Spanning centuries and continents, Mamet uses war and its players to explore, among other themes, redemption and forgiveness as they unfold in the context of conflict in the form of three novellas. In The Redwing, the first of the three novellas, a 19th-century Secret Service naval officer turned prisoner, then novelist, and finally memoirist recounts his own transformations during the course of his service and imprisonment. The protagonist in Notes on Plain Warfare examines religion through the prism of the American Indian wars. Finally, The Handle and the Hold is a vivid, dialogue-driven tale of two ex-military men who steal a plane in the month before the Israeli War of Independence.

"War Stories III," with free DVD included, brings to life the massive battles that finally defeated Nazi Germany--and the incredibly heroic American servicemen who saved the world from Nazi tyranny.

Collects war stories told by the men who lived through the battles of Bataan, Oki Nawa, Iwa Jima, Midway, Bloody Tarawa, and the Doolittle Raid, among other World War II battles.

After graduating from the University of Missouri in 1969 I was commissioned as an officer in the Marines. I served an interesting tour of duty in Southeast Asia in 1972, during which time I was in and out of six different countriesincluding Vietnam. A greenhorn lieutenant when I landed, I was eventually promoted to captain. Because of my God given take charge personality and a few very junior officer notable accomplishments I found myself frequently being handpicked for special assignments. I saw action with seven different unitssome good some badsome ugly. I saw men die. I saw capable men withered by fatigue, brave men crippled by fear. Since I served, more than forty years ago now, I have had the pleasure and privilege of meeting and getting to know hundreds of fellow-Vietnam Vets; short term acquaintances, professional colleagues, neighbors, close friends, family members. Although our individual Vietnam stories are unique and intensely personal, I have come to realize that a common thread runs through most of them. For more than twenty-five years I have been asked to formally speak to sundry civic organizations, history classes, and social gatherings. As a result of fielding thousands of audience questions and listening to their spontaneous reactions to my talks I have learned what people are interesting in hearing. I have seen their reactions to my version of Americas Vietnam experience. I know whats interesting and whats not; whats important to those who werent there, ordinary people who merely wonder what it was like. I have enjoyed two successful careers and am currently embarked upon my third. I have fired most of lifes best bullets, emptied most of my chosen weapons most precious magazines, drained my fullest canteens, exhausted most of my allotted time on this fair planet we call earth. I want to share a few of the stories of men I served with, men I came to know later in life, men I loved as brothers-in-arms surviving in harms way; or men who were simply Crazy Vietnam Vets (like me) with a special story to tell. Men JUST like meonly different! Ours are interesting up and down tales of wonder and weird, of good times and bad. I am happily married to a seasoned school nurse, am the father of three college educated sons, and have two fine grandsons. I live in Blanco, Texas about forty miles due west of Austin. I have always viewed lifes glass as half full; hope you enjoy our Not Ordinary war stories.

Journalists are actors in international relations, mediating communications between governments and publics, but also between the administrations of different countries. American and foreign officials simultaneously consume the work of U.S. journalists and use it in their own thinking about how to conduct their work. As such, journalists play an unofficial diplomatic role. However, the U.S. news media largely amplifies American power. Instead of stimulating greater understanding, the U.S. elite, mainstream press can often widen mistrust as they promote an American worldview and, with the exception of some outliers, reduce the world into a tight security frame in which the U.S. is the hegemon. This has been the case in Afghanistan since 2001, particularly as emerging Afghan journalists have relied significantly on U.S. and other Western news outlets to report events within their government and their country. Based on eight years of interviews in Kabul, Washington, and New York, Your Country, Our War demonstrates how news has intersected with international politics during the War in Afghanistan and shows the global power and reach of the U.S. news media, especially within the context of the post-9/11 era. It reviews the trajectory of the U.S. news narrative about Afghanistan and America's never-ending war, and the rise of Afghan journalism, from 2001 to 2017. The book also examines the impact of the American news media inside a war theater. It examines how U.S. journalists affected the U.S.-Afghan relationship and chronicles their contribution to the rapid development of a community of Afghan journalists who grappled daily with how to define themselves and their country during a tumultuous and uneven transition from fundamentalist to democratic rule. Providing rich detail about the U.S.-Afghan relationship, especially former President of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai's convictions about the role of the Western press, we begin to understand how journalists are not merely observers to a story; they are participants in it.

Reitan, a rifleman with the Third Infantry Division in World War II, has written a vivid story of four teenagers (one of them an American) who join the Resistance in France during World War II. After adventures with the Resistance, the American becomes an underage rifleman with the Third Infantry Division and participates in the battles experienced by the author. Set in the grim reality of wartime France, this dark-edged novel presents interesting characters, fast-moving action, true-to-life instances of ground combat, and a touch of bittersweet romance.

Termed a "Southern gothic musical," Ghost Brothers of Darkland County was scripted by novelist Stephen King with the music coming from maverick heartland rocker John Mellencamp, a collaboration a bit left-field for both artists. This set includes Mellencamp's songs interspersed with key dialogue from King's libretto, and while the story might be too complex -- essentially, it's the tale of two brothers involved in a murder/suicide whose ghosts haunt an isolated cabin and whose tragic deeds and consequent fate seems about to be repeated by their living nephews -- to be truly appreciated in single-disc form like this, so it's Mellencamp's songs, sung by the likes of Elvis Costello, Neko Case, Sheryl Crow, Dave and Phil Alvin (real-life brothers whose estrangement with each other ended while working on this project), Taj Mahal, Ryan Bingham, Clyde Mulroney, Rosanne Cash, and Kris Kristofferson (Mellencamp only sings on one song here, the summing-it-up last track "Truth") that are really left to carry things. They certainly work as songs, and may well be among the best Mellencamp has ever written, while the overall sound of the whole musical suite, crafted by T-Bone Burnett, is kind of like a sparse and shined-up version of a late-period Tom Waits album, due in part to the presence of multi-instrumentalist Marc Ribot on most of the tracks, and the tight, spare rhythm section of Jay Bellerose on drums and David Piltch on bass. The performances? Elvis Costello sounds gleeful and sinful on "That's Me" (identity and fulfillment are key themes of Ghost Brothers of Darkland Country, that and history's tendency to repeat itself), Neko Case is sassy and sure on "That's Who I Am," Kris Kristofferson sounds old, wise, and weary on "How Many Days," Taj Mahal rages through "Tear This Cabin Down," and Sheryl Crow is confident and cocky on "Jukin'," while Rosanne Cash turns in a delicately worn and wise reading of "You Don't Know Me," and for a story that spans decades and generations, it's obvious that everyone is singing about who they are, who they ought to be, and who they ended up becoming. It's difficult to say how good this musical is just from the songs and pieces of dialogue presented here, but the songs have a weary, inevitable flow to them, as if fate forced them into a dark room with little light or air or chance of redemption. Redemption comes with acceptance of who one is, the songs and story here seem to say, and only then can the real truth about what has happened to anyone really be revealed. It's a ghost story, after all. ~ Steve Leggett

As a GI reporter for the 1st Air Cavalry Division in Vietnam, the author--"an enlisted man writing primarily for enlisted men"--chronicled the experiences of combat soldiers in newspaper and magazine articles. His stories gave the Army's version of events, sprinkled with human interest and humor. They include his observations and photographs of jungle missions, life on firebases, struggles in the rear and his own survival as a harried frontline journalist. He also wrote almost daily letters home to his parents--personal dispatches filled with frank commentary and poignant, at times disturbing, anecdotes. His stories and letters are combined here in chronological order, providing a richly detailed narrative of combat in Vietnam.