Fans of Stephen E. Ambrose’s Band of Brothers will be drawn to this complex portrait of the controversial Ronald Speirs, an iconic commander of Easy Company during World War II, whose ferocious courage in three foreign conflicts was matched by his devotion to duty and the bittersweet passions of wartime romance.His comrades called him “Killer.” Of the elite paratroopers who served in the venerated “Band of Brothers” during...

For over a century, Altoona, Pennsylvania, was a bustling industrial hotbed. The town thrived as a gem of the Pennsylvania Railroad, which constructed some 6,000 steam locomotives. However, like so many communities in the wake of World War II, Altoona struggled amidst deindustrialization and cultural shifts. The 1968 end of the Pennsylvania Railroad, a decreasing population, and a dying downtown slowly made the city a shadow of its former self. However, recent developments reveal potential...

Major Dick Winters of the 101st Airborne gained international acclaim when the tale of he and his men were depicted in the celebrated book and miniseries Band of Brothers. Hoisted as a modest hero who spurned adulation, Winters epitomized the notion of dignified leadership. His iconic World War II exploits have since been depicted in art and commemorated with monuments.Beneath this marble image of a reserved officer is the story of a common Pennsylvanian tested by the dail...

The picturesque Gettysburg Battlefield has long been memorialized as an iconic landscape of America's national identity. The tumultuous Civil War battle and Abraham Lincoln's subsequent address transformed the country in profound ways that continue to echo throughout the ages. In the aftermath of the struggle, Gettysburg National Military Park was embraced by citizens not only as a shrine of commemoration but also as a public space utilized for leisure, education, politics, and discovery. ...

In early June 1863, the Confederate Army of Northern Virginia launched a summer campaign that brought horrific war to the town of Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. In just over three days of cataclysmic battle, 51,000 individuals were killed, wounded, or captured. Although the fighting concluded by July 4, 1863, the struggle to recover continues to the present day. On November 19, 1863, the dedication of a new Soldiers National Cemetery marked a critical point in American history. From its concept...

One of the last great memoirs of World War II, Into the Cold Blue is a riveting account of the air war over Europe, when hell was four miles above the earth.A born daredevil, John Homan joined the Army Air Forces after the Pearl Harbor attack. By 1944, he was co-piloting a B-24 Liberator over Nazi Germany, raining death and destruction on the enemy. This first-person account of his harrowing missions—chronicling deadly flights through skies of red-hot flak...

Popular media can spark the national consciousness in a way that captures people’s attention, interests them in history, and inspires them to visit battlefields, museums, and historic sites. This lively collection of essays and feature stories celebrates the novels, popular histories, magazines, movies, television shows, photography, and songs that have enticed Americans to learn more about our most dramatic historical era.From Ulysses S. Grant’s Memoirs to Abraham Lin...

Fans of Stephen E. Ambrose’s Band of Brothers will be drawn to this complex portrait of the controversial Ronald Speirs, an iconic commander of celebrated Easy Company during D-Day and beyond, whose ferocious courage and drive across three wars were matched by a devotion to duty and a hidden heart shadowed by lost love.Fight Like You Mean to WinHis comrades called him “Killer.” Of the elite paratroopers who served in the venerated ...

The compelling WWII correspondence of Major Dick Winters, commander of the Band of Brothers.Major Dick Winters of the 101st Airborne gained international acclaim when the tale of he and his men were depicted in the celebrated book and miniseries Band of Brothers. Hoisted as a modest hero who spurned adulation, Winters epitomized the notion of dignified leadership. His iconic World War II exploits have since been depicted in art and commemorated with monume...

Tom Hanks introduces the rousing story of two inseparable friends and soldiers portrayed in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers.William "Wild Bill" Guarnere and Edward "Babe" Heffron were among the first paratroopers of the U.S. Army—members of an elite unit of the 101st Airborne Division called Easy Company. Arguably the bravest, most efficient, physically fit, and tight-knit group of soldiers the Army has ever produced, the unit was called upon for every high-risk operat...

They are called the Greatest Generation, but they were also ordinary men, responding to the call of duty. These are their unforgettable stories—first-person accounts from the last of the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines who fought the most dreadful war in history, all collected by a veteran of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.The idea was simple: travel across the country with a 1945 M1 Garand, the basic U.S. fighting rifle of World War II, ask combat veterans of that war to ...

In the predawn darkness of D-Day, an elite fighting force struck the first blows against Hitler's Fortress Europe. Braving a hail of enemy gunfire and mortars, bold invaders from the sky descended into the hedgerow country and swarmed the meadows of Normandy. Some would live, some would die, but all would fight with the guts and determination that made them the most famous U.S. Army division in World War II: the 101st Airborne "Screaming Eagles."George Koskimaki was part of the 101...