From the North African desert to the bloody stalemate in Italy, from the London blitz to the D-Day beaches, a group of highly courageous and extremely talented American journalists reported the war against Nazi Germany for a grateful audience. Based on a wealth of previously untapped primary sources, War Beat, Europe provides the first comprehensive account of what these reporters witnessed, what they were allowed to publish, and how their reports shaped the home front's perception of some of the most pivotal battles in American history. In a dramatic and fast-paced narrative, Steven Casey takes readers from the inner councils of government, where Franklin D. Roosevelt and George Marshall held clear views about how much blood and gore Americans could stomach, to the command centers in London, Algiers, Naples, and Paris, where many reporters were stuck with the dreary task of reporting the war by communique. At the heart of this book is the epic journey of reporters like Wes Gallagher and Don Whitehead of the Associated Press, Drew Middleton of the New York Times, Bill Stoneman of the Chicago Daily News, and John Thompson of the Chicago Tribune; of columnists like Ernie Pyle and Hal Boyle; and of photographers like Margaret Bourke-White and Robert Capa. These men and women risked their lives on countless occasions to get their dispatches and their images back home. In providing coverage of war in an open society, they also balanced the weighty responsibility of adhering to censorship regulations while working to sell newspapers and maintaining American support for the war. These reporters were driven by a combination of ambition, patriotism, and belief in the cause. War Beat, Europe shows how they earned their reputation as America's golden generation of journalists and wrote the first draft of World War II history for posterity.

David Rattray is known to many thousands of enthusiasts for his emotional and evocative lectures, he also owns a top battlefield-touring lodge Fugitive Drift, close to Iswandlwana and Rorke's Drift. This is David Rattray's first publication (his cassettes and videos have sold thousands). No one is better qualified to explain the causes of this strange colonial war when British Imperial might was initially humiliated in a ghastly slaughter. Pride was somewhat salvaged by the heroic defense of Rorke's Drift and thereafter the Zulus were doomed. Today the battlefields are frequently visited and this attractive book is the perfect companion, being both authoritative, well illustrated and highly accessible.

A magisterial survey of medieval siege warfare in the middle ages, tracing links across continents and linking contemporary historical accounts with archaeological studies. Sieges were the predominant form of warfare across the medieval world and siege methods and technology developed alongside improvements in defence. This book goes back to the original sources to present a comprehensive view of thewhole subject, tracing links across continents and analysing the relationship with changes in the design of town and castle defences, and linking contemporary historical accounts with archaeological studies. It considers the mostimportant questions raised by siege warfare: who designed, built and operated siege equipment? How did medieval commanders gain their knowledge? What were the roles of theoretical texts and the developing science of siege warfare? How did nomadic peoples acquire siege skills? Were castles and town walls built purely of a military purpose, or did they play a symbolic role also? The first volume begins in 450 AD with the replacement of the westernRoman empire by barbarian successor states, but also examines the development of the Byzantine Empire, the Muslim Caliphate and its successors, and the links with China, through to the early thirteenth century. The second continues with the Mongol conquests in Asia and Europe and the thirteenth-century apogee of pre-gunpowder siege warfare, before examining the slow impact of guns and the cumulatively massive changes in attack and defence of the fifteenthcentury.

The impact of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904-5 was incalculable. It was the first victory by an Asian power over a European one since the Mongol invasions of the thirteenth century. Japanese victory was ascribed to the "spirit" of the Japanese people, which helped their soldiers to overcome superior numbers and technology. A fascinating glimpse into prevailing nationalistic and militaristic attitudes in early-twentieth-century Japan, "Human Bullets" is also an engaging story of combat and an excellent source of insights about a relatively obscure but immensely influential conflict. Tadyoshi Sakurai was a junior officer in the Japanese campaign against Port Arthur, Russia's ice-free port in China. His account is an interesting introduction to the concept of "yamato-damashii," or "traditional Japanese spirit." This spirit was something greater than mere high morale. Japanese soldiers were the emperor's "human bullets." Like bullets, they were unconcerned with victory, comfort, or self-preservation, existing only to strike the enemy.

Victor Israelyan was a senior ambassador in the Soviet Foreign Ministry when the armies of Egypt and Syria invaded Israeli-occupied territory on October 6, 1973. Critical to the outcome of this conflict were the Soviet Union and the United States, whose diplomatic maneuverings behind the scenes eventually ended what came to be known as the Yom Kippur War. During the crisis, however, tensions between the superpowers nearly escalated into nuclear war. Israelyan is the first Soviet official to give us a firsthand account of what actually happened inside the Kremlin during these three important weeks in 1973.

Israelyan's account is a fascinating mixture of memoir, anecdotes, and historical reporting. As a member of Soviet Foreign Minister Andrei Gromyko's staff, he was assigned to a four-man task force that attended the many Politburo meetings held during the war. The job of this task force was to take notes and prepare drafts of letters and other documents for the Politburo. In remarkable detail, made possible by his sharp memory and the notes and documents he saved, Israelyan chronicles the day-by-day activities of Kremlin leaders as they confronted the crisis. For the first time we can see how the cumbersome Soviet policy-making mechanism, headed by the Politburo, functioned in a tense international situation. We see how the actions of Henry Kissinger, Anwar Sadat, Hafiz al-Assad, and other participants in the crisis were interpreted in Moscow. From his own experience Israelyan gives us intimate portraits of top Soviet officials including Brezhnev, Gromyko, and Andropov. His access to important documents--including letters from Richard Nixon to Leonid Brezhnev, never officially released in the U.S.--provide a much-needed corrective to assertions made by Kissinger, Nixon, and Sadat about the war.

Supplemented by rare photographs and interviews with other Soviet officials, Inside the Kremlin During the Yom Kippur War is more than a record of the past. Israelyan offers a unique vantage point on the continuing Middle East conflict, and his candid assessment of the mindset of Russian leaders is instructive for understanding how the present leadership of Russia faces its new role in the post-Cold War world.

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.

Defeat and death at the Little Bighorn gave General George Custer and his Seventh Cavalry a kind of immortality. In "Custer's Last Stand," Brian W. Dippie investigates the body of legend surrounding that battle on a bloody Sunday in 1876. His survey of the event in poems, novels, paintings, movies, jokes, and other ephemera amounts to a unique reflection on the national character.

Throughout its history, the Department of Defense (DOD) has relied on contractors to support a wide range of military operations. Operations over the last thirty years have highlighted the critical role that contractors play in supporting U.S. troops - both in terms of the number of contractors and the type of work being performed. Over the last decade in Iraq and Afghanistan, and before that, in the Balkans, contractors accounted for 50% or more of the total military force. Regardless of whether future operations are similar to, or significantly different from, those of the past decade most analysts and defence officials believe that contractors will continue to play a central role in overseas military operations. Consequently, these observers believe that the DOD should be prepared to effectively award and manage contracts at a moment's notice, anywhere in the world, in unknown environments, and on a scale that may exceed the total contract obligations of any other federal agency. This book provides background information and identifies issues for Congress on the use of contractors to support military operations. The DOD's extensive use of contractors poses several potential policy and oversight issues for Congress and has been the focus of numerous hearings. Congress' decisions on these issues could substantially affect the extent to which the DOD relies on contractors in and is capable of planning for and overseeing contractors in future operations.

Despite the great English victories at Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt, the French eventually triumphed in the Hundred Years War. This book examines the last campaign of the war, covering the great battles at Formigny in 1450 and Castillon in 1453, both of which hold an interesting place in military history. The battle of Fornigny saw French cavalry defeat English archers in a reverse of those earlier English victories, while Castillon became the first great success for gunpowder artillery in fixed positions. Finally, the book explains how the seemingly unmartial King Charles VII of France all but drove the English into the sea, succeeding where so many of his predecessors had failed.

Since the mid-19th century, the United States has frequently employed the U.S. Army on its southern border to perform various roles in support of the Nation, from outright war, to patrolling the border, to chasing bandits while securing persons and property on both sides of the border, and most recently to supporting civil law enforcement and anti-drug efforts. The military generally provides support to law enforcement and immigration authorities along the southern border. Reported escalations in criminal activity and illegal immigration, however, have prompted some lawmakers to re-evaluate the extent and type of military support that occurs in the border region. Events since 9/11, such as the recent deployment of National Guard Soldiers to the Mexican border, are only the latest manifestation of this long tradition. This book reviews the lengthy history of the U.S. Army on the Mexican border and highlights recurring themes that are relevant to today's ongoing border security mission. This book consists of public documents which have been located, gathered, combined, reformatted, and enhanced with a subject index, selectively edited and bound to provide easy access.

The true story of the most famous SAS operation in history. 'Bravo Two Zero' was the code-name of the famous SAS operation: a classic story of bravery in the face of overwhelming odds. BRAVO TWO ZERO by patrol commander 'Andy McNab' became an international bestseller, as did the book by 'Chris Ryan' (THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY). Both men became millionaires. Three members of the patrol were killed. One, veteran sergeant Vince Phillips, was blamed in both books for a succession of mistakes. As Michael Asher reveals, the stories in BRAVO TWO ZERO and THE ONE THAT GOT AWAY grew considerably in the telling. Their heroic tales of taking out tanks with their rocket launchers, mowing down hundreds of Iraqi soldiers, the silent stabbing of the occasional sentry, were never mentioned at their post-war debriefings... In an investigation literally in the footsteps of the patrol, Michael Asher tells the true story.

Inside the White House during the Cuban Missile Crisis, Concise Edition

The closest most of us will ever come to being inside the Oval Office at a moment of crisis.

For sheer drama, this work of history may never be duplicated. The events of the Cuban Missile Crisis unfold in the actual words of President John F. Kennedy and his top advisers. Now available in a new, concise edition, this book retains its gripping sense of history in the making. 20 photographs.

"[A] splendid achievement, as powerful and exciting a book as one is likely to read this year...."—Barry Gewen, New York Times Book Review

"Gripping history."—Richard J. Tofel, Wall Street Journal

"[M]esmerizing. I was utterly fascinated....the best, fullest account of crisis yet and will remain so for decades to come."—Stephen E. Ambrose

"[A]s close as most people will ever get to being a fly on the wall during the discussions of leaders."—Los Angeles Times Sunday Book Review, James G. Blight

The three Punic Wars lasted over 100 years, between 264 BC and 146 BC. They represented a struggle for supremacy in the Mediterranean between the bludgeoning land power of Rome, bent on imperial conquest, and the great maritime power of Carthage with its colonies and trading posts spread around the Mediterranean. This book reveals how the dramas and tragedies of the Punic Wars exemplify many political and military lessons which are as relevant today as when Hannibal and Scipio Africanus fought to determine the course of history in the Mediterranean.

The 49th edition of the SIPRI Yearbook analyses developments in 2017 in: - Security and conflicts - Military spending and armaments - Non-proliferation, arms control and disarmament. The SIPRI Yearbook contains extensive annexes on the implementation of arms control and disarmament agreements, and a chronology of events during the year in the area of security and arms control.

The Chaco War was probably the first "modern" conflict in Latin America where military aviation was widely used in all roles. Bolivia, as the reader will find out, had a very powerful military air force, but unfortunately for them and luckily for Paraguay, its high army command did not take advantage of it. On the other hand, the Paraguayan Commander-in-Chief, General Jose Felix Estigarribia used military aviation to help him defeat the enemy on the ground, and the result was clear: the Bolivians were expelled from the Chaco after three years of war. Previous publications have focused on the Chaco Air War with the aircraft technical details and almost no information on aerial operations, which is this book's centrepiece. All dogfights and bombing missions mentioned are detailed including crews, aircraft, serials, places and outcomes. The book also describes how both military air forces were organized, how pilots and aviation mechanics were trained, how and where aircraft were purchased and many other unpublished before details. The maps included in the book will help the reader have an idea of where aerial operations took place, both combatants air bases, Bolivia's plan to conquer the whole region and how the Paraguayan Army finally expelled the enemy out of the Chaco. The text is supported by a large number of photographs, and specially commissioned colour profile artworks from modelers.

By the 15th century BC the valley of Hwang Ho was dominated by a palace-based military caste which owed its supremacy to a monopoly of bronze-working techniques among a still mainly Stone Age population. To the Shang Dynasty, war was a means of legitimising the power of their new aristocracy. This fascinating volume by C. J. Peers covers the period of China's history from the first documented civilisation to the establishment of an enduring unified empire, examining the history, organisation, uniform and weapons of ancient Chinese armies.

Some 2,000 women participated in the Long March, but their experience of this seminal event in the history of Communist China is rarely represented. In Choosing Revolution, Helen Praeger Young presents her interviews with twenty-two veterans of the Red Army's legendary 6,000-mile "retreat to victory" before the advancing Nationalist Army.

Enormously rich in detail, Young's Choosing Revolution reveals the complex interplay between women's experiences and the official, almost mythic version of the Long March. In addition to their riveting stories of the march itself, Young's subjects reveal much about what it meant in China to grow up female and, in many cases, poor during the first decades of the twentieth century. In speaking about the work they did and how they adapted to the demands of being a soldier, these women reveal the Long March as only one of many segments of the revolutionary paths they chose.

Against a background of diverse perspectives on the Long March, Young presents the experiences of four women in detail: one who brought her infant daughter with her on the Long March, one who gave birth during the march, one who was a child participant, and one who attended medical school during the march. Young also includes the stories of three women who did not finish the Long March. Her unique record of ordinary women in revolutionary circumstances reveals the tenacity and resilience that led these individuals far beyond the limits of most Chinese women's lives.

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.

"From Revolutionaries to Citizens" is the first comprehensive account of the most important antiwar campaign prior to World War I: the antimilitarism of the French Left. Covering the views and actions of socialists, trade unionists, and anarchists from the time of France's defeat by Prussia in 1870 to the outbreak of hostilities with Germany in 1914, Paul B. Miller tackles a fundamental question of prewar historiography: how did the most antimilitarist culture and society in Europe come to accept and even support war in 1914?

Although more general accounts of the Left's "failure" to halt international war in August 1914 focus on its lack of unity or the decline of trade unionism, Miller contends that these explanations barely scratch the surface when it comes to interpreting the Left's overwhelming acceptance of the war. By embedding his cultural analysis of antimilitarist propaganda into the larger political and diplomatic history of prewar Europe, he reveals the Left's seemingly sudden transformation "from revolutionaries to citizens" as less a failure of resolve than a confession of commonality with the broader ideals of republican France. Examining sources ranging from police files and court records to German and British foreign office memos, Miller emphasizes the success of antimilitarism as a rallying cry against social and political inequities on behalf of ordinary citizens. Despite their keen awareness of the bloodletting that awaited Europe, he claims, antimilitarists ultimately accepted the war with Germany for the same reason they had pursued their own struggle within France: to address injustices and defend the rights of citizens in a democratic society.

British Air Power demonstrates how the Royal Air Force sought to adapt in regard to the roles it could play and the conflicts in which it could be used, as well as the evolution of air power doctrine at a time of rapid changes in national politics and in the international arena. The development of new concepts and theories, the evaluation of operational experience, the political environment and budgetary cuts, and the role of academics and personalities in development of doctrine are thus all explored to show changes in strategic thinking regarding air power. Fedorchak further examines the influence of jointery - the process of co-operation between the army, navy and air force - on thinking, conceptualising, teaching and using air power in recent operations in Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and Syria. A contemporary complement to more historical studies, British Air Power provides a very detailed look at the development of air-land doctrine in the RAF since the turn of the century.

Where did wargames come from? Who participated in them, and why? How is their development related to changes in real-life warfare? Which aspects of war did they capture, which ones did they leave out, how, and why? What do they tell us about the conduct of war in the times and places where they were played? How useful are they in training and preparation for war? Why are some so much more popular than others, and how do men and women differ in their interest? Starting with the combat of David versus Goliath, passing through the gladiatorial games, tournaments, trials by battle, duels, and board games such as chess, all the way to the latest simulations and computer games, this unique book traces the subject in all its splendid richness. As it does so, it provides new and occasionally surprising insights into human nature.

At the height of the savage and bitter Indian Mutiny, the British garrison at Cawnpore found itself surrounded in June 1857\. Through a lack of resources, its commander, Major General Wheeler, agreed to surrender the city providing all the British inhabitants were granted free passage out of Cawnpore. But, just as the men women and children were about to embark on the boats that would take them to safety, the Mutineers attacked. All the British troops were killed, as were some of the women and children, with others being wounded. Those who survived, approximately 200 in number, were moved to a small villa called Bibighar. Held in awful conditions, many subsequently died from cholera and dysentery. When the rebel leader, Nana Sahib, learned that a large British force was approaching to relieve the captives, he ordered all the women and children to be killed. Though some of the sepoys refused to act, others began to hack about them with swords and cleavers. In the orgy of horror that followed, women were raped and mutilated, children stripped and murdered. In a bid to conceal the atrocity from the revengeful British troops, the corpses were thrown into a deep well. Just four of the original 200 people captured at Cawnpore lived to tell the gruesome tale by hiding under the bodies of the dead. Over many years James Bancroft has collected information on the victims and has interviewed some of the descendants. This has enabled him to examine the events at Cawnpore in 1857 through the lives of those who died and survived the atrocity, throwing new light on this very dark tale. The book is completed with photographs of the sites in India taken by one the families of the victims.

The controversial memoir of a top British spy which finally reveals what really went on behind the scenes of the Falklands War For five years before the Falklands War, Hugh Bicheno was one of the top British spies in Argentina. As such, he gathered hard, corroborated intelligence on Argentine intentions over the Falklands - which the British establishment then chose to ignore. The reasons behind this British decision, and its disastrous and inevitable consequences in the South Atlantic, are the main story of this book. There were three main players in the war, each of them trying to overcome their own cultural baggage. The Argentines were riddled with guilt: after years of fighting a morally repugnant campaign against its own people, the Argentine military saw a war for the Malvinas islands as a perfect opportunity to win back their self-respect. The hands of the Americans were also bloody from the likewise dirty wars they had sponsored and abetted in Central America. For Britain it was simply the last straw after decades of humiliation.

Bosnia and Hercegovina emerged in the wake of the Second World War as a melting pot for the cultures that had determined the history of the South Slavs since the middle ages. Catholic, Orthodox, and Muslim all shared in and contributed to the political and cultural life of Yugoslavia's most diverse republic.
In 1992, this life was shattered as separatist militias brought war to Bosnia and Hercegovina.What is the religious heritage that drives the warring factions and how does it relate to the nationalist aspirations of many of the participants? From diverse academic and philosophical perspectives, the works of Jean Bethke Elshtain, James Turner Johnson, Michael Sells, John Kelsay, and G. Scott Davis will inform not just scholars of ethics, politics and religion, but everyone concerned with the prospects for justice in the post-Cold War world.