Books by Chris McNab

Book SynopsisPasschendaele 1917 is the story of one of the most pitiless and iconic battles of the First World War, known today as Third Ypres. Fought over three tortuous months in 1917, the fighting raged through some of the worst physical conditions of the entire war, across battlefields collapsing into endless mud and blood.

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Book SynopsisIn September 1939, Hitler's Nazi Germany invaded Poland. Thus began the greatest armed struggle in history. Within days of the invasion, Germany was at war with France, Great Britain and much of the Commonwealth, but by the end of 1941 by which time Japan and the United States had been plunged into war the conflict had engulfed virtually the entire planet. World War II witnessed the mobilisation of more than 100 million military personnel. Here was total war' on a scale never previously experienced by any of the countries involved. The conflict eclipsed everything: industry, technology, the economy and home life. It transformed the lives of an entire generation of men and women, who grew up under the shadow of violence, separation and loss. It was also fought in every conceivable terrain and theatre, from the arctic conditions of the Soviet winter to the tropical landscape of the Pacific islands, with the battle for seas and skies being equally brutal. By the time it ended

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Book SynopsisThe 1973 Yom Kippur War rewrote the textbook on the tactics of modern armored warfare. Unlike the previous major Arab-Israeli war of 1967, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) faced an enemy that had invested heavily in modern Soviet weapon systems and tactics.Using detailed color artwork and insightful analysis, this book explains how the effective use of the Soviet-supplied AT-3 Sagger (9M14 Malyutka) anti-tank missile allowed small Arab tank-killing teams to destroy Israeli armor at an astonishing rate. It also analyzes the tank that opposed it, the US-built M60A1, which had to fight for survival against the Arab Saggers, and shows how in both the Sinai and the Golan Heights, the IDF quickly learned that firepower and infantry/artillery cooperation were the keys to their survival.Table of ContentsIntroduction / Chronology / Design and Development / The Strategic Situation / Technical Specifications / The Combatants / Combat / Statistics and Analysis / Conclusion / Further Reading / Index

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Book SynopsisWho’s going to guide you when your military boot camp class is over? What’s going to help you prepare for the next boot camp challenge? With the aid of superb line artworks, SAS and Elite Forces Guide: Extreme Fitness demonstrates to the reader how special forces soldiers are trained to reach and maintain peak physical fitness. The book explores the different training methods to build up physical strength, speed, agility and endurance, across running, swimming, weight training, circuit training and triathlon events. In addition, it addresses the importance of diet and nutrition, injuries and rest, and using mental fitness to help physical health. With more than 300 easy-to-follow artworks, training tips and workouts used by the U.S. Navy SEALs and British Royal Marines, Extreme Fitness is the definitive guide for the person who wants to be their best.Table of ContentsIntroduction1. Preparing the Body2. Military Workouts3. Extreme Running4. Extreme Water5. Extreme Resistance6. Mixing It Up7. Mental Preparation8. InjuriesGlossaryIndex

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Book SynopsisWorld’s Worst Historical Disasters examines some of the most significant natural and man-made disasters in world history, from those almost lost in the mists of time, such as the plague in Athens which killed 75 per cent of the population and the earthquake in Corinth that left 45,000 people dead to modern day catastrophes such as the New Delhi air collision and the Samastipur train disaster which both cost hundreds of lives. All kinds of horrendous disasters are covered including plagues, earthquakes, volcanoes, genocides, floods, train crashes and aeroplane crashes. Each fascinating account gives a full and detailed analysis of the events leading up to the disaster, the actual disaster itself and then the extent of the damage and the dreadful aftermath. Learn about the massacre at Milan, the great fire of London and the historic San Francisco earthquake. Each story is highly illustrated bringing every disaster to life, plus key facts outline the most important information and allows the reader the see facts at a glance. Whether the result of mankind or an inevitable and uncontrollable act of nature, World’s Worst Historical Disasters will provide an educational and riveting read.Table of ContentsAncient Disasters: 3000BC – 0 Sodom and Gomorrah (2nd millennium BC) Modern science throws light on what could have caused the violent event recounted in the Bible. Indus Valley (1750 BC) The soil turns saline in the Indus Valley, the crops fail, and two great cities (Harappa and Mohenjo- Daro) fall into ruin. Thera (1628 BC) A massive volcanic eruption destroys the city of Akrotiri in Greece and turns the sky yellow over China. Aegean (c.1650) A tsunami 150m (500ft) high devastates the coastline of Crete. Athens (429 BC) Seventy-five per cent of Athens is wiped out by plague. Imperial Disasters: 0 – 1000 AD Rome (64) Fire beginning in the Circus Maximus destroys half the city. Pompeii (79) Pompeii is destroyed in a massive volcanic eruption from Mount Vesuvius. Rome (189) Plague kills 2000 people every day in Rome. Antioch (526) Over 200,000 people are killed in a massive earthquake Milan (539) The population of Milan, 300,000 people, are massacred by the Ostrogoths. Constantinople (732) Plague reduces the population of Constantinople by around 50 per cent. Corinth (856) An earthquake destroys the great city, leaving 45,000 dead. Medieval Disasters: 1000 – 1500 Jerusalem (1099) The Crusaders kill 40,000 people in Jerusalem, although they themselves have suffered 240,000 dead from disease and starvation. Northern Hemisphere (c.1200) The onset of the ‘Little Ice Age’ results in starvation, crop failure and epidemics across the northern hemisphere. Japan (1274) Kublai Khan’s invasion fleet is destroyed off the coast of Japan by a typhoon, sending 200 ships and 13,000 men to the bottom of the sea. Europe (1347–51) The Black Death plague kills 75 million people – one third of the population of Europe. Hispaniola (1493) The Spanish begin colonizing the Americas, beginning the destruction of entire American civilisations and the deaths of 24 million from war and disease. Africa (1497) Portugal establishes its first colonies in Africa, and begins the transatlantic slave trade which will cost over 10 million African lives. Early Modern Disasters: 1500 – 1700 Lisbon (1531) An earthquake wrecks the historic city. Natal (1552) The Portuguese ship Sao Joao runs aground on the Natal coast, drowning 100 and costing the lives of a further 500 during their walk to the nearest Portuguese outpost. Shansi province (1556) An earthquake kills 830,000 people, the greatest seismic disaster in history. New England (1617) Smallpox decimates the North American Indians of New England. North Atlantic (1622) The Spanish galleon Atocha sinks in a storm with 200 people and 200 million pesos on board. India (1632–69) Famine kills four million people in India following a severe drought. London (1666) The Great Fire of London turns large parts of central London to ashes. Zenta (1697) 10,000 Turks drown in the River Zenta when attacked by the army of Eugene of Savoy. Industrial Age Disasters: 1700 – 1900 Japan (1703) The city of Edo is wiped out by earthquake, with 200,000 dead. Lisbon (1755) A huge underwater earthquake destroys Lisbon through tremors, fire and tsunamis. India (1769) Ten million people die in the Great Famine of Bengal. Japan (1783) The eruption of Mount Asama wipes out Japanese crop yields, resulting in massive famine and infanticide. Moscow (1812) Moscow is burnt to the ground by Russian saboteurs. Sumbawa Island (1815) An enormous volcanic eruption in Indonesia ejects 50 cubic kilometres of magma into the air. Russia (1830) A cholera epidemic kills one million people. Ireland (1845) The potato crop fails and Europe-wide starvation takes hold. Mississippi River (1865) The paddle steamer Sultana, chronically overloaded with Civil War veterans, blows up and kills 1700 soldiers. Mobile, Alabama (1865) An ammunition magazine explodes, wrecking the town of Mobile and killing 300 persons. Abergele (1868) The UK’s first major rail disaster kills 33 passengers Chicago (1871) A city-wide fire leaves 100,000 people homeless. Fiji (1875) Measles is introduced into Fiji accidentally by the king, and kills a third of the population. China (1876–79) The worst drought ever recorded, in which nine million people lose their lives. Krakatoa (1883) The island of Krakatoa is destroyed by the biggest volcanic eruption in history. Disasters of a New Century: 1900–45 Martinique (1902) Mont Pelee erupts, killing the entire population of the nearby town of St Pierre. New York (1904) Fire aboard the steamboat General Slocum kills over 1000 people on the East River. San Francisco (1906) The San Francisco earthquake destroys two thirds of the city. West Virginia (1907) An explosion at the Fairmont coal mine kills 362 men and boys. New York (1911) Nearly 150 sweatshop employees of the Triangle Shirtwaist Company die in a factory fire. Atlantic (1912) The cruise ship Titanic hits an iceberg and sinks on her maiden voyage. Ireland (1916) The liner Lusitania is sunk by a German U-boat off the Irish coastline, costing 1198 lives. Global (1918–19) A worldwide influenza pandemic kills over 21 million people. USA (1925) A three-state tornado kills nearly 700 people in Missouri, Illinois and Indiana. France (1930) The British airship the R101 crashes north of Paris. China (1931) A dam across the Yangtze bursts, flooding 104,000 square kilometres of land and precipitating a famine. Soviet Union (1936–38) Stalin’s Great Purge extends over two years and costs the lives of around 10 million Soviet citizens. Nanking (1937) Japanese soldiers commit a month-long massacre of the citizens of Nanking. Leningrad (1941–44) The four-year siege of Leningrad causes the deaths of nearly 800,000 people. Connecticut (1944) The tent of the Barnham & Bailey circus catches fire, and 162 audience members of killed. Baltic (1945) The German refugee ship Wilhelm Gustloff is sunk by a Russian submarine, resulting in history’s worst maritime disaster. Modern Disasters 1945–Present Day China Famine (1959–61) Around 40 million people die of famine, a famine caused mostly by the political tamperings of the communist government. Baikonur Space Centre explosion (1960) The world’s worst space exploration accident – 91 people are killed when an R-16 rocket explodes at the Baikonur Space Centre in Kazakhstan. Aberfan (1966) Over 100 children are killed in their school by a coal waste tip landslide. Bangladesh Cyclone (1970) One million people die when a massive cyclone hits the Ganges Delta Islands, Bangladesh. Tenerife air crash (1977) In the world’s worst civil aviation disaster, two Boeing 747s collide on the runway at Los Rodeos, Tenerife, resulting in 582 dead. Samastipur Train Disaster (1981) A train plunges off a bridge into the Bagmati River in Bihar, India, killing 800 people in the world’s worst train disaster. Bhopal (1984) Thousands die at Bhopal, India, after poisonous gas leaks out from the Union Carbide Factory. Chernobyl (1986) An explosion at the Chernobyl nuclea power station leads to over 2000 deaths from the effects of radiation poisoning. Hillsborough (1989) A crowd surge at the Hillsborough stadium, Sheffield, leads to 96 fans being crushed to death against perimeter railings. New Delhi air collision (1996) Two passenger aircraft collide over New Delhi, killing 351 people. World Trade Center (2001) The worst terrorist attack in history is unleashed against the World Trade Center, New York. Space Shuttle Columbia (2003) The Space Shuttle Columbia breaks up over Texas 16 minutes before landing. Iranian Earthquake (2003) An earthquake in Bam, Iran, results in huge urban destruction and a death toll approaching 40,000. Asian Tsunami (2004) The worst tsunami incident in history kills over 120,000 people in territories bordering the Indian Ocean. Hurricane Katrina (2005) South-eastern America's coast is left devastated by flooding. Haiti Earthquake (2010) One of the world's poorest countries suffers widespread damage and approximately 250,000 people killed. Index

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Book SynopsisThis manual explains the evolution of British coalmining from the 18th to the 20th century, the heyday of British mining, and examines every aspect of life as a pit worker.

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Book SynopsisAirmen and soldiers, knights and pages, gentlemen and rogues: to you we say stiffen your lip and tighten your sword belt! Tie down your trebuchets, wax your moustache and delve into this manliest of manuals, containing everything the well-bred British man needs to know.The Manual for British Men teaches day-to-day skills such as how to besiege a castle, fire a longbow, correctly clean a Maxim machine gun and capture an enemy trench; sporting sciences such as jousting, fencing and boxing (Queensbury Rules, of course); and domestic essentials such as how to hunt, kill, clean and cook a wild boar.

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Book SynopsisSobrevivir a una emergencia en plena naturaleza implica, sin duda, un buen grado de suerte. Sin embargo, conocer ciertas técnicas militares de supervivencia puede, con toda seguridad, equilibrar la balanza a tu favor. Este tipo de habilidades evitarán que tomes decisiones erróneas en momentos créticos y permitirán que te centres en los objetivos primordiales de preservar tu salud y mantenerte a salvo.Este libro te ayudará a adquirir las capacidades que necesitas desarrollar para hacer frente a una emergencia cuando esta se produzca.Este libro proporciona el consejo de expertos en el campo de la supervivencia.Este manual introduce las herramientas y las habilidades necesarias que son necesarias desarrollar para sobrevivir en la naturaleza. Con consejos y técnicas basadas en las prácticas de las fuerzas especiales de elite de las mejores unidades militares del mundo. El libro se divide en siete capítulos que tratan el equipamiento y la vestimenta, el agua y los alimentos, caz

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Book SynopsisCualquiera que sea el punto de vista defendido respecto a las armas de fuego, es innegable que se encuentran entre los inventos más influyentes de la historia de la humanidad. Antes de su aparición, el armamento personal dependía principalmente de la potencia individual del que la usaba, de su fuerza física y de unas habilidades concretas para blandir una espada, un hacha o una maza, o para tensar ballestas y arcos. Las armas de fuego cambiaron radicalmente esta situación. Este libro pertenece a la promoción libros bélicos.

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Book SynopsisThe battle for Europe in 1943-45 was one of the greatest military challenges in the history of the U.S. Army. Fighting against often veteran German forces from the mountains of Italy to the beaches of Normandy and the frozen forests of the Ardennes, hundreds of thousands of US infantrymen had to move quickly beyond their training and acquire real-world combat skills with extraordinary pace, if they were to raise their chances of survival beyond a few days. They fought in an age of total war, in which the enemy deployed heavy armor, artillery, air power, and their own infantry firepower in a battle of true equals. Without the drive and blood of the U.S. Army infantry, the Allies could not have defeated the Wehrmacht in Western Europe.Extensive documentation was provided for the in-theater US Army infantryman, from booklets rather misguidedly advising on how to behave in foreign countries through to field manuals explaining core combat tactics across squad, platoon, company, and battalion levels. This pocket manual presents critical insights from many of these sources, but also draws on broad spectrum of intelligence reports, after-action reports, and other rare publications. Together they give an inside view on what it was light to live and fight in the U.S. Army infantry during arguably the most consequential conflict in human history.Table of ContentsIntroduction 1. Organisation 2. Training and basic infantry skills 3. Daily life, regulations and overseas deployment 4. Weapons and equipment 5. Combat tactics - squad and platoon 6. Combat tactics - company and battalion 7. Logistics

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Book SynopsisWhen HMS Dreadnought was commissioned into the Royal Navy in 1906 this revolutionary new class of big-gun iron-clad warship immediately changed the face of naval warfare, rendering all other battleships worldwide obsolete. The Admiralty realised that as soon as the ship was revealed to the global naval community Britain would be a in race to stay ahead, and so the first dreadnoughts were built in record time. While there were those who regarded the vessel as a triumphant revolution in naval design, the dreadnought initially had its critics, including those who thought its slower, heavier guns left it vulnerable to the secondary armament of other warships. Nevertheless, other countries, notably Germany, and the United States soon began to lay down dreadnoughts. The culmination of this arms race would be the confrontation of the British and German fleets at the Battle of Jutland in May 1916 - the greatest clash of naval firepower in history. This book gives detailed insights into the design, operation and combat history of these incredible vessels.Trade ReviewWhen you pick up a Casemate book in this series, you expect to open a door on what the back cover describes as 'unparalleled detail into the weapons, equipment, and machinery of war,' and the author delivers all this in a satisfying, fine-grained read. Most engrossing, however, is his presentation of the thought work behind the design of the Dreadnought, as well as the gradual recognition of the technological evolutions that eventually made this potent machine possible. * The NYMAS Review 04/01/2023 *The history of the dreadnought is well told this extensively illustrated volume. The book con­tains more than 200 illustration, technical drawings, and photographs of various ships and their equipment, armament, and crews. * Military Heritage *Offers an overview of a time of rapid, tumultuous change in naval technology. It is lavishly illustrated; there are hundreds of photographs, technical drawings, paintings, and diagrams. The text is tightly focused, readable, and free from jargon … As an introduction to a complex and fascinating subject … McNabb has done an admirable job. * Nautical Research Journal 28/09/2022 *Table of ContentsIntroduction Layout Firepower Propulsion and Electrical Systems Crew In War and Peace Appendix Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisWhat would Europe have looked like if Nazi Germany had been victorious in World War II? Between 1933 and 1945, Hitler developed a vision for an infrastructure, architecture, race, labour force and Lebensraum – the acquiring of ‘living space’ – among many other plans. Some of these were implemented during his leadership as the German Wehrmacht expanded the Nazi sphere of influence, but what were the unrealized plans for a Europe dominated by the Third Reich? A racially based order would have been established across European Russia, with former German soldiers running farms worked on by slave labour. Germany and Japan were to carve up the Soviet Union and Asia between them. Berlin was to be rebuilt as Germania, a world capital city designed on grandiose, neo-classical lines. Arranged in chapters covering topics such as leadership, war, physical infrastructure, empire building, race, culture and weaponry, Germany’s Secret Masterplan in World War II reveals the true scale of Hitler’s vision for a Greater Germany and a world dominated by the Nazi ideology. Packed with easy-to-understand maps, diagrams, graphs and illustrations, Germany’s Secret Masterplan in World War II is an essential reference guide for anyone interested in modern European history.Trade Reviewthere are gems that both history buffs and novices would appreciate… a great reference to any history project and indeed, a read that is as surprisingly clear and easy as it is thought provoking -- Ben Biggs * All About History *Forsaking photos for arguably more insightful blueprints, maps and charts, Germany's Secret Masterplan makes a great reference to any history project and indeed, a read that is as surprisingly clear and easy as it is thought provoking. -- Ben Biggs * All About History *Table of ContentsAbsolute Power 6 Destiny in War 28 Creating the German Empire 58 The Physical Reich 94 The Culture of Nazism 126 Racial War 148 Servants of the Reich 172 Tools of War 196 Bibliography 218 Glossary 218 Index 220

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