It is generally assumed that the military reforms which propelled Russia into the modern world were due solely to the genius of Peter the Great. In fact, his reforms were built upon changes that had taken place during the previous 200 years, since the creation in 1550 of Russia's first full-time military force (the streltsi) by Ivan IV the Terrible. This account traces Russia's armies from that beginning, through the creation of paid regular regiments from1630, up to the reign of Peter the Great. It is illustrated with rare early drawings, photos of surviving artifacts, and dazzling colour...

The most exotic of all the troops of Napoleon's Imperial Guard were undoubtedly the Mamelukes - the bodyguard of Oriental cavalry which followed him home after the Egyptian expedition of 1798-1801, and remained with his Mounted Chasseurs regiment throughout the First Empire. For the first time in English, this book tells the Mamelukes' story, from Austerlitz (1805) to Waterloo (1815). Quoting from the original nominal rolls and battle casualty returns, the author brings individual members of this extraordinary unit to life. His text is illustrated with rare early engravings and paintings, and...

Napoleon's last 'Campaign of France' in 1814 proved to be one of his most brilliant during the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815). He relied as never before on committing his elite Imperial Guard cavalry to battle. He raised three new regiments of crack Eclaireurs - 'Scouts' - which were attached to the Guard Mounted Grenadiers, Empress's Dragoons and Polish Lancers respectively which would counterattack the Cossacks and gather vital information. Each regiment had its own style of uniform, but part of each was armed with lances. Although they were short-lived, these Scout units greatly distinguished...

The common image of the Confederate Army during the Civil War (1861-1865) is dominated by a limited number of early photographs of officers and men wearing the gray and butternut associated with the CS regulations and quartermaster issues. This sequence of books examines a much wider field: the original uniforms of the state militia and volunteer companies brought together to form the Confederate field armies, and the continuing efforts to clothe troops as wear-and-tear gradually reduced the originally wide range of uniforms. A mass of information from contemporary documents is illustrated...

The 'Confrontation' between Malaysia and Indonesia in Bornew (January 20, 2006), the war against Indonesian raids across a 900-mile border in some of the world's worst jungle terrain, eventually involved nearly 20,000 British and Commonwealth troops, with air and naval support; and yet, by mutual consent, it was astonishingly little reported at the time. This 'secret war' saw the perfection of SAS jungle tactics; a Parachute Regiment action described as 'a second Rorke's Drift'; and audacious secret missions deep inside enemy territory, including the award to a Gurkha soldier of the British...

The spearhead of Japan's assault landing operations both in China pre-Pearl Harbor, and in US and British territory post-Pearl Harbor, was provided by the Special Naval Landing Forces - 12 numbered battalion-size Imperial Japanese Navy units. They garrisoned a number of the islands which the US Marines then had to re-claim in some of the bloodiest battles of the Pacific War of World War II (1939-1945). These included the infamous battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. This book provides a comprehensive treatment of the elite force which has never before been examined in such detail in English,...

At the time of the Second Empire, under Napoleon III, the French army, elevated from tactful obscurity, was re-modelled on Napoleonic lines. This army first fought in the Crimea, and then against Austria. Later, In Mexico, they had a disastrous adventure while in Europe Prussia was fast emerging as a challenge to France's military pre-eminence. Together with Austria, Bismarck first crushed Denmark before turning on Austria herself. The victory at Sadowa in 1866 stunned Europe, and in Paris Napoleon and his advisers set to thinking of a way to counter this new threat. In this first of two...

By the 11th century the French King had lost control of border regions, while local warfare had grown alarmingly frequent. In fact the energies of the French military elite were now focused on petty internal squabbles and external adventures like the Norman conquest of England. Nevertheless, the population and economy both expanded, although it was not until the 12th century that the crown rebuilt its power-base. Despite its slow start when compared with neighbours like England, the Kingdom of France had, by the 13th century, risen to become the most powerful state in Western Europe. This...

The capitulation of Napoleon and his army at Sedan in September 1870 shook Paris to its foundations. The Second Empire was swept from power, and a Government of National Defence hastily put in its place. To replace the weakened professional army the French called for a 'war of the people'. A companion volume to Men-at-Arms 233: The French Army 1870-71 Franco-Prussian War (1) Imperial Troops, this book covers the forces that participated in the second half of the campaign, including the regular army, l' Armee d' Afrique, la Garde Mobile, la Garde Nationale and the naval forces. The text is...