The Port Chicago Mutiny

Paperback (244 pages)

On July 17, 1944, an explosion at Port Chicago killed 320 men, 202 of whom were black ammunition loaders. 328 of the surviving enlistees were sent to load ammunition on another ship and when they refused, 50 were singled out and charged and convicted of mutiny, the largest mutiny trial in U.S. naval history and an early part of the civil rights movement.

The Manhattan Project:

The Birth of the Atomic Bomb

Paperback (499 pages), kindle

The most comprehensive account of the birth of the atomic age, containing documents, essays, articles and the oral histories of key eyewitnesses to the legacy and aftermath of the Manhattan Project.

The Second World War

by Winston Churchill

Paperback - 6 volumes (4,736 pages)

Winston Churchill was not only the war's greatest leader, he was the free world's singularly eloquent voice of defiance in the face of Nazi tyranny, and it's that voice that animates this six-volume history.

The Hitler Salute:

On the Meaning of a Gesture

Paperback (128 pages), kindle

The Nazi transformation of a simple human interaction - the greeting - shows how a shared gesture can usher in the conformity of an entire society. Made compulsory in 1933, the Hitler salute developed into a daily reflex in a matter of months.

Niemandsland:

A History of Unoccupied Germany, 1944-1945

Hardcover (264 pages), kindle

Sandwiched between American and Red Army lines as the war came to an end, 500,000 German inhabitants were cut off from the outside world and left to fend for themselves in the face of crippling shortages of food, fuel and housing. Only here do we see what happened when the currents of post-Nazi German politics were allowed to flow freely, unimpeded by Allied intervention.

Mein Kampf:

The Official 1939 Version

Hardcover (387 pages), paperback, kindle

This, the only translation of Mein Kampf which was officially endorsed by the Nazi party during Hitler’s lifetime, represents an opportunity to try and understand the twisted madman's evil to come exactly as it was presented to readers at that time.

The Longest Night:

The Bombing of London on May 10, 1941

Paperback (384 pages), kindle

The untold story of the horrific bombing raid that almost brought Britain to military collapse - using extensive survivors' testimony and previously classified documents to reveal just how close the Luftwaffe came to total victory.

Hitler's Rockets:

The Story of the V-2s

Paperback (448 pages), kindle

The story of the V-2, the technically brilliant but hated weapon, the ancestor and forerunner of all subsequent ballistic missiles. The author reveals the devious power-play within the German armed forces and the Nazi establishment that so influenced the creation of the rockets.

Operation Pied Piper:

The Wartime Evacuation of Schoolchildren from London and Berlin 1938-46

Paperback (240 pages)

When war came, authorities in both London and Berlin carried out evacuation schemes that sent children to rural areas or out of the country. The evacuation schemes were bold, controversial and - considering their distinct political contexts - surprisingly similar; as were some of their consequences.

Patton's Panthers:

The African-American 761st Tank Battalion In World War II

Paperback (368 pages), kindle

On the battlefields of WWII, the men of the African-American 761st Tank Battalion under General Patton broke through enemy lines with the same courage with which they broke down the racist limitations set upon them by others -- proving themselves as tough, reliable, and determined to fight as any tank unit in combat.

Latin America During World War II

Paperback (246 pages)

The first full-length study of World War II from the Latin American perspective; how each country responded to the Axis threat to national order, the extent of military cooperation with the Allies, and the war's impact on the national economy and domestic political and social structures.

Secret Weapons and World War II:

Japan in the Shadow of Big Science

Hardcover (335 pages)

Japan's failure to keep pace with Allied scientific and technological advancement ultimately led to its defeat in World War II, ironically through the dropping of American-developed atomic bombs.

The Night of the Long Knives:

Forty-Eight Hours That Changed the History of the World

Paperback (240 pages), audiobook

The story of how Hitler seized control in Germany during his ruthless quest for world domination by murdering SA head Ernst Röhm and other "enemies of the party" and consolidating his power.

Citizen-in-Chief:

The Second Lives of the American Presidents

Paperback (384 pages)

Dramatic, little-known, sometimes inspiring, and often heartrending post-presidential lives of former Oval Office occupants; true stories that show that great leaders are often far from fading away once they leave the White House.

The Code Book:

The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography

Paperback (432 pages), kindle

The most powerful intellectual weapon ever known remains SECRECY. Learn the history of encryption and the evolution and dramatic effects codes have had on wars, nations, and individual lives from ancient times to the Navajo Code Talkers who helped the Allies win World War II, to the incredibly simple breakthrough that made Internet commerce secure.

Helicopters of the Third Reich

Hardcover (224 pages)

A comprehensive account of the development of auto-gyros and helicopters in Germany between 1930-1945. By the end of WWII, despite minimal funding, lukewarm official support and bitter inter-service rivalries, the Germans were, undoubtedly, technologically way ahead of their American counterparts in the development of rotating wing aircraft, though they never managed to put them into service.

Colditz:

The Full Story

Paperback (368 pages)

Written by an ex-POW of the huge Colditz Castle POW camp, this book recounts his experiences and memories with amazing detail and some good humor. Some of the escape stories are wonderful.

When Titans Clashed:

How the Red Army Stopped Hitler

Paperback (384 pages)

The first full account of the epic struggle of what the USSR called "Great Patriotic War" from the Soviet perspective. Based on unprecedented access to formerly classified Soviet sources, they counter the German perspective that has dominated previous accounts and radically revise our understanding of the Soviet experience during World War II.

Fleeing Hitler:

France 1940

Hardcover (271 pages), paperback, kindle

As Hitler's victorious armies approached Paris, panic gripped the city and the roads heading south filled with millions of French citizens, fleeing for their lives, with scant supplies and often no destination in mind.

Beyond Glory:

Joe Louis vs. Max Schmeling, and a World on the Brink

Paperback (423 pages), kindle

The heavyweight fights in 1936 and 1938 between Joe Louis and Max Schmeling symbolized the hopes, hatreds, and fears of a world moving toward total war. Journey into the careers of both men and experience the extraordinary buildup to their legendary 1938 rematch which elevated Louis to the status of the first true African-American national hero in the United States.