War Movie Books & DVDs

ANDERSONVILLE
by MacKinlay Kantor. Condition UNREAD, but not perfect, c. 1955 - 60 New American Library paperback, 25th printing. Pale vertical crease front cover with diagonal crase top front cover corner. Edgewear. Interior clean & tight but tanning. Content: This Pulitzer Prize winner novel captures all the glory and shame of America's most tragic conflict in the vivid, crowded world of an infamous Georgia Civil War prison, and the people who lived outside its barricades. There are two movies that owe much to this book. Andersonville, the 1996 made for TNT film, which was directed by John Frankenheimer and starred Jarrod Emick, Frederic Forrest, Ted Marcoux, Carmen Argenziano, Jayce Bartok, William H. Macy, Jan Triska, William Sanderson, and Gabriel Olds. The movie is brutal and well-acted. The other "movie" was actually a play produced on PBS in 1970 called The Andersonville Trial which detailed 1865 war-crimes trial of Henry Wirz, commandant of the notorious Confederate POW camp at Andersonville, Georgia. This production was directed by George C. Scott and starred a young, dynamic William Shatner, Richard Basehart (as Wirz), Buddy Ebsen, Cameron Mitchell, Albert Salami, Jack Cassidy, Michael Burns, Charles McGraw, and a very young Martin Sheen. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 3.79 + $ 2.94 media shipping.

ANDERSONVILLE (TNT Mini-Series Movie Novelization)
by Robert Vaughan. Based on the Screenplay by David Rintels. Condition NEW 1996 Boulevard paperback, first printing. Very light edge wear. Content: In 1864, deep in the heart of the Confederate South, 33,000 Yankee prisoners-of-war suffer the horrors of imprisonment at the notorious Confederate prison of Andersonville. Based on personal journals and historical records. The 1996 made for TNT film was directed by John Frankenheimer and starred Jarrod Emick, Frederic Forrest, Ted Marcoux, Carmen Argenziano, Jayce Bartok, William H. Macy, Jan Triska, William Sanderson, and Gabriel Olds. The movie is brutal and well-acted. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 3.79 + $ 2.94 media shipping.

THE BEDFORD BOYS (Includes Reader's Guide)
by Alex Kershaw. Two B&W era photo sections. Condition NEW 2003 Da Capo Press Trade Paperback, 12th printing. Content: On June 6, 1944, Allied armies launched their massive invasion of Europe--D-Day, in other words. Among the thousands of soldiers headed for France were 34 men from the town of Bedford, Virginia, aboard Empire Javelin, a British troopship. Nineteen of them were killed in the first minutes of combat, when their landing craft dropped them into the water off Normandy. Two more were killed later in the day from gunshot wounds. No other town in the U.S. endured a greater one-day loss. Kershaw's book is more than just another war story; here is an in-depth account of this blue-collar town and its 3,000 people. The soldiers included three sets of brothers, a pool-hall hustler, husbands, farmers, and a couple of "highly successful Lotharios." Kershaw describes in painful detail how the next of kin were notified of the soldiers' deaths via Western Union telegrams and how the news devastated their lives. Drawing on interviews with survivors and relatives, newspaper clippings, letters, and diaries, Kershaw has chronicled one community's great sacrifice. Supposedly the basis for Saving Private Ryan. Questions welcome. [1 copy available]
$ 3.49 + $ 3.19 media shipping.

BORN ON THE FOURTH OF JULY
by Ron Kovic. Condition: Very Good + 1976 Quality Paperback (Book Club Ed) Trade Paperback. Looks & feels unread, but does have a pale spine crease (binding?). Interior perfect. Content: One of the best of the Vietnam veterans' war memoirs - made into a wonderful, disturbing movie. While it might seem stuck in the 60s and 70s, that is far from accurate - much of what Kovic experienced and his reaction in the aftermath is still going on today - only it's called the Iraq War. Worth the read. The 1989 movie was directed by Oliver Stone and starred Tom Cruise (who deserved an Oscar for this performance), the great Tom Berenger, Frank Whaley, Stephen Baldwin, Kyra Sedgwick, Tom Sizemore, and Willem Dafoe. There are also bit parts for the other Baldwin brothers, Stone, and Vivica Fox. [1 copy available]
$ 6.50 + $ 2.94 media shipping.

THE BRIDGE OVER THE RIVER KWAI
by Pierre Boulle. Condition: Gently pre-read 2000 Grammercy hardcover & DJ (in mylar jacket), second printing. Content: One of the best war movies ever made. The author was a World War II French resistance fighter who was captured by the Vichy in the Far East. The British POWs did indeed build a bridge for the Japanese (in fact, they built 2). The book is darker and, as some one remarked - war noir, more depressing than the movie version, but still worth the read. Boulle also wrote the Planet of the Apes. The 1957 movie was diected by David Lean and starred Sir Alex Guiness, the fabulous William Holden, Jack Hawkins, Sessue Hayakawa, and James Donald. If you have not seen the movie, run to your local Blockbuster and grab a copy. [1 copy available]
$ 3.89 + $ 3.19 media shipping.

A BRIGHT SHINING LIE: John Paul Vann and America in Vietnam (Pulitzer Prize)
by Neil Sheehan. B&W photo section. Condition: UNREAD 1990 Vintage soft cover (861 pages), first printing. Shelf wear to back cover panel with light edge wear. Interior clean & tight. Content: Killed in a helicopter crash in Vietnam in 1972, controversial Lt. Col. John Paul Vann was perhaps the most outspoken army field adviser to criticize the way the war was being waged. Appalled by the South Vietnamese troops' unwillingness to fight and their random slaughter of civilians, he flouted his supervisors and leaked his sharply pessimistic (and, as it turned out, accurate) assessments to the U.S. press corps in Saigon. Among them was Sheehan, a reporter for UPI and later the New York Times (for whom he obtained the Pentagon Papers). Sixteen years in the making, writing and research, this compelling 861-page biography is an extraordinary feat of reportage: an eloquent, disturbing portrait of a man who in many ways personified the U.S. war effort. Blunt, idealistic, patronizing to the Vietnamese, Vann firmly believed the U.S. could win; he was ultimately caught up in his own illusions. The author weaves into one unified chronicle an account of the Korean War (in which Vann also fought), the story of U.S. support for French colonialism, descriptions of military battles, a critique of our foreign policy and a history of this all-American boy's secret personal lie - he was illegitimate, his mother a "white trash" prostitute, that led him to recklessly gamble away his career. The 1998 made-for-TV movie was directed by Terry George and starred Bill Paxton, Amy Madigan, Vivian Wu, the great Eric Bogosian, Kurtwood Smith, and James Rebhorn. Worth seeing and reading! [1 copy available]
$ 6.89 + $ 3.59 media shipping.

THE CRUEL SEA
by Nicholas Monsarrat. Condition: UNREAD 1962 Cardinal paperback, 6th printing. Light edge wear with tanning to pages. Clean & tight. Content: One of the classic naval adventure stories of World War II, Monsarrat's novel tells the tale of two British ships trying to escape destruction by wolf pack U-boats hunting in the North Atlantic. The book was a smash when released in 1951, going through numerous printings. The The 1953 British movie was directed by Charles Frend and starred Jack Hawkins, Denholm Elliott, Stanley Baker, Virginia McKenna, and Liam Redmond. A war classic! [1 copy available]
$ 4.89 + $ 3.09 media shipping.

DARBY'S RANGERS: We Led The Way
by William O. Darby with William H. Baumer. B&W photo section. Condition: Good pre-read 2003 Ballantine paperback, first printing. Small edgewear with spine crease, Interior clean. Content: From the moment they hit the beaches in North Africa to their last desperate struggle at Anzio, Darby's Rangers asked for only one thing in World War II - the chance to fight. Experts at amphibious landings, night attacks, and close combat, the Rangers were the spearhead for advancing U.S. forces. At their helm was William O. Darby. While this is most likely not the book that inspired the c. 1950s movie of the same name, it will be an invaluable source when watching the movie. Starring: James Garner, Peter Brown, Venetia Stevenson, Edd (Cookie) Byrnes, Stuart Whitman, and half of the good looking guys under contract to Warner Brothers at that time. It's a good movie. [1 copy available]
$ 1.75 + $ 2.94 media shipping.

THE DEER HUNTER (Movie Novelization)
by E. M. Corder. Screenplay by Deric Washburn. Movie stills front cover. Condition: Gently pre-read 1978 Jove paperback, first printing. Small edgewear with hinge crease. Interior clean and very tight with light tanning to page edges. Content: This is the story of steelworker buddies from a small Pennsylvania town who were drafted to fight in the Vietnam War. The great 1979 movie starred Robert De Niro, John Cazale, John Savage, Christopher Walken (Academy Award), Meryl Streep, & George Dzundza. One of the great American films. [1 copy available]
$ 5.89 + $ 2.94 media shipping.

THE DEER HUNTER (Movie Novelization)
by E. M. Corder. Screenplay by Deric Washburn. Movie stills front cover. Condition: UNREAD, but not perfect, 1979 Jove paperback, third printing. Small edgewear with light rubbings along front hinge. Thin binder's glue string down spine. Interior very clean & tight with pale tanning to page edges. Better than it sounds. Content: This is the story of steelworker buddies from a small Pennsylvania town who were drafted to fight in the Vietnam War. The great 1979 movie starred Robert De Niro, John Cazale, John Savage, Christopher Walken (Academy Award), Meryl Streep, & George Dzundza. One of the great American films. [1 copy available]
$ 6.89 + $ 2.94 media shipping.

THE DIRTY DOZEN (DVD) [1967]
directed by Robert Aldrich. Condition: NEW (still shrink-wrapped) Warner DVD. Remainder mark top back cover. Content: A group of conscripted convicts, most already destined for death row, are drafted to go on a near-suicide mission with the understanding that if the Nazis don't kill them, the U.S. Army won't, either. In the hands of hardboiled director Robert Aldrich and a tough-as-leather cast headed by Lee Marvin (as a troublesome U.S. Army major), that's all the plot that's needed to make one rip-roaring World War II action flick. Marvin's mission is two-fold: first turn his dozen prisoners into a fighting unit and then turn them loose on a French chateau occupied by partying German officers. His crime-minded charges include John Cassavetes as a chronic malcontent, Telly Savalas as a ready-to-blow psycho, Donald Sutherland as a lame-brained lummox, and Charles Bronson and then-just-retired NFL superstar Jim Brown as a couple of clutch performers. The first half of the film allows the colorful cast of character actors to have their fun as they get their tails whipped into shape and develop shaky bonds with their commander. The second part is all action, as the culprit commandos wreck havoc and then run for their lives. Despite the fact that few of the "heroes" survive the bloodbath, the message here isn't that war is hell. Rather, it seems to be: war can be a hell of a good time... if you've got nothing to lose. [1 copy available]
$ 5.00 + $ 3.09 first class shipping.

ENEMY AT THE GATES: The Battle for Stalingrad (Movie Edition)
by William Craig. B&W photo section. Fiennes & Law movie cover art. B&W maps. Condition: UNREAD 2001 Penguin Trade Paperback, first printing. Content: The bloodiest battle in the history of warfare, Stalingrad was perhaps the single most important engagement of World War II. A major loss for the Axis powers, the battle for Stalingrad signaled the beginning of the end for the Third Reich of Adolf Hitler. During the 5 years Craig spent researching the battle, he traveled extensively on three continents, studying documents and interviewing hundreds of survivors, both military and civilian. This unique account is their story and the stories of the nearly two million men and women who lost their lives. The movie of the same name states only that this book was "an inspiration" for the movie. The 2001 movie was directed & written by Jean-Jacques Annaud and starred Joseph Fiennes, Jude Law, Rachel Weisz, Bob Hoskins, and Ed Harris. The movie focuses on the historically dubious "war of the snipers" and is mostly based on the book War of the Rats. It doesn't matter - this is one great movie! [1 copy available]
$ 6.49 + $ 3.19 media shipping.

EMPIRE OF THE SUN
by J. G. Ballard. Condition: Good+ 1988 Grafton Books (London) paperback, second printing. Tiny edgewear with hinge and spine crease. Interior is clean and tight with pale tanning to page edges. Content: This is an account of JG Ballard's childhood in Shanghai during World War II when he was imprisoned in an internment camp away from his parents but just knowing that alone tells you nothing about the book. Yes, it takes place in WWII but that's almost irrelevant to the book, Jim is barely aware of the war as far as most people would conceive it and the entire war seems to take place mostly on the periphery . . . if it doesn't affect him directly than he doesn't care. His survival in the brutal world of the Japanese prison camp and the ironies the war can produce have given us the powerful perspective of a innocent bystander-participant. The 1987 movie was directed by Steven Spielberg and starred Christian Bale, John Malkovich, Miranda Richardson, Nigel Havers, Joe Pantoliano, and Ben Stiller. One of those must-see movies. [1 copy available]
$ 1.89 + $ 2.94 media shipping.

FLAGS OF OUR FATHERS
by James Bradley with Ron Powers. Three B&W era photo sections plus others throughout. Condition: UNREAD 2001 Bantam Trade Paperback, 12th printing. Light edge wear (shelf wear). Content: The Battle of Iwo Jima, fought in the winter of 1945 on a rocky island south of Japan, brought a ferocious slice of hell to earth: in a month's time, more than 22,000 Japanese soldiers would die defending a patch of ground a third the size of Manhattan, while nearly 26,000 Americans fell taking it from them. The battle was a turning point in the war in the Pacific, and it produced one of World War II's enduring images: a photograph of six soldiers raising an American flag on the flank of Mount Suribachi, the island's commanding high point. One of those young Americans was John Bradley, a Navy corpsman who a few days before had braved enemy mortar and machine-gun fire to administer first aid to a wounded Marine and then drag him to safety. For this act of heroism Bradley would receive the Navy Cross, an award second only to the Medal of Honor. Bradley, who died in 1994, never mentioned his feat to his family. Only after his death did Bradley's son James begin to piece together the facts of his father's heroism, which was but one of countless acts of sacrifice made by the young men who fought at Iwo Jima. Flags of Our Fathers recounts the sometimes tragic life stories of the six men who raised the flag that February day--one an Arizona Indian who would die following an alcohol-soaked brawl, another a Kentucky hillbilly, still another a Pennsylvania steel-mill worker--and who became reluctant heroes in the bargain. A strongly felt and well-written entry in a spate of recent books on World War II, Flags gives a you-are-there depiction of that conflict's horrible arenas--and a moving homage to the men whom fate brought there. The 2006 movie of the same name is (along with the companion movie Letters From Iwo Jima) Clint Eastwood's masterpiece, IMHO. It stars the great Adam Beach, Ryan Phillippe (Bradley), Jesse Bradford, Barry Pepper, Paul Walker, Robert Patrick, the under-used Neal McDonough, Scott Eastwood, and Chris Bauer. Another of those "not-to-miss" movies. [1 copy available]
$ 3.50 + $ 3.19 media shipping.

FORCE 10 FROM NAVARONE (Movie Edition)
by Alistair MacLean. Movie art (cast) front cover. Condition: Gently pre-read (to page 5 & then abandoned) 1968 Fawcett Crest paperback edition, 16th printing (c. 1978). Small edgewear, pale hinge crease with a pale crease front cover. Interior clean & tight with light tanning to page edges. Content: Maclean reunites us with the three main characters from "The Guns of Navarone" just after the completion of their desperate commando mission in the Greek Isles of the Second World War. However, there is no rest for the exhausted heroes, who are promptly launched on another mission by their boss in the British Special Operations Executive. Reinforced by a group of young British Commandos, the new team is parachuted into Nazi-occupied Yugoslavia and right into the midst of a three way conflict between the Germans and several Yugoslav factions who are also engaged in a civil war. The team's mission is to traverse the war-torn country, navigating between the warring factions, and destroy a huge dam that is the key to a planned German offensive. The heroes from Navarone are world-weary, and wary, warriors compared to the young and enthusiastic commandos with whom they are teamed, but all will have to pull together if they are to survive a series of betrayals and mishaps. Maclean has provided a typically twisted plot that produces surprises and suspense to the very end. Maclean's excellent and sardonic dialogue is matched with a good sense of place for war-torn Yugoslavia. The 1978 movie was directed by Guy Hamilton and starred Robert Shaw, Harrison Ford, Barbara Bach, Edward Fox, Franco Nero, Richard Kiel, & Carl Weathers. Although the movie does not fare well with a comparison to the original "Navarone" movie, the book is very good. [1 copy available]
$ 2.89 + $ 2.94 media shipping.

GALLIPOLI (Book only)
by Alan Moorehead. B&W photo section. Condition: NEW 1998 Wordsworth Military Trade Paperback, no printing given. Two pages have not been cut properly at the top corner tip - I have not cut them. Content: In 1915 the Gallipoli campaign was designed to break the deadlock in the muddy trenches of the Western Front by forcing the Dardenelles, capturing Constantinople, knocking Turkey out of the war and bringing supplies and arms to the Russians for their immense German Front. It was a costly failure. Using private papers as well as official records, Alan Moorehead re-creates the drama of Gallipoli with its tragic hesitations and missed opportunities. He describes the heroism of the British and Anzac troops who were hemmed within a few terrible acres of beach and hillside and permanently under shellfire. His sympathetic account provided the basis for the film Gallipoli, and won the first Duff Cooper Prize for Literature. The wonderful 1981 movie was directed by Peter Weir and starred Mel Gibson, Mark Lee, and an excellent Australian supporting cast. There is also an Aussie miniseries, 1915, which is worth watching but beware, it does have a very strange ending. [1 copy available]
$ 3.89 + $ 3.09 media shipping.

GHOST SOLDIERS: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission
by Hampton Sides. B&W maps & photo section. Condition: NEW 2002 Anchor Books Trade Paperback, first printing. Content: On January 28, 1945, 121 hand-selected U.S. troops slipped behind enemy lines in the Philippines. Their mission: March thirty rugged miles to rescue 513 POWs languishing in a hellish camp, among them the last survivors of the infamouse Bataan Death March. A recent prison massacre by Japanese soldiers elsewhere in the area made the stakes impossibly high and left little time to plan the complex operation. The 2005 movie was directed by John Dahl and starared Benjamin Bratt, James Franco, Robert Mammone, Max Martini, James Carpinello, and Joseph Fiennes. [1 copy available]
$ 4.29 + $ 2.94 media shipping.

THE GREAT ESCAPE
by Paul Brickhill. 2 B&W drawings illustrate. Condition: UNREAD, but not perfect, c. 1997 Fawcett Columbine Trade Paperback, no printing given. Small problem - there is a small "lift" to the cover fore edges. Content: Everyone knows the story of the "great escape" from World War II. Even more familiar is the great 1963 movie made from the book - directed by John Sturges. It starred Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Donald Pleasence, James Coburn, Charles Bronson, David McCallum (Ducky), and Hannes Messemer. Havaen't seen it? Shame on you. [1 copy available]
$ 6.29 + $ 3.09 media shipping.

THE GREAT ESCAPE
by Paul Brickhill. B&W drawings by fellow inmate, Kenyon. Steve McQueen cover. Condition: NEW 2000 Cassell Military Trade Paperback, no printing given. Content: Everyone knows the story of theh "great escape" from World War II. Even more familiar is the great 1963 movie made from the book - directed by John Sturges. It starred Steve McQueen, James Garner, Richard Attenborough, Donald Pleasence, James Coburn, Charles Bronson, David McCallum (Ducky), and Hannes Messemer. Havaen't seen it? Shame on you. [1 copy available]
$ 6.29 + $ 3.09 media shipping.

GUADALCANAL DIARY
by Richard Tregaskis. Foreword by General A. A. Vandegrift. Condition: UNREAD 1959 Popular Library paperback, 17th printing. The interior is clean & tight but is tanning. Light edgewear. Content: In the summer and fall of 1942, American Marines landed on the South Pacific island of Guadalcanal and began the slow, bloody work of defeating the Japanese empire. Their landing was significant not only for the outcome of World War II, but also for the conduct of war ever since, for the invasion of Guadalcanal marked the first time that a combined air, sea, and land assault had ever been attempted. It is for that reason that tacticians and military historians study the months-long battle today, and their primary guide to that conflict is Richard Tregaskis's extraordinary Guadalcanal Diary. A volunteer combat correspondent, Tregaskis braved much danger to bring the story of the fighting to American readers. The 1943 movie of the same name was directed by Lewis Seiler and is considered one of the top ten war movies ever made. The cast included: William Bendix, Lloyd Nolan, Preston Foster, Richard Conte, Anthony Quinn, Richard Jaeckel, Lionel Stander, John Archer and Reed Hadley (correspondent & narrator). [1 copy available]
$ 5.00 + $ 2.94 media shipping. Priority shipping available.

THE GUNS OF NAVARONE (Abridged Movie Edition)
by Alistair MacLean. Movie photo (cast) front cover. Condition: UNREAD, but not perfect, 1966 Perma Books/Scholastic paperback, 5th printing. Light edgewear with rubbings along back hinge. Interior clean & tight (therefore readable & collectible) with moderate tanning. Content: Two powerful German guns control the seas past the Greek island of Navarone making the evacuation of endangered British troops on a neighboring island impossible. Air attack is useless so a team of six Allied and Greek soldiers is put ashore to meet up with partisans to try and dynamite the guns. The mission is perilous enough anyway but are the Germans on the island getting further help too?. The 1961 blockbuster movie was directed by J. Lee Thompson and starred Gregory Peck, Dvid Niven, Anthony Quinn, the great Anthony Quayle, Richard Harris, James Darren (Moondoggie), and Irene Papas. [1 copy available]
$ 7.89 + $ 2.94 media shipping.

HANOVER STREET
by Maureen Gregson. Based on the screenplay by Peter Hyams. Condition: Good 1979 Bantam paperback, first printing. Minor edgewear with a near-break at page 99. Top fore edges show a light discoloration. Content: Although this is a movie about war, it is also a love story. Amid war-shattered London, three extraordinary people play out their lives in a haunting novel of love, passion and violence. The 1979 movie starred Harrison Ford, Christopher Plummer, and Lesley-Anne Down. [1 copy available]
$ 1.89 + $ 2.94 media shipping.

HEARTBREAK RIDGE (Movie Novelization)
by Joseph Stinson. Based on a screenplay by James Carabatsos. Clint Eastwood cover. Condition: Gently pre-read, IF at all, 1986 Warner Books paperback, first printing. Edge wear with a shelf wear hinge crease. Interior clean & tight with pale tanning to page edges. Content: Clint Eastwood is Gunnery Sergeant Tom Highway, career Marine and combat veteran. He is a man whose life has been defined by war. Korea and Vietnam taught him how to survive. He won the Congressional Medal of Honor but found public apathy and military bureaucracy. He is a hard-drinking loner but he's trying to reorganize his life and understand the woman he loves. He is a traditionalist who has to shape up his ragtag troops and he'll get the job done. His integrity is unwavering. His past is Heartbreak Ridge. He is ready for another battlefield and his finest hour. It will come. The 1986 movie was directed by and starred Clint Eastwood with a supporting cast of Marsha Mason, Everett McGill, Moses Gunn, Eileen Heckart, Bo Svenson, Mario Van Peebles, and Arlen Dean Snyder. [1 copy available]
$ 2.89 + $ 2.94 media shipping.

INGLORIOUS BASTERDS: A Screenplay
by Quentin Tarantino. Condition: NEW 2009 Weinstein Trade Paperback, first printing. Content: The action tale follows the parallel story of a guerilla-like squad of American soldiers called "The Basterds" and the French Jewish teenage girl Shosanna who find themselves behind enemy Nazi lines during the German occupation. When the Inglourious Basterds encounter Shosanna at a propaganda screening at the movie house she runs, they conspire to launch an unexpected plot to end the war. Pitt plays Lieutenant Aldo Raine--the leader of the Basterds. Raine is an illiterate hillbilly from the mountains of Tennessee who puts together a team of eight Jewish-American soldiers to hunt down the Nazis. Filled with Tarantino's trademark electric dialogue and thrilling action sequences, Inglourious Basterds is destined to become one of the most talked about films of 2009 and a landmark in cinematic history. If you haven't seen the movie, rush to the nearest rental office. Too much fun! And Brad Pitt is great as is his Nazi counterpart. The 2009 movie was directed, of course, by Tarantino and starred Brad Pitt, Mélanie Laurent, Christoph Walz, Diane Kruger, and Til Schweiger. Samuel L. Jackson narrates. Worth seeing, IMHO. [1 copy available]
$ 8.89 + $ 3.19 media shipping. Priority & International shipping available.

JARHEAD: A Marine's Chronicle of the Gulf War and Other Battles
by Anthony Swofford. Movie still DJ. Condition: UNREAD 2003 Scribner hardcover & DJ (in mylar jacket), no printing given. This may be a special edition or a Book Club Edition. Content: In this candid war memoir, Anthony Swofford chronicles his experiences as a sniper during the first Gulf War, in 1991. A third-generation soldier, Swofford served in a United States Marine Corps Surveillance and Target Acquisition Platoon, and here he holds nothing back as he conveys the raw feelings of fear and boredom that he experienced, as well as the shared feelings of intimacy and camaraderie of soldiers waiting to ship out, waiting for a fire fight, waiting to die. In his down time, Swofford reflects on his upbringing in a military family, and his experiences in boot camp. This grunt's eye view of combat was a New York Times Notable Book for 2003. It was also made into a 2005 movie, directed by Sam Mendes and starring Jake Gyllenhaal, Jamie Foxx, Scott MacDonald, Peter Sarsgaard, and Lo Ming. [1 copy available]
$ 1.89 + $ 3.19 media shipping.

THE MAN WHO NEVER WAS
by Ewen Montagu. Foreword by Lord Ismay. Condition: UNREAD, but not perfect, c. 1971 Scholastic paperback, 12th printing. Light tanning to white cover edges. Light edgewear. Interior clean & tight with light tanning to page edges. TK431. Content: As plans got under way for the Allied invasion of Sicily in June 1943, British counter-intelligence agent Ewen Montagu masterminded a scheme to mislead the Germans into thinking the next landing would occur in Greece. The innovative plot was so successful that the Germans moved some of their forces away from Sicily, and two weeks into the real invasion still expected an attack in Greece. This extraordinary operation called for a dead body, dressed as a Royal Marine officer and carrying false information about a pending Allied invasion of Greece, to wash up on a Spanish shore near the town of a known Nazi agent. Agent Montagu tells the story as only an insider could, offering fascinating details of the difficulties involved-especially in creating a persona for a man who never was--and of his profession as a spy and the risks involved in mounting such a complex operation. Failure could have had devastating results. Success, however, brought a decided change in the course of the war. Ewen Montagu ran the counterespionage sub-branch of the naval intelligence division at the British Admiralty. He later became judge advocate of the fleet and died in 1985. Exciting (and fun) tale of espionage in World War II. The 1956 movie was directed by Ronald Neame and starred the magnificient Clifton Webb, Gloria Grahame, Stephen Boyd, Robert Flemyng, Cyril Cusack, and Laurence Naismith. Don't miss the movie even if you don't read the book! [1 copy available]
$ 4.39 + $ 2.94 media shipping. Priority shipping available.

NAVAJO NATIVE WEAPON: The Navajo Code Talkers
by Sally McClain. Loaded with B&W photos, maps, and charts. Condition: NEW 2002 Rio Nueva Trade Paperback, third printing. Tiny edge wear with small shelf wear to top back cover corner tip. Content: A gripping account of Navajo Tribal men who...created the only unbreakable code in modern military history. Read the true story that inspired Windtalkers. Based on first-person accounts and Marine Corps documents, this newly revised edition describes how the U.S. Marine Corps recruited young Navajo warriors to create a secret code, using their native language that many of them had once been forbidden to speak. The Navajo Code Talkers played decisive roles in the Pacific Theater and helped turned the tide in the bloody battles for Bougainville, Cape Gloucester, New Britain, Saipan, Guam, Peleliu, and Iwo Jima. Their unbreakable code helped save countless American lives and earned the Navajo Code Talkers the undying respect of their comrades in arms. 54 rare, historic photographs and maps. The 2002 movie starred Adam Beach, Nicholas Cage, Noah Emmerich, Mark Ruffalo, Christian Slater, Jason Isaacs, and Roger Willie (Pvt. Whiehorse). [1 copy available]
$ 6.49 + $ 3.19 media shipping.

VICTORY (DVD) (1981)
directed by John Huston. Condition: NEW (still shrink-wrapped) Warner DVD. Short remainder mark top back cover. Content: Fans of The Great Escape will cheer venerable director John Huston's rousing 1981 adventure that pits Allied prisoners of war against their German captors in a soccer match. Michael Caine heads an international all-star cast as true-Brit John Colby, a former soccer champion, who heads the rag-tag squad. Max Von Sydow costars as the humane German officer who proposes the match, improbably staged for maximum propaganda impact in a stadium in Paris. As the Allied team, which includes real-life soccer legends Pele and Bobby Moore, practices, the officers' only goal is an audacious half-time escape. Sylvester Stallone is somewhat out of his league as the American determined to join the team. As an actor, Pele may not be on the same playing field as his Oscar-winning costars, but he is thrilling to watch as he executes some awesome, game-winning kicks. [I love this movie!!!] [1 copy available]
$ 4.00 + $ 3.09 first class shipping shipping.

WINDTALKERS (Movie Novelization)
by Max Allan Collins. Based on screenplay by John Rice and Joe Batteer. Nicholas Cage movie cover. B&W movie stills section. Condition: Gently pre-read 2001 Harper Entertainment paperback, fist printing. Pale spine creases. Interior clean & tight. Content: This book is considerably better than the movie - which was a bomb, IMHO. Worth reading. The movie was directed by John Woo starred Nicholas Cage (another month; another Cage movie) but the best performances were from the great Adam Beach and Roger Willie with strong back-up by Christian Slater, Peter Stormare, Noah Emmerich (love this guy!), Mark Ruffalo, and Jason Isaacs. Too bad the producers didn't think a Native American cast could carry a movie like this - it surely would have been better. [1 copy available]
$ 1.89 + $ 2.94 media shipping.

THE WINGS OF EAGLES (Original novel)
by Walt Grove. Cover painting by Bayre Phillips. Condition: Good only, 1957 Gold Medal Books paperback, first printing. Problems: Cover has multiple "spider creases." Also, hinge crease with edgewear and moderate tanning to page edges. Content: Based on the life and writings of Lieutenant Commander Frank W. "Spig" Wead, the rebellious sailor who ended up with his crushed body in a wheelchair, still fighting the battle for wings - and the whole Japanese enemy force. Wead later became a screenwriter. The 1957 film was directed by John Ford and the screenplay was by Frank Fenton and William Wister Haines. The stars: John Wayne, Dan Dailey, Maureen O'Hara, Ward Bond, Ken Curtis, and Edmund Lowe. I think this is one of John Wayne's best acting jobs. [1 copy available]
$ 3.39 + $ 2.94 media shipping.