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forever the way in which wars were fought. Prior to the outbreak of WWII the concept of ‘special forces’ did not really exist. The 12 extraordinary men profiled in this book not only re-shaped military policy but they led from the front, accompanying their troops into the heat of battle, from the sands of North Africa to the beaches of Normandy, and operating far behind enemy lines. Evoking intense loyalty from their soldiers, each leader embodied the true essence of leadership and courage. 303 action-packed pages with b/w archive photos. £17.99 NOW £7


75662 THE BATTLE OF THE


TANKS: Kursk, 1943 by Lloyd Clark


Histories of World War II tend to focus on the western front, but the battle of Kursk, in which the German army was routed by the might of the Soviets, has been described as one of the most decisive battles the world has ever seen. Across a 2,000 mile front, compared with the 250-mile western front, 560 Soviet


and 235 German divisions faced each other. This comprehensive study of Kursk starts in the closing days of the World War I, when Germans were outraged at the punitive settlement imposed on them. The young Adolf Hitler was among many who succumbed to conspiracy theories, vowing to restore the German nation with acts of vengeance. Stalin’s popular support was based on a programme of massive technological modernisation, although there was a huge gap between the reality and the rhetoric. Meanwhile the West used Nazism to keep Communism in check, leading to the appeasement which was ultimately so disastrous. The launch of Operation Barbarossa on the eastern front prompted Hitler to prophesy the collapse of Russia, but he had not learned the lessons of history. The Soviets had developed operational techniques for total war far quicker than the Germans and Operation Zitadelle, the Kursk offensive, failed to achieve even the most basic German aim, that of limiting the Soviets’ military power in the region. The book culminates in a detailed account of the battle and its strategies. 468pp, order of battle, photos. £25 NOW £8


75672 MEANING OF THE


SECOND WORLD WAR by Ernest Mandel


Marxist theorist Ernest Mandel belonged to the Trotskyist wing of the party, and he continued to defend classical Marxism until his death 20 years ago. This book is a late work and shows the breadth of international and historical awareness that characterised all Mandel’s writings. He ascribes the


larger causes of both World Wars to the expansionist capitalism and imperialism that led to competition for markets, resources, and trade routes in the early years of the 20th century. On this reading, the U.S.A.’s entry into World War II was primarily to halt Japanese economic expansion, although the U.S. and Japan had made common cause against China in the early 20th century. Both Japan and America, in the author’s interpretation, were aiming at world dominance of resources and trade, making their eventual conflict inevitable. World War II can only be understood in the context of imperialist ambitions and the failure of German social democrats to overthrow bourgeois rule. The legacy was 80 million deaths, including those who died of starvation and war-induced illness, together with the continuing shadow cast by the Bomb which led to the Cold War. The author believes that class and national conflicts were unchanged by the war in this classic Marxist analysis. 210pp, paperback. £16.99 NOW £5


75688 TOYOTOMI HIDEYOSHI


by Stephen Turnball Published by Osprey, here is the background, strategies, tactics and battlefield experiences of one of the greatest commanders in history. Toyotomi Hideyoshi was the son of a peasant who rose from the ranks to military greatness. He has always been a soldiers’ general and


inspired loyalty even after his death. Hideyoshi brought Japan together under a single ruler, bringing an end to a period of continual warfare between rival Daimyos that had lasted for decades. By 1591 he had reunited Japan, a feat brought about through the skilful application of strategy, leadership and diplomacy at which he excelled. There are maps of the Odawara campaign of 1590, specially commissioned full page colour illustrations, paintings and bronzes, stunning colourful woodblock prints, line art and modern colour photos decorating this beautifully presented look inside the mind of a warrior. 64 page large softback. £11.99 NOW £5


75690 CONQUER OR DIE!:


Wellington’s Veterans and the Liberation of the New World by Ben Hughes The artificial economic boom that 22 years of war with France had created was wiped out at a stroke and with many tens of thousands of army and navy personnel dismissed within two years of the Battle of Waterloo, when recession and huge unemployment stalked Britain. In


order to rid itself of the disenchanted, brutalised men on the streets of London who two years ago had been feted as heroes the government actively encouraged these veterans to volunteer (with vague promises of recompense) for regiments that were to sail across the Atlantic to aid Colombia’s Simon Bolivar in his liberation of Gran Columbia from its opressors in Madrid, a move which clearly benefited Britain without her actually having to pay anything. Over 6,000 men left over a period of two years and the operation was plagued with


disaster from the start. Transport ships sank en route and those that actually got there faced disease, wild animals, mutiny and desertion. The conditions on the campaigns themselves were appalling, with poor leadership leading to regular massacres and insufficient provisions and rations and pay infrequent or non-existent. Despite all this, those who survived made a massive contribution to Bolivar’s eventual success and the freedom of South America. Hughes begins with the raising of regiments in Britain, one ship sinking after leaving Portsmouth, with 200 lost, through the terrible conditions of travel and fighting to their defiant last stand at the Battle of Carabobo, where their brave contribution was decisive, leading to the victorious Bolivar describing them as “the saviours of my fatherland”. A unique chapter in South America’s history. Colour and b/w plates, maps, 376pp. £20 NOW £6


75175 COMPLETE ROMAN


ARMY by Adrian Goldsworthy Five accessible sections on individual soldiers and the major campaigns. At its peak the Roman Empire ruled the known world from Scotland to Egypt and Portugal to Mesopotamia and, while politics and diplomacy played some part, it was the Roman army (and navy) that conquered, maintained the peace


and defended its conquests from invaders. It simply had no equal in the brilliance of its generals, its training, equipment, structure and tactics and held sway for over 1,000 years, a period of relatively stability to the benefit of the entire region. Described by no less than The Historian as “the best one-volume treatment of the subject now in existence”, this is the first book to analyse in detail not just the early imperial army but also the citizen’s militia of the Republic and the army of the later Empire. In depth discussions of key Roman battles and tactics, biographies of great commanders, recruitment to weapons, armour and other equipment, barracks, diet, religion and pay, the development of the legionary structure, discipline, the use of auxiliaries, cavalry and the creation of the navy and much more besides. With hundreds of photos, diagrams, maps, reconstruction drawings, specially commissioned battle plans and more. 224pp softback, colour. ONLY £9


75313 THEY SHALL NOT PASS! The British Battalion at Jarama, The Spanish Civil


War by Ben Hughes In February 1937, a group of idealistic British volunteers stood shoulder to shoulder with their Spanish Republican allies in a valiant attempt to halt the encroaching flood of Fascism. This volume is the breathtaking first-hand account of


the battle, in the olive groves of Jarama, just south of Madrid, where these amateur soldiers inflicted the first ever defeat on the Fascist forces under Franco, a victory which would give Europe hope during the darkest days of the Second World War. Although this battle is largely overlooked today, it was possibly the crucial military turning point of the 20th century, as it finally proved that the forces of Fascism, fresh from crushing all opposition from the Rhineland to Addis Ababa, could actually be halted in their tracks. The author has spent years investigating new research and, in this impressive volume, pieces together a stunning reconstruction of the conflict, looking at the volunteers’ backgrounds and training, before presenting a blow-by-blow account of the fighting itself, and each man’s role in it. The Spanish Republicans may have gone on eventually to lose the Civil War, but their efforts, and those of the International Brigades who fought alongside them, paved the way for the more celebrated victories that followed. 272 pages with colour and b/w plates, maps, dramatis personae, distance conversion table and two appendices: The Battlefield Today and Order of Battle. £20 NOW £7.50


74706 GUERRILLA LEADER: T. E. Lawrence


and the Arab Revolt by James J. Schneider A recognized international expert in military theory provides insights into T. E. Lawrence’s enduring influence on military leadership in the 21st century and his critical role in shaping the modern Middle East. The book provides a detailed account of the Arab revolt, from the stunning assault on the port city of Aqaba to the bloody, Pyrrhic victory at Tafileh. Lawrence emerged from the latter experience physically and mentally drained, incapable of continuing as a military commander and in the early stages of the post-traumatic stress disorder. The narrative is then carried forward to the final slaughter of the Turks at Tafas and the Arabs’ ultimate victory at Damascus. Just how did this obscure British junior intelligence officer, unschooled in the art of war, become ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ and inspire a loosely affiliated cluster of desert tribes to band together in an all-or-nothing insurgency against their Turkish overlords? Weaving quotations from Lawrence’s own writings with the histories of his greatest campaigns. 328 pages. $28 NOW £6.50


74674 REVERIES ON THE ART OF WAR by Maurice de Saxe


At the age of 12, Dresden-born Maurice de Saxe (1696- 1750) entered the Saxon army, beginning a long and successful military career that culminated in his promotion to Marshal of France where he retained full command of the main army directly under Louis XV in Flanders. This book was written in a mere 13 days. It stands as a classic of early modern military theory. His descriptions for establishing field camps was soon standard procedure. His ideas advanced weapon technology including the invention of a gun specially designed for infantrymen and the acceptance of breech-loading muskets and cannons. He introduced a specific attack column that required less training of the men and rediscovered a military practice lost since the ancient Romans - the art of marching in cadence. He even delved into the minds and emotions of the soldiers on the battlefield. Unabridged facsimile reprint publication, 122pp in softback. £8.99 NOW £3


74448 SOLDIERS: Army


Lives and Loyalties from Redcoats to Dusty Warriors


by Richard Holmes


Richard Holmes explores in minute detail the lives of soldiers, with all their extraordinary contradictions as they torment each other brutally in the barracks yet perform acts of heroism and kindness in times of need. Regimental culture and the


tone set by commanders are often key to behaviour. Holmes acknowledges that most soldiers in most eras have been driven to “take the king’s shilling” through unemployment. The Duke of Wellington, hero of Waterloo, described his own recruits as “scum”, yet boasted of training them up to be “fine fellows”. Holmes examines royal and parliamentary influence on the army, including current attempts to modernise, the routines and training of regulars and territorials, class divisions, straight and gay sex, regimental colours, army chaplains and much else, always using eyewitness testimony. 656pp, colour photos. £25 NOW £8


74993 AGE OF AIRPOWER by Martin Van Creveld An internationally recognised expert on military history and strategy narrates the story of airpower from the scenes of its greatest exploits to the point where it is on the verge of being eclipsed, a victim of the changing nature of war and the ever more impersonal and computer-controlled weaponry of the future. In World War II,


bombers and fighters, as well as the development of radar and cutting-edge reconnaissance-and-attack strategies helped decide the course of the war. In the Pacific, American and Japanese aircraft carriers fought for supremacy. In the Atlantic, airpower incinerated cities on strategic bombing campaigns, and tracked and destroyed submarines and merchant navies. In 1945, airpower made international headlines when B-29 American bombers dropped two atomic bombs. Modern smart munitions have not made fighter bombers more effective. In fact, US ground troops calling for air support in Iraq in 2003 did not receive it any faster than Allied forces did in France in 1944. As guerilla warfare becomes the norm, and as ballistic missiles, satellites, cruise missiles and drones increasingly take the place of prohibitively expensive manned combat aircraft, airpower triumphs are becoming a thing of the past. 23 x 16cm. 499 pages, archive photos. £25 NOW £6.50


74994 AMERICAN CIVIL WAR: A Military History by John Keegan


An irresistible narrative, illuminated by telling comparisons to the Napoleonic Wars, the First World War and other conflicts. Why, Keegan asks, did fighting between such vastly mis-matched sides continue for four years? What prompted the dogged persistence of ill- trained, ill-equipped and often malnourished combatants? Although 200 to 300 battles are known to us by name, why was there such an absence of decisive encounters? Keegan examines these and other puzzles, uncovering dimensions of the conflict that have eluded earlier historians. Not only does he offer original and perceptive insights into psychology, demographics, ideology and economics, but also reveals the Civil War’s hidden shape - a consequence of leadership, the evolution of strategic logic and, above all geography. 397 rough cut pages, illus and maps. 24 x 16cm. ONLY £6.50


75004 THE END: The Defiance and


Destruction of Hitler’s Germany 1944-1945 by Ian Kershaw


At the end of WWII, millions had died or were dispossessed and the end of European civilizations seemed to have descended. The Third Reich did not surrender however until Germany was reduced to rubble and almost totally occupied, and even during these final near-apocalyptic months the Nazis refused to sue for peace. The generals obeyed their orders and the regime continued with its ruthless persecution of Jews, prisoners and foreign workers. The unavoidable result of this point-blank refusal to acknowledge defeat was that the regime had to be stamped out with unprecedented brutality, something that is historically very rare. It was Hitler himself, desperate to avoid the “disgraceful” surrender of 1918, who was critical to the Third Reich’s fanatical determination, with those below him either unwilling or unable to challenge his absolute authority - the fate of those behind the failed plot to kill him in July 1944 made sure of that. Another factor was how Hitler used the patriotism of the German people to define its ideological enemies and to engender a siege mentality as the enemies of the Fatherland closed in. Kershaw’s erudite, revelatory and harrowing account of the death throes of the Third Reich from July 1944 to May 1945 is eye-opening and enthralling, draws upon much new research and original testimony from both ordinary Germans and arch-Nazis from July 1944. Maps and 41 b/ w photos, 564pp. $35 NOW £10


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. A ground- breaking story of delusion and excess, and scientific and political abuse on a global scale. 463 pages with b/w archive photos. $24.95 NOW £5


War and Militaria 33


74969 LENINGRAD: The Epic Siege of World War II, 1941-


1944 by Anna Reid Reid reappraises as honestly as possible the myths and the decades of Soviet propaganda surrounding the siege of Leningrad in World War II. Quoting from, memoirs and government records, she produces a gripping, authoritative narrative history of the two-and-a-half years that followed Hitler’s brutal surprise


attack on the Soviet Union, during which some 750,000 civilians, or one in three of its population, died of starvation. Above all, she brings to life what it was actually like to be imprisoned in the blockaded city: the relentless search for food, fuel and water, the withering of emotions and family ties, the looting, murder and cannibalism - but also, by contrast, the extraordinary bravery, self-sacrifice and generosity of some of the inhabitants. Why did the city not fall to the Germans or collapse into anarchy? Was the size of the death toll as much the fault of Stalin as of Hitler? What decided who lived and who died? A book of deep insights. 492 pages with b/w archive photos, maps. ONLY £7.50


74131 LONDON 1945 by Maureen Waller In 1945, in the harshest winter for 50 years, the people of London were living in primitive conditions, with severe shortages, long queues for food and forays to emergency coal dumps for meagre supplies. Women lost the independence the war had lent them, husbands and wives had to learn to live together again, and children had a great deal of catching up to do. Yet the people eagerly embraced plans for a modern metropolis and voted overwhelmingly for a Labour government and what they believed would be a new, fairer social order. This year of victory represents an important chapter in the history of London and Britain. 512 paperback pages, photos and illus. £12.99 NOW £4


74550 CAIRO IN THE WAR 1939-1945


by Artemis Cooper For troops in the desert, Cairo meant fleshpots or brass hats. For well-connected officers, it meant polo at the Gezira Club and drinks at Shepheard’s. For the irregular warriors, Cairo was a city in which to throw countless parties before the next mission behind enemy lines. For countless refugees, it was a stopping place in the long


struggle home. The political scene was dominated by the British Ambassador Sir Miles Lampson. In February 1942 he surrounded the Abdin Palace with tanks and attempted to depose King Farouk. Five months later it looked as if the British would be thrown out of Egypt for good. Rommel’s horses were only 60 miles from Alexandria, but the Germans were pushed back and Cairo life went on. Meanwhile in the Egyptian Army, a handful of young officers were thinking dangerous thoughts. 386pp in paperback with photos. £10.99 NOW £4.50


74269 AIR WAR OVER KHALKHIN GOL by Vladimir Kotelnikov


The Nomonhan Incident was another turning point in Second World War engagements. Historically, the boundary between Outer Mongolia and China had never been an easy subject to deal with. In particular, the Japanese stated their ownership of the right bank area at Khalkhin Gol River. Starting with analysis of the forces, the first air to air actions, Moscow making arrangements, the second phase with Japanese bomb strikes, transport aviation’s role, Bain Tsagan, TB-3 night raids, and finally counting the cost, here all aircraft types are tabled such as the Kawasaki KI10 and Mitsubishi KI15 and the Russian heavy bomber Tupolev TB3 and Polikarpov R- 5. With 24 pages of side on profile colour images of each aircraft plus masses of other images throughout the text, 112pp in huge softback 21 x 29cm, by Sam Publications. £19.99 NOW £5


74512 SECRETS OF THE CONQUEROR by Stuart Prebble


At last: the information the authorities tried hard to suppress, explosively revealed in 2012 by investigative journalist Stuart Prebble following declassification of Falklands War documents 30 years after the conflict. Prebble starts with the diary of Nerendra Sethia, a naval officer serving on board HMS Conqueror. Conqueror is the only British nuclear submarine to have fired her torpedoes in anger, and the only one to have sunk an enemy ship. That ship was of course the Belgrano. It was revealed that the submarine’s log books for several months in 1982 were missing, and Sethia was unsuccessfully prosecuted for removing them. Prebble reconstructs the minute by minute sequence of events leading to the sinking, followed by accusations and counter-accusations in the aftermath, including the surprise acquittal of whistleblower Clive Ponting and also reveals for the first time the real reason for the disappearing logbook: Operation Barmaid, a few weeks after the Belgrano attack, in which HMS Conqueror completed a daring raid to steal advanced Russian cold war surveillance equipment, rising from below to cut the towing mechanism in such a way that it would look like an accident. 271pp, colour photos. £20 NOW £7


74899 MILITARY MAYHEM by Terry Crowdy Subtitled 2,500 Years of Soldierly Sleaze and Scandal, this is a humorously outrageous work. Here corruption, incompetence, lust and downright stupidity rule the world of politico-military policy. A variety of misdemeanours starts with the Battle of Thermopylae then marches through 2000 years of Western history, gawking all the way. Smart bombs are still as dumb as their users, the Profumo Affair, mutiny, the Grand Old Duke of York, the Midway Leak and the Belknap Scandal are just some of the many cases. 320pp in paperback, cartoons and line art. £6.99 NOW £3


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