Kategoria BISAC: History >> Military - General

In the summer of 1968 as killing and starvation escalated in Biafra in a war that used famine as a weapon, the West African conflict attracted media attention and U.S. officials felt strong domestic pressure to expand American involvement in Nigeria's civil war. The official U.S. policy of neutrality eventually encompassed an activist policy of humanitarian assistance for Biafra. Joseph E. Thompson's comprehensive study describes the events and decisions that led to increased American involvement in the Nigeria/Biafra War of 1966-1970--a complex period during which the U.S. was attempting...

This in-depth work demonstrates that ancient battles rivaled those of the modern period in size, complexity, and lethality. The organization of armies of the ancient world, their performance, their military operations, and their ability to raise the art of warfare to towering heights are the focus of this carefully documented volume. An examination is made of all the major military establishments of the Bronze and Iron Ages. Pertinent evidence is gathered from a number of disciplines and integrated into a coherent whole. Corroborative evidence is drawn from modern analysis when accepting...

How did the French Resistance and Allied forces work together to liberate southern France from the Germans during World War II? Arthur Funk gives the first detailed account of the complex British, French, and American operations in 1944, an account that uses a wealth of original source material on both sides of the Atlantic to evaluate the role of the French Resistance and to assess the problems in coordinating Allied military activities. The study should be of great interest to historians, history buffs, and colleges and universities that wish to fill this gap in the historiography of...

This is the most comprehensive bibliography of the Spanish Armada of 1588 in recent years and the only up-to-date reference which provides a critical assessment of important source materials and an annotated bibliography of all genres of literature in Western languages. Eugene Rasor describes 1114 titles and is the first to assess the vast collection of writings that have accompanied the recent 400th anniversary of the Armada campaign. Cross-references from the narrative to bibliographical entries and a full index make the guide easy for researchers at all levels to use in their study of...

One of the hallmarks of the Soviet system was its heavy reliance on internal and foreign security and intelligence organizations. Not surprisingly, given the secrecy surrounding Soviet efforts in these areas, no biographical reference tools and few bibliographies have been published to date. In this context, Michael Parrish's work is a unique undertaking. In the first section to the volume, biographies are provided on some 4,000 officials in senior and mid-level positions who had served in Cheka, NKVD/RFSFR, GPU, KGB, and other organizations. Also included are officials of the Committee...

Making offical history from all over the world accessible, this volume and its companion complement and bring Robin Higham's 1970 classic work, "Official Histories" up to date. Each chapter, written by staff of the relevant historical office, gives both historiographical background and information on the volumes published by that office. Covering Europe, Russia, Africa, the Middle East, and India, this volume provides a plethora of information, as does the companion volume on the Western Hemisphere and the Pacific Rim.

Buried in official history volumes is a lot of fine and useful...

China's long-term maritime history has been overlooked by the scholarly community, so much so that there is a misconception that the Chinese were sea- or ocean-phobic. This image has been promoted rather deliberately because a sailing-aversive China would fit in well with the non-capitalist development framework. This study shows that from 2100 B.C. to A.D. 1900, the Chinese were as enthusiastic about and capable of seagoing activities as other peoples. Evidence shows that economic interests provided Chinese sailing-related activities with a lasting impetus, and the private sector played a...

Covering the transition from the Cold War to an uncertain post-Cold War era, this volume shows policy makers and political leaders grappling with the loss of a paradigm that provided intellectual stability for 50 years. It examines changes in the security landscape, institutions, weapons, and U.S. military actions. The volume includes U.S. government documents from 1987 to 1994 covering national security institutions, changing visions of the international security landscape, post-Cold War East-West relations, nuclear strategy and arms control, and U.S. involvement in Central America, the...

The first biography of one of George Washington's most able and controversial generals examines the military career of William Maxwell from British army commissary to commander of the New Jersey Continental troops in major northern battles and campaigns and numerous confrontations with British incursionary forces into New Jersey. As Washington's first commander of the light infantry troops, Maxwell had crucial roles in the battles of Cooch's Bridge (Iron Hill), Brandywine, Germantown, Monmouth, and Springfield, and led the New Jersey brigade in the Sullivan Indian expedition. Maxwell and...

The English/British have always been known as the sailor race with hearts of oak: the Royal Navy as the Senior Service and First Line of Defense. It facilitated the motto: The sun never set on the British Empire. The Royal Navy has exerted a powerful influence on Great Britain, its Empire, Europe, and, ultimately, the world. This superior annotated bibliography supplies entries that explore the influence of the English/British Navy through its history.

This survey will provide a major reference guide for students and scholars at all levels. It incorporates evaluative, qualitative, and...

Leonard provides the first comprehensive history of the Red Army's Intelligence Directorate, known today as the GRU, from its inception during the Russian Civil War up to the rise of Nazi Germany in 1933. During these early years of Soviet Army intelligence, the GRU actively promoted Communism internationally through insurrection and partisan warfare. It became deeply involved in espionage in Western Europe, the United States, and Asia.

Making extensive use of primary sources, many of which have only recently become available, Leonard completes a story that has until now been...

Gabriel expands upon the groundbreaking work of B. H. Lidell-Hart's Great Captains by offering detailed portraits of six great captains of the ancient world who met the challenges of their age and shaped the future of their societies, and civilization itself, through their actions. He analyzes the lives of Thutmose III of Egypt, Sargon II of Assyria, Philip II of Macedon, Hannibal of Carthage, Scipio Africanus of Republican Rome, and Caesar Augustus of Imperial Rome for the lessons contemporary leaders, particularly military leaders, can learn.

While all were great...

This selected bibliography on modern European fortifications, from 1850 to 1950, provides a selection of the most important books and articles written on this topic. The work covers regions and countries and includes many sources on such popular topics such as the Maginot Line along with lesser known fortifications such as the Salpa Line and the Swiss National Redoubt. References for the fortifications that appear cover everything from the Iberian Peninsula to the Soviet Union and from Scandinavia to the Mediterranean countries.

This work includes not only American and English, but also...

Kaufman examines the training and status of British military surgeons during the late 18th and 19th centuries. Their management of the sick and wounded during the wars with France leading up to and including the Peninsular War is also described. He concludes with an analysis of the medical problems associated with the Crimean War.

Using important contemporary texts, Kaufman describes the personalities who served in the British Army Medical Department during the late 18th and 19th centuries, when diseases caused a much higher mortality than injuries sustained in battle. Many military...

The French Revolution remains one of the crucial events of modern European and world history. The changes wrought in French society, politics, and the church have been commemorated and debated for more than 200 years. This book introduces students to the French Revolution through an historical and cultural overview, as well as the contextual framing of primary documents of ordinary people's experiences in the dramatic conflicts of 1789-1799. Most of the documents are first translations into English for a North American audience.

While a majority of sources on the French...

This lively, firsthand account of an army trapped in a hostile land, cut off from reinforcement and facing powerful enemies, is offered in English for the first time. As an active artillery officer, Jean-Pierre Doguereau was present at most of the major battles and sieges of the campaign. He suffered the hardships and disappointments and experienced the triumphs and hopes of the courageous, but ultimately doomed, Army of the Orient. While essentially the account of a professional soldier, the journal also details Doguereau's wonder and reflections on the invaded country and its people, so...

This is the story of the evolution of the citizen army throughout Western nations during the nineteenth century and up through World War I. The French Revolution had brought to Europe the concept of military service as a citizen responsibility. Until then, armies and navies had been the province of the upper classes and of mercenaries, with authoritarian governments firmly in place that held little connection to the common person. As more democratic and republican governments developed during the 1800s, military service became not only a citizen's obligation, but for many, an honor. By the...

Once warfare became established in ancient civilizations, it's hard to find any other social institution that developed as quickly. In less than a thousand years, humans brought forth the sword, sling, dagger, mace, bronze and copper weapons, and fortified towns. The next thousand years saw the emergence of iron weapons, the chariot, the standing professional army, military academies, general staffs, military training, permanent arms industries, written texts on tactics, military procurement, logistics systems, conscription, and military pay. By 2,000 B.C.E., war was an important...

The most dangerous arms in the world are those of horse and lance, because there is no means of stopping them, wrote a 15th-century commander, Jean de Bueil. From the fall of the Roman Empire to the end of the 15th century, the men (and a few women in disguise) who reported for military service or who led other men, scouted and skirmished, plundered and burned. If they did not slaughter the peasants they met, they took them prisoner to be sold as slaves or ransomed at heavy cost. It was a brutal time. Rogers illuminates the history of medieval soldiers in wartime and in peacetime,...

Formed in the aftermath of WWII and in the face of the emerging threat posed by the Soviet Union, the transformation that has taken place in recent years within NATO has been neither natural nor easy for the multi-national organization or the United States. When the Soviet Union ceased to exist it seemed NATO would disappear too. The rationale for a large American military deployment in Europe, described by President Eisenhower as a temporary move, no longer could be supported. This work documents the transition of the United States relationship with NATO from a focus on the defense of...