According to one popular image, the Aztec army was a ruthless and efficient war machine, that established an empire by convincingly overwhelming its neighbors, sacrificing thousands to bloodthirsty gods along the way. From a contrasting perspective, its native warriors were no match for the modern warring methods of Cortes' greatly outnumbered Spaniards, who decisively defeated them. The reality of the Aztec warrior's ability and effectiveness lies somewhere between those two extremes, as this title makes clear. By examining the experiences of a hypothetical individual, Cuauhtli, this...

Between the 3rd and 6th centuries AD the traditional legions of heavy infantry were whittled away and eventually replaced by a force of various arms and nationalities dominated by cavalry and supported by missile troops. However, in spite of this trend towards cavalry, the pedes remained the backbone of the Roman army until well into the 5th century. This book details a warrior who was very different from the legionary who preceded him; perhaps he was not as well disciplined, but in many ways he was more flexible ready for deployment to trouble spots, and for fighting both as a skirmisher and...

Few of the combatants of World War II have captured the imagination as compulsively as the Fallschirmjager. Boldness and courage were vital characteristics in the rigorous selection process, and their training was highly demanding. Hitler's airborne troops were involved in some of the most daring actions of the whole war; from the 1940 assault on Eben Emael and the invasion of Crete in 1941, to the rescue of Mussolini and the attempt on Tito's life. In addition, they saw service as elite line infantry in the key theatres of North West Europe, North Africa and the Eastern Front. This title...