The imaginative strategic plan of Revolutionary France to cut Britain's lifeline to India by seizing Egypt and the Levant was an epic adventure, set amongst some of the most ancient places of history, then almost unknown to Europeans. The conflicts proved once again the supremacy of the British fleet and furthermore that a reformed British Army was a force to be reckoned with. This fascinating book by Michael Barthorp provides an outline of the campaigns and examines in greater detail the armies which marched and fought amid the desert sands and relics of earlier civilisations.
The imaginative strategic plan of Revolutionary France to cut Britain's lifeline to India by seizing Egypt and the Levant was an epic adventure, set a...
The Byzantines had a remarkably sophisticated approach to politics and military strategy. Unlike most of their contemporaries, they learnt very early in their history that winning a battle did not necessarily win a war, and they frequently bought off their enemies with treaties and bribes rather than squander men and materiel in potentially fruitless campaigns. The Byzantine army of the 10th and early 11th centuries, at the height of its power and efficiency, was the best-organised, best-trained, best-equipped and highest-paid in the known world. This splendid book by Ian Heath examines the...
The Byzantines had a remarkably sophisticated approach to politics and military strategy. Unlike most of their contemporaries, they learnt very early ...
The scope of Britain's wartime Middle East Command stretched far beyond the Libyan desert where the 8th Army's most famous battles were fought - from Gibraltar and Tunisia in the west, to Iraq and Persia in the east, and from Greece south to the Gulf of Aden. In the 1940-43 period of World War II, this was the only arena where the British Army could take the ground war to the German Wehrmacht; it saw a succession of setbacks and triumphs, until spring 1945 found the 8th Army victorious in northern Italy. A summary of these campaigns is illustrated by photographs, and detailed colour plates of...
The scope of Britain's wartime Middle East Command stretched far beyond the Libyan desert where the 8th Army's most famous battles were fought - from ...
The crushing victory by Prussia and her German allies in the Franco-Prussian War, 1870 71, destroyed one empire and created another. It finally unified the German states into an empire under Prussian leadership an empire proclaimed in the very halls of captured Versailles. In 1870 Prussia's reformed mobilization system put enormous armies into the field with unprecedented efficiency. The confidence which the victory encouraged among German militarists, and the intolerable humiliation it inflicted upon France, ensured that an even more destructive war was soon inevitable. This, the first of...
The crushing victory by Prussia and her German allies in the Franco-Prussian War, 1870 71, destroyed one empire and created another. It finally unifie...
In medieval Germany violence was accepted far more than in other kingdoms. Kings were recognised as guardians of order, but this had its limitations. Lords expected to use force to secure their rights or win an argument when peaceful methods were not sufficient. Christopher Gravett does a fine job of examining the organisation and campaigns of German medieval armies from 1000-1300, in a volume containing plenty of photographs and illustrations, including eight full page colour plates by Graham Turner.
In medieval Germany violence was accepted far more than in other kingdoms. Kings were recognised as guardians of order, but this had its limitations. ...
This history of the Catholic armies of the Hapsburg Empire that fought in the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648)explores the role of infantry and artillery during the last major religious war in mainland Europe. As the states of the Holy Roman Empire fractured along religious lines, all of Europe was plunged into a bloody conflict that lasted three decades, decimated populations, and annihilated communities. However, amidst this social, political, and religious catastrophe, important changes were experienced within the organization of armed forces. The war saw the end of the large mercenary forces...
This history of the Catholic armies of the Hapsburg Empire that fought in the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648)explores the role of infantry and artillery...
The Great Lakes were the main arena for the fur trade in colonial North America, which drew European explorers and trappers deep into the northern USA and Canada from the 17th century onwards. The desire to control the supply of this luxury item sparked wars between Britain and France, as well as conflicts between rival tribes and the newly formed United States of America, which continued until 1840.
The main tribes of the area were the Huron, Dakota, Sauk and Fox, Miami and Shawnee. All were drawn into the conflicts throughout the Great Lakes region during the French-Indian War...
The Great Lakes were the main arena for the fur trade in colonial North America, which drew European explorers and trappers deep into the northern ...
The Spanish Civil War, 1936-39, was the curtain-raiser to World War II, and the major international event of the 1930s. It was the first great clash of 20th-century ideologies, between the rebel Nationalist army led by General Franco (right-wing, and aided by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy), and the Republican army of the government (left-wing, and aided by the Communist Soviet Union and many volunteers from liberal democracies). Three years of widespread campaigns involved the most modern weapons available (submachine guns, mortars, artillery, tanks, and combat aircraft operating in...
The Spanish Civil War, 1936-39, was the curtain-raiser to World War II, and the major international event of the 1930s. It was the first great clas...
The famous but largely unchronicled Hanseatic League (or simple "the Hanse/Hansa") was a Tuetonic German commercial and defensive federation of merchant guilds based in harbor towns along the North Sea and Baltic coasts of what are now Germany and her neighbors, which eventually dominated maritime trade in Northern Europe and spread its influence much further afield. The League was formed to protect the economic and political interests of member cities throughout a vast and complex trading network. While most members remained basically subject to the local rulers who profited from their...
The famous but largely unchronicled Hanseatic League (or simple "the Hanse/Hansa") was a Tuetonic German commercial and defensive federation of mer...
This book offers an extensive overview of the myriad Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War, 1936-39. The conflict was the curtain-raiser to World War II, and the major international event of the 1930s. The study illustrates, textually and visually, how the Republican forces were initially varied in appearance and character. Loyal elements of the Spanish army that rejected the appeal of the rebel generals were supported by a wide range of volunteer regional units and political militias, and by volunteers from many other countries. These disparate forces were later...
This book offers an extensive overview of the myriad Republican forces during the Spanish Civil War, 1936-39. The conflict was the curtain-raiser t...