Gauntlet: Five Friends, 20,000 Enemy Troops, and the Secret that Could Have Changed the Course of the Cold War
- ISBN-10
- 1591145155
- ISBN-13
- 9781591145158
- Series
- Gauntlet
- Category
- History / Military / General
- Pages
- 382
- Language
- English
- Published
- 2006
- Publisher
- Naval Institute Press
- Author
- Barbara Masin
Description
On 3 October 1953, five young men, armed with four pistols, crossed the border from Czechoslovakia into East Germany. Their mission was to deliver an explosive secret message from a Czechoslovak general to U.S. authorities at all costs. The journey was to take three days. Their ultimate objective was to join the U.S. Army Special Forces, then return to liberate their country. What ensued was the largest manhunt of the Cold War. This fast-paced book tells the exciting story of their plight as thousands of East German and Soviet troops chased them across swampland, forests, and fields for thirty-one days. After surviving several pitched gun battles, gunshot wounds, starvation, and the bitter cold, three finally reached West Berlin. Prior to their escape, they had formed the nucleus of an anti-Communist resistance group, inspired by the testament of celebrated World War II resistance leader, Czech general Josef Masin, father to two of the young men and grandfather to the author of this book. As she was growing up, Barbara Masin heard parts of this story. Eager to learn more, she began to investigate. The result of her efforts is this thriller, which makes use of eyewitness interviews and extensive archival research in four countries. Her book places events in their historical context and analyzes the bitter present-day controversy surrounding the groups actions, examining the larger question of individuals making moral choices. It is a dramatic tale of courage and daring against overwhelming odds and a testament to American ideals of freedom.
Get the book
Other editions
Similar books
-
空间武器地球战
By （美）普雷斯顿（PrestonB.）, （美）达纳·约翰逊（Dana J.Johnson）, （美）肖恩·爱德华兹（Sean J.A.Edwards）外层空间争夺是美国人梦想中一个重要主题，在外层空间部署毁灭性的大规模武器，称霸地球成为美国当局的目标，本书为这一目标作了说明。
-
Civil War Generalship: The Art of Command
By W. J. Wood... 103 , Tuscumbia , Ala . , 197 , 199 , 200 184 Starling , Lyne , 165 Valley Head , Ga . , 105 Steedman , James B. ... 107 , Williams , Alpheus S. , 60 , 61 , 63 , 76 108 , 110 , 120 , 121 , 145 , 146 , 149–151 , Wilson , James H.
-
Chronicles of Border Warfare. New Edition, Edited and Annotated by R. G. Thwaites ... with the Addition of a Memoir...
By Alexander Scott Withers, Lyman Copeland Draper, Reuben Gold ThwaitesThis is a curated and comprehensive collection of the most important works covering matters related to national security, diplomacy, defense, war, strategy, and tactics.
-
Chronicles of Border Warfare. New Edition, Edited and Annotated by R. G. Thwaites ... with the Addition of a Memoir...
By Alexander Scott Withers, Lyman Copeland Draper, Reuben Gold ThwaitesThis work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it.
-
Anglo-American Shipbuilding in World War II: A Geographical Perspective
By Daniel Todd, Michael LindbergMoss and Hume , p . 352 . 34. The data are described in N. S. Ross , " Employment in Shipbuilding and ShipRepairing in Great Britain , " Journal of the Roval Statistical Society , Series A , 115 , 1952 , pp . 524-533 . 35.
-
Iraq and the International Oil System: Why America Went to War in the Gulf
By Stephen C. PelletiereBut roughly at the same time as Samuel , a British engineer , W. D. Pearson , made the attempt . In 1901 Pearson — while building a railway along Mexico's east coast — espied standing pools of oil at Tampico , and this led him to seek ...
-
On the Banks of the Suez: An Israeli General's Personal Account of the Yom Kippur War
By Avraham AdanMilitary Misfortune by Eliot A. Cohen & John Gooch 296 pages , The Free Press New York , N.Y. , 1990. $ 22.95 ISBN 01-02-906060-5 Why do competent armies fail ? What explains these “ lost victories , ” as Field ...
-
The Ten Cents War: Chile, Peru, and Bolivia in the War of the Pacific, 1879-1884
By Bruce W. FarcauHe installed three 70 - pounders , a 150 - pounder . and a pair of 100 - pound Parrott rifled guns atop the Morro with a 250 - pound French Vavasseur and another four 70 - pounders at a lower battery . He also created two batteries on ...
-
Falcon's Cry: A Desert Storm Memoir
By Michael Donnelly, Denise DonnellyU.S. Air Force Major Michael Donnelly was diagnosed with ALS, Lou Gehrig's Disease, after his tour of duty in Desert Storm.
-
Οι επτά ηγέτες του Πολέμου
By Marc Ferro257 ― Bergère MarieClaire, Bianco Lucien και Domes J., La Chine au ΧΧe siècle, 2 τόμοι, Παρίσι, Fayard, 19891990. 258 ― Bergère MarieClaire, Sun YatSen, Παρίσι, Fayard, 1994. 259 ― Bianco Lucien, Les Origines de la révolution chinoise, ...