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The Trench Broom. The Annihilator. The Persuader. The Chopper. The Chicago Typewriter. The Tommy Gun. The Thompson submachine gun has gone by many names, and for nearly a century the gun’s image has been indelibly marked on the popular consciousness. In this broad-reaching cultural and military history, Bill Yenne charts the tommy gun's unpredictable and one-of-a-kind career, from its infamy in the hands of Al Capone and the Chicago mobsters, to its shady days with the IRA, to its indelible place in the arsenal of World War II, and its truly immortal and ongoing role in Hollywood. The tommy gun is without a doubt the most famous, and the most infamous, American firearm of the twentieth century. Since its birth in the aftermath of World War I, the tommy gun has enjoyed a varied career on both sides of the law. Though General John T. Thompson invented it for the American military, it first found notoriety thanks to its part in events such at St. Valentine's Day Massacre. But when the United States entered World War II, the gun's true power as an essential, life-saving weapon made it an iconic weapon of the American GI. Full of incredible stories from the battlefields of Europe and the Pacific, America's gangland, and Hollywood studio back lots, Bill Yenne's Tommy Gun is the definitive story of this unique American icon. ...
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A gripping novel of the National Guard in Afghanistan.
They had never planned on being soldiers. They were regular American citizens, “weekend warriors” in the National Guard, suddenly yanked from their everyday lives and regular duties—attending college, coaching teams, fighting forest fires—and dropped into firefights along the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan.
A California surfer, a Mexican-American immigrant, an African-American auto mechanic, and a high school teacher and mother—they answered the call. In no time they were facing car bombs, AK-47s, and rocket-propelled grenade launchers in a world of poverty, terror, and incomprehensible human cruelty.
Unflinching, realistic, and timely, Into the Fire is a riveting novel of what’s happening in Afghanistan now—as the men and women of the National Guard become soldiers, casualties, and heroes....
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They were two of the greatest heroes of World War II. But only one could be top gun...
Capturing the hearts of a beleaguered nation, the fighter pilots of World War II engaged in a kind of battle that became the stuff of legend-and those who survived showdowns earned the right to be called aces. But two men in particular rose to become something more. They became icons of aerial combat, in a heroic rivalry that inspired a weary nation to fight on.
Richard "Dick" Bong was the bashful, pink-faced farm boy from the Midwest. Thomas "Tommy" McGuire was the wise-cracking, fast-talking kid from New Jersey. What they shared was an unparalleled gallantry under fire which earned them each the Medal of Honor.
What separated them was a closely watched rivalry to see who would emerge as the top-scoring American ace of the war. What they left behind is a legacy and a record of aerial victories that has yet to be surpassed anywhere in the world....
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