War and Militaria 37


68899 BATTLE OVER THE REICH: Volume One 1939-1943 The Strategic Bomber


Offensive Over Germany by Dr Alfred Price


When it was originally published to critical acclaim in 1973, this book broke new ground in describing the air battles over Germany as seen from the viewpoints of the combatants on both sides, as well as in its assessment of the equipment and fighting tactics each side employed. Since then, much significant new information has become available. It has therefore become possible to produce a more comprehensive edition enlarged into two volumes - both of which are available from Bibliophile. This, the first volume in the two-volume work details the first phase of the offensive including the early British raids by Bomber Command, the development of the sophisticated German night fighter, flak and radar defence systems and the entrance of the USAAF into the daylight bomber campaign. Also included is the story of the famous RAF Lancaster raid against the German dams in 1943. 159 very large pages lavishly illustrated with colour and b/ w photos, maps. £27.99 NOW £10


68900 BATTLE OVER THE REICH: Volume Two 1943- 1945 The Strategic Bomber


Offensive Over Germany by Dr Alfred Price


In a compelling epic, the story is told of the strategic Allied air offensive over Germany during the Second World War. The campaign is analysed from the view points of


the RAF, the USAAF and the Luftwaffe, with in-depth assessment of daylight and nocturnal operations, aircraft, weapons, radar and ground defence. This second and concluding volume examines the air war over Germany from the crucial year of 1943 when American strategic air power became established in England. Germany was not a wholly spent military force and, as the air war escalated into a grinding contest of attrition, the Luftwaffe hit back with determination and often unexpected technological sophistication. Here is the story of the men who crewed the B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators of the US Eighth Air Force and flew the massive bombing missions against Hitler’s aircraft manufacturing plants, transport infrastructure and oil industry. It also takes the German viewpoint using first-hand accounts from the pilots of the Luftwaffe’s feared nocturnal Nachtjaeger and daylight Sturmgruppen as well as recounting the sudden appearance of the revolutionary Me262 jet fighters and rocket-powered Me163 interceptors. 319 very large format pages lavishly illustrated with colour and b/w photos, maps. £27.99 NOW £10


66963 WAR IN THE PACIFIC: BOX SET by Richard Overy


This superb book covers the whole of the Pacific operation from Pearl Harbor to the Japanese surrender, including the Battle of Midway, Guadalcanal, Operation Cartwheel, the recapture of the Philippines, Iwo Jima, Okinawa and the atomic bombs. With several archive photos on every page, many of them rare or previously unpublished, the book explains exactly what was going on at each stage. Each section is also accompanied by facsimile documents, for instance Roosevelt’s speech notes following Pearl Harbor, the pocket guide to Australia issued to US army personnel, a warship recognition leaflet, a US poster for the 6th war loan and the air attack map of the Battle of Midway. 60 large pages, boxed, plus 20 facsimile rare documents, illus, maps.


£25 NOW £9 67163 HANDGUN STORY: A Complete


Illustrated History by John Walter Colt Mauser, Webley & Scott, Browning, Ruger and Beretta. The first guns were exceptionally clumsy with a barrel at first made by hammer-wielding short strips of iron onto a mandrel that could subsequently be drilled out to provide a ‘bore’. The need for efficient self-defence shows no sign of decreasing and the rise in shooting for sport, particularly with the revolver, has sharpened the quest for efficiency. Today, handguns are compact, powerful and accurate, and are ideally suited for both attack and self-defence. The key advances in the handgun’s design and its varied use throughout history are chronicled in full detail in this study. 244 pages, superb diagrams and line drawings, 40 pages of plates. £25 NOW £8


67178 BATTLE FOR MONTE CASSINO by George Forty


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Fred Majdalany wrote about the battle for Monte Cassino from the significant perspective of having been there while serving in the Lancashire Fusiliers. The campaign to capture the ‘linchpin’ of Monte Cassino was one of the most dramatic to be fought in the battle for Italy. There were four separate and distinct engagements between January and May 1944, each one immensely costly in Allied lives. It is easy to see why the Germans held out for so long against the massive Allied assault, despite the attackers having lavish air and artillery support and being within striking distance of the ultimate prize - the Benedictine monastery on the hilltop of Monte Cassino. Archive photos. 160 pages. £24.99 NOW £8


67257 THE NUREMBERG TRIALS: The Nazis and their Crimes Against Humanity by Paul Roland


When Hitler’s “1,000 Year Reich” collapsed after just 12 years and millions were left dead across the world, there remained the crucial question of how were those responsible to be punished. With Hitler himself dead, Churchill favoured cursory trials and summary execution of the surviving Nazi High Command, but Stalin and many in the US administration favoured full trials which would allow the world to see the enormity of the Nazis’ crimes. The trials began on 20 November 1945 and ended on 13 April 1949. 24 leading Nazis were indicted, of whom 21 actually appeared, Himmler and Goebbels following their leader’s example of suicide. In addition, a


further 12 “lesser war criminals” were tried in the US on 9 December 1946. A wealth of trial and war b/w photos, trial transcripts, eyewitness accounts. 208pp large softback.


£9.99 NOW £5.50


67593 U.S. ARMY INFANTRY edited by Bluhm, White and Newell From its magnificent padded, embossed faux-leather cover - bearing the blue, black and gold US Infantry insignia - and its top quality heavyweight paper, this is every inch the military historian’s dream. The book tells the entire story of the U.S. Infantry, a story which in effect begins in Britain. The first infantrymen were the British settlers who on the eastern seaboard fought against the French to the north and Spanish to the south. However, this all changed in 1773 with the “Boston Tea Party” which set in motion events that would lead to the War of Independence and the creation of a new nation. The first 100 years saw fighting only within its own borders, against the Indians, Mexicans and, of course, itself in the Civil War. In 1898 they were fighting in the Caribbean and Central America, but the first real test of the Infantry’s skill, organisation and resolve came in 1917 when the US declared war on Germany and entered the Great War. Colour and b/w photos and artworks, 343 heavyweight pages, 10½”×14½”. £40 NOW £15


67670 JUMP COMMANDER by Mark Alexander and John Sparry Colonel Mark James Alexander was the only airborne officer to lead three different battalions into combat in WWII. He successfully commanded the 2nd and 1st Battalions, 505 Parachute Infantry Regiment and the 2nd Battalion, 508 PIR, of the 82nd Airborne Division. A legend in his own time, he fought in North Africa, Sicily, Italy and France and, even after being seriously wounded in Normandy, insisted on playing a role in the Battle of the Bulge. Dropped into the desperate inferno at Salerno, he refused to give ground against German counter attacks, forcing his paratroopers against enemy efforts to push Allied forces back into the sea. An 88mm shell finally got the best of Alexander. 288pp, many illus and maps.


£20 NOW £4


67672 ARMOR ATTACKS: The Tank Platoons by John Antil


You are invited to be the hero in a unique interactive fiction! There are two operations for you to conduct, an assault and a counter-reconnaissance mission. The scenarios are highly realistic and there are maps and appendices with detailed specifications of the tanks and hardware involved to help you make informed decisions. Packed with explosive language like “Booms”, dice rolling, maps to plot your positions and military jargon, stats and decision charts. 340pp in paperback. £13.50 NOW £3.25


67673 BATTLING BUZZARDS by Gerald Astor Here is the odyssey of the 517th Parachute Regimental Combat Team, 1943-45. The US Army created Parachute Regiment Combat teams drawing on daring volunteers willing to hurl themselves from aeroplanes and hit the ground fighting, the 517th PRCT became one of the most highly trained airborne units in the world. Blooded in Northern Italy in 1944, the Battling Buzzards dropped at night in Southern France for the second D- day to spearhead a savage advance through the Champagne region and then into the Alps. Then, after six months of non-stop action, the exhausted 517th was called into the ultimate battle, at a place called The Bulge. 416pp in paperback, maps and photos. £5.99 NOW £1.50


67870 COMBAT CARRIERS: USN Air and Sea


Operations from 1941 by Martin W. Bowman From the end of WWII to the present day the aircraft carrier has been a potent display of the might of the US Navy, and the nuclear-powered leviathans of today are the largest ships afloat, a quarter of a mile long, displacing upwards of 82,000 tons, crewed by over 3,000 men and women and carrying over 80 aircraft, but all can trace their lineage back to pre-war vessels. Bowman takes as his starting point one of the most infamous days in military history - Sunday 7 December 1941, the Japanese bombing of the US Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. Between then and the end of hostilities there was to be almost 20 battles between the US Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy, five of which were fought between aircraft carriers. 200 colour and b/w photos. 288pp softback. £19.99 NOW £6.50


67877 CHURCHILL GOES TO WAR: Winston’s


Wartime Journey by Brian Lavery More than an account of Churchill’s momentous meetings with Roosevelt, Stalin and other leaders at the height of WWII, this book illuminates the practicalities and risks of transporting a Prime Minister through dangerous skies and across hostile oceans during a time of global war. The story begins with a relatively simple trip to meet Roosevelt in a battleship in 1941, and continues through hazardous flights across enemy-occupied North Africa, to the highly organised and fateful conferences at Yalta and Potsdam in 1945. Full appreciation is shown of the Boeing Clipper flying boat, the swift but spartan Consolidated Liberator bomber, the luxurious Douglas Skymaster airliner and the Atlantic steamship Queen Mary. 391 pages, archive photos. £20 NOW £5


67921 MEN, WOMEN AND WAR: Do Women


Belong in the Front Line? by Martin Van Creveld


The author argues that, while sexual equality might be desirable in the civilian world, the job of waging war should be left exclusively to men. Due to their physical differences, women in front line units consistently under- perform and are far more likely to sustain injuries. Women who enter front line regiments do so on more favourable terms, are expected to do less work and are not subjected to the same discipline. A string of lawsuits for sexual harassment and sexism has driven morale amongst mixed units the world over to an all-time low. 287pp.


£20 NOW £4


67936 A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE SAMURAI by Jonathan Clements


The Samurai were the embodiment of the Japanese martial tradition. This new study includes their greatest battles and worst defeats, their wars and weaponry, tradition and etiquette, and their transformation from hired swords to king makers, from Buddhist warlords to Christian soldiers. Inevitably retells great battles,


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dramatises heroic deeds and aspires to a code of ethics rooted in tall tales and romanticised conflict. Looking beyond the end of Japan’s civil wars in the 17th century, his fascinating history reveals the rise and fall of the Samurai society in which the victorious Shogun had nobody left to fight. A closing chapter examines the shadow of the Samurai in modern times. 356pp in paperback.


£8.99 NOW £5


67979 SOMME: The Heroism and Horror of War by Martin Gilbert


The author first visited the Somme in the 1970s, met three former Guards Officers there and discussed the battle with Paul Maze, the French painter who served as a Sergeant with the British Forces in 1916. He is also grateful for research help to our dear friend, the historian Max Arthur. Gilbert never allows his readers to forget that the ‘embattled armies’ were composed of millions of individuals. The Battle of the Somme was among the bloodiest conflicts of all time yet despite its horrific destruction, the fighting was characterised by incredible individual bravery. 332pp in paperback, illus. £10.99 NOW £5


67984 THE D-DAY EXPERIENCE


by Richard Holmes


The ‘day of days’ and its aftermath is brought to life with reproductions of rare removable memorabilia. D-


Day, the largest amphibious invasion in history, took place on 6th June 1944. The subsequent battle in Normandy which lasted until the end of August involved over a million men from Britain, the US, Canada, France, Poland and Germany and helped seal the fate of Hitler’s Third Reich. This large publication contains 15 facsimile items of rare memorabilia integrated into the pages of the book by way of wallets, stick in booklets and flaps. This way you can hold and examine maps, diaries, letters, secret memos and reports, posters and log books which until now have remained filed or exhibited in the Imperial War Museum and other collections around the world. Rare facsimile documents. Colour. $29.95 NOW £6


68008 MERCY SHIPS The Untold Story of


Prisoner-of-War Exchanges in World War II by David Miller


Here is the forgotten story of how, during World War Two, warring governments cooperated for humanitarian goals and exchanged large numbers of people and goods across the globe. The author chanced upon a file on just such a US-Japanese prisoner of war exchange. Further investigation led to the discovery that remarkably, throughout World War II, the Allied and Axis governments remained in contact through third parties. The exchange of wounded prisoners, of protected persons such as medical personnel, priests and civilian internees involved detailed negotiations, careful planning and coordination, and the movement of protected mercy ships and trains through war zones. 198pp, illus. £30 NOW £5.50


68870 ENGLISH CIVIL WAR 1640-1660 by Blair Worden


The political upheaval of the mid-17th century has no parallel in English history. The Monarchy and the House of Lords were abolished to be replaced by a republic and military rule. The Church of England was overthrown and the liberty of conscience established. New ideas about politics, religion and society found eloquent voice. This wonderfully readable account explores the origins and course of the conflict - the war between King and Parliament, the rise of the New Model Army, the execution of Charles I, the rule of Oliver Cromwell, the Restoration - and assesses the motives of the participants and the legacy of the struggle for later generations. 192pp in paperback. £8.99 NOW £3.50


67825 WORLD WAR I IN CARTOONS by Mark Bryant


When Zeppelins blackened the sky, U-boats challenged the Royal Navy’s supremacy at sea and huge Big Bertha guns shelled the muddy fields of Flanders, it was the antics of Captain Bruce Bairnsfather’s immortal ‘Old Bill’ and the crazy drawings of H.M. Bateman, Bert Thomas and others that kept up Britain’s spirits and reassured the troops that all was well back home in dear old ‘Blighty’. And who could take Kaiser Bill, Admiral Van Tirpitz, the Red Baron and the mighty goose-stepping Prussians at all seriously when Allied cartoonists cocked a snook at all they held dear? The pages of Punch and its rivals in Britain, Europe, Russia, Japan and the USA made certain that their readers’ laughter guaranteed it was never quiet for long on the Western Front. Here too are satirical journals such as Simplicissimus in Germany and many others from Turkey, Bulgaria and the Austro-Hungarian Empire. 300 drawings in colour and b/w. 9¼” x 12", 160pp.


£15.99 NOW £8


67824 WORLD WAR II IN CARTOONS by Mark Bryant


Whether in strips, social comment in magazines such as Punch, savage caricatures of allies and enemies or in a daily chronicle of events, little escaped the wartime cartoonist’s pen. Londoners’ upper lips were kept resolutely stiff by Strube’s marrow-grower and the red- faced indignity of Law’s Colonel Blimp. Giles and Searle portrayed both the grim realities and humorous asides of war for the British Empire readers, and across the Atlantic the US public both praised and attacked the artists of the New Yorker and other regional dailies. The Soviet Union’s own brand of humour and satire was catered for by Krokodil. The Axis powers’ version of events was chronicled in cartoon form with similar gusto. The efforts of artists from Germany, Italy and Japan, plus Vichy France, Nazi Holland and other collaborationist regimes have in the past tended to be overlooked, but here their considerable talent is exhibited extensively. 300 examples in colour and b/w. 160pp, 9¼” × 12". £15.99 NOW £8.50


68012 QUEBEC: The Story of Three Sieges - A


Military History by Stephen Manning To show how Quebec played such a vital part in 18th century clashes, the geographical position of the city is emphasised, as is its power to draw to it such historical figures as Benedict Arnold and George Washington. The battle on The Plains of Abraham is chronicled in a detailed analysis of Wolfe’s genius and the reasons for his military success. But, the struggle was far from over. At the battle of St Foy in 1760, the French beat the British and laid siege to Quebec once again. It was only


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the intervention of the Royal Navy that proved decisive and the British were finally able to capture the city. However, the city was again besieged, this time by the Americans in 1776. The siege failed, and the future of Canada as a separate political entity was assured. 194 pages with b/w plates and maps. £30 NOW £5.50


68959 COLDITZ: The Full


Story by Major P. R. Reid Belgium, Czech, Dutch, French, German and Polish prisoners from all walks of life, as well as those from the British Commonwealth and the USA, were incarcerated in suffocating intimacy for five years in an alien and hostile land. Under these conditions they proved that men could live together and that loyalty and generosity could thrive,


transcending the natural prejudices of race, creed, language and intellectual diversity. There were more than 300 escape attempts at Colditz and in this fascinating portrayal, Reid reveals the code systems between the War Office and Colditz, shows how he obtained information on Germany’s secret weapons and investigates the existence of traitors and the situation of non-collaborators in the castle. 34 illus and maps, 395pp in paperback.


£9.99 NOW £4.75 68087 BLOODY MEADOWS: Investigating


Landscapes of Battle by John and Patricia Carman


The interaction of people, technology and landscape is a complex question addressed by this book through a range of 23 fieldwork examples, and readers are invited to submit their own battlefield observations as part of the ongoing project. The Bloody Meadows approach to visiting a battlefield includes taking time over the visit, taking a companion to exchange observations, taking equipment to record and importantly walking the space so that you can get a feel for the experience on the ground. Examples covered here include Aljubarrotta, Naseby, Oudenaarde, Bosworth, Maldon, Stamford Bridge and Corunna. 242pp, references, colour and b/w photos. £20 NOW £3.50


69002 THE GURKHAS:


Special Force by Chris Bellamy


For nearly 200 years, the Gurkhas have fought with unswerving loyalty on behalf of Britain and India. But who are the Gurkhas? How much of the myth that surrounds them is true? The award- winning historian author uncovers their origins in the hills of Nepal, the extraordinary circumstances of their recruitment and their rapid


emergence as elite troops. Looking at the wars they have fought this century, he examines their continuing appeal and remarkable status now, when each year 11,000 hopefuls apply for just over 170 coveted places in the ranks of the British Army Gurkhas. 414 paperback pages with b/w photos, maps and guide to military terms. £9.99 NOW £4.50


68545 BLOODY VICTORY: The Sacrifice on the Somme by William Philpott


The River Somme has lent its name to five battles - the first encounter was in September and October 1914. The second and greatest lasted four and a half months from June to November 1916. The third took place in March 1918 and a fourth in August 1918, the fifth and final battle in June 1940. ‘The Last Post is sounded at Lochnaghr Crater every 1st July’. 1st July 1916 - the hot, hellish first day of the Battle of the Somme has dominated our perception of WWI for nearly a century. This powerful new account argues that our view has been obscured by this myth of tragedy, and that we need to see the Somme as contemporaries saw it. 721pp in paperback with 24 pages of photos. £10.99 NOW £4.50


68548 PSYCHOLOGY OF A BATTLE: Bosworth 1485 by Michael K. Jones


The Battle of Bosworth marked an epoch in the lives of two great houses - the House of York fell when Richard III died on the field of battle, and the House of Tudor rose from the massacre to reign for the next 100 years. Michael Jones rewrites this landmark event in English history with startling evidence to suggest that the site of the battle recognised for over 500 years is wrong. Not only does he shift the location of the battle, but he shifts our perception of its heroes and villains, and its place in history. A reinterpretation which totally transforms our understanding of what actually happened on that fateful day. No longer need Richard play the villain. 256pp in paperback with maps and b/w photos. £12.99 NOW £5


68563 HORNET’S STING by Mark Ryan Subtitled ‘The Amazing Untold Story of Britain’s Second World War Spy, Thomas Sneum’, the real life character inspired a hero in a Ken Follett novel. Sneum’s ruthlessness and charm, with both enemies and women, made him a wartime legend. His daring missions include a plot to assassinate the head of the SS, a spectacular escape from Nazi-occupied Denmark in a battered old Hornet Moth aircraft, a dramatic attempt to refuel halfway across the North Sea by climbing onto the wing, and a further death-defying escape from Denmark to Sweden by walking over treacherous roads of ice. A quite extraordinary story of one of the greatest spies of WW2. 370pp in paperback, b/w plates. £10.99 NOW £4.50


68916 LOSING THE PEACE: Failed Settlements and the Road to War


by Matthew Hughes and Matthew Seligmann Many of the major wars of the 20th century emerged from the ruins of previous peace settlements. French hostility to the Treaty of Frankfurt of 1871 contributed to the tense political climate that culminated in the First World War. German resentment at the Treaty of Versailles helped to create the conditions necessary for Hitler’s attempt to reshape Europe by force in the Second World War. Likewise, the Cold War had its roots in the outcome of the titanic Russo-German struggles of 1914-17 and 1941-45. Beyond Europe, post-1945 wars in Korea, China, the Middle East and Indochina all had their origins in failed peace settlements. Why did peace so often collapse in this period? Drawing on a series of case studies. 242pp. £16.99 NOW £6


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