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Showing 2321 - 2340 of 3808 items
By Général Baron Pierre Berthezène. 2013
« Souvenirs militaires de la République et de l'Empire. Paris, Dumaine, 1855, 2 vol. in-8°. Portr.Bon récit de la seconde…
campagne d'Italie (pp. 85-108) et surtout des opérations en Prusse et de l'occupation du pays : recensement des ressources (donations, problème de la monnaie... (pp. 111-168). Nombreux détails, mais des inexactitudes, sur la campagne d'Autriche (pp. 169-270), l'expédition d'Anvers (pp. 273-283). La guerre en Russie occupe les dernières pages du tome I et le début du tome II. La campagne de 1813 est également racontée de façon détaillée. A peu près rien en revanche sur la campagne de France. Les souvenirs s'achèvent sur les opérations de 1815. C'est par cette partie que Berthezène avait commencé la rédaction de ses mémoires en 1816. Malgré quelques erreurs, il a l'avantage sur d'autres généraux, de s'attacher à décrire les pays occupés ou envahis. » p 16 - Professeur Jean Tulard, Bibliographie Critique Des Mémoires Sur Le Consulat Et L'Empire, Droz, Genève, 1971By Captain Elzéar Blaze, E Jules Méras. 2013
Many memoirs of the Napoleonic period are recounting, more or less interesting dependant on the author, of the events of…
their service interspersed by anecdotes of interesting events, Elzéar Blaze eschewed that style of reminiscence and left a singular view of his time in the Grande Armée. His memoirs are highly stylised, divided into the 'themes' of military life, and eruditely written by an educated man of the era, who combined wit with an eye for an anecdote. He covers the different aspects of his military career with amusing stories and vivid recollections of the men with which he served, a number of the generals who commanded them, and the enemies that they were fought and were billeted on if they were in occupation; he covers the school of the Vélites, his military training, the marches, camp-life, bivouacs, active campaigning, and the battles fought under Napoleon. Blaze, like his brother, sought out a military life under the eagles of Napoleon, he enlisting in the Vélites of the Imperial Guard, his brother into the medical services of the army. The Vélites were founded as part of Napoleon's further, ultimately unsuccessful, attempts to sway the aristocracy to fall in line and support his rule. The military tutelage in the Vélites was to be supported by private means, which translated into their ranks being filled with the scions of the nobility and wealthy bourgeoisie. Blaze fought as part of Napoleon's invincibles from 1807 until the end of the empire, but continued his service under the returned Bourbons and retired as captain in 1828.An interesting and different view of the Grande Armée.By Freiherr von Christian Ompteda, Freiherr von Ludwig Ompteda. 2013
Colonel Baron Christian Ompteda, 1765-1815, was one of the most distinguished Hanoverian officers of the Napoleonic period. He served in…
the Netherlands in 1793-5 and was orderly to the Duke of York, but he was wounded and suffered the first of his mental breakdowns. One of the early members of the King's German Legion, he commanded the 1st Line Battalion and was exchanged after being shipwrecked on the Dutch coast in 1807. He sailed for the Peninsula in 1808 but a further bout of mental instability led to his retirement. His friend Scharnhorst helped his recovery, Ompteda rejoined the Legion as commander of the 1st Light Battalion in 1812, serving through the remainder of the Peninsular War which included the Battle of Vittoria, the storm of Tolosa, the siege of San Sebastian, fighting on the Nive, and the siege of Bayonne, 1814.In the Hundred Days campaign, he commanded the 2nd K. G. L. Brigade, which included his own 5th Line Battalion. At Waterloo, ordered by the Prince of Orange and Alten to make a suicidal attack, he calmly drew his sword, asked a friend to try to save his nephews, and rode off at the head of his men. As he had realised, the order resulted in the near destruction of his battalion but he carried it out without hesitation and was last seen surrounded by French troops. Shot through the neck, his body was recovered and buried near the gate of La Haye Sainte.By Field Marshal Count Maximilian Yorck von Wartenburg, Major Walter H. James. 2013
A complete analysis of Napoleon Bonaparte as a general. Possibly the best analysis ever written, and the source book for…
many later works.There are many books about Napoleon, and some of them attempt to analyse his particular brand of military genius. Almost all these books owe a tremendous debt to Colonel Count Yorck von Wartenburg. His book was published at the end of the nineteenth Century and is still as important today; indeed, Dr David Chandler acknowledges that he used the book as one of the primary works when researching his momentous history of Napoleon. After a brief look at Napoleon's youth and early career Wartenburg sets out Napoleon's military exploits chronologically, beginning with the campaign in Italy, and the battles for Mantua. The first volume then describes the campaigns in Egypt and Syria before giving an account of the first of Napoleon's great battles: Marengo. Ulm, Austerlitz, Jena, Eylau and Friedland complete Volume I. Volume II covers Spain, Ratisbon, Wagram and the ill-fated invasion of Russia. After Moscow and the Beresina crossing came the armistice, and then Dresden and Leipzig. The book ends with the exile of Napoleon for the last time after his defeat at Waterloo. The writing is always clear and uncomplicated, suiting a description of twenty years in Europe which threw the political map into confusion, and had as legacy the mistrust between France and the remainder of the continent, and the growth of Prussian military might and British complacency in military matters.By Captain James Maccarthy. 2013
The situation for the Duke of Wellington and his British and Portuguese troops in 1812 was somewhat perilous. Although they…
had chased Masséna and his French Legions from Spain, overwhelming numbers of enemy troops were still in Spain despite being scattered through the provinces. For Wellington to move forward and take the fight to the enemy, he would have to take the two border fortresses of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajos, and do so quickly before the bickering French marshals united against him. After capturing Ciudad Rodrigo in a bloody but short siege, the Iron Duke turned his attention on the much more formidable fortress of Badajos, a fortress that they had failed to take before.The few trained Allied engineers were bolstered by volunteer officers like the author Captain MacCarthy, who undertook the dangerous work of the engineers. However, a lack of artillery and shot meant that the task would be exceptionally difficult, and pressed by time Wellington orders an early assault by the best of his infantry over barely practicable breeches. As a diversion, he also orders an attempt to capture the castle of Badajos by escalade - the author himself being part of this diversionary effort. In the event, the breeches prove to be impregnable and after repeated murderous attempts, the defences of Badajos are only breached by the ladder borne assault on the castle.Captain MacCarthy's short narrative is vividly written filled with the blood and shot of the siege and the castle's final capture.By Anon, Laure Junot duchesse d’Abrantès, S. M. Hamilton. 2013
Laure Junot, Duchesse d'Abrantes stands as one of the most influential figures in shaping the Napoleonic era: she was no…
statesman, military or civil leader, but she was a hugely well connected member of the court of Napoleon, and an inveterate gossip. An old family friend of the Bonaparte's from Corsica, she was married to one of Napoleon's oldest friends Andoche Junot, thus moving in the highest circles in Paris, known by and knowing everyone of note. Originally written at huge length (some editions run to more than 12 volumes), this English edition provides the highlights of her witty, irreverent, yet highly informative memoirs of the reign of Napoleon.By Général Baron Pierre Berthezène. 2013
« Souvenirs militaires de la République et de l'Empire. Paris, Dumaine, 1855, 2 vol. in-8°. Portr.Bon récit de la seconde…
campagne d'Italie (pp. 85-108) et surtout des opérations en Prusse et de l'occupation du pays : recensement des ressources (donations, problème de la monnaie... (pp. 111-168). Nombreux détails, mais des inexactitudes, sur la campagne d'Autriche (pp. 169-270), l'expédition d'Anvers (pp. 273-283). La guerre en Russie occupe les dernières pages du tome I et le début du tome II. La campagne de 1813 est également racontée de façon détaillée. A peu près rien en revanche sur la campagne de France. Les souvenirs s'achèvent sur les opérations de 1815. C'est par cette partie que Berthezène avait commencé la rédaction de ses mémoires en 1816. Malgré quelques erreurs, il a l'avantage sur d'autres généraux, de s'attacher à décrire les pays occupés ou envahis. » p 16 - Professeur Jean Tulard, Bibliographie Critique Des Mémoires Sur Le Consulat Et L'Empire, Droz, Genève, 1971By Prince Aage of Denmark. 2013
Prince Aage could have lived a remarkably quiet, rich and privileged life as a hereditary prince to the throne of…
Denmark; however, none of these responsibilities seemed to sit well with the Prince. His thirst for action and danger were only sated by military and amorous adventures; his memoirs are concerned only with his service in the French Foreign Legion in the deserts of Morocco, where there were pitifully few opportunities for female companions.Prince Aage joined the elite Foreign legion in 1922 having already fought in the First World War as an artillery observer. His taste for adventure seems to be his prime motivator. At this time in the history of Morocco was a French protectorate, and was undergoing a rebellion of the Berbers and tribes of the Rif mountains. As always, the Legion was at the forefront of the fighting, including the author who amongst his numerous engagements would receive a Croix de Guerre for a leg wound sustained in the fighting.An interesting autobiography from the French Foreign Legion.By Légionnaire Russell A. Kelly. 2013
The French Army have had numerous foreign regiments in its service for centuries; however, few have the mystique and elite…
status of the French Foreign Legion. It became a haven for the rough, tough, and adventure-seeking crowds of all of Europe. Bred with a fierce and disciplined esprit de corps, these soldiers could expect to fight France's enemies even in the most desperate of circumstances.Like his American compatriot Henry Weston Farnsworth, Russell Kelly enlisted in the French Foreign Legion as soon as possible after the declaration of war was made and the start of the awful slaughter of the First World War began. After a scant two months of training, Kelly recounts that he and his fellow soldiers were shipped off to the Front. Within a mere three months, his letters tell of the vicious and confused fighting that he was involved in around Bouzy and then in the Arras sector. He and his unit were heavily engaged during the battle of Artois and after a short spell of rest and recruitment were back in the frontlines near Souchez, where Legionnaire Kelly met his end.These letters were thought of such quality and interest that they were published in the New York Evening Sun.By Lieutenant-Colonel Louis Bégos. 2013
« Souvenirs de campagnes du lieutenant-colonel Louis Bégos, ancien capitaine adjudant-major au 20 régiment suisse au service de la France.…
Lausanne, Delafontaine, 1859, in-8°, 188 p.Bégos a voulu par réaction contre Thiers qu'il accuse d'avoir oublié le rôle des soldats suisses, dans les armées napoléoniennes, raconter sa participation aux opérations militaires en Italie, en Espagne et en Russie. » p 14 - Professeur Jean Tulard, Bibliographie Critique Des Mémoires Sur Le Consulat Et L'Empire, Droz, Genève, 1971By Frederick David Baillie. 2013
The siege of Mafeking still stands as one of the British Military's high achievements, especially during the depths of the…
badly handled Boer War. The successful defence and relief were a shot in the arm for the British public which had become all too used to defeats and reverses in South Africa. Leading the heroic defence of Mafeking was the Colonel Baden-Powell, whose ingenious new methods of keeping the defence going - such as an armoured train, a salvaged cannon, fake barbed wire - were to become part of his legend.Enduring the siege with Baden-Powell was the correspondent for the Morning Chronicle, F.D Baillie, a late major in the 4th Queen's Own Hussars; who wrote a day-by-day account of the siege from behind the defences.This edition benefits from numerous illustrations from the newspaper clippings of the time.By Henry Weston Farnsworth. 2013
The French Army have had numerous foreign regiments in its service for centuries; however, few have the mystique and elite…
status of the French Foreign Legion. It became a haven for the rough, tough, and adventure-seeking crowds of all of Europe. Bred with a fierce and disciplined esprit de corps, these soldiers could expect to fight France's enemies even in the most desperate of circumstances.With the clouds of war gathering over Europe in the early years of the Twentieth Century, the Legion attracted volunteers from even further afield, including the wealthy American adventurer and traveller Henry Weston Farnsworth. He volunteered for service early in late 1914 and was thrown together with a diverse bunch of men from a number of countries, some of whom he would bond with closely. His pen portraits in his letters to his family are filled with these characters and the experiences he had in the front-lines. However, Farnsworth would fight among his new friends for only a few months as the fighting in France grew ever more fierce and his unit was thrown into the battles in Champagne during which he died.By Tim Keown, Billy Waugh. 2004
For more than half a century, Special Forces and CIA legend Billy Waugh dedicated his life to tracking down and…
eliminating America's most virulent enemies. Operating from the darkest shadows and most desolate corners of the world, he made his mark in many of the most important operations in the annals of U.S. Spec Ops. He spent seven and a half years behind enemy lines in Vietnam as a member of a covert group of elite commandos. He trailed Osama Bin Laden in Khartoum in the early '90s, and would have killed the terrorist kingpin if his superiors had allowed it. And at the age of seventy-two, he marched through the frozen high plains of Afghanistan as part of Operation Enduring Freedom. Hunting the Jackal is the astonishing true account of the singular career of a courageous soldier in his nation's shadow wars -- including his pivotal role in the previously untold story of the capture of the most infamous and elusive assassin in history, Carlos the Jackal.By Geoffrey Roberts. 2006
This breakthrough book provides a detailed reconstruction of Stalin's leadership from the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939…
to his death in 1953. Making use of a wealth of new material from Russian archives, Geoffrey Roberts challenges a long list of standard perceptions of Stalin: his qualities as a leader; his relationships with his own generals and with other great world leaders; his foreign policy; and his role in instigating the Cold War. While frankly exploring the full extent of Stalin's brutalities and their impact on the Soviet people, Roberts also uncovers evidence leading to the stunning conclusion that Stalin was both the greatest military leader of the twentieth century and a remarkable politician who sought to avoid the Cold War and establish a long-term detente with the capitalist world. By means of an integrated military, political, and diplomatic narrative, the author draws a sustained and compelling personal portrait of the Soviet leader. The resulting picture is fascinating and contradictory, and it will inevitably change the way we understand Stalin and his place in history. Roberts depicts a despot who helped save the world for democracy, a personal charmer who disciplined mercilessly, a utopian ideologue who could be a practical realist, and a warlord who undertook the role of architect of post-war peace.By Anon., Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz. 2013
When Prussia, with her German allies, went to war with the French Empire under Napoleon III, her navy sat with…
tons of barnacles on the hulls of her battleships. Her navy was small, ineffective, without doctrine and destitute of funding. As nascent Germany struggled to become a 'Great Power', the navy was to be thoroughly updated. The man who took on this challenge was Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, a seasoned sailor who was given huge power as the Secretary of State for the Imperial Navy Office to ring the changes and produce a force that would be a political weapon on the World Stage.Tirpitz and his officers set to work without any of the preconceptions that hamstrung their only obvious opponent, the Royal Navy, and advanced the idea of submarines and torpedoes as critical weapons of Naval importance. The fruits of his labours produced a potent navy which sought to antagonize the Royal Navy into conflict, and during the only major engagement of the First World War at Jutland, their superior gunnery caused much damage to the British Fleet. He was, however, hoisted by his own petard in 1916, brought down by his own restless advocacy of unrestricted submarine warfare.Author -- Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, 1849-1930.Text taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in New York, Dodd, Mead, and company, 1919.Original Page Count - 428 pagesBy Anon., Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz. 2013
When Prussia, with her German allies, went to war with the French Empire under Napoleon III, her navy sat with…
tons of barnacles on the hulls of her battleships. Her navy was small, ineffective, without doctrine and destitute of funding. As nascent Germany struggled to become a 'Great Power', the navy was to be thoroughly updated. The man who took on this challenge was Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, a seasoned sailor who was given huge power as the Secretary of State for the Imperial Navy Office to ring the changes and produce a force that would be a political weapon on the World Stage.Tirpitz and his officers set to work without any of the preconceptions that hamstrung their only obvious opponent, the Royal Navy, and advanced the idea of submarines and torpedoes as critical weapons of Naval importance. The fruits of his labours produced a potent navy which sought to antagonize the Royal Navy into conflict, and during the only major engagement of the First World War at Jutland, their superior gunnery caused much damage to the British Fleet. He was, however, hoisted by his own petard in 1916, brought down by his own restless advocacy of unrestricted submarine warfare.Author -- Grand Admiral Alfred von Tirpitz, 1849-1930.Text taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in New York, Dodd, Mead, and company, 1919.Original Page Count - x and 377 pagesBy General Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff, Anon Anon. 2013
As the German army moved swiftly into its start positions at the beginning of the First World War, efficiently and…
seamlessly forming up for the hammer blow that was to fall on France it must have been with some pride that General Ludendorff would look upon the first grand strategical plan that he had a hand in. A cool, calculating planner dedicated to ensuring that chance played as little a part in war as possible General Erich Ludendorff was the product of the prestigious German Kriegsakademie. His memoirs on the First World War are an excellently detailed account of the planning and execution of the ambitious German High command and their thirst for VictoryAlthough known primarily as staff officer his initial service, in the German army, during the war, was at the siege of Liège for which he was awarded the coveted Pour La Mérite by the Kaiser himself. He was rushed to the embattled Eastern Front as Chief of Staff to General von Hindenburg, and the two made an impressive team winning that battles of Tanneburg and the Masurian Lakes. Once again Ludendorff, this time was his chief Hindenburg, was drafted in as a replacement to ensure the fortunes of the German forces, this time on the Western front in 1916. He operated as the prime mover in the German empire from this point until the end of the war; masterminding the 1918 offensives as the last throw of the dice before capitulation.This second volume covers from 1917 until the end of the War and is enriched with maps of the campaigns of the First World War.Author -- General Ludendorff, Erich Friedrich Wilhelm, 1865-1937.Translator -- Anon.Text taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in New York and London, Harper & Brothers, 1919.Original Page Count - 473 pagesBy General Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff, Anon Anon. 2013
As the German army moved swiftly into its start positions at the beginning of the First World War, efficiently and…
seamlessly forming up for the hammer blow that was to fall on France it must have been with some pride that General Ludendorff would look upon the first grand strategical plan that he had a hand in. A cool, calculating planner dedicated to ensuring that chance played as little a part in war as possible General Erich Ludendorff was the product of the prestigious German Kriegsakademie. His memoirs on the First World War are an excellently detailed account of the planning and execution of the ambitious German High command and their thirst for VictoryAlthough known primarily as staff officer his initial service, in the German army, during the war, was at the siege of Liège for which he was awarded the coveted Pour La Mérite by the Kaiser himself. He was rushed to the embattled Eastern Front as Chief of Staff to General von Hindenburg, and the two made an impressive team winning that battles of Tanneburg and the Masurian Lakes. Once again Ludendorff, this time was his chief Hindenburg, was drafted in as a replacement to ensure the fortunes of the German forces, this time on the Western front in 1916. He operated as the prime mover in the German empire from this point until the end of the war; masterminding the 1918 offensives as the last throw of the dice before capitulation.This first volume covers his early career until 1917 and is enriched with maps of the campaigns of the First World War.Author -- General Erich Friedrich Wilhelm Ludendorff, 1865-1937.Translator -- Anon.Text taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in New York and London, Harper & Brothers, 1919.Original Page Count - 477 pagesBy Kapitänleutnant Paul König. 2013
The arrival of the submarine Deutschland in the harbour of New York in July of 1916 produced one of the…
sensation of the year. How had a U-Boat sailed all the way from Germany to the United States evading all of the counter-measures of the might Royal Navy and the even the U.S. coastal defences? The captain of the Deutschland, Paul König, was feted as a national hero in Germany and was lauded by those of German extraction in New York.He wrote this memoir of his famed journey from the inland waters of Germany all the way to the United States, it is filled with the dangers of the nascent submarine, in particular the fumes and heat of the diving compartment. Notable also the U-Boat had come as a merchantman, meaning that König was unarmed for combat and could only rely on deception to fulfill his mission to outwit his enemies.Author -- Kapitänleutnant Paul König (1867-1933)Text taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in New York, Hearst's international library co., 1916.Original Page Count - xii and 247 pages.By Edouard Victor Michel Izac. 2013
Of the many weapons in the German arsenal during the First World War amongst the most effective were the silent…
undersea craft of the Kreigsmarine. The U-Boats prowled the oceans looking for prey, after the Kaiser removed all restrictions on the U-Boat captains in 1916 they could sink indiscriminately. As the troops of the United States pored over the Atlantic after the declaration of War in 1917 the U-Boats beneath the waves would have fresh targets. As the U.S.S. President Lincoln, a converted troop transport, returned to the United States, having set her cargo of soldiers on to French soil, she was suddenly torpedoed by the U-90. As the ship slowly sank a handful of her naval personnel were picked up by the submarine. Among them was Lieutenant Izac, who would earn the Congressional Medal of Honor for his successful escape from the clutches of his German captors.Author --Edouard Victor Michel Izac.Text taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in Boston, Houghton, Mifflin company, 1919.Original Page Count - vii and 184 pages.Illustrations -- 2 plans