{"title":"James D Hornfischer","description":"\u003cp\u003eDelve into gripping naval history with James D. Hornfischer's meticulously researched and vividly written accounts. Perfect for readers fascinated by military strategy and the untold stories of courage on the high seas.\u003c\/p\u003e","products":[{"product_id":"service-book-james-d-hornfischer-9780316185363","title":"Service","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cb\u003eMarcus Luttrell, author of the #1 bestseller \u003ci\u003eLone Survivor\u003c\/i\u003e, share war stories about true American heroism from himself and other soldiers who bravely fought alongside him.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e \u003cdiv\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e Navy SEAL Marcus Luttrell returned from his star-crossed mission in Afghanistan with his bones shattered and his heart broken. So many had given their lives to save him -- and he would have readily done the same for them. As he recuperated, he wondered why he and others, from America's founding to today, had been willing to sacrifice everything-including themselves-for the sake of family, nation, and freedom.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e In \u003ci\u003eService\u003c\/i\u003e, we follow Marcus Luttrell to Iraq, where he returns to the battlefield as a member of SEAL Team 5 to help take on the most dangerous city in the world: Ramadi, the capital of war-torn Al Anbar Province. There, in six months of high-intensity urban combat, he would be part of what has been called the greatest victory in the history of U.S. Special Operations forces. We also return to Afghanistan and Operation Redwing, where Luttrell offers powerful new details about his miraculous rescue. 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The exhilarating true story of the U.S. Navy's improbable victory at the Battle of Samar-\"a dire survival-at-sea saga\" (\u003ci\u003eDenver Post\u003c\/i\u003e) from the acclaimed author of \u003ci\u003eNeptune's Inferno\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e\"A critically acclaimed, blow-by-blow look at a small American force counterattacking into the teeth of hopeless odds.\"-\u003ci\u003eMiami Herald\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003e\"\u003ci\u003eThe Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors\u003c\/i\u003e will take its place amidst the great literature of World War II.\"-Ron Powers, co-author of \u003ci\u003eFlags of Our Fathers\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Desperately fought on the morning of October 25, 1944, the Battle off Samar is one of the most celebrated engagements in United States naval lore. 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In 1945, at the end of World War II, the victorious Navy sends its sailors home and decommissions most of its warships. But this peaceful interlude is short-lived, as Stalin, America's former ally, makes aggressive moves in Europe and the Far East. Winston Churchill crystallizes the growing Communist threat by declaring the existence of \"the Iron Curtain,\" and the Truman Doctrine is set up to contain Communism by establishing U.S. military bases throughout the world.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Set against this background of increasing Cold War hostility, \u003ci\u003eWho Can Hold the Sea\u003c\/i\u003e paints the dramatic rise of the Navy's crucial postwar role in a series of exciting episodes that include the controversial tests of the A-bombs that were dropped on warships at Bikini Island; the invention of sonar and the developing science of undersea warfare; the Navy's leading part in key battles of the Korean War; the dramatic sinking of the submarine USS \u003ci\u003eCochino\u003c\/i\u003e in the Norwegian Sea; the invention of the nuclear submarine and the dangerous, first-ever cruise of the USS \u003ci\u003eNautilus\u003c\/i\u003e under the North Pole; and the growth of the modern Navy with technological breakthroughs such as massive aircraft carriers, and cruisers fitted with surface-to-air missiles.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e As in all of Hornfischer's works, the events unfold in riveting detail. The story of the Cold War at sea is ultimately the story of America's victorious contest to protect the free world.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":49745346756881,"sku":"NGR9780399178665","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50139533705489,"sku":"CIN039917866XVG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50336549077265,"sku":"CIN039917866XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":51438887895313,"sku":"CIN039917866XA","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":52493512802577,"sku":"NIN9780399178665","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/039917866X.jpg?v=1751325173"},{"product_id":"neptune-s-inferno-book-james-d-hornfischer-9780553806700","title":"Neptune's Inferno","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eA literary tour de force that is destined to become one of the . . . definitive works about the battle for Guadalcanal . . .  James D.] Hornfischer deftly captures the essence of the most pivotal naval campaign of the Pacific war.--\u003ci\u003eSan Antonio Express-News\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The Battle of Guadalcanal has long been heralded as a Marine victory. Now, with his powerful portrait of the Navy's sacrifice, James D. Hornfischer tells for the first time the full story of the men who fought in destroyers, cruisers, and battleships in the narrow, deadly waters of Ironbottom Sound. Here, in stunning cinematic detail, are the seven major naval actions that began in August 1942, a time when the war seemed unwinnable and America fought on a shoestring, with the outcome always in doubt. Working from new interviews with survivors, unpublished eyewitness accounts, and newly available documents, Hornfischer paints a vivid picture of the officers and enlisted men who opposed the Japanese in America's hour of need. 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The author's narrative gifts and excellent choice of detail give an almost Homeric quality to the men who met on the sea in steel titans.\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eBooklist \u003c\/i\u003e(starred review)\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Brilliant . . . a compelling narrative of naval combat . . . simply superb.\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Washington Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49763761979665,"sku":"CIN055380670XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":49989018583313,"sku":"CIN055380670XA","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50074705002769,"sku":"CIN055380670XVG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50953604563217,"sku":"GOR003769176","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/055380670X.jpg?v=1751104416"},{"product_id":"neptune-s-inferno-the-u-s-navy-at-guadalcanal-cd-9780307881397","title":"Neptune's Inferno","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49795437691153,"sku":"CIN0307881393VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0307881393.jpg?v=1751133028"},{"product_id":"neptune-s-inferno-book-james-d-hornfischer-9780553385120","title":"Neptune's Inferno","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNEW YORK TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e BESTSELLER . 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Working from interviews with survivors, unpublished eyewitness accounts, and previously unavailable documents, Hornfischer paints a vivid picture of the officers and enlisted men who opposed the Japanese in America's hour of need.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e \u003ci\u003eNeptune's Inferno\u003c\/i\u003e does what all great battle narratives do- It tells the gripping human stories behind the momentous events and critical decisions that altered the course of history and shaped so many lives.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49865379873041,"sku":"CIN0553385127G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49974225174801,"sku":"GOR005285636","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50128800252177,"sku":"CIN0553385127A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50226030510353,"sku":"CIN0553385127VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51003570061585,"sku":"NIN9780553385120","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ LIKE_NEW \/ SBYB","offer_id":51578856309009,"sku":"CIN0553385127LN","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51592158740753,"sku":"GOR006677809","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0553385127.jpg?v=1751230880"},{"product_id":"ship-of-ghosts-book-james-d-hornfischer-9780553803907","title":"Ship of Ghosts","description":"NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELER \u003cbr\u003eSon, we re going to Hell. \u003cbr\u003e The navigator of the US Houston confided these prophetic words to a young officer as he and his captain charted a course into U.S. naval legend. Renowned as FDR s favorite warship, the cruiser US Houston was a prize target trapped in the far Pacific after Pearl Harbor. Without hope of reinforcement, her crew faced a superior Japanese force ruthlessly committed to total conquest. It wasn t a fair fight, but the men of the Houston would wage it to the death. \u003cbr\u003e Hornfischer brings to life the awesome terror of nighttime naval battles that turned decks into strobe-lit slaughterhouses, the deadly rain of fire from Japanese bombers, and the almost superhuman effort of the crew as they miraculously escaped disaster again and again until their luck ran out during a daring action in Sunda Strait. There, hopelessly outnumbered, the Houston was finally sunk and its survivors taken prisoner. For more than three years their fate would be a mystery to families waiting at home. \u003cbr\u003e In the brutal privation of jungle POW camps dubiously immortalized in such films as The Bridge on the River Kwai, the war continued for the men of the Houston a life-and-death struggle to survive forced labor, starvation, disease, and psychological torture. 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Renowned as FDR's favorite warship, the cruiser USS \u003ci\u003eHouston\u003c\/i\u003e was a prize target trapped in the far Pacific after Pearl Harbor. Without hope of reinforcement, the crew faced a superior Japanese force ruthlessly committed to total conquest. It wasn't a fair fight, but the men of the Houston would wage it to the death.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Yet the crew miraculously escaped disaster again and again-until their luck ran out during a daring action in Sunda Strait. There, hopelessly outnumbered, the \u003ci\u003eHouston\u003c\/i\u003e was finally sunk. The survivors would soon envy the dead. They were captured and made slaves on Japan's infamous Burma-Thailand Death Railway, which was glamorized by Hollywood but in reality mercilessly reduced men to little more than animals. The prisoners fought back against their dehumanization with dignity, ingenuity, sabotage, willpower-and the undying faith that their country would prevail.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e Using journals and letters, rare historical documents, testimony from postwar Japanese war crime tribunals, and the eyewitness accounts of the \u003ci\u003eHouston\u003c\/i\u003e's survivors, James D. Hornfischer has crafted a testament to human valor so riveting and awe-inspiring, it's easy to forget that every word of it is true.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":49972273316113,"sku":"CIN0553384503G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50167509844241,"sku":"CIN0553384503VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":50354938249489,"sku":"CIN0553384503A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50892211650833,"sku":"GOR006368015","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51003565539601,"sku":"NIN9780553384505","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":51244241682705,"sku":"NGR9780553384505","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52266642669841,"sku":"GOR005626699","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":52628766720273,"sku":"GOR009484128","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0553384503.jpg?v=1762339024"},{"product_id":"ship-of-ghosts-the-story-of-the-uss-houston-fdr-s-legendary-lost-cruiser-and-the-epic-saga-of-her-survivors-cd-9780739311431","title":"Ship of Ghosts","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNEW YORK TIMES \u003c\/i\u003eBESTSELLER\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSon, we're going to Hell. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The navigator of the USS \u003ci\u003eHouston\u003c\/i\u003e confided these prophetic words to a young officer as he and his captain charted a course into U.S. naval legend. Renowned as FDR's favorite warship, the cruiser USS \u003ci\u003eHouston\u003c\/i\u003e was a prize target trapped in the far Pacific after Pearl Harbor. Without hope of reinforcement, her crew faced a superior Japanese force ruthlessly committed to total conquest. It wasn't a fair fight, but the men of the Houston would wage it to the death. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Hornfischer brings to life the awesome terror of nighttime naval battles that turned decks into strobe-lit slaughterhouses, the deadly rain of fire from Japanese bombers, and the almost superhuman effort of the crew as they miraculously escaped disaster again and again-until their luck ran out during a daring action in Sunda Strait. There, hopelessly outnumbered, the \u003ci\u003eHouston\u003c\/i\u003e was finally sunk and its survivors taken prisoner. For more than three years their fate would be a mystery to families waiting at home. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e In the brutal privation of jungle POW camps dubiously immortalized in such films as \u003ci\u003eThe Bridge on the River Kwai\u003c\/i\u003e, the war continued for the men of the \u003ci\u003eHouston\u003c\/i\u003e--a life-and-death struggle to survive forced labor, starvation, disease, and psychological torture. Here is the gritty, unvarnished story of the infamous Burma-Thailand Death Railway glamorized by Hollywood, but which in reality mercilessly reduced men to little more than animals, who fought back against their dehumanization with dignity, ingenuity, sabotage, will-power--and the undying faith that their country would prevail. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Using journals and letters, rare historical documents, including testimony from postwar Japanese war crimes tribunals, and the eyewitness accounts of \u003ci\u003eHouston\u003c\/i\u003e's survivors, James Hornfischer has crafted an account of human valor so riveting and awe-inspiring, it's easy to forget that every single word is true.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50358534308113,"sku":"CIN0739311433G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50686344724753,"sku":"CIN0739311433VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/0739311433.jpg?v=1751328083"},{"product_id":"ship-of-ghosts-book-james-d-hornfischer-9781613838679","title":"Ship of Ghosts","description":null,"brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":50394860618001,"sku":"CIN1613838670G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1613838670.jpg?v=1751214752"},{"product_id":"destroyer-captain-book-james-d-hornfischer-9780593184677","title":"Destroyer Captain","description":"The Battle off Samar, fought on the morning of October 25, 1944, during the climactic Battle of Leyte Gulf, pitted 23 Japanese warships against 13 U.S. To call it a mismatch scarcely described it. The Japanese fleet consisted of four battleships, six heavy cruisers and thirteen destroyers. The American force was built around six small, slow aircraft carriers, escorted by five small destroyers. The single largest of the Japanese combatants, the super-battleship Yamato, outweighed the entire American force combined. Yet somehow, in the chaotic and bloody two-hour daylight fight that followed, the undersized American side prevailed, routing the most powerful force that Tokyo's naval command had ever sent into battle. No American performed more bravely that day than Captain Ernest Evans, commander of the USS Johnston, a tincan armed with unimposing naval guns. For the first time, Evans's astonishing grit and determination are explored in full, offering readers an unforgettable story of wartime heroism at sea.","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ NEW \/ INGRAM","offer_id":51004237840657,"sku":"NIN9780593184677","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51208259928337,"sku":"CIN059318467XVG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ NEW \/ GARDNERS","offer_id":51215811412241,"sku":"NGR9780593184677","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51393804566801,"sku":"CIN059318467XG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ VERY_GOOD \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":51857019175185,"sku":"GOR014430739","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/059318467X.jpg?v=1751168054"},{"product_id":"the-fleet-at-flood-tide-america-at-total-war-in-the-pacific-1944-1945-cd-9781101889541","title":"The Fleet at Flood Tide","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNEW YORK TIMES\u003c\/i\u003e BESTSELLER - The extraordinary story of the World War II air, land, and sea campaign that brought the U.S. Navy to the apex of its strength and marked the rise of the United States as a global superpower\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWinner, Commodore John Barry Book Award, Navy League of the United States - Winner, John Lehman Distinguished Naval Historian Award, Naval Order of the United States\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWith its thunderous assault on the Mariana Islands in June 1944, the United States crossed the threshold of total war. In this tour de force of dramatic storytelling, distilled from extensive research in newly discovered primary sources, James D. Hornfischer brings to life the campaign that was the fulcrum of the drive to compel Tokyo to surrender--and that forever changed the art of modern war. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eWith a close focus on high commanders, front-line combatants, and ordinary people, American and Japanese alike, Hornfischer tells the story of the climactic end of the Pacific War as has never been done before. Here are the epic seaborne invasions of Saipan, Tinian, and Guam, the stunning aerial battles of the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot, the first large-scale use of Navy underwater demolition teams, the largest banzai attack of the war, and the daring combat operations large and small that made possible the strategic bombing offensive culminating in the atomic strikes on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. From the seas of the Central Pacific to the shores of Japan itself, \u003ci\u003eThe Fleet at Flood Tide\u003c\/i\u003e is a stirring, authoritative, and cinematic portrayal of World War II's world-changing finale. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eIllustrated with original maps and more than 120 dramatic photographs\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eQuite simply, popular and scholarly military history at its best.\u003cb\u003e--Victor Davis Hanson, author of \u003ci\u003eCarnage and Culture\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e The dean of World War II naval history . . . In his capable hands, the story races along like an intense thriller. . . . Narrative nonfiction at its finest--a book simply not to be missed.\u003cb\u003e--James M. Scott, Charleston\u003ci\u003e Post and Courier\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e An impressively lucid account . . . admirable, fascinating.\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e An extraordinary memorial to the courageous--and a cautionary note to a world that remains unstable and turbulent today.\u003cb\u003e--Admiral James Stavridis, former Supreme Allied Commander, NATO, author of \u003ci\u003eSea Power\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e A masterful, fresh account . . . ably expands on the prior offerings of such classic naval historians as Samuel Eliot Morison.\u003cb\u003e--\u003ci\u003eThe Dallas Morning News\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51326705565969,"sku":"CIN1101889543G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1101889543.jpg?v=1750984522"}],"url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/collections\/author-books-by-james-d-hornfischer.oembed","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}