30 War and Militaria journey with the 168th regiment of the Rainbow through


the villages, towns, battlefields and hospitals of occupied France enlivened further by his keen eye for detail and penchant for philosophy. Thompson had the gift of being able to express in a single sentence the most complex and visceral feelings that terrible events could evoke: after sustaining severe shrapnel wounds to his arm and back, he visited comrades who had lost limbs - “I went back to my tent, almost ashamed of my own lucky wounds.” Friendships form and disappear in an hour, German prisoners serve as his stretcher-bearers and all sense of time and place evaporate - this is the Great War as it happened. As we approach the centenary of the War’s beginning, the book is particularly apposite. 205pp, 16 pages of b/w photos. £26.95 NOW £8.50


73887 MASTER PLAN: Himmler’s Scholars and the Holocaust


by Heather Pringle


How did the Third Reich try to turn the scientific study of ancient peoples and cultures into another propaganda tool? Here, in an engrossing account of the Nazi perversion of science in support of the myth of Aryan supremacy, an experienced journalist draws on


extensive original research to paint a compelling portrait of the Ahnenerbe. This Nazi research institute was dedicated to manufacturing archaeological evidence for political purposes. With scandalous ease, the German scientists and scholars allowed their research to be used to justify the extermination of political minorities. Combining a page-turning narrative with chilling historical detail, this book is a ground-breaking story of delusion and excess, and scientific and political abuse on a global scale. 463 pages with b/w archive photos, end notes, comparative ranks and guide to the most important personalities.


$24.95 NOW £7 73931 ARMY OF EVIL: A


History of the SS by Adrian Weale


In a meticulous, landmark piece of historical analysis, an ex-military intelligence officer tells the 20-year story of the emergence of the SS from its origins as Hitler’s Shutzstaffeln - or protection squad - to its growth into the sinister organisation which was to commit some of the worst crimes in


recorded history and was to become one of the most feared political and military organisations ever known. By the end of 1935, the SS had taken control of all police and internal security duties in Germany, ranging from local village policemen all the way up to the Gestapo. By 1944, the militarised Waffen-SS - or armed SS - had more than 800,000 men serving in the field, rivalling even Germany’s massive regular armed forces, the Wehrmacht. In order to expose the twisted, cruel thugs who ran the service, the author delves into material not previously available, including recently released intelligence files, the most up-to-date research, and rare and never-before-published photographs. Going beyond the myths, this comprehensive account reveals the reality of this cadre of unwavering political fanatics and power-crazy opportunists who slavishly followed an ideology that disdained traditional morality - an ideology that they were prepared to implement to the utmost murderous extreme, and which ultimately led to the Holocaust, the extermination of 1,000,000 Jews. 459 pages with rare archive b/w photos. $28.95 NOW £7.50


73138 OPERATION SUICIDE: The


Remarkable Story of the Cockleshell Raid by Robert Lyman


Features a cast of characters ranging from Blondie Hasler, the ingenious and courageous leader of the raid, to the Comtesse de Milleville, who risked outrageous danger during the time that she ran a secret French Resistance network. At nightfall on December 7th 1942, twelve British canoeists arrived by submarine off the coast of France. They had been entrusted with the formidable task of infiltrating the dockyards of Bordeaux and wreaking havoc on the German shipping they found there. Manning their fragile ‘cockles’ through the turbulent waters of the Bay of Biscay, and making an assault on a port bristling with German soldiers, their prospects looked bleak. 346 paperback pages, archive photos and maps. £8.99 NOW £4


73188 MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: SOE and


Italy 1943-1945 by David Stafford In May 1945, Italy was liberated from Nazism and Fascism by the British Eighth and American Fifth Armies. By that time the Italian resistance movement had emerged as one of the strongest in Europe - crucially aided and abetted by the UK’s Special Operations Executive or SOE. Clandestine cells in the cities, and partisan bands in the countryside fought to free their country from enemy occupation and shape the politics of Italy’s post-war future. SOE in Italy, known as No. 1 Special Force, took part in dozens of parachute missions to supply the underground with weapons and ammunition, food and supplies. It also secretly collaborated with its former enemy, the Italian Military Intelligence Service, and with the Italian Navy. 392 pages, photos, maps and glossary. £20 NOW £7


71717 DEAD MEN RISEN by Toby Harnden


This is the story of the Welsh Guards, of the British Army and of Afghanistan. It is both a privilege and a responsibility to be able to tell it.’ The book dilutes the saccharine perception of soldiering and vividly renders the smell of sweat, the cordite and the acrid scent of fear. A tremendous lump of a book, 656pp with colour photos and other illus plus sections of expurgated files about the Taliban. £8.99 NOW £3


73787 NAPOLEONIC WARS IN CARTOONS by Mark Bryant


After Napoleon Bonaparte became First Consul of France, he became the most caricatured figure of his time, with almost 1,000 satirical drawings being produced by British artists alone. The allegedly diminutive emperor - actually, he was quite tall - was a gift to cartoonists, and James Gillroy’s transformation of him into the Lilliputian character Little Boney was immensely popular. He often appeared as various kinds of grotesque creature, from ape, serpent and dragon, to earwig, toadstool and crocodile, forever battling the mighty John Bull, Britannia and the British bulldog, as well as the Russian bear and the Austrian and Prussian eagles. The Allied monarchs and military commanders themselves were also custom-made for caricature. The Duke of Wellington’s nose, General Blücher’s flamboyant moustache, the one-armed Lord Nelson, the pug-faced and mad Tsar Paul of Russia, the portly Prince of Wales and the wiry Prime Minister William ‘Bottomless’ Pitt all feature


prominently. A magnificent 160 pages 31.5cm x 23.5cm with more than 300 cartoons and caricatures from both sides of the conflicts in colour and b/ w.


£18.99 NOW £8


73241 SPITFIRE IN PICTURES: Bookazine


and Six Free Prints by Les Perera This is the story of how R. J. Mitchell’s design for a single-engine fighter became the legend that is the Spitfire. Aesthetically pleasing, it received plaudits for its capabilities as both a fighter-bomber and a fast, high- flying reconnaissance aircraft. The 64 page huge booklet is very well illustrated in colour throughout, gives statistical information and development, history and includes archive photographs from the 1940s, even one of a Spitfire being serviced in the mud of Belgium, 1944. Presented in a large card folder, the six free prints each measure 8" x 10". £9.99 NOW £6


73076 THE GUN by C. J. Chivers


In August 1949, just as the diplomatic cables were crackling with the news of the first atomic bomb test, the factories that built it were despatching the first deliveries to the Soviet Army. It was the Avtomat Kalashnikova - the automatic designed by Sergeant Mikhail Kalashnikov - in 1947, famously given the acronym AK-47.


It is the AK-47’s spread across the face of the globe and the impact it has had in those 60 years which is the subject of Christopher Chiver’s exhaustive study. A searing examination of modern conflict and official folly, he mixes battlefield reportage and painstaking combing of declassified military documents to put the AK-47 and its derivatives, knock-offs and companion weapons in their social, historical and technological context. 481pp paperback.


$16 NOW £4


73248 THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY by Kendal Burt and James Leasor James Leasor wrote such books as Boarding Party, filmed as The Sea Wolves, and Passport to Oblivion filmed as Where the Spies Are with David Niven. Here is the first book to tell the full story of Franz von Werra, a Luftwaffe officer escaping in England set against the background of our own familiar countryside. Based on von Werra’s own account, here is the German point of view of a prisoner in British hands. Did the Germans bait their guards with similar ironic humour and horseplay often carried to dangerous extremes? How were our prisoners fed, interrogated and guarded and how did we treat them? 255pp in paperback with maps for example of Camp 13 at Swanwick, and HQ Police Search Operations at Ulverstone in Lancashire. Nine pages of illus. Paperback. £9.99 NOW £4.50


73249 SAS SECRET WAR IN SOUTH-EAST ASIA: 22 Special Air Service Regiment in the


Borneo Campaign 1963-1966 by Peter Dickens


From 1963-1966 Britain successfully waged a secret war to keep the Federation of Malaya free from domination by Soekarno’s Indonesia and by Chinese Communists. At the forefront of the campaign was the SAS, an élite branch of the British army. Working in four-man patrols, the SAS teams first befriended the head-hunting border tribes and even trained some of them as an irregular militia force. As the conflict continued, SAS teams went beyond the borders into Indonesia, where they tracked down enemy camps, destroyed supply routes and attacked the soldiers in the river boats. Recreates what it was really like to fight in the dense jungle and rainforest of Malaysia. 248 paperback pages, archive photos, glossary and maps. £13.99 NOW £5


72219 AMAZING AND EXTRAORDINARY


FACTS: The British At War by Jonathan Bastable


The book bristles with martial tales and military anecdotes. Every account is rooted in the battles that Britain has fought, from Hastings to Helmand Province, the doomed Belgrano, the Flagstaff Affair, the face of Kitchener, dirty tricks at Stamford Bridge, in Flanders’ Fields, pioneering moments, the Phoney War, gallant she-soldiers and Hobart’s funnies (the crazy but deadly tanks of D-day). 144pp with line art. £9.99 NOW £2


71452 EASTERN FRONT: Day By Day by Steve Crawford


Allows the reader to see at a glance the key battles, such as the great encirclement engagements of 1941 - Minsk, Smolensk and Kiev, the sieges of Leningrad and Stalingrad, the Battle of Kursk, and Operation Bagration, sidebars on all the main commanders who led the German and Soviet armies, such as Guderian, Zhukov, Manstein, Vatutin, Rokossovsky, Model and Konev. Also detailed, in parallel to the military manoeuvres, are the political events, such as the activities of the SS and Einsatzgruppen murder squads, that influenced the outcome. Here too is the technology such as the Ju-87 Stuka dive-bomber, the T-34 Tiger and Panther tanks. 192 pages 22.5cm by 29cm. Maps in colour. £18.99 NOW £5.50


71518 THE CROSSBOW: Its Military and


Sporting History Construction and Use by Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey Sir Ralph Payne-Gallwey (1848-1916) was an accomplished engineer, historian, ballistics expert and artist as well as an author, and The Crossbow, originally published in 1903, remains probably the most comprehensive treatise on the weapon’s history, use and construction. We have here the 2007 paperback facsimile reprint. The crossbow remains a popular hunting and sporting weapon. Every type of military and sporting crossbow is finely detailed, with information unavailable today. Bullet and bolt-shooting crossbows, unusual devices such as the popinjay and the Chinese repeating crossbow, and the weapons from which the crossbow is thought to have been adapted, such as the ballista and similar siege engines, everything is here, painstakingly illus. with hundreds of original drawings and selections from historical manuscripts. Also includes the 1907 appendix. 376pp. £14.99 NOW £7


73268 WINGS: One Hundred Years of British Aerial Warfare


by Patrick Bishop


As a young journalist during the Falklands conflict, the author witnessed the excitement of the RAF’s last real dogfight. Flight Lieutenant David Morgan and a colleague, both piloting Sea- Harriers, were keeping an eye on a friendly troop-carrier, when


suddenly two enemy A-4 Skyhawks dived out of the blue and launched an attack, obliterating the ship’s stern. Several more appeared as Morgan and his fellow-Harrier engaged in traditional aerial combat, wheeling and diving and managing to launch their sidewinders to deadly effect, bringing three planes down. The book ends with the 21st century conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, where aerial combat is remote-controlled and the adrenalin rush of the dogfight is a thing of the past. Bishop tells the story of the rise and fall of aerial combat in superbly readable style, drawing on personal reminiscences and archive records. 412pp, photos. £25 NOW £6


71743 HOW TO AVOID BEING KILLED IN A WAR ZONE: The Essential Survival Guide for


Dangerous Places by Rosemary Garthwaite Imagined having to face frostbite, minefields, war, tsunami or flying bullets. Hundreds of scenarios are covered in this incredibly detailed guide to how to cope with a multitude of potentially dangerous situations. Expert contributors include such luminaries as Jon Snow, John Simpson, Terry Waite and many more. From diarrhoea to danger signs and from water purification to websites. 304 paperback pages with elastic fastening. Line drawings. £12.99 NOW £4


71840 RED BARON’S LAST FLIGHT by Norman Franks and Alan Bennett Baron Von Richthofen was far from a natural born pilot, but he learned rapidly and became highly proficient. Featuring newly discovered eyewitness accounts, this fully updated paperback edition explores the mysterious events of April 21st 1918, the day the legendary Red Baron met his end. Here is the answer, taking you straight to the site of his final crash. Leading aviation historians Franks and Bennett restaged the last flight over the Somme and present some inescapable conclusions. Illus, photos and maps. 144pp in large softback.


£9.99 NOW £4


72567 DOCTOR SEUSS & CO. GO TO WAR by André Schiffrin


This book is an astonishing treasure trove of over 300 incisive political cartoons by Dr. Seuss and 12 others, published between April 1941 and August 1945, which offers, particularly to British readers, a totally different set of perspectives of WWII. Scathing, vigorous and provocative, the cartoons come from a time when US involvement in the war was by no means a foregone conclusion, and later, when victory was by no means guaranteed.


Appeasers such as Lindbergh are lampooned


mercilessly, and we particularly liked the Uncle Sam bird, which bears a striking resemblance to a Star Belly Sneech, sitting contentedly on his “star- spangled fanny” as the bombs and bullets fly all


around him! 280pp softback, 8¾” square format.


£15.99 NOW £6


73423 BATTLE READY by Tom Clancy and General Tony Zinni


From one of America’s most prominent writers and one of the military’s most outspoken generals, here is a powerful assessment of modern warfare in today’s hottest battle zones in this front-row seat. The book follows the evolution of General Zinni and the Marine Corps from the cauldron of Vietnam, through the operational revolution


of the 70s and 80s, rescue operations in Somalia, CENTCOM, directing strikes against Iraq and Al Qaeda to peacemaking and serving as Special Envoy to the Middle East. Here is a military man with a radically different opinion. 519pp in paperback. £7.99 NOW £3


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. Colour illustrations including cutaway diagrams, key specifications are given for each weapon, including calibre, magazine capacity, barrel length and unloaded weight. 512 softback pages, 1,100 colour photos.


ONLY £6.50


71292 DISCOVERING BRITISH MILITARY BADGES AND BUTTONS by R. J. Wilkinson-Latham


Another wonderful Shire publication illustrating hundreds of examples, this book first examines the development of the various styles of military head-dress badges from 1751 when the use of private crests was forbidden, to the introduction of ‘cap badges’ in 1894. Since that date every style of badge for each regiment of the regular Army is described or illustrated. Subsequent reorganisations are brought up to the present with new badges designed for the brigade system of 1958, the large regiments of the 1970s, and the radical Army reorganisation since 1990. 88 page small paperback. £5.99 NOW £2.75


71294 DISCOVERING BRITISH REGIMENTAL TRADITIONS by Ian Beckett


Constantly in print since 1999, and here in a revised edition including many colour illustrations, is a book that charts the history of the British Army by using one of its most distinctive aspects - its regimental traditions. There are chapters on Veterans and who qualifies to be a Chelsea Pensioner, Ranks and Appointments, Badges, Nicknames like the ‘Rusty Buckles’ and Uniforms, explaining the origin of khaki. The author also describes existing monuments and memorials to regiments, how families can trace servicemen among their ancestors and lists regimental and military museums. 136pp in paperback, colour illus. £9.99 NOW £4


73774 DUNKIRK: Retreat to Victory by Major General Julian Thompson


The standard treatment of the story of Dunkirk in May/June 1940 is a near-mythical tale of triumph defined mostly by the llth-hour arrival of the flotilla of civilian vessels that helped deliver the troops to safety, but in this inspiring true account of the brave stand of the British Expeditionary Force


against the German army, popular misconceptions are finally corrected. For the first time, this account gives full weight to the fighting inland as the BEF found itself in mortal danger, thanks to the collapse of the Belgian army on one flank and the failure of the French on the other. The BEF, ill-equipped and under-trained, conducted a fighting withdrawal in the face of their formidable German foes. Overwhelmed, outgunned, and cornered, they were looking at the possible death knell of the Allied effort, with incalculable sacrifices of morale, equipment and men. 338 pages, archive photos, maps, glossary. £16.99 NOW £7


71576 THE WAY OF THE SAMURAI by Inazo Nitobe


First published in 1900, this classic exposition was written at a time when Japan was undergoing a profound transformation emerging from feudalism and the ‘closed doors’ seclusion of the Edo Period to become a modern nation, originally written in English for Western readers and published under the title Bushido: The Soul of Japan. Shintoism, Buddhism, Zen and the teachings of the Chinese philosophers Confucius and Mencius suggests that the Way of the Samurai incorporated a strong spiritual element. 128 decorated pages, Japanese illus. £6.99 NOW £3.50


71636 FIGHTING TECHNIQUES OF NAVAL WARFARE 1190 BC-PRESENT: Strategy, Weapons, Commanders and Ships by Iain Dickie et al


Arranged chronologically, beginning with the major engagements of the ancient era, including the Greeks’ victory at Salamis (480BC) and Octavian’s defeat of Mark Antony at Actium (31BC), to the use of galleys as the premier fighting ship for some 2,000 years is explored in depth. Analyses the greatest fighting sailing ships such as Copenhagen (1801) and Trafalgar (1805) to the arrival of steam-powered ironclads from the mid to late 19th century. The lessons learned and advances made in two world wars, submarines, swift battlecruisers and aircraft carriers bring us up to date. Colour maps, 20 in all. 256pp, 8" x 10". $29.95 NOW £5


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