Military History

This volume pulls together and republishes, with some editing, updating, and additions, articles written during 1978-86 for internal use within the CIA Directorate of Intelligence. The information is relatively timeless and still relevant to the never-ending quest for better analysis.The articles are based on reviewing cognitive psychology literature concerning how people process information to make judgments on incomplete and ambiguous information. Richard Heur has selected the experiments and findings that seem most relevant to intelligence analysis and most in need of communication to intelligence analysts. He then translates the technical reports into language that intelligence analysts can understand and interpreted the relevance of these findings to the problems intelligence analysts face.

Presents an account of the Jacobite rebellion of 1715, that might have killed the Act of Union in its infancy. Drawing on a range of resources in England, Scotland, and France, the author analyses dramatic and smaller risings of the rebellion. He examines the reasons that led some men to rebel, and reveals the significance of this rebellion.

Henry Kissinger's book is a formidable and unapologetic response from the man who was at the very heart and centre of American policy-making, privy to every secret, and single-handedly responsible for the negotiations which brought America's role in Vietnam to an ambivalent end.

An excellent example of the high quality of instruction offered to recruits of the newly raised Home Guard in 1940. One in a series written by Col. G. AS Wade in a clear and down to earth style, and fully illustrated in colour, it covers all aspects of urban warfare.

Fearing that his SS and Police convicts National Socialist spirit was irrevocably damaged in civil and military gaols, the Reichsfuhrer-SS, Heinrich Himmler, commanded the HA SS-Gericht in the spring of 1940 to establish a Waffen-SS prison within the environs of the dreaded KL Dachau. Here, he incarcerated the malodourous elements of the SS.

Fully revised edition of Paul Reed's classic walker's guide to the Ypres Salient. Tours of all the most famous sites: Ypres, Yser, Sanctuary Wood, Bellewaarde Ridge, Zillebeke, Hill 60, Passchendaele, Messines, Kemmel, Ploegsteert.

In the summer of 1942, the Wehrmacht invaded the Caucasus in order to overrun critical oil production facilities at Maikop, Grozny, and Baku. However, the Red Army stopped the Germans short of their objectives and then launched a devastating winter counteroffensive that encircled them at Stalingrad. Consequently, Hitler grudgingly ordered an evacuation from the Caucasus, but ordered 17. Armee to fortify the Kuban bridgehead and hold it at all costs in order to leave open the possibility of future offensives. On the other side, the Soviet Stavka ordered the North Caucasus Front and the Black Sea Fleet to eliminate the Kuban bridgehead as soon as possible. The stage was set for a contest between an immovable object and an unstoppable force.With the help of stunning specially commissioned artwork, this book tells the enthralling story of the impressive but strategically foolish German stand at Kuban, which tied down seven Soviet armies in a sideshow battle of attrition, which the Soviets dubbed "the Kuban meat grinder."

Pieces together evidence from neglected sources to reveal the true story of the SAS

Published in association with the Imperial War Museums, this book contains over 1,000 questions (and answers, if you need them), and will provide the ultimate challenge to even the most knowledgeable military historian.

Name as a 2016 Book of the Year by the SpectatorA Daily Telegraph 'Book of the Week' (August 2015)Longlisted for 2016 PEN Hessell-Tiltman PrizeRanked in 100 Best Books of 2015 in the Daily TelegraphProfessor Frank McDonough is one of the leading scholars and most popular writers on the history of Nazi Germany. Frank McDonough's work has been described as, 'modern history writing at its very best...Ground-breaking, fascinating, occasionally deeply revisionist' by renowned historian Andrew Roberts. Drawing on a detailed examination of previously unpublished Gestapo case files this book relates the fascinating, vivid and disturbing accounts of a cross-section of ordinary and extraordinary people who opposed the Nazi regime. It also tells the equally disturbing stories of their friends, neighbours, colleagues and even relatives who were often drawn into the Gestapo's web of intrigue. The book reveals, too, the cold-blooded and efficient methods of the Gestapo officers. This book will also show that the Gestapo lacked the manpower and resources to spy on everyone as it was reliant on tip offs from the general public. Yet this did not mean the Gestapo was a weak or inefficient instrument of Nazi terror. On the contrary, it ruthlessly and efficiently targeted its officers against clearly defined political and racial 'enemies of the people'. The Gestapo will provide a chilling new doorway into the everyday life of the Third Reich and give powerful testimony from the victims of Nazi terror and poignant life stories of those who opposed Hitler's regime while challenging popular myths about the Gestapo.

Waged across an inhospitable terrain which varied from open African savannah to broken mountain country and arid semi-desert, the Anglo-Boer wars of 1880-81 and 1899-1902 pitted the British Army and its allies against the Boers' commandos.The nature of warfare across these campaigns was shaped by the realities of the terrain and by Boer fighting techniques. Independent and individualistic, the Boers were not professional soldiers but a civilian militia who were bound by the terms of the 'Commando system' to come together to protect their community against an outside threat. By contrast the British Army was a full-time professional body with an established military ethos, but its over-dependence on conventional infantry tactics led to a string of Boer victories. This fully illustrated study examines the evolving nature of Boer military techniques, and contrasts them with the British experience, charting the development of effective British mounted tactics from the first faltering steps of 1881 through to the final successes of 1902.

Rare Birds brings together dozens of the rare aircraft of WWII to tell a complete picture of the greatest conflict of the golden age of aviation. With craft drawn from all the combatant nations, this book is a fun and informative source of knowledge for any aviation enthusiast. A must-read for anyone with an interest in rare and unusual aircraft.

USS Yorktown (CV-5) was the US Navys first battle-worthy, purpose-built aircraft carrier. Her crew, already accustomed to wartime conditions by maintaining Neutrality Patrols during 1941 in the Atlantic, quickly adapted to the Pacific Theater, having been dispatched there immediately after Pearl Harbor. First at Coral Sea, then at Midway, Yorktowns flyers blunted the sword of Japanese aggression. The men flying from her decks were instrumental in turning the tide of WWII in the Pacific. This volume explores Yorktowns construction, prewar and wartime activities through carefully researched photos, many of which have never before been published, which are reproduced in remarkable clarity. This clarity, and the large size of many of the photos, coupled with descriptive and informative captions, puts the reader on the deck of this historic warship throughout her history. Part of the Legends of Warfare series.

A shocking expose of the true story behind the death of the much-beloved UN Secretary General, Dag Hammarskjold

There has never been a book purely focussing on the female Hitler Youth organizations or the exploitation and militarization of girls and young women alike in Hitler s Third Reich.

From the #1 bestselling author of BAND OF BROTHERS comes a breathtaking minute-by-minute account of the first engagement of D-Day, a British operation that was crucial to the ultimate success of the Normandy invasion.

The battle of Zama, fought across North Africa around 202 BC, was the final large-scale clash of arms between the world's two greatest western powers of the time - Carthage and Rome. The engagement ended the Second Punic War, waged from 218 until 201 BC. The armies were led by two of the most famous commanders of all time - the legendary Carthaginian general Hannibal, renowned for crossing the Alps with his army into Italy, and the Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio, who along with his father was among the defeated at the battle of Cannae in 216 BC.Drawing upon years of research, author Mir Bahmanyar gives a detailed account of this closing battle, analysing the tactics employed by each general and the forces they had at their disposal. Stunning, specially commissioned artwork brings to life the epic clash that saw Hannibal defeated and Rome claim its spot as the principal Mediterranean power.

In 1910 the first aircraft was successfully launched from a small wooden platform on a stationary ship. Just four years later, seaplane-carrying warships were being used to launch the first naval air raids, and by 1918 the first aircraft carrier to feature a full-length flight deck was in service. High quality artwork and historical photographs help author Mark Lardas tell the fascinating story of the pioneering years of naval aviation, covering such historic clashes as the Japanese siege of Tsingtao, the British raid against German Zeppelin bases at Cuxhaven and the Battle of Jutland, which saw the first airplane take part in a naval battle. Through detailed analysis he explores their development from hastily adapted merchant ships to the launch of HMS Argus, the first aircraft carrier to have a full-length flight deck, and shows how they paved the way for the aircraft carriers of the future.

The Fw 200 Condor first made an appearance over Norway in April 1940. Able to attack shipping directly, or to guide U-Boats to their prey the Condor scored its first major success when it crippled the liner Empress of Great Britain. Packed with photographs, this is the history of one of the unsung types to take to the skies during World War 2.

Meets the requirements of the increasing numbers of school parties, visitor groups and others to Normandy. Offers easy-to-follow tour programme with all necessary historical background and advice.

First-hand testimony of the last surviving witness to Hitler s final hours, as well as the fall of the Third Reich, including the personal memoirs of Hitler s bodyguard, telephonist and courier.

In the two centuries before the Norman invasion of England, Anglo-Saxon and Viking forces clashed repeatedly in bloody battles across the country. Repeated Viking victories in the 9th century led to their settlement in the north of the country, but the tide of war ebbed and flowed until the final Anglo-Saxon victory before the Norman Conquest. Using stunning artwork, this book examines in detail three battles between the two deadly foes: Ashdown in 871 which involved the future Alfred the Great; Maldon in 991 where an Anglo-Saxon army sought to counter a renewed Viking threat; and Stamford Bridge in 1066, in which King Harold Godwinesson abandoned his preparations to repel the expected Norman invasion in order to fight off Harald Hard-Counsel of Norway.Drawing upon historical accounts from both English and Scandinavian sources and from archaeological evidence, Gareth Williams presents a detailed comparison of the weaponry, tactics, strategies and underlying military organization of the Anglo-Saxons and Vikings, and considers the developments which took place on both sides in the two centuries of Viking incursions into Anglo-Saxon England.

This updated new edition of Sheila Fitzpatrick's classic short history of the Russian Revolution takes into account the centenary of the Revolution in 2017 and what it means today.