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Hill 112: The Key to defeating Hitler in Normandy
‘He who holds Hill 112 holds Normandy’ seemed an unlikely maxim when the hill is viewed from a distance, but on reaching its plateau, the vistas unfold in every direction across a huge swath of Normandy. For the Germans it was their vital defensive ground, but for the British it was an essential steppingstone en route to the River Orne and access to the open country south to Falaise. The Hitlerjugend SS Panzer Division lost Hill 112 to 4th Armoured Brigade when the Scots captured the Tourmauville Bridge intact, but the essence of Hill 112’s tactical problem soon became clear. It was impossible for armour to survive on its broad plateau, while the infantry could only hold the skeletal orchards and woods at the cost of crushing casualties. With II SS Panzer Corps preparing to attack the British, the toe hold was given up and 11th Armoured Division was left holding a bridgehead across the River Odon. Ten days later, 43rd Wessex Division was ordered to resume the advance to the Orne with Hill 112 its first objective. As the west countrymen and tanks rose to advance, they met withering fire from the stronghold that Hill 112 had become. The scene was set for one of the grimmest battles of the campaign. For six weeks from the end of June into August, when the Allied advances finally gained momentum, Hill 112 was far too important to let the opposition hold and exploit it. Consequently, it was regularly shelled and mortared, and shrouded with smoke and dust, while soldiers of both sides clung to their respective rims of the plateau. By the end, Hill 112 had developed a reputation as evil as that of any spot on the First World War’s Western Front.
Fighting Napoleon
It is often forgotten that Britains struggle against Napoleon ranged across the continents, and the extensive operations of the Royal Navy and the British Army in the Mediterranean was a key battleground in this prolonged war of attrition. Even when Napoleon considered himself the master of Europe, he was unable to control the Mediterranean. Lieutenant John Hildebrand arrived in the Mediterranean as part of the garrison of Malta in 1810. He was then involved in the defence of the island of Sicily; the campaign to capture the Ionian Islands; the siege of Ragusa, and the Occupation of Corfu. With the war ending in 1814, John and his regiment returned home, only to be sent to Belgium when Napoleon escaped from Elba in 1815. The regiment was not involved at Waterloo, but was at Hal which guarded Wellingtons flank during the battle. He then marched to Paris with the army. These lively and entertaining memoirs, edited and annotated by renowned historian Gareth Glover, are certain to find a wide readership amongst Napoleonic enthusiasts, providing an intriguing counterpoint to Wellingtons operations in the Iberian Peninsula. In a few minutes we perceived two fully armed boats with stout rowers dart from it, with all the energy and alacrity of making a certain capture. I was dismayed at the scrape I had got into, and could not see a possibility of escape.' Lieutenant Hildebrand at the Capture of the Ionian Islands
Avro Vulcan
The Avro Vulcan, arguably the best known of the British ?V-Bombers?, was an integral part of Britain?s nuclear deterrent. During the Cold War, several RAF squadrons were equipped with Vulcans, including some assigned to Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) sorties to counter immediately any threat launched by the Soviet Union. The Vulcan was also suited to conventional bombing missions. In 1982, in Operation Black Buck during the Falklands War, Vulcan B.2s carried out the longest-ranged bombing raids in history up to that time, targeting the Argentine occupation of Port Stanley airport.
The History of Forgery
From the flamboyant preacher accused of forgery to the fourteen year old burned at the stake for coining, the eighteenth century was rife with financial crime. This book outlines the stories of men and women accused and convicted of coining and forgery at a time when the death penalty was used for over 200 crimes and society was unforgiving. When the British government decided to produce low value paper currency in 1797 to pay for the war with France they had overlooked the consequences of a population unfamiliar with banknotes. From 1797 to 1812 over 300 people went to the gallows. This book tells the story of some of these people. The schoolmaster pressed into the Royal Navy who turned forger on discharge. The exciseman who found himself out of pocket when whisky production was regulated and forged money to pay his bills. A coining gang holed up on a farm in Birmingham who ran a successful monetary enterprise until the law caught up with them. Finally, there’s the architect who was transported to Australia for forgery whose face ended up on a (legal) banknote. All these characters and more give an insight into the crime of forgery in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. When Rachael Rowe discovered a forger in the family, her research took her on a journey to find out more about the crime and why people in the eighteenth century were intent on breaking the law. Using original records, the book highlights the scope of the crime and shows how national and global events combined to fuel an increase in forgeries with devastating effects for the criminals and their dependants.
General George Washington – Spymaster Agent 711
When the American War of Independence broke out, the American, British and French intelligence agencies were particularly well structured, but it soon became apparent to all involved that victory hinged on sound political and military intelligence. While Britain and France had a tradition of conducting espionage, the Americans struggled with an intelligence service that was almost always markedly inferior. Even so, despite this disadvantage, it was they who prevailed. Right from the start, General George Washington had been keenly aware of the importance of the espionage and counterintelligence roles. Under his supervision, several networks of spies operated in both close-knit circles and far-reaching societies. The undercover agents were merchants, tailors, farmers, and other extraordinary patriots with ordinary day jobs. Benjamin Franklin took responsibility for covert action, while John Jay oversaw the counterintelligence work. All three men were all honoured by the CIA in 1997 as the Founding Fathers of the American intelligence services. The British, in particular, required information about geography and terrain unfamiliar to their forces. The British, for example, conducted a campaign of trying to win over the American public and especially the enslaved people of African descent. They also relied in part on spies such as Benedict Arnold, whose name later became synonymous with treason and betrayal. Discounting technology, there are few differences between modern espionage and the techniques and methods of 250 years ago. Double agents, secret writing, dead drops, clandestine meetings, code-making and breakings, sabotage, bribery deception, signals, propaganda, and partisan warfare were all very much in evidence during the revolution. Both sides also mounted disinformation campaigns to confuse and mislead. In no small part, the outcome of a number of Civil War battles, such as Lexington, Concord and Yorktown, owed much to the use of intelligence and the work of America’s spymaster, Agent 711 – General George Washington.
The Great Siege of Malta
'An epic account … myth-busting … Bull writes with knightly brio and packs a great deal of local and global history into his authoritative book’ Pratinav Anil, The TimesA major new history of the epic siege of the island fortress of MaltaEven as the great siege began it was understood by both sides to be an epic – a potentially decisive encounter between an uneasy assortment of soldiers, native Maltese, adventurers and Knights Hospitaller on a strategically crucial but near waterless island and a vast, seemingly all-powerful Ottoman armada. With three quarters of the Mediterranean’s coasts already in the hands of the Sultan and his allies, all eyes were now on Malta. This superb new account of the siege emphasises the crucial importance of the siege while at the same time putting it in a far wider context. While since mistakenly recast as a climactic battle between the West and the East, it was also much more interesting and nuanced than that – both sides had many other interests and priorities beyond Malta. Süleyman the Magnificent had conquered and subsumed regions from Hungary to the Persian Gulf; Philip II was building an empire in America and Asia. Drawing on a wide range of eyewitness stories, Marcus Bull gives a vivid sense of the period’s technologies, values and assumptions. It was a grim world built on the labour of many thousands of disposable galley-slaves, shockingly brutal forms of warfare and religious absolutism. But it was also a world filled with the most extraordinary new discoveries and ideas. Both these worlds come together in the siege and in this book.
First Kings
Forget 1066 – the making of England began centuries earlier. After decades of devastating raids, Viking armies first overwintered in England in 850. In doing so, they opened a century of conflict and reaching ambition. In Norway, Harald Fairhair rose from a regional chieftain to become its first king, while in England Alfred the Great preserved Wessex from conquest and laid the foundations for unity. His successors extended that vision, leading to the creation of a single English kingdom after the meeting of kings at Eamont Bridge in 927. Meanwhile, the struggle for Norway’s throne erupted among Harald’s heirs, with Eric Bloodaxe briefly claiming the Crown before being overthrown by his younger brother, Hakon. Upon fleeing to Britain, Eric was allowed the York throne by King Edred. After his violent death in 954, there would be no more kings in York. This turbulent century saw kings rise and fall; it saw rivalry, betrayal and open conflict. Out of the chaos of shifting allegiances and warfare, England and Norway began to take shape as the forebears of the countries we know today. In First Kings, join R.A.J. Waddingham on an action-packed, page-turning adventure through the age of the Vikings.
The Nazi Mind
THE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER'I will recommend it to everyone' Alastair Campbell'World-renowned historian Laurence Rees lays out a past that is also eerily a cautionary tale for our future if we are not careful' Anthony Scaramucci'There are lots of moments when you can’t help but have a shudder through the spine . . . a really novel, interesting book.' Lewis Goodall, The News Agents podcast___________________________________How could the Nazis have committed the crimes they di? hy did they willingly – often enthusiastically – oversee mass murde? ow did ordinary Germans tolerate the removal of Jewish peopl? nd how do we ensure it never happens agai? estselling author Laurence Rees combines history and the latest psychological research to help answer the most perplexing questions surrounding the Holocaust and the Nazi state. Through the lens of ‘twelve warnings’ – from talk about ‘them’ and ‘us’ to the escalation of racism – Rees delves into the darkness to explain how and why people were capable of such horrors. Using previously unpublished testimony from former Nazis and cutting-edge psychological discoveries, THE NAZI MIND is a revelatory new way of understanding the most appalling crimes of the 20th century that highlights the warning signs we need to look out for in leaders today. ___________________________________'A brilliant piece of work: learned, compelling and frankly terrifying' James Holland, Daily Telegraph'[A] superb, complex study' Christopher Hart, Daily Mail‘Enthralling and chilling . . . compulsive reading' Robert McCrum, Independent
Seleucid Armies 312–63 BC
This colourful study describes and illustrates the troops of the Seleucid Empire in West Asia throughout its turbulent 250-year existence. Founded by the Macedonian general Seleucus I Nicator in 312 BC in the wake of the death of Alexander the Great 11 years previously, the Seleucid Empire came to control much of the territory conquered by Alexander in western Asia, and at its height reached from the Mediterranean to Afghanistan. The colourful armies fielded by Seleucus I and his successors are described and illustrated in this absorbing study of a major power at war in the ancient world. As the fortunes of their realm ebbed and flowed, Seleucid kings deployed vast armies recruited from diverse peoples that drew upon an array of military traditions, including the mighty phalanx, war elephants, scythed chariots and camel-mounted archers. Illustrated throughout with photographs and drawings as well as eight pages of specially commissioned artwork, this fascinating study draws upon a range of literary, archaeological and artistic sources to explore the organization, tactics, weapons and equipment of the varied units of Seleucid armies over two-and-a-half turbulent centuries in the ancient world.
Gulf War 1990–91
An in-depth study of the ground campaign led by the US and Coalition forces against Iraq in the Gulf War. In 1980, Iraq invaded Iran, precipitating an eight-year war. By the end of the 1980s, Iraq was bankrupt, having amassed enormous debts, and oil-rich neighboring Kuwait, which Iraq had long claimed was rightly part of greater Iraq, seemed like the perfect solution. Saddam Hussein's invasion in August 1990 pitted one of the largest Arab armies against the smallest and Kuwait fell in a few days. Upset at this turn of events and worried about Hussein's military power, Saudi Arabia began negotiations with the US, UK and France to create a coalition to oust Iraq from Kuwait. More than 30 countries joined the coalition force. Operation Desert Shield had begun. With contemporary images, maps, diagrams and stunning artwork, this book by expert historian Steven J. Zaloga dives into the response from the forces of the Coalition to help liberate Kuwait following the month-long air campaign to weaken the Iraqi forces. While Iraq was defeated, the war did not unseat Hussein and the conflict would resume a decade later. This detailed study brings the ground campaign of the Gulf War to life.
The Crown’s Silence
A ground-breaking and essential work of history – the first of its kind to closely examine the British Royal Family’s connection with the transatlantic slave trade The Crown's Silence is the untold story of the British royal family’s relationship to slavery from the reign of Elizabeth I to the present. It will be the first history of the British monarchy told through the lens of its intimate, centuries-long relationship with African slave trading, slavery, and racial injustice. A work of ground-breaking original research and narrative synthesis, it exposes the ways in which the British monarchy invested in, expanded, and defended the transatlantic slave trade for nearly three centuries and how it continues to profit from systems of racial exploitation to this day – while remaining silent in the face of that legacy. It will reveal how the Crown effectively ruptured and reshaped Britain’s national narrative and collective memory of its own colonial past as well as the consequences of that deafening silence. As former British colonies in the Caribbean consider severing their ties with the Crown (and the British royal family sends emissaries to try to keep them), The Crown's Silence tells a history that is very much in the headlines – and will no doubt continue to be. It will be the next chapter in revealing the lost histories of not only Britain and the United States, but of our world.
Okinawa 1945
This fully illustrated study explains the British Pacific Fleet’s campaign against the Japanese in the Sakishima Islands, its overlooked role in the battle for Okinawa. The invasion of Okinawa was, famously, the culmination of the United States’ island-hopping campaign. Less well known is the fact that it was also the greatest campaign of the British Pacific Fleet’s war against Japan, fought by five fleet carriers over two months, with a distinct task. The Fleet Air Arm’s job at Okinawa was to suppress and destroy the Japanese airfields on the Sakashima Islands, which were used as bases for kamikazes as well as to route aircraft from Japan to Okinawa. In this book, naval expert Angus Konstam offers a newly researched account of the Fleet Air Arm’s air campaign in the Sakashimas. By 1945, the carriers and their aircrews were well worked up, and ready to tackle challenging and important targets. He explains the capabilities of the late-war Fleet Air Arm at Okinawa, and analyses their effectiveness against Japan’s still-dangerous airpower. Famously, at Okinawa the Royal Navy’s armoured carriers proved much more resilient to kamikaze strikes than the wooden-topped carriers of the Americans. Packed with spectacular original artwork, photographs, diagrams and maps, this book is a superbly illustrated history of the Royal Navy’s most extensive carrier campaign.
The Struggle for Taiwan
'A rigorously researched and gripping account... a beautifully written book' Financial Times 'Deeply researched and fascinating' GuardianA gripping account of the past and future of Taiwan In the overwhelming chaos across Asia at the end of the Second World War, one relatively minor issue was the future of the Japanese colony of Taiwan, a large island some one hundred miles off the coast of Fujian. Handed to the Kuomintang-ruled Republic of China, in 1949 it suddenly became the focus of global attention as a random cross-section of defeated Nationalists, including President Chiang Kai-shek, fled there from Mao's triumphant Communist forces. The Struggle for Taiwan is a balanced and convincing account of the sequence of events that has left Taiwan for generations as a political anomaly, with issues around its status and future continuing to threaten war. With deepening democratization, Taiwan further goads Beijing, remaining functionally independent from China even as Xi Jinping clamours for unification. This invaluable book allows readers to understand the complex story of this unique place and its role in international relations. With its striking economic dynamism and commitment to democracy, can Taiwan continue - as Hong Kong once did - to thrive, or will China conquer it? And will the world be able to maintain peace across the Taiwan Strait or will it stumble into war?
The Hohenzollerns and the Nazis
The shocking true story of the German monarchy's collaboration with the Nazis – an award-winning bestseller in Germany**AWARDED THE GERMAN NON-FICTION PRIZE 2022**'Malinowksi’s work is a near-masterpiece, relating a story not synthesised in this way before, and about which any number of self-serving myths exist' Simon Heffer, Daily TelegraphThe disappearance of the Hohenzollern family from the history of Germany in November 1918 as the Kaiser fled into Dutch exile is one of the most startling, rapid instances of a once all-powerful royal family becoming almost overnight irrelevant and marginal. Except this is not exactly what happened. Stephan Malinowski’s German bestseller is an extraordinary work of recovery. It suited both the Weimar Republic and then the Third Reich to view the Hohenzollerns with contempt, and yet the royal family’s hatred of the former and approval of the latter were for millions of Germans a significant factor in their own view of their country and its government. With forensic and often shocking detail, Malinowski shows that, far from being ridiculous, marginal figures the Hohenzollerns lay at the heart of Germany’s ongoing nightmare. Despite formally losing power, the members of the royal family remained prominent, catastrophically allowing many other conservative Germans to stay distanced from the new republic and to eventually betray conservative traditions and values. Battered from both left and right, the Republic collapsed in 1933 in part because conservative forces, fearful of both Communism and Fascism, had abandoned their own principles just as much as the leading members of former royal family had, who were themselves beguiled by and fooled by Hitler. This is an important and shocking book, as well as a devastating picture of an inadequate and trivial royal family painfully underequipped to fulfil its role.
U-Boat vs Royal Navy Capital Ship
This insightful illustrated study investigates how the Royal Navy lost two battleships and three aircraft carriers to German U-boats during 1939–42. During World War II, over half of Britain’s capital ship losses were due to U-boats, as Germany’s submarines sought to deplete the Royal Navy’s powerful surface fleet. Featuring specially commissioned artwork and mapping alongside archive photographs, this study explains how Germany’s submarines sank five of Britain’s major surface vessels in four years of conflict at sea. Aircraft carrier HMS Courageous was sunk by U-29 on 17 September 1939 during anti-submarine patrols. On 14 October 1939, U-47 penetrated the Scapa Flow defences and sank battleship HMS Royal Oak. On 14 November 1941, U-81 sank HMS Ark Royal as the aircraft carrier returned to Gibraltar. On 25 November 1941, U-331 sank HMS Barham off Egypt. The final British capital ship to be sunk by German submarines was carrier HMS Eagle, torpedoed by U-73 en route to Malta on 11 August 1942. In this book, Mark Lardas charts the origins, development and combat performance of the U-boats in the Kriegsmarine’s efforts to attack British capital ships, and the Royal Navy’s efforts to counter the submarine threat to its battleships, battlecruisers and aircraft carriers. As well as the five encounters that led to sinkings, he examines the ‘near-misses’ that saw Royal Navy capital ships get the better of the U-boats.
Heinkel He 219 Units
An illustrated study of the famous Heinkel He 219 – the Luftwaffe's only pupose-built nightfighter – and its role in the bitterly contested nocturnal defence of the Reich. Originally conceived as a high-performance reconnaissance aircraft, the Heinkel He 219 went on to become the Luftwaffe’s only purpose-built nightfighter. Despite its many sterling qualities (including ejector seats for its two crew members), the type’s production was bedevilled by political manoeuvring and consequently it was only used in strength by one unit – the Luftwaffe’s elite Nachtjagdgeschwader 1. In this volume, respected historian Martin Streetly examines the development of the He 219, from its origins through to its implementation against the RAF’s ever-more destructive night offensive. First-hand accounts from Nachtjagdverband crew shed light on the He 219’s successes and failures in battle, while archive photos and newly commissioned artwork demonstrate the unique design and technology of this near-legendary aircraft.
Political Economy from Pufendorf to Marx
István Hont (1947–2013) defected from Communist Hungary in the 1970s and became renowned globally as a scholarly visionary in European political ideas. Following his death, a wealth of unpublished material from an early project rewriting the history of liberty, politics and political economy from Samuel Pufendorf to Karl Marx was discovered. This book brings together seven of Hont's previously unpublished papers, providing a revolutionary intellectual history of the Marxian notion of communism and revealing its origin in seventeenth-century natural jurisprudence. Hont aspired to integrate the history and theory of politics and economics, to infuse present-day concerns with a knowledge of past events and theoretical responses. The essays selected for this volume realise Hont's historical imagination, range and intellectual ambition, exploring his belief that Marxism ought to be abandoned and explaining how to do it.
The Man Who Stopped the Sultan
An extraordinary account of how one man defied the most powerful ruler of his age and in doing so changed the course of European history. Throughout the 16th century, wars raged across Europe as kings and republics jostled for wealth and power. Yet one man exceeded all these medieval princes of Christendom: Suleiman the Magnificent. As ruler of the Ottoman Empire, he governed 25 million people from Constantinople, his realm stretching from Persia to the Atlantic Ocean. Turning his gaze to Europe, Suleiman attacked Rhodes, the island fortress of the Knights Hospitaller but was opposed by Gabriele Tadino – an Italian who had risen through the ranks thanks to his genius as a military engineer. This is a fascinating history of crusading knights and gunpowder, of spies and tunnels, and of a crossroads in history when the medieval age gave way to the Renaissance. Delving deep into Italian source material, Edoardo Albert weaves together the story of an ordinary man alive in an extraordinary time and performing extraordinary feats of military genius. Through the lens of his life we discover how military tactics and fortifications rapidly changed thanks to the discovery of gunpowder, and how Europe, divided by power-hungry rulers and religion, almost fell to one of the greatest rulers the world has ever seen, but was prevented by a humble engineer.
Violence and Occupation
This groundbreaking history traces the Red Army's advances across central Europe and the Balkans in 1944–1945. It focuses on the 2nd and 3rd Ukrainian Fronts that occupied Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, Hungary, and Austria. Utilizing material from archives across Russia, Ukraine, and Serbia, alongside diaries, memoirs, and interviews, Vojin Majstorovic examines the official policies and troops' behavior in each country and analyzes military violations, from deserting and looting to widespread sexual violence. His findings show that the Red Army was an ill-disciplined force, but that military personnel committed fewer crimes against civilians in 'neutral Bulgaria' and 'friendly' Yugoslavia than in 'enemy' Romania, Hungary, and Austria. To explain the variation in troops' conduct, he stresses the interaction of several continuously evolving factors: Kremlin's policies, the severity of the fighting, the command's policies toward criminals, the official propaganda, and troops' martial masculinity, identity, and views of the local populations.
V kategórii populárno - náučné encyklopédie nájdete široký výber kníh, ktoré vám poskytnú poznatky z rôznych oblastí zaujímavým a zrozumiteľným spôsobom. Encyklopédie vám pomôžu získať komplexný prehľad o rôznych témach, ako ľudské telo a človek, príroda, vesmír, veda a technika a história.
Naša ponuka encyklopédií populárno-náučného charakteru vám umožní objaviť fascinujúci svet poznania a rozšíriť svoje vedomosti o rôznych témach.
