FOR COUNTRY AND CORPS: The Life of General Oliver P. Smith Gail B. Shisler, author

For Country and Corps: The Life of General Oliver P. Smith

Oliver P. Smith fought at Peleliu and Okinawa and then commanded the 1st Marine Division in Korea during the assault at Inchon, the recapture of Seoul, and the breakout from the Chosin Reservoir. Called one of the twentieth century's great Marine leaders, Smith was known as an outstanding combat commander and a man of great intellect and moral courage. This biography, written by the granddaughter he helped raise, illuminates the general's remarkable life. It draws on interviews, oral histories and a thorough examination of letters held by the family and not previously available to researchers. Gail Shisler's investigation of Smith's relationship with his Army superiors in Korea and with his Marine Corps peers and superiors takes exception to previously published descriptions and adds new insights into the Corps' postwar battle for survival. 25 photos. Pages: 384

SOUTH PACIFIC DESTROYER: The Battle for the Solomons from Savo Island to Vella Gulf Russell S. Crenshaw, author

South Pacific Destroyer: The Battle for the Solomons from Savo Island to Vella Gulf

A riveting account of the savage night battle for the Solomon Islands in early 1943 offers readers a unique insider's perspective from the decks of one of the destroyers that bore the brunt of the struggle. Drawing on his experience as a gunnery officer in the USS Maury, his vivid, balanced, and detailed narrative includes the Battle of Tassafaronga in November 1942 and Vella Gulf in August 1943, actions that earned his warship a Presidential Unit Citation and sixteen battle stars. Crenshaw also discusses the impact of radar and voice radio, the shortcomings of U.S. torpedoes and gunfire, and the devastating effectiveness of Japan's super torpedo. Softcover. Pages: 304.

WE SHALL FIGHT THEM ON THE BEACHES: Defying Napoleon and Hitler,1805 and 1940 Brian Lavery, author

We Shall Fight Them on the Beaches: Defying Napoleon and Hitler, 1805 and 1940

An established authority on the Napoleonic Wars and World War II, articulates the parallels and defining features of these tumultuous periods in our history. He looks at the style and competence of politicians and military commanders and the leadership and example of great men such as Horatio Nelson and Winston Churchill and examines unexplored official papers. He also considers the war situation as seen by such literary greats as Jane Austen and Evelyn Waugh, as well as the opinions of volunteers and servicemen. It provides a unique insight into two distinct periods during which the British national identity was forged and strengthened. Pages: 480.

PRESUMED LOST : The Incredible Ordeal of America's Submarine POW's During the Pacific War Stephen L. Moore, author

Presumed Lost: The Incredible Ordeal of America's Submarine POWs during the Pacific War

52 U.S. submarines were sunk during World War II, the Japanese took prisoners of war from the survivors of only seven of these lost submarines.

Presumed Lost is the compelling story of the final patrols of those seven submarines and the long captivity of the survivors. Of the 196 sailors taken prisoner, 158 would survive the horrors of the POW camps, where torture, starvation, and slave labor were common. This is the most complete and accurate record of their captivity experiences ever compiled. Author Stephen L. Moore draws on personal interviews with the survivors, as well as on diaries, family archives, and POW statements to reveal new details and correct longstanding errors in previously published accounts.

Moore's research brought to light the following facts: Most crewmen from USS Perch endured 1,298 days of captivity without their families ever being told that they were still alive. The Perch and USS Grenadier were so badly damaged by enemy depth-charge attacks that their crews were forced to scuttle their ships. USS Sculpin and USS S-44 went down fighting, with only forty-two men from the Sculpin being taken prisoner and half of them perishing on the way to Japan. USS Tang and USS Tullibee, victims of their own faulty, circling torpedoes, had few survivors, five of whom managed to escape from the sunken, burning Tang when it was 180 feet below the ocean surface. As many as six men survived the loss of USS Robalo after it struck a mine off Palawan, but none of those survived the prison camps. The book includes dozens of rare photos of the POWs, many of which have never before been published. Appendices include final muster rolls of the seven submarines and a complete list of the U.S. submariners who were held as POWs, with details of their various camps of internment. 139 photos. Pages: 400.

BRITISH DESTROYERS : From Earliest Days to the Second World War Norman Friedman, author

British Destroyers: From Earliest Days to the Second World War

Noted historian Norman Friedman provides the first detailed study of the Royal Navy's destroyer from its predecessors from the 1880s to the 1930s, and its use in both World Wars. He shows how the Royal Navy developed the torpedo and its surface carrier—the destroyer—as both an offensive and defensive naval weapon. Friedman also discusses the influence the British exerted on foreign navies, including the American and Japanese fleets, destroyer design and tactics, and the British use of U.S.-supplied destroyers during World War II. The book is profusely illustrated with hundreds of photographs and drawings by A.D. Baker III and Alan Raven. 300 illustations and photos. Pages: 320.

JAPAN'S GESTAPO Murder, Mayhem and Torture in Wartime Asia Mark Felton, author

Japan's Gestapo: Murder, Mayhem and Torture in Wartime Asia

Japan's military and secret police, the Kempetai, carried out a reign of terror against captive Asian nations, Allied POWs, and Japanese citizens throughout World War II. This history explains the origins, command structure, and role of the Kempetai apparatus, revealing their criminal and collaborationist networks. It examines biological and chemical experiments on live subjects, the gulags for POWs, and slave labor, including the so-called "comfort women," as well as their campaign of revenge after the 1942 Doolittle raid on Tokyo. Calling their actions genocide on a grand scale, the author backs up his text with firsthand testimonies from survivors. Illustrated. Pages: 224.

THE GERMAN INVASION OF NORWAY : April 1940 Geirr H Haarr, author

The German Invasion of Norway, April 1940

This major new history documents the German invasion of Norway, focusing on the events at sea. The first operation in which the air force, army, and navy worked closely together, Operation Weserübung included the first dive-bomber attack to sink a major warship and the first carrier task-force operations. Based on primary sources from British, German, and Norwegian archives, the book gives a balanced account of the reasons behind the invasion and showcases an unrivalled collection of photographs. As the definitive study of Germany's first and last major seaborne invasion, it offers a close look at an important but often neglected aspect of World War II. 200 photos, Pages: 416.

We Were Pirates : A Torpedoman's Pacific War Robert Schultz, James Shell, authors.

"Schultz (English, Roanoke Coll.) and Shell base their book one of the few completely candid accounts of the submarine war in the Pacific Theater on the war diary of torpedoman Robert Hunt, supplemented by their further original research. Hunt enlisted in 1939 and served on the USS Tambor from 1940 to 1944. He participated in and managed to survive an incredible 12 consecutive war patrols, which covered just about every major event in the war against Japan, from action in support of the U.S. Marines on Wake Island to the Kuril Islands and the Sea of Okhotsk. This is an excellent read, distinctive for its enlisted man's, rather than officer's, perspective. It should be in all World War II collections". (Library Journal)

Hell to Pay : Operation Downfall and the Invasion of Japan, 1945-1947 D.M. Giangreco, author

Giangreco, a longtime former editor for Military Review, synthesizes years of research in a definitive analysis of America's motives for using atomic bombs against Japan in 1945. The nuclear bombing of Japan, he concludes, was undertaken in the context of Operation Downfall: a series of invasions of the Japanese islands American planners estimated would initially cause anywhere from a quarter-million to a million U.S. casualties, plus millions of Japanese. Giangreco presents the contexts of America's growing war weariness and declining manpower resources. Above all, he demonstrates the Japanese militarists' continuing belief that they could defeat the U.S. Japan had almost 13,000 planes available for suicide attacks, and plans for the defense of Kyushu, the U.S.'s initial invasion site, were elaborate and sophisticated, deploying over 900,000 men. Japanese and American documents presented here offer a chillingly clear-eyed picture of a battle of attrition so daunting that Army Chief of Staff George C. Marshall considered using atomic and chemical weapons to support the operation. Faced with this conundrum, in Giangreco's excellent examination, President Truman took what seemed the least worst option. 44 b&w photos, 12 maps. (Publisher's Weekly)

Elite German Divisions in World War II: Waffen-SS - Fallschirmjager - Mountain Troops Werner Haupt, author

Elite German Divisions In World War II (Schiffer Military History)A detailed look at Germany's elite units of World War II. It covers the formation and combat use of the Waffen-SS, Fallschirmjager and mountain troops throughout the war and on a variety of war fronts. Details include pre-war formation and training; wartime activities; individual unit histories; commanders, and a selection of war era photographs.over 80 color and b/w photos. Pages: 240

Assault on Moscow 1941: The Offensive, the Battle, the Set Back Werner Haupt, author

Assault on Moscow 1941: The Offensive, the Battle, the Set-BackDetailed unit operations and individual accounts make for absorbing reading, and a rare chance for the reader to examine an early, yet very important, Russian front battle. Over 140 b/w and color photographs. Pages: 304

101st Airborne in Normandy : A History in Period Photographs Dominique François, author

101st Airborne in Normandy: A History in Period Photographs
On June 6, 1944, paratroopers of the legendary 101st Airborne Division jumped into Normandy with the mission of seizing exits of beaches at night before the amphibious invasion of France. They were the elite of the U.S. Army and were primed and ready to take on the Germans. This new large-format book contains over 300 photographs and a selection of full-color photographs of World War II era airborne uniforms and equipment. 101st Airborne in Normandy, written by a historian who has been interviewing many paratroopers veterans and collecting photographs for years, is one of the leading experts on U.S. Airborne units during World War II. He has written eight books on the subject including his recent 82nd Airborne in Normandy. Over 300 b/w photographs. Pages: 192