The All Americans

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Publisher : St. Martin's Press
ISBN 13 : 9781429970280
Total Pages : 272 pages
Book Rating : 4.9/5 (72 download)

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Book Synopsis The All Americans by : Lars Anderson

Download or read book The All Americans written by Lars Anderson and published by St. Martin's Press. This book was released on 2007-04-01 with total page 272 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On November 29, 1941, Army played Navy in front of 100,000 fans. Eight days later, the Japanese attacked and the young men who battled each other in that historic game were forced to fight a very different enemy. Author Lars Anderson follows four players-two from Annapolis and two from West Point-in this epic true story, The All Americans. Bill Busik. Growing up in Pasadena, California, Busik was best friends with a young black man named Jackie, who in 1947 would make Major League Baseball history. Busik would have a spectacular sports career himself at the Naval Academy, earning All-American honors as a tailback in 1941. He was serving aboard the U.S.S. Shaw when it was attacked by Japanese dive-bombers in 1943. Hal Kauffman. Together, Busik and Kauffman rode a train across the nation to Annapolis to enroll in the Naval Academy. A backup tailback at Navy, Kauffman would go on to serve aboard the U.S.S. Meredith, which was sunk in 1942. For five days Kauffman struggled to stay alive on a raft, fighting off hallucinations, dehydration, and-most terrifying of all-sharks. Dozens of his crewmates lost their minds; others were eaten by sharks. All the while Kauffman wondered if he'd ever see his friend and teammate again. Henry Romanek. Because he had relatives in Poland, Romanek heard firsthand accounts in 1939 of German aggression. Wanting to become an officer, Romanek attended West Point and played tackle for the Cadets. He spent months preparing for the D-day invasion and on June 6, 1944 - the day he would have graduated from West Point had his course load not been cut from four years to three-Romanek rode in a landing craft to storm Omaha Beach. In the first wave to hit the beach he would also become one of the first to take a bullet. Robin Olds. The son of a famous World War I fighter pilot, Olds decided to follow in his father's footsteps. At West Point he became best friends with Romanek and the two played side-by-side on Army's line. In 1942, a sportswriter Grantland Rice named Olds to his All-American team. Two years later Olds spent D-day flying a P-38 over Omaha Beach, anxiously scanning the battlefield for Romanek, hoping his friend would survive the slaughter. 20The tale of these four men is woven into a dramatic narrative of football and war that's unlike any other. Through extensive research and interviews with dozens of World War II veterans, Anderson has written one of the most compelling and original true stories in all of World War II literature. From fierce fighting, heroic rescues, tragic death, and awe-inspiring victory, all four men's suspenseful journeys are told in graphic detail. Along the way, Anderson brings World War II to life in a way that has never been done before.

Third Down and a War to Go

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Publisher : Wisconsin Historical Society
ISBN 13 : 0870205560
Total Pages : 322 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (72 download)

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Book Synopsis Third Down and a War to Go by : Terry Frei

Download or read book Third Down and a War to Go written by Terry Frei and published by Wisconsin Historical Society. This book was released on 2012-08-22 with total page 322 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On December 11, 1941, All-American football player Dave Schreiner wrote to his parents, "I'm not going to sit here snug as a bug, playing football, when others are giving their lives for their country. ... If everyone tried to stay out of it, what a fine country we'd have!" Schreiner didn't stay out of it. Neither did his Wisconsin Badger teammates, including friend and co-captain Mark "Had" Hoskins and standouts "Crazylegs" Hirsch and Pat Harder. After that legendary 1942 season, the Badgers scattered to serve, fight, and even die around the world. This fully revised edition of the popular hardcover includes follow-up research and updates about many of the '42 Badgers, plus a new foreword by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author David Maraniss. Readers and reviewers agree: Terry Frei's heart-wrenching story of Schreiner and his band of brothers is much more than one team's tale. It's an All-American story.

The Real All Americans

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Publisher : Anchor
ISBN 13 : 0385522991
Total Pages : 352 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (855 download)

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Book Synopsis The Real All Americans by : Sally Jenkins

Download or read book The Real All Americans written by Sally Jenkins and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2007-05-08 with total page 352 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Sally Jenkins, bestselling co-author of It's Not About the Bike, revives a forgotten piece of history in The Real All Americans. In doing so, she has crafted a truly inspirational story about a Native American football team that is as much about football as Lance Armstrong's book was about a bike. If you’d guess that Yale or Harvard ruled the college gridiron in 1911 and 1912, you’d be wrong. The most popular team belonged to an institution called the Carlisle Indian Industrial School. Its story begins with Lt. Col. Richard Henry Pratt, a fierce abolitionist who believed that Native Americans deserved a place in American society. In 1879, Pratt made a treacherous journey to the Dakota Territory to recruit Carlisle’s first students. Years later, three students approached Pratt with the notion of forming a football team. Pratt liked the idea, and in less than twenty years the Carlisle football team was defeating their Ivy League opponents and in the process changing the way the game was played. Sally Jenkins gives this story of unlikely champions a breathtaking immediacy. We see the legendary Jim Thorpe kicking a winning field goal, watch an injured Dwight D. Eisenhower limping off the field, and follow the glorious rise of Coach Glenn “Pop” Warner as well as his unexpected fall from grace. The Real All Americans is about the end of a culture and the birth of a game that has thrilled Americans for generations. It is an inspiring reminder of the extraordinary things that can be achieved when we set aside our differences and embrace a common purpose.

Americans at War

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Publisher : Univ. Press of Mississippi
ISBN 13 : 9781617033452
Total Pages : 232 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (334 download)

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Book Synopsis Americans at War by : Stephen E. Ambrose

Download or read book Americans at War written by Stephen E. Ambrose and published by Univ. Press of Mississippi. This book was released on 1997 with total page 232 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

The All Americans in World War II

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Publisher : Zenith Imprint
ISBN 13 : 9780760326176
Total Pages : 192 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (261 download)

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Book Synopsis The All Americans in World War II by : Phil Nordyke

Download or read book The All Americans in World War II written by Phil Nordyke and published by Zenith Imprint. This book was released on 2006 with total page 192 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On the night of 9/10 July 1943 the All Americans of the 82nd Airborne Division jumped into history as they made their first parachute assault of World War II. Three others would follow: Salerno, Normandy, and Holland. In total the division served more than three hundred days in combat, a record unmatched by any other American division. With nearly 400 historic photographs, many never before published, The All Americans in World War II provides a complete photographic history of the 82nd Airborne Division as it fought it way across Sicily, Italy, France, Belgium, and Germany, ultimately all the way to Berlin as part of the American occupation forces. This book is an essential addition to any serious World War II collection and a tribute to the fighting spirit of this legendary division.

All American

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Publisher : Harper Collins
ISBN 13 : 0062202839
Total Pages : 320 pages
Book Rating : 4.0/5 (622 download)

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Book Synopsis All American by : Steve Eubanks

Download or read book All American written by Steve Eubanks and published by Harper Collins. This book was released on 2013-10-29 with total page 320 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: All American is Steve Eubanks inspiring story of two football rivals who faced each other in the momentous 2001 Army-Navy Game who would both go on to serve in the United States military in the Iraq War. In December, 2001, as fires still burned beneath the World Trade Center ruins, West Point cadet Chad Jenkins and Naval Academy midshipman Brian Stann faced off at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia in what would become the most-watched college football game of the decade: the matchup between the Army Black Knights and the Navy Midshipmen. With his team down by thirteen points, Stann, a Navy linebacker, came into contact with Jenkins, the Army quarterback, for the first time, landing a perfect tackle. Though these two players would not meet again for another decade, Stann and Jenkins shared the same path: both went to war, led soldiers, and witnessed and participated in events they never imagined possible. A moving and fascinating dual profile of honor, duty, courage, and competition, illustrated with photos, All American is a thoughtful exploration of American character and values, embodied in the lives of two remarkable young men.

The All-Americans at War

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Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
ISBN 13 : 0313024464
Total Pages : 168 pages
Book Rating : 4.3/5 (13 download)

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Book Synopsis The All-Americans at War by : James J. Cooke

Download or read book The All-Americans at War written by James J. Cooke and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 1999-04-30 with total page 168 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This is the first study to analyze the content, training, and performance of a World War I draft division from its formation onward. The 82nd division consisted heavily of non-English speaking European immigrants and conscripts fresh from farming towns in Tennessee and North Carolina. Despite these apparent obstacles, it would evolve into an effective combat unit on the front lines of St. Mihiel and the Meuse-Argonne. These All-Americans would prove that they could fight and accomplish several difficult missions in the Great War. From its birth at Camp Gordon, Georgia, to the battlefields of the Western Front, the 82nd division became a highly successful combat unit through good leadership and hard work. After initial training in France by both British and French forces, the 82nd entered the trenches to face the Germans. Given a difficult mission during the St. Mihiel offensive, the diverse division performed well; and during the Meuse-Argonne battle, it achieved its objectives despite heavy casualties. Despite an early lack of preparation, this force would be a true American success story.

The All Americans in World War II

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Publisher : Quarto Publishing Group USA
ISBN 13 : 1610601025
Total Pages : 193 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (16 download)

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Book Synopsis The All Americans in World War II by : Phil Nordyke

Download or read book The All Americans in World War II written by Phil Nordyke and published by Quarto Publishing Group USA. This book was released on 2010-10-14 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Containing “close to every photograph ever taken of the 82nd . . . Anyone with the slightest interest in the airborne will want to own this handsome volume” (WWII History magazine). On the night of July 9/10, 1943 the All Americans of the 82nd Airborne Division jumped into history as they made their first parachute assault of World War II. Three others would follow: Salerno, Normandy, and Holland. In total the division served more than three hundred days in combat, a record unmatched by any other American division. With nearly four hundred historic photographs, many never before published, The All Americans in World War II provides a complete photographic history of the 82nd Airborne Division as it fought its way across Sicily, Italy, France, Belgium, and Germany, ultimately all the way to Berlin as part of the American occupation forces. This book is an essential addition to any serious World War II collection and a tribute to the fighting spirit of this legendary division. “Nordyke has assembled a fresh look at the All-Americans that any U.S. WWII enthusiast should consider to be a ‘high priority purchase.’” —Military Trader “A must-own if you are interested in US Airborne operations in Europe . . . great photos, great maps, and great narrative.” —Military History online

America in the Great War

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Publisher : Oxford University Press
ISBN 13 : 0195364287
Total Pages : 263 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (953 download)

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Book Synopsis America in the Great War by : Ronald Schaffer

Download or read book America in the Great War written by Ronald Schaffer and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 1994-04-28 with total page 263 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: After such conflicts as World War II, Vietnam, and now the Persian Gulf, the First World War seems a distant, almost ancient event. It conjures up images of trenches, horse-drawn wagons, and old-fashioned wide-brimmed helmets--a conflict closer to the Civil War than to our own time. It hardly seems an American war at all, considering we fought for scarcely over a year in a primarily European struggle. But, as Ronald Schaffer recounts in this fascinating new book, the Great War wrought a dramatic revolution in America, wrenching a diverse, unregulated, nineteenth-century society into the modern age. Ranging from the Oval Office to corporate boardroom, from the farmyard to the battlefield, America in the Great War details a nation reshaped by the demands of total war. Schaffer shows how the Wilson Administration used persuasion, manipulation, direct control, and the cooperation of private industries and organizations to mobilize a freewheeling, individualist country. The result was a war-welfare state, imposing the federal government on almost every aspect of American life. He describes how it spread propaganda, enforced censorship, and stifled dissent. Political radicals, religious pacifists, German-Americans, even average people who voiced honest doubts about the war suffered arrest and imprisonment. The government extended its control over most of the nation's economic life through a series of new agencies--largely filled with managers from private business, who used their new positions to eliminate competition and secure other personal and corporate gains. Schaffer also details the efforts of scholars, scientists, workers, women, African- Americans, and of social, medical, and moral reformers, to use the war to advance their own agendas even as they contributed to the drive for victory. And not the least important is his account of how soldiers reacted to the reality of war--both at the front lines and at the rear--revealing what brought the doughboys to the battlefield, and how they went through not only horror and disillusionment but felt a fervent patriotism as well. Some of the upheavals Schaffer describes were fleeting--as seen in the thousands of women who had to leave their wartime jobs when the boys came home--but others meant permanent change and set precedents for such future programs as the New Deal. By showing how American life would never be the same again after the Armistice, America in the Great War lays a new foundation for understanding both the First World War and twentieth-century America.

Americans All!

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Publisher : Texas A&M University Press
ISBN 13 : 1603443290
Total Pages : 218 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (34 download)

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Book Synopsis Americans All! by : Nancy Gentile Ford

Download or read book Americans All! written by Nancy Gentile Ford and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2001 with total page 218 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: During the First World War, nearly half a million immigrant draftees from forty-six different nations served in the U.S. Army. This surge of Old World soldiers challenged the American military's cultural, linguistic, and religious traditions and required military leaders to reconsider their training methods for the foreign-born troops. How did the U.S. War Department integrate this diverse group into a united fighting force?The war department drew on the experiences of progressive social welfare reformers, who worked with immigrants in urban settlement houses, and they listened to industrial efficiency experts, who connected combat performance to morale and personnel management. Perhaps most significantly, the military enlisted the help of ethnic community leaders, who assisted in training, socializing, and Americanizing immigrant troops and who pressured the military to recognize and meet the important cultural and religious needs of the ethnic soldiers. These community leaders negotiated the Americanization process by promoting patriotism and loyalty to the United States while retaining key ethnic cultural traditions.Offering an exciting look at an unexplored area of military history, Americans All! Foreign-born Soldiers in World War I constitutes a work of special interest to scholars in the fields of military history, sociology, and ethnic studies. Ford'sresearch illuminates what it meant for the U.S. military to reexamine early twentieth-century nativism; instead of forcing soldiers into a melting pot, war department policies created an atmosphere that made both American and ethnic pride acceptable.During the war, a German officer commented on the ethnic diversity of the American army and noted, with some amazement, that these "semi-Americans" considered themselves to be "true-born sons of their adopted country." The officer was wrong on one count. The immigrant soldiers were not "semi-Americans"; they were "Americans all!"

Anatomy of Failure

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Publisher : Naval Institute Press
ISBN 13 : 1682472264
Total Pages : 150 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (824 download)

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Book Synopsis Anatomy of Failure by : Harlan Ullman

Download or read book Anatomy of Failure written by Harlan Ullman and published by Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2017-11-15 with total page 150 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Why, since the end of World War II, has the United States either lost every war it started or failed in every military intervention it prosecuted? Harlan Ullman's new book answers this most disturbing question, a question Americans would never think of even asking because this record of failure has been largely hidden in plain sight or forgotten with the passage of time. The most straightforward answer is that presidents and administrations have consistently failed to use sound strategic thinking and lacked sufficient knowledge or understanding of the circumstances prior to deciding whether or not to employ force. Making this case is an in-depth analysis of the records of presidents from John F. Kennedy to Barack Obama and Donald Trump in using force or starting wars. His recommended solutions begin with a "brains-based" approach to sound strategic thinking to address one of the major causes of failure ----the inexperience of too many of the nation's commanders-in-chief. Ullman reinforces his argument through the use of autobiographical vignettes that provide a human dimension and insight into the reasons for failure, in some cases making public previously unknown history. The clarion call of Anatomy of Failure is that both a sound strategic framework and sufficient knowledge and understanding of the circumstance that may lead to using force are vital. Without them, failure is virtually guaranteed.

All-American Nativism

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Publisher : Verso Books
ISBN 13 : 1786637138
Total Pages : 353 pages
Book Rating : 4.7/5 (866 download)

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Book Synopsis All-American Nativism by : Daniel Denvir

Download or read book All-American Nativism written by Daniel Denvir and published by Verso Books. This book was released on 2020-01-14 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: American history told from the vantage of immigration politics It is often said that with the election of Donald Trump nativism was raised from the dead. After all, here was a president who organized his campaign around a rhetoric of unvarnished racism and xenophobia. Among his first acts on taking office was to block foreign nationals from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the United States. But although his actions may often seem unprecedented, they are not as unusual as many people believe. This story doesn’t begin with Trump. For decades, Republicans and Democrats alike have employed xenophobic ideas and policies, declaring time and again that “illegal immigration” is a threat to the nation’s security, wellbeing, and future. The profound forces of all-American nativism have, in fact, been pushing politics so far to the right over the last forty years that, for many people, Trump began to look reasonable. As Daniel Denvir argues, issues as diverse as austerity economics, free trade, mass incarceration, the drug war, the contours of the post 9/11 security state, and, yes, Donald Trump and the Alt-Right movement are united by the ideology of nativism, which binds together assorted anxieties and concerns into a ruthless political project. All-American Nativism provides a powerful and impressively researched account of the long but often forgotten history that gave us Donald Trump.

The American Culture of War

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Publisher : Routledge
ISBN 13 : 1136454322
Total Pages : 585 pages
Book Rating : 4.1/5 (364 download)

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Book Synopsis The American Culture of War by : Adrian R. Lewis

Download or read book The American Culture of War written by Adrian R. Lewis and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2014-10-24 with total page 585 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The American Culture of War presents a sweeping, critical examination of every major American war of the late 20th century: World War II, Korea, Vietnam, the First and Second Persian Gulf Wars, through to Operation Enduring Freedom. Lewis deftly traces the evolution of US military strategy, offering an original and provocative look at the motives people and governments used to wage war, the debates among military personnel, the flawed political policies that guided military strategy, and the civilian perceptions that characterized each conflict. Now in its second edition, The American Culture of War has been completely revised and updated. New features include: Completely revised and updated chapters structured to facilitate students’ ability to compare conflicts New chapters on Operation Iraqi Freedom and the current conflict in Afghanistan New conclusion discussing the American culture of war and the future of warfare Over fifty maps, photographs, and images to help students visualize material Expanded companion website with additional pedagogical material for both students and researchers. The American Culture of War is a unique and invaluable survey of over seventy years of American military history, perfect for any student of America’s modern wars. For additional information and classroom resources please visit The American Culture of War companion website at www.routledge.com/cw/lewis.

The United States of War

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Publisher : Univ of California Press
ISBN 13 : 0520385683
Total Pages : 464 pages
Book Rating : 4.5/5 (23 download)

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Book Synopsis The United States of War by : David Vine

Download or read book The United States of War written by David Vine and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2021-09-07 with total page 464 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 2020 L.A. Times Book Prize Finalist, History A provocative examination of how the U.S. military has shaped our entire world, from today’s costly, endless wars to the prominence of violence in everyday American life. The United States has been fighting wars constantly since invading Afghanistan in 2001. This nonstop warfare is far less exceptional than it might seem: the United States has been at war or has invaded other countries almost every year since independence. In The United States of War, David Vine traces this pattern of bloody conflict from Columbus's 1494 arrival in Guantanamo Bay through the 250-year expansion of a global U.S. empire. Drawing on historical and firsthand anthropological research in fourteen countries and territories, The United States of War demonstrates how U.S. leaders across generations have locked the United States in a self-perpetuating system of permanent war by constructing the world’s largest-ever collection of foreign military bases—a global matrix that has made offensive interventionist wars more likely. Beyond exposing the profit-making desires, political interests, racism, and toxic masculinity underlying the country’s relationship to war and empire, The United States of War shows how the long history of U.S. military expansion shapes our daily lives, from today’s multi-trillion–dollar wars to the pervasiveness of violence and militarism in everyday U.S. life. The book concludes by confronting the catastrophic toll of American wars—which have left millions dead, wounded, and displaced—while offering proposals for how we can end the fighting.

When Football Went to War

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Publisher : Triumph Books
ISBN 13 : 1623683092
Total Pages : 289 pages
Book Rating : 4.6/5 (236 download)

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Book Synopsis When Football Went to War by : Todd Anton

Download or read book When Football Went to War written by Todd Anton and published by Triumph Books. This book was released on 2013-10-01 with total page 289 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: More than any other sport, professional football contributed fighting men to the battles of World War II, and the 22 or so players or former players that lost their lives are among the riveting stories told in this tribute to football's war heroes that spans many decades and military conflicts. The National Football League counts three Congressional Medal of Honor recipients among its honors, along with numerous Silver Stars, Distinguished Flying Crosses, and Purple Hearts. When Football Went to War offers a ground-breaking look at football—college and professional football alike—and many of the wartime heroes who came off the field of play to fight for their country. Detailed biographies of those who gave their lives are supplemented by many other stories of wartime heroism, from World War I through to Pat Tillman's tragic death in the Global War on Terrorism. Football has become the most popular sport in America and this heartfelt book honors the many sacrifices of NFL athletes over the years in service of their country.

The War To End All Wars

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Publisher : University Press of Kentucky
ISBN 13 : 0813146445
Total Pages : 539 pages
Book Rating : 4.8/5 (131 download)

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Book Synopsis The War To End All Wars by : Edward M. Coffman

Download or read book The War To End All Wars written by Edward M. Coffman and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2014-04-23 with total page 539 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A comprehensive history of the US military’s involvement in World War I, including soldiers’ experiences, the creation of the air force, and more. The War to End All Wars is considered by many to be the best single account of America’s participation in World War I. Covering famous battles, the birth of the air force, naval engagements, the War Department, and experiences of the troops, this indispensable volume is again available in paperback for students and general readers. Praise for The War to End All Wars “Will surely stand as the first source for anyone interested in the conflict.” —Stephen Ambrose “Coffman’s skilled use of archived materials, diaries and memoirs brings life and immediacy to his story.” —Virginia Quarterly Review “[Coffman] can explain complex matters in a few sharp paragraphs, illuminate technical discussions with personal vignettes, and use statistics to clarify rather than confuse. . . . Should become standard reading in twentieth century American history courses.” —Indiana Magazine of History

The American Way of War

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Author :
Publisher : Simon and Schuster
ISBN 13 : 1416565329
Total Pages : 288 pages
Book Rating : 4.4/5 (165 download)

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Book Synopsis The American Way of War by : Eugene Jarecki

Download or read book The American Way of War written by Eugene Jarecki and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2008-10-14 with total page 288 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the sobering aftermath of America's invasion of Iraq, Eugene Jarecki, the creator of the award-winning documentary Why We Fight, launches a penetrating and revelatory inquiry into how forces within the American political, economic, and military systems have come to undermine the carefully crafted structure of our republic -- upsetting its balance of powers, vastly strengthening the hand of the president in taking the nation to war, and imperiling the workings of American democracy. This is a story not of simple corruption but of the unexpected origins of a more subtle and, in many ways, more worrisome disfiguring of our political system and society. While in no way absolving George W. Bush and his inner circle of their accountability for misguiding the country into a disastrous war -- in fact, Jarecki sheds new light on the deepest underpinnings of how and why they did so -- he reveals that the forty-third president's predisposition toward war and Congress's acquiescence to his wishes must be understood as part of a longer story. This corrupting of our system was predicted by some of America's leading military and political minds. In his now legendary 1961 farewell address, President Dwight D. Eisenhower warned of "the disastrous rise of misplaced power" that could result from the increasing influence of what he called the "military industrial complex." Nearly two centuries earlier, another general turned president, George Washington, had warned that "overgrown military establishments" were antithetical to republican liberties. Today, with an exploding defense budget, millions of Americans employed in the defense sector, and more than eight hundred U.S. military bases in 130 countries, the worst fears of Washington and Eisenhower have come to pass. Surveying a scorched landscape of America's military adventures and misadventures, Jarecki's groundbreaking account includes interviews with a who's who of leading figures in the Bush administration, Congress, the military, academia, and the defense industry, including Republican presidential nominee John McCain, Colin Powell's former chief of staff Colonel Lawrence Wilkerson, and longtime Pentagon reformer Franklin "Chuck" Spinney. Their insights expose the deepest roots of American war making, revealing how the "Arsenal of Democracy" that crucially secured American victory in WWII also unleashed the tangled web of corruption America now faces. From the republic's earliest episodes of war to the use of the atom bomb against Japan to the passage of the 1947 National Security Act to the Cold War's creation of an elaborate system of military-industrial-congressional collusion, American democracy has drifted perilously from the intent of its founders. As Jarecki powerfully argues, only concerted action by the American people can, and must, compel the nation back on course. The American Way of War is a deeply thoughtprovoking study of how America reached a historic crossroads and of how recent excesses of militarism and executive power may provide an opening for the redirection of national priorities.