Book Sentry, November 2011

Spot the incoming new books on military history, particularly those providing context for the library's Veterans History Project.


If you see a book that looks good, click on "Check Our Catalog" and place a hold. We will let you know when it comes for you!

When We Walked Above the Clouds: A Memoir of VietnamBy Barnes, H. Lee
2011-09 - University of Nebraska Press

There is the mythology of the Green Berets, of their clandestine, special operations as celebrated in story and song. And then there is the reality of one soldier's experience, the day-to-day loss and drudgery of a Green Beret such as H. Lee Barnes, whose story conveys the daily grind and quiet desperation behind polished-for-public-consumption accounts of military heroics. In "When We Walked Above the Clouds, " Barnes tells what it was like to be a Green Beret, first in the Dominican Republic during the civil war of 1965, and then at A-107, Tra Bong, Vietnam. …More


The Sword of St. Michael: The 82nd Airborne Division in World War II
By Lofaro, Guy
2011-08 - Da Capo Press

We Meant Well: How I Helped Lose the Battle for the Hearts and Minds of the Iraqi People
By Van Buren, Peter
2011-09 - Metropolitan Books

In this shocking and darkly hilarious expose of the reconstruction of post-Saddam Iraq, former State Department team leader Van Buren describes the tragicomedy that has been American efforts at nation building, marked by bizarre decisions and wrongheaded priorities.

Afghanistan: Graveyard of Empires: A New History of the Borderlands
By Isby, David
2010-04 - Pegasus Books

This illuminating history of modern Afghanistan, written by a veteran defenseanalyst, details the complex story of a country caught in a vortex of terror.448 pp.

Eden to Armageddon: World War I in the Middle East
By Ford, Roger
2010-05 - Pegasus Books
9781605980911 Check Our Catalog

In this epic account of World War I in the Middle East, Ford presents the complete story of the invasion of the Garden of Eden that ended with a momentous victory on the site of the biblical Armageddon and the creation of Iran and Iraq.

Carrier: A Century of First-Hand Accounts of Naval Operations in War and Peace
By Hood, Jean
2011-02 - Conway Maritime Press

The Last Mission of the Wham Bam Boys: Courage, Tragedy, and Justice in World War II
By Freeman, Gregory A.
2011-05 - Palgrave MacMillan

Military historian Gregory A. Freeman brings to life for the first time the dramatic story of a young American bomber crew that was forced to bail out over Germany in August 1944. After landing, they were captured and lynched in a two-hour assault by local townspeople who had fallen prey to the worst impulses of the ravages of war. The families of these airmen were never told what actually happened to their loved ones and the few survivors had to carry this burden alone for years. After the war, a highly dramatic trial took place in the German town, forcing the locals to confront their wartime atrocity. Drawing from government archives, photos, trial records, interviews with family members, and letters home from the crew, Freeman creates a vivid narrative of the dramatic event and follows the survivors’ moving, sometimes heartrending, efforts to understand how good men could die in such a terrible way and how those left behind are supposed to go on.

Black Sheep: The Life of Pappy Boyington
By Wukovits, John F.
2011-06 - US Naval Institute Press