Military History Books
Pen & Sword Books Ltd From Dunkirk to DDay
Book SynopsisBill Adlam's hair-raising escape from Dunkirk, his dramaticcommando raids and his storming the D-Day beaches reads likefiction. But it all happened. Bill escaped the Dunkirk disaster via a bayonet charge intoNazi machine guns. He was presented with the Military Medalfor gallantry under fire' by King George VI. Later, Bill volunteered forcommandos: he thrived on adrenaline. Number 4 Commando took him to a surgical strike in thenorth of Norway. The stated objective: to destroy oil installations.It was a feint. Ian Fleming of the Secret Intelligence Service hadmasterminded the raid. Its objective: to help break the Enigma Code. Number 4 Commando then sent him on a raid to Dieppe in August 1942 tospike naval guns to enable a landing by Canadian forces. Bill'scommanding officer was Lord Lovat: cousin to Ian Fleming and(allegedly) template for the fictional James Bond. Bill's prowess as a commando saw him headhunted to a top secretlocation in the wilds of Scotland. Here he trained ot
£21.25
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Clash of Crowns
Book SynopsisThe battle of Byland, on 14 October 1322, was a crucial battle in the Wars of Scottish Independence. This absorbing study from Harry Pearson sheds new light on one of the most overlooked battles in British history. The area of the North York Moors National Park contains some of the most dramatic and scenic landscapes in the North of England, and none more so than the section of the Cleveland Way, which clings to the edge of the escarpment that marks the western boundary of the Hambleton Hills. On a clear day, the entire Vale of Mowbray can be seen. When visiting the area today it is hard to imagine thousands of English and Scottish troops engaged in bitter conflict there. At first light on the morning of October 14th in 1322, the armies of two kings confronted each other over this same ground. The soldiers of King Edward II of England looked down from the heights at a force of several thousand men led by King Robert I 'the Bruce' of Scotland, as they deployed below Sutton Bank in t
£21.25
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Combined Operations
Book SynopsisLooks at combined operations in the Far East.
£21.25
Pen & Sword Books Ltd An Illustrated Tour of the 1879 AngloZulu
Book SynopsisIn 1878 southern Africa's two most senior figures, army commander General Lord Chelmsford and the High Commissioner Sir Henry Bartle-Frere created a false threat of a Zulu invasion of British Natal. In an astonishing act of over-confidence and without any government permission, Frere and Chelmsford invaded Zululand with five independent columns of troops. Both leaders ignored the serious implications of their two recently failed expeditions against the Zulus' neighbouring King Sekhukhune and his Pedi people. The Zulu war lasted only six months and witnessed two separate British invasions of Zululand one catastrophic, one successful.This book gives the reader a general overview of the Anglo-Zulu war of 1879 with descriptive text, location photographs and illuminating map overviews of the twelve main battles including Isandlwana and Rorke's Drift. The author's unique maps are based on his own lecture notes and battlefield map handouts' as a Zulu War battlefield guide for over 25 years.
£21.25
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Wellingtons Men Remembered
Book SynopsisWellington''s Men Remembered is a reference work which has been compiled on behalf of the Association of Friends of the Waterloo Committee and contains over 3,000 memorials to soldiers who fought in the Peninsular War and at Waterloo between 1808 and 1815, together with 150 battlefield and regimental memorials in 24 countries worldwide.
£40.00
Pen & Sword Books Ltd The Wigwam Murder
Book SynopsisFirst full book devoted to the Wigwam murder. Uses hitherto unseen Canadian files for the first time. Includes eye-witness testimony of those who were there. Gives the full background to both victim and alleged killer. Describes in detail the brilliant forensic science in the case.
£17.00
Pen & Sword Books Ltd The Coalitions against Napoleon
Book SynopsisThis book explains the social and economic factors which enabled the UK to fund the coalitions that Napoleon faced.
£31.90
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Hitler and Poland
Book SynopsisFollowing the end of the First World War, the newly reformed state of Poland was wedged uncomfortably between the two dominant nations of Germany and the Soviet Union. With their diametrically opposed political philosophies, both of Poland's neighbours plotted continuously to reclaim its lands that had up until recently been part of the once great but now defunct German and Russian empires. In order to protect itself, Poland was obliged to plot and negotiate with both of its neighbours to try and prevent them from realising their ambitions to eviscerate the country.The United States had been instrumental in the creation of the Polish state after the First World War, Wilson in particular stoking the Poles' growing powerful nationalistic fervour. As Norman Ridley reveals, this was the beginning of a turbulent period for Poland. There was, for example, the dramatic and improbable Miracle on the Vistula' when Polish forces defeated the communist Red Army in 1920 and in so doing halted the
£21.25
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Pug Churchills Chief of Staff
Book SynopsisThis overdue biography describes how an officer who fought tribesmen in India and Dervishes in North-East Africa, thereby playing no significant role in The Great War, found himself as Winston Churchill's Chief of Staff throughout the Second World War.
£21.25
Pen & Sword Books Ltd The Aftermath of the Battle of Little Big Horn
Book SynopsisLt. Col. George Armstrong Custer died at the hands of native americans by thebanks of the Little Big Horn in Montana 25th June 1876. This is an establishedundisputed fact. What is disputed is the real reason that he died.So forget all you have been led to believe and begin to learn the truth.George Custer was an anathema to his superiors, but the populace loved him. Ifhe were to stand for president in the coming elections there was a strongpossibility that he would win. Neither William T. Sherman nor Little Phil'Sheridan could allow that to happen. Thus they conspired to put Custer in aposition in the field where the opposing Sioux and Cheyenne were stronger andcould deliver the Coup de Gras'.This is the second of two books dealing with the circumstances that arose leading the nativeamericans on a collision course with the US Army that fateful day and the deathof a national hero. Subsequently the conspiracy is uncovered and shows howthese men used their powers and positions and so deft
£21.25
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Two Navies Divided
Book SynopsisThe first comparative and comprehensive analysis of the British and American navies. Illustrated throughout with a rich collection of photographs. Offers many original insights into how the naval war was fought.
£28.00
Pen & Sword Books Churchill Cold War Warrior
Book Synopsis_By focusing attention on a poorly understood but vitally important aspect of Churchill's career, Tucker-Jones has performed an important service. Churchill Cold War Warrior should be read, not only as a commentary on the ironies of history, but also as an essay on the potential and the limits of power.' -_PROFESSOR RICHARD TOYE, AUTHOR OF WINSTON CHURCHILL: A LIFE IN THE NEWSIn Churchill Cold War Warrior, renowned military historian Anthony Tucker-Jones reassesses Winston Churchill's neglected postwar career. He explains how in an unguarded moment Winston inadvertently sowed the seeds for the Cold War by granting Stalin control of Eastern Europe. Famously Churchill, at Fulton, then warned of the growing danger created by this partition of the continent. Winston after the Second World War wanted to prove a point. Shunned by the electorate in 1945, instead of retiring he was determined to be Prime Minister for a second time. Biding his time he watched in dismay as Britain scuttled fro
£21.25
Pen & Sword Books Ltd The Peninsular War
Book SynopsisExplores the Peninsular War from the Spanish perspective.
£23.80
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Survival and Separation on the River Kwai
Book SynopsisA fine and moving example of a Japanese POW memoir.
£17.00
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Laugh or Fly
Book SynopsisA rip-roaring gallop through the lives of the Royal Flying Corps air crew in the Great War. They lived their lives amidst a strange dichotomy as they moved from safety to dire danger, and back again in a matter of hours. This created a dreadful strain that could soon shred anyone's mental health. On the ground they were cloistered in simple but adequate accommodation several miles behind the lines. Farmhouses, barns and huts were used, but they were all far better than the squalor faced by the infantry scurrying in their muddy trenches. Flying personnel were blessed with beds and blankets. They could set up a decent mess and socialise to their heart's content. A smorgasbord of entertainments, with perhaps an old out of tune piano, access to drink and occasional vigorous games of mess rugby. There were visits to local towns which offered tantalizing glimpses and sometimes more - of the female of the species. A glimpse was probably never enough for most of these very young men. What mor
£21.25
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Infantry
Book SynopsisThe infantryman always bears the brunt' according to Field-Marshal Wavell in 1945. The Poor Bloody Infantry,' The Grunts on the Ground,' the infantry have often been seen as the humble, indeed shunned, relations of others, from cavalry to tanks. This book is their story, one from the dawn of human conflict to the present day, a study that looks round the world to consider fighting, weaponry, recruitment, contexts and impact. Infantry as the shock of assault as well as firepower, as the force in state-to-state conflict and in civil warfare, in symmetrical and asymmetrical warfare, are considered, as are the different accounts of development that are offered. Central to the military and to combat, infantry has also served many non-combat roles, notably as the arm of government. Indeed, infantry can be crucial to political history and nation-building, from coups to iconic battles
£21.25
Pen & Sword Books Ltd The Battle Against the Luddites
Book SynopsisUncovers the full story of the social unrest that was seen throughout Britain at the times of the Napoleonic Wars.
£21.25
Pen & Sword Books Ltd WW2 Codebreaking Events and Organisations
Book SynopsisThe second volume of a series on a glossary of codebreaking, WW2 Codebreaking Events and Organisations, brings to the reader an easily understandable account and listing, of those organisations involved in collecting and analysing military intelligence principally during the second world war. A listing of key events or occurrences is provided which moulded the direction of codebreaking and gathering of enemy intelligence. Whilst Bletchley Park was the HQ of codebreaking activities in wartime, numerous organisations became involved in a support role, and this became critical when more advanced enemy encoding machines were introduced by the Nazis. The evolution of certain organisations over time, can be tracked to a degree, by reading the glossary in depth. The entries are cross-referenced to enable the reader to research as much or as little as they want, to dip-in to the glossary, to use it as a basis for further study, or just to learn a little more about the people and organisations that helped us win the war with our allied friends.
£21.25
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Allied Convoys to Northern Russia 19411945
Book SynopsisWhile the experiences of the men and ships who sailed in the Allied convoys to North Russia between August 1941 and May 1945 have been fully documented, the wider political, diplomatic and military factors which determined the campaign are less well known.The principal actors Roosevelt, Churchill and Stalin each had their own agendas and expectations, influenced by advisers and competing national priorities. These inevitably gave rise to differences putting pressure in turn on the convoy programme while the varying effectiveness of German counter-action was a significant and unpredictable factor.1942 was dominated by pressure on Churchill from Roosevelt and Stalin to increase the size of convoys at a time when the Royal Navy lacked the necessary escorts. This deficiency was exacerbated by heavy merchant shipping losses and the demands of Operation TORCH.The temporary convoy suspension in 1943 followed the deployment of German heavy warships to Norway and the diversion of escorts to Ope
£21.25
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Road to Civil War 16251642
Book SynopsisA revisionist history showing a gradual build-up of opposition and a drift to conflict which few expected or wanted. And this was despite growing Stuart absolutism, threats to Parliament and the accepted civil order and religious controversy. It is forensic study, full of fascinating and even unexpected details, principal actors come to life and readers will feel involved in an existential crisis of the British state(s).The study of the three Kingdoms covers the major themes of religious dispute with Laud, Wentworth and Strafford - towering figures - church reform, ''godly''religions and explosion of ''news'' and pamphlets, the King and Lords and Commons, the Queen''s, often suspect influence, King Charles'' absolutism and rigidity, and iconic events like the Grand Remonstance, arrest of the Five Members, Charles'' departure from London and the raising of the Royal Standard for war.
£21.25
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Only The Light Moves
Book SynopsisA pilot in the US Army, the author flew operations in the Vietnam War in 1974 and 1975. This autobiography explores the occasions during which his aircraft came under fire.
£21.25
Pen & Sword Books Ltd One Step in a Poppy Field
Book SynopsisThousands of miles away from where her son was deployed, a powerful premonition is devastatingly confirmed by a knock on the door from two faceless strangers bearing the news that her son had stepped on an improvised explosive device in the poppy fields of Afghanistan. He had lost both of his legs and suffered multiple other injuries, including partial amputation of all the fingers of his left hand. For 48 days she stood at his bedside, praying and willing him to pull through.Not only did he survive against all odds, but in time he began to test the limits of his new capabilities and undertook the first of, what would prove to be, many physical challenges. Just 18 months after injury, and as part of a team of four servicemen, he rowed across the Atlantic Ocean for the first time.Told mostly from a mother's perspective with contributions from Cayle, the genesis of the book was in the diary she kept while he was in a medically induced coma. It is the story of an extraordinarily brave man
£21.25
Pen & Sword Books Ltd At War With Wellington
Book SynopsisThe Napier family are famous for their military exploits in the Peninsular War. Charles served in the 50th and 102nd Foot, George in the 52nd and 71st Foot and William (the famous historian of the Peninsular War) who served with the 43rd Foot. Two or three of them were always serving in the Peninsula at any given time and all suffered a number of severe wounds. William has a basic biography written of him and his famous _History of the Peninsular War_is littered with his personal and professional prejudices; Charles wrote a form of autobiography, mostly dealing with his later India campaigns; and virtually nothing has been written on poor George, despite the fact that he commanded the storming party at Ciudad Rodrigo, where he was severely wounded. However, much of this writing emanates from decades after they fought, when memories and changing political attitudes had clearly affected their writing. _At War With Wellington_ focuses on their private letters penned immediately from t
£22.50
Pen & Sword Books Ltd The Great Redan at Sebastopol
Book SynopsisVivid eye-witness accounts of this part of the Crimean War.
£21.25
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Air Battle for Leningrad
Book SynopsisIn this book, the authors explore the part that the Luftwaffe played in the battle to capture the Soviet Union's second city.
£21.25
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Churchills German Special Forces
Book SynopsisReveals the existence of hitherto secret German-speaking units working for the Allies in WW2.
£17.00
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Facing the Red Army in Festung Posen
Book SynopsisFirst-hand accounts about the German battle for Festung Posen. Never before published in English.
£21.25
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Surviving the Holocaust and Stalin
Book SynopsisA Jewish memoir that goes beyond the Holocaust and ask what happened after Soviet liberation'.
£17.00
Pen & Sword Books Ltd The Second World War Illustrated
Book Synopsis_The Second World War Illustrated: The Final Year_ follows the author's visual tour of the war by means of painstakingly researched and digitally restored pictures from the period of the key battlefields and events of the period from September 1944 until the end of the war. The book begins with Montgomery's Market Garden failure, devoting 60 pages to the planning, key individuals and forces involved in the operation and its outcome on both sides. Attention then turns to the Warsaw Uprising, where the Polish underground resistance attempted to liberate Warsaw from German occupation at the cost of thousands of resistance and civilian casualties. We then explore the importance of Walcheren and the port of Antwerp, culminating in the Battle of Scheldt. A chapter is devoted to the fighting along the Siegfried Line at Aachen, the Battle for Hürtgen Forest and the liberation of Alsace, before switching to the Battle of the Bulge: Hitler's final major offensive campaign of the war. From he
£18.70
Pen & Sword Books Ltd The End of the Spanish Civil War
Book SynopsisThe Spanish Civil War ended in Alicante. After Catalonia fell to the Hitler andMussolini backed military rebellion of Franco's Nationalists at the outset of1939, the legitimate Republican government of Dr Negrín was faced with achoice between apparently futile resistance or unconditional surrender to thetriumphant Nationalists. Choosing the path of continued defiance until theycould force concessions or at least implement a mass evacuation of thoseRepublicans most at risk in Franco's new Spain, the government withdrew toElda in the province of Alicante.However, their plans were thwarted by a new rebellion of Republican officers,led by Colonel Segismundo Casado, who resented Negrín's reliance on theCommunist Party and the USSR and believed themselves better equipped tonegotiate a peace settlement with Franco. They were misguided, Franco hadno wish, and ultimately no need to negotiate. Meanwhile, faced with theimminent risk of arrest by the new junta, the Prime Minister and his cabinetwe
£21.25
Pen & Sword Books Ltd The German Siege of Leningrad 1941 1944
Book SynopsisDrawing on a superb collection of rare and unpublished photographs with detailed captions and explanatory text, this dramatic book vividly portrays every aspect of the siege which has the dubious claim of being arguably the most costly in human and material terms of any in recent military history.
£13.49
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Nigerias UnCivil War
Book SynopsisIn Nigeria's un-Civil War: Memories of a Biafran Child, Philip Effiong reveals the many characters of war: the horror and the chaos, the surrealism and the absurdity and the desperate need to conjure a semblance of normalcy against a backdrop of air raids, starvation and massacre.
£17.00
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Emperor Septimius Severus
Book SynopsisExcellent analysis of the organization, tactics and equipment of the Roman army of the period, as well as of their major enemies, and the impact of Severus' reforms.
£24.00
Pen & Sword Books Ltd The Evacuation of Singapore to the Prison Camps
Book SynopsisThe Evacuation of Singapore to the Prison Camps of Sumatra aims to describe the events prior to, during and after the Fall of Singapore and the ways in which former prisoners are remembered on Bangka Island today. It is the product of many years of detailed historical research, interviews with camp survivors and personal experiences discovering and locating the former Japanese civilian prison camp sites of Bangka Island and Southern Sumatra.Judith''s aim has been to compile an accurate description of the fate of evacuees from Singapore who were bombed and killed in the South China Sea and Bangka Strait or imprisoned in harsh Japanese civilian prison camps. Many families have not known the fate of their relatives until contacting the author through the Muntok Peace Museum website http://muntokpeacemuseum.org. The Peace Museum was established by prisoners' families in 2015. The author has also described her many visits to Bangka Island and Sumatra in detail so others may follow in her fo
£21.25
Pen & Sword Books Ltd The U2 Over the Soviet Union
Book SynopsisOn 1 May 1960, a traditional military parade was held in Moscow. What stood it out from the previous ones, however, was the number of missiles, and in particular the ground-to-air anti-aircraft variants, that were present.There was perhaps nothing surprising in this dominance of missiles, for Nikita Khrushchev had already declared that the so-called Rocket Troops were to be the main branch of the armed forces'. Not for nothing had the Politburo allocated huge sums of money and the best scientific minds to the on-going development of these weapons and units. In fact, there was no fly-past over the Red Square in 1960 as Khrushchev considered aircraft to be a dying species'. From then on, it was being stated, military aviation would be assigned little more than an auxiliary role in the defence of the Soviet Bloc.Khrushchev's assessment of the future of aircraft was seemingly confirmed by an incident that occurred more than 1,000km to the east of Moscow. For what the spectators and partici
£21.25
Pen & Sword Books Ltd The British West Indies Regiment
Book SynopsisThis is a military-political history with a vital and all-pervading cultural and social theme which shapes the narrative - race, colour and prejudice. But despite this, there is an extraordinary underlying theme of empire loyalty among serving soldiers - NCOs and private soldiers - and a growing grasp of political ideas and liberal democracy. And the loyalty to the British crown as an agent of the ending of slavery will be amazing to some readers.War experience was a powerful catalyst and contributed to a ''West Indianess'' and desire for political advance. But even here the desire was for independence within the empire - a ''West Indian Dominion'' as with ''elder sisters'' of empire, the Dominions of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa.The political and economic status of the islands was a potent reason for the ''coloured contingents'' enlisting - work was scarce - but a major impetus was the cultural concept of ''manliness'' and empire-status - shared by George V, who ins
£17.00
Pen & Sword Books Ltd The Russian Campaign of 1812
Book SynopsisFirst English translation of Ilya Timofeyevich Radozhitskii's memoirs, a Russian Artillerymen who served with distinction during the wars against Napoleon.
£23.90
Pen & Sword Books Ltd From Churchills SAS to Hitlers WaffenSS
Book SynopsisThanks to the author's painstaking research, this is a compelling yet shocking biography of one of the most intriguing, colourful and disreputable characters of his era. How he escaped with his life is a question readers will ponder.
£17.00
Pen & Sword Books Ltd More Lives Than a Ships Cat
Book SynopsisSuperb contemporaneous account drawing on diaries and letters.
£21.25
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Battle of the Cities
Book SynopsisGraphic account of the role key cities played in shaping the Eastern Front during the Second World War. Chapters on the fighting for Moscow, Odessa, Kharkov, Sevastopol, Leningrad, Grozny, Sta-lingrad, Belgorod, Minsk, Warsaw, Budapest, K nigsberg, Prague and Berlin.
£21.25
Pen & Sword Books Ltd The Three Battles of El Alamein
Book SynopsisSuperbly illustrated with full captions and succinct authoritative text.
£17.09
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Lucky Hitlers Big Mistakes
Book SynopsisWell researched analysis of Hitler's military judgment, strengths and weaknesses.
£21.25
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Hitlers Revenge Weapons
Book SynopsisA comprehensive history of the V1 flying bombs and rockets that were targeted at London during the Nazi offensive.
£13.49
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Air Battle for Burma
Book SynopsisA new angle on the increasingly popular Burma Theatre.
£13.49
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Artillery of the Napoleonic Wars
Book SynopsisFirst volume of this wide-ranging study of artillery of the Napoleonic era.
£17.09
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Forgotten Heroes of the Battle of Britain
Book SynopsisThe author explores the lives and contribution made by a five of The Few who stories are less well known.
£21.25
Pen & Sword Books Ltd The AngloSaxons at War
Book SynopsisAccessible, authoritative study of armed conflict in the Anglo-Saxon world.
£13.49
Pen & Sword Books Ltd Memoirs of a French Napoleonic Officer
Book SynopsisLively memoirs of an officer in Napoleons Garde Impriale.
£13.49
