By 1969, following the French defeat at Dien Bien Phu, over 500,000 US troops were ‘in country’ in Vietnam. Before America’s longest war had ended with the fall of Saigon in 1975, 450,000 Vietnamese had died, along with 36,000 Americans. The Vietnam War was the first rock ’n’ roll war, the first helicopter war with its doctrine of ‘airmobility’, and the first television war; it made napalm and the defoliant Agent Orange infamous, and gave us the New Journalism of Michael Herr and others. It also saw the establishment of the Navy SEALs and Delta Force. At home, America fractured, with the peace movement protesting against the war; at Kent State University, Ohio National Guardsmen fired on unarmed students, killing four and injuring nine. Lewis’s compelling selection of the best writing to come out of a war covered by some truly outstanding writers, both journalists and combatants, includes an eyewitness account of the first major battle between the US Army and the People’s Army of Vietnam at Ia Drang; a selection of letters home; Nicholas Tomalin’s famous ‘The General Goes Zapping Charlie Cong’; Robert Mason’s ‘R&R’, Studs Terkel’s account of the police breaking up an anti-war protest; John Kifner on the shootings at Kent State; Ron Kovic’s ‘Born on the Fourth of July’; John T. Wheeler’s ‘Khe Sanh: Live in the V Ring’; Pulitzer Prize-winner Seymour Hersh on the massacre at My Lai; Michael Herr’s ‘It Made You Feel Omni’; Viet Cong Truong Nhu Tang’s memoir; naval nurse Maureen Walsh’s memoir, ‘Burning Flesh’; John Pilger on the fall of Saigon; and Tim O’Brien’s ‘If I Die in a Combat Zone’.

30 of the greatest graphic short stories ever produced on the theme of war.

A bumper collection of the most outrageous, but absolutely true, news stories.

Bringing together stirring tales of battle and bloodshed from across the centuries, this collection of true war stories includes tales that range from the wars of ancient Greece to the deserts of Saudi Arabia in 1991. Original.

Over a hundred eyewitness accounts of the reality of combat from some of the finest writers of the last century and our own. Lucid, vivid, complex images of conflict, from Walt Whitman on the American Civil War to contemporary reporting from Afghanistan. The collection includes Martha Gellhorn on the Battle of the Bulge, Michael Herr at Khe Sanh, David Rohde's and Anthony Shadid's Pulitzer-winning accounts of Bosnia and Iraq respectively, Christina Lamb's famous account of being under fire from the Taliban, Robert Fisk on being attacked in Afghanistan, and Nicholas Tomalin's 'The General Goes Zapping Charlie Kong' (one of the inspirations for Apocalypse Now) among many other pieces of exceptional war reporting.

From his gold medal at the 1960 Olympic Games to his defeat of Sonny Liston to claim the world heavyweight championship in 1964, the unforgettable 'Thrilla in Manila' against Joe Frazier and the 'Rumble in the Jungle' against George Foreman, 'The Greatest of All Time', Muhammad Ali, has captured the attention of the world. His conversion to Islam, his refusal to serve in the in the Vietnam War ('I ain't got no quarrel with them Vietcong') and his speaking tours in the 1960s have all contributed to his status as one of the most revered sporting figures ever. Here, drawn from books, specialist periodicals, newspapers, college magazines (covering his speaking tours) and the work of major literary figures such as Thomas Hauser is the biggest and best collection ever of writing on 'The Greatest'.

What does it take, both physically and mentally, to join the world's most respected—and feared—military units? Lewis looks at the origins, training, tactics, weapons, and achievements of regiments such as Britain's SAS and Paratroopers, the US Navy SEALS, Delta Force, Army Rangers and Green Berets, Russia's Spetsnaz, and the Israeli Special Forces, as well as the codes that bind their members together. He looks at training in everything from wilderness survival to hand-to-hand combat.