Military History

The Aroostook War of 1839, an oft-forgotten incident in the storied history of Canada-US relations, is a misnomer. It was an undeclared war with no real combat. Its underpinnings were a two-fold reaction to the 1793 Treaty of Paris -- which ended the American Revolutionary War but left the border between Maine (then part of Massachusetts) and British North America unsettled -- and the War of 1812, when parts of northern Maine were occupied by Britain. Concluding that a negotiated border might negatively afect their claim for the disputed territory, the Maine government set out to occupy the Aroostook River valley in early 1839. In preparation for armed conflict, British regulars, New Brunswick militia, and Maine militia were deployed in the dead of winter, laying the kindling for a third major Anglo-American conflagration. Although a truce negotiated in late March 1839 prevented the outbreak of hostilities, confrontations between the Maine volunteers and New Brunswick's warden, magistrates, and seizing officers continued. Ultimately, cooler heads prevailed and an agreement was reached, which resulted in the Ashburton-Webster Treaty of 1842. A multifaceted story of friction, greed, land grabs, and rivalry, this tale of a border dispute and near-war is an intriguing chapter in the history of Canada and the United States.

This title explores the history of the accurate and reliable Browning High-Power Pistol, which was considered the world's standard for a semi-automatic combat pistol for half a century.Making its debut in 1935, the Browning High-Power was the world's most widely used military pistol for much of the 20th century. Military and law-enforcement agencies in more than 90 countries have issued the High-Power and it has seen combat in conflicts from World War II through to the "War on Terror." After conquering Belgium, Nazi Germany produced more than 300,000 High-Powers for use by the Waffen-SS, Fallschirmjäger, and others, and after 1945 the High-Power became standard for most NATO-armed forces as well as scores of others. Chambered for the 9×19mm Luger cartridge, John Browning's High-Power improved on the classic Colt M1911 design, especially in its use of a far simpler takedown system. The pistol's innovative 13-round magazine, designed by Dieudonné Saive, staggered the cartridges for higher capacity without unduly increasing the grip size. During its 82-year production run at Fabrique Nationale in Belgium, the design evolved slightly, but a 2017 High-Power was still easily recognizable as a descendant of the original model. Packed with gripping material including detailed technical specifications, contemporary photographs and highly accurate artist's renditions, this title is a comprehensive and informative guide to the world's most iconic semi-automatic pistol.

The five-thousand year story of warfare is presented across a range of differently indicative conflicts, drawing on expertise regarding the characters, events and equipment.

This volume conveys detailed stories of aerial warfare in the South Pacific, chosen because both Japanese and Allied records can be matched for an accurate accounting. This first volume describes confrontations between the Japanese Army Air Force (JAAF) and the Allies in New Guinea and the Solomons.

An often untold story of German soldiers held in Soviet prison camps with a fascinating tale of a young Bavarian man who progressed through Nazi schemes and conscripted.

The memoirs of one of the most highly-decorated soldiers of the Third Reich. The author was one of only 631 men awarded the Close Combat Clasp in Gold, which was for participation in more than fifty battles.

Definitive anthology of the deadliest snipers of the Second World War.

A compelling short history of political events that led to the crisis and the military campaign itself from the perspectives of London, Washington and Cairo.

Following the Inchon landings and the breakout from the Pusan Perimeter, UN forces crossed the North Korean border on 9 October and moved on the capital Pyongyang. Many in America believed the war would be over by Christmas, but some Washington diplomatic, military, and intelligence experts continued to raise dire warnings that the People's Republic of China might intervene. Nevertheless, General MacArthur decided to push on to the Chinese/North Korean border, the Yalu River. On 25 October, Communist Chinese Forces unexpectedly attacked Republic of Korea forces near Unsan. Then, on 25 November, the day after MacArthur announced a 'final offensive to end the war', the Chinese 13th Army Group struck in mass against the Eighth Army in the north-west corner of North Korea, overrunning the US 2nd and 25th Infantry Divisions.The Chinese attacks quickly shattered Truman's dream of a unified Korea. American, UN, and ROK forces could not hold a successful defensive line against the combined CCF and NKPA attacks. At the Chosin Reservoir, US Marine Corps and Army units retreated south whilst MacArthur's forces withdrew from Pyongyang and X Corps later pulled out of Hungnam.Using expert research, bird's-eye views, and full-colour maps, this study tells the fascinating history of the critical Yalu campaign, including the famous retreat past the 38th Parallel.

At the start of World War II, few thought the U-boat would be as devastating as it proved to be. But convoys and sonar-equipped escorts proved inadequate to defend the Allies' merchantmen, and the RAF's only offensive weapon was the anti-submarine warfare (ASW) aircraft. For RAF Coastal Command, the first two years of the war were the hardest. Although starved of resources, operating with outdated aircraft and often useless weaponry, they were still the only force that could take the fight to the U-boats. But in these two years, the RAF learned what it needed to win the Battle of the Atlantic. Gradually developing new tactics and technology, such as airborne radar, signals intelligence, and effective weaponry, the Allies ended 1941 in a position to defeat Dönitz's growing fleet of U-boats. This book, the first of two volumes, explains the fascinating history of how the RAF kept the convoys alive against the odds, and developed the force that would prevail in the climactic battles of 1942 and 1943.

Faced with an increasingly formidable anti-ship cruise missile threat from the Soviet Union in the early days of the Cold War, and with the recent memory of the kamikaze threat from World War II, the USN placed a great priority on developing air defence cruise missiles and getting them to sea to protect the fleet. The first of these missiles were sizable, necessitating large ships to carry them and their sensors, which resulted in the conversion of a mix of heavy and light cruisers. These ships, tasked with protecting carrier groups and acting as flagships, entered service from 1955 and served until 1980. The cruisers served in the front lines of the Cold War and many saw combat service, engaging in surface actions from Vietnam to the Persian Gulf. Complementing the conventionally-powered missile cruisers was a much smaller number of expensive nuclear-powered cruisers, including the Long Beach, the USN's largest-ever missile cruiser. Until replaced by the Ticonderoga and Burke classes of Aegis ships, the USN's 38 missile cruisers were the most capable and important surface combatants in the fleet and served all over the globe during the Cold War. Using specially commissioned artwork and meticulous research, this illustrated title explores the story of these cruisers in unparalleled detail, revealing the history behind their development and employment.

A ground-breaking exploration of the chilling history behind an increasingly common diagnosis.

Drawing from thousands of soldiers' accounts, letters, and diaries, historians David Stahel and Craig Luther tell the story of Barbarossa but also the story of men at war in the twentieth century.

A riveting account of Vladimir Putin's rule since his return to the Russian presidency in 2012.

This title is highly illustrated account of the Ia Drang campaign of 1965, a key event in the Vietnam War, which was immortalized in the film We Were Soldiers Once… and Young.The Pleiku campaign of October–November 1965 was a major event in the Vietnam War, and it is usually regarded as the first substantial battle between the US Army and the People''s Army of Vietnam. The brigade-sized actions involving elements of the US 1st Cavalry Division at Landing Zones X-Ray and Albany in the valley of the river Drang have become iconic episodes in the military history of the United States. In 1965, in an effort to stem the Communist tide, the Americans began to commit substantial conventional ground forces to the war in Vietnam. Amongst these was the 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile), a new type of formation equipped with a large fleet of helicopters. On October 19, North Vietnamese forces besieged a Special Forces camp at Plei Me, and after the base was relieved days later, the commander of the 1st Cavalry Division, General Harry Kinnard, advocated using his troops to pursue the retreating Communist forces. A substantial North Vietnamese concentration was discovered, but rather than the badly battered troops the US expected, these were relatively fresh troops that had recently arrived in the Central Highlands. On the morning of November 14, 1965, 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry, commanded by Lt. Col. Hal Moore, landed at LZ X-Ray to start the first major set-piece battle of the Vietnam War. This title explores the events of the campaign that followed, using detailed maps, specially-commissioned bird''s-eye views, and full-color battlescenes to bring the narrative to life.

The story of the Paris Peace Conference of 1919, when for six extraordinary months the city was at the centre of world government as the peacemakers wound up bankrupt empires and created new countries. This book brings to life the personalities, ideals and prejudices of the settlement brokers.

This volume in the Pocket Manuals series is based on The Partisan's Companion, the Red Army manual used to train partisans to fight the Nazi invader

The Paratrooper Training Pocket Manual 1939-45 provides an unusually detailed insight into what it took to make a military paratrooper and how he was then utilized as part of wider operations.

The SS Prinz Eugen Division was an elite mountain fighting formation of WW2.

During the 16th century, Japan underwent a military revolution, characterized by the deployment of large armies, the introduction of firearms and an eventual shift towards fighting on foot. This study encapsulates these great changes through an exploration of the experience on the ground at three key battles, Uedahara (1548), Mikata ga Hara (1573) and Nagashino (1575), in which two very different types of warrior were pitted against each other. On one side were samurai, the elite aristocratic knights whose status was proclaimed by the possession and use of a horse. On the other side were the foot soldiers known as ashigaru, lower-class warriors who were initially attendants to the samurai but who joined the armies in increasing numbers, attracted by loot and glory. These two types of warrior battled for dominance across the period, changing and adapting their tactics as time went on. In this title, the development of the conflicts between samurai and ashigaru is explored across three key battles, where highly trained elite mounted samurai of the Takeda clan faced ashigaru at very different stages in their development. The profound and irreversible changes that took place as the conflicts progressed are analysed in detail, culminating in the eventual incorporation of the ashigaru as the lowest ranks of the samurai class in within the standing army of Tokugawa Japan.

Although not as well-known as the V-1 buzz bomb and the V-2 missile, the first German missiles to see combat were anti-ship missiles, the Henschel Hs.293 guided missile and the Fritz-X guided bomb. These began to see extensive combat in the Mediterranean in 1943. In their most famous use, the Italian battleship Roma was sunk by a Fritz-X attack in September 1943 when Italy attempted to switch sides. The serious threat posed by these missiles led to a vigorous but little known 'Wizard War' by the Allies to develop electronic counter-measures, the first effort of its kind. Besides the anti-ship missiles, the other major category of German missiles were the air-defence missiles. Germany suffered extremely heavy losses from Allied strategic bombing attacks, and German fighter and flak defences proved increasingly unsuccessful. As a result, the Luftwaffe began an extensive programme to deploy several families of new air defence missiles to counter the bomber threat, including the Wasserfall, Schmetterling, and others. This book traces the origins of these missile programmes and examines their development and use in combat. With full-colour illustrations and detailed explorations of the stories behind the missiles, this study offers a comprehensive overview of German guided missiles in the World War II era.

Arguably two of the finest fighters built during the course of World War II, the Me 262 and P-51 Mustang heralded new dawns in aircraft performance. Making its operational debut in the summer of 1944, and powered by the Jumo 004 jet engine, the Me 262 outclassed Allied planes in terms of speed and firepower ratio, offering a formidable punch with four 30 mm MK 108 nose-mounted cannons. However, in the P-51, fitted with the Rolls-Royce (Packard) Merlin engine and drop tanks, the USAAF finally had a fighter that had the 'legs' to escort its heavy bombers deep into Reich airspace and back. If flown to its strengths, the P-51 was more than capable of taking on the feared Me 262 on an equal footing, despite the differences in power and top speed. Indeed, the Mustang proved to be the Luftwaffe fighter arm's nemesis. When the P-51D sortied over Germany from the summer of 1944 onwards, it shredded through the ill-trained and depleted Gruppen of the Luftwaffe's defence wings.This book examines the two fighters in detail, exploring their history and development and containing accurate descriptions of the combats between the P-51 Mustang and the Me 262 in what were some of the most bitter and large-scale aerial actions fought over Europe in 1944-45.

William Doyle chronicles the unfolding events of the French Revolution, from the quarrels of the first revolutionaries with the king, to the Terror, to the rise of Napoleon. Considering how and why the revolution destroyed the age-old cultural, institutional, and social structures in France, Doyle also explores its lasting effects today.

On 8 March 1941, a 27-year-old Jewish Dutch student living in Nazi-occupied Amsterdam made the first entry in a diary that was to become one of the most remarkable documents to emerge from the Nazi Holocaust. Over the course of the next two and a half years, an insecure, chaotic and troubled young woman was transformed into someone who inspired those with whom she shared the suffering of the transit camp at Westerbork and with whom she eventually perished at Auschwitz. Through her diary and letters, she continues to inspire those whose lives she has touched since. She was an extraordinarily alive and vivid young woman who shaped and lived a spirituality of hope in the darkest period of the twentieth century. This book explores Etty Hillesum's life and writings, seeking to understand what it was about her that was so remarkable, how her journey developed, how her spirituality was shaped, and what her profound reflections on the roots of violence and the nature of evil can teach us today.

The SAS Pocket Manual is an incredible insight into the origins, training and earliest operations of the special service volunteer soldiers who formed the original units of the world's most famous military force. The Special Air Service was the brainchild of Scots Guards' officer Lieutenant David Stirling, serving with No 8 Commando. He advocated a specially organised, specially equipped and specially trained unit dedicated to the 'unrelenting pursuit of excellence' that could act covertly and operate behind enemy lines to gain intelligence, destroy enemy aircraft and attack their supply and reinforcement routes.The 1st SAS Regiment was officially designated after successful raids against enemy airfields in the Middle East in 1941-1942. In May 1943 a 2nd SAS Regiment was raised in Algeria and would also serve in Sicily and Italy. SAS troopers were at the forefront of the action on D-Day, serving behind the enemy lines, assisting the French Resistance in diversionary attacks and in support of Allied armies. The SAS served with great distinction through 42 significant actions in Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany until the end of the war in Europe.This new addition to the bestselling Conway pocket-book series is compiled from wartime and post-war memorandums, manuals and documents. They include unit after-action reports and lecture notes from the centres used to train special services soldiers, gathered from the Liddell Hart Military Archive, National Archives, wartime periodicals and post-war memoirs. The book covers: - training methods - weapons handling - fieldcraft - sabotage training - operations in North Africa and the Middle East (1941-1942), Sicily and Italy (1943) and France (1944-1945)

Thoroughly researched from primary sources, and providing plenty of absorbing detail, this book is a valuable addition to the history of the SS, and the men who volunteered to serve in it.

Samurai: A Concise History provides a dynamic look at the life and times of the samurai. Although this warrior class comprised only a small portion of the Japanese population, they dominated warfare throughout history, influenced politics, art, philosophy and religion, and ultimately controlled Japan from the fourteenth century until their demise in the mid-nineteenth century.

An original and thought-provoking new study of the Battle of Waterloo.