Unstoppable and deadly, this is the gripping story of some of the most feared soldiers in the warThe daring, courage and skill of the highly-trained men who spearheaded German assaults in the blitzkrieg of 1940, dropping from the air to seize and overwhelm key invasion points, showed to an alarmed world that a new dimension had been added to the science of warfare. One spectacular success was the invasion and capture of Crete in May 1941, all be it achieved at a terrible price. The German paratroopers were an elite, justifying again and again their great reputation for courage and hard fighting in Russia, North Africa and Italy. Bestselling military historian James Lucas has researched deeply in Allied and German archives and interviewed many of the leading members of the Fallschirmjaegar who survived the war. This is an unmissable and dramatic account of the Second World War's most frightening elite, perfect for readers of James Holland and Max Hastings.

Will Britain take him in... or mark him as its enemy?'A brilliantly realised world of Imperial ambition and native resistance' Simon Scarrow'Wonderful, distinct characters' Conn IgguldenFaustus Valerianus is the son of a Roman father and a British mother, a captive sold among the spoils after Claudius's invasion. Now both parents have died within a month of each other, and so he sells the family farm and enlists, joining legendary general Agricola's campaign to conquer the entirety of the British Isles culminating in a devastating battle amongst Caledonia's dark mountains. But Faustus will have to contend with more than ferocious British warriors and whip-cracking elements. For the bonds of blood can weigh heavy on one's soul. The call of his mother's true people. His father's restless shadow. Faustus must carry them with him... A deeply moving, gripping, epic historical drama, perfect for fans of Rosemary Sutcliff, Ben Kane and Simon Scarrow. Praise for Shadow of the Eagle 'Faustus is a fascinating character and it's a treat to see how he negotiates the challenges he faces. His duties in the service of Rome comprise a truly Faustian pact!' Simon Scarrow 'I adored Faustus and Constantia in particular. Great sense of humour throughout. This is a terrific read' Conn Iggulden 'I only need one word to describe this stunning novel: masterful' Anthony Riches, Sunday Times bestselling author of Wounds of Honour 'Blood, steel, honour, and a deep and gripping tale of the Roman army on the frontier of the empire. Hunter has created an instant classic' S J A Turney, author of the Marius' Mules series 'A haunting, historical epic' Gordon Doherty, author of Sons of Rome 'Enthralling and authentic historical roman fiction, that brings the period alive and keeps you turning the page' Alex Gough, author of Emperor's Sword

The first Rolls-Royce armoured car was a privately owned vehicle fitted with a machine-gun and a limited amount of armour plate, used by the Royal Naval Air Service in Flanders in 1914. By 1915, nearly 100 had been built and turned over to the Army. From then on, as Sir Albert Stern said 'They searched the world for war', operating as far apart as the northwest frontier of India, the Middle East and southern Africa. The cars were fast, quiet and reliable but above all powerful. 'A Rolls in the desert is above rubies,' said Lawrence of Arabia. After World War I, the War Office continued to produce the Rolls-Royce while tinkering with the design. These further cars served all across the Empire, including in Ireland and even later Shanghai, returning for a final brief appearance in the early stages of World War II.This book tells the complete story of the Rolls-Royce Armoured Car, following its design and development as it fought from theatre to theatre during World War I and the turbulent inter-war years.

A compelling and in-depth history of one of the world's greatest armoured warfare commanders, Hermann Balck (1897-1982). During World War II, Balck commanded panzer troops from the front line and led by example, putting himself in extreme danger when rallying his soldiers to surge forward. He fought battles that were masterpieces of tactical operations, utilizing speed, surprise and a remarkable ability to motivate his men to achieve what they considered to be impossible. We follow his journey through the fields of France, mountains of Greece and steppes of Russia. In Greece, through flair and innovative leadership, his soldiers overcame every obstacle to defeat determined Australian and New Zealand soldiers defending the narrow mountain passes. Balck personally led his men to victory in battles at Platamon Ridge on the Aegean coast and in the Vale of Tempe, before entering Athens. This is also the story of a cultured and complex man with a great love of antiquity and classical literature, who nevertheless willingly fought for Hitler's Third Reich while remaining strangely detached from the horrors around him. The book is the result of extensive research of primary and secondary sources, including Balck's battle reports and first-hand accounts written by Allied soldiers who opposed him, panzer division war diaries and campaign assessments, and declassified Pentagon documents.

• Exciting stories of the infantrymen who supported Germany's tanks
• How tanks and infantry cooperated at the small-unit level
• First time in English

The panzergrenadiers were the footsoldiers who went into battle alongside the Third Reich's feared tanks. Whether in the Wehrmacht or Waffen-SS, these troops endured all the horrors of infantry combat--fighting hand-to-hand, storming enemy positions, and rescuing fallen comrades--but they did so in the shadow of thundering giants like the Tiger and Panther. Kurowski tells the stories of some of the very best of these mechanized infantrymen, bringing them and their actions to life.

Riots, insurrections, guerrilla movements, civil wars--all forms of internal conflict are increasing throughout the world. The conditions that breed domestic violence in the Third World persist, and events in Ulster and Quebec have shown that more advanced industrial countries are not immune from civil disorder. The subject of James E. Bond's book--how can we regulate civil guerrilla warfare?--is therefore one of the most critical questions of our time. Originally published in 1974. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

On 15 September 1916 during the Battle of the Somme, tanks - one of the decisive weapons of twentieth-century warfare - were sent into action for the first time. In his previous books Trevor Pidgeon, one of the leading authorities on the early tanks, has told the story of that memorable day, but only now has his account of later tank operations during the Somme battle become available. In this, his last work which was completed shortly before he died, he reconstructs the tank actions that took place between late September and November when the Somme offensive was closed down. His account gives a vivid insight into the actions and experiences of the tank crews, and it shows the appalling dangers they faced as they manoeuvred their crude, vulnerable and unreliable machines towards the enemy. His book will be essential reading for anyone who is familiar with his previous studies of the subject and for anyone who wants to follow in the tracks of the tanks as they lumbered across the battlefield nearly 100 years ago.

As the war in Europe entered its final months, the world teetered on the edge of a Third World War. While Soviet forces hammered their way into Berlin, Churchill ordered British military planners to prepare the top secret Operation Unthinkable - the plan for an Allied attack on the Soviet Union - on 1 July 1945. Using US, British and Polish forces, the invasion would reclaim Eastern Europe. The controversial plan called for the use of Nazi troops, and there was the spectre of the atomic bomb. Would yet another army make the fatal mistake of heading East? In Churchill's Third World War Jonathan Walker presents a haunting study of the war that so nearly was. He outlines the motivations behind Churchill's plan, the logistics of launching a vast assault against an enemy who had bested Hitler, potential sabotage by Polish communists, and he speculates whether the Allies would have succeeded had the operation gone forward. Well supported by a wide range of primary sources from the Churchill Archives Centre, Sikorski Institute, National Archives and Imperial War Museum, this is a fascinating insight into the upheaval as the Second World War drew to a close and former alliances were shattered. Operation Unthinkable became the blueprint for the Cold War.

Here is the first social history devoted to the common soldier in the Russian army during the first half of the 19th-century--an examination of soldiers as a social class and the army as a social institution. By providing a comprehensive view of one of the most important groups in Russian society on the eve of the great reforms of the mid-1800s, Elise Wirtschafter contributes greatly to our understanding of Russia's complex social structure. Based on extensive research in previously unused Soviet archives, this work covers a wide array of topics relating to daily life in the army, including conscription, promotion and social mobility, family status, training, the regimental economy, military justice, and relations between soldiers and officers. The author emphasizes social relations and norms of behavior in the army, but she also addresses the larger issue of society's relationship to the autocracy, including the persistent tension between the tsarist state's need for military efficiency and its countervailing need to uphold the traditional norms of unlimited paternalistic authority. By examining military life in terms of its impact on soldiers, she analyzes two major concerns of tsarist social policy: how to mobilize society's resources to meet state needs and how to promote modernization (in this case military efficiency) without disturbing social arrangements founded on serfdom.

Originally published in 1990.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Literary and historical conventions have long painted the experience of soldiers during World War I as simple victimization. Leonard Smith, however, argues that a complex dialogue of resistance and negotiation existed between French soldiers and their own commanders. In this case study of wartime military culture, Smith analyzes the experience of the French Fifth Infantry Division in both pitched battle and trench warfare. The division established a distinguished fighting record from 1914 to 1916, yet proved in 1917 the most mutinous division in the entire French army, only to regain its elite reputation in 1918. Drawing on sources from ordinary soldiers to well-known commanders such as General Charles Mangin, the author explains how the mutinies of 1917 became an explicit manifestation of an implicit struggle that took place within the French army over the whole course of the war.

Smith pays particular attention to the pivotal role of noncommissioned and junior officers, who both exercised command authority and shared the physical perils of men in the lower ranks. He shows that "soldiers," broadly defined, learned to determine rules of how they would and would not fight the war, and imposed these rules on the command structure itself. By altering the parameters of command authority in accordance with their own perceived interests, soldiers and commanders negotiated a behavioral space between mutiny and obedience.

Originally published in 1994.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

Glenn Bugh provides a comprehensive discussion of a subject that has not been treated in full since the last century: the history of the Athenian cavalry. Integrated into a narrative history of the cavalry from the Archaic period through the Hellenistic age is a detailed analysis of a military and social organization the members of which came predominantly from the upper classes of Athens. Bugh demonstrates that this organization was not merely a military institution but an aristocratic social class with political expectations and fluctuating loyalties to the Athenian democracy.

The last major work devoted exclusively to the subject appeared in French in 1886 and predated the publication of Aristotle's Constitution of the Athenians, which provides valuable information not only on the administration of the Athenian cavalry but also on the democracy that financed it. Furthermore, since the 1930s the American excavations of the Athenian marketplace and the German excavations of the ancient cemetery have yielded unparalleled epigraphical evidence pertaining to the Athenian cavalry, particularly in the areas of personnel and administration.

Originally published in 1988.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

With speed, violence, and deadly power, heavily armored tanks spearheaded the German blitzkrieg that stormed across Europe in 1939. Tracks rattling and engines roaring, these lethal machines engaged in some of the fiercest fighting of World War II, from the beaches of Normandy and the Ardennes forest to the snow-encrusted eastern front. In this reprint of the hugely popular book, prolific author Franz Kurowski tells the gritty, action-packed stories of six of the most daring and successful officers ever to command Panzers, including Michael Wittmann, Hans Bolter, Hermann Bix, and others. Timelines mark the milestones of each officer's career.

Women, Armies, and Warfare in Early Modern Europe examines the important roles of women who campaigned with armies from 1500 to 1815. This included those notable female individuals who assumed male identities to serve in the ranks, but far more numerous and essential were the formidable women who, as women, marched in the train of armies. While some worked as full-time or part-time prostitutes, they more generally performed a variety of necessary gendered tasks, including laundering, sewing, cooking, and nursing. Early modern armies were always accompanied by women and regarded them as essential to the well-being of the troops. Lynn argues that, before 1650, women were also fundamental to armies because they were integral to the pillage economy that maintained troops in the field.

The cavalry of most classical Greek states was drawn from the cream of society. Their youth, wealth, and aristocratic background was more obvious to their fellow citizens than their military prowess. Using a wide range of written, artistic, and archaeological evidence, this book provides an in-depth account of the position of cavalry in classical warfare and society.

America's wars after the 9/11 attacks were marked by a political obsession with terrorist 'sanctuaries' and 'safe havens'. From mountain redoubts in Afghanistan to the deserts of Iraq, Washington's policy-makers maintained an unwavering focus on finding and destroying the refuges, bases and citadels of modern guerrilla movements, and holding their sponsors to account. This was a preoccupation embedded in nearly every official speech and document of the time, a corpus of material that offered a new logic for thinking about the world. As an exercise in political communication, it was a spectacular success. From 2001 to 2009, President George W. Bush and his closest advisors set terms of reference that cascaded down from the White House, through government and into the hearts and minds of Americans. 'Sanctuary' was the red thread running through all of it, permeating the decisions and discourses of the day. Where did this obsession come from? How did it become such an important feature of American political life? In this new political history, Michael A.K.G. Innes explores precedents, from Saigon to Baghdad, and traces how decision-makers and their advisors used ideas of sanctuary to redefine American foreign policy, national security, and enemies real and imagined.

"The Custer literature is voluminous and most of it is highly controversial. Through the tangle of charges and countercharges Jay Monaghan cuts a clear path in his fresh account of Custer's whole career. Where possible, Monaghan relies on original sources, and he appraises them with the sound judgment of the practiced historian he is. He is sympathetic with Custer but does not hesitate to show the man's foibles and failures. He presents no attorney's brief and yet he disproves a number of ill-founded accusations. . . ."

A gripping account of the Second World War, from the perspective of a young tank commander. In 1944, David Render was a nineteen-year-old second lieutenant fresh from Sandhurst when he was sent to France. Joining the Sherwood Rangers Yeomanry five days after the D-Day landings, the combat-hardened men he was sent to command did not expect him to last long. However, in the following weeks of ferocious fighting in which more than 90 per cent of his fellow tank commanders became casualties, his ability to emerge unscathed from countless combat engagements earned him the nickname of the 'Inevitable Mr Render'. In Tank Action Render tells his remarkable story, spanning every major episode of the last year of the Second World War from the invasion of Normandy to the fall of Germany. Ultimately it is a story of survival, comradeship and the ability to stand up and be counted as a leader in combat.

'Unique and engaging characters woven into the fabric of a fantastic plot. Jason Dean is one to watch' Marc Cameron, New York Times bestselling author of Tom Clancy Code of Honor What is a death sentence to a dead man?He was a man with many names. Moving from country to country, changing his face constantly so as to remain in the shadows, he was nothing more than a ghost. For now, he is known simply as Korso. A covert salvage operative, he recovers lost artefacts and items, often stolen, for rich benefactors unable to operate through normal channels. But his shadowy existence is shattered upon the arrival at his Bermuda home of the man he had hoped never to see again... Tasked with recovering a missing, one-of-a-kind shipment in only four days, his elite skill set will be tested to its limits. Failure will result in his identity being revealed to his former boss, the ruthless Nikolic, who would stop at nothing to eliminate the one man who walked away from his organisation. An exceptional, white-knuckle thriller full of intrigue and suspense, perfect for fans of Rob Sinclair, Mark Dawson and Adam Hamdy. Praise for Tracer 'Tracer, Korso's first outing, is everything you could want in a thriller; fast-pace, suspense, mystery, just the right amount of wickedness, but above all else a protagonist who the reader will want to read more and more of. A real page turner' Rob Sinclair, million copy bestselling author of The Red Cobra 'Meet Korso, a mysterious and unique character you won't be able to get enough of. In a thriller novel I want tension, pace and ample action, and in Tracer, Jason Dean has delivered by the bucketful' Matt Hilton, author of the Joe Hunter thrillers 'A relentless round of fast and furious set pieces, out-pacing Reacher for tension and with non-stop violence and intrigue to satisfy any thriller fans' Adrian Magson, author of The Watchman 'A thrilling, race-against-time ride ... a great start to what I'm sure will be a hugely successful thriller series' A. A. Chaudhuri, author of The Scribe 'The most explosive book I've read in ages' D. L. Marshall, author of Anthrax Island 'A superb, fast-paced thriller which literally ticks like a time-bomb' Nick Oldham, author of the Henry Christie series

Blessings on Uncle Sam's soldiers! They have done their job well, and every pine tree is waving its arms for joy." John Muir Muir's words and this book both celebrate a crucial but largely forgotten episode in our nation's history - how a generation prior to the creation of a National Park Service, the US Army ran Yosemite National Park in an unusual alliance with the fabled preservationist John Muir and his Sierra Club. Harvey Meyerson brings that largely forgotten episode in our nation's history to life and uses it as a touchstone for a reconsideration of a century of civilian-military cooperation in environmental protection and infrastructure construction whose impact and relevance still resonate. Despite the worldwide renown and popularity of Yosemite National Park, few people know that its first stewards were drawn from the so-called Old Army. From 1890 until the establishment of the National Park Service in 1916, these soldiers proved to be extremely competent and farsighted wilderness managers. Meyerson recaptures the forgotten history of these early environmentalists and how they set significant standards for the future oversight of our national parks. The army, Meyerson suggests, had actually been well prepared to assume this stewardship. During its first hundred years - and despite the interruptions of warfare - its soldiers had crisscrossed the American landscape, preparing maps and writing detailed reports describing climate, weather, physical terrain, ecosystems, and the diverse flora and fauna populating the lands they explored and often protected during an era of wide-open exploitation of natural resources. Such experience made the army better suited than any other federal agency to oversee the early national parks system. Combining environmental, military, political, and cultural history, Meyerson's study is especially timely in light of Yosemite's enormous popularity (four million visitors annually) and recent controversies pitting conservation forces against dam builders and proponents of expanded public access.

At the very beginning of the Second World War Germany invaded and occupied Belgium. Yet less than a year later some of Belgium's citizens volunteered to join the Waffen-SS and go and fight on the newly formed Eastern Front against Stalin's Soviet Union. By the end of the war thousands had volunteered. Casualties were high, but there were survivors and they returned home, often to face condemnation and retribution. This book is about the war they fought in their own words, the very few who remain, the last testament before they are all gone. The motivations of these men were complex: the Flemings have their own culture and identity and some longed for a state independent of French-speaking Belgium. Some volunteered through a deep hatred of communism, often fuelled by their Catholic faith. Some, of course, were simply persuaded by Hitler's vision of a new world order. The Flemish Waffen-SS, in various configurations, saw action on the Eastern Front from 1941 onwards - at the siege of Leningrad, in the Ukraine, then retreating into Germany itself with the remnants surrendering to the Allies as the Reich lay in ruins. This was hard fighting: and for those men who had chosen this path, the war was not over. Some stayed in Germany, some returned home, perhaps to trial as war criminals. The interviews and images gathered by Jonathan Trigg are vital historical documents.

Volume 2 on the famed Sherman medium tank covers the welded-hull, radial-engine-equipped M4 and documents its development and production through its many variations, as well as its combat use around the globe. Produced by Chrysler, Pressed Steel Car Company, Alco, Pullman-Standard, and Baldwin Locomotive Works, the M4 bore the brunt of fighting until late summer 1944, when the M4A3 began to become available in quantity. Powered by a 9-cylinder air-cooled radial engine, the M4 fought in North Africa both with US and British forces, across northwestern Europe, and leapfrogged across the Pacific islands both with the Army and Marines. The evolving design went through three major hull designs, multiple turret designs, and armament with either a 75 mm gun or a 105 mm weapon-all of which are detailed. Part of the Legends of Warfare series.

In April 1941, as Churchill strove to counter the German threat to the Balkans, New Zealand troops were hastily committed to combat in the wake of the German invasion of Greece where they would face off against the German Kradschutzen - motorcycle troops. Examining three major encounters in detail with the help of maps and contemporary photographs, this lively study shows how the New Zealanders used all their courage and ingenuity to counter the mobile and well-trained motorcycle forces opposing them in the mountains and plains of Greece and Crete. Featuring specially commissioned artwork and drawing upon first-hand accounts, this exciting account pits New Zealand's infantrymen against Germany's motorcycle troops at the height of World War II in the Mediterranean theatre, assessing the origins, doctrine and combat performance of both sides.

This remarkable story exposes the Sherman tank scandal of World War II, involving some of the biggest American names and stretching from the White House and Pentagon to factories and battlefronts. Outgunned by more powerful German opponents, the inferiority of American tanks led to some of the worst setbacks of the war, prolonging it in Europe. US tankers ultimately prevailed, but over 60,000 armored division soldiers were killed and wounded; their preventable sacrifice inspired the Hollywood movie Fury. Included are striking images of the Sherman's adversaries (photographed exclusively at the National Museum of Cavalry and Armor), along with original equipment, documents, period propaganda, and vintage photos of Sherman tanks in action. As a German officer noted, "I was on this hill with six 88mm antitank guns...Every time they sent a tank, we knocked it out. Finally we ran out of ammunition, and the Americans didn't run out of tanks."

The final thrilling tale of the House of Appius Julianus.A new and deadly threat has emerged at the outskirts of the Roman Empire on the Danube, one that threatens to throw the entire region into chaos. Correus, risen to prefect of a cavalry ala on the border, and Flavius, advisor to the emperor, have both attempted to warn the erratic Domitian of the seriousness of this foe, but to no avail. With trouble at home in the form of an irate senator, as well as the impending doom of a devastating military loss, the two brothers must use their accumulated experience, grit and trust in each other to ensure their family's safety, once and for all. The final book in the epic Centurions series, and the first instalment for almost forty years, a moving and powerful adventure, and a must-read for all historical fiction fans, ideal for readers of Conn Iggulden, Rosemary Sutcliff and Simon Scarrow. Praise for Amanda Cockrell'A thrilling Roman adventure' Alex Gough, author of Emperor's Sword 'Amanda Cockrell has the finest sense of history, character, and narrative I've seen since Rosemary Sutcliff' Delia Sherman, author of The Porcelain Dove 'The novel is action-packed and descriptive at the same time, which lends to the successful scenes that the reader can enjoy' Historical Novel Society