Using interviews with the families of the protagonists as well as deep archival research, Brown portrays the kaleidoscopic journey of four Japanese-American families and their sons, who volunteered for 442nd Regimental Combat Team. Deployed to France, Germany, and Italy, they were asked to do the near impossible. Brown also tells the story of these soldiers' parents, immigrants who were forced to shutter the businesses, surrender their homes, and...

When Clarence Smoyer is assigned to the gunner's seat of his Sherman tank, his crewmates discover that the gentle giant from Pennsylvania has a hidden talent: He's a natural-born shooter. At first, Clarence and his fellow crews in the legendary 3rd Armored Division -- "Spearhead" -- thought their tanks were invincible. Then they met the German Panther, with a gun so murderous it could shoot through one Sherman and into the next. Soon a pattern emerged:...

"The harrowing, redemptive, and unforgettable account of a U.S. Army platoon's fight for survival during the Vietnam War--a powerful work of military history that will reverberate with millions of American families today. On a single night, January 31, 1968, as many as 100,000 soldiers in the North Vietnamese Army attack thirty-six cities throughout South Vietnam, hoping to dislodge American forces. Forty-six young American soldiers of an Army reconnaissance...

Benson Bobrick, recipient of the 2002 American Academy of Arts and Letters Literature Award, tells the story of Benjamin "Webb" Baker, his great-grandfather. Webb enlisted in the Union Army in 1861 and thereafter suffered through horrid conditions in camp and absolute hell in combat. Benson's fascinating look at the Civil War also contains a heretofore unreleased collection of Webb's letters.

General Robert E. Lee's army was a surprise to almost everyone: With daring early victories and an invasion into the North, they nearly managed to convince the North to give up the fight. Astonishingly, after 150 years of scholarship, there are still some major surprises about the Army of Northern Virginia. Historian Joseph T. Glatthaar draws on sources assembled over two decades--from letters and diaries, to official war records, to a new, definitive...

"Bob Drury and Tom Clavin's The Last Hill is the incredible untold story of one Ranger battalion's heroism and courage in World War II. They were known as "Rudder's Rangers," the most elite and experienced attack unit the Army had. In December 1944, they would be the spearhead into Germany, taking the war into Hitler's homeland at last. Their colonel was given this objective: Take Hill 400. The second objective: Hold Hill 400. To the last man, if...

Britain's Special Air Service--or SAS--was the brainchild of David Stirling, a young, gadabout aristocrat with a remarkable strategic mind. Where his colleagues looked at a map of World War II's African theater and saw a protracted struggle with Rommel's desert forces, Stirling saw an opportunity: given a small number of elite, well-trained men, he could parachute behind Nazi lines and sabotage their airplanes and supplies. Paired with his constitutional...