The true story of the 101st Airborne Division's most notorious squad of combat paratroopers—the inspiration for the classic WWII film, The Dirty Dozen.Since World War II, the American public has learned of the exploits of the 101st Airborne Division, the paratroopers who led the Allied invasions into Nazi-held Europe. But within the ranks of the 101st, one unit attained truly legendary status. Known as the Filthy Thirteen, they were the real-life inspirati...

Those who lived through the Second World War have many stories of bravery, sadness, horror, doubt and longing. Inspired by conversations with veterans following the publication of her grandfather's wartime memoir, Victoria Panton Bacon has gathered a moving collection of their experiences. Their recollections tell of a different time and reveal the courage, actions and sentiments of those whose wartime experiences changed the course of history; stories of ordinary people w...

Here are overlooked or forgotten tales from the world's greatest conflict. These are stories of courage, daring, and stupidity, some of which would challenge the imaginations of Hollywood scriptwriters.Some of the many true tales that author Donald Aines recounts include:• He would never be cast as a dashing war hero, but a cast member of "The Addams Family" television show volunteered for one of the most dangerous jobs the Army Air Force had to offer.

A 1949 series of articles on life in post-World War II Germany, written by an undercover German reporter for an American paper—and the story behind them.Wolfe Frank was chief interpreter at the Nuremberg Trials where he was dubbed "The Voice of Doom." A playboy turned resistance worker branded an "enemy of the state—to be shot on sight," he had fled Germany for England in 1937. Initially interned as an "enemy alien," he was later allowed to join the British Army wh...

A memoir of a tough childhood—and tough combat—by an "adventurous, lively, outspoken, opinionated" WWII Marine veteran ( Columbus Dispatch).On September 15, 1944, the US First Marine Division landed on a small island in the Central Pacific called Peleliu as a prelude to the liberation of the Philippines. Among the first wave of Marines that hit the beach that day was twenty-two-year-old George Peto.Growing up on an Ohio farm, George always preferre...

From the author of Bismarck: " A work of simply outstanding scholarship . . . unreservedly recommended for . . . World War II Military History collections" ( Midwest Book Review).The successes of the German Blitzkrieg in 1939-41 were as surprising as they were swift. Allied decision-makers wanted to discover the Germans' secrets, even though only partial, incomplete information was available to ...

On August 9, 1945, on the tiny island of Tinian in the South Pacific, a twenty-five-year-old American Army Air Corps major named Charles W. Sweeney climbed aboard a B-29 Superfortress in command of his first combat mission, one devised specifically to bring a long and terrible war to a necessary conclusion. In the belly of his bomber, Bock's Car, was a newly developed, fully armed weapon that had never been tested in a combat situation. It was a weapon capable of a level of destru...

The remarkable story of the Finnish marksman nicknamed "White Death" by the Red Army for his record number of confirmed kills.Simo Häyhä is the most famous sniper in the world. During the Winter War fought between Russia and Finland from 1939 to 1940, he had 542 confirmed kills with iron sights, a record that still stands today.A man of action who spoke very little, Simo Häyhä was hugely respected by his men and his superiors and given many difficult missio...

This special collection includes three full length novels - hundreds of pages of well-researched adventures and thrills - for the price of two individual volumes. Fans of George MacDonald Fraser, Ian Fleming and John D. MacDonald will enjoy former Army Ranger turned covert agent Jake Fonko's globe-spanning adventures.Includes: Fonko Go Home (Book 7), To Russia With Fonko (Book 8), and The Fonko Connection (Book 9).Fonko Go Home – Serbia, 1992. Jake Fonko bu...

"Remarkably detailed . . . It is a tribute to Wladyslaw Gnys, the decorated ace pilot, but also to the charming and humble man himself." — Hamilton MagazinePolish pilot Wladyslaw (Wladek) Gnys was credited with shooting down the first two German aircraft of World War II on September 1, 1939. On this day, as Gnys' squadron took off near Kraków to intercept the German invaders, German Stuka pilot Frank Neubert attacked, killing the captain. Wladek, who barel...

The previously untold story of a Cold War spy unit, "one of the best examples of applied unconventional warfare in special operations history" (Small Wars Journal).It is a little-known fact that during the Cold War, two US Army Special Forces detachments were stationed far behind the Iron Curtain in West Berlin. The existence and missions of the two detachments were highly classified secrets.The massive armies of the Soviet Union and its Warsaw Pact allies po...

“War, reclamation, and what Tim O'Brien called "the Lives of the Dead" are eternal literary themes for men. Clay Bonnyman Evans has honored that lineage with this masterful melding of military history and personal quest.”—Ron Powers, co-author of New York Times #1 bestsellers Flags of Our Fathers and True Compass, along with No One Cares About Crazy People and othersIn November 1943, Marine 1st Lt. Alexander Bonnyman, Jr. was mor...