NAZI scientists relied on heavy water to produce the right uranium isotope for an atomic weapon. They produced most of their heavy water at a hydroelectric in occupied Norway called Vemork. In February 1943, a small group of Norwegian commandos slipped into Vemork, blew it up, and made their escape. This is after months of reconnaissance and preparation in the frozen wilderness. Neal Bascomb tells the story in “The Winter Fortress.”

In October 2001, the United States began aerial bombing of Afghanistan in response to the terrorist group Al Queda’s attacks of September 11th. Special Forces followed up by teaming with the Taliban’s opponents – the Northern Alliance – and by late November / early December 2001 the Taliban had been driven from power. That didn’t mean the Taliban and Al Queda had gone away or given up. They had moved and gone underground. One of the places they went to was Afghanistan’s Shahikot Valley. In March 2002, the U.S. conducted Operation Anaconda to root them out. It was the first large scale ground operation of the war. Sean Naylor tells the story of what happened in Not a Good Day to Die.

William Manchester served in the Marine Corps during the Second World War. He was wounded during the Battle of Okinawa. After the war, Manchester established himself as a journalist in Baltimore, an adjunct professor at Wesleyan University, and an author. In 1978, he returned to the Pacific and visited various places connected either with his service or the Pacific campaign. That trip forms the basis of this book, “Goodbye, Darkness: A Memoir of the Pacific War.”