Cassell Military Paperba
3 total works
A collection of ten accounts that illustrate how occasionally, in war situations, very unlikely outcomes occur. The text draws on campaigns such as the Peninsular War of 1811, the two World Wars and the Vietnam War.
Few people today experience a live war situation; even professional soldiers can serve their career without going to war. Yet the question is often asked, what is it like? How do combatants cope with the danger? How does a battle look to the ordinary soldier? In a unique mix of dialogue, reportage and objective historical analysis - 'faction' - Bryan Perrett brings the reality of war to the reader in a direct, no-holds-barred, exciting narrative. The fictional soldiers in this book, based on recorded accounts, are at the very heart of the action. From Mons in 1918, through the First and Second World Wars to Malaya in 1956, Vietnam in 1968 and Kuwait in 1991.
Britain, like other colonial powers, established, controlled and accessed her empire from the seas. It was realised that the preservation of secure trading conditions required armed ships able to operate in shallow coastal and river waters. The gunboat was developed to meet this need: a small, shallow-draft, steam-powered screw or paddle driven vessel, sufficiently fast and manoeuvrable to take the enemy, whether on shore or afloat, by surprise. In this book Bryan Perrett recounts thirteen episodes of exciting gunboat action, ranging from the Burma war in 1824, through two world wars and on to the dramatic escape of the Amethyst down the Yangtze in 1949.