Praise for Gerald Astor"No one does oral history better than Gerald Astor. . . . Great reading."-Stephen Ambrose on The Mighty Eighth"Gerald Astor has proven himself a master. Here, World War II is brought to life through the hammer blows of their airborne triumphs and fears."-J. Robert Moskin, author of Mr. Truman's War, on The Mighty Eighth"Astor captures the fire and passion of those tens of thousands of U.S. airmen who flew through the inferno that...

The Korean War, the Bay of Pigs, the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam, Cambodia, Lebanon, El Salvador, Grenada, Iran-Contra, Nicaragua, Panama, the Gulf War, Somalia, Kosovo, Afghanistan, IraqWhat do these events and scores of others have in common? Each of these wars, incursions, invasions, and covert actions was undertaken by the United States without the benefit of a declaration of war. Where congressional sanction was sought, it usually took the form of a resoluti...

In the skies of World War II Europe, the Eighth Air Force was a defining factor in turning the tide against the Nazis. In these gripping oral histories, the sacrifice, savagery, and supremacy of the “Mighty Eighth” is described by those who experienced it...and survived it.At the outbreak of World War II, America was woefully unprepared for a fight, though Europe was already years into the battle. Soon, though, America’s war machine was rolling out pilots, engineer...

Drawing on firsthand accounts by survivors of the bloody Battle of the Bulge, diaries, letters, and official documents, this study describes the events of the campaign, hardships faced by the soldiers, the battle's horrifying costs, and the controversy surrounding the campaign.

From the depths of defeat...On December 8, 1941, one day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Japanese Air Force struck the Philippines in the first blow of a devastating invasion.With an undersupplied patchwork army at his command, General Douglas MacArthur led a valiant defense of the Philippines. When defeat came, MacArthur swore he would return, while thousands of POWs fell into Japanese hands — and faced a living hell that many would not survive....

The third volume of this American combat history of World War II highlights the exploits of General MacArthur in the Phillipines and General Patton in Germany and covers from the Battle of the Bulge to Hiroshima and the end of the war.Written by award-winning journalist, acclaimed historian, and World War II veteran Gerald Astor, THE GREATEST WAR is an Americancombat history of World War II told largely in the words of the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marin...

One of the nation's most acclaimed military historians presents an authoritative and dramatic three-volume oral history of World War II.

Told by soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines, this series is an oral history of World War II from those who were there. This second volume examines the storming of Omaha Beach on D-Day, and the advance of allied forces across Europe to the liberation of Paris.THE GREATEST WAR is an oral history of World War II told in the words of the soldiers, sailors, airmen, and marines-the men dubbed the "greatest generation," who fought and ultimately emerged victorious from ...

The definitive account of one of World War II’s bloodiest campaigns—the five-month battle between American and German forces in the Huertgen Forest—told through the words of the men who were there.From the preface:“In the course of research and interviews while writing a series of books on World War II, I became increasingly aware of the campaign for the Huertgen Forest. While survivors of other battles sometimes criticized the strategy and the ord...

Gerald Astor, author of The Mighty Eighth, draws on the raw, first-hand accounts of marines, sailors, soldiers, and airmen under fire to recount the dramatic and gripping story of the last major battle of World War II.“[Astor] is a master… This is oral history at its best—direct, illuminating, capturing sights and sounds and feelings and actions that never make it into official reports or more formal military histories… I recommend this book withou...

From critically acclaimed military historian Gerald Astor comes Wings of Gold, the first account of how the airplane transformed the U.S. Navy and paved the way to victory in the Pacific in World War II. Astor tracks that fateful journey from its humble beginnings in 1910 when Eugene Ely flew the very first plane off the deck of a U.S. Navy ship to the unprecedented air combat missions that helped defeat the Japanese.Few naval aviators in World War II realized that when th...

The Few and the BraveConvinced by 1943 that the assault upon Nazi-held Europe would yield swiftly to elite troops, the U.S. Army created parachute regimental combat teams. Drawing on daring volunteers willing to hurl themselves from airplanes and hit the ground fighting, the 517th PRCT became one of the most highly trained airborne units in the world.Blooded in northern Italy in 1944, the Battling Buzzards dropped at night in southern France for the second ...