Horizon Information Portal

HSPLS site

eBooks/Audiobooks

Reading Program

The hidden history of America at war : untold tales from Yorktown to Fallujah / Kenneth C. Davis.

by Davis, Kenneth C.

View full image

New York : Hachette Books, 2015.

Battles -- United States -- History.

Soldiers -- United States -- History.

Civilians in war -- United States -- History.

Civil-military relations -- United States -- History.

War and society -- United States -- History.

Social change -- United States -- History.

United States -- History, Military.

United States -- Social conditions.

United States -- Military policy.

9781401324100 (hardcover) :

140132410X (hardcover)

406 pages ; 24 cm

Washington's men : Yorktown, Virginia : October 1781 -- The battle of the old men and the young boys : Petersburg, Virginia : June 1864 -- The water cure : Balangiga, Philippines : September 1901 -- Berlin stories : Berlin, Germany : April 1945 -- The "living-room war" : Hué, South Vietnam : February 1968 -- The bridge over the River Euphrates : Fallujah, Iraq : March 2004 -- Afterword.

Combat tales have come to form an essential piece of our identity as Americans. But as some war stories have been repackaged and embellished, the truth behind the conflicts--the lives of the average soldiers and civilians involved and the lasting significance of the battles on American history--often lies buried. Kenneth C. Davis aims to change that. Here, he takes readers inside six landmark battles that offer crucial insights. From the Battle of Yorktown (1781), where a fledgling America learned hard lessons about what kind of military it would need to survive; to 1945 Berlin, when the downfall of the Third Reich set the stage for decades of Cold War tension; to Fallujah (2004), which epitomized the dawn of privatized war, Davis explores the key battlefield characters and events, shattering myths and misconceptions. Revelations include: the unacknowledged role that enslaved people and free African Americans played in the Revolution and Civil War; the grave miscalculations and cruelty that took place at Petersburg, Virginia, site of the longest siege of an American city; the scandalous use of water torture and civilian atrocities that shook Theodore Roosevelt's White House; the secret reasons why Stalin was desperate to take Berlin in the closing days of World War II--and why General Eisenhower let him; and the epic battle that changed how reporters covered--and Americans viewed--the Vietnam War. With this book, Davis illuminates why we go to war, who fights, the grunt's-eye view of combat, and how these conflicts shaped our military and national identity.--From publisher description.

Horizon Information Portal 3.25_9884

Powered by Dynix

© 2001-2013 SirsiDynix All rights reserved.

Horizon Information Portal