The Roman Empire was not only built by the strength of the legions but also by a Navy that was the most powerful maritime force ever to have existed. It was only the existence of the fleet that secured the trade routes and maintained the communications within the huge Empire. At the height of its power the Roman Navy employed tens of thousands of sailors, marines and craftsmen, coming from every corner of the three continents under the rule of the Caesars.
This book reveals the design and development history of Rome's naval force at the height of its Imperial Power. As well as...

The period from the 12th century onward saw vast changes in every aspect of life on both the Greek mainland and islands, as monarchies disappeared to be replaced by aristocratic rule and finally by the development of a new form of community: the city-state.

Alongside these changes, a new style of warfare developed, which was to be the determining factor in land warfare in Greece, until the 338 BC defeat of the Greek city-state, by the might of Macedonia at Chaeronea. This mode of warfare was based on a group of heavily armed infantrymen organized in a phalanx formation--the classic...

Internationally renowned samurai expert Dr. Stephen Turnbull delves into a pivotal era of Japanese history in this highly illustrated account of the Gempei War, a conflict that defined the age and the ethos of the samurai.

Never before had there been a large-scale clash between two rival samurai families, the Taira and the Minamoto, and never again would the result of a war in Japan be quite so dramatic. Fought to gain control over the emperor, it would end with imperial power being totally eclipsed in favor of the military might of the samurai class and the establishment of the...