277 pp., 6 x 9, photographs, appendix, notes
Cloth 978-1-884836-26-8; $42.95  SALE: $17.18

Paper 978-1-884836-27-5; $24.95  SALE: $9.98

Law, Politics, and Society

Commandant of the facility was Regular Army Colonel James A. Kilian, who seemed dedicated to making his guardhouse a poor alternative to serving in combat. His nemesis in the courtroom, and in the book, was flamboyant Air Force Captain Earl Carroll, the assistant trial judge advocate. Carroll's convictions about the military justice system, expressed to the author decades later, make Dwight Eisenhower's warnings about the "military-industrial complex" sound tame.

The book details the schemes and confrontations of the two adversaries as the trials lurch on, with witnesses voluntarily returning to the stand to purge themselves of perjury, and with a conspiracy brewing to create a mistrial. In its vivid portrayal of these events, the book becomes a study of the moral obligation of military personnel in time of war, an examination of the Nürnberg defense, and an inquiry into a soldier's right to refuse an unlawful order.

"If you like courtroom drama, you will definitely enjoy this book, and if you have an interest in military law this book is a must read."
-GI Journal

"Gieck presents chilling testimony (including blatant perjury, some of it later recanted) and quotes transcripts of the proceedings sufficient to make one wonder if the term "military justice" might be an oxymoron."
-Stone and Stone Second World War Books

A Registered Professional Engineer, Jack Gieck elected early retirement in 1982 as Director of New Product Development for Firestone to become a full time writer/producer of industrial, educational, and historical films, founding his own company, Cinemark, Inc. He has accumulated more than three dozen awards for his work in films, filmstrips, and videos, competing against companies such as Turner Television, BBC, and CBS. His publications include A Photo Album of Ohio's Canal Era, 1825-1913, and a contributing chapter in Engineering Uses of Rubber.