"No mission too difficult, no sacrifice too great-Duty First!" For almost a century, from the Western Front of World War I to the deserts of Iraq, this motto has spurred the soldiers who wear the shoulder patch bearing the Big Red One. In this first comprehensive history of America's 1st Infantry Division, James Scott Wheeler chronicles its major combat engagements and peacetime duties during its legendary service to the nation. The oldest continuously serving division in the U.S. Army, the "Fighting First" has consistently played a crucial role in America's foreign wars. It was the first American division to see combat and achieve victory in World War I and set the standard for discipline, training, endurance, and tactical innovation. One of the few intact divisions between the wars, it was the first army unit to train for amphibious warfare. During World War II, the First Division spearheaded the invasions of North Africa and Sicily before leading the Normandy invasion at Omaha Beach and fighting on through the Hurtgen Forest, the Battle of the Bulge, the Ruhr Pocket, and deep into Germany. By war's end, it had developed successful combined-arms, regimental combat teams and made advances in night operations. Wheeler describes the First Division's critical role in postwar Germany and as the only combat division in Europe during the early Cold War. After returning to the United States at Fort Riley, Kansas, the division fought valiantly in Vietnam for five trying years, successfully protecting Saigon from major infiltration along Highway 13 while pioneering "air-mobile" operations. It led the liberation of Kuwait in Desert Storm and kept an uneasy peace in Bosnia and Kosovo. Along the way, Wheeler illuminates the division's organizational evolution, its consistently remarkable commanders and leaders, and its equally remarkable soldiers. Meticulously detailed and engagingly written, The Big Red One nimbly combines historical narrative with astute analysis of the unit's successes and failures, so that its story reflects the larger chronicle of America's military experience over the past century.

Even paranoids have enemies. Hitler's most powerful foes were the Allied powers, but he also feared internal conspiracies bent on overthrowing his malevolent regime. In fact, there was a small but significant internal resistance to the Nazi regime, and it did receive help from the outside world. Through recently declassified intelligence documents, this book reveals for the first time the complete story of America's wartime knowledge about, encouragement of, and secret collaboration with the German resistance to Hitler?including the famous July 20th plot to assassinate the Fuehrer.The U.S. government's secret contacts with the anti-Nazi resistance were conducted by the OSS, the World War II predecessor to the CIA. Highly sensitive intelligence reports recently released by the CIA make it evident that the U.S. government had vast knowledge of what was going on inside the Third Reich. For example, a capitulation offer to the western Allies under consideration by Count von Moltke in 1943 was thoroughly discussed within the U.S. government. And Allen Dulles, who was later to become head of the CIA, was well informed about the legendary plot of July 20th. In fact, these secret reports from inside Germany provide a well-rounded picture of German society, revealing the pro- or anti-Nazi attitudes of different social groups (workers, churches, the military, etc.). The newly released documents also show that scholars in the OSS, many of them recruited from ivy-league universities, looked for anti-Nazi movements and leaders to help create a democratic Germany after the war.Such intelligence gathering was a major task of the OSS. However, OSS director ?Wild Bill? Donovan and others favored subversive operations, spreading disinformation, and issuing propaganda. Unorthodox and often dangerous schemes were developed, including bogus ?resistance newspapers,? anti-Nazi letters and postcards distributed through the German postal service, sabotage, and fake radio broadcasts from ?German generals? calling for uprisings against the regime.This is much more than a documentary collection. Explanatory footnotes supply a wealth of background information for the reader, and a comprehensive introduction puts the documents into their wider historical perspective. Arranged in chronological order, these intelligence reports provide a fascinating new perspective on the story of the German resistance to Hitler and reveal an intriguing and previously unexplored aspect of America's war with Hitler.

A detailed chronicle of Poland’s efforts during World War II from beginning to end, by the author of Narvik and the Allies. The invasion of Poland by German forces (quickly joined by their then-allies the Soviets) ignited the Second World War. Despite determined resistance, Poland was quickly conquered but Poles continued the struggle to the very last day of the war against Germany, resisting the occupier within their homeland and fighting in exile with the Allied forces. Evan McGilvray, drawing on intensive research in Polish sources, gives a comprehensive account of Poland’s war. He reveals the complexities of Poland’s relationship with the Allies (forced to accept their Soviet enemies as allies after 1941, then betrayed to Soviet occupation in the post-war settlement), as well as the divisions between Polish factions that led to civil war even before the defeat of Germany. The author narrates all the fighting involving Polish forces, including such famous actions as the Battle of Britain, Tobruk, Normandy, Arnhem, and the Warsaw Rising, but also lesser known aspects such as Kopinski’s Carpathian Brigade in Italy, Polish troops under Soviet command, and the capture of Wilhelmshaven on the last day of the war.

• Hundreds of photos--many of them rare--of Tiger tanks and their crews • Color illustrations by Jean Restayn focus on markings, camouflage, and insignia • Inventories and timelines for each unit In this follow-up to Tigers in Combat I (0-8117-3171-5), Wolfgang Schneider turns his attention to the Tiger tanks of the Waffen-SS and the Wehrmacht's "named" units, such as the Großdeutschland Division, Company Hummel, and Tiger Group Meyer. Based on combat diaries, the text tells the history of each unit, but most of the book is devoted to photos of the tanks and the men who manned them. It offers as unique and comprehensive a look at these lethal machines as is possible decades after World War II.

“If the Polish armed forces are of interest to you this title covering their distinguished service during World War II should appeal to many.” —Armorama The First Polish Armored Division was formed in Scotland in February 1942 from Polish exiles who had escaped first Poland and then France. Its commander, Stanislaw Maczek, and many of its men had previously served in Polish 10th Motorized Cavalry Brigade (10 BKS), which had taken part in the Polish invasion of Czechoslovakia in 1938 and given a good account of itself in the defense of Poland against German and Soviet invasion of 1939. Under Maczek’s leadership the division was trained and equipped along British lines in preparation for the invasion of France. Attached to 1st Canadian Army, the division was sent to Normandy in late July 1944. It suffered heavily during Operation Totalize but went on to play a crucial role in preventing an orderly German withdrawal from the Falaise Pocket by its stand at Hill 262. They then played their part in the advance across Western Europe and into Germany. This detailed history, supported by dozens of archive photos, concludes by looking at the often-poor treatment of Maczek and his men after the war. “A Polish armoured division comprising volunteers from Polish refugees—it reads like a story from the Boys Own Paper . . . Astonishing!” —Books Monthly

Houses for All is the story of the struggle for social housingin Vancouver between 1919 and 1950. It argues that, however temporaryor limited their achievements, local activists pplayed a significantrole in the introduction, implementation, or continuation of many earlynational housing programs. Ottawa's housing initiatives were notalways unilateral actions in the development of the welfare state. Thedrive for social housing in Vancouver complemented the tradition ofhousing activism that already existed in the United Kingdom and, to alesser degree, in the United States.

This edition is the first of its kind to offer a basic collection of facsimile, English language, historical articles on all aspects of the extermination of the European Jews. A total of 300 articles from 84 journals and collections allows the reader to gain an overview of this field. The edition both provides access to the immense, rich array of scholarly articles published after 1960 on the history of the Holocaust and encourages critical assessment of conflicting interpretations of these horrifying events. The series traces Nazi persecution of Jews before the implementation of the "Final Solution", demonstrates how the Germans coordinated anti-Jewish activities in conquered territories, and sheds light on the victims in concentration camps, ending with the liberation of the concentration camp victims and articles on the trials of war criminals. The publications covered originate from the years 1950 to 1987. Included are authors such as Jakob Katz, Saul Friedländer, Eberhard Jäckel, Bruno Bettelheim and Herbert A. Strauss.