Childrens Military History

Who is Phil Bucklew? Why is World War II so important to SEAL history? This unique timeline of the US Navy SEAL missions seizes the courage and drama these soldiers experienced. Dive in and follow along to learn more!

During the summer of 1944, a secretive network of German officers and civilians conspired to assassinate Adolf Hitler. But their plot to attack the dictator at his Wolf’s Lair compound failed, and an enraged Hitler demanded revenge. The result was a systematic rampage of punishment that ensnared not only those who had tried to topple the regime but their far-flung family members, too. Within weeks, Gestapo agents had taken as many as 200 relatives from their homes, separating adults and children.

In this stirring audiobook, David McCullough tells the intensely human story of those who marched with General George Washington in the year of the Declaration of Independence, when the whole American cause was riding on their success, without which all hope for independence would have been dashed and the noble ideals of the Declaration would have amounted to little more than words on paper.

This audiobook tells the story of the bombing of Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, and the United States' reaction to the event.

This book provides young listeners with exciting information on the most modern US military aircraft.

The US military has some tough machines, but none are more powerful than its assault vehicles. Whether they are transporting troops to battle zones or on the attack themselves, these machines are ready for action. Learn about the Super Cobra, the Beast, the Stryker, and other amazing assault vehicles.

A Japanese war map, a collection of U.S. military uniforms, and a gas mask are all part of the story of Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. By examining artifacts and primary sources like these, listeners are drawn into the event that brought the United States into World War II.

Confederate Major Absalom Grimes carried letters between Civil War soldiers and their families, and became an expert prison escape artist in the process. Hear about Grimes' amazing life of adventure in this historical nonfiction story.

Union Colonel Thomas E. Rose was captured in a Civil War battle and thrown in the brutal and secure Libby Prison. He quickly realizes that tunneling out is the only way to escape and joins forces with Major A. G. Hamilton to begin digging to freedom.

In a planned conspiracy to burn down major buildings in New York City during the Civil War, eight men of the Confederacy committed acts of terrorism. They attempted to destroy the city and claim it for the South by building a "Greek fire," which is stronger than regular fire because it is caused by chemical reactions.

Do you know the Confederacy had a navy during the Civil War? The CSS Shenandoah plundered Union ships in order to disrupt their commerce. Because they were out at sea, though, they never heard that the Confederates had surrendered, and they continued to fight! Learn about how these sailors were the last Confederate force to surrender.

The French Revolution has put George Washington's friend, the Marquis de Lafayette, in danger. Out of fear of imprisonment or execution, the Lafayettes send their son to America, to stay under Washington's protection.

During the American Civil War, cavalry units attacked quickly, cutting off the enemy's communication and railroad lines, seizing supplies and setting fire to anything they couldn't carry away. Although the Confederates lost the war, their cavalry played an important role in several battles.

Learn about how foreign soldiers were prized by the Union and Confederate armies because they had experience fighting in European wars.

Learn the true story of a Civil War-era woman who became an entrepreneuring inventor of naval signal flares.

Dueling once was used as a way to settle disputes or to defend honor. Some are more well-known than others—explore three of them here!

Cracker is one of the U.S. Army's most valuable weapons: a German shepherd trained to sniff out bombs, traps, and the enemy. Rick is headed to Vietnam to prove to everyone who didn't think he was cut out for war that they were wrong. When Cracker is paired with Rick, she isn't so sure about this new owner. He's going to have to prove himself to her before she's going to prove herself to him. They need to be friends before they can be a team, and they have to be a team if they want to get home alive.

In 1942, the Gestapo sent out an urgent transmission: "She is the most dangerous of all Allied spies. We must find and destroy her." The target in their sights was Virginia Hall, a Baltimore socialite who talked her way into Special Operations Executive, the spy organization dubbed Winston Churchill's "Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare." She became the first Allied woman deployed behind enemy lines and - despite her prosthetic leg - helped to light the flame of the French Resistance, revolutionizing secret warfare as we know it.

Following the events of September 11, 2001, the governor of New York gave the navy a steel beam that was once inside one of the World Trade Towers. Seven and a Half Tons of Steel tells the story of what the navy did with it.

Injured by a cannonball, James Edward Hanger was the first amputee of the Civil War. Determined to find a better solution than a peg leg, he worked to develop his own artificial limb company. He even continued working past retirement, providing Hanger Limbs for victims of World War I.