"This tour de force . . . is an absolute must for anyone interested in the true story of one of World War II's most interesting—and most overlooked—battles." —Col. Walter Boyne, USAF (Ret.), author of Clash of WingsFor most of World War II, the mention of Japan's island stronghold sent shudders through thousands of Allied airmen. Some called it "Fortress Rabaul," an apt name for the headquarters of the Imperial Japanese forces in the Southwest Pacific. Auth...

A history of World War II's Operation Cartwheel, a major Allied operation by US, Australian, and New Zealand forces to take the Japanese base at Rabaul.Prior to World War II, few Americans had heard of Rabaul, a small harbor town in a far-off corner of the Pacific. But it became a household name after the Japanese captured Rabaul in January 1942 and developed it into their most heavily defended fortress outside the home islands. Thereafter, Rabaul endured Allied air...

"An inspiring, beautifully crafted tale of ordinary Americans exhibiting extraordinary heroism and grit when it mattered most."*In early 1942, while the American military was still in disarray from the devastating attacks on Pearl Harbor and the Philippines, a single U.S. Army squadron advanced to the far side of the world to face America's new enemy. Based in Australia with inadequate supplies and no ground support, the squadron's pilots and combat crew endured tr...

Black Sheep One is the first biography of legendary warrior and World War II hero Gregory Boyington.In 1936, Boyington became an aviation cadet and earned the “wings of gold” of a naval aviator. After only a short period on active duty, however, he was “encouraged” to resign from the Marine Corps due to his unconventional behavior. Remarkably, this inauspicious beginning was just the prologue to a heroic career as an American fighter pilot and innovative combat leader. With the on...

With their renowned squadron leader Greg “Pappy” Boyington, Marine Fighting Squadron (VMF) 214 was one of the best-known and most colorful combat units of World War II. The popular television series Baa Baa Black Sheep added to their legend—while obscuring the truly remarkable combat record of the Black Sheep and Boyington. A retired naval flight officer and former historian for the Naval Aviation Museum Foundation, Bruce Gamble provides a highly readable account that serves to bo...

“A stunning portrait of incredibly courageous men and their awesome flying machines.”—Alex Kershaw, author of The FewMarine Fighting Squadron (VMF) 214 is the world’s most famous fighter squadron. Its second wartime squadron commander was the legendary Greg “Pappy” Boyington. Boyington and the squadron were the loose inspiration for the late-seventies NBC television series Baa Baa Black Sheep, which was later syndicated under the name Black Sheep Squad...

In early 1942, while the American military was still in disarray from the devastating attacks on Pearl Harbor and the Philippines, a single U.S. Army squadron advanced to the far side of the world to face America's new enemy.Based in Australia with inadequate supplies and no ground support, the squadron's pilots and combat crew endured tropical diseases while confronting numerically superior Japanese forces. Yet the outfit, dubbed the Kangaroo Squadron, proved rema...

Tormented by Southern partisans, Missouri farm boy Caleb Cole joins the Union’s Eighteenth Missouri. About the same time, down on the Texas coast, violin-playing Ryan McCalla, from a well-to-do family, enlists in the Confederacy’s Second Texas—mainly in the spirit of adventure—with some friends.The two teenagers are about to grow up quickly.Fate will bring the two together—along with a teenage girl from Corinth, Mississippi, when the Confederate and Union armies clash at Sh...

A New York Times–bestselling author's account of the devastating military campaign that broke the Confederacy's back in the last months of the Civil War.In November 1864, just days after the reelection of President Abraham Lincoln, Gen. William T. Sherman vowed to "make Georgia howl." The hero of Shiloh and his 65,000 Federal troops destroyed the great city of Atlanta, captured Savannah, and cut a wide swath of destruction through Georgia and the Carolinas ...

A special ops veteran is pulled into a dangerous North Korean mission to protect his family in this military thriller by the author of Recall.To save his family—and the free world—Red Harmon is back in the line of fire . . .A sinister enemy is stalking elite military operator Red Harmon and his loved ones. Turning the hunter into his prey, Red uncovers a plot that spans nations and draws him into the remote snow-covered ravines of North Ko...

The true story of the U.S. Army’s 240th Assault Helicopter Company and a Green Beret Staff Sergeant's heroic mission to rescue a Special Forces team trapped behind enemy lines during the Vietnam War, from New York Times bestselling author Eric Blehm.On May 2, 1968, a twelve-man Special Forces team covertly infiltrated a small clearing in the jungles of neutral Cambodia—where U.S. forces were forbidden to operate. Their objective, just miles over the Vietna...

FOR A FIGHTER PILOT IN THE MIGHTY EIGHTH, DEATH WAS ALWAYS A HEARTBEAT AWAY.When the skies of Europe blazed with the fiercest air battles in history, fighter pilots like Norman “Bud” Fortier were in the thick of it, flying four hundred miles an hour at thirty thousand feet, dodging flak and dueling with Nazi aces. In their role as “escorts” to Flying Fortresses and Liberators, the fighter squadrons’ ability to blast enemy aircraft from the sky was key to the succes...