For nearly three years, August 1941 to March 1944, 47,000 Spanish soldiers served under German command on the Russian front, two of those years con tinuously in the line in the siege of Leningrad. There were 22,000 casu alties, of which 4,500 were killed in ac tion or died of wounds, disease, or frost bite. Fewer than 300 prisoners of war finally were repatriated in 1954. The story of these Spanish volunteers told here, largely from original Spanish and German archival sources, in the graphic detail of a military history cover ing the major battles of the Russo-German war, gives an entirely different perspective to the siege of Leningrad which is neither Communist nor Nazi but Mediterranean. Thinking of themselves as warriors, as opposed to soldiers, the Spaniards fought with great courage and dash. Masters of improvisation, they lived off the countryside, regarded the Russians as human beings, and often formed strong bonds with the peasants--so strong that the Russian population often protected the Spaniards from both the Red Army and the partisans.

This story is an account of the Santiago, Cuba, land campaign of the Spanish-American War, as conducted by General William R. Shafter's Fifth Army Corps. The narrative is based on firsthand information gathered from handwritten diaries, memoirs, and regimental and company histories of the men who participated in the campaign. These chronicles of frontline action paint an entirely different picture of what has been called "The Splendid Little War." The opponent, far from being the cowardly Spanish soldier of myth, is revealed to be a courageous, resourceful foe. Furthermore, the attack on the outer defenses of Santiago was totally mismanaged by William Shafter, the American General in command, and his incompetent staff. Only the U.S. Navy's victory over the Spanish squadron on July 3, 1898, rescued the army from disaster.

The functions of staff officers in U.S. military history have been largely ignored by historians who have preferred to focus on the role of the combat officer. This examination of the career of General Walter Bedell Smith, Chief of Staff to General Dwight D. Eisenhower, and his valuable contribution to Allied success, represents an effort to fill a void in the current historiography of U.S. participation in Europe in World War II. While specifically looking at Smith's military career from his entry into the Indiana National Guard on his sixteenth birthday to his retirement from the U.S. Army as a four-star general 39 years later, the volume is also a general investigation of the role of Chief of Staff and a critical study of the interwar U.S. Army and its participation in the campaigns of the Mediterranean and Northwest Europe during World War II. The institutional and attitudinal structure that produced the generation of American officers that commanded armies and manned higher headquarters is thoroughly evaluated in this volume. D.K.R. Crosswell concludes that the normative influences of the Army's advance schools conditioned the U.S. approach to war in Europe: Eisenhower and Smith's broad front strategy is seen as a product of their Leavenworth educations. Smith's relationships with Eisenhower and George C. Marshall are also seen as important formative influences.

Despite a paucity of personal papers and no prior book on Smith, Crosswell had access to a wealth of primary materials in the Eisenhower Library in Abilene, Kansas and the resources of the Combat Studies Library at the Command and General Staff College in Leavenworth, Kansas. Substantial collections of materials at the federal research facilities in Washington, the U.S. Army Military History Institute holdings in Carlisle Barracks, Pa., and the George C. Marshall Library in Lexington, Va., were consulted. Personal interviews with surviving World War II officers and an examination of British sources were conducted to give the most complete picture of Smith to date. "The Chief of Staff" is divided into four major sections: Bedell Smith and Officership in the U.S. Army, 1917-1939; The Towering Figure: George C. Marshall; The First Campaign: The Mediterranean; Northwest Europe, and an epilogue which covers Smith's post-Army years. The 14 chapters present Smith as perhaps the best example of the World War II military manager. He emerges from these pages as a central figure of the period and his contributions within the Allied sphere proved fundamental to eventual battlefield success. Seven maps of World War II major theaters of operation from Morocco to Normandy and never-before-published archival photographs are included. Military history and World War II buffs won't want to miss this splendid read which will also appeal to academic military historians, libraries and research facilities, as well as current and retired military officers. The book is ideal supplemental reading for courses in U.S. military history.

This is a systematic, comparative attitudinal study of the Soviet fighting man. The author interviewed emigre ex-Soviet servicemen from all branches and of all ranks to determine their feelings about their military experience. Each of the three major sections of the work addresses one branch of the service, detailing the answers of respondents to eighty-one questions. The resulting sets of data are divided into twelve categories dealing with various aspects of military service in the Soviet Union: general views of military service, military life, combat ability, training, quality of officers and NCOs, leadership, morale and discipline, ideology, unit cohesion, desertion and AWOL, alcohol use, and suicide. Gabriel's conclusions, as well as the data he presents, answer critical questions about Soviet military effectiveness and encourage further analysis of the psychology of the Soviet fighting man.

The front-line soldiers of the First World War endured appalling conditions in the trenches and suffered unprecedented slaughter in battle. Their morale, as much as the strategy of their commanders, played the crucial part in determining the outcome of `the war to end all wars'. J. G. Fuller examines the experience of the soldiers of the British and Dominion armies. How did the troops regard their plight? What did they think they were fighting for? Dr Fuller draws on a variety of contemporary sources, including over a hundred magazines produced by the soldiers themselves. This is the first scholarly analysis of the trench journalism which played an important role in the lives of the ordinary soldiers. Other themes explored include the nature of patriotism, discipline, living conditions, and leisure activities such as sport, concert parties, and the music hall. Dr Fuller's vivid and detailed study throws new light on the question of warfare, and in particular how the British and Dominion armies differed from those of their allies and opponents, which were wracked by mutiny or defeat as the war went on.

Kaufman examines the training and status of British military surgeons during the late 18th and 19th centuries. Their management of the sick and wounded during the wars with France leading up to and including the Peninsular War is also described. He concludes with an analysis of the medical problems associated with the Crimean War.

Using important contemporary texts, Kaufman describes the personalities who served in the British Army Medical Department during the late 18th and 19th centuries, when diseases caused a much higher mortality than injuries sustained in battle. Many military surgeons were only poorly trained, and the management of the sick and wounded only gradually improved over this period despite significant advances in medicine, surgery, and hygene. Government spending cuts after the Peninsular War greatly depleted the medical service of the army so that by the time of the Crimean War it was unable to cope with a European-style war. Deficiencies were recognized and, in the case of the medical services, this led to the establishment of the Army Medical School in 1860. This analysis should be of particular interest to serving military medical officers and to historians and other researchers interested in the management of 18th and 19th century armies in times of peace and war.

In a compact guide to essential sources, this bibliography covers the Soviet armed forces from the birth of the Red Army and the origins of the Soviet military system to the demise of the Soviet Union. The authors have selected over 1,400 titles that accommodate both wider interests and those of the specialist. Taking accessibility into account, they have provided a wealth of information on sources available in the West.

The bibliography opens with a section on reference sources and the imperial antecedents to the Soviet system. Part Two includes chapters on the Revolution and Civil War, the period from 1922-1940, and the Great Patriotic War of 1941-1945. In the concluding section, the authors cover the postwar period. The final chapter, Breakthrough Books, includes those works that have radically influenced the perception and discussion of Soviet military affairs.

General of the Army Douglas MacArthur was an extraordinary military leader and one of the most controversial figures in American history. An enormous amout of literature has accumulated about his career, which spanned most of the 20th century. General MacArthur is the subject of this first comprehensive assessment and survey of all of the writings by ad about him. Publication coincides and reflects the formal commemoration of the 50th anniversary of World War II. A short biographical essay and chronology set the stage for the historiographical critique, which is organized topically and into different time periods. This extensive historiographical narrative is cross-referenced to the annotated bibliography of 759 published and unpublished sources, both academic and popular, including film and fiction. Author and subject indexes complete the volume. This guide to the literature on MacArthur describes archival collections and research facilities; points to conflicting interpretations about the role of General MacArthur as Chief of Staff of the Army, in World War II, in the occupation of Japan, in the Korean War, and in the sensational recall from his position as Far Eastern Commander in 1951; and suggests areas for further research. The historiographical narrative and annotated bibliography cover the career of the general from his earliest years to his death in 1964. This easy-to-use research tool is designed for students, scholars, and readers at all levels; for use by all those concerned with recent U.S. and world history; and for special commemorations of World War II.

This illuminating study provides a unifying framework for understanding the daily lives of British soldiers past and present.How different were the men who fought at Blenheim and at Goose Green? Is there a human thread that connects the redcoat of 300 years ago with the British soldier today? What would they find in common if they found a shared foe?This book focuses on the people who make up the British Army and the very human interactions between them in their daily lives. It marries the academic disciplines of Social Anthropology and Military History to provide a novel way of looking at the anatomy of the army at unit level from an entirely human perspective. Concentrating on the attitudes, expectations and concerns expressed by the people involved, it sets out a social model of life at regimental duty that can be used to describe, analyze and explain their behaviours over the past 300 years.The book is grounded in what soldiers of all ranks have said, using the author's research interview material for the modern witnesses and memoirs, diaries and letters for earlier ones. These first-hand statements are analyzed using techniques from Social Anthropology and the emerging patterns are captured in the model."Birmingham War Studies" ("BWS") is a series of works of original historical research in the area of History and War Studies. The works will cover all aspects of war studies from the Ancient Greeks and Romans to the present day.

The Samurai warrior is one of the most famous types of soldier, with his intricate armour, longbow and distinctive katana sword, as well as his strict martial code. But samurai warfare and military culture is much misunderstood in the modern era. In Samurai Weapons & Fighting Techniques, Thomas D. Conlan traces the history and development of samurai warfare over seven centuries, beginning with the historic dominance of the mounted, bow-armed samurai, moving through the introduction of naginata-wielding ashigaru (skirmishers) and pike formations, and finishing with the revolutionary introduction of firearms and cannon. Conlan analyses the success of particular samurai dynasties, such as the Ashikaga, Uesugi and Tokugawa clans, and examines the role of many of the great battlefield commanders - such as Oda Nobunaga, Takeda Shingen and Tokugawa Ieyasu - at key battles like Kawanakajima (1561), Nagashino (1575) and the siege of Osaka (1615). The book is illustrated throughout with more than 300 detailed line drawings and colour photographs showing the weapons, equipment, techniques and tactics of the samurai. Types of armour - such as o-yoroi, haramaki and paper armour - and weapons - such as the tachi long sword, wakizashi short sword and yari (pike) - are depicted in detail. Expertly written, Samurai Weapons & Fighting Techniques is a highly illustrated, accessible introduction to samurai warfare for both the military enthusiast and general reader.

The Rainbow Division (42nd Infantry Division) was the premier National Guard division to fight on the Western Front in the Great War. Made up of units from 26 states and the District of Columbia, the Rainbow was a unique attempt to combine units from every section of the nation and to get them to France as quickly as possible. The Rainbow arrived in France in December 1917, and served in every major battle the AEF (American Expeditionary Force) participated in. After the end of the war in November 1918, the Rainbow was selected to serve in the Army of Occupation, remaining in Germany until the spring of 1919. The division counted in its leadership Douglas MacArthur, William J. Wild Bill Donovan (later known for his service as the head of the OSS in World War II and for founding the CIA), soldier-poet Joyce Kilmer, Father Francis P. Duffy, plus future secretaries of the Army and the Air Force and two who would become Army Chiefs of Staff. George S. Patton's tanks supported The Rainbow Division during the St. Mihiel operations, the first time the legendary Patton planned for the use of tanks on the battlefield.

Modern Artillery brings together 300 of the most important examples of artillery used or designed since 1900. Beginning with the guns that pounded the trenches in World War I, the book details all the major forms of artillery in service throughout the century. From hand-held anti-tank devices, anti-aircraft guns and field pieces of World War II to the recent tactical and strategic missiles, the book provides a wide survey of the development and use of artillery, with the entries conveniently placed into categories for easy reference. Each artillery piece featured is illustrated by a full-colour artwork and accompanied by a detailed specifications table giving the country of origin and technical details of the weapon, including where appropriate the calibre, elevation, muzzle velocity, traverse and range, all measurements being provided in imperial and metric. Each entry also contains a piece of text summarizing the weapon's development and service history. Presented in a handy, pocket-book size, arranged by type and with 300 colour illustrations, Modern Artillery is an authoritative and accessible reference work, which will appeal to anyone with an interest in military technology.

When the United States entered the Great War in April of 1917, there were few officers with any staff training, and none had actually served on large, complex staffs in combat. This work traces the development of the staff of the AEF and describes how Pershing found the generals to command those divisions that fought on the Western Front in World War I. Many of Pershing's generals had been colonels only a few months prior to assuming command of divisions. John J. Pershing's task was to mold a diverse group of men into effective staff officers and into general officers to face the rigors of modern combat. How he accomplished this task, and how well the AEF did, is the focus of this work on the AEF's command and staff structure.

Since the Revolution, Americans have debated what action the military should take toward civilians suspected of espionage, treason, or revolutionary activity. This important book-the first to present a comprehensive history of military surveillance in the United States-traces the evolution of America's internal security policy during the past two hundred years. Joan M. Jensen discusses how the federal government has used the army to intervene in domestic crises and how Americans have protested the violation of civil liberties and applied political pressure to limit military intervention in civil disputes. Although movements to expand and to constrain the military have each dominated during different periods in American history, says Jensen, the involvement of the army in internal security has increased steadily. Jensen describes a wide range of events and individuals connected to this process. These include Benedict Arnold's betrayal of West Point; the colonial wars in Cuba, where Lt. Andrew Rowan, the nation's first officer spy, won a medal for carrying a "Message for Garcia"; the development of "War Plans White" in the 1920s to guide the army's response in the event of domestic rebellion; the activities of J. Edgar Hoover and the FBI in the 1950s and 1960s; the use of the National Guard in the South at the height of the civil rights movement; and the surveillance of and violence against protesters during the Vietnam War. Scrutinizing the historic workings of the American government at closer range than has ever been done before, Jensen creates a vivid picture of the growing invisible intelligence empire within the United States government and of the men who created it.

This is the story of the early struggles of an ill-equipped ragtag French force, among the first to pledge its loyalty to General de Gaulle. It fought a lonely, almost secret war against the numerically superior Italian troops deep in the wildest parts of the Sahara, hundreds of miles from the main campaigns along the African coast. These daring Free French raids with their long thirsty treks and small-scale oasis battles have been nearly forgotten, although their path is marked by the graves of many hundreds of French, Italian, and native soldiers. Bimberg details the exotic units that participated in this struggle, including the "Tirailleurs Senegalaise du T'chad" (African Infantry), the "Compagnies Sahariennes" (Saharan Camel Companies), and "the Groupe Nomade du Tibesti" (a tribal militia recruited in the Tibesti Mountain region of the great desert).

Despite antiquated equipment and some of the world's worst terrain, the Free French were among the most dedicated soldiers in the Allied camp. The backdrop to their fierce fighting includes the barely surveyed Tibesti Mountains with their 10,000 foot volcanic peaks, interspersed with treacherous shifting sands--terrain which would prove to be an enormous challenge to the worn out, patched-together motor vehicles of the Free French. Much of the action takes place in the most remote areas of Italian Libya, the desert province of Fezzan with its fortified oases of Mourzouk and Koufra, each strongly defended by the Italians. While these skirmishes were a sideshow to the epic battles of North Africa, they were immortalized by heroic acts by the French and African troops alike, efforts that ultimately led to success in this far corner of the world.

This reference book by a well-known historian is the very first to give a short history of the development of the field artillery from the Middle Ages to the present, along with biographical profiles of leading figures, and bibliographical essays about the most important writings on the subject. Dastrup defines the evolution of this combat force and weapons system in terms of technology, organization, tactics, and doctrine. This volume is designed for academic and professional library reference sections and for use in courses in military history and military technology. This guide is suitable for reference and text purposes, and made accessible for varied uses through internal cross-referencing, appendices, and a well-framed general index.

In April 1861, Dick and Tally Simpson, sons of South Carolina Congressman Richard F. Simpson, enlisted in Company A of the Third South Carolina Volunteers of the Confederate army. Their letters home--published here for the first time--read like a historical novel, complete with plot, romance, character, suspense, and tragedy. In their last year of college when the war broke out, Dick and Tally were hastily handed their diplomas so they could volunteer for military duty. Dick was twenty; Tally was twenty-two.
Well educated, intelligent, and thoughtful young men, Dick and Tally cared deeply for their country, their family, and their comrades-in-arms and wrote frequently to their loved ones in Pendleton, South Carolina, offering firsthand accounts of dramatic events from the battle of First Manassas in July 1861 to the battle of Chickamauga in September 1863. Their letters provide a picture of war as it was actually experienced at the time, not as it was remembered some twenty or thirty years later. It is a picture that neither glorifies war nor condemns it, but simply "tells it like it is." Written to a number of different people, the boys' letters home dealt with a number of different subjects. Letters to "Pa" went into great detail about military matters in Lee's Army of Northern Virginia--troop movements, casualties, and how well particular units had fought; letters to "Ma" and sisters Anna and Mary were about camp life and family friends in the army and usually included requests for much-needed food and clothing; letters to Aunt Caroline and her daughter Carrie usually concerned affairs of the heart, for Aunt Caroline continued to be Dick and Tally's trusted confidante, even when they were "far, far from home."
The value of these letters lies not so much in the detailed information they provide as in the overall picture they convey--a picture of how one Southern family, for better or for worse, at home and at the front--coped with the experience of war. These are not wartime reminiscences, but wartime letters, written from the camp, the battlefield, the hospital bed, the picket line--wherever the boys happened to be when they found time to write home. It is a poignant picture of war as it was actually experienced in the South as the Civil War unfolded.

Friedrich Beck was the single most important figure in the transformation of the inept Habsburg military into the modern military state that would wage World War I. He correctly perceived that only an elite body of officers responsible for war planning and preparation could provide lasting security for the Austro-Hungarian empire. After firmly establishing the general staff as an institution, Beck led war planning to counter threats from Russia, Italy, and the Balkans; and spearheaded a vast rebuilding of the rail network. While his rise to power marked a return to the favorite system of military administration of the early Franz Joseph period, Beck proved himself a man with real military ability that revolutionized an army.

Faced with severe budgetary constraints, a radically reduced force structure, and a crippling intellectual dogmatism, the American Infantry struggled throughout the interwar years to modernize its doctrine. Finlayson examines these difficulties, beginning with an overview of the experiences of the primary combatants of the First World War, comparing their battlefield doctrines with that of the American Expeditionary Force. The brief American appearance on the battlefield did much to shape the convictions of those men assigned the task of developing doctrine after the war.

The findings of the post-World War I Superior Board provide valuable insight into how institutional conservatism and the dogmatic approach to new ideas that existed among senior Army leaders stymied possible doctrinal advances. The Army would suffer greatly in the post-war demobilization and the subsequent ravages of the Great Depression. With little money and few soldiers spread around far-flung posts, little advancement in terms of doctrinal development was possible. As the likelihood of war became more imminent in the 1930s, a concerted effort to modernize was made; however, the magnitude of the task made success virtually impossible-a situation that was evident in the Infantry's poor performance in the early battles of the war. The U.S. entry into World war II would, unfortunately, find the infantry branch only partially prepared for the battle field of 1942.

This study argues that guerrilla insurgencies will be a major feature of the post-Cold War international scene, and that the advisability of intervention in some of them will become a serious issue in American politics. Americans therefore need to refine their understanding of insurgency. Anthony James Joes analyzes several major insurgencies of this century, all of which the United States became involved in to one degree or another. While approaching each guerrilla insurgency as a primarily political phenomenon within a definite historical and cultural context, Joes also provides the reader with a clear understanding of the military aspects of such conflicts.

The book deals with a variety of cases, some currently very controversial; provides jargon-free analysis of historical, political, and military factors; challenges some widely cherished views about the potency of third-world nationalism; emphasizes the neglected but often decisive effects of geography; examines the flaws in both the French and the American strategies in Viet Nam; and connects Soviet reverses in Afghanistan with the collapse of their empire in Europe. A major conclusion is that protracted guerrilla insurgency is usually the result of inept government policies; the author outlines a politico-military strategy for bringing an insurgency to an end. Another important conclusion is that our belief in the power of nationalism in insurgencies needs reevaluation. This volume will provide a new perspective for students, teachers, and general readers interested in international affairs, war, and foreign policy.

From the American Civil War and the introduction of the metal cartridge in the 1860s up to the present day, The Encyclopedia of Weapons is an accessible reference guide to the most important small arms, armoured vehicles, aircraft and ships from all around the world. The book ranges from the first Gatling guns to favourites such as the Lee Enfield rifle and the AK-47; in terms of aircraft the book includes World War I biplanes, World War II’s Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress and Mitsubishi A6M2 Zero fighter and on to modern stealth aircraft; in naval weaponry the book features early ironclad submarines, classic ships such as Bismarck and the nuclear subs of today; from the first tanks on the Western Front in World War I, such as the Mark V Male, the book covers the development of armoured fighting vehicles, featuring such classics as the Soviet T-34 and modern tanks like the M1 Abrams. With an entry per page, each weapon is illustrated with two colour artworks – some of them cutaways – a colour or black-&-white photograph, an authoritative history on its development, production and service history and a box of essential specifications. Featuring more than 400 entries, The Encyclopedia of Weapons is a fascinating reference work on the most important tanks, guns, military ships and aircraft over the past 150 years.

In spite of the outcome of the Cold War, English argues persuasively here that the nuclear defensive posture adopted by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) was inherently flawed. Victory in the Cold War, moreover, seems to have increased the attractiveness of this potentially dangerous model. In fact, NATO's attempts to replace conventional armies with nuclear technology represented a misreading of history inasmuch as war has always been more of a social than technological phenomenon. From his succinct survey of the growth and operations of field armies from medieval times to the Gulf War, English concludes that the legitimately constituted conventional army of the nation-state still remains the best instrument for bringing some semblance of order to the destructive chaos of war.

The development of field armies has involved much more sophistication than generally supposed. In both practice and theory, army operations have been as knowledge-based and intellectually rigorous as any academic discipline, ensuring them an enduring place as a practical means of applying massive force. Fortunately, the NATO attempt to replace conventional armies with nuclear technology was never tested in a real war. But English suggests that the likelihood of deterrence continuing in war, because of its transmutability, also offers hope that it can be controlled in the future, as it was in the past, by social forces. This book offers a longer, more realistic view of war than that normally embraced by technocrats in search of better weapons and peacemakers in search of utopia.

This book also addresses in detail the questions of why armies became so large and why war itself transmutated. The technological transformation of war that occurred after 1815 is discussed, in turn, for the effect it exerted upon the future operations of armies. A novel perspective on the tactical and operational progression of warfighting up to the end of World War II is also provided through an examination of modern defensive theory. On a more elevated plane, the book critically assesses the ways in which nuclear deterrence ultimately affected NATO's defensive posture in central Europe. Also subjected to detailed scrutiny are the theoretical and practical dimensions of ground force concepts for the defense of the NATO central front. Finally, English evaluates ground force operations in the Gulf War with a view to drawing relevant conclusions and lessons for the future.

In 1987–1988 was die stowwerige Angolese dorpie Cuito Cuanavale die toneel van die laaste gevegte van die Grensoorlog. Sedertdien is dit die fokuspunt van ’n openbare debat oor wie eintlik hierdie oorlog gewen het.

Die leierskorps van die Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag (SAW) hou vol hulle is nooit verslaan nie, terwyl die alliansie van die Angolese MPLA-regering, Kuba en Swapo beweer hulle het die SAW uit Angola en Suidwes-Afrika verdryf. Hulle glo voorts die SAW wou Cuito Cuanavale beset en as afspringplek gebruik om Luanda in te neem.

Maar was Cuito Cuanavale ooit regtig ’n doelwit vir die Suid-Afrikaners? Dit is die vraag wat Leopold Scholtz vra wanneer hy onlangs gedeklassi-fiseerde dokumente in die weermagargief bestudeer en die taktiese en strategiese besluite ondersoek wat ’n bepalende rol in die ses groot veldslae van dié veldtog gespeel het.

Sy kritiese ontleding wys hoe maklik propaganda en politiek in die pad van feite kan staan.

This is a comprehensive study of the life of Zebulon Butler, a participant in the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War, and the intercolonial confrontations known as the Yankee-Pennamite Wars. Butler migrated to Pennsylvania in 1769 and soon became the military and civil leader of the Connecticut settlers in the Wyoming Valley of Northeastern Pennsylvania. During the Revolutionary War, he served in one of the most dangerous theatres of the war--the isolated Susquehanna frontier of Pennsylvania--where the struggling settlers were subject to Indian-Tory attacks and the hostility of the Pennsylvania government. After the war, Butler sought peace with the Pennsylvania authorities and exercised a steadying influence on the Wyoming community. When the longstanding land controversy between Connecticut and Pennsylvania again erupted in civil war and sparked a separate state movement encouraged by Ethan Allen, Butler counseled peace and assisted Timothy Pickering in the establishment of Luzerne County.

This book examines both brigandage and irredentism in Greece since the War of Independence, tracing the intimate links between the two, their impact on Greek politics and statecraft, and their influence on the modern Greek state. It also served as a safety device which defused explosive situations. Unable to prevail over illegitimate group violence, the state tried to divert it into two generally acceptable channels - irredentist activity, and the incorporation of brigands into paramilitary units - giving it a semblance of legitimacy and rendering its activities less dangerous to the security of the state. Eventually the characteristics and values of brigandage itself and those who practised it became the predominant features of the modern Greek state and society, albeit wearing a mantle of Western respectability. Based on a wide range ogf sources, this study aims to separate reality from myth in examining the forces and factors involved in turning brigands into national heroes.