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Matisse at War
In 1940, with the Nazis sweeping through France, Henri Matisse found himself at a personal and artistic crossroads. His 42-year marriage had ended, he was gravely ill, and after decades at the forefront of modern art, he was beset by doubt. As scores of famous figures escaped the country, Matisse took refuge in Nice, with his companion, Lydia Delectorskaya. By defiantly remaining, Matisse was a source of inspiration for his nation. While enemy agents and Resistance fighters played cat-and-mouse in the alleyways of Nice, Matisse''s son, Jean, engaged in sabotage efforts with the Allies. In Paris, under the swastika, Matisse''s estranged wife, Amelie, worked for the Communist underground. His beloved daughter, Marguerite, active in the French Resistance, was arrested and tortured by the Gestapo, sentenced to Ravensbruck concentration camp - and miraculously escaped when her train was halted by Allied bombs. His younger, son, Pierre helped Jewish artists escape to New York; even his teenaged grandson risked his life by defying the Germans and their Vichy collaborators. Amidst this chaos, Matisse responded to the dark days of war by inventing a dazzling new paper technique that led to some of his most iconic pieces, including The Fall of Icarus, his profile of Charles De Gaulle, Monsieur Loyal, and his groundbreaking cut-out book, Jazz. His wartime works were acts of resistance, subtly patriotic and daringly new. Drawing on intimate letters and a multitude of other sources, Christopher C. Gorham illuminates this momentous stage of Matisse''s life as never before, revealing an artist on a journey of reinvention, wrenching meaning from the suffering of war, and holding up the light of human imagination against the torch of fascism to create some of the most exciting work of his career, of the 20th century, and in the history of art.
A Family of Aviators at War
The author’s family boasts an extraordinary lineage of nine Royal Air Force pilots, spanning from the First World War to the present day. Beginning with the Royal Flying Corps, the family has produced high-ranking officers and notable figures in aviation history. The author''s great uncle, an Air Marshal, conceived the idea of sending the ''Little Ships'' to Dunkirk and later became Chief of the Air Staff of the Royal New Zealand Air Force. He also had an interest in the paranormal, inspiring the film The Night My Number Came Up.The author’s grandparents were both of flag rank: Air Commodore Ernest Howard-Williams briefly served as deputy to Fighter Command’s Hugh Dowding, while Air Vice-Marshal Frank Inglis, head of RAF intelligence, was instrumental in convincing President Roosevelt of the ‘Germany First’ policy.Other family members include a night fighter pilot during the Second World War, a Battle of Britain fighter pilot, and Group Captain Peter Helmore, a pathfinder with numerous operations. The author’s uncle, Air Commodore William Helmore, was an engineer who invented the Helmover Torpedo and broadcasted live from a Liberator over D-Day beaches. The family legacy continues with the author''s son, a Chinook helicopter captain in the modern RAF.
Gustavus v Wallenstein
The book described the conflict, personal rivalry and contrast in personality, generalship and command, between the two iconic commanders in the Thirty Years War, King Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden for the Protestant powers, and Albrecht von Wallenstein, Duke of Friedland. More than just commanders at the tactical level they were statesmen, military organisers and strategists on a continental scale. Both commanders represented the 17th-century ‘military revolution in action’. The writing is vivid, graphic and detailed, without overloading, and readers can feel ‘involved’ in the action, from strategic planning to battlefield tactics, and even the melee. Both generals are titanic figures, and their respective deaths - Gustavus heroically in battle and Wallenstein, murdered with the Emperor’s compliance – were dramatic highpoints in the long war. This is no hagiography, and the author analyses the contrasting reputations of two of the greatest military figures in modern history and analyses mistakes as well their triumphs. Both commanders’ understanding of the role of the modern state and finance as vital factors in the military revolution and modern warfare. A major contrast was Gustavus’s constant search for the tactical and strategic initiative compared to Wallenstein’s caution and patience and development of counter-punch defensive tactics. Exceptional for the period, a young warrior like an ‘Alexander’, Gustavus excelled in inspired battlefield leadership even at huge risk. Despite his death at Lutzen in 1632, he and his steadfast chancellor Oxenstierna, decisively defeated the Emperor’s attempt to subjugate the Empire and introduce the Catholic counter-reformation. Gustavus contributed hugely to the ending of Habsburg supremacy while advancing new concepts in modern war. His death ushered in his acolytes including generals Baner, Saxe-Weimar and Torstensson. Gustavus or Wallenstein, the greater of the two? The reader must judge but Napoleon included Gustavus in his list of ten greats with Julius Caesar, Hannibal Barca, and Alexander the Great.
Tanks on the Streets?
At 12.08pm on Friday 31 January 1919, Margaret Buchanan drives her tram into George Square in Glasgow’s city centre. She slows down to avoid the youths and men holding their arms up to stop her; some even jump onto the front of her tram. Swirling around her tram is a sea of heavy-coated men who have been on strike since Monday, demanding a reduction to a forty-hour working week. Crucially, the tram workers have not joined the strike; they are being abused as ‘scabs’. Constables and officers of Glasgow’s police force use their hands to try to part the crowd to allow the tram to proceed, but their efforts fail and batons are drawn.Within minutes, the violence will have spread across and beyond the Square; men will have been injured; the Sheriff will have read the Riot Act; strike leaders will lie stunned and bleeding inside the City Chambers; policemen and protestors will lie beaten in the streets.The violence and destruction in the Square, the streets to the north and south, in Glasgow Green and even south of the River Clyde, involves thousands of men. The city authorities believe the situation is beyond the control of the outnumbered police; the Sheriff sends a message to the local army commander requesting assistance.For the first time in history, tanks will be despatched as ‘military aid to the civil power’. They will be accompanied by 10,000 soldiers. At approximately 12.30pm on Friday 31 January 1919, a century of myth-making commences. Using thousands of pages of court papers, memoirs and news reports, this book is the first attempt to tell the story of what happened in day-by-day detail.
The Yellowlegs
The story of America’s cavalry is rich with colorful personalities and thrilling action, shaping much of the early military history of the United States. In this lively account, the author, an avid horseman, explores the key events and figures that defined the cavalry’s formative years.From the American Revolution, where figures like Henry ‘Light-Horse Harry’ Lee III and Francis Marion pioneered guerrilla tactics, the narrative moves to Stephen Kearny, known as the ‘Father of the Cavalry.’ Kearny’s Dragoons famously traveled West to California on mules. The account also highlights other iconic figures, including Jonathan ‘Stonewall’ Jackson, George Crook, who respected the Native Americans he was ordered to fight, and George Armstrong Custer, whose tragic defeat at the Battle of the Little Bighorn in 1876 remains a pivotal moment in American history.The narrative also touches on Theodore Roosevelt’s Rough Riders and Black Jack Pershing, who led his troops in automobiles. This saga of daring raids, epic marches, and grueling battles reflects not only the legacy of the U.S. Cavalry but also the birth and growth of America itself.
The Phantom Train: Deporting Prisoners from Occupied France
On 3 July 1944, a train of cattle wagons set out from Toulouse, heading for Germany. Crammed inside eventually were 724 souls of various nationalities and backgrounds, all of whom the German occupiers had held captive in concentration camps and prisons across south-western France. Among them was Francesco Fausto Nitti, an Italian antifascist activist who had survived Mussolini’s gaols and the Spanish Civil War.The journey to Dachau was expected to take three days. Instead – bombed, re-routed and often immobilised – it lasted for two months, making it the longest of all deportation journeys out of France during the Second World War. Nitti kept a daily log of the odyssey of the Phantom Train, as it has become known, and the document was in his pocket when, on 25 August, he and some fellow captives made a perilous last-minute escape by removing some of their wagon’s floorboards and lowering themselves onto the track as the train sped through the night.Once back with his family and the Resistance, Nitti turned his log into a book, which was published at the end of 1944 by a small press run by a Resistance member. Now, with this first English translation of The Phantom Train and an extended introduction, a whole new readership can learn about that never-ending journey to Dachau and everything that led up to it, and marvel at the determination and endurance of some courageous people, notably the remarkable Francesco Fausto Nitti.
Operation Bagration & the Liberation of Minsk
Often overshadowed by D-Day Operation Bagration, the code name for the Red Army''s summer offensive of 1944, broke the back of the Axis on the Eastern Front. Coincidentally beginning on the third anniversary of Hitler''s invasion of the Soviet Union, Bagration demonstrated that the Red Army had learnt the lessons of mobile warfare and was capable of putting them into ruthless practice. A series of well-coordinated attacks combined with major partisan strikes struck the defence lines of Army Group Centre in Belarus. Weak in armour and air support AGC had not been the target Hitler had anticipated that the Soviets would chose for this operation. It was only when the Red Army had almost outrun its supply lines and panzer formations had be relocated from elsewhere on the Eastern Front in early July that the Germans managed to defend effectively. However, this book only covers the fighting until the liberation of Minsk in early July. The Soviet''s summer offensive would not officially end until the last week of August by which time Finland had sued for an armistice, Romania had switched sides and the German forces had been savaged, holding a line hundreds of kilometres to the west of its original positions outside the gates of Warsaw
The Decipherment of Linear A
Linear A is a Middle and Late Bronze Age script principally used on Crete. Dated to 1800 - 1450 BC, it was discovered by archaeologist Sir Arthur Evans in 1900 and for over 120 years it has – until now – defied decipherment.In his book, author Mark Cook, a forensic accountant, demonstrates how he deciphered Linear A. His work describes how he first approached decipherment by setting aside commonly held misconceptions. Previous decipherment attempts typically incorrectly assumed the underlying language was an unknown Minoan language (Crete being the heart of the Minoan Empire), or misconstrued its relationship with Linear B (the earliest written form of Greek, which replaced it).Linear A is found mainly on clay tablets recording ephemeral accounting information, and Mark Cook tackled the decipherment as an accountant, focussing on the numbers, noting the mathematical relationships between the items recorded (which relationships were evident in the later Linear B script where the same things were being recorded), and analysing the characters used to record them.Mark Cook demonstrates that Linear A is Middle Egyptian, written in a form of shorthand used by the later Greeks and Romans, using hieroglyphs that were modified and simplified to be incised quickly and easily in wet clay. Many of the tablets, he reveals, are Egyptian taxation records.Based on the tablets he translates, and the reinterpretation of Egyptian evidence, Mark Cook concludes that New Kingdom Egypt ultimately came to rule Crete for a brief period, rewriting what we know of the end of the Minoan Empire.
Hitler's Luftwaffe Infantry
By spring 1942, Hitler’s forces on the Eastern Front were suffering heavy losses. To replace these casualties, the Army requested the transfer of 20,000 men from the Kriegsmarine and 200,000 airmen from the Luftwaffe to be retrained as infantry. Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring, head of the Luftwaffe, vehemently opposed the plan, fearing it would diminish his political power after several Luftwaffe failures. He proposed instead that the Luftwaffe raise and equip these 200,000 men, arguing their Nazi spirit would benefit the war effort.Hitler, prioritizing political loyalty over military logic, approved the creation of Luftwaffen Felddivisionen (Luftwaffe Field Divisions). Despite being ill-suited for front-line combat, these divisions were deployed in all theatres except North Africa. They were generally ineffective, with many regarded as fit only for garrison duties. On the Eastern Front, they struggled due to the brutal intensity of the fighting. However, two divisions, the 12th and 21st, performed relatively well.This in-depth study examines the Luftwaffe Field Divisions, uncovering the tragic consequences of Göring’s decision. Many Luftwaffe personnel perished in these ill-prepared divisions, whose lives might have been spared had they received proper Army training. The research draws on extensive archival materials, highlighting the human cost of this strategic blunder.
Freethinkers and Labor Leaders
The interpretation of the revisionist historiography of the Mexican Revolution (1910–17) has focused primarily on revolutionary leaders who were men, pushing the heroines of the war to the sidelines. If women happened to be mentioned, they appeared only as symbols, not as social agents. However, the role of the Adelitas, the Cristeras, the Hijas del AnÁhuac, and the women of the Ácrata Group were essential to the revolution. In Freethinkers and Labor Leaders MarÍa Teresa FernÁndez Aceves tells the stories of five militant feminist women who aided in the creation of a modern culture in revolutionary and postrevolutionary Mexico and, in some ways, Latin America as a whole: BelÉn de SÁrraga HernÁndez (1872–1950), Atala Apodaca Anaya (1884–1977), MarÍa Arcelia DÍaz (1896–1939), MarÍa Guadalupe MartÍnez Villanueva (1906–2002), and MarÍa Guadalupe UrzÚa Flores (1912–2004). These five women formed part of two cultural generations that participated together in the Mexican Revolution, in the consolidation of state cooperative institutions, and in the antiestablishment and dissident politics that evolved in the late 1940s. Through these social processes and their struggles as women, mothers, and workers, these women fought for secular education, labor rights, and the civil and political rights of women, redefining cultural and social constructions. Based on original, pathbreaking research, Freethinkers and Labor Leaders demonstrates how five women transformed Latin American society’s ideas of citizenship, femininity, masculinity, and politics.
Rivers West
His dream was to build magnificent steamboats to ply the rivers of the American frontier. But when Jean Talon began his journey westward, he stumbled upon a deadly conspiracy involving a young woman?s search to find her missing brother, and a ruthless band of renegades. Led by the brazen Baron Torville, this makeshift army of opportunists is plotting a violent takeover of the Louisiana Territory. Jean swears to find a way to stop this daring plan. If he doesn?t, it will not only put an end to all his dreams; it will change the course of history?and destroy the promise of the American frontier.
Legacies of British Rule
The relationship between colonial pluralism and nationalist civil war in former British coloniesWhy do some communities fight civil wars over national self-rule while others do not? In Legacies of British Rule, Matthew Lange offers insight into this question through a rigorous multimethod and comparative analysis that pinpoints the combined impact of precolonial statehood and British colonialism. During transitions from empire to nation-state, postcolonial officials in places with large and long-standing precolonial states commonly try to build a unified nation around the dominant community in ways that discriminate against and exclude smaller communities. While such national chauvinism can fuel reactions leading to nationalist civil war, a history of British colonialism intensifies these reactions by increasing sensitivity to national chauvinism and empowering communities to act. Consequently, nationalist civil wars are three times more common in former British colonies than in other former overseas colonies. And yet, Lange finds that British colonialism exerts a very different effect on places with a limited history of precolonial statehood; in an environment with little national chauvinism, British colonialism deters nationalist civil war by promoting more inclusive postcolonial states that strengthen plurinationalism and limit fear and anger over reduced communal autonomy. Lange’s account provides valuable new insights into the roots of nationalist civil war, broad patterns of conflict, and the mixed effects of colonialism and pluralism.
Battle of Britain Remembered
The summer of 1940 marked a pivotal moment in the Second World War. Following the Fall of France, Britain and the Commonwealth stood alone against the threat of Nazi Germany. With the prospect of invasion looming and Hitler’s forces undefeated, the outlook appeared bleak. As the new Prime Minister, Winston Churchill predicted, "the Battle of Britain is about to begin."Under the leadership of Reichmarshall Hermann Göring, the Luftwaffe sought to destroy the RAF and secure aerial supremacy, but Fighter Command’s young aircrew—immortalised by Churchill as "The Few"—resisted with great determination. Over sixteen weeks, from 10 July to 31 October 1940, nearly 3,000 aircrew fought, with 544 losing their lives. Their sacrifice was supported by the RAF, Allied forces, and the civilian population, all playing vital roles in the struggle.In his eight-volume series, Dilip Sarkar MBE, FRHistS, explores the Battle of Britain with a meticulous evidence-based approach. Drawing on primary sources, Sarkar challenges popular narratives while providing comprehensive day-by-day accounts of every raid, squadron action, and strategic operation, including Bomber and Coastal Command activities and the impact on the Home Front. Produced in collaboration with the Battle of Britain Memorial Trust, this series offers the most up-to-date research available.This final volume focuses on how the Battle of Britain has been commemorated over time and examines its cultural and historical significance. Concluding with a comprehensive directory of memorials, museums, and sites related to the battle, the book serves as an essential guide for those interested in exploring these locations and connecting with the dramatic events of 1940.
Edward IV’s Fatal Legacy
One of the most overlooked families of the early modern period, the Courtenays played a critical role, and their story of love and loss, loyalty and betrayal, survival and ruin is played out at the courts of four Tudor monarchs.Katharine, Countess of Devon, was Edward IV''s daughter. Her first proposed marriage would have made her Queen of Spain, but she was declared a bastard on the accession of her uncle Richard III. Legitimated under Henry VII, she eventually married Sir William Courtenay, heir to the earldom of Devon. Her closeness to her sister, Queen Elizabeth of York, did not prevent the sudden arrest of her husband in 1502. Whilst earning the regard of her royal brother-in-law, Henry VII, she walked a knife edge until the accession of her nephew, Henry VIII. As a widow, he granted her the lands of the earldom of Devon for life, making her one of the wealthiest female magnates in England. Her death in 1527 spared her the tragedies which befell her family in the 1530s. Her son Henry, Marquis of Exeter, was first cousin to Henry VIII, with whom he enjoyed a close relationship until the king’s decision to repudiate his queen changed everything. Henry’s marriage to Gertrude Blount, one of the most neglected women of the Tudor period, was one of affection and respect. During the 1530s, she was at the centre of a group opposed to Henry VIII’s repudiation of Catherine of Aragon, passing on information provided by her husband and a small circle of trusted friends to the imperial ambassador, Chapuys. When her husband was arrested in 1538, he, along with others, was executed; only she survived. Imprisoned in the Tower with her twelve-year-old son, Edward, she was later released while Edward remained incarcerated until the accession of Mary I. Upon his release, many believed he would marry the queen, but instead, he died in exile from suspected poisoning after surviving several assassination attempts by imperial agents. This study of the Courtenay family follows their lives and fortunes from 1479-1558.
The Destruction of Hitler's U-boats
Hitler’s U-boats posed a severe threat to Britain during the Second World War, endangering both its survival and the possibility of defeating Germany. Britain needed over a million tons of imports weekly to support the war effort, but Allied shipping losses were devastating. In June 1940, enemy submarines sank 284,113 tons of Allied shipping, a number that rose to 352,407 tons by October, while the Kriegsmarine lost only eight U-boats during the same period. Losses peaked in mid-1942, with 124 ships sunk in June, yet German U-boat casualties remained minimal. Replacement ships could not keep up with the mounting losses, and the Allies’ position grew increasingly precarious.The struggle against U-boats became a monumental effort. Jak P. Mallmann Showell’s book examines this battle in detail, focusing on Allied tactics, technologies, and innovations. Key strategies included radar, Enigma codebreaking, and the convoy system to combat German “wolfpacks.” Allied aircraft successfully drove U-boats from the British coast, while advances in sonar and weaponry, such as sonic torpedoes and rockets, gradually turned the tide of the battle.
Dakota Squadrons in Action From D-Day to V.E. Day
RAF Transport Command''s 46 Group, formed in January 1944, played a pivotal role in the Allies'' victory during the final months of World War II. Operating from three airfields—RAF Broadwell, RAF Blakehill Farm, and RAF Down Ampney—its six squadrons flew the Douglas C-47 Dakotas, providing vital support to airborne forces, paratroopers, and gliders. They conducted air drops, resupplied front-line troops, and facilitated casualty evacuation.From D-Day on 6 June 1944, the Dakotas flew crucial missions over France, transporting goods and personnel while returning with wounded troops and captured enemy material. The ''Flying Nightingales'', WAAF nurses aboard these flights, administered first aid on their return journeys, though one nurse, LACW Margaret Campbell, was killed in a crash in October 1944.During Operation Market Garden in September 1944, Dakotas supported the airborne forces with daily resupply flights. Flight Lieutenant David Lord of 271 Squadron posthumously received the Victoria Cross for his bravery in delivering supplies under heavy flak.In March 1945, Dakotas played a key role in Operation Varsity, the final airborne assault of the war. This book examines the significant contribution of 46 Group’s Dakotas and crews, highlighting their crucial part in the defeat of Nazi Germany.
The Path to Peace at Westphalia
All know about the ''defenestration of Prague'', the coup d''etat staged by Bohemian nobles against the ruling officials of the Hapsburg empire, which triggered the Thirty Years War - a local dispute which started European and global conflict between the Spanish and Austrian Hapsburgs - the Hapsburg Imperium - the greatest power in Europe and the world - linked by the ''Spanish Road'' stretching from Spain and Portugal to Austria, Italy, Germany, the Low Countries and with vast American, Asian and African empires, and buttressed by the Holy Roman Empire. But the ''Golden Age'' was ending with threats to monopoly, economic downturn, revolts - as in Bohemia above - and rivalry from rising powers in Europe, especially the Dutch Republic, as a world colonial, economic power especially in international finance. This study shows that Imperial victory at Nordlingen (1634) was merely the prologue to Hapsburg disaster, and to the decisive change in global power politics with the rise of France as a great power under Richelieu and Louis XIII, French victory in Spain, the continuing power and rivalry of Sweden and the Protestant powers in German, and the financial power and imperial challenge of the Dutch Republic. The result was the greatest war of attrition in modern times and precursor of the wars of the 20th century. It is a truly tragic yet magnificent story of great men and women playing huge roles, including the ''titanic'' Imperial general Wallenstein, but above all for the triumph of the under-sung yet most successful commander, Torstenson, on the Protestant side, He is a worthy successor to the legendary Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden. The final victory at Prague ended the conflict, where it had begun, with Imperial defeat and the destruction the Hapsburg imperium. The Treaty (Treaties) of Westphalia followed Hapsburg defeat and spiralling political and economic collapse, and great human suffering, following a war which changed the global balance of power for the whole modern era.
Byzantine Emperor Constantine V, 'the Dung-named'
Constantine V, was the second East Roman (Byzantine) emperor of the Isaurian Dynasty. A masterful general, who halted the Arab Umayyad advance and went on the counter attack, he was loved by the fighting men of the East till well after his death. He was also an active ruler in other spheres, continuing the legal, social and governmental reforms of his father. His reign effectively strengthened the Empire, which was on the brink of collapse at the end of the Heraclian dynasty and he is generally regarded as one of the most capable men to rule from Constantinople. A ruthless persecutor and iconoclast, he was, however, reviled and maligned by the monastic historians of the church. His true brilliance and accomplishments would always be overshadowed by the name they bestowed upon him after his death: Copronymos (‘the dung-named’). He was compared to a summoner of demons, a magician or even a precursor to the Antichrist.Married three times to women who themselves are worthy of books, he was shrewd in his choice of wives and poltically savvy. As a shrewd ruler and administrator, and for his influence upon the theological debates of his day, he bears comparison with the much-better-known Justinian I, some 200 years before. However, unlike Justinian, his military leadership was more personal and he met his death on campaign in Bulgaria.
Roman Conquests: Britain
The Roman Conquests series seeks to explain when and how the Romans were able to conquer a vast empire stretching from the foothills of the Scottish Highlands to the Sahara Desert, from the Atlantic to the Persian Gulf. How did their armies adapt to and overcome the challenges of widely varied enemies and terrai? n this volume, Dr Simon Elliott draws on the latest research and archaeological evidence to present a new narrative of the conquest (never completed) of Britain. From Julius Caesar’s initial incursions in 55 and 54 BC, through the Claudian invasion of 43 AD and the campaigns of expansion and pacification thereafter, he analyses the Roman army in action. The weapons, equipment, organization, leadership, strategy and tactics of the legions and their British foes are described and analysed. The ferocity of the resistance was such that the island was never wholly subdued and required a disproportionate military presence for the duration of its time as a Roman province.
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.
