1.

With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa מאת E.B. Sledge In The Wall Street Journal, Victor Davis Hanson named With the Old Breed one of the top five books on epic twentieth-century battles. Studs Terkel interviewed the author for his definitive oral history, The Good War. Now E. B. Sledge’s acclaimed first-person account of fightin...

2.

The Day We Lost the H-Bomb: Cold War, Hot Nukes, and the Worst Nuclear Weapons Disaster in History מאת Barbara Moran In The Day We Lost the H-Bomb, science writer Barbara Moran marshals a wealth of new information and recently declassified material to give the definitive account of the Cold War’s biggest nuclear weapons disaster. On January 17, 1966, a U.S. Air Force B-52 bomber exploded over the sleepy S...

3.

1862: A Novel מאת Robert Conroy The Civil War comes alive in all its passion and fury–only now the Brits are fighting . . . alongside the ConfederacyOutraged when the U.S. Navy seizes three Confederates aboard an English sailing ship, Britain retaliates by entering the fray in support of the Rebels–and suddenly it’s a whole ...

4.

Six Days of War: June 1967 and the Making of the Modern Middle East מאת Michael B. Oren Though it lasted for only six tense days in June, the 1967 Arab-Israeli war never really ended. Every crisis that has ripped through this region in the ensuing decades, from the Yom Kippur War of 1973 to the ongoing intifada, is a direct consequence of those six days of fighting...

5.

The Culture of War מאת Martin van Creveld A respected scholar of military history and an expert on strategy, Martin van Creveld recently explored the modern world’s shifting method of combat in The Changing Face of War. Now, in The Culture of War, he argues that there is much more to war than just soldiers killing one another for whatever...

6.

We Were Soldiers Once...and Young: Ia Drang - the Battle That Changed the War in Vietnam מאת Harold G. Moore Each year, the Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps selects one book that he believes is both relevant and timeless for reading by all Marines. The Commandant's choice for 1993 was We Were Soldiers Once . . . and Young. In November 1965, some 450 men of the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, u...

7.

The Art of Maneuver: Maneuver-Warfare Theory and AirLand Battle מאת Robert Leonhard Leonhard exposes as folly our view of war as an attritional phenomenon, measuring success in body counts and tons of explosives spent....

8.

Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway: A Brothers in Arms Novel מאת John Antal “With sharp insights into history, combat, and human nature, this enthralling novel can stand beside even the best chronicles of that fabled ‘band of brothers.’ ”–Ralph Peters, author of Wars of Blood and FaithIt’s 1944, and the German war machine is on its heels but still lethal,...

9.

Phantom Warriors: Book 2 מאת Gary Linderer MORE GRIPPING, NO-HOLDS-BARRED LRRP ACCOUNTSFROM THE FRONT LINESDuring the Vietnam War, few combat operations were more dangerous than LRRPRanger missions. Vastly outnumbered, the patrols faced overwhelming odds as they fought to carry out their missions, from gathering intelligence, acting a...

10.

Ripcord: Screaming Eagles Under Siege, Vietnam 1970 מאת Keith Nolan On April 10, 1970, Hill 927 was occupied by troopers of the Screaming Eagles of the 101st Airborne Division. By July, the activities of the artillery and infantry of Ripcord had caught the attention of the NVA (North Vietnamese Army) and a long and deadly siege ensued. Ripcord was the Screaming Eagl...

11.

The Bravest Man: Richard O'Kane and the Amazing Submarine Adventures of the USS Tang מאת William Tuohy “There’s no margin for mistakes in submarines. You’re either alive or dead.”–Richard O’KaneHailed as the ace of aces, captain Richard O’Kane, winner of the Congressional Medal of Honor for his consummate skill and heroism as a submarine skipper, sank more enemy ships and saved more dow...

12.

Ambush Alley: The Most Extraordinary Battle of the Iraq War מאת Tim Pritchard March 23, 2003: U.S. Marines from the Task Force Tarawa are caught up in one of the most unexpected battles of the Iraq War. What started off as a routine maneuver to secure two key bridges in the town of Nasiriyah in southern Iraq degenerated into a nightmarish twenty-four-hour urban clash in which...

13.

A Table in the Presence מאת Lt. Carey H. Cash “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.”–Psalm 23:5There are some places where you just don’t expect to find God. For the men of the 1st Battalion, 5th Marine Regiment, downtown Baghdad was one of those places. Moving into the heart of Iraq and ever deeper into enemy te...

14.

Ambush at osirak Herbert Crowder

Ambush at osirak מאת Herbert Crowder

15.

D-Day with the Screaming Eagles מאת George Koskimaki “A TRULY AMAZING COMPENDIUM.”–Gerald J. Higgins, major general, U.S. Army (ret.), from the ForewordIn 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 descen...

16.

Blood Trails: The Combat Diary of a Foot Soldier in Vietnam מאת Christopher Ronnau BAPTISM BY FIREChris Ronnau volunteered for the Army and was sent to Vietnam in January 1967, armed with an M-14 rifle and American Express traveler’s checks. But the latter soon proved particularly pointless as the private first class found himself in the thick of two pivotal, fiercely fought Big...

17.

Blackjack-33 מאת James C. Donahue "You have to react instinctively. In this game there's no second place, only the quick and the dead."In Vietnam, Mobile Guerrilla Force was the only American unit that truly carried out guerrilla-style hit-and-run military operations. Armed with silencer-equipped MK-II British Sten guns, M-16s, M-79...

18.

Five Years to Freedom: The True Story of a Vietnam POW מאת James N. Rowe When Green Beret Lieutenant James N. Rowe was captured in 1963 in Vietnam, his life became more than a matter of staying alive.In a Vietcong POW camp, Rowe endured beri-beri, dysentery, and tropical fungus diseases. He suffered grueling psychological and physical torment. He experienced the loneline...

19.

The Tunnels of Cu Chi: A Harrowing Account of America's "Tunnel Rats" in the Underground Battlefields of Vietnam מאת Tom Mangold At the height of the Vietnam conflict, a complex system of secret underground tunnels sprawled from Cu Chi Province to the edge of Saigon. In these burrows, the Viet Cong cached their weapons, tended their wounded, and prepared to strike. They had only one enemy: U.S. soldiers small and wiry enough ...

20.

Roll Me Over: An Infantryman's World War II מאת Raymond Gantter OVER THEREWhen Raymond Gantter arrived in Normandy in the fall of 1944, bodies were still washing up from the invasion. Sobered by that sight, Gantter and his fellow infantrymen moved across northern France and Belgium, taking part in the historic and bloody Battle of the Bulge, before slowly penetr...

21.

Hell's Highway: A Chronicle of the 101st Airborne in the Holland Campaign, September-November 1944 מאת George Koskimaki September 17, 1944. Thousands of Screaming Eagles–101st Airborne Division paratroopers–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 t...

22.

City Fights: Selected Histories of Urban Combat from World War II to Vietnam מאת John Antal CITY FIGHTSSelected Histories of Urban Combat from World War II to VietnamEdited by Colonel John Antal and Maj. Bradley Gericke“Urban terrain will likely be the predominant battlefield of future wars.”As September 11 and Somalia proved, hostile forces are now engaging America differently,...

23.

Rangers in World War II מאת Robert W. Black From the deadly shores of North Africa to the invasion of Sicily to the fierce jungle hell of the Pacific, the contribution of the World War II Ranger Battalions far outweighed their numbers. They were ordinary men on an extraordinary mission, experiencing the full measure of the fear, exhaustion, ...

24.

Clear the Bridge! : The War Patrols of the U.S.S. Tang מאת Richard O'Kane Tang carried the war to the enemy with unparalleled ferocity. This is her story as told by her skipper....

25.

Into the Crucible מאת James B. Woulfe Marine boot camp training is famous for being tough, where only the best succeed. But as tough as boot camp is, there is one moment in boot camp that is the make-or-break challenge. The ultimate test called the "Crucible." Once the Crucible begins, the recruits are faced with fifty-four grueling...

26.

When Thunder Rolled מאת Ed Rasimus “YOU CAN ALMOST SMELL THE JET FUEL AND GUNPOWDER. You attack the world’s fiercest defenses at 500 knots and share the ultimate thrill of hurling yourself against almost impossible odds–and winning.–JACK BROUGHTON, author of Thud RidgeEd Rasimus straps the reader into the cockpi...

27.

The Defense of Hill 781: An Allegory of Modern Mechanized Combat מאת James R. McDonough In the tradition of the humorous classic Defense of Duffer's Drift, our hero's escape lies in completing a successful mission....

28.

Spec Ops: Case Studies in Special Operations Warfare Theory and Practice מאת William H. McRaven The commander of SEAL Team Three shows how a small group of specially trained soldiers can accomplish their mission despite a numerically superior enemy....

29.

Bill Mauldin's Army: Bill Mauldin's Greatest World War II Cartoons מאת Bill Mauldin The foxhole history of the American soldier in World War II, by two-time Pulitzer Prize winning cartoonist Bill Mauldin....

30.

Firefight: Inside the Battle to Save the Pentagon on 9/11 מאת Patrick Creed Amid all the stories of tragedy and heroism on September 11, there is one tale that has yet to be told–the gripping account of ordinary men and women braving the inferno at the Pentagon to rescue friends and co-workers, save the nation’s military headquarters, and defend their country.Pentagon f...

31.

Bury Us Upside Down: The Misty Pilots and the Secret Battle for the Ho Chi Minh Trail מאת Rick Newman They had the most dangerous job n the Air Force. Now Bury Us Upside Down reveals the never-before-told story of the Vietnam War’s top-secret jet-fighter outfit–an all-volunteer unit composed of truly extraordinary men who flew missions from which heroes are made.In today’s wars, computers, tar...

32.

Shadow of the Sword: A Marine's Journey of War, Heroism, and Redemption מאת Jeremiah Workman Awarded the Navy Cross for gallantry under fire, Staff Sergeant Jeremiah Workman is one of the Marine Corps’ best-known contemporary combat veterans. In this searing and inspiring memoir, he tells an unforgettable story of his service overseas–and of the emotional wars that continue to rage long...

33.

Death Traps: The Survival of an American Armored Division in World War II מאת Belton Y. Cooper “Cooper saw more of the war than most junior officers, and he writes about it better than almost anyone. . . . His stories are vivid, enlightening, full of life—and of pain, sorrow, horror, and triumph.”—STEPHEN E. AMBROSE From his Foreword“In a down-to-earth style, Death Traps...

34.

Eyes Behind the Lines מאת Gary Linderer In mid-December 1968, after recovering from wounds susatined in a murderous mission, Gary Linderer returned to Phu Bai to comlpete his tour of duty as a LRP. His job was to find the enmy, observe him, or kill him--all the while behind enemy lines, where success could be as dangerous as discovery....

35.

Cutthroats: The Adventures of a Sherman Tank Driver in the Pacific מאת Robert Dick Soon after we landed it became apparent that there was more than enough artillery here, that the enemy were excellent shots, and that their ammo supply seemed to be endless. With the Japanese deeply entrenched and determined to die rather than surrender, Robert Dick and his fellow soldiers quickly r...

36.

Low Level Hell מאת Hugh L. Mills Mills has captured the realities of a select group of aviators who shot craps with death on every mission.--R.S. Maxham, Director of the U.S. Army Aviation Museum...

37.

Loon: A Marine Story מאת Jack McLean Jack McLean was not the average Vietnam grunt. Raised in suburban New Jersey, he attended the esteemed Phillips Andover Academy alongside George W. Bush, all the while pursuing a predictably privileged path. Nearing graduation in the spring of 1966, however, McLean decided on a different direction. ...

38.

American Generalship: Character is Everything: The Art of Command מאת Edgar F Puryear

39.

The Main Enemy: The Inside Story of the CIA's Final Showdown with the KGB מאת Milton Bearden A landmark collaboration between a thirty-year veteran of the CIA and a Pulitzer Prize–winning journalist, The Main Enemy is the dramatic inside story of the CIA-KGB spy wars, told through the actions of the men who fought them.Based on hundreds of interviews with operatives from both sides...

40.

Assured Response: A Novel מאת Joe Weber New threats require new weapons. New villains require new heroes.The time is the near future. Osama Bin Laden has been succeeded by a generation of even deadlier terrorists who will stop at nothing in their fanatical quest to destroy the United States. Conventional security is no longer enoug...

41.

Guns Up! מאת Johnnie Clark THIS GUT-WRENCHING FIRSTHAND ACCOUNT OF THE WAR IS A CLASSIC IN THE ANNALS OF VIETNAM LITERATURE."Guns up!" was the battle cry that sent machine gunners racing forward with their M60s to mow down the enemy, hoping that this wasn't the day they would meet their deaths. Marine Johnnie C...

42.

West Dickens Avenue: A Marine at Khe Sanh מאת John Corbett In January 1968, John Corbett and his fellow leathernecks of the 26th Marine Regiment fortified a remote outpost at a place in South Vietnam called Khe Sanh. Within days of their arrival, twenty thousand North Vietnamese soldiers surrounded the base. What followed over the next seventy-seven days be...

43.

An Ace of the Eighth: An American Fighter Pilot's Air War in Europe מאת Norman J. Fortier FOR A FIGHTER PILOT IN THE MIGHTY EIGHTH, DEATH WAS ALWAYS A HEARTBEAT AWAY.When the skies of Europe blazed with the fiercest air battles in history, fighter pilots like Norman “Bud” Fortier were in the thick of it, flying four hundred miles an hour at thirty thousand feet, dodging flak a...