Bøger udgivet af Presidio Press

Prussian hero Field Marshal Helmuth Graf von Moltke was the architect of the German way of war.

An aviation historian tells the story of the Dark Eagles, airplanes that the U.S. government developed, tested, and operated in deepest secrecy.

In the tradition of All Quiet on the Western Front, Elton E. Mackin's memoirs are a haunting portrayal of war as seen through the eyes of a highly decorated Marine who fought in every Marine Brigade battle from Belleau Wood to the crossing of the Meuse on the eve of the Armistice.Praise for Suddenly We Didn't Want to Die"This beautifully written and truly gripping war memoir is a significant addition to battlefield literature. A minor classic . . . An altogether remarkable job [comparable] to Crane, Remarque and Mailer. Deserves the widest possible audience."-The Cleveland Plain Dealer "This immediate, eloquent report merit[s] comparison with Thomas Boyd's Marine Corps [1923] classic Through the wheat."-Publishers Weekly "A real curiosity: a highly mannered World War I diary, published nearly 80 years after being written and 20 years after its author's death. Bright snapshots abound…sometimes a young man's lyricism takes over [but] the horror of war never departs. The diary has the faults one expects, and the promise one prays for. A fine addition to WWI literature."-Kirkus Reviews "A forthright, eloquent, and powerful memoir certain to become an enduring testament to the drama and tragedy of World War I. Threaded with no small measure of poetry, this superb memoir is sure to become a classic."-Great Battles "A plain but powerful tale . . . [in] vivid prose loaded with details that bring the horrors of World War I to life, he tells an exceptional new version of the old story of battle transforming a boy into a veteran."-American Library Association Booklist "To the ranks of Erich Maria Remarque, E.E. Cummings, John Dos Passos and Siegfried Sassoon, we must now add Elton Mackin . . . who, in a terse style reminiscent of Hemingway, [succeeds] in making someone unfamiliar with war truly now the frightfulness of the trenches and the greatness of the many men who fought in them."-Marine Corps Gazette

The battle for Ap Bia Mountain (Hill 937), was one of the fiercest of the entire Vietnam War.

In a work of extraordinary narrative power, filled with brilliant personalities and vivid scenes of dramatic action, Robert K. Massie, the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Peter the Great, Nicholas and Alexandra, and Dreadnought, elevates to its proper historical importance the role of sea power in the winning of the Great War.The predominant image of this first world war is of mud and trenches, barbed wire, machine guns, poison gas, and slaughter. A generation of European manhood was massacred, and a wound was inflicted on European civilization that required the remainder of the twentieth century to heal.But with all its sacrifice, trench warfare did not win the war for one side or lose it for the other. Over the course of four years, the lines on the Western Front moved scarcely at all; attempts to break through led only to the lengthening of the already unbearably long casualty lists.For the true story of military upheaval, we must look to the sea. On the eve of the war in August 1914, Great Britain and Germany possessed the two greatest navies the world had ever seen. When war came, these two fleets of dreadnoughts—gigantic floating castles of steel able to hurl massive shells at an enemy miles away—were ready to test their terrible power against each other.Their struggles took place in the North Sea and the Pacific, at the Falkland Islands and the Dardanelles. They reached their climax when Germany, suffocated by an implacable naval blockade, decided to strike against the British ring of steel. The result was Jutland, a titanic clash of fifty-eight dreadnoughts, each the home of a thousand men.When the German High Seas Fleet retreated, the kaiser unleashed unrestricted U-boat warfare, which, in its indiscriminate violence, brought a reluctant America into the war. In this way, the German effort to "seize the trident” by defeating the British navy led to the fall of the German empire.Ultimately, the distinguishing feature of Castles of Steel is the author himself. The knowledge, understanding, and literary power Massie brings to this story are unparalleled. His portrayals of Winston Churchill, the British admirals Fisher, Jellicoe, and Beatty, and the Germans Scheer, Hipper, and Tirpitz are stunning in their veracity and artistry.Castles of Steel is about war at sea, leadership and command, courage, genius, and folly. All these elements are given magnificent scope by Robert K. Massie's special and widely hailed literary mastery.

A Look over My Shoulder begins with President Nixon's attempt to embroil the Central Intelligence Agency, of which Richard Helms was then the director, in the Watergate cover-up. Helms then recalls his education in Switzerland and Germany and at Williams College; his early career as a foreign correspondent in Berlin, during which he once lunched with Hitler; and his return to newspaper work in the United States. Helms served on the German desk at OSS headquarters in London; subsequently, he was assigned to Allen Dulles's Berlin office in postwar Germany.On his return to Washington, Helms assumed responsibility for the OSS carryover operations in Germany, Austria, and Eastern Europe. He remained in this post until the Central Intelligence Agency was formed in 1947. At CIA, Helms served in many positions, ultimately becoming the organization's director from 1966 to 1973. He was appointed ambassador to Iran later that year and retired from government service in January 1977. It was often thought that Richard Helms, who served longer in the Central Intelligence Agency than anyone else, would never tell his story, but here it is-revealing, news-making, and with candid assessments of the controversies and triumphs of a remarkable career.

In the tradition of the humorous classic Defense of Duffer's Drift, our hero's escape lies in completing a successful mission.

* A moving account of one of Vietnam's most savage battles * A tale of endurance, self-sacrifice and friendship * Based on hundreds of interviews of men who fought there, including North Vietnamese commanders `A gut-wrenching account of what war is really about, which should be a "must" read' - General ...

* The complete true story of one of the best known and most colourful combat units of WWII * Dispels the myths surrounding this premier fighting force The Black Sheep is the critically acclaimed history of America's greatest squadron of WWII fighter pilots and its legendary commander Gregory "Pappy" Boyington.

"Remarkable... Without a doubt, one of the most incredible stories you will ever read." -The Roanoke Times"Every once in a while, a true story comes along that reads like fiction... It grabs you on page one and never lets go." - Senator Carl Levin, Chairman of the U.S. Senate Armed Services CommitteeAs the twentieth century closed, the veterans of its defining war passed away at a rate of a thousand per day. Fortunately, D-Day paratrooper Joseph Beyrle met author Thomas H. Taylor in time to record Behind Hitler's Lines, the true story of the first American paratrooper to land in Normandy and the only soldier to fight for both the United States and the Soviet Union against Nazi Germany. It is a story of battle, followed by a succession of captures, escapes, recaptures, and re-escapes, then battle once more, in the final months of fighting on the Eastern Front. For these unique experiences, both President Bill Clinton and President Boris Yeltsin honored Joe Beyrle on the fiftieth anniversary of V-E Day. Beyrle did not strive to be a part of history, but history kept visiting him. Twice before the invasion he parachuted into Normandy, bearing gold for the French resistance. D Day resulted in his capture, and he was mistaken for a German line-crosser - a soldier who had, in fact, died in the attempt. Eventually Joe was held under guard at the American embassy in Moscow, suspected of being a Nazi assassin. Fingerprints saved him, confirming that he'd been wounded five times, and that he bore a safe-conduct pass written by marshal Zhukov after the Wehrmacht wrested Joe, at gunpoint, from execution by the Gestapo. In the ruins of Warsaw his life was saved again, this time by Polish nuns. Some of Joe's story is in his own words - a voice that will be among the last and best we hear firsthand from World War II.

A guide to training soldiers and their commanders based on the author's experiences. Collins demonstrates the essential elements of training needed to survive in battle. The author examines how to lead the rank and file whilst also considering the role of the commander and the characteristics needed to become a leader.

In mid-1943 James Megellas, known as "Maggie” to his fellow paratroopers, joined the 82d Airborne Division, his new "home” for the duration. His first taste of combat was in the rugged mountains outside Naples.In October 1943, when most of the 82d departed Italy to prepare for the D-Day invasion of France, Lt. Gen. Mark Clark, the Fifth Army commander, requested that the division's 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Maggie's outfit, stay behind for a daring new operation that would outflank the Nazis' stubborn defensive lines and open the road to Rome. On 22 January 1944, Megellas and the rest of the 504th landed across the beach at Anzio. Following initial success, Fifth Army's amphibious assault, Operation Shingle, bogged down in the face of heavy German counterattacks that threatened to drive the Allies into the Tyrrhenian Sea. Anzio turned into a fiasco, one of the bloodiest Allied operations of the war. Not until April were the remnants of the regiment withdrawn and shipped to England to recover, reorganize, refit, and train for their next mission.In September, Megellas parachuted into Holland along with the rest of the 82d Airborne as part of another star-crossed mission, Field Marshal Montgomery's vainglorious Operation Market Garden. Months of hard combat in Holland were followed by the Battle of the Bulge, and the long hard road across Germany to Berlin.Megellas was the most decorated officer of the 82d Airborne Division and saw more action during the war than most. Yet All the Way to Berlin is more than just Maggie's World War II memoir. Throughout his narrative, he skillfully interweaves stories of the other paratroopers of H Company, 504th Parachute Infantry Regiment. The result is a remarkable account of men at war.

The definitive account of one of World War II's bloodiest campaigns-the five-month battle between American and German forces in the Huertgen Forest-told through the words of the men who were there. From the preface:"In the course of research and interviews while writing a series of books on World War II, I became increasingly aware of the campaign for the Huertgen Forest. While survivors of other battles sometimes criticized the strategy and the orders they were given, there was a depth of anger about the Huertgen that surpassed anything I had encountered elsewhere. The unhappiness with what occurred and the absence of much objective coverage in the memoirs of those in the top command slots convinced me to produce this history. As I have reiterated in all of my books, which rely heavily on oral or eyewitness reports, there are always the dangers of flawed memory, limited vantage points, and the possibility of self-interest in such accounts. But the almost universal condemnation of their superiors' critical decisions by individuals who were under fire in that 'green hell' offers a cautionary note on the accuracy and the truths of histories that draw from the official documents and the personal papers of the likes of Dwight Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, Courtney Hodges (who apparently left little in the way of records), J. Lawton Collins and others in similar positions. . . . Each new war differs from that of the past, but to ignore what happened in the Huertgen enhances the possibilities for another bitter victory, if not a defeat."

When V Amphibious Corps were preparing for the invasion of the Marianas Islands—Saipan, Guam, and Tinian—they were expecting a relatively easy fight. The Japanese appeared to be on the run. As D day for Saipan (the first of the three islands scheduled for conquest) loomed, V Corps planners felt safe in allocating a single army division as corps reserve for the conquest.   As Lt. Col. William J. O’Brien’s First Battalion and the 105th Infantry landed on Saipan, they had little idea what was in store for them. Enemy opposition was fierce. For the next several weeks they faced the unremitting terror of nearly continuous combat. For the 105th Infantry, the battle climaxed in an overwhelming Japanese banzai attack July 7, 1944. The regiment suffered more than 900 casualties, almost half of whom were killed in action, including First Battalion’s commander, William O’Brien, who later received the Medal of Honor for his efforts. Throughout the battle, O’Brien provided a stirring example of frontline leadership to his previously untested troops. His story is just as inspiring today.

What challenges will America face in armed conflicts of the future and how will we prepare for them? National security depends upon the ability of the military to “predict” the future nature of war. Despite the difficulty in making such predictions, one must remember: nation states and other countries will continue to use armed conflict as a means to further their aims, and these aims will, at times, run contrary to American interests. As a result, the United States will continue to be confronted with armed conflict in the days and years ahead.A military theorist and experienced armor officer, Brian Steed provides insights into the future of armed conflict by focusing on what has occurred in the past–not because the past repeats itself, but because it reveals timeless principles of warfare. Five battles, one each in Korea, Vietnam, the Falklands, the Persian Gulf, and Somalia are analyzed historically, geographically, and strategically. Steed’s analysis of these engagements clearly demonstrates that the key to victory on the battlefields of the future is the small unit. In refreshing layman’s prose, the author focuses on why the events occurred as they did, and explores the significance of each battle in terms of its political and military ramifications. He concludes with lessons learned that will greatly benefit future American ground combat commanders.Armed Conflict informs the reader about the historical trends of combat operations and the realities of war–today and into the future. It will also serve to guide a new generation of military and civilian leaders as they prepare to face the inevitable conflicts in the new century.

“Zeroes in on the interesting, irreverent, long-ignored tidbits that shape behavior in all conflicts and important periods of history.”—The Denver PostWhat made the founding fathers so great (or were they?). And don’t forget the founding mothers. We have intrigue and skullduggery with spies from Nathan Hale to Benedict Arnold, with enlightening stops on the distaff side of espionage for Patience Wright (no relation to our esteemed author), Lydia Darragh, and Ann Bates.   “[Mike] Wright uncovers the gamut of the revolutionary era with a highly readable, breezy narrative style, and some of his speculations eloquently illustrate the ironies always present in grand historical movements. . . . This work will inform, amuse, and provide an interesting perspective on the Revolution.”—Booklist

Packed with personal anecdotes and details you won’t find anywhere else, this is the secret history of World War II.“A fast-moving overview stuffed with interesting factoids and historical tidbits . . . Casual readers will find themselves carried along, and hardened military buffs will learn much that is new.”—Library Journal “It’s almost guaranteed to make you so interested in the subject you’ll want to learn . . . By including hundreds of interesting anecdotes and facts, [Mike] Wright not only piques our interest repeatedly, he also gives areal feel for the war era.”—Manchester Journal Inquirer “An excellent overview . . . [with] interesting chapters on spies, POWs, censorships, and the building of the atomic bomb . . . Wright’s style is accessible.”—The Post and Courier

In this fascinating book, the author asserts the theory that the time has come for a complete change of policy and revision of the very basics of the art of war.

A vivid account of the 1970 springtime campaigns of the U.S. Army in South Vietnam along the Cambodia border, told from the soldier’s perspective with detailed battlefield tales“Most of us remember [the 1970 Cambodian campaign] for the killings of four young people at Kent State. [Keith] Nolan wants us to remember that it killed a lot of young Americans in Cambodia as well.”—The Capital Times “This is combat narrative at its best. Nolan has mastered the soldier’s slang and weaves it expertly into the account. . . . A compelling read, and a valuable addition to the growing body of Vietnam literature.”—Military Review   “Lives up to the high standards of his previous books. Nolan dives deeply into his subjects by getting his hands on first-person testimony primarily through interviews with those who took part in the fighting.”—The Veteran

“Bar none, the best book on fire support in the English language and one of the most accessible works on tactics I have ever read.”—Bruce Gudmundsson, author of On ArtilleryThe military of the United States is the world''s strongest. Our armed forces are equipped with weapons of remarkable accuracy and unprecedented destructive power. In the Gulf War, allied forces used these weapons in what turned out to be a high-tech shooting gallery. The pinpoint accuracy of the sharpshooter''s rifle is now routinely expected in the delivery of thousand pound bombs. Events in Somalia and the Balkans have aptly demonstrated, however, the profound limitations of firepower in limited conflicts of low intensity. Yet, these are the kinds of war we are most likely to encounter as we proceed down the path of the new world order.Robert Scales examines this problem through his analysis of the role of firepower in the wars in Indochina, the Soviet war in Afghanistan, the Falklands War, and the Gulf War. Chosen for the prestigious Marine Corps Commandant''s Reading List, Firepower in Limited War is must reading for everyone interested in national defense and all military professionals.

Historian Harry Gailey offers a fresh one-volume treatment of the vast Pacific theater in World War II, examining in detail the performance of Japanese and Allied naval, air, and land forces in every major military operation. The War in the Pacific begins with an examination of events leading up to World War II and compares the Japanese and American economies and societies, as well as the chief combatants'' military doctrine, training, war plans, and equipment. The book then chronicles all significant actions - from the early Allied defeats in the Philippines, the East Indies, and New Guinea; through the gradual improvement of the Allied position in the Central and Southwest Pacific regions; to the final agonies of the Japanese people, whose leaders refused to admit defeat until the very end. Gailey gives detailed treatment to much that has been neglected or given only cursory mention in previous surveys. The reader thus gains an unparalleled overview of operations, as well as many fresh insights into the behind-the-scenes bickering between the Allies and the interservice squabbles that dogged MacArthur and Nimitz throughout the war.

The career of the USS Wahoo in sinking Japanese ships in the farthest reaches of the Empire is legendary in submarine circles. Christened three months after Pearl Harbor, Wahoo was commanded by the astonishing Dudley W. "Mush" Morton, whose originality and daring new techniques led to results unprecedented in naval history; among them, successful "down the throat" barrage against an attacking Japanese destroyer, voracious surface-running gun attacks, and the sinking of a four-ship convoy in one day. Wahoo took the war to Japan's front porch, and Morton became known as the Navy's most aggressive and successful sea raider. Now, in a new quality paperback edition, her full story is told by the person most qualified to tell it-her executive officer Richard O'Kane, who went on to become the leading submarine captain of the Second World War.Praise for Wahoo"The accounts of the patrols are spine-tingling, both in triumph and tragedy. It is a tale of great courage, brilliant leadership, and daring innovation in a new type of submarine warfare fought largely on the surface in waters closely controlled by the enemy. Well-written, a gripping story for anybody with a love of the sea or adventure in submarine combat."-Naval War College Review "This is an exceptional story of American men who rose to the occasion time and again under dangerous circumstance." -Abilene Reporter News "A first-hand-and first-rate-narrative, told by the former executive officer of this legendary WWII submarine, which gives readers an intimate feel for life aboard the 'boats' that helped beat the odds in the battles of the Pacific and put Japan on the defensive."-Sea Power "Like Clear the Bridge!, [Richard] O'Kane's bestselling account of the Tang's 33 confirmed sinkings, [Wahoo] is a rousing, authentic war adventure that could well become a classic of its type, crack[ling] with the tensions, boredom, and occasional exhilaration of submarine life under the Pacific, O'Kane is a superb storyteller, and his credentials are impeccable."-Springfield Sunday Republic

No one man can win a battle by himself, but battles have been won and lost because of the strength or failings of one individual: the leader.   What went on in the minds and hearts of a select group of military leaders at critical moments in battle is the theme of this book. In Leaders and Battles, W. J. Wood re-creates ten battles from history, depicting the action in vivid detail—the brilliant formations, charging horses, clanking bayonets. The point of view is always that of the commanding officer. The particular quality of leadership that won—or lost—the encounter is very clear.   For Mad Anthony Wayne at Stony Point, it was courage that won the day. For Scipio Africanus at Ilipa, it was imagination. Custer’s judgment at the Little Big Horn was definitely in question. When the French stormed Ratisbon, it was the inspiration of Lannes that broke the impasse. At the battle of Bushy Run, Bouquet could never have outwitted Pontiac had he lacked flexibility.   The dynamics of battle as well as the strategy and tactics involved are equally well demonstrated. Though the means of fighting varied as much as the time and the civilizations involved, the lessons learned are just as applicable today. Men no longer fight with drawn swords, make barricades out of mealie bags, or use a swarm of bees as a weapon. But that is part of this book’s fascination.   Leaders and Battles is a remarkable retelling of fighting engagements for the armchair strategist, the leader in training, the history buff, and the general reader. It will take time before the major wars and low-intensity skirmishes of this century can be written about with the historical detachment and understanding that the author displays here. In the meantime, we can all profit from these lessons of history.

“Fritz Graebe’s courage justifies our faith in humankind.”—Elie Wiesel, author of Night“This book combines a story of high moral passion with all the excitement of a spy thriller. Fritz Graebe, who as a non-Jew risked his life repeatedly during World War II to save Jews from Hitler’s firing squads and death camps, was also an exceedingly astute and clever man who time and again outwitted the Nazis at their own game. Tragically there were too few Fritz Graebes to avert catastrophe for the great majority of European Jews, but his story is a reminder that during even the darkest moments of human history there are individuals who, at great personal cost, say ‘no’ to the darkness and provide beacons of light for the rest of us. As we face our own moral dilemmas, we can only hope that some of Fritz Graebe’s courage rubs off on us.”—Dr. Robert McAfee Brown, professor of theology and ethics, Pacific School of Religion, Berkeley, California