Pen & Sword Books Ltd strana 32 z 41

The campaign for Iwo Jima (Operation Detachment) from 19 February–26 March 1945 pitted the USMC Fifth Amphibious Corps (VAC) and the USN’s Fifth Fleet against the IJA 109th Division and assorted IJN ground troops under the command of Lieutenant General Tadamichi Kuribayashi. After neutralizing Japanese air assets on Iwo Jima, the objective was to seize Iwo Jima’s two completed airfields in the southern and central sectors and make them operational after the heavy pre- and post-invasion aerial, naval and Marine artillery bombardment. USAAF 7th Fighter Command would then have this Volcano Island as a base from which to escort the four-engine B-29 heavy bombers on their Japanese Home Islands’ raids from their Mariana Islands bases and to provide emergency airfields for battle-damaged or low-on-fuel Superfortresses on their return flight that otherwise would have crashed in the sea. The combined American force numbered over 100,000 troops against 20,933 Japanese soldiers and sailors. Kuribayashi’s defences were so well fortified with caves, tunnels and daunting terrain that the VAC lost 6,821 KIA and 19,217 wounded compared to approximately 18,000 Japanese troops KIA or MIA with only 216 prisoners taken. In a ‘mopping up’ phase to clear the remaining Japanese hidden in the island’s caves, the Army’s 147th IR, 37th Division captured an additional 867 prisoners. This epic USMC campaign resulted in an unprecedented ratio of three American casualties for every two Japanese soldiers. In all, 2,251 emergency B-29 landings were made saving the lives of almost 25,000 aircrew members. The flagraisings atop Mount Suribachi on 23 February 1945 galvanized American morale at home.

Millions of visitors to Rome’s Capitoline Museums admire the great bronze equestrian statue of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121-180 CE), practising Stoic and the last ‘Good Emperor’ before Rome commenced its prolonged decline. One ancient historian compared the succession from Marcus to his son Commodus as a descent from a kingdom of gold to one of iron and rust. The statue’s fortuitous survival occurred only because of a longstanding belief that it represented Constantine, the first Christian Emperor – an instance of the mysterious ways in which Marcus’s complex legacies would endure. The recent revival of interest in Stoicism has seen renewed focus on Marcus Aurelius. While new editions of Marcus’s work Meditations, and fresh biographical treatments, have appeared, there remain lesser-known sources which shed light on how Marcus was remembered, from intriguing medieval legends, right through to the twenty-first century. Each generation has interpreted Marcus Aurelius, his writings, his deeds, and his personality anew, as he remains a role-model and the closest actual instance, in Western history, of an ideal ruler. This book collects and interprets, for the first time, a range of cultural receptions, enriching our understanding of this perennially compelling figure.

Assassination has been a political and military tool for thousands of years. In the view of many generals and emperors, it was cheaper and more effective than assembling an army and pitching soldiers into combat with the enemy - when the result was never clear cut or easy to achieve.The twentieth century was, perhaps more than any other period, an era of military, political and social assassinations. Their effect was invariably huge, world-changing in some instances. From the killing of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in 1914 to the murder of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948, from the death of John Lennon to the assassination of men like President Kennedy and Martin Luther King, the assassin''s bombs, bullets, and knives cut a swathe across modern society.''Assassinations that Shaped the Twentieth Century'' logs and describes many of the more notable killings. It places the assassinations in context, charting their effect and significance. The book also looks at ''failed'' assassination attempts and at killings that were planned but never carried out.Written in Phil Carradice''s easy and elegant style, the book is thoroughly researched and presented in a logical manner. It is an essential addition to the bookshelves of anyone with an interest in twentieth-century history.

After the terrible losses of The Great War, twenty years later the Second World War resulted in the death of some of the finest sporting icons. This book honours the ninety international rugby players who lost their lives. Fifteen were Scottish, fourteen English, eleven Welsh and eight Irish. Australia and New Zealand suffered with ten and two internationals killed respectively and France eight. Germany topped the list with nineteen. In the same way that the Authors best-selling Into Touch remembered the 130 Internationals lost in the First World War, Final Scrum gives an individual biography of each of the ninety with their international and club playing record as well as their backgrounds, details of their military careers and circumstances of their death. We learn where they are buried or commemorated together with at least one photograph of each player. Rugby enthusiasts will find this book a fascinating and moving record of the sacrifice of the finest young men of their generation who fought in the second worldwide conflict of the 20th Century.

In a world defined by the brutalities of war, one German general stands apart from the Hollywood stereotype. Before the storm of the Second World War, Fridolin von Senger und Etterlin was a Rhodes Scholar at Oxford, fluent in multiple languages, and a devoted Christian — a lifelong Benedictine Oblate. From the very outset he was anti-Nazi and, on many occasions, defied Hitler’s orders. His military skills were good; in France he beat Rommel to Cherbourg and on the Eastern Front he tried to relieve the German 6th Army in Stalingrad. It was in Italy where his reputation grew by safely evacuating German troops from Sicily, Sardinia and Corsica, a delicate matter because the Italians had changed sides. He defeated General Clark’s forces at the Rapido battle fiasco, and he caused Cassino to become a serious hold up for the Allied advance north. It was he who willingly signed the surrender documents in Italy on 4 May 1945.His Christian beliefs meant there were no barbarities within his command, and he made lifelong friends with some occupied residents, helping to save lives from the dreaded SS, and the Italian partisans never attacked him because he had helped the helpless. He was a brilliant tactician, always with his troops on the frontline, and his anti-Nazi views were not a post-war justification but were widely known during the war years by friend and foe. Von Senger was never even considered for war crimes, and was granted the rare privilege of being allowed to explore the English countryside from the Bridgend PoW camp. Discover the life of a general who fought not just for victory, but for honour, compassion, and morality under the brutal Nazi regime.

Humour is a vital ingredient for the morale of a nation at war. From Britain’s John Bull mocking a diminutive Napoleon carving up the world, the caricatures of a bombastic Kaiser in the First World War, to an often demented looking Hitler, cartoons have not only portrayed the enemy in a satirical light but have raised a smile in the darkest of times.Self-depreciating humour is also a facet of cartoons during wartime – making fun of incumbent politicians and incompetent generals – while at the same time challenging the decisions of those in powerful positions in a manner meant to embarrass. Indeed, cartoons often carry a serious message which exemplifies the subject far more impactfully than the written word.It is also the case that cartoons can broach subjects too sensitive to be touched upon in editorials or by columnists. Such is the case with this absorbing, if light-hearted view of the Second World War portraying the seismic events of the conflict in a fashion which everyone at the time could understand and nod their appreciation to with a smile on their lips.The Second World War in Cartoons begins in the aftermath of the First World War. It then covers the events that lead to a resurgent Germany and the slow march to war. This is followed by the inevitable references to the Phoney War and to Hitler’s ‘Sink-on-Sight Navy’ after the Graf Spee had been scuttled by her captain.A more serious tone is undertaken during Britain’s darkest hour, the cartoons reflecting both Churchill’s stubborn determination to resist as well as encouraging the fighter boys to stop Goering’s Luftwaffe. Gradually, the mood changes as Britain’s strategic position improves. When the war ended with victory in Europe, a cartoon of Germany depicts a notice ‘Under New Management’.Churchill’s defeat in the 1945 general election resulted in one cartoonist declaring that Britain had ‘dropped its pilot’ and, ever a cartoonist’s favourite character, among the final images is that of Churchill declaring an Iron Curtain had descended across the Continent, as the Cold War took its grip.This is the biggest book ever published on political cartoons and each of these wonderful cartoons is provided with a full explanation of the historical background, and its relevance to the events of the day.

On 6 April 1941, Nazi Germany, along with Italy and Hungary, invaded Yugoslavia after the overthrow of the Yugoslav regent, Prince Paul. Hitler sought to secure the right flank for his upcoming invasion of the USSR and assist Mussolini, who had failed to conquer Greece. The German attack was swift, and by 17 April, Yugoslavia capitulated, leading to the creation of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH).Ante Pavelić, leader of the fascist Ustaše organization, was installed as the head of Croatia. His government immediately began a brutal campaign of repression against non-Croatians, especially Serbs. This sparked rebellions, with Serbian Chetnik bands and Croatian communists forming separate guerrilla movements. The Croatian state was soon overwhelmed by these insurgencies.Italy further complicated matters by creating occupation zones within Croatia, supporting Chetnik bands, and hampering Croatian military efforts. The Croatian Army, unable to fortify its territory due to Italian restrictions, was often attacked by Chetniks and forced to fight on two fronts.Despite these challenges, including inadequate armament and the constant interference of its allies, Croatia maintained a military force that continued to fight until the war’s bitter end.

In London, as the eighteenth century began, there had been significant recovery from the Great Plague and the Great Fire in the past three decades. Tracts of the city had been rebuilt and the population was growing once more. The city, largely through England’s success in battles at sea, was taking centre stage in Europe and, critically, through taking the lion’s share of the lands of the New World of America and snatching slave trading rights in West Africa. England had great wealth at its fingertips and London was at the heart of all of it.People flocked to the capital to seek their fortune. Wealthy people invested in the new companies exploiting Africa or set up manufacturing concerns in the city. They moved into large houses in the wealthy area of the Strand and spread into other prosperous areas such as Cavendish Place. Their houses were staffed by teams of domestic servants.At the other end of the income scale, people were leaving their rural homes where traditional jobs as labourers and in the fields were drying up, hoping to make a living in London. So many people arrived searching for work that there were too few jobs and many opportunities to be exploited. With no safety net, they had to resort to desperate measures to survive.Babies were abandoned on the mounds of animal and human waste which towered over the overcrowded alleys. Some were dead, others dying. People walked past this tragic sight every day and chose to do nothing. One man, however, a ship-builder from Lyme, decided on a plan to save them.The vilification of illegitimate babies and the general disdain for the poor meant that it took Thomas Coram years to garner enough support to get his plan to save the babies off the ground. However, when, in 1739, he was able to found England’s first institution for abandoned and illegitimate babies, it became a place for London’s high society to be seen.Royalty, politicians and scientists joined the crowds of people who went to the London Foundling Hospital to see the works of Hogarth or listen to Handel perform. It became the most fashionable charity in London. But even this could not stop the babies dying.

In October 1943, Frederick Bailey, a wireless operator who had trained with the Royal Armoured Corps, was selected for Special Operation Executive’s wireless training centre at Fawley Court, Henley-on-Thames. It was the start of an incredible wartime career that saw Fred serve behind enemy lines in both the European and Far East theatres.With his training complete, and having adopted the fieldname Rétif, Sergeant Bailey became a member of one of the famous Jedburgh units, Team Citröen. The Jedburghs generally consisted of compact teams of three men, usually an officer, a radio operator and a soldier from the country the team was to be dropped into. Together with Major John Smallwood and Captain Pierre Bloch, a French Foreign Legionnaire, Bailey, as Team Citröen’s radio operator, was dropped in into the Lagarde area of the Vaucluse region in German-occupied France by an American aircrew from Algiers during the night of 11/12 August 1944. Their mission was to support the local Resistance groups in the rear of the German units trying to hold back the Allied forces sweeping through France after D-Day.As Maxine Harcourt-Kelly reveals, the fear of Bailey’s transmissions being intercepted by the Germans, as well as the constant danger of their location being revealed by informers, meant that Team Citröen was constantly on the move. Despite this, on one occasion the group knocked out an enemy tank with the help of an intrepid young Frenchman, who ran up to it armed only with a grenade and dropped it through the driver’s viewing hatch.One morning, Bailey learnt that a large German convoy was moving along the road from Grenoble to Lyon. He sent a coded message to HQ in Algiers asking for an immediate air strike. A series of Mosquito fighter bombers attacked and destroyed the whole convoy. Fred also caused major disruption to German attempts to withdraw by calling in air support which destroyed a vital bridge. Fred was Mentioned in Despatches and awarded the Croix de Guerre with Bronze Star by the French.With his war in Europe over, Fed volunteered to serve with SOE’s Force 136 in the Far East. He was duly sent out to Burma where he was dispatched into the Keren Hills to monitor the routes being used by the retreating Japanese. Fred was able to send regular reports on enemy troop movements and direct Allied air strikes. On one occasion, they ambushed a Japanese convoy. A fierce firefight developed, but they slipped back into the jungle before the Japanese could counter-attack. These attacks were so disruptive that the Japanese were forced to form a special force to hunt Fred’s team down.As they could not be resupplied, Fred’s team grew weaker. Before long, with nothing to eat but a handful of rice each day, the team was beginning to starve. It was left with no option but to evacuate. Even then, Fred’s adventures were far from over. In August 1945, he was dropped into Malaya tasked with finding any American aircrew who had been shot down and taken prisoner south of Kuala Lumpur. This is the action-packed story of one man’s remarkable war serving in Allied Special Forces units behind enemy lines in both Occupied Europe and the Far East.

In 1837, Queen Victoria inherited an army that had not changed greatly from that which defeated Napoleon in 1815, although reform was already under way. The process of reorganization and modernization, however, continued throughout her reign. As the British army protected and extended the Empire, it strove to adapt to rapidly advancing technology and an incredible array of enemies and environments. This was the period in which many of the of its most famous battle honours were won, such as Balaklava, Rorke’s Drift and Omdurman.Gabriele Esposito gives a comprehensive overview of the history, organization, weapons and uniforms of the various components of the British army. All branches of the service are included: Foot Guards, line infantry, Highland infantry, light infantry, rifle corps (the King’s Royal Rifle Corps and the Rifle Brigade), Life Guards and Horse Guards, Dragoon Guards, Dragoons, Light Dragoons, Hussars, Lancers, Royal Artillery, Royal Engineers and Royal Army Service Corps. The Royal Marines and Royal Marine Artillery, while technically part of the Royal Navy, are also covered as they often fought with the land forces. The ‘legions’ of British volunteers who fought abroad and the foreign military units in British service are also considered. He traces the great changes that happened across the period in both military dress (the famous red coats giving way to khaki) and equipment (notably, muskets being replaced by breech-loading rifles and machine guns). Dozens of beautiful colour artworks illustrate this glorious period of British military history.

A graphic study of military and military revolution in the pivotal 17th century in the context of the Thirty Years War, shown by dramatic battle scenes, personal, heroic and tragic for all levels of society, and all strikingly brought to life. The first ''world war'' in Europe was a global conflict, showing that early modern war, despite the Enlightenment argument which contrasts medieval military brutality with modern mores, early modern warfare was full of horror and innocent suffering, reinforced modern weaponry and state support. With striking quotes from commanders to foot-soldiers, readers feel ''involved'' and the story moves from battle-field tactics to strategy, Grand Strategy and international relations. Here is the modern military state at the heart of the 17th century military evolution and revolution leading to modern and contemporary international warfare.

In 1983, Grenada, a small Commonwealth Island in the Caribbean, had strong ties with Communist Cuba. Bernard Coard and a group of hard-line Marxist-Leninists overthrew the unelected Prime Minister Maurice Bishop and then executed Bishop and his entourage.President Ronald Reagan displayed a paranoic concern as he believed that, in Grenada, Cuba was building a powerful military base. To eliminate what he saw as a threat, he resolved to initiate regime change in Grenada. To justify an armed intervention, he made the safety of US citizens on the Island his casus belli.The poorly trained, lightly-armed and unmotivated military forces of Grenada were only hundreds strong. Nevertheless, Reagan assembled a major fleet and 7,500 troops to invade the island and rescue his citizens. This was an overly massive hammer to crack a miniscule nut.Reagan misled the British Government as to his intentions, ignored the trenchant views of Prime Minister Thatcher and, having assembled a cosmetic coalition of other Caribbean states, US forces invaded the island.This well-researched and perceptive book by an experienced historian examines what he describes as, ‘a masterclass in political and military ineptitude’. The invasion was judged by the United Nations to be illegal and, during the USA’s three-day Operation URGENT FURY, anything that could go wrong – did. However, the courage of American servicemen is not in question although the quality of their senior leadership is.In this far-reaching book, the author covers the trial of the murderers, and the impact of Reagan’s belligerent rhetoric that, following URGENT FURY, very nearly triggered World War III.This is a crisp, incisive summation and very readable account of an incident in modern history that restored democracy to Grenada, and led to major changes in the manner that the armed forces of the USA conduct their business.

‘The infantryman always bears the brunt’ according to Field-Marshal Wavell in 1945. The ‘Poor Bloody Infantry,’ ‘The Grunts on the Ground,’ the infantry have often been seen as the humble, indeed shunned, relations of others, from cavalry to tanks. This book is their story, one from the dawn of human conflict to the present day, a study that looks round the world to consider fighting, weaponry, recruitment, contexts and impact. Infantry as the shock of assault as well as firepower, as the force in state-to-state conflict and in civil warfare, in symmetrical and asymmetrical warfare, are considered, as are the different accounts of development that are offered. Central to the military and to combat, infantry has also served many non-combat roles, notably as the arm of government. Indeed, infantry can be crucial to political history and nation-building, from coups to iconic battles

Comic-operetta stage set, or ghost town haunted by the walking dead – Sigmaringen still fascinates long after its collapse at the end of the Second World War. This enclave of French Vichy officials and fascists on German soil – refugees and hostages maintained at the Nazis’ pleasure – played out the last residue of French collaborationism in the closing months of the war, presided over by the inert figurehead of Marshal Pétain, against the fairytale backdrop of Sigmaringen Castle. No single English-language history of the Sigmaringen enclave exists, yet it brought together some of the most colourful and controversial collaborationists, from the militant French SS officer Joseph Darnand to the delirious writer Louis-Ferdinand Céline, in a petri dish for the last samples of the collaborationism that had infected France and laid her low.Vichy’s Last Castle brings together contemporary documents, eye-witness reports, diplomatic communiques and protests, and personal chronicles, alongside post-war analyses, war crimes trials, apologetics and memoirs, to provide a complete picture of the Sigmaringen enclave, from daily life to political chicanery. From the vain, formal protests of Marshal Pétain to the hallucinatory stream-of-consciousness of Céline, the book draws on contemporary photographs as well as texts to encapsulate this bizarre milieu, where the rank-and-file starved and suffered, while the elite played and plotted their tragicomic endgame, in a sublimely appropriate Wagnerian setting.

Self-propelled anti-tank and anti-aircraft vehicles were a key element of the Nazi Army during the Second World War. Anti-tank weapons assumed great importance from the outbreak of war as combatants developed ever more effective armoured vehicles and tactics. Some were little more than stopgap solutions, such as mounting the weapons on a tracked vehicle to give enhanced mobility, while others were more sophisticated designs. Examples of the development of tank destroyer technology throughout the war are the Marders, Jagdpanzer 38, and Nashorn. In order to provide much needed fire power, vehicles like the 5-ton Sd.Kfz.6 halftrack mounted Soviet 76.2mm field guns. The Marder series played a key role supporting armoured operations with their anti-tank guns.Anti-aircraft firepower was vital to give protection to troops from increasingly potent Allied ground-attack. The Germans also mounted anti-aircraft guns onboard halftracks such as the Sd.Kfz.10/5 and 10/4 armed with 2cm Flak guns, the medium Sd.Kfz.7/1 halftrack mounting 2cm flak guns, including quadruple flak guns on certain modified vehicles. Later in the war there was the Flakpanzer 38 (t) with a 2cm flak gun, an Sd.Kfz.6/2 Flak halftrack, and the Flakpanzer IV `Wirbelwind` with a rotating flak gun turret armed with quadruple 2cm flak guns.In true Images of War style the authoritative text is superbly supported by well captioned contemporary images.

Catherine of Braganza has regularly been referred to as ‘the forgotten queen’ and there is much truth in this statement. Following her death in 1705, a fully detailed biography in English remained unwritten until 1915. The last major bio published about her was in Portuguese in 1941 and it has never been translated into English. Despite her sheltered and religious upbringing, she made a spectacular marriage that was plagued by the infidelities of her husbands. Readers can readily find published biographies of Charles II’s many glamourous mistresses, but curiously, little on his wife. This new work presents more comprehensive information on Catherine’s life in Portugal than previous biographies and integrates new scholarship regarding Catherine’s practice of queenship and patronage of Catholic Baroque culture in an effort to carve out a prominent role at the Stuart court and to compete with her rivals. Readers familiar with Catherine’s story may learn some delightful new details about her life.Catherine has never been forgotten in Portugal. She considered herself Portuguese at heart and during her reign as Queen of England, she persistently looked out for Portuguese interests. In her own words, she considered her marriage a personal sacrifice to what was best for her home country. She is one of the few dowager queens in history to return to her homeland where she acted as regent for her brother.This biography places Catherine within the context of the history of Portugal and their seaborne empire, and the strong political and commercial ties between England and Portugal dating to the mid-fourteenth century which played a key role in the culmination of the Marriage Treaty of 1661. Her legacy lives on in her dowry, specifically the port of Bombay which allowed England to become a global empire, introducing many everyday items into European culture.