Chronicles the 1975 offensive of the Vietnam People’s Army and the uprisings that secured the liberation of South Vietnam.

Chronicles the 1975 offensive of the Vietnam Peopleas Army and the uprisings that secured the liberation of South Vietnam.

Mark Solonin is a Russian aviation engineer and historian. He was born in Kuybyshev (now Samara) on 29 May 1958. The problem with history is that it changes, depending on who is writing it and for whom it is being written. As the hackneyed phrase goes: "History is written by the victors". A subtler rephrasing has it that "the vanquished are the ones who are guilty of treason, even by the historians." Sometimes, however, many parties feel that certain historical events are best forgotten, the facts being too awful and the conclusions too dire to face. This was certainly the case with the history of the Red Army's advance through Eastern Europe at the end of the Second World War. This was the most massive ethnic cleansing ever performed. Between 1944 and 1950, through terror and starvation, 12-14 million ethnic Germans were driven from their eastern homelands with a death toll so large and chaotic that it can only be estimated between 600 thousand and 2 million. The Western Allies preferred not to know so as to avoid being sullied by the crimes. The Soviets, who never had their Nuremburg for this or other doings, most certainly were not ready to face the matter and never have. "It was a long time ago and it never happened anyway." This short book was written by Mark Solonin in 2009 and is possibly the first book written by a Russian historian as a polemic for Russian readers to face facts and discover one can still live -and live better- with awkward knowledge. It is a remarkable work and should be useful to Western readers who also need to face the fact that we here allowed these matters to swept under the carpet as well. Mark Solonin is the author of several best-selling books in Russian that freshly analyse the history of the Second World War (the Soviet Great Patriotic War). As a result, he now finds himself obliged for his personal safety to live in exile.

Along with a half million other young men, Mark Woodruff put his life on the line to serve his country in Vietnam. Like so many others, he returned home to find himself regarded not as a hero but as a humiliating reminder of the only war the United States ever lost. This Marine, however, is determined to set the record straight. Woodruff never wavers from the cold, hard facts in this riveting book. Battle by battle, Unheralded Victory provides incontrovertible proof that the United States won this war, from the vaunted 1968 Tet Offensive–in reality a shattering defeat that decimated the Viet Cong–to Linebacker II, the final knockout blow that forced North Vietnam to the table. Make no mistake: our warriors in Vietnam were victorious. It’s time America sat up and took notice.

The triumphant story of baseball and America after World War II. In 1945 Major League Baseball had become a ghost of itself. Parks were half empty, the balls were made with fake rubber, and mediocre replacements roamed the fields, as hundreds of players, including the game's biggest stars, were serving abroad, devoted to unconditional Allied victory in World War II. But by the spring of 1946, the country was ready to heal. The war was finally over, and as America's fathers and brothers were coming home, so too were the sport's greats. Ted Williams, Stan Musial, and Joe DiMaggio returned with bats blazing, making the season a true classic that ended in a thrilling seven-game World Series between the Boston Red Sox and the St. Louis Cardinals. America also witnessed the beginning of a new era in baseball: it was a year of attendance records, the first year Yankee Stadium held night games, the last year the Green Monster wasn't green, and, most significant, Jackie Robinson's first year playing in the Brooklyn Dodgers' system. The Victory Season brings to vivid life these years of baseball and war, including the littleknown "World Series" that servicemen played in a captured Hitler Youth stadium in the fall of 1945. Robert Weintraub's extensive research and vibrant storytelling enliven the legendary season that embodies what we now think of as the game's golden era.

No single event since World War II has marked this country s foreign policy and national image as deeply as did the war in Vietnam. Vietnam and America is a complete history of the war, as documented in essays by leading experts and in original source material. With generous selections from the documentary records, the book dispels distortions and illuminates in depth the many facets of the war, from Vietnam s history before the war, to Washington s insider policy making, to troop perspectives, to the impact back on the home front. In essays introducing each major stage of the war, the editors elucidate the issues, foreign policy choices, and consequences of U.S. involvement. Substantial headnotes put each document in historical perspective. This comprehensive anthology is an invaluable reference for anyone who wants to understand the Vietnam War."