A short course in the secret war

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June Callwood

Hardened traitor or duped innocent, Emma made her unintentional mark on history. A close-up study of a simple woman caught up in complications beyond her control that tragically, inevitably, led to her downfall.

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William Lowell Putnam

In early 1943, William Lowell Putnam joined what was to become the 10th Mountain Division, the mountain warfare unit of the U.S. Army. Green Cognac: The Education of a Mountain Fighter is a superb account of the mountain and ski troops as seen from Putnams's often wary perspective. What transpired during the brief, eventful years of war is the story of Green Cognac, as told by one who was well acquainted with the mountains and mountaineering before he became a mountain fighter. Putnam applied his knowledge while serving in the infantry regiments of the 10th Mountain Division. The elite Mountain Troops were sent to break the German Gothic Line in the Apennine Mountains of Italy. Brilliantly led, they fought their way northward with magnificent dash, seizing control of ten mountain crests. Their determined drive broke the German resistance and brought on the first large-scale enemy surrender of World War II. Much celebrated and studied after the war for their striking success and spirit in the field, the Mountain Troops presented an awe-inspiring picture of camaraderie and courage. From the bold ski-trooper concept, first suggested in 1940, to the final days of demobilization at the end of 1945, this is their story.

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Robert J. McMahon

"This compact and accessible biography critically assesses the life and career of Dean Acheson, one of America's foremost diplomats and strategists. As a top State Department official from 1941 to 1947 and as Harry S. Truman's secretary of state from 1949 to 1953, Acheson shaped many of the key U.S. foreign policy initiatives of those years, including the Truman Doctrine, the Marshall Plan, the creation of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, the rebuilding of Germany and Japan, America's intervention in Korea, and its early involvement in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Right up until his death in 1971, Acheson continued to participate in major policy decisions and debates, including the Cuban missile and Berlin crises and the Vietnam War." "Dean Acheson can justifiably be called the principal architect of the American Century. More than any other individual, Acheson is responsible for designing and implementing the ultimately successful U.S. Cold War strategy for containing the Soviet Union. In an even broader sense, Acheson played an instrumental role in creating the institutions, alliances, and economic arrangements that, in the 1940s, brought to life an American-dominated world order. The remarkable durability of that world order - which has remained the dominant fact of international life long after the end of the Cold War - makes a careful examination of Acheson's diplomacy especially relevant to today's international challenges."--Jacket.

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Erich Gimpel

The spellbinding autobiography of one of the only Nazi spies to reach American soil. September 1944. Germany is burning at both ends and the Reich is crumbling. Word has drifted back to Berlin that the Americans are testing a secret weapon of unbelievable destruction. A weapon that will win the war. The Fuhrer himself calls upon Agent 146 in a last ditch effort to sabotage America's atomic program. Two months later, a German U-boat surfaces off the coast of Maine. Agent 146 and an American turncoat named William Collepaugh sneak ashore. Down the coast they go, ending up in New York. Once there, a fascinating game of cat and mouse begins as the FBI attempts to close in on the elusive Nazi spy. Never before published in the U. S., Agent 146 is an intriguing tale of espionage under the Reich. Within these pages are fascinating accounts of the Nazis' plans to sabotage the Allies--from sending in commandos to capture Gibraltar to blowing up the Panama Canal. Agent 146 is a must read memoir for any World War II history buff.