Warfare and defence Books

Under the fiery leadership of Merritt Red Mike Edson, the 1st Marine Raider Battalion provided the vanguard of a strategic experiment with seaborne commando units in the Pacific. From 1942 to 1943 Edson's Raiders fought seven critical battles in Tulagi,...

A lasting memorial to the USSEnterprise, this classic tale of the carrier that contributed more than any other single warship to the naval victory in the Pacific has remained a favorite World War II story for more than twenty-five years. The Big E...

The last in a popular series on movie stars in the military, this handsome book provides readers with a guide to film actors of many nations who served in various branches of their own military forces. Because they appeared in Hollywood movies, many of...

U.S. Marines have been sent to Haiti many times since 1800, including as recently as 1995, but one of the most intriguing operations has-until now-been the least known. The 1959-63 mission exposed America's Cold War domino theory to the quagmire of Third...

Naval officers and enlisted personnel undergo extensive training to cope with the special demands of their duties at sea and ashore, but what about their spouses and children? This practical, one-of-a-kind guide fills the gap by helping families navigate...

This compelling story of a Vietnam Medal of Honor recipient and his family was widely praised when the original edition of the book was published in 1984. In this updated edition, Jim and Sybil Stockdale continue their story to let readers know what has...

To win glory and power, to be renowned throughout posterity-such was the ambition that fueled Dahlgren's controversial rise to eminence during the Civil War era. This rich, balanced portrait examines in detail the admiral's quixotic, frustrating quest.

Every aspect of the common sailor's life in the Union navy--from recruiting, clothing, training, shipboard routine, entertainment, and wages to diet, health, and combat experience--is addressed in this study, the first to examine the subject in rich...

Despite racial discrimination and second-class status within the enlisted corps, the U.S. Navy's mess attendants, officer's cooks, and stewards compiled a proud legacy of combat service in World War II. The heroism of a few like Dorie Miller became well...

With all the immediacy of an eyewitness account, Anthony Pitch tells the dramatic story of the British invasion of Washington in the summer of 1814, an episode many call a defining moment in the coming-of-age of the United States. The British torched the...

Xi Jinping has made his ambitions for the People's Liberation Army (PLA) perfectly clear, there is no mystery what he wants, first, that China should become a "great maritime power" and secondly, that the PLA "become a world-class armed force by 2050."...

A British journalist provides a full and intimate picture of naval life in the opening months of World War I.

An engaging memoir of a naval officer who went south to fight for the Confederacy.

"Mightily absorbing . . . There is candor in this book, and humor and an exhilarating sense, once common to us but now strange, that Americans who fought that war could do just about anything, and without getting wordy or pretentious about it or...

The book covers such topics as ship geometry, properties of shipbuilding materials, stability, submarine hydrostatics, propellers and propulsion systems, and maneuverability. Appendices include conversion tables, lists of fresh- and saltwater properties,...

This is a unique study of the officer diplomats of the "Old Navy" that covers 500 cases over an 85-year period, ending with Commodore Robert W. Schufeldt and the negotiation of America's first treaty with Korea.

This collection of 51 essays provides a history of amphibious landings that include European, Asian, and American operations. It describes in detail some of history's most significant amphibious assaults, as well as planned attacks that were never...

'What is the task but to find my way back to the unfragmentation of the world as we knew it; to collect the uncollected, to make the unmade. To refuse victimhood even when annihilation seems to insist on it. To make a thing out of nothing, to make a...

Winner of The Navy League's 2024 Alfred Thayer Mahan Award for Literary Achievement. The nuclear-powered aircraft carrier is naval history's most powerful and versatile warship. It is the reason the U.S. Navy is the predominant force at sea today...

Sailing Upwind is more than just another memoir of a distinguished former naval officer's highly diverse career. This book by Admiral James "Sandy" Winnefeld is also intended to offer useful reflections regarding how he accepted and managed risk along...

Naval warfare was confined for centuries to surface combat, or undersea clashes. In the twentieth century aerial warfare became the third domain and shortly thereafter, the electromagnetic spectrum also appeared. Until now, little has been written about...

On the morning of March 19, 1945, about fifty miles off the coast of Japan, the aircraft carrier USS Franklin was bombed by Japanese aircraft. Two heavy bombs penetrated the hangar deck killing everyone inside. The planes on the flight deck were knocked...

In this extensively updated edition of a book that was widely praised on its first publication nearly a decade ago, the acclaimed foreign correspondent and author Charles Glass, brings the the story of Syria up to date. In these pages he looks at the way...

Music was an integral part of statecraft and identity formation in the Third Reich. Structured thematically and semiotically around the Wagnerian tetralogy of the Ring cycle, Hitler's Twilight of the Gods provides a sonic read of the Second World War and...

The question of whether there is a general, universal theory for the conduct of war has long preoccupied military thinkers, army personnel and students of conflict. Warfare has been radically transformed throughout history, under the influence of...

Sheds light on the inner workings of the groups responsible for deploying ransomware, and on how governments and businesses can combat the threat.This timely book explores the alarming rise of ransomware: malicious software blocking users from their...

What is it like to live next door to a British Army base? England's military heartland provides an eye-opening account of the sprawling military presence on Salisbury Plain, drawing on a wide range of voices from both sides of the divide...

Between Hitler and Churchill exposes an unknown facet in the World War II history: the attempt of a senior official in the Polish government-in-exile to collude with the Third Reich and a successful British intelligence operation which thwarted this move...

A former FBI agent's urgent call for law enforcement to prioritize far-right violence and end tolerance for police racismIn Policing White Supremacy, former FBI agent Mike German, who worked undercover in white supremacist and militia groups, issues a...

Blending the journalistic rigor of Masha Gessen with the call to action of We Should All Be Feminists, a startling denunciation of Vladimir Putin’s war on women that reveals how modern Russia’s history of weaponizing sexual violence against women is...

The first ever puzzle book from FlightRadar24 At any one time there are nearly 20,000 flights in the sky, and more than 75 million flights a year – and, since 2006, the website Flightradar24 has kept its beady eye on them all. For the first time ever,...

From the Arizona Congressman, a "powerful" and "searing" (PW) chronicle of the eternal bonds forged between the Marines of Lima Company, the hardest-hit unit of the Iraq WarAt first, they were “Lucky Lima.” Infantryman Ruben Gallego and his brothers in...

Richard Clarke's dramatic statement to the grieving families during the 9/11 Commission hearings touched a raw nerve across America. Not only had our government failed to prevent the 2001 terrorist attacks but it has proven itself, time and again,...

The thrilling life of Bert Hinkler, Bundaberg boy, who grew up to become a pioneer of aviation, Mussolini's favourite pilot, dubbed 'the most daring man in the world' by adoring crowds who turned out to see him fly. Grantlee Kieza tells the thrilling...

(Previously published as ‘After the Flood’)Former RAF Tornado Navigator and Gulf War veteran John Nichol sets out on a personal journey to discover what happened to 617 Squadron after the flood. RAF 617 Squadron’s destruction of the dams at the heart of...

A gripping memoir by a former NZSAS commander on serving in Afghanistan over four deployments and operating at the edge of his limits 'Frighteningly, devastatingly real.' - The Post In 2011, following the Taliban siege on Kabul's Intercontinental Hotel,...

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER"A fast-paced debut...Espionage buffs will savor this vibrant account." - Publishers Weekly A U.S. naval counterintelligence officer working to safeguard Pearl Harbor; a Japanese spy ordered to Hawaii to gather information on...

"A beguiling tale of espionage and double-dealing in the years leading up to World War II. ... Strap in for a narrative that demands a suspension of disbelief—and richly rewards it." —Kirkus Reviews (starred review); Best Books of February...

‘Excellent’ Antony Beevor‘Saul David is a brilliant historian … In shocking and jaw-dropping detail, he brings a battle that deserves far greater prominence and understanding vividly back to life’ James Holland From award-winning historian Saul David,...

NUMBER 1 SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLERNo one is born a leader. But through sheer determination and by confronting life’s challenges, Ant Middleton has come to know the meaning of true leadership. In First Man In, he shares the core lessons he’s learned over...

An engrossing and fact-filled collection of the great screwups of the Great WarNever had there been a war on the scale of World War II—a global conflict so widespread and involving so many different military organizations from such a diverse pool of...

“A dramatic tale. . . . Sherry brings the pirates vividly to life with his rousing telling of their daring cruises and outrageous feats. . . . I heartily recommend Raiders and Rebels to anyone who enjoys history, a tale of high adventure, the drama of...

At the age of eighteen, Aaron Cohen left Beverly Hills to prove himself in the crucible of the armed forces. He was determined to be a part of Israel's most elite security cadre, akin to the American Green Berets and Navy SEALs. After fifteen months of...

NATIONAL BESTSELLER • The definitive history of combat aviation and fighter aircraft, from World War I to present INCLUDES 32 PAGES OF PHOTOGRAPHS AND 12 MAPSLords of the Sky is the “dramatic, fast-paced, and definitive" (Michael...