A forgotten chapter of heroism, brutality and survival from the opening days of World War II.

The USS Houston, famed for ferrying FDR on several voyages, was on the wrong side of the Pacific when World War II broke out. The fate of the ship and her crew has never been fully revealed until now. Battered and on the run after several skirmishes in the opening weeks of the war, the Houston was looking for shelter. Just after 11:30 at night, on Feb. 28, 1942, the Houston and the Australian cruiser Perth sailed into the Sunda Strait off the coast of Java. Their arrival coincided with the landing of a massive Japanese army on the island. Against overwhelming odds, the two ships battled for more than an hour before they were sunk. Those who survived were captured and taken to Singapore, but that was only the beginning of their nightmare. The prisoners were put to work in what would become an infamous stretch of jungle, the Burma-Thailand Railway, basis for the epic The Bridge on the River Kwai. Though the Perth and Houston survivors shared the same experience, the author focuses on the Houston crew. As in Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors (2004), personal accounts from survivors make vivid the brutal experience. Scattered by the current, some sailors were immediately captured, while others evaded the enemy for days or weeks. Back home, families waited for news that never came. Harrowing and frank, the story of a gritty band of men -- starved, isolated and working under excruciating conditions -- reflects the triumph of will over adversity.

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Flags Of Our Fathers
by James Bradley

#1 New York Times Bestseller

Soon to be a major motion picture directed by Clint Eastwood, this is the unforgettable chronicle of perhaps the most famous moment in American military history. James Bradley has captured the glory, the triumph, the heartbreak and the legacy of the six men who raised the flag at Iwo Jima. Here is the true story behind the immortal photograph that has come to symbolize the courage and indomitable will of America.

Nearly 26,000 Americans fell during the Battle of Iwo Jima, the turning point in the war in the Pacific. Navy corpsman James Bradley was one of those six men who raised the flag, a few days after braving enemy mortar and machine-gun fire to aid a wounded Marine and drag him to safety. Bradley was awarded the Navy Cross for his act of heroism. In Flags of Our Fathers, Bradley's son tells his father's story and the story of the five other men who raised the American flag on that fateful day.

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Patton and Rommel: Men of War in the Twentieth Century
by Dennis Showalter

A dual biography of the two World War II generals who changed warfare - and history - forever.

General George S. Patton and General Erwin Rommel: They served their countries through two World Wars. Their temperaments, both on and off the battlefield, were overwhelmingly contrary - but their approach to modern warfare was remarkably similar.

Written by a prominent military historian, Patton and Rommel takes a provocative look at both figures, intertwining the stories of the paths they took and the decisions they made during the course of the Second World War - and compares the lives and careers of two men whose military tactics redirected the course of history.

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Brothers in Arms: The Courageous Story of WW II's 761st "Black Panthers"
by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

New York Times Bestseller

A powerful wartime saga in the bestselling tradition of Ghost Soldiers and Flags of Our Fathers, Brothers in Arms recounts the extraordinary story of the 761st Battalion, the first all-black tank battalion to seem combat in World War II. The 761st withstood segregation and lynchings at home and the fierce German counteroffensive in the Battle of the Bulge to emerge as one of the most highly decorated units in World War II.

"I believe it is time for America to meet the men of the 761st, common men who grew to become heroes, black men who fought for a country that often hated them, stalwart men who overcame social injustice to become men of colorblind valor. This first-of-its-kind book will … help them take their place as members of the greatest generation." --Kareem Abdul-Jabbar

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The First American: The Life And Times Of Benjamin Franklin
by H.W. Brands

Nominated for a Pulitzer Prize

New York Times bestseller

The foremost American of his day, Benjamin Franklin was a pivotal figure during America's transition from British colony to the new independent nation of America. In H.W. Brands' masterful biography, he comes vividly to life. Franklin was a printer, a scientist, an inventor, a politician and a diplomat. A generation older than the Founding Fathers, his opinions and wisdom were invaluable to patriots such as John Adams, Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry. He helped draft the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution. The First American is the grand story of an exceptional man who is an icon in the history of America.

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Rebel Private: Front and Rear
by William A. Fletcher

The recent rediscovery of Rebel Private: Front and Rear, effectively lost for decades, marks an authentic publishing event in the literature of the Civil War. A rare insight into the conflict from the point of view of a Confederate Army enlisted man, William A. Fletcher's compelling memoir has been hailed by historians as a classic and indispensable key to understanding the Southern perspective. Margaret Mitchell even described the volume as her single most valuable source of research for Gone With the Wind.

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Uncommon Valor, Common Virtue
by Hal Buell

"Among the Americans who served on the Iwo island, uncommon valor was a common virtue."
--Admiral Chester Nimitz                                         

It remains the U.S. Marine Corps' bloodiest battle. In 36 days of horrific fighting, Iwo Jima - a virtually unknown but critically strategic Japanese island - became a place no one would forget. Fifty years later, it is the iconic photo of Marines raising the American flag on the battle's fifth day that keeps the memory of Iwo Jima alive. This photograph, by Associated Press photographer Joe Rosenthal, would eventually mean much more than just a brief image from a faraway island - it would come to symbolize the valor and eventual victory of the Marines, and the nation's determination to win World War II.  

This is the full story of the ten days Rosenthal spent on Iwo Jima as Marines fought on bloody, black volcanic sands against a murderous onslaught - and how his Pulitzer prize-winning picture came to be. Generously illustrated, Uncommon Valor, Common Virtue is a grunts-eye view of the Marines' savage struggle against a masterful Japanese army prepared to fight to the end. Included with the book is a DVD of the actual raising of the flag on that fateful day.

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The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors
by James D. Hornfischer

National Bestseller

In the tradition of #1 New York Times bestselling Flags of Our Fathers, James D. Hornfischer's inspiring chronical portrays a naval battle unlike any other in U.S. history. Facing overwhelming firepower, with no prospect of reinforcement, 13 American warships began a fight they couldn't win.

Told from the point of view of the men there, The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors captures Navy pilots attacking enemy battleships with makeshift weapons, a veteran commander improvising tactics, and young crews rising to an impossible challenge. The readers follow an iron-willed, self-made executive officer who leads his men through a sea of carnage over two hellish days and nights, clinging to survival amid oil, blood, sharks, and madness. Despite an overmatched U.S. force enduring the loss of five gallant ships and nearly a thousand brave men, they turned a certain crushing defeat into a momentous victory that would lead to the final surrender of America's ruthless imperial foe.

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