Team Yankee: A Novel of World War III (Casemate Fiction) - Softcover

Coyle, Harold

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1612006493 ISBN 13: 9781612006499

Publisher: Casemate, 2018

Synopsis

This revised and updated edition of the classic Cold War novel Team Yankee reminds us once again might have occurred had the United States and its Allies taken on the Russians in Europe, had cooler geopolitical heads not prevailed.

For 45 years after World War II, East and West stood on the brink of war. When Nazi Germany was destroyed, it was evident that Russian tank armies had become supreme in Europe, but only in counterpart to US air power. In 1945 US and UK bombers sent a signal to the advancing Russians at Dresden to beware of what the Allies could do. Likewise when the Russians overran Berlin they sent a signal to the Allies what their land armies could accomplish. Thankfully the tense standoff continued on either side of the Iron Curtain for nearly half a century.

During those years, however, the Allies beefed up their ground capability, while the Soviets increased their air capability, even as the new jet and missile age began (thanks much to captured German scientists on both sides). The focal point of conflict remained in central Germany—specifically the flat plains of the Fulda Gap—through which the Russians could pour all the way to the Channel if the Allies proved unprepared (or unable) to stop them.
Team Yankee posits a conflict that never happened, but which very well might have, and for which both sides prepared for decades. This former New York Times bestseller by Harold Coyle, now revised and expanded, presents a glimpse of what it would have been like for the Allied soldiers who would have had to meet a relentless onslaught of Soviet and Warsaw Pact divisions.

It takes the view of a US tank commander, who is vastly outnumbered during the initial onslaught, as the Russians pull out all the cards learned in their successful war against Germany. Meantime Western Europe has to speculate behind its thin screen of armor whether the New World can once again assemble its main forces—or willpower—to rescue the bastions of democracy in time.

Table of Contents

Foreword
Acknowledgments
Prologue

1 Stand-To
2 First Battle
3 Change of Mission
4 Into the Vacuum
5 Hunter and Hunted
6 On the Razor’s Edge
7 Check and Checkmate
8 R and R
9 Deep Attack
10 Red Dawn
11 Counterattack
12 “They Came in the Same Old Way”
13 To the Saale
14 The Day After

Epilogue
Glossary

About this title

About the Author:

Harold Coyle is a graduate of the Virginia Military Institute, Class of ’74, the Armor Officers Basic Course at Fort Knox, Ky, the Infantry Officer’s Advance Course at Fort Benning, Ga, and the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Ks. He served in Germany from January 1975 to December 1979 with 3rd Battalion, 68th Armor, which was stationed at Sullivan Barracks outside the town of Käfertal. During this time he commanded Company A / 3-68 Armor which was attached to 2nd Battalion, 13th Infantry for training and wartime contingencies. Other assignments included M-1 Branch chief, Weapons Department of the Armor School at Fort Knox; advisor to the National Guard with Readiness Group Devens; assistant operations officer with the Combined Field Army in Korea; G-3 Training officer with the 1st Cavalry Division at Fort Hood; Task Force Operations officer for 1st of the 32nd Armor; admin officer and instructor for the Command and General Staff College’s Combat Studies Institute; and executive officer to the Deputy Commanding General of the 3rd Army during Desert Storm.

Review:

“Combines the knowledge of the professional soldier with a flair for the dramatic narrative to produce a gripping scenario of what it might be like if the balloon goes up.” (Charles B. McDonald, author of A Time for Trumpets and Company Commander)

“A good and compelling picture of how war is at the company level and what is involved in company battle which ...is the battle that really matters” (General Sir John Hackett, author of The Third World War and Commanding General NORTAG and British Army of the Rhein)

“Coyle’s unusual skill as a novelist brings to life the realities of combat as very few writers are able to do. I found it absorbing, exciting, and was literally unable to put it down.” (W.E.B. Griffin, author of Brotherhood of War series and Semper Fi)

",,,not meant to be a blueprint for history, but a plausible outcome for what might have been. In this the author succeeds wonderfully, and actually makes you care about Team Yankee and its soldiers. " (A Wargamers Needful Things)

"a techno-thriller like no other book. I am an avid reader of alternate history novels and Harold W. Coyle has set the bar way above the rest that I have read. After finishing the book, his style of alternate history put him in the same league as Harry Turtledove and Robert Conroy. Being a former armored officer has given Harold a better insight as to the inner workings of a team and therefore also given him a unique perspective when he wrote this book... a great piece of literature and all those who start it will have trouble putting it down until they are finished." (Armor Modeling and Preservation Society)

"... While one might wonder at the need to revise and update fiction, this is done because of new facts revealed about each side's plans and strategies, so it offers a revision based on the latest knowledge of events and behind-the-scenes politics on both sides. While newcomers will thoroughly appreciate Team Yankee, prior fans of the old version will find this new remake adds more depth and information, and will appreciate its revealing perspective." (Midwest Book Review)

“This book is a great piece of literature and all those who start it will have trouble putting it down until they are finished... Very Highly Recommended” (AMPS)

About this edition

• Publisher: Casemate
• Publication date: 2018
• ISBN 10: 1612006493
• ISBN 13: 9781612006499
• Binding: Mass Market Paperback
• Number of pages: 288