Military & War

Weary was a gentle giant of a man. A boxer and former Wallaby, he could have been an elite sportsman but chose a different path - one that led him from rural Victoria to training as a pharmacist and then to medical school.

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....

‘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.

The powerful biography of Cameron Baird, VC, MG, one of Australia's most decorated modern soldiers....

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.

Stirringly evocative, thought provoking, and often jaw dropping, The Operator ranges across SEAL Team Operator Robert O'Neill's awe-inspiring 400-mission career that included his involvement in attempts to rescue "Lone Survivor" Marcus Luttrell and abducted-by-Somali-pirates Captain...

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.

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....

Harry Freame was the first Australian to win the Distinguished Conduct Medal at Gallipoli. Raised as a samurai, he risked his life again and again to scout the beaches and hills of the battlefield, reporting invaluable intelligence back to his officers.

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....

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

THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER From bestselling historian Saul David, a riveting new history of the British airborne experience across the Second World War. The legendary ‘Red Devils’ were among the finest combat troops of the Second World War. Created at Churchill’s instigation in June 1940...

In addition to Andre Scheepers' personal story, this book reveals more about some of the other men who were distinguished operators in SAS operations during the Rhodesian War....

A riveting story of American fighting men, Outlaw Platoon is Lieutenant Sean Parnell’s stunning personal account of the legendary U.S. Army’s 10th Mountain Division’s heroic stand in the mountains of Afghanistan. Acclaimed for its vivid, poignant, and honest recreation of sixteen brutal...

The war on the Eastern Front from 1941 to 1945 was the bloodiest combat theater in the bloodiest war in history. Oberleutnant Friedrich Wilhelm Sander experienced this bloodshed firsthand when serving with the 11th Panzer-Regiment....

FULLY UPDATED CENTENARY EDITION

‘An important book’ Max Hastings, Sunday Times

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.

In this...

Get into the Navy SEAL mindset with this raw, brutally honest, in-your-face self-help guide that will teach you how to thrive on adversity. During the brutal crucible of Navy SEAL training, instructors often tell students to "embrace the suck." This phrase conveys the one lesson that is vital...

Based on firsthand testimony, this is the story of how one German division changed the course of the invasion, and almost the war....

Men in the furnace of adversity… Step into the extraordinary life of Jake Harper-Ronald, a man whose childhood dream of becoming a soldier led him on an unparalleled journey.

The attacks of September 11, 2001, prompted the creation of a robust and deadly special operations force—Task Force Dagger. Alan C. Mack, Callsign Razor 03, led a team of MH-47E helicopters and armed MH-60s....

NOW A BLOCKBUSTER MOTION PICTURE DIRECTED BY CLINT EASTWOOD—NOMINATED FOR SIX ACADEMY AWARDS, INCLUDING BEST PICTURE From 1999 to 2009, U.S. Navy Seal Chris Kyle recorded the most career sniper kills in United States military history. His fellow American warriors, whom he protected with deadly...

Anyone living in Rhodesia during the 1960s and 1970s would have had a father, husband, brother, or son called up in the defense of the war-torn, landlocked little country. This is the story of Andrew Balaam, a member of the Rhodesian Light Infantry and the Selous Scouts for 12 years....

The #1 New York Times bestselling first-person account of the planning and execution of the Bin Laden raid from a Navy SEAL who confronted the terrorist mastermind and witnessed his final moments. From the streets of Iraq to the rescue of Captain Richard Phillips in the Indian Ocean, and from...

The dramatic story of one of America's greatest and most misunderstood military leaders and presidents, this is a major new interpretation of Ulysses S. Grant....

Dunkirk, the Battle of Britain, the Channel Dash, North Africa, Sicily, Dieppe, D-Day, and the fight against the V1 menace—Group Captain Bobby Oxspring saw action in many of the most famous battles of the Second World War.

Comedian Rob Riggle’s frank, funny, and inspirational memoir about how the lessons he learned while serving in the US Marines prepared him for life, especially when it came to pursuing his comedy dreams. Before he graced movie screens in films like The Hangover and television in shows...

In Balloon Ace: The Life of an Early Airpower Visionary, historian Charles Dusch reconstructs Louis Bennett Jr.'s lost legacy. Advocating for a national aviation reserve years before the writings of "Billy" Mitchell, Bennett created a state aerial militia in 1917, complete with supporting airbases and an airplane factory. When the US Army refused to accept his unit, a frustrated Bennett joined the Royal Air Force to fight on the Western Front, destroying nine German balloons and three aircraft in a matter of days before he himself was shot down.

There are few names in the annals of military history that evoke such emotion, and in some cases controversy, as the small Belgian town of Bastogne. The 101st Airborne are the best known defenders of Bastogne, but they only constituted one third of the eventual force that saved the city from total annihilation. This book digs deeper into the defense of Bastogne, revealing more details about those indomitable "Screaming Eagles" and the other units that stood with them during that punishingly bitter cold winter of 1944/45.

Jean-Louis Fiamenghi nous plonge véritablement dans les coulisses de ces unités d'élite, celles qui sont toujours en première ligne lorsque le terrorisme frappe. Le témoignage rare d'un homme au cœur de l'action. Il a connu les grandes heures de l'Antigang du commissaire Broussard et fut l'un des principaux acteurs de l'interpellation de Mesrine. Il révèle, pour la première fois, son rôle capital, porte de Clignancourt : il est l'un des cinq hommes qui se trouvaient dans le fameux camion bâché. Ce camion et ces policiers que personne n'a jamais pu identifier...

Tripoli (Libye), mi-février 2011. L'auteur, officier traitant (OT) et chef du poste Tripoli raconte son expérience libyenne débutée sous le régime du colonel Kadhafi. Après avoir évoqué son évacuation, il nous relate son retour sur le terrain suite aux frappes de l'aviation française en mars 2011. L'auteur met à profit cette expérience inédite pour illustrer la place et le rôle de la DGSE dans la politique extérieure de la France.

En 1979, Ziad Khoury quitte le Liban, sa terre natale, fragilisé par une guerre engagée depuis quatre ans et s'exile en famille en France. Sa volonté et son ambition lui permettront d'entrer à l'ENA, cette même école, qui dissoute en 2021, sera remplacée par l'INSP. C'est avec justesse et recul, que Ziad Khoury revient sur les années fondatrices de sa vie et nous relate son parcours hors-norme. Ce livre est l'occasion d'expliquer ce qu'est le métier de préfet, un véritable sacerdoce dans la France des campagnes.

Pendant près de 20 ans, Jean-Pierre Augé a été l'une des chevilles ouvrières des services spéciaux français en Afrique. Tour à tour officier de liaison auprès des autorités nigériennes durant la rébellion touarègue, conseiller spécial du président tchadien Idriss Déby, chargé de mission à la présidence ivoirienne sous les mandats d'Henri Konan Bédié, du général putschiste Robert Gueï sans oublier Laurent Gbagbo, le colonel Augé a été durant toutes ces années un témoin de premier plan de l'évolution hors-norme qu'a connu le continent africain.

Soldat au 8e régiment de parachutistes d'infanterie de marine, Mayeul a combattu contre les talibans lors de la tristement célèbre embuscade
d'Uzbin, le 18 août 2008 en Afghanistan. Dans son livre, il relate avec une authenticité inédite les combats de cette journée meurtrière au cours de laquelle dix militaires français ont perdu la vie. En plus de dévoiler la réalité du métier de militaire parachutiste dans les zones de conflits, Mayeul témoigne de la manière dont il a surmonté le syndrome post-traumatique qui l'a frappé après ces épreuves.

Officier traitant à la DGSE durant vingt ans, François Waroux lève le voile sur la réalité de ceux que l’on appelle les " espions". Il révèle les méthodes de surveillance, les manipulations par les agents, les techniques de filature, le travail sous couverture, les méthodes de chantage. Il confie aussi les conflits moraux d’un homme des services secrets amené à faire taire sa conscience pour servir son pays. En tant que spécialiste de l’espionnage industriel et du renseignement politique, il a été envoyé en mission en Éthiopie, au Sénégal, en Tunisie ou au Pakistan.

Ce livre raconte l'histoire vraie d'un père de famille de 36 ans qui menait une vie rangée et qui décide de s'enrôler dans la Légion étrangère pour donner un nouveau sens à son existence. Un choix extrême et douloureux, non sans conséquences. Une histoire longue et mouvementée à partir du moment où Danilo quitte tout, famille mais aussi amis, travail et patrie, pour se présenter au centre de recrutement de la Légion à Aubagne. Débute alors sa carrière militaire qui le conduira à servir la France et à voyager à travers le monde notamment en Afrique.

"J’ai été un otage, j’ai vécu des heures sombres enfermé dans les geôles d’une Katiba islamiste. Je m’étais fait une promesse : si je survis, je témoignerai de ce que j’ai vécu. Une telle perspective m’a aidé à ne pas sombrer dans le désespoir ou la folie. Je suis un militaire, un homme de terrain, un ancien membre du Service Action de la DGSE.
Toute ma vie, j’ai choisi le danger, les missions périlleuses, le combat. J’ai survécu mais cette épreuve m’a changé à jamais. Quand on a envisagé chaque jour comme le dernier, peut-on s’estimer sauvé d’avoir retrouvé la liberté ?"

Buried in archives and forgotten for centuries, the voices of the Revolution are finally revealed in Lost Letters of the American Revolution. This extraordinary collection of more than 100 authentic letters pulls back the curtain on the untold human drama of America’s fight for independence. Here are the words they never meant for us to see: spies sending coded messages in lemon juice, desperate mothers begging Congress for food and shelter, soldiers marching to their deaths, and enslaved men pleading for the liberty they were promised but denied.

Theodor and his two friends, Petro and Ivan had deserted the Soviet Army in Hungary. They had been running for a week. Now they could see Austria just across the elevated railroad track. They waited for the darkness of night to conceal them. The closer they came to the border, the more often the Soviet searchlight swept across them. Could they make it? This is an astounding true story spanning two generations and three wars and containing miracles aplenty to convince any true seeker of God’s ability to guide and protect those who put their trust in Him.

This audiobook collection therapeutic poetry (Book 1 of 3) of his REFLECTION SERIES that marked the beginning of Stephens’ literary journey. As soon as you hear, the narrator‘s voice—an army veteran himself—his highs and his lows don’t just read words, they tell the story the way it should be told.

One of the few RAF aircrew to play a central part in two of the Second World War's most momentous events, the Battle of Britain and D-Day, Cyril 'Frank' Babbage was a survivor. He wasn't just an immensely skilled pilot; he was also blessed with extraordinary good fortune.

From the psych ward to flight deck, from whispered goodbyes to quiet strength, I Remember You is a raw and unflinching book of poetry and prose by Navy veteran Patrick J. Hughes. Seamed from the unvarnished material of trauma, healing, fatherhood, friendship, and mental illness, these poems will find an echo within anyone who's ever stood in a doorway and wondered how to move forward. With a raw honesty and with unexpected graciousness, Hughes charts life after conflict, the unseen scars of depression and PTSD, and the lifelines of salvation that bind us when we are breaking.

In the grand sweep of history, this memoir may seem as small and insignificant as a single atom in a vast universe. Yet, for the combat infantryman whose story it tells, these experiences form a monumental part of his life. Unwittingly shaped into a warrior through the trials of childhood and adolescence, he is unexpectedly drafted into the Vietnam War—an event that changes his world forever. Now, fifty years later, the author reflects on his journey, seeking to understand both the personal impact of those years and the role he played in the larger tapestry of history.

13 June, 1940. Carefully labelled, and each clutching little brown suitcases, Terry, aged seven, and his elder brother Jack, eleven, stand amid the throng of children which crowds the narrow platform at Welling station awaiting the steam engine which will pull them and their fellow evacuees across the country towards their unknown destination – and their new lives...

Delivery Man: The Enemy-Alien Nisei Translator Who Saved His Battalion is the suspenseful, tragic, and true story of a combat translator in a pioneering American special operations force, sent into the heart of a forgotten jungle war in which he fought soldiers of his own ancestry and put his life on the line to save hundreds of his brothers.

He was a career CIA officer. He was also a spy for the Soviet Union. In 1985, Aldrich Ames began selling secrets to the KGB—compromising dozens of CIA operations and costing the lives of multiple American agents. What followed was nearly a decade of deception, luxury, and death, all fueled by greed and personal failure. The CIA had no idea it was being gutted from the inside. In Aldrich Ames: The CIA Turncoat Who Sold Secrets to Moscow, author David G. Stone unpacks the full story of America’s most damaging mole.

The inspiring story of Joe Sacco and his part in the greatest battles of World War II, from Omaha Beach to the liberation of the concentration camp at Dachau, Germany. In his riveting debut, Where the Birds Never Sing, Jack Sacco recounts the realistic, harrowing, at times horrifying, and...

In Fast Jets on the Front Line, Alan Munro reflects on his time in the RAF and the Cold War jets which he flew. Having started his career after basic training on the Gloster Javelin with No. 228 OCU, Alan went on to become a flying instructor at No. 1 Flying Training School, Linton-on-Ouse. But with the United Kingdom's withdrawal from East of Suez, he found himself with a ground posting and questioning whether he would see front-line flying again.

Phillip I. Elkins, also known as Señor Felipe, is a Vietnam veteran, storyteller, salsa maker, father, son, educator, author, musician, and radio host of LA Sounds on KZFR, 90.1, Chico, California. Having survived Vietnam (des-cribed in his book My Year in Vietnam) Phil thinks his life will be a cakewalk. It turns out to be anything but. Coming Home from the War in Vietnam tells of the complexities of postwar life.

In Portrait of a Kaleidoscope Life, Dr. Douglas Johnson shares a dazzling mosaic of moments that are as daring as they are transformative. From bloody bullfights and failed parachute jumps to conducting cancer research and surviving his own diagnosis, his life defies convention and embraces reinvention. Along the way, he finds himself caught in the collapse of the Shah of Iran, the chaos of the Desert One rescue mission, and the shadows of nuclear disasters like Chernobyl.

This project started with a conversation between myself and my friend Douglas. We were discussing his songwriting and his love for the lyrics and stories behind them. I was so excited to share these letters with him that my father had written to my mother while my father was serving as a doctor in the Viet Nam.