The Japanese attacked the Philippines almost simultaneous with their December 7th, 1941 attack on the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor.  Following Japanese air attacks, the Japanese 14th Army landed in the Philippines on December 8th.  By January 1942, the Japanese had U.S. and Filipino forces bottled up on the Bataan Peninsula.  Those U.S. and Filipino forces surrendered on May 8th.  It is arguably America’s worst military defeat ever.  Among the roughly 12,000 Americans taken prisoner were four Navy doctors.  John Glusman tells their story in “Conduct Under Fire: Four American Doctors and Their Fight for Life as Prisoners of the Japanese, 1941-1945.”

NAZI scientists relied on heavy water to produce the right uranium isotope for an atomic weapon.  They produced most of their heavy water at a hydroelectric in occupied Norway called Vemork.  In February 1943, a small group of Norwegian commandos slipped into Vemork, blew it up, and made their escape.  This is after months of reconnaissance and preparation in the frozen wilderness.  Neal Bascomb tells the story in “The Winter Fortress.”  

In October 2001, the United States began aerial bombing of Afghanistan in response to the terrorist group Al Queda’s attacks of September 11th.  Special Forces followed up by teaming with the Taliban’s opponents – the Northern Alliance – and by late November / early December 2001 the Taliban had been driven from power.  That didn’t mean the Taliban and Al Queda had gone away or given up.  They had moved and gone underground.  One of the places they went to was Afghanistan’s Shahikot Valley.  In March 2002, the U.S. conducted Operation Anaconda to root them out.  It was the first large scale ground operation of the war.  Sean Naylor tells the story of what happened in Not a Good Day to Die.

William Manchester served in the Marine Corps during the Second World War.  He was wounded during the Battle of Okinawa.  After the war, Manchester established himself as a journalist in Baltimore, an adjunct professor at Wesleyan University, and an author.  In 1978, he returned to the Pacific and visited various places connected either with his service or the Pacific campaign.  That trip forms the basis of this book, “Goodbye, Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War.”

Bill Peters was commissioned in the Marine Corps via Officer Candidate School.  After completing the Basic School at Quantico, Virginia, he was assigned to Vietnam as a platoon commander in First Force Reconnaissance Company in 1969.  Peters conducted twenty-three long-range patrols in enemy-controlled territory, was wounded, and decorated for bravery. He tells the story in “First Force Recon Company: Sunrise at Midnight.”

The Algerian War of Independence lasted from 1954 to 1962.  It carried heavy costs for both sides.  Estimates vary but upwards of a million Muslim Algerians died; roughly a million Pied Noir (settlers of European descent) were driven into exile; and France was driven to the brink of civil war.  Alistair Horne tells the story in “A Savage War of Peace.” 

Siegfried Knappe served in the German Army from 1936 until 1949.  He was a member of the German General Staff.  Knappe was wounded multiple times and saw action in France as well as the Eastern and Italian fronts.  He ended the war in and out of Hitler’s bunker during the Battle of Berlin before spending several years in Soviet captivity.  This book provides candid insight into the German Army from the inside out.      

The United States entered World War One on April 6th, 1917. Going to war in Europe meant the United States had to greatly expand its Army.  It had enlist, train, organize, equip, and deploy hundreds of thousands of young men.  One of the units that was part of this expansion was the 79th Infantry Division which was activated in August 1917.  Many of the soldiers in the 79th Infantry Division were draftees from Baltimore, Washington, and Philadelphia.  By the time they were deactivated less than two years later, 6,874 of their Division comrades had been killed or wounded.  Gene Fax tells the story of the 79th Infantry Division focusing on its involvement in the final yet bloody months of World War One’s Western Front. 

Company E, 506th Regiment was part of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division.  It was formed in 1942 and comprised of young volunteers that were generally new to the army.  Company E received its baptism by fire in June 1944 when it jumped into NAZI occupied France.  It went on to jump into Holland as part of Operation Market-Garden; helped blunt the German advance by holding the town of Bastogne during the Battle of the Bulge; and then drove across Germany to secure Hitler’s final defeat.  During its advance across Europe, Company E sustained 150% casualties.  Stephen Ambrose tells Easy Company’s story through the words of the men who served in it. 

Sierra Leone’s civil war lasted from 1991 until 2002.  It was marked by exceptional levels of cruelty and suffering.  During this civil war the United Nations, neighboring West African states, and the United Kingdom launched military interventions into Sierra Leone.  The United Kingdom’s intervention was called Operation Palliser.  In September 2000 eleven British soldiers participating in Operation Palliser were captured by a militia gang known as the West Side Boys.  When it became clear negotiating with the West Side Boys was proving futile, the British decided to take military action to free their soldiers.  William Fowler’s “Operation Barras” tells the story of what happened.