Military & War

Forged in Fire takes us inside the secretive world of the Australian commandos.

Following the toppling of Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq in 2003, the SAS launched one of the most intense and secretive operations in its history: Task Force Black.

‘Stop screaming, I'm scared too!' is not what you'd expect to see on the back of a loadmaster's helmet in a Chinook helicopter flying over southern Afghanistan, but for Rod Henderson it sums up his 22 years of service as a soldier in the Australian Army.

Letting you into areas of his life he’s never talked about before, in Zero Negativity, Ant will show you how to embrace failure and use it to your advantage....

Trigger Warning is a story of success, triumph, trauma and overcoming. This is the story of a former Special Operations Engineer as he worked relentlessly to rekindle his life after the war.

Tyler Grey was the epitome of the warrior archetype: a Delta Force operator, a master of counterterrorism. He hunted the worst bullies on the world’s playground—high-value targets, bomb makers, warlords—executing covert missions that never made the news.

Told with gripping suspense, humour and touching warmth, Survivor is Mark Wales' extraordinary life in and out of the SAS, a story of resilience and a testament to the power of transformation....

An enthralling and meticulously researched book, Crossing the Line tells the untold story of how a small group of brave soldiers and two determined reporters exposed one of the greatest military scandals in Australian history....

Forty years after the publication of Eugene Sledge's memoir With the Old Breed at Peleliu and Okinawa comes The Old Breed... The Complete Story Revealed by Eugene's son, Henry, adding new material and immeasurable depth to his father's story.

He is the deadliest American sniper ever, called “the devil” by the enemies he hunted and “the legend” by his Navy SEAL brothers....

Alistair Urquhart was a soldier in the Gordon Highlanders captured by the Japanese in Singapore. He not only survived working on the notorious Bridge on the River Kwai, but he was subsequently taken on one of the Japanese 'hellships' which was torpedoed.

The shocking story of the case against Australia's most highly decorated soldier, Ben Roberts-Smith VC MG, and the defamation trial of the century....

From the author of bestselling Sisters in Captivity, seven remarkable stories of men who served from WWI to Korea–their wartime exploits and achievements through aviation.

GCHQ is the largest and most secretive intelligence organisation in the UK, and has existed for 100 years - but we still know next to nothing about it....

Mosul details the rise of ISIS influence in Australia, the Iran and Australia allegiance to fight Daesh and shows what led up to the battle and the ramifications that are still being felt at home - by our soldiers and the victims of that war....

From the author of The Ground Breaking, longlisted for the National Book Award, comes a riveting saga of the last year of the Civil War—and a revealing new account of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln

Dr Dan Pronk served on over 100 combat missions in Afghanistan as a frontline special forces combat doctor. In this frank memoir, Dan describes the highs and lows of his military-medical career, and the very real toll they took on his mental health and family life....

#1 New York Times bestselling author Admiral McRaven tells stories from his life and career that illustrate the principles of effective leadership during times of crisis.

‘Paddy' Mayne was one of the most outstanding special forces leaders of the Second World War....

As a commander of Delta Force - the most elite counter terrorist organization in the world - Pete Blaber took part in some of the most dangerous, controversial, and significant military and political events of our time....

In the inspiring tradition of Black Hawk Down, this is the riveting real-life story of how an Australian SAS signalman's courage under fire saved more than 80 lives....

This unique, gripping memoir is essential listening for anyone interested in the Special Forces and how they operate....

From age 15 to 40, David Hackworth devoted himself to the US Army and fast became a living legend. In 1971, however, he appeared on television to decry the doomed war effort in Vietnam....

No one is born a leader. But through sheer determination and by confronting life’s challenges, Ant Middleton has come to know the meaning of true leadership....

We all have break points to face - at the gym, in the office, in our personal lives - those moments of self-doubt where we have to dig deep and find something within to grab hold of and push us through....

From the author of bestselling Sisters in Captivity, seven remarkable stories of men who served from WWI to Korea–their wartime exploits and achievements through aviation.

In The Hemlock Cup, award-winning historian Bettany Hughes brings to vivid life one of the most influential thinkers the world has ever known: Socrates of Athens. A maverick philosopher who philosophised in squares and public arenas rather than the courts of kings, Socrates left his indelible mark on the entirety of Western civilisation - yet the life of the man himself is shrouded in mystery.

Acclaimed military writer Mark Urban explores the extraordinary story of these military pioneers; the toughest and deadliest infantrymen in Wellington's Army. Immortalised in Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe novels, the 95th Rifles were skirmishers tasked with acting as Wellington's advanced guard. It was new technology for the warfare of the time: they travelled light, moved rapidly, armed with the accurate rifles that would allow them to take shots from distance. The 95th Rifles were the prototype of the modern infantryman.

Days before he was drafted in 1962, Dennis Foley volunteered to join the army in the hopes of someday getting into West Point. He was only eighteen years old. At basic training in Fort Dix, New Jersey, a presentation by two impressive, self-confident special forces sergeants made an indelible impression on him. His career would come full circle. In 1972, wearing a green beret, Foley would be given command of his own A-Team.

Discover the remarkable history of the Battle of the Little Bighorn.... The Battle of the Little Bighorn and the massacre of Lieutenant Colonel George Armstrong Custer and five companies of the U. S. 7th Cavalry in June 1876 is one of the best-remembered events of the turbulent period known as the Wild West. This defeat came as a stunning shock to most Americans. Before Custer’s Last Stand, there was a general assumption that in any full-scale battle between Native Americans and the U.S. Army, the army would prevail.

A pesar de los padecimientos y de la monstruosa brutalidad sufridos, Frankl pudo reconocer que, pese a todo, la vida es digna de ser vivida y que la libertad interior y la dignidad humana son indestructibles. La logoterapia, método psicoterapéutico creado por el propio Frankl, se basa precisamente en la búsqueda del sentido de la existencia, en la que el ser humano asume la responsabilidad ante sí mismo, ante los demás y ante la vida.

Corporal Andy Reid was an ordinary soldier, serving in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. But his life changed for ever on Tuesday 13 October 2009, when he was blown up by a Taliban improved explosive device (IED). Evacuated to the UK, it was touch-and-go whether he would survive. He had lost both legs and his right arm, while the index finger of his left hand was almost completely removed. Yet survive he did and less than a month after being blown up, he was reunited with his patrol back in Warminster.

Thousands of miles away from where her son was deployed, a powerful premonition is devastatingly confirmed by a knock on the door from two faceless strangers bearing the news that her son had stepped on an improvised explosive device in the poppy fields of Afghanistan. He had lost both of his legs and suffered multiple other injuries, including partial amputation of all the fingers of his left hand. For forty-eight days she stood at his bedside.

Hans Schiller was a seventeen-year-old student in Bromberg, Prussia, when World War I broke out in August 1914. He enlisted in the German army and was assigned to an artillery unit on the Eastern Front. From 1915 to 1917, Schiller saw action in what is now Latvia, Lithuania, and Poland. After the Bolshevik Revolution in October 1917 and Russia's withdrawal from the war, Schiller was transferred to the Western Front. He arrived in time for Germany's last great offensive in the west.

In diesem Tagebuch steigen wir wieder in das Cockpit eines Jagdflugzeuges. Luftkämpfe, Abschüsse und der Verlust von Kameraden zeichnen den Weg dieses Jagdfliegers, der 1943 seinen ersten Feindflug im Osten erlebte und dann schnell lernen musste, wie die Deutsche Luftwaffe sich zu Tode siegte. Dieser Erlebnisbericht schildert schonungslos die Strapazen und Härten, die diese jungen Männer in der Blüte ihres Lebens durchstehen mussten und zeigt auch die katastrophalen Versorgungsengpässe in der Luftwaffe und die teilweise überstürzten Rückzüge an der Ostfront.

Anyone who has a personal connection with someone who served as an infantryman in Vietnam or simply has curiosity about infantry life in Vietnam will better understand, after listening to this book, the answer to the question "What was daily life like for them there?"

Stripes is a fast-paced, entertaining, and inspirational memoir that chronicles George vonHilsheimer’s remarkable journey. From a failing, aimless teenager, he transformed into an Army paratrooper, helicopter pilot, and eventually, physician. His story is a testament to the power of personal growth and determination. After learning discipline and leadership as a young paratrooper in Europe, George went on to become an attack helicopter pilot who deployed with the 82nd Airborne Division to face Saddam Hussein’s tanks in Iraq.

All Indian Army soldiers are brave, but Naib Subedar Chunni Lal, AC, VrC, SM stood out as one of the bravest. At five feet three, he stood mighty tall. He is a legendary figure in India's military history.

“It is glorious to see such courage in one so young!” So declared Confederate General Robert E. Lee on December 13, 1862, during the battle of Fredericksburg as he watched Major John Pelham fight at least five Union batteries with just one lone gun. The dashing and handsome 24-year-old Alabama officer earned the compliments and admiration of his men, the war gods of Virginia (Lee, Jackson, and Stuart), and Southern society—all while helping transform the concept of horse artillery on Civil War battlefields across Virginia and Maryland.

Ab April 1943 gab es den Block 10 in Auschwitz. Dort wurden medizinische Versuche an rund 800 Frauen vorgenommen, von denen über ein Drittel die Lagerzeit überstanden. Im Stammlager Auschwitz, inmitten eines Männer-KZ, ließ die SS-Lagerleitung Anfang 1943 ein zweistöckiges Gebäude, den Block 10, vom übrigen Gelände abtrennen. In ihm wurden jüdische Frauen eingesperrt, meist mehr als 400, auf engstem Raum.

The book begins with me in High School, (in Los Angeles), experiencing the added challenge of being an elected student council president while not letting all the political benefits affect my ego to the point where it becomes a character fault.

Of the three physicians at the Battle of the Little Big Horn, Doctor George Edwin Lord (1846–76) was the lone commissioned medical officer, an assistant surgeon with the United States Army’s 7th Cavalry. A Life Cut Short at the Little Big Horn tells Lord’s story for the first time. Notable for its unique angle on Custer’s last stand and for its depiction of frontier-era medicine, the book is above all a compelling portrait of the making of an army medical professional in mid-nineteenth-century America.

The Arghandab River Valley is known for its lush vegetation from its grape furrows and its pomegranate orchards. It's also known as the birthplace of several Taliban leaders such as Mullah Omar and Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, and was a major crossing route for weapons coming from Pakistan into Kandahar. This hostile environment had already claimed the lives of many seasoned infantrymen.

What a ride! Strap into the cramped cockpit of a dive-bomber and fly wing as author John F. Forsyth leads you straight down through the blazing guns of the Japanese fleet to plant your bombs on the deck of the super battleship Musachi. Forsyth flew an SB2C Helldiver for Bombing Squadron 18, the "Sunday Punchers," from the deck of the USS Intrepid. Along with the other pilots and airmen of Air Group 18, he played a part in winning some of the greatest naval air battles of World War II • Coron Bay, Formosa (Taiwan), Leyte, Luzon and many others.

In the mid-1960s, before GPS and global tracking, a young man could walk into a shipping hall, sign a paper, and be bound for war by sundown. Roberto Loiederman did precisely that. One day, he was dropping acid in a legendary San Francisco apartment called Cave 7, moving among the era's most influential counterculture figures—including a turbulent friendship with Hunter S. Thompson. The next, he was on the deck of a freighter hauling napalm across the Pacific to Vietnam.

The United States in the mid-1800s boiled with conflict and promise. The bloody Civil War raged. A ruminating President sat in the White House. William Gould Raymond (“W.G.”) was as complicated as the times. His life a mosaic of faith, addiction, health setbacks, his sprawling family, service as a Union Army officer, and then as a Lincoln-appointed hospital chaplain. W.G.’s place in history, though, stands as the initial commanding officer responsible for raising what would become the 1st United States Colored Troops (U.S.C.T.) of the District of Columbia.

A dramatic coming-of-age story and spiritual memoir that traces through the horrors of combat to discovering a spiritual approach that maps one soldier’s journey from the horrors of combat to his discovery of a spiritual approach that heals violence from the inside out.

A military memoir by a biracial child of refugees and survivors, Roadside is about life and death, about family lost and gained, and about America, as a dream and a reality. It’s about the roads one takes to leave home and find it again.

In this gripping second volume of In the Shadow of Giants: Chronicles of Impossible Missions, Liam Monclair delves into the most intense challenges of his career. From an audacious return to the military, to complex evacuations in war zones like Beirut, and perilous missions along the Syrian-Lebanese border, this authentic account takes listeners into the heart of resilience, leadership, and sacrifice. Through personal anecdotes and real-life experiences, Liam shares the lessons learned from moments where every decision could alter the course of events.

Le 5 septembre 1972, la prise d'otages des Jeux olympiques de Munich révèle la montée en puissance d'une nouvelle forme de terrorisme à laquelle les forces de l'ordre ne sont guère préparées. Quelques mois plus tard, le 3 novembre 1973, vingt-cinq gendarmes sélectionnés sur dossier se présentent à Maisons-Alfort pour y passer des épreuves d'un genre nouveau afin d'intégrer le GIGN n°1, une unité d'élite de la gendarmerie que le jeune lieutenant Christian Prouteau a été chargé de mettre en place.