In 1844 the USS Yorktown sailed from New York, as part of the U.S. Navy's newly established African Squadron, to interdict slave ships leaving the African coast. Aboard the sloop of war, Master's Mate John C. Lawrence, an educated New Yorker in his early twenties, kept a private journal describing what happened during the extraordinary two-year voyage and his reactions ...
Presented in cooperation with the Association of the U.S. Army, this is the story of life as an infantryman during the final phases of World War II. Having served as an 81-mm mortar forward observer with the 1st Infantry Division (the"Big Red One"), the author skillfully recreates this military combat experience through both personal recollections and excerpts from his letters ...
This is the improbable story of two very different German cruisers. The sleek and powerful Admiral Hipper was the much-heralded prototype of one of the most formidable ship classes of World War II. In contrast, the Pinguin, a converted merchantman, was armed with only 5.9 inch guns and operated by a predominately reservist crew. Contrary to all expectations, the ...