Saul David

"War" combines a coherent and compelling historical narrative with a wealth of supporting features on weapons and technology, strategy and tactics, the experience of war, and history's fighting elites to recount the epic 5,000-year story of warfare and combat through the ages.

from ancient Egypt to Iraq

From the award-winning historian, Saul David, the riveting narrative of the heroic US troops, bonded by the brotherhood and sacrifice of war, who overcame enormous casualties to pull off the toughest invasion of WWII's Pacific Theater -- and the Japanese forces who fought with tragic desperation to stop them. With Allied forces sweeping across Europe and into Germany in the spring of 1945, one enormous challenge threatened to derail America's audacious drive to win the world back from the Nazis: Japan, the empire that had extended its reach southward across the Pacific and was renowned for the fanaticism and brutality of its fighters, who refused to surrender, even when faced with insurmountable odds. Taking down Japan would require an unrelenting attack to break its national spirit, and launching such an attack on the island empire meant building an operations base just off its shores on the island of Okinawa. The amphibious operation to capture Okinawa was the largest of the Pacific War and the greatest air-land-sea battle in history, mobilizing 183,000 troops from Seattle, Leyte in the Philippines, and ports around the world. The campaign lasted for 82 blood-soaked days, as the fighting plumbed depths of savagery. One veteran, struggling to make sense of what he had witnessed, referred to the fighting as the "crucible of Hell." Okinawan civilians died in the tens of thousands: some were mistaken for soldiers by American troops; but as the US Marines spearheading the invasion drove further onto the island and Japanese defeat seemed inevitable, many more civilians took their own lives, some even murdering their own families. In just under three months, the world had changed irrevocably: President Franklin D. Roosevelt died; the war in Europe ended; America's appetite for an invasion of Japan had waned, spurring President Truman to use other means -- ultimately atomic bombs -- to end the war; and more than 250,000 servicemen and civilians on or near the island of Okinawa had lost their lives. Drawing on archival research in the US, Japan, and the UK, and the original accounts of those who survived, Crucible of Hell tells the vivid, heart-rending story of the battle that changed not just the course of WWII, but the course of war, forever.

The Heroism and Tragedy of Okinawa, 1945

Crucible of Hell

Saul David Ltd

This special ebook has been created by historian Saul David from his acclaimed work 100 Days to Vistory: How the Great War was Fought and Won, which was described by the Mail on Sunday as 'Inspired' and by Charles Spencer as 'A work of great originality and insight'. Through key dates from 4 August 1914, when Britain declared war, to the Christmas Truce of 24 December 1914, Saul David's gripping narrative is an enthralling tribute to a generation of men and women whose sacrifice should never be forgotten.

Key Dates and Events from the First Year of the First World War

1914: The Outbreak of War to the Christmas Truce

This special ebook has been created by historian Saul David from his acclaimed work 100 Days to Vistory: How the Great War was Fought and Won, which was described by the Mail on Sunday as 'Inspired' and by Charles Spencer as 'A work of great originality and insight'. Through key dates from the Battle of Dogger Bank on 24th January 1914, to the Gallipoli landings, Saul David's gripping narrative is an enthralling tribute to a generation of men and women whose sacrifice should never be forgotten.

Key Dates and Events from the Second Year of the First World War

1915: The Battle of Dogger Bank to Gallipoli

Zulu

The Encyclopedia of War from Ancient Egypt to Iraq

War the Definitive Visual History

"The definitive account of one of the greatest Special Forces missions ever, the Raid of Entebbe, by acclaimed military historian Saul David."--

Flight 139 and the raid on Entebbe Airport, the most audacious hostage rescue mission in history

Operation Thunderbolt

Devil Dogs

the Prince of Wales and the making of the Regency

The Prince of Pleasure

Die größten Fehlschläge der Militärgeschichte.

Okinawa: the Last Great Battle of the Second World War

The 7th Earl of Cardigan, the subject of this biography, is always remembered as the man who led the infamous Charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava in 1854. A fatal event for so many of his men, it was to rejuvenate Cardigan's life. Hitherto his career had been dogged by public scandal and professional disgrace: a failed marriage to a divorcee, two court appearances for adultery, two courts martial, numerous duels (which earned him the sobriquet the homicidal earl), a state trial for intent to murder, dismissal from the command of a crack cavalry regiment, being blackballed 46 times by the leading military club, being hissed at in theatres, parliamentary questions about his conduct. All seemed conveniently forgotten in the wake of his valour at Balaclava.

The Life of Lord Cardigan

The Homicidal Earl

'A fine achievement by a huge new talent' William Dalrymple, Sunday Times In 1857 the native troops of the Bengal army rose against their colonial masters. The ensuing insurrection was to become the bloodiest in the history of the British Empire.Combining formidable storytelling with ground-breaking research, Saul David narrates a tale at once heart-rendingly tragic and extraordinarily compelling. David provides new and convincing evidence that the true causes of the mutiny were much more complex, and disturbing, than previously assumed.

1857

The Indian Mutiny

From Sunday Times bestselling historian Saul David, the dramatic tale of the first American troops to take the fight to the enemy in the Second World War, and also the last.

Devil Dogs: First In, Last Out – King Company from Guadalcanal to the Shores of Japan

Hailed as "masterly" (Wall Street Journal), "a monumental achievement!" (Douglas Brinkley), "a mesmerizing read" (Bing West), and "an essential part of anyone's library" (Doug Stanton), The Force tells the riveting, true story of the group of elite US and Canadian soldiers -- mountainmen, lumberjacks, hunters, and explorers -- who sacrificed everything to accomplish a crucial but nearly impossible WWII mission. In December of 1943, as Nazi forces sprawled around the world and the future of civilization hung in the balance, a group of highly trained U.S. and Canadian soldiers from humble backgrounds was asked to do the impossible: capture a crucial Nazi stronghold perched atop stunningly steep cliffs. The men were a rough-and-ready group, assembled from towns nested in North America's most unforgiving terrain, where many of them had struggled through the Great Depression relying on canny survival skills and the fearlessness of youth. Brought together by the promise to take part in the military's most elite missions, they formed a unique brotherhood tested first by the crucible of state-of-the-art training-including skiing, rock climbing, and parachuting-and then tragically by the vicious fighting they would face. The early battle in the Italian theatre for the strategic fort cost the heroic U.S.-Canadian commando unit-their first special forces unit ever assembled-enormous casualties. Yet the victory put them in position to continue their drive into Italy, setting the stage for the Allies' resurgence toward victory in WWII. The unit, with its vast range of capabilities and mission-specific exercises, became a model for the "Green Berets" and other special forces groups that would go on to accomplish America's most challenging undertakings behind enemy lines. Knitting first-hand accounts seamlessly into the narrative-drawing on interviews with surviving members and their families; the memoirs, letters, and diaries of Forcemen; and declassified documents in the American, Canadian, British, and German archives -- The Force tells a story that is as deeply personal as it is inspiring.

The Legendary Special Ops Unit and Wwii's Mission Impossible

The Force

The definitive account of one of the greatest Special Forces missions ever, the Raid of Entebbe, by acclaimed military historian Saul David. On June 27, 1976, an Air France flight from Tel Aviv to Paris was hijacked by a group of Arab and German terrorists who demanded the release of 53 terrorists. The plane was forced to divert to Entebbe, in Uganda--ruled by the murderous despot Idi Amin, who had no interest in intervening. Days later, Israeli commandos disguised as Ugandan soldiers assaulted the airport terminal, killed all the terrorists, and rescued all the hostages but three who were killed in the crossfire. The assault force suffered just one fatality: its commander, Yoni Netanyahu (brother of Israel's current Prime Minister.) Three of the country's greatest leaders: Ehud Barak, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin planned and pulled off one of the most astonishing military operations in history.

Flight 139 and the Raid on Entebbe Airport, the Most Audacious Hostage Rescue Mission in History

The Zulu War of 1879 was the most brutal and controversial British imperial conflict of the 19th century. Saul David is presenting a programme on the subject which will be aired in October 2003. He is using research from that to compile this book. The programme will hopefully raise awareness of this young historian's name and of the subject matter.

The Heroism and Tragedy of the Zulu War of 1879

A chronicle of the scandalous reign of England's George IV captures the sexual intrigue and financial improvidence that that helped define the Regency period and also notes this complex King's intelligence and advocacy of the arts. Reprint.

The Prince of Wales and the Making of the Regency

Prince of Pleasure

In the early part of Queen Victoria's reign, the British Empire almost quintupled in size. It was well on the way to becoming the greatest empire the world had ever seen. This is the story of how it happened and the people who made it happen. In a fast-moving narrative that ranges from London to the harsh terrain of India, Russia and the Far East, Saul David shows how Britain ruthlessly exploited her position as the world's only superpower to expand her empire. Yet little of this territorial acquisition was planned or sanctioned by the home government. Instead it was largely the work of the men on the ground, and to those at home it really did seem that the empire was acquired in a 'fit of absence of mind'. Saul David creates a vivid portrait of life on the violent fringes of empire, and of the seemingly endless and brutal wars that were fought in the name of trade, civilization and the balance of power.

Saul David

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