Military

A SAS soldier's journey from trainee to elite warrior fighting Islamic militants in Afghanistan, only to be betrayed by his own senior leaders at home. 'I've had more than my share of close calls. Truth is, it's fucking thrilling. But the fear can hit just as hard, especially when you see mates...

The extraordinary story of the heroic doctor whose courage and leadership were a lifeline for thousands of Australian prisoners-of-war on the infamous Thai-Burma Railway of World War II - brilliantly told by Australia's favourite storyteller, Peter FitzSimons In September 1939, young Australian...

The story begins in 1629, when the pride of the Dutch East India Company, the Batavia, is on its maiden voyage en route from Amsterdam to the Dutch East Indies, laden down with the greatest treasure to leave Holland....

For Australians, Kokoda is the iconic battle of World War II, yet few people know just what happened and just what our troops achieved....

In Forging the Will to Fight, retired Special Forces Major Heston Russell delivers a raw and deeply personal memoir that cuts through the mythology of war to reveal the real human cost — and courage — of leadership in combat and beyond. From commanding elite Australian commandos in...

Throughout the twentieth century, the pilots of the Royal Australian Navy carved their name with pride to build a service that would take shape as the Navy's Fleet Air Arm. Australian naval aviators stood tall in the gallant ranks of the fighter Aces of World War 1.They fought, and some of them...

Own five of history's most influential books on strategy, power, war, and leadership in one complete audiobook. Together, these timeless classics have shaped the thinking of military commanders, political leaders, entrepreneurs, executives, and strategists for centuries.

'The bloodstained drama of the last decades of the Roman republic... is told afresh with tremendous wit, narrative verve and insight' 'I owe a debt of gratitude to Tom Holland not just for reminding me of the great figures who bestrode the Roman world - Pompey and Crassus, Cato, Cicero and...

‘Paddy’ Mayne was one of the most outstanding special forces leaders of the Second World War. Hamish Ross’s authoritative study follows Mayne from solicitor and a rugby international to troop commander in the Commandos and then the SAS, whose leader he later became and whose annals he...

The Battle of Le Hamel on 4 July 1918 was an Allied triumph, and strategically very important in the closing stages of WWI. A largely Australian force, commanded by the brilliant Sir John Monash, fought what has been described as the first modern battle - where infantry, tanks, artillery and...

Stephen E. Ambrose’s classic New York Times bestseller and inspiration for the acclaimed HBO series about Easy Company, the ordinary men who became the World War II’s most extraordinary soldiers at the frontlines of the war's most critical moments. Featuring a foreword from Tom Hanks. They...

Bloomsbury presents Bagration 1944: The Great Soviet Offensive by Prit Buttar, read by Leighton Pugh. A fascinating history of the great summer offensive launched by the Red Army in 1944 which turned the tide of the war. Throughout the war on the Eastern Front, there were two consistent trends...

LT Dick Thompson, codename Dynamite, describes in detail that takes your breath away, brutal firefights and hand-to-hand combat against overwhelming odds. Follow Dynamite as he transitions from a Airborne Ranger Special Forces warrior into one of the most elite, tier-one special operators.

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. With a Victoria Cross and Medal for Gallantry, Ben Roberts-Smith was the most highly decorated Australian soldier, the best of the best. When he...

Bill was massive. He had power, intelligence and unmatched courage. In performance and character he stood above all the other 200,000 Australian horses sent to the Middle East in the Great War....

Australian General Sir John Monash changed the way wars were fought and won....

Our heroes can come from the most ordinary of places. As a shy lad growing up in country Victoria, no one in the district had any idea the man Albert Jacka would become. Albert 'Bert' Jacka was 21 when Britain declared war on Germany in August 1914. Bert soon enlisted in the Australian Imperial...

Uncover the true story of the man who unified medieval Japan. For 700 years, Japan was ruled by military commanders who waged war against one another incessantly. Shogun tells the fascinating story of Tokugawa Ieyasu, the man who finally unified and brought lasting peace to the nation. He...

Entrepreneur Jesse Itzler chronicles his month of living and extreme fitness training with a Navy SEAL in this New York Times bestseller—now with two bonus chapters. Jesse Itzler will try almost anything. His life is about being bold and risky. So when Jesse felt himself drifting on autopilot...

SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2023 WALKLEY BOOK AWARD SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2023 AUSTRALIAN POLITICAL BOOK OF THE YEAR SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2024 ABIA GENERAL NON-FICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR WINNER OF THE 2024 DANGER AWARD FOR TRUE CRIME 'There is no doubt the truth would have been concealed and our concerns...

Since its publication in 1960, William L. Shirer’s monumental study of Hitler’s German empire has been widely acclaimed as the definitive record of the twentieth century’s blackest hours. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich offers an unparalleled and thrillingly told examination of how...

Nancy Wake, nicknamed 'the white mouse' for her ability to evade capture, tells her own story. As the Gestapo's most wanted person, and one of the most highly decorated servicewomen of the war, it's a story worth telling....

In 1858, 14-year-old Narcisse Pelletier sailed from Marseilles in the French trader Saint-Paul. With a cargo of Bordeaux wine, they stopped in Bombay, then Hong Kong, and from there they set sail with more than 300 Chinese prospectors bound for the goldfields of Ballarat and Bendigo. Around the...

“A remarkable—and singularly chilling—glimpse of human behavior. . .This meticulously researched book...represents a major contribution to the literature of the Holocaust.""—Newsweek Now available in audio for the first time, Christopher R. Browning’s shocking account of how a unit of...

From the best-selling author of The Commando and Born to Fight comes a fascinating investigation of modern warfare that combines methodical research and the fast-paced action of battle with the personal stories of the combatants on both sides of the line. Taking us from the suburbs of western...

A SAS soldier's journey from trainee to elite warrior fighting Islamic militants in Afghanistan, only to be betrayed by his own senior leaders at home. 'I've had more than my share of close calls. Truth is, it's fucking thrilling. But the fear can hit just as hard, especially when you see mates...

211 BC: Hannibal's struggle against the Romans in Italy continues, but the Carthaginians have been utterly defeated on Sicily. Fleeing the island to Spain, Hanno and Aurelia are shipwrecked, and taken prisoner by local tribesmen. Unless they escape, a life of slavery and brutal treatment awaits...

New York Times Editors' Choice One of People's 15 Most Anticipated Books of Summer The Next Big Idea Club's July 2026 Must-Read Books One of the New York Times Nonfiction Everyone Will Be Reading This Summer Sunset Magazine's 15 New Books You Don't Want to Miss From Annie Jacobsen, the author of...

The Japanese experience of war from the late-nineteenth to the mid-twentieth century presents a stunning example of the meteoric rise and shattering fall of a great power. As Japan modernized and became the one non-European great power, its leaders concluded that an empire on the Asian mainland...

With the outbreak of Gulf War hostilities a unit from 22 SAS slipped quietly over the border and into the enemy's backyard. It would be six weeks before any of the patrol again reached safety. Sabre Squadron recounts in graphic detail their scud-busting operations deep inside Iraq. They were...

Bloomsbury presents Dien Bien Phu 1954: The French Defeat that Lured America into Vietnam by Martin Windrow, read by Thomas Judd A study of the battle at Dien Bien Phu, the 56-day siege that eventually led to the surrender of the remaining French-led forces, this iconic battle provided the...

Throughout the twentieth century, the pilots of the Royal Australian Navy carved their name with pride to build a service that would take shape as the Navy's Fleet Air Arm. Australian naval aviators stood tall in the gallant ranks of the fighter Aces of World War 1.They fought, and some of them...

Coup d'État astonished readers when it first appeared in 1968 because it showed, step by step, how governments could be overthrown. Translated into sixteen languages, it has inspired anti-coup precautions by regimes around the world. In addition to these detailed instructions, Edward Luttwak's...

What role did German big business play in the persecution of European Jews during the Holocaust? What were its motivations? And how did it respond to changing social and economic circumstances after the war? Profits and Persecution examines how the leaders of Germany's largest industrial and...

A riveting retelling of one of the great adventure stories of antiquity—when Greek philosopher-warrior Xenophon led a stranded band of the “Ten Thousand” mercenary soldiers on a treacherous escape from the Persians. 400 BC. The Persian prince Cyrus the Younger hires an army of Greek...

Bloomsbury Presents The Battle of Gettysburg 1863: The First Day, by Timothy J. Orr, read by Tom Alexander An authoritative and superbly illustrated exploration of the events of July 3, 1863, incorporating new interpretations that have arisen in the past two decades. The third day of the Battle...

Bloomsbury Presents The Battle of Gettysburg 1863: The Third Day by Timothy J. Orr, read by Tom Alexander An authoritative and superbly illustrated exploration of the events of July 3, 1863, incorporating new interpretations that have arisen in the past two decades. The third day of the Battle...

Richard V. Lowney Jr. spent his career building software that millions of people used without knowing his name. The other thing he was building, without realizing it, is what kept him alive. He grew up in one of Boston's toughest neighborhoods, the son of a factory worker and the grandson of an Irish immigrant who died on the Charlestown docks. He enlisted in the Army during Vietnam, worked with early computing systems in Cold War Germany, and came home to a country that had changed while he was gone.

INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “Beguiling, troubling and ultimately heartbreaking… Ostler employs her research skills like an X-ray technician, peeking beneath the painting’s shimmering surface to reveal secrets and betrayals at the heart of both a single Jewish family and French...

The story of Black Hawk Down is a familiar one. On 3 October 1993 two Black Hawk helicopters were shot down, and in the ensuing Battle of Mogadishu eighteen Americans and hundreds of Somalis were killed. But very few appreciate that this was one day in a two-and-a-half-year operation; the most...

Bloomsbury presents Generalship on the Eastern Front, 1941–45: A Study in Command by Robert Forczyk, read by Elliot Chapman A comprehensive evaluation of generalship on the most important front in World War II. The war on the Eastern Front from 1941 to 1945 was the largest sustained air-ground...

"A tale of violence and political intrigue that reads like a Tom Clancy novel written by Fyodor Dostoyevsky." —The Wall Street Journal "Riveting . . . It's a vital window onto the weird world of secretive, privatized modern warfare." —Publishers Weekly (starred review) An eye-opening...

The 1979 Islamic Revolution triggered a cold war between Iran and the United States—former fast friends. Despite the US's relentless efforts at containment, Iran has risen as a formidable power in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Yemen, and Gaza. Its newfound status not only frustrates the US but has...

An award-winning military strategist and top West Point professor unlocks the secrets to success in the wars that mattered most, offering fresh insights from history about leadership, power, and the art of better decision making in our modern world. What makes a general great? What should...

The Art of War—is a timeless manual on strategy and leadership, first translated into English by Lionel Giles in 1910. Written by Sun Tzu in ancient China, it teaches that victory depends on preparation, discipline, and wisdom rather than brute force. The text emphasizes knowing yourself and your enemy, adapting to changing circumstances, conserving resources, and winning without unnecessary conflict. Though originally a military treatise, its lessons apply to business, politics, sports, and personal decision making.

What if the most shocking chapters of modern history were the ones governments never wanted you to read? This gripping audiobook opens the files on declassified intelligence operations, secret military experiments, nuclear disasters, espionage networks, hidden surveillance programs, political cover-ups, and buried historical truths.

Learn from losing three wars—or lose the next one in 2033. Bing West is the only historian to serve on the front lines in Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan—and at the highest levels of government. He fought in the battles he writes about, and he explains with firsthand insight why our grunts...

Bloomsbury presents Iran and the Bomb, written and read by Sina Azodi Iran’s nuclear program remains one of the most contentious issues of modern international politics. This book is the first to trace the evolution of Iran’s nuclear strategy (program) in the broader context of its...

Are you prepared for the unthinkable? Nuclear attacks. Invasions. Economic collapse. Martial law. If World War III broke out tomorrow, would your family survive? The World War 3 Survival Guide by Shahzad Kayani is one of the most comprehensive and realistic manuals ever written on how to survive a modern global conflict. This isn’t theory or fantasy, it’s grounded in real-world military tactics, historical lessons, and today’s evolving threats. Whether you fear invasion, nuclear fallout, power grid failure, or food shortages, this guide will show you how to stay alive and prepared.

In this stirring and contrarian modern classic, bestselling author H. W. Crocker III unfolds four hundred years of American military history, revealing how Americans were born Indian fighters whose military prowess carved out first a continental and then a global empire—a Pax Americana that made the modern world. From the seventeenth century on, he argues, Americans have shown a jealous regard for their freedom—and have backed it up with an unheralded skill in small-unit combat operations, a tradition that includes Rogers’s Rangers, Merrill’s Marauders, and today’s Special Forces.