and special operators now find themselves fighting not only to rescue the downed helicopter's crewmen, but also to save their own lives. This first-hand account tells the story of how these elite warriors were able to stand together and prevail against incredible odds. It gives the reader the perspective of an Army Ranger fighting on the ground, combined with professional military analysis, in a groundbreaking book that tells the complete story with never-before-revealed details.
With Lee in Virginia: A Story Of The American Civil War (The Land of Oz)
by G. A. HentyIn this spirited tale of adventure, Vincent Wingfield, who is not yet sixteen, returns home to Virginia after four years of school in England to find conditions in America greatly unsettled. When war breaks out in 1861, Vincent staunchly supports the rights of slaves but joins Lee's cavalry to fight for the Confederacy.Henty's gripping story, written several decades after the war, weaves the spirited teenager's adventures with real-life events, while providing an acute glimpse of the conflict from a Southern perspective.A prolific 19th-century author, G. A. Henty celebrates family, honor, loyalty, bravery, and determination in the face of adversity. Set against the backdrop of an exciting historical era, this story, recently rediscovered by young readers, will excite the imaginations of today's youngsters as much as it thrilled readers when first published.
With Hot Lead and Cold Steel: American Civil War Wargaming Rules (Osprey Wargames #32)
by Arthur van SterA set of wargaming rules for fighting large battles set during the American Civil War.From the First Bull Run to Appomattox Court House, enter one of the defining conflicts of American history. With shot, shell, and sabre, guide the armies of the Blue and the Grey through this first modern war to determine the fate of a nation.With Hot Lead and Cold Steel is a large-scale, mass-battle wargame for recreating the American Civil War. Designed to handle brigade and divisional level engagements while providing a balance between ease of play and period detail, With Hot Lead and Cold Steel is ideal for new gamers and wargaming veterans alike. It contains everything players need to raise armies and craft scenarios, whether based upon historical campaigns and orders of battle or those of their own devising.
With Hot Lead and Cold Steel: American Civil War Wargaming Rules (Osprey Wargames #32)
by Arthur van SterA set of wargaming rules for fighting large battles set during the American Civil War.From the First Bull Run to Appomattox Court House, enter one of the defining conflicts of American history. With shot, shell, and sabre, guide the armies of the Blue and the Grey through this first modern war to determine the fate of a nation.With Hot Lead and Cold Steel is a large-scale, mass-battle wargame for recreating the American Civil War. Designed to handle brigade and divisional level engagements while providing a balance between ease of play and period detail, With Hot Lead and Cold Steel is ideal for new gamers and wargaming veterans alike. It contains everything players need to raise armies and craft scenarios, whether based upon historical campaigns and orders of battle or those of their own devising.
With Hope and Love (The Cliffehaven Series #17)
by Ellie Dean**************PRE-ORDER NOW:THE SEVENTEENTH CLIFFEHAVEN NOVEL BY SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLING AUTHOR ELLIE DEANCliffehaven, 1945The war in Europe is over, but for Peggy Reilly and the residents of Beach View Boarding House the effects of the conflict are still far-reaching.Cockney evacuee, Ivy, and her sweetheart, Andy, are saving to get married and fulfil their dream of returning to the East End. But when tragedy strikes, Ivy is faced with a life-changing dilemma that only she can resolve.Rita also faces an impossible choice when her sweetheart Peter proposes and asks her to live with him in Australia – just as her widowed father returns from the fighting in Europe.Meanwhile Peggy must say goodbye to several of her evacuee chicks whilst she awaits the return of her family from Somerset and the news that her husband, Jim, can finally come home.It’s a dream she’s held onto for six long years, but fate has one more twist in store.
With Britain In Mortal Danger (PDF)
by John Warwicker Baron IronsideIn 1938 the War Office ordered the Director of Military Intelligence to create a unit that would research the tactics and organisation needed in the event of an invasion. After Dunkirk Lt Col Holland's Military Intelligence (Research) expanded greatly, secretly recruiting civilians and service personnel thought suitable for subversive and irregular warfare. Although never called upon, their story remained shrouded in secrecy for half a century.
With Arrow, Sword, and Spear: A History of Warfare in the Ancient World (Non-ser.)
by Alfred S. BradfordMost studies of ancient warfare focus only on the Greeks and the Romans, but this sweeping study covers the whole of the ancient world from Greece and Rome to the Near East, then eastward to Parthia, India, and China. Bradford transports the reader into the midst of ancient battles behind such great leaders as Thutmose III, Ashurbanipal, Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, and the First Emperor of China. He details the rise and fall of empires, the role of leadership, and the development of tactics and strategy. One sees the clash of peoples: nomads against agricultural societies, infantry against cavalry, as well as the greatest technological change in history—the combination of the composite bow and the chariot.This readable account analyzes ancient armies in terms of modern military doctrine, allowing the reader to make comparisons between the combatants. Recruitment, for example, varied tremendously with Romans drawing from a limited pool of recruits for service terms of twenty to thirty years and Chinese planners preferring a large pool with short-term service. While various types of governments prepared for and waged war in significantly different ways, Bradford finds that better organization led to success on the battlefield and that, for the most part, societal innovation was more important than technological innovation. The ongoing discussion of the lessons of ancient warfare around the globe will provide valuable insights for interested general readers and military professionals alike.
With All Despatch: (The Richard Bolitho adventures: 10): more scintillating naval action from the master storyteller of the sea (Richard Bolitho #10)
by Alexander KentMore navel action from Douglas Reeman writing as Alexander Kent, the master storyteller of the sea.A troubled peace with France means that in the harbours and estuaries around England, the royal fleet has been left to rot. Even a frigate captain as famous as Richard Bolitho is forced to swallow his pride and visit the Admiralty daily to plead for a ship. As the clouds of war begin to rise once more over the Channel, he has no choice but to accept an appointment to the Nore.With his small flotilla of three topsail cutters Bolitho sets out to search the coast for seamen who have fled the harsh discipline of His Majesty's Navy for the more tempting rewards of smuggling. But the 'Brotherhood' he comes up against are brutal and dangerous with a secret, sinister trade in human misery. Treason is never far distant and murder commonplace. So when a King's ransom is in peril and Bolitho is ordered to proceed 'with all despatch' to recover it he will need all the loyalty and courage of his three gallant cutters if he is to fulfil his mission.
The Wit and Wisdom of Winston Churchill
by Max Morris'The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.'This inspiring collection gathers together Winston Churchill’s wisest and wittiest quotations.The Wit and Wisdom of Winston Churchill showcases his finest hour and is sure to delight all admirers of this great British statesman’s rousing and compelling way with words.
Wish You Were Mine: A heart-wrenching story about first loves and second chances
by Tara SivecFrom the USA Today bestselling author of The Story of Us and Fisher's Light comes a new, standalone novel - a heartwrenching story about second chances that will make you fall in love all over again.Five years. I would've stayed away longer if I hadn't received the letter. Not a day has gone by that I haven't thought about her, haven't missed her smile, haven't wished that things were different.The last time I saw my two best friends, I vowed to not stand in the way of their happiness, even if that meant I couldn't be a part of their lives. Cameron James and her emerald-green eyes were too much of a temptation and I couldn't stay and watch them together. Cameron deserved better than me. She deserved him.But now that I am back, things are different. I'm not going to stand by and watch the woman I've always loved slip away again. I'm done living my life with regrets and I'm ready to tell her the truth. And I'll do whatever it takes to show her that I always wished she was mine.
Wish Me Luck
by Margaret DickinsonWish Me Luck is a tale of love and heartache in the Second World War. Sequel to Without Sin, Wish Me Luck will delight Margaret Dickinson's legions of fans.Fleur Bosley didn't believe in love at first sight, at least not until she bumped into Robbie Rodwell on a railway station in the blackout of wartime Britain. Posted to a newly-built Lincolnshire airfield, Robbie as a wireless operator on bombers and Fleur as a R/T operator in the watch office, their only escape is to the little cottage in the nearby village where Fleur is billeted with another WAAF, Ruth. The two girls become good friends, but Ruth, already hurt by the loss of one of the pilots, does not approve of wartime romances. And Ruth is not the only one to disapprove. When Fleur's mother hears Robbie's name she becomes hysterical and bans him from her home. The young couple are determined to grab their happiness where they can, but is it a kind Fate or a cruel one that has brought them together when secrets from the past threaten their future? Away from their families, there is fun and laughter, the aircrews determined to make the most of every day, every minute, but whenever they fly off into the night on a bombing raid, Fleur must keep watch until the early hours praying that Robbie's plane comes back . . .
The Wish Child: A Novel
by Catherine Chidgey'A wonderful new talent' Nick HornbyGermany, 1939. Sieglinde lives in the affluent ignorance of middle-class Berlin. Erich is an only child living a lush rural life, aware that he is shadowed by strange, unanswered questions. Both children watch as their parents become immersed in the puzzling mechanisms of power.Drawn together as Germany’s hope for a glorious future begins to collapse, the children find temporary refuge in an abandoned theatre amidst the rubble of Berlin. The days they spend there together will shape the rest of their lives.Winner of the New Zealand Book Award for Fiction
The Wisdom of the Bullfrog: Leadership Made Simple (But Not Easy)
by Admiral William H. McRavenTHE INSTANT #1 New York Times BESTSELLER From the acclaimed, bestselling author of Make Your Bed—a short, inspirational book of advice and leadership lessons that Admiral McRaven collected over his four decades as a Navy SEAL. The title &“Bullfrog&” is given to the Navy SEAL who has served the longest on active duty. Admiral McRaven was honored to receive this honor in 2011 when he took charge of the United States Special Operations Command. When McRaven retired in 2014, he had 37 years as a Navy SEAL under his belt, leading men and women at every level of the special operations community. In the ensuing four years, he served as Chancellor to the entire University of Texas System, with its 230,000 students and 100,000 faculty and health care workers. During those four decades, Admiral McRaven dealt with every conceivable leadership challenge, from commanding combat operations—including the capture of Saddam Hussein, the rescue of Captain Phillips, and the raid for Osama bin Laden. THE WISDOM OF THE BULLFROG draws on these and countless other experiences from Admiral McRaven&’s incredible life, including crisis situations, management debates, organizational transitions, and ethical dilemmas, to provide readers with the most important leadership lessons he has learned over the course of his forty years of service. Each chapter provides a Make Your Bed-like parable, rich with insights like those featured in his bestselling memoir, Sea Stories, about the specific leadership traits required to be at the top of your game, including: Who Dares, Wins Run to the Sound of the Guns No Plan Survives First Contact with the Enemy THE WISDOM OF THE BULLFROG is Admiral McRaven&’s clear-eyed treatise on the leadership qualities that separate the good from the truly great.
Wisden on the Great War: The Lives of Cricket's Fallen 1914-1918
by Andrew RenshawReaders of the 1917 Wisden Cricketers' Almanack were advised by the editor, Sydney Pardon: “Its chief feature is a record of the cricketers who have fallen in the War – the Roll of Honour, so far as the national game is concerned.” By the time the conflict was over, Wisden had carried almost 1,800 obituaries. Test players like Colin Blythe were far outnumbered by men with a lesser claim to fame, as schoolboy cricketers were sent out to the battlefields fresh from their playing fields. Amid the carnage and confusion, errors inevitably crept in: names were wrong and there were cases of mistaken identity. Some mistakes have lain buried in Wisden's pages for a century: as this book discloses, three men outlived their obituary by many years. All the obituaries have been updated in Wisden on the Great War with new information about the subjects' lives and deaths, their families and memorials, and ordered by the year of death. There is a listing of the 289 men who had played first-class cricket, while the 89 who did not get an obituary in Wisden are now recognised. The book also lists for the first time the 407 first-class cricketers who were decorated for gallantry, of whom 381 survived. Among the men included is an officer who as a boy was an inspiration for J. M. Barrie's Peter Pan, and one whose agonising death on the battlefield is movingly described in Robert Graves' Goodbye to All That. These men now receive proper tribute, along with literary names that are already well-known, such as Rupert Brooke, who headed his school's bowling averages in 1906 and received an obituary in Wisden that mentioned that, at the time of his death, he 'had gained considerable reputation as a poet'. The wartime Wisdens have long been cherished by families whose relatives are commemorated in them, but the originals are scarce and command a high price. Now the lives of the men are properly celebrated, enhanced by many remarkable stories of courage and coincidence. The result is a poignant insight into the cohorts of cricketers who played the ultimate game for their country.
The Wipers Times: The Famous First World War Trench Newspaper
by Christopher WesthorpDecades ahead of the amusing but distorting buffoonery of Blackadder Goes Forth, this complete edition of the Wipers Times, the famed trench newspaper of the First World War, is an extraordinary mix of black humour, fake entertainment programmes and pastiche articles, and constitutes a unique record of life on the wartime frontline. From its long-running cartoon pun (Are We Being Offensive Enough?) to its brilliantly subversive column Things We Want to Know (the name of the officer who originated the idea), its hilarious spoof ads to its pastiche fake contributors (Belary Helloc), this complete facsimile edition of the Wipers Times, produced to accompany the BBC dramatization, is a historical masterpiece that enables us to sample the real spirit of the trenches . . . from the safety of our armchairs. If you can drink the beer the Belgians sell you, And pay the price they ask with ne'er a grouse, If you believe the tales that some will tell you, And live in mud with ground sheet for a house, If you can live on bully and a biscuit,And thank your stars that you've a tot of rum, Dodge whizzbangs with a grin, and as you risk it Talk glibly of the pretty way they hum. . .
The Wipers Times: The Famous First World War Trench Newspaper
by Christopher WesthorpDecades ahead of the amusing but distorting buffoonery of Blackadder Goes Forth, this complete edition of the Wipers Times, the famed trench newspaper of the First World War, is an extraordinary mix of black humour, fake entertainment programmes and pastiche articles, and constitutes a unique record of life on the wartime frontline. From its long-running cartoon pun (Are We Being Offensive Enough?) to its brilliantly subversive column Things We Want to Know (the name of the officer who originated the idea), its hilarious spoof ads to its pastiche fake contributors (Belary Helloc), this complete facsimile edition of the Wipers Times, produced to accompany the BBC dramatization, is a historical masterpiece that enables us to sample the real spirit of the trenches . . . from the safety of our armchairs. If you can drink the beer the Belgians sell you, And pay the price they ask with ne'er a grouse, If you believe the tales that some will tell you, And live in mud with ground sheet for a house, If you can live on bully and a biscuit,And thank your stars that you've a tot of rum, Dodge whizzbangs with a grin, and as you risk it Talk glibly of the pretty way they hum. . .
Winter's Fire: (The Rise of Sigurd 2) (Sigurd #2)
by Giles KristianNorway, AD 785 – a vow of vengeance must be kept . . .Sigurd Haraldarson has proved himself a great warrior . . . and a dangerous enemy.He has gone a long way towards avenging the murder of his family. And yet the oath-breaker King Gorm, who betrayed Sigurd’s father, still lives. And so long as he draws breath, the scales remain unbalanced. The sacred vow to avenge his family burns in Sigurd’s veins, but he must be patient and bide his time. He knows that he and his band of warriors are not yet strong enough to confront the treacherous king. They need silver, they need more spear-brothers to rally to the young Viking’s banner – but more than these, they need to win fame upon the battlefield. And so the fellowship venture west, to Sweden, to fight as mercenaries. And it is there – in the face of betrayal and bloodshed, on a journey that will take him all too close to the halls of Valhalla – that Sigurd’s destiny will be forged. There, in the inferno of winter’s fire . . . The Vikings return in this thrilling, thunderous sequel to Giles Kristian’s bestselling God of Vengeance.
The Winterley Scandal: The Winterley Scandal / The Governess Heiress (A Year of Scandal #5)
by Elizabeth BeaconUnder the gaze of the ton!
A Winter Wedding at Bletchley Park (The Bletchley Park Girls #2)
by Molly Green‘Draws you in from the start and doesn’t let you go until the end’ Reader Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ ‘Wonderfully written and oozing wartime spirit. Couldn’t ask for more!’ Reader Review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The second inspiring novel in the heartwarming and hopeful Bletchley Park Girls series from the queen of saga, Molly Green…
Winter Warfare: Red Army Orders and Experiences (Soviet (Russian) Study of War)
by Richard N. Armstrong Joseph G. WelshBased on German and Soviet military archival material, this book provides an insight into the tactics and planning for combat in a winter climate. It also studies the mechanisms for change in an army during the course of battle.The first part of the book looks at the tactical pamphlet 'People's Commissar for Defence Order No. 109', as passed by Red Army units on 4 March 1941, which provided regulations for combat in Winter. The second part of the book, using material from the Soviet military archives, reveals Red Army General Staff supplements to the winter regulation.
Winter Warfare: Red Army Orders and Experiences (Soviet (Russian) Study of War #No. 8)
by Richard N. Armstrong Joseph G. WelshBased on German and Soviet military archival material, this book provides an insight into the tactics and planning for combat in a winter climate. It also studies the mechanisms for change in an army during the course of battle.The first part of the book looks at the tactical pamphlet 'People's Commissar for Defence Order No. 109', as passed by Red Army units on 4 March 1941, which provided regulations for combat in Winter. The second part of the book, using material from the Soviet military archives, reveals Red Army General Staff supplements to the winter regulation.
A Winter War (The Sarmatian Trilogy)
by Tim LeachSHORTLISTED FOR THE HISTORICAL WRITERS' ASSOCIATION GOLD CROWN AWARD 2022. A disgraced warrior must navigate a course between honour and shame, his people and the Roman Empire, in the first of a trilogy set in the second century AD from the author of Smile of the Wolf.AD173. The Danube has frozen. On its far banks gather the clans of Sarmatia. Winter-starved, life ebbing away on a barren plain of ice and snow, to survive they must cross the river's frozen waters.There's just one thing in their way. Across the ice lies the Roman Empire, and deployed in front of them, one of its legions.The Sarmatians are proud, cast as if from the ice itself. After decades of warfare they are the only tribe still fighting the Romans. They have broken legions in battle before. They will do so again.They charge...Sarmatian warrior Kai awakes on a bloodied battlefield, his only company the dead. The disgrace of his defeat compounded by his survival, Kai must now navigate a course between honour and shame, his people and the Empire, for Rome hasn't finished with Kai or the Sarmatians yet.Reviews for Tim Leach:'Roman military adventure at its best. Ranks with the best historical fiction available today.' Simon Turney 'The characters feel rounded and real, and the Sarmatians' attempts to keep their world alive are heartbreaking.' The Times 'Tim Leach writes beautifully. Lyrical and thoughtful.' For Winter Nights 'Recommended.' Historical Novel Society 'Magnificent.' Historia 'A poetic, absorbing narrative.' Sunday Times 'Brilliantly atmospheric, utterly compelling and beautifully written.' Caroline Lea 'The storytelling is rich with imagery. It deserves huge success.' David Gilman