Modern warfare Books

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Book SynopsisThis is a ground-breaking history of the British monarchy in the First World War and of the social and cultural functions of monarchism in the British war effort. Heather Jones examines how the conflict changed British cultural attitudes to the monarchy, arguing that the conflict ultimately helped to consolidate the crown''s sacralised status. She looks at how the monarchy engaged with war recruitment, bereavement, gender norms, as well as at its political and military powers and its relationship with Ireland and the empire. She considers the role that monarchism played in military culture and examines royal visits to the front, as well as the monarchy''s role in home front morale and in interwar war commemoration. Her findings suggest that the rise of republicanism in wartime Britain has been overestimated and that war commemoration was central to the monarchy''s revered interwar status up to the abdication crisis.Trade Review'Heather Jones's engaging and insightful book makes a persuasive argument about the importance of the First World War in the British monarchy's evolving role and image. Through skilful analysis of an impressively broad range of archival sources, Jones shows how archaic associations of the Crown with the concepts of honour, duty, religion and service took on a new resonance during four years of disruptive and destructive conflict.' Alison Fell, author of Women as Veterans in Britain and France after the First World War'Heather Jones shows how the British monarchy democratised itself during the First World War by placing its traditional and sacred functions at the service of the nation and empire. In doing so, she pioneers a new kind of cultural and political history. A truly outstanding book.' John Horne, editor of A Companion to World War I'This book fills a very large gap. It is thoroughly researched and provides a comprehensive analysis of the British monarchy during the First World War. It also ranges widely, shedding new light on crucial aspects of the British (and Irish) experience between 1914 and 1918.' David Stevenson, author of 1917: War, Peace, and Revolution'This is a necessary book … Heather Jones has exhaustively explored the impact of the King and his family on the national consciousness and the motivation of the war effort.' Simon Heffer, Daily Telegraph'… her wonderfully written and engaging book is an outstanding piece of scholarship.' Sam Clark, The British Journal for Military HistoryTable of ContentsIntroduction; Prelude: The monarchy and wartime political power. Part I. The role of the British monarchy in cultural mobilisation for war: 1. Monarchist mentalities and British mobilisation, 1914–1916; 2. Monarchist culture and combatant practices. Part II. The emperor's new clothes: Changing cultures of deference: 3. The royal body in wartime; 4. De-sacralisation discourses – challenges to the monarchy's status, 1916–1918. Part III. The unknown soldier: The role of the monarchy in post-war commemoration; 5. The monarchy and the armistice: Ritualising victory, channelling war grief; 6. The monarchy's role in sacralising post-war commemoration; Conclusion.

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Book Synopsis"In describing the experiences of survivors, whom she has been adept in tracing, Cathryn Prince gives voices to 'ordinary people who suffered during extraordinary times' - and does so with scrupulous empathy." - The Spectator

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Book SynopsisThis book adds to this growing body of scholarship on the Italian Resistance by analysing, for the first time, how the 'three wars' are represented over the broad spectrum of Resistance culture from 1945 to the present day.Trade Review'Philip Cooke's highly original volume is a comprehensive analysis of the legacy of the Italian anti-fascist resistance...Cooke's study also delves deeply into the thorny area of politics. It covers an extraordinary amount of ground and the bibliography alone is a mammoth achievement. The book is...admirably clear and well organised. It can be read cover-to-cover or dipped into and it covered a very wide set of themes and questions but never in an obscure way...Cooke's important study shows why the resistance still matters.' - History Today 'The legacy of the Resistance runs like a seam beneath the surface of the entire history of postwar Italian politics and culture. Philip Cooke's book does a remarkable service to both scholarly and civic communities by drawing together a mass of information, events, artefacts, works, and 'vectors' in the public uses of this difficult history. He questions stereotypes, such as the Communist 'hegemony' over memory, brings together top-down and from-below methods and materials, and steers a lucid, forceful path through this most contested of territories. The book will become a necessary reference point for anyone thinking about the Resistance and about modern Italy.' - Robert S. C. Gordon, Reader in Modern Italian Culture, University of Cambridge, UK 'This book is a comprehensive analysis of the legacy of the Italian anti-fascist resistance. Its great strength lies in the fact that it covers the whole period from 1945 to the present day through the detailed study of a whole series of 'texts' - novels, films, documentaries, trials, newspapers, history books, diaries, monuments, paintings, museums and so on. This breadth of analysis makes this book both original and extremely useful for those studying and researching into post-war Italy, post-war Europe, and debates over memory.' - John Foot, Professor of Modern Italian History, University College London, UK 'Philip Cooke's book traces the complex history of the Resistance legacy from the end of the war to the present day. He offers his readers a detailed and refined analysis of a wide range of texts from works of history, to films, novels, short stories, monuments, political speeches, as well as fiction for children. This is a fascinating and lucidly written book which makes an important contribution to our understanding of the 'public use of history' in Italy.' - Paolo Pezzino, Professor, Department of History, University of Pisa 'Cooke builds on the most recent scholarship on the Resistance to provide a fascinating account of how its legacy has been contested in political, social, and cultural debates going back over half a century and coming up to the age of Berlusconi. The volume combines narrative readability with scholarly accuracy and insight, and is aimed as much at the political as the cultural historian. It constitutes the first systematic attempt in English to chart the overall significance of the Resistance legacy in Italy from the late 1940s to today.' - Martin McLaughlin, Professor, Fiat-Serena Professor of Italian, University of Oxford, UKTable of Contents1945-1948 1948-1955 1955-1960 From the Custom's House to the Pantheon: from the Pantheon to the Piazza (1960-1970) 1970-1978 1978-1989 From the End of the First Republic to the Cinquantennale : 1990-1995 The Resistance in the Years of the 'Second Republic'

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Book Synopsis1. The British Labour Government and the Development of Chevaline, 1976-1979 2. The Callaghan Government and Polaris Replacement 1976-1979: The Duff-Mason Report 3. Britain, the US and NATO LRTNF Modernisation, 1976-1979 4. 'Gone Bananas' The Conservative Government and Chevaline, 1979-1983 5. Mrs Thatcher and the Trident C-4 Decision 6. Follow-on Negotiations for Trident C-4 7. Mrs Thatcher, MISC 7 and the Trident II D-5 Decision 8. Creating the 'Seamless Robe of Deterrence': Great Britain's Role in NATO's INF Debate ConclusionTrade Review“Provide a full account of the debates within the British government about an earlier modernization that resulted in the deployment of US ground-launched cruise missiles to the United Kingdom and elsewhere in Western Europe in the 1980s. … provide new insights into our understanding of the UK’s nuclear history and should be read by those interested in this subject area, in the US–UK relationship, and British defence policy more generally and by those analysing why states retain nuclear capabilities.” (Andrew Dorman, International Affairs, Vol. 91 (6), 2015)'The third volume in Kristan Stoddart's monumental history of British nuclear deterrent policy takes the reader from 1976 to 1983, a key period in the story when nuclear policy became an important domestic political issue. As usual, he handles his wide range of sources with consummate skill and insight.' - Professor Eric Grove, Liverpool Hope University, UKTable of Contents1. The British Labour Government and the Development of Chevaline, 1976-1979 2. The Callaghan Government and Polaris Replacement 1976-1979: The Duff-Mason Report 3. Britain, the US and NATO LRTNF Modernisation, 1976-1979 4. 'Gone Bananas' – The Conservative Government and Chevaline, 1979-1983 5. Mrs Thatcher and the Trident C-4 Decision 6. Follow-on Negotiations for Trident C-4 7. Mrs Thatcher, MISC 7 and the Trident II D-5 Decision 8. Creating the 'Seamless Robe of Deterrence': Great Britain's Role in NATO's INF Debate Conclusion

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Book SynopsisAs a Navy SEAL on combat deployment in Iraq, the author saw a military working dog in action and instantly knew he'd found his true calling. He started his own company, training and supplying dogs for the SEAL teams, US Government, and Department of Defence. This book deals with these K9 warriors.

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Book SynopsisDuring the Vietnam War, hundreds of American POWs faced years of brutal conditions and horrific torture at the hands of communist interrogators who ruthlessly plied them for military intelligence and propaganda. This book is suitable for those wondering how courage, faith, and brotherhood can endure even in the darkest of situations.

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Book SynopsisLusitania: She was a ship of dreams, carrying millionaires and aristocrats, actresses and impresarios, writers and suffragettes. When she left New York on her final voyage, an encounter with a primitive German U-Boat, sent her - and her passengers - to their tragic deaths and opened up a new era of indiscriminate warfare.

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Book SynopsisA highly entertaining account of a young woman who went straight from her college sorority to the CIA, where she hunted terrorists and WMDsReads like the show bible for Homeland only her story is real. Alison Stewart, WNYCA thrilling tale...Walder's fast-paced and intense narrative opens a window into life in two of America's major intelligence agencies Publishers Weekly (starred review)When Tracy Walder enrolled at the University of Southern California, she never thought that one day she would offer her pink beanbag chair in the Delta Gamma house to a CIA recruiter, or that she'd fly to the Middle East under an alias identity.The Unexpected Spy is the riveting story of Walder''s tenure in the CIA and, later, the FBI. In high-security, steel-walled rooms in Virginia, Walder watched al-Qaeda members with drones as President Bush looked over her shoulder and CIA Director George Tenet brought her donuts. She tracked chemical t

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Book SynopsisThe instant #1 New York Times bestseller, now in paperback! Bill O'Reilly and Martin Dugard reveal the startling, dramatic story of the global war against terrorists.As the World Trade Center buildings collapsed, the Pentagon burned, and a small group of passengers fought desperately to stop a third plane from completing its deadly flight plan, America went on war footing. Killing The Killers narrates America''s intense global war against extremists who planned and executed not only the 9/11 attacks, but hundreds of others in America and around the world, and who eventually destroyed entire nations in their relentless quest for power.Killing The Killers moves from Afghanistan to Iraq, Iran to Yemen, Syria, and Libya, and elsewhere, as the United States fought Al Qaeda, ISIS, and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard, as well as individually targeting the most notorious leaders of these groups. With fresh detail and deeply-sourced information, O'

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Book SynopsisJames Crossland is Senior Lecturer in International History at Liverpool John Moores University, UK. He is the author of Britain and the International Committee of the Red Cross, 1939-1945 (2014), the first study of Britain's humanitarian policy during the Second World War. He has published widely on the history of wartime humanitarianism, international law and the Red Cross movement.Trade ReviewReaders will find no uncritical homage to the peacemakers in this resolutely objective account of political changes during a turbulent half-century of conflict and suffering … James Crossland's patient examination of the decades before World War I is an essential guide to understanding how these fundamental changes in the law of warfare after World War II came to be. * Michigan War Studies Review *A fascinating work for those interested in the nineteenth century, in the development of political thought, in international relations, military history, and a number of other sub-disciplines ... An important introduction to the subject. * European History Quarterly *Crossland’s searching autopsy of humanitarian action, inspiration, and deed, persuasively demonstrates that there was no monolithic humanitarian sensibility in the long nineteenth century—instead the variegated impulses that inspired ostensibly and implicitly humanitarian interventions of all types were motivated by a wide and divergent realm of imperatives. A fascinating read. * Branden Little, Associate Professor of History, Weber State University, USA *Since Geoffrey Best’s Humanity in Warfare (1980), I have never read such a fine work on the attempts to regulate or outcast war. Starting hopefully in the midst of the 19th century and ending horribly in August 1914, War, Law and Humanity tells the tale of military (medical) men, legal and medical humanitarians as well as outright pacifists, debating ideals and realism, quarrelling between each other and among themselves, while several wars set the scene. It is as fascinating as it is important. * Leo van Bergen, Lecturer in Military-medical History, Royal Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies, The Netherlands *Table of ContentsList of Figures Acknowledgements Dramatis Personae Timeline Introduction – A Time for Angels 1. The Crimean Crucible 2. Citizen-Humanitarians 3. The Union Way 4. Visions from Geneva 5. How Best to Serve the Suffering? 6. When Angels Go to War 7. Humanity and Necessity 8. The Sound of Drums 9. Enter the Peace-Seekers 10. Regulations for Apocalypse Conclusion – 1914: The Campaign Ends? Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisRodney Atwood received his BA from McMaster University and his PhD from the University of Cambridge, UK. Between his two courses, he served in the Royal Tank Regiment. He is the author of The Life of Field Marshal Lord Roberts (Bloomsbury, 2014).Trade ReviewAtwood’s biography is well-researched. It makes extensive use of the Rawlinson papers collected at the National Army Museum as well as supporting documents and correspondences found at the National Archives, the British Library, and elsewhere. * Journal of Military History *Atwood has done meticulous research for his biography of Rawlinson ... Rawlinson: From Tragedy to Triumph is an excellent biography and is highly recommended. * Historia *This book will provide those seeking an accessible introduction to both the man and the institution with a solid platform from which to build their understanding of the period in which [Rawlinson] served. * Journal of the Society of Army Historical Research *Rawlinson’s army suffered the greatest loss of life in a single day in British military history but also won unprecedented victories in 1918. In this first definitive modern biography, and drawing on extensive research, Rodney Atwood sets Rawlinson’s character complexities in the context of the evolution of the British army. * Ian Beckett, Honorary Professor of Military History, University of Kent, UK *Table of ContentsList of Figures List of Maps Acknowledgements List of Abbreviations Introduction 1. An Imperial Heritage. 2. Fighting in the Sudan. 3. The South African War. 4. In Pursuit of the Commandos 5. Ready for Armageddon? The War Office, the Staff College and Aldershot 6. Into Battle: 1914. 7. Frustrated Endeavours: Neuve Chapelle, Aubers Ridge, Festubert and Loos 1915 8. The Battle of the Somme 9. From the Somme to Amiens 10. Victory 11. An Uneasy and Turbulent Peace 12. India Calm and the Army Reorganised 13. Envoi Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewYou can put down your ‘future war’ novels and read instead the actual study of the deployment of modern weapons and systems from someone who has seen many of them in action, often as a frequent visitor to the battlefields of Ukraine. Jack Watling examines critically and thoughtfully how forces will fight in the mid-decades of the century, exploding the hyperbolae, war-scares, and myths with some very hard truths. For each technology, working from the tactical to the strategic, he focusses on its functional logic and its dependencies. If you want to know how to ‘find, fix, and finish’ in the battlespace, and you want to know how the technology works in practice, you have just found the book you need. -- Dr Rob Johnson, Director of the Office of Net Assessment and Challenge, Ministry of Defence, UKIn the last ten years, Dr Jack Watling, a research fellow at RUSI, has become a leading commentator on military affairs in the UK. In this perceptive, timely and provocative book, Dr Watling lays out his vision of the future of ‘informationized’ land warfare. In the light of ubiquitous sensors and long-range precision fires, the twentieth century doctrine of manoeuvre and its associated forces structures, so ingrained in contemporary military thinking, may now have become obsolete. In its place, Dr Watling describes a new battlefield geometry in which attacks forces will have to remain dispersed and concealed out of range of enemy strikes, until they have created the opportunity to concentrate for an attack on an objective, which will almost certainly be urban. To prevail on this battlefield, Dr Watling convincingly argues that land forces will need to be re-organised. This book represents a major contribution to current debates in military science and will be of profound interest to military professionals, scholars, and policymakers. -- Anthony King, Warwick University, UKJack Watling is among the most knowledgeable and perceptive observers of modern war. His studies of the war in Ukraine have set a benchmark for rigour and insight. He has now written a richly detailed account of how technology is changing warfare and what militaries can do about it. Drawing on experiments, exercises and battlefield data from California to Kyiv, it explains why modern sensors make it hard for armies to achieve surprise on an increasingly transparent battlefield. The advantage will lie with the side that can obtain sensor dominance: the ability to see and strike the enemy first. But "Arms of the Future" is also refreshingly honest about the dangers of fixating on equipment over ideas and organisation. Armies that chase new technologies without adapting their logistics, training and other vital enablers will end up with brittle forces that cannot fight for long. Here is a book with much to teach both those who wage war, and those who simply want to understand it. -- Shashank Joshi, Defence Editor, The EconomistTable of ContentsIntroduction Part One: From Mechanised to Informatized Warfare Chapter One: Navigating the Transparent Battlefield Chapter Two: Contesting the Spectrum Chapter Three: When Protection is an Illusion Chapter Four: When the Tail Needs Teeth Chapter Five: Blood in the Streets Part Two: The Arms of the Future Chapter Six: The Geometry of the Future Battlefield Chapter Seven: The Manoeuvre System Chapter Eight: The Fires System Chapter Nine: The Assault System Chapter Ten: The Support System Part Three: The Continuation of Policy Chapter Eleven: Divergent Domains Chapter Twelve: Priorities in Transformation Chapter Thirteen: An Instrument of Power Conclusion

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