In three years, the Spanish conquistador Hernán Cortés, leading a few hundred Spanish soldiers, overcame a centuries-old empire that could put tens of thousands of warriors on the field. Even after his god-like reputation had been shattered, and his horses and cannons were no longer regarded as supernatural, his ruthless daring took him on to victory. Yet in the end, his prize was not the gold that he had sought, but the destruction of the entire Aztec civilization.

Originally published in 1954, this is a collection of 32 stories from a variety of historic eras filled with missions against all odds."The stories in this collection are generally firsthand accounts by irregulars. The principles of selection were simple: Were they good stories—interesting, exciting and honest? And did they show fresh and different phases of guerrilla warfare? The weightier writings on irregular strategy and the politics of modern partisan warfare were omitted excep...

"You will search out the enemy and you will destroy him . . ." Those were the President's orders to Richard LeGrande. The Chief of State knew LeGrande was the one man who could be trusted to fulfill those instructions - if anyone could.LeGrande was the Spymaster.He was head of "GENOPS" (General Operations Agency). Behind this innocuous sobriquet, lay the last ditch organization ready at any moment to take on any job that was too dirty or too difficult for the Military or th...

"An exciting, deadly realistic spy novel." Roanoke PilotYou've read about James Bond, Matt Helm, Jason Bourne, and Gabriel Allon, men sent on ultra-deep-cover missions to singlehandedly counter deadly plots and return home undetected and, ideally, unscathed.What of the spymaster who must minutely scrutinize intelligence, assay it for developing threats, select the trustworthy person best fitted for the assignment, and then send that spy out on a deadly assignment, often int...

"The plot is gripping, the background sketched with telling detail, hate, fear, doubled-dealing in abundance, a story which builds to a brilliant climax, a battle in the corridors of power every bit as relentless as the threatened clash that could tear the world apart." —Manchester Evening NewsFrom his office in Washington, Richard LeGrande pulls aside the curtains and looks out over an America slumbering securely in its beds due to his never-ceasing vigila...

He Fought For Freedom! She Fought For Love! A Novel Of Revolt In The Days When Spain Ruled Mexico And Most Of What Became The U.S.A.Not since Gone with the Wind has there been such an epic. One quarter of a million words."Intensely Absorbing" Ft. Worth Star-TelegramThe Pulitzer Recommendee saga!"A love story reminiscent of Ramona." St. Lewis Post-Dispatch"Caught up in the revolt are lustful and brutal soldiers, women...

More than 1,500 years have passed since the last blood - human or animal - was spilled in the Colosseum, but the massive building erected by the Flavian emperors has continued to play a role in history. This book tells the dramatic story of the Colosseum - from its bloody gladiatorial games and the sacrifice of early Christians to the dismantling of the arena and its final restoration. The book also recounts the story of Rome as viewed from the vantage point of the empire's most impressive...

Alexander the Great has fascinated people for centuries - and still does. Here, from award-winning historian and journalist Charles Mercer, is the story of the military genius who became a king at twenty told with all the color and drama characteristic of Alexander's time.

New York Times bestselling historian Emma Moreau exposes and analyzes the events that turned ordinary French citizens into revolutionaries - from the attack on the Bastille to the executions of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette to the bloodthirsty Reign of Terror that claimed the lives of more than 40,000 people.

"Remarkably well balanced and sound . . . " - The New Republic. Here, from award-winning historian Henry Bamford Parkes and the editors of American Heritage, is the dramatic story of Mexico - from the Aztecs, Maya, and other ancient peoples who gave birth to a vast civilization to the Spanish Conquest, the Mexican-American War, the Mexican Revolution, and Mexico's role in World War II. Historian Parkes brings vividly to life the legendary figures Montezuma, Cortés, Santa Anna, Juárez, Maxi...

There is only one New York. It didn't make America, but it made possible the America we've come to know. Here - from American Heritage magazine and such historians as Nathaniel Benchley, David McCullough, and William V. Shannon - is its remarkable story: from Henry Hudson's historic voyage and the sale of Manhattan Island to New York's occupation by British forces during the Revolution and the construction of the Brooklyn Bridge, Central Park, and the Whitney Museum.

Here, acclaimed American historians - among them, Max Boot, Douglas Brinkley, and Stanley Karnow - tell the dramatic story of America's war in Vietnam. It's all here - from the first American deaths in Vietnam and the controversial Gulf of Tonkin attack to the Tet offensive, the My Lai massacre, and, finally, the building of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.