Good Condition

• Goshawk Squadron

• Set during the height of World War I in January 1918, Goshawk Squadron follows the misfortunes of a British flight squadron on the Western Front. For Stanley Woolley, commanding officer of Goshawk Squadron, the romance of chivalry in the clouds is just a myth. The code he drums into his men is simple and savage: shoot the enemy in the back before he knows you're there. Even so, he believes the whole squadron will be dead within three months.

  A monumental work at the time of its original release, Booker-shortlisted Goshawk Squadron is now viewed as a classic in the mode of Catch 22. Wry, brutal, cynical and hilarious, the men of Robinson's squadron are themselves an embodiment of the maddening contradictions of war: as much a refined troop of British gentleman as they are a viscous band of brothers hell-bent on staying alive and winning the war.

• Against All Odds

• What fierce motivation drives warriors to commit themselves to a last stand against a more powerful and better-armed enemy? The reasons are countless: anger, fear, brotherhood, personal glory, and survival. These 13 examples of persistence against incredible odds come from two centuries worth of combat in Europe, Africa, Asia, and North America. Follow glorious battles from Napoleon and Wellington at Hougoumont to the bloody Civil War battle at Antietam to Pork Chop Hill in Korea.

• The Taste of Battle

• How did the ordinary 20th-century foot soldier feel in the midst of a major battle, not yet aware that he was making history and lacking the vital information known to his commanders? Mixing fact and fiction, an author of more than a dozen military books takes us into the heart of the action in Mons, the Somme, Normandy, the Battle of the Bulge, Vietnam, and more, showing us real events through the eyes of imagined characters

• Kamikaze: Japan's Suicide Samurai

  Why did Japan resort to Kamikaze attacks from air and sea? Was it a long-standing policy founded in history or a last-ditch action by a nation facing defeat? How were the recruits found and trained? Why were trainers held back from missions? Did the tactic bring any success? How were the raids reported at home and by the enemy? What were the views of those who encountered such attacks? This volume deals with all these questions. All elements of the aviation and naval actions are described, but the traditions, nationalism and psychologies of the policy are not ignored.