A decisive account of how Franklin D. Roosevelt used federal power and taxpayer capital to build the industrial machine that won World War II—before the first American shot was fired.When France fell to Germany in the summer of 1940, the United States lacked the factories, shipyards, and industrial facilities needed to fight a global war. Built for War examines how the United States created the industrial foundation required not just to fight but to win a ...

During the Battle of Midway in June 1942, US Navy dive bomber pilot Wade McClusky proved himself to be one of the greatest pilots and combat leaders in American history, but his story has never been told – until now.It was Wade McClusky who remained calm when the Japanese fleet was not where it was expected to be. It was he who made the counterintuitive choice to then search to the north instead of to the south. It was also McClusky who took the calculated risk of ...

An important look at how America has won its wars in the past and how it can continue winning in the future.Is there a recipe for military success? In No Substitute for Victory, author David Rigby grapples with this issue and determines that, in the case of the United States, there are a number of different strategies that have brought victory in battle to American forces over the years.In a clear, energetic prose, Rigby explains how the dropping o...

Awarded NASOH's 2012 "John Lyman Book Award for Best U.S. Naval History," Allied Master Strategists describes the unique and vital contribution to Allied victory in World War II made by the Combined Chiefs of Staff. Based on a combination of primary and secondary source material, this book proves that the Combined Chiefs of Staff organization was the glue holding the British-American wartime alliance together. As such, the Combined Chiefs of Staff was probably the most important i...

Bloomsbury presents Wade McClusky and the Battle of Midway by David Rigby, read by Keith MacKechnie.During the Battle of Midway in June 1942, US Navy dive bomber pilot Wade McClusky proved himself to be one of the greatest pilots and combat leaders in American history, but his story has never been told – until now.It was Wade McClusky who remained calm when the Japanese fleet was not where it was expected to be. It was he who made the counterintuitive choice to then search ...

Discover how history's only five-star admirals triumphed in World War II and made the United States the world's dominant sea power.Only four men in American history have been promoted to the five-star rank of Admiral of the Fleet: William Leahy, Ernest King, Chester Nimitz, and William Halsey. These four men were the best and the brightest the navy produced, and together they led the U.S. navy to victory in World War II, establishing the United States as the world'...

Main Selection of the History Book ClubThe Battle of Gettysburg, the Civil War’s turning point, produced over 57,000 casualties, the largest number from the entire war that was itself America’s bloodiest conflict. On the third day of fierce fighting, Robert E. Lee’s attempt to invade the North came to a head in Pickett’s Charge. The infantry assault, consisting of nine brigades of soldiers in a line that stretched for over a mile, resulted in casualties of over 50 percent for the C...

The Second World War was the final global conflict of the twentieth century. It involved more combatants, and a wider range of battlefield terrain than any other conflict in history, from the frozen plains of Russia to the baking Libyan desert, and from the atolls of the Pacific to the skies over Britain.In Turning the Tide, Nigel Cawthorne has taken a fresh look at the crucial battles which decided the outcome of the Second World War, beginning with the evacuation of Dunkirk in 19...

The African-American contribution to winning World War II has never been celebrated as profoundly as in Fighting for America. In this inspirational and uniquely personal tribute, the essential part played by black servicemen and -women in that cataclysmic conflict is brought home.Here are letters, photographs, oral histories, and rare documents, collected by historian Christopher Moore, the son of two black WWII veterans. Weaving his family history with th...

The Civil War was the defining event in American history.The Civil War 100 uses a truly novel approach to analyze the respective importance of the events, leaders and battles of America's most important war."Across this easily accessible reference, readers meet notonly such icons as Lincoln and Lee, but also chronic fumblerswhose tarnished reputations have most often sunk beneaththe notice of the endless waves of Civil War histories…Arecommen...

"The best account of the Battle of Antietam" from t he award-winning, national bestselling author of Gettysburg and Chancellorsville ( The New York Times Book Review ).The Civil War battle waged on September 17, 1862, at Antietam Creek, Maryland, was one of the bloodiest in the nation's history: in this single day, the war claimed nearly 23,000 casualties. In Landscape Turned Red,...

"A balanced account of World War II . . . Dr. Stokesbury's one-volume history is by far the best short account of the war yet published." —Thaddeus V. Tuleja, Professor of History, St. Peter's College, author of Climax at MidwayDespite the numerous books on World War II, until now there has been no one-volume survey that was both objective and comprehensive. Previous volumes have usually been written from an exclusively British or America...