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Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence > War & defence operations > General
In 1991, Coalition forces were active deep inside Iraq, hunting down SCUD missiles and their launchers before they could be fired. In 2011, special forces were responsible for the assassination of the world's most wanted terrorist, Osama Bin Laden. In the intervening 20 years, elite military formations played an increasingly important role in the policing of the modern world. SAS and Elite Forces Guide: Special Forces in Action is a detailed account of the operations of the world's special forces from 1991 to the present day. From the Gulf War to the invasion of Iraq, via the war in Afghanistan, the search for war criminals in the Balkans, drug baron hunting in South America, hostage rescues in Africa, and the counter-terrorist initiatives since 9/11, the book brings the reader full details of the often clandestine and varied roles of the world's elite soldiers. Presented in a handy pocketbook format, SAS and Elite Forces Guide: Special Forces in Action shows how the world's special forces have become a vital part of any government's military machine and the roles that they have played in recent world events. Authoritatively written and illustrated with more than 150 black and white photographs and artworks, the book is an expert account of recent operations by the world's most elite forces.
Sniper One is the gritty, awe-inspiring true story that takes you right into the heart of the Iraq war from Sunday Times No.1 bestseller Sgt. Dan Mills. 'One of the best first-hand accounts of combat that I've ever read' Andy McNab We all saw it at once. Half a dozen voices screamed 'Grenade!' simultaneously. Then everything went into slow motion. The grenade took an age to travel through its 20 metre arc. A dark, small oval-shaped package of misery the size of a peach . . . April 2004: Dan Mills and his platoon of snipers fly into southern Iraq, part of an infantry battalion sent to win hearts and minds. They were soon fighting for their lives. Back home we were told they were peacekeeping. But there was no peace to keep. Because within days of arriving in theatre, Mills and his men were caught up in the longest, most sustained fire fight British troops had faced for over fifty years. This awe-inspiring account tells of total war in throat-burning winds and fifty-degree heat, blasted by mortars and surrounded by heavily armed militias - you won't be able to put this down. 'If I could give it more stars I would' 5***** reader review 'A truly stunning story. I have read this 4 times and it's still as captivating now as the first time' 5***** Reader rReview
Applies the experiences of educators and practitioners working in the field Employs the latest technology developments in case studies and applications Identifies best practices unique to the military, security, and national defense problem space Highlights similarities and dichotomies between analyses and trends that are unique to military, security, and defense problems
From his childhood, rebellion at school, the early death of his father and conflict with his step-father, on to his exploits in the army in Korea, Egypt, Malaya, Oman, Borneo, the Sudan, the Falklands, and the Gulf War, this book chronicles the SAS General's life.
Highlights "the range and richness of scholarship on medieval warfare, military institutions, and cultures of conflict that characterize the field". History 95 (2010) The latest collection of the most up-to-date research on matters of medieval military history contains a remarkable geographical range, extending from Spain and Britain to the southern steppe lands, by way of Scandinavia, Byzantium, and the Crusader States. At one end of the timescale is a study of population in the later Roman Empire and at the other the Hundred Years War, touching on every century in between. Topics include the hardware of war, the social origins of soldiers, considerations of individual battles, and words for weapons in Old Norse literature. Contributors: Bernard S. Bachrach, Gary Baker, Michael Ehrlich, Nicholas A. Gribit, Nicolaos S. Kanellopoulos,Mollie M. Madden, Kenneth J. McMullen, Craig M. Nakashian, Mamuka Tsurtsumia, Andrew L.J. Villalon
After the end of the Cold War, the world has experienced a more mono-polar power structure. In contrast to promises of a peaceful 'one' world, this seems not to have provided more international justice and security, nor reduced international conflict. Defense-related issues, long given minor attention in economics, have surfaced rather as a central mechanism in the current stage of globalization. Increase in military expenditures, the multiplication of wars, new generations of sophisticated weapons, and increased interest for defense stocks at the financial markets, indicate that a new type of relation between defense and economy has set in. The papers presented here investigate on what economics has to say on conflict, war, and terrorism today, a selection of sophisticated economic analyses of the theoretical and applied industrial, macroeconomic, fiscal-policy, financial market, regional, and alternative policies dimensions. Here, modern economics has a considerable and critical contribution to make.
In this story from the frontlines of the undeclared battlefields of the War on Terror, Jeremy Scahill exposes America's new approach to war: fought far from any declared battlefield, by units that do not officially exist, in thousands of operations a month that are never publicly acknowledged. From Afghanistan and Pakistan to Yemen, Somalia and beyond, Scahill speaks to the CIA agents, mercenaries and elite Special Operations Forces operators. He goes deep into al Qaeda-held territory in Yemen and walks the streets of Mogadishu with CIA-backed warlords. We also meet the survivors of night raids and drone strikes - including families of US citizens targeted for assassination by their own government - who reveal the shocking human consequences of the dirty wars the United States struggle to keep hidden.
'You are hereby ordered to fall upon the rebels, the MacDonalds of Glencoe, and to put all to the sword under seventy.' This was the treacherous and cold-blooded order ruthlessly carried out on 13 February 1692, when the Campbells slaughtered their hosts the MacDonalds at the Massacre of Glencoe. It was a bloody incident which had deep repercussions and was the beginning of the destruction of the Highlanders. John Prebble's masterly description of the terrible events at Glencoe was praised as 'Evocative and powerful' in the Sunday Telegraph.
While copious amounts have been written about the Roman army, most study has focussed on the later Republic or the Imperial period when the legionary system was already well-developed. Here Dr. Jeremy Armstrong traces the development of Rome's military might from its earliest discernible origins down to the First Punic War. He shows how her armies evolved from ad hoc forces of warriors organized along clan lines to the sophisticated organization of the legions that went on to dominate all of Italy. Reassessing both the literary sources and the latest archaeological evidence to provide a fresh analysis of Roman military organization, equipment, tactics, and strategy, he shows how Rome's military apparatus adapted to meet the changing strategic needs of new enemies and broader ambitions.
The new millennium has brought with it an ever-expanding range of
threats to global security: from cyber attacks to blue-water piracy
to provocative missile tests. Now, more than ever then, national
security and prosperity depend on the safekeeping of a global
system of mutually supporting networks of commerce, communication,
and governance. The global commons--outer space, international
waters, international airspace, and cyberspace--are assets outside
of national jurisdiction that serve as essential conduits for these
networks, facilitating the free flow of trade, finance,
information, people, and technology. These commons also comprise
much of the international security environment, enabling the
physical and virtual movement and operations of allied forces.
Securing freedom of use of the global commons is therefore
fundamental to safeguarding the global system.
"Ungoverned spaces" are often cited as key threats to national and international security and are increasingly targeted by the international community for external interventions-both armed and otherwise. This book examines exactly when and how these spaces contribute to global insecurity, and it incorporates the many spaces where state authority is contested-from tribal, sectarian, or clan-based governance in such places as Pakistani Waziristan, to areas ruled by persistent insurgencies, such as Colombia, to nonphysical spaces, such as the internet and global finance. Within this multiplicity of contexts, the book addresses a range of security concerns, including weapons of mass destruction, migrants, dirty money, cyberdata, terrorists, drug lords, warlords, insurgents, radical Islamist groups, and human privacy and security. Ultimately, Ungoverned Spaces demonstrates that state-centric approaches to these concerns are unlikely to supplant the many sites of authority that provide governance in a world of softened sovereignty.
Of crucial strategic importance to both the British and the Continental Army, Staten Island was, for a good part of the American Revolution, a bastion of Loyalist support. With its military and political significance, Staten Island provides rich terrain for Phillip Papas's illuminating case study of the local dimensions of the Revolutionary War. Papas traces Staten Island's political sympathies not to strong ties with Britain, but instead to local conditions that favored the status quo instead of revolutionary change. With a thriving agricultural economy, stable political structure, and strong allegiance to the Anglican Church, on the eve of war it was in Staten Island's self-interest to throw its support behind the British, in order to maintain its favorable economic, social, and political climate. Over the course of the conflict, continual occupation and attack by invading armies deeply eroded Staten Island's natural and other resources, and these pressures, combined with general war weariness, created fissures among the residents of "that ever loyal island," with Loyalist neighbors fighting against Patriot neighbors in a civil war. Papas's thoughtful study reminds us that the Revolution was both a civil war and a war for independence--a duality that is best viewed from a local perspective.
The reality of the Arab-Israeli balance now consists of two subordinate balances: Israel versus Syria and Israel versus the Palestinians. The book analyzes these two balances in detail and their impact on defense planning in each country and on the overall strategic risk to the region as a whole. It covers military developments in each of six states--Egypt, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Palestine--and provides an analytical view with charts and tables of how the changing natures of the military and political threats faced by each is impacting its military force readiness and development. The book has the most comprehensive data on past, current, and future military force structure currently available, drawn from the widest range of sources. Responding to the most recent of events in the region, this book is the first to deal with the effects on the Arab-Israeli military balance of the strategic uncertainty created by the Iraqi insurgency and the Iranian nuclear program. It also studies how the Gaza pullout, the Syrian withdrawal from Lebanon, the changing political landscape in Israel, and the threat of nuclear proliferation are having impacts on the Egyptian-Israeli and Jordanian-Israeli peace accords and the prospects for a settlement between the Palestinians and Israelis. The roles of Hezbollah, Hamas, and Palestinian Islamic Jihad are analyzed in light of the changing political landscape in both Israel and Palestine. Given the role of Syria in the Palestinian-Israeli affairs, the book also explores the ways that internal instability in Lebanon could escalate into a regional conflict.
Since September 2001, the United States has waged what the
government initially called the "global war on terrorism (GWOT)."
Beginning in late 2005 and early 2006, the term Long War began to
appear in U.S. security documents such as the National Security
Council's National Strategy for Victory in Iraq and in statements
by the U.S. Secretary of Defense and the Chairman of the JCS. The
description Long War--unlimited in time and space and continuing
for decades--is closer to reality and more useful than GWOT.
The seventh edition of this highly successful textbook analyzes the history, evolution, and processes of national security policies. It examines national security from two fundamental fault lines - the end of the Cold War and the evolution of contemporary terrorism dating from the 9/11 terrorist attacks - and traces their path up to ISIS and beyond. The book considers how the resulting era of globalization and geopolitics guides policy. Placing these trends in conceptual and historical context and following them through military, semimilitary, and nonmilitary concerns, National Security treats its subject as a nuanced and subtle phenomenon that encompasses everything from the global to the individual with the nation at its core. New to the Seventh Edition An assessment of the impact of the Trump presidency on national security and relevant domestic policies, including border security and energy security matters. The continuing impact and evolution of terrorism as a security problem, with notable emphasis on the decline of the Islamic State (IS) and what terrorist threats are likely to succeed it. A description of the cyber security problem with an emphasis on Russian efforts to interfere with the 2016 US presidential election and beyond. A revised delineation of the geographic and substantive challenges facing the United States in the form of a chapter on "lethal landscapes," emphasizing the rise of China as a global rival and opponent in Asia and an attempt to deal with state aspirants like the Kurds. This book will continue to be highly beneficial to students and scholars working and studying in security studies, military and strategic studies, defense studies, foreign policy, US politics and international relations.
The Landing Ship Tank (LST) is one of the most famous of the many World War II amphibious warfare ships. Capable of discharging its cargo directly on to shore and extracting itself, the LST provided the backbone of all Allied landings between 1943 and 1945, notably during the D-Day invasion. Through its history, the LST saw service from late 1942 until late 2002, when the US Navy decommissioned the USS Frederick (LST-1184), the last ship of its type. This book reveals the development and use of the LST, including its excellence beyond its initial design expectations.
As Cuban and Angola fighter pilots honed their skills over the skies of Northern Angola, David Mannall, a normal 17-year old kid completing High School, was preparing for two years of compulsory military service before beginning Tertiary education. Through a series of fateful twists he found himself leading soldiers in a number of full-scale armoured clashes including the largest and most decisive battle on African soil since World War II. The climactic death-throes of Soviet Communism during the 1980s included a last-gasp attempt at strategic franchise expansion in Southern Africa. Channelled through Castro's Cuba, oil-rich Angolan armed forces (FAPLA) received billions of dollars of advanced weaponry and intended to eradicate the US-backed Angolan opposition (UNITA), then push southwards into South Africa's protectorate SWA/Namibia, ostensibly as liberators. This is the David and Goliath story that, due to seismic political changes in the region, has never been truthfully told. The author lifts the hatch on his story of how Charlie Squadron, comprising just twelve 90mm AFVs crewed by 36 national servicemen, as part of the elite 61 Mechanised Battalion, engaged and effectively annihilated the giant FAPLA 47th Armoured Brigade in one day - 3 October 1987. Their 90mm cannons were never designed as tank-killers but any assurances that it would never be used against heavy armour were left in the classroom during the three-month operation and never more starkly than the decisive 'Battle on The Lomba River'. The Communist-backed offensive died that day along with hundreds of opposition fighters. 47th Brigade survivors abandoned their remaining equipment, fleeing north across the Lomba, eventually joining the 59th Brigade in what became a full-scale retreat of over ten thousand soldiers to Cuito Cuanevale. The myth perpetuated by post-apartheid politicians goes something like this""...the SADF force that destroyed 47th Brigade on 3 October numbered 6,000 men and that all the hard yards were run by the long suffering UNITA!"" The inconvenient truth is that there were just 36 South African boys on the frontline that day, but it is also true to say they would never have achieved such a stunning victory without the support of many more. This is their story.
What leads a democratic government to use military force to counter a domestic or external threat? How does it legitimize this mobilization to its citizenry? And what is the significance for civilian control of the military? The authors of Mobilizing Force draw on case studies from around the world to systematically examine these critical questions, exploring the interrelationships among security threats, the militarization of security policy, and democratic accountability.
"Yuh has composed a complex, provocative, and compassionate
portrayal of the experiences of Korean military brides from the
1950s through the 1990s. . . . Delving into how these women face
isolation and alienation from both Korean and US societies because
of their transnational status, Yuh's masterful history demonstrates
that these women have resisted perceptions of both societies and
forged communities based on their claiming Korean and US identities
as Korean military brides. A wonderful resource... Highly
recommended." "Ji-Yeon Yuh's book poignantly illustrates the human costs and
benefits of militarized migration in the context of American-Korean
relations." "Impeccably researched and seamlessly executed." "IThis is one of the most compelling books I have read this
year...Ji-Yeon Yuh's account is alternately heart breaking and
inspiring." "Ji-Yeon Yuh uses a wealth of sources, especially moving oral
histories, to tell an important, at times heartbreaking, story of
Korean military brides. She takes us beyond the stereotypes and
reveals their roles within their families, communities, and Korean
immigration to the U.S. Without ignoring their difficult lives, Yuh
portrays these women's agency and dignity with skill and
compassion." "Ji-Yeon Yuh's study is to be commended on several counts, not
the least of which is the aunique prisma (dust jacket) she gives
the contemporary reader into the social and cultural contract
between Korea and the United States, clearly a template that we
would be advised to heed in these troubledtimes." "By studying the lives and history of Korean amilitary brides, a
Ji-Yeon Yuh pays tribute to an important group that has not
received the understanding, attention, and respect that it
deserves. Full of compelling stories, Beyond the Shadow of the
Camptowns is sure to inspire new ways of thinking about U.S. and
especially immigration history, as well as Asian American and Asian
history." "Where do marriage, diaspora, racism and the politics of global
alliances converge? In the dreams and dailiness of the thousands of
Korean women living in the United States today. Ji-Yeon Yuh's
engaging and revealing book shows us that by listening attentively
to the Korean women married to white and black American men, we can
become a lot smarter about the realities of globalized
living." ""Beyond the Shadoe of Camptown" is a readable and poignant
piece of scholarship. There is much worth praising in this
book." "In general, the fluid writing style demonstrates Yuh's background in journalism, and helps explain why this work made its way from dissertation to hardcover so rapidly. It is a study that demands attention from scholars of foreign relations and migration between Korea and the United States, and deserves attention from ethnic studies scholars and immigration scholars as well."--"Journal of American Ethnic History" "Beyond the Shadow of Camptown: Korean Military Brides in
America, immigration historian Ji-Yeon Yuh explores how Koreanwomen
relate to American men in these cross-cultural relationships, and
how the military link between the dominant U.S. and subservient
Korea tends to complicate their marriages, already challenging for
many other reasons, with a dose of international politics as
well." "Through compelling oral histories, she traces the lives of
women form successive generations of brides." Since the beginning of the Korean War in 1950, nearly 100,000 Korean women have immigrated to the United States as the wives of American soldiers. Based on extensive oral interviews and archival research, Beyond the Shadow of the Camptowns tells the stories of these women, from their presumed association with U.S. military camptowns and prostitution to their struggles within the intercultural families they create in the United States. Historian Ji-Yeon Yuh argues that military brides are a unique prism through which to view cultural and social contact between Korea and the U.S. After placing these women within the context of Korean-U.S. relations and the legacies of both Japanese and U.S. colonialism vis A vis military prostitution, Yuh goes on to explore their lives, their coping strategies with their new families, and their relationships with their Korean families and homeland. Topics range from the personal--the role of food in their lives--to the communalthe efforts of military wives to form support groups that enable them to affirm Korean identity that both American and Koreans would deny them. Relayed with warmth and compassion, this is the first in-depth study of Korean military brides, and is a groundbreaking contribution to AsianAmerican, women's, and "new" immigrant studies, while also providing a unique approach to military history.
This examination of the United States-led war in Iraq presents the
war as a geopolitical watershed moment in which the U.S.'s
unilateralism presents stark challenges to international law,
multilateralism, and the United Nations. A historical overview of
Iraq's colonial history and Saddam Hussein's brutal rise to power
accompanies a discussion of the worldwide military expansion
following the election of George W. Bush as U.S. president. This
comprehensive analysis provides an introduction to political
science concepts and presents a hopeful perspective on the global
situation that calls for concerted activism to challenge a
U.S.-dominated new world order.
This is a collection of vignettes written by Soviet junior officers describing their experiences fighting the Mujahideen guerillas. The material was originally collected and published - for internal use only - by the Frunze Combined Arms Staff College to serve as a text on combat against a guerilla force in mountain-desert terrain. It provides examples of good and bad military practice. The lessons are not specific to the Russian forces, and the knowledge gained could apply to future conflicts.
In an age of backroom generals who command from far behind troop lines, it is often forgotten that wars have been won or lost by the personality and leadership of a maverick commander. In twelve riveting portrait, best-selling historian, Robert Harvey, explores the mind and the action of such men. From the the Mediterranean sea Harvey investigates what make a military commander different - a charismatic leader of men, rational under fire, unafraid to improvise or lead his men into victory against the odds. Packed with compelling and insightful analysis and story telling, Mavericks is Robert Harvey's best book to date. The Mavericks, what made them great and their key battles include: Clive of India - a master of the decisive strike, and going for the jugular. Plassey. James Wolfe - renowned by his troops for being as demanding on himself as on them. Quebec. George Washington - patience, then boldness. Yorktown. Horatio Nelson - flamboyance, careful planning and improvisation. Trafalgar. Thomas Cochrane - Fearless commando tactics and an eye for the unexpected strike. Aix Roads. The Duke of Wellington - style and soundbites, caution and planning. Salamanca. Guiseppe Garibaldi - charismatic communicator, bold in battle. Messina. Ulysses S. Grant - Cool and rational, with determination to overcome all obstacles. Vicksburg Erwin Rommel - Careful calculation followed by bold strikes. Desert Campaign. George Patton - Aggression coupled with skill in tanks and training.The Battle of the Bulge. Field Marshal Montgomery - A natural rebel with a lightning mind. El Alamein. Douglas MacArthur - brilliant communicator and bold, cared for his men. Inchon. PRAISE FOR WAR OF WARS 'This is the 'definitive' one-volume account of a particularly rich slab of history.' Daily Express. '...so well paced that reading it is a pleasure.' Bernard Cornwell. 'I doubt a better account of the never-ending war will be written in many a year.' Allan Mallinson. 'an exhillirating sequence of dramatic set-pieces in narrative history's best traditions.' Literary Review
During the last nine months of the Civil War, virtually all of the news reports and President Jefferson Davis's correspondence confirmed the imminent demise of the Confederate States, the nation Davis had striven to uphold since 1861. But despite defeat after defeat on the battlefield, a recalcitrant Congress, naysayers in the press, disastrous financial conditions, failures in foreign policy and peace efforts, and plummeting national morale, Davis remained in office and tried to maintain the government -- even after the fall of Richmond -- until his capture by Union forces on May 10, 1865. The eleventh volume of The Papers of Jefferson Davis follows the last tumultuous months of the Confederacy and illuminates Davis's policies, feelings, ideas, and relationships, as well as the viewpoints of hundreds of southerners -- critics and supporters -- who asked for favors, pointed out abuses, and offered advice on myriad topics. Printed here for the first time are many speeches and a number of new letters and telegrams. In the course of the volume, Robert E. Lee officially becomes general in chief, Joseph E. Johnston is given a final command, legislation is enacted to place slaves in the army as soldiers, and peace negotiations are opened at the highest levels. The closing pages chronicle Davis's dramatic flight from Richmond, including emotional correspondence with his wife as the two endeavor to find each other en route and make plans for the future in the wreckage of their lives. The holdings of seventy different manuscript repositories and private collections in addition to numerous published sources contribute to Volume 11, the fifth in the Civil War period. |
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