Many of these new
titles were made possible due to the generosity of our patrons
and
the Adopt-a-Book Program.
Updated at WCPL
April 2013
Biography:
Code Talker
Author:Chester
Nez
The
first and only memoir by one of the original Navajo code talkers of
WWII-includes the actual Navajo Code and rare photos.
Although more than 400 Navajos served in the military
during World War II as top-secret code talkers, even those fighting
shoulder to shoulder with them were not told of their covert
function. And, after the war, the Navajos were forbidden to speak of
their service until 1968, when the code was finally declassified. Of
the original twenty-nine Navajo code talkers, Chester Nez is the
only one still alive. The original twenty-nine were the men who
first devised the code, then proved it indispensable in combat.
In this memoir, the ninety-year-old Nez chronicles both his war
years and his life growing up on the Checkerboard Area of the Navajo
Reservation - the hard life that gave him the strength, both
physical and mental, to become a Marine. His story puts a living
face on the legendary men who developed what is still the only
unbroken code in modern warfare.
Non Fiction:
Big Week: Six Days That
Changed the Course of World War II
New
Author:Bill Yenne
In just six days, the United States Strategic Air Forces changed the course
of military offense in World War II. During those six days, they launched
the largest bombing campaign of the war, dropping roughly 10,000 tons of
bombs in a rain of destruction that would take the skies back from the
Nazis…
The Allies knew that if they were to invade Hitler’s Fortress Europe, they
would have to wrest air superiority from the mighty Luftwaffe.
The plan of the Unites States Strategic Air Forces was risky. During the
week of February 20th, 1944—and joined by the RAF Bomber Command—the USAAF
Eighth and Fifteenth Air Force bombers took on this vital and extremely
risky mission. They ran the gauntlet of the most heavily defended air space
in the world to deal a death blow to Germany’s aircraft industry, and made
them pay with the planes already in the air. In the coming months, this Big
Week would prove a deciding factor in the war.
Both sides were dealt losses, and whereas the Allies could recover, damage
to the Luftwaffe was irreparable. Thus Big Week became one of the most
important episodes of World War II, and coincidentally, one of the most
overlooked—until now.
On Audio CD
A Rumor of War
Author:Phillip
Caputo
The classic Vietnam memoir, as relevant today as it was almost
thirty years ago.
In March of 1965, Marine Lieutenent Philip J. Caputo landed at
Da Nang with the first ground combat unit deployed to Vietnam.
Sixteen months later, having served on the line in one of
modern history's ugliest wars, he returned home--physically
whole but emotionally wasted, his youthful idealism forever
gone. A Rumor of War is more than one soldier's story. Upon
its publication in 1977, it shattered America's indifference
to the fate of the men sent to fight in the jungles of
Vietnam. In the years since then, it has become not only a
basic text on the Vietnam War but also a renowned classic in
the literature of wars throughout history and, as Caputo
explains, of "the things men do in war and the things war does
to men."
All In:
The Education of General David Petraeus
Author:Paula
Broadwell
General David Petraeus is the most transformative leader the
American military has seen since the generation of Marshall.
In All In, military expert Paula Broadwell examines Petraeus's
career, his intellectual development as a military officer,
and his impact on the U.S. military.
Afforded extensive access by General Petraeus, his mentors,
his subordinates, and his longtime friends, Broadwell embedded
with the general, his headquarters staff, and his soldiers on
the front lines of fighting and at the strategic command in
Afghanistan to chronicle the experiences of this American
general as they were brought to bear in the terrible crucible
of war. All In draws on hundreds of hours of exclusive
interviews with Petraeus and his top officers and soldiers to
tell the inside story of this commander's development and
leadership in war from every vantage point.
Fighting for MacArthur: The
Navy and the Marine Corp's Desperate Defense of the Philppines
Author:John Gordon
As the only single-volume work to offer a full
account of Navy and Marine Corps actions in the Philippines during
World War II, this book provides a unique source of information on
the early part of the war. It is filled with never-before-published
details about the fighting, based on a rich collection of American
and newly discovered Japanese sources, and includes a revealing
discussion of the buildup of tensions between Gen. Douglas MacArthur
and the Navy that continued for the remainder of the war. U.S. Army
veteran and defense analyst John Gordon describes in considerable
detail the unusual missions of the Navy and Marine Corps in the
largely Army campaign, where sailors fought as infantrymen alongside
their Marine comrades at Bataan and Corregidor, crews of Navy ships
manned the Army's heavy coastal artillery weapons, and Navy
submarines desperately tried to supply the men with food and
ammunition. He also chronicles the last stand of the Navy s colorful
China gunboats at Manila Bay
