Last stands from the Alamo to Benghazi : how Hollywood turns military defeats into moral victories / Frank J. Wetta and Martin A. Novelli.

Includes bibliographical references (pages [142]-147) and index.

Includes filmography.

Introduction: the very thought of losing -- Part I. Do it mean what I think it do? -- The Alamo (1960) -- The Alamo (2004) -- Part II. Are you calling me a liar? -- They died with their boots on (1941) -- Little Big Man(1970) -- Part III. Alamos of the Pacific -- Wake island (1942) -- Bataan (1943) -- Back to Bataan (1943) -- They were expendable (1945) -- Letters from Iwo Jima (2006) -- Part IV. Maybe you don't know what we're doing here -- Corregidor (1943) -- Cry, havoc (1943) -- So proudly we hail (1943) -- Part V. The misfortunes of my retreat -- Northwest passage (1940) -- Gung ho (1943) -- Part VI. Planes roaring, voices singing -- Command decision (1948) -- Twelve o'clock high (1949) -- Part VII. Pork Chop is in North Korea now -- The steel helmet (1951) -- Pork Chop Hill (1959) -- Part VIII. Go tell the Americans -- Go tell the Spartans (1978) -- We were soldiers (2002) -- Part IX. Narrowing the aperture -- Black Hawk down (2001) -- Lone survivor (2014) -- 13 hours: the secret soldiers of Benghazi (2016) -- Conclusion: it is here that we lie.