Operation Torch: Books, Audiobooks, and DVDs owned by Avn Tech Library

World War II had many superlatives, but none like Operation Torch--a series of simultaneous amphibious landings, audacious commando and paratroop assaults, and the Atlantic's biggest naval battle, fought across a two thousand mile span of coastline in French North Africa.

A fascinating and informative analysis by a distinguished military historian of the 100 most influential battles in American history, presented in an accessible, ready-reference format. * Introductory overview essay helps create a conceptual framework for readers * A list of "further reading" selections with each entry and a full bibliography identify avenues to further study * Fact boxes throughout the text provide quick, essential information for each battle

This rollicking and panoramic history of Casablanca during the Second World War sheds light on the city as a key hub for European and American powers, and a place where spies, soldiers, and political agents exchanged secrets and vied for control. In November 1942, as a part of Operation Torch, 33,000 American soldiers sailed undetected across the Atlantic and stormed the beaches of French Morocco. Seventy-four hours later, the Americans controlled the country and one of the most valuable wartime ports: Casablanca.

Osprey's examination of the North African campaign of November 1942-May 1943 of World War II (1939-1945), which was a baptism of fire for the US Army. After relatively straightforward landings, the US II Corps advanced into Tunisia to support operations by the British 8th Army. Rommel, worried by the prospect of an attack, decided to exploit the inexperience of the US Army and strike a blow against their overextended positions around the Kasserine Pass. However, the Germans were unableto exploit their initial success, and later attacks were bloodily repulsed. The fighting in Tunisia taught the green US Army vital combat lessons, and brought to the fore senior commanders such as Eisenhower, Patton, and Bradley.

The battle for Tunisia was the culmination of the struggle for North Africa in World War II. It saw experienced German and Italian troops, in superb defensive positions, pitted against well-equipped Anglo-American units and, from first to last, was a battle of skill and determination. David Rolf now provides, for the first time, a complete history of the campaign and his vivid study charts the fighting from both the Axis and Allied perspective.

Meeting the Fox takes the reader on a gripping journey from North Africa's beaches and drop zones, the practically forgotten disaster at Sidi bou Zid, to the final battles in Tunisia. Meeting the Fox tells the unforgettable tale of the men who transformed themselves, in the heat of battle, from a poorly organized army of convenience into a relentless and unstoppable fighting force.

Rein chronicles the emergence of USAAF in the late interwar and early WWII periods as a more heterogeneous and creative fighting force than earlier works have led us to believe. He then analyzes little-known aspects of the war, including early air operations in the eastern Mediterranean and in the TORCH landings. He explores some of the key issues confronting Eisenhower, such as how to establish USAAF priorities and how to deploy long-range bombers, fighters, and attack forces.

Those who imagined that the arrival of a major American force in North Africa would immediately tip the balance against Rommel's Afrika Korps were to be proved badly wrong. Just how ill-prepared the GI Army and its generals were became horrifically apparent at the Kasserine Pass. In his typically thorough and fast-moving style, Charles Whiting examines these events and the reasons for the debacle, which shook America deeply.

The assault on North Africa on 8 November 1942 led to a bitter conflict that finally culminated in the defeat of the Axis forces in Tunisia seven months later. The campaign was, for the U.S. Army, a school in coalition warfare and an introduction to enemy tactics.

A Companion to World War II brings together a series of fresh academic perspectives on World War II, exploring the many cultural, social, and political contexts of the war.

This book is a magisterial global history of World War II. Beginning in 1937 with the outbreak of the Sino-Japanese War, Evan Mawdsley shows how the origins of World War II lay in a conflict between the old international order and the new and then traces the globalisation of the conflict as it swept through Asia, Europe, and the Middle East. His primary focus is on the war's military and strategic history though he also examines the political, economic, ideological, and cultural factors which influenced the course of events. The war's consequences are examined too, not only in terms of the defeat of the Axis but also the break-up of colonial empires and the beginning of the Cold War. Accessibly written and well-illustrated with maps and photographs, this compelling new account also includes short studies of the key figures, events and battles that shaped the war.