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Moshe Dayan (GREAT COMMANDERS)
By Prof Martin van Creveld. 2004
Martin van Creveld's Moshe Dayan tells the story of one man and of one people, to whom he was a…
figurehead - a symbol of their patriotism and their determination to survive. Born in a kibbutz in 1915, Dayan joined the Hagana when he was just fourteen, thus starting early a military career that saw him serve in every war fought in the Middle East from the War of Israeli Independence in 1948 to the Yom Kippur War of 1973. Twice he led his country's forces into smashing victories. Having planned and executed the one and directed the other, with his one eye he towers over them like Nelson over the Battle of Trafalgar.Skilled in battle, skilled in diplomacy, like many powerful public figures, Moshe Dayan's private life was far from mundane. The book quotes from little-known sources, including an account written by one of his mistresses, that reveal much about his character and his life away from the battlefield. This is an honest portrayal of both the private and the public figure, which seeks to understand a man whose contribution to the state of Israel in its developing years was immeasurable.Last Post: The Final Word From Our First World War Soldiers
By Max Arthur. 2005
The 'Forgotten Voices' of the First World War speak for the final time.LAST POST is very consciously the last word…
from the handful of First World War survivors who were left alive in 2004. Now they have passed away, our final human connection with the First World War has been broken.Max Arthur, a skilled interviewer, took the very last chance we had to ask questions of those who were there. Now updated to include a new introduction by the author for the centenary of the First World War.Ill Met By Moonlight (Cassell Military Paperbacks Ser.)
By W. Stanley Moss. 2010
NOW WITH AN INTRODUCTION BY W. STANLEY MOSS'S DAUGHTER GABRIELLA BULLOCK AND AN AFTERWORD BY PATRICK LEIGH FERMORIll Met By…
Moonlight is the true story of one of the most hazardous missions of the Second World War. W. Stanley Moss is a young British officer who, along with Major Patrick Leigh Fermor, sets out in Nazi-occupied Crete to kidnap General Kreipe, Commander of the Sevastopool Division, and narrowly escaping the German manhunt, bring him off the island - a vital prisoner for British intelligence.As an account of derring-do and wartime adventure, made into a classic film starring Dirk Bogarde, Ill Met By Moonlight is one of the most brilliantly written, exciting and compelling stories to come out of the Second World War.Voices from the Napoleonic Wars reveals in telling detail the harsh lives of soldiers at the turn of the eighteenth…
century and in the early years of the nineteenth - the poor food and brutal discipline they endured, along with the forced marches and bloody, hand-to-hand combat. Contemporaries were mesmerised by Napoleon, and with good reason: in 1812, he had an unprecedented million men and more under arms. His new model army of volunteers and conscripts at epic battles such as Austerlitz, Salamanca, Borodino, Jena and, of course, Waterloo marked the beginning of modern warfare, the road to the Sommes and Stalingrad. The citizen-in-arms of Napoleon's Grande Armée and other armies of the time gave rise to a distinct body of soldiers' personal memoirs. The personal accounts that Jon E. Lewis has selected from these memoirs, as well as from letters and diaries, include those of Rifleman Harris fighting in the Peninsular Wars, and Captain Alexander Cavalie Mercer of the Royal Horse Artillery at Waterloo. They cover the land campaigns of the French Revolutionary Wars (1739-1802), the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815) and the War of 1812 (1812-1815), in North America. This was the age of cavalry charges, of horse-drawn artillery, of muskets and hand-to-hand combat with sabres and bayonets. It was an era in which inspirational leadership and patriotic common cause counted for much at close quarters on chaotic and bloody battlefields. The men who wrote these accounts were directly involved in the sweeping campaigns and climactic battles that set Europe and America alight at the turn of the eighteenth century and in the years that followed. Alongside recollections of the ferocity of hard-fought battles are the equally telling details of the common soldier's daily life - short rations, forced marches in the searing heat of the Iberian summer and the bitter cold of the Russian winter, debilitating illnesses and crippling wounds, looting and the lash, but also the compensations of hard-won comradeship in the face of ever-present death. Collectively, these personal accounts give us the most vivid picture of warfare 200 and more years ago, in the evocative language of those who knew it at first hand - the men and officers of the British, French and American armies. They let us know exactly what it was like to be an infantryman, a cavalryman, an artilleryman of the time.A Brief History of the Samurai (Brief Histories)
By Jonathan Clements. 2010
'Clements has a knack for writing suspenseful sure-footed conflict scenes: His recounting of the Korean invasion led by samurai and…
daimyo Toyotomi Hideyoshi reads like a thriller. If you're looking for a samurai primer, Clements' guide will keep you on the hook' Japan Times, reviewed as part of an Essential Reading for Japanophiles series From a leading expert in Japanese history, this is one of the first full histories of the art and culture of the Samurai warrior. The Samurai emerged as a warrior caste in Medieval Japan and would have a powerful influence on the history and culture of the country from the next 500 years. Clements also looks at the Samurai wars that tore Japan apart in the 17th and 18th centuries and how the caste was finally demolished in the advent of the mechanized world.Hitler's U-Boat War: The Hunted 1942-45 (Volume 2)
By Clay Blair. 1998
The second and final volume of the definitive account of the German submarine war.Acclaimed on its publication in 1997 ('should…
become the standard history of the Unterseeboote' - Washington Post) volume one of Clay Blair's magnum opus is here followed by volume two, The Hunted covering 1942-45. In this volume the fortunes of the German navy are completely reversed - due in no small part to Allied codebreaking - and they suffer perhaps the most devastating defeat of any of the Germany forces. destroying their submarine service entirely.Blair has been at work on this history for nine years since the British and American governments began to release official WWII records in the 1980s. Blair himself served in submarines in combat in WWII. He chronicles the U-Boat war with authority, fidelity, objectivity and extraordinary detail. He also writes vivid and dramatic scenes of naval actions and dispassionate, but startling new revelations, interpretations and conclusions about all aspects of the Battle of the Atlantic.The Fighting Irish: The Story of the Extraordinary Irish Soldier
By Tim Newark. 2012
For hundreds of years, Irish soldiers have sought their destiny abroad. Stepping aboard ships bound for England, America, or Europe,…
young Irishmen have been hungry for adventure, a self-made fortune or the means to carry on a cause back home. Wherever he has travelled, whichever side of the battlefield he has stood, the tales of his exploits have never been forgotten.The Irish soldier has always been in the thick of the fight. Leaving his birthplace, he travelled with hope, sometimes wanting to bring a liberating revolution to his fellow countrymen. Often seeking adventure, the Fighting Irish have been found in all corners of the British Empire, winning new territories, gaining a reputation as fearless soldiers. Some sailed to America and joined in frontier fighting or demonstrated their loyalty to their new homeland in the bloody combats of the American Civil War. Others took the opportunity to carry on their home-borne disputes with campaigns against the British Empire in Canada and South Africa.The Irish soldier has been in the thick of war during the twentieth century-facing slaughter at the Somme, surviving prison camps in Korea, desperate last-stands in the Congo-and continuing sacrifice in Iraq and Afghanistan. In Fighting Irish, acclaimed historian Tim Newark tells their tales in the dramatic words of the soldiers themselves, gathered from diaries, letters and journals from archives-and interviews with veterans-in Ireland and across the world.Praise for Highlander:"Tim Newark is a remarkably gifted storyteller." The Scotsman"At last, the Highland soldier has the history he richly deserves. Tim Newark tells the dramatic tale with some startling new stories and superbly researched detail." Andrew Roberts."Highlanders have long been among the most feared soldiers in the world and Tim Newark's book admirably tells their stirring tale. A great read!" Bernard Cornwell.Jungle Soldier: The true story of Freddy Spencer Chapman
By Brian Moynahan. 2009
Arctic explorer, survival expert and naturalist Freddy Spencer Chapman was trapped behind enemy lines when the Japanese overran Malaya in…
1942. His response was to begin a commando campaign of such lethal effectiveness that the Japanese deployed an entire regiment against him, hunting for him as they did for no other. He was wounded, and racked by tropical disease. His companions were killed, or captured and then beheaded. Cut off from friendly forces, his only shelter the deep jungle, Chapman held out for three years and five months. Jungle Soldier recounts the thrilling and unforgettable adventures of the north country orphan who survived against all odds to become a legend of guerrilla warfare.Another Bloody Century: Future Warfare
By Colin S. Gray. 2005
How the wars of the near future will be fought and who will win themMany nations, peoples and special interest…
groups believe that violence will advance their cause. Warfare has changed greatly since the Second World War; it continued to change during the late 20th century and this process is still accelerating. Political, technological, social and religious forces are shaping the future of warfare, but most western armed forces have yet to evolve significantly from the cold war era when they trained to resist a conventional invasion by the Warsaw Pact. America is now the only superpower, but its dominance is threatened by internal and external factors. The world's most hi-tech weaponry seems helpless in the face of determined guerrilla fighters not afraid to die for their beliefs.Professor Colin Gray has advised governments on both sides of the Atlantic and in ANOTHER BLOODY CENTURY, he reveals what sort of conflicts will affect our world in the years to come.Spitfire: The Autobiography
By Jon E. Lewis. 2010
A celebration of the machine and the men who took to the skies in defence of Britain. It is also…
the dramatic illustration of a little understood truth: the Spitfire did more than win the Battle of Britain - it won the war. It was not Stalingrad which turned the corner of the war against Hitler, it was the Spitfire in the summer of 1940 when RAF Fighter Command destroyed the myth of Nazi invincibility.Praise for his previous books:London: The Autobiography:'Fascinating ... brings the story of London to life' Good Book guideThe English Soldier: The Autobiography: 'A triumph' Saul David, author of Victoria's Army'Harrowing, funny and often unbelievable book.' Daily Express'[A] compelling tommy's eye view of war from Agincourt to Iraq' Daily TelegraphThe Wars of the Roses
By Robin Neillands. 1992
A concise and entertaining study of the vicious wars between the English noble houses of York and Lancaster during the…
15th century.The vicious wars between the English noble houses of York and Lancaster marked the end of medieval England and the birth of the Renaissance. The end of that thirty-year period of strife and bloodshed saw the collapse of the great Plantagenet dynasty, rulers of all England and much of France for over three hundred years, and the rise of the Tudors. All the characters are here: Henry V and his luckless son, Henry VI, together with his unfortunate uncles, John of Bedford and Humphrey of Gloucester, not to mention the notorious Richard III and his nephews - The Princes in the Tower. Neillands skilfully tackles this complex period providing a clear and entertaining analysis.Bloody April: Slaughter in the Skies over Arras, 1917
By Peter Hart. 2005
The story of the decimation of the Royal Flying Corps over Arras in 1917As the Allies embarked upon the Battle…
of Arras, they desperately needed accurate aerial reconnaissance photographs. But by this point the Royal Flying Club were flying obsolete planes. The new German Albatros scouts massively outclassed them in every respect: speed, armament, ability to withstand punishment and manoeuverability. Many of the RFC's pilots were straight out of flying school - as they took to the air they were sitting targets for the experienced German aces. Over the course of 'Bloody April' the RFC suffered casualties of over a third. The average life expectancy of a new subaltern on the front line dropped to just eleven days. And yet they carried on flying, day after day, in the knowledge that, in the eyes of their commanders at least, their own lives meant nothing compared to the photographs they brought back, which could save tens of thousands of soldiers on the ground. In this book Peter Hart tells the story of the air war over Arras, using the voices of the men who were actually there.Since Vietnam, both the way we fight and our reasons for going to war have become much more complex.The importance…
of a conflict is determined not by its size or by the numbers of combatants involved but by its ripple effects and its influence upon future events. In a series of thrilling recreations of eight of the most significant encounters of the last three decades, military historian Richard Connaughton presents a fascinating insight into modern warfare, including interviews with some of the major figures. The conflicts include Goose Green in the Falklands, the invasion of Grenada, Operation Desert Storm - the first Iraq War, Operations in Mogadishu as immortalized in the book and film Blackhawk Down, the Siege of Gorazde and Operation Barras in Sierra Leone, as well as more recent events at Fallujah, Iraq, and in Helmand Province, Afghanistan. Richard Connaughton has interviewed most of the major figures involved in each of the conflicts and offers powerful insights into why battles either work or don't. This book will tell you what warfare means in the contemporary world and how it can affect tomorrow.Cochrane
By Donald Thomas. 1978
Bestselling account of the life of a real Horatio HornblowerThe life of Thomas, Lord Cochrane, later 10th Earl of Dundonald,…
was more extraordinary than that of Nelson, more far fetched than that of Hornblower or Patrick O'Brien's Jack Aubrey. Born the son of an eccentric and indigent Scottish peer, he entered the Royal Navy in 1793. In a series of outstanding and heroic actions, often against seemingly overwhelming odds, he made his name fighting Napoleon's navy as one of the most dashing and daring frigate captains of his day, before embarking on a career as a mercenary admiral.SUNDAY TIMES TOP 10 BESTSELLER 'This gripping biography... Pearson has done uncommonly well to unearth so much.' (Max Hastings, Sunday…
Times)Roger Bushell was 'Big X', mastermind of the mass breakout from Stalag Luft III in March 1944, immortalised in the Hollywood film The Great Escape.Very little was known about Bushell until 2011, when his family donated his private papers - a treasure trove of letters, photographs and diaries - to the Imperial War Museum. Through exclusive access to this material - as well as fascinating new research from other sources - Simon Pearson, Chief Night Editor of The Times, has now written the first biography of this iconic figure. Born in South Africa in 1910, Roger Bushell was the son of a British mining engineer. By the age of 29, this charismatic character who spoke nine languages had become a London barrister with a reputation for successfully defending those much less fortunate than him. He was also renowned as an international ski champion and fighter pilot with a string of glamorous girlfriends. On 23 May, 1940, his Spitfire was shot down during a dogfight over Boulogne after destroying two German fighters. From then on his life was governed by an unquenchable desire to escape from Occupied Europe.Over the next four years he made three escapes, coming within 100 yards of the Swiss border during his first attempt. His second escape took him to Prague where he was sheltered by the Czech resistance for eight months before he was captured. The three months of savage interrogation in Berlin by the Gestapo that followed made him even more determined. Prisoner or not, he would do his utmost to fight the Nazis. His third (and last escape) destabilised the Nazi leadership and captured the imagination of the world.He died on 29 March 1944, murdered on the explicit instructions of Adolf Hitler.Simon Pearson's revealing biography is a vivid account of war and love, triumph and tragedy - one man's attempt to challenge remorseless tyranny in the face of impossible odds.Ultimate Sacrifice: John And Robert Kennedy, The Plan For A Coup In Cuba, And The Murder Of Jfk
By Thom Hartmann, Lamar Waldron. 2006
Drawing on seventeen years of research, thousands of recently declassified files, and dozens of interviews, Ultimate Sacrifice re-creates and, in…
many ways, rewrites the crucial period of our history leading up to November 22 1923. In the process, this groundbreaking account provides the missing pieces to the greatest tragic puzzle of post-war America: the true circumstances behind the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. · Ultimate Sacrifice details a previously unknown “Plan for a Coup in Cuba” authorized by President John Kennedy, run by Attorney General Robert Kennedy and set for December 1, 1963. · The Kennedy plan, unique and different from ant previously disclosed operation, was – as detailed in a Joint Chiefs of Staff memo – to have included a “palace coup”, a provisional Cuban government and, if necessary, a “full-scale invasion” by “invited” US military forces. · The CIA’s code name for their part of the operation, AMWORLD, has never previously surfaced in any government investigation, nor in any book or article, making it one of the most covert operations in United States history. · Ultimate Sacrifice will detail how the Kennedy plan was penetrated by three mafia godfathers – Carlos Marcello, Santo Trafficante, and Johnny Roselli – being vigorously pursued by Attorney General Robert Kennedy, along with a dozen of their associates, six of whom were also working on the Coup plan. · The crime bosses then used parts of the Coup Plan/AMWORLD to arrange JFK’s assassination in a way that would prevent a truly thorough government investigation in order to protect the Coup Plan, its participants, and national security. · By using the secrecy surrounding the Plan, the mob bosses would target JFK not only in Dallas but in two earlier attempts, one in Chicago on November 1 and them one in Tampa on November 18, which Ultimate Sacrifice reveals for the first time in any book. · Ultimate Sacrifice has finally pieced together the whole story by building on the work of the seven governmental committees that have investigated aspects of the assassination, on the work of former government investigators, and on the four million documents that were declassified in the 1990s, in addition to exclusive interviews with dozens of witnesses and participants including Secretary of State Dean Rusk, Press Secretary Pierre Salinger, and the Kennedys’ closest Cuban exile aide, Harry “Ruiz” Williams.The Lessons Of Terror: A History of Warfare Against Civilians
By Caleb Carr. 2002
In the wake of the attacks on New York and Washington many people believe we have entered a new world,…
but in this thought-provoking and thorough examination of the history of terrorism we can take comfort from the fact that we have been in this new world before - and survived.By drawing on the examples of history from the ancient, mediaeval and early modern worlds, Caleb Carr demonstrates how attempts to control civilian populations with the use of terror grew into a persistent problem in human history. Moving forward into more recent times he then demonstrates how and why such tactics have consistently failed their perpetrators - from the British scorched earth policy during the American War of Independence to terror at sea during WWI to the Japanese rape of China in WWII to the war in Vietnam and, ultimately, to the actions of Islamic extremists today.An important and timely book which throws much needed light on many of the questions being posed today.A Brief History of the Crusades (Brief Histories)
By Geoffrey Hindley. 2003
Why did the medieval Church bless William of Normandy's invasion of Christian England in 1066 and authorise cultural genocide in…
Provence? How could a Christian army sack Christian Constantinople in 1204? Why did thousands of ordinary men and women, led by knights and ladies, kings and queens, embark on campaigns of fanatical conquest in the world of Islam? The word 'Crusade' came later, but the concept of a 'war for the faith' is an ancient one. Geoffrey Hindley instructively unravels the story of the Christian military expeditions that have perturbed European history, troubled Christian consciences and embittered Muslim attitudes towards the West. He offers a lively record of the Crusades, from the Middle East to the pagan Baltic, and fascinating portraits of the major personalities, from Godfrey of Bouillon, the first Latin ruler of Jerusalem, to Etienne, the visionary French peasant boy who inspired the tragic Children's Crusade. Addressing questions rarely considered, Hindley sheds new light on pressing issues surrounding religious division and shows how the Crusades have helped to shape the modern world and relations between Christian and Muslim countries to this day.The Somme
By Peter Hart, Nigel Steel. 2005
A major new history of the most infamous battle of the First World War, as described by the men who…
fought it.On 1 July 1916, Douglas Haig's army launched the 'Big Push' that was supposed finally to bring an end to the stalemate on the Western Front. What happened next was a human catastrophe: scrambling over the top into the face of the German machine guns and artillery fire, almost 20,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers were killed that day alone, and twice as many wounded - the greatest loss in a single day ever sustained by the British Army. The battle did not stop there, however. It dragged on for another 4 months, leaving the battlefield strewn with literally hundreds of thousands of bodies. The Somme has remained a byword for the futility of war ever since. In this major new history, Peter Hart describes how the battle looked from the point of view of those who fought it. Using never-before-seen eyewitness testimonies, he shows us this epic conflict from all angles. We see what it was like to crawl across No Man's Land in the face of the German guns, what it was like for those who stayed behind in the trenches - the padres, the artillerymen, the doctors. We also see what the battle looked like from the air, as the RFC battled to keep control of the skies above the battlefield. All this is put in the context of the background to the battle, and Haig's overall strategy for the Western Front, making this the most comprehensive history of the battle since Lyn MacDonald's bestselling work over 20 years ago.100 Military Inventions that Changed the World: That Changed The World
By Philip Russell. 2013
Nothing ensures the rapid development of new technology like the involvement of the military. From the trebuchet and the cannon…
to the tank and the ballistic missile, military research programmes have produced the most devastating weapons imaginable, but military masterminds are responsible for a number of surprises along the way as well.Radar, walkie-talkies and the jet engine are more obvious examples of military inventions that are now in everyday use around the world, but there are plenty of items with which all of us come into contact on a daily basis that have been developed from military technology. Rod Green describes how the microwave oven in your kitchen, the sat-nav in your car or the Internet that you use every day all owe their existence to the military as he takes us on a highly entertaining voyage of discovery through the world of military inventions ancient and modern.