![]() |
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
|
Your cart is empty |
||
|
Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence > General
A comprehensive overview of warfare in Vietnamese history from the early efforts to free themselves from Chinese control, through the Indo-China and Vietnam Wars, the Vietnamese invasion of Cambodia, up to the Sino-Vietnamese War in 1979. Concentrating on the Vietnam War, the author explores the conflict from the Vietnamese perspective, demonstrating how for many Vietnamese the war was merely one of a long series of struggles against foreign domination. Encompassing socio-political, economic, diplomatic and cultural issues, this text provides an introduction to Vietnam's military history and will be of interest to students of 20th century American and Asian history.
A collection of essays charting the developments in military practice and warfare across the world in the early modern and modern periods.
This is the story of the last few months of WWII in the Pacific, seen through the eyes of one man, a radio operator aboard a B29 Superfortress who kept a diary of 28 missions over Japan. The diary tells of the horrors of war. It was written in darkness, and often fear, with a pen-light during lonely hours confined for up to 18 hours at a time. Herb Greer our main author, 23 years old, frightened and sitting on up to 20,000 pounds of jellied gasoline (napalm), while blindly flying through constant flak bursts and fighter opposition. The plane is blacked out save the dull red glow of the instrument panels as they pass through the target area. Suddenly the most intense bright light floods the aircraft, blinding us - the tension in the aircraft shot up, hearts started beating a whole lot faster as we instantly realized that we were being singled out of the sky by a searchlight and were now firmly in the sights of air and ground fire, we were the main act, and center stage. From that moment everything went into slow motion as we pass through the target - seconds felt like minutes and minutes, hours. BOOM, an explosion, the plane rocks, bucks, flak is searing its way through the fragile fabric of the fuselage, loose items are flying around, I'm scared - they say you can taste fear - well they're absolutely right. This personal view gives us two perspectives, the first is the story of Herb Greer speaking to us aboard a B29 through the written entries of his diary and then the second recounted from his armchair 60 years later. Written with an immediacy that can only be shared by those who were there, while capturing for posterity their bravery and dignity of sacrifice.
The year 2002 marked the 250th anniversary of the birth of General George Rogers Clark. In celebrating Clark's life, this book presents new information and new interpretations of his impact upon the settlement of Kentucky and his control of the Old Northwest Territories. The co-editors-- who include traditional historians, social historians, and revisionists--include new details not previously published or found within a single source to bring Clark research into the new century. Thirteen experts on various aspects of Clark's life and achievements go beyond his military career as a Revolutionary War hero and frontier Indian fighter to detail the whole of his accomplishments. They address his tragedies along with his triumphs in a refreshingly balanced portrayal. Specific topics of interest include Clark's settlement at Fort Jefferson, the myths surrounding his love life, his management of the Kentucky/Ohio Valley frontier, and a collection of portraiture art never before gathered in one volume.
For some historians, wars are made of battles and maps, generals and strategies. But only the soldier who was there, on the ground, can truly comprehend the realities of war, its stories of individual triumph, the formation of lifelong friendships, and above all, doing a job that had to be done against all adversity. "The 440th Signal Battalion" chronicles the saga of one U.S. Army battalion over seven decades, a time during which the world, and its warfare, changed more than it had in the thousand years that came before. Experience war as the 440th did, as they are attacked the night of December 10, 1944, by the Japanese, often unable to see their adversaries, but close enough to exchange taunts with an enemy soldier, through the heart wrenching story of the death of Specialist Aaron R. Clark in Iraq in December 2003, the battalion's last wartime loss before its inactivation in 2007. From World War II, through Korea, the Cold War, and the Gulf War, the story of the 440th comes to life through hundreds of interviews, documents, and photographs. Ultimately, it is a story of ordinary people acting extraordinarily. For more information, visit http: //440thsignalbattalion.blogspot.com.
This book offers a nuanced and detailed examination of two of the most important current debates about contemporary Russia's international activity: is Moscow acting strategically or opportunistically, and should this be understood in regional or global terms? The book addresses core themes of Russian activity - military, energy and economic - but it offers an unusual multi-disciplinary analysis to these themes. Monaghan incorporates both regional and thematic specialist expertise to give a fresh perspective to each of these core themes. Underpinned by detailed analyses of the revolution in Russian geospatial capabilities and the establishment of a strategic planning foundation, the book includes chapters on military and maritime strategies, energy security and economic diversification and influence. This serves to highlight the connections between military and economic interests that shape and drive Russian strategy. -- .
Lewis thoroughly analyzes the processes through which social reality is constructed and subjectively appropriated by individuals. Step-by-step he shows precisely how a war in Southeast Asia became a young man's reality, how Americans found themseles compelled to scrap the cultural knowledge they had been taught, how an individual went from civilian to combat soldier and back again and was flung into a cultural twilight zone. To reconstruct their world view, Lewis dips into the minds, hearts, and souls of the young men who witnessed the Vietnam War firsthand. As they tell their own stories he focuses on the socio-psychological consequences.
First published in 1998. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
The nature and role of paid foreign forces have altered considerably in the late twentieth century. 'Military companies' - private firms providing active military assistance, in some cases involving combat - have exploited the increasing reluctance of Western governments and multilateral organizations to intervene directly in civil conflicts. As a result, their influence has increased. David Shearer argues that the debate over the use of these companies - notably the South African firm Executive Outcomes (EO) - has not, however, kept pace with their development. Companies such as EO are widely seen as merely modern-day mercenary outfits exploiting violence for private gain. Shearer contends that the need to recast the debate on military companies is urgent. These companies are not a passing phenomenon; if anything, their influence and activities are set to increase in the next century as Western military retrenchment continues. Efforts to restrict the activities of military companies by drafting international or domestic legislation have to date been ineffective, and are likely to remain so. This paper - the first detailed analysis of the private military sector - argues that dismissing it as an unpleasant aberration is misleading and unhelpful. Military companies can claim success in achieving immediate strategic objectives. The author cites two examples at length - EO's operations in Angola in 1993-94, and in Sierra Leone in 1995-96 - and suggests that military force can stabilize a crisis. Engagement with military companies may create possibilities for them to complement international and regional peacekeeping efforts. Traditional UN peacekeeping is flawed in terms of its speed of mobilization and lines of authority, and is hampered by interference from contributing countries. The private sector may avoid many of these difficulties. Private Armies and Military Intervention concludes that transparency of operations and business relationships is a crucial first step towards ensuring the accountability of the private military sector. However, a coherent policy towards military companies has yet to be formulated. Current frameworks under international law are insufficient and inappropriate. Characterizing the activities of military companies as 'mercenary' offers few useful means to tackle the issue within a framework of international policy. What is required is a more pragmatic approach that assesses the effectiveness of - and engages with - private armies.
This work of military history integrates the Italian dimension into the wider political and military history of early modern Europe.
An analysis of the political and military history of Europe from the 16th to the 18th century, from an Italian perspective. The book is part of the WARFARE AND HISTORY series.
This book makes the case for why cooperation is the key to security within and between states, and for dealing with complex threats and challenges to international peace and security. It argues that cooperation is not altruism or liberal internationalism, rather it is in the self-interest of states. Drawing on both theory and practice, it looks at how cooperation can be promoted within and between states as well as in the global community. It explains the concept of 'cooperative security' and its potential contribution to promoting integration against the current of fragmentation. Furthermore, the book explores the potential impact of technology on cooperation. It makes an urgent call for new ideas and approaches to encourage people and states to work together to deal with complex threats and challenges. This book will be of particular interest to students of diplomacy studies, foreign policy and international relations, and to practitioners dealing with security issues.
This book explores the causes and implications of the Libyan crisis since the anti-Gaddafi uprisings of 2011 from the perspective of the EU and NATO. It asks the question of why those organizations failed to stabilize the country despite the serious challenges posed by the protracted crisis to European and transatlantic stakes in the region. This book argues that such failure originated in a twofold problem common to both organizations: their prioritization of legitimacy over strategy, and their path dependence - the insufficient degree of adaptation to meet the different needs of the crisis. Through a critical and integrated analysis of official sources and extensive interviews with EU, NATO, UN, and national government officials and militaries, as well as from NGO personnel, Libyan institutions and civil society, and media, the volume brings the perspective of both state and non-state actors to the fore. It reveals how wrong assumptions and centrifugal forces within the EU and NATO hampered initiatives, and how the inability to use hard power judiciously and effectively in an increasingly complex and multifaceted scenario worsened the crisis. This allowed for unprecedented influence of regional and global competitors such as Egypt, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Turkey and Russia in the richest African country. This book will be of key interest for scholars and students of Libya and North Africa, NATO, the European Union, security and conflict studies, Middle East studies, migration, terrorism, peacebuilding and, more broadly, international relations.
In the Shadow of My Truth is the second book in the series on Clan Douglas and Scotland's Wars for National Independence. The year was 1306; Scotland needed a revolution, a new king to lead her subjects to freedom. Robert Brus answered the call. James Douglas joined him. This is the true story of the Good Sir James, one of Scotland's most beloved knights. It is also the tale of a widow's struggle to revenge her husband's martyred end. Eleanora Lovaine Douglas inspired her three sons to greatness, instilling her husband's teachings and core values in her children; fulfilling her death bed promise to her loving husband, continuing the fight for Scotland to rid their homeland of Edward's tyranny forever.
This volume offers an innovative and counter-intuitive study of how and why artificial intelligence-infused weapon systems will affect the strategic stability between nuclear-armed states. Johnson demystifies the hype surrounding artificial intelligence (AI) in the context of nuclear weapons and, more broadly, future warfare. The book highlights the potential, multifaceted intersections of this and other disruptive technology - robotics and autonomy, cyber, drone swarming, big data analytics, and quantum communications - with nuclear stability. Anticipating and preparing for the consequences of the AI-empowered weapon systems are fast becoming a critical task for national security and statecraft. Johnson considers the impact of these trends on deterrence, military escalation, and strategic stability between nuclear-armed states - especially China and the United States. The book draws on a wealth of political and cognitive science, strategic studies, and technical analysis to shed light on the coalescence of developments in AI and other disruptive emerging technologies. Artificial intelligence and the future of warfare sketches a clear picture of the potential impact of AI on the digitized battlefield and broadens our understanding of critical questions for international affairs. AI will profoundly change how wars are fought, and how decision-makers think about nuclear deterrence, escalation management, and strategic stability - but not for the reasons you might think. -- .
Large-Scale Evacuation introduces the reader to the steps involved in evacuation modelling for towns and cities, from understanding the hazards that can require large-scale evacuations, through understanding how local officials decide to issue evacuation advisories and households decide whether to comply, to transportation simulation and traffic management strategies. The author team has been recognized internationally for their research and consulting experience in the field of evacuations. Collectively, they have 125 years of experience in evacuation, including more than 140 projects for federal and state agencies. The text explains how to model evacuations that use the road transportation network by combining perspectives from social scientists and transportation engineers, fields that have commonly approached evacuation modelling from distinctly different perspectives. In doing so, it offers a step-by-step guide through the key questions needed to model an evacuation and its impacts to the evacuation route system as well as evacuation management strategies for influencing demand and expanding capacity. The authors also demonstrate how to simulate the resulting traffic and evacuation management strategies that can be used to facilitate evacuee movement and reduce unnecessary demand. Case studies, which identify key points to analyze in an evacuation plan, discuss evacuation termination and re-entry, and highlight challenges that someone developing an evacuation plan or model should expect, are also included. This textbook will be of interest to researchers, practitioners, and advanced students. |
You may like...
LGBTQs, Media and Culture in Europe
Alexander Dhoest, Lukasz Szulc, …
Hardcover
R4,915
Discovery Miles 49 150
Mixed Matches - Transgressive Unions in…
David M. Luebke, Mary Lindemann
Hardcover
R2,843
Discovery Miles 28 430
|