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In the tradition of `Agent Zigzag' comes a breathtaking biography of WWII's `Scarlet Pimpernel' as fast-paced and emotionally intuitive as the best spy thrillers. This celebrates unsung hero Robert de La Rochefoucauld, an aristocrat turned anti-Nazi saboteur, and his exploits as a British Special Operations Executive-trained resistant A scion of one of the oldest families in France, Robert de La Rochefoucauld was raised in a magnificent chateau and educated in E...

Of the thousands of commanders who served in history's armies, why is it that only a few are remembered as great leaders of men in battle? What combination of personal and circumstantial influences conspire to produce great commanders? What makes a great leader great? Richard A Gabriel analyses the biographies of ten great generals who lived between 1481 BC and AD 632 in an attempt to identify the characteristics of intellect, psychology, personality, and experience that allowed them to tread th...

Soldiers of Fortune by Richard Harding Davis, 1897. In the stifling jungles of a small South American country, Robert Clay works as a civil engineer at a mine. With two American assistants, he attempts to reap all the rewards found in this challenging environment. But he also has a secret history as a mercenary, fighting for whichever side will pay him the most. Clay finds himself in love with Alice Langham, the daughter of the wealthy American owner of the mine. His competition for Alice is Reg...

War exposes the divide between who we think we are and how we behave in extreme situations. Sheri Snively, who served as a Quaker chaplain with the U.S. Navy, has crafted a vivid, unsettling, and ultimately hopeful personal account of the effects of the Iraq war on soldiers and civilians in Heaven in the Midst of Hell. As she served with the Marines working amid the boredom, ten-sion, and seemingly meaningless carnage at a trauma hospital between Ramadi and Fallujah, Commander Snively experience...

How did an ex-hippie chick Viet Nam War protester become a fierce soldier supporter, living in a combat zone in an increasingly unpopular war? From 2004 to 2007, Ali Elizabeth Turner had the chance of a lifetime to learn firsthand that freedom isn't free and to say a much belated ""thank you"" for her freedom by working in Morale, Welfare, and Recreation centers in Baghdad. She heard the stories of hundreds of Iraqis, Coalition soldiers, interpreters, Navy SEALS, Army Rangers, and contractors fr...

"To those outside the military, and even to those serving, the rank structure can sometimes be over simplified. It appears that we rack and stack everyone in the organization, and the person with the most rank "wins"-he or she is in charge, and everyone else has to follow orders that flow from the top. While there is certainly benefit in adhering to a chain of command, the interaction between the various ranks up and down that chain, officer and enlisted, becomes the connective tissue that creat...

American flyer Watt parachuted out of his burning bomber into Nazi-occupied Belgium. Assisted by selfless patriots who helped him elude the Gestapo, he began the treacherous journey to Spain, where his life was still in danger since he had fought against ruler General Franco in the Spanish Civil War six years earlier.

Theodore Roosevelt was a man of wide interests, strong opinions, and intense ambition for both himself and his country. When he met Leonard Wood in 1897, he recognised a kindred spirit. Moreover, the two men shared a zeal for making the United States an imperial power that would challenge Great Britain as world leader. For the remainder of their lives, their careers would intertwine in ways that shaped the American nation. When the Spanish American War came, both men seized the opportunity to...

This is Philip Efiong's account of the Nigeria-Biafra Civil War (1967-70). He was a key player during the event and second-in-command to the Biafran leader, General Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu. The story begins with the coup d'etats of January and July 1966, and recounts ensuing ethnic and regional conflicts. After the first coup,Efiong is posted to State House as Principal Staff Officer and then to Kaduna as Acting Commander of the First Brigade. But the second coup is executed shortly after an...

This Osprey Command title looks closely at the early life, military experiences and key battlefield exploits of Field Marshal Bernard Law Montgomery, first Viscount Montgomery of Alamein (1887-1976), perhaps the best-known, most highly respected and most controversial British general of World War II. Monty's reputation was made while in command in North Africa, in the Mediterranean and then North-West Europe. Arguably his best-known achievement was rebuilding a dispirited and defeated eighth arm...