Military

One of the most remarkable mechanized campaigns of recent years pitted the brutal and heavily armed jihadis of Islamic State against an improvised force belonging to the Kurdish YPG (later the SDF). While some Kurdish vehicles were originally from...

Perhaps the most far-reaching of the many changes wrought on the military by the First World War was the mechanisation of the armed services. After many centuries of use by the Army for patrols and communications, the trusty horse was finally supplanted...

As one of the earliest Arabs to join the Afghan Jihad, the Algerian Islamist Abdullah Anas counted as brothers-in-arms the future icons of al-Qaeda's global war, from Abdullah Azzam to Osama bin Laden, and befriended key Afghan resistance leaders such as...

This is the story of the air war over Western Europe, much of it told by the Halifax pilots and air crew who took part. It spans the period between 1942 and 1945 and covers the encounters between the Luftwaffe and the air forces of Britain and the...

Describes how newly modernized Japan waged war against China in its first overseas campaign, marking its rapid transition into Asia's leading military power only 30 years after emerging from centuries of feudalism. After the Meiji restoration of the...

In The Persian Expedition, Xenophon, a young Athenian noble who sought his destiny abroad, provides an enthralling eyewitness account of the attempt by a Greek mercenary army - the Ten Thousand - to help Prince Cyrus overthrow his brother and take the...

Established in June 1940, the Long Range Desert Group was the inspiration of scientist and soldier Major Ralph Bagnold, a contemporary of T.E Lawrence who, in the inter-war years, explored the North African desert in a Model T Ford automobile.Mortimer...

'Fascinating . . . Shot through with fresh insights . . . No previous biography has attempted anything so comprehensive.' ObserverNelson is a thrilling new appraisal of Horatio Nelson, the greatest practitioner of naval command the world has ever seen...

In war, do mass and materiel matter most? Will states with the largest, best equipped, information-technology-rich militaries invariably win? The prevailing answer today among both scholars and policymakers is yes. But this is to overlook force...

1/72 and 1/48 scale plans of the IA-58 Pucaraincludes all versions:PrototypeBiguaIA-58CBook InformationISBN 9788363678333Author Dariusz KarnasFormat PaperbackPage Count 5Imprint Mushroom Model PublicationsPublisher Wydawnictwo STRATUS, Artur Juszczak

In July 1917, when the Provisional Government issued a warrant for his arrest, Lenin fled from Petrograd; later that year, the October Revolution swept him to supreme power. In the short intervening period he spent in Finland, he wrote his impassioned,...

Organised chronologically by type, Russian Aircraft of World War II offers a highly-illustrated guide to the main types of aircraft used by the Soviet Air Force during World War II. The book provides a comprehensive survey of combat aircraft, from the...

From hallucinogenic mushrooms and LSD, to coca and cocaine; from Homeric warriors and the Assassins to the first Gulf War and today's global insurgents - drugs have sustained warriors in the field and have been used as weapons of warfare, either as...

Without Henry V's Navy, the Battle of Agincourt would never have happened. Henry's fleet played a major - if often unrecognised - part in enabling the king to come within reach of final victory in the Hundred Years War against France. Henry's navy was...

Towards the middle of the third century BC, the Hellenistic kingdoms (the fragments of Alexander the Great's short-lived empire) were near their peak. In terms of population, economy and military power each individual kingdom was vastly superior to Rome,...

With production in excess of 55,000 the Sherman tank was eventually in service with most Allied armies of the Second World War and by the time of the Normandy landings was the mainstay of Britain's armoured battalions. In his second book in the TankCraft...

The Thompson submachine gun, or Tommy gun developed an almost iconic status during the 20th century. It had an unusual beginning, for it was developed during the dying days of World War I as a 'one-man, hand-held machine gun'. The war ended before these...

Get to know England legend Alastair Cook in his fascinating and remarkably honest autobiographyTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER & TELEGRAPH BOOKS OF THE YEAR'He is England's greatest ever batsman . . . a hugely enjoyable book' Daily Mail, SPORTS BOOKS OF THE...

A comprehensive account of the most audacious bombing raid of the Second World War.Operation Chastise - the Dambusters Raid, as it became known - undertaken by 19 Lancasters of 617 Squadron on the night of 16 May 1943, was the most audacious bombing raid...

For centuries, ships' commanders kept journals that recorded their missions. These included voyages of discovery to unknown lands, engagements in war and sea and general trade. Many of their logs, diaries and letters were lodged at The National Archives...

This major collection demonstrates the extent to which Thomas Paine (1737-1809) was an inspiration to the Americans in their struggle for independence, a passionate supporter of the French Revolution and perhaps the outstanding English radical writer of...

This detailed monograph covers the design and development of the P-51B/C Mustang family, the main wartime production variant of this classic fighter aircraft. The P-51B/C model introduced the definitive Packard engine and was the mount of many fighter...

South African Special Forces, known as the 'Recces', are an elite group of soldiers that few can aspire to join. Shrouded in secrecy due to the covert nature of their work, the legendary Recces have long fascinated, but little is known about how they...

Their ferocity is as legendary as their loyalty to the British Monarch and their regimental histories are crammed with actsof incredible bravery and sacrifice. The Gurkhas' particular reputation as fearsome fighting men remains undisputed and the mere...

The most eloquent and expressive statesman of his time - phrases such as 'iron curtain', 'business as usual', 'the few', and 'summit meeting' passed quickly into everyday use - Winston Churchill used language as his most powerful weapon at a time when...

From the author of the celebrated Great War memoirAbout the AuthorFrank Richards was born in 1883 in Monmouthshire. Orphaned at nine years old, he was brought up by his aunt and uncle in the industrial Blaina area, and went on to work as a coal miner...

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER'Stands out for its judicious and unsparing look at events from a British perspective' Dominic Sandbrook, Sunday TimesBetween January and August 1947 the conflicting political, religious and social tensions in India culminated...

Translated by Yuan Shibing and J.J.L.Duyvendak. With introductions by Robert Wilkinson. The two political classics in this book are the product of a time of intense turmoil in Chinese history. Dating from the Period of the Warring States (403-221BC),...

A philosophical exploration of the idea of 'rebellion' by one of the leading existentialist thinkers, Albert Camus' The Rebel looks at artistic and political rebels throughout history, from Epicurus to the Marquis de Sade. This Penguin Modern Classics...

Rick Jolly was the Senior Medical Officer in the Falklands, setting up and running the field hospital at Ajax Bay, where he and his Royal Marine and Parachute Regiment medical teams treated a total of 580 casualties, of which only 3 died of wounds. The...

An incredible 30,000 flights - at least - arrive safely at their destinations every day. But a handful don't, while some come terrifyingly close to crashing. When even the smallest thing does go wrong at 35,000 feet, the result is nearly always a...

John Wenlock, first Lord Wenlock, was a leading diplomat, courtier and soldier during the Wars of the Roses whose remarkable career offers us a fascinating insight into one of the most turbulent periods in English medieval history. And yet he has...

It is said that one of the earliest trades in the world is that of the Armourer. Historically, it is a profession dated slightly after prostitution, but well before banking! Since the birth of the Royal Flying Corps in 1912 through to the modern Royal...

Here, Martin Bowman brings us the first book on Operation Varsity to include both British and US air and ground operations, as well as the US, British and Canadian paratroop and resupply missions, all presented together in one ambitious volume. ...

Day-by-day listings are included covering the locations in Britain where every V1 was either destroyed or where they impacted, plus those for all the V2s. Illustrated with many censored photographs from the period, 'then and now' comparisons bring...

The Second World War is famed for being the conflict that changed the face of warfare, and it is the last that changed the face of the world. In addition to remembering those that passed away in those dark days of war, a sincere debt of gratitude is owed...

Established in 1917 to train Royal Flying Corps aircrew, during WWI Duxford was also the base for two United States Aero Squadrons, 137 and 159, and by the end was a mobilisation airfield for three DH9 day bomber squadrons. During the 1920s and 30s,...

Based on contemporary records and paintings, this book identifies each cavalry and infantry regiment and illustrates changes in uniforms, their facing colours and the nature and shape of lace worn by officers, NCOs and private soldiers from 1751 to 1783...

'Elegantly written, full of wit and charm, this is travel writing at its very best' Orlando FigesIn the summer of 1849, Giuseppe Garibaldi, Italy's legendary revolutionary hero, fled Rome and led 4,000 of his men hundreds of miles through Umbria and...

In this book, a follow-up to the same author's well-received study of British web equipment, Martin Brayley gives a detailed illustrated overview of the webbing straps, holsters, carriers and haversacks used by American combat troops from before World...