Böcker i Military & War Short Stories Collection-serien

Who is Wind-Gone-Mad? He is an ace pilot, a fearless fighter, and the ultimate defender of a war-torn China. But like the storied hero Batman, he is also an enigma, a man in disguise, his true identity shrouded in mystery. And, as with the Caped Crusader and the Joker, he faces one ruthless nemesis above all . . . a man known simply as ';The Butcher.' The epic battle has been set into motion by Jim Dahlgrenan American executive with the Amalgamated Aeronautical Company. He is determined to give China a fighting chance against The Butcher . . . and against the Western diplomats whose sole interest in the country is to profit from its internal strife. China's only chance, Dahlgren realizes, is the legendary Wind-Gone-Mad. . . . To The Butcher, China is a side of beef to carve up and serve at his pleasure. But when Wind-Gone-Mad flies into the action, it may well be The Butcher who ends up being dead meat. Ultimately, the only thing more thrilling than the mystery man's fighting spirit is the true nature of his identity. . . .As a young man, Hubbard visited pre-Communist China three times, where his closest friend headed up British intelligence. In a land where communists, nationalists, warlords and foreign adventurers schemed for control, Hubbard gained a unique insight into the treacherous and bloody battles for domination in the region. In addition, his personal experiences as a pilot gave his air stories a vivid sense of reality that no other writer could match. Combining this with his first-hand knowledge of China gave him the opportunity to create stories such as Wind-Gone-Mad, which left readers feeling like they had lived the adventures themselves. Also includes the Asian adventures, Tah, the tragic story of a twelve-year-old boy betrayed by his father . . . and by his life; and Yellow Loot, in which the pursuit of a priceless stash of ancient amber leads to a heart-stopping chase on the Great Wall of China.';Excellent.' Midwest Book Review

He's a handsome American Lieutenant in the French Foreign Legion. She's a beautiful woman who's as fiery as the North African sun . . . and as mysterious as the far side of the moon. And she's all hisbought and paid for in the village square. Put them togetherCary Grant and Hedy Lamarrand you're sure to get fireworks. The only reason the Lieutenant bought her was to free her from the slave trade. But now that he's got her, he's got trouble. Two violent native tribes are determined to get their hands on the woman . . . even if it means unleashing an all-out war. The warriors lay siege to the outpost3000 of them versus 60 Legionnaires within. Can the Lieutenant hold the fort against the onslaught? And how long can he fend off the powerful feelings he has for the woman in his care? And, finally, does he have any idea of the secret in her past that could change everything?On the subject of North Africa, Hubbard said that writers too often ';forget a great deal of the languorous quality which made the Arabian Nights so pleasing. Jewels, beautiful women, towering cities filled with mysterious shadows, sultans equally handy with robes of honor and the beheading sword.' Hubbard brings this unique insight to his stories of North Africa and the Legionnaires, investing them with an authenticity of time, place and character that will keep you asking for more.

Meet Lieutenant Flint: hard-edged and muscle-bound, radiating machismoa bull of a soldier. In the opposite corner stands Captain Turner: with his pencil mustache and tailored shirts, he's a Trick Soldiersmart, crisply-dressed, and always at attention. They're fire and ice, oil and water . . . Sean Penn and Michael J. Fox in Casualties of War.Ten years ago and a thousand miles away, they attended boot camp together. They didn't get along then . . . and they don't get along now. Reunited in the Haitian jungles, in the midst of a fierce rebel uprising, they confront the most dangerous enemy of alleach other.It's time for heroes to rise and cowards to fall, and in the case of Lieutenant Flint and Captain Turner, bravery runs deep. When brute strength confronts military honor, the true measure of a man is not in his fists, but in his heart.A First Sergeant with the 20th United States Marine Corps Reserve, Hubbard knew exactly what it meant to be a Marine. As he wrote in 1935: ';Most of the fiction written about [Marines] is of an intensely dramatic type, all do-or-die and Semper Fidelis.' But the reality, he said, was far different. ';I've known the Corps from Quantico to Peiping, from the South Pacific to the West Indies, and I've never seen any flag-waving. The most refreshing part of the U.S.M.C. is that they get their orders . . . and do the job and that's that.' It's that kind of unique and pointed insight that he brings to stories like Trick Soldier.Also includes the military adventures He Walked to War, in which Marine Sergeant E.Z. Go appears to take it easy, but always gets the job done . . . even if it's hard as nails or dangerous as hellin the end E.Z. does it; and Machine Gun 21,000, the story of a soldier who loses a gun and faces a court martial, but finds a way to save the day.

Bill Trevillian is as ruggedly handsome as he is bold and brave. Kip Lee is as strikingly beautiful as she is fiery and fearless. And they've got something in common. They're both test pilots . . . for rival aviation companies. Put them together and, like a young Tracy and Hepburn, sparks are bound to fly.The Second World War is raging in Europe, and England and France are looking to America for a fighter plane to match up with the superior Nazi Messerschmitt. The competition between Bill and Kip is fierce, and the stakes are stratospheric. Because there's an added element in the mix: a deadly saboteur.People say all's fair in love and war, but when there's Sabotage in the Sky, the flight path from heated rivalry to heated romance could lead Bill and Kip to crash and burn.';If you crave air adventure written by an airman who knows what a hot plane can do, don't miss Sabotage in the Sky,' wrote the editor introducing the story in 1940. And Hubbard's knowledge proved propheticunknown to the FBI, the German intelligence service, the Abwehr, was actively gathering intelligence about American military aircraft designs and manufacturing. The author also had personal aviation experience, earning a reputation as a daredevil pilot barnstorming across the United States, landing in farmer's fields and skimming over the top of telephone wiresexperiences he put to good use as a well-known aviation correspondent and one of the most accomplished writers of aviation adventure.

It is one of the greatest conflictsand a pivotal turning pointin historythe Chinese civil war. On one side stands Chiang Kai-shek and the Nationalists. On the other, Mao Zedong and the Communists. And their forces are about to meet in a decisive battlethe outcome of which is in the hands of one American pilot, John Hampton, a man who, like Bogart in Casablanca, couldn't care less He's a mercenary, flying for the highest bidder, his only loyalty to himself and to cold hard cash. He has nothing to believe in, and nothing to lose. But just as this is a critical moment in history, so, too, is it about to become a defining moment in Hampton's life. What is the extraordinary experience that has the power to penetrate Hampton's armor of cynicism and touch his heart? What is it that makes him see that there are things, other than money, that are worth fightingand maybe even dyingfor? The surprising answers spur him to undertake the ultimate mission in Red Death Over China.Hubbard experienced China in the 1930s in a way few Westerners did. Traveling from the ports of the China Sea to Beijing to the Great Wall and onto the hills of Southern Manchuria, he came to know the land and its peoplesoldiers, spies, outlaws and monksas well as any American could. It is that background that shines through in stories like Red Death Over China. Also includes the flying adventures The Crate Killer, in which a test pilot uses up his nine lives parachuting nine times from crumbling planes, only to discover that his tenth flight presents the biggest challenge of all; and Wings Over Ethiopia, the story of a pilot captured and accused of being a spy by both sides in a warand his only means of escape is through the lens of a camera.Highly recommended for aviation action/adventure pulp fiction.Midwest Book Review

The Japanese have led a heavily armored assault against the Chinese city of Shunkien, pounding wreckage into ashes and wiping out a city dating back to Genghis Khan. One of the few buildings still standing is the small American consulate, now packed with one hundred and sixteen frightened American refugees. Food is low and deadly Asiatic cholera is starting to run rampant, with carnage and corpses piling up in the streets.

Embittered by past failures and broken dreams, American fighter pilot David Duane believes in but one causehis own. Europe is at war, and he'll fight it for a price, selling his deadly flying skills to the highest bidder.Just as Bogart came to Casablanca to escape his past, Duane has come to the icy white wastes of Scandinavia to wage a private war in the skies. But he's about to take off on a flight and undertake an unforgettable journeyOn Blazing Wingsto a place beyond the imagination . . . leading to a revelation that will open his eyes and his heart. In a world divided by war, Duane discovers that sometimes you have to make a choice, and that making the wrong one could cost him the woman he loves. . . .As a barnstorming pilot in the early days of aviation, Hubbard was dubbed ';Flash' Hubbard by the aviation magazines of the day. His unique personal and pioneering knowledge of flight streaks across the page in novels like On Blazing Wings. ';Expect twists and turns to the very end.' Yahoo Voices* International Book Award Winner

Legionnaire Bill Reilly was given specific orders to guard a railroad station where nightly trains carrying Spanish supplies and troops pass by. He would have done so had it not been for a severed hand that arrived in his camp. The grizzled token carried a taunting message from a renegade Berber chieftan, claiming capture of an Englishwoman named Kay MacArthur and challenging the Legion to rescue her. Reilly's sense of honor overrides all. He takes up the gauntlet knowing full well he could be walking into a trap-with deadly consequences.

American Ann Halliday is as sexy as Rita Hayworth and as fiery as the Sahara sun. And now she's feeling some real heat, as the prize captive of the Berber leader Abd el Malek . . . also known as ';The Killer.'But Abd el Malek wants Ann aliveand in chainssubject to his every whim and fantasy. Dusty Colton, however, an American deserter from the French Foreign Legion, has a different idea. With all the swagger of Robert Mitchum, he's determined to give ';The Killer' a taste of his own bloody medicine. The only problem is . . . Dusty himself is wanted for murder.Can Ann and Dusty team up and turn evil on its head? One thing's for surebetween Ann and the Hell's Legionnaire, the temperature is about to get even hotter.On the subject of North Africa, Hubbard said that writers too often ';forget a great deal of the languorous quality which made the Arabian Nights so pleasing. Jewels, beautiful women, towering cities filled with mysterious shadows, sultans equally handy with robes of honor and the beheading sword.' Hubbard brings this unique insight to his stories of North Africa and the Legionnaires, investing them with an authenticity of time, place and character that will keep you asking for more.Also includes the adventure stories, The Barbarians, in which a Legionnaire sets out to avenge a savage killing and makes a stunning discovery, and The Squad That Never Came Back, the story of a man who has uncovered the secret to a city of golda secret that could turn into a death sentence. ';Action-packed . . . standout . . . hard-core graphic.' Library Journal

Winchester Remington Smith is a crack shot. Problem is, surrounded by roller coasters and merry-go-rounds, his talent is going to waste, knocking down ducks in a carnival shooting gallery. Win wants some real action, and like Gary Cooper as Sergeant York, he's going to warrunning off to join the U.S. Marines to fight a guerilla insurgency south of the border. In the jungles of Central America, Win takes a different kind of roller coaster ride. Quick and quiet, he's now a runner. It's a vital role, but he feels like a messenger boy, unable to put his rifle to good use. Even when he saves the life of First Sergeant Fifty-Fifty O'Briena Marine so gung-ho he has about a fifty-fifty chance of survivalWin ends up facing a disciplinary hearing for disobeying orders. Can the young sharpshooter redeem himself? Win's about to get his chance, an opportunity to deliver a message that the Marines will never forget.Hubbard knew exactly what it meant to be a Marine. As he wrote in 1935: ';Most of the fiction written about [Marines] is of an intensely dramatic type, all do-or-die and Semper Fidelis.' But the reality, he said, was far different. ';I've known the Corps from Quantico to Peiping, from the South Pacific to the West Indies, and I've never seen any flag-waving. The most refreshing part of the U.S.M.C. is that they get their orders . . . and do the job and that's that.' It's that kind of unique and pointed insight that he brings to stories like Fifty-Fifty O'Brien. Also includes the military adventures The Adventure of X, in which a French Foreign Legionnaire's intelligence mission leads him into an enemy ambush, and he has to warn his fellow Legionnaires before they walk into a massacre; and Red Sand, the story of a disgraced Chicago cop who joins the Legionnaires and finds his investigative skills invaluable in the desert.

When it comes to flying gliders, ace pilot Breeze Callaghan is as smooth as they come. He perfects a skill that will prove vitally important for decades to comeeven into the jet age, as demonstrated by Captain Sully Sullenberger, who famously landed his disabled passenger plane on the Hudson River. Sully's jet was brought down by a flock of geese, while Breeze is going up against a vulture named Badger O'Dowell. Both pilots are vying for a Navy contract, and Badger would love to shoot the Breeze . . . literally. Short of that he'll do everything he can to sabotage Breeze in flight. It's game on, and as Breeze is about to discover, Badger's an expert at playing dirty. And there's much more than money at stake: there's his reputation, his life, and his love of a beautiful woman. A storm is brewing, and as for danger, the sky's the limit when Sky Birds Dare!During his undergraduate days, L. Ron Hubbard served as the president of the George Washington Glider Club. He held numerous records for sustained powerless flight and was renowned for his wild aerial antics that, according to an eyewitness, ';made women scream and strong men weep.' In short, there wasn't a single flying feat in Sky Birds Dare! that Hubbard himself hadn't dared to do on his own. Highly recommended for aviation action/adventure pulp fiction fans. Midwest Book Review