During the darkest days of the Second World War, the Allies listened intently to the messages of the enemy. Every whisper built a picture of the threat to come - weapons that were terrifying in their murderous capabilities. Target London is the dramatic tale of the inception of the German V-weapons, the Allies' epic race to discover the truth about them and the rockets' effects on the streets of London. Investigative historian Christy Campbell brilliantly interweaves the many strands of this gripping episode. At the heart of this tale is London - the target of Nazi Germany's plan to crush British morale.

Covers the design and deployment of the Bv 138 in the Luftwaffe during WWII.

The idea of late medieval arms and armour often conjures up images of lumbering warriors, clad in heavy plate armour, hacking away at with each other with enormous weapons - depictions perpetuated in both bad literature and bad movies. In this introductory guide, replete with fabulous photography and marvellous anecdotes, internationally-renowned edged weapons expert Robert Woosnam-Savage describes the brutal reality of personal protection and attack in the so-called 'age of chivalry'. From Bannockburn to Bosworth, Poitiers to Pavia, this book is an indispensable introduction to an iconic era.

A history of arms and armour in Europe from pre-history to the 15th century. In The Archaeology of Weapons, Ewart Oakeshott traces the development of European arms in logical sequence, showing how changes were wrought by the use of new materials and the ever-shifting demands of war and fashion. This history begins nearly two hundred years before the Christian era, covering among other subjects the charioteers of the Near East, the Roman attitude to arms and the Bronze Age weapons of Europe. The core of the book, however, is the middle ages: a general survey of the institution of chivalry, an understanding of which is vital to the appreciation of all the arms of the high middle ages, is followed by a classification covering all sword types from about 1050to 1500. Oakeshott draws on a variety of sources, from the archaeological evidence provided by existing weapons to the clues to be found in literature as diverse as the Old Testament, the works of Homer, Norse sagas and medieval romances. The symbolic importance of the sword is treated as an essential part of this lucid study and adds much to its archaeological interest. The late EWART OAKESHOTT was one of the world's leading authorities on the arms and armour of medieval Europe. His other works on the subject include Records of the Medieval Sword and The Sword in the Age of Chivalry.

This guide showcases knives used by America's clandestine military in Southeast Asia during the Vietnam War. It provides the collector and others interested in the period a way of identifying honest SOG (Studies and Observations Group) specimens and separating them from counterfeits. With beautiful color photographs that show a high level of detail, the book identifies all known SOG specimens (over 165 knives) and includes rare personalized knives and custom combat knives made in the United States. Sections of the book focus on Randalls, Eks, Gerbers, and the knives made by tribal artisans in Southeast Asia. This is the eighth in Mike Silvey's series on military knives.

By the Sword is an epic history of sword fighting—a science, an art, and, for many, a religion that began at the dawn of civilization in ancient Egypt and has been an obsession for mankind ever since. With wit and insight, Richard Cohen gives us an engrossing history of the world via the sword.

This book focuses on Biopreparat, the Soviet agency created in 1974, which spearheaded the largest and most sophisticated biological warfare programme the world has ever seen. At its height, Biopreparat employed more than 30,000 personnel and incorporated an enormous network embracing military-focused research institutes, design centres, biowarfare pilot facilities and dual-use production plants. The secret network pursued major offensive R&D programmes, which sought to use genetic engineering techniques to create microbial strains resistant to antibiotics and with wholly new and unexpected pathogenic properties. During the mid-1980s, Biopreparat increased in size and political importance and also emerged as a major civil biopharmaceutical player in the USSR. In the wake of the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, an acute struggle for control of Biopreparat's most valuable assets took place and the network was eventually broken-up and control of its facilities transferred to a myriad of state agencies and private companies.

Morris R. Driels has published three editions of his textbook Weaponeering, which primarily serve civilians working in an R&D capacity for Departments of Defense or military services who require a relatively deep understanding of the mathematics and physics driving the underlying methods. This new book targets a second audience of "warfighters." They are usually military personnel who are involved with the execution of military operations, including the planning of offensive strikes against enemy forces. Although tools such as the Joint Weaponeering System (JWS) are available to plan such attacks, and training is provided for using the tools correctly, there is little explanation giving the warfighter an understanding of what lies behind programs such as JWS. Experience has shown warfighters desire to understand more than just the "buttonology" of using weaponeering tools since this does not provide background information on the assumptions, limitations, and reliability of the results they produce. There are many examples of trying to improve the probability of damage to the second decimal place when, if the assumptions behind the result were understood, the futility of doing this would become obvious. This book therefore uses much of the knowledge and material utilized in the author's previous texts, but with an emphasis on breadth rather than depth. In addition, the mathematical validation of many of the methods is deemphasized and replaced with more real-world topics and examples to put the underlying methods in the context of how they are applied, rather than how they are developed. The need remains to explain some concepts using an approach that still involves some mathematics, physics and statistics, however this has been simplified as much as possible to the extent it may be ignored by the casual reader, as long as they are willing to accept the results that are produced. After presenting chapters on those topics needed to estimate the damage to a target using conventional weapons, an unclassified computer program is described that implements most of the methods outlined in the book. This is supplemented by a database approved by the Joint Technical Coordinating Group for Munitions Effectiveness (JTCG/ME) for educational purposes so that several case studies of realistic attacks can be evaluated. Although weaponeers in the U.S. and selected coalition partners with the appropriate security clearances can obtain copies of the JWS program and therefore have access to the classified weapon and target vulnerability data, that option will not be available to others. To remedy this to the extent possible, examples are presented indicating how this data may be estimated using open-source material.

The Visser Collection, collected over a period or more than thirty years, was the finest and largest concentration of small arms, fabricated in the Low Countries. This collection has been meticulously described in two monumental volumes, which were published in 1996-1997. This book is the fourth and last part of Volume I, and describes over 350 rare and special firearms, swords and related objects, from the 16th to the 19th century. About the Author Guus de Vries is a historian, specialising in the field of firearms. Thus far, he has written fifteen books on firearms history, mostly together with Bas Martens, and numerous articles for magazines in Belgium, Germany, Finland, the Netherlands, Russia, the United Kingdom and the U.S.A.

This handbook provides critical analyses of the theory and practices of small arms proliferation and its impact on conflicts and organized violence in Africa. It examines the terrains, institutions, factors and actors that drive armed conflict and arms proliferation, and further explores the nature, scope, and dynamics of conflicts across the continent, as well as the extent to which these conflicts are exacerbated by the proliferation of small arms. The volume features rich analyses by contributors who are acquainted with, and widely experienced in, the formal and informal structures of arms proliferation and control, and their repercussions on violence, instability and insecurity across Africa. The chapters dissect the challenges of small arms and light weapons in Africa with a view to understanding roots causes and drivers, and generating a fresh body of analyses that adds value to the existing conversation on conflict management and peacebuilding in Africa. With contributions from scholars, development practitioners, defence and security professionals and civil society activists, the handbook seeks to serve as a reference for students, researchers, and policy makers on small arms proliferation, control and regulation; defence and security practitioners; and those involved in countering violence and managing conflicts in Africa.

On December 16, 1958, a Thor intermediate-range ballistic missile became the first rocket launch from Vandenberg AFB, California. Established from the remnants of a WWII and Korean War training base named Camp Cooke, the USAF selected the location to operationally test intercontinental-range ballistic missiles over the Pacific Ocean. Over the decades, Vandenberg has seen over 1,900 launches of more than 70 varieties of rockets and missiles. This book chronicles the launches by rocket/missile, launchpad location, and payload. Many never-before-seen photographs illustrate the variety of space launch vehicles used to lift national-security satellites into orbit, as well as the operational testing of the missiles used by United States nuclear-alert forces. The launches at Vandenberg helped drive the technological innovation and deterrence that helped the US win the Cold War.

The fourteenth and fifteenth centuries were a time of great upheaval for medieval France. In 1328 the Capetian line came to an end. This was the trigger for the Hundred Years War (1337-1453) as successive English kings attempted to uphold their claim to the French throne. Catastrophic defeats at Crecy and Poitiers shook the French kingdom to its core. A period of respite followed under Bertrand du Guesclin, but an even more devastating assault was to follow, under the warrior-king par excellence Henry V, and the French disintegration continued until 1429. This book details how the French began a recovery, partly triggered by the young visionary Joan of Arc, that would end with them as the major European military power.