On December 7, 1941, Japanese fighter planes appeared from the clouds above Pearl Harbor and fundamentally changed the course of history; with this one surprise attack, the previously isolationist America was irrevocably thrown into the fray and World War II had begun in earnest.
This definitive history reveals each of the major battles that America would fight in the ensuing struggle against Imperial Japan, from the naval clashes at Midway and Coral Sea to the desperate, bloody fighting on Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Each chapter reveals both the horrors of the battle and the Allies' grim...
On December 7, 1941, Japanese fighter planes appeared from the clouds above Pearl Harbor and fundamentally changed the course of history; with this...
This is the definitive history of the evolution of the feared German Panzerwaffe, from its earliest beginings to the height of its success. With rare and revealing combat reports and photographs sourced from previously unseen private and archival collections, it uncovers the technical and operational stories of the formidable armored beasts that formed the backbone of the German war machine--tanks such as the Panzer I, II and 38(t).
The Germans transformed armored warfare from a lumbering and ponderous experiment in World War I, into something that could decide the outcome of...
This is the definitive history of the evolution of the feared German Panzerwaffe, from its earliest beginings to the height of its success. With ra...
The Eastern Front of World War II was a nightmarish episode of human history, on a scale the like of which the world had never seen, and most likely never will see again. This expansive collection of maps offers a visual guide to the theater that decided the fate of the war, spanning the thousands of miles from Berlin to the outskirts of Moscow, Stalingrad, East Prussia and all the way back. The accuracy and detail of the military cartography found in this volume illuminates the enormity of the campaign, revealing the staggering dimensions of distance covered and human losses suffered by both...
The Eastern Front of World War II was a nightmarish episode of human history, on a scale the like of which the world had never seen, and most likely n...
Few events have ever shaken a country in the way that the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor affected the United States. After the devastating attack, Japanese forces continued to overwhelm the Allies, attacking Malaya with its fortress of Singapore, and taking resource-rich islands in the Pacific - Borneo, Sumatra, and Java - in their own blitzkrieg offensive. Allied losses in these early months after America's entry into the war were great, and among the most devastating were those suffered during the Java Sea Campaign, where a small group of Americans, British, Dutch, and Australians were...
Few events have ever shaken a country in the way that the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor affected the United States. After the devastating attack, Ja...
Hitler called Norway the "Zone of Destiny" for Nazi Germany because convoys from Churchill's Britain and Roosevelt's United States supplied Stalin's Soviet Russia with critical equipment and foodstuffs during the darkest days of the German invasion. The words "Murmansk Run" conjure visions of ice-laden ships and thoughts of freezing to death in seconds. For five long years, thousands of men and women fought ferociously in the coldest corner of hell on earth. Some fought for survival, some struggled to help others survive, and some sought to crush their enemies. If man-made death didn't...
Hitler called Norway the "Zone of Destiny" for Nazi Germany because convoys from Churchill's Britain and Roosevelt's United States supplied Stalin'...
From its early beginnings in World War II, the Special Air Service (SAS) has won renown for some of the most dramatic, dangerous, and controversial special operations of the 20th century. It is a secretive and mysterious unit, whose operations and internal structures are hidden from the public eye. Now, one of its longest-serving veterans offers a glimpse inside its shadowy world. Rusty Firmin spent 15 years with 'The Regiment' and was a key figure in the Iranian Embassy siege in May 1980, the planned attack on Argentina during the Falklands War, and the secret conflict between the SAS and...
From its early beginnings in World War II, the Special Air Service (SAS) has won renown for some of the most dramatic, dangerous, and controversial sp...
The Special Boat Squadron was Britain's most exclusive Special Forces unit during World War II. Highly trained, totally secretive, and utterly ruthless, the SBS was established as an entity in its own right in early 1943, having previously operated under the auspices of the SAS during the war in North Africa. Unlike its sister unit, which numbered more than one thousand men, the SBS never comprised more than one hundred. Led by men such as the famed Victoria Cross recipient Anders Lassen, the SBS went from island to island in the Mediterranean, landing in the dead of night in small fishing...
The Special Boat Squadron was Britain's most exclusive Special Forces unit during World War II. Highly trained, totally secretive, and utterly ruth...
When British soldiers charged across the Somme in September 1916, they were accompanied by a new, revolutionary weapon--the tank. After a stuttering start, armored behemoths such as the Mark IV, Mark V, and Whippet Tank played a crucial role in bringing World War I to an end.
Marking the centenary of their battlefield debut, this comprehensive volume traces the design and development of the famous British weapon system, from the initial concept of a steam-powered tank during the Crimean War, to the role the British military played in creating the infamous German Blitzkrieg tactic of...
When British soldiers charged across the Somme in September 1916, they were accompanied by a new, revolutionary weapon--the tank. After a stutterin...
For beauty, precision and strength, nothing has ever matched the combination of form and function found in the armour of the samurai. For a samurai, the consummate warrior, his suit of armour was so much more than 'just' protective equipment that could save his life in the heat of battle--it was the embodiment of his personality, social status and very soul.
This volume, the first in a two-part series on the armour of the samurai, traces first the history of the samurai themselves and then examines the history and evolution of the cuirass or dou, the armour protecting the...
For beauty, precision and strength, nothing has ever matched the combination of form and function found in the armour of the samurai. For a samurai...
The history of the Vikings is bloody and eventful, and Viking warriors continue to capture the popular imagination to this day. They made history, establishing the dukedom of Normandy, providing the Byzantine Emperors' bodyguard, and landing on the shores of America 500 years before Columbus.
Beautifully illustrated with color photographs and original Osprey artwork, this book presents a new window into their way of life including detailed studies of the Hersir, the raiding warrior of the Viking world, and the legendary Viking longship.
The history of the Vikings is bloody and eventful, and Viking warriors continue to capture the popular imagination to this day. They made history, ...
