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Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence > War & defence operations > Battles & campaigns
This book explores the impact of violence on the religious beliefs
of front soldiers and civilians in Germany during the First World
War. The central argument is that religion was the main prism
through which men and women in the Great War articulated and
processed trauma. Inspired by trauma studies, the history of
emotions, and the social and cultural history of religion, this
book moves away from the history of clerical authorities and
institutions at war and instead focuses on the history of religion
and war 'from below.' Jason Crouthamel provides a fascinating
exploration into the language and belief systems used by ordinary
people to explain the inexplicable. From Judeo-Christian traditions
to popular beliefs and 'superstitions,' German soldiers and
civilians depended on a malleable psychological toolbox that
included a hybrid of ideas stitched together using prewar concepts
mixed with images or experiences derived from the surreal
environment of modern combat. Perhaps most interestingly, studying
the front experience exposes not only lived religion, but also how
religious beliefs are invented. Front soldiers in particular
constructed new, subjective spiritual and religious concepts based
on encounters with industrialized weapons, the sacred experience of
comradeship, and immersion in mass death, which profoundly altered
their sense of self and the supernatural. More than just a coping
mechanism, religious language and beliefs enabled victims, and
perpetrators, of violence to narrate concepts of psychological
renewal and rebirth. In the wake of defeat and revolution,
religious concepts shaped by the war experience also became a
cornerstone of visions for radical political movements, including
the National Socialists, to transform a shattered and embittered
German nation. Making use of letters between soldiers and
civilians, diaries, memoirs and front newspapers, Trauma, Religion
and Spirituality in Germany during the First World War offers a
unique glimpse into the belief systems of men and women at a
turning point in European history.
Since the end of World War II, there have been 181 insurgencies
around the world. Today, there are over three dozen violent
insurgencies, including in such high-profile countries as Iraq,
Syria, Libya, Afghanistan, and Ukraine. These insurgencies have
been led by a range of groups, from the Islamic State in Iraq and
Syria to the Taliban in Afghanistan. In fact, most warfare today
occurs in the form of insurgencies. If we are to understand modern
warfare, we need to understand insurgencies. While numerous books
have been written on the subject of insurgencies, there is no book
that brings together all of what we know into one accessible volume
that policymakers can understand and use. Waging Insurgent Warfare
is that book. Seth G. Jones, who has been deeply involved in the
Afghanistan war over the last decade, aims to help policymakers,
scholars, and general readers better understand how groups start,
wage, and end insurgencies. He weaves together examples from today
and from recent history into an analytic synthesis that focuses on
several sets of questions. First, what factors contribute to the
rise of an insurgency? Second, what are the key components involved
in conducting an insurgency? As he explains, insurgent groups need
to decide on a strategy, employ a range of tactics, select an
organizational structure, secure outside aid from state and
non-state actors, and conduct information campaigns. They then have
to routinely re-assess these decisions over the course of an
insurgency. Third, what factors contribute to the end of
insurgencies? Finally, what do the answers to these questions mean
for the conduct of counterinsurgency warfare? Waging Insurgent
Warfare is not only a practical handbook for understanding
insurgent warfare, but it also has implications for waging
counterinsurgent warfare. Highly readable, empirically
sophisticated, and historically informed, Waging Insurgent Warfare
will become a standard work on the topic.
In the wake of the Second World War, Samuel Beckett wrote some of
the most significant literary works of the 20th century. This is
the first full-length historical study to examine the far-reaching
impact of the war on Beckett's creative and intellectual
sensibilities. Drawing on a substantial body of archival material,
including letters, manuscripts, diaries and interviews, as well as
a wealth of historical sources, this book explores Beckett's
writing in a range of political contexts, from the racist dogma of
Nazism and aggressive traditionalism of the Vichy regime to Irish
neutrality censorship and the politics of recovery in the French
Fourth Republic. Along the way, Samuel Beckett and the Second World
War casts new light on Beckett's political commitments and his
concepts of history as they were formed during Europe's darkest
hour.
This is the third and final 'stand-alone' account of C Squadron
SAS's thrilling operations against the relentless spread of
communist backed terrorism in East Africa. Drawing on first-hand
experiences the author describes operations against
communist-backed terrorists in Angola and Mozambique, aiding the
Portuguese and Renamo against the MPLA and Frelimo respectively.
Back in Southern Rhodesia SAS General Peter Walls, realising the
danger that Mugabe and ZANU represented, appealed directly to
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. This correspondence,
published here for the first time, changed nothing and years of
corruption and genocide followed. Although C Squadron was disbanded
in 1980 many members joined the South African special forces.
Operations undertaken included unsuccessful and costly
destabilisation attempts against Mugabe and missions into
Mozambique including the assassination of Samora Machel. By 1986
deteriorating relationships with the South African authorities
resulted in the break-up of the SAS teams who dispersed worldwide.
Had Mike Graham not written his three action-packed books, C
Squadron SAS's superb fighting record might never have been
revealed. For those who are fascinated by special forces soldiering
his accounts are 'must reads'.
Joseph A. Fry's Letters from the Southern Home Front explores the
diversity of public opinion on the Vietnam War within the American
South. Fry examines correspondence sent by hundreds of individuals,
of differing ages, genders, racial backgrounds, political views,
and economic status, reflecting a broad swath of the southern
population. These letters, addressed to high-profile political
figures and influential newspapers, took up a myriad of war-related
issues. Their messages enhance our understanding of the South and
the United States as a whole as we continue to grapple with the
significance of this devastating and divisive conflict.
Shortlisted for the 2021 Society for Army Historical Research's
Templer Medal Operation Crusader, launched in November 1941, was
the third and final British attempt to relieve the siege of Tobruk
and break the German and Italian forces in North Africa. After
tough initial fighting, the British made important gains, only to
be countered by a stunning breakthrough overseen personally by Lt.
General Erwin Rommel. As the British situation teetered, the
commander of the 8th Army, Lt. General Alan Cunningham, was
relieved of duty by his superior, General Claude Auchinleck. This
decision changed the direction of the battle and perhaps the war
itself. Why and how Cunningham was relieved has been the subject of
commentary and speculation since it occurred. Using newly
discovered evidence, Alexander Joffe rethinks the events that
brought about the sudden relief of the operation's commanding
officer, including insubordination. The book then discusses how
narratives regarding the operation were created, were incorporated
into British and Commonwealth official and unofficial historical
writing about the war, and contributed to British historical
memory. Based on a decade of archival work, the book presents a new
and detailed analysis of a consequential battle and, importantly,
of how its history was written and received in the context of
post-war Britain.
France, 1940. The once glittering boulevards of Paris teem with
spies, collaborators, and the Gestapo now that France has fallen to
Hitler's Wermacht. For Andre Breton, Max Ernst, Marc Chagall,
Consuelo de Saint-Exupery, and scores of other cultural elite who
have been denounced as enemies of the Third Reich the fear of
imminent arrest, deportation, and death defines their daily life.
Their only salvation is the Villa Air-Bel, a chateau outside
Marseille where a group of young people will go to extraordinary
lengths to keep them alive.
A powerfully told, meticulously researched true story filled
with suspense, drama, and intrigue, "Villa Air-Bel" delves into a
fascinating albeit hidden saga in our recent history. It is a
remarkable account of how a diverse intelligentsia--intense,
brilliant, and utterly terrified--was able to survive one of the
darkest chapters of the twentieth century.
When American troops arrived in Paris to help maintain order at the
end of the Second World War they were, at first, received by the
local population with a sense of euphoria. However, the French soon
began to resent the Americans for their display of wealth and
brashness, while the US soldiers found the French and their habits
irritating and incomprehensible. To bridge the cultural divide, the
American generals came up with an innovative solution. They
commissioned a surprisingly candid book which collated the GIs'
'gripes' and reproduced them with answers aimed at promoting
understanding of the French and their country. The 'gripes' reveal
much about American preconceptions: 'The French drink too much',
'French women are immoral', 'The French drive like lunatics ', 'The
French don't bathe', 'The French aren't friendly' are just some of
the many complaints. Putting the record straight, the answers cover
topics as diverse as night-clubs, fashion, agriculture and
sanitation. They also offer an unusual insight into the reality of
daily life immediately after the war, evoking the shortage of food
and supplies, the acute poverty and the scale of the casualties and
destruction suffered by France during six years of conflict.
Illustrated with delightfully evocative cartoons and written in a
direct, colloquial style, this gem from 1945 is by turns amusing,
shocking and thought-provoking in its valiant stand against
prejudice and stereotype.
"I have decided to prepare for, and if necessary to carry out, an
invasion against England."--Adolph Hitler, July 16, 1940
Operation Sealion was the codename for the Nazi invasion of Britain
that Hitler ordered his generals to plan after France fell in June
1940. Although the plan ultimately never came to fruition, a few
sets of the Germans' detailed strategy documents are housed in the
rare book rooms of libraries across Europe. But now the Bodleian
Library has made documents from their set available for all to
peruse in this unprecedented collection of the invasion planning
materials.
The planned operation would have involved landing 160,000 German
soldiers along a forty-mile stretch of coast in southeast England.
Packets of reconnaissance materials were put together for the
invading forces, and the most intriguing parts are now reproduced
here. Each soldier was to be given maps and geographical
descriptions of the British Isles that broke down the country by
regions, aerial photographs pinpointing strategic targets, an
extensive listing of British roads and rivers, strategic plans for
launching attacks on each region, an English dictionary and phrase
book, and even a brief description of Britain's social composition.
Augmenting the fascinating documents is an informative introduction
that sets the materials in their historical and political context.
A must-have for every military history buff, "German Invasion Plans
for the British Isles, 1940" is a remarkable revelation of the
inner workings of Hitler's most famous unrealized military
campaign.
In the early hours of November 10, 1938, Nazi storm troopers and
Hitler Youth rampaged through Jewish neighborhoods across Germany,
leaving behind them a horrifying trail of terror and destruction.
More than a thousand synagogues and many thousands of Jewish shops
were destroyed, while thirty thousand Jews were rounded up and sent
to concentration camps. Kristallnacht--the Night of Broken
Glass--was a decisive stage in the systematic eradication of a
people who traced their origins in Germany to Roman times and was a
sinister forewarning of the Holocaust.
With rare insight and acumen, Martin Gilbert examines this
night and day of terror, presenting readers with a meticulously
researched, masterfully written, and eye-opening study of one of
the darkest chapters in human history.
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