In The Conquest of the Sahara, Douglas Porch tells the story of France's struggle to explore and dominate the great African desert at the turn of the century. Focusing on the conquest of the Ahaggar Tuareg, a Berber people living in a mountain area in central Sahara, he goes on to describe the bizarre exploits of the desert's explorers and conquerors and the incompetence of the French military establishment. Porch summons up a world of oases, desert forts and cafes where customers paid the dancer by licking a one-franc piece and sticking it on her forehead.
The Conquest of...
In The Conquest of the Sahara, Douglas Porch tells the story of France's struggle to explore and dominate the great African desert at the tu...
The Conquest of Morocco tells the story of France's last great colonial adventure. At the turn of the twentieth century, Morocco was a nation yet to emerge from the Middle Ages, ruled by local warlords and riven by religious fanaticism. But in the mad scramble for African colonies, Morocco had one great attraction for the Europeans: it was available. In 1903, France undertook to conquer the exotic and backward country. By the time World War I broke out the conquest was virtually complete.
Based on extensive original research, The Conquest of Morocco is a splendid work...
The Conquest of Morocco tells the story of France's last great colonial adventure. At the turn of the twentieth century, Morocco was a natio...
Originally published in 1896, Small Wars is an ambitious attempt to analyze and draw lessons from Western experience in fighting campaigns of imperial conquest. The quality of C. E. Callwell s analysis, the sweep of his knowledge, and his ability to integrate information from an impressive variety of experiences resulted in Small War s reputation as a minor classic.
For the historian, Small Wars remains a useful and vital analysis of irregular warfare experiences ranging from Hoche s suppression of the Vendee revolt during the French Revolution, to the British wars against...
Originally published in 1896, Small Wars is an ambitious attempt to analyze and draw lessons from Western experience in fighting campaigns of i...
A groundbreaking work of research, The French Secret Service tells the dramatic, untold story of the transition of France's spy networks and "black chambers" of the ancien regime and Napolean into modern intelligence services. Ranging from diplomatic and military intelligence to covert operations and industrial espionage, Porch's book explains the sometimes bizzare operations of French intelligence in the context of France's divided political culture and of her self-image as a world power.
"An authoritative analysis of the complex role of intelligence services in modern...
A groundbreaking work of research, The French Secret Service tells the dramatic, untold story of the transition of France's spy networks an...
The Mediterranean theater in World War II has long been overlooked by historians who believe it was little more than a string of small-scale battles--sideshows that were of minor importance in a war whose outcome was decided in the clashes of mammoth tank armies in northern Europe. But in this ground-breaking new book, one of our finest military historians argues that the Mediterranean was World War II's pivotal theater.
Douglas Porch examines the Mediterranean as an integrated arena, one in which events in Syria and Suez influenced the survival of Gibraltar. Without a Mediterranean...
The Mediterranean theater in World War II has long been overlooked by historians who believe it was little more than a string of small-scale battle...
The relationship between the French army and the regime provides one of the central themes in the history of the Third Republic. From its foundation in 1870, the republic sought to integrate the army of Louis-Napoleon into a left-leaning, democratic political system. This experiment failed, historians have argued, because the social origins, political attitudes and professional values of the officer corps sabotaged cooperation with the republic. The nation paid a bloody price for this failure on the battlefields of the Great War. Dr Porch's book challenges many standard assumptions about the...
The relationship between the French army and the regime provides one of the central themes in the history of the Third Republic. From its foundation i...
