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

This book draws on original regimental records to give an account of the organization and personalities of the most renowned of the foreign units that served in the Emperor's armies. Unlike most of h

With Cold War fears mounting, the M47 and M48 were rushed into production – teething troubles were inevitable. In the decade that followed, however, these tanks proved to be the backbone of US armoure

Sieges played a central role in many conflicts of the ancient world and generals, including Darius, Alexander the Great, Hannibal and Scipio Africanus successfully used siegecraft to gain their object

The organ has been called the king of instruments. This extensively illustrated book is an introduction to the organ, its history, design, and repertoire, and will be especially useful to the general

The simple castles raised after the Norman conquest had been developed throughout 11th and 12th centuries, whilst the introduction of Islamic and Byzantine fortification techniques from the late 12th

This book offers a detailed introduction to the tribes of the New England region - the first native American peoples affected by contact with the French and English colonists. By 1700 several tribes h

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.

In many respects the most successful, versatile and widely-used combat aircraft of the post-war era the F-4 Phantom II was quickly adopted by the USAF after its spectacular US Navy introduction. It wa

The Light Armored Vehicle -25 (LAV-25) has played a significant role in transforming Marine Corps doctrine since its introduction in the early-1980s. The Marine Corps Light Armored Vehicle program was

The middle years of Queen Victoria's reign saw huge changes in society: the rise of the middle classes, the introduction of compulsory education and the growth of the labor movement. The Great Exhibit

The rapid development of the tank as an offensive weapon following its introduction in World War I gave artillery theorists cause for concern during the 1920s and 1930s. By the beginning of World War

The period covered by this book begins with the British infantryman entering the Peninsular War (1808-1814) wearing the lethal knapsack equipment of the day, and ends with the introduction of the firs

Beginning in World War I, with the introduction of the steel helmet this book charts the development of protective equipment for soldiers and security forces. Initially body armour was seen as a mili

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

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

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

Now publishing in paperback, this is vivid narrative history of the final stages of the Pacific War, as the US Navy began to slowly approach the Japanese Home Islands against fearsome opposition from

Ever since the mid-19th Century, national militaries have sought to create monster artillery pieces, designed to shatter armies, cities, and fortresses and their morale. Starting with William Armstron

The Soviet Union's cruise missile submarines, from the modified Whiskey to the Oscar II classes, were among the most formidable vessels of the Cold War. They were initially designed to carry land atta

The Italian Royal Navy (Regia Marina) operated one of largest cruiser forces of World War II. As a signatory to the 1922 Washington Naval Treaty, the Regia Marina immediately attempted to reinforce it

Over the last 30 years, the "technical" or armed pick-up truck has become arguably the most ubiquitous military land vehicle of modern warfare. Harking back to the armed Jeeps and Chevrolet trucks of

As the possibility of war loomed in the 1930s, the British Admiralty looked to update their fleet of destroyers to compete with the new ships being built by Germany and Japan, resulting in the commiss

The Munich Olympics massacre in 1972 was a shock awakening to the public. In the decades since, European countries have faced a wide range of threats from Palestinian and home-grown terrorists, to the

In an effort to provide the US infantryman with more firepower to cover the range gap between the hand grenade and the light mortar, the 40mm M79 grenade launcher – a shoulder-fired, single-shot weapo

The Roman centurion, holding the legionaries steady before the barbarian horde and then leading them forward to victory, was the heroic exemplar of the Roman world. This was thanks to the Marian refor

In 1941, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) went to war with a marginal anti-submarine warfare (ASW) capability. This was a lamentable state of affairs for a nation dependent upon imports to sustain its

The Red Army suffered such catastrophic losses of armor in the summer of 1941 that they begged Britain and the United States to send tanks. The first batches arrived in late 1941, just in time to take

Between the two World Wars, the US contributed significantly to the evolution of the tank, a weapon invented by the British and the French seeking to break through the lines of German trenches. From t

In April 1941, as Churchill strove to counter the German threat to the Balkans, New Zealand troops were hastily committed to combat in the wake of the German invasion of Greece where they would face o

Designed in the 1950s, the US Marines' M50 Ontos and the US Army's M56 Scorpion were both intended to be fast, light, air-droppable tank-killers for the Cold War battlefield--an answer to the cumberso

The final volume of Gardner's critically acclaimed biography of the Third Battalion 506 Parachute Infantry Regiment--the sister company to the famed Band of Brothers. This book traces the battalion's

The history of the Vikings is bloody and eventful, and Viking warriors continue to capture the popular imagination to this day. Their adventurous spirit saw them look far beyond their own borders, and

After the recapture of Constantinople, Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos was determined to bring glory back to the Byzantine Empire. To achieve this, he established an Imperial Fleet and raised new reg

Authoritative coverage of the technology and combat histories of America's World War II light cruisers, sure to appeal to enthusiasts of the US Navy, and all those interested in the naval technology a

Sure to appeal to fans of ancient and naval wargaming, this is a set of fast, exciting rules that captures the tactics and excitement of this fascinating era.Poseidon's Warriors is a set of wargaming

A lavishly illustrated guide to the arms and tactics and troop types of the Elves, one of fantasy's most popular races, sure to appeal to fans ofLord of the Rings, Dungeons & Dragons, Warhammer an

Whether you're a nameless Dark Lord looking to conquer the known world, a Champion of Light holding out against the forces of evil or a Northern barbarian facing claimants to a stolen throne,Dragon Ra

From July 1 to 3, 1863, North met South in the battle of Gettysburg in what was to prove one of the key turning points of the Civil War. This epic clash of arms saw nearly 50,000 casualties on both si

Given the merciless way in which the war on the Eastern Front of World War II was conducted, it is difficult to imagine soldiers changing allegiance from one side to another. Yet after the German inva