During the intense, sprawling conflict that was the American Civil War, both Union and Confederate forces fielded substantial numbers of cavalry, which carried out the crucial tasks of reconnaissance, raiding, and conveying messages. The perception was that cavalry's effectiveness on the battlefield would be drastically reduced in this age of improved infantry firearms. This title, however, demonstrates how cavalry's lethal combination of mobility and dismounted firepower meant it was still very much a force to be reckoned with in battle, and charts the swing in the qualitative difference of the cavalry forces fielded by the two sides as the war progressed. In this book, three fierce cavalry actions of the American Civil War are assessed, including the battles of Second Bull Run/Manassas (1862), Buckland Mills (1863) and Tom's Brook (1864).

'Bomb doors open!'It was the call that haunted airmen's dreams.This is the story of an ordinary young Australian whose ambition to fly took him halfway round the globe during World War II - and the fateful mission when his plane was hit three times.'Battle Order 204 is about the quality of courage.Christobel Mattingley has written this book with compassion and insight, its presentation is gripping and moving.' Max Fatchen AM'Brilliant.At once uplifting yet thought-provoking; enlightening yet, of necessity, sad. There is a commendable balance of hard fact and human emotion elements, and I found it almost impossible to put down.' Mike Garbett, author of The Lancaster at War

What happens when a regular person accidentally finds themselves lost in the middle of a war? In 1991, BBC journalist Chris Woolf travelled to Afghanistan. The government in Kabul was fighting for survival, after the withdrawal of the Soviet Union. The parallels to today are extraordinary. Woolf was visiting a colleague to see if he'd like the life of a foreign correspondent. They hitched a ride with an aid convoy and bumbled straight into the war. They kept going, despite the horror and terror. There was no choice. Amid the darkness, Woolf discovered the generosity and hospitality of ordinary Afghans. They became the first journalists to pass through the battle lines to meet with legendary warlord Ahmed Shah Massoud, and carried home a vital message for the peace process. They met with Soviet POW/MIAs and recorded messages for loved ones. Unlike a conventional war story, Woolf shares an intimate portrait of first encounters with death and real fear. He explores the lingering effects of trauma, and explains how he put his experience to good use. The author introduces readers to just enough of Afghanistan's history, geography, culture and politics for readers to understand what's going on around him. What people are saying: "Bumbling Through the Hindu Kush is at once gripping, informative, suspenseful, and at times it reads like a thriller." - Qais Akbar Omar, author of "A Fort of Nine Towers: An Afghan Family Story." "Chris Woolf has written a truly personal tale that is both gripping and historically significant for the war between the Soviet-backed government and Mujahidin in Afghanistan. His mix of personal, cultural, and wartime reflections make this a story well worth the time of Afghanistan aficionados and casual readers alike." - Dr Jonathan Schroden, former strategic adviser to the US military's Central Command, and to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan "Combat can feel like the ant on an elephant's tail: overwhelmed and along for the ride. Chris Woolf's memoir of his ten days in late 1991 "bumbling" into the war in Afghanistan is just such an up-and-down tale, with the momentary highs and gut-crushing lows common to combat. When the teenage goat herder fires his AK-47 in the first few pages - you'll know how that ant feels, just holding on, exhilarated, terrified, never really knowing what comes next." - Lt-Col ML Cavanaugh, US Army; Senior Fellow, Modern War Institute at West Point; lead writer and co-editor, "Strategy Strikes Back: How Star Wars Explains Modern Military Conflict." The perfect Christmas gift for all those who like military history and think they understand war. The author believes in giving back, so a portion of the proceeds is donated towards helping Afghan kids with disabilities (enabledchildren.org), and towards clearing landmines in Afghanistan and around the world (HALOTrust.org).

As Fenella Wilson points out in her Introduction to this collection of Neil Munro's writings on war, the theme is represented in each aspect of his career as a writer - in his fiction, journalism and poetry. A number of the short stories here, including two Para Handy tales, were published Munro's lifetime, as was his introduction to Fred Farrell's 1920 The 51st Division War Sketches, and some of the Poems. What has not previously 'seen the light of day' since The Great War are the reports which Munro wrote as a war correspondent, as a civilian and later in uniform, in 1914, 1917 and 1918. They are vivid, personal, accounts from the Western Front, widely published in a range of newspapers of the time. Stories of Scottish regiments - in kilts, with their Pipers - abound. They cushion, but don't diminish, the reality of everyday life both for soldiers on all sides in the conflict, and for the local population, amid the 'havoc' of the battlefields; 'the filthy job of human slaughter'.

On 31st January 2010, Trooper Corie Mapp of The Life Guards was driving his armoured vehicle on combat operations in Afghanistan when it ran over an IED. The explosion that followed caused him massive injuries. But this was not the end of his active life but rather the beginning. The next thing Corie remembers was waking in the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Selly Oak, Birmingham, not realising that he was a double amputee. Two months later, and having made an almost miraculous against-the-odds recovery, Corie was back with his regiment in Windsor, and continued to serve until 2013. Sport was an important part of Corie's life before the explosion and a vital one after. In rehabilitation, he rediscovered his sporting skills, and competed successful in disabled cricket at a national level, and was a member of Team GB for sitting volley ball and athletics at the Warrior and the Invictus Games. However, when he was offered the chance to bobsleigh, his horizons widened considerably. After just one year of training, in 2014 Corie won gold in the inaugural Para Bobsleigh World Cup competition in St Moritz, was second overall in the World Cup 2014/15 season and became the overall World Cup champion in 2018. In the 2021-22 season, he will continue to train and compete at the highest levels in North America and Europe. On the international bobsleigh circuit he is affectionately known 'Black Ice'. This book is Corie Mapp's remarkable story of triumph over adversity.