The ShipCraft' series provides in-depth information about building and modifying model kits of famous warship types. Lavishly illustrated, each book takes the modeller through a brief history of the subject, highlighting differences between ships and changes in their appearance over their careers. This includes paint schemes and camouflage, featuring colour profiles and highly detailed line drawings and scale plans. The modelling section reviews the strengths and weaknesses of available kits, lists commercial accessory sets for super-detailing of the subjects, and provides hints on modifying and improving the basic kit. This is followed by an extensive photographic gallery of selected high-quality models in a variety of scales, and the book concludes with a section on research references - books, monographs, large-scale plans and relevant websites. This volume is something of a departure for the series in covering a wide variety of the types, at first improvised and then purpose-built for the Brown Water conflict. Besides the well-known American involvement, the book also covers some of the craft used by the French in their earlier struggle with Vietnamese guerrillas. With its unparalleled level of visual information - paint schemes, models, line drawings and photographs - this book is simply the best reference for any modelmaker setting out to build one of these unusual craft.

When tanks, the newly invented British weapon, were used for the first time in a mass attack on November 20 1917, they not only achieved one of the most remarkable successes of the First World War but set the pattern for the future of mechanised warfare. For the first time in three years of bloody trench warfare, epitomised by the slaughter at Passchendaele which was then reaching its climax, tanks brought about a breakthrough of the massive German defence system of the Hindenburg Line, followed up by British infantry and cavalry divisions. They were supported for the first time by low flying fighter aircraft of the Royal Flying Corps. The initial victory at Cambrai brought cheering crowds into the streets of London and the ringing of church bells in celebration. It seemed possible that the success might bring about the final defeat of Germany. But the British High Command failed to exploit the success. Generals who still dreamt of massive cavalry charges had not had much faith in this strange new weapon that had been brought to them funded initially by the Royal Navy at the behest of Winston Churchill who was then First Lord of the Admiralty and did see its value. The High Command did not really believe the breakthrough was possible and tragically miscalculated the necessary steps to follow it up. Within days the Germans counter-attacked and regained much of the ground that the British had won. What could have been the final victory was delayed for another year.

More than forty years after its cancellation, the BAC TSR2 is still a controversial aircraft. Years ahead of its time, it was abruptly cancelled by a new government when flight testing had ony just begun. Built to a demanding RAF requirement , the BAC TSR2 was a revolutionary low-level strike aircraft able to deliver a tactical nuclear weapon at supersonic speed and low altitude to evade enemy radar. This fascinating new book describes in detail the aircraft, its history and the events of its cancellation. Many hitherto unseen photographs and diagrams support the detailed text, which benefits from extensive research in the BAC archives and access to newly rediscovered material. Topics covered: Background to the requirement, and competing designs Development and production The flight-testing programme The full story of the cancellation and its aftermath Unbuilt variants Detailed specifications.

Between the wars the French produced some of the largest, and certainly the fastest, destroyers in the world. Known as Contre-Torpilleurs, these striking and innovatory super-destroyers form the core of this book, but the more conventional Torpilleurs d'Escadre are also covered. This history combines the technical and service material published in French-language monographs over the past two decades with the authors' own research from primary sources. The structure of the book follows that of the highly successful French Cruisers, with Part I devoted to the design of each of the classes built after 1922. The text is accompanied by detailed data tables and illustrated by a comprehensive set of specially-drawn plans and schemas based on official documents, as well as carefully-selected photographs from French naval sources and from private collections. Coverage runs down to the Le Hardi class, the last pre-war design. Part II deals with the historical side, covering the eventful careers of these ships before, during and after the war. This section is illustrated by maps specially drawn for the book, and by contemporary photographs.Like its highly successful predecessors, French Battleships and French Cruisers, this beautifully presented book blends technical and historical analysis to produce what must become the standard English-language reference work.

Invitation to Peace Studies is the first textbook in the field to emphasize 21st-century research and controversies and to encourage the more frequent use of a gender perspective in analyzing peace, war and violence. Recent empirical research forms the core of most chapters, but substantial attention is also given to faith-based ideas, movements, and peace pioneers. The book examines compelling contemporary topics like cyber warfare, drones, robots, digital activism, hactivism, the physiology of peace, rising rates of suicide, and peace through health. It is also unique in its use of a single coherent perspective-that of a global peace network-to make sense of the historically unprecedented and interconnected web of diverse ideas, individuals, groups, organizations, and movements currently promoting peace across the world.

The Avro Lancaster, such a stalwart of the skies during the Second World War, also enjoyed an interesting and surprisingly colourful post-war career. It is this era that the authors have chosen to focus on by profiling the type across its many variants. Split into three primary sections, this book offers a concise yet informative history of the Lancaster's post-war operational career (from 1945-1965) charting the course of the various alterations and improvements that occurred during this time and including a selection of contemporary photographs with detailed captions. A 16-page section features 32 colour illustrations (in profiles, 2-views and 4-views) specially prepared by Mark Gauntlett. The book's final section provides a list and box top illustrations of the plastic model kits produced of the Lancaster in all scales plus reviews and 'how to' construction notes on building a selection of kits in 1/144, 1/72 and 1/48 scales. As with the other books in the Flight Craft series, whilst published primarily with the scale aircraft modeller in mind, it is hoped that those readers who might perhaps describe themselves as 'occasional' modellers - if indeed they model at all - may also find that this colourful and informative work offers something to provoke their interests too.

This book completes a highly original and superbly illustrated two-volume survey of German naval camouflage and markings in the Nazi era. On first publication in 2012 the 1939-1941 volume was quickly recognised by warship enthusiasts and modelmakers as a major step forward in the understanding of a complex and much debated topic. It is already considered the standard reference, and this second volume is keenly awaited. Although a few crucial documents have recently come to light, this study is largely based on close scrutiny of all available photos, including many newly discovered, collated with the first-hand testimony of Kriegsmarine survivors. After decades of study, the authors are probably the world's leading experts, and their work challenges many accepted views, while greatly expanding the general understanding of the subject. The fruits of their labours are presented in the form of exquisite colour illustrations of every scheme and variation for which evidence is available. This volume covers all major surviving ships down to destroyers from 1942 to the end of the war, and adds a new section on torpedo boats. While there can never be a last word on such an elusive and poorly documented subject, these two volumes will remain the most authoritative work in the field for many years to come.

This title explores the conception and design of a range of enormous and powerful tanks that came to be designated as 'super-heavy'. The fascinating super-heavy tanks of World War II were heirs to the siege machine tradition - a means of breaking the deadlock of ground combat. As a class of fighting vehicle, they began with the World War I concept of the search for a "breakthrough" tank, designed to cross enemy lines. It is not surprising that the breakthrough tank projects of the period prior to World War II took place in the armies that suffered the most casualties of the Great War (Russia, France, Germany). All of the principal Axis and Allied nations eventually initiated super-heavy development projects, with increasingly heavy armor and armament.
Much as the casualties of World War I prompted the original breakthrough tank developments, as Germany found itself on the defensive, with diminishing operational prospects and an increasingly desperate leadership, so too did its focus turn to the super-heavy tanks that could turn the tide back in their favor. Although only a small number of super-heavy tanks were built, much less saw active service, their impressive appearance and specifications - not to mention the possibilities of what might have been - have captured the interest of AFV enthusiasts, historians and military personnel. This illustrated and detailed study explores and compares these designs in unprecedented depth.

Many books have been written about the Hawker Hunter, one of the world's great jet fighters. The majority, however, have tended to concentrate on the aircraft's extensive service career. Superbly illustrated with both colour and black-and-white photographs of the Hawker Hunter - which has always been one of the most photogenic of all aeroplanes - this new title is the first devoted specifically to the Hunter's design and development: how and why the aircraft came into being, the troubles it experienced on the way, its flight test programme and what it was like to pilot. Drawing on many original Air Staff and Ministry documents and also the Hawker aircraft day-to-day diaries, it tells the story of one-off modifications and trials projects, aerodynamic modifications and tests with various weapons, along with proposed developments, including supersonic versions.

The Centurion is significant in the history of British armoured fighting vehicles as well as being one of the most important post-war Western tanks. Introduced into British Army service in December 1946, versions of Centurion were still serving with British forces in the Iraq War of 2003, some 58 years later. Centurions have also seen combat in the Korean and Vietnam Wars, in the Middle East wars, and in the Indo-Pakistan War (1965) where it fought against US-supplied M47 and M48 Patton tanks. The Haynes Centurion Tank Manual is published in association with the Tank Museum and has been written with full access to the museum's Centurion collection.

Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 2015 One of the most significant and controversial developments in contemporary warfare is the use of unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly referred to as drones. In the last decade, US drone strikes have more than doubled and their deployment is transforming the way wars are fought across the globe. But how did drones claim such an important role in modern military planning? And how are they changing military strategy and the ethics of war and peace? What standards might effectively limit their use? Should there even be a limit? Drone warfare is the first book to engage fully with the political, legal, and ethical dimensions of UAVs. In it, political scientist Sarah Kreps and philosopher John Kaag discuss the extraordinary expansion of drone programs from the Cold War to the present day and their so-called 'effectiveness' in conflict zones. Analysing the political implications of drone technology for foreign and domestic policy as well as public opinion, the authors go on to examine the strategic position of the United States - by far the world's most prolific employer of drones - to argue that US military supremacy could be used to enshrine a new set of international agreements and treaties aimed at controlling the use of UAVs in the future.

In 1933, the Air Ministry issued a specification for a general-purpose four-engine flying boat capable of operating from the outposts of the Empire. The result was the remarkable Sunderland, built by Short Brothers. This book covers the development of the Short Sunderland and its operations during and after the Second World War. The Sunderland's ability to engage six or more enemy fighters simultaneously earned it the Luftwaffe's nickname of the Flying Porcupine'. The aircraft's maid of all work' role over the eastern Mediterranean is covered in detail, and includes recce's for the Royal Navy, evacuations from Yugoslavia, Greece and Crete, as well as attacks on enemy submarines. The Canadian, Australian and Norwegian squadrons' operations within Coastal Command are detailed plus, outside the Command, those of the South Africans and New Zealanders. The author also includes details of post-war operations such as the Berlin Airlift. Detailed appendices include lists of Sunderlands with brief histories and all known successful attacks on enemy submarines.

How to fly, navigate, drop bombs and man the turrets of the legendary bomber using the manuals and instructions supplied by the RAF during the Second World War. An amazing array of leaflets, books and manuals were issued by the Air Ministry during the Second World War to aid pilots and crew flying the Lancaster bomber, and here for the first time they are collated into a single book. An introduction is supplied by expert aviation historian (and ex-military pilot) Gordon Wilson. Other sections within include information on the engineering of the Lancaster, the bomber crews, navigation, bomb-aiming, night operations and the famous Dam Buster raids.

The Wehrmacht used reconnaissance and support vehicles widely in the Second World War and this book sets out to show the full range of both categories using over 200 rare images and descriptive text and captions in true Images of War Series fashion. Both tracked and wheeled vehicles were employed for reconnaissance and screening. These included light tanks mainly comprising of the Pz.Kpfw.I, armoured cars such as the six and eight wheeler Sd.Kfz.231,232,233,234 and its variants, 263, the Sd.Kfz.221,222,223,234 and 247, motorcycles such as the famous BMW R75, the Zundapp KS750. In addition to their recce role they would, when possible, engage similar or light units. Support vehicles such as the tracked Sd.Kfz.2 Kettenkrad, and the renowned Sd.Kfz.251 halftracks were used in the follow-up role, frequently with mounted grenadiers to mop up over-run enemy positions. The book fills a gap by outlining the full range of such equipment including the variety of armaments and power plants, and the crews that performed these missions.

Features over 170 historical aircraft carriers with detailed descriptions, specification boxes and over 500 photographs.

A Times/Sunday Times Book of the Year 'Powerful . . . there is rage in his ink. McKay's book grips by its passion and originality. Some 25,000 people perished in the firestorm that raged through the city. I have never seen it better described' Max Hastings, Sunday Times In February 1945 the Allies obliterated Dresden, the 'Florence of the Elbe'. Explosive bombs weighing over 1,000 lbs fell every seven and a half seconds and an estimated 25,000 people were killed. Was Dresden a legitimate military target or was the bombing a last act of atavistic mass murder in a war already won? From the history of the city to the attack itself, conveyed in a minute-by-minute account from the first of the flares to the flames reaching almost a mile high - the wind so searingly hot that the lungs of those in its path were instantly scorched - through the eerie period of reconstruction, bestselling author Sinclair McKay creates a vast canvas and brings it alive with touching human detail. Along the way we encounter, among many others across the city, a Jewish woman who thought the English bombs had been sent from heaven, novelist Kurt Vonnegut who wrote that the smouldering landscape was like walking on the surface of the moon, and 15-year-old Winfried Bielss, who, having spent the evening ushering refugees, wanted to get home to his stamp collection. He was not to know that there was not enough time. Impeccably researched and deeply moving, McKay uses never-before-seen sources to relate the untold stories of civilians and vividly conveys the texture of contemporary life. Dresden is invoked as a byword for the illimitable cruelties of war, but with the distance of time, it is now possible to approach this subject with a much clearer gaze, and with a keener interest in the sorts of lives that ordinary people lived and lost, or tried to rebuild. Writing with warmth and colour about morality in war, the instinct for survival, the gravity of mass destruction and the manipulation of memory, this is a master historian at work. 'Churchill said that if bombing cities was justified, it was always repugnant. Sinclair McKay has written a shrewd, humane and balanced account of this most controversial target of the Anglo-American strategic bombing campaign, the ferocious consequence of the scourge of Nazism' Allan Mallinson, author of Fight to the Finish 'Beautifully-crafted, elegiac, compelling - Dresden delivers with a dark intensity and incisive compassion rarely equalled. Authentic and authoritative, a masterpiece of its genre' Damien Lewis, author of Zero Six Bravo 'Compelling . . . Sinclair McKay brings a dark subject vividly to life' Keith Lowe, author of Savage Continent 'This is a brilliantly clear, and fair, account of one of the most notorious and destructive raids in the history aerial warfare. From planning to execution, the story is told by crucial participants - and the victims who suffered so cruelly on the ground from the attack itself and its aftermath' Robert Fox, author of We Were There

The Consolidated B-24 Liberator was almost certainly the most versatile Second World War Bomber. Apart from its bombing role in all theatres of operation, the B-24 hauled fuel to France during the push towards Germany, carried troops, fought U-boats in the Atlantic and, probably most important of all, made a vital contribution towards winning the war in the Pacific. Its most famous single exploit is possibly the raid on the Ploesti oilfields in August 1943.The B-24 ended World War Two as the most produced Allied heavy bomber in history, and the most produced American military aircraft at over 18,000 units, thanks in large measure to Henry Ford and the harnessing of American industry. It still holds the distinction as the most produced American military aircraft. The B-24 was used by several Allied air forces and navies, and by every branch of the American armed forces during the war, attaining a distinguished war record with its operations in the Western European, Pacific, Mediterranean and China-Burma-India theatres.This book focuses on the design, engineering, development and tactical use of the many variants throughout the bomber's service life. The overall result is, as David Lee, the former Deputy Director of the Imperial War Museum at Duxford said upon reading the final manuscript, to be acquainted with '...all you never knew about the B-24!'The book is enlivened by the many dramatic photographs which feature, and this coupled with the clarity of Simons' prose makes for an engaging and entertaining history of this iconic Allied bomber, a key component in several of their biggest victories and a marvel of military engineering

This book explores the mechanical details and military use of the M911 C-HET and M1070/M1070A1 HETS and their associated trailers. These vehicles are tasked with transporting the US Army's heaviest weapons-the M1 Abrams tank and other armored vehicles. In a departure from previous generations of tank transporters, which were designed especially for this task and built at great expense, the vehicles in this volume utilize numerous components from the civil market in order to lower cost and ease maintenance. The Oshkosh M911 C-HET and the M747 trailer typically used with it are first examined, then the newer M1070, M1070 armored cab conversion, M1070A1, and M1070F and the M1000 trailer used with the M1070-series tractors are studied. These heavy haulers are revealed in outstanding detail in this volume, which features both combat and detail photos. Hundreds of color and black-and-white photos put the reader in, on, over, and under these massive machines.

With comprehensive captions and text this superb book tells the story of the production of the Panzer IV to the key battles in Poland, France, North Africa, Italy, Russia and North West Europe. Initially the Panzer IV was designed as an infantry support tank, but soon proved to be so diverse and effective that it earned a unique tactical role on the battlefield.The book shows how the Panzer IV evolved and describes how the Germans carefully utilized all available reserves and resources into building numerous variants that went into production and saw action on the battlefield. It depicts how these formidable tanks were adapted and up-gunned to face the ever increasing enemy threat.Between 1936 and 1945, over 8,000 Panzer IV's were built. For most of the war this tank was a match for its opponents' heavy tanks and quickly and effectively demonstrated its superiority on the battlefield.The Panzer IV was the only German tank to remain in production during the war. Its chassis was converted into more models than any other Panzers that entered service. As well as the various prototype projects and command tanks, observation vehicles, ammunition carriers, recovery vehicles, amphibious armoured ferry vehicles that saw service, the book will show a multiple of converted anti-tank propelled vehicles.

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.

This is a guide to the existing WWII aircraft to be found in aviation museums throughout the world. Each DPS contains a colour photo of an example of the aircraft as viewed in an aviation museum, examples of different marks (wartime shots in mono) and a textual resume of the type with statistics.The aircraft can be viewed in the USA, UK, France, Czechoslovakia, USSR, Canada, Australia, Finland, Holland, Poland, Germany, Italy, Japan, Sweden and Spain.

This book describes in detail the camouflage and markings of the day fighters used by the Polish Air Force from 1939 to 1947. Aircraft of Polish, French, British, American, Soviet, and German origin are shown. The writing team includes the well-known quartet of distinguished Polish aviation historians: Kopanski, Belcarz, Gretzyngier, and Matusiak. The illustrators are Artur Juszczak, Karolina Holda, Robert Gretzyngier, and Robert Grudzien. This profusely illustrated book includes many historical photographs and color profiles showing the colors and markings carried by the aircraft. Detailed color notes and precise description and illustration of national markings over the period complete a book that will be invaluable to aircraft enthusiasts, historians, and modelers.