Kirjahaku

In this unique history of the ""Lost Battalion"" of World War I, Alan D. Gaff tells for the first time the story of the 77th Division from the perspective of the soldiers in the ranks.On October 2, 1918, Maj. Charles W. Whittlesey led the 77th Division in a successful attack on German defenses in the Argonne Forest of northeastern France. His unit, comprised of men of a wide mix of ethnic backgrounds from New York City and the western states, was not a battalion nor was it ever ""lost,"" but once a newspaper editor applied the term ""lost battalion"" to the episode, it stuck.Gaff draws from new, unimpeachable sources - such as sworn testimony by soldiers who survived the ordeal - to correct the myths and legends and to reveal what really happened in the Argonne Forest during early October 1918.

In Bayonets in the Wilderness, Alan D. Gaff explores a long-neglected period in American history to tell the complete story of how the U.S. Army conquered the first American frontier, the Northwest Territory. Wayne's successful campaign led to the creation of a standing army for the country and set the standard for future conflicts and treaties with American Indians. Countering the popular impression of Wayne as ""mad,"" Gaff depicts him as a thoughtful, resolute, and diplomatic officer whose masterfully organized campaign brought an end in 1794 to forty years of border fighting. Gaff's account brings to light alliances between Indian forces and the British military, demonstrating that British troops still conducted operations on American soil long after the supposed end of the American Revolution.

In this unique history of the "Lost Battalion" of World War I, Alan D. Gaff tells for the first time the story of the 77th Division from the perspective of the soldiers in the ranks. On October 2, 1918, Maj. Charles W. Whittlesey led the 77th Division in a successful attack on German defenses in the Argonne Forest of northeastern France. His unit, comprised of men of a wide mix of ethnic backgrounds from New York City and the western states, was not a battalion nor was it ever "lost," but once a newspaper editor applied the term "lost battalion" to the episode, it stuck. Gaff draws from new, unimpeachable sources—such as sworn testimony by soldiers who survived the ordeal—to correct the myths and legends and to reveal what really happened in the Argonne Forest during early October 1918.

If there was a first face of baseball, it was arguably Christopher “Christy” Mathewson. At the opening of the twentieth century, baseball was considered an undignified game played by ruffians for gamblers’ benefit. Mathewson changed all that. When he signed with the Giants in 1900, his contract stated he wouldn’t pitch on Sundays, and he was known for his honesty, integrity, and good looks. In his first fourteen seasons, as a pitcher for the Giants, Mathewson never won fewer than twenty games in a season, and he almost single-handedly won the 1905 World Series. In 1918, though age thirty-eight and exempt from military service, he enlisted for World War I, where he exposed himself to nearly lethal amounts of mustard gas as he taught soldiers how to put on gas masks. When he returned home, he was diagnosed with lung problems and tuberculosis, which led to his untimely death at the age of forty-five. After Mathewson’s death, his eulogies were many, but it was impossible to catch the essence of his life in a single newspaper column. Jane Mathewson, his widow, was determined to provide the reading public with a more intimate portrait of her husband and approached prominent sportswriter Bozeman Bulger, who had known Mathewson for twenty years. Bulger wrote a series of articles titled “The Life Story of Christy Mathewson.” His portraits about the player were amplified by original accounts from Jane, and several unpublished chapters from Mathewson himself, which had been discovered among his papers. These combined accounts allow readers to hear from Mathewson and those who knew him best. A superstar long before that term was coined, Mathewson became an icon of sportsmanship. He was posthumously elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame at its first induction ceremony in 1936. In Baseball’s First Superstar Alan D. Gaff brings Mathewson to life through Mathewson’s own writings and those of others, largely lost to history until now.

Major Robert Rogers is an icon in American history, but does not deserve that status. Scalp Hunter provides the first exhaustive examination of Rogers and his Rangers. This is the most complete telling of the wartime Ranger's saga, told by the Rangers themselves, their officers of all ranks, including generals, and it is not a modern interpretation by writers lacking a military background. Warfare in New York Province during the 1750s was brutal. American editors praised British and Colonial troops, while depicting French and Indian enemies as blood-thirsty barbarians. Robert Rogers would organize a corps of woodsmen whose assignment was to scout the wilderness to frustrate the enemy and provide important intelligence. Rogers and his Rangers quickly descended into cold-blooded savagery, scalping wounded and deceased foes for bounties while killing unarmed prisoners in cold blood. During his famous raid to St Francis in 1759, Major Rogers and his force ruthlessly murdered women and children against specific orders from their commanding general. When Rogers published his heavily-edited Journals in 1765, he intentionally neglected to mention these atrocities.Scalp Hunter provides the first in-depth account of Rogers and men who served under him, including much new information unavailable previously. Rogers, his Rangers, and soldiers who served beside them relate fresh information in their own words. Over the last 250 years, Major Robert Rogers has become an icon alongside such frontiersmen as Daniel Boone, Simon Kenton, Davy Crockett, and Kit Carson. Scalp Hunter will help remove Robert Rogers from that pantheon.

The lost memoir from Lou Gehrig--"a compelling rumination by a baseball icon and a tragic hero" (Sports Illustrated) and "a fitting tribute to an inspiring baseball legend" (Publishers Weekly). At the tender age of twenty-four, Lou Gehrig decided to tell the remarkable story of his life and career. He was one of the most famous athletes in the country, in the midst of a record-breaking season with the legendary 1927 World Series-winning Yankees. In an effort to grow Lou's star, pioneering sports agent Christy Walsh arranged for Lou's tale of baseball greatness to syndicate in newspapers across the country. Those columns were largely forgotten and lost to history--until now. Lou comes alive in this "must-read" (Tyler Kepner, The New York Times) memoir. It is an inspiring, heartfelt rags-to-riches tale about a poor kid from New York who became one of the most revered baseball players of all time. Fourteen years after his account, Lou would tragically die from ALS, a neuromuscular disorder now known as Lou Gherig's Disease. His poignant autobiography is followed by an insightful biographical essay by historian Alan D. Gaff. Here is Lou--Hall of Famer, All Star, MVP, an "athlete who epitomized the American dream" (Christian Science Monitor)--back at bat.