Popular Military History Books

Title: Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption

<p>On a May afternoon in 1943, an Army Air Forces bomber crashed into the Pacific Ocean and disappeared, leaving only a spray of debris and a slick of oil, gasoline, and blood. &nbsp;Then, on the ocean surface, a face appeared. &nbsp;It was that of a young lieutenant, the plane’s bombardier, who was struggling to a life raft and pulling himself aboard.&nbsp; So began one of the most extraordinary odysseys of the Second World War.</p> <p>The lieutenant’s name was Louis Zamperini. &nbsp;In boyhood, he’d been a cunning and incorrigible delinquent, breaking into houses, brawling, and fleeing his home to ride the rails. &nbsp;As a teenager, he had channeled his defiance into running, discovering a prodigious talent that had carried him to the Berlin Olympics and within sight of the four-minute mile. &nbsp;But when war had come, the athlete had become an airman, embarking on a journey that led to his doomed flight, a tiny raft, and a drift into the unknown.</p> <p>Ahead of Zamperini lay thousands of miles of open ocean, leaping sharks, a foundering raft, thirst and starvation, enemy aircraft, and, beyond, a trial even greater. &nbsp;Driven to the limits of endurance, Zamperini would answer desperation with ingenuity; suffering with hope, resolve, and humor; brutality with rebellion. &nbsp;His fate, whether triumph or tragedy, would be suspended on the fraying wire of his will.</p> <p>In her long-awaited new book, Laura Hillenbrand writes with the same rich and vivid narrative voice she displayed in <i>Seabiscuit</i>. &nbsp;Telling an unforgettable story of a man’s journey into extremity, Unbroken is a testament to the resilience of the human mind, body, and spirit.</p>

Author(s): Laura Hillenbrand

ISBN 13: 9781400064168
Pages: 473

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Title: Killing Patton: The Strange Death of World War II's Most Audacious General

Readers around the world have thrilled to Killing Lincoln, Killing Kennedy, and Killing Jesus--riveting works of nonfiction that journey into the heart of the most famous murders in history. Now from Bill O'Reilly, anchor of The O'Reilly Factor, comes the most epic book of all in this multimillion-selling series: Killing Patton. General George S. Patton, Jr. died under mysterious circumstances in the months following the end of World War II. For almost seventy years, there has been suspicion that his death was not an accident--and may very well have been an act of assassination. Killing Patton takes readers inside the final year of the war and recounts the events surrounding Patton's tragic demise, naming names of the many powerful individuals who wanted him silenced.

Author(s): Bill OReilly;Martin Dugard

ISBN 13: 9780805096682
Pages: 304

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Title: Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli Pirates: The Forgotten War That Changed American History

This is the little-known story of how a newly indepen­dent nation was challenged by four Muslim powers and what happened when America’s third president decided to stand up to intimidation. When Thomas Jefferson became president in 1801, America faced a crisis. The new nation was deeply in debt and needed its economy to grow quickly, but its merchant ships were under attack. Pirates from North Africa’s Barbary coast routinely captured American sailors and held them as slaves, demanding ransom and tribute payments far beyond what the new coun­try could afford. Over the previous fifteen years, as a diplomat and then as secretary of state, Jefferson had tried to work with the Barbary states (Tripoli, Tunis, Algiers, and Morocco). Unfortunately, he found it impossible to negotiate with people who believed their religion jus­tified the plunder and enslavement of non-Muslims. These rogue states would show no mercy—at least not while easy money could be made by extorting the Western powers. So President Jefferson decided to move beyond diplomacy. He sent the U.S. Navy’s new warships and a detachment of Marines to blockade Tripoli—launching the Barbary Wars and beginning America’s journey toward future superpower status.

Author(s): Brian Kilmeade;Don Yaeger

ISBN 13: 9781591848066
Pages: 240

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Title: Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution

In September 1776, the vulnerable Continental Army under an unsure George Washington (who had never commanded a large force in battle) evacuates New York after a devastating defeat by the British Army. Three weeks later, near the Canadian border, one of his favorite generals, Benedict Arnold, miraculously succeeds in postponing the British naval advance down Lake Champlain that might have ended the war. Four years later, as the book ends, Washington has vanquished his demons and Arnold has fled to the enemy after a foiled attempt to surrender the American fortress at West Point to the British. After four years of war, America is forced to realize that the real threat to its liberties might not come from without but from within.

Author(s): Nathaniel Philbrick

ISBN 13: 9780525426783
Pages: 448

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Title: American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History

From 1999 to 2009, U.S. Navy SEAL Chris Kyle recorded the most career sniper kills in United States military history. Iraqi insurgents feared him so much they called him al-Shaitan ("the devil") and placed a $20,000 bounty on his head. Kyle earned legendary status among his fellow SEALs, Marines, and U.S. Army soldiers, fighting alongside them in the streets, as well as protecting them from rooftops and stealth positions. Through four combat deployments, he was awarded seven medals for bravery, including two Silver Stars. Gripping and unforgettable, Kyle's masterful account of his extraordinary battlefield experiences ranks as one of the great war memoirs of all time.

Author(s): Chris Kyle

ISBN 13: 9780062238863
Pages: 448

Title: The Hiding Place

This 35th anniversary edition of a best-selling book recounts Corrie tenBoom's horrific experiences in Hitler's concentration camps, explains how she survived, and offers hope through her timeless message of courage and faith.

Author(s): Corrie ten Boom;Elizabeth Sherrill;John Sherrill

ISBN 13: 9780800794057
Pages: 269

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Title: Rise of the Rocket Girls

For the first time, Rise of the Rocket Girls tells the stories of these women--known as "human computers"--who broke the boundaries of both gender and science.

Author(s): Nathalia Holt

ISBN 13: 9780316338929
Pages: 304

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Title: The Forgotten 500: The Untold Story of the Men Who Risked All for the Greatest Rescue Mission of World War II

Draws on recently declassified documents and exclusive interviews to recount the dramatic story of a World War II rescue mission in 1944 during which the OSS embarked on a daring scheme to recover more than five hundred airmen trapped ...

Author(s): Gregory A. Freeman

ISBN 13: 9780451224958
Pages: 313

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