Download or read book Countdown 1945 written by Chris Wallace and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-05-11 with total page 336 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A "behind-the-scenes account of the 116 days leading up to the Americans attack on Hiroshima"--Dust jacket flap.

Download or read book An Untaken Road written by Steven A Pomeroy and published by Naval Institute Press. This book was released on 2016-01-15 with total page 305 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Steven A. Pomeroy has authored the first history of the American mobile intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), a technology the United States spent four decades and billions of dollars creating but never deployed. An Untaken Road showcases how the evolution of a technology that ultimately never existed and the politics that surrounded it end up significantly shaping American nuclear strategy and forces for decades. Utilizing recently declassified documents, years of experience, and an unrivaled passion for the history of military technologies, Pomeroy has created a new framework on the nature of strategic weapons technology innovation. This thorough study of a “road not taken” is a must read for those seeking to understand the challenges and constraints on U.S. military weapon programs, especially when inter-organization competition, domestic politics, strategic needs, and new technologies collide.

Download or read book The Bombers and the Bombed written by Richard Overy and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2015-04-28 with total page 609 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “An essential part of the literature of World War II.” —Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post From acclaimed World War II historian Richard Overy comes this startling new history of the controversial Allied bombing war against Germany and German-occupied Europe. In the fullest account yet of the campaign and its consequences, Overy assesses not just the bombing strategies and pattern of operations, but also how the bombed communities coped with the devastation. This book presents a unique history of the bombing offensive from below as well as from above, and engages with moral questions that still resonate today.

Download or read book Before The Bomb written by John Chappell and published by University Press of Kentucky. This book was released on 2021-12-14 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Almost forgotten in the haze of events that followed Nagasaki and Hiroshima, the summer of 1945 witnessed an intense public debate over how best to end the war against Japan. Weary of fighting, the American people were determined to defeat the imperial power that had so viciously attacked them in December 1941, but they were uncertain of the best means to accomplish this goal. Certain of victory—the "inevitable triumph" promised by Franklin Roosevelt immediately after Pearl Harbor—Americans became increasingly concerned about the human cost of defeating Japan. Particularly after the brutal Iwo Jima and Okinawa campaigns, syndicated columnists, newspaper editorialists, radio commentators, and others questioned the necessity of invasion. A lengthy naval and aerial siege would have saved lives but might have protracted the war beyond the public's patience. Advertisers filled the media with visions of postwar affluence even as the government was exhorting its citizens to remain dedicated to the war effort. There was heated discussion as well about the morality of firebombing Japanese cities and of using poison gas and other agents of chemical warfare. Chappell provides a balanced assessment of all these debates, grounding his observations in a wealth of primary sources. He also discusses the role of racism, the demand for unconditional surrender, and the government's reaction to public opinion in the decision to drop the atomic bomb. Compelling and controversial, this is the first work to examine the confusing and contradictory climate of the American home front in the months leading up to V-J Day.

Download or read book Black Snow Curtis LeMay the Firebombing of Tokyo and the Road to the Atomic Bomb written by James M. Scott and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2022-09-06 with total page 285 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Riveting.…This book is required reading for anyone with even a passing interest in World War II and the Pacific Theater." —Bob Carden, Boston Globe Seven minutes past midnight on March 10, 1945, nearly 300 American B-29s thundered into the skies over Tokyo. Their payloads of incendiaries ignited a firestorm that reached up to 2,800 degrees, liquefying asphalt and vaporizing thousands; sixteen square miles of the city were flattened and more than 100,000 men, women, and children were killed. Black Snow is the story of this devastating operation, orchestrated by Major General Curtis LeMay, who famously remarked: “If we lose the war, we’ll be tried as war criminals.” James M. Scott reconstructs in granular detail that horrific night, and describes the development of the B-29, the capture of the Marianas for use as airfields, and the change in strategy from high-altitude daylight “precision” bombing to low-altitude nighttime incendiary bombing. Most importantly, the raid represented a significant moral shift for America, marking the first time commanders deliberately targeted civilians which helped pave the way for the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki five months later. Drawing on first-person interviews with American pilots and bombardiers and Japanese survivors, air force archives, and oral histories never before published in English, Scott delivers a harrowing and gripping account, and his most important and compelling work to date.

Download or read book Soviet Secret Projects written by Tony Buttler and published by Ian Allan Publishing. This book was released on 2004 with total page 184 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Among the best-selling aviation titles of recent years have been Midland's Lutwaffe and British Secret Projects series. Soviet secret projects now come under the spotlight. This first volume covers bomber concepts from the various design bureaus from the 1940s onwards. Many unusual and sophisticated aircraft are featured in these pages, allowing comparisons between what the Soviets were working on and what was being produced in the West during that period.

Download or read book The Bitter Road to Freedom written by William I. Hitchcock and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2008-10-21 with total page 466 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Reading Group Guide forThe Bitter Road to Freedomby William I. Hitchcock1. The story of the liberation of Europe has been told many times. What new and surprising things did you learn from this book that you didn't know before?2. The book makes use of so many primary sources: letters, diaries, old records, and, as a result, we hear many voices. Did these first-hand accounts change the way you previously perceived the liberation of Europe? Why or why not?3. Americans remember the end of WWII as a time of triumph and universal celebration in Europe when the occupied countries were finally freed from Hitler's tyranny. What was life really like for Europeans during and after the Liberation? Why do you think Americans remember the Liberation so differently from Europeans?4. The book discusses the violence and suffering that occur to the civilian population in even the most just of wars. Do you think what happened in Europe after the war has present-day applications, especially regarding the war in Iraq and our escalating campaign in Afghanistan?5. Some might see this book as disparaging to the accomplishments of "The Greatest Generation." How do you think veterans of WWII will react to this book?6. Americans were surprised to find that they got along well with the Germans upon entering their country. In what ways does Eisenhower's failed ban on American soldiers fraternizing with German civilians illustrate the differences between political ideology and basic human experience? How might these differences still be true today?7. Were you surprised to find that survivors of the Holocaust faced such difficulties in the immediate aftermath of their liberation? How might that treatment influence their view of the end of the war?8. Why do you think the large-scale relief effort that America led in Europe, through many charitable organizations and volunteer groups, is not better known in the United States? Should historians write as much about the humanitarian side of war as they do about battle-field history?

Download or read book 450th Bomb Group H written by and published by Turner Publishing Company. This book was released on 1996 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 450th Bomb Group (H) contained the 720th, 721st, 722nd, and 723rd squdrons.

Download or read book Road to Surrender written by Evan Thomas and published by Random House Trade Paperbacks. This book was released on 2024-05-07 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A riveting, immersive account of the agonizing decision to use nuclear weapons against Japan—a crucial turning point in World War II and geopolitical history—with you-are-there immediacy by the New York Times bestselling author of Ike’s Bluff and Sea of Thunder. “As Christopher Nolan’s movie Oppenheimer shows, the shockwaves reverberate still. The veteran biographer Evan Thomas now enters the debate.”—The Wall Street Journal AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR At 9:20 a.m. on the morning of May 30, General Groves receives a message to report to the office of the secretary of war “at once.” Stimson is waiting for him. He wants to know: has Groves selected the targets yet? So begins this suspenseful, impeccably researched history that draws on new access to diaries to tell the story of three men who were intimately involved with America’s decision to drop the atomic bomb—and Japan’s decision to surrender. They are Henry Stimson, the American Secretary of War, who oversaw J. Robert Oppenheimer under the Manhattan Project; Gen. Carl “Tooey” Spaatz, head of strategic bombing in the Pacific, who supervised the planes that dropped the bombs; and Japanese Foreign Minister Shigenori Togo, the only one in Emperor Hirohito’s Supreme War Council who believed even before the bombs were dropped that Japan should surrender. Henry Stimson had served in the administrations of five presidents, but as Oppenheimer’s work progressed, he found himself tasked with the unimaginable decision of determining whether to deploy the bomb. The new president, Harry S. Truman, thus far a peripheral figure in the momentous decision, accepted Stimson’s recommendation to drop the bomb. Army Air Force Commander Gen. Spaatz ordered the planes to take off. Like Stimson, Spaatz agonized over the command even as he recognized it would end the war. After the bombs were dropped, Foreign Minister Togo was finally able to convince the emperor to surrender. To bring these critical events to vivid life, bestselling author Evan Thomas draws on the diaries of Stimson, Togo and Spaatz, contemplating the immense weight of their historic decision. In Road to Surrender, an immersive, surprising, moving account, Thomas lays out the behind-the-scenes thoughts, feelings, motivations, and decision-making of three people who changed history.

Download or read book Super History written by Jeffrey K. Johnson and published by McFarland. This book was released on 2014-01-10 with total page 231 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In the less than eight decades since Superman's debut in 1938, comic book superheroes have become an indispensable part of American society and the nation's dominant mythology. They represent America's hopes, dreams, fears, and needs. As a form of popular literature, superhero narratives have closely mirrored trends and events in the nation. This study views American history from 1938 to 2010 through the lens of superhero comics, revealing the spandex-clad guardians to be not only fictional characters but barometers of the place and time in which they reside. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

Download or read book 390th Bomb Group written by and published by Turner Publishing Company. This book was released on 1994 with total page 152 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The 390th Bombardment Group (H) contained the 568th, 570th, and 571st squadrons.

Download or read book 2nd Air Division Air Force USAAF 1942 45 written by Martin Bowman and published by Pen and Sword. This book was released on 2007-04-19 with total page 204 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As part of the AHT series, the airfields and interest in this book are concentrated in a particular area - in this case Norfolk and Suffolk. The Second Air Division's first bombing mission was flown on November 7, 1942; the last on April 25, 1945. A total of 95, 948 sorties were flown in 493 operational missions by the division's B-24s, dropping 199,883 tons of bombs. Targets attacked ranged from Norway in the north, as far east as Poland and Romania, while several Mediterranean countries were reached from temporary bases in North Africa. Six 2nd Air Division groups received special presidential citations for outstanding actions and five airmen received the Medal of Honor (highest US award for bravery), four posthumously. In combat the 2nd Air Division gunners claimed 1,079 enemy fighters destroyed against losses of 1,458 B-24s missing in action and many others lost in accidents. This book looks at the history and personalities associated with each base, what remains today and explores the favourite local wartime haunts where aircrew and ground crew would go.

Download or read book Encyclopedia of Military Science written by G. Kurt Piehler and published by SAGE Publications. This book was released on 2013-07-24 with total page 1921 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Encyclopedia of Military Science provides a comprehensive, ready-reference on the organization, traditions, training, purpose, and functions of today’s military. Entries in this four-volume work include coverage of the duties, responsibilities, and authority of military personnel and an understanding of strategies and tactics of the modern military and how they interface with political, social, legal, economic, and technological factors. A large component is devoted to issues of leadership, group dynamics, motivation, problem-solving, and decision making in the military context. Finally, this work also covers recent American military history since the end of the Cold War with a special emphasis on peacekeeping and peacemaking operations, the First Persian Gulf War, the events surrounding 9/11, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and how the military has been changing in relation to these events.

Download or read book The Road to Victory written by Dale Dye and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2011-11-20 with total page 273 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: No war has tested the resolve of the American people and her fighting men as did the battles in the Pacific. This book is a visual testament to the key battles fought in the Pacific. On December 7, 1941, as the Japanese dived out of the clouds above Pearl Harbor, America's future was fundamentally altered. Ever since the first world conflict, the United States had resisted the temptation to be drawn into wars outside of its borders. But with this one surprise attack America was inevitably thrown into the fray as the Second World War erupted. This history by military specialists, Osprey Publishing, reveals each of the battles America would fight against Imperial Japan from the naval clashes at Midway and Coral Sea to the desperate, bloody fighting on Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Each chapter reveals the horrors of battle and the grim determination to wrest victory from certain defeat. Using an astonishing collection of wartime imagery and complete with dozen of full-colour maps, this is an invaluable visual guide to the road to victory.

Download or read book Advancing Multiculturalism Post 7 7 written by John Eade and published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. This book was released on 2009-03-26 with total page 205 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Multiculturalism still matters and is even more important after 7/7 than it was before. The political discourse and rhetoric of integration sits uncomfortably alongside both multicultural realities e.g. the civil disturbances in Birmingham, England (October 2005), Paris, France (November 2005) and Sydney, Australia (December, 2005) and social scientific notions of where multiculturalism positions itself domestically and internationally. This edited collection is intended to be a major contribution to studies of multiculturalism examining the historical background and anthropological context, alongside more contemporary applied social policy perspectives. In this volume, we argue that a multicultural perspective is as relevant and important, both socially and politically in a post 7/7 world. Within a post 7/7 context, there are contributors within this edited collection who argue for both integrationist and multicultural approaches. The volume acknowledges both concepts and encourages the reader to increase understandings of both arguments and position her / himself within the debates.

Download or read book Encyclopedia of Cold War Politics written by Brandon Toropov and published by Infobase Publishing. This book was released on 2000 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: There are many reference works on the cold war, including The Cold War Encyclopedia (1996) and the recent Historical Dictionary of the Cold War (2000). These works put a crucial period of the twentieth century into perspective. They share an international focus, driven in part by the global nature of the cold war, the events that defined it, and the people who fought it. This new encyclopedia takes a different tack, focusing almost exclusively on American domestic events and issues and touching on international themes only when they are relevant to the U.S. scene.More than 700 entries are arranged alphabetically, beginning with Acheson, Dean, secretary of state from 1949 to 1953, and ending with Yippies, an anti-establishment DEGREESB radical element of the hippie movement. In between are entries on presidents and their opponents, civil rights groups and leaders, phrases, and definitions. The length of each entry (ranging from 100-2,500 words) reflects the importance of the subject or the depth of coverage needed. Acheson's boss, Harry Truman, earns just over four columns, while Truman's opponent in the infamous 1948 general election, Thomas Dewey, barely rates one column.Each entry is factual and concise. The entry on Martin Luther King Jr. mentions his early life and education, his adherence to Gandhi's policy of nonviolence, the March on Washington, and his assassination in Tennessee, avoiding the various controversies surrounding both King's life and death. Sometimes the generally objective tone of the work is missing, as when, for example, it defines com munism as paradoxical and self-defeating. Black-and-white photographs enhance the text, and the index is detailed.This volume is a worthy addition to the cold war reference shelf. Its coverage of people, places, and events that might be ignored in works with a more international perspective makes it a good starting point for anyone interested in an American focus. Recommended for high-school, public, and academic libraries. RBB. Copyright (r) American Library Association. All rights r

Download or read book WWII Bombardiers written by Philip A. St. John and published by Turner Publishing Company. This book was released on 1998 with total page 125 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Includes history of various bomb groups, pictures and biographies of bombardiers, and history of the development of bombing equipment.