War and Militaria 33 64624 COMPLETE WORLD


ENCYCLOPEDIA OF GUNS: Pistols, Rifles, Revolvers, Machine and Submachine Guns Through History by Will Fowler, Anthony North, Charles Stronge and Patrick Sweeney


Featuring all the most significant and famous firearms including


Mauser and Lee-Enfield rifles, the Colt .45 pistol, the MP38 submachine gun and the Hotchkiss machine gun, here is an unparalleled guide to the world’s most important firearms from the medieval period to the present day. If contains directories of arms from many parts of the world, organised according to country of manufacture, and incorporates specially commissioned colour illustrations including cutaway diagrams to show internal components and gun operation. Key specifications are given for each weapon, including calibre, magazine capacity, barrel length and unloaded weight, and the authoritative text is by leading firearm experts in their field. 512 softback pages with 1,100 colour photos. ONLY £7


70603 COMPLETE WORLD ENCYCLOPEDIA OF


KNIVES, SWORDS, SPEARS: AND DAGGERS


by Harvey J. S. Withers and Dr. Tobias Capwell This beautifully produced encyclopedia includes a compendium of sharp-edged instruments, with 1500 superb colour photos giving detailed


profiles of all implements and weapons described. From the 11th to the 16th centuries the dagger was the main battlefield weapon, and medieval daggers featured here include cross-hilt daggers for piercing armour and an ornately decorated roundel dagger. Around 1500 the rapier became the sword of choice for the gentleman. Swords and sabres were radically redesigned in the 18th century, and Napoleon’s Heavy Cuirassier Trooper’s Sword had a four-bar brass hilt and a blade over three feet long, designed to instil terror in the enemy together with a high level of destruction. Indian, Indonesian, Japanese, Chinese, African and Ottoman weapons are featured alongside their European counterparts in this


comprehensive guide. 512pp, softback, lavishly illustrated with 1500 colour photos.


ONLY £6.50 69074 JOHN TALBOT AND THE WAR IN


FRANCE 1427-1453 by A. J. Pollard John Talbot, Earl of Shrewsbury, was the last of the celebrated English commanders of the Hundred Years’ War. This perceptive account reconstructs the long career of an extraordinary soldier, and offers a fascinating insight into warfare in the late medieval period. Talbot was the last representative of generations of brave, brutal warriors whose appetite for glory and personal gain had sustained English policy in France since the time of Edward III. His defeat and death at the Battle of Castillon on 17th July 1453 marked the end of the wars. It was also the final act in a heroic but savage tradition. 166 paperback pages. £10.99 NOW £3.50


69325 CHINESE MARTIAL CODE: Bilingual Edition by A. L. Sadler


Three classic works - The Art of War by Sun Tzu, The Precepts of War by Sima Rangju and Wu Zi on the Art of War - these books have been studied by those seeking timeless tools for victory in their endeavours for thousands of years. They are the classic writings on strategy by China’s military masters, considered the foremost guides to success on the battlefield and in today’s boardrooms. This edition of A. L. Sadler’s classic work contains a new foreword and includes the original Chinese language version of the texts, making this book a treasure for Chinese history and military scholars. A clear, easy to follow translation. 190pp. £16.50 NOW £2.50


69437 HISTORY OF CHIVALRY AND


ARMOUR: 60 Colour Plates by F. Kottenkamp First published in London in 1857 and here in a large format facsimile reprint, here is an entire overview of the feudal system, the establishment of chivalry, of medieval armour, tournaments, trials by single combat and references to the authorities and index. The plates themselves are no less than 60 full colour, full page figures beginning with crossbows and arrows, catapults, moveable towers and battering rams to gauntlets and body armour, beautiful plumage on helmets, finely wrought weaponry and depictions of knights in combat and on horseback, some most finely adorned. Revel in meticulously rendered lances, spears and spiked clubs as well as incredibly engineered mobile siege towers and muskets. Accompanied by authentic literature from poets and troubadours of the age. 11" x 8" softback, 128pp.


£18.99 NOW £4


70139 RED SABBATH: The Battle of Little Bighorn by Robert J. Kershaw


The Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876 is known as “Custer’s last stand” and numerous legends have grown up around the story of how the 7th Cavalry was slaughtered by Native Americans with not a single survivor to tell the tale. This investigation into why Custer’s force was massacred against all expectation goes back to eyewitness accounts from Native Americans and makes full use of recent archaeological discoveries about the disposition of the troops and the kinds of weapons and artillery used. Archaeological evidence suggests that a barrage of heavy calibre bullets tore through the dispersed ranks of U.S. cavalrymen, who would have been better placed to withstand the onslaught if they had been ranged in a single unit. Had he known of Crook’s defeat on the Rosebud River a week earlier, Custer might have deployed his force differently. 223pp, photos.


£19.99 NOW £7 69485 GREAT COMMANDERS OF THE


ANCIENT WORLD 1479BC-453AD edited by Andrew Roberts


Several of the military leaders in this volume were born to command, men like Alexander the Great, Ramesses II, Julius Caesar, Arminius and Trajan were the heirs of kings, princes and senators, and so were trained from birth to lead men into battle. Others rose purely by their own efforts like King David, Cyrus, Judah Maccabeus and Aetius. Covers 25 of the greatest military leaders. 379pp in paperback. £9.99 NOW £3


69489 HIGHLANDER: The History of the


Highland Soldier by Tim Newark The Highlanders are one of the fiercest regiments in the British Army and the most feared soldiers in the world. On the fields of Waterloo, the deserts of Sudan, the trenches of Flanders and the jungles of Burma, the great Highland regiments have made their mark. At the Battle of Quebec in 1759, only a few years after their defeat at Culloden, the 78th Highlanders faced down the French guns and turned the battle. At Waterloo, Highlanders memorably fought alongside the Scots Greys against Napoleon’s feared Old Guard. In the Crimea, the thin red line stood firm against the charging Russian Hussars and saved the day at Balaclava. Yet the story is also one of betrayal. 402pp in paperback, photos. £9.99 NOW £4.75


69709 BATTLES OF WORLD WAR II: Vital Guide by Martin Marix Evans


The major land, sea and air battles of World War Two are described with concise data on more than 50 confrontations. Maps and statistical information on the opposing forces and their commanders are included with suggestions for museums and related places of interest. Here is the Battle of Britain, the Blitz, the Battles of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean seas, the Battle of Malta, the bomber campaign against Germany, the Siege of Tobruk, the Battle of Crete and so on right through to the bombing campaign on Japan June 1944 to August 1945 in chronological order. With select book list. 120 large well illustrated pages. £9.99 NOW £3


69763 TIMELINE OF MEDIEVAL WARFARE: The Ultimate Guide to Battle in the Middle Ages by Phyllis Jestice


Here is a unique approach to the Middle Ages in that it covers the period chronologically but with a timeline at the bottom of each page. It furnishes the complete history of medieval warfare at a glance, while describing the dramatic development of techniques, weaponry, armies and inventions along the way. From the Viking raids of the 8th century to the fall of Constantinople in the 15th, here are the patterns of warfare throughout eight centuries. Never before have readers been able to examine the mass mounted cavalries of Mongols and Hungarians at Leibnitz in 1241 or follow the evolution of the longbow at Crécy in 1346. A stirring 224 pages 22cm x 30cm, 300 archival photos in dazzling colour and b/w, with free double-sided eight-page poster. $21.95 NOW £6


70131 FIGHTER COMMAND 1939-45 by Ian Carter


Here are the Supermarine Spitfire, perhaps the most famous fighter of World War Two, the Hawker Typhoon, much feared in its ground-attack role, and the de Havilland Mosquito, without peer as a night fighter. Full weight is also given to the vital and frequently overlooked work of the ground crews - the men and women who kept the aircraft flying. In the summer of 1940, the courage and determination of ‘The Few’ of RAF Fighter Command - given their name because they were so hugely outnumbered by the German planes - prevented the Luftwaffe from achieving air superiority and forced the Germans to cancel the proposed invasion of Britain. But this was only part of the story. In the years that followed, the fighter squadrons went on to the offensive, taking the war to the enemy in the air and on the ground. 160 pages 21cm x 26cm packed with archive photos from the Imperial War Museum. £19.99 NOW £7.50


70118 AMERICAN AIR


MUSEUM DUXFORD by Roger Freeman A superbly innovative building designed by Norman Foster houses the American Air Museum at Duxford, exhibiting 24 aircraft together with archive photos, documents and film. The main part of the book is devoted to descriptions of the 24 aircraft in the


collection, including the Boeing B-17G Fortress, arguably the most famous American warplane of all time, which was the backbone of the strategic bombing offensive from Britain. The Grumman TBM-3 Avenger was so named from a determination to avenge Pearl Harbor, and it played a part in sinking at least 60 naval vessels. The Fairchild Republic A10-A Thunderbolt II was more commonly known as the “Warthog”, entering service in 1976 and being deployed to great effect during Desert Storm. Full specifications and photos. 128pp. £19.95 NOW £5.50


70132 GERMAN NAVAL CODE


BREAKERS by Jak P. Mallmann Showell The role of the German naval code breakers of WWII is less well known than that of their British counterparts at Bletchley Park, but it was undoubtedly significant in the course of the conflict. The author’s father was a senior mechanic on U377 which was destroyed three months before he was born, and today is regarded as Britain’s foremost expert on the U-boat campaign. Here he has delved into the archives to produce an account of the wartime German naval code breakers. He looks in detail at how German code-breaking developed after the traumas of defeat in 1918, the variety of codes employed by the British and Allied navies, and how the code-breaking department was organised. In particular he pays close attention to such major events as D-Day and the Battle of the Atlantic. Over 100 b/w photos, plus tables and maps, 160pp. £24.99 NOW £7.50


70141 SHOT IN THE TOWER by Leonard Sellers


The Tower of London is famous for dramatic scenes of execution: Anne Boleyn, Sir Walter Raleigh and other famous historical characters met their end there, but not everyone knows that during World War I the Tower saw the execution by firing squad of 11 people convicted of being German spies. This is their story. In 1908


Captain Vernon Kell was approached to initiate a counter-espionage service, initially known as M.O.5. When war was declared in 1914, “K” left his home in Weybridge to camp out in his secret London office. A big coup followed when a hairdresser on the Caledonian Road named Ernst was discovered to be acting as a letter-box for German agents. Among the spies convicted were the Peruvian Ludovico Zender and the couple George Breeckow and his mistress Lizzie Wertheim. 212pp, paperback, photos. £12.99 NOW £6


70253 BATTLEFIELD WALKS: Devon by Rupert Matthews


Devon has seen clashes between Dumnonian and Welsh kings in the 7th century, Viking raids in the 10th and 11th centuries and baronial uprisings in the 15th century. In 1549 the so-called Prayer Book Rebellion led to violent skirmishes at Sampford Courtney, Fenny Bridges and Clyst St Mary. It was the Civil War in the mid-17th century that brought the greatest bloodshed to the county. Rupert Matthews, (the History Man), presents 18 guided walks around the battlefields of Devon with an account of events as they unfolded on the ground and context. Colour photos. 206 page small paperback. £8.99 NOW £3.50


70269 MILITARY HISTORY QUIZ BOOK by Osprey Publishing


With a nice multiple choice general quiz to begin, we are asked in which battle did the Irish King Brian Boru die? Clontars, Boyne, Glen Mama or Sulchoid? True or false, American Civil War multiple choice, short answers to ten general questions like what is the more common name of the ‘hand-and-a-half’ sword? Subtitled ‘One-star General Knowledge’, this quiz includes US and worldwide coverage of all the major campaigns and answers are given. Famous, infamous and obscure facts. 232pp in illustrated paperback. £6.99 NOW £2.25


70404 CUBAN MISSILE CRISIS: A Concise


History by Don Munton and David Welch Beginning with a list of acronyms and dramatis personae and positions in October 1962, we are given a background to the crisis, the US-Cuban relations and historical perspective, the Bay of Pigs and Operation Mongoose, and the Soviet decision to deploy. Then follows the full details of the deployment, the intelligence game of cat and mouse, warnings too late, the narrowing of options, the calm before the storm and then the storm itself - the speech, carrots and sticks, Khrushchev and Kennedy Wavering, the Dobrynin meeting, climax and resolution and the aftermath including removing the missiles from Cuba and the bomber crisis. 119 page well illus large softback. £12.99 NOW £5


70561 THE TRAFALGAR ROLL: The Ships and the Officers


by Colonel Robert Holden


Mackenzie and Colin White Originally published in 1913, this book was intended to record and honour the men who fought at Trafalgar in the same way that earlier publications had done for the soldiers at Blenheim and Waterloo. Over 1,250 officers, from Admiral


Lord Nelson to midshipmen, surgeons, clerks, boatswains and carpenters, are listed, together with a detailed chronicle of their careers. In addition, there is a brief service history of each of the 34 ships, from the great 104 gun H.M.S. Victory herself through the 74 gun H.M.S. Thunderer and the 36gun frigates, down to the gallant little H.M.S. Pickle, schooner. At the time of its first publication, this volume was a remarkable labour of research. 336 pages with b/w illustrations of medals. £27.50 NOW £8.50


70476 IAN FLEMING’S COMMANDOS: The Story of 30 Assault Unit in WWII by Nicholas Rankin


Rankin here relates the true story of the unit that Lieutenant-Commander Ian Fleming RNVR created in 1942, when he was assistant to Admiral John Godfrey, the Director of Naval Intelligence and model for 007 James Bond’s fictional boss, “M”. Fleming’s proposal was simple and brilliant - to set up a unit of looters, men who went in alongside front-line troops with the specific remit of stealing enemy intelligence. Known as 30 Assault Unit, they took part in landings in North Africa, Sicily and Normandy and the liberation of Paris, but their crowning glory came in 1945 when they seized the entire archive of the German Navy from Tambach Castle, over 300 tons of documents. Fleming himself flew out to bring the loot back to Britain, where it was combed for evidence to be used at Nuremberg. Photos, maps and a fascinating “Aftermath” section at the end. 413pp.


£20 NOW £8


64920 BRITAIN AT WAR: Classic, Rare and Unseen by Maureen Hill


More than 800 painstakingly restored photographs from the archives of the Daily Mail have been packed into this heavyweight hardback. Devastating bombing raids on major cities, the call for increased food production and the need to protect both landscape and property changed landscapes and cityscapes throughout Britain. Covers the Declaration of War, The Blitz, Defending the Home Front, Uniformed Services, Women at Work, Working for the War Effort, Growing up at War, Business as Usual and The Road to Victory as the chapter headings. Be stunned by the image of a completely destroyed London trolley-bus, the second great fire of London on 29th December 1940, the books rescued from the massive 25,000 volume collection at the Guildhall Library, (much of which was lost), St. Paul’s, untouched amid the ruins, Plymouth, a prime target, industrial cities like Sheffield, entertaining the troops, heavy work for women, children reunited with their parents and some fun relaxing in the sun. 800 exceptional quality sepia and b/ w photos. 352pp measuring 9" x 11½”.


£24.99 NOW £11.50


70790 COLD WAR EXPERIENCE by Norman Friedman


The Cold War was fought out on a world stage, and modern space, military and computer technologies, not to mention NATO and the EU, were all developed as a response to the Soviet threat. Behind the “iron curtain” men chosen and removed by Moscow guarded their countries with a brutal system of barbed wire and watchtowers. The first serious crisis was Stalin’s blockade of Berlin, which the Allies countered with the Berlin airlift. The Korean War was a direct military response to the fear of Communism, revealing that the Soviet MIG-15 fighter was as good as anything the U.S. could put in the skies, and the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Vietnam War illustrate the further escalation of the perceived threat. The Atom Bomb, the Hungarian Uprising, China’s Cultural Revolution and the spy wars were followed by the 1968 invasion of


Czechoslovakia. 10 years later the Soviet coup in Afghanistan was intended to pre-empt western involvement, but the Polish Solidarity


movement followed by Gorbachev’s glasnost finally opened the way for the reunification of Germany in 1989. Four wallets of document facsimiles. 60pp, colour.


£19.99 NOW £6 WAR MEMOIRS


Of this I am quite sure, that if we open a quarrel between the past and the present, we shall find that we have lost the future.


- Winston Churchill, Speech in the House of Commons, June 18, 1940


71254 DEAD BEFORE DAWN: A Heavy Bomber Tail-Gunner in World War II by Frank Broome


Frank Broome was only 15 when he felt the full force of the Luftwaffe’s three blitzes on his home town of Coventry. In 1942, aged 17, he signed up for the RAF Volunteers for pilot training. Following a near-perfect training record in Britain, Canada and the


US he, like many others at that time, was not to gain his wings. The staffing problem then facing the RAF was not for pilots, but for other aircrew, so he transferred to air-gunnery and on his return to Britain trained on Wellingtons as a tail-gunner. After D-Day he and his colleagues transferred to four-engined heavy bombers, joining 626 Squadron at the height of Bomber Command’s massed raids over Germany and occupied Europe. The mighty Lancaster - “a four-engined flying bomb” - while an excellent vehicle for its bombing purpose, was a large, slow-moving target for enemy fighters and flak, and the job of the tail-gunner was regarded as possibly the most dangerous in the RAF, hence the book’s title. Frank kept a meticulously detailed diary and this, together with his full logbook details and many memories of the horrors, terrors and sometimes lighter side of his unimaginably perilous career form this thrilling wartime autobiography. He describes in vivid detail everything that went on from take-off to reaching the target to return during many bombing raids, particularly over the Ruhr Valley. Some went like clockwork; others were a terrifying cocktail of unexpected anti-aircraft fire, lightning attacks from German night-fighters, faulty equipment and the ever- present fear of being one good shot away from being turned instantly into a fireball, as many of his colleagues were. 336pp, 16 pages of b/w photos. £25 NOW £8


71103 STORMING THE FALKLANDS: My War and


After by Tony Banks The Falklands War was the bloodiest conflict British troops had faced in decades. After it had finished, the author of this memoir succumbed to years of debilitating combat stress. His battle against the condition was eventually won when he met his former enemies and laid his demons to rest. This


book is his vivid, harrowing, first-hand account of one of the toughest outfits in the British Army, the 2nd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment. The eager young men who joined it were highly trained and motivated, but nothing could prepare them for the intensity, ferocity and horror of fighting to liberate the Falkland Islands. After a nerve-wracking landing at San Carlos Bay, they were plunged into a war of night attacks and vicious close- combat warfare. Not since World War Two and Korea had such a turmoil been experienced. 17 men from the battalion were killed at Goose Green alone. Tony Banks was one of the horrified men at Wireless Ridge who, in the black of night, heard the orders to fix bayonets and take no prisoners, but somehow scrambled out alive. He also witnessed the horrific bombing of the Sir Galahad. A story of extreme courage and cool nerve, movingly told. 307 pages with b/w photos. £20 NOW £6.50


71271 ON WINGS OF FORTUNE: A Bomber Pilot’s


War by Richard Pinkham DFC Wing Commander Richard Mansfield Pinkham was born in Essex in 1916. He left school at 17, and began to work for the family business. However, on a holiday to Great Yarmouth he got to take a short flight in a biplane, and there was no looking back. As soon as he was able he signed up for the RAF, and


in the summer of 1939 he began his training at Gatwick.


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