Killing civilians : method, madness, and morality in war by Hugo Slim

"Bolstering his claims with hard fact, Slim argues that civilian casualties are not only morally reprehensible but also bad military science. His book is a clarion call for action and a passionate defense of civil immunity, a concept that is more urgent and necessary today than ever before." - Editorial Reviews

The Winter War : Russia's invasion of Finland, 1939-1940 by Robert Edwards

"The Russians meanwhile had markedly damaged their international standing and effectively ruined their military reputation-to such an extent, as this probing chapter in World War II history demonstrates, that Germany, with proud-blooded Finland as an ally, dared to launch its 1940 invasion of Russia. At the same time, though, the fiasco of the Winter War forced Stalin to acknowledge the shortcomings of the Red Army and to reform it: Germany would fall at Stalingrad in 1941." - Editorial Reviews

Baghdad at sunrise : a Brigade Commander's war in Iraq by Peter R Mansoor

"This book will be read by students at military academies and war colleges for years to come. It also speaks to general readers interested in Iraq, in the voices of our soldiers, and in understanding the problems we faced and those we created, without the hyperbole and politicization of most first-person accounts of the early years of this conflict."-Frederick W. Kagan, American Enterprise Institute

Leningrad under siege : first-hand accounts of the ordeal by Ales· Adamovič

"This book tells the story of that long, bitter siege in the words of those who were there. It vividly describes how ordinary Leningraders struggled to stay alive and to defend their beloved city in the most appalling conditions. They were bombed, shelled, starved and frozen. They dug tank-traps and trenches, built shelters and fortifications, fought fires, cleared rubble, tended the wounded and, for as long as they had strength to do so, buried their dead. Many were killed by German bombs or shells, but most of them died of hunger and cold. " -Editorial Reviews

Capital in flames : the American attack on York, 1813 by Robert Malcomson

"As Canada's central depot and naval dockyard on the Great Lakes early in the War of 1812, the capital frontier town of York (present-day Toronto) was a prime target for American forces. In April 1813 a squadron of warships under U.S. Commodore Isaac Chauncey sailed up Lake Ontario and landed about 1,800 soldiers there as the renowned explorer Gen. Zebulon Pike led his men into battle. Though the Americans took the town, their victory proved disappointing. Malcomson challenges conventional ideas about the battle as he brings to life the politicians, soldiers, and citizens whose destinies clashed at York. "- Editorial Reviews

Retribution : the battle for Japan, 1944-45 by Max Hastings

'With unprecedented insight, Hastings discusses Japan’s war against China, now all but forgotten in the West, MacArthur’s follies in the Philippines, the Marines at Iwo Jima and Okinawa, and the Soviet blitzkrieg in Manchuria. He analyzes the decision-making process that led to the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki—which, he convincingly argues, ultimately saved lives. Finally, he delves into the Japanese wartime mind-set, which caused an otherwise civilized society to carry out atrocities that haunt the nation to this day." - Editorial Reviews

World War I : the African front by Edward Paice

"Starred Review. Paice, a fellow of the Royal Geographic Society, has written what is by a significant margin the best book to date on the Great War in East Africa. Paice integrates an impressive spectrum of archival and printed sources into a comprehensive analysis based on the premise that, for economic and emotional reasons, Africa mattered to the European powers. Paice accurately and evocatively describes a campaign in which modern technology was consistently frustrated by terrain, climate and disease. " - Publishers Weekly

Medicine bags and dog tags : American Indian veterans from colonial times to the second Iraq War by Al Carroll

"Drawing on a rich array of archival records and oral traditions, Al Carroll offers the most complete account of Native veterans to date and is the first to take an international approach, drawing comparisons with Native veteran traditions in Canada and Mexico. He debunks the “natural warrior” stereotype as well as the popular assumption that Natives join the military as a refuge against extreme poverty and as a form of assimilation. The reasons for enlistment, he argues, though varied and complex, are invariably connected to the relative strengths of tribal warrior traditions within communities." - Editorial Reviews

Warrior king : the triumph and betrayal of an American commander in Iraq by by Nathan Sassaman

"Warrior King is the explosive memoir of one of the most deeply involved members of the U.S. military in Iraq. This is the first book to take readers from the overnight brutality of combat to the daunting daytime humanitarian tasks of rebuilding Iraq to the upper echelons of the Pentagon to show how and why the war has gone horribly wrong." - Editorial Reviews

The faces of World War II : the Second World War in words and pictures by Max Arthur

"Paying tribute to all who fought and died, this chronologically structured collection of photographs covers all the major events of the Second World War—from the blitzkrieg to the Battle of Britain, from the invasion of Poland to Pearl Harbor. Many of the images capture harrowing combat scenes of conflict, brutality, suffering, and slaughter, but these pictures also include poignant and uplifting scenes of civilians, nurses, and doctors fighting their own battles. " - Editorial Reviews

The Shamrock Battalion in the Great War by Martin J Hogan

"When Martin Hogan began training on a vacant lot to be a soldier, he had no idea that he was about to become part of one of the most famed fighting units of World War I, the 165th Infantry in World War I, a regiment in the famed Rainbow Division. Company K of the Third or Shamrock Battalion had a part in every fight, and those who survived had more wound stripes than soldiers of any other company in the American Expeditionary Forces. Few soldiers saw as much of the war in eighteen months as did Hogan, and in this stirring account he tells of his experiences with graphic power, humility, and humor." - Editorial Reviews

The Civil War and the limits of destruction by Mark E Neely

"Neely begins by contrasting Civil War behavior with U.S. soldiers' experiences in the Mexican War of 1846. He examines Price's Raid in Missouri for evidence of deterioration in the restraints imposed by the customs of war; and in a brilliant analysis of Philip Sheridan's Shenandoah Valley campaign, he shows that the actions of U.S. cavalrymen were selective and controlled. The Mexican war of the 1860s between French imperial forces and republicans provided a new yardstick for brutality: Emperor Maximilian's infamous Black Decree threatened captured enemies with execution." - Editorial Reviews

Eight o'clock ferry to the windward side : seeking justice in Guantánamo Bay by Clive Stafford Smith

"Every time human rights lawyer Clive Stafford Smith lands in Cuba, he takes the eight o’clock ferry to the windward side; his journey ends at Guantánamo Bay. One of the few people in the world who has ongoing independent access to the prison, Smith reveals the grotesque injustices that are perpetrated there in the name of national security—including the justifications created to legitimate the use of torture and the bureaucratic structures that have been put in place to shield prison authorities from legal accountability. " - Editorial Reviews

The galloping ghost : the extraordinary life of submarine legend Eugene Fluckey by Carl LaVO

"LaVO describes meeting the 90-yr-old retired admiral: "With a full shock of hair, trim build, natty clothes, and buoyant demeanor, Fluckey looked much younger and still displayed his characteristic dry wit, despite the fact that Alzheimer's disease had robbed him of many memories. When asked about a long-forgotten episode of his life, the admiral replied with a twinkle in his eyes and hearty laugh,..." - bBNET

Toward the national security state : civil-military relations during World War II by Brian Waddell

"This book places these dramatic shifts in the context of the changing civil-military relations of World War II. It examines these relations in terms of the three central areas of modern warfare-production, strategy, and manpower. Chapters focus on the military-corporate relations involved in mobilizing the "arsenal of democracy"; top-level command relations between President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his military commanders; and the civil-military tensions and relations involved in mobilizing a mass citizen army. A final chapter analyzes what came of these changes as the U.S. institutionalized a striking new civil-military unity in and through the postwar national security state. " - Editorial Reviews

Aircraft carriers at war : a personal retrospective of Korea, Vietnam, and the Soviet confrontation by James L Holloway

"Adm. James Holloway describes this book as a contemporary perspective of the events, decisions, and outcomes in the history of the Cold War Korea, Vietnam, and the Soviet confrontation that shaped today s U.S. Navy and its principal ships-of-the-line, the large-deck, nuclear-powered aircraft carriers. Without question, the admiral is exceptionally well qualified to write such an expansive history. As a carrier pilot in Korea, commander of the Seventh Fleet in Vietnam, Chief of Naval Operations in the mid-1970s, and then as a civilian presidential appointee to various investigative groups, Holloway was a prominent player in Cold War events." - Editorial Reviews

1812 : war with America by Jon Latimer

"This insightful and comprehensive study of the War of 1812 is particularly valuable because it presents that conflict from the perspective of America’s enemy. Latimer’s British point of view—in which he sees the war as a subset of the war wit Napoleon, rather tha as the separate conflict we often view it as—may not be wholly appreciated by U.S. readers. But this impressively researched and well-written account is a fascinating revelation that serves as an excellent mirror in which to study ourselves."--Thomas J. Cutler

Empires of the sea : the siege of Malta, the battle of Lepanto, and the contest for the center of the world by Roger Crowley

"In Empires of the Sea, acclaimed historian Roger Crowley has written his most mesmerizing work to date–a thrilling account of this brutal decades-long battle between Christendom and Islam for the soul of Europe, a fast-paced tale of spiraling intensity that ranges from Istanbul to the Gates of Gibraltar and features a cast of extraordinary characters: Barbarossa, “The King of Evil,” the pirate who terrified Europe; the risk-taking Emperor Charles V; the Knights of St. John, the last crusading order after the passing of the Templars; the messianic Pope Pius V; and the brilliant Christian admiral Don Juan of Austria. " - Editorial Reviews

D-day deception Operation Fortitude and the Normandy invasion by Mary Barbier

“Barbier provides a comprehensive account of Operation Fortitude from planning to conclusion that pays more attention to Fortitude North than many previous accounts and, in addition to presenting the Allied perspective, discusses German responses. In her final assessment, she judges the impact of Fortitude to be minimal.”–SciTech Book News

Black sailor, white Navy : racial unrest in the fleet during the Vietnam War era by John Darrell Sherwood

“This riveting account of racial turmoil in the U.S. Navy will be of immense interest to any student of the Navy, the Vietnam War, the All-Volunteer Force, or race relations in the United States.” —Eugenia C. Kiesling, United States Military Academy