War Animals

Private Ben Leeman, MM, is typical of so many unknown British Tommies who unhesitatingly answered the call to arms when Britain was in peril. Where Ben’s story differs from most, is that when he enlisted in the 15th (Bantam) Battalion, Notts and Derby Regiment, The Sherwood Foresters, he was just 15 years old. A Century of Silence tells Ben’s story from a happy childhood in Grimsby, through his enlistment and training in 1915, and his desperate fight for survival in the trenches of the Somme and the killing fields of Flanders.

The history of European philosophy is usually constructed from the work of men. In Metaphysical Animals, a pioneering group biography, Clare Mac Cumhaill and Rachael Wiseman offer a compelling alternative. In the mid-twentieth century Elizabeth Anscombe, Mary Midgley, Philippa Foot, and Iris Murdoch were philosophy students at Oxford when most male undergraduates and many tutors were conscripted away to fight in the Second World War. Together, these young women, all friends, developed a philosophy that could respond to the war’s darkest revelations.

Hutton has now written a fascinating full biography of Sergeant Reckless, who earned two Purple Hearts for her heroic efforts, among other military decorations. Hutton has spoken with the marines who fought alongside Reckless and tells the complete and captivating tale of how a would-be Korean racehorse became one of the greatest Marine Corps wartime heroes. Sgt. Reckless brings the legend back to life more than half a century later.

All chess games end in a murder... It's 1920, the murders of a trade unionist, a knight and a bishop shock Britain. The finger of blame seems to point to Russia. As the body count rises, Kit Aston plays a deadly game of chess with a Russian grandmaster where checkmate is a matter of life or death. The latest Kit Aston whodunnit is a gripping historical crime thriller, full of twists and hilarious one liners which fuses classic murder mystery with a spy novel. The Kit Aston mysteries mix real life historical characters and events with crime thrillers full of red herrings. No books are the ...

A highly decorated captain in the U.S. Army, Luis Montalvan never backed down from a challenge during his two tours of duty in Iraq. After returning home, however, the pressures of his physical wounds, traumatic brain injury, and post-traumatic stress disorder began to take their toll. In constant physical pain, he soon found himself unable to climb a simple flight of stairs or face a bus ride to the VA hospital. He drank; he argued; he cut himself off from those he loved. Then Luis met Tuesday, a beautiful and sensitive golden retriever....

A locked room murder mystery set in Tangier! Kit and Mary Aston fly off to Tangier when they hear that Aunt Agatha is on the run from the Moroccan police accompanied by her friends – Betty, Sausage and a Doberman called Mimi. Accused of a murder witnessed by dozens of people, only Kit can prove Agatha innocent. Matters take a turn for the worse when the investigating policeman, an old enemy of Agatha, is found murdered in his hotel room which has been locked from the inside with no possible way of entering except through the front door. The latest Kit Aston mystery takes place in a ...

Are animal soldiers held in the same regard as humans? When a Federation company is facing a United Forces regiment, the six teams of genetically enhanced animals are sent out to delay the enemy advance so the company can withdraw. The “Weres,” as they are nicknamed, do not hesitate in carrying out their mission. But no matter their fighting skill, how can they hope to stand up to so many of the enemy? This is Nebula Award nominated writer Jonathan Brazee’s first short story, written in 1975 as a 17-year-old midshipmen at the US Naval Academy.

Cracker is one of the U.S. Army's most valuable weapons: a German shepherd trained to sniff out bombs, traps, and the enemy. Rick is headed to Vietnam to prove to everyone who didn't think he was cut out for war that they were wrong. When Cracker is paired with Rick, she isn't so sure about this new owner. He's going to have to prove himself to her before she's going to prove herself to him. They need to be friends before they can be a team, and they have to be a team if they want to get home alive.

A wounded veteran makes her way to Living River Ranch to receive love and therapy from friends and relatives. Nestled in the hills of the Lake Michigan shoreline, the ranch overlooks open fields and rich oak, maple, and beech tree groves. It has been owned by the Katzen family for generations. Once a working ranch producing cattle and milking cows, it has now turned into a therapy ranch for a multitude of special populations. In an unexpected twist to the Living River Ranch saga, a wounded veteran is brought to the ranch for therapy and support as she recovers from her injuries. Jett, a ...

Living in West Berlin in the 1960s often felt like living in a zoo, everyone packed together behind a wall, with the world always watching. On the other side of the Iron Curtain, the East Berlin zoo was spacious and lush, a socialist utopia where everything was perfectly planned...and then rarely successfully finished. Berlin’s two zoos quickly became symbols of the divided city’s two halves. So no one was terribly surprised when the head zookeepers on either side started an animal arms race - rather than stockpiling nuclear warheads, competing to have the most pandas and hippos.

Ramree Island, Burma, February, 1945 As World War Two raged like an inferno across the globe, Captain Ryoichi of the Imperial Japanese Army could feel the cancer growing inside of him, like the roots of a plant reaching into the darkness, clawing at his lungs, growing larger each day. Not wanting to end his life in a hospital bed, the Captain longed to die in battle; a glorious, honourable death. The British were coming and they would soon provide the opportunity for immortality. But after a terrible defeat, fate would lead the Captain and his men, most of them injured, near starving, and ...

1940. Britain is at war with Nazi Germany. Eleven-year-old Eric spends his days at the place that makes him most happy: London Zoo. And there’s one animal in particular he loves: Gertrude the gorilla. With bombs falling all over London, Eric must rescue Gertrude. Together with his Uncle Sid, a keeper at the zoo, the three go on the run. But while hiding out at the seaside they uncover a top-secret Nazi plot....

Filled with harrowing tales of knife-edge bomb-detection work, including an extraordinary baptism by fire, Sergeant Rex is a heart-pounding account of how an unbreakable human-canine bond helped Mike and Rex to stay focused on their mission and save countless lives.

On 31st October 1917, as the day's light faded, the Australian Light Horse charged against their enemy. Eight hundred men and horses galloped four miles across open country, towards the artillery, rifles and machine guns of the Turks occupying the seemingly unassailable town of Beersheba. What happened in the next hour changed the course of history. This brave battle and the extraordinary adventures that led to it are brought vividly to life by Australia's greatest storyteller, Peter FitzSimons.

An instant hit in the UK, this is the true account of a German shepherd who was adopted by the Royal Air Force during World War II, joined in flight missions, and survived everything from crash-landings to parachute bailouts-ultimately saving the life of his owner and dearest friend. In the winter of 1939 in the cold snow of no-man's-land, two loners met and began an extraordinary journey that would turn them into lifelong friends.

Together with his own life-changing encounters with animals around the world, Martin has celebrated the intelligence, loyalty, and companionship of some truly extraordinary creatures whose lives have been entwined with our own. By turns heart-warming, inspiring and always fascinating, Meetings With Remarkable Animals gives us a chance to meet them too.

A poignant World War II story about a boy and his dog and his dad, and the many meanings of bravery, from Newbery Honor author Kirby Larson. With World War II raging and his father fighting overseas in Europe, 11-year-old Hobie Hanson is determined to do his part to help his family and his country, even if it means giving up his beloved German shepherd, Duke. Hoping to help end the war and bring his dad home faster, Hobie decides to donate Duke to Dogs for Defense, an organization that urges Americans to "loan" their pets to the military.

Guinness may be the runt of the litter, but she scoffs at being a pet. So when her siblings join their forever homes, she can't wait to enlist and risk her tail for her country. Butter loves treats, cherishes her trainer, and is proud of her job. But an errant bullet ends her career and changes her life. Viper lives to serve. The army is his life and his home. But war is tough on soldiers, K-9s and humans, and old dogs don't last long in the desert. Can these loyal dogs dodge a sea of mines and outwit the brutal desert to protect their humans, or will their mission cost their lives?

Here is a heartwarming imagining of the real journey undertaken by the extraordinary bear who inspired Winnie the Pooh. From her early days with her mama in the Canadian forest, to her remarkable travels with the Veterinary Corps across the country and overseas, and all the way to the London Zoo, where she met Christopher Robin Milne and inspired the creation of the world's most famous bear, Winnie is on a great war adventure.

The horse Jim was known as Beautiful Jim Key from the moment he stepped into the American spotlight in 1897 at age eight until his death in 1912. This horse was beloved for his remarkable intelligence, cultivated by human kindness and patience. No less extraordinary was the man who trained Jim, Dr. William Key of Shelbyville, Tennessee, a former slave who in his life had seen horrific cruelty toward humans and animals. Bill Key was a self-schooled veterinarian and Black entrepreneur who refused to use force in any guise while breaking and training horses.