Search results for ""pen sword books""

The Cold War, with its air of mutual fear and distrust and the shadowy world of spies and secret agents, gave publishers the chance to produce countless stories of espionage, treachery and deception. What Nigel West has discovered is that the most egregious deceptions were in fact the stories themselves. In this remarkable investigation into the claims of many who portrayed themselves as key players in clandestine operations, the author has exposed a catalogue of misrepresentations and falsehoods. Did Greville Wynne really exfiltrate a GRU defector from Odessa? Was the frogman Buster Crabb abducted during a mission in Portsmouth Harbour? Did the KGB run a close-guarded training facility, as described by J. Bernard Hutton in School for Spies, which was modelled on a typical town in the American mid-west, so agents could be acclimatised to a non-Soviet environment? With the help of witnesses with first-hand experience, and recently declassified documents, Nigel West answers these and other fascinating questions from a time when secrecy and suspicion allowed the truth to be concealed.

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This well written and thoroughly researched biographical account of the life and times of a South African WW2 pilot (the author's father) is sure to appeal widely. The story is by necessity highly personal, drawing on family history and changing lifestyles as the central figure fights his way through a series of challenging experiences, flying coastal strike missions in the Mediterranean and North Africa, then in the Far East against the Japanese. The story is full of personal perspectives and gets off to a thorough and engrossing operational start, before re-tracing the personal family story to place everything in context. Images of a lost world haunt the pages, evocative of an era where a decisive individual could challenge the system and get results, despite massive inflexibility within the Services. This work is sure to make a welcome addition to any discerning readers collection; the story of Coastal Command is often over-looked, with histories focussing largely on the Fighter boys and Bomber Boys of World War Two and their associated experiences. The exploits recorded in this book therefore serve as an over-due reminder of the Unit, and the part they played in the Allied effort. Ted's wartime exploits include the first mid-air sky-jacking in history, a daring solitary attack on the Italian fleet after losing the rest of his strike team, narrowly surviving being burnt in the subsequent inferno of a horrific air crash in the Ceylon jungle, many emergency crash landings and finally as Commander of 27 Squadron carrying out dangerous rescue operations behind enemy lines for members of the Indian Resistance Movement who were operating in the jungle of Burma. Written largely in the first person, and illustrated extensively, these exploits come vividly to life.

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The opening battles on the Western Front marked a watershed in military history. A dramatic, almost Napoleonic war of movement quickly gave way to static, attritional warfare in which modern weaponry had forced the combatants to take to the earth. Some of the last cavalry charges took place in the same theatre in which armoured cars, motorcycles and aeroplanes were beginning to make their presence felt. These dramatic developments were recorded in graphic detail by soldiers who were eyewitnesses to them. There is a freshness and immediacy to their accounts which Matthew Richardson exploits in this thoroughgoing reassessment of the 1914 campaign. His vivid narrative emphasises the perspective of the private soldiers and the junior officers of the British Army, the men at the sharp end of the fighting.

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Written from the unique perspective of a fast jet cockpit, Tornado Over the Tigris captures the essence of what it was really like to fly a Tornado at the front-line of the Cold War in Germany and on operations over Iraq in the aftermath of the Gulf War. After achieving a boyhood ambition to qualify as an RAF pilot, Michael Napier was posted to RAF Bruggen in Germany where he spent five years flying Tornado GR1 strike/attack aircraft at the height of the Cold War. Always exhilarating, sometimes amusing and often dangerous, Michael Napiers Tornado flying ranged from routine low-flying in continental Europe and the UK, to air combat manoeuvring in Sardinia and the ultra-realistic Red Flag exercises in the USA. Progressing from struggling first-tourist to respected four-ship leader, he then became an instructor at the Tactical Weapons Unit at RAF Chivenor. This tour, during which he flew the Hawk, provided yet more exciting and challenging flying. He returned to the Tornado at Bruggen as a Flight Commander shortly after the Gulf War and subsequently flew a number of operational sorties over Iraq, which included leading air-strikes against Iraqi air defence installations as part of major Coalition operations. This is his story, told with ease and great style. It is sure to inspire a fresh generation of fast jet pilots as they strive to make their own marks in this field.

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Born out of necessity in the dark days of the War, the RAF Regiment found itself in the thick of the action supporting the vital operations in all theatres. This comprehensive record of their operations gives the clearest indication of the contribution that the Regiment made and includes many first hand accounts of the fighting, including the first shooting-down of a jet aircraft, the Me 262A-2a Sturmvogel in November 1944. As a result of their outstanding contributions to the success of RAF operations in WW2, the Regiment became a permanent part of the RAF.

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The trench raid came to typify the aggression and close-combat of trench warfare on the Western Front. Inevitably, raiding by aggressively minded units had a psychological effect on the enemy. Dominance over the enemy could be established by aggressive raiding. Equally, raiding had an effect on the morale of friendly troops but not always a positive one. Successful raids buoyed spirits but unsuccessful raids could be detrimental because of the casualties sustained for no gain and raiding provoked retaliation from enemy artillery or mortars or a tit-for-tat return raid. Raids came to be the epitome of all-arms operations, combining individual weapons skills with tactical sense and requiring cooperation with artillery and mortar batteries for success. Yet, a raiding party was an ad hoc all-arms combat team put together and trained for a specific operation. In the early days of raiding, the raiders were always volunteers but the steady toll of experienced soldiers led to raiders being told off for the first task like any other. This is the first book to look at how raids were carried out, the successes, the failures, the consequences of raiding, their effect on morale and their contribution to military operations on the Western Front.

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The story of video games is often told as the successive rise of computers and consoles from famous names like Atari, Commodore, Nintendo, Sega, Sony and Microsoft. But beyond this familiar tale, there’s a whole world of weird and wonderful gaming machines that seldom get talked about. Curious Video Game Machines reveals the fascinating stories behind a bevy of rare and unusual consoles, computers and coin-ops – like Kimtanktics, a 1970s wargame computer made out of calculator parts, or the suite of Korea-exclusive consoles made by car manufacturer Daewoo. Then there’s the Casio Loopy, a 1990s console that doubled up as a sticker printer, the RDI Halcyon, a 1985 LaserDisc-based machine that could recognise your voice, and the Interton VC 4000, a German console made by a hearing-aid company, as well as a range of bizarre arcade machines, from early attempts at virtual reality to pedal-powered flying contraptions. There are tales of missed opportunities, like the astonishingly powerful Enterprise 64 computer, which got caught in development hell and arrived too late to make an impact on the British microcomputer market. And there are tales of little-known triumphs, like the Galaksija DIY computer kit that introduced a whole generation of Yugoslavians to computing before the country became engulfed by war. Featuring exclusive interviews with creators, developers and collectors, Curious Video Game Machines finally shines a light on the forgotten corners of video-game history.

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The latest of Ian Hughes' Late Roman biographies here tackles the careers of the brother emperors, Valentinian and Valens. Valentian was selected and proclaimed as emperor in AD 364, when the Empire was still reeling from the disastrous defeat and death in battle of Julian the Apostate (363) and the short reign of his murdered successor, Jovian (364). With the Empire weakened and vulnerable to a victorious Persia in the East and opportunistic Germanic tribes along the Rhine and Danube frontiers, not to mention usurpers and rebellions within, it was not an enviable position. Valentian decided the responsibility had to be divided (not for the first or last time) and appointed his brother as his co-emperor to rule the eastern half of the Empire. Valentinian went on to stabilize the Western Empire, quelling revolt in North Africa, defeating the 'Barbarian Conspiracy' that attacked Britain in 367 and conducting successful wars against the Germanic Alemanni, Quadi and Saxons; he is remembered by History as a strong and successful Emperor. Valens on the other hand, fare less well and is most remembered for his (mis)treatment of the Goths who sought refuge within the Empire's borders from the westward-moving Huns. Valens mishandling of this situation led to the Battle of Adrianople in 378, where he was killed and Rome suffered one of the worst defeats in her long history, often seen as the 'beginning of the end' for the Western Roman empire. Ian Hughes, by tracing the careers of both men in tandem, compares their achievements and analyzes the extent to which they deserve the contrasting reputations handed down by history.

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How should we live? In ancient Greece one man came up with a pleasingly simple answer to this question. The philosopher Epicurus taught his followers that pleasure and contentment were the aims of the good life. For hundreds of years Epicureanism was one of the dominant schools of philosophy. But by the 6th century it had all but disappeared. Discovering how and why Epicureanism was driven from philosophy and public discourse reveals much about how Western thought developed. Despite attempts to erase him, the lessons of Epicurus have been recovered from the mists of time and the ashes of Vesuvius. How he was restored to his place in history is a story of brilliant Renaissance scholars, chance discoveries, and a hunger for intellectual freedom. This new biography of Epicurus reveals the life of Epicurus and traces how his teachings have influenced thinkers across time. Epicurus still has much to teach us about friendship, happiness, and our place in the world.

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The Second Household Cavalry Regiment’s war was a short and exciting one, from Normandy in July 1944 to Germany in May 1945. In the vanguard of the Guards Armoured Division, 2 HCR, an armoured reconnaissance regiment, was continuously on the advance and rarely out of contact with the enemy. Sometimes progress was slow and grinding, while at other times it was with exhilarating speed. Written shortly after the War, this book draws on the recollections of those who were in the thick of the action; the young troop leaders, their corporals-of-horse, and troopers. Roden Orde has taken great care to weave an accurate, balanced and readable account, the story of an entire regiment, from the commanding officer to the youngest trooper. This inclusive style was ahead of its time, with a narrative that has a contemporary feel to it. The story cracks on and Sir Winston Churchill later described it as ‘the best regimental history I have ever read’. The book is well illustrated with many contemporary photographs, hand-drawn maps, and wonderful paintings and drawings, some of which have not been seen for many years.

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For most, and particularly the injured and the wounded, being shot down over Occupied Europe during the Second World War meant that capture was immediate, that imprisonment was almost inevitable. For some, evasion was possible, but rarely for long. For a relative handful, however, their evasion saw them eventually reach home once again. In this fascinating insight into how some Allied aircrew achieved the almost impossible and evade capture, the renowned aviation historian Martin W. Bowman has drawn together a set of tales of just some of these individuals. They are stories that illustrate the bravery and resourcefulness that characterized their experiences. British, American, Canadian and other Allied testimonies all feature to provide an authentic sense of the times at hand and the reality of life as an evader during this tumultuous and incredibly dangerous time. The stories of some Allied airmen, faced with sudden leaps into that dangerous unknown and their subsequent attempts at evasion, are retold here, many for the first time. Those who successfully evaded and were free to fight again' were few. Some were forced to remain in hiding under the guiding hands of the likes of the French Resistance or the patriots of the Com te Line - a few of the many who risked their lives helping Allied airmen, either to escape or to remain hidden until liberation, on pain of imprisonment, torture and death by their Nazi oppressors. Despite the threat of such retaliation, it has been said that as many as 100,000 people may have assisted evaders on one or more occasions before the war in Europe was brought to an end. This series of intoxicating chapters of evasion and life under the constant threat of recapture by the Nazis goes one step further in the drama of the war fought in the skies over the Third Reich and the subjugated countries of France, Belgium and Holland, revealing the constant nagging, and very real, fear that was endured by evaders and rescuers alike.

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The Second World War Italian campaign is often less well remembered than the struggle of the Germans against the western Allies in north-west Europe and against the Soviet Union in the east. But, as this book demonstrates in over 300 photographs, the Italian peninsula was a major theatre of the war in itself. More than a million Allied troops fought there, more than half a million Germans and Italians; there were over 600,00 casualties and well over 100,000 dead. The soldiers of many nations took part - Americans, Australians, Brazilians, British, Canadians, French, Germans, Greeks, Indians, Italians, Poles, South Africans - in a gruelling and protracted sequence of battles across rocky, mountainous terrain that made a mockery of Churchill's description of it as the soft underbelly' of occupied Europe. Every stage of the campaign is represented in the photographs - from the Allied landings in Sicily in 1943, through the tenacious defence by the Germans of a series of fortified lines as the Allies struggled north, to the final Allied advance across the Po in April 1945 and the German surrender. As well as showing the soldiers on all sides and the towns and Italian landscapes in which the fighting took place, the photographs record the appalling devastation the warfare left in its wake.

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In 1661 Portugal ceded Tangier to Charles II as part of Catherine of Braganza’s dowry settlement. Thus started the adventure known as ‘English Tangier’ whereby the Stuart monarch spent a king’s ransom defending a city perched precariously on the North African coast surrounded by hostile powers. Woven into the historical fabric of C17th, this is a compelling narrative history bringing to life the characters that comprised English Tangier, and the greed, ambition and religious fervour which drove the political manoeuvrings, ignited the emotions and produced acts of extreme heroism in the struggle to impose British rule on an alien culture. The book describes the surreal reality of life in Tangier, the Tangier Regiment, the developing army tradition of dashing gallantry and unselfish bravery, and other regiments holding the earliest battle honour – ‘Tangier’. It also highlights the actions of those who determined the development of the town and its eventual fate. We see the results of decisions made by Charles II and his brother the Duke of York (soon to be James II), the qaids and sultans of Morocco, the Spanish Duke of Medina, Samuel Pepys and the successive governors of Tangier.

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The threat of Operation Barbarossa, Hitler's surprise invasion of Russia in June 1941, succeeding prompted Churchill to decide to send vital military supplies to Britain's new ally. The early sailings to Northern Russia via the Arctic Ocean between August 1941 and February 1942 were largely unopposed. But this changed dramatically during the course of 1942 when German naval and air operations inflicted heavy losses on both merchantmen and their escorts. Problems were exacerbated by the need to divert Royal Navy warships to support the North African landing. Strained Anglo-Soviet relations coupled with mounting losses and atrocious weather and sea conditions led to the near termination of the programme in early 1943. Again, competing operational priorities, namely the invasion of Sicily and preparations for D-Day, affected the convoy schedules. In the event, despite often crippling losses of lives, ships and supplies, the convoys continued until shortly before VE-Day. This thoroughly researched and comprehensive account examines both the political, maritime and logistic aspects of the Arctic convoy campaign. Controversially it reveals that the losses of merchant vessels were significantly greater than hitherto understood. While Churchill may not have described the convoys as the worst journey in the world', for the brave men who undertook he mission often at the cost of their lives, it most definitely was.

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Even the most beloved of sovereigns faced moments of disorder and disruption at some stage during their reign. How they responded to those periods is what made them a great or a weak monarch. More importantly, it is what continues to make their reigns fascinating for historians and story tellers. In this, Henry VIII, arguably England's most famous - or infamous - ruler was no different from the rest. Selfish, opinionated, lustful and driven, Henry VIII created disorder and chaos in his country, laid the foundations of the Anglican Church and began the process of changing a tiny, wind-swept island off the coast of Europe into a mighty Empire, the likes of which the world had never seen before. This fresh new perspective of Henry VIII's reign and legacy takes the readers on a journey through the key moments of unrest and open rebellion. We learn about the cataclysmic events that were catalyst for disorder and disturbance to the general public, and journey through the instances of open rebellions like the Pilgrimage of Grace of 1536, one the most significant uprising of the sixteenth century, not just for Henry himself but for any of the great Tudor monarchs. Last but certainly not least, we look at how war disturbed the peace of Henry's tumultuous reign with the rebellion of Rhys ap Gruffydd in Wales, the Scottish invasion and the Silken Thomas Revolt in Ireland. The reign of Henry VIII began with joyous celebration at the arrival of a shining new king and ended with widespread terror at the rantings of a psychotic overlord. By focussing on the rebellions against Henry VIII, we cast new eyes on his character and gain a fascinating insight into the lives of Tudor men and women during the turbulent thirty-nine years of his reign.

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The 80th Anniversary of the historic final Battle of El Alamein is the ideal time to study the events leading up to General Bernard Montgomery's famous victory over Field Marshal Rommel's Panzerarmee Africa in Autumn 1942. Four months earlier after the loss of Tobruk , Rommel's forces were in the ascendancy. Prime Minister Winston Churchill removed General Auchinleck from Command of Eighth Army and appointed Bernard Montgomery in his place. After the successful defence of Alam El Halfa Ridge in late August and early September ended Rommel's inexorable advance, Montgomery set in train plans for the set piece offensive campaign at El Alamein which took place between 23 October and 4 November 1942. The stakes could not have been higher. Had Rommel broken through the Allied defences in Summer 1942 or Montgomery's forces not overwhelmed the German and Italian armies at El Alamein, Egypt and the Suez Canal would have fallen to the Nazis. Instead, the victory at El Alamein proved to be the turning point of the War against Hitler and led to the victory in North Africa

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Jane Seymour is the wife of Henry VIII we know the least about, often written off as 'Plain Jane'. Queen of England for just seventeen months, during her life Jane witnessed some of the most extraordinary events ever to take place in English history, later becoming a part of them. Jane ensured her place in Henry's affections by giving him his much longed for male heir only to tragically lose her life twelve days later leaving behind a motherless son and a devastated husband. For the remainder of his life Henry would honour the mother of his only legitimate son and would come to regard Jane as his 'true and loving wife'. But who was Jane Seymour? Throughout this illustrated book we will find a woman who was neither saint or sinner, but a human being with her own beliefs and causes.

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As the nearest RAF station to Occupied Europe, the airfield at Hawkinge in Kent found itself quite literally on the frontline during the Second World War. However, Hawkinge's association with British military aviation began more than two decades earlier, during the First World War. Already a pre-war airfield, it was in 1915 that the land was requisitioned for use by the Royal Fling Corps. The first personnel arrived a few months later to serve at was initially named Folkestone Field. Mainly used as a base for transporting aircraft across to France and the Western Front, a name change to Hawkinge Aeroplane Dispatch Station soon followed, at which point its remit also included the transportation of supplies to troops in France and Belgium. It was following the re-organisation of the RAF in 1923 that Hawkinge underwent the next stage in its development. New hangars and operations buildings were erected, with water and communications systems installed. The airfield's role changed to that of training for both RAF and the Army; 25 Squadron was the first full squadron to be based at Hawkinge. In the first months of the Second World War, airfield was re-designated as a Fighter Station in No.11 Group, following which the first Hurricanes from 3 Squadron arrived on 19 December 1939. Throughout the Battle of France and into the Dunkirk evacuation Hawkinge played a vital role providing around the clock air-cover for Allied forces. But it was in the summer of 1940 that Hawkinge endured its finest hour'. The first Luftwaffe attack on Hawkinge occurred on 12 August. Despite widespread damage, the grass runways were quickly repaired, ensuring that the Spitfires and Hurricanes which used it as a forward base were soon operating again. Despite the Luftwaffe's best efforts, Hawkinge remained operational throughout the war. As the RAF went on the offensive in 1941, Hawkinge had a vital part to play in maintaining these missions against Goering's forces - both as a location to refuel on the way out, or a place of refuge on the return, both for fighters and bombers alike, including those of the USAAF following America's entry into the war. Following the war, the fighter base was officially closed on 3 September 1945. In 1964 the Ministry of Defence sold the land, although for a short while in 1968, memories of the war were invoked with the airfield's use in the making of the classic film Battle of Britain. Only a small corner of the original site has survived and is today home to the renowned Kent Battle of Britain Museum.

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Why does the notorious highwayman Dick Turpin have such an extraordinary reputation today? How come his criminal career has inspired a profusion of often misleading literature and film? This eighteenth-century villain is often portrayed as a hero - dashing, sinister, romantic, daring, a Robin Hood of his times. The reality, as Jonathan Oates reveals in this perceptive, carefully researched study, was radically different. He was a robber, torturer and killer, a gangster whose posthumous reputation has eclipsed the truth about his life. In the early 1700s Turpin progressed from butcher's apprentice and poacher to become a member of the Gregory gang which terrorized householders around London by robbery and violence. Then came his two-year career as a highwayman robbing travellers, his partnership with Matthew King whom he may have killed in Whitechapel, his murder Thomas Morris in Epping Forest, and his eventual capture and execution. Jonathan Oates recounts the episodes in Turpin's short, brutal life in dramatic detail, basing his narrative on contemporary sources - trial records and newspapers in particular - and he traces the development of the Turpin legend over 250 years through novels, ballads, plays, television and film. The Dick Turpin who emerges from this rigorous and scholarly biography is in many ways a more interesting man than the legend suggests.

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Warfare was a crucial aspect of Celtic society, deeply linked to the spreading of their culture through all Europe. Between the fifth century BC, when La T ne Culture Celts developed in Europe, and the first century AD, when they faced the complete subjugation or annihilation of most of their communities, their approach to warfare was subject to constant evolution, driven both by contact with Mediterranean cultures and different requirements closely related to social issues that were in constant flux. Gioal Canestrelli offers an interdisciplinary approach, combining archaeological and literary sources and examining Celtic warfare from both a practical perspective, linked to weapons structure and military tactics, and a social perspective, analysing the cultural implications of Celtic military development. Furthermore, the book analyses the different areas of the Keltik , from Britain to Gaul, from Spain to the Alpine region, with more than 120 black & white drawings of the archaeological finds and a number of original colour artworks of Celtic warriors.

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Warfare between the clans of the Highlands in the late Middle Ages determined the course of history in this region of Scotland, and Chris Peers's gripping account of it - and of the rivalry between the strongest clans - gives the reader a deep insight into this bloody, turbulent phase in the development of the far north of the British Isles. The battles he describes, all of them fought between the 1430s and the 1540s, were flash points in the long struggle for dominance between the leading clans of the region. The battles are reconstructed in vivid detail. The first, Druim n Coub, was fought in 1433 between the Mackays and the Sutherlands. Then came Bloody Bay, a sea fight between rival MacDonald factions, Blar na Parc between the MacDonalds and the Mackenzies, Creag an Airgid between the MacDonalds and the MacIains, Glendale between the MacDonalds and MacLeods, and Torran Dubh between alliances headed by the Mackays and Sutherlands. The final battle, Blar na Leine, fought between the MacDonalds and the Frasers in 1544, marked the end of an era. The subsequent fate of the leading clans, principally the MacDonalds and Mackays, is also covered in a narrative that gives the reader a fascinating new perspective of clan loyalties and conflict which still resonates today. As well as covering the fighting Chris Peers explains the way war in the Highlands was organized by the contending clans during the period - the strategies and tactics, weapons and armour they employed. The result is an absorbing all-round account of the military history of the Highlands before the clans eventually lost their independence.

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Women and Warfare in the Ancient World presents a broad view of women and female figures involved in war in the ancient world, incorporating mythological, legendary, archaeological, and historical evidence for women in a military setting. Within this context are found not only fighters but also strategists, trainers, and leaders who may not have been on the actual battlefield. Exploring women and war within the Indo-European and Near Eastern worlds, this title seeks to challenge the view that women do not fight and that war is completely a male occupation – a view expressed as early as Xenophon and as late as the end of the 20th century. Karlene Jones-Bley begins her study by defining Virgins, Viragos, and Amazons, going on to explore war goddesses, legendary, and historical women giving insights into different cultures, their attitudes towards women and how these have developed over time. Recent archaeological evidence supports her conclusions that women have always been a part of warfare.

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Soldiers' first-hand accounts of Second World War active service invariably make inspiring and exciting reading but Mines, Bombs, Bullets and Bridges is exceptional for several reasons. First, Brian Moss's role as a bomb disposal specialist was especially hazardous. Secondly, he was in the thick of the action from the start, dealing with unexploded ordnance during the London blitz. He was then deployed as a frontline sapper to North Africa and onto Sicily before landing on Gold Beach on D-Day. Despite many close calls he was relatively unscathed until taken out by a butterfly bomb at Nijmegen. Fortunately, despite serious injury he lived, quite literally, to tell the tale but his war was over. While the Author's graphic account compares favourably with the very best wartime memoirs, it also has a unique element, namely examples of his outstanding artistic skill. It is truly remarkable that he not only managed to produce so many fine works under combat conditions and that he was able to draw such accurate maps from memory. His sketches and paintings bring a special dimension to this story. What a privilege it is to feast on the words and images created by this exceptionally brave and talented man.

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In the 18th century in the town of Gorkha, just north of Kathmandu, ruler Prithvi Narayan fought campaigns against his neighbours and the British. During the fighting his warriors, renowned for their aggression and courage, gained the respect of the British, who appreciated that the steadfast warriors would make excellent soldiers. Upon the declaration of peace in 1816, a partnership was born. This alliance would play a vital role in UK defence over the next two centuries, from surviving the Indian Mutiny of 1857 and fighting in the jungles of Burma to the Khyber Pass, which would keep the Gurkhas in action for ninety years. The First World War sent the Regiment to the trenches, where battalion after battalion was decimated. Some 20 Gurkha battalions were deployed in the Second World War, which was soon increased to 45 following Dunkirk. Around 250,000 Gurkha soldiers would serve and were deployed most significantly in North Africa but also served with distinction in the Italian Campaign and Monte Cassino, as well as the decisive battles of Imphal and Kohima in the Far East. Whilst the Gurkhas saw a drop in overall numbers post-war, they have continued to make integral contributions to many operations, including the Falklands and in Afghanistan, which this book examines extensively, with a special focus on Operation Herrick. In The Gurkha Way, John Sadler tells the story of the Gurkhas from their inception to modern day through interviews, unpublished diaries and correspondence. With over 200 years' experience, these steadfastly loyal soldiers are a link to an imperial past but also a key component of the modern British army. There is no other comparable unit in any of the world's armies, (with the obvious exception of the Indian Army), or one more respected and loved by the British.

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Not since 1066 - at least in popular myth - has an enemy force set foot on British soil. The Declaration of War with Revolutionary France in 1793 changed all that. In Ireland, the desire for home rule led Irish republicans to seek support from France and like-minded radicals in England. The scene was set for the most dangerous period in British history since William the Conqueror. Irish dreams of independence, and of Revolutionary France's goal of securing her borders against the monarchies of Europe, coalesced. What better way of keeping Britain out of a war if her troops were tied down in Ireland? If the French could support an Irish Revolution, this would ensure the British Crown would be more focused on internal security than fighting overseas. The French, with a network of secret agents in Ireland and England, made their preparations for invasion The invasion plan had been prepared by the English-born American political activist, philosopher, theorist and revolutionary Thomas Paine, whose writings had helped inspire the Americans to fight for independence from Britain. Paine sought to seize on discontent in England against the government of William Pitt and the increasing radicalism fostered by Wolfe Tone in Ireland for home rule, to topple the government, and bring about an Irish and English Republic. A network of spies spread out across the England, Scotland and Ireland gathering information for the French and arming radical groups. Everything was set for an invasion. Mad King George's throne was set to be toppled, Charles James Fox installed as leader of the embryonic English Republic, while Ireland, under Wolfe Tone, would have home rule - so too Scotland. But it took six years for the French to finally mount their attacks upon Britain. And when the invasions were eventually launched, they crumbled into chaos. This book seeks to charts the events that led up to the French invasion of Ireland in 1798, and how the invasion was foiled by William Pitt's own web of secret agents. William Huskisson, best known for being killed at the opening of the Liverpool and Manchester Railway, led a dangerous life as a spy master, whose agents foiled the French at every step. Drawing on documents in the French Army Archives, as well as the records of the French Foreign Ministry and The National Archives in London, the largely forgotten story of the last invasion of Britain in 1797, as well as the final act of 1798, is revealed. Key documents are the campaign diary of the French commander from 1798, General Humbert, which has never been published in French or English. This, then, is the complete untold story of the French invasions and their sabotage, told for the first time in some 200 years.

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The Carthaginians were undoubtedly the most formidable enemies of the ever-expanding Roman Republic, due to their sophisticated and often well-led military forces. Although the citizens of Carthage itself, a seafaring, mercantile state by tradition, may not have had the same military ethos as the Romans, they compensated by fielding varied multinational armies consisting of subject, allied and mercenary contingents, many of them recruited from the most famous warrior peoples of the Mediterranean. These included the incomparable Numidian light cavalry, the famed slingers of the Balearic islands, fierce Celts and skilled Spanish swordsmen, not forgetting the famous war elephants. During the first of the three conflicts that they fought against the Roman Republic - the famous Punic Wars - the Carthaginians completely reformed their land forces along Hellenistic lines and invited an experienced Spartan officer to command it. During the Second Punic War, they obtained a series of stunning victories over the Romans under the brilliant leadership of their own Hannibal Barca, marauding through Italy for some fifteen years. Gabriele Esposito reconstructs the history, organization and weapons of the Carthaginian military forces across the Punic Wars (264-146 BC). The weapons, armour and tactics of each of the various ethnic components is analyzed and the accessible text is supported by dozens of excellent colour photographs, showing replica equipment in use.

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This is a military-political history with a vital and all-pervading cultural and social theme which shapes the narrative - race, colour and prejudice. But despite this, there is an extraordinary underlying theme of empire loyalty among serving soldiers - NCOs and private soldiers - and a growing grasp of political ideas and liberal democracy. And the loyalty to the British crown as an agent of the ending of slavery will be amazing to some readers. War experience was a powerful catalyst and contributed to a 'West Indianess' and desire for political advance. But even here the desire was for independence within the empire - a 'West Indian Dominion' as with 'elder sisters' of empire, the Dominions of Australia, Canada, New Zealand and South Africa. The political and economic status of the islands was a potent reason for the 'coloured contingents' enlisting - work was scarce - but a major impetus was the cultural concept of 'manliness' and empire-status - shared by George V, who insisted, against government pressure, on allowing West Indians to serve with white British soldiers. But all were volunteers and not enlisted men. The West Indies Regiment was small and its contribution in action limited, and restricted largely to Egypt and Mesopotamia, and with limited service on the Western Front. But it shows vividly the ingrained racialism and colour prejudice of British society and the British Army and above all, in the insensitive omission of the West Indies Regiment at the Victory Parade in 1919.

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How would you react under fire? Fight or flight? What if you were in charge of a squad of men, with their lives in your hands? The next decision you make could be fatal for you and your comrades or could be devastating to your enemy. The wrong decision could haunt you for the rest of your career and beyond. The decisions taken by commanders in the field are analyzed in a detached manner by historians. But what, for example, was the thought process of a reconnaissance tank officer operating far ahead of any supporting troops in the Second World War, or a machine-gunner trying to differentiate friend from foe in the Gulf War? How might a British infantry officer in the Iraq War deal with the situations he faced in combat, or a platoon commander in the War Against ISIS, where the enemy had no fear of dying and even embraced it? How do you come to terms with the consequences of your decisions, the right ones as well as the tragically wrong ones? James Brooks presents defining moments such as these to put you in the shoes of the decision-maker. You can decide when to cross a bridge in Taliban territory, whether to land a helicopter under fire to rescue Marines in danger, and how to lead a command center targeting ISIS through air strikes. These decisions, compared with what the veterans did themselves, teach more about humanity than they do about the tactics of war and serve as lessons for the decisions we face in everyday life. In a career that traced the rise and fall of ISIS from 2014 to 2021, James served in the US Marine Corps as a scout sniper platoon commander, intelligence officer, and counter-propaganda mission lead. After two deployments to the Middle East and a year-and-a-half fighting ISIS propaganda online, James returned to his hometown to teach a subject called Perspectives in Modern War to high school seniors. Building from the stories of his own service, as well as those of the men and women he fought alongside, in Leadership in Modern War James captures these lessons and explores just what it is like to be on the front line facing your foe. Warfare has changed in the twenty-first century, but the enduring lessons of conflict remain the same. It is brutal and unforgiving - but it is also character-defining.

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Speed Queens is a history of women in motorsport, from the very beginning in 1897 to the modern era. Tracing the different ways that women have found into motor racing and rallying, it covers over a century of stories across the world. Each chapter takes a particular event as an introduction to a racer and her contemporaries, taking a different theme each time and moving forward through history. Circuit racing and rallying are both covered. Much more than a collection of profiles and lists of achievements, it explores ideas including sportswomen as performers in the early 20th century, women, death and risk and how the expansion of small car production in the 1960s benefitted female drivers. Some of the best-known female competitors such as Michele Mouton (rallying) and Lella Lombardi (Formula 1) make appearances, but Speed Queens is not just concerned with big names and historic firsts . For every woman to be the first to do something on wheels, there were usually several others vying for that honour. In this book, they are given back their place in the story and their relationships to one another examined.

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They were supposed to be pious, fruitful and submissive. The wealthiest women in the kingdom, Anne Beauchamp and her daughters were at the heart of bitter inheritance disputes. Well educated and extravagant, they lived in style and splendour but were forced to navigate their lives around the unpredictable clashes of the Cousins' War. Were they pawns or did they exert an influence of their own? The twists and turns of Fate as well as the dynastic ambitions of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick saw Isabel married without royal permission to the Yorkist heir presumptive, George Duke of Clarence. Anne Neville was married to Edward of Lancaster, the only son of King Henry VI when her father turned his coat. One or the other was destined to become queen. Even so, the Countess of Warwick, heiress to one of the richest titles in England, could not avoid being declared legally dead so that her sons-in-law could take control of her titles and estates. Tragic Isabel, beloved by her husband, would experience the dangers of childbirth and on her death, her midwife was accused of witchcraft and murder. Her children both faced a traitor's death because of their Plantagenet blood. Anne Neville became the wife of Richard, Duke of Gloucester having survived a forced march, widowhood and the ambitions of Isabel's husband. When Gloucester took the throne as Richard III, she would become Shakespeare's tragic queen. The women behind the myth suffered misfortune and loss but fulfilled their domestic duties in the brutal world they inhabited and fought by the means available to them for what they believed to be rightfully their own. The lives of Countess Anne and her daughters have much to say about marriage, childbirth and survival of aristocratic women in the fifteenth century.

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The Spanish Civil War ended in Alicante. After Catalonia fell to the Hitler and Mussolini backed military rebellion of Franco’s Nationalists at the outset of 1939, the legitimate Republican government of Dr Negrín was faced with a choice between apparently futile resistance or unconditional surrender to the triumphant Nationalists. Choosing the path of continued defiance until they could force concessions or at least implement a mass evacuation of those Republicans most at risk in Franco’s new Spain, the government withdrew to Elda in the province of Alicante. However, their plans were thwarted by a new rebellion of Republican officers, led by Colonel Segismundo Casado, who resented Negrín’s reliance on the Communist Party and the USSR and believed themselves better equipped to negotiate a peace settlement with Franco. They were misguided, Franco had no wish, and ultimately no need to negotiate. Meanwhile, faced with the imminent risk of arrest by the new junta, the Prime Minister and his cabinet were forced to abandon Spain from the tiny aerodrome of Monóvar. A relatively quiet port on the eastern, Mediterranean coast of Spain, Alicante had remained at some distance from the frontlines throughout the fighting on the ground, but swiftly became a target for Italian bombers operating out of bases in the Balearic Islands. In May 1938, at the height of the air offensive, Italian bombers attacked the marketplace, causing a massacre as tragic as the events in Guernica, yet largely ignored by historians. As the war drew towards its conclusion, Alicante became increasingly significant as attention focused on the plight of the defeated Republicans. In the second half of March 1939, the fronts collapsed, and Madrid finally fell to the insurgents. Tens of thousands of refugees descended on Alicante in the forlorn hope of rescue by French and British ships that had been promised but which failed to materialise. Amid the tragedy, as the British and French governments declined to engage in any humanitarian intervention that might offend Hitler and Mussolini, a single hero emerged; Captain Archibald Dickson, the Welsh master of the Stanbrook who ditched his cargo and transported 3,000 refugees to safety in North Africa. On 30 March 1939, Franco’s vanguard, the Italian ‘Volunteer’ Corps under General Gastone Gambara, occupied a town already under the control of the Fifth Column. Two days later the Generalísimo issued a communiqué from his headquarters in Burgos, declaring that the war was over. The bulk of the Republicans surrounded and captured in the port were marched to an improvised internment camp, known as the Campo de los Almendros (Field of Almond Trees). They were then transferred to the infamous concentration camp at Albatera to share the fate of defeated Republicans across Spain and to undergo the programme of ideological cleansing of the new fascist authorities.

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The popular image of railway travel during the Second World War is that of a sparse service of dirty and grossly overcrowded trains that were forever being delayed. The iconic ‘is your journey really necessary’ poster campaign is credited with discouraging the public from travelling by train. This book questions these assumptions and examines the mobility requirements of the British public during the war years and aligns these to the level of service provided by the railways. Throughout the war the railways were managed by the Railway Executive Committee (REC) whose members were all senior railway officers. The conflicts between the REC and the government in respect to controlling passenger numbers on the railway system, which was overcrowded with essential additional war related freight traffic, are examined; as are the propaganda campaigns aimed at restricting ‘unnecessary’ travel. The public’s response to the travel restrictions are analysed to determine how railway passengers’ attitudes and reactions corresponded to the publicly accepted mythology. Many British citizens did reduce their railway journeys, but for others who had previously had little need to travel by train, the exigencies of war resulted in them having to make long and often difficult journeys by rail.

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On the outbreak of war in 1914, the Royal Navy found it required more small craft than it possessed to carry out minesweeping, anti-submarine patrols and coastal defence. This led to the formation of an auxiliary force of civilian vessels, including motor pleasure boats and yachts, relatively new types of craft powered by the internal combustion engine. The inclusion of these vessels came about when a group of motor boat owners suggested to the Admiralty that their vessels could play an important role in the defence of Britain. The result was the formation of the Royal Naval Motor Boat Reserve (RNMBR) in 1912. By mid-1915, the demands of naval duty had proved too much for these quirky craft. A meeting in the USA led to their replacement by American-designed Elco motor launches (MLs), of which 550 were purchased, and these Elco launches gave great service for the rest of the war, usually officered by RNVR personnel who won three Victoria Crosses. In addition to the Elcos, in 1915 some naval officers developed the hydroplaning coastal motor boats (CMBs), which served with equal distinction in the latter part of the war. Post-war, both types saw valuable service in the occupation of the Rhineland and in the Baltic campaign, where three more VCs were won. Other countries adopted similar craft. In Italy, the MAS torpedo motor craft achieved fame and success. And in France, MLs supplied by Britain, and by Elco, played their part. Germany too utilised small motor vessels, including the torpedo-armed Luftschiffmotorboote and Fernlenkboot remotely controlled designs. And when America entered the war, she built a fleet of so-called 'sub chasers', wooden-built and designed to counter U-boats along her East Coast. The Petrol Navy tells the stirring story of these motor-driven boats at war, of their development and operations and of the many colourful characters who were their captains and crew. It will acquaint historians and enthusiasts with an important and previously untold aspect of the naval war, and will engross those with a more general interest in the First World War.

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In this the highly illustrated second volume of his history of US naval aviation, Leo Marriott takes the reader through the extraordinary developments in design and capability that transformed American aircraft and aircraft carriers after the Second World War, and he describes the succession of conflicts in which they were deployed. Increasingly, advanced jets replaced propeller-driven aircraft and nuclearpowered carriers allowed the US Navy to project American military power across the world. As the many remarkable photographs in this book show, wherever naval aviation was involved, it played a crucial role, especially in the wars in Korea and Vietnam. The vessels built in the 1940s to fight in the war against Japan gave way to a new generation of super carriers. Supersonic fighters and strike aircraft entered service - the F-8 Crusaders and F-4 Phantoms of the Vietnam era, then the F-14 Tomcat, F/A-18 Hornet and S-3 Viking of more recent times. Carrier-based helicopters became more important, first for search-and-rescue missions, then for anti-submarine warfare and for landing assault forces. Throughout this period of the Cold War the US Navy's carriers and aviation served to demonstrate American power worldwide and to counter the threat represented by the Soviet Union's challenge to US mastery of the seas.

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Owing its origins to Lord Trenchard's desire to establish an elite corps of civilians who would serve their country in flying squadrons during their spare time, the Auxiliary Air Force (AAF) was first formed in October 1924\. Today, the Royal Auxiliary Air Force (RAuxAF) is the primary reinforcement capability for the regular RAF. It consists of paid volunteers who, at weekends, evenings and holidays, train to support the RAF, particularly in times of national emergency and conflict. This has seen the AAF play important roles in the Battle of Britain, its squadrons claiming 30 per cent of enemy kills'. Other notable achievements by AAF pilots include the first German aircraft destroyed over the British mainland and its territorial waters, the first U-boat to be destroyed with the aid of airborne radar, the first destruction of a V-1 flying bomb, and an AAF squadron claimed the highest score of any British night fighter squadron. It was an AAF squadron which was the first to be equipped with jet-powered aircraft. Receiving Royal' status in 1947 in recognition of its contribution to victory in the Second World War, the RAuxAF also came to the fore during the Cold War providing home defence as the regular squadrons were shipped to hotspots around the world. In more recent times, squadrons and personnel of the RAuxAF have seen action in Iraq and Afghanistan This book presents, for the first time, the history and development of all the squadrons and units that made up the Auxiliary and the Royal Auxiliary Air Force, including the Balloon Squadrons, the Maritime Headquarters Units, Fighter Control and Radar Reporting Units, Royal Auxiliary Air Force Regiments and of course the Women's Auxiliary Air Force. These devoted warriors continue to serve alongside the regular forces in defence of the United Kingdom, ready to be called into action whenever their country is in time of need.

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Facing the Red Army in Festung Posen features the stories of two German soldiers who took part in the battles for Festung Posen (Pozna? Fortress) in January and February 1945. Never before published in English, the accounts of Hans Klapa, written immediately after the war (1946) and Alfred Kriehn, a little later (early 1990s) provide details relating to the course of the battle, as well as the armaments of the German garrison, its morale and even first-hand descriptions of individual actions during bloody street fighting. Although describing the same battle, both memoires are completely different as they represent different branches of the armed forces and each takes place in different parts of the city. While Hans Klapa fought only in the eastern part, Alfred Kriehn describes the fighting on the western side. However, what separates the two accounts the most is the fate of both heroes immediately after the battle, with Klapa describing his epic, months-long struggle with his comrades not to fall into the hands of the enemy and to avoid being taken prisoner by the Soviets at any cost.

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On 18 June 1855, the 40th anniversary of the Battle of Waterloo, British assault troops moved out of their trenches before Sebastopol in the Crimea, and attacked the formidable Russian bastion known as the Great Redan. They came under such a murderous fire from the Russian defenders that the attack faltered, and the British were eventually forced to fall back. As they did so, they left over 1,000 comrades dead and dying out in the open and at the mercy of enemy snipers. The Siege of Sebastopol saw the development of trench warfare for the first time. Using eyewitness accounts and unpublished letters, the author tells the story of how the men coped with the terrible conditions as they prepared for the assault - as well as the events during and after the fighting. Among the anecdotes is an officer who had the ingenious idea of warming up cannon balls in the camp fires and taking them into the tents at night to keep warm; and he went on to live for over a hundred years! Well-known for his depth of research, the author questions a number of points regarding the Great Redan that are commonly believed to be historical fact. Quoting the father of Alexander the Great, it was the Russians who, soon after the assault on the Great Redan, first referred to the British as, An army of lions led on by donkeys'. For over 100 years it was stated in many publications that the most Victoria Crosses awarded for a single action was the eleven presented for actions during the Defence of Rorke's Drift during the Zulu War in 1879. However, as the author reveals, twenty of the lions who fought at the Great Redan received Britain's highest gallantry award, in whole, or in part, for their actions on 18 June 1855. The book includes biographical tributes to many of the men who were killed in action, gives details of the places where they are commemorated, and provides biographies with all the up-to-date information concerning the twenty Victoria Cross recipients.

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Lore Schindler was ten years old when her dentist father Harry was arrested by the Gestapo in Berlin and sent to Sachsenhausen concentration camp. His wife Grete bought his release by giving all their possessions to the Nazi state. Leaving Germany with just 10 Marks each, parents and daughter suffered humiliating strip searches at the border. This was the start of Lore's ordeal. In her first French concentration camp, her mother died. Her father also died in another camp. Orphaned and ill in the huge camp at Gurs, she was saved by prisoner-nurse Schwester Kate, but would later have starved to death, had not two sisters - Elsie and Marthe Liefmann - 'adopted' her, found food and made her eat it. Elsbeth Kasser was a Swiss-German social worker in the camp who gave her treats of milk and Swiss cheese to build up 'the thinnest girl in the camp'. Another social worker, Elisabeth Hirsch used a forged identity card to get Lore out of the camp and took her to La Maison de Moissac, a children's home in SW France run by her sister Shatta Simon. There, several hundred refugee children were hidden from the Nazi occupiers and French fascists who wanted to send the children to the death camps in Poland. When it became unsafe to stay in Moissac, Lore was adopted by pianist Helene Gribenski, living in a remote village. When that too became unsafe, she moved her little family into a primitive hovel in the forest to await the Allied victory. That Lore survived was due to these courageous women, who risked their own lives to save hers. After the war, she found love in an Israeli kibbutz and moved with her American husband to New York, becoming a librarian with Brooklyn Public Library. No borrowers ever guessed what her adolescence and burgeoning womanhood had been like in a terrifying land whose language she could not even speak.

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Prince Charles Edward Stuart (1720-1788) was the grandson of Britain's last Stuart king and the last of his line to fight for their right to the throne. Born in Rome and raised at his father's cultured and cosmopolitan court-in-exile, the young prince grew up beneath a heavy weight of expectation and yearned for the chance to prove his worth. In 1745, just as it seemed his best opportunity had already passed, Charles threw caution to the wind and embarked on a secret and seemingly desperate expedition to Scotland. What followed is one of the most remarkable, famous, and often misrepresented episodes of Scottish history: the '45. This is the story of the last Jacobite rising and the charismatic but controversial prince who led it, presenting a human portrait of the Stuart prince through the words of those who served alongside him. The picture revealed is one of a humane and capable young man taking on a mission far greater than his experience had prepared him for, pushed to the limits of his abilities at a cost from which he never recovered. Following Charles Edward Stuart over the battlefields of Prestonpans, Falkirk and Culloden, this book reveals the prince's strengths and flaws as a commander, and the difficult relationships he had with the very people on whom his fortunes, and reputation, would depend. It is the story of how the prince faced conflicts both on and off the battlefield, weathered challenges posed by friends as well as foes, and left a legacy which remains hotly contested to this day.

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An original and unique work that will fill a huge gap in the field of military history, and be of interest to both scholars and general readers, and it should attract reviews in academic journals like The British Journal of Military History or The Review of Military History but importantly in more popular journals and magazine like History Today, BBC History and Military History. It is a picture of the universal role of cavalry in warfare from earliest times to the present - and future. It covers the role of horses and essential mobility in 'shock action', in warfare in the classical world, in the major civilisations of China and India, Steppe cavalry, in the middle ages with Islamic and European conflict, the 'social politics' in Christendom with knightly valour, and war with non-Christian forces including the Muslim invasion of Europe, Islamic Spain, and conflict with the Mongols - the last probably new to readers. The early modern period covers the Asia and North Africa and the Ottomans - a major field of warfare continuing up to the modern period - and the time is notable for the introduction of horses in the Americas - a new phase in cavalry history. The modern period from Napoleon to the First World War is the history of the mobility of cavalry in European warfare and in imperial expansion and empire-building, but the concept of cavalry 'redundancy' arises in the maelstrom of 1914-1918 with artillery bombardment, trench warfare and the role of infantry. The long 'transition' period leading up the present and future is fascinating for both cavalry and infantry, with the development of tanks and armour. And here is a fascinating and original concept of cavalry 'transformation' and not cavalry 'survivalism', with modern and post-modern development of drone warfare - from horses to drones - as a 'new cavalry' for reconnaissance and combat. Contents: 1 Strengths and Starts 2 The Classical World - 350CE 3 The Post-Classical World and the Attacks of Steppe Peoples, 350-1150 4 Medieval Centuries 5 The Early Modern Period I, 1500-1660 6 The Early Modern Period II, 1650-1800 7 From Napoleon to the First World War 8 Transition, 1916-1945 9 Armour as the Cavalry Arm, but Drones as the Next Generation? 1945 -the Future 10 Conclusions

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Joachim Murat, son of an innkeeper, had won his spurs as Napoleon’s finest cavalry general and then won his throne when, in 1808, Napoleon appointed him king of Naples. He loyally ran this strategic Italian kingdom with his wife, Napoleon’s sister Caroline, until, in 1814, with Napoleon beaten and in retreat towards ruin and exile, the royal couple chose to betray their imperial relation and dramatically switched sides. This notorious betrayal won them temporary respite, but just a year later Murat engineered his own dramatic fall. A series of blunders took the cavalier king from thinking he had secured his dynasty to fleeing his kingdom. His native France did not welcome him, initially because Napoleon had not forgiven him, then, after Napoleon’s fall following Waterloo, because the restored Bourbons were offering a reward for Murat’s head. Fleeing again, fate brought him to Corsica where, welcomed at last, Murat turned to plotting the reversal in his fortunes he so felt he deserved. Murat soon resolved to bet everything on a hare-brained plan to return to Naples as a conquering hero and king. His aim was to take a small band of followers, land near his capital, organise regime change and reclaim his throne. In September 1815, he set off with a small band of followers. What happened next forms the core of this part-tragic, part-ridiculous story and a lesson in how not to stage a coup. Just five days after landing in Calabria, King Joachim was hauled before a firing squad and executed. There is a fine line in history between a fool and a hero. Had Murat succeeded then he would be lauded as daringly heroic but, alas, he failed, and his final adventure has been consigned to oblivion. This is unfortunate as the fall of Joachim Murat is the final act of the Napoleonic Wars in Europe as well as being a dramatic story in its own right. Based on research in the archives of Paris and Naples, Jonathan North’s book aims to throw light on the fate of the mightily fallen Murat and restore some history to a tale that, until now, lay smothered under two centuries of fable and neglect.

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Rudolph de Lisle RN entered Naval College in 1868 aged 13, and was only 31 when he died, ironically for a naval officer, in the Sudanese desert at the Battle of Abu Klea, 17 January 1885. An inveterate letter writer and talented artist, he consistently documented his eventful naval career as he travelled the world. His letters home were embellished with stunning sketches and watercolours. In August 1884, Rudolph was selected to join the Naval Brigade in the Gordon Relief Expedition led by General Sir Garnet Wolseley. His principal role was to help drag troop boats over the six cataracts that blocked their way up the Nile to Khartoum. Rudolph’s letters graphically describe this historic journey. We read of the struggles and ingenuity of the officers and men, the hardships and the daily dangers, and the shambolic, sometimes comic, chaos peculiar to the seemingly impossible task. His sketches, some of which were published in the Illustrated London News, vividly portray the challenges facing the Expedition. Gerard de Lisle, Rudolph's great nephew, has edited and compiled this superb collection, so that it can be appreciated by a wider audience and provide a fascinating insight into this famous yet too long overlooked military campaign. The result will appeal widely and particularly to art collectors and naval historians.

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This book is about technology and how it has changed the lives of people on three continents over the last three hundred years. The development of the cotton industry was the starting point for one of the great turning points in history – the industrial revolution. It began with the importation of cloth into Britain from India and that created a new fashion. As the demand for cotton cloth grew, British inventors began to find ways of making the same cloth using powered machinery and built the first cotton mills. The old way of life of the textile workers was transformed, as work moved from home to factory and thousands of small children were brought in to tend the new machines. If conditions in the cotton towns were bad, they were far worse in America where, thanks to the work of slaves, the country took over the supply of raw material from India. During the American Civil War, Britain turned again to India for its supplies. Today, positions have changed dramatically. India again has a thriving industry, while in Britain only a fraction of the old mills are still at work. The author looks in detail at the technology that produced the changes, but the emphasis is very much on the human stories of the industrialists and their workers, the planters and their slaves in Britain, India and America.

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Japanese mythology is filled with stories of larger-than-life characters that shaped the landscape of Japan. They are the folk heroes who slayed monsters, fought in epic battles and reflected the most complicated emotions of the people who created them. Through a mix of essays, short stories and anecdotes, Japanese Fighting Heroes follows the lives of samurai, warriors, outliers and iconoclasts who forged their own paths. Legendary fighters like the demon-killing Minamoto no Yorimitsu, philosophising samurai Miyamoto Musashi, and the One-Eyed Dragon Date Masamune. Creative heroes like the father of Japanese short stories Ryunosuke Akutagawa, the immortal poet Ono no Komachi, the hilarious Sei Shonagon and her insight into human nature. Trailblazers who broke down barriers like the feminist Hiratsuka Raicho, the statesman Fukuzawa Yukichi, the photographic genius Hiroshi Hamaya. These Japanese folk heroes led fascinating lives that provide insight into our own through the principles and practices they lived by. They struggled with universal ideals of honour, duty, courage and kindness, helping them transcend their culture. Whether you’re looking to learn about Japanese history, fall down a philosophy rabbit hole or pick up new mental health habits, these heroes can teach us timeless lessons. Japanese Fighting Heroes captures the essence of what it means to be human in any culture.

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Probably the most famous, and certainly one of the best-loved ships in the world, the Cunard transatlantic liner RMS Queen Mary has now been preserved at Long Beach, California as a floating hotel and tourist attraction for more than fifty years, comfortably longer than her 31-year career as an ocean liner. Laid down in 1930, Queen Mary's construction was severely delayed by the Great Depression. Eventually completed in 1936, the ship was an instant success, capturing the famous Blue Riband for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic later that year, and regaining it in 1938\. During the Second World War she served as a troop ship, carrying a total of 810,730 troops and also setting the record for the most individuals carried in a single voyage - 16,683 - which stands to this day. By the time she ceased passenger service in 1967, superseded by the airliner as the preferred mode for international travel, Queen Mary had carried nearly three million people, from royalty, politicians and film stars to emigrants and cruise passengers. After her sale to the city of Long Beach she underwent a major conversion for her new life as a visitor attraction, a role she has continued ever since. During this time however, her story has been far from straightforward, with controversies over management, funding and even the structural integrity of the very ship itself. She now remains the only 1930s superliner left in the world. The original edition of RMS Queen Mary, the World's Favourite Liner was published in 1994\. This new and expanded edition has been completely revised and brought up to date to describe the ship's last twenty-five years, and it incorporates a wealth of new photography. Lavishly produced and stunningly illustrated throughout with views of the ship under construction, at sea in her heyday and at rest in Long Beach, it will appeal to all ocean liner enthusiasts and those more general readers fascinated by the heyday of transatlantic travel.

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War is a costly business and in 1939, Germany was almost broke with its economy overheating and heading for runaway inflation. Hitler needed hard foreign currency to pay for his war machine and the only way he could get this was by selling gold that he looted from the national banks of Austria, Czechoslovakia and all the countries that were occupied after September 1939. Another source of gold was the theft of personal gold especially from the Jews, most grotesquely, the haul of dental gold which came out of the concentration camps. No neutral country would accept Reichsmarks so the gold had to be laundered through Swiss banks. The story of Swiss complicity in German war crimes is still a subject of controversy, and lawsuits. There are also questions about the parts played by other countries, particularly Portugal, in laundering stolen gold for the Nazis. The Vatican's dealings with Hitler have often been seen as ambiguous and this book investigates the Holy See's role in helping ship Nazi gold to South America, and how that gold might have been used to re-create the German Reich. After the war a commission was set up to recover as much gold as possible and restore it to those from whom it was stolen. This, of course, was beset by huge problems especially with regards to gold that was looted from Holocaust victims. Enormous quantities of gold and other treasures were hidden in a mine at Merkers in Thuringia which was found by the US 3rd Army in 1945, but much gold remains unaccounted for, and attempts are still ongoing to uncover supposed hidden caches, the most recent in Poland where four tons are believed to have been found by the Silesian Bridge Foundation in May of 2022. The whereabouts and disposal of the remaining stolen gold has led to numerous investigations and countless conspiracy theories. In Hitler's Gold the author analyses these and uncovers many of the mysteries surrounding this continuing search for the missing millions.

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Giacomo Casanova (1725-1798) was born the son of a moderately poor acting family at a time when the stage carried enormous social stigma. Yet in his own lifetime he achieved celebrity across Europe, rubbing shoulders with numerous of the eighteenth century's greatest men and women, from Frederick the Great to Catherine the Great, from Voltaire to Albrecht von Haller, from Pope Benedict XIV to Pope Clement XIII. It was a fame that had little to do with his romantic exploits. This was to come later, following upon the posthumous publication of his magnificent History of My Life. An adventurer and a man of learning, his was an extraordinary life whose story was intertwined with the story of eighteenth-century Europe. To try to understand this fascinating character we need also to try to understand the period in which he lived. This is the aim of Casanova's Life and Times.

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On Easter Monday 1916, Irish rebels seized a number of strategic buildings in Dublin, including the General Post Office on O’Connell Street, and declared an Irish Republic. Within a week they had been bombarded into surrender. Out in the countryside, amidst chaos and confusion over counter orders, the Rising failed to materialize as planned. The one notable exception was the campaign of the Fingal Brigade of North County Dublin. Their leader, the charismatic Tom Ashe, launched a fast moving guerrilla campaign against the para-military Royal Irish Constabulary, seizing barracks and capturing arms. At Ashbourne the Irish Volunteers, having captured the RIC barracks, were faced with the arrival of a numerically superior force of armed policemen. Using tactics evolved from British army training manuals, they overcame and defeated the police. Ashe and Fingal Brigade had shown that fast moving guerrilla warfare was the way ahead in the future struggle for Irish independence This little-known yet crucial development in the Irish War of Independence is well researched and described in this over-due account.

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