Introduction to JavaScript Object Notation

Featuring specially commissioned artwork, this study breaks new ground in covering all the uniformed Soviet security organizations from the Russian Revolution through to World War II. While the average person reacts to the term 'SS' with justified horror, most do not realize that, like Nazi Germany, Stalin's Soviet Union had its own instrument of terror, the NKVD. The precursor to the NKVD, the Cheka, was central to the Bolsheviks' elimination of political dissent during the Russian Civil War (1918-21). After 1922 the Soviet state-security organs became the GPU and then the OGPU (1923-34) before coalescing into the NKVD. After it played a central role in the Great Terror (1936-38), which saw the widespread repression of many different groups and the imprisonment and execution of prominent figures, the NKVD had its heyday during the Great Patriotic War (1941-45). During the conflict the organization deployed full military divisions, frontier troop units and internal security forces and

A detailed exploration of one of the most famous warships of the Ancient world―the trireme―and its tactical employment by the opposing sides in the 5th-century BC Graeco-Persian Wars.The trireme was a sleek, wooden oar-powered warship armed with a bronze-sheathed waterline ram. It was very long and narrow for its length and beam, which made the vessel as fragile as it was fast. Triremes fought in several crucial clashes of the Graeco-Persian Wars, including Artemisium and Salamis. Alongside developments that took place in the design of these vessels, naval tactics in this period also flourished, the diekplous being the best known (a manoeuvre designed to row between opposing ships and to turn about so as to ram an enemy vessel in the stern quarter). Such advances were to make the Athenian trireme an object of dread by mid-5th century BC.This fascinating volume vividly brings to life these popular fighting ships. Superb colour artworks reveal construction and design differences between

A new analysis of the technology and tanks that faced off against each other on opposite sides of the Iron Curtain, during the very height of the Cold War.From the 1960s onwards, there was a generational shift in tank design and warfare with the advent of CBR (chemical, biological, radiological) protection and a move away from HEAT ammunition to APFSDS. This shift confronted the growing threat of guided anti-tank missiles and saw the introduction of composite armor. Soviet heavy tanks and tank destroyer/assault guns became obsolete, giving way to the technological might of the T-62 and T-64, while NATO forces employed the Chieftain, AMX-30, Leopard I, and M60, plus the initial attempt at a common US-German tank, the MBT-70. Using detailed illustrations and contemporary photographs, this companion volume to NVG 301, Tanks at the Iron Curtain 1946-60 focuses on key battle tanks and their technology to give a comprehensive overall picture of how tanks developed during modern times.

A detailed exploration of the land, sea and air units that defended Malta, and the repeated Axis attempts to bring the crucial Allied island fortress to its knees.From June 1940 through 1942, Malta was effectively besieged by a joint Italian and German air offensive. The strategically situated Mediterranean island, and, to some extent, nearby Gozo, were subjected to one Axis air raid after another. Italo-German forces were expected to invade, but first the islands had to be subjugated. Malta was reliant for defence on antiaircraft guns and often-outnumbered fighter aircraft and dependent for survival on naval supply convoys. But, soon, the population was reduced to starvation rations. Anti-aircraft guns were restricted in ammunition use and fighter aircraft were sometimes grounded through lack of fuel or numbers. Against the odds, and at heavy cost, Malta was held.Anthony Rogers’ fascinating account of these desperate times explores the background to events, and shows how the Royal Air

Strap in alongside the Sabre pilots as they experienced the first large-scale jet-vs-jet combat. Brought to life with tactical artwork and first-hand accounts from the pilots themselves.The F-86A Sabre had entered USAF service in 1949, and in December 1950 three squadrons were sent to South Korea. Despite primitive basing conditions and overwhelming Chinese opposition, the Sabre pilots stopped communist air forces from attacking UN ground troops and allowed Allied fighter-bombers to operate without threat of interception. The ensuing air battles between Sabres and MiG-15s were the first since World War II, and the last in recent times to involve large numbers of jet fighters in direct confrontation. In all of them the victorious F-86 pilots demonstrated the superiority of their training and tactics and the outstanding qualities of their Sabres. Relive these dramatic encounters in the skies over Korea through the words of the pilots themselves and exciting ribbon diagrams which expertly

This study explores the organization, history and uniforms of the Soviet Red Army during the 20 years between its victory in the Civil War and the invasion of the USSR by Germany in 1941.The two decades following the Bolshevik victory over the “Whites” in the Russian Civil War saw widespread and fundamental developments for the Red Army. Nevertheless, these still left it largely unready to face the German’s Operation Barbarossa in June 1941. Having been reduced in size and planning for modernization, the Red Army of the 1920s was employed to ruthlessly crush anti-Bolshevik opposition (real or suspected) in several regions of the USSR, notably Ukraine and Central Asia, and to fight a brief border war against Chinese Manchuria.During the 1930s, Stalin virtually “beheaded” the army by a needless series of murderous purges of the officer class; despite this, the Red Army was victorious in clashes against Imperial Japan in the Nomonhan region in 1938–39, where General Zhukov earned his spur

An illustrated study of the little-known history of the failed Allied bombing campaign designed to shatter German defenses on D-Day.D-Day is one of the most written-about events in military history. One aspect of the invasion, however, continues to be ignored: the massive pre-assault bombardment by the Allied Expeditionary Air Force (AEAF), reinforced by RAF Bomber Command and the US Eighth Air Force on June 6 which sought to neutralize the German defenses along the Atlantic Wall. Unfortunately, this failed series of attacks resulted in death or injury to hundreds of soldiers, and killed many French civilians.Despite an initial successful attack performed by the Allied forces, the most crucial phase of the operation, which was the assault from the Eighth Air Force against the defenses along the Calvados coast, was disastrous. The bombers missed almost all of their targets, inflicting little damage to the German defenses, which resulted in a high number of casualties among the Allied in

Packed with illustrations, this is a study of the Polish warships such as the Grom-class destroyers that were developed and built in the interwar years.Newly independent Poland’s naval force was created in 1920, initially with six ex-German torpedo boats. However, after German-Soviet exercises off the Polish coast in 1924, funding for warships was hastily allocated. Two destroyers and three submarines were built in France but, disappointed with their quality. Poland ordered new ships, mostly from British and Dutch shipyards.By summer 1939, the Polish Navy comprised four destroyers, five submarines, one minelayer, six minesweepers and a handful of lesser ships. Although the Grom-class destroyers were two of the fastest and best-armed destroyers of the war, the tiny Polish fleet would stand little chance against the Kriegsmarine, and on 30 August three destroyers were dispatched to Britain, followed by two submarines that escaped internment. The remaining Polish surface fleet was sunk by

A new illustrated history of one of the key air campaigns of late World War II – the American effort to cripple Germany's oil production, and grind its armed forces to a halt.With retreating German forces losing their oilfields on the Eastern Front, Germany was reliant on its own facilities, particularly for producing synthetic oil from coal. However, these were within range of the increasingly mighty Allied air forces. In 1944 the head of the US Strategic Air Forces, General Carl Spaatz was intent on a new campaign that aimed to cripple the German war machine by depriving it of fuel.The USAAF’s Oil Campaign built up momentum during the summer of 1944 and targeted these refineries and plants with its daylight heavy bombers. Decrypted German communications made it clear that the Oil Campaign was having an effect against the Wehrmacht. Fuel shortages in the autumn of 1944 forced the Luftwaffe to ground most of its combat units except for fighters involved in the defense of the Reich. Fue

This is the second volume in a two-part illustrated study of the October 23-26 Battle of Leyte Gulf, which resulted in a decisive defeat for the Japanese.In the epic naval battle of Leyte Gulf, crucial roles were played by the Imperial Japanese Navy’s Northern and Southern forces. The Northern Force was a key part of the Imperial Japanese Navy's SHO-1 plan: its mission was to lure the US Navy’s Task Force 38 to the north, which would allow the Japanese Center Force to attack into Leyte Gulf. The success of this decoy operation would prove to be the most controversial part of the battle, with US Admiral William Halsey ordering Task Force 38 to head north, creating an opportunity for Center Force.The Imperial Japanese Navy's Southern Force (and the small, unattached Shima Force) fought the Battle of Surigao Strait on October 25. In this key clash, the Japanese were attempting to enter Leyte Gulf from the south, but encountered the US Navy’s Seventh Fleet, resulting in the last battleship

A detailed look at the deadly battle between US Navy F9F Panther jet fighter-bombers and communist anti-aircraft artillery (AAA) defenses that proliferated throughout the Korean War.The F9F Panther was one of the many fighters converted for ground-attack duties, following an established US tradition. Originally designed as a jet fighter, in April 1951 it became the first jet to launch from a carrier with bombs loaded, using them to destroy a crucial railway bridge at Songjin. The Panther’s four 20 mm guns were considered to be very effective for flak suppression and these aircraft were used as escorts for propeller-driven AD Skyraider and F4U Corsair attack aircraft. However, later in 1951, flak damage to Panthers increased as the Chinese established better AAA weapons to defend key transport routes. The communist AAA crews had heavy guns of 37 mm caliber and above. Gunners could use optical height finders, predictors and in many cases radar control. They learned to conceal their weapo

This is the second part of a highly detailed yet accessible two-volume history of America's involvement in Vietnam from the end of World War II through to the Fall of Saigon in 1975.No Wider War is the second part of a two-volume, accessible narrative history of America’s involvement in Indochina from the end of World War II to the Fall of Saigon in 1975. Following on from the first volume, In Good Faith, which told the story from the Japanese surrender in 1945 through America’s involvement in the French Indochina War and the initial advisory missions that followed, No Wider War takes up the story from the first deployment of US combat ground troops in March 1965 through to the fall of the South in April 1975.Drawing on the latest research, unavailable to the authors of the classic Vietnam histories, No Wider War follows the story of America’s increasingly heavy commitment to the war from the Marines on the beaches of Da Nang, through the 1st Air Cavalry Division in the Central Highlan

An illustrated history of how Japan devised and launched a new kind of air campaign in late 1944–the suicidal assaults of the kamikaze units against the approaching Allied fleets.As summer changed to autumn in 1944, Japan was losing the war. Still unwilling to surrender, Japan’s last hope was to try to wear down US resolve enough to reach a negotiated settlement. Extraordinary measures seemed necessary, and the most extraordinary was the formation of Special Attack Units – known to the Allies as the kamikazes.The concept of organized suicide squadrons was first raised on June 15, 1944. By August, formations were being trained. These formations were first used in the October 1944 US invasion of the Philippine Islands, where they offered some tactical success. The program was expanded into a major campaign over the rest of the Pacific War, seeing a crescendo during the struggle for Okinawa in April through May 1945.This highly illustrated history examines not just the horrific missions t

A gripping study of the brutal urban battle for Budapest, which saw German and Hungarian troops struggling to halt the joint Soviet-Romanian offensive to take the key city on the Danube.The 52-day siege of Budapest was one of the most significant urban battles of World War II, the brutality and savagery of which has earned it the moniker of the 'second Stalingrad'. The Transdanubia region was strategically vital to Nazi Germany for its raw materials and industry, and because of the bridgehead it allowed into Austria. As a result, Hitler declared Budapest a fortress city in early December 1944. The battle for the city pitted 90,000 German and Hungarian troops against 170,000 Soviet (2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts) and Romanian attackers. The operations to take the city ran across several phases, from the initial Soviet approach to Budapest commencing in late October 1944, through the encirclement of city first on the Pest side of the Danube, and then on the Buda bank, and on to the savage

This highly illustrated volume tells the inside story of the rifles carried by snipers of all the major powers during World War I.Although military sharpshooting had existed since the 18th century, in 1914 only the German and Austro-Hungarian armies fielded trained snipers armed with scoped rifles. Thus upon the outbreak of World War I, the Allied armies found themselves on the receiving end of a shooting war to which they had no means of response. Only the Canadians brought a dedicated sniping rifle into the trenches, but in small numbers. For the British, although production of a suitable rifle and scope were settled on quickly, the establishment of sniper training was difficult and its success was mostly due to the efforts of a handful of dedicated officers. The French eventually introduced a competent scoped rifle and a sniper training system, as did the Italians. Entering the war in 1917, the Americans experienced rifle shortages but were able to build on their pre-1914 efforts to

This is the story of the daring prison break by British, Australian and New Zealand bomber pilots, who blew holes into Amiens jail to free French Resistance prisoners during World War II.Early 1944 was a time of massive intelligence activity across northern France in advance of D-Day. Large numbers of résistants were being captured by the Germans and imprisoned in gaols across northern France. Among these was Amiens. The raid was mounted as a debt of honour by MI6 and the RAF to try to free prisoners who would otherwise be executed by the Germans for what was considered traitorous activity.MI6 requested an exceptionally precise air raid, to blow holes in the prison walls, free as many men and women as possible, minimize casualties among the prisoners and hit the German guards’ quarters. The RAF decided that, with the fast and accurate Mosquito light bomber, the raid had a good chance of success. This resulted in the creation of a Mosquito wing that comprised British, Australian and New

A study of the Macchi Folgore and Veltro, the most successful Italian fighters in World War II. The book looks at how the fighters were conceived, their performance and their pilots’ stories.Italian fighters, such as the Fiat G.50 and Macchi C.200, had always struggled with their straight-line speed and restricted armament when engaging their Allied counterparts. To solve these problems, Macchi initially designed the C.202 Folgore using German engines, which contributed to create a faster aircraft, with a superior rate of climb and reachable altitude. Folgore’s success in various North African engagements then paved the way for the development of Macchi’s most successful fighter, the C.205V Veltro, which managed to combine increased speed and increased power. Packed with specially commissioned artwork and original photos, and written by Italian military aviation specialist Marco Mattioli, this fascinating book explores how the premier Italian fighter of the war came to life and the his

The history of Nazi Germany’s attempt to build a modern aircraft carrier, and the other aviation ships that Germany and Italy designed or operated.The quest for a modern aircraft carrier was the ultimate symbol of the Axis powers’ challenge to Allied naval might, but fully-fledged carriers proved either too difficult, expensive, or politically unpopular for either to make operational. After the Anglo-German Naval Agreement of 1935, Hitler publicly stated his intention to build an aircraft carrier, the Graf Zeppelin, which was launched in 1938. A year later, the ambitious fleet-expansion Z-Plan, was unveiled with two additional aircraft carriers earmarked for production. However, by the beginning of World War II, Graf Zeppelin was not yet completed and work was halted. Further aircraft carrier designs and conversion projects such as the ocean liner Europa and heavy cruiser Seydlitz were considered but, in January 1943, all construction work on surface vessels ceased and naval resources

This vivid narrative history tells the full story of the US Air Force’s involvement in the wars in the air over Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.The involvement of the US Air Force in the Southeast Asian Wars began in 1962 with crews sent to train Vietnamese pilots, and with conflict in Laos, and finally ended in 1972 with the B-52 bombing of Hanoi, though there were Air Force pilots unofficially flying combat in Laos up to the end in 1975. The missions flown by USAF aircrews during those years in Southeast Asia differed widely, from attacking the Ho Chi Minh Trail at night with modified T-28 trainers, to missions “Downtown,” the name aircrew gave Hanoi, the central target of the war.This aerial war was dominated by the major air operations against the north: Rolling Thunder from 1965 to 1968, and then Linebacker I and II in 1972, with the latter seeing the deployment of America’s fearsome B-52 bombers against the North Vietnamese capital Hanoi. These operations were carried out in the face

The Fw 190D-9 -- the 'long-nosed' Dora -- represented the cutting edge and pinnacle of wartime Germany's piston-engine aviation development. This new history by leading German aviation specialist Robert Forsyth reveals what it was like to pilot her in combat as Germany desperately battled to remain in the war. Arguably one of the finest piston-engined fighters ever built, the Focke-Wulf Fw 190D-9 raised the bar in terms of aircraft design and operational capability during World War II. Designed by Kurt Tank, the 'long-nosed' Fw 190D9 'Dora' bettered most of the fighters that the Allied and Soviet air forces could field when it first appeared in the skies over the Western and Eastern Fronts in 1944. Indeed, with experienced German pilots at the controls it proved to be an immediate match for even the later-mark Griffon Spitfire and the P-51D/K. Well-armed, with two 13mm machine guns and two 20mm cannon, the D-9 began to equip Luftwaffe units from August 1944. Later on in the war, one of

Fully illustrated, this study casts light on the utility and role of the German and British cavalry in the early stages of World War I on the Western Front.In the early months of World War I, before the fighting degenerated into static trench warfare, there was a brief period of mobile warfare, as the German Army advanced through Belgium and northern France, forcing the French and British forces facing them to retreat. The British cavalry had the difficult task of covering the withdrawal of the British Expeditionary Force and the German cavalry, the equally demanding task, after weeks of combat and forced marches, of maintaining contact with a rapidly retiring enemy.In this study a comparative assessment is made of each side’s doctrine, organization, equipment and training, followed by a detailed analysis of their actual performance in three key encounter actions: Casteau/Soignies (August 22), Cérizy/Moy (August 28) and Néry (September 1). Finally, a brief conclusion highlights that bo

This study explores the critical battle of Carrhae, a fascinating tale of treachery, tactics, and topography in which Rome experienced one of its most humiliating defeats.Carrhae is a battle from a heady moment in Roman history – that of the clever carve-up of power by the First Triumvirate of Julius Caesar, Pompey the Great and Marcus Licinius Crassus (the Roman general who had famously put down the Spartacan revolt). Crassus had begun his second consulship (55 BC) with the express aim of going to war with Parthia, and desperately felt the need to gain military glory and popular acclaim to balance that of his two triumvirate rivals. In June 53 BC, he led seven legions, 4,000 lightly armed troops and 4,000 horsemen across the Euphrates, and though soon deserted by his Armenian allies, Crassus continued his advance into unfamiliar, hostile territory. At Carrhae (present-day Harran, Turkey), the scene was set for a Roman military disaster on an epic scale.Classical scholar Nic Fields des

Fully illustrated, this new study lifts the veil on the high-profile but often misunderstood gladiators of ancient Rome, from their origins to the dawn of the Principate.Originating in funeral rites during the Punic Wars of the 3rd century BC, the Roman gladiator games have come to symbolize the spectacle and savagery of Republican and Imperial Rome. Increasingly elaborate rules and rituals governed the conduct of gladiator combat, with an array of specially armed and armoured gladiator types pitted against one another, either singly or in groups. While many gladiators met a grisly end, some survived to achieve celebrity and make huge fortunes. Despite the wealth of literary and archaeological evidence, many misconceptions about the gladiators and their violent world remain. Featuring photographs and drawings of key items of visual evidence and drawing upon the author’s wealth of experience and research, this fully illustrated account recreates the little-known and under-represented gl

This is the first history of the legendary US Army's HAWK missile system, the world's first mobile air-defense missile system, which saw service and combat around the world.The HAWK surface-to-air missile system was the world’s first mobile missile system and one of the most advanced air defense weapons deployed during the Cold War. Designed to counteract the threat posed by advanced 1950s Soviet-built aircraft, the first HAWK unit became operational in 1959. At its peak, it saw frontline service in the Far East, Panama, Europe, and in the Middle East. Units were also used during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Vietnam War, and Persian Gulf War. In the hands of other nations, HAWK proved its efficacy in combat during the Arab-Israeli Wars, Iran-Iraq War, Chadian-Libyan War, and the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait.Credited with shooting down more than 100 aircraft during its combat career, the HAWK system was respected for its lethality. Such was Soviet concern, that it developed electronic jammers,

This new book is a fascinating history of how the mighty Gothic Line was defeated by American air power, in one of the most pivotal but least-known air campaigns of World War II.By late 1944, the Italian Campaign was secondary to the campaigns in France, and Allied forces were not strong enough to break the Germans’ mighty Gothic Line. These fortifications were supplied by rail through the Alps, with trains arriving hourly and delivering 600,000 tons of supplies a month, enough to keep the German Army going forever.But in the bitter winter of 1944–45, the mighty Gothic Line would be defeated by American air power, in one of the most pivotal but least-known air campaigns of World War II. It would not be a direct assault; instead Operation Bingo would ruthlessly cut the Germans’ supply lines and leave them starved. But it would not be easy. The rail routes were defended by a formidable array of heavy flak, and every raid was expected. Conditions were freezing, and even in electric flying

A uniquely detailed study of a Japanese aircraft carrier that took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor, before being sunk at Midway.Hiryu was an aircraft carrier built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during the 1930s. Her aircraft supported the Japanese invasion of French Indochina in mid-1940 and during the first month of the Pacific War, she took part in the attack on Pearl Harbor and the Battle of Wake Island. She supported the conquest of the Dutch East Indies in January 1942 and her aircraft bombed Darwin, Australia, and continued to assist in the Dutch East Indies campaign. In April, Hiryu’s aircraft helped sink two British heavy cruisers and several merchant ships during the Indian Ocean raid. After a brief refit, Hiryu and three other fleet carriers of the First Air Fleet participated in the Battle of Midway in June 1942. After bombarding American forces on the atoll, the carriers were attacked by aircraft from Midway and the carriers USS Enterprise, Hornet, and Yorktown. D

This study investigates the British tribal warriors and Roman auxiliaries who fought in three epic battles for control of Britain in the 1st century AD.Following the Roman invasion of Britain in AD 43, the tribes of the west and north resisted the establishment of a ‘Roman peace’, led in particular by the chieftain Caratacus. Even in the south-east, resentment of Roman occupation remained, exploding into the revolt of Boudicca’s Iceni in AD 60. Roman auxiliaries from two particular peoples are known to have taken part in the invasion of Britain: the Tungrians, from what is now Belgium, and the Batavians, from the delta of the River Rhine in the modern Netherlands. From the late 80s AD, units of both the Batavians and the Tungrians were garrisoned at a fort at Vindolanda in northern Britain. The so called ‘Vindolanda tablets’ provide an unparalleled body of material with which to reconstruct the lives of these auxiliary soldiers in Britain.This book examines how both the British warrior

Using first-hand accounts and brand-new artwork, this book brings to life the realities of flying the BF 109 in combat during the very first battles of World War II.The Bf 109 was one of the principal types in the Luftwaffe’s inventory during the opening months of World War II and it was central to many of Germany’s early victories, before coming up against the unbeatable RAF during the Battle of Britain. The Bf 109E, in particular, was a match for anything that it encountered in the skies over Poland, the Low Countries and France, being flown by a number of pilots already experienced in combat in the type following service with the Legion Condor during the Spanish Civil War, which had been the perfect field trial to iron out many of the inevitable ‘bugs’. It was predominantly the Bf 109E, which first featured a Daimler-Benz DB 601 powerplant, that was in the frontline when the war began, although some examples of the older Bf 109D were still in use during the Polish campaign. Starting

This title examines the history and development of the Ju 188 twin-engined aircraft, the Luftwaffe’s attempt to enhance and improve its peerless Ju 88.The Junkers Ju 188 was the epitome of mid-war German twin-engined aircraft design, representing the enhancement of an earlier type and incorporating increased performance and technological sophistication. As part of the 1939 “Bomber B” program, it was intended as a replacement for the Ju 88 and He 111 medium bombers, taking advantage of uprated Jumo and BMW engines and incorporating a radically redesigned cockpit area with all-round visibility for high-speed bombing, torpedo-bomber carrying, FuG 200 radar, and camera-equipped reconnaissance operations. What emerged, from the autumn of 1943, was a sophisticated bomber and reconnaissance aircraft―and intended night fighter. After operational trials, the Ju 188 equipped three bomber Geschwader and several long-range reconnaissance Staffeln in the East and Italy, conducting operations over B

A fascinating, illustrated study of the war in East Africa waged by German colonial forces under Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck against the colonial and expeditionary forces of the Allied Powers.The East African Campaign in World War I comprised a series of battles and guerrilla actions which began in German East Africa in 1914 and spread to portions of Portuguese Mozambique, northern Rhodesia, British East Africa, the Uganda Protectorate, and the Belgian Congo. German colonial forces under Lieutenant-Colonel Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck attempt to divert Allied forces from the Western Front.This fascinating work documents the British, Indian, South African, Belgian, Portuguese and local native forces who invaded German East Africa, and the progress of the fighting. David Smith describes how German forces were slowly ousted from German East Africa, a process made tortuous by Lettow-Vorbeck's masterful management of the campaign. Colourful illustrations bring to life a wide-ranging and eventful cam

A remarkable new study on the Battle of Crécy, in which the outnumbered English under King Edward III won a decisive victory over the French and changed the course of the Hundred Years War.The Battle of Crécy in 1346 is one the most famous and widely studied military engagements in history. The repercussions of this battle – in which England’s King Edward III decisively defeated a far larger French army – were felt for hundreds of years, and the exploits of those fighting reached the status of legend. Yet groundbreaking research has shown that nearly everything that has been written about this dramatic event may be wrong.In this new study, Michael Livingston reveals how modern scholars have used archived manuscripts, satellite technologies and traditional fieldwork to help unlock what was arguably the battle’s greatest secret: the location of the now quiet fields where so many thousands died.Crécy: Battle of Five Kings is a story of past and present. It is a new history of one of the m

Based on new research, Hitler’s Winter tells the story of the Battle of the Bulge from the German perspective.The Battle of the Bulge was the last major German offensive in the West. Launched in the depths of winter to neutralize the overwhelming Allied air superiority, three German armies attacked through the Ardennes, the weakest part of the American lines, with the aim of splitting the Allied armies and seizing the vital port of Antwerp within a week. It was a tall order, as the Panzers had to get across the Our, Amblève, Ourthe and Meuse rivers, and the desperate battle became a race against time and the elements, which the Germans would eventually lose.This new study of the famous battle focuses on the German experience, telling the story from the perspective of the German infantrymen and Panzer crewmen fighting on the ground in the Ardennes, through to the senior commanders such as SS-Oberstgruppenführer Josef ‘Sepp’ Dietrich and General Hasso von Manteuffel whose operational dec

A gripping study of the Battle of the Barents Sea, fought in the darkness and cold of the northern winter, in which the Kriegsmarine sought to sever the crucial Allied Arctic Convoy route.The Arctic convoys that passed through the cold, dangerous waters of the Barents Sea formed a vital lifeline – a strategic link in tanks, supplies and above all goodwill between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union. In December 1942, under Operation Regenbogen (Rainbow), the German Kriegsmarine sought to strike a crippling blow on the Arctic convoys and finally sever this all-important sea route. In this fascinating work, renowned naval expert Angus Konstam documents the fate of the Allied Convoy JW 51B as it came under attack from some of the Kriegsmarine’s most powerful surface warships – a pocket battleship, a heavy cruiser and six destroyers. Illustrated with stunning battlescene artworks, maps, 3D diagrams and photographs, it explores the David and Goliath struggle between the Allied ships def

A complete illustrated study of the varied range of Italian colonial units who served in East and North Africa.Italy only unified as a nation in 1870 and was late, and therefore impatient, in the “scramble” for Africa. An initial foothold in Eritrea/Somalia, north-east Africa, led to a disastrous defeat in Ethiopia in 1896 at the Battle of Adwa, but Italian Somaliland was later consolidated on the west coast of the Red Sea.During 1911, Italy also invaded Libya, securing the coast, however fighting continued throughout World War I and only ended in the early 1930s. A number of native colonial regiments were raised in both Italian East Africa and Libya (in the latter, even a pioneering paratroop unit), of which most fought sturdily for Italy against the Allies in 1940–43. These units had particularly colourful uniforms and insignia. Another small guard unit also served in the Italian concession at Tientsin, China in 1902–1943. After World War II, a remnant unit served on in Somalia under

Written by one of the world’s leading experts on D-Day, Smashing Hitler’s Guns, is a ground-breaking new history of the legendary Rangers’ attack on Pointe-du-Hoc.The Ranger attack on the German gun batteries at Pointe-du-Hoc in the early morning hours of D-Day is the stuff of legend. The gun batteries were strategically positioned between the two American D-Day landing beaches, and were considered the main threat to the Operation Neptune landings. In spite of the confusion and chaos of the June 6, 1944 mission, the Rangers succeeded in scaling the 100-foot cliffs, but the guns were nowhere to be found. Spreading out in all directions, a Ranger team managed to find and spike the guns at their hidden location south of Pointe-du-Hoc. For two days, this small force fought off repeated German attacks, until an American relief force finally arrived on 8 June, by which time more than half the Rangers were casualties.The heroic Ranger mission at Pointe-du-Hoc has indeed become a sacred legend

A dramatic retelling of the final years of the Western Roman Empire and the downfall of Rome itself from the perspective of the Roman general Stilicho and Alaric, king of the Visigoths.It took little more than a single generation for the 800-year-old Roman Empire to fall. In those critical decades, while generals and politicians squabbled over scraps of power, two men – former comrades on the battlefield – eventually found themselves on opposite sides in the great game of empire: Roman general Stilicho and Alaric, king of the Visigoths.Master storyteller Don Hollway introduces us to these titans of the Ancient World. Stilicho was charged with defending the Western Roman Empire against repeated invasions. No one represented a more potent threat than Alaric. After a series of hard-fought battles, Stilicho bested his rival, but failed to capture the wily Alaric and eventually a truce was declared. Alaric and his men would then serve honorably in the Roman Army as foederati. But the tentat

Now available in paperback, Blood, Metal and Dust is an authoritative military history of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to tell the detailed story of what happened on the ground.

This fully illustrated study assesses the origins, development, and combat record of the legendary Tiger and Churchill Tanks during World War II. The Tiger and the Churchill are two of the most iconic heavily armored tanks to grace the battlefields of World War II. The first epic clash between them took place on April 21, 1943 in Tunisia, during which a Tiger was captured by the Western Allies for the first time. They also fought each other in Italy, on the Eastern Front (as part of Lend-Lease), and in North-West Europe 1944-45. The Tiger and Churchill were both were designed quickly (and suffered reliability problems), but they were technically very different and their repeated clashes had widely differing results. This fascinating and detailed work explores novel aspects of the design and operation of these well-known tanks. The roles that both vehicles played in combat, as part of a German Schwere Panzer-Abteilung and a British infantry tank battalion, and how the design features of

A new study and analysis of the final months of tank warfare in World War II, as the Allied armies rolled into Germany and fought the Wehrmacht's tanks on home soil. The crossing of the river Rhine marked the beginning of the end of the Third Reich, but the Wehrmacht would fight ferociously on its home soil until the fall of Berlin. The Battle of Germany saw the most advanced tanks of the Allies pitted against the remnants of the once-formidable Panzerwaffe, now exhausted and lacking many of the essentials of armored warfare, but equipped with the biggest and most powerful tanks they would ever field. In these last months the Allies were now equipped with the most advanced Shermans such as the M4A3E8, as well as some of the types that would go on to have successful postwar careers such as the Pershing, Comet, and Chaffee. In contrast the Panzer forces had pinned their hopes on small numbers of monstrous types such as the Jagdtiger and Tiger II, as well as the workhorse Sturmgesch tz an

Using the stories of Gregory “Pappy” Boyington and Joseph “Smokey Joe” Foss, two top-scoring fighter aces, this fascinating book explores US Marine Corps aviation over the South Pacific.America’s Few delves into the history of US Marine Corps aviation in World War II, following the feats of the Corps’ top-scoring aces in the skies over Guadalcanal. Marine Corps aviation began in 1915, functioning as a self-contained expeditionary force. During the interwar period, the support of USMC amphibious operations became a key element of Marine aviation doctrine, and the small force gradually grew. But in December 1941 came the rude awakening. Within hours of Pearl Harbor, heroic Marine aviators were battling the Japanese over Wake Island.In the South Pacific, the aviators of the US Marine Corps came out of the shadows to establish themselves as an air force second to none. In the summer of 1942, when Allied airpower was cobbled together into a single unified entity―nicknamed “the Cactus Air Fo