Once predicted to be 'the Middle East of the Year 2000', Central America and the Caribbean have long been a powder keg of revolutionary activity and guerilla warfare. The United States, with important strategic and economic interests in the region, has traditionally opted for a military solution toward the political upheaval, developing a range of responses, from direct military intervention to the training of tens of thousands of Latin-American soldiers in anti-guerilla warfare techniques. This text, enhanced by colour plates and numerous photographs, examines the history of the Central...

Osprey's survey of the Blue Division soldiers of World War II (1939-1945). The all-volunteer 'Blue Division' was a formation that allowed Franco's technically neutral Spain to support Nazi Germany's invasion of Russia. Following initial training in Germany, the Blue Division's units were sent to the Eastern Front in August 1941, where, after a 40-day march to the front, the Division fought in several major battles including Leningrad. In 1943, with the tide turning against the Axis forces in Russia, the Division was ordered to be withdrawn, yet many men chose to stay on and serve with the...