Books in the Twentieth Century Wars series

This book explains the First World War in a manner the lay person can understand, and the expert will still find intriguing. Students will find the book a very good starting point for a study of the war, and lay readers will simply enjoy the clarity and drama it brings to a war which continues to intrigue and torment.

The Vietnam War endured for thirty years, cost billions of dollars, and resulted in thousands of Vietnamese, French, and American deaths. Anderson's concise overview critiques U.S. errors in magnifying the strategic importance of South-east Asia in the Cold War and in underestimating the strength of the Vietnamese communist movement.

The Iran-Iraq War was personified by the determination and ambition of the key leaders, Saddam Hussein and Ayatollah Khomeini, and characterised by mass casualties, the repression of the civilian populations and chemical warfare.

The ensuing Gulf War signaled, for many, a new dawn in warfare: one based upon lethal technology, low casualties, and quick decisive victory. Incorporating the latest scholarship, William Thomas Allison provides a concise overview of the origins, key events and legacy of the first Gulf War, as well as the major issues and debates.

A whole generation has grown up in Afghanistan knowing little but the ravages of war. The dramatic overthrow of the Taliban regime in 2001 was simply one event in a series of interrelated struggles which have blighted ordinary people's lives over the last three decades, and which continue to interfere with reconciliation and reconstruction.This new edition of The Afghanistan Wars provides a meticulously-documented history of these successive waves of conflict. It explores in detail:* the roots of Afghanistan's slide into disorder in the late 1970s* how the Soviet Union came to the rescue of unworthy clients and was then sucked into a quagmire* the frightening consequences of state breakdown and self-interested meddling by Afghanistan's neighbours in the period after communist rule collapsed* the rise and fall of the Taliban regime. Thoroughly revised in the light of the latest research, the second edition also features a new final chapter which examines post-Taliban Afghanistan, bringing the story up to the present day and mounting a strong case for continuing support for this troubled country.