Search results

Intelligence was just as important in the Napoleonic Wars as it is today. Then there was only one way of obtaining it - by spies and informers. The Author uses first hand accounts of three of Wellington's most daring and successful Intelligence Officers. The three men, all of Scottish descent, were very different in character. One was killed in action and another taken prisoner and after narrowly avoiding summary execution made a dramatic escape. There is a romantic angle too. Their stories ski...

This comprehensive dictionary of one of the world's greatest conflicts contains over 1,200 entries, combining facts, narrative and analysis, and covers all aspects of history's first global conflict such as: - Actions from Achi Baba to the Zeebrugge raid, from the Falkland Islands to the Masurian Lakes.- Campaigns from the Arab Revolt to Verdun, from East Africa to East Prussia.- Theatres of war from the Baltic to the Balkans, from Africa to the Arctic.- Fighters and commanders from Abdullah ibn...

By the sixth century of the common era the Roman Empire already had many hundreds of years of accumulated ceremonial embedded in its government, and practical science embodied in its army. The transition from Republic to Imperium and the more hierarchical structure that entailed, and the absorption of Christianity into state processes, had pushed the development of court ceremonial apace, and particularly driven its embodiment and display in ever more opulent regalia. The regalia embraced not o...

The era of the combat biplane is usually thought to have been between 1914 and 1938. By the outbreak of World War II, most of the advanced air forces of the world had moved on to monoplane aircraft for their front-line battle forces, both in bomber and fighter capacities. Yet despite this many biplanes did still survive, both in front-line service and in numerous subsidiary roles, and not just as training machines but as fully operational warplanes. Thus in 1939 the majority of major European po...

Reichsmarschall G ring told Hitler that it would take less than a month for his much-vaunted Luftwaffe to conquer the RAF and pave the way for the German invasion of Great Britain. His prediction was to prove disastrously wrong, but for four long months his pilots and aircrew fought for their lives in the skies above the UK. From their bases in continental Europe, the Luftwaffe s fighter pilots escorted the great bomber fleets that sought to destroy the RAF s airfields and installations, and ta...

The Kalashnikov assault rifle, generically known as the AK-47, is the most famous small arm ever made. This weapon has transcended its Soviet designer and country of origin to become the most prolifically produced and iconic weapon in the world - and it has become a brand that has been used to sell everything from T-shirts to vodka.Although it first appeared in the late 1940s, it did not make its decisive presence felt on the battlefield until the Vietnam War when China supplied it to the Vietna...

It wasn’t until 1960 that a European brand launched the creation of military miniatures. That company was Airfix, with the Sherman M4, well after the American and Japanese manufacturers. A few simple model kits appeared in France under the brand “Les Plastiques Dermatt.” Such models could be found in packets of Bonux dish soap! Heller was founded in 1957 by Leo Jahiel and during his first years he created a reputation for himself with a wide range of contemporary French aircraft. Then, beginni...

This monumental, two volume set, several years in preparation, includes over 400 color photographs, illustrations and period images from the finest collections in the United States and Europe. For the first time, collectors will see a comprehensive full color photographic lexicon picturing helmets from every unit of the Imperial German Army of 1914. Many of the photographs exhibit helmets of such rarity that they have never been seen outside a select group of advanced collectors. Carefully selec...

This book examines what the citizen soldiery of the mid-Atlantic states wore when they marched off to save the Union in 1861. An exhaustive search of thousands of newspapers has provided a myriad of reports and personal accounts from soldiers’ letters, which offer a hitherto unpublished view of the stirring events during the first few months of the Civil War. Combined with fascinating detail from numerous diaries and regimental histories, this has helped reconstruct the appearance of the Union v...

This work with its in-depth text, captions and rare images chronicles the last desperate years of the Wehrmacht Panzerwaffe. Despite a worsening strategic situation both on the Eastern Front and in the West, Hitler's Panzers and their highly motivated crews showed superior tactical abilities and killing power abut such was the overall picture that this was not enough to alter the course of the war as the Allies closed remorselessly in on Berlin. Covered in this superb book are many variants, s...

This book was written to provide an in-depth study of the Danish and Norwegian armies of the Napoleonic Wars. The goal was to provide a working document which is as accurate as possible, covering the uniforms of these armies, their weapons and their evolution as well as their colours and a look at their basic tactics. Although this is principally a uniform book, historical background is also provided to place the details in their context. Most of the information contained in this volume is publi...

Badges of the Regular Infantry, 1914-1918 is based on over thirty years research in museums, archives and collections. It is an exhaustive study of the development of the battalion, brigade and divisional signs of the twelve divisions that formed the regular army during the Great War. It also looks at the badges of those battalions left behind to guard the Empire. While the divisional signs are well known, there has been no authoritative work on the signs worn by the infantry battalions. The bo...