The death of Alexander the Great in 323 BC threw the Macedonians into confusion; there was no capable heir, and no clear successor among the senior figures in Alexander's circle. Initial attempts to p
Established in 1932, the Vozdushno-desantnye voyska (‘air-landing forces’, or VDV) of the Red Army led the way in airborne doctrine and practice. Though they were initially handicapped by a lack of in
In the blasted, radiation-scorched, wastelands of the Earth’s surface, towering mecha do battle, defending the interests of one of the few remaining arcology governments, providing security for wilder
The battles between British and French forces during the Peninsular War (1807–14) and the Hundred Days campaign of 1815 saw both sides deploy specialist units of skirmishers trained in marksmanship an
King Harald III (called Hardrada, or “Hard Ruler”) of Norway was a real-life fantasy hero who burst into history as a teenaged youth in a Viking battle, from which he escaped with little more than his
The Long Range Desert Group was one of the most famous special units of World War II, specialists in operating heavily modified vehicles deep behind enemy lines to gather intelligence and support the
"In September 1943, following wave upon wave of Allied bombing, Italy announced an armistice with the Allies. Shortly afterwards, the German army disarmed Italian forces and, despite military and part
Osprey's study of the Chidits of Wolrd War II (1939-19445). Named after mythical beasts guarding Buddhist temples, the Chindits were a specially organized, equipped and trained body of men employing i
From popular Pacific Theatre expert Jeffrey R. Cox comes this insightful new history of the critical Guadalcanal and Solomons campaign at the height of World War II. His previous book, Morning Star, R
Immortalized by the movie A Bridge Too Far, the parachute landings of the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions were the first part of an Allied breakthrough attempt. In the late summer of 1944, the First
In the centuries following the first expeditions down the great rivers of northern Russia by Viking traders and adventurers, the foundations for a new state were laid. Many influences combined in this
The Panzerkampfwagen IV was one of the most numerous and successful German tanks of World War II. Despite the introduction of the Panther and Tiger tanks, the PzKpfw IV remained the backbone of the Ge
The German 88 mm was by far the most famous and versatile artillery weapon of World War II. It was first used as an anti-aircraft weapon by the Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War and saw furth
On 8th December 1941, as part of the simultaneous combine attack against Pearl Harbor, the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) invaded the Philippines, Thailand and Malaysia and the British colony of Hong Ko
Merrill's Marauders were the first American Army infantry unit to fight in the China-Burma-India theater, and one of the most renowned units to come out of World War II (1939-1945). The Marauders esta
This pictorial journey will take the reader from the very beginning of the Skunk Works’ very first project (XP-80 Shooting Star) and follow the programme through prototype build-up, first flight and,
The German Panzerjäger, or Panzerjägertruppe, was one of the most innovative fighting arms of World War II and its story has never properly been told. Many books have focused on an element of the stor
From 1931, China and Japan had been embroiled in a number of small-scale conflicts that had seen vast swathes of territory being occupied by the Japanese. On 7 July 1937, the Japanese engineered the M
From the beginning of the Second Sino-Japanese War in 1937 until the Japanese surrender in August 1945, a multitude of military and civil-defense forces strove to support the Japanese war effort and l
In the twilight of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th–6th centuries, the elite of the field armies was the heavy armoured cavalry – the cataphracts, clad in lamellar, scale, mail and padded fabric ar
