The Allied invasion of Northern France was the greatest combined operation in the history of warfare. Up until now it has been recorded from the attackers' point of view whereas the defenders' angle has been largely ignored. While the Germans knew an invasion was inevitable, no-one knew where or when it would fall. Those manning Hitler's mighty Atlantic Wall may have felt secure in their bunkers but they had no conception of the fury and fire that was about to break. After the initial assaults of June established an Allied bridgehead, a state of stale-mate prevailed. The Germans fought with great courage hindered by lack of supplies and overwhelming Allied control of the air. When the Allies finally broke out the collapse was catastrophic with Patton's army in the East sweeping round and Monty's in the West putting remorseless pressure on the hard pressed defenders. The Falaise Gap became a graveyard of German men and equipment. To read the war from the losing side is a sobering and informative experience.

A highly readable history of the military and political events of World War One, this wide-ranging book begins with the state of Europe before the war then embarks on major chapters chronicling the war a year at a time. Major battles are interspersed with sections detailing the weapons used from dreadnoughts and anti-aircraft guns to U-boats and heavy field artillery, with specification boxes providing key technical details on each weapon. A final chapter looks at the aftermath of war and the newly emerging European states. All aspects of the conflict are covered, from common illnesses through to the use of propaganda and atrocities on all sides. Key fact boxes delve into the lives of the political leaders, generals and fighters, and also discuss the political movements which flourished. The first battle of Ypres, battles in Champagne and Artois, the winter offensive against Russia, and the breaking of the Hindenburg line are all discussed in detail. It chronicles the course of each year of the war, and details the major events, including the battle of the Marne, the first day of the Somme, the race to the sea, and the stalemate on the Italian front. Fascinating fact boxes highlight the lives of important political leaders and generals, such as Alexei Brusilov, Henri-Philippe Petain, Douglas Haig, David Lloyd George and President Woodrow Wilson. Illustrated with compelling and evocative photographs taken during World War One, and featuring informative maps and battleplans.

V K Triandafillov was an outstanding young commander who shaped the military theory and doctrine of the Red Army as it came to grips with the problem of future war. A conscript soldier who rose through the ranks to become an officer in the Tsarist Army, he saw combat in both the First World War and the Russian Civil War. A student of some of the finest military specialists teaching the first generation of young Red commanders, he sought to link theory and practice by using past experience to comprehend future combat.

Imagine standing over a bomb - you need to make a choice. Remember, your life depends on it. In this extraordinary memoir, Lucy Lewis reveals the hidden world of bomb disposal training and how she came to be the UK's first female bomb disposal expert. From joining Sandhurst to rushing to her first bomb disposal call-out, Lucy's story is full of high stakes and tense situations that for most of us, are beyond comprehension. Lucy's story however is also a deeply inspirational one - joining the military in the 1980s just as women were taking on more dangerous roles, Lucy's every move was watched and scrutinised. This didn't hold her back however, and this is how she broke through the ceiling, fought against sexism and achieved something no woman had ever done before. Lighting the Fuse is an eye-opening memoir, that reveals the hidden world of being a woman in the military and how a young woman with an ordinary background, made history - not just once, but twice.

On June 23, 1812, Napoleon's Grande Armee, over 500,000 men strong, poured over the Russian border. An equally massive Russian army faced them. The ensuing campaign was a catastrophe for Napoleon. Although the battle of Borodino, which resulted in heavy losses on both sides, allowed Napoleon to enter Moscow, his stay in that empty and decimated city was disastrous. By the time Napoleon had retreated to the Berezina river in late November, his Grande Armee was only a fifth of its original strength. His retreat had become a rout, and his allies began to desert him. In this book, Clausewitz analyzes all the significant players with sharp and enlightening characterizations, and provides perhaps the best eyewitness accounts of the battle of Borodino and the Convention of Tauroggen. The Campaign of 1812 in Russia is a brilliantly observed study of one of the major turning points of history.

This authoritative book begins with the aftermath of World War I, when new political movements and grievances took shape. The main section of the book then covers the war in detail from the advance of Nazi forces across Europe to Operation Barbarossa, and from the battles in North Africa to the war in the Pacific. Life during this time for civilians and prisoners of war is also considered, as is the genocide of these years and the creation of weapons of mass destruction. The final chapter covers the themes which shaped the second half of the 20th century – the establishment of the Iron Curtain, decolonization and the reconstruction of Europe. The brutal history and sheer scope of World War II is well- served by this intelligent and wide-ranging illustrated account of the conflict, told in an accessible style that is perfect for both the general and specialist reader.

In August 334 BC, Alexander the Great invaded the Persian Empire and systematically set about its conquest. At the core of Alexander's army were 10,000 members of the phalanx, the phalangites. Armed with a long pike and fighting in formations up to 16 ranks deep, these grizzled veterans were the mainstay of the Macedonian army.

Facing them were the myriad armies of the peoples that made up the Persian Empire. At the centre of these forces was the formation known as the Immortals: 10,000 elite infantry, armed with spears and bows.

In this study, a noted authority assesses the origins, combat role and battlefield performance of Alexander's phalangites and their Persian opponents in three key battles of the era - the Granicus River, Issus and Gaugamela - at the dawn of a new way of waging war.

In Killer Apps Jeremy Packer and Joshua Reeves provide a detailed account of the rise of automation in warfare, showing how media systems are central to building weapons systems with artificial intelligence in order to more efficiently select and eliminate military targets. Drawing on the insights of a wide range of political and media theorists, Packer and Reeves develop a new theory for understanding how the intersection of media and military strategy drives today's AI arms race. They address the use of media to search for enemies in their analyses of the history of automated radar systems, the search for extraterrestrial life, and the development of military climate science, which treats the changing earth as an enemy. As the authors demonstrate, contemporary military strategy demands perfect communication in an evolving battlespace that is increasingly inhospitable to human frailties, necessitating humans' replacement by advanced robotics, machine intelligence, and media systems.

The SIPRI Yearbook is as an authoritative and independent source of data and analysis on armaments, disarmament and international security. It provides an overview of developments in international security, weapons and technology, military expenditure, arms production and the arms trade, and armed conflicts and conflict management, along with efforts to control conventional, nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. This 51st edition of the SIPRI Yearbook covers developments during 2019, including Armed conflicts and conflict management, with an overview of armed conflicts and peace processes across the Americas, Asia and Oceania, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa and sub-Saharan Africa, as well as a focus on global and regional trends in peace operations Military expenditure, international arms transfers and developments in arms production, World nuclear forces, with an overview of each of the nine nuclear-armed states and their nuclear modernization programmes Nuclear arms control, featuring North Korean-US nuclear diplomacy, developments in the INF Treaty and Russian-US nuclear arms control and disarmament, and implementation of Iran's nuclear deal Chemical and biological security threats, including the investigation of allegations of chemical weapon use in Syria and developments in the international legal instruments against chemical and biological warfare Conventional arms control, with a focus on global instruments, including efforts to regulate lethal autonomous weapon systems, cyberspace and explosive weapons in populated areas, and dialogue on preventing an arms race in outer space Dual-use and arms trade controls, including developments in the Arms Trade Treaty, multilateral arms embargoes and export control regimes, and review processes in the legal framework of the European Union for such controls as well as annexes listing arms control and disarmament agreements, international security cooperation bodies, and key events in 2019.

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.

This comprehensive introduction to the study of war and genocide presents a disturbing case that the potential for slaughter is deeply rooted in the political, economic, social and ideological relations of the modern world.

Most accounts of war and genocide treat them as separate phenomena. This book thoroughly examines the links between these two most inhuman of human activities. It shows that the generally legitimate business of war and the monstrous crime of genocide are closely related. This is not just because genocide usually occurs in the midst of war, but because genocide is a form of war directed against civilian populations. The book shows how fine the line has been, in modern history, between 'degenerate war' involving the mass destruction of civilian populations, and 'genocide', the deliberate destruction of civilian groups as such.

Written by one of the foremost sociological writers on war, "War and Genocide" has four main features:

- an original argument about the meaning and causes of mass killing in the modern world;

- a guide to the main intellectual resources - military, political and social theories - necessary to understand war and genocide;

- summaries of the main historical episodes of slaughter, from the trenches of the First World War to the Nazi Holocaust and the killing fields of Cambodia, Bosnia and Rwanda;

- practical guides to further reading, courses and websites.

This book examines war and genocide together with their opposites, peace and justice. It looks at them from the standpoint of victims as well as perpetrators. It is an important book for anyone wanting to understand - and overcome - thecontinuing salience of destructive forces in modern society.

The SIPRI Yearbook is an authoritative and independent source of data and analysis on armaments, disarmament and international security. It provides an overview of developments in international security, military expenditure, weapons and technology, arms production and the arms trade, armed conflict and conflict management, and efforts to control conventional, nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. This 53rd edition of the SIPRI Yearbook covers developments during 2021, including: US BLArmed conflict and conflict management, with an overview of armed conflict and peace processes across the Americas, Asia and Oceania, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, and sub-Saharan Africa, as well as a focus on global and regional trends in peace operationsBE UE US BLMilitary expenditure, international arms transfers and developments in arms productionBE UE US BLWorld nuclear forces, with an overview of each of the nine nuclear-armed states and their nuclear modernization programmesBE UE US BLNuclear arms control, featuring developments in the Russian-United States strategic dialogue, Iran's nuclear deal and the multilateral nuclear arms control and disarmament treaties, including the entry into force of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear WeaponsBE UE US BLChemical, biological and health security threats, including the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the investigation of allegations of chemical weapon use in Syria and developments in the international legal instruments against chemical and biological warfare BE UE US BLConventional arms control and regulation of new weapon technologies, with a focus on inhumane weapons and other conventional weapons of humanitarian concern, including efforts to regulate autonomous weapon systems, state behaviour in cyberspace and space, and developments in the Open Skies TreatyBE UE US BLDual use and arms trade controls, including developments in the Arms Trade Treaty, multilateral arms embargoes and export control regimes, and review processes in the legal framework of the European Union for such controls as well as annexes listing arms control and disarmament agreements, international security cooperation bodies, and key events in 2021.BE UE

Series Information:
Warfare and History

'Awesome!' ANDY McNAB | 'You must read this book' Colonel TIM COLLINS OBE | 'Extraordinary' Sir RANULPH FIENNES Forget what you thought you knew. Discover the REAL story of how the SAS was created. From ex-SAS Commander Tom Petch, this is the never-before-told story of how the world's preeminent Special Forces came into existence. Flashing between dramatic accounts from the frontlines and power negotiations in Westminster, it's an adventure that reaches from the trenches of the Western Front to piracy in the deserts of North Africa, to the final assault on Germany. Drawing on hidden archives and told with captivating drama, it focuses on two characters largely overlooked in the traditional narrative - Dudley Clarke the mastermind, and William Fraser the frontline operator. Without them there would never have been an SAS. 'Gripping and fascinating... Packed with unforgettable characters and thrilling adventures' WILL IREDALE, bestselling author of The Pathfinders

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.

'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.

After the Normandy break-out, the Allies' headlong dash east came to a halt in the autumn with the ill-fated MARKET GARDEN operation and over-extended supply lines short of the Rhineland. After repulsing the Nazis' daring Ardennes offensive, Montgomery's and Bradley's Army Groups cleared the Reichwald and Rhineland and closed on the Rhine. With both sides aware of the strategic significance of this physical barrier the stakes could not have been higher. Eisenhower's plan involved a vast airborne assault by General Ridgway's XV11 Airborne Corps (codename VARSITY) and the simultaneously coordinated river crossing by Monty's 21 Army Group codename PLUNDER with Dempsey's British Second Army and General William H. Simpson's US Ninth Army. This superbly illustrated and researched book describes the March 1945 assault crossing involving naval amphibious craft, the air and artillery bombardment and diversionary attack by the British 1st Commando brigade at Wesel. In concert with VARSITY and PLUNDER, Patton's US Third Army Group crossed further south. As a result of this triumph of strategic planning and tactical execution, the fate of Hitler's Thousand Year Reich' was finally sealed.

WRITTEN WITH UNPRECEDENTED ACCESS, THIS IS THE FIRST INSIDE, INTIMATE ACCOUNT OF THE RUSSIAN INVASION OF UKRAINE FROM THE PERSPECTIVE OF PRESIDENT ZELENSKY AND HIS TEAM.

Based on four years of reporting; extensive travels with President Zelensky to the front; and dozens of interviews with him, his wife, his friends and enemies, his advisers, ministers and military commanders, The Showman tells an intimate and eye-opening story of the President’s evolution from a slapstick actor to a symbol of resilience, revealing how he managed to rally the world’s democracies behind his cause.

Clear-eyed about the President’s early failures as a peacemaker and his willingness to silence political dissent, the book offers a complex picture of a man struggling to break what he sees as a historical cycle of oppression that began generations before he was born. Even as the war drags on, Zelensky lays out his vision for its future course and, through his actions, demonstrates his strategy for countering the Russians and keeping the West on his side. The result is a riveting, up-close picture of the invasion as experienced by its number one target and improbable hero.

The Showman, as a work of eyewitness journalism, provides an essential perspective on the war defining our age. As a study in leadership and human resolve, its appeal is timeless and universal.

Why did Napoleon succeed in 1805 but fail in 1812? Could the European half of World War II have been ended in 1944? These are only two of the many questions that form the subject-matter of this meticulously researched, lively book. Drawing on a very wide range of unpublished sources, van Creveld examines the specifics of war: namely, those formidable problems of movement and supply, transportation and administration, so often mentioned - but rarely explored - by the vast majority of books on military history. In doing so he casts his net far and wide, from Gustavus Adolphus to Rommel, from Marlborough to Patton, subjecting the operations of each to a thorough analysis from a fresh and unusual point of view. In this new edition with a new introduction, van Creveld revisits his now-classic text, and comments in a new afterword on the role of logistics in high-tech, modern warfare.

For decades, the CIA's top secret postmortem on the April 1961 Bay of Pigs invasion has been the holy grail of historians, students, and survivors of the failed invasion of Cuba. But the scathing internal report on the worst foreign policy debacle of the Kennedy administration, written by the CIA's then–inspector general Lyman Kirkpatrick, has remained tightly guarded—until now. Dislodged from the government through the Freedom of Information Act, here is an uncompromising look at high officials' arrogance, ignorance, and incompetence, as displayed in their attitude toward Castro's revolution and toward the Cuban exiles the CIA had organized to invade the island. Including the complete report and a wealth of supplementary materials, Bay of Pigs Declassified provides a fascinating picture of the operation and of the secret world of the espionage establishment, with stories of plots, counterplots, and intra-agency power struggles worthy of a Le Carré novel. Includes: the complete text of the CIA report; a critical introduction; the newly declassified response to the report from Richard Bissell, who masterminded the operation; the first joint interview with the managers of the invasion, Jacob Esterline and Colonel Jack Hawkins; a comprehensive chronology; and biographies of the key participants.

Ever since Thucydides pondered reasons for the outbreak of the Peloponnesian War, writers, philosophers, and social scientists have all tried to identify and catalog factors that promote conflict escalation. Historians emphasize path-dependencies: the future grows out of the past, hence tomorrow's wars are rooted in yesterday's conflicts. Political scientists attend to changes in power balance or domestic political forces. All of these causes, however, are constructed by human beings and involve the memories, emotions, and motives of both the leaders and the led. In July 1914, the long peace of the great European powers was shattered when the Sarajevo assassinations quickly escalated to a world war that few ever anticipated. In contrast, at the height of the Cold War, the Cuban Missile Crisis could have easily plunged us into a thermonuclear world war, but was ultimately peacefully resolved. Why? In Roots of War: Wanting Power, Seeing Threat, Justifying Force, author David G. Winter identifies the three psychological factors that contributed to the differences in these historical outcomes: the desire for power (power motivation), exaggerated perception of the opponent's threat, and justification for using military power and force. As Winter illustrates, several different lines of research establish how these three factors lead to escalation and war: the role of power motivation is demonstrated by comparative content analysis of documents (i.e. diplomatic communications, leaders' speeches, and media coverage) from crises that escalated to war versus similar events that did not; case studies of several American and British wars; and analysis of "new wars" (i.e. civil unrest, state-sponsored violence, and terrorism). Drawing on this research, Roots of War is a powerful testament to the roles of power and the preservation of peace, and demonstrates their enormous influence in diplomatic interventions in the past and present-day.

The first book to recount the full story of U.S. covert operations in Laos during the Vietnam war. Based on newly declassified materials and interviews with dozens of key American and Lao officials, it examines the structure of the U.S. "secret war" in Laos and the long-term consequences associated with it.

Twenty years after the signing of the Paris Accords, the constitutional ambiguities of American involvement in the Vietnam War remain unresolved. John Hart Ely examines the overall constitutionality of America's role in Vietnam; and shows that Congress authorized each new phase of American involvement without committing itself to the stated aims of intervention.

Major General Julian Thompson first wrote No Picnic when the momentous events of April - June 1982 were fresh in his mind. As Commander of 3 Commando Brigade, he was at the heart of the planning and conduct of the War. Under his direct command had been the Royal Marine Commandos and the two battalions of the Parachute Regiment who conducted the lion's share of the fighting.returncharacterreturncharacterNo-one therefore is better qualified to tell the extraordinary story of there-taking of the Falkland Islands from the Argentinians. The author, now a celebrated military historian, has revised his early book and added for this 25 Anniversary edition more of his own personal thoughts and impressions.returncharacterreturncharacterIt is all too easy to overlook just how perilous and risky a venture this expedition to the depths of the Southern Hemisphere was. Victory and defeat hung in the balance. Even those who feel they know about this most remarkable of wars will learn more from reading this classic account.

Urgent, compelling reading from the author of Chernobyl on the defining conflict of our times: do you know what is at stake in Ukraine?

On 24 February 2022, Russia stunned the world by launching an invasion of Ukraine. In the midst of checking on the family and friends who were now on the front lines of Europe's largest conflict since the outbreak of the Second World War, acclaimed Ukrainian-American historian Serhii Plokhy inevitably found himself attempting to understand the deeper causes of the invasion, analysing its course and contemplating the wider outcomes.

The Russo-Ukrainian War is the comprehensive history of a war that has burned since 2014, and that, with Russia's attempt to seize Kyiv, exploded a geo-political order that had been cemented since the end of the Cold War. With an eye for the gripping detail on the ground, both in the halls of power and down in the trenches, as well as a keen sense of the grander sweep of history, Plokhy traces the origins and the evolution of the conflict, from the collapse of the Russian empire to the rise and fall of the USSR and on to the development in Ukraine of a democratic politics.

Based on decades of research and his unique insight into the region, he argues that Ukraine's defiance of Russia, and the West's demonstration of unity and strength, has presented a profound challenge to Putin's Great Power ambition, and further polarized the world along a new axis. A riveting, enlightening account, this is present-minded history at its best.