Krig

A fresh study of the tumultuous events of August 1870 when Prussia overthrew the established order in Europe, laying the foundations for a military and political hegemony lasting into the 20th Century.

A new illustrated study of the devastating, but little-known, Soviet armored blitzkrieg against the Japanese in the last weeks of World War II, and how it influenced Soviet tank doctrine as the Cold War dawned.Although long overshadowed in the West by the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the USSR's lightning strike into Manchuria in August 1945 was one of the most successful and unique campaigns of the era. Soviet forces, led by over 5,500 tanks and self-propelled guns, attacked across huge distances and deserts, marshes, and mountains to smash Japan's million-strong Kwantung Army in a matter of days.Japanese forces were short of training and equipment, but nevertheless fought fiercely, inflicting 32,000 casualties on the Soviets. Red Army operations were characterized by surprise, speed, and deep penetrations by tank-heavy forces born of the brutal lessons they had learned during years fighting the Wehrmacht. Lessons from the campaign directly shaped Soviet Cold War force structure and planning for mechanized operations against the West.Illustrated with contemporary artwork and rare photos from one of the best collections of Soviet military photos in the West, this fascinating book explains exactly how the last blitzkrieg of World War II was planned, fought, and won, and how it influenced the Red Army's plans for tank warfare against NATO in Europe.

Featuring specially commissioned artwork and maps, carefully chosen illustrations and insightful analysis, this book examines the legendary Mongol warriors and their vastly different European opponents. Having conquered much of Central Asia by 1237, the Mongols advanced into the northern Caucasus. The fall of several key centres such as Riazan and Vladimir was followed by Mongol victory at Kiev. Moving west, in 1241 two Mongol armies achieved stunning victories at the battles of Liegnitz in Poland and the Sajo River (Mohi) in Hungary, before suffering their only reverse of the campaign at the fortress of Klis. The Mongol forces regrouped in Hungary to prepare for a further advance into Austria and Germany, but the death of their leader, Ogedei Khan, meant that his generals were required to return to Mongolia to choose a successor. Smaller Mongol forces would return to raid in the years to come, but never again would Western Europe be threatened as it was in 1242.Fully illustrated, this innovative study of the forces that clashed during the Mongol invasion of Europe between 1237 and 1242 allows a comparison to be made between the all-conquering nomad horsemen of the steppes and the mounted knights of the West.

A thrilling expose of the most powerful KGB spy in US history

History of the conception, design, construction of the line, lavishly illustrated with photographs and plans.

"e;[A] narrative of unfathomable courage... Ms. Strauss does her readers-and her subjects-a worthy service by returning to this appalling history of the courage of women caught up in a time of rapacity and war."e; -Wall Street Journal"e;Utterly gripping."e; -Anne Sebba, author of Les Parisiennes "e;A compelling, beautifully written story of resilience, friendship and survival. The story of Women's resistance during World War II needs to be told and The Nine accomplishes this in spades."e; -Heather Morris, New York Times bestselling author of Cilka's JourneyThe Nine follows the true story of the author's great aunt Helene Podliasky, who led a band of nine female resistance fighters as they escaped a German forced labor camp and made a ten-day journey across the front lines of WWII from Germany back to Paris.The nine women were all under thirty when they joined the resistance. They smuggled arms through Europe, harbored parachuting agents, coordinated communications between regional sectors, trekked escape routes to Spain and hid Jewish children in scattered apartments. They were arrested by French police, interrogated and tortured by the Gestapo. They were subjected to a series of French prisons and deported to Germany. The group formed along the way, meeting at different points, in prison, in transit, and at Ravensbruck. By the time they were enslaved at the labor camp in Leipzig, they were a close-knit group of friends. During the final days of the war, forced onto a death march, the nine chose their moment and made a daring escape.Drawing on incredible research, this powerful, heart-stopping narrative from Gwen Strauss is a moving tribute to the power of humanity and friendship in the darkest of times.

On the morning of December 7, 1941, Chief Aviation Ordnanceman John W. Finn, though suffering multiple wounds, continued to man his machine gun against waves of Japanese aircraft attacking the Kaneohe Bay Naval Station during the infamous Pearl Harbor raid. Just over three years later, as World War II struggled into its final months, a B-29 radioman named Red Erwin lingered near death after suffering horrific burns to save his air crew in the skies off Japan. They were the first and last of thirty U.S. Navy, Army, and Marine Corps aviation personnel awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions against the Japanese during World War II. They included pilots and crewmen manning fighters and dive bombers and flying boats and bombers. One was a general. Another was a sergeant. Some shot down large numbers of enemy aircraft in aerial combat. Others sacrificed themselves for their friends or risked everything for complete strangers.Who were these now largely forgotten men? Where did they come from? What inspired them to rise ';above and beyond'? What, if anything, made them different? Virtually all had one thing in common: they always wanted to fly. They came from a generation that revered the aces of World War I, like Eddie Rickenbacker, the civilian flyer Charles Lindbergh, and the lost aviator Amelia Earhartand then they blazed their own trail during World War II.

A comprehensive overview of the work of the Military Vehicles Research and Development Establishment on Chobham Common, which provided armored vehicles for the British Army from 1945 to its close in 2004.Through much of World War II British tanks and armored vehicles were outmatched by the German tanks they encountered and this led to the British Army placing much emphasis on ensuring that the same situation would not arise again if the Cold War turned hot. The task of developing the Main Battle Tanks and supporting armored vehicles to out-range and quickly destroy the Soviet threat fell to the scientists and engineers at the Fighting Vehicle Research and Development Establishment on Chobham Common near to Chertsey, UK. It was the design authority for all British Military vehicles for most of the period.Military vehicle and equipment expert William Suttie draws extensively on official MOD reports to tell the story of the development of the British Cold War armor, such as the Centurion, Chieftain, Challenger, and many other wheeled and tracked armor vehicles that served the British Army of The Rhine. The vehicles developed at the Chertsey site were never used for their intended purpose on the plains of North-west Germany, but have proved their worth in British operations in places like Korea, Bosnia, Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan, as well as in the hands of other users around the world.Fully illustrated with photographs, schemes, and drawings, including some that have never been published before, this is a unique detailed overview of the development of all post-war British armored vehicles.

Colonel John Boyd, a maverick fighter pilot, revolutionized the American art of war but his research relied on accounts written by Wehrmacht veterans who fabricated historical evidence to cover up their participation in Nazi war crimes. The Blind Strategist separates fact from fantasy and exposes the myths of maneuver warfare through a detailed evidence-based investigation and is a must-read for anybody interested in American military history.

This book represents the only detailed study of an Indian national enlisting in Britain's armed forces during the First World War.

A fully illustrated account of the Soviet offensive in the Baltics and the desperate German attempts to hold back the Red Army.

While the First, or 'Great', English Civil War of 1642-6 was largely contested at regional and county level, in often hard-fought and long-lasting local campaigns, historians often still continue to dwell on the well-known major battles such as Edgehill and Naseby. This book redresses this imbalance.

One of Britain's most radical veterans takes us on a guided tour through ex-military life at the heart of a dead empire.

A cultural and intellectual balance-sheet of the twentieth century's age of revolutions