First World War Books

Book SynopsisFor centuries, battleships provided overwhelming firepower at sea. They were not only a major instrument of warfare, but a visible emblem of a nation’s power, wealth and pride. The rise of the aircraft carrier following the Japanese aerial strike on Pearl Harbor in 1941 highlighted the vulnerabilities of the battleship, bringing about its demise as a dominant class of warship. This book offers a detailed guide to the major types of battleships to fight in the two World Wars. Explore HMS Dreadnought, the first of a class of fast, big-gun battleships to be developed at the beginning of the 20th century; see the great capital ships that exchanged salvos at the battle of Jutland, including the German battlecruiser Derfflinger, which sank the British battleship Queen Mary; find out about the destruction of HMS Hood, which exploded after exchanging fire with the Bismarck, which itself was sunk after a trans-Atlantic chase by a combination of battery fire and aircraft-launched torpedoes; and be amazed at the ‘super-battleship’ Yamato, which despite its size and firepower, made minimal contribution to Japan’s war effort and was sunk by air attack during the defence of Okinawa. Illustrated with more than 120 vivid artworks and photographs, Technical Guide: Battleships of World War I and World War II is an essential reference guide for modellers and naval warfare enthusiasts.Table of ContentsContents to include: World War I: Jaureguiberry 1896 Canopus 1899 Kearsarge 1900 Mikasa 1902 Tsessarevitch 1903 Dreadnought 1906 Schleswig-Holstein 1908 South Carolina 1910 Hercules 1911 Lion 1912 Wyoming 1912 Derfflinger 1913 Kongo 1913 Royal Oak (or Revenge) 1914 Texas 1914 Andrea Doria 1915 Queen Elizabeth 1915 Barham 1915 Canada 1915 Fuso 1915 Provence 1915 Nevada 1916 Bayern 1916 Royal Sovereign 1916 Courageous 1917 Ise 1917 Mississippi 1917 World War II: Hood 1920 Nagato 1920 Jaime I 1922 Rodney 1927 Lutzow/Graf Spee 1933 Gneisenau 1938 Dunkerque 1937 Scharnhorst 1939 Littorio 1940 Bismarck 1940 Prince of Wales 1940 Richelieu 1940 Yamato 1940 Vittorio Veneto 1940 Prince of Wales 1941 Tirpitz 1941 Howe 1942 Indiana 1942 Iowa 1943 Missouri 1944 Guam 1944 Vanguard 1946

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Book SynopsisInvented during World War I to break the grim deadlock of the Western Front trenches, tanks have gone on to revolutionise warfare. From the lightning Blitzkrieg assaults of World War II to the great battles in the Middle Eastern desert and the largest ever tank battles on the Eastern Front, tanks have become one of the key components of the 'combined arms' philosophy of warfare. This pocket guide gives the reader all of the essential information on 40 of history's premiere tanks, including the Tiger, Sherman, Panther and M1A1 Abrams. Each tank is presented with a detailed drawing to aid recognition.

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Book SynopsisThe Amazon History Book of the Year 2013 is a magisterial chronicle of the calamity that befell Europe in 1914 as the continent shifted from the glamour of the Edwardian era to the tragedy of total war.In 1914, Europe plunged into the 20th century's first terrible act of self-immolation what was then called The Great War. On the eve of its centenary, Max Hastings seeks to explain both how the conflict came about and what befell millions of men and women during the first months of strife.He finds the evidence overwhelming, that Austria and Germany must accept principal blame for the outbreak. While what followed was a vast tragedy, he argues passionately against the poets' view', that the war was not worth winning. It was vital to the freedom of Europe, he says, that the Kaiser's Germany should be defeated.His narrative of the early battles will astonish those whose images of the war are simply of mud, wire, trenches and steel helmets. Hastings describes how the French Army marched intTrade ReviewBOOK OF THE YEAR – AS CHOSEN BY THE INDEPENDENT, FINANCIAL TIMES, OBSERVER, TIMES LITERARY SUPPLEMENT AND SPECTATOR. ‘Like one of Field Marshal Haig’s family whiskies, Max Hastings is a dram that steadily improves with age … His position as Britain’s leading military historian is now unassailable … In this enormously impressive new book, Hastings effortlessly masters the complex lead-up to and opening weeks of the First World War … [He] is as magisterial as we would expect … This is a magnificent and deeply moving book, and with Max Hastings as our guide we are in the hands of a master’ Nigel Jones, Telegraph ‘Hastings is the author of consistently good histories of WWII. But with ‘Catastrophe’ he has reached a new level of excellence’ The Times ‘Magnificent … Hastings writes with an enviable grasp of pace and balance, as well as an acute eye for human detail. Even for readers who care nothing for the difference between a battalion and a division, his book is at once moving, provocative and utterly engrossing’ Sunday Times ‘Masterly … Hastings is a brilliant guide to that strange, febrile twilight before Europe plunged into darkness. Writing in pungent prose suffused with irony and underpinned by a strong sense of moral outrage … this is history-writing at its best, scholarly and fluent … for anyone wanting to understand how that ghastly, much-misunderstood conflict came about, there could be no better place to start than this fine book’ The Times ‘One could scarcely ask for a better guide to these horrors than Max Hastings … he is a superb writer with a rare gift for evoking the rhythm, mood and raw physical terror of battle … If you are looking for a humane and compelling interpretive chronicle of the formative months of this horrific conflict, you will find none better’ Mail on Sunday ‘Very readable. Character, pace, sense of landscape, battlefield detail – all are superbly done … it's a splendid read’ Observer

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Book SynopsisOrganised chronologically by type, German Aircraft of World War I offers a highly-illustrated guide to the main types of aircraft used by the German Air Force during World War I. The book offers a comprehensive survey of German aircraft, from the Albatros B.1 and Fokker E.II of the early years, to the more sophisticated Fokker D.VII and Junkers CL.1 of the final months of the war. All the major and many minor types are featured, including monoplanes, biplanes, single-seater fighters, two-seater fighters, bombers, ground attack aircraft, night bombers, giant bombers and floatplanes. This includes both well-known and lesser- known models, such as the LVG and Pfalz single-seater fighters, the Gotha and Zeppelin Staaken large bombers, AEG ground attack aircraft, and the Albatross, Halberstadt and Brandenburg two-seater biplanes. Each featured profile includes authentic markings and colour schemes, while every separate model is accompanied by exhaustive specifications. Packed with 110 full-colour artworks with detailed specifications, German Aircraft of World War I is a key reference guide for military modellers and World War I enthusiasts.Table of ContentsContents: Introduction Single Seat Fighters D types Albatros D.I Albatros D.II Albatros D.III Albatros D.V & Va Fokker D.I, D.II, D.IV Fokker D.III Fokker D.V Fokker D.VI Fokker D.VII Halberstadt D.II, D.III, D.V Junkers D.I Roland D.II & D.IIa Roland D-VIa & D-Vib Pfalz D.III & IIIa Pfalz D.VIII Pfalz D.XII Siemens-Schuckert D.I Siemens-Schuckert D.III Siemens-Schuckert D.IV Dr & F types Fokker Dr.I E types (Eindecker – armed monoplanes) Fokker E-I Fokker E-II Fokker E-III Fokker E-IV Fokker E-V/D-VIII Pfalz E-types (E-I & E-II) Two-seater Reconnaissance and General Purpose A & B types Albatros B-types Aviatik B-types Fokker A-series Fokker B-series Taube C types (armed two seat biplanes) AEG C-types Albatros C-III Albatros later C-types Aviatik C-types DFW C-types Halberstadt C-types LFG Roland C.II and C.III 'Walfisch' LVG C.II and C.IV LVG C.V and C.VI Rumpler C.I Rumpler C.III and C.IV Ground Attack and Escort Fighters CL types (close support & two seat fighters) Halberstadt CL.II and CL.IV Hannover CL-II Hannover CL-III and CL-IIIa Junkers CL.I J types (ground attack) Albatros J.I and II Junkers J.I Bombers and Seaplanes G & K types (Grossflugzeuge – large bombers, originally Kampfflugzeuge – battleplane) AEG G.I - IV Friedrichshafen G.III & IV Gotha G.I (the Gotha UWD is a seaplane version) Gotha G.II-V Rumpler G series R types (Riesenflugzeuge – giant bombers) Siemens-Schuckert R-series Zeppelin-Staaken R-series W types and other seaplanes (Wasser – floatplane) Gotha WD series Hansa-Brandenburg W.12 (1917) (fighter) Hansa-Brandenburg W.19 (reconnaissance) Hansa-Brandenburg W.29 (1918) (fighter) (includes AEG J.I) Airships Zeppelin and Schutte-Lanz dirigibles

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Book SynopsisWorld War I might conjure up images of the trenches of the Western Front where the fighting raged for nearly four and half years, but this was only part of what was truly a world war. It was a complex conflict fought in a number of theatres: an air war, a land war fought in the Balkans, Italy, Africa, Turkey and the Middle East, and also a naval war fought in the North Sea, South Atlantic, South Pacific and Indian Oceans. The ‘Great War’ introduced killing on an unprecedented scale and resulted in the loss of millions of lives. World War I Illustrated Atlas is a comprehensive visual guide to this complex conflict. In fine detail, it plots the exact course of the land, sea and air campaigns, enabling the reader to trace the ebb and flow of the fortunes of all sides. With more than 180 full-colour maps, every theatre of war is covered – from the Western Front to Penang, from Gallipoli to Galicia, from Dogger Bank to Dalmatia, from Romania to Rhodesia and from the Falklands to Togo and the Sinai desert. All the maps have been specially commissioned from an expert cartographer. Each map is designed to highlight a particular aspect of the war – thus maps vary in shape and size, with some giving a global perspective while others depict the exact movement of armed forces on land, sea or in the air. Battles such as Jutland, the Somme, Cambrai and the Gallipoli campaign are shown in great detail. All maps are accompanied by an explanatory key. With expert, accessible text and accompanying archival photographs, this complete atlas provides an invaluable work of reference for both the general reader and the serious student of World War I.Table of ContentsContents BACKGROUND TO WAR The World 1914 Franco-Prussian War Russo-Japanese War Austro-Hungarian Empire The Balkans, Crete and Cyprus Bulgaria The Balkans – Ethnic Groups European Alliances and War Plans European Military Strengths The Eastern Front July 1914 THE BALKANS First Invasion of Serbia August 1914 Second Invasion of Serbia Serbian Counter Offensive Invasion of Serbia Serbian Exodus The Balkans 1916 Salonica: The Spring Offensive British Attacks at Lake Dojran The Balkans September–November 1918 THE EASTERN FRONT The Eastern Front August 1914 Tannenberg Masurian Lakes September 1914 The Galician Campaign Przemysl Lodz Eastern Front Late 1914 Winter Battle in Masuria Central Powers Advance May– September 1915 Central Powers Advance May–August 1915 Bolimov – the First Use of Gas Eastern Front End of 1915 Lake Naroch Brusilov Offensive Romanian Invasion of Transylvania Invasion of Romania Eastern Front December 1916–March 1917 Russian Revolution 1917 Kerensky Offensive German Baltic Operations Treaty of Brest-Litovsk The New States of Eastern Europe THE WESTERN FRONT Schlieffen Plan Plan XVII Conquest of Belgium Capture of Liège Battles of the Frontiers Battle of Mons Battle of the Marne Battle of the Aisne The Race to the Sea Yser and Ypres Battle of Armentières First Battle of Champagne The Western Front October–December 1914 Neuve Chapelle Battle of the Woevre Second Battle of Ypres Aubers Ridge and Festubert Second Battle of Champagne Battle of Loos Battle of Artois The Western Front 1915 Plan of Fort Douaumont Verdun Verdun – French Counter-attack First Day of the Somme The Somme July–September 1916 Battle of Delville Wood Pozières Ridge Flers-Courcelette The Somme Sept–Nov 1916 Tanks on the Somme Ancre Heights The Hindenburg Line The Nivelle Offensive Battle of Vimy Ridge Arras and Vimy Ridge Battle of Messines Passchendaele Battle of Cambrai The German Offensive Operation Michael Other German Spring Offensives Franco-American Counter-attacks Black Day of the German Army St. Mihiel Meuse-Argonne Offensive Final Allied Advance The Western Front 1918 THE WIDER WAR The Ottoman Empire Caucasus Campaign Lower Mesopotamia Ottoman Raid on the Suez Canal Naval Attack in the Dardanelles Gallipoli Campaign The Cape Helles Front Suvla Bay and Anzac Cove Russian Capture of Trebizond Mesopotamia Overview Capture of Qurna First Battle of Kut Battle of Ctesiphon Retreat to Kut Sinai and Palestine The Arab Revolt Palestine Gaza and Beersheba Conquest of Jerusalem Central Mesopotamia The End of the Ottoman Empire Italy and its Empire Italian Front Isonzo Battles 1915–17 Isonzo Battles June 1915–March 16 Trentino Offensive May–June 1916 The Isonzo Battles March 1916– September 1917 Trentino Offensive June 1917 Caporetto 24 October–1 November Caporetto 1–12 November 1917 Piave Offensive Africa East Africa Easter Rising U.S. Soldiers by State Central and South America Mexican Revolution SEA & AIR WARFARE World Battle Fleets and Major Naval Bases Voyage of the Emden Pacific Squadron Battle of Heligoland Bight Battle of Dogger Bank North Sea Battles Battle of Jutland U-boat Campaign A Typical Convoy Plan Ships Sunk by U-boats U-boat Losses Submarines Allied Blockades of Germany British Submarines in the Baltic The Mediterranean Aircraft on the Western Front 1916–17 First Air Raids The Largest Airship Raid Bombing of Paris Bombing of England Air Defence of Britain Aircraft of the Western Front 1918 British Strategic Bombing Offensive THE AFTERMATH Central Powers on the Brink The Armistice The Armistice Conditions Break-up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire European Treaties Poland and Czechoslovakia Sykes-Picot Plan League of Nations Mandate Imperial Manpower Contributions Manpower Table Military Casualties and Civilian Deaths Index

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Book SynopsisIllustrated with detailed artworks of combat aircraft and their markings, Aircraft of World War I: The Essential Aircraft Identification Guide is a comprehensive study of the aircraft that fought in the Great War of 1914–18. Arranged chronologically by theatre of war and campaign, this book offers a complete organizational breakdown of the units on all the fronts, including the Eastern and Italian Fronts. Each campaign includes a compact history of the role and impact of aircraft on the course of the conflict, as well as orders of battle, lists of commanders and campaign aces such as Manfred von Richtofen, Eddie Rickenbacker, Albert Ball and many more. Every type of aircraft is featured, including the numerous variations and types of well- known models, such as the Fokker Dr.I, the Sopwith Camel and the SPAD SVII, through to lesser-known aircraft, such as the Rumpler C.1, and the Amstrong Whitworth FK8. Each aircraft profile is accompanied by exhaustive specifications, as well as details of individual and unit markings. Packed with more than 200 colour profiles of every major type of combat aircraft from the era, Aircraft of World War I 1914–1918 is an essential reference guide for modellers, military historians and aircraft enthusiasts.Table of ContentsChapter 1 Opening Moves Chapter 2 Air Combat Turns Deadly Chapter 3 Strategic Bombing Chapter 4 Maritime Aviation Chapter 5 The Eastern Front Chapter 6 The Italian Front Chapter 7 The Middle East Chapter 8 Air Combat Comes of Age Index

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Book SynopsisEach autumn, a small red flower begins to appear. It flourishes ata time when others do not. But what does it mean? And why do peoplewear it?Stunningly illustrated, Tomos Roberts' moving poem will help anyonehoping to better understand the meaning of the poppy.Ù0.50 fromeach copy sold goes to support the Royal British Legion.

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Book SynopsisExplore the Eastern Front battle that resulted in one of the greatest defeats of World War I, in which an entire Russian army was annihilated by German arms.Tannenberg is a major battle that deserves a fully illustrated treatment all of its own, and for the first time this book brings the epic Eastern Front clash to life in visual detail. No other book on this topic walks you through the action like this one, using detailed maps to provide unit locations and movements and help explain key command decisions, while period photographs and colour battlescenes put soldiering back at the core of the events by revealing the military material culture of the opposing sides. Michael McNally guides you through the initial border engagements and the battles of Gumbinnen and Stallupönen, before moving on to explore the massive, often confused running battle of Tannenberg in easy to follow and concise detail. This work helps you understand how the Germans managed to maul Samsonov's Second ArmTrade Reviewgives a good feel for the strategic choices and command-quality on both sides -- Chris Jarvis * Miniature Wargames *If you have never thought about this theatre of operations in WWI, this work will make you reconsider your opinion and wish to read more on the subject. -- John Norris * Gunmart *Table of ContentsORIGINS OF THE CAMPAIGN Alliance and misalliances Girding for war Stavka plans CHRONOLOGY OPPOSING COMMANDERS Russian German OPPOSING FORCES Russian German Orders of battle OPPOSING PLANS Russian German THE CAMPAIGN Der Russeneinfall –the Russian invasion Invasion Stallupönen: 17 August Gumbinnen: 20 August A change of strategy Man of the moment Samsonov’s progress Der Alte Hase – the old hand Lahna and Orlau: 23–24 August See the elephant: Usdau and Bischofsburg, 25–26 August The sound of the guns: Usdau, 27 August Turning the flank: 27 August Interlude at Osterode A day of decision: 28 August The beginnings of collapse: 28–29 August Days of decision: 29–30 August AFTERMATH GAZETEER OF PLACE NAMES SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX

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Book SynopsisVolume 3 of the most celebrated war comic of all time, re-mastered and collected in a full size edition. THE GREATEST ANTI-WAR STORY EVER TOLD. This third volume of Pat Mills and Joe Colquhoun's masterpiece continues to tell the story of an ordinary soldier's experiences in World War One, including the vibrant re-mastered colour pages from the original comic.

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Book SynopsisAt the turn of the twentieth century, European colonial powers scrambled in Africa for trade, land and political advantage. When the First World War broke out, they were forced to contend with one another not just in trenches on the Western Front, but in East Africa's swamps and savannahs. In that unforgiving landscape, General Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck and a small cadre of hardened German officers fought as equals with their African troops against the Allies, creating the first truly integrated army of the modern age.​ 'African Kaiser' is the fascinating tale of a forgotten guerrilla campaign: of rhino charges and artillery duels with scavenged naval guns; of hunted German battleships hidden up unmapped river deltas; of a desperate army in the wilderness, cut off from the world, enduring starvation, malaria, and dysentery; and of the remarkable intercontinental voyage of Zeppelin L59, whose improbable 4,000 mile journey to the Equator and back made aviation history. But mostly, it is the incredible true story of General von Lettow-Vorbeck, the only undefeated German commander of the Great War.Trade Review'If all military histories were as thrilling and well written as African Kaiser, I might give up reading fiction and literary bio­graphy. ... Gaudi writes with the flair of a latter-day Macaulay. He sets his scenes carefully and describes naval and military action like a novelist. His sentences are models of clarity and vivacity, sometimes further enlivened with wry authorial comments.' -- Washington Post'African Kaiser is an entertaining and insightful read. Gaudi is superb on what made von Lettow such a formidable exponent of irregular warfare and on the reasons why his African soldiers would have followed him to the ends of the earth.' -- Literary Review'Robert Gaudi combines a researcher's meticulous precision with a novelist's consummate storytelling skill to piece together a thousand shards of forgotten history into this astonishing and irresistible confection.' -- Madison Smartt Bell

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Book SynopsisAn extraordinary account of a little-known aspect of the fighting in Gallipoli the snipers war.

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Book SynopsisFrom the author of World War Z, the extraordinary story of the legendary black regiment of World War I - the Harlem HellfightersTrade Review'The Harlem Hellfighters brings to life a long forgotten piece of American history. Bravo, Max Brooks, bravo' Spike Lee

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Book SynopsisArguably the greatest of all published memoirs of the Great War, Old Soldiers Never Die is Private Frank Richards' classic account of the war from the standpoint of the regular soldier, and a moving tribute to the army that died on the Western Front in 1914.Trade Review'...the greatest account of trench warfare...' --Phil Carradice, BBC

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Book SynopsisIn the summer of 1915 the Royal Naval Air Service found itself engaged in an unexpected war at sea, the fight to prevent the German submarine fleet from disrupting the flow of vital supplies to the British Isles, necessary for the conduct of the war. It was a war that had to be won because by the spring of 1917 the U-boat campaign against Allied merchant shipping was close to bringing the British war effort to the point of collapse. Airships of the RNAS played a vital part in this new war at sea. This book tells the story of the young men who ventured out over the often hostile waters around the British Isles in airships, who were expected to hunt down the German submarines and to attack them with the hopelessly inadequate weapons at their disposal. The story is told by those who took part in this new form of warfare, through pieces written by them or via interviews with veterans. It covers the entire experience of being an airship pilot, from initial training, through their numerous adventures while flying these frail craft over the coastal waters of the British Isles, to the final victory in 1918.

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Book SynopsisWINNER OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES PRIZE FOR HISTORY FINANCIAL TIMES AND NEW STATESMAN BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2014On the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, Deluge is a powerful explanation of why the war''s legacy continues to shape our world - from Adam Tooze, the Wolfson Prize-winning author of The Wages of DestructionIn the depths of the Great War, with millions of dead and no imaginable end to the conflict, societies around the world began to buckle. As the cataclysmic battles continued, a new global order was being born.Adam Tooze''s panoramic new book tells a radical, new story of the struggle for global mastery from the battles of the Western Front in 1916 to the Great Depression of the 1930s. The war shook the foundations of political and economic order across Eurasia. Empires that had lasted since the Middle Ages collapsed into ruins. New nations sprang up. Strikes, street-fighting and revolution convulsed much of the world. And beneath the surface turmoil, the war set in motion a deeper and more lasting shift, a transformation that continues to shape the present day: 1916 was the year when world affairs began to revolve around the United States. America was both a uniquely powerful global force: a force that was forward-looking, the focus of hope, money and ideas, and at the same time elusive, unpredictable and in fundamental respects unwilling to confront these unwished for responsibilities. Tooze shows how the fate of effectively the whole of civilization - the British Empire, the future of peace in Europe, the survival of the Weimar Republic, both the Russian and Chinese revolutions and stability in the Pacific - now came to revolve around this new power''s fraught relationship with a shockingly changed world. The Deluge is both a brilliantly illuminating exploration of the past and an essential history for the present.Trade ReviewBold and ambitious . . . probably the best of the current books about the First World War * Observer *A remarkable new synthesis which draws on [Tooze's] two particular areas of expertise, Eurasia and especially Germany, and the global financial system revolving around London ... the great strength of his book is that he invites us to look at familiar events in unfamiliar ways ... Tooze's account brims with contemporary resonances ... He is too good a historian, however, to turn this into a simple argument for Keynesian deficit financing ... the general public and policymakers alike will - must! - turn to Adam Tooze for instruction -- Brendan Simms * Tablet *It is particularly refreshing to read Adam Tooze's book ... it confirms his stature as an analyst of hugely complex political and economic issues ... Tooze's book covers a huge geographical sweep ... he shows himself a formidably impressive chronicler of a critical period of modern history, unafraid of bold judgements -- Max Hastings * Sunday Times *Adam Tooze's masterly book should be required reading for anyone who wants to truly understand the significance of the war ... Extensively researched and written with exemplary clarity, this work is as monumentally ambitious as its subject ... his powers of description and analysis range across all inhabited continents ... this is a valuable look at the ways in which the years after the war came to define the rest of the 20th century * BBC History Magazine *Interesting, engaging and very readable ... Underpinning this account is an impressive facility with numbers and an ability to analyse them that is increasingly rare among historians nowadays ... he has also delivered, for the first time, ...a clear and compelling rationale as to why it is actually worth going back and looking at the era of the First World War at this particular moment in time ... The Deluge reminds us, then, why we write history and why we should read it * Literary Review *Tooze made his name with The Wages of Destruction . . . His study of the post-1918 era is equally impressive, explaining why the US and its allies, having defeated Germany, were unable to stabilize the world economy and build a collective security system in Europe -- Tony Barber * Financial Times BOOKS OF THE YEAR *

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Book SynopsisAdam Hochschild is an award-winning author of six books, mostly on subjects related to human rights. King Leopold's Ghost was the winner of the prestigious Duff Cooper Prize and Bury the Chains was longlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize. He lives in San Francisco and teaches at the Graduate School of Journalism at the University of California at Berkeley.

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Book SynopsisThe untold story of how the First World War shaped the lives, faith, and writings of J. R. R. Tolkien and C. S. Lewis. Giving an unabashedly Christian vision of hope in a world tortured by doubt and disillusionment, the two writers created works that changed the course of literature and shaped the faith of millions---now in paperback.

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Book SynopsisAt a time when most handguns were limited to six rounds, the ten-shot Mauser caught the attention of the world for its unprecedented firepower and formidable high-velocity 7.63×25mm cartridge. This saw its ultimate expression in the first-ever select-fire handgun the Schnellfeuer' machine pistol, fed by a detachable magazine and offering both full-automatic and single-shot modes. The C 96 was the first semi-automatic pistol to see combat, arming both sides in the Second Anglo-Boer War, and seeing service with the German, Russian, Chinese and other militaries. Widely purchased commercially, it was carried by none other than Winston Churchill in the Sudan and South Africa, became prized by the Irish Republican Army and Soviet revolutionaries, and even armed Han Solo in the Star Wars' movies.Featuring full-colour artwork and an array of revealing photographs, this is the engrossing story of the C 96 Broomhandle Mauser, the ground-breaking semi-automatic pistol that arm

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Book SynopsisA compelling insight into the lives of the soldiers behind the war that not only changed the direction of world affairs but also brought with it a modernised, mechanised style of warfare.Many people have the idea that the Great War' on the Western Front was simple, if ghastly, to fight with few tactics, and unbroken, monotonous, trench lines as the main feature of the battlefield. In such a scenario the archetypal image of battle is of soldiers with rifles and bayonets charging each other in blind obedience to stupid repetitious orders.Though undeniably bloody the war was in fact a ferment of new ideas and new weapons. Gas, flame throwers, super-heavy artillery, concrete bunkers, tanks, aircraft and other innovations were all introduced, whilst older notions such as barbed wire, machine guns and armour took on a new lease of life.No single manual was ever enough to encompass ''modern war'', and even before 1914 numerous publications were required. With the focus on the Western

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Book SynopsisOn 24th April 2015 people around the world commemorated the centenary of the death of over one million Armenians. In their eyes, and in those of many around the world, they will be remembering a genocide perpetrated by the Ottoman Empire. Turkey has always explained the dead as simply victims of a vicious civil war, and continues to this day to refuse to acknowledge the events as constituting genocide.This argument has become, in turn, an international issue. Twenty national parliaments in democratic countries have voted to recognise the genocide, but Britain and the USA continue to equivocate for fear, it would seem, of alienating their NATO ally.In this seminal book, Geoffrey Robertson QC, a former UN appeals judge, sets out to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that the massacres and deportations were a crime against humanity which amounted to genocide.Trade Review"With a brilliant display of forensic advocacy, one of the greatest legal minds on the international stage forces a shameful but inconvenient truth upon the world." Helena Kennedy QC "Geoffrey Robertson, with his usual forensic brilliance, makes the case for justice for the Armenian victims of the 1915 massacre." Sir Keir Starmer KCB QC "A devastating, searing indictment of complicity and cover-up over the extermination of one million people." Peter Hain MP

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Book SynopsisIn the past, while visiting the First World War battlefields, the author often wondered where the various Victoria Cross actions took place. He resolved to find out. In 1988, in the midst of his army career, research for this book commenced and over the years numerous sources have been consulted. _Victoria Crosses on the Western Front: Battles of the Scarpe & Drocourt- Queant Line_, is designed for the battlefield visitor as much as the armchair reader. A thorough account of each VC action is set within the wider strategic and tactical context. Detailed sketch maps show the area today, together with the battle-lines and movements of the combatants. It will allow visitors to stand upon the spot, or very close to, where each VC was won. Photographs of the battle sites richly illustrate the accounts. There is also a comprehensive biography for each recipient, covering every aspect of their lives warts and all: parents and siblings, education, civilian employment, military career, wife and children, death and burial/commemoration. A host of other information, much of it published for the first time, reveals some fascinating characters, with numerous links to many famous people and events.

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Book SynopsisThe Palestine campaign of 1917 saw Britain’s armed forces rise from defeat to achieve stunning victory. After two failed attempts in the spring, at the end of the year they broke through the Ottoman line with an innovative mixture of old and new technology and tactics, and managed to advance over 50 miles, from Gaza to Jerusalem, in only two months. As well as discussions of military strategy, Stuart Hadaway’s gripping narrative of the campaign gives a broad account of the men on both sides who lived and fought in the harsh desert conditions of Palestine, facing not only brave and determined enemies, but also the environment itself: heat, disease and an ever-present thirst.Involving Ottoman, ANZAC, British and Arab forces, the campaign saw great empires manoeuvring for the coveted Holy Land. It was Britain’s victory in 1917, however, that redrew the maps of the Middle East and shaped the political climate for the century to come.

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Book Synopsis'This magnificent, monumental portrait at a stroke makes all others redundant, and re-establishes Lawrence as one of the most extraordinary figures of the 20th century' Sunday Times Michael Korda’ s Hero is an epic biography of the mysterious Englishman whose daring exploits made him an object of intense fascination, known the world over as Lawrence of Arabia. An Oxford Scholar and archaeologist, one of five illegitimate sons of a British aristocrat who ran away with his daughters' governess, T.E. Lawrence was sent to Cairo as an intelligence officer in 1916, vanished into the desert in 1917, and re-emerged as one of the most remarkable and controversial figures of the First World War. He united and led the Arab tribes to defeat the Turks and eventually capture Damascus, an adventure he recorded in the classic Seven Pillars of Wisdom. A born leader, utterly fearless and seemingly impervious to pain and danger, he remained modest, and retiring. Farsighted diplomat, brilliant military strategist, the first media celebrity, and acclaimed writer, Lawrence was a visionary whose achievements transcended his time: had his vision for the modern Middle East been carried through, the hatred and bloodshed that have since plagued the region might have prevented. The democratic reforms he would have implemented as British High Commissioner of Egypt, are those the Egyptians are now demanding, 91 years later. Ultimately, as this magisterial work demonstrates, Lawrence remains the paradigm of the hero in modern times.Trade Review‘This book is monumental in every sense. The book has many virtues. Among the chief of these are its clarity and readability, its determination to leave no investigative stone unturned and the extraordinarily thorough research that has gone into its writing’‘Thorough and compelling’'a wealth of scholarly research and this book is absorbing, hugely informative and highly readable'‘ This book is monumental in every sense. The book has many virtues. Among the chief of these are its clarity and readability, its determination to leave no investigative stone unturned and the extraordinarily thorough research that has gone into its writing’ ‘ Thorough and compelling’ 'a wealth of scholarly research and this book is absorbing, hugely informative and highly readable'

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Book SynopsisThe first book to detail the forgotten work of the Royal Navy Auxiliary Patrol Station on the Isles of Scilly.

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Book SynopsisIn 1919, Hermann Goering went to Denmark as a stunt flyer, then on to Sweden to fly passengers, one of whom introduced the daredevil to his future first wife, a then married Swedish Countess; they scandalized Stockholm. Goering joined the Nazi Party, as commander of the early SA Stormtroopers. In the celebrated Beer Hall Putsch of 1923, Goering was severely wounded, and fled. Thus began a four-year exile in which Goering became a practising morphine addict in Austria, Italy, and Sweden, and was committed to an insane asylum in a straitjacket. Goering returned to Germany under a political amnesty, and blackmailed Hitler into putting him up for election to the Reichstag as a Nazi candidate in 1928. He won, and four years later, was elected its President.He helped convince Germany's power elite to name Hitler Reich Chancellor on 30 January 1933. Taking over Prussia's police force-and during the upheaval of the Reichstag fire and trial-Goering ruthlessly smashed all non-Nazi parties. Then came the inter-Party Blood Purge of the Night of the Long Knives of 30 June 1934 that Goering directed in Berlin.This cemented his position as the Fuhrer's second-in-command, after having been declared insane!

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Book SynopsisA myth-busting popular history of the German Revolution focusing on the roles of women, workers and ordinary peopleTrade Review'An excellent work with the focus on the grassroots out of which developed the revolutionary mass movements of the sailors and workers bringing peace and democracy to Germany' -- Ottokar Luban, International Rosa Luxemburg Society'A rigourous analysis and narrative history of the working class in a place and time where the idea of the emancipation of humanity was a real possibility' -- Raquel Varela, Labor Historian, New University of Lisbon, IISG Honorary FellowTable of ContentsForeword by Mario Kessler Introduction: What German Revolution? 1. Industrialization and the Emergence of the German Working Class 2. The Rise of Popular Radicalism 3. War, Suffering and Resistance 4. The Road to the November Revolution 5. The Kaiser Goes, the Generals Remain 6. Provocation, Revolt and Repression 7. Women in the War and the Revolution 8. Death Agony of the Revolution Conclusion Notes Index

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Book SynopsisA new softcover edition of a classic work at a very pleasing price. Superb photographs from the author's exhaustive collection. Simply the best reference book available on the most popular subject in naval history -destined for bestseller status.

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Book Synopsis'The scene was tragically macabre: the image of desolation, the flames spared nothing. As for our young men, a few minutes ago, so alert, so self-confident, all now lying dead on the bare deck, blackened burned skeletons, twisted in all directions, no trace of any clothing, the fire having devoured all.' Vice Admiral P. E. Guéprette recalls the damage to the French ship Suffen during a naval battle in 1915. One of the most famous battles in history, Gallipoli forced Churchill from office, established Turkey's iconic founder Mustafa Kemal ('Ataturk') and marked Australia's emergence as a nation in its own right. It had begun as a bold move led by the British to ultimately capture Constantinople, but this definitive new history explains that from the initial landings - which ended with so much blood in the sea it could be seen from aircraft overhead - to the desperate attacks of early summer and the battle of attrition that followed, it was a lunacy that was never going to succeed. Drawing on unpublished personal accounts by individuals at all levels and from all sides - not only from Britain, Australia and New Zealand, but unusually from Turkey and France too - Peter Hart combines his trademark eye for vivid personal stories with a strong narrative to bring a modern view of this military disaster to a popular audience.Trade ReviewA marvellous book ... vivid and compelling * Economist *All good history books should be an assault on myth, and in Gallipoli Peter Hart mounts a supremely effective attack * Mail on Sunday *An impressive and timely reminder of the futility of war * Morning Star *[A] stirring account * Irish Examiner *Superb... a serious and important work on Gallipoli. It is researched in fine detail and written in Peter Hart's increasingly excellent style. If you are interested in this campaign, or the Great War, or just appreciate a well written book, then this is for you. -- David McLoughlin * Press Association *An account filled with insight and poignancy -- Craig Gibson * TLS *

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Book SynopsisThe Great War was the first truly global conflict, and it changed the course of world history In this magnum opus, critically-acclaimed historian Peter Hart examines the conflict in every arena around the world, in a history that combines cutting edge scholarship with vivid and unfamiliar eyewitness accounts, from kings and generals, and ordinary soldiers. He focuses in particular on explaining how technology and tactics developed during the conflict - and determines which battles were crucial to its outcome. Combatants from every corner of Earth joined the fray, but their voices are rarely heard together. This is a major history of the conflict whose centenary is fast approaching. Published in paperback for the anniversary of the conflict, this is a pioneering and comprehensive account of the First World War, comparable to Anthony Beevor or Max Hastings.Trade ReviewImmensely readable ... Hart excels not only at making it intelligible but also at turning it into a gripping narrative, which includes extensive and moving quotations from soldiers and sailors who bore the consequences of their commanders' decisions and faced the realities of combat ... Hart's book will contribute to a sea change in our understanding of the war during the years of the centenary * Irish Times *Gripping ... I would highly recommend this book, not only for the honest appraisal of all the main characters and countries involved, but because it gives a voice to those who paid the ultimate price, often for no purpose whatsoever * Morning Star *A valuable, timely and highly readable overview of the Great War on all major fronts -- Professor Peter SimkinsThought provoking, erudite, yet eminently readable and entertaining: Peter Hart is a historian and author at the peak of his powers -- Richard Van EmdenRiveting...bold enough to bring a new clarity to a subject that has been obscured by a creeping barrage of re-interpretations over the years * Catholic Herald *Very impressive * Military History Magazine *The sheer level of detail Hart presents is astonishing...fascinating * Press Association *A refreshing and engaging read * Soldier Magazine *Gripping...I would highly recommend this book, not only for the honest appraisal of all the main characters and countries involved, but because it gives a voice to those who paid the ultimate price, often for no purpose whatsoever * Morning Star *

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Book SynopsisA broad selection of over 200 photographs recording the French army during the Great War.

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Book SynopsisTo maintain morale amongst soldiers in the wretched trenches of World War I, the French army provided regular rations of wine and other alcohol that became a defining feature of French soldiers’ experience. A Thirst for Wine and War explores the French army’s strategic distribution of alcohol as a method of emotional and behavioural control.Trade Review“This book not only contributes substantially to the history of intoxicants and their consumption, but it also extends well beyond these topics to expand our understanding of the histories of France, of the Great War, and of war more generally. It is hard to see the events of the First World War in France in quite the same way after reading this work.” Richard S. Fogarty, University at Albany, SUNY and author of Race and War in France: Colonial Subjects in the French Army, 1914–1918

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Book SynopsisProfessor Fischer's great work is possibly the most important book of any sort, probably the most important historical book, certainly the most controversial book, to come out of Germany since the war.

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Book SynopsisThe Price of Glory: Verdun 1916 is the second book of Alistair Horne''s trilogy, which includes The Fall of Paris and To Lose a Battle and tells the story of the great crises of the rivalry between France and Germany. The battle of Verdun lasted ten months. It was a battle in which at least 700,000 men fell, along a front of fifteen miles. Its aim was less to defeat the enemy than bleed him to death and a battleground whose once fertile terrain is even now a haunted wilderness. Alistair Horne''s classic work, continuously in print for over fifty years, is a profoundly moving, sympathetic study of the battle and the men who fought there. It shows that Verdun is a key to understanding the First World War to the minds of those who waged it, the traditions that bound them and the world that gave them the opportunity. ''Verdun was the bloodiest battle in history ... The Price of Glory is the essential book on the subject''  Sunday Times ''It has almost every merit ... Horne sorts out complicating issues with the greatest clarity. He has a splendid gift for depicting individuals''  A.J.P. Taylor, Observer ''A masterpiece''  The New York Times ''Compellingly told ... Alastair Horne uses contemporary accounts from both sides to build up a picture of heroism, mistakes, even farce''  Sunday Telegraph ''Brilliantly written ... very readable; almost like a historical novel - except that it is true''  Field Marshal Viscount Montgomery One of Britain''s greatest historians, Sir Alistair Horne, CBE, is the author of a trilogy on the rivalry between France and Germany, The Price of Glory, The Fall of Paris and To Lose a Battle, as well as a two-volume life of Harold Macmillan.Table of ContentsLa debacle; joffre of the marne; Falkenhayn; operation Gericht; the waiting machine; the first day; the fall of Colonel Driant; breakthrough; Fort Douaumont; De Castelnau decides; petain; the take-over; reappraisals; the Mort Homme; widening horizons; in another country; the air battle; the crown prince; the triumvirate; "May Cup"; Fort Vaux; danger signals; the secret enemies; the crisis; Falkenhayn dismissed; the counterstrokes; the new leader; aftermath;

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Book SynopsisThe poet and critic Edmund Blunden was born in Yalding, Kent in 1896. He studied at Oxford, was professor of English literature at Tokyo from 1924-7 and fellow of Merton College, Oxford from 1931. He joined the staff of 'The Times Literary Supplement' in 1943, and from 1953 lectured at the University of Hong Kong. From1966-8 he was professor of poetry at Oxford.Trade ReviewAn established classic ... accurate and detailed in observation of the war scene and its human figures -- D. J. Enright

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Book SynopsisDiscover the juicy, funny story of the three dysfunctional rulers of Germany, Russia and Great Britain at the turn of the last century, combined with a study of the larger forces around them.Three cousins. Three Emperors. And the road to ruin.As cousins, George V, Kaiser Wilhelm II and the last Tsar Nicholas II should have been friends - but they happened also to rule Europe''s three most powerful states. This potent combination together with their own destructive personalities - petty, insecure, bullying, absurdly obsessive (stamp collecting, uniforms) - led not only to their own dramatic fallouts and falls from grace, but also to the outbreak of the First World War.Miranda Carter''s riveting account of how three men who should have known better helped bring down an entire world is a gripping story of abdication, betrayal and murder.''Fascinating. A wonderfully fresh and beautifully choreographed work of history'' Mail on Sunday''Miranda Carter''s story is full of vivid quotations . . . a romp though the palaces of Europe in their last decades before Armageddon'' Sunday Times''Fascinating. Carter is a gifted storyteller and has written a very readable account'' Independent''That these three absurd men could ever have held the fate of Europe in their hands is a fact as hilarious as it is terrifying. I haven''t enjoyed a historical biography this much since Lytton Strachey''s Victoria'' Zadie SmithTrade ReviewFascinating. A wonderfully fresh and beautifully choreographed work of history -- Craig Brown * Mail on Sunday *Carter draws masterful portraits of her subjects and tells the complicated story of Europe's failing international relations well...a highly readable and well-documented account * Spectator *Absorbing. Carter has a good eye for a quote and an ability to bring various personalities to life. A convincing and considerable achievement -- Sarah Bradford * Literary Review *Carter's account of how an already dysfunctional family turned toxic is fresh and enjoyable...timely and welcome * Guardian *Miranda Carter's story is full of vivid quotations...a romp though the palaces of Europe in their last decades before Armageddon * Sunday Times *Well-paced, a thoroughly polished, professional piece of work. A macabre family saga -- A. N. Wilson * Evening Standard *An entertaining study of power and personality portrays the strutting absurdity and grotesque glamour of the last emperors on the eve of catastrophe -- Simon Sebag Montefiore * Financial Times *Fascinating. Carter is a gifted storyteller and has written a very readable account * Independent *Carter's intelligent, entertainging and informative book folds dynastic and political narratives into a panoramic account of Europe's road to war * London Review of Books *That these three absurd men could ever have held the fate of Europe in their hands is a fact as hilarious as it is terrifying. I haven't enjoyed a historical biography this much since Lytton Strachey's Victoria -- Zadie SmithMiranda Carter writes with lusty humour, has a fresh clarifying intelligence, and a sharp eye for telling details. This is traditional narrative history with a 21st-century zing. A real corker of a book * History Today *A highly original way of looking at the years that led up to 1914 -- Antonia Fraser * Sunday Telegraph Books of the Year *Carter deftly interpolates history with psychobiography to provide a damning indictment of monarchy in all its forms -- Will Self * New Statesmen Books of the Year *A depiction of bloated power and outsize personalities in which Carter picks apart the strutting absurdity of the last emperors on the eve of catastrophe * Financial Times Books of the Year *Takes what should have been a daunting subject and through sheer wit and narrative élan turns it into engaging drama. Carter has a notable gift for characterisation -- Jonathan Coe * Guardian Books of the Year *

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Book SynopsisUnrivalled for its range and intensity, the poetry of the First World War continues to have a powerful effect on readers. This title reflects the diverse experience of those who lived through the war - bringing together the words of poets, soldiers and civilians affected by the conflict.Table of ContentsThe Penguin Book of First World War PoetryIntroductionAcknowledgementsA Note on the TextPreludeI. Your Country Needs You'Let the foul Scene proceed''Who's for the khaki suit'In Training2. Somewhere In FranceIn TrenchesBehind the LinesComrades of War3. ActionRendezvous with DeathBattleAftermath4. BlightyGoing BackThe Other WarLucky Blighters5. PeaceEveryone SangThe Dead and the Living'Have you forgotten yet?'CodaNotesA Glossary of the Western FrontBiographiesFurther ReadingPoem AcknowledgementsIndex of Titles and First Lines

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