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In the tradition of `Agent Zigzag' comes a breathtaking biography of WWII's `Scarlet Pimpernel' as fast-paced and emotionally intuitive as the best spy thrillers. This celebrates unsung hero Robert de La Rochefoucauld, an aristocrat turned anti-Nazi saboteur, and his exploits as a British Special Operations Executive-trained resistant A scion of one of the oldest families in France, Robert de La Rochefoucauld was raised in a magnificent chateau and educated in E...

Nelson's victory at Trafalgar on 21 October 1805 was a pivotal event in European history. But Trafalgar was not simply an isolated battle fought and won in an afternoon - the naval campaign had in fact begun more than four years before. This extraordinary period, following Napoleon's threat to invade England in 1801, came to be known as The Great Terror, and Britain was on the alert. As the Grande Armee faced a Dad's army of English volunteers across the Channel, a secret war of espionage and su...

The main aim of this book is to argue that the use of private force by states has been restricted by a norm against mercenary use. The book traces the evolution of this norm, from mercenaries in medieval Europe through to private security companies in modern day Iraq, telling a story about how the mercenaries of yesterday have evolved into those of today in the process. The norm against mercenaries has two components. First, mercenaries are considered to be immoral because they use force outsid...

In late 1941, President Roosevelt agonized over the rapid advances of the Japanese forces in Asia; they seemed unstoppable. He foresaw their intentions of taking India and linking up with the two other Axis Powers, Germany and Italy, in an attempt to conquer the Eastern Hemisphere. US naval forces had been surprised and diminished in Pearl Harbor and the army was not only outnumbered but also ill-prepared to take on the invading hoards. One of Roosevelt's few options was to form a defensive line...

This is an account of the evolution of naval fighters for fleet air defence and the parallel evolution of the ships operating and controlling them, concentrating on the three main exponents of carrier warfare, the Royal Navy, the US Navy, and the Imperial Japanese Navy. It describes the earliest efforts from the 1920s but it was not until radar allowed the direction of fighters that organised air defence became possible. Thus major naval-air battles of the Second World War - like Midway, the 'Pe...

Of the thousands of commanders who served in history's armies, why is it that only a few are remembered as great leaders of men in battle? What combination of personal and circumstantial influences conspire to produce great commanders? What makes a great leader great? Richard A Gabriel analyses the biographies of ten great generals who lived between 1481 BC and AD 632 in an attempt to identify the characteristics of intellect, psychology, personality, and experience that allowed them to tread th...

A veteran of the campaign reveals a lost opportunity for Patton's Third Army and British SAS troops to finish off retreating German troops in September 1944. Describes the dramatic period when the Allies thought the war was won and SAS units went behind enemy lines to prepare for an advance that didnt come.

Arrested by Nazis in 1944 after her political beliefs were reported, Rinser was imprisoned until the end of the war. She shared her captivity with a variety of women including Jehovah's Witnesses, abortionists, women who had had affairs with foreigners, thieves and other politically suspect prisoners. Her journal covers two months of her imprisonment, observing both herself and her companions, as they cope, or fail to cope, in their various ways, with prison.

This is a thorough survey of the key issues that surround the relations between the military and its civilian control in the US today. Civil-military relations in America have essentially been a bargain to determine the responsibilities and prerogatives of the civilian leadership on one hand and the military on the other. Circumstances, be they political, social, or other, may render the terms of the bargain obsolete, resulting in tensions that call for their renegotiation. For example, substant...

Terrorism, piracy and Low Intensity Maritime Operations are certainly not games, and neither are the responses to thwart them! The two sides are nonetheless locked in an endless mind game with each trying to out-think the other. Game Theory is a branch of applied mathematics that has been used extensively in fields ranging from economics and political science to psychology and biology. The 'game' involves two or more players making decisions so as to maximise their returns. In attempting to do s...

This is the story of the mighty city of Troy that gave birth to one of the greatest legends ever told. Sumptuously illustrated, Troy uncovers the archaeological history of the city and the people involved with the discoveries. It also retells the compelling tale of the siege, the characters involved and the bloody battles that ensued, while answering many pressing questions about this extraordinary place. Drawing on the works of Homer and Virgil, it provides a captivating and complete account of...