Air Force War

The General’s dysfunctional home life drove him to apply to the Air Force Academy almost 40 years ago, where he was provided with a new family and sense of worth he had never gotten from his own father. This purpose has driven the General throughout his remarkable career, taking him to Alaska, the Pentagon, and Germany; to Florida during Hurricane Opal, and has also allowed him to work alongside Presidents Bush and Obama and Secretaries of Defense Leon Panetta and Ashton Carter. Journey is a book about leadership. It is packed with the General’s lessons from life in the military.

In this extraordinary audiobook, Robert D. Kaplan lets listeners experience up close the American military worldwide in the air, at sea, and on the ground. Hog Pilots, Blue Water Grunts provides a riveting ground-level portrait of the Global War on Terrorism on several continents.

In the dying embers of the British Empire, a broken veteran is about to make a killing. It should have been a glamorous first posting for junior pilot Rob May. Flying the latest RAF jet, the Venom, from an overseas airfield near exotic Baghdad. But the Royal Air Force is being chased out by a government looking to throw off its imperial ties. Paired with an irascible and eccentric flight commander, Squadron Leader ‘Bunny’ Pater-Smith, May finds himself plunged head-first into the chaos of the evacuation and a hidden plan to profit from the situation. In a mix of biting desert sandstorms...

Beginning on August 17, 1942, American heavy bomber crews of the Eighth Air Force took off for combat in the hostile skies over occupied Europe. The final price was staggering. 4,300 B-17s and B-24s failed to return; nearly 28,000 men were taken prisoner or interned in a neutral country, and a further 26,000 made the ultimate sacrifice. Luck of the Draw is more than a war story. It’s the incredible, inspiring story of Frank Murphy, one of the few survivors from the 100th Bombardment Group, who cheated death for months in a German POW camp after being shot out of his B-17 Flying Fortress.

What can you take from a man who has nothing left to lose? When Lieutenant Jason Conrad is offered the trip of a lifetime...how could he say no? But the trip quickly turns into more than he bargained for, and Jason Conrad is in a fight for his life! At the 50th anniversary of D-Day celebration, a methodical killer continues his deadly path of revenge, and Jason is caught in his crosshairs! Can he survive?

After flying for eight and a half years during high school and college, and participating in the Air Force ROTC Program at Ole Miss and The University of Texas, I felt I was well prepared for US Air Force Undergraduate Pilot Training. In October 1965, I became a member of UPT Class 67C at Webb Air Force Base in Big Spring, Texas. I can say, without reservation, that my year in UPT was the best year of my life!

The Battle of Britain, regarded by historians as one of the greatest air battles in the history of warfare, was an early turning point in the Second World War. In the summer of 1940, the German army had, with astonishing speed, mercilessly swept aside all before them and were perched on the northern coastline of France. Outright victory over all of Europe was impeded only by the expanse of the English Channel. The supremely confident, yet-to-be defeated Luftwaffe (German Air Force) were eager for continued action, to claim air superiority and victory over an outnumbered RAF and clear the ...

Dive into action with the United States Armed Forces while listening to these thrilling and informative books. Uncover the history, tactics, and missions of forces like the Navy SEALs, Army, and Coast Guard.

Award-winning journalist and best-selling author Ian McPhedran takes us to the heart of the RAAF through personal accounts of fighter pilots’ bombing raids over Iraq, of hi-tech spy planes over Afghanistan, of the operational nerve centre of the Middle East war, and of the men and women who deliver humanitarian aid across the world. This is the compelling narrative, in the RAAF’s 90th year, of its aircraft, leadership, traditions, and personalities at a time of rapid change.

In King of Spies, prize-winning journalist and bestselling author of Escape From Camp 14, Blaine Harden, reveals one of the most astonishing – and previously untold – spy stories of the twentieth century. Donald Nichols was 'a one man war', according to his US Air Force commanding general. He won the Distinguished Service Cross, along with a chest full of medals for valor and initiative in the Korean War. His commanders described Nichols as the bravest, most resourceful and effective spymaster of that forgotten war. But there is far more to Donald Nichols' story than first meets the eye . . .

Top World War II aces of the RAF, USAAF, and the Luftwaffe recall the greatest aerial missions in this thrilling program. There is Douglas Bader, one of the best of the RAF fighter pilots despite 2 artificial legs, Adolf Galland of the Luftwaffe, who, subsequent to being shot down in France one morning, took off in another Messerschmitt that afternoon, another German ace, Hans-Joachim Marseille, the young "Pilot of Africa" who would steal into the British fighters' own formations to down several Hurricanes before the enemy could react, and Robert S. Johnson, the American who heroically defended Liberator and Flying Fortress formations.

Betsy Drew has one thing on her mind. And that’s the hope that Alvis Dooley might glance in her direction. But it’s the outbreak of World War II in Liverpool and whilst everyone is fearful of what Hitler might do next, Betsy is full of dreams for a future with Alvis. But one afternoon when he eventually does take notice of her, her life changes forever. On the fateful night when Hitler drops his bombs on Mill Road Maternity hospital Liverpool, Betsy’s mother, full of shame over Betsy being an unwed mother, sees an opportunity to give her daughter a second chance.

Family and friendship mean everything under the darkening skies of wartime Britain, by Sunday Times best-selling author Margaret Dickinson. It is the 1930s, and the Maitland family have spent the years following the Great War struggling to come to terms with its catastrophic aftermath, and their hopes now lie with the next generation. Their Lincolnshire village of Doddington suffered terrible loss and it has taken great courage for the bereaved families to rebuild their lives without their loved ones.

Penguin presents The Birth of the RAF by Richard Overy, read by Jonathan Keeble. The dizzying pace of technological change in the early 20th century meant that it took only a little over 10 years from the first flight by the Wright Brothers to the clash of fighter planes in the Great War. A period of terrible, rapid experiment followed to gain a brief technological edge. By the end of the war the British had lost an extraordinary 36,000 aircraft and 16,600 airmen.

Dorothy Lucas yearned to discover all that she was capable of. After the devastating news of Pearl Harbor, her brothers joined the World War II war effort, but Dorothy wanted to do her part, too. So, she enlisted to serve as a Women Airforce Service Pilot (WASP). After hours of flight school and roaring engines, Dorothy and her fellow WASPs risked their lives towing targets in the air for the male fighter pilots in training. Through many mechanical scares and smoke-filled cockpits, Dorothy remained brave and committed to her job - defying gravity and defying the odds.