Books

Meet the Writer

He was one of the best, Airborne, proud to serve his country and fight its toughest war...in the hell that was Vietnam.

Known to all as "Fitz", Signal Corps officer David Fitz-Enz served two tours in Vietnam. He was a soldier, combat photographer, and platoon leader, fighting America's cruelest war...from the VC-infested rice paddies of the Mekong Delta, to the dreaded la Drang Valley, where the enemy ruled the night.

Dispensing with traditional, sluggish chains of command, the Signal Corps developed a rapid-response system based on greater flexibility, cutting-edge communications technology, and interdependence between the branches of military during the war. Now commanders in the field were able to call in artillery, air strikes, and reinforcements at a moment's notice. Fitz-Enz himself orchestrated the first-ever hookup over tactical systems between the president in the Oval Office and a general in the Vietnam jungle. The only book of it's kind, Why A Soldier? gives us the inside view of the Corps as it launched an exciting new era in strategic and tactical communications that set the groundwork for all future military operations.

Available at Amazon.com in printed and eBook formats and at Barnes&Noble in printed format.

Published by the Ballantine Publishing Group, a division of Random House, Inc.

ISBN-10: 0345482255
ISBN-13: 978-0345482255

On September 1, 1814, under the command of Lieutenant General Sir George Prevost (1767-1816) nearly 15,000 veteran British troops, fresh from their victory over Napoleon, crossed the Canadian-American border...the largest foreign army ever to invade the United States. Neither Wolfe nor Amherst, neither Burgoyne nor Cornwallis, had led so formidable an army. Captain George Downie (1781-1814), who considered his flagship, the Confiance, alone a match for the paltry American fleet, led the equally impressive British naval squadron.

The plan was simple: Prevost's troops would capture Plattsburgh while Downie's ships seized control of the strategically crucial Lake Champlain. Prevost's successful land and naval offensive would strike the main blow against the United States, decimating its ability to continue to resist.

Opposing the British invasion were General Alexander Macomb (1782-1841) and his army of fewer than 5,000 men-roughly half of whom were recruits, invalids, mislaid detachments, and militia-and the improvised fleet and brilliant strategy of thirty-year-old Lieutenant Thomas Macdonough (1783-1825). They were on the losing side of a devastating war. By the time the British and Americans clashed on the waters and surrounding shores of Lake Champlain on September 11, 1814, Macomb and Macdonough's government, pursued by British troops, had fled from a burning Washington, and traitorous American citizens were supplying two-thirds of the beef that Prevost's army consumed.

Till the very end the outcome of the savage naval battle was in doubt. Yet despite the odds, the Americans managed to thwart the world's strongest naval power in one of the most decisive battles in American history. The source of the documentary film of the same name, The Final Invasion, is based on primary research and original discoveries including previously unknown private diaries and Prevost's priceless and detailed secret battle orders, missing since the war. Fair-minded, astute, and passionately engaged with his subject, Colonel Fitz-Enz brings to life the immediacy and immensity of the British threat, the bloody reality of naval warfare, and the far-reaching consequences of the American victory against tremendous odds.

Available at Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble in printed format.

Published by Cooper Square Press, Roman & Littlefield, New York City.

ISBN-10: 0815411391
ISBN-13: 978-0815411391

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This is the story of Old Ironsides, the oldest war ship afloat in the world also known as the venerable frigate U.S.S. Constitution. This cornerstone of the nascent American Navy was created by an act of Congress in 1794. Having seen its first action against Barbary pirates in 1803-1905 the ship went on to heroics during the War of 1812, acquiring the nickname "Old Ironsides" after a British sailor observed a cannonball bouncing off the ship's side. Later 'The Eagle of the Sea' was used as a training ship and for good will tours around the globe. The ship was ultimately brought to Boston and restored, where it still remains today as a floating museum and enduring symbol of the Age of Sail. In Old Ironsides, Col. David Fitz-Enz tells the complete story of this treasure, from its "breeched" birth to the ongoing restoration efforts that keep it active today.

Available at Amazon.com in printed format and at Barnes&Noble in printed and eBook formats.

Published by Cooper Square Press, Roman & Littlefield, New York City.

ISBN-10: 1589794273
ISBN-13: 978-158974273

What if, on September 11, 1814, the United States had lost the close-run battle that Winston Churchill called the “most decisive” of the War of 1812? With a victory at Plattsburgh, would the British have eventually been able to regain control of their former colonies? Only one fleeting moment on Lake Champlain might have been needed to forever alter the young country’s history and return it to the grip of King George III.

Redcoats’ Revenge brings the most successful field commander in history, the Duke of Wellington, to North America in 1814. A coalition of eight European countries has recently defeated Napoleon. With the emperor’s threat to England eradicated, Wellington releases the most powerful military juggernaut for service in the Western Hemisphere. His audacious plan sends him and his avenging veteran redcoats plunging straight south from Lake Champlain toward New York City. In Washington, the streets crackle with tension at the news of British ships on the Chesapeake. The White House is promptly evacuated and the capital left undefended when a diversionary force approaches the city and chokes off Baltimore.

President James Madison must now decide which of his generals is capable of successfully facing off with the Iron Duke. No friend of the tyrannical Maj. Gen. Andrew Jackson, Madison finally agrees that he may be the only commander with any hope of matching Wellington. Redcoats’ Revenge is a vivid montage of the personalities and battles-real and quite possible-of the War of 1812. With its clever and compelling premise, this exciting alternate history will enthrall readers and reveal just how close the United States was to becoming a British colony once again.

Available at Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble in printed and eBook formats.

Published by Potomac Books Inc. Dulles, Virginia.

ISBN-10: 1574889877
ISBN-13: 978-1574889877

While President James Madison was a brilliant scholar, author of much of the country’s early documents, organizer of the executive branch of government, and astute politician, he was no commander-in-chief. He relied totally upon appointed commodores and generals to conduct a war for the conquest of Canada on one hand and survival on the other. Often confused by advisors of little military talent, in the end he put his trust and that of the people in the grasp of hacks, sycophants, adventurers, and a few good men. This is the story of the good, the bad, and the outrageous that held the future of the young nation in their hands and prevailed in spite of a twenty-one-ship navy and an amateur army, pitched at the greatest military machine of its time.

Available at Amazon.com and Barnes&Noble in printed and eBook formats.

Published by Taylor Trade Publishing

ISBN-10: 1589797000
ISBN-13: 978-1589797000

A new novel by Colonel David Fitz-Enz

“The Spy on Putney Bridge”
A novel of espionage, murder & betrayal in London.

It has been said that the British captured all German spies and either turned them to their own purposes or had them executed. Not all! While the head of British intelligence cautioned the Army that it had a mole within its officer ranks, the warning was never taken seriously. Safe in plain sight on a lonely bridge in central London, the War swirled around like the relentless tides. Garnering the confidence of the Army General Staff and the personal support of the King; they were never caught. Yes - I said they, a most unusual couple.

Available at Amazon.

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