Last Stands from the Alamo to Benghazi

Last Stands from the Alamo to Benghazi
Author: Frank Wetta
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
Total Pages: 161
Release: 2016-12-08
Genre: History
ISBN: 1317591933

Last Stands from the Alamo to Benghazi examines how filmmakers teach Americans about the country’s military past. Examining twenty-three representative war films and locating them in their cultural and military landscape, the authors argue that Hollywood’s view of American military history has evolved in two phases. The first phase, extending from the very beginnings of filmmaking to the Korean War, projected an essential patriotic triumphalism. The second phase, from the Korean and Vietnam Wars to the present, reflects a retreat from consensus and reflexive patriotism. In describing these phases, the authors address recurring themes such as the experience of war and combat, the image of the American war hero, race, gender, national myths, and more. With helpful film commentaries that extend the discussion through popular movie narratives, this book is essential for anyone interested in American military and film history.

The Last Stand of Fox Company

The Last Stand of Fox Company
Author: Bob Drury
Publisher: Open Road + Grove/Atlantic
Total Pages: 388
Release: 2009-11-10
Genre: History
ISBN: 1555849121

“The authors of the bestselling Halsey’s Typhoon do a fine job recounting one brutal, small-unit action during the Korean War’s darkest moment.” —Publishers Weekly November 1950, the Korean Peninsula. After General MacArthur ignores Mao’s warnings and pushes his UN forces deeper into North Korea, his 10,000 First Division Marines find themselves surrounded and hopelessly outnumbered by 100,000 Chinese soldiers near the Chosin Reservoir. Their only chance for survival is to fight their way south through the Toktong Pass, a narrow gorge that will need to be held open at all costs. The mission is handed to Captain William Barber and the 234 Marines of Fox Company, a courageous but undermanned unit of the First Marines. Barber and his men climb seven miles of frozen terrain to a rocky promontory overlooking the pass, where they will endure four days and five nights of nearly continuous Chinese attempts to take Fox Hill. Amid the relentless violence, three-quarters of Fox’s Marines are killed, wounded, or captured. Just when it looks like they will be overrun, Lt. Colonel Raymond Davis, a fearless Marine officer who is fighting south from Chosin, volunteers to lead a daring mission that will seek to cut a hole in the Chinese lines and relieve the men of Fox. This is a fast-paced and gripping account of heroism in the face of impossible odds.

Acts Of War

Acts Of War
Author: Richard Holmes
Publisher: Simon and Schuster
Total Pages: 472
Release: 1989-08-04
Genre: History
ISBN: 0029148510

This wide-ranging and exhaustively researched book is an attempt to grasp the very nature of war. It takes us through the soldier's experience in its entirety - from the humiliation of basic training and the intense comradeship of army life, to the terror, isolation and exhaustion of battle.

Encyclopedia of Military Science

Encyclopedia of Military Science
Author: G. Kurt Piehler
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Total Pages: 1921
Release: 2013-07-24
Genre: History
ISBN: 1506307760

The Encyclopedia of Military Science provides a comprehensive, ready-reference on the organization, traditions, training, purpose, and functions of today’s military. Entries in this four-volume work include coverage of the duties, responsibilities, and authority of military personnel and an understanding of strategies and tactics of the modern military and how they interface with political, social, legal, economic, and technological factors. A large component is devoted to issues of leadership, group dynamics, motivation, problem-solving, and decision making in the military context. Finally, this work also covers recent American military history since the end of the Cold War with a special emphasis on peacekeeping and peacemaking operations, the First Persian Gulf War, the events surrounding 9/11, and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and how the military has been changing in relation to these events. Click here to read an article on The Daily Beast by Encyclopedia editor G. Kurt Piehler, "Why Don't We Build Statues For Our War Heroes Anymore?"

Gunfighter Nation

Gunfighter Nation
Author: Richard Slotkin
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Total Pages: 876
Release: 1993
Genre: History
ISBN:

The concluding volume of Richard Slotkin's highly acclaimed trilogy draws on a wide range of sources to examine the pervasive influence of Wild West myths on American culture and politics.

Modern Wars 1945–Present

Modern Wars 1945–Present
Author: Professor Dennis Showalter
Publisher: Amber Books Ltd
Total Pages: 248
Release: 2013-09-16
Genre: History
ISBN: 1782741291

The wars that followed 1945 have changed the political and social map of the world while creating millions of casualties and refugees. The Modern Wars 1945–Present – volume seven in the Encyclopedia of Warfare Series – charts the wars and revolutions that have taken place across the globe since the end of World War II.

Korean War Filmography

Korean War Filmography
Author: Robert J. Lentz
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 497
Release: 2016-05-01
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1476621543

The Korean experience changed the way Americans viewed war. The lack of a clear-cut victory inspired filmmakers to try to make sense of fighting another country's civil war and risking American lives for an unpopular cause. This filmography details more than 90 English-language films. Each entry includes complete cast and credit listings, a plot synopsis, evaluation, review snippets, and notice of video availability. This book places each film in its historical context, assesses the essential truthfulness of each film and evaluates its entertainment value, and discusses how--and why--Korean War films differ from other Hollywood war genres. Four appendices list the films by chronology; production company and studio; level of historical accuracy; and subject and theme. Additional appendices list films with incidental references to the Korean War; documentaries on the Korean War; and South Korean films about the war. Photographs, a bibliography, and an index are included.

The 1950s

The 1950s
Author: Richard Alan Schwartz
Publisher: Infobase Publishing
Total Pages: 513
Release: 2014-05-14
Genre: Nineteen fifties
ISBN: 1438108761

Traces the history of the United States during the 1950s through such primary sources as memoirs, letters, contemporary journalism, and official documents.

Pork Chop Hill

Pork Chop Hill
Author: S. L. A. Marshall
Publisher: Berkley
Total Pages: 0
Release: 2000
Genre: History
ISBN: 9780425175057

Renowned military historian S.L.A. Marshall was in Korea in 1953, deep in enemy territory when Pork Chop Hill was overrun with Red Chinese troops. A handful of U.S. GIs on the frontline fought the Chinese and won. His classic account of the battle is a distinguished contribution to the literature of war (The New York Times).