A “virtually faultless” account of the final weeks of World War II in the Pacific and the definitive history of the battle for Stalingrad together in one volume (The New York Times Book Review). Author William Craig traveled to three different continents, reviewed thousands of documents, and interviewed hundreds of survivors to write these New York Times–bestselling histories, bringing the Eastern Front and the Pacific Theater of World War II to vivid life. The Fall of Japan masterfully recounts the dramatic events that brought an end to the Pacific War and forced a once-mighty nation to surrender unconditionally. From the ferocious fighting on Okinawa to the all-but-impossible mission to drop the second atom bomb, and from Franklin D. Roosevelt’s White House to the Tokyo bunker where tearful Japanese leaders first told the emperor the war was lost, Craig draws on Japanese and American perspectives to capture the pivotal events of these climactic weeks with spellbinding authority. Enemy at the Gates chronicles the bloodiest battle of the war and the beginning of the end for the Third Reich. On August 5, 1942, giant pillars of dust rose over the Russian steppe, marking the advance of Hitler’s 6th Army. The Germans were supremely confident; in three years, they had not suffered a single defeat. The siege of Stalingrad lasted five months, one week, and three days. Nearly two million men and women died, and the 6th Army was completely destroyed. The Soviet victory foreshadowed Nazi Germany’s downfall and the rise of a communist superpower. Heralded by Cornelius Ryan, author of The Longest Day, as “the best single work on the epic battle of Stalingrad,” Enemy at the Gates was the inspiration for the 2001 film of the same name, starring Joseph Fiennes and Jude Law.

A navy admiral’s firsthand accounts of three triumphant operations in Europe and North Africa during World War II. After the attack on Pearl Harbor, naval engineering genius Edward Ellsberg came out of retirement to serve his country once again. In these three riveting histories, he recounts the incredible salvage missions and audacious battle plans he took part in during the Second World War. Under the Red Sea Sun: In 1942, Mussolini’s forces were on the run in East Africa. At Massawa, Eritrea, the fleeing Italians left the largest mass wreck in the world, turning a vital port into a tangle of shattered ships and dangerous booby traps. In order to continue the war effort and push back the Axis powers in Africa, the Allies enlisted Commander Ellsberg, who navigated the complicated American and British bureaucracies to pull off a historic feat of engineering—the largest of its kind the world had ever seen. The Far Shore: Rear Admiral Ellsberg describes in detail the meticulous preparation and efforts behind the Normandy Invasion—efforts that would keep the flow of men and materials streaming onto the beaches and into the heart of Europe. From dealing with the extremes of engineering possibilities to wrestling with the knowledge that countless lives depended on the success of his intricate planning, Ellsberg worked himself into exhaustion to do his part. Vividly described by a man who saw firsthand the horrors of war and the cost of victory, The Far Shore takes readers through the brutal surf, onto the bloody beaches, and into the mind of one of World War II’s little-known heroes. No Banners, No Bugles: In Oran, Algeria, a crucial port city, Ellsberg helped the Allies prepare for Operation Torch, the fight to reclaim North Africa from the Axis powers. As General Eisenhower’s chief of salvage in the Mediterranean, Ellsberg had to sort out the disorganized mess left by the Vichy French and find a way to open the harbor, though his flagging health proved to be a dangerous obstacle. No Banners, No Bugles is the riveting story of how Ellsberg, the miracle worker, tackled his greatest mission yet.

An in-depth examination of the effects of World War II on the Great Plains states brings to life the voices and experiences of the residents of the region in recounting the stories of the daily concerns of ordinary people.

The true story of the US Army’s Comanche Code Talkers, from their recruitment and training to active duty in World War II and postwar life. Among the allied troops that came ashore in Normandy on D-Day, June 6, 1944, were thirteen Comanches in the 4th Infantry Division, 4th Signal Company. Under German fire they laid communications lines and began sending messages in a form never before heard in Europe?coded Comanche. For the rest of World War II, the Comanche Code Talkers played a vital role in transmitting orders and messages in a code that was never broken by the Germans. This book tells the full story of the Comanche Code Talkers for the first time. Drawing on interviews with all surviving members of the unit, their original training officer, and fellow soldiers, as well as military records and news accounts, William C. Meadows follows the group from their recruitment and training to their active duty in World War II and on through their postwar lives up to the present. He also provides the first comparison of Native American code talking programs, comparing the Comanche Code Talkers with their better-known Navajo counterparts in the Pacific and with other Native Americans who used their languages, coded or not, for secret communication. Meadows sets this history in a larger discussion of the development of Native American code talking in World Wars I and II, identifying two distinct forms of Native American code talking, examining the attitudes of the American military toward Native American code talkers, and assessing the complex cultural factors that led Comanche and other Native Americans to serve their country in this way. “Of all the books on Native American service in the U.S. armed forces, this is the best. . . . Readers will find the story of the Comanche Code Talkers compelling, humorous, thought-provoking, and inspiring.” —Tom Holm, author of Strong Hearts, Wounded Souls: Native American Veterans of the Vietnam War

This introduction to a pivotal historical period and the leaders who shaped it tells the story of the major events in the war, including the prelude to war, the initiation of hostilities, the most important battles, the military strategies and counter-strategies, Allied victory, and the rebuilding of Europe and the emergence of a new world order, as well as exploring profiles of key Allied and Axis military and political figures.

When Franklin Delano Roosevelt founded the Civilian Conservation Corps in 1933, newspapers relating to the organization were launched almost immediately. Happy Days, the semi-official newspaper of the CCC, and other such publications served as soundings boards for opinions among the CCC enrollees, encouraged and instructed the men as they assumed their new roles, and generally supported the aims of Roosevelt's New Deal program. Happy Days also encouraged and instructed editors in the production of camp newspapers--well over 5,000 were published by almost 3,000 of the CCC companies from 1933 to 1942. This book considers all phases of life in the CCC throughout its existence from various perspectives, and analyzes the history of CCC camp journalism. As the author points out, the CCC newspapers were and still are significant because they provide readers with a look at American life--socially, politically, culturally and militarily--during the Great Depression. It also focuses on how Happy Days and other newspapers were created and distributed, who wrote for them, and what they contained.

From the bestselling author of The Map and the Territory and Capitalism in America The Age Of Turbulence is Alan Greenspan’s incomparable reckoning with the contemporary financial world, channeled through his own experiences working in the command room of the global economy longer and with greater effect than any other single living figure. Following the arc of his remarkable life’s journey through his more than eighteen-year tenure as chairman of the Federal Reserve Board to the present, in the second half of The Age of Turbulence Dr. Greenspan embarks on a magnificent tour d’horizon of the global economy. The distillation of a life’s worth of wisdom and insight into an elegant expression of a coherent worldview, The Age of Turbulence will stand as Alan Greenspan’s personal and intellectual legacy.

Eclectic criticism and insightful observations from “one of the most respected cultural historians working today” (Ronald A. Wells, Professor of History Emeritus, Calvin College). “From cowboy philosopher Will Rogers to popular perceptions of two world wars and Vietnam, from the history of language to the language of film and television, Peter Rollins has devoted his career to exploring the intriguing ways in which the creative impulse both shapes and reflects American culture. His observations are fresh, illuminating and of enduring value.” —John E. O’Connor, co-founder/editor of Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television Studies “Examines the roles of language, satire, and film in reflecting the American consciousness through such diverse sources as Orestes Brownson, Benjamin Lee Whorf, Will Rogers, and Hollywood. Readers of America Reflected are in for a delightful voyage as they travel through American history and culture with Peter Rollins as their guide providing personal and scholarly insights into the shaping of the American mind.” —Ron Briley, editor of The Politics of Baseball: Essays on the Pastime and Power at Home and Abroad “Even those who have known and admired Peter Rollins’s acclaimed works will here find enlightening surprises. Epistemology, language theory, war’s polemics, filmed history, and an array of significant creators of American culture are all elegantly displayed. This book will make you a wiser person and charm you while it does it.” —John Shelton Lawrence, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, Morningside College “Two decades ago I was privileged to work on a book, America Observed, with Alistair Cooke. Now we have America Reflected by Peter Rollins . . . Not only does Rollins make good observations about our lives and times, his reflections on a diverse set of subjects helps us to see the meanings of our observations.” —Ronald A. Wells, Professor of History Emeritus, Calvin College “Rollins gathers together glimpses of our shared worlds, so that we may observe their interconnections across media, genres, and time. From down-home values and front-porch philosophy, to tales of wars and chronicles of lives, the subjects considered here are all part of the stories we tell about ourselves and our social worlds.” —Cynthia J. Miller, President, Literature/Film Association