Bantam Books War Series

Discussion in 'Books, Films, TV, Radio' started by ViPER, Oct 7, 2008.

  1. ViPER

    ViPER Junior Member

    I recently picked up several of these at the used book store. "Alamein to Zem Zem", "Serenade to the Big Bird", "Brazen Chariots" and I just started reading "the clay Pigeons of StLo" It's very good so far.

    But, I was surprised when I went the net and could not find any site or database/wiki list dedicated to the series. Can anybody point me to or have any info on this series?

    :) Thx Vip
     
  2. Paul Reed

    Paul Reed Ubique

    I have never heard of these - can you post a scan of the cover? Publisher details?
     
  3. ViPER

    ViPER Junior Member

  4. Paul Reed

    Paul Reed Ubique

    Interesting - never seen these editions. Thanks for that.
     
  5. Union464

    Union464 Member

    Bantam Books actually produce good-quality, well-made paperbacks. Bantam paperbacks I've bought have lasted for years. Bantam Books are a division of the Bantam Dell Publishing Group, which is in turn owned by Random House, Inc. the well-known US publishing house, which in turn is owned by the also well-known Bertelsmann, the simply quite enormous German transnational media and publishing corporation. Anyway, Bantam Books have some quite interesting writers working for them in both fiction and nonfiction. And as I've said, they produce a good product from what I've seen over the years.
     
  6. rcat256

    rcat256 Junior Member

    Hi all,
    First post. I too have been looking for a list of the Bantam War Book series. I had a few of these as a teen. The original series had white covers and a fold out painting behind the front cover.
    As I am much older now and have more time to read, I have been finding these books around the internet. There are at least 37 titles that I can confirm of the original series, and may more of the type pictured in Viper's post with the wrap around cover art.
    Here is a partial list of titles;

    A BLOODY WAR – HAL LAWRENCE
    WITH THE OLD BREED – E.B. SLEDGE
    MARINE AT WAR – RUSSELL DAVIS
    GENERAL WAINWRIGHT’S STORY – GENERAL JONATHON M. WAINWRIGHT
    ENEMY COAST AHEAD – GUY GIBSON
    THOSE DEVILS IN BAGGY PANTS – ROSS S. CARTER
    POPSKI’S PRIVATE ARMY – LIEUTENANT COLONEL VLADIMIR PENIAKOFF
    COMPANY COMMANDER – CHARLES B. MACDONALD
    CORAL AND BRASS – GEN. HOLLAND SMITH
    THE RAGGED RUGGED WARRIORS – MARTIN CAIDIN
    FIGHTING MAD – MICHAEL CALVERT
    CHURCHILL AND THE GENERALS – BARRIE PITT
    TARAWA – ROBERT SHERROD
    TYPHOON OF STEEL – JAMES AND WILLIAM BELOTE
    THE VAAGSO RAID – JOSEPH H. DEVINS, JR.
    THE CLAY PIGEONS OF ST. LO – GLOVER S. JOHNS, JR.
    ALAMEIN TO ZEM ZEM – KEITH DOUGLAS
    COMMANDO FORCE 133 – BILL STRUTTON
    THE IGNORANT ARMIES – E.M. HALLIDAY
    A BLOODY WAR – HAL LAWRENCE
    WITH THE OLD BREED – E.B. SLEDGE
    TO HELL AND BACK – AUDIE MURPHY
    ONE MORE HILL – FRANKLYN A. JOHNSON
    I WAS CHAPLAIN ON THE FRANKLIN – FATHER JOSEPH T. O’CALLAHAN
    IWO JIMA – RICHARD F. NEWCOMB
    HUNTER KILLER – WILLIAM T. Y’BLOOD
    THE BATTLE FOR GUADALCANAL – SAMUEL B. GRIFFITH II
    THE BLACK MARCH – PETER NEUMANN
    THE COAST WATCHERS – COMMANDER ERIC A. FELDT, R.A.N.
    ASSUALT IN NORWAY – THOMAS GALLAGHER
    SERENADE TO THE BIG BIRD – BERT STILES
    THE DIVINE WIND – CAPTAIN RIKIHEI INOUGUCHI
    SEVEN MEN AT DAYBREAK – ALAN BURGESS
    THE GREATEST RAID OF ALL – C.E. LUCAS PHILLIPS

    Also here is a picture of one of the originals The Divine Wind.
     

    Attached Files:

  7. Smudger Jnr

    Smudger Jnr Our Man in Berlin

    Rcat,

    Welcome to the forum.

    Tom
     
  8. ViPER

    ViPER Junior Member

    thanks for the list rcat, since posting this thread I have identified nearly 70 titles in the series and have managed to save internet images of the covers of over 50 of them.

    I will post more info when I get it better organized.
     
  9. ViPER

    ViPER Junior Member

    Here are some covers / have a dozen others i need to scan - will be working on a title author master list too


    [​IMG]
     
  10. ViPER

    ViPER Junior Member

    here are some more

    [​IMG]
     
  11. rcat256

    rcat256 Junior Member

    Viper,
    Do you have all of these? If so where did you find Guerrilla Submarines? I have been looking for that one for ages.
     
  12. ViPER

    ViPER Junior Member

    Viper,
    Do you have all of these? If so where did you find Guerrilla Submarines? I have been looking for that one for ages.

    I have 12 i think, wierd Guerilla Subs I found in a used book store. I did not know of it - just grabbed it. :D
     
  13. NvSgt

    NvSgt Junior Member

    I discovered these books when I was on a WestPac cruise in '79. I can't remember all the authors, but you can add these titles to your list:
    Helmet for my Pillow Robert Leckie
    Stirling's Desert Raiders
    Samurai! Martin Caidin
    Company Commander
    Cockleshell Heroes
    Commando Extraordinaire

    I'm trying to find these too. It's been a LONG time since that WestPac and I'd like to reread all of these. One thing that Stirling's Desert Raiders mentions is the Long Range Desert Group. On that WestPac we spent 6 days in Newcastle Australia and I got to meet a bloke who was actually IN the LRDG. I had just finished the book and it was pretty cool to meet this guy.

    My first post btw. Pleased to meet you all.
     
  14. ViPER

    ViPER Junior Member

    Here are 100 covers all I have so far -

    [​IMG][​IMG]
    [​IMG][​IMG]
     
  15. At Home Dad (Returning)

    At Home Dad (Returning) Well-Known Member

  16. ViPER

    ViPER Junior Member

    Your the second to ask - I found it in a used book store. and it is available online if your willing to order it - Is there a specific edition you want? if so you need to do some searching - otherwise here are some

    Amazon.com: Guerrilla Submarines: Books
     
  17. rcat256

    rcat256 Junior Member

    Viper,
    Is there any chance you could post a scan of the last two pagesof "Tin Cans"? I have never seen this title before. Usually the last two pages have a listing of other titles that are available.
     
  18. ViPER

    ViPER Junior Member

    Viper,
    Is there any chance you could post a scan of the last two pagesof "Tin Cans"? I have never seen this title before. Usually the last two pages have a listing of other titles that are available.

    the bantam war books list in the back of "tin Cans" is identical to the list in 1979 "the Big Show" do you have that one?

    As far as I know I have them all. :)

    I am reading "Serenade to the Big Bird" Like this one - My favorites are the first hand accounts.
     
  19. rcat256

    rcat256 Junior Member

    Yes, I have The Big Show. Just finished it over Christmas. Was really informative. Did not realize our losses were so great near the end of the war. Always figured with the Luftwaffe on the ropes it had gotten easier for our boys. Apparently what the Germans lacked in aircraft and pilots they made up for in anti-aircraft guns and gunners. Much simpler to learn to load and fire an automatic cannon then fly a fighter in combat.
    I have 26 of these books now. Lost several multiple book lots on E-bay last weekend. Four lots of five books each went or over $40 US each! While I would like to have these that was out of my reach. I have a line on a copy of Tin Cans from a fellow in the Phillipines. Hope to hear from him soon. It is through Bookmooch.com a book swapping site I belong to.
     
  20. Whistling Death

    Whistling Death Junior Member

    I have over 100 of these books at home. My first one was "The Divine Wind" at the age of 11 and I just kept buying them after that. I think they switched from the white covers with the color insert to full color covers in the early 80's. While not all of the books were (in my opinion), some of them are among my all-time favorites:

    Clear the Bridge! - Richard O'Kane
    With the Old Breed - Eugene Sledge
    Combat Patrol - Clay Blair, Jr.
    The Black March - Peter Neumann
    To Hell and Back - Audie Murphy
    Helmet for my Pillow - Robert Leckie
    The Ragged, Rugged Warriors - Martin Caidin

    Ahh...lots of great memories reading these books back in high school.
     

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