Les Elfes de Fer goes live – http://www.leselfesdefer.net/

I am pleased, tickled, thrilled, (and no doubt in need of a time out to calm down) to announce the launch of what I believe is the first official fan site on the web that stretches world wide for Konowa and the lads. Emmanuel Chastellière, the French translator for the Iron Elves and one heck of a nice guy, has taken it upon himself to create a whole site dedicated to the series – http://www.leselfesdefer.net/ What can I say, I’m overwhelmed and more than a little honored (which really means I am a lot honored). Emmanuel, merci! I realize not everyone speaks French, but you can quickly and easily translate the site through the use of http://translate.google.com/# Just copy and paste the text into the box and voila!

Emmanuel has even gone to the trouble of tracking down several of the different covers including the very funky Japanese editions and the lean and cool French edition which goes on sale soon.

Cheers,

Chris

Major Richard “Dick” Winters of Band of Brothers fame, passes away at age 92

Band of Brothers, first a book written by Stephen Ambrose, and later a television mini-series, chronicled the training and battles of the US Army’s Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Regiment of the 101st Airborne Division the Screaming Eagles in WWII. Ambrose, of course, was borrowing Shakespeare’s speech as he imagined King Henry V giving it to English troops before the Battle of Agincourt. Just as Shakespeare before him, Ambrose captured the quintessential qualities of leadership and comradeship in time of war, and Major Dick Winters proved to be a leader of exceptional ability. Every interview I’ve seen and read about Winters reveals a calm, thoughtful personality and above all a man who cared for the soldiers he led. I found more than a little inspiration for the Iron Elves in the exploits of Major Winters and Easy Company, and I offer my sincere condolences at the passing of a true leader and great, if humble, man.

http://www.ldnews.com/news/ci_17050738

Two new websites launch

The first is for a book I edited which is just hitting the stores now. I may have mentioned before how proud I am to work with veterans in helping to tell their stories, and the same goes for the journalists and historians who make it possible. In this case it’s journalist Charles Jones writing about US Marine Corps combat photographers in WWII. The book is titled War Shots and features Marine Corps legend Norm Hatch (he shot some of the iconic footage on Tarawa which ended up winning an Oscar in 1944). You can find out more at http://www.warshotsbook.com/

The other website is actually a complete redesign of the publisher’s site I edit for, Stackpole Books. You probably already know this, but I edit military history and current affairs and conflicts books, everything from Civil War to WWII, Vietnam to Afghanistan. It’s just possible you’ll detect a little of that influence in the Iron Elves. This new website is a quantum leap forward for us and looks pretty darn spiffy. You can find it here: http://www.stackpolebooks.com

Cheers,

Chris