In May, 1940, Nazi Germany was master of continental Europe, the only European power still standing was Great Britain--and the all-conquering German armed forces stood poised to cross the channel. Fol
This vivid narrative history tells the full story of the US Air Force’s involvement in the wars in the air over Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia.The involvement of the US Air Force in the Southeast Asian Wars began in 1962 with crews sent to train Vietnamese pilots, and with conflict in Laos, and finally ended in 1972 with the B-52 bombing of Hanoi, though there were Air Force pilots unofficially flying combat in Laos up to the end in 1975. The missions flown by USAF aircrews during those years in Southeast Asia differed widely, from attacking the Ho Chi Minh Trail at night with modified T-28 trainers, to missions “Downtown,” the name aircrew gave Hanoi, the central target of the war.This aerial war was dominated by the major air operations against the north: Rolling Thunder from 1965 to 1968, and then Linebacker I and II in 1972, with the latter seeing the deployment of America’s fearsome B-52 bombers against the North Vietnamese capital Hanoi. These operations were carried out in the face
A gripping study of the brutal urban battle for Budapest, which saw German and Hungarian troops struggling to halt the joint Soviet-Romanian offensive to take the key city on the Danube.The 52-day siege of Budapest was one of the most significant urban battles of World War II, the brutality and savagery of which has earned it the moniker of the 'second Stalingrad'. The Transdanubia region was strategically vital to Nazi Germany for its raw materials and industry, and because of the bridgehead it allowed into Austria. As a result, Hitler declared Budapest a fortress city in early December 1944. The battle for the city pitted 90,000 German and Hungarian troops against 170,000 Soviet (2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts) and Romanian attackers. The operations to take the city ran across several phases, from the initial Soviet approach to Budapest commencing in late October 1944, through the encirclement of city first on the Pest side of the Danube, and then on the Buda bank, and on to the savage
A gripping study of the Battle of the Barents Sea, fought in the darkness and cold of the northern winter, in which the Kriegsmarine sought to sever the crucial Allied Arctic Convoy route.The Arctic convoys that passed through the cold, dangerous waters of the Barents Sea formed a vital lifeline – a strategic link in tanks, supplies and above all goodwill between the Western Allies and the Soviet Union. In December 1942, under Operation Regenbogen (Rainbow), the German Kriegsmarine sought to strike a crippling blow on the Arctic convoys and finally sever this all-important sea route. In this fascinating work, renowned naval expert Angus Konstam documents the fate of the Allied Convoy JW 51B as it came under attack from some of the Kriegsmarine’s most powerful surface warships – a pocket battleship, a heavy cruiser and six destroyers. Illustrated with stunning battlescene artworks, maps, 3D diagrams and photographs, it explores the David and Goliath struggle between the Allied ships def
An illustrated history of how Japan devised and launched a new kind of air campaign in late 1944–the suicidal assaults of the kamikaze units against the approaching Allied fleets.As summer changed to autumn in 1944, Japan was losing the war. Still unwilling to surrender, Japan’s last hope was to try to wear down US resolve enough to reach a negotiated settlement. Extraordinary measures seemed necessary, and the most extraordinary was the formation of Special Attack Units – known to the Allies as the kamikazes.The concept of organized suicide squadrons was first raised on June 15, 1944. By August, formations were being trained. These formations were first used in the October 1944 US invasion of the Philippine Islands, where they offered some tactical success. The program was expanded into a major campaign over the rest of the Pacific War, seeing a crescendo during the struggle for Okinawa in April through May 1945.This highly illustrated history examines not just the horrific missions t
This is the story of the daring prison break by British, Australian and New Zealand bomber pilots, who blew holes into Amiens jail to free French Resistance prisoners during World War II.Early 1944 was a time of massive intelligence activity across northern France in advance of D-Day. Large numbers of résistants were being captured by the Germans and imprisoned in gaols across northern France. Among these was Amiens. The raid was mounted as a debt of honour by MI6 and the RAF to try to free prisoners who would otherwise be executed by the Germans for what was considered traitorous activity.MI6 requested an exceptionally precise air raid, to blow holes in the prison walls, free as many men and women as possible, minimize casualties among the prisoners and hit the German guards’ quarters. The RAF decided that, with the fast and accurate Mosquito light bomber, the raid had a good chance of success. This resulted in the creation of a Mosquito wing that comprised British, Australian and New
Unique among World War I campaigns, the fighting at Gallipoli brought together a modern amphibious assault and multi-national combined operations. It took place on a landscape littered with classical
This book a facsimile reproduction of a contemporary account of the battle of Waterloo, packed with first-hand accounts and official reports. The first section is a narrative description of the campai
Tank presents a comprehensive account of the world-wide evolution of armoured vehicles from their inception a century ago to the present day, starting with a detailed reappraisal of the development of
In the late 1980s, with the Intermediate Nuclear Force Treaty in effect, public attention turned to discussions of conventional weapons in Europe, particularly tanks. Though the importance of tanks ha
Steampunk Soldiers is a unique pictorial guide to the last great era of bright and colorful uniforms, as well as an important historical study of the variety of steam-powered weaponry and equipment th
Today, nails are such an ordinary and widespread object that it may come as a surprise to learn that the range of shapes and sizes available now is but a fraction of those made in the nineteenth centu
This book traces the history of needles and the craftsmen who made them from early times through the ages to 1851, when William Bradbury, the last man to make needles entirely by hand, died and machin
From legends of Vlad the Impaler to Twilight and HBO's True Blood, vampire stories permeate society. Learn the truth behind the fiction in this tell-all of the hunters who protect humanity from the va
Every December 24th millions of children eagerly await a visit from a large, bearded man in a red suit. But where did Santa come from and how did he evolve into today's Jolly Old Saint Nick?Well befor
The German invasion of France and Belgium in August 1914 came agonizingly close to defeating the French armies, capturing Paris and ending the First World War before the autumn leaves had fallen. The
Packed with contemporary maps, this is a visual survey of how conflict was recorded and planned before and during World War II, revealing how warfare and its documentation and presentation changed thr
