Praise for Mike Guardia:“…meticulously researched, with facts verified by exhaustive sleuthing…a fine work of investigative history.”– Military Writers Society of AmericaThe fires on Bataan burned on the evening of April 9, 1942, illuminating the white flags of surrender against the night time sky. Woefully outnumbered, outgunned, and ill-equipped, battered remnants of the American-Philippine army surrendered to the forces of the Rising Sun. Yet amongst the chaos and devastation of the American defeat, Army Captain Donald D. Blackburn refused to lay down his arms.With future Special Forces legend Russell Volckmann, Blackburn escaped from Bataan and fled to the mountainous jungles of North Luzon, where they raised a private army of over 22,000 men against the Japanese. Once there, Blackburn organised a guerrilla regiment from among the native tribes in the Cagayan Valley. “Blackburn’s Headhunters,” as they came to be known, devastated the Japanese 14th Army within the western provinces of North Luzon and destroyed the Japanese naval base at Aparri, the largest enemy anchorage in the Philippines.After the war, Blackburn remained on active duty and played a key role in initiating Special Forces operations in Southeast Asia. Following his return to the United States, Blackburn was appointed “Special Assistant for Counterinsurgency and Special Activities,” where he was the architect of the famous Son Tay Prison Raid. This book follows Donald D. Blackburn through both his youthful days of desperate combat against an Empire, and through his days as a commander, imparting his lessons to the newly realised ranks of America’s own Special Forces.

The German army occupied the town of Saint-Lô on 17 June 1940. Being a strategic crossroads, Saint-Lô was almost totally destroyed (95% according to common estimates) during the Battle of Normandy in World War II, earning the title of "The Capital of the Ruins" from Samuel Beckett; it was even questioned whether to rebuild it or to leave the ruins intact as a testimony to the bombing.A detailed and vivid photo history, packed with rare photographs, some in colour, this is an invaluable reference tool to any modeller, historian or enthusiast on one of the most devastating battles in history. French Language

The Battered Bastards of Bastogne is the product of contributions by 530 soldiers who were on the ground or in the air over Bastogne. They lived and made this history and much of it is told in their own words. The material contributed by these men of the 101st Airborne Division, the Armour, Tank Destroyer, Army Air Force, and others is tailored meticulously by the author and placed on the historical framework known to most students of the Battle of the Bulge. Pieces of a jigsaw puzzle nearly 60 years old come together in this book, when memories related by one soldier fit with those of another unit or group pursuing the battle from another nearby piece of terrain.

Many professional historians have recorded the actions of D-Day but here is an account of the airborne actions as described by the actual men themselves in eyewitness detail. Participants range from division command personnel to regimental, battalion, company and battery commanders to chaplains, surgeons, enlisted medics, platoon sergeants, squad leaders and the rough, tough troopers who adapted quickly to fighting in mixed, unfamiliar groups after a badly scattered drop – and yet managed to gain the objectives set for them in the hedgerow country of Normandy. George Koskimaki was part of the 101st Airborne’s daring parachute landing into occupied France that day. Now, drawing on more than five hundred firsthand accounts, including the never-before-published experiences of the trailblazing pathfinders and glider men, Koskimaki re-creates those critical hours in all their ferocity and terror. Told by those who ultimately prevailed, ordinary Americans who faced an extraordinary challenge, D-Day with the Screaming Eagles is the real history of that climactic struggle beyond the beachhead.

William Mortimer Moore has written a fine biography of Leclerc, who played almost as important a part as De Gaulle himself in restoring French pride in the Second World War'. – Antony Beevor, author of D-Day: The Battle of Normandy'Superb. General Leclerc is one of the few authentic French heroes of the Second World War, and in this exhaustively researched and fast-moving account of his extraordinary life, Mortimer Moore does him full justice. ' – Professor Saul David, author of Zulu: the Heroism and Tragedy of the Zulu War of 1879But for his early death, many Frenchmen believe Leclerc would have been their greatest figure to emerge from World War II. De Gaulle himself admitted to his son-in-law that he gave up smoking when Leclerc died, in case France needed him, because Leclerc was no longer there.From the fall of France until 1943, Leclerc dovetailed his operations with the British effort in North Africa, establishing himself as a dynamic combat leader in the battles against Rommel. But once the conflict shifted to European soil he became even more prominent as the commander of the 2nd French Armored Division. For the next two years he was under the operational control of either Patton's Third Army, Hodges' First Army, at the Westwall, or Patch's Seventh Army in the south. His career not only includes the liberation of Paris, for which he is most famous, but the retaking of Strasbourg and the reduction of the Colmar Pocket. Aside from a fast-paced narrative covering combat at all levels of command, Leclerc's story will make fascinating reading for any serious student of the full scope of World War II.

September 17, 1944; thousands of 101st Airborne Division paratroopers, known as the Screaming Eagles, descend from the sky over Holland, dropping deep behind German lines in a daring daylight mission to seize and secure the road leading north to Arnhem and the Rhine. Their success would allow the Allied army to advance swiftly into Germany. The Screaming Eagles accomplish their initial objectives within hours, but keeping their sections of “Hell’s Highway” open takes another 72 days of fierce round-the-clock fighting against crack German troops and tank divisions. Hell's Highway is the dramatic name given to the vital stretch of road that the British 3rd Guards Armoured Division had to advance down rapidly on their route to relieve the American Paras (82nd Airborne) at Nijmegen and the British 1st Airborne Division at Arnhem. Drawing on interviews with more than 600 paratroopers, George E. Koskimaki chronicles, with vivid firsthand accounts, the dramatic, never-before-told story of the Screaming Eagles’ valiant struggle. Hell’s Highway also tells of the Dutch citizens and members of the underground who were liberated after five years of Nazi oppression and who never forgot America’s airborne heroes. This renowned force risked their lives for the freedom of a small country . . . and the world.About the AuthorGeorge Koskimaki is a noted historian of the 101st Airborne Division. His other books include D-Day With The Screaming Eagles and The Battered Bastards of Bastogne. He lives in Northville, MI, USA.

During the final days of World War II, German SS officers crammed trains, cars, and trucks full of gold, currency, and jewels, and headed for the mountains of Austria. Fearful of arrest and determined to keep the stolen loot out of Allied hands, they concealed their treasures and fled. Most of these men were eventually apprehended, but many managed to evade capture. The intensive post-war Allied investigation that followed recovered only a sliver of this mountain of gold. What happened to the rest of it, and what fate befell these men?Authors Alford and Savas answer these questions and many more. Their groundbreaking study is based upon thousands of pages of previously unpublished and recently declassified documents. The result is a fresh and absolutely original reading experience that offers insights into the minds and methods of these SS thieves, the Office within which they laboured, how they achieved their positions of near-absolute power, the complex Allied investigation into their activities, and what happened to the vast sums of wealth they looted from Europe's Jews.Nazi Millionaires deftly captures the high drama surrounding these men and women and the secrets they carried with them during the closing days of World War II – and in some cases, to the grave. It is a remarkable tale of greed, lust, fraud, deceit, treachery, and murder. It is one you will long remember.About the Authors: Kenneth D. Alford, of Richmond, Virginia, is the author of Great Treasure Stories of World War II and The Spoils of World War II. Theodore P. Savas has written or edited a dozen books, including Silent Hunters: German U-Boat Commanders of World War II.

The Battle of Spion Kop was fought during the campaign to relieve Ladysmith, South Africa, and was the single bloodiest episode in the campaign, as well as a harbinger of the bitter and desperate fighting still to come in the Second Boer War.Spion Kop, just northeast of Ladysmith, was the largest hill in the region, being over 1,400 feet high, laying almost exactly at the centre of the Boer line. If the British could capture this position and bring artillery to the hill, they would command the flanks of the surrounding Boer positions. On the night of 23 January 1900, a large British force under Major General Edward Woodgate was dispatched to secure the height, with Lt. Colonel Alexander Thorneycroft selected to lead the initial assault. However, the Boers refused to give up the position and a bitter two days of fighting ensued. In the initial darkness the British mistakenly entrenched at the centre of the hill instead of the crest, and suffered horribly from Boer marksmen clinging to the periphery. Suffering badly themselves, the Boers were finally inclined to admit defeat when they discovered that the British had retreated, leaving behind their many dead. Yet, in light of the devastation wrought on both sides, the British were finally able to rally and relieve Ladysmith four weeks later. Ron Lock, esteemed author of many Zulu warfare histories, brings to life this bitter and previously overlooked campaign in vivid and complete detail, with supporting sources including then-journalist Winston Churchill’s battle report, as well as many previously unpublished illustrations and six newly commissioned maps. His account will be valuable to both historians and strategists wanting to better understand this difficult and devastating conflict.

Long relegated to a secondary position behind Gettysburg, Vicksburg has more recently earned consideration by historians as the truly decisive battle of the Civil War and is indeed fascinating on many levels. A focal point of both western armies, the Federal campaign of manoeuvre that finally isolated the Confederates in the city was masterful. The Navy’s contribution to the Federal victory was significant. The human drama of Vicksburg’s beleaguered civilian population is compelling, and the Confederate cavalry dashes that first denied the Union victory were thrilling. But perhaps more than any other factor, the key to the Federal victory at Vicksburg was simply better leadership. It is this aspect of the campaign that Leadership Lessons: The Campaigns for Vicksburg, 1862–1863 seeks to explore.The first section of this book familiarises the reader with the challenges, characteristics, and styles associated with leadership during the Civil War in general. It also outlines the Vicksburg Campaign by explaining the strategic significance of the Mississippi River and Vicksburg, detailing the opposing forces and the terrain, discussing the failed attempts to capture Vicksburg over the winter of 1862–63, and tracing the brilliant campaign of manoeuvre and logistics that allowed Grant to ultimately lay siege and win a Federal victory. The second section of the book contains 30 “leadership vignettes” that span the actions of the most senior leaders down to those of individual soldiers. Each vignette focuses the campaign overview to the specific situation in order to provide appropriate context, explains the action in terms of leadership lessons learned, and concludes with a short list of “take-aways” to crystallise the lessons for the reader.

“He was one of the last great foreign correspondents” – Larry Meredith, United Press“The story of how Guard gate-crashed journalism is in itself an epic.” – Newspaper World magazine“..

Although it is known that Allied airborne forces landed into a German buzzsaw on D-Day, far less is known about the troops they encountered in the dark night of June 6, 1944. One of the formations they encountered was a similarly elite group of paratroopers, who fought on the defensive instead of dropping from the skies, giving their Allied counterparts a tremendous challenge in achieving their objectives.This is the first complete wartime history of the 6th Fallschirmjäger, with numerous firsthand accounts from key members describing the events of 1943–45 vividly and without compromise for the first time. These accounts reveal previously unknown details about important operations in Italy, Russia, on the Normandy Front, Belgium, Holland, the last German Parachute drop in the Ardennes, and the final battle to the end in Germany.With over 220 original photographs, many from private collections and never before published, this book fully illustrates the men, their uniforms, equipment and weapons. Also included is an appendix with maps, battle calendar, staffing plans, a list of field and post-MOB-numbers, and the Knight's Cross recipients of the regiment. Having earned the respect of the Allied forces who fought against them during World War II, this work will inform current readers of the full record of Fallschirmjäger Regiment 6, and why the Allied advance into German-held Europe was so painstaking to achieve.

During World War II, thousands of Native Americans took part in the crusade for the defence of freedom and democracy in all theatres of operation: from Normandy to the Pacific via Africa and North Italy, the soldiers from these tribes demonstrated huge patriotism and courage. No minority has contributed as much to, or been as largely influenced by, World War II. 44,000 Indians in a population of 400,000 have served under the flags of the US military, with five receiving the Congressional Medal of Honor. Many other soldiers of Indian origin, such as Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, the famous commander of the "hotheads" and Ira Hayes, one of the Marines who hoisted the American flag on Mount Su-Ribash at Iwo Jima, have also known glory. The soldiers that fought in the ranks of the Allies came from many tribes of North America, such as the Navajo, the Apaches, Sioux, Cheyenne, Comanche, Choktaws, Mesk-wakis, Cherokees and other Iroquois, and many specialised in transmissions and using their languages ​as secret code on the Pacific theatre. Based on many photos, maps and testimonials, the author presents the decisive and often unrecognised contribution of the Indians of North America to the war effort. The US and Canada pay tribute to the soldiers of the First Nations Canadian and American who sacrificed their youth for their country.French Language

The Panzer-Abteilung s.SS 103/ 503 first saw action in southern Russia, during the Don campaign and the withdrawal from Stalingrad. It was upgraded in April 1943, receiving 24 new Tigers, completing their complement of 45 Tigers. Having lost only four Tigers during the Kursk offensive and a further four during the withdrawal, the unit received 12 replacements in August 1943. In late 1943, sPzAbt 503 was made part of Panzer Regiment "Bake", a special battle group which fought in several fierce engagements in the Dnieper sector near Cherkassy. The sPzAbt 503 remained assigned to PzRgt."Bake" until April 1944, then was withdrawn and sent to the West for refitting.After the success of two previous volumes devoted to these heavy tanks, this history of the Panzer-Abteilung s.SS 103/503 units is illustrated with 450 photographs, maps and various documents, as well as 20 colour profiles.French Language.

"One Woman's War will undoubtedly earn a place as one of the most valuable personal documents of the Second World War." – Montreal Gazette "A compelling memoir." – William French, Globe and Mail "The eyewitness report is so vivid, so utterly human, that one puts down the book with the feeling of having been there. " – Patricia Morley Books This is a story not of military campaigns and grand strategy, but the joys and sorrows of life on a more intimate battlefield – the battlefield of the French resistance.Born and raised in Saskatchewan, Gladys Arnold was sent to Paris by Canadian Press in October 1939, and was the only Canadian reporter to experience the invasion of France by the Germans in the spring of 1940. One Woman's War is Gladys Arnold's vivid eyewitness account of the fall of France and the growth of the Free French resistance. She was one of the first journalists to interview General Charles de Gaulle, and she brings to life many of the memorable people, French and Canadian, who fought the underground war.One Woman's War is an account of some of the most important and harrowing events of the 20th century, told by a marvellously engaging and courageous woman.About the AuthorGladys Arnold was Paris correspondent for Canadian Press from 1936 to 1941 and information officer with the Free French in Canada from 1941 to 1947.

"Finkel and Leibovitz have come up with a new and more satisfactory explanation of why the Second World War broke out when it did." – Telegraph JournalWas Neville Chamberlain merely naive, a man of peace who was blind to Hitler's warlike intentions in the late 1930s? Or did he, with the backing of much of Britain's ruling elite, positively prefer Nazism to the threat of Communism in a politically charged era? Alvin Finkel and Clement Leibovitz forcefully maintain the latter view. They present irrefutable evidence that in 1938 Chamberlain’s government, supported by powerful business interests and an influential segment of the press, sought an agreement with the Nazis that would protect the west against attack while positively encouraging German expansion in Central and Eastern Europe. Attempts to conclude a pact among Britain, France, Germany and Italy were not, in fact, abandoned until Churchill's ascension to power in May of 1940.The Chamberlain-Hitler Collusion is a bold and scrupulously documented re-examination of a vital period in European history, one that definitively overturns much received wisdom.About the AuthorsAlvin Finkel is a professor of history at Athabasca University. He is the author of Business and Social Reform in the Thirties, The Social Credit Phenomenon in Alberta, and A History of Canadian Peoples.Clement Leibovitz spent eight years researching the events leading to World War II.

By far the most controversial sinking during the First World War was that of the Lusitania. As opposed to the loss of the Titanic several years earlier, which could be attributed to nature, the destruction of the passenger-liner Lusitania came at the hands of a German U-boat, one of many which infested the Atlantic at the time seeking destruction. Over 1,200 people perished in this attack, including citizens from the then neutral United States of America. Although America did not declare war over this incident, the repulsion over needless loss of life put the country in psychological terms on an inexorable path toward intervention in Europe. Many questions, however, rage to this day. Was the liner armed? Did she carry contraband (munitions) in a secret effort to aid the Allies? Did the Germans set out from the start to sink this ship? Did the supposedly protective Royal Navy deliberately allow the Lusitania to be sunk in order to draw the United States into the war? This book answers these and other questions surrounding this emotionally charged sinking. It traces the story from the time of the vessel's construction to her demise, while providing a real-time look at the chaos on board once German torpedoes had shattered the ship. And what of the U-boat commander, who may either have made the greatest mistake in history, or had just been performing his duty? This account deals with the diplomatic repercussions of the sinking while at the same time examines the human side of the story.John Protasio has here provided an expert account and analysis of the sinking that swayed a nation—in fact, the world—into a new era, as the United States finally found that it could no longer hide behind its oceans, and instead felt compelled to assert itself as a global power.