Specific wars and military campaigns Books

Book SynopsisIn 1941, the Franco regime established the Spanish Division of Volunteers to take part in the Russian campaign as a unit integrated into the German Wehrmacht. Recruited by both the Fascist Party (Falange) and the Spanish army, around 47,000 Spanish volunteers joined what would become known as the Blue Division. The Spanish Blue Division on the Eastern Front, 19411945 explores an intimate history of the Blue Division from below, using personal war diaries, letters, and memoirs, as well as official documents from military archives in Spain, Germany, Britain, and Russia. In addition to describing the Spanish experience on the Eastern Front, Xosé M. Núñez Seixas takes on controversial topics including the Blue Division’s proximity to the Holocaust and how members of the Blue Division have been remembered and commemorated. Addressing issues such as the behaviour of the Spaniards as occupiers, their perception by the Russians, their witnessing of the Holocaust,Trade Review“The Spanish Blue Division on the Eastern Front makes for compelling reading…This accessible book should be read by anyone interested in modern Spain, the Eastern Front, Axis allies, or soldier motivation.” -- Grant T. Harward, US Army Center of Military History * Michigan War Studies Review *Table of ContentsList of Illustrations List of Abbreviations Acknowledgments Introduction: The Blue Division, the Franco Regime, and the Second World War 1. Russia Is Guilty! 2. A Long March: From Central Europe to the Volkhov Front 3. The Blue Division On the Front 4. Occupation Practices of the Blue Division in Northwest Russia 5. The Last Crusaders of the Nazi New Order, 1944–1945 6. War Veterans and Memories from the Eastern Front in Franco’s Spain Conclusion: A Spanish Exception in the War of Extermination? Sources Bibliography

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Book SynopsisIn January 1829, an angry mob in Tehran murdered Russian poet and diplomat Alexander Griboedov, author of the verse comedy Woe from Wit and architect of the Russian annexation of the north Caucasus from Persia after the Russo-Persian War. A century later, the Russian formalist writer Yury Tynianov wrote a historical novel about the event entitled The Death of Vazir-Mukhtar. In this wide-ranging study, Anna Aydinyan posits that The Death of Vazir-Mukhtar conceptualizes Orientalism fifty years before Edward Said coined the term. She argues that Tynianov parodied historical works on the Caucasus in his novel in order to critique the ways in which exoticizing the East enabled imperialism and colonization. Analysing literary and non-literary texts on Russia’s relationship with Iran, along with the economic and cultural development of Transcaucasia after the Russo-Persian War, Formalists against Imperialism studies Russian culture within the frameTable of ContentsAcknowledgments A Note on Translations and Transliteration Introduction 1. Colonial Management of Transcaucasia and the Ideas of the European Enlightenment 2. The “Oriental Journeys” in The Death of Vazir-Mukhtar 3. A Novelistic Outline of Orientalism 4. “The Fountain of Bakhchisaray”: The Harem of the Russian Empire 5. Infant Asia and Stenka Razin: Persia in the Works of the Soviet Avant-Garde 6. The “Treacherous Eunuch” in Pursuit of Freedom: Search for Authenticity in the Works of Montesquieu and Tynianov 7. Facing the Future and Confronting the Former Self: An Iranian Delegation’s Visit to Petersburg in 1829 and Its Interpretation in 1929 8. Knowledge Is Power: The Death of Vazir-Mukhtar as a Parody of a Spy Novel Conclusion: Tynianov’s Anti-imperialist Legacy and the 2010 Television Adaptation of His Novel Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisHow have poets in recent centuries been able to inscribe recognizable and relatively stable sincere voices despite the wearing of poetic language and reader awareness of sincerity’s pitfalls? How are readers able to recognize sincerity at all given the mutability of sincere voices and the unavailability of inner worlds? What do disagreements about the sincerity of texts and authors tell us about competing conceptualizations of sincerity? And how has sincere expression in one particular, illustrative context Russian poetry both changed and remained constant? An Indwelling Voice grapples, uniquely, with such questions. In case studies ranging from the late neoclassical period to post-postmodernism, it explores how Russian poets have generated the pragmatic framings and poetic devices that allow them to inscribe sincere voices in their poetry. Engaging Anglo-American and European literature, as well as providing close readings of Russian poetry, An Indwelling Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Abbreviations A Note on Transliteration Introduction: The Sincere Voice, or How Sincerity Is Written and Read in Russian, and Not Only Russian, Poetry Preliminaries Two Poles in the Conceptualization of Sincerity Voice Decoding Sincerity The Structure of This Study 1. The Problem of Sincerity and the Poetic Device in Derzhavin’s Odes 2. Romantic Sincerities I From Genre to the Sincere Voice (Alexander Pushkin) Romantic Charisma and the Material Trace (Dmitry Venevitinov) 3. Romantic Sincerities II: Late-Romantic Sincerities Disarming the Byronic Hero (Mikhail Lermontov) A Poetics of Abandon (Apollon Grigoryev) 4. A Fault Line in Modernism Blok vs. Mandelstam Parallels in Anglo-American Modernism Two Poems 5. Poetic Sincerity in the Totalitarian and Post-Totalitarian Context Anna Akhmatova’s Requiem at the Crossroads of Sincerity Expectations The Second Epilogue: Confession of Hubris? Konstantin Levin: An Ironic Mid-Century Sincerity 6. Case Studies in Turn-of-the-Millennium Sincerity Boris Ryzhy’s Renewal of Traditional Sincerity The “Prodigal” Sincerity of Timur Kibirov Conclusion Appendix: Another Vista on Pushkin’s “Monument” Notes References Index

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Book SynopsisA Woman's Empire sheds light on how women's voices, activities, and writings were part of Russia's late imperial expansion into Asia.Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction Part One: Women and Empire: Imperial Domesticity and Its Discontents 1. Reinforcing the State at the Imperial Periphery: The Governor General’s Wife 2. Turkestan through Russian Eyes: Elena Apreleva’s Central Asian Sketches Part Two: Theosophy, Hunting, and Constructing the Nation in the Shadow of the Great Game 3. Propagandist of Russian Imperialism: Madame Blavatsky in India 4. Hunting, Photography, and National Rivalry: In the Pamirs Part Three: Science in the Name of the Nation: Women Scientists, Archaeologists, and Ethnographers 5. In Pursuit of Imperial Knowledge: Ol’ga Fedchenko, Aleksandra Potanina, Praskovia Uvarova, and Anna Rossikova Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisThe ways in which women have historically authorized themselves to write on war has blurred conventionally gendered lines, intertwining the personal with the political. Women on War in Spain’s Long Nineteenth Century explores, through feminist lenses, the cultural representations of late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century Spanish women’s texts on war. Reshaping the current knowledge and understanding of key female authors in Spain’s fin de siècle, this book examines works by notable writers including Rosario de Acuña, Blanca de los Rios, Concepción Arenal, and Carmen de Burgos as they engage with the War of Independence, the Third Carlist War, Spain’s colonial wars, and World War I. The selected works foreground how women’s representations of war can challenge masculine conceptualizations of public and domestic spheres. Christine Arkinstall analyses the works’ overarching themes and symbols, such as honour, blood,Table of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments Introduction: From behind the Lines to Writing War’s Texts: Redrawing the Boundaries of War and Gender 1. Love of Nation and Women’s Citizenship in Rosario de Acuña’s Amor a la patria (1877) 2. Gender, Casticismo, and Imperial Nations in Spain’s fin de siècle: Blanca de los Ríos’s Sangre española (1899) 3. Charity, Patria, and Painting War’s Pain: Concepción Arenal’s Writings, 1869–79 4. The Monstrosity of War and Justpeace: Concepción Arenal’s Cuadros de la guerra and Ensayo sobre el Derecho de Gentes 5. Getting Intimate with Empire: Fin-de-Siècle Women Writing a Psychology of the Disaster 6. Disordering the Imperial Home: Blanca de los Ríos’s La niña de Sanabria (1907) 7. Purity of Blood in the National Family? Spain’s War in Morocco in Carmen de Burgos’s En la guerra (Episodios de Melilla) (1909) 8. Between Feminist Aspirations and Pacifist Ideals: Burgos’s Essays on World War I and Women in War 9. Denouncing War’s Broken Syntax: Burgos’s World War I Novellas Conclusion: Transforming Moral Maps, Then and Now Notes References Index

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Book SynopsisA groundbreaking study that discusses women soldiers with a connection to Mississippi - either those who hailed from the Magnolia State or those from elsewhere who fought in Mississippi battles. Readers will learn who they were, why they chose to fight at a time when military service for women was banned, and the horrors they experienced.

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Book SynopsisWhen the First Crusade ended with the conquest of Jerusalem in 1099, jubilant crusaders returned home to Europe bringing with them stories, sacred relics, and other memorabilia, including banners, jewelry, and weapons. In the ensuing decades, the memory of the crusaders'' bravery and pious sacrifice was invoked widely among the noble families of western Christendom. Popes preaching future crusades would count on these very same families for financing, leadership, and for the willing warriors who would lay down their lives on the battlefield. Despite the great risks and financial hardships associated with crusading, descendants of those who suffered and died on crusade would continue to take the cross, in some cases over several generations. Indeed, as Nicholas L. Paul reveals in To Follow in Their Footsteps, crusading was very much a family affair.Scholars of the crusades have long pointed to the importance of dynastic tradition and ties of kinship in the crusading movement bTrade Review[To Follow in Their Footsteps] is a stimulating contribution to each of the two subjects it covers. Its publication should mark a new phase in critical discussion about how the crusades were interpreted in the middle ages. * The English Historical Review *[Paul] weaves a history of the texts produced about crusader families into an analytic framework that draws on the insights of anthropology, literary theory, and sociology. Eschewing the more traditional positivist reading of crusade chronicles and family histories, Paul lays bare the various and variegated components of these texts, highlighting the role of women, objects, orality, romance, ritual, and liturgy in the collective articulation of dynastic memory. To Follow in Their Footsteps marks a critical moment in the creation of a new cultural history of crusading. * Speculum *A prominent example (of many) from Medieval Europe of how past generations were invoked to mould the actions of their successors is supplied by the crusades. As Nicholas Paul puts it in this lively new account, crusading was always a family matter. And by family he means the dead as wll as the quick.... In the first part of the book, Paul provides a splendidly informative, illuminating and often entertaining description and analysis of what, how and where ancestral voices could have been heard by putative crusaders in the twelfth century. * Times Literary Supplement *Paul showcases examples of two effective monarchs constantly exhorted to crusade, Henry II of England and Alfonso II of Aragon. For all the literary energy expended trying to persuade them, neither actually went, although their sons did. In the end, Paul suggests noble memory kept the idea of the crusade alive long after it had been laid to rest by governments and Christian society. Summing Up: Recommended. * Choice *Paul's book is an important contribution to crusading scholarship inthat it expands the current scholarship on memory and commemoration.An added strength of this work lies in the variety of themes undertaken.This is a compelling work that opens the way for further scholarship andmethodologies on many aspects of crusading, not least of all the ways inwhich texts and objects intersected with individuals and families to providemeaning and context to the early crusaders. -- Kathryn Smithies * Parergon - Journal of the Australian and New Zealand Association for Medieval and Early Modern Studies *The real achievement of this book is not so much that it is the 'last word' on aristocrats and the Crusades. Rather, in the sheer variety of the themes that it tackles, it broadens scope for discussion of this crucial issue. Paul's book may well follow in Marcus Bull's footsteps, and set the agenda for the 'next generation' of investigation into the topic. That is no mean achievement for the author's first book. * Reviews in History *The result is a very thoughtful and thought-provoking study of the impulses, dynamics and mechanisms involved in the shaping of medieval social memories and identities, and the long-term impact of the crusades on Europe's collective memory and culture. It is by all measures an intensely meticulous piece of research, presented by the author in an engaging way. Those inspired to delve deeper into the 'memories' of the many families and individuals introduced throughout the chapters will be greatly helped by the book's four appendices. -- Jochen Schenk, University of Glasgow * History: Journal of the Historical Association *Table of ContentsIntroductionPart I. Family Memory: Form and Function 1. Ancestor, Avatar, Crusader 2. Relations 3. The Fabric of Victory 4. Missing Men 5. Opening the Gates ConclusionsPart II. Two Count-Kings and the Crusading Past 6. The Fire at Marmoutier 7. Triumph at Ripoll EpilogueAppendix 1: Dynastic Narratives and Crusading Memory Appendix 2: Dynastic Narratives in Local and Monastic Chronicles Appendix 3: Description of Paris, BNF, MS Lat. 5132 Appendix 4: Letter of "Clement" in Paris, BNF, MS Lat. 5132, f. 106Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisPoetic elegies for lost or fallen cities are seemingly as old as cities themselves. In the Judeo-Christian tradition, this genre finds its purest expression in the book of Lamentations, which mourns the destruction of Jerusalem; in Arabic, this genre is known as the ritha al-mudun. In The City Lament, Tamar M. Boyadjian traces the trajectory of the genre across the Mediterranean world during the period commonly referred to as the early Crusades (10951191), focusing on elegies and other expressions of loss that address the spiritual and strategic objective of those wars: Jerusalem. Through readings of city laments in English, French, Latin, Arabic, and Armenian literary traditions, Boyadjian challenges hegemonic and entrenched approaches to the study of medieval literature and the Crusades.The City Lament exposes significant literary intersections between Latin Christendom, the Islamic caliphates of the Middle East, and the Armenian kingdom of Cilicia, argTrade Review"The City Lament is an important and well-conceived study that will make a significant contribution to the field. Boyadjian widens our frame of reference by bringing in the enormously significant Kingdom of Armenia, enhancing our understanding of this crucial period of history." -- Suzanne Conklin Akbari, Professor of English and Medieval Studies, and Director of the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto"Tamar M. Boyadjian’s book is an impressive, unique, and original work of scholarship in several ways that make significant, imaginative contributions to fields of and approaches to the study of medieval literary and religious culture. This refreshingly global approach to the literary history of the genre establishes the context for the study’s cross-cultural, multilingual, and multi-religious study of crusading era lament over Jerusalem." -- Adnan A. Husain, Associate Professor of History, Queen’s University, Kingston"Drawing on texts in Latin, Arabic, and Armenian, this innovative study takes the shared tradition of lamentations over the city of Jerusalem as a window onto the complex cultural politics of the eastern Mediterranean in the so-called age of crusades. Reading with a literary critic’s eye for nuances of style, convention, and intertextual allusion, Tamar Boyadjian shows the historical and historiographical stakes of the shifting representations of Jerusalem in the century from the First Crusaders’ conquest of 1099 to the founding of the Armenian kingdom of Cilicia at the close of the twelfth century and beyond. " -- Sharon Kinoshita, Professor of Literature and Co-Director of the Center for Mediterranean Studies, UC Santa CruzTable of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments List of Abbreviations Note on Translation and Transliteration Introduction: A Wasteland Translated 1. Lamenting Jerusalem 2. The Lost City: Ibn al-Abīwardī, Ibn al-Athīr, and the Lament for Jerusalem 3. Papal Lamentations: The First Crusade and the Victorious Mourning for Jerusalem 4. Jerusalem's Prince Levon: Lamentation and the Rise of the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia 5. Forgotten Lamentation: Richard I and the Heavenly Journey to Jerusalem Selected Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisWhen Americans declared independence in 1776, they cited King George III "for quartering large bodies of armed troops among us." In Quarters, John Gilbert McCurdy explores the social and political history behind the charge, offering an authoritative account of the housing of British soldiers in America. Providing new interpretations and...Trade ReviewQuarters places the issue of housing troops at the center not only of the Revolution, but of American political and social culture as colonists struggled to define boundaries between public and private spheres. * Choice *The book is a masterful telling of personal, local stories about the challenges and impacts of quartering, while maintaining a fast-paced book... it is indispensable reading for those interested in any aspect of the American Revolution. * Journal of the American Revolution *McCurdy follows the debates over billeting to analyze colonial-imperial proceedings, civilian-military relations, and personal rights. He argues that as the debates changed their ideas about public versus private places and the rights of people within them, Americans also rethought the ties between metropole and periphery... Quarters is a valuable study of an increasing clash of cultures within and between imperial and colonial, marital and civil, and policies and institutions that served as a foundation for revolutionary political and military formations. * William and Mary Quarterly *Quarters reveals and fills a significant gap in the literature on the revolution, and corrects some widespread misunderstandings... Quarters succeeds in illuminating a long-neglected dimension of British-American relations during the run-up to independence. * The Journal of Military History *Several factors combine to make Quarters a most welcome and original contribution to our understanding of the American Revolution...Quarters will spark salutary further discussion on the subject of American independence. It will certainly appeal to an audience of scholars of the Revolution, as well as anyone interested in eighteenth-century military institutions, including advanced undergraduate and doctoral students. Most importantly, it may alter for the better how civil–military relations in the colonial period are taught in American History classrooms. * MICHIGAN War Studies Review *McCurdy injects the pre-Revolutionary decades with a new spatial civilian-military dynamic in a way that changes how we understand well-studied topics such as Pontiac's War, the Proclamation Line of 1763, the Coercive Acts of 1774—and the development of a distinct American identity. * Early American Literature *Quarters is equally a social and political history; it should be widely read by historians across fields. It recovers the lived experiences of individuals, families, and communities. Refreshingly, women figure prominently in this narrative—the military was not a solely male space, nor was the world of politics a single-gendered space... The otherwise-familiar origins of the American Revolution look different thanks to McCurdy's work. * The Journal of American History *In challenging historians to think beyond the acrimony that often dominates discussions about the relationship between British soldiers and colonists, McCurdy will cause historians to consider quarters seriously not just in the practical function they served the military but their broader significance within the British imperial perspective. As McCurdy compellingly argues, military geography was central to the events tha sparked revolutionary sentiment and unification among the old British North American colonists leading up to the outbreak of war in 1775. * JOURNAL OF THE EARLY REPUBLIC *As John Gilbert McCurdy notes, there has never been a book-length treatment of the subject. Happily this omission has now been redressed in McCurdy's excellent monograph. The neglect of this topic is part of a larger failure to put military history into conversation with social and political history in a sustained and insightful way... Clearly argued and gracefully written, Quarters is an important contribution to this neglected area of inquiry that illuminates much about the challenges of imperial governance and the sensitivities of the revolutionary generation. * AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW *Good books are not just books with which you are in complete agreement. Above all, they are books that make you think afresh about your own views. On that critical test, McCurdy's Quarters is a very fine book indeed. * Journal of Early American History *

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Book SynopsisWhen Americans declared independence in 1776, they cited King George III for quartering large bodies of armed troops among us. In Quarters, John Gilbert McCurdy explores the social and political history behind the charge, offering an authoritative account of the housing of British soldiers in America. Providing new interpretations and analysis of the Quartering Act of 1765, McCurdy sheds light on a misunderstood aspect of the American Revolution. Quarters unearths the vivid debate in eighteenth-century America over the meaning of place. It asks why the previously uncontroversial act of accommodating soldiers in one''s house became an unconstitutional act. In so doing, Quarters reveals new dimensions of the origins of Americans'' right to privacy. It also traces the transformation of military geography in the lead up to independence, asking how barracks changed cities and how attempts to reorder the empire and the borderland led the colonists to imaTrade ReviewQuarters places the issue of housing troops at the center not only of the Revolution, but of American political and social culture as colonists struggled to define boundaries between public and private spheres. * Choice *The book is a masterful telling of personal, local stories about the challenges and impacts of quartering, while maintaining a fast-paced book... it is indispensable reading for those interested in any aspect of the American Revolution. * Journal of the American Revolution *McCurdy follows the debates over billeting to analyze colonial-imperial proceedings, civilian-military relations, and personal rights. He argues that as the debates changed their ideas about public versus private places and the rights of people within them, Americans also rethought the ties between metropole and periphery... Quarters is a valuable study of an increasing clash of cultures within and between imperial and colonial, marital and civil, and policies and institutions that served as a foundation for revolutionary political and military formations. * William and Mary Quarterly *Quarters reveals and fills a significant gap in the literature on the revolution, and corrects some widespread misunderstandings... Quarters succeeds in illuminating a long-neglected dimension of British-American relations during the run-up to independence. * The Journal of Military History *Several factors combine to make Quarters a most welcome and original contribution to our understanding of the American Revolution...Quarters will spark salutary further discussion on the subject of American independence. It will certainly appeal to an audience of scholars of the Revolution, as well as anyone interested in eighteenth-century military institutions, including advanced undergraduate and doctoral students. Most importantly, it may alter for the better how civil–military relations in the colonial period are taught in American History classrooms. * MICHIGAN War Studies Review *McCurdy injects the pre-Revolutionary decades with a new spatial civilian-military dynamic in a way that changes how we understand well-studied topics such as Pontiac's War, the Proclamation Line of 1763, the Coercive Acts of 1774—and the development of a distinct American identity. * Early American Literature *Quarters is equally a social and political history; it should be widely read by historians across fields. It recovers the lived experiences of individuals, families, and communities. Refreshingly, women figure prominently in this narrative—the military was not a solely male space, nor was the world of politics a single-gendered space... The otherwise-familiar origins of the American Revolution look different thanks to McCurdy's work. * The Journal of American History *In challenging historians to think beyond the acrimony that often dominates discussions about the relationship between British soldiers and colonists, McCurdy will cause historians to consider quarters seriously not just in the practical function they served the military but their broader significance within the British imperial perspective. As McCurdy compellingly argues, military geography was central to the events tha sparked revolutionary sentiment and unification among the old British North American colonists leading up to the outbreak of war in 1775. * JOURNAL OF THE EARLY REPUBLIC *As John Gilbert McCurdy notes, there has never been a book-length treatment of the subject. Happily this omission has now been redressed in McCurdy's excellent monograph. The neglect of this topic is part of a larger failure to put military history into conversation with social and political history in a sustained and insightful way... Clearly argued and gracefully written, Quarters is an important contribution to this neglected area of inquiry that illuminates much about the challenges of imperial governance and the sensitivities of the revolutionary generation. * AMERICAN HISTORICAL REVIEW *Good books are not just books with which you are in complete agreement. Above all, they are books that make you think afresh about your own views. On that critical test, McCurdy's Quarters is a very fine book indeed. * Journal of Early American History *

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Book SynopsisGeoffroy of Villehardouin, Marshal of Champagne by Theodore Evergates traces the remarkable life of Geoffroy of Villehardouin (c. 1148c. 1217) from his earliest years in Champagne through his last years in Greece after the crusade. The fourth son of a knight, Geoffroy became marshal of Champagne, principal negotiator in organizing the Fourth Crusade, chief of staff of the expedition to and conquest of Constantinople, garrison commander of Constantinople and, in his late fifties, field commander defending the Latin settlement in the Byzantine empire against invading Bulgarian armies and revolting Greek cities. Known for his diplomatic skills and rectitude, he served as the chief military advisor to Count Thibaut III of Champagne and later to Emperor Henry of Constantinople.Geoffroy is remarkable as well for dictating the earliest war memoir in medieval Europe, which is also the earliest prose narrative in Old French. Addressed to a home audience in

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Book SynopsisFrom the moment it began in 1936, the Spanish Civil War became the political question of the age. Hitler and Mussolini quickly sent aircraft, troops and supplies to the right-wing generals bent on overthrowing Spain's elected government. Millions of people around the world felt passionately that rapidly advancing fascism must be halted in Spain; if not there, where? More than 35,000 volunteers from dozens of other countries went to help defend the Spanish Republic.Adam Hochschild, the acclaimed author of King Leopold's Ghost, evokes this tumultuous period mainly through the lives of Americans involved in the war. A few are famous, such as Ernest Hemingway, but others are less familiar. They include a nineteen-year-old Kentucky woman, a fiery leftist who came to wartime Spain on her honeymoon; a young man who ran away from his Pennsylvania college and became the first American casualty in the battle for Madrid; and a swashbuckling Texas oilman who covertly violated US law and sold Generalissimo Francisco Franco most of the fuel for his army. Two New York Times reporters, fierce rivals, covered the war from opposite sides, with opposite sympathies. There are Britons in Hochschild's cast of characters as well: one, a London sculptor, fought with the American battalion; another, who had just gone down from Cambridge, joined Franco's army and found himself fighting against the Americans; and a third is someone whose experience of combat in Spain had a profound effect on his life, George Orwell.Trade ReviewHochschild’s contribution lies in the storytelling, his sure command of military history, and his beautiful sense of private hurt, which together yield original insight. An astute observer of contrasts, he navigates the hairpin turns between intimacy and barbarism, euphoria and despair, naivety and cynicism. The book effortlessly hopscotches from global history to individual – and emotional – experience. -- Rich Benjamin * Guardian *While Hochschild focuses on volunteers such as Berg, he doesn't ignore the war's local dynamic and global dimensions. What makes the book so effective, however, is his decision to explore these complexities through a set of interwoven biographies . . . Hochschild tells nuanced tales of political awakenings and disillusionment, but also steadfast ethical commitment. He never descends into easy moralising. * BBC History Magazine *Beautifully written with a hawk-eye for the telling anecdote, Spain in Our Hearts constitutes an endlessly fascinating and utterly unputdownable survey of the war to defend democracy in Spain that was not only the first act of the Second World War but also, for many across the world, the last great cause. -- Paul Preston, author of The Spanish Civil War: Reaction, Revolution, and RevengeSpain in Our Hearts is narrative non-fiction at its very best. Hochschild's achievement is to make this trial-by-combat story come alive, as if it were happening now. It is impossible for a reader not to identify and feel compassion for those sons and daughters of America who risked and often gave their lives for a cause that could not ultimately prevail against the darker forces of Franco, Hitler, Mussolini, Stalin - and Texaco. A seamlessly-woven, unputdownable tapestry of war in Europe; intensely, unforgettably moving. -- Nigel Hamilton, author of The Mantle of CommandAdam Hochschild weaves a brilliant tapestry of colorful characters into a story that includes the young Ernest Hemmingway, the charismatic Robert Merriman, the scotch-drinking Milly Bennett, the glamorous reporter Virginia Cowles, and dozens of other Americans whose lives were dramatically altered by the Spanish Civil War. Hochschild's poignant narrative evokes E.L. Doctorow's great historical novel Ragtime-but Spain in Our Hearts is no novel but a tragic true story about a critical tipping point in the 20th century's slide into total warfare. Passionate, evocative, and gracefully written -- Kai Bird, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Good SpyGeorge Orwell once explained that going to Spain, in 1936, 'seemed the only conceivable thing to do.' As soon as he got there, the right thing to do got a lot less clear. And how to write about it was immediately difficult, too. The twenty-eight hundred Americans who fought in the Spanish Civil War felt the same way, as Adam Hochschild recounts in this rich and fascinating book. Few writers grapple so powerfully with the painful moral and ethical choices of past actors as does Hochschild, who brings to Spain in Our Hearts his exceptional talents - and his moral seriousness - as a reporter, as a historian, and as a writer. -- Jill Lepore, author of The Secret History of Wonder WomanIn this beautifully written portrait of Americans caught up in the Spanish Civil War, Adam Hochschild brings to brilliant life the heroism and horror of that fratricidal conflict. His account of the David-and-Goliath fight between the ragtag army of idealistic, pro-democracy volunteers and the mechanized, murderous forces of Franco, Hitler, and Mussolini is one of the most powerful narratives I have ever read. -- Lynne Olson, author of Citizens of London[An] excellent portrait of the war and of the men and women drawn to Spain ... It is Hochschild's vivid account of what these people witnessed that gives his book its edge. Many other writers have described the Americans who went to Spain, but few have brought to their accounts such an enjoyable and balanced mixture of history and personal narrative ... Hochschild is good at conveying the barbarity on both sides without letting it swamp the story ... fascinating. -- Caroline Moorehead * Literary Review *Table of ContentsSection - i: List of Maps Section - ii: Author's Note Introduction - iii: Prologue: Far from Home Chapter - 1: Chasing Moneychangers from the Temple Chapter - 2: Promised Land, Black Wings Chapter - 3: "Those Who Do Not Think as We Do" Chapter - 4: A New Heaven and Earth Chapter - 5: "I Will Destroy Madrid" Chapter - 6: "Don't Try to Catch Me" Chapter - 7: Rifles from the 1860s Chapter - 8: Over the Mountains Chapter - 9: Civil War at the Times Chapter - 10: The Man Who Loved Dictators Chapter - 11: Devil's Bargain Chapter - 12: "I Don't Think I Would Write about That If I Were You" Chapter - 13: "As Good a Method of Getting Married as Any Other" Chapter - 14: Texaco Goes to War Chapter - 15: "In My Book You'll Be an American" Chapter - 16: "A Letter to My Novia" Chapter - 17: "Only a Few Grains of Sand Left in the Hourglass" Chapter - 18: At the River's Edge Chapter - 19: A Change of Heart? Chapter - 20: Gambling for Time Chapter - 21: The Taste of Tears Chapter - 22: Kaddish Acknowledgements - iv: Acknowledgements Section - iv: Notes Section - v: Bibliography Section - vi: Photo Credits Index - vii: Index Acknowledgements - viii: Permissions Acknowledgements

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Book SynopsisA history of America’s military on horseback.For three thousand years, the horse soldier has played a key role in both war fighting and in peace keeping all over the world, not only as a highly mobile strike force in battle but also as an instrument of reconnaissance and occupation, exploration, and irregular warfare.The American tradition of the mounted warrior is a proud one. But in the first days of our revolution, it looked as if George Washington was prepared to dispense with the use of mounted troops altogether. Eventually he saw their value, and over the next hundred years the cavalry adapted itself to the needs and imperatives of the growing nation. This is the story of the US Cavalry.In Bugles, Boots, and Saddles you’ll be able to ride along with heroes from years past, including:“Light-Horse Harry” Lee and his legion in the Revolutionary WarCuster at Gettysburg, at the Battle of the Wabash, and at Little Big HornCrook in pursuit of the Apache chieftain Geronimo in 1880s ArizonaTeddy Roosevelt and the Rough Riders at San Juan (Kettle) HillAnd many moreBugles, Boots, and Saddles tells not only the history of our military, but also how we gained so much success due to the horse soldier. With an appendix on the daily life of US Cavalrymen, Brennan gives all the detail that any military historian would want to see.Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.Trade Review“Bugles, Boots, and Saddles is an interesting look into the evolution and tactics of the U.S. Cavalry, from the ragtag colonial forces of 1776 to the smartly equipped Rough Riders under Roosevelt at San Juan. Editor Stephen Brennan has compiled a smart collection of narratives from heroic cavalrymen who advanced the strategies of military offense in the Mexican War, Civil War, and Custer’s last stand at Bighorn.” —Stephen L. Moore, author of Texas Rising “This book is a refreshing, enlightening, and entertaining study of the cavalry through the eyes of those who witnessed it firsthand. The reader can ride along into some of the most famous conflicts in history and virtually feel the thundering hooves, the sounds and smells of battle, and hear the cries of victory and defeat.” —Thom Hatch, author of The Last Days of George Armstrong Custer “This volume is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of the U.S. Cavalry. In addition to discussing basic elements such as weapons and tactics, the author provides extensive coverage of the role of American cavalry in conflicts from the American Revolution to the Spanish-American War. Key leaders and crucial campaigns and battles that are often overlooked by historians receive the attention they have long deserved.” —Jim Piecuch, author of Cavalry of the American Revolution “Drawing upon the writings of such cavalry notables as Generals Henry ‘Light-Horse Harry’ Lee and George Crook, writer Stephen Brennan takes us on a romp across America's battlefields, enlightening us along the way of the tremendous importance of the horse soldier in American military history.” —James A. Crutchfield, author of The Way West: True Stories of the American Frontier “Historians, both professional and dedicated amateurs, know that original sources generally provide the best and most authentic information. For those interested in the history of the US Cavalry, Stephen Brennan’s Bugles, Boots and Saddles is an interesting and useful compendium of memoirs and contemporaneous reports on the operations of the US Cavalry from the Revolutionary War through the Spanish American War. As such, it is a valuable addition to the libraries of cavalry enthusiasts.” —Terry Mort, author of The Wrath of Cochise “Bugles, Boots and Saddles is a vivid and colorful history of the U.S. Cavalry from the Revolution to the Spanish-American War. Using original source material, Stephen Brennan presents detailed and personal accounts of those who became famous leading their troopers into battles, including Light Horse Harry Lee, Zachary Taylor, Phil Sheridan, Winfield Scott, and of course, Custer, among many others. The book is a good history and a good read.” —Duane Schultz, author of Coming through Fire: George Armstrong Custer and Chief Black Kettle “In Bugles, Boots, and Saddles, editor Stephen Brennan has assembled a fine series of vignettes highlighting the role of America’s mounted arm from the War of Independence to the US struggle with Spain in 1898. The writing is at once dramatic and informative. The reader rides along with Light-horse Harry Lee, with Phil Sheridan and Teddy Roosevelt; but also with less well-known figures like Captain Charles A. May at Resaca in 1846, and George Forsyth in 1868.” —David A. Powell, award-winning author of Failure in the Saddle and The Chickamauga Campaign, Vols. I-III “Bugles, Boots and Saddles is an exciting read and well-tailored for fans of history. Of special note are the sections detailing the heroic use of U.S. cavalry in the Mexican War. This almost forgotten segment of American history desperately needs more attention and positive works of this nature. It was great to see it come alive on the page.” —Daniel Murphy, author of William Washington, American Light Dragoon “Stephen Brennan has crafted a fine selection of key topics and vibrant episodes that demonstrate the value of cavalry for American forces from the Revolutionary War to the end of the nineteenth century. This volume belongs on the bookshelf for any attentive reader of military history.” —Clyde A. Milner II, co-editor of The Oxford History of the American West“Bugles, Boots, and Saddles is an interesting look into the evolution and tactics of the U.S. Cavalry, from the ragtag colonial forces of 1776 to the smartly equipped Rough Riders under Roosevelt at San Juan. Editor Stephen Brennan has compiled a smart collection of narratives from heroic cavalrymen who advanced the strategies of military offense in the Mexican War, Civil War, and Custer’s last stand at Bighorn.” —Stephen L. Moore, author of Texas Rising “This book is a refreshing, enlightening, and entertaining study of the cavalry through the eyes of those who witnessed it firsthand. The reader can ride along into some of the most famous conflicts in history and virtually feel the thundering hooves, the sounds and smells of battle, and hear the cries of victory and defeat.” —Thom Hatch, author of The Last Days of George Armstrong Custer “This volume is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of the U.S. Cavalry. In addition to discussing basic elements such as weapons and tactics, the author provides extensive coverage of the role of American cavalry in conflicts from the American Revolution to the Spanish-American War. Key leaders and crucial campaigns and battles that are often overlooked by historians receive the attention they have long deserved.” —Jim Piecuch, author of Cavalry of the American Revolution “Drawing upon the writings of such cavalry notables as Generals Henry ‘Light-Horse Harry’ Lee and George Crook, writer Stephen Brennan takes us on a romp across America's battlefields, enlightening us along the way of the tremendous importance of the horse soldier in American military history.” —James A. Crutchfield, author of The Way West: True Stories of the American Frontier “Historians, both professional and dedicated amateurs, know that original sources generally provide the best and most authentic information. For those interested in the history of the US Cavalry, Stephen Brennan’s Bugles, Boots and Saddles is an interesting and useful compendium of memoirs and contemporaneous reports on the operations of the US Cavalry from the Revolutionary War through the Spanish American War. As such, it is a valuable addition to the libraries of cavalry enthusiasts.” —Terry Mort, author of The Wrath of Cochise “Bugles, Boots and Saddles is a vivid and colorful history of the U.S. Cavalry from the Revolution to the Spanish-American War. Using original source material, Stephen Brennan presents detailed and personal accounts of those who became famous leading their troopers into battles, including Light Horse Harry Lee, Zachary Taylor, Phil Sheridan, Winfield Scott, and of course, Custer, among many others. The book is a good history and a good read.” —Duane Schultz, author of Coming through Fire: George Armstrong Custer and Chief Black Kettle “In Bugles, Boots, and Saddles, editor Stephen Brennan has assembled a fine series of vignettes highlighting the role of America’s mounted arm from the War of Independence to the US struggle with Spain in 1898. The writing is at once dramatic and informative. The reader rides along with Light-horse Harry Lee, with Phil Sheridan and Teddy Roosevelt; but also with less well-known figures like Captain Charles A. May at Resaca in 1846, and George Forsyth in 1868.” —David A. Powell, award-winning author of Failure in the Saddle and The Chickamauga Campaign, Vols. I-III “Bugles, Boots and Saddles is an exciting read and well-tailored for fans of history. Of special note are the sections detailing the heroic use of U.S. cavalry in the Mexican War. This almost forgotten segment of American history desperately needs more attention and positive works of this nature. It was great to see it come alive on the page.” —Daniel Murphy, author of William Washington, American Light Dragoon “Stephen Brennan has crafted a fine selection of key topics and vibrant episodes that demonstrate the value of cavalry for American forces from the Revolutionary War to the end of the nineteenth century. This volume belongs on the bookshelf for any attentive reader of military history.” —Clyde A. Milner II, co-editor of The Oxford History of the American West

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Book SynopsisIf you love Lin Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton, or the books of Ron Chernow and David McCullough, then dig into these facts about Alexander Hamilton, George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin and the rest of the founding fathers.America has fallen in love again with Alexander Hamilton and the Founding Fathers again. Here is a popping fresh collection of little-known facts and surprising trivia surrounding the American Revolution and our forefathers – from those you’d expect (George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Ben Franklin, and Hamilton, of course) to those you may never have heard of, but you probably should have (who the heck was Rufus King?):Alexander Hamilton was born on foreign soil and became an American hero - the founder of the U.S. Mint and the U.S. Coast Guard. The naval communication book he wrote was still being used by the US Navy and Coast Guard through the Cuban Missile Crisis.Roger Sherman (of Connecticut) was one of only two Founding Fathers who signed the three bulwark documents of our republic: The Declaration of Independence, the Articles of the Confederation, and the Constitution. (Give props to this guy.)By the time he was thirty, George Washington had had smallpox, pleurisy, dysentery, and malaria.Even if they weren’t in “The Room Where It Happens,” Readers will be left with a greater appreciation and deeper respect for these human beings who were just trying to accomplish the incredible: create the greatest nation in history.

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Book SynopsisA Thorough, Comprehensive Guide to Seventy-Five of the Most Interesting and Influential Figures from the War Between the States, from Lincoln, Grant, and Sherman to Davis, Lee, and Jackson—and more For over 150 years, the Civil War has been an important touchstone in the history of the United States. Now, The Wikipedia Legends of the Civil War offers readers and history fans a new opportunity to learn about these legendary figures in greater depth and detail than ever before. Featuring extensive information about seventy-five important Civil War figures both famous and little-known, as well as a variety of supplemental information—photos, maps, documents, and more—this book is an essential guide for any Civil War fan, anyone curious about US history, or any reader who wants an insight into the most fascinating stories and interesting characters from this critical period for America. Included in The Wikipedia Legends of the Civil War, among many others, are: Robert E. Lee Ulysses S. Grant Frederick Douglass Stonewall Jackson William Tecumseh Sherman Abraham Lincoln Harriet Jacobs Jefferson Davis J.E.B. Stuart Clara Barton Ambrose Burnside Harriet Tubman Belle Boyd Robert Smalls and many others With nearly six million English language articles covering essentially any topic imaginable, Wikipedia is one of the most visited websites on the internet and an important resource for anyone curious to learn about the world. This curated selection of content has been carefully selected and compiled by our editors to be the definitive book on the subject.

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Book SynopsisWhen the Continental Congress decided to declare independence from the British empire in 1776, ten percent of the population of their fledgling country were from Ireland. By 1790, close to 500,000 Irish citizens had immigrated to America. They were was very active in the American Revolution, both on the battlefields and off, and yet their stories are not well known. The important contributions of the Irish on military, political, and economic levels have been long overlooked and ignored by generations of historians. However, new evidence has revealed that Washington’s Continental Army consisted of a far larger percentage of Irish soldiers than previously thought—between 40 and 50 percent—who fought during some of the most important battles of the American Revolution.Romanticized versions of this historical period tend to focus on the upper class figures that had the biggest roles in America’s struggle for liberty. But these adaptations neglect the impact of European and Irish ideals as well as citizens on the formation of the revolution. Irish contributors such as John Barry, the colonies’ foremost naval officer; Henry Knox, an artillery officer and future Secretary of War; Richard Montgomery, America’s first war hero and martyr; and Charles Thomson, a radical organizer and Secretary to the Continental Congress were all instrumental in carrying out the vision for a free country. Without their timely and disproportionate assistance, America almost certainly would have lost the desperate fight for its existence.Skyhorse Publishing, as well as our Arcade imprint, are proud to publish a broad range of books for readers interested in history--books about World War II, the Third Reich, Hitler and his henchmen, the JFK assassination, conspiracies, the American Civil War, the American Revolution, gladiators, Vikings, ancient Rome, medieval times, the old West, and much more. While not every title we publish becomes a New York Times bestseller or a national bestseller, we are committed to books on subjects that are sometimes overlooked and to authors whose work might not otherwise find a home.

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Book SynopsisLearn about the evolution of weapons by studying the design of the Civil War weapons cataloged in this attractive, full-color reference book. More than three million Americans fought in the Civil War and over six hundred thousand men, or two percent of the population, died in this dreadful conflict. Its impact is still felt today, for the war shaped our nation, and our national character. Studying the weapons used by both the Union army and Confederate forces tells an intriguing story of its own.The well-equipped Union army had access to the best of the industrial North's manufacturing output. By contrast, the South had to get by with imported arms and locally made copies of patented weapons. But the pressure of war quickly led to improvements in both sides' firearms. A War that began with single-shot horse pistols ended with multi-shot revolvers.Poignant archive photography is used throughout the book, showing the weapons in contemporary action, and placing them in their Civil War context. Evocative paintings by renowned Civil War artist Don Troiani bring the battlefield action to life.

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Book SynopsisDiscover the untold story of the vital role the Irish played in the American Revolution.George Washington changed the world and saved democracy by defeating the British during the American War of Independence. The Irish role in the American Revolution, the war for the ages, has never been correctly reported. Because many of the Irish who fought were poor and illiterate and left no memoirs, their stories and role have never been told. Until now. The Irish played a huge role in the American Revolution, not just on the battlefield but also in the field hospitals and in the framing of the Declaration of Independence. Learn the story of the famous spy Hercules Mulligan, who saved George Washington’s life on two occasions and who was famously portrayed by Okieriete Onaodowan in Lin-Manuel Miranda’s smash hit Hamilton. Discover the story of Edward Hoban, a carpenter from Ireland who Washington tasked with building the most famous residence in the world: the White House.Niall O’Dowd, author of Lincoln and the Irish and A New Ireland, takes readers on a journey into the unexplored contributions of the Irish in the American Revolution and behind the scenes of the relationships of some of those men and women with the first president of the United States. These unsung heroes of the American Revolution have never gotten their due, never had their story told, until now, in George Washington and the Irish.

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Book SynopsisThis, the fourth volume in Andrew Field's highly praised study of the Waterloo campaign from the French perspective, depicts in vivid detail the often neglected final phase the rout and retreat of Napoleon's army. The text is based exclusively on French eyewitness accounts which give an inside view of the immediate aftermath of the battle and carry the story through to the army's disbandment in late 1815\. Many French officers and soldiers wrote more about the retreat than they did about the catastrophe of Waterloo itself. Their recollections give a fascinating insight to the psyche of the French soldier. They also provide a first-hand record of their experiences and the range of their reactions, from those who deserted the colours and made their way home, to those who continued to serve faithfully when all was lost. Napoleon s own flight from Waterloo is an essential part of the narrative, but the main emphasis is on the fate of the beaten French army as it was experienced by eyewitnesses who lived through the last days of the campaign.

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Book SynopsisFrom its origins as the Consular Guard of the French Republic, and as Napoleon's personal bodyguard, the Imperial Guard developed into a force of all arms numbering almost 100,000 men. Used by Napoleon as his principle tactical reserve, the Guard was engaged only sparingly, being deployed at the crucial moment of battle to turn the tide of victory in favour of the Emperor of the French. Naturally, the Imperial Guard has been the subject of numerous books over many decades, yet there has never been a publication that has investigated the uniforms and equipment of the infantry of the Imperial Guard in such detail and with such precision. The author has collected copies of almost all the surviving documents relating to the Guard, which includes a vast amount of material regarding the issuing of dress items, even in some instances down to company level. This information is supported by an unrivalled collection of illustrations, many of which have never been published before, as well as images of original items of equipment held in museums and private collections across the globe. In addition, the renowned military artist, Keith Rocco, has produced a series of unique paintings commissioned exclusively for this book. This glorious book is, and will remain, unsurpassed as the standard work on the clothing and equipment of the Imperial Guard, and will not only be invaluable to historians, but also reenactors, wargamers and modellers. It is one of the most important publications ever produced on this most famous of military formations.

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Book SynopsisWhen the world held its breath It is 25 years since the end of the Cold War, now a generation old. It began over 75 years ago, in 1944 long before the last shots of the Second World War had echoed across the wastelands of Eastern Europe with the brutal Greek Civil War. The battle lines are no longer drawn, but they linger on, unwittingly or not, in conflict zones such as Iraq, Somalia and Ukraine. In an era of mass-produced AK-47s and ICBMs, one such flashpoint was French Indochina At the end of the Second World War France sought to reassert its military prestige, but instead suffered humiliating defeat at Dien Bien Phu in French colonial Indochina. The First Indochina war became a textbook example of how not to conduct counter-insurgency warfare against nationalist guerrillas. Anthony Tucker-Jones guides the reader through this decisive conflict with a concise text and contemporary photographs, providing critical insight into the conduct of the war by both sides and its wider ramifications. The Viet Minh, after resisting the Japanese in Indochina, sought independence for Vietnam from France.The French, with limited military resources, moved swiftly to reassert control in 1945, sparking a decade-long conflict. French defence of Hanoi rested on holding the Red River Delta, making it a key battleground. When the Viet Minh invaded neighboring Laos the French deployed to fight a set-piece battle at Dien Bien Phu, in 1954, but instead were trapped. All relief attempts failed and French defences were slowly overwhelmed. America considered coming to the garrison s rescue using nuclear weapons, but instead left it to its fate, which set the scene for the Algerian and the Vietnam conflicts.

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Book SynopsisIn early 1965 the United States unleashed the largest sustained aerial bombing campaign since World War II, against North Vietnam. Through an ever-escalating onslaught of destruction, Operation Rolling Thunder intended to signal America's unwavering commitment to its South Vietnamese ally in the face of continued North Vietnamese aggression, break Hanoi's political will to prosecute the war, and bring about a negotiated settlement to the conflict. It was not to be. Against the backdrop of the Cold War and fears of widening the conflict into a global conflagration, Washington policymakers micromanaged and mismanaged the air campaign and increasingly muddled strategic objectives and operational methods that ultimately sowed the seeds of failure, despite the heroic sacrifices by U.S. Air Force and Navy pilots and crews Despite flying some 306,000 combat sorties and dropping nearly 650,000 tons of ordnance on North Vietnam - more than that used in the Pacific theater during World War II - Operation Rolling Thunder failed to drive Hanoi decisively to the negotiating table and end the war. That would take another four years and another air campaign.

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Book SynopsisFrom its origins as the Consular Guard of the French Republic, and as Napoleon's personal bodyguard, the Imperial Guard developed into a force of all arms numbering almost 100,000 men. Used by Napoleon as his principle tactical reserve, the Guard was engaged only sparingly, being deployed at the crucial moment of battle to turn the tide of victory in favour of the Emperor of the French. Naturally the Imperial Guard has been the subject of numerous books over many decades, yet there has never been a publication that has investigated the uniforms and equipment of the Guard in such detail and with such precision. The author has collected copies of almost all the surviving documents relating to the Guard, which includes a vast amount of material regarding the issuing of dress items, even in some instances down to company level. The Guard was extravagantly dressed and accoutred, with the finest materials and the brightest colours. On both campaign and parade, the Guard provided a dazzling display of military grandeur. From the green and gold trappings of the Chasseurs Cheval, to the multi-coloured Mamelukes, the Guard cavalry was among the most brilliantly clothed formations ever to grace the field of battle. This information is supported by around 100 contemporary prints, many of which have never been published before, as well as images of original items of equipment held in museums and private collections across the globe. In addition, the renown military artist, Keith Rocco has produced a series of unique paintings commissioned exclusively for this book. This glorious book is, and will remain, unsurpassed as the standard work on the clothing and equipment of the Imperial Guard, and will be eagerly sought by reenactors, wargamers and modellers, and will sit on the book shelves of historians and enthusiasts as one of the most important publications ever produced on this most famous of military formations.

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Book SynopsisDuring the Waterloo Campaign, Wellington had only one division that was composed entirely of British infantry, the 1st Division. This consisted of two brigades of the most famous regiments of the British Army-the three regiments of Guards. The exploits of the Guards at Waterloo have passed into legend. On that day, Wellington entrusted the most crucial part of his line to the men he knew would hold their position at all cost. That vital position was the Ch teau d'Hougoumont, and those men were the Guards. As the great battle unfolded, the French threw more and more troops at the walls of Hougoumont, setting some of the Ch teau's buildings on fire and almost forcing their way in through its northern gateway. Though almost an entire French corps was engaged in the struggle for Hougoumont, the detachment of the Guards valiantly resisted every attack. Then, as the battle reached its climax, Napoleon launched his Imperial Guard at the centre of Wellington's line. Just as the French believed that victory was in their grasp, up stood the 1st Guards Brigade to deliver a devastating volley, followed by a ferocious bayonet charge from which the French never recovered. The experienced duo of Robert Burnham and Ron McGuigan have compiled the first comprehensive study of the Guards Division throughout the entire Waterloo campaign, from the initial deployment in Belgium to the Occupation of Paris. The book also includes an explanation of the organisation and composition of the two brigades and personal details of many of the Guards' officers-the men who saved the day at Waterloo.

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Book SynopsisAny miniature wargame is greatly enhanced by realistic and evocative scenery and buildings, but commercial ready-made pieces can be expensive. Building your own can be a cost-effective and very rewarding alternative, another hobby in itself, but it can be hard to know where to start. Wargames Terrain and Buildings is a series of books aimed at giving wargamers the skills, techniques and guidance they need to create their own stunning and practical model buildings. In this volume, master modeller Tony Hardwood shares his years of experience and presents the reader with a wide range of projects for the Napoleonic era. With the aid of step-by-step photographs, he guides the reader through building and finishing each of these models, which are organized in three sections of increasing complexity and encompass a range of scales and different materials. Nine projects are included but the techniques and skills demonstrated along the way, along with valuable advice on tools, construction materials and paints, can be adapted and applied to a much wider range of structures to grace your battlefields.

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Book SynopsisSieges played a key role in the crusades, but they tend to be overshadowed by the famous battles fought between the Franks and the Muslims, and no detailed study of the subject has been published in recent times. So Michael Fulton's graphic, wide-ranging and thought-provoking book is a landmark in the field. He considers the history of siege warfare in the Holy Land from every angle - the tactics and technology, the fortifications, the composition of the opposing armies, and the ways in which sieges shaped Frankish and Muslim strategy at each stage of the conflict. The differences and similarities between the Eastern and Western traditions are explored, as is the impact of the shifting balance of power in the region. The conclusions may surprise some readers. Neither the Muslims nor the Franks possessed a marked advantage in siege technology or tactics, their fortifications reflected different purposes and an evolving political environment and, although there were improvements in technologies and fortifications, the essence of siege warfare remained relatively consistent. Michael Fulton's book is a fascinating all-round reassessment of an aspect of the crusades that had a decisive impact on the outcome of the struggle. It will be essential reading for medieval and military historians.

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Book SynopsisIn 1801 the newly forged United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland commenced life at war with France and her allies and remained so until 1815. After 1812 she had to shoulder the extra burden of a war against the United States of America. With conflict on multiple fronts, hardships continued to be inflicted at home. Trade was made precarious. People became bone-weary of hostilities and the threat of invasion ran high. Napoleon Bonaparte was no ordinary opponent, and the United States navy showed the world the worth of her ships, but what stood in their way was the Royal Navy. Despite notable losses, after the victory of Trafalgar in 1805 she dominated the seas. Although not the only means, her warships were the nation's first line of defence that helped keep British shores safe. As the era ended it was obvious the navy had to change. Steam began to alter perspectives with new opportunities. From the vantage point of later decades it could be seen what the Royal Navy had once been and still was. A naval superpower. Britain's oldest continual military force. The senior service.

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Book SynopsisThe area astride the Spanish/Portuguese border between the respective fortresses of Ciudad Rodrigo and Almeida was the focus of the Peninsular War for much of the period from the autumn of 1809 through until 1812\. The fortress of Ciudad Rodrigo that dominated the country between the Rivers Agueda and Coa, was one of the 'Keys to Spain' for any army attacking either east or west across the frontier. With the defeat of the Fifth Coalition at Wagram in 1809, Napoleon was free to turn his attention to the rebellious Iberian Peninsula and the small British Army. Tasking a reluctant Marshal Massena to 'throw the leopard into sea', preparations started for what proved to be a protracted and lacklustre siege. Marshal Ney, however, champed at the bit and wanted to press on with the invasion and despite an increasing tempo of outpost actions, such as the renowned affair at Barbra del Puerco, Napoleon in attempting to control events from Paris, insisted on an orderly siege. With the fall of Ciudad Rodrigo, Craufurd's Light Division remained covering the Army's frontage but after a superbly conducted withdrawal, Craufurd's judgement erred and he was force into a costly fighting withdrawal to the River Coa. The British now fell back into Portugal but by Spring 1811 they were back and with Napoleon stripping troops from the Peninsular Wellington could prepare to invade Spain and besiege Ciudad Rodrigo Preparations for the siege were almost complete in December 1811, when further troops were stripped from Marshal Marmont, an opportunity to presented itself for a lightening operation to take Ciudad Rodrigo in the 1812 siege, which was of very different character.

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Book SynopsisOn March 30, 1972 some 30,000 North Vietnamese troops along with tanks and heavy artillery surged across the demilitarized zone into South Vietnam in the opening round of Hanoi's Easter Offensive. By early May South Vietnamese forces were on the ropes and faltering. Without the support of U.S. combat troops - who were in their final stage of withdrawing from the country - the Saigon government was in danger of total collapse and with it any American hope of a negotiated settlement to the war. In response, President Richard Nixon called for an aggressive, sustained bombardment of North Vietnam. Code-named Operation Linebacker I, the interdiction effort sought to stem the flow of men and material southward, as well as sever all outside supply lines in the first new bombing of the North Vietnamese heartland in nearly four years. To meet the American air armada, North Vietnamese MiG fighters took to the skies and surface-to-missiles and anti-aircraft fire filled the air from May to October over Hanoi and Haiphong. With the failure of its Easter Offensive to achieve military victory, Hanoi reluctantly returned to the negotiating table in Paris. However, as the peace talks teetered on the edge of collapse in mid-December 1972, Nixon played his trump card: Operation Linebacker II. The resulting twelve-day Christmas bombing campaign from 18-30 December unleashed the full wrath of American air power. More than 2,200 attack sorties, including 724 B-52 sorties alone, were flown by Air Force and Navy aircraft delivering 15,287 tons of bombs that laid waste to the North Vietnamese capital. Railyards, military storage depots, power stations, and bridges, as well as radar and communication sites, airfields, and anti-aircraft defences were pummelled day and night. Linebacker II would prove to be decisive: a ceasefire agreement was signed on 23 January 1973.

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Book SynopsisInsurgencies in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Yemen and elsewhere-the majority linked to al Qaeda-are in the news on an almost daily basis. But very little surfaces about a festering insurgency that has been on the go for six years in West Africa under the acronym of AQIM, or al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. This low-level series of guerrilla conflicts is widespread and sporadic, covering an area as vast as Europe. Nigeria has been drawn into the equation because its Boko Haram insurgent faction maintains close ties with AQIM and Islamic State. For now though, the focus is on Mali where several jihadist groups-despite formal peace agreements-remain active. Involved is the French army and air force as well as the United Nations Multidimensional Integrated Stabilization Mission in Mali (MINUSMA), the European Union Training Mission in Mali (EUTM) as well as the European Union Capacity Building Mission (EUCAP). The insurrection that fostered all this broke out early 2012 when President Fran�ois Hollande announced the beginning of Operation Serval. Five hours later the first squadrons of French Gazelle helicopter gunships began attacking Islamist columns. A day later French fighter jets based in Chad, almost 2,000 kilometres away, were making sorties against rebel ground targets in northern Mali.

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Book SynopsisWarfare in the Age of Crusades: The Latin East explores in fascinating detail the key campaigns, battles and sieges that shaped the crusading period of the Middle Ages, giving special attention to military technologies, tactics and strategies. Key personalities and political factors are addressed, including the role of papal monarchy in initiating the crusading expeditions, the relationship between Catholic Europe and the Byzantine empire, the role of the religious military orders, and Islamic and Mongol military capabilities. Chapters are devoted to each of the major crusades to the Levant - First, Second, Third and Fourth crusades - and an analysis of the Islamic response. The rise of the Mamluks in Egypt, with their innovative military organization, is covered, as are the failed Egyptian and Tunisian campaigns. The concluding chapters describe the Mongol campaigns in the Levant, the Mamluk response, and the final siege of Acre in 1291\. This original and perceptive study of a key stage in medieval military history features regional, strategic and multi-phase tactical maps that illuminate the narrative and provide a valuable resource for students, historians and wargamers alike.

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Book SynopsisThe Royal Navy of Nelson's time was such a huge organisation, that it is sometimes hard to comprehend its full scope. Indeed, during the Napoleonic Wars it was by far the largest employer in the entire world. Not only did the Royal Navy maintain a fleet of close on 1,000 ships, including over 100 line of battle ships, but it was also responsible for the entire organisation of maintaining them at sea. From the recruitment of crews, the maintenance and protection of bases throughout the world, the production and delivery of food supplies to feed this vast fleet and the procurement of naval supplies to keep the ships at sea, it was all the responsibility of this vast organisation. The Royal Navy was often Britain's last line of defence and many of its most successful officers became superstars, although none eclipsed Admiral Lord Nelson, who became the personification of the Navy. The whole country revelled in their successes and 'Jolly Jack Tar' became a source of national pride and a huge number of naval terms were taken into normal life and many are often still used to this very day. _Nelson's Navy in 100 Objects_ investigates all aspects of this incredible organisation and the lives of the men who served within it, including Nelson himself, using historical artefacts and naval terms that are now part of everyday language to illustrate them.

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Book SynopsisThe Anglo-Boer War in 100 Objects brings the victories and the tragedies-and the full extent of the human drama behind this war-to life through 100 iconic artefacts. While a Mafeking siege note helps to illustrate the acute shortages caused by the siege, a spade used by a Scottish soldier at Magersfontein and the boots of a Boer soldier who died at Spion Kop tell of the severity of some of the famous battles. The book follows the course of the war but also highlights specific themes, such as British and Boer weaponry, medical services and POW camps, as well as major figures on both sides. The text is interspersed with striking historical images from the museum's photographic collection. More than 200 additional objects have been included to help tell the story of a conflict that left an indelible mark on the South African landscape.

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Book SynopsisNapoleon Bonaparte and Juliette Recamier were both highly influential and well-known in France, yet they were often at odds with each other. Their story played out on the European stage during a period of political upheaval and new political ideas. Napoleon gained power in the aftermath of the French Revolution, and he would go from spectacular victories to dismal failure. His defeat in the early nineteenth century would result in Europe acquiring new national borders and with that Britain, Russia, and the United States would gain greater international influence. Juliette, on the other hand, wielded her own power. Because of the tumultuous French Revolution, noble and aristocratic landowners were being replaced by a new wealthy class in the private sector. Juliette and her husband were among the beneficiaries of this growing affluence and influence, and her power came from her new-found position in society. Juliette also viewed life differently than Napoleon. She saw life from the standpoint of a wealthy socialite whereas Napoleon's desires were always shaded by his military experiences and his meteoric rise to power. Along the way, Juliette would have to face the testy Emperor, and she would find that his own brother would fall for her. Even some of Napoleon's greatest enemies would woo her.

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The early 1990s saw Europe's first conflict for almost 40 years when bitter fighting broke out in the former Yugoslav republic. Colonel Colm Doyle of the Irish Army found himself in the midst of this appalling civil war when in October 1991 he became first a European Community Monitor and almost immediately Head of the Monitor Mission in besieged Sarajevo. After six months he was appointed Personal Representative to Lord Carrington, Chairman of the Peace Conference on Yugoslavia. In this overdue memoir, he describes his role mediating, negotiating and persuading political and military leaders of all sides to halt the seemingly inexorable path to all-out war. He arranged ceasefires, visited prisoner-of-war camps, extricated election monitors and organised hostage releases. His experiences made him a key witness at the International Criminal Tribunal in The Hague at the trials of Milosevic, Mladic and Karadzic. With his unprecedented access, Doyle's personal account can claim to be one of the most significant works on the brutal Bosnian War.

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Book SynopsisThough pressed many times to write about his battles and campaigns, the Duke of Wellington always replied that people should refer to his published despatches, and he refused to add further to his official correspondence, famously remarking that: The history of a battle, is not unlike the history of a ball. Some individuals may recollect all the little events of which the great result is the battle won or lost, but no individual can recollect the order in which, or the exact moment at which, they occurred, which makes all the difference as to their value or importance.' Yet Wellington did, in effect, write a history of the Peninsular War in the form of four lengthy memoranda, summarising the conduct of the war in 1809, 1810 and 1811 respectively. These lengthy accounts demonstrate Wellington's unmatched appreciation of the nature of the war in Spain and Portugal, and relate to the operations of the French and Spanish forces as well as the Anglo-Portuguese army under his command. Unlike personal diaries or journals written by individual soldiers, with their inevitably limited knowledge, Wellington was in an unparalleled position to provide a comprehensive overview of the war. Equally, the memoranda were written as the war unfolded, not tainted with the knowledge of hindsight, providing a unique contemporaneous commentary. Brought together by renowned historian Stuart Reid with reports and key despatches from the other years of the campaign, the result is the story of the Peninsular War told through the writings of the man who knew and understood the conflict in Iberia better than any other. These memoranda and despatches have never been published before in a single connected narrative. Therefore, Wellington's History of the Peninsular War 1808-1814 offers a uniquely accessible perspective on the conflict in the own words of Britain's greatest general.

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Book SynopsisA comprehensive, accurate, and academically-supported reference of all of the major military and paramilitary camouflage patterns that have been in use around the world from the end of World War Two to today. This book will be a one-stop, generalized reference illustrating as many patterns as have been researched into the present time period. It will surpass all previous efforts. In addition to color tiles illustrating camouflage patterns it will include photographs of the designs actually being worn by military and paramilitary personnel, something few other references have done in suitable combination.

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Book SynopsisCharles Esdaile's new guide to the Battle of Waterloo presents the experience of the soldiers who took part in the battle in the most graphic and direct way possible - through their own words. In a series of walks he describes in vivid detail what happened in each location on 18 June 1815 and he quotes at length from eyewitness accounts of the men who were there. Each phase of the action during that momentous day is covered, from the initial French attacks and the intense fighting at Hougoumont and La Haye Sainte to the charges of the French cavalry against the British squares and the final, doomed attack of Napoleon's Imperial Guard. This innovative guide to this historic site is fully illustrated with a selection of archive images from the War Heritage Institute in Brussels, modern colour photographs of the battlefield as it appears today and specially commissioned maps which allow the visitor to follow the course of the battle on the ground.

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Book SynopsisThe ground war in Vietnam pitted a myriad of American tanks, artillery, APC and trucks against not only the weapons of Communist North Vietnam, but also the terrain. Through archival images, the arsenal of the US Army and USMC are revisited. From the iconic M113 APC to the M48A3 tank, M551 Armored Reconnaissance/Airborne Assault Vehicle, M151 and M54 trucks, M50 Ontos, M107 and M109 artillery, and M42 Duster, the complete array of vehicles fielded is shown. This book, the first in a series on the US military's weapons, vehicles, aircraft, and naval vessels of the Vietnam War, offers a highly illustrated reference for this wishing to delve deeper into this conflict.

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Book SynopsisWhat was it like to be a military combat photographer in the most photographed war in history the Vietnam War? Shooting Vietnam takes you there as you read the firsthand accounts and view the hundreds of photographs by men who lived the war through the lens of a camera. They documented everything from the horror of combat to the people and culture of a land they suddenly found themselves immersed in. Some even juggled cameras with rifles and grenade launchers as they fought to survive while carrying out their assignments to record the war. Shooting Vietnam also finally brings recognition to these unheralded military combat photographers in Vietnam that documented the brutal, unpopular, and futile war. Firsthand accounts and photographs by military photographers in Vietnam from the mid-1960s to the early 1970s, Shooting Vietnam puts the reader right alongside these men as they struggle to document the war and stay alive while doing it although some didn't survive. The cameras around their necks often shared space with a rifle or grenade launcher that enabled them to stay alive while performing their assigned military duties, killing, if necessary, to survive. Often, during a brief respite from trudging through swamps and rice paddies or jumping from a chopper into a hot landing zone, they would wander the streets of villages or even downtown Saigon, curiously photographing a people and a culture so strange and different to them. It is these photographs, of a kinder, more personal nature, removed from the horror and death of war that they also share with the reader. The accounts in this book come from twelve men, all who had their own unique perspective on the war. Some were seasoned photographers before the military, others had only recently held a camera for the first time.

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Book SynopsisIn the 200 years since the famous battle in the muddy, bloody fields of Waterloo, almost every aspect of the fighting has been examined and analysed, apart from one - that of finding and illustrating locations relating to the campaign. From Napoleon's landing on the Golfe Juan on France's Cote d'Azur, along the Route Napoleon and through Grenoble, the Emperor's journey back to Paris, and back to power, is revealed here. In this beautifully produced book, we see where Napoleon distributed the Imperial Eagles to the regiments of his army, and where his forces assembled before marching to war, and where the Due of Wellington's Anglo-Allied army gathered in Brussels. The camera follows the initial encounters on the banks of the River Sambre and the manoeuvring of the French and Coalition forces leading to the first great battles of the campaign at Quatre Bras and Ligny. The key sites occupied by the opposing armies at these battles are investigated as are the routes of the withdrawal to Mont St Jean by Wellington's army and to Wavre by Blucher's Prussians. The Waterloo battlefield and its associated buildings are examined in pictorial detail, as are the locations which marked the pivotal moments of the battle. The sites of the corresponding battle at Wavre are also shown, as well as the pursuit of the two wings of beaten French Army, including the sieges of the fortresses by the British army, before Paris was finally reached. The uprising in the Vendee and the last clashes of the campaign before Napoleon's abdication are also featured. The book closes with Napoleon's journey from Paris to St Helena via l'Ile d'Aix and Plymouth. Headquarters buildings, observation posts, monuments and memorials, bridges and battlefields, and the principal locations of the campaign are portrayed in unique photographs - and behind every plague and place is a tale of political posturing, military manoeuvring, sacrifice and savagery. Together these images tell the story of Napoleon's greatest gamble, and we know that a picture is worth a thousand words!

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On the morning of 3 July 1815, the French General R mi Joseph Isidore Exelmans, at the head of a brigade of dragoons, fired the last shots in the defence of Paris until the Franco-Prussian War sixty-five years later. Why did he do so? Traditional stories of 1815 end with Waterloo, that fateful day of 18 June, when Napoleon Bonaparte fought and lost his last battle, abdicating his throne on 22 June. So why was Exelmans still fighting for Paris? Surely the fighting had ended on 18 June? Not so. Waterloo was not the end, but the beginning of a new and untold story. Seldom studied in French histories and virtually ignored by English writers, the French Army fought on after Waterloo. At Versailles, Sevres, Rocquencourt and elsewhere, the French fought off the Prussian army. In the Alps and along the Rhine other French armies fought the Allied armies, and General Rapp defeated the Austrians at La Souffel - the last great battle and the last French victory of the Napoleonic Wars. Many other French commanders sought to reverse the defeat of Waterloo. Bonapartist and irascible, General Vandamme, at the head of 3rd and 4th Corps, was, for example, champing at the bit to exact revenge on the Prussians. General Exelmans, ardent Bonapartist and firebrand, likewise wanted one final, defining battle to turn the war in favour of the French. Marshal Grouchy, much maligned, fought his army back to Paris by 29 June, with the Prussians hard on his heels. On 1 July, Vandamme, Exelmans and Marshal Davout began the defence of Paris. Davout took to the field in the north-eastern suburbs of Paris along with regiments of the Imperial Guard and battalions of National Guards. For the first time ever, using the wealth of archive material held in the French Army archives in Paris, along with eyewitness testimonies from those who were there, Paul Dawson brings alive the bitter and desperate fighting in defence of the French capital. The 100 Days Campaign did not end at Waterloo, it ended under the walls of Paris fifteen days later.

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Book SynopsisNapoleon Bonaparte was one of the most influential rulers in European history. Renowned as a military commander, he was also a great statesman, administrator, lawmaker and builder - and his civic achievements outlived and arguably eclipsed his victories on the battlefield. Yet while there are a host of biographies and studies of his military and political career, few books have been written about his connections with Paris, the capital of his empire, where many remarkable buildings and monuments date from his time in power. That is why David Buttery's highly illustrated guidebook to Napoleon's Paris is such a timely and valuable addition to the literature designed for visitors to the city. Many of the most famous sites in the city were built or enhanced on Napoleon's instructions or are closely associated with him and with the period of the First French Empire - the Arc de Triomphe, the Louvre, the H tel des Invalides, Mus e de l'Arm e, Notre Dame Cathedral, P re-Lachaise Cemetery among them. David Buttery's guide covers them all in evocative detail. His work is essential reading for every visitor to Paris who is keen to gain an insight into the influence of Napoleon on the city and the tumultuous period in French history in which he was the dominant figure.Trade ReviewButtery charts the building of the monuments, the restoration of the palaces, the paving of the streets, and all the intricate transformations that go into giving a city a global reputation. Butt he also looks at the ways Paris commemorated her patron, the statues scattered across the city, the museums dedicated to him and his soldiers, even the cemeteries where those warriors were laid to rest. Talking of fallen warriors, Buttery is especially good at showing how Paris was affected by those final battles of Napoleon’s regime in 1814 and 1815, and at showing how Napoleon’s capital has been changed by more recent events, be it war or the grand ambition of town planners. There is plenty of practical information in this magnificent book, so for those concerned about opening times and transport links, you can leave your Lonely Guide or Rough Planet behind. There are some lovely mapped walks here which are particularly nice and which allow the visitor to wander with intent. There are also some great asides on the imperial palaces and sites scattered just beyond the city limits. In short, it is really the only book the Napoleonic enthusiast needs when in the capital of France. - Jonathan North Finally, a guidebook for Napoleonic History enthusiasts! The book is divided into ten chapters, the first two provide a short history of Napoleon and his plans for the city of Paris. The next seven chapters talk about the different places and sites to see. In general, each chapter gives a short overview of about the site and then it gives practical information, such things as where it is located, what Metro stops ¬=are near it, where to park for the optimistic driver, opening hours, cost of tickets to get in, a map highlighting the things the author recommends, whether is food available, etc. One of the most important things he includes is a web address for the reader to find out current information on what exhibits are there, possible changes to the hours they are open, and the current ticket prices. This is a must have guide for those visiting Paris. I wish I had it when I was last there. – Robert Burnham, The Napoleon Series

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