Military History

THIS is the third volume of an empirical study of the relationship between Western technology and entrepreneurship and the economic growth of the Soviet Union.The continuing transfer of skills and technology to the Soviet Union through the medium of foreign firms and engineers in the period 1945 to 1965 can only be characterized as extraordinary.

Critics of war are often labeled treasonous lunatics. Even those who are critical of the government are scrutinized and dragged through the mud. Young men and women volunteer to fight wars on their nation's behalf, and we should commend them for their actions, but we should question the steps to board ships and planes bound for foreign soil before their military service is required.Major General Smedley Butler was a 2x Medal of Honor recipient and an advocate for those he lead to war. His legacy is rich with valor in combat but also the bureaucratic fight on the homefront. From exposing war-profiteering to campaigning for veterans benefits that provide returning US troops with rich opportunities in the present day, "Old Gimlet Eye" was an American hero you surely did not read about in school."War is a racket, it always has been," and it still is.

A fresh study of the tumultuous events of August 1870 when Prussia overthrew the established order in Europe, laying the foundations for a military and political hegemony lasting into the 20th Century.

A new illustrated study of the devastating, but little-known, Soviet armored blitzkrieg against the Japanese in the last weeks of World War II, and how it influenced Soviet tank doctrine as the Cold War dawned.Although long overshadowed in the West by the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the USSR's lightning strike into Manchuria in August 1945 was one of the most successful and unique campaigns of the era. Soviet forces, led by over 5,500 tanks and self-propelled guns, attacked across huge distances and deserts, marshes, and mountains to smash Japan's million-strong Kwantung Army in a matter of days.Japanese forces were short of training and equipment, but nevertheless fought fiercely, inflicting 32,000 casualties on the Soviets. Red Army operations were characterized by surprise, speed, and deep penetrations by tank-heavy forces born of the brutal lessons they had learned during years fighting the Wehrmacht. Lessons from the campaign directly shaped Soviet Cold War force structure and planning for mechanized operations against the West.Illustrated with contemporary artwork and rare photos from one of the best collections of Soviet military photos in the West, this fascinating book explains exactly how the last blitzkrieg of World War II was planned, fought, and won, and how it influenced the Red Army's plans for tank warfare against NATO in Europe.

Featuring specially commissioned artwork and maps, carefully chosen illustrations and insightful analysis, this book examines the legendary Mongol warriors and their vastly different European opponents. Having conquered much of Central Asia by 1237, the Mongols advanced into the northern Caucasus. The fall of several key centres such as Riazan and Vladimir was followed by Mongol victory at Kiev. Moving west, in 1241 two Mongol armies achieved stunning victories at the battles of Liegnitz in Poland and the Sajo River (Mohi) in Hungary, before suffering their only reverse of the campaign at the fortress of Klis. The Mongol forces regrouped in Hungary to prepare for a further advance into Austria and Germany, but the death of their leader, Ogedei Khan, meant that his generals were required to return to Mongolia to choose a successor. Smaller Mongol forces would return to raid in the years to come, but never again would Western Europe be threatened as it was in 1242.Fully illustrated, this innovative study of the forces that clashed during the Mongol invasion of Europe between 1237 and 1242 allows a comparison to be made between the all-conquering nomad horsemen of the steppes and the mounted knights of the West.

Is there a soul that outlives the body? Could that soul come back to a new body carrying the memories of the former? Is there any evidence that makes reincarnation not only plausible but likely? Through 100 first-person stories, author Sara Rigler introduces readers to people from all over the world whose experiences defy rational explanation - unless they are, as they claim to be, reincarnated souls from the Holocaust."Beautifully written and compellingly argued, Sara Yoheved Rigler's groundbreaking book is a significant contribution to our understanding of how the Holocaust continues to impact on the Jewish psyche and soul. Even for someone like me, who is an agnostic on the claims raised by this book, the stories told here present a formidable challenge to how we perceive the post-Holocaust era."Yossi Klein Halevi, NY Times bestselling author

A thrilling expose of the most powerful KGB spy in US history

History of the conception, design, construction of the line, lavishly illustrated with photographs and plans.

On the morning of December 7, 1941, Chief Aviation Ordnanceman John W. Finn, though suffering multiple wounds, continued to man his machine gun against waves of Japanese aircraft attacking the Kaneohe Bay Naval Station during the infamous Pearl Harbor raid. Just over three years later, as World War II struggled into its final months, a B-29 radioman named Red Erwin lingered near death after suffering horrific burns to save his air crew in the skies off Japan. They were the first and last of thirty U.S. Navy, Army, and Marine Corps aviation personnel awarded the Medal of Honor for their actions against the Japanese during World War II. They included pilots and crewmen manning fighters and dive bombers and flying boats and bombers. One was a general. Another was a sergeant. Some shot down large numbers of enemy aircraft in aerial combat. Others sacrificed themselves for their friends or risked everything for complete strangers.Who were these now largely forgotten men? Where did they come from? What inspired them to rise ';above and beyond'? What, if anything, made them different? Virtually all had one thing in common: they always wanted to fly. They came from a generation that revered the aces of World War I, like Eddie Rickenbacker, the civilian flyer Charles Lindbergh, and the lost aviator Amelia Earhartand then they blazed their own trail during World War II.

A comprehensive overview of the work of the Military Vehicles Research and Development Establishment on Chobham Common, which provided armored vehicles for the British Army from 1945 to its close in 2004.Through much of World War II British tanks and armored vehicles were outmatched by the German tanks they encountered and this led to the British Army placing much emphasis on ensuring that the same situation would not arise again if the Cold War turned hot. The task of developing the Main Battle Tanks and supporting armored vehicles to out-range and quickly destroy the Soviet threat fell to the scientists and engineers at the Fighting Vehicle Research and Development Establishment on Chobham Common near to Chertsey, UK. It was the design authority for all British Military vehicles for most of the period.Military vehicle and equipment expert William Suttie draws extensively on official MOD reports to tell the story of the development of the British Cold War armor, such as the Centurion, Chieftain, Challenger, and many other wheeled and tracked armor vehicles that served the British Army of The Rhine. The vehicles developed at the Chertsey site were never used for their intended purpose on the plains of North-west Germany, but have proved their worth in British operations in places like Korea, Bosnia, Kuwait, Iraq, and Afghanistan, as well as in the hands of other users around the world.Fully illustrated with photographs, schemes, and drawings, including some that have never been published before, this is a unique detailed overview of the development of all post-war British armored vehicles.

Colonel John Boyd, a maverick fighter pilot, revolutionized the American art of war but his research relied on accounts written by Wehrmacht veterans who fabricated historical evidence to cover up their participation in Nazi war crimes. The Blind Strategist separates fact from fantasy and exposes the myths of maneuver warfare through a detailed evidence-based investigation and is a must-read for anybody interested in American military history.

Learning War examines the U.S. Navy's doctrinal development from 1898-1945 and explains why the Navy in that era was so successful as an organization at fostering innovation. A revolutionary study of one of history's greatest success stories, this book draws profoundly important conclusions that give new insight, not only into how the Navy succeeded in becoming the best naval force in the world, but also into how modern organizations can exploit today's rapid technological and social changes in their pursuit of success. Trent Hone argues that the Navy created a sophisticated learning system in the early years of the twentieth century that led to repeated innovations in the development of surface warfare tactics and doctrine. The conditions that allowed these innovations to emerge are analyzed through a consideration of the Navy as a complex adaptive system. Learning War is the first major work to apply this complex learning approach to military history. This approach permits a richer understanding of the mechanisms that enable human organizations to evolve, innovate, and learn, and it offers new insights into the history of the United States Navy.

This was an unpleasant surprise. The pilots of the RAF Spitfire had rejected the Luftwaffe during the Battle of Britain and now, in the summer of 1941, had to face to defend Europe. But they had not expected the appearance of the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the new German fighters with radial engine, which could easily counter the inadequate Spitfire V. When the RAF finally managed to capture a specimen in 1942, it was realized that the ugly news had yet to arrive. The 190, in fact, turned out faster than any US or British fighter and, with a mighty armament, the agile German aircraft could destroy them with ease. Product, in more than 20,000 copies, fast, agile, fully armed, easy to build and to keep in efficiency, safe in handling and in use, extremely versatile, loved by its pilots and feared by opponents: this was the Focke-Wulf 190. The plane was one of the fruits of the genius of a famous aircraft designer, Kurt Tank, who managed to summarize in the happiest way all the "summa" of aerodynamic and structural knowledge of the time in such a classic design in architecture in general as innovator solutions, to the point that the last piston fighter products in the world, the Soviet La. 11 English "Sea Fury", explicitly reveal their descent from the German founder. Its small size and the high maneuverability were ideal for a fighter jet, as well as the high visibility ensured from the cockpit. It was remarkably robust and wide track to cart him to also operate on makeshift runways. It took two years before the allies were able to prepare aircraft can deal with the Focke-Wulf, which remained throughout the Second World War (in the various evolutions) a benchmark for the various Allied fighters.

This book represents the only detailed study of an Indian national enlisting in Britain's armed forces during the First World War.

A fully illustrated account of the Soviet offensive in the Baltics and the desperate German attempts to hold back the Red Army.