One of Churchill’s most controversial decisions during the Second World War was to switch SOE support in Yugoslavia in 1943 from the Cetniks loyal to the exiled Royal Government to backing Tito and hi
One of the enduring controversies of the Waterloo campaign is the conduct of Marshal Grouchy. Given command of a third of Napoleon’s army and told to keep the Prussians from joining forces with Wellin
The United States Marine Corps was one of the phenomena of the Second World War. Greatly expanded from its prewar order of battle of scattered defense battalions, overseas garrisons and ship detachmen
The Special Operations Executive developed a vast network of agents across Occupied Europe which played a vital role in developing and sustaining Resistance movements that persistently sought to subve
Sir Thomas Graham’s Netherlands Campaign of 1813–1814 has produced a surprisingly rich crop of memoirs and letters. This compelling new book brings together six of the shorter accounts, several of the
In this wide-ranging study of the Napoleonic regime, Digby Smith tracks Napoleon’s rise to power, his stewardship of France from 1804–15, and his exile. He highlights his military mistakes, such as hi
Napoleon’s Imperial Guard was arguably the most famous military formation to tread the battlefields of Europe. La Garde Imperial was created on 18 May 1804, and from its origins as a small personal es
After 1500, European warfare was repeatedly revolutionized by new weapons, new methods for supplying armies in the field, improved fortifications and new tactics for taking fortifications. This allowe
The infamous ‘Valkyrie’ assassination attempt on Adolf Hitler on 20 July 1944 failed to kill the German Führer. It did not succeed simply because von Stauffenberg’s briefcase containing the explosives
When it comes to being bombed, London is unique. Although it cannot claim to be the most bombed capital city in terms of the weight of explosive detonated it has endured the most varied and unrelentin
Many are the tales of young men lying about their age to join the Army, yet Jack Evans sought far more at the age of just possibly just seventeen – to act behind enemy lines as an agent of the Special
Some of the individuals who played key roles in the success of Bletchley Park in reading the secret communications of Britain’s enemies during the Second World War have become well-known figures. Howe
It was on 14 June 1944, D+8, that the tanks of the 144th Regiment Royal armored Corps began to disembark on Gold Beach during the Normandy landings. Delayed in going ashore, the regiment’s tanks had b
George Woodberry was commissioned into the 18th Light Dragoons (Hussars) as a cornet on 16 Jan 1812, and joined Wellington’s army as a lieutenant, seeing action in the key battles of 1813 and 14 – Mor
