From the birth of the United States, African American men and women have fought and died in defense of a nation that has often denied them many fundamental rights of citizenship. Now Gerald Astor has chronicled their efforts and accomplishments in this critically acclaimed survey. From Crispus Attucks, the first casualty of the American Revolution, to fighters on both sides of the Civil War, Astor moves to the postwar Indian campaigns and the infamous Brownsville riot. He also documents the prejudices and grievous wrongs that have kept African Americans from service--and finally traces their...
From the birth of the United States, African American men and women have fought and died in defense of a nation that has often denied them many fundam...
From critically acclaimed military historian Gerald Astor comes "Wings of Gold," the first account of how the airplane transformed the U.S. Navy and paved the way to victory in the Pacific in World War II. Astor tracks that fateful journey from its humble beginnings in 1910 when Eugene Ely flew the very first plane off the deck of a U.S. Navy ship to the unprecedented air combat missions that helped defeat the Japanese. Few naval aviators in World War II realized that when they earned their wings of gold they were about to become test pilots for a whole new kind of combat. In their own...
From critically acclaimed military historian Gerald Astor comes "Wings of Gold," the first account of how the airplane transformed the U.S. Navy and p...
Drawing on firsthand accounts by survivors of the bloody Battle of the Bulge, diaries, letters, and official documents, this study describes the events of the campaign, hardships faced by the soldiers, the battle's horrifying costs, and the controversy surrounding the campaign.
Drawing on firsthand accounts by survivors of the bloody Battle of the Bulge, diaries, letters, and official documents, this study describes the event...
Convinced by 1943 that the assault upon Nazi-held Europe would yield swiftly to elite troops, the U.S. Army created parachute regimental combat teams. Drawing on daring volunteers willing to hurl themselves from airplanes and hit the ground fighting, the 517th PRCT became one of the most highly trained airborne units in the world. Blooded in northern Italy in 1944, the Battling Buzzards dropped at night in southern France for the second D-day to spearhead a savage advance through the Champagne region and then into the Alps. Gerald Astor, acclaimed...
The Few and the Brave
Convinced by 1943 that the assault upon Nazi-held Europe would yield swiftly to elite troops, the U.S. Army create...
On December 8, 1941, one day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Japanese Air Force struck the Philippines in the first blow of a devastating invasion. With an undersupplied patchwork army at his command, General Douglas MacArthur led a valiant defense of the Philippines. When defeat came, MacArthur swore he would return, while thousands of POWs fell into Japanese hands -- and faced a living hell that many would not survive. To the dawn of victory...
In this gripping oral history, Gerald Astor brings to life the struggle to...
From the depths of defeat...
On December 8, 1941, one day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Japanese Air Force struck the Philippin...
In ships and planes, they crossed the English Channel. On the other side Hitler's army waited. And the longest day was about to begin.... In the spring of 1944, 120,000 Allied soldiers crossed the English Channel in the most ambitious invasion force ever assembled. Rangers, paratroopers, infantry, and armored personnel, these soldiers--some who had just cut their teeth in Africa and Sicily and some who were brand-new to war--joined a force aimed at the heart of Europe and Hitler's defenses. On the morning of June 6, D-Day began. And in the hours that followed, thousands lost...
In ships and planes, they crossed the English Channel. On the other side Hitler's army waited. And the longest day was about to begin....
Praise FOR Gerald Astor ""No one does oral history better than Gerald Astor. . . . Great reading."" -Stephen Ambrose on The Mighty Eighth ""Gerald Astor has proven himself a master. Here, World War II is brought to life through the hammer blows of their airborne triumphs and fears."" -J. Robert Moskin, author of Mr. Truman's War, on The Mighty Eighth ""Astor captures the fire and passion of those tens of thousands of U.S. airmen who flew through the inferno that was the bomber war over Europe."" -Stephen Coonts on The Mighty Eighth ""Oral history at its...
Praise FOR Gerald Astor ""No one does oral history better than Gerald Astor. . . . Great reading."" -Stephen Ambrose on The Mighty Eighth "...
The Korean War, the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, Cambodia, Lebanon, El Salvador, Grenada, Iran-Contra, Nicaragua, Panama, the Gulf War, Somalia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq
What do these events and scores of others have in common? Each of these wars, incursions, invasions, and covert actions was undertaken by the United States without the benefit of a declaration of war. Where congressional sanction was sought, it usually took the form of a resolution, frequently issued after the fact.
Presidents at War is the first book to examine all of America's...
The Korean War, the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, Cambodia, Lebanon, El Salvador, Grenada, Iran-Contra, Nicaragua, Panama, the Gu...
Terry de la Mesa Allen was one of the most remarkable soldiers in American military history. He failed out of West Point twice, yet ended up as a fearless battalion commander during World War I-- personally leading patrols into no-man's-land. During World War II, following hard and successful combat in North Africa and Sicily, Major General Allen was "fired" by Gen. Omar Bradley from command of the army's 1st Infantry Division for lax personal and unit discipline. Within a year, he was back in combat in command of the crack 104th Division Timberwolves, the first unit to reach the Elbe...
Terry de la Mesa Allen was one of the most remarkable soldiers in American military history. He failed out of West Point twice, yet ended up as a fear...
For nearly five months, starting in mid-September 1944, American GIs battled for the Hurtgen Forest, a fifty-square mile tract of extremely inhospitable terrain.
For nearly five months, starting in mid-September 1944, American GIs battled for the Hurtgen Forest, a fifty-square mile tract of extremely inhospitab...
