Staging Dissent: Young Women of Color and Transnational Activism seeks to interrupt normative histories of girlhood dominated by North American contexts and Western feminisms to offer an alternative history of girlhoods produced by and through globalization. Weems does this by offering three case studies that exemplify how transnational and indigenous youth dissent against capitalism and colonialism through situated "guerilla pedagogies."

The famous Sherman tank was the most widely used Allied tank of the Second World War, and the sheer number of units produced played a crucial part in the Allies winning the war. Using rare footage from the film archive at IWM, this flip book shows the famous Sherman tank move up to the front, as a tank squadron prepares for action north of Caen in early July 1944.

Major John L. Plaster, a three-tour veteran of Vietnam tells the story of the most highly classified United States covert operatives to serve in the war: The Studies and Observations Group, code-named SOG. Comprised of volunteers from such elite military units as the Army's Green Berets, the USAF Air Commandos, and Navy SEALs, SOG agents answered directly to the Pentagon's Joint Chiefs, with some missions requiring approval from the White House. Now for the first time, the dangerous assignments of this top-secret unit can at last be revealed

There is nothing that terrorized Russian and Chinese-backed guerrillas fighting Rhodesia's bush war in the 1970s more than the famed Selous Scouts. The very name of the unit struck fear into the very heart and soul of even the most battle-hardened guerrillas. Too afraid to even whisper the name amongst themselves, they referred to soldiers of the unit simply as Skuzapu, or pickpockets. It wasn't for nothing that history has recorded the Selous Scouts Regiment as being one of the deadliest and most effective killing machines in modern counter-insurgency warfare. The Selous Scouts comprised specially selected soldiers of the Rhodesian army, supplemented with the inclusion of hardcore terrorists captured on the battlefield. Dressed and equipped as communist guerrillas and with faces and arms blackened, members of this elite Special Forces unit would slip silently into the shadows of the night to seek and destroy real terrorist gangs. It became a deadly game of hide-and-seek played out between gangs and counter-gangs in the harsh and unforgiving landscape of the African bush. So successful were the Selous Scouts at being able to locate and destroy terrorist in their lairs that by the mid 1970s, they had begun to dominate Rhodesia's battlespace. Working in close conjunction with the elite airborne assault troops of the Rhodesian Light Infantry, the Selous Scouts accounted for an extraordinary high proportion of terrorists killed in Rhodesia's bush war. Survival in this cauldron of battle was never guaranteed. In this special 'deluxe' edition of author Tim Bax's hugely acclaimed Three Sips of Gin, we follow Tim on his missions into the silence of the shadows. As his story unfolds, we begin to understand how he managed to survive and it is here you will find the significance of 'three sips of gin' revealed. Readers of the earlier edition of the book will not want to miss reading this 'deluxe' edition which, for the first time, is illustrated with dozens of photographs. Three Sips of Gin is not just a book about war. It is a remarkable book about a remarkable man's life journey. Tim tells his story with the wit, candor and self-deprecating humour for which he has become so well known. His amazing journey is one which few could ever have experienced.

At peak utilization, private security contractors (PSCs) constituted a larger occupying force in Iraq and Afghanistan than did U.S. troops. Yet, no book has so far assessed the impact of private security companies on military effectiveness. Filling that gap, Molly Dunigan reveals how the increasing tendency to outsource missions to PSCs has significant ramifications for both tactical and long-term strategic military effectiveness--and for the likelihood that the democracies that deploy PSCs will be victorious in warfare, both over the short- and long-term.
She highlights some of the ongoing problems with deploying large numbers of private security contractors alongside the military, specifically identifying the deployment scenarios involving PSCs that are most likely to have either positive or negative implications for military effectiveness. She then provides detailed recommendations to alleviate these problems. Given the likelihood that the U.S. will continue to use PSCs in future contingencies, this book has real implications for the future of U.S. military and foreign policy.

The Medium Tank, M4, better known to the British as the Sherman, was the most widely used medium tank by the United States and western Allies in World War II. Reliable, relatively cheap to produce, and easy to maintain, thousands were distributed to the British Commonwealth and the Soviet Union by the Lend-Lease program. It first saw combat in North Africa, where it outclassed lighter German and Italian tanks. By 1944 the M4 was outgunned by the German heavy tanks, but it still contributed to the fight when deployed in numbers and supported by artillery and fighter-bombers. A detailed insight into the development and deployment of the M4, this book covers the design and construction of the chassis, turret, engine, armaments and munitions and differences between the variants of the M4. It covers the difficulties facing the crews who fought in this legendary tank, exploring the training they received and the different combat methods perfected by the Allies, including landing from an landing craft, maneuvering in the bocage of Normandy, and fighting in the snow. Fully illustrated with hundreds of contemporary and modern photographs and detailed diagrams, this complete account provides all the technical details of the construction of the M4, its maintenance and repair, and the logistics required to support it in combat. Whether you are a collector, modeler or simply passionate about military history, this book will provide you with an unparalleled insight into the M4.

The concept of guerrilla warfare is not decades, but many centuries old, with earliest writing on the subject by Sun Tzu dating back to the 6th Century BC. Some guerrilla tactics are probably as old as the first armed groups of cavemen, being a natural evolution of conflict between groups of disproportionate sizes. One of the earliest examples of guerrilla tactics deployed by a consummate institutional military leader was the Roman general Fabius Maximus who took a course of evade and harassment against Hannibal's columns. This is a compendium of prominent worldwide guerrilla leaders beginning with William Wallace in the thirteenth century to modern day Sri Lanka. It profiles each leader to analyze their personal history, military tactics and political strategy. All are home grown leaders in extended guerrilla campaigns many of whom ended up as the first leaders of their countries or liberators of entire regions such as Simon Bolivar. It includes victories and defeats in an effort to tease out not only effective guerrilla tactics but counter-insurgency strategies with some likelihood of success. The advice expounded by Mao Zedong that: "the guerrilla must move amongst the people as a fish swims in the sea" with his experiences of long marches over distant countryside regions of China has evolved into a more urbanized context. The name insurgent, freedom fighter or jihadi is fast replacing guerrilla. The old guerrilla associated with fights for independence and the end of colonialization has dimmed with modern and far-reaching religious insurgencies taking their place. This concise history gives a fascinating overview of a once history-altering form of warfare.

Plagued by unreliable vehicles and poorly thought-out doctrine, the early years of World War II were years of struggle for Britain's tank corps. Relying on tanks built in the late 1930s, and those designed and built with limited resources in the opening years of the war, they battled valiantly against an opponent well versed in the arts of armoured warfare. This book is the second of a multi-volume history of British tanks by renowned British armour expert David Fletcher MBE. It covers the development and use of the Matilda, Crusader, and Valentine tanks that pushed back the Axis in North Africa, the much-improved Churchill that fought with distinction from North Africa to Normandy, and the excellent Cromwell tank of 1944-45. It also looks at Britain's super-heavy tank projects, the TOG1 and TOG2, and the Tortoise heavy assault tank, designed to smash through the toughest of battlefield conditions, but never put into production.

One of the most remarkable mechanized campaigns of recent years pitted the brutal and heavily armed jihadis of Islamic State against an improvised force belonging to the Kurdish YPG (later the SDF). While some Kurdish vehicles were originally from Syrian Army stocks or captured from ISIS, many others were extraordinary homemade AFVs based on truck or digger mechanicals, or duskas, the Kurds' version of the technical. Before US air power was sent to Syria, these were the Kurds' most powerful and mobile weapons. Co-written by a British volunteer who fought with the Kurds and an academic expert on armoured warfare, this study explains how the Kurds built and used their AFVs in the war against 'Daesh', and identifies as far as possible which vehicles took part in major battles, such as Kobane, Manbij and Raqqa. With detailed new artwork depicting the Kurds' range of armour and many previously unpublished photos, this is an original and fascinating look at modern improvised mechanized warfare.

As the fiftieth anniversary of the Troubles approaches, Ken Wharton takes a thorough look at the start of the Troubles, the precursors and the explosion of violence in 1969 that would last until the Good Friday Agreement in 1998 and cost 50,000 casualties and nearly 2,000 civilians' lives across Northern Ireland, the Republic and England. Utterly condemnatory of the Provisional IRA and their ilk, Wharton pulls no punches in his assessment of the situation then and seeks to dismiss apologists today. His sympathy lies first with those tasked with keeping order in the province, but also with the innocent civilians caught up in thirty years of immense bloodshed. Based on the powerful testimony of those who were there at the time, The Troubles is written with passion and detailed knowledge of the experience of the squaddie.

The T-62 is one of the most widespread tanks used by the Soviets during the Cold War. Developed from the T-55, the T-62 enjoyed a long career in the Red Army and even into the early days of the reformed Russian Army. It was the principal tank used by Soviet forces in the Soviet-Afghan War, and went on to see service with Russian forces in Chechnya and South Ossetia. It has also been employed in almost every conflict in the Middle East and Africa from its introduction into service. It remains in service with many countries throughout the world and has seen a great deal of use in the Syrian Civil War. Containing more than 400 stunning contemporary and modern photographs, and written by two experts on Soviet armour, this authoritative book tells the complete story of the T-62.

Here is the remarkable story of the foreigners who volunteered to join the guerrilla war against Germans and Fascists in Second World War Italy. The fighters included Britons, Australians, Canadians, New Zealanders, South Africans, Americans, Russians, Poles and Yugoslavs. Most were escaped prisoners of war who fled their camps after the Italian armistice and surrender in September 1943. From the summer of 1944 the British Special Operations Executive (SOE) and American Office of Strategic Services (OSS) built on information from their compatriots in enemy territory to send in agents to help arm and train the partisans and to coordinate airdrops. Against the backdrop of twenty months of savage warfare on the mainland, this is the full story of the Allied servicemen who took part in the Italian Resistance, which became one of the greatest insurgent movements in Western Europe. Partisan forces hit enemy communications, tied down seven German divisions and provided tactical support for the Allied armies. 'Among the Italian Partisans' is a celebration of brave men and great events.

The contributors here consider the multifarious aspects of the Anglo-American approach to war. The essays range from a study of volunteer soldiering in the Mexican War of 1846-48, and analyses of operations in the two World Wars, to a reconsideration of the nature of future warfare. All the contributors are concerned to base their work on the overall historical context. They explore the relationship between theory and practice in military operations. A primary interest is reviewing the problems of transition from the small-scale duties of an imperial or frontier constabulary to coping with the demand of continental warfare. This recurring problem is a central feature of the Anglo-American military tradition. Throughout, a major theme is the importance of peacetime in the mental preparation and training for war.

The Germans transformed armoured warfare from a lumbering and ponderous experiment in World War I into something that could decide the outcome of conflicts. This technical and operational history is the definitive guide to the legendary Panzerwaffe, from its very infancy to the days when it made Europe its garden path at the height of Nazi German power. With rare and revealing combat reports, along with photographs sourced from previously unseen private and archival collections, it uncovers the technical and operational stories of the formidable armoured beasts that formed the backbone of the German war machine - tanks such as the Panzer I, II and 38(t).

At its peak the Italian Army contributed 2.5 million troops to the Axis war effort of World War II (1939-1945). English-speaking readers tend to think of this army in terms of the North African campaign; but far more Italian troops served in other theatres. They invaded, and later bore the major burden of occupying, the Balkan countries; and Italy sent 250,000 troops to fight on the Russian Front. In this, the first of a three-part study, Philip Jowett covers the European theatre - including Russia - from 1940 to Italy's armistice with the Allies in 1943. Many interesting uniforms, a number of them new to most readers, are meticulously illustrated by Stephen Andrew.

In many ways, the M26 Pershing was the most advanced and most powerful tank fielded by the US military during the Second World War. The prototype T26 "heavy" tank design was developed to answer the threat of the German Panther and Tiger tanks. Unfortunately for US Army tankers, the T26 tank wasn't ready for field use until 1945. The T26, specifically the E3 variant, was adopted and standardized as the M26 "Pershing" in March 1945. While seeing only limited combat during WWII, the M26 would be extensively used by the Army and Marines in Korea. This pictorial history of the Pershing includes the M26/T26E3, T26E1, T26E4, and T26E2/M45. The book includes almost 300 vintage and recent photographs, color profiles, and detailed line drawings.

In 1941, the U.S. Army activated the 758th Tank Battalion, the first all-black tank battalion. This took years of protests and a lot of political clout because African Americans had to fight for the right to fight. Segregation and discrimination had reached critical levels and the Pittsburgh Courier called for the "Double V Campaign." It appealed for victory abroad against the forces of global domination and victory at home against racism. Two other all-black tank battalions joined the 5th Tank Group, the 761st in 1942 and the 784th in 1943. The 758th fought the Nazis and the Fascists in Northern Italy from the beautiful beaches of the Liguria Sea through the Po Valley and up into the rugged Apennine Mountains. They breached the Gothic Line with the 92nd "Buffalo" Infantry Division. Victorious over history's most racist regimes, many black service members returned home with hopes of a more tolerant nation. Most were bitterly disappointed. Segregation was still the law of the land; racism was alive and well. For many black veterans, disappointment became determination to fight discrimination with the same sense of purpose that had defeated the Axis. After the war they deactivated but unlike their sister battalions, the 761st and 784th, they were reborn in the 64th Tank Battalion keeping their distinguished unit insignia, a black rampant elephant head with white tusks and the scrolled motto - "We Pierce." And reborn again as the 64th Armored Regiment comprised of four separate battalions, the 1/64th, 2/64th, 3/64th, and 4/64th. The ancestral 758th Tank Battalion established in 1941 began with the rudimentary Stuart light tank, advanced to the Sherman medium tank, the Pershing medium/heavy tank, the Patton main battle tank, and now to the ultra-modern Abrams main battle tank. They went from the meek 37 millimeter cannon to a technically advanced 120 millimeter main gun augmented by a thermal viewer, an inter-vehicle tracker, a guided missile system, and other high-tech devices. This unit fought racial discrimination up until it became integrated in 1953, although discrimination continued at the individual level, the unit overcame it. They entered the Korean War to fight for Democracy ironically a segregated unit but returned to the United States fully integrated.

The Battle of the Bulge raises many questions which, until now, have not been adequately answered: How did the major tank types perform during the battle? What were the specific 'lessons learned' from the combat? And did these lessons result in changes to tanks in the subsequent months? Offering detailed answers to these questions, and many more, this book provides a survey of the principal tank and tank-equivalents (such as tank destroyers and Jagdpanzers) that took part in the Ardennes Campaign of December 1944-January 1945. Beginning with a basic overview of the campaign, accompanied by an order of battle of the major armoured units, it examines the opposing forces, covering the organization of the two tank forces to explain how they were deployed. Author Steven Zaloga also scrutinises the technical balance between the opposing sides, comparing armour, mobility and firepower as well as other important factors such as reliability, crew situational awareness, and tank layout/efficiency. Full of specially commissioned and highly accurate artwork plates of the tanks themselves, as well as fascinating technical data based on cutting-edge research, this title is the definitive guide to tank warfare in the Battle of the Bulge.

Along with the Tiger, Sherman and T-34, the Panther ranks as one of the most famous tanks of the Second World War. Anthony Tucker-Jones, in this comprehensive new study of a remarkable fighting vehicle, uses over 100 archive photographs, along with a selection of colour profiles, to describe its design, development and operational record. On the Eastern Front the German army needed to counter the Red Army's robust and utilitarian T-34 which began to appear in every-growing and eventually decisive numbers. The Panther, the German response, was rapidly conceived and produced under extraordinarily difficult wartime conditions. With its sloping armour and a high-velocity 75mm gun, it proved to be a better medium tank than its predecessor the Mk IV, it was more versatile than the heavyweight Tiger and it was superior to most of the Allied tanks it faced. It also had an important influence on subsequent tank design. Anthony Tucker-Jones's photographic history gives a fascinating insight into its wartime career.

Throughout the 16th Century, the Spanish had an aura of invincibility. They controlled a vast colonial empire that stretched across the Americas and the Pacific, and held considerable territories in Europe, centring on the so-called 'Spanish Road'. The Dutch War of Independence (also known as the 80 Years' War) was a major challenge to their dominance. The Dutch army created by Maurice of Nassau used innovative new tactics and training to take the fight to Spain and in so doing created a model that would be followed by European armies for generations to come. The second in a two-part series on the Dutch armies of the 80 Years' War, focuses on the cavalry, artillery and engineers of the evolving armies created by Maurice of Nassau. Using specially commissioned artwork and photographs of historical artefacts, it shows how the Dutch cavalry arm, artillery, and conduct of siege warfare contributed to the long struggle against the might of the Spanish Empire.

Staging Dissent: Young Women of Color and Transnational Activism seeks to interrupt normative histories of girlhood dominated by North American contexts and Western feminisms to offer an alternative history of girlhoods produced by and through globalization. Weems does this by offering three case studies that exemplify how transnational and indigenous youth dissent against capitalism and colonialism through situated "guerilla pedagogies."

Between 1940 and 1945, large numbers of trucks of all categories were delivered to the U.S. Army by the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors. Over 160,000 of these trucks were the G-506 light four-wheel drive trucks - which became the standard 1 1/2-ton, 4x4 truck for both the U.S. Army and Army Air Corps during the war. In addition, many more thousands were delivered to Allied forces as part of the Lend-Lease program, including nearly 50,000 delivered to the Soviet Union. Tough, well-built and more agile than the deuce and a half, the Chevy 11/2ton played a part in every theater of operations during the war. Its durability and mechanical reliability made it ideal for a wide range of missions. Not for nothing did Chevy advertise the trucks during the war as "Vehicles of victory." More than 75 years after it was designed, the small Chevrolet truck is still a favourite with collectors. This fully illustrated book details the different series of trucks and their many uses within the U.S. Army including cargo trucks, panel delivery trucks for the Signal Corps, dump trucks for engineers, telephone trucks, tractors, bomb service trucks for the air force. It also covers their part in the Lend-Lease program, and their continued use after the war.

The dramatic story of the men who fought a new and terrifying kind of war amidst the carnage of the trenches in World War I: the British pioneer volunteers who were the first tank-men into battle.

Inspired by a visit to northeast France to witness the excavation of a remarkably intact First World War tank from beneath a suburban vegetable plot near the town of Cambrai, Christy Campbell then defence correspondent of the Sunday Telegraph began to piece together the little-known story of the young men who formed the British Tank Corps.

Very few of them had been professional soldiers; they were motoring enthusiasts and mechanics, plumbers, motorcyclists, circus performers and polar explorers. One officer declared: 'I have never seen such a band of brigands in my life.' They had trained in conditions of great secrecy in the grounds of a mock-oriental stately home in East Anglia and were originally known as the 'Heavy Branch, Machine Gun Corps'. The word 'tank' itself was deliberately chosen to mislead.

Men in tanks saw the face of battle at its most brutal. Their task was to crush and burn the enemy out of his fortifications, and to carve a path for the infantry so they could finish the job with bayonet and grenade. Captured tank crews were beaten up or sometimes shot out of hand by the Germans. They fought in their stifling armoured boxes packed with petrol and explosives, aware that at any moment a shell-hit might incinerate them all.

Christy Campbell has combed contemporary diaries and letters and later recollections to tell properly for the first time the robust yet harrowing story of how the first men in tanks went to war. The time frame is 1916-18, with a coda on how German blitzkrieg ideas developed from an English root."