Search results for ""Fonthill Media""

There are many biographies of former soldiers of the German Wehrmacht, many of whom had fascinating stories to tell, and several of whom were highly decorated. Few, however, can match Hans Sturm in his astonishing rise from a mere private in an infantry regiment, thrown into the bloody maelstrom of the Eastern Front, to becoming a glorified war hero whose role brought him into direct regular contact with Prominenten of the Third Reich. This young man's fearless heroism in combat earned him some of Germany's highest military awards, and yet he was pugnaciously outspoken about bullying and injustice. From striking a member of the feared Sicherheitsdienst in defence of a Jewish woman to refusing to wear a decoration he felt was tainted by its encouragement of inhumane treatment of enemy partisans, Sturm repeatedly stuck to his moral values no matter what the risk. But even when the war was finally over, his travails did not end: he was held in a number of Soviet labour camps, before finally being released in 1953. Hans Sturm: A Soldier's Odyssey on the Eastern Front is an engaging reconstruction of events based on exchanges of correspondence and reminiscences between the author and Hans Sturm himself. It vividly portrays not only a German soldier's experience on the Eastern Front, but the intriguing trajectories that success in the battlefield yielded for him at home under the Nazi regime.

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Jasper, Earl of Pembroke, Duke of Bedford, brother and uncle of kings, was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, and the Lancastrian claimant during the reign of Edward IV. The second son of Owen Tudor and the widowed queen Katherine of Valois, he was the half-brother of Henry VI, who gave him a prominent role at court. As one of England's major nobles and a potential successor to Henry, he was seen as a threat by Yorkists. He took part in the major battles of the war, leading the Lancastrian forces at Mortimer's Cross and Tewkesbury. The tempestuous politics in England meant that he had to spend time in exile in Brittany, taking his nephew, Henry, with him. Under Jasper's influence, Henry prospered and returned to England to defeat Richard III at the Battle of Bosworth, leading to the establishment of the Tudor dynasty. Despite his important place in history, Jasper has become the forgotten kingmaker, neglected by historians. This book is the first full academic study of him, drawing upon contemporary sources from England, Wales and France, and the wider historiography to present a detailed and superbly-researched biography.

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The development of aviation engines in Germany was revolutionary during closing stages of the Second World War. In 1945, the Daimler Benz, Jumo and BMW engines in service, equipped with power boosting systems, generated 2,000 hp. There were prototypes that could generate 3,000 hp and BMW/Argus projects could reach 4,000 hp. To benefit from their extreme performances, Blohm und Voss, Daimler Benz, Dornier, Focke Wulf, Heinkel, Henschel, Messerschmitt and Skoda designed an impressive series of fighters that never left the drawing board. The reason was the decision taken by the Oberkommando der Luftwaffe to mass manufacture the iconic and revolutionary Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fighter. This lost generation of projects were quickly forgotten and after years of research have been recovered and presented in The Ultimate Piston Fighters of the Luftwaffe. Profusely illustrated with technical drawings and fascinating data and information on the Luftwaffe's most radical fighter projects, The Ultimate Piston Fighters of the Luftwaffe chronicles these revolutionary designs that might have changed the course of the war. A fascinating book for the military historian, modellers and those interested in aviation, this shows how advanced German scientists were towards the end of the Second World War and how the beloved Spitfire and Mustang would have been instantly superseded by radical Nazi fighters.

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From its very inception, the little-known Kustenfliegergruppen, the German coastal air service, was hindered by restrictions imposed at the Treaty of Versailles and the rising dominance of Hermann Goring's Luftwaffe. Its size, capability and mandate were suppressed, and in 1944, the last Kustenfliegerstaffeln was disbanded in favour of the Luftwaffe's own naval air units. From early designs and development in the interwar period, includings involvement in the Spanish Civil War, to the heroic deeds of various Sonderkommandos during the Second World War, Kustenflieger: The Operational History of the German Coastal Air Service 1935-1944 charts the fascinating history of this obscure but dynamic German fighting unit. Based on original material from German archives and illustrated with 120 photographs, many previously unpublished, this is the first major work on the subject and essential reading for historians, modellers, and naval aviation and Second World War enthusiasts.

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The William E. Boeing Story - A Gift of Flight is the first-ever full-length biography of William E. Boeing; the father of commercial aviation. Boeing’s story is an exciting one complete with bootleggers, kidnappers and a disastrous run-in with President Franklin Roosevelt and future Supreme Court Justice Hugo Black. Boeing’s story covers every aspect of early aviation starting with his first ride in a balloon in 1896 to the christening of the revolutionary jet-powered Dash-80 / 707 in 1955. Along the way, Boeing developed some of the world’s most iconic airplanes including the P-26 Peashooter, the Boeing 247, the B-17 Flying Fortress and the mighty B-29 Superfortress. The Boeing Family gave author David D. Williams unprecedented access to the Boeing Family Archives which contained thousands of never before seen photos, diaries, and personal letters. This treasure trove of primary sources allowed Williams to create an extraordinarily vivid and accurate portrait of this influential yet private man.

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On August 7, 2011, former Pennsylvania Railroad type E8A diesel units No. 5711 and No. 5809 are passing through the borough of Greenville in Mercer County, Pennsylvania on the former Erie Railroad now Norfolk Southern Railway on a rail excursion in this photograph by the author. The Erie and Pittsburgh line of the Pennsylvania Railroad once served Greenville. Kenneth Springirth, with a lifelong interest in rail transportation, has been researching the Pennsylvania Railroad since 1960. Born and raised in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he commuted to Drexel Institute of Technology (now Drexel University) in Philadelphia by trolley car, subway, and sometimes Pennsylvania Railroad commuter train. His father was a trolley car motorman in Philadelphia, and his grandfather was a trolley car motorman in Washington D.C. This book is a photographic essay documenting the Pennsylvania Railroad, which considered itself the standard railroad of the world. Classic scenes of the Pennsylvania Railroad's amazing GG1 electric locomotives operating on the most successful electrification project in the United States are included. This book provides an insight to an extensive railroad system that survives today with the Norfolk Southern Railway owning much of former mainline trackage in Pennsylvania and Amtrak owning the Northeast Corridor plus trackage between Philadelphia and Harrisburg. In addition, there are a variety of regional and shortline railroads that contribute to Remembering the Pennsylvania Railroad.

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1943 was the turning point in the Battle of the Atlantic, when the balance of forces, technologies and tactics turned irrevocably against Germany’s U-boats. The victory thus obtained not only secured Britain’s transatlantic lifeline to the United States, but in so doing enabled the vast build up in military forces in Britain necessary to launch D-Day in June 1944. The Allied battle to defeat the U-boat menace was a combined effort by the naval and air forces of several Allied nations, and this is the story of one part of that effort during the decisive mid-war period. Nos 10 and 461 Squadrons of the Royal Australian Air Force flew Sunderland flying boats from bases in Wales and Devon as part of RAF Coastal Command; these two sister squadrons flew long-range daylight missions over the eastern Atlantic, patrolling Britain’s southwest approaches. They hunted and killed U-boats transiting between their mid-Atlantic hunting grounds and their bases in Bordeaux, and fought furious air battles over the heaving seas of the Bay of Biscay, against Luftwaffe Ju88 long-range fighters tasked specifically with shooting them down. These two Australian squadrons established a combat record second to none.

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Military historians have often regarded the roll of the Italian military as somewhat "bi-polar." During the First World War, Italy sided with the Allies including Britain, France, Russia and the U.S. against Germany and the Central Powers. During the Second World War it signed on as a member of the Tri-Partite powers joining Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. The legacy of the latter often presents a less than positive appraisal of the Italian soldier's performance... one espoused both by its enemies and allies. However a positive consensus appears when focusing on the Bersaglieri... translating as "sharp shooter"... and acting as shock troops often leading both assaults and defences. As "The Tip of the Spear" they would thus pay the price during the Italian Wars of Unification, the early colonial forays into Africa, WWI, the Ethiopian War and lastly WWII with much Bersaglieri blood soaked up by European soil as well as the burning sands of Africa and frozen in the vastness of Russia. Over 300 images including rare unpublished photographs chronicle Italy's elite "Plumed Warriors."

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Dawn, 24 May 1941, two groups of ships, one British, one German meet in the Denmark Strait. Here two giants of maritime history 'HMS Hood' and the 'Bismarck' meet. Within minutes of the battle beginning 'HMS Hood' blows up with a catastrophic loss of life. Out of a crew of 1,418 only three survive. Coupled with this, the Royal Navy's newest battleship is outfought. While this is a cause of celebration for the Germans, 'Bismarck' has been wounded curtailing her Atlantic raiding sortie. Despite the wealth of documentary information and photographic evidence available on the battle, there continues to be controversy as to how the conflict was actually fought. This book analyses the events of 24 May 1941 to both shed new light and provide clarifications on how the battle was fought, the damage that different ships sustained, and how it was that the pride of the Royal Navy was destroyed in such a catastrophic manner.

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The untold story of the hitherto secret projects that lead to the development of inertial navigation in the UK, and the many missiles that were designed for the RAF's bomber force. The result was the Blue Steel missile, which was deployed in 1963. These were cruise type missiles, and in 1959 the RAF decided to participate in the American Skybolt air launched ballistic missile. But Skybolt was cancelled by the American Secretary of Defense, Robert McNamara, which brought about a crisis in Anglo-American relations, only resolved when the UK obtained Polaris on acceptable terms. The cancellation brought about another crisis: Polaris would not be available until 1969, and so short-term stop gaps were needed to tide over the British deterrent until then. Many potential projects are examined in the book. But what if the UK had not been able to obtain Polaris on acceptable terms? The final chapters examine what options would have been open to Britain: ground based missiles or air launched missiles? What part could the TSR 2 have played in this? The book is the result of much archival research, and there are extensive quotes from contemporary documents to illustrate the thinking of the time.

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Total Espionage was first published shortly before Pearl Harbor and is fresh in its style, retaining immediacy unpolluted by the knowledge of subsequent events. It tells how the whole apparatus of the Nazi state was geared towards war by its systematic gathering of information and dissemination of disinformation. The author, a Berlin journalist, went into exile in 1933 and eventually settled in Manhattan in where he wrote for the Saturday Evening Post. He maintained a network of contacts throughout Europe and from inside the regime to garner his facts. The Nazis made use of many people and organizations: officers' associations who were in touch with many who left to help organize the armies of South American countries, and in the USA there were the Friends of the New Germany. German consulates sprang up and aircraft would make unusual detours to observe interesting parts of foreign countries. News agencies and various associations dedicated to maintaining contacts with particular countries were encouraged to supply information. Film studios would send large crews abroad to shoot documentaries as well as perform acts of espionage.Foreign nationals were bribed or blackmailed; and pro-fascist groups in foreign countries were supported via the Auslandsorganization. All Germans living abroad were encouraged to report their observations to the authorities, particular attention was being focused on engineers, technicians, scientists and people in other professions who were particularly likely to obtain valuable information; however, other Germans abroad were also used, even cabaret singers, waiters, language teachers, as well as Germans travelling abroad as tourists. Germans living abroad were exempt from mobilization because of their value as spies. Foreigners were given opportunity to study in Germany, and connections with them were kept in the hope that they would one day provide useful information. All of this was Goebbels' 'Total Espionage'.

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Into the Swarm: Stories of RAF Fighter Pilots in the Second World War is a collaborative work by Christopher Yeoman (Rise Against Eagles) and Tor Idar Larsen (Viking Spitfire) which tells the sobering and heroic stories of RAF fighters pilots in the most ferocious air battles of the war. Accompanying gripping and detailed stories of aerial combat are previously unpublished photographs and letter extracts which adds to the rich content provided by these enthusiastic authors whose passion for the subject matter is evidently apparent within each chapter. A fine tribute to the gallant aviators who took to the air in hostile skies, this book tells of courage and sacrifice in France, to daring and determination, to gain air supremacy over the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Britain and Malta. This work also provides a wider story of RAF pilots of the Second World War, from those early battles in 1940 all the way up to a few days before VE-Day. These stories offer a broad and versatile insight into the life of fighter pilots from many countries, from different cultures but with a common determination of fighting Nazi Germany over Europe's aerial arenas.

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In the welter of popular and well-known stories and reminiscences about Churchill (many of them more legend than fact), it can be easy to forget that he was more than an inspirational leader and figurehead to a nation and its allies. For in spite of his many and varied successes, Britain's last great wartime Prime Minister was also a full-blooded human being, with all of the foibles, fallibility, bad temper, pig-headedness and vanity that are so often the shadows of such greatness. Ebullient, sometimes moody, and often mischievous, he lived a full and varied life beyond the demands of Parliament: sailing with his beloved wife, Clemmie, on the Admiralty yacht Enchantress, owning racehorses, playing polo, entertaining friends and family, all of which, and more, find a place in Winston Churchill: Anecdotes. With a light touch and a great, though not always uncritical, affection for its subject, Patrick Delaforce's wide-ranging collection reveals many little known facets of this illustrious man and his incredible life. It is at once a treasury of anecdote and recollection, an insight into Churchill's larger-than-life personality, a record of his often caustic, yet brilliant wit, and, by the use of long out of print and forgotten sources, a lasting testament to his remarkable, indeed immeasurable contribution to the modern world.

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"Early settlers first arrived in this area in 1847 because of the numerous springs and fertile soil. Through the Peters Colony, many more families arrived in 1848-1850 and helped establish Ellis County. Several local men were elected to county offices in 1850. The earliest village in the vicinity was called Lebanon. The name Barkersville was used briefly because Rev. Charles Barker's home served as the first post office. The first railroad, Gulf, Colorado & Santa Fe, came through in 1883, and the Houston & Texas Central arrived in 1886, leading to Midlothian's incorporation in 1888. Many surrounding country villages became engulfed by Midlothian, such as Mt. Zion, Christian Chapel, Auger Hole, Onward, Walnut Grove, Long Branch, and Mountain Peak. Cotton was the chief crop grown in Ellis County for many years. World War II pulled Midlothian out of the depression, along with the rest of the country. Many returning servicemen chose to commute to Fort Worth or Dallas to do other things besides farming. Nowadays Midlothian is home to three cement plants that use the abundant limestone in cement production."

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Some of the richest gold strikes in California history were found in the areas of Randsburg and Johannesburg, located in the Mojave Desert section of Kern County. The desert is a graveyard of abandoned mines, shafts, pits and tailing dumps. Fortunately, some of these historic old mines are still standing, providing us with a rare and valuable glimpse into the world of those who sought to uncover the hidden treasure of gold in the earth. Few got rich and many died paupers in the search for the shiny yellow mineral, yet the burning fever to hit that big strike kept luring men and women to California from all points of the globe. It was a time of "all or nothing." The King Solomon Mine is one of those relics of another era still standing, rising from the mountain and casting its long shadow over the debris and abandoned junk cluttering the ground around it. It sits quiet, a sentinel in the desert, waiting in hope for the day when it will come to life again for modern-day gold hunters.

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"No chapter in the annals of the most important battle of America's national epic has been more celebrated than the key struggle for possession of the rocky hill at the extreme southern flank of the battle line at Gettysburg, Little Round Top. And no contest during the battle of Gettysburg was deadlier or as dramatic as the high stakes showdown for Little Round Top on the afternoon of July 2, 1863. Gettysburg was the decisive turning point of America's history, and Little Round Top was the crucial turning point of that three-day struggle in Adams County, Pennsylvania. Little Round Top was indeed the bloody Hill of Destiny, when the fate of America hung in the balance and was ultimately determined on the most decisive day of the three days at Gettysburg, July 2. However, some of the most important aspects of the famous struggle for Little Round Top have been distorted by misconceptions, myths, and layers of romance. For the first time, this ground-breaking book, America's Bloody Hill of Destiny, A New Look at the Struggle for Little Round Top, July 2, 1863, has presented a fresh and new look at the key leaders and hard-fighting common soldiers on both sides, who played the most important roles during the climactic struggle that decided the fate of America during one of the most pivotal moments in American history."

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Berthed today at NAUTICUS, the National Maritime Center, the USS Wisconsin (BB-64) was the last authorized of the four Iowa-class battleships, the largest American dreadnoughts ever built. Wisconsin saw action in World War II and the Korean Conflict for which the Big Wisky earned a collective six battle stars. Brought out of mothballs and recommissioned a second time on October 22, 1988, the Wisconsin saw action again during the Persian Gulf War but was decommissioned a third time on September 30, 1991. But this great piece of American history was not destined for a lengthy slumber. Resurrected by the city of Norfolk and USS Wisconsin Foundation, working in lockstep with the Navy, it has become a museum ship and Navy heritage site that continues the legacy of duty, honor, and country that was the calling card of Wisconsin's crew, and to inspire future generations of Americans.

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Plymouth is known world-wide because of the Pilgrim story and its considerable significance for the history of the United States. Visitors have made their own pilgrimages to Plymouth for hundreds of years to "see where it all began", gaze at Plymouth Rock, and visit Pilgrim Hall and Plimoth Plantation. However, Plymouth isn't just the Pilgrims. It is a living community where residents still live on the site of the 1620 settlement as well as throughout the entire 103-square-mile township. The town evolved from a coastal fishing, farming and trading center to become a factory town attracting immigrants who followed the Pilgrims in a search for a better life, and has grown three-fold since 1950 to be a commuting and commercial community that hosts millions of visitors annually. Regrettably, images do not survive from the town's earliest history, but even photographs from the past century or so reveal a very different Plymouth - a Plymouth hard to imagine today. In Plymouth Then and Now, we focus on what has disappeared to compare that vanished landscape with the vibrant community of today.

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Located near the geographic heart of North Carolina, Seagrove is known as the pottery town. Though not the only place where pottery has been made in the state, when you say Seagrove to people, they suspect that you're talking about pottery. From its modest 18th century beginnings with a few Quaker potters from Pennsylvania and Nantucket, the Seagrove region today hosts more than one hundred potters.

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More than just a farming community turned residential over time, Southern Lehigh has a diverse past the includes mines, mills, factories, taverns, and baseball. A trip through the area today is like looking through a scrapbook of early American towns and the industries and the pasttimes that fueled them. No one identifier can be used to describe the area.

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Just south of Boston and embracing the coastline, Quincy has been home to two American presidents, one of the country's most important World War II shipbuilding firms and the first operational railroad in American history. Quincy granite is renowned the world over, used in such iconic landmarks as the Women's Memorial to the Titanic victims in Washington, D.C.

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The Complete Diary of a Cotswold Lady is an extraordinary sequence of daily entries, covering the years 1788 to 1824. During these thirty-seven years Agnes Witts - a remarkable woman with great zest for life - recorded the weather, letters received and letters sent, and most importantly of all, her social diary. Her spirits made her rise above the family's financial disaster caused by her husband's bankruptcy and she and Edward always moved in the best circles, notwithstanding their straitened circumstances.

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Operation Tonga is an account of the Glider Pilot Regiment's role in the first stage of the airborne assault in the Normandy landings, 6 June 1944. The story is told through the eyes of those who were there-glider pilots, paratroopers, pathfinders, tug crews and passengers-and covers the operation from training through to evacuations after D-Day.

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Fifteen stories showing from many different perspectives what happened when the evil of slavery was confronted with the values of the Scottish Enlightenment

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In the U.S. Civil War, Mary Richards, a free Black woman, risked her life posing as an illiterate slave to spy in the home of rebel President Jefferson Davis. Whether as a Union agent sending vital intelligence to the U.S. military or facing down the Klan while teaching freed slaves in postwar Georgia, hers was a heroic one-woman fight for justice.

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The self-contained, fully electrified Merseyrail system is an iconic part of the UK's railway network. With 75 route miles of track, sixty-nine stations, and over 800 services, it is the third largest rail system outside London and the South East, transporting around 100,000 passengers safely, efficiently, and to the highest environmental standards on any typical working day. Radiating from the city of Liverpool, it serves the Wirral and parts of Cheshire and West Lancashire, where it has gained numerous awards for reliability, punctuality, and passenger satisfaction. And the future of Merseyrail looks bright: state-of-the-art Class 777 electric multiple units are entering service and extensions of the network are being planned. 'Merseyrail Electric: The Award-Winning Network' is the definitive book on this magnificent network, examining with an expert's eye its development, its rolling stock, and its exciting future.

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An aviation legend designed in the mid-1940s, the Canberra entered service in 1951 with RAF Bomber Command. It served in the conventional, interdictor and nuclear bomber role with the RAF, in the UK, Germany, the Middle East and Far East. Its performance and adaptability made it ideal as a reconnaissance aircraft, and the final version, the Canberra PR9, only finally retired in July 2006! The Canberra was used in many support roles, especially in signals / electronic warfare. The Canberra was adopted by air forces from South America to Africa and India, as well as Australia and New Zealand, and license-built as the Martin B-57 served. It was involved conflicts from the Suez War and Malaya Confrontation, and various other hot spots with the RAF, to the Australian and USAF ops in Vietnam, and even the India-Pakistan War when both sides used Canberras, and the 1982 Falklands War. Used in trials and evaluation the Canberra held various height and speed records, and NASA's High Altitude Research Program WB-57s are still active. The Canberra has also had dedicated enthusiasts, and aircraft (or cockpits) still survive in museums, as well as some in flying condition.

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Jowett Cars were built in Bradford, from 1906 to 1954. All pre-war cars up to 1935 were powered by a twin-cylinder horizontally opposed 7hp engine. In 1935 a new four-cylinder horizontally opposed engine was introduced with a 10hp rating running alongside the original twin-cylinder model which had been increased to an 8hp rating. Little changed during this pre-war period, many of the models were made in very small numbers, and sadly, there are no survivors today. The Jowett brothers experimented in the mid-1930’s with a new in-line power unit which did not go into production. The post-war period saw massive changes in the Jowett company, with both Jowett brothers retiring by the end of the war. The first all-new model was the Javelin saloon, launched in 1947 and the Jupiter sportscar in 1950. By 1951 there should have led to a completely new range of cars, vans, pick-up and estate cars, known as the Bradford CD range. There were plans for a racing Jupiter known as the R1 and to re-vamp the Jupiter for road use known as the R4. Sadly, none of these models materialised and Jowett’s history could have been so different had fate been kinder to them.

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The British Rail corporate image and its Rail Blue livery was one of the longest-lived colour schemes carried by the trains of Britain in the forty-eight-year life of the nationalised railway network. Launched in 1965, after Beeching, the then new corporate image was an attempt by the BR design panel to raise the profile of the railway system countrywide and to sweep away the dull steam-era image as the swinging sixties got underway. By the mid-1970s, virtually all BR locomotives and multiple units were carrying Rail Blue livery, while most of the passenger coaches were in matching blue/grey. As the British Rail network was sectorised from the late 1980s in preparation for eventual privatisation, new bold, bright livery schemes for the fleet swept away the familiar, but by then somewhat jaded BR image. The BR blue era is now looked upon with affection as a golden age when the system was operated by an immense variety of locomotives and rolling stock, all now part of history in the same way that the steam era was viewed when the BR blue era ruled on Britain’s railways.

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This book contains a history of all United States Air Force Tactical Air Command flying units that were resident in the United Kingdom during the period 1950 to 1992. ‘From the cockpit’ testimony from aircrew who were assigned to the individual squadrons and wings is an integral part of the narrative; which is supported by 467 illustrations, 168 of which are in colour. The tactical nuclear mission was central to the operations of many of the UK based units and is covered in detail from its beginnings in 1952 with the arrival the 20th TFW and the 47th Bombardment Wing, to the adoption by NATO of the doctrine of ‘Flexible Response’ and the eventual end of the Cold War. Also Included also are sections on the units which were temporarily deployed to the United Kingdom in support of the USAF and NATO operations. The comprehensive Appendices contain essays on individual aircraft development, international events which had a direct bearing on the missions and deployments of the individual units, the support aircraft used by the wings, and Maps, Tables and Profiles.

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Rodolfo Graziani, Marshal of Italy, Viceroy of Ethiopia and one of Mussolini's most valued generals remains to this day a divisive figure in his homeland. Revered by some Italians as a patriot and vilified by others a murderer, his reputation abroad remains one of infamy. To the people of Libya, he's the man who hanged Omar al-Mukhtar. In Ethiopia, the one behind the poison gas bombings. To the British, he is the buffoon-like Italian general whose troops surrendered en masse. But what is the true story of Rodolfo Graziani? This rigorously researched biography draws on private letters and secret communications to reveal a fascinating portrait of Fascist Italy's most notorious military leader. What emerges is a man of glaring contradictions. A Doting family man and a violent soldier. Graziani was a key figure of Italy's momentous 1930s, enjoying widespread popularity during the height of Mussolini's dictatorship, his exploits in Libya and Ethiopia captured the public's imagination. After his death he was largely forgotten. But in 2012, the mausoleum erected in his honour has sparked fresh controversy.

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This book illustrates a journey through Amberdale, as it might have been in the 1890s. Encompassing a wide variety of scene, Amberdale is nevertheless the smallest of the dales—by far, for Amberdale is a model, dreamt up in the mind of its creator and built over a period of some 60 years. Following the river and the railway through the dale, the pictures bring to life the half forgotten age of the horse and the steam engine, the unspoiled countryside, the quiet charm of the villages, the bustle of a market town and the industrial urgency of late Victorian England. The book describes an extensive and impressive model, yet emphasises that it is not dependant on particular modelling skills or extensive academic research, but on imagination and enthusiasm. It suggests an adventure of any extent open to anyone, and it is hoped that the pictures will entertain and inspire those who build models and. those who do not. The trains wind through the valley, the trams rattle along the streets, the mill wheel turns under the elms.… Welcome to Amberdale.

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In May 1945 with the war in Europe at an end, Britain had to play her part in the occupation of the defeated Germany. The near-bankrupt country was hard-pressed to maintain such a military presence on the continent and still manage our other out commitments across the Mediterranean, Middle and Far East. As the immediate post-war years came to pass, Britain and other western powers found themselves reviewing their relationship with the key victor in the east: the USSR. A defining moment came in 1948 when the Soviet Union attempted to starve the people of West Berlin to the point of being relinquished to their fate by the Western allies. Following a sterling and stubborn effort to keep the city supplied with the minimum materials and food the Soviet exercise ended in 1949. But the parameters were now set, the Iron Curtain had descended across the continent, and the RAF were to maintain a constant vigil with nuclear-armed aircraft on station ready to respond to Soviet aggression for the next four decades while politicians tried desperately to preserve the peace.

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Over the centuries, proximity to major routes---the Great North Road, the Icknield Way, and Watling Street---has made Bedfordshire strategically important. Iron Age hillforts occupied significant locations, and castles consolidated Norman control after 1066. In later medieval times, two major events occurred: in 1224, the siege of Bedford Castle marked Henry III’s attempt to reimpose royal authority after the chaos of John’s reign; and the Second Battle of St Albans in 1461 was a major defeat for the Yorkists. During the wars of the twentieth century, the county’s industrial base supported the armies fighting overseas. In the First World War, the county contributed significantly to the birth of the RAF as well as provided the base for the Home Defence armies. In the Second World War, its airfields despatched RAF and USAAF bombers over the continent, but the major activity was the secret war largely associated with the Bedford Triangle. After 1945, aeronautical research continued at RAF Thurleigh/Twinwood Farm and electronic intelligence-gathering was developed at Chicksands. 'Defending Bedfordshire' seeks to explain the significance of this dense concentration of military sites to be found in a relatively small county.

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This volume focuses on the influence of America’s Second World War aviation development and experience, subsequent aviation technological advances, and world events, in shaping American choices in military aircraft and associated weapons’ development during the few years following the war. It shows how air warfare weapons from the last conflict were carried forward and altered, how new systems evolved from these, and how the choices fared in the next war—Korea. The period was one of remarkable progress in a short span of time via a great many aircraft and weapons programs, and associated technological progress. These systems were of immense importance influencing and growing the engineering, production, and operational capabilities to be exploited for the next generation of weapons that soon followed. Emphasized is the innovative features or new technology and how these contributed to advancing American military aviation, influencing the evolution of follow-on models or types. Included are military prototype, experimental, and research aircraft that are equally important in understanding the history of American aircraft development. Combat employment, progress, and equipment adaptation during the Korean Conflict is then highlighted. Tabulated characteristics are provided of those aircraft that entered production or represented significant technological advances influencing others that follow.

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Every week the TV news highlights the routine use of drones and guided missiles against terrorist enemies and the recreational use of drones has become commonplace. The Nazi WWII development of guided missiles and bombs is often given credit for America's Cold War success in this realm. However, it was during that war that America, and the Air Force, in particular, also began the development of systems and weapons that laid the foundation for today's technology. 'Off Target' relates in detail the then "Secret" research, development, and combat employment of these early guided bombs, missiles, and drones from 1917 to 1948. Using formerly Secret/Confidential manuals, reports, microfilm print outs, and photos, collected over 40 years, author Wolf, gives the air war historian and enthusiast a detailed look at this unknown topic that progressed from biplane drones to sophisticated post-WWII guided missiles. Among the subjects discussed are Sperry's aerial torpedo and the Kettering "Bug" of WWI to WWII's early rudimentary GB Series Glide Bombs to the more sophisticated VB Series that evolved from radio, heat, light, or television guidance. The Aphrodite/Joseph Kennedy B-17, BQ, TDR, and target drones are discussed as are the SWOD, GLOMB, GORGON, and JB Jet bomb series.

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The popular image of the Japanese tanks which faced the markedly superior tanks fielded by the Allies during the Second World War is one of poorly armed and armoured Lilliputian tin cans which failed to make any impression upon the battlefield. In this absorbing new history, David McCormack looks beyond widely held and unchallenged misconceptions to create a new narrative in which Japan's rightful place as a leading innovator in tank design and doctrine is restored. Why did Japan produce tanks in such limited numbers? What contribution did Japanese tanks make to the war effort? Why did it take Japan so long to develop heavier tanks capable of meeting the Allies on more equal terms? Drawing from primary and secondary sources, the author's meticulous research provides the reader with an objective appraisal of both the successes and failures of the Empire of the Sun's tank forces.

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‘American Panther Tanks’ sounds a strange title for a book, but currently there are five surviving WW2 German Panther tanks in America. It is believed that fourteen captured Panzer V Panther tanks were shipped to the United States after the Second World War. Most were cut up and scrapped after being used for testing and targets on live firing ranges. The Panzer V Ausf.A Panther tank at the American Heritage Museum, Hudson, Massachusetts, near Boston, has been completely restored to a very high standard. The other four Panther tanks are at Fort Benning, Columbus, Georgia, under the care of the U.S. Army Armor and Cavalry Collection (U.S. AACC). They are awaiting their turn to be restored. The first four chapters briefly cover the development and production of the Panzer V Panther tank from the first version, the Ausf.D, to the second version the Ausf.A and to the final production version the Ausf.G, using photographs from other surviving Panther tanks around the world. The fifth chapter explores the design history of the Panther II prototype hull. Only one was built. The remaining chapters are dedicated to a photographic walk-around of the surviving Panther tanks in America.

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Reflections' is an intimate and joyful portrait of life in Trevignano Romano, a village on the shores of the glimmering Italian lake whose waters spurt from Rome’s fountains. Along this Roman Riviera, only an hour from the Colosseum, are the remains of the largest Stone Age village ever found in Europe, plus ruins of summer palaces built by ancient Roman Emperors and one of Italy's most splendid castles. Judith Harris, journalist and former diplomat, introduces you to many of the remarkable citizens who have left their imprint upon the town: the medieval saint whose miracle fish haul fed a starving town, the Orsini prince accused of murdering his wife, the blind postman who delivered the mail on foot, the pioneer teacher of the hearing impaired, the retired international bureaucrat who is 108 years of age. What is now modern Italy’s prizewinning, cosmopolitan resort town has also seen barbarian invaders, Renaissance warfare, German military occupation, and an amazing cast of past and contemporary residents. She explores local dialects and shares gastronomical secrets and the finer points of the coffee shop culture.

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No musical partnership has enjoyed greater success during its time span, or bequeathed a more powerful and enduring legacy, than that of Gilbert and Sullivan in the later nineteenth century. Even before their first successful collaboration in 1875, both William Schwenk Gilbert (1836-1911) and Arthur Seymour Sullivan (1842-1900) had already forged considerable reputations for themselves. Thereafter, between 1877 and 1896, Gilbert wrote the librettos, and Sullivan the music, for no fewer than a dozen Savoy operas, among them the still regularly performed ‘H.M.S. Pinafore’ (1878), ‘The Pirates of Penzance’ (1879), ‘Iolanthe’ (1882), ‘The Mikado’ (1885), ‘The Yeomen of the Guard’ (1888) and ‘The Gondoliers’ (1889). Not only are the plots ingenious, the lyrics witty and the music compelling, the operas also present modern audiences with splendidly rich and satirical evocations of Victorian England and its society: the prime subject matter of this book!

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Having been classified by the Air Ministry as a ‘Master Diversion’ airfield, RAF Manston was for many years open twenty-four hours a day and available to both civil and military aircraft 365 days a year. It was also later equipped with the Pyrene foam system, which both civil and military aircraft could use when they had problems with their undercarriage: there is no doubt that the foam carpet saved many lives. The most spectacular occasion that it was used was on 20 April 1967 when a British Eagle Britannia made a complete wheels-up landing. It is claimed that Manston was the only station to serve in every command of the RAF and until its closure in 1999; it probably dealt with more diverse types of aircraft than any other station. During its eighty-three years as a Royal Naval/ RAF airfield, it played host to the Sopwith Camel, Spitfire, Bf 109, He 111, B-29, B-47, Tu-104, F-84 and Concorde, plus many other types that are too numerous to mention.

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When the Nazis started to threaten the world with their efficient machine of propaganda, the main concern of European governments was the overwhelming reaction of panic that the expected bombing of the Luftwaffe might cause within the civil population. During the Munich Agreement in 1938, the democracies were defended by old biplanes and a bunch of modern fighters: 50 Hurricanes, 20 Morane-405 and 5 Fokker D.XXI. France and Great Britain took up the production of USA airplanes and cancelled exports to small countries, which were forced to design and build their own PANIC FIGHTERS with the intelligence and skill that desperation provides. When nothing seemed able to contain the German advance, France, Great Britain and the USSR developed several programs of emergency fighters, as did Australia, to face the Japanese expansion. At the time the course of events switched, it was the Axis powers that had to create their own PANIC FIGHTERS, some of them suicidal. The present book includes several last resource designs of fighters that are practically unknown and that were developed in times of tribulation by Australia, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Japan, Yugoslavia, Latvia, Netherland, Poland, Romania, Sweden and Switzerland.

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The end of the First World War brought with it the closure most of the military aerodromes in Scotland. It, however, retained its links with naval aviation with aircraft carriers frequently exercising off the coast. In the latter part of the decade Auxiliary Air Force squadrons were formed at Edinburgh and Glasgow manned by civilians. With the rise of the Nazis in Germany, the RAF responded by building new airfields or re-opening former First World War sites. They included armament practice camps at Evanton and West Freugh where pilots could practice their skills in bombing and firing their weapons. RAF flying boats also visited various coastal locations around Scotland in the years leading up to the War. The inter-war services also saw the development of scheduled airline services within the country. They were, however, not between major towns but linked remote islands with major towns of the mainland. An air ambulance service was also created to serve isolated communities. All of these developments are covered as well as private flying and gliding. There is also a section on aerodromes that were planned but never built.

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Scottish Railways in the 1960s makes a broadly clockwise journey around the country visiting many long-closed railways, branch lines, a few industrial locations, plus the locomotives that worked over them. Locations seen include: Alloa, Alva, Auchtermuchty, Ayr, Ballachulish, Beattock, Brechin, Burghead, Dumfries, Callander, Carstairs, Castle Douglas, Coalburn, Douglas, Drongan, Duns, Edinburgh, Elgin, Fort William, Georgemas Junction, Glasgow, Gleneagles, Greenock, Hawick, Helmsdale, High Blantyre, Inverness, Killin, Kilmarnock, Larkhall, Lennoxtown, Lesmahagow, Lugar, Montrose, Muirkirk, Paisley, Rannoch, Stonehouse, Stranraer, Tburso, & Turriff. The time period is mainly between 1958 and 1966. Steam motive power largely dominates except in the far north. Scottish Railways in the 1960s will appeal to railway enthusiasts, modellers and those interested in local history. Virtually all of the photographs, a mixture of black & white and colour, have never previously been published and all were taken by the author, his father, and their friend Alan Maund. An extensive and informative commentary accompanies the photographs.

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‘Shellac and Swing!’ tells the story of the gramophone’s ‘golden age,’ from 1900-1955, when it helped to shape Britain’s culture from the arts to warfare. The story focuses on the gramophone, the invention of Emile Berliner in the 1880s, but begins with a brief outline of the first attempts to record the human voice and of Edison’s invention of the cylinder and the phonograph. It uses primary evidence, images and interviews with DJs, fans, musicians and historians to explore this fascinating and often eccentric tale. Each chapter ends with ‘On the Record,’ a discussion of a record that relates to the chapter’s themes. Although the gramophone and its fragile shellac discs were vital to Britain’s music scene—opera and music hall, the Jazz Age, the crooners, early rock’n’roll—its impact was far more extensive. Its place in British history encompasses advertising and design, fraud and piracy, phallic symbols, talking books, the threat from radio and TV, the contrasting worlds of the Salvation Army and adult ‘party’ discs, the creation of a parliamentary insult, new political strategies and the seditious activity of the Mau Mau. From the establishment of the Gramophone Company in London in the late 1890s to the end of shellac record production in the 1950s, the British public bought the machines and the discs in their millions and the record labels made stars of performers like Caruso, Harry Lauder, Al Bowlly and Dame Nellie Melba. ‘Shellac and Swing!’ explores the ways in which the gramophone helped these singers to achieve stardom but it also explores in detail and for the first time many other stories of not-so-famous performers, of the gramophone in political electioneering and of forgotten technology: the first pirate radio broadcasters, the soldiers who took their ‘Trench Decca’ portables to the Western Front, the invention of the Flame-O-Phone, the People’s Budget recordings and the pioneering label owner and producer of ‘blue’ discs. The gramophone’s heyday ended with the rise of rock ’n ’roll, teenagers, the 45 rpm single, the LP and the record player, but it survives today as part of a vibrant contemporary music, fashion and lifestyle scene.

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Edward Jenner is perhaps the world’s most famous doctor. He developed a vaccination for smallpox beginning in 1796, long before the world knew about bacteria and viruses. He has been described as `the man who saved more lives than anyone else’. He bought The Chantry at Berkeley in 1785 and modified it to make a home fit for his beloved wife, Catherine. This book is the result of a three-year investigation that set out to discover the house that Jenner prepared for Catherine. It traces the origin of the house, which was built in 1707, and the many changes throughout the next 300 years. It turns out that the site has a history going back to Anglo-Saxon times. Edward Jenner lived there for only thirty-six years, but the house has been much changed since. The investigation set out to define the house that Edward Jenner lived in, separating it from the original and many changes afterwards. The book includes a great deal of information and stories about the people involved, including Edward Jenner and his family and estate. It also includes the inventory of Jenner’s goods in 1823 and profiles of the internal plasterwork, which may be of interest to restorers and historians.

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