Military History Encyclopedia on the Web
6 October 2024
Day of the Rangers - The Battle of Mogadishu 25 Years On, Leigh Neville.
Looks at the background to the famous battle of Mogadishu, the previous US ranger operations, the disasterous raid that saw two Black Hawk helicopters shot down and the resulting battle. This was a complex affair, involving a siege around the original target and first crash site, and several relief efforts, before a properly organised effort on the day after the crash finally rescued the besieged US troops
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The U-Boat War – A Global History 1939-45, Lawrence Paterson.
A detailed examination of the entire U-boat war, looking at all of the theatres in which the Germans deployed their U-boats, from the Atlantic to the Far East, and just about every other ocean. Argues that the U-boat war was doomed from the start, with far too few U-boats when the British were most vulnerable, and a failure to develop and deploy new types of U-boats meaning that the Germans fell further and further behind technically
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Me 163 vs Allied Heavy Bombers, Northern Europe 1944-45, Robert Forsyth.
Looks at the development of both the Me 163 and the later versions of the B-17 that it fought and the training of the opponents, before moving onto look at most if not all of the actual clashes between the Me 163 and Allied bombers. Reveals the Me 163 to have been an impressive technological achievement, but one that was still vulnerable to the much larger numbers of Allied escort fighters and which had very little impact on the fighting, especially when one looks at the effort that went into its development
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29 September 2024
The Siege – The Remarkable Story of the Greatest SAS Hostage Drama, Ben MacIntyre .
An excellent study of the famous 1980 siege of the Iranian Embassy in London, looking at the experiences of the hostages, the motivations and actions of the terrorists, the attempts by the police to end the siege peacefully and the well known finale, where the SAS stormed the Embassy after one hostage had been killed. Paints a vivid picture of what the hostages experienced, the toll the siege took on the police trying to end it, and the eventual SAS attack, which made the regiment famous overnight
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US Battle Tanks 1917-1945, Steven J. Zaloga.
A wide ranging study of US tank design and combat experience from the First World War to the end of the Second World War, covering an impressive range of topics, including the doctrinal disputes that disrupted US armoured vehicle design and the feedback from the end users, as well as a good technical history of the vehicles. Benefits from covering all of the armour in single volume, as we see how the different types compared and worked together, rather than treating each one in isolation
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Flashpoints – Air Warfare in the Cold War, Michael Napier.
Looks at eight conflicts during the Cold War, mostly very short (apart from the Congo and the Iran-Iraq War), which involved significant air combat (starting and ending with British carrier aircraft operating far from home!). Each gets a brief political background, summary of the ground war and description of the air forces on both sides before moving onto the detailed combat narratives. Ends with a useful conclusion chapter that looks at what can be learnt from these wars
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8 September 2024
The Franco-Prussian War 1870-71, Stephen Badsey.
A good history of one of the most important wars of the later 19th century, which saw the unification of Germany, the collapse of the French Second Empire and a switch in the balance of power in Europe, as well as making the German army the one emulated by many others. Covers the two main phases of the war – the dramatic battles of the first phase and the combined siege of Paris and minor campaigns of the Second, as well as looking at the political framework of the conflict. A good guide to this important conflict
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Soviet Motor Gunboats of World War II – The Red Army’s ‘river tanks’ from Stalingrad to Berlin, Przemyslaw Budzbon.
Looks at a uniquely Soviet weapon, motor gunboats armed with standard tank turrets, developed for use on the long border rivers of the Soviet Union, and deployed in most major rivers fought over on the Eastern Front, as well as the Baltic, Black Sea and Sea of Azov. A useful weapon, capable of supporting river crossings, harassing enemy crossing points, escorting river convoys and of being moved from river to river as the fighting on the Eastern Front swept east, then west
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Warship 2024, ed. John Jordan.
Covers a wide range of topics, including the early history of the battleships Nagato and Mutsu and the very different wartime destroyers produced by Japan, the changes made to the Russian battleship Orel when it became the Japanese Iwami, a naval clash off the Bosphorus in 1915, the civilian history of the ship that became the German commerce raider Seeadler, the Frenhc battleship Bouvet, and a range of others
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25 August 2024
Hero City – Leningrad 1943-44, Prit Buttar.
Looks at the second half of the siege of Leningrad, when the risk of the city falling or being starved out of existence had largely gone, and the Soviets were on the front foot. Focuses largely on the series of costly Soviet offensives that slowly pushed the Germans back, before the German line finally cracked in 1944. Looks at why these Soviet attacks were always so costly, but also why the Germans were eventually unable to cope with them. Finishes with a look at the post-war Soviet attitude to the siege, which varied depending on who was in power at the time
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US Seventh Fleet Vietnam 1964-73 – American Naval Power in Southeast Asia, Edward J Marolda.
Looks at the powerful US fleet that supported the American War Effort in Vietnam, taking part in one of the longest and most intensive air offensives in history, although one that failed to achieve its’ objectives. In many ways this fleet closely resembles the massive US fleets of the Pacific War, with a similar focus on carrier power, and on the massive effort needed to maintain such a powerful fleet at sea, but its role was very different, lacking any naval opponents and with no clear way for air power to be used to win the war
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Clean Sweep – VIII Fighter Command against the Luftwaffe, 1942-45, Thomas McKelvey Cleaver.
Looks at the long, costly battle fought by VIII Fighter Command over Europe to protect the bombers of the 8th Air Force, combining detailed accounts of individual air battles with a wider look at the complex technological battle that saw the Americans slowly gain the edge over their German rivals, in particular with the arrival of the long range P-51B Mustang, going from a short range force to a massive technically skilled force equipped with large numbers of long range aircraft capable of reaching just about anywhere in Germany, leaving the Luftwaffe with nowhere to hide
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18 August 2024
Italian Battle Fleet 1940-43, Enrico Cernuschi.
A valuable examination of the Italian Battle Fleet’s performance during the Second World War, making a convincing case for saying that it performed much better than many British accounts would suggest. Backed up by an examination of the ships available to the Italian fleet, and of the main daytime battles between the two forces, to show that the Italian fleet largely performed its intended role, at least until the full might of the Allied navies turned against it in 1943
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Reporting the Nuremberg Trials, Noel Marie Fletcher.
Looks at how news of the Nuremberg Trials were brought to the outside world by a mix of newspaper and radio correspondents, photographers and artists, all struggling to cope with the limited places in the courtroom and an unusual mix of days of horrific evidence and long periods of tedium where less dramatic but equally important evidence was being presented
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11 August 2024
Heroes of Telemark - Sabotaging Hitler’s atomic bomb, Norway 1942-44, David Greentree.
Looks at one of the most famous raids of the Second World War, the SOE attack on the Norsk Hydro Plant at Vemork, which saw the best heavy water production facility available to the Germans badly damaged and put out of action for some time. This account focuses on the SOE raid that hit the factory, but also looks at the disasterous attempt to use a glider borne force of engineers, the bombing raid that followed repairs to the plant, and the sinking of the ferry
Hydro as the Germans attempted to take the heavy water back to Germany
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Hull at War 1939-45, The Air Raids, David Bilton & Malcolm K. Mann.
Focuses on one particular aspect of the Second World War in Hull, the prolonged series of air raids that made it one of the most heavily bombed cities in Britain. Looks at the pre-war efforts to prepare for bomb damage, the systems put in place to cope with the bombing, and the raids themselves, with detailed accounts of the impact of most, and in particular the costly raids of 1941. A sobering look at the impact of war on one city
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The Intelligencers, British Military Intelligence from the Middle Ages to 1929, Brigadier Brian Parritt.
Looks at the structure of British Military Intelligence from the time of the Civil War to the disbanding of the First World War era Intelligence Corps in 1929. Shows how the British Army was often averse to having a permenant intelligence department, forcing each of its field commanders to create their own almost from scratch. As a result the first part of the book is filled with the stories of remarkable individuals who managed to fill that gap, while the second half looks at the struggle to create a proper intelligence system and then to keep it from being distracted by other roles or having its work ignored
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4 August 2024
Desert Armour – Tank Warfare In North Africa, Gazala to Tunisia, 1942-43, Robert Forczyk.
A detailed examination of tank warfare in the final year of the campaign in North Africa, from the last major German victory at Gazala in the summer of 1942 to the final Axis surrender in North Africa in May 1943, one year later. Covers the armoured warfare of this dramatic period in great detail, looking at how the balance of power in Africa turned away from the Axis, despite the often greater experience of their tank commanders
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Mr Churchill's Driver – A Murderer's Story, Colin Farrington.
Tells the tale of a somewhat delusional convicted murderer and career criminal who after being released from prison decides to investigate a story told to him by his late father about his time as one of Churchill’s wartime drivers and a meeting with the Irish leader Eamon de Valera. The historical background does play a significant part in the plot, although the entire story is set in the present day. An entertaining tale, revolving around some fairly sizable twists, and which comes to a satisfying conclusion
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French Soldier vs German Soldier, Verdun 1916, David Campbell .
Looks at three of the most famous fights within the lengthy, brutal battle of Verdun of 1916, three German victories that came at too high a cost for their plan for the battle to succeed. All three example fights show outnumbered French forces holding on for much longer than expected, against powerful German attacks, undermining the German plan to use the battle to bleed the French army dry
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28 July 2024
Churchill – The Liberal Reformer: The Struggle for a Modern Home Office, Duncan Marlor.
Looks at Churchill’s time as Home Secretary in 1910-11, the first of his three Great Offices of State (followed by Chanceller and Prime Minister). Covers the main controversies of his time in this massive role, but focuses on his role as a prisoner reformer and views on imprisonment in general. Shows that he was a geninuly liberal prisoner reformer, who believed that too many people were in prison, that conditions were too harsh, and actually managed to do something about both of these issues during his relatively short time in the role.
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Victoria Crosses on the Western Front - Third Ypres 1917 - 31st July 1917-6th November 1917, Paul Oldfield.
Covers perhaps the most notorious battle of the entire First World War, with the mud of Passchendaele coming to sum up the entire war for many people. However this book demonstrates that the battle was rather more complex with that, with periods of great British success as well as the muddy stalemate the battle is famous for. Well structured, with the first part covering the battles in which these medals were won and the rather larger second part giving detailed biographies of each of the VC winners
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In a Flanders Field – A Territorial Battalion at Ypres, October 1917, John Waite.
Tells the story of the author’s great uncle, Joe Waite, who won the Military Medal during the Battle of Broodseinde, but with a focus on the sixty four men from the 1/7th (TF) Battalion, Royal Warwickshire Regiment who died during the three days of the battle itself and its immediate aftermath. An unusual approach to a biography, but a moving one that serves as a valuable reminder of the human cost of the fighting and with a tragic coda from the Second World War that reminds us of the civilian cost of these conflicts
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21 July 2024
Kawanishi H6K ‘Mavis’ and H8K ‘Emily’ Units, Edward M Young.
Looks at the costly war fought by the two main long range Japanese flying boats, both very capable aircraft that weren’t produced in large enough numbers, and were eventually overwhelmed by superior Allied numbers and especially American carrier aircraft. Good details on the development of these two aircraft, how they were used, and how succesful they were, along with detailed accounts of their combat record
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Germany’s French Allies 1941-45, Massimiliano Afiero.
Looks at the four main units of French volunteers who fought (or planned to fight) for the Axis powers during the Eastern Front, the early Legion de Volontaires Francais, Vichy’s failed Legion Tricolore, the brief existence of La Phalange Africaine in Tunisia and the French in the Waffen-SS, and in particular the Charlemagne Division. A useful guide to this series of small units, and the battles in which they fought (almost all of which ended in defeat)
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Midway-Class Aircraft Carriers 1945-92, Mark Stille.
A look at the largest carriers laid down during the Second World War, and the largest warships in the world in the immediate post-war years, when they formed a key part of the US fleet. Looks at how these massive carriers were updated to keep two of them relevant into the 1990s, capable of operating most post-war carrier jet aircraft. Also looks at their service records, which saw them spend much of their time in the Mediterranean, with all three fighting in Vietnam and
Midway taking part in the First Gulf War of 1990!
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7 July 2024
Arras Counterattack 1940, Tim Saunders.
Looks at the one major British offensive during the 1940 campaign, at Arras, part of a wider Anglo-French plan to try and cut through the German lines from north and south that never actually took place. A very detailed examination of this day long armoured attack which briefly caused panic on the German side before ending in failure
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Cassel and Hazebrouck 1940 - France and Flanders Campaign, Jerry Murland.
A rare example of a detailed account of one of the defensive battles along the sides of the ‘Dunkirk Corridor’ that allowed the bulk of the BEF to reach the coast and eventual safety in Britain. Covers the three day long defence of the hilltop town of Cassel, and the rather shorter defence of the more open Hazebrouck, including the largely unsuccessful attempts by the remaining garrisons to break through the German lines to reach Dunkirk. Combines a detailed account of these short but important battles with a series of tours of the area, taking you to the key moments discussed here
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30 June 2024
Winston Churchill, Peter Caddick-Adams.
A useful short biography of Winston Churchill, focusing as one might expect largely on his wartime leadership, and making the argument that his experiences during the First World War played a major part in the eventual victory in the Second World War, as Churchill had to face many of the same issues in both wars. A good short biography of Churchill
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Junkers Ju 88 - The Early Years - Blitzkrieg to the Blitz, Chris Goss.
A photographic study of the early years of the military career of the Junkers Ju 88, the first truly multi-role aircraft of the Second World War, serving as a bomber, night fighter, torpedo bomber, reconnaissance aircraft and eventually flying bomb. This book covers the period where it was largely used as a bomber, gaining importance from its early appearance in tiny numbers in 1939 through to its major role in the Blitz. After a useful introduction most of the book is filled with a large collection of wartime photographs, each supported by unusually detailed captions, often detailing the fate of the individual aircraft and the crew seen in each picture
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23 June 2024
The Destroyer USS Kidd, Stefan Draminski.
A very detailed examination of the Fletcher class destroyer USS
Kidd (DD-661), one of only four examples of the class to still exist. Starts with a good introduction to the class and the the
Kidd herself before moving onto hundreds of high quality 2D and 3D plans showing the construction and layout of this ship at a very impressive level of detail. The mix of 2D and 3D plans is especially useful, turning the detailed 2D layouts into a clear 3D reality
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Immortal Valor – the Black Medal of Honor Winners of World War II, Robert Child.
Simultanously inspiring and depressing account of the lives of the seven black Medal of Honor winners of the Second World War, all of whom had to wait half a century for their acts of courage to be officially recognised. Each of these men get their own full biography, looking at their childhood and early life, entry into the army, training experiences and time in combat, with a detailed account of the actions which eventually won them their Medal of Honor
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With My Shield – An Army Ranger in Somalia, James Lechner.
Combines an interesting account of his military education, from The Citadel military academy in South Carolina to Ranger training with a very involving account of the fighting in Somalia leading up to the famous ‘Black Hawk Down’ battle, where he was one of the Rangers besieged near the crash site, and suffered a serious leg wound during the bitter battle. An excellent account of this battle as seen from the ground, combined with details of what was happening outside Lechner’s corner of the fight
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16 June 2024
Those Must be the Guards – the Household division in peace and war, 1969-2023, Paul de Zulueta and Simon Doughty.
A sequel to Julian Paget’s The Story of the Guards taking the story from 1969 to the coronation of King Charles III, and giving us a good cross-section of British military history in that period, as the seven Guards regiments between them served in Northern Ireland, the Falklands, with the British Army of the Rhine, in both Gulf Wars, the invasion of Afghanistan and the counter-insurgency campaigns that followed. Also covers their ceremonial role, in particular at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II and the coronation of King Charles III.
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The Luzon Campaign 1945- MacArthur Returns, Nathan N. Prefer.
A detailed history of the largest land battle of the war in the Pacific, but one that is often overshadowed by the fighting at Leyte, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Covers the more familiar early parts of the campaign, at Lingayen Gulf and Manila, as well as the less familiar but longer battle to pin down the Japanese forces that retreated into northern Luzon. Shows both how effective the Americans had become by this stage of the war, but also how long a determined Japanese commander could hold out if they avoided suicidal charges and attempted to maintain an ‘army in being’ in a remote area
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9 June 2024
Jamestown 1622 – The Anglo-Powhatan Wars, Cameron Colby.
Looks at the early wars between Jamestown, which survived to become the first permanent English settlement in North America and the Powhatan peoples, who inhabited the surrounding areas around Chesapeake Bay. Shows how the power of the English colonists slowly grew despite a series of disasters and near destruction, to form the heart of the future state of Virginia, as well as the foundation of the plantation economy of the South, as the original adventurers slowly turned into tobacco planters
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Lockheed Blackbird – Beyond the Secret Missions, the Missing Chapters, Paul F. Crickmore.
A very impressive volume on this record breaking Mach 3 reconnaissance aircraft, covering every aspect of its career in massive detail. Includes detailed sections on the design and development of the aircraft, the test flights, training and selection of its crews, all of the technical problems faced by the pilots, and its operational record. Greatly expanded compared to earlier books because the author had access to newly declassified material, and also benefits from the authors close relationship with many of the aircraft and other people involved in the programme
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Vandal Heaven – Reinterpreting Post-Roman North Africa, Simon Elliott.
A useful history of the relationship between Rome and the Vandals, the impressive achievements of the Vandals as they crossed France and Spain and then conquered most of Roman North Africa, going on to look at the later Byzantine re-conquest and the Arab conquest that followed. Not as much material on Vandal North Africa as I’d expected, but otherwise a good book on the Vandals
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26 May 2024
British Pacific Fleet 1944-45 – The Royal Navy in the downfall of Japan, Brian Lane Herder.
Looks at the campaigns fought by the most powerful single British fleet of the Second World War, which included raids on Sumatra, playing a significant role in the battle of Okinawa, and joining the US naval attacks on the Japanese Home Islands in the summer of 1945. Most famous for the kamikaze attacks on British armoured carriers, it deserves to be better known for the British willingness to adopt American methods, and to improvise a fleet train to allow for long range operations in the Pacific
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Japan’s Indian Ocean Raid 1942 – The Allies’ Lowest Ebb, Mark Stille.
Looks at the one major Japanese raid into the Indian Ocean, in which they demonstrated their total domination of the seas in the first half of 1942, but also largely failed to achieve their objectives, after failing to find most of the major British warships in the area. Shows how close the British came to a disaster in the Indian Ocean after underestimating the Japanese and how close the two fleets came to fighting a battle that could only have ended in a Japanese victory.
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German Field Artillery of World War II, Steven J. Zaloga.
An unusual approach to a book on artillery, with sections on the organisation of artillery in the infantry divisions and at army level, and combat sections that focus on the number of guns and number and weight of shells fired to give an idea of how the German artillery compared at the highest levels to its opponents. Also includes brief descriptions of the main German guns, and a longer section on the 10.5cm light field howitzer
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19 May 2024
Ottoman Armies 1820-1914, Gabriele Esposito.
Looks at the repeated reforms of the Ottoman armies during its long period of decline, with major reforms in the 1820s, 1870s and 1910s, each of which produced an army capable of performing surprisingly well, if not of halting the long term decline. Also looks at the vassal states - Egypt, Tunisia, Serbia, Montenegro, Moldova and Wallachia – each of which had armies that sometimes fought for the Ottomans and sometimes against them
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Valentine Infantry Tank vs Panzer III – North Africa 1941-43, Bruce Oliver Newsome.
A good comparison of the Panzer III and Valentine tanks, two types that were actually more important for their respective countries than is generally realised, being overshadowed by later or more famous models. Good on the technical side of things, and with an interesting account of the battle of Tebourba in Tunisia, although the actual clash between the Valentine and Panzer III was fairly limited
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12 May 2024
Vietnam 1972: Quang Tri – The Easter Offensive Strikes the South, Charles D. Melson.
Focuses on the role of the South Vietnamese Marine Corps in the battles for Quang Tri city and province in the northern of South Vietnam in the fighting that started with the Easter Offensive. Shows that they were a capable infantry force, well able to defeat their North Vietnamese opponents as long as they had US naval and air support, despite suffering an initial defeat in the face of the surprise Northern attack
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Hamburg 1940-45 - The long war against Germany’s great port city, Richard Worrall.
Looks at the prolonged bombing campaign against Hamburg, which lasted from May 1940 until the spring of 1945 and included the famous firestorm of July 1943, by far the most costly raid against the city in the entire war. Looks at the development of Bomber Command and their German opponents, what Bomber Command hoped to do and the often less than impressive reality of what they were actually capable of doing during the first half of the war, before moving onto the truly devastating raids of 1943 and the later attacks
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5 May 2024
The Union Army 1861-65 (1) – The Regular Army and the Territories, Ron Field.
Covers the organisation, size, uniform and general equipment of the US Regular Army and various associated organisations during the American Civil War, with a mix of front line and support services covered. The bulk of US troops during the Civil War are covered in volume two, on the state forces, but this is a good guide to the structure and uniform of the centrally organised forces
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The Union Army 1861-65 (2) – Eastern and New England States, Ron Field.
Looks at the troops provide by eleven Eastern and New England States and the District of Columbia which between them found 1.25 million men for the Union Cause. Each state gets a brief introduction which states how many man they provided and how many units they were formed into, before the bulk of each chapter focuses on their uniforms and how they changed during the course of the war
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Soviet Cruisers 1917-45 – From the October Revolution to World War II, Alexander Hill.
Looks at the small fleet of cruisers (ten that get examined in any detail) operated by the Soviets during the Civil War and Second World War, which included the famous
Aurora, a key player in the October Revolution. Split between the Baltic and the Black Sea, we see the very different roles of the Soviet Navy in those waters, with the Baltic ships tended to end up as floating gun batteries, while the Black Sea ships played an active role from 1941-43, a period where the Soviets had naval superiority in those waters
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28 April 2024
Tokyo 1944-45 – The Destruction of Imperial Japan’s capital, Mark Lardas.
Looks at probably the most destructive air campaign of the Second World War, covering the USAAF aims over Tokyo, the mixed Japanese response, the equipment used on both sides, and with a good narrative that mixes a look at the high level command decisions that shaped the campaign and the individual raids, and the key change from ineffective high level bombing to devastating incendiary raids
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German Tanks in France 1940, Steven J Zaloga.
Looks at the armour used on the German side of the battle of France in 1940, starting with a look at the structure of the German armoured force, then the six main tanks and the early assault guns and tank destroyers used in the fighting, followed by a sizable account of the campaign itself. Shows that the key to the German victory wasn’t the quality of their tanks, which were no better than the best British or French tanks, but instead where they were used and the overall German plan
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Port Arthur 1904-05 – The First Modern Siege, Robert Forczyk.
Looks at a siege in which many features of the Western Front were seen, including barbed wire, machine guns and trenches, and in which they helped compensate for largely incompetent Russian leadership to allow the defenders to hold off the Japanese for much longer might have been expected and made the Japanese victory very costly (although it was also the first major military victory for an Asian power over one of the European Imperial powers)
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21 April 2024
To Besiege a City – Leningrad 1941-42, Prit Buttar.
Focuses on the first two years of the siege of Leningrad, the most brutal and costly part of the siege, when the Germans nearly starved the city into submission after narrowly failing to totally isolate it in 1941. Looks at both the military campaigns associated with the siege and life within the besieged city itself, where starvation and hypothermia killed civilians in vast numbers, part of a deliberate German plan to entirely destroy the city
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U-2 Dragon Lady Units 1955-90, Peter E Davies.
Looks at the first 35 years of the career of the U-2, one of the few aircraft to remain in military service for over 50 years. Covers its original development, its early use on high altitude flights over the Soviet Union (famously ended when one was shot down in 1960) and its later career operating around most of the world, and in new roles, outliving its replacement and still being modified now
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14 April 2024
Children of the 1940s – A Social History, Mike Hutton.
A look at the life of British children in the 1940s written by an author who was a child in that period, so influenced by his own experiences. Nice that it continues for the entire decade, so we get the four post-war years as well as the more familiar wartime period. Focuses more on the feel of events – what it was like to escape to the cinema, or the impact of radio comedy than on a more academic study of childhood in the period
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31 March 2024
Case White – The Invasion of Poland 1939, Robert Forczyk.
A detailed history of the Polish campaign of 1939, starting with a history of the revived Polish Republic, its attempts to industrialise and create a powerful military, and its political problems, before moving on to the increase of tension with Nazi Germany, the outbreak of war and the actual campaign. Also covers the lacklustre performance of Poland’s new allies, Britain and France, in the months before the outbreak of war and their lack of real action once the fighting began. Shows us a campaign that was nowhere near as one-sided as many accounts would suggest, although one that the Poles would have struggled to win without external support that never came
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Dunkirchen 1940 – The German view of Dunkirk, Robert Kershaw.
Looks at the Dunkirk campaign from the German point of view, examining why they were unable to prevent the British evacuating most of their own army, and a significant number of French troops. Covers the entire campaign from the initial German invasion onwards, so we can trace the entire course of events, and see how the nature of the campaign changed after the initial period of rapid German success, how much significance the Germans gave to the battle, and why they weren’t able to eliminate the Dunkirk pocket more quickly
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Jagdpanzer, Thomas Anderson.
Looks at the dedicated tank hunters built by the Third Reich, ranging in size from the small but effective
Hetzer to the massive and far less mobile
Jagdtiger. Traces their development from an emergency measure to cope with the unexpectedly effective Soviet tanks to purpose built machines designed alongside their turreted equivalents as well as weapons based on outdated chassis produced to keep factories in production. Well supported by wartime German reports on most of the machines, which reveal what their users felt about them
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25 February 2024
British Celtic Warrior vs Roman Soldier – Britannia AD 43-105, William Horsted.
Looks at three early battles between the Romans and the British, Caratacus’s last battle, the invasion of Mona (Anglesey) and Mons Graupius. Inevitably provides more detail on the Roman side than the Celts, simply because of the limits of our sources, but does a good job of recreating these three battles (as far as is possible) as well as examining their impact on the overall state of the Roman conquest.
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Cowpens 1781 - Turning Point of the American Revolution, Ed & Catherine Gilbert .
Looks at one of the most important battles of the American War of Independence, the defeat of Tarleton’s British Legion and the succesful Patriot retreat into the safety of Virginia that helped trigger the campaign that ended at Yorktown. Shows how remarkable the leadership of Danial Morgan was, taking advantage of the weaknesses of Tarleton’s leadership and the terrain at Cowpens and compensating for the known weaknesses of his own militia to come up with a plan that survived two potential disasters to produce one of the most one sided Patriot victories of the war
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18 February 2024
Japanese Soldier vs US Soldier, New Guinea 1942-44, Gregg Adams.
Looks at three battles spread over a year and a half that show the changing nature of the fighting on New Guinea. At Buna the inexperienced Americans were at the end of a long supply chain, and struggled. At Biak the Japanese had to adapt new tactics to avoid being defeated on the beachs, but the Americans were soon able to adapt themselves. At the Driniumor River the Japanese were the attackers, but it was a desperate venture that ended in evitable and costly defeat
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Roman Plate Armour, M.C. Bishop.
A good examination of the most famous type of Roman armour, focusing on the
Lorica Segmentata most often seen in modern depictions of the Legions, as well as the muscled cuirasses worn by the officers. Includes a clear decription of each of the three types of
Lorica Segmentata, looking at how they were constructed, how they differed and way, as well as sections on how it was made, its flaws and how it probably performed in and out of battle
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11 February 2024
F-8 Crusader Vietnam 1963-73, Peter E. Davies.
Looks at the track record of the US Navy’s best dogfighter of the Vietnam War, covering its development, weapon systems, the rival MiG-17 and MiG-21, and the key combats in the most active period in the late 1960s, when most of the direct clashes between the rival fighters took place. There aren’t many of these clashes, but they are well described, and are unusual for the combination of classic dogfighting and guided missiles
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Japanese Infantryman versus US Marine Rifleman: Tarawa, Roi-Namur and Eniwetok, Gregg Adams.
Looks at the three of the island attacks during the US invasion of the Gilbert and Marshall Islands, showing how difficult it was to defend these small flat atoll islands against the massive concentration of firepower the Americans were able to bring to bear combined with the training and high morale of the attacking US Marines, especially when the Americans were willing to bypass the most strongly defended islands in the Marshalls. Good material on the types of Japanese troops to be found on the islands, their plans for defending them and why they failed
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4 February 2024
Crecy, Battle of Five Kings, Michael Livingston.
A fascinating reconstruction of the Crecy campaign and battle, using a very wide range of contemporary sources to reconsider every aspect of the campaign, from the original invasion of Normandy to the attempt to reach Edward’s allies in Flanders, the location of the battle, and the course of the fighting itself. Very well researched and makes good use of a wide range of sources, to successfully argue that the traditional location is wrong, convincing argue in favour of a new location and to provide good evidence that some aspects of the battle went rather differently to the standard account
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Absolute Emperor – Napoleonic Wargame Battles, Boyd Bruce.
An interesting approach to Napoleonic wargaming, aimed at getting large battles fought with relatively few figures and in a reasonable timespan, focusing on the division as the unit of maneuver and the corps as the command level. Simple core rules combine with a set of changes for each major combatant in the conflict, to give a nice feel to the game. The control system takes some getting used to, with all orders set at the start of the game, corps commanders limited in their options, and divisions freer as long as they stay within command range of the commander
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Ju 87D/ G Stuka vs T-34 – Eastern Front 1942-45, Robert Forsyth.
An interesting look at how the Stuka dive bomber was pressed into service as an anti-tank weapon, first as a dive bomber and later as a cannon armed ground attack aircraft, and how it faired against the T-34. Covers the development of both weapon systems, the training of their crews, the combat record of the Stuka against the tanks, along with good sections on German research into exactly what was the best method to attack T-34s with the Stuka
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28 January 2024
Corregidor 1945 – Repossessing the Rock, Mark Lardas.
An account of the US return to Corregidor which shows out an ambitious plan for a paratroop drop on the key high ground neatly bypassed the strongest Japanese defences, decapitating the Japanese commands structure in the first few minutes and giving the paratroops the high ground. This was a rare example of a Pacific island landing where the result was decided on the very first day
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Roman Mail and Scale Armour, M.C. Bishop.
Looks at two types of armour that were used throughout the Roman period, by legionaries, Praetorians and auxiliaries and in many different variants. Covers the evidence for their use, the variants known to exist, how they were manufactured and maintained and even how easy it was to put them on! A useful guide to some of the most significant Roman military equipment.
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21 January 2024
Allied Warships vs The Atlantic Wall, Normandy 1944, Steven J Zaloga.
Looks at the duel between USS
Texas and the German Batterie Hamburg at Cherbourg, a clash in which the gun battery was largely undamaged and the
Texas perhaps lucky to only suffer minor damage. Demonstrates that really well built heavily protected gun emplacements weren’t vulnerable to destruction by naval gun fire in 1944, and well designed ones were even quite hard to disrupt
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Bf 109D/E Blitzkrieg 1939-40, Malcolm V. Lowe.
Looks at the development and combat record of the Bf 109D and Bf 109E from the Spanish Civil War through the invasion of Poland and onto the campaign in the west in 1940, a period in which the Bf 109F in particular proved to be as good or better than any contemporary fighter, and had the advantage of superior fighter tactics developed in Spain and a core of pilots with more experience than their rivals
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Castles in the Sky: A Wargame of Flying Battleships, Eric Farrington.
An interesting game that combines First World War naval warfare with post War of the Worlds flying ships, to give us a world of flying dreadnoughts and cruisers, generally armed with variations of their familiar weaponry, but with the added complication of altitude to cope with. A fun game, complete with a good random scenario generator and campaign system, and an unusual way to use a collection of small warship figures.
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14 January 2024
Carrhae 53 BC – Rome’s Disaster in the Desert, Nic Fields.
Looks at one of the most one-sided defeats suffered by the Roman Republic when the army led by Crassus was almost wiped out during an invasion of Parthia, and Crassus and his son killed either in the battle or the aftermath. Includes good background information, an examination of Crassus’s actual army and a look at the nature of the Parthian military, all of which helps explain why the battle was so one sided
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Spitfire Photo-Recce Units of World War 2, Andrew Fletcher.
Covers both the technical development of the PR Spitfire and its cameras and the operation history of the type, from the early days of one experimental aircraft to its use in many squadrons around the world and to provide coverage of topics from the German Navy to Hitler’s secret weapons as well as making vital contributions to the D-Day landings
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7 January 2024
F4U Corsair vs A6M Zero-Sen – Rabaul and the Solomons 1943-44, Michael John Claringbould.
A well researched examination of the most intense period of aerial combat for the Corsair, facing Japanese Navy Zeros in the Solomon Islands and over Rabaul, a period in which the Japanese could still hold their own against their American opponents in individual battles, but were worn down by the ever increasing numerical advantage possessed by the Americans. Proves that the Corsair wasn’t that dominant in 1943, when faced with skilled Japanese opponents, and demonstrates just how hard fought these battles were
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F4F Wildcat – South Pacific 1942-43, Edward M. Young.
Looks at the most intense period of combat for the Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat, over the Solomon Islands in the summer and autumn of 1942, when the Americans learnt how to take advantage of the slower Grumman fighter’s greater robustness and firepower to come to terms with the Zero, which before that had swept almost all opposition from the skies
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The Aircraft Carrier Hiryu, Stefan Draminski.
An excellent study of the carrier Hiryu, combined a good history of her with very impressive plans. Makes very good use of 3D illustrations, which are placed alongside the detailed 2D plans so we can see what the element being show on the plans looked like as well as having the accurate details of the plan. Especially effective for deck plans and cross sections, where it gives us an idea of just how crowded these carriers could be
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10 December 2023
Eastern Front 1945 – Triumph of the Soviet Air Force, William E. Hiestand.
Looks at the last major contested air campaign of the Second World War, where the revitalised Soviet Air Force clashed with the bulk of what was left of the Luftwaffe during the campaigns that saw the Soviets advance into Germany and capture Berlin. Looks at how the Red Airforce had caught up with and then surpassed the Luftwaffe to gain and largely keep air supremacy in the final campaigns of the war, even after the Luftwaffe shifted most of its remaining aircraft east
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A War of Empires – Japan, India, Burma & Britain, 1941-45, Robert Lyman.
An impressive account of the four year long Burma campaign, a multi-national affair involving Japanese, British and Commonwealth, India, Africa, Chinese and American troops, and which began with a crushing British defeat and the longest retreat in British military history and ended with some of the biggest defeats suffered by the Imperial Japanese Army. Very good on the Indian involvement in the conflict.
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3 December 2023
Pebble Island: The Falklands War 1982, Francis MacKay with Jon Cooksey.
Looks at the first SAS raid on an enemy aircraft since the end of the Second World War, a successful attack that say every aircraft on Pebble Island damaged or destroyed and the airfield itself made unusable by the Argentineans themselves. A good account of the raid and everything related to it, with material from both sides giving a clear idea of why both sides were interested in the island
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Roman Army Units in the Eastern Provinces (2) – 3rd Century AD, Raffaele D’Amato.
Combines a brief introduction looking at the history of the period and the location of the units known to have been posted in the Roman East at this time with a longer section looking at their arms, equipment and cloths, organised on a province-by-province basis, so giving us an idea of how things changes as you moved around from the Danube provinces into Roman Syria and down into Egypt. An unusual but effective approach
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Sunderland vs U-Boat – Bay of Biscay 1943-44, Mark Lardas.
A good account of one of the iconic clashes of the Second World War, with the Sunderland often being the face of Coastal Command despite the relatively limited number of U-boats it sank. Covers the development of both weapons, the nature of their crews, the earlier clashes, and the key battles of 1943-44 when the Sunderland’s numbers increased, their ability to detect U-boats improved and their enemies decided to stand and fight on the surface, leading to 24 sinkings
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19 November 2023
Stalingrad 1942-43 (3) – Catastrophe – the Death of 6th Army, Robert Forczyk.
Covers the final act of the battle of Stalingrad, from the start of the Soviet counter-attack, Operation Uranus, to the final German surrender, a period of two and a half months, looking at the initial Soviet attacks on the flanks which cut off the Sixth Army, the battles on the outer side of the pocket, including the German relief efforts and further Soviet attacks, and the brutal battle in the Stalingrad pocket. A good account of one of the most crucial battles of the Second World War
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Operation Pedestal 1942, The Battle for Malta’s Lifeline, Angus Konstam.
Looks at one of the largest of the many attempts to get supplies through to Malta, a desperate attempt to prevent the island from being forced to surrender and which succeded although at heavy cost in fast merchant ships. Covers the reasons the operation was needed, the complex planning needed to bring together such a large naval force, and then gives a detailed account of the fighting itself, tracing each of the Axis attacks
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5 November 2023
29 October 2023
Berezina 1812 – Napoleon’s Hollow Victory, Alexander Mikaberidze.
Looks at the last relative French success of the Russian campaign of 1812, when a combination of Russian mistakes and hard fighting by the French and their allies allowed some of the survivors of Napoleon’s Grand Armee to cross the Berezina River, despite being hunted by much larger Russian forces. Good coverage of the build-up to battle, looking at the disjointed Russian pursuit of Napoleon, the reasons their attempt to trap him at the Berezina failed, as well as the French efforts to escape from the trap
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Tanks at the Iron Curtain 1960-75, Steven J. Zaloga.
Looks at the first generation of NATO and Warsaw Pact tanks developed after the Second World War, including the German Leopard 1, French AMX30, British Chieftain, American M60 and Soviet T-62 and T-64 as well as projects that never reached production and the first missile tanks, a technology that was expected to replace the gun tank but didn’t live up to expectations
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Tanks in the Battle of Germany 1945 – Eastern Front, Steven J. Zaloga.
A look at the tanks, tank hunters and armoured assault guns on the German and Soviet sides of the fighting in 1945, looking at the numbers available, how they were organised, and the tanks themselves. Covers the campaigns where the bulk of German armoured vehicles were deployed during 1945, but despite that were still massively outnumbered by the Red Army, and had lost much of their tactical and technological edge
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22 October 2023
Athenian Trireme vs Persian Trireme – The Graeco-Persian Wars 499-449 BC, Nic Fields.
Combines a detailed examination of the triremes of this period with an account of four of the main battles – Lade, Artemisia, Salamis and Eurymedon. Benefits from focusing on the actual triremes, looking at how they were built, their design (with more differences between types of trireme than you might think), how they were manned and how their condition might affect their effectiveness in battle, before moving on to look at the four battles
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15 October 2023
US Navy Protected Cruisers 1883-1918, Brian Lane Herder.
An interesting look at the first steel warships built for what became the Steel Navy or New Navy, a group of largely experimental protected cruisers that were mainly significant for their impact on US industry, but that also played a major role in late 19th American Imperialism, the Spanish-American War and the conquest of the Philippines
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8 October 2023
Polish Vickers E, Adam Jonca.
Aimed very firmly at someone wanting to build a model of the Vickers E in Polish service, so has a good selection of photographs and plans of the different versions of the tank, as well as surviving technical drawings, a wartime poster showing different versions and one colour plate showing the standard camouflage scheme. Very useful for the modeller aiming at as accurate as possible a result
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2cm Flak 38 Flakvierling 38, Alan Ranger.
Excellent selection of photographs looking at the single barrel 2cm Flak 38 and four barrel Flakvierling 38, showing both of these weapons in a wide range of locations, and from multiple angles. A very impressive selection of photographs, mainly from soldier’s private collections, so most of these pictures are unfamiliar and give a more realistic view of how these guns were used than the official photos
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With Hot Lead and Cold Steel, Arthur van der Ster.
An interesting set of American Civil War wargaming rules that focus on using genuine Civil War era formations, manoeuvres and orders to give a more accurate feel for the period. Uses an interesting system where regiments are the individual units but brigades give orders. All units use the same basic set of infantry, artillery and cavalry stats, but with modifiers for green or veteran units, commanders come with their own abilities and flaws, and with plenty of special rules to give a feel of Civil War battles. Aimed at those wanting to recreate genuine Civil War battles with their unbalanced armies and different objectives, rather than allowing for artificially balanced games.
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1 October 2023
German High Seas Fleet 1914-18, The Kaiser’s challenge to the Royal Navy, Angus Konstam.
Looks at why the Germans chose to build the second most powerful fleet in the world, what sort of ships they filled it with, what its purpose was, and how it performed when war broke out. Paints a picture of a Navy that was equipped with some of the best warships in the world, generally well organised and led (although did suffer from interference from the Kaiser), but that lacked a clear purpose. This was a fleet that could inflict some defeats on the Royal Navy, but never managed to serious challenge British naval dominance
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Japanese Combined Fleet 1941-42 – The IJN at its zenith, Pearl Harbor to Midway, Mark Stille.
Looks at the nature of the Japanese Navy that entered the war at Pearl Harbor – the philosophy behind the design of its ships, the quantity and quality of ships and aircraft available to it, its plans for the war, but also the weaknesses of its intelligence and logistics systems. We then look at the first few months of the war, in which the Japanese achieved a remarkable series of victories, overrunning the Philippines, Malaya, Singapore and the Dutch East Indies, defeating anything the Allies could throw at them, and examine why the Japanese Navy was able to win that series of victories
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Lion Rampant Second Edition, Daniel Mersey.
An entertaining small scale medieval skirmish game, using a relatively small number of unit types and fairly simple rules (with plenty of optional extras) to cover the millennium from the late Roman world to the high middle ages. Aimed at armies of up to about 70 figures, with an interesting system where different units have different changes to obey orders to attack, move or shoot, and with a nice simple combat system, produces fast moving fun games
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24 September 2023
The Red Army 1922-41 – From Civil War to ‘Barbarossa’, Philip Jowett.
Covers the period from the end of the bitter Russian Civil War to the disasterous start of Operation Barbarossa, a period of frequent instability but that saw the Red Army expand from its low point just after the Civil War to become an apparently powerful force by the end of the 1930s. First half looks at the size, structure and general status of the Red Army as well as the often quite sizable campaigns it was involved in during this period, as well as the purge that ripped the heart out of its officer corps in the 1930s, second half at the uniforms of the period
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Bloody April 1917 – The Birth of modern air power, James S. Corum.
Looks at the aerial battles of April 1917 from an operational, tactical and strategic level, instead of focusing on individual air battles, thus giving us a much clearer picture of what both sides were attempting to achieve in the air, and why the Germans won an equally impressive victory in the air as they did on the ground. Finishes with a useful look at how the three combatants learnt from the battles of April 1917
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10 September 2023
The Soviet Destruction of Army Group South, Ian Baxter.
Looks at the two years of battles that saw the Germans pushed out of Ukraine and southern Poland, ending with the Soviets only a few miles from Berlin. The text provides a good framework to events, with army lists, brief biographies of the key commanders and about twenty pages per major campaign, giving us a useful overview of events, rather than getting too bogged down in details. The text is supported by a plentiful supply of wartime photographs and some useful maps showing the various phases of the Soviet advance
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US Destroyers vs German U-Boats – The Atlantic 1941-45, Mark Lardas.
Looks at the weapons available on both sides, how their crews were selected and trained, and how the US Navy in particular improved during the years it was involved in the battle of the Atlantic, gaining powerful weapons such as the Hedgehog anti-submarine projector which could be tied directly into the ships sonar. Followed by four examples of combat between US escorts and U-boats, from 1941, 1942, 1944 and 1945, which demonstrate how far the US Navy had come in a short time
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The Futile Pursuit of Power – Why Mussolini Executed His Son-in-Law, Andrew Sangster.
Focuses on the political career of Galeazzo Ciano, which lasted from his rise to power in 1936 to his execution in 1943 and saw him become Italian Foreign Minister, the youngest in Europe at his appointment, before turning against Italy’s German allies, taking part in the plot that first deposed Mussolini, seeking help from the Germans and ended up executed after a political trial in Mussolini’s northern Italian Fascist State. Paints a picture of a playboy largely unsuited to the job he was given, but who gained some political maturity after it was too late for himself and his country
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3 September 2023
British Light Infantryman versus Patriot Rifleman, Robbie MacNiven.
Looks at the famous Patriot riflemen and their nearest British equivalent, the Light Infantry, covering their equipment, training, tactics in battle and their relative strengths and weaknesses, before looking at three occasions where the two troop types fought each other directly in significant numbers. Provides a realistic idea of the relative effectiveness of the two troop types, and shows that the American riflemen was a valuable part of the rebel forces, if not quite the war winning weapon many had expected
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The Capture of U-505 – The US Navy’s controversial Enigma raid, Atlantic Ocean 1944, Mark Lardas.
Looks at the US capture of
U-505, raid that was both daring and carefully planned, and succeeded both because of those factors and because of German failings and luck. Controversial because it risked triggering a change of German codes, but also valuable because of the haul of intelligence material captured on the U-boat. Excellent material from both sides, giving us a picture of the increasingly desperate situation faced by the U-boats and the impressive work by Captain Daniel Gallery and the men of TG 22.3
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20 August 2023
Post-Roman Kingdoms – ‘Dark Ages’ Gaul & Britain, AD 450-800, Raffaele D’Amato & Andrea Salimbeti.
Looks at the lingering remants of the Roman world in post-Roman Britain and Gaul, a range of new kingdoms emerging from the Romano-British and Gauls and the shattered remnants of Roman power in Gaul. Strongest on the arms and equipment and organisation of the forces, but sometimes fails to acknowledge how shaky our knowledge of some of the possible kingdoms and individuals probably involved in this period actually is. An interesting reminder of how important the Roman world remained after the Legions left
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Soviet Machine Guns of World War II, Chris McNab.
Looks at the main Soviet Light, Medium and Heavy Machine Guns of the Second World War, showing them to be capable if unexceptional weapons that had the great advantage of being produced in very large numbers. Contains excellent information on the doctrine for how these guns were used, the roles of the gun crews as well as the technical details, making this one of the best books of its type
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Tanks in Operation Bagration 1944 – The demolition of Army Group Center, Steven J. Zaloga.
A useful study of the balance of the armoured forces on the Eastern Front during the main Soviet offensives of the summer of 1944, showing that the Soviets had caught up with the Germans in the quality of their tanks, outnumbered them, and were catching up in tactical skill, as well as catching the Germans by surprise with their choice of target, all building towards one of the most significant Soviet victories of the war
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6 August 2023
Tannenberg 1914 – Destruction of the Russian Second Army, Michael McNally.
Looks at the first part of the German victory in East Prussia in 1914, the destruction of the Russian Second Army at what became known as the battle of Tannenberg, after a campaign in which the Germans were often outnumbered and frequently considered themselves to be in serious trouble, before winning a crushing victory that undermined the entire Russian position in East Prussia
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The Ancient Assyrians – Empire and Army, 883-612 BC, Mark Healy.
An impressively detailed military history of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, covering the rise and fall of the Empire, the activities and policies of the Emperors, the nature of the Assyrian army and its many campaigns. The survival of a massive number of cuniform tablets, combined with the monumental wall art created to celebrate the achievements of the Emperors, allows the author to create an impressively detailed military and political history of what became the largest Empire yet to exist
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23 July 2023
Battle of Malta June 1940-November 1942, Anthony Rogers.
Looks at the long battle of Malta, covering the Italian and German aerial assault on the island, the many convoys that attempted to bring supplies and reinforcements to the island, the daring but unsuccessful Italian Navy attack on Grand Harbour of July 1941 and the offensive operations carried out from the island. Gives a good feel for how the tempt of operations pulsed during the course of the battle, generally peaking when the Germans were present, and in particular early in 1942
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15 July 2023
Armies in Southern Russia 1918-19, Phoebus Athanassiou.
Looks at the armies involved in the very confusing fighting in Ukraine in 1918-19, with pro-Bolshevik, Red Army, White Russian, Ukrainian, Allied forces and even some German forces all involved in the fighting, with a brief overview of events, and a look at the size, organisation and perhaps most importantly in this campaign the character of the many forces involved
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The Hydaspes 326 BC – The Limit of Alexander the Great’s Conquests, Nic Fields.
Starts with a useful look at the main sources for Alexander and his Indian opponents, and an impressively full examination of the armys on both sides, before moving onto a good account of the last of Alexander the Great’s main battlefield victories, and perhaps his most difficult and hard fought battle, involving the crossing of a major river followed by the defeat of a powerful army based around a large number of elephants
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Mongol Warrior vs European Knight – Eastern Europe 1237-42, Stephen Turnbull.
An excellent study of the Mongol invasion of Poland and Hungary in 1241, looking at their famous victories at Liegnitz and Muhi as well as their failures at Esztergom and Székesfehérvár. Despite the title, this book serves as a good history of the overall campaign, with a focus on the Knights on the Hungarian and Polish sides, with good accounts of the main battles but also an examination of the overall campaign and the wider performance of the armies involved
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9 July 2023
Nambu Pistols – Japanese Military Handguns 1900-45, John Walter.
Looks at the family of pistols generally known as the Nambu, including the 14th Year Type, a later, modified version of Nambu’s original design, with smaller sections on other Japanese produced pistols used in the Second World War. Covers what is known about their development, how they worked and their known use in combat
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Selling Schweinfurt, Brian D. Vlaun.
Looks at how the USAAF picked its targets, in particular in the period to the end of 1943, the time when the Eighth Air Force was commanded by Ira C. Eaker. Very good on the American side of the story, looking at how the targets were selected, who influenced that selection and how effective the raids were seen as being from the American side
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2 July 2023
The Long March 1934-35, The rise of Mao and the beginnings of modern China, Benjamin Lai.
Looks at one of the most significant events in modern Chinese History, viewing it as a massive military campaign in which the Communists suffered appalling losses – over 90% - before reaching the relative safety of Shaanzi in north-eastern China, where they were able to rebuild. Also looks at the rise of Mao, who began the March as one of many potential leaders and ended it as the clear leader of the Chinese Communist Party
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25 June 2023
Hunt the Bismarck – the pursuit of Germany’s most famous battleship, Angus Konstam.
Looks at the entire story of the Bismarck, from its design and construction, through the arrival and training of crew and onto its only mission, the failed attempt to break undetected into the Atlantic to act as a commerce hunter but that instead saw Bismarck destroy the Hood, become the target of a massive Royal Navy hunt and then be destroyed in a final and very one sided battle. Has a good balance of the British and German views, and is ideal for the general reader interested in this battle
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Yalu River 1950-51, Clayton K.S. Chun.
Looks at one of the biggest defeats in US Military History, which saw the largely American UN forces pushed out of North Korea by the Chinese, and all the way back into South Korea, leading to the prolonged period of stalemate that dominated the later part of the Korean War. Good material on both sides of the conflict, helping to put a more realistic face on the Chinese side in particular
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Constantinople and 717-18 – The Crucible of History, Si Sheppard.
Looks at the second Arab siege of Constantinople, which saw the apparently terminal decline of the Byzantine Empire end with the succesful defence of the city by Leo III, a victory that gave the Empire nearly another millennium of life. An interesting account of one of the most important sieges of the period, which ended a major threat to the survival of Byzantium
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1 June 2023
Zulu Terror – The Mfecane Holocaust, 1815-1840, Robin Binckes.
Looks at a period in which a series of violent clashes between the Zulu and related groups (probably) triggered a period of forty years of violent mass migration in which hundreds of thousands of people (if not more) were killed. Follows the traditional historical view of this period, so traces the activities and impact of a series of leaders, including Shaka, Matiwane, Mzilikazi and Dingane, a group of men who very clearly left a massive impact on southern Africa
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First Polish Armoured Division 1938-1947, Evan McGilvray and Janusz Jarzembowski.
Looks at the previous experience of General Maczek, commander of the division, in Poland in 1939 and France in 1940, the escape of many Poles from France to Britain, the often argumentative formation of the division, and its impressive performance in the later stages of the Normandy Campaign and during the advance across northern Europe, ending with the occupation of the German port of Wilhelmshaven
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5 June 2023
The First Anglo-Sikh War 1845-46 – the betrayal of the Khalsa, David Smith.
Looks at a conflict in which the large Sikh army was so poorly led that it became clear that some of the Sikh leaders had betrayed their army, allowing the British to turn a potential defeat into a clear but costly victory. Provides a good background to the war, looks at the conflicts within Sikh society and then good accounts of fiercely fought battles themselves, in which an uninspired British commander was handed victory by the even worse performance of the Sikh leadership
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The Great Bear at War – The Russian and Soviet Army 1917-Present, Chris McNab.
Looks at the emergence of the Red Army in the civil wars that followed the Bolshevik revolution, how it coped with the initial defeats in 1941 and evolved into the force that eventually captured Berlin in 1945, how that shaped the post-war army and how that armed failed in Afghanistan, then the post-Soviet decline and more recent rise of the new Russian Army. Ends before the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, but describes the army that has fought in that war, and outlines some of the potential weaknesses that have been starkly exposed in combat
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Ghost Patrol, A History of the Long Range Desert Group 1940-1945, John Sadler.
Covers the entire history of the LRDG from its formation and heyday in North Africa, and through the more difficult years where it was sometimes difficult to find a clear purpose for the group, and in which they suffered heavy losses in the Aegean and often struggled to cope with the political motivation of their partisan allies in the Balkans, but were still able to prove their value
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28 May 2023
Holocaust – The Nazis’ Wartime Jewish Atrocities, Stephen Wynn.
A good introduction to the topic, covering many of the main elements of the holocaust, including the most infamous of the camps, the Wannsee Conference and some of the German planning behind the holocaust and their attempts to cover it up. Could do with a proper summary of the subject, but otherwise serves as a good introduction to the topic, which doesn’t pull its punches and leaves us in no doubt as to what happened
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21 May 2023
H6K ‘Mavis’/ H8K ‘Emily’ vs PB4Y-1/2 Liberator/ Privateer – Pacific Theatre 1943-45, Edward M Young.
Looks at the relatively small number of clashes between American and Japanese four engined aircraft over the Pacific, which saw the US patrol aircraft shoot fifteen down H6Ks and H8Ks for no loss, part of a wider dominance of the PB4Y against Japanese bombers and patrol aircraft. The small number of clashes allows the author to look at every single example in some detail, and in every case the victory was certain, with fourteen aircraft seen to crash and the fifteenth known to have gone down in China
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Nakajima Ki-49 ‘Helen’ Units, George Eleftheriou.
Looks at the combat record of the Ki-49 Donryu, a significant Japanese army bomber in 1943-44, but one that was normally available in small numbers and suffered heavy losses in conventional operations, and had little success in kamikaze missions from the Philippines. One gets the impression of an aircraft that entered combat too late, making it very vulnerable to improved American aircraft, and after Japan had been forced onto the defensive, and thuis suffered heavily in almost all of the theatres it was used
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14 May 2023
Leyte Gulf – A New History of the World’s Largest Sea Battle, Mark E. Stille.
An excellent account of the battle of Leyte Gulf, looking at the flaws in the basic Japanese plan, the background to the battle, then covering each of the individual battles that made up the overall fight seperatly, and including the fighting around Formosa in the days before the invasion of Leyte. A good history of this massive naval battle, with good detail on the overall Japanese plan and its many flaws, the divided US command structure and the four main battles and several subsidiary battles
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Normandy 1944 – German Military Organization, Combat Power and Organizational Effectiveness, Niklas Zetterling .
Looks at the actual strength in men and equipment of the German units that fought in Normandy, how many casualties they suffered, how many reinforcements reached them, when they arrived (and which parts of the unit reached Normandy), and their fate at the end of the battle for Normandy. Also includes an examination of the impact of Allied air power, the relative combat effectiveness of the Allied and German armies and a very useful look at the different way in which their armies were organised, and how much of the combat strength was in divisions or supporting units
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Churchill - Master and Commander, Anthony Tucker-Jones.
Focuses on Churchill’s military experiences looking at his brief but adventurous career in the British Army, military experiences as a journalist (sometimes overlapping), his First World War era experiences as First Lord of the Admiralty, an active commander on the Western Front, and return to politics as Minister of Munitions, Secretary of State for War and Minister of Air, and most famously his time as Second World War Prime Minister
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7 May 2023
The Russian S-300 and S-400 Missile Systems, Steven J Zaloga.
Looks at the development and deployment of the last Soviet strategic air defence missile system, developed during the 1970s to defend Soviet cities and other high value targets, looking at how the original version was developed into longer range and more effective systems, often for the export market. A useful guide to a system that evolved through several different generations in three distinct models, for the air defence force, army and navy
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British Frigates and Escort Destroyers 1939-45, Angus Konstam.
Covers the Hunt class escort destroyers, and the River, Loch and Bay class frigates, a series of essential escorts that entered service during the Second World War, and played a major role in the Allied victory in the Battle of the Atlantic. Looks at the design process, lists all of the ships in each class with key dates, and then follows the careers of the Hunt class escort destroyer
Atherstone and River class frigate
Swale to give some idea of the activities of typical members of the class
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Early Pacific Raids 1942 – The American Carriers Strike Back, Brian Lane Herder.
Looks at the early US carrier raids, small scale attacks on isolated Japanese garrisons that came while the Japanese were conquering the Philippines, Dutch East Indies, Malaya and Burma that nevertheless improved US morale, worried the Japanese and gave the US carrier force valuable experience before the bigger battles to come later in 1942. Covers each of these relatively small raids in great detail, filling a gap in most accounts of the Pacific War
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30 April 2023
Panzer Reconnaissance, Thomas Anderson.
Combines descriptions of the various vehicles used by the reconnaissance units (bikes, armoured cars, half tracks and fully tracked) with a history of the reconnaissance units themselves, their official orders of battle, and how they actually performed in action. Gives a much broader picture of the role of these vehicles than books that focus more on the vehicles, and makes it clear that in reality units used whatever vehicles were available, rather than the neat orders of battle
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Power, Treason and Plot in Tudor England – Margaret Clitherow an Elizabethan Saint, Tony Morgan.
Looks at the tragic life of Margaret Clitherow, a Catholic convert in York who was executed for refusing to enter a plea when she was accused of sheltering Catholic priests. Covers the religious history of England from Henry VIII onwards, the increasingly harsh anti-Catholic laws introduced under Elizabeth I, the life and times of Margaret and her family, her earlier brushes with the law, and the events that led to her death. A somewhat depressing but still interesting history of a dark period of religious persecution
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Meat Grinder – The Battles for the Rzhev Salient 1942-43, Prit Buttar.
Looks at the massive battles west of Moscow in 1942 and early 1943, most of which involved unsuccessful Soviet attempts to push the Germans away from Moscow, including Operation Mars, launched alongside the counterattack at Stalingrad, and which ended as a costly Soviet defeat (only to be redeemed by the success at Stalingrad, which forced the Germans out of the salient). Includes a series of costly Soviet defeats, but also an interesting spell where an entire cavalry corps survived for five months behind German lines, and the eventual German retreat from the salient
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23 April 2023
Leuctra 371 BC – The Destruction of Spartan Dominance, Murray Dahm.
An excellent account of this crucial battle, looking at the four different accounts of the fighting in the ancient sources as well as what we know about the commanders, and the Theban plan of battle, and how that contributed to their victory, and with it the start of the rapid decline of Sparta. Especially strong on the differences between the four sources, where they can be reconciled, and where they can not, and the reasons for the differences, especially in Xenophon
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Ju 87 Stuka vs Royal Navy Carriers – Mediterranean, Robert Forsyth.
Looks at three attacks made by German Stukas on British carriers in the Mediterranean in 1942 –
Illustrious, Formidable and
Indomitable – each of which ended with the carriers damaged but not sunk. Includes interesting chapters on the training of Stuka crews and British naval anti-aircraft gunners, the design of the armoured carriers, and the impact of these battles on the naval war in the Mediterranean
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Roman Legionary vs Gallic Warrior 58-52 BC, David Campbell.
Looks at three of the key battles between Caesar’s legions and the Gauls, all of which were close fought battles that could have gone the other way, but which this book suggests were won by a combination of Caesar’s own leadership and personal courage and the professionalism of the Roman infantry, which knew what to do in a crisis without waiting for orders.
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16 April 2023
The HAWK Air Defense Missile System, Marc Romanych & Tacqueline Scott.
Looks at the standard US air defence missile system of the Cold War, tracing the repeated upgrades to the system (effectively becoming a totally different system more than once), how it was deployed by the US (but never actually fired in anger), and its actual combat record with Israel, Iran and Kuwait. An interesting technical study of the family of HAWK missile systems,
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Armies of the First Sino-Japanese War 1894-95, Gabriele Esposito.
Combines a useful account of the build-up to war and the course of the war itself, before moving on to look at the modernised Japanese army and the very varied Chinese forces that opposed them. Provides a good overview of the war that saw Imperial Japan emerge forcefully onto the world stage, and marked a stage in the decline of Qing China.
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9 April 2023
Enigma - How Breaking the Code Helped Win World War II, Michael Kerrigan.
Takes a different look at the story of Bletchley Park, focusing on how the information that came from the broken codes was used and how it affected the course of the war. Includes enough material on the code breaking to give proper context, along with accounts of the various campaigns it affected, with the positive and negative results. An interesting approach, that helps place the work of Bletchley Park more firmly in the context of the wider war, looking at both the successes and failures to use the intelligence it provided
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How Armies Grow, ed. Matthias Strohn.
Looks at how the major Western armies expanded to deal with the threat of major wars from the Revolutionary and Napoleonic to Second World Wars, looking at the contrast between the peace-time conscription based armies of Prussia/ German and France and the largely voluntary tradition in Britain and the United States. Shows how the Continental system was able to produce large armies quickly, but the Anglo-American system, if given time, could eventually match them
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Japanese Conquest of Burma 1942 – The Advance to the Gates of India, Tim Moreman.
A look at the Japanese conquest of Burma, a campaign that lasted for five and a half months, most of which saw the British retreating, and which saw experienced Japanese soldiers repeatedly defeat inexperienced British, Indian and Burmese troops and eventually overcome experienced Chinese troops in central Burma. An excellent account of this impressive Japanese victory, which completed their conquest of the British Empire east of India, with good material on the Chinese contribution to the campaign
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2 April 2023
F6F Hellcat – Philippines 1944, Edward M. Young.
Looks at the massive air battles fought by the F6F over the Philippines, first against conventional opposition and later against the Kamikaze. Covers the background to the campaign, the development of the F6F, the status of the rival air forces at the end of 1944, how the US fighter pilots were trained (impressively) and finishes with a look at the combat itself, giving the book a nice balance between background information and the combat accounts
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F2H Banshee Units, Richard R Burgess.
Looks at the career of one of the US Navy’s first generation jets of the 1950s, which saw brief combat as a fighter and fighter-bomber in Korea, and longer use as a photo-reconnaissance aircraft, as well as becoming the Navy’s first tactical nuclear bomber, briefly a night fighter (in rather small numbers) and serving with the Canadian air force
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26 March 2023
The D-Day Training Pocket Manual 1944, ed. Chris McNab.
A useful selection of official British and American publications that helped establish the doctrine and plans used on D-Day. Covers a wide range of topics, from plans for naval and air support to how to consolidate the beachhead, as well as the intelligence available about the nature of German beach defences
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Elizabeth’s Navy – Seventy Years of the Postwar Royal Navy, Paul Brown.
Traces the evolution of the Royal Navy during the reign of Queen Elizabeth II, taking it from the huge post-war Navy of 1952 to the tiny fleet of today, dominated by the two largest warships ever built for the Royal Navy. Each chapter begins with a history of that decade, including any naval conflicts (mainly the tail end of Korea and the Falklands War) and how it affected the Navy, then moves on to a series of photographs of sample ships of that period with captions normally describing their fate
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19 March 2023
The Phantom Vietnam War – An F-4 Pilot’s Combat over Laos, David R. ‘Buff’ Honodel.
The Vietnam memoirs of David R ‘Buff’ Honodel, who served as an F-4 fighter-bomber pilot operating mainly over Laos from a US base in Thailand, often attacking the Ho Chi Minh Trail at its least vulnerable stage. Gives us a very atmospheric account of life as a front line pilot fighting a war that didn’t officially exist, the perils of front line service and the impact of the changing attitude to the war back in the US
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The Trafalgar Chronicle New Series 4.
Twenty one articles on Nelson’s Navy, with a focus on individuals who had some connection to Nelson (ranging from serving with him, to having seen him at a distance!), as well as articles on topics ranging from early North American ports to hot air balloons or the role of Women in London’s sailortown. Covers a wide range of people, from American privateers to the longest serving officer in the history of the Royal Navy
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12 March 2023
Under the Southern Cross – The South Pacific Air Campaign against Rabaul, Thomas McKelvey Cleaver.
Looks at the Allied air campaign that helped neutralise the major Japanese base at Rabaul without a costly invasion, tracing the growth of Allied air power in the South Pacific from the desperate days on Guadalcanal to a position where the Allies had clear air superiority and were able to subject Rabaul to weeks of near constant attack, eventually forcing the Japanese to withdraw their last aircraft from the base, but not until they had attempted to use their elite carrier aviators to defeat the Allied attacks, thus reducing the effectiveness of their aircraft carriers for the rest of the war
(Read Full Review)
5 March 2023
Imperium: Classics .
A very entertaining asymmetrical deck building card game for up to four players (with a solo option), with sixteen factions between the two versions of the game. Each has a power card which gives that faction special play and scoring rules, and a set of unique cards which mean each play differently – in some cases very differently! Easier to play than explain, and with a well thought out solo play ‘mode’ that is entertaining in its own right. This is the Classics edition, with generally easier to master factions with less dramatic differences between them.
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Imperium: Legends .
A very entertaining asymmetrical deck building card game for up to four players (with a solo option), with sixteen factions between the two versions of the game. Each has a power card which gives that faction special play and scoring rules, and a set of unique cards which mean each play differently – in some cases very differently! Easier to play than explain, and with a well thought out solo play ‘mode’ that is entertaining in its own right. This is the Legends edition, with harder to master factions, including some with rules that are very different from the standard
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The Reign of Emperor Gallienus – The Apogee of Roman Cavalry, Ilkka Syvanne.
Looks at the fifteen year reign of Gallienus, a period that saw his father become the First Roman Emperor to become a prisoner of war, the Roman Empire effectively split into three and come under near constant attack from outside, and an impressive series of usurpers emerge in the areas still ruled by Gallienus. Combines something of a bias towards Gallienus with an excellent analysis of the often confusing and contradictory sources which allows the reader to make up their own mind about the author’s own views
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Bitter Peleliu, Joseph Wheelan.
This book looks at the long and brutal battle for Peleliu, a small but mountainous island attacked by the Americans because its airfield posed a potential threat to the forces about to invade the Philippines. The battle wasn’t expected to last for long, but the Americans had poor intelligence on the geography of the island, and also faced a new Japanese defensive strategy and a bitter struggle in the limestone ridges of the island followed
(Read Full Review)
26 February 2023
The Aviation Pioneers of McCook Field, Jerry Koszyk.
A series of interviews with the people who worked at McCook Field when it was the centre of US Army aviation research in the early 1920s, carrying out pioneering work across a range of subjects from the parachute and improving engines to high altitude and long distance flights, often at great risk to the test pilots. A fascinating series of insights into the often dangerous world of these early aviation pioneers, who helped turning flying from a risky venture into a daily part of life
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Brotherhood of the Flying Coffin – The Glider Pilots of World War II, Scott McGaugh.
Looks at the history of the US glider force, from its formation in 1941, through the years of development and training, to the relatively limited in number but costly combat engagements at Sicily, Normandy, the south of France, Bastogne, Market-Garden the crossing of the Rhine. Combines a history of the glider force with eyewitness accounts from the pilots who actually took part in these daring missions. The result is a grim picture of the life of the glider pilot and the risks they endured
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Combat Divers – An Illustrated History of Special Forces Divers, Michael G. Welham.
After a brief history of the early combat diver focuses on the modern Special Forces diver, looking at what we know about the various units around the world, how they are trained and what little we know about their deployments, before moving on to look at the technology they use, from the standard diving suit to mini-submarines and on to modern underwater drones. A difficult task because of the secrecy that surrounds all of these forces, but the author has done a good job
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19 February 2023
SU-152/ ISU-152 vs Tiger – Eastern Front 1943-45, David Greentree.
Looks at the clashes between the German Tiger I and Soviet SU-152/ ISU-152 heavy self propelled guns, most common between mid 1943 and the end of 1944. Covers the development and technical specifications of both weapons, the training of their crews, before moving onto a large number of fairly short accounts of clashes that involved both weapons, and for which we have accounts from both sides
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Caesar’s Civil War 49-44 BC, Adrian Goldsworthy.
A good history of the civil wars that ended the Roman Republic, tracing the decline of the Republic, the pressures that led Caesar to risk a civil war, the campaign itself as the fighting moved from Italy to Spain, Greece, Egypt, Pontus, Africa and back to Spain again, and follow events on to the eventual victory of Octavian and the true death of the Republic. Has a good balance between campaign and battle accounts and the political side of the conflict, as well as acknowledging the limits of our knowledge of Caesar’s true motives and intentions
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US Attack Aviation, R.G. Head.
A history of US light attack aircraft looking at their development, combat roles, the differences between the USAAF/ USAF and Navy attitudes to the attack role, with an especially big section devoted to the development of the joint Air Force/ Navy A-7. Could do with more on the Second World War, but otherwise good, with interesting insights into how the two US services approach the attack role and how that impacts on the aircraft they have purchased over the years
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12 February 2023
McDonnell XP-67 Moonbat – Steve Richardson and Peggy Mason.
Looks at McDonnell’s first fighter aircraft, the radical twin engine XP-67, which featured extensive blending between fuselage, wing and engine nacelle. We trace the development of the design and look at the test flights carried out by the single prototype in great detail. The result is a detailed picture of a potentially promising design let down by its reliance on a new engine that never entered production, and which would have been very difficult to replace with a larger engine because of the blending that made the aircraft interesting in the first place
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Tanks in the Battle of Germany 1945 – Western Front, Steven J. Zaloga.
Looks at armoured warfare on the Western Front in 1945, focusing on the statistical and technical side of things – how many tanks were present on each side, how did they compare to each other, how were they organised, how many were lost and to what causes. Gives a good overview of the nature of armoured warfare in the west in 1945, and in particular demonstrates just how badly the Germans had been defeated by the end of 1944 and how little armour they still had in the west during 1945
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F-86A Sabre - Korea 1950-51, Peter E. Davies.
Looks at the role of the F-86 Sabre in Korea, and in particular its battles against the MiG-15s of the Soviet, Chinese and North Korean air forces. Good material on how the two types of aircraft reached Korea, how their units were organised, how their pilots were trained and operated, and how the two types performed in combat
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5 February 2023
Chobham Armour, William Suttie.
A study of all the post-war armoured vehicles developed at the Army’s centre for military vehicle design at Chobham Common, covering main battle tanks from the Centurion to Challenger II and a wide range of light and medium tracked and wheeled armoured vehicles. Well written and lavishly illustrated, this is an excellent guide to the mainly successful military vehicles designed at Chobham
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29 January 2023
Me 262 – Northwest Europe 1944-45, Robert Forsyth.
Looks at the brief combat carrier of the Me 262, the only jet fighter to see combat during the Second World War, when it outpaced every Allied aircraft it faced, and when things went well could inflict serious damage on individual bomber formations. However as this book demonstrates it arrived too late, there were never enough of them, and too many were lost to non-combat reasons
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The Last Viking, Don Hollway.
A dramatic telling of the story of Harald Hardrada, making extensive use of later saga sources to fill out the details of an otherwise relatively poorly documented life. May as a result sometimes include material from the sagas that isn’t documented elsewhere, but does make for a more satisfying biography
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22 January 2023
Cromwell against the Scots – The Last Anglo-Scottish Wars 1650-1652 (revised edition), John D Grainger.
Looks at the war between the former civil war allies, triggered by English fears of a possible Scottish invasion after the Scots accepted Charles II as their king, and which saw Cromwell invade and conquer much of Scotland before the Scots carried out a fairly desperate invasion of England in the hope of attracting Royalist support before being overwhelmed at Worcester. Looks at the political debates in both countries, the skilfully conducted (by both sides) campaign in Scotland, and the final desperate Scottish/ Royalist invasion of England
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Dark Waters, Starry Skies – The Guadalcanal-Solomons Campaign, March-October 1943, Jeffrey R. Cox.
Looks at the fighting in the Solomons from the tail end of the Guadalcanal campaign to the end of the invasion of New George, along with the connected fighting on New Guinea and the naval and air campaigns associated with those campaigns. This was a period when the naval war was finally balanced, with the Americans in control in daylight and the Japanese at night, with both sides able to inflict heavy blows on the other, but against a background of growing American power and a series of Japanese setbacks
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15 January 2023
Eben-Emael and the Defence of Fortress Belgium 1940, Clayton Donnell.
Looks at the role of the Belgian forts in the campaign of 1940, going beyond the famous fall of Fort Eben-Emael to look at how the remaining forts were able to hold out for much longer than this would leave you to expect, with several fighting on for more than two weeks, despite lacking the infantry support they were meant to rely on. A very atmospheric account of what it was like to be under siege in these isolated fortresses, as the front line moved further away from them
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Roman Conquests – Mesopotamia and Arabia, Lee Fratantuono.
Looks at the Roman involvement in Arabia and Mesopotamia, two areas that were never fully conquered and that saw some of Rome’s worst defeats during attempts to conquer Parthia and wars with Persia as well as the establishment of provinces of Arabia and Mespotamia in the western part of those areas. An interesting look at Rome’s one border with a power of equal standing and military power
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Landing Craft & Amphibians – Seaborne Vessels in the 20th Century, Ben Skipper.
Covers a very large topic in a fairly short space, looking at everything from the smallest Infantry landing craft through to the massive Landing Ship Tanks, over a period stretching from Gallipoli, through the Second World War to the end of the 20th Century. As a result each type of vessel only gets a small space, but we do get a good overview of the massive range of landing craft and amphibians produced over the last century, and in particular the huge variant of such craft produced on all sides during the Second World War
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1 January 2023
Warship 2022 – ed John Jordan.
An interesting collection of high quality articles on topics that vary from the gunboats of Imperial Germany to the massive ‘super-battleship’ designs produced in the Soviet Union in 1939-41, covering a time period from the nineteenth century to the present day. A good selection of high quality articles, many of which could easily be turned into a stand-alone Osprey
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