The period 1642-1651, one of the most turbulent in the history of mainland Britian, saw the country torn by civil wars. Focusing on the English and Welsh wars this book examines the causes, course and consequences of the conflicts. While offering a concise military account that assesses the wars in their national, regional and local contexts, Dr Gaunt provides a full appraisal of the severity of the wars and the true extent of the impact on civilian life, highlighting areas of continued historical debate. The personal experiences and biographies of key players are also included in this...

A study of the Russo-Japanese War. It explains the background and outbreak of the war, then follows the course of the fighting at Yalu River, Sha-ho, and finally Mukden, the largest battle anywhere before World War I. It also demonstrates how Japan emerged from this conflict as a Great Power.

The Zulu War of 1879 remains one of the best known British colonial wars and included two battles whose names reverberate through history. At Isandlwana the Zulus inflicted a crushing defeat on the British; the gallant British defence at Rorke's Drift followed and re-established British prestige. Yet as this book shows, there was more to the war than this. Six months of brutal fighting followed, until the Zulu kingdom was broken up, its king imprisoned and the whole structure of the Zulu state destroyed. Years of internecine strife followed, until the British finally annexed Zululand as a...

The Anglo-Irish War has often been referred to as the war 'the English have struggled to forget and the Irish cannot help but remember'. Before 1919, the issue of Irish Home Rule lurked beneath the surface of Anglo-Irish relations for many years, but after the Great War, tensions rose up and boiled over. Irish Nationalists in the shape of Sinn Fein and the IRA took political power in 1919 with a manifesto to claim Ireland back from an English 'foreign' government by whatever means necessary. This book explores the conflict and the years that preceded it, examining such historic events as the...

In 1914 a series of complicated and tragic events saw Russia and Germany embark on a war that was to engulf the whole of Europe and be labelled by history as World War I. A tangle of international treaties that bound the major powers meant that, once started, widespread conflict was inevitable and on the largest and most costly scale yet seen by a modern Europe. For Russia, humiliated by defeat after defeat, the price was too high. Civic unrest forced the abdication of the Tsar and paved the way for the Bolsheviks to seize power. This is a concise guide to a complicated chapter in World War I...

The third in four volumes providing a complete history of the Napoleonic wars. This title covers the long-drawn-out campaigns of the Spanish peninsula. It introduces Wellington to the action, shows the British army at its moment of glory and details the battles of Salamanca and Vittoria.

One of six volumes on World War II, this work explores events in Europe between 1939 and 1943. It provides background to the opening of the war, presents an account of Germany's blitzkrieg attacks and initial successes, and tells how the Allies began to fight back on land, sea, and in the air.