War Years

The true story of Deng Adut - Sudanese child soldier, refugee, man of hope Deng Adut's family were farmers in South Sudan when a brutal civil war altered his life forever. At six years old, his mother was told she had to give him up to fight. At the age most Australian children are starting...

By placing the reader at the heart of the American counterinsurgency effort, Grindle reveals little-known incidents, including the failure of expensive aid programs to target local needs, the slow throttling of local government as official funds failed to reach the districts, and the United States’ inexplicable failure to empower the Afghan local officials even after they succeeded in bringing the people onto their side. Grindle presents the side of the hard-working Afghans who won the war and expresses what they really thought of the U.S. military and its decisions. Written by a former field officer for the U.S. Agency for International Development, this story of dashed hopes and missed opportunities details how America’s desire to leave the war behind ultimately overshadowed its desire to sustain victory.

In this courageous story of innocence taken so young, Hescheles reveals the stark daily realities of the horrific Jewish genocide. She was not afraid to be shot, but to be buried alive - the fate reserved for children. Written with descriptive immediacy during history’s ghastliest episode, this extraordinary notebook is an inspiring example of a Holocaust survivor bearing witness to the memories of a lost people. Complete with a recent forward, Hescheles exemplifies how life and hope can continue beyond unimaginable tragedy.

With a compass to direct him in his job as a forward observer and a personal camera to document his experiences - and keep him connected to his creative side - Vietnam veteran Steven Burchik was lucky enough to make it home and years later decided to write about the most challenging year of his life.

Early one morning in the summer of 1999, authorities in the tiny West Texas town of Tulia began a roundup of suspected drug dealers. By the time the sweep was done, over 40 people had been arrested and one of every five black adults in town was behind bars, all accused of dealing cocaine to the same undercover officer, Tom Coleman.

Last year was a “blood year” in the Middle East - massacres and beheadings, fallen cities, collapsed and collapsing states, the unravelling of a decade of Western strategy. We saw the rise of ISIS, the splintering of government in Iraq, and foreign fighters - many from Europe, Australia and Africa - flowing into Syria at a rate ten times that during the height of the Iraq War. What went wrong?In Blood Year, David Kilcullen calls on twenty-five years’ experience to answer that question.

An erudite and entertaining history of Moscow, a city defined by its survival and reinvention, and whose rich history offers crucial insight into contemporary global politics The city of Moscow stands at the center of a nation comprising eleven percent of the globe’s landmass, 11 time zones...

Rufus R. Dawes (1838-1899) was just 23 years old when the Civil War broke out. He became a captain in the 6th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry, one of the regiments forming the "Iron Brigade" of the Union Army of the Potomac. First published in 1890, this work records his regiment’s routine and operational actions, including Second Bull Run, Gettysburg, and Petersburg. Dawes also recorded details about daily camp life and individual soldiers.

After flying for eight and a half years during high school and college, and participating in the Air Force ROTC Program at Ole Miss and The University of Texas, I felt I was well prepared for US Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training. In October 1965, I became a member of UPT Class 67C at Webb Air Force Base in Big Spring, Texas. I can say, without reservation, that my year in UPT was the best year of my life!

Robert E. Lee, one of the most famous figures in American history, vanished after his dramatic surrender at Appomattox. In fact, he lived only another five years, during which time he did more than any other American to heal the wounds between North and South during the tempestuous postwar period.

The 12 months known in history as the Year of the Four Emperors was a pivotal chapter in the long epoch of the Roman Empire. It marked the tumultuous end of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty and the advent of a year of civil war, renewal and realignment, the result of which was the establishment of a new era and the founding of a new (and arguably more rational and responsible) imperial dynasty.

Fifteen Years Late – A Soldier’s Guide to Surviving PTSD is a raw, powerful blend of lived experience and hard-won truth. Written from the voice of Gabe, a fictional soldier whose story echoes that of thousands of real veterans, this guide cuts past clinical language and into the soul of what it means to come home shattered — and rebuild anyway.

As 1862 dawned, the American republic was at death’s door. The federal government appeared overwhelmed, the U.S. Treasury was broke, and the Union’s top general was gravely ill. The Confederacy - with its booming economy, expert military leadership, and commanding position on the battlefield - had a clear view to victory. To a remarkable extent, the survival of the country depended on the judgment, cunning, and resilience of the unschooled frontier lawyer who had recently been elected president. Twelve months later, the Civil War had become a cataclysm but the tide had turned.

In 2003, after serving five and a half years as a carpenter in a North Dakota National Guard engineer unit, Bronson Lemer was ready to leave the military behind. But six months short of completing his commitment to the army, Lemer was deployed on a yearlong tour of duty to Iraq. Leaving college life behind in the Midwest, he yearns for a lost love and quietly dreams of a future as an openly gay man outside the military.

Marine operating engineer, 82nd Airborne paratrooper, Special Ops Army Ranger, an entrepreneur who circumnavigated the globe, are a few of many pursuits that insatiable curiosity led the author to explore. He takes the listener on a 90-year journey from near death as a child, through an unhappy childhood, leading to dropping out of high school. He found success in the military and after honorable discharge, returned to school become an educator earning BA, MEd, and ATA degrees.

World War II rises in its vastness and complexity over the rest of human history. A number of victims difficult to conceive, never surpassed by any other conflict; the masses of men, women and resources mobilized in a conflict that shook even the most remote ends of the planet; the ideological battle between totalitarianism and democracy, between fascism and communism, the passions and hatred that it aroused; the unimaginable horror and fanaticism of the Holocaust; geopolitical games; the repetition of World War I on an even more dire scale.

The war gets its name from British colonists’ two primary enemies: the French settlers and the Native Americans who sided with them. The title is a bit misleading, however, as the British also had Native Americans on their side at various points of the war. The conflict goes by "The Seven Years’ War" in Europe because it took place from 1756 to 1763. Britain’s victory solidified the future of the English-speaking North America we know today. However, it also led to the massacre of countless Native peoples throughout North America.

Embark on a journey of strategic mastery with "Modern Art of War: Gift to my 7-year-old self" by Yaser Rashidi. This book is not just about chess; it's a blueprint for success in both chess and life. Through engaging storytelling and insightful lessons, Yaser shares the principles he learned as an adult but wishes he had known earlier.

From Simpson’s donkey and the Emu War to Vietnam and Ben Roberts-Smith, Australian military history is full of events that didn’t happen the way most people think they did. In his inimitable style, award-winning author Mark Dapin sets the record straight. Australia has many stories and...

In 1965, Col. Thomas "Jerry" Curtis's helicopter was shot down over North Vietnam. He was immediately captured and spent seven and a half years confined in a filthy cell at the notorious Hanoi prison camp. Thousands of miles from home and unable to communicate with his wife and children, Jerry endured months of solitary confinement, suffocating heat, freezing cold, grueling physical and psychological torture, constant hunger, and unimaginable mental duress.