|
Books > Social sciences > Warfare & defence
Raymond Lodge's death from shell shrapnel in 1915 was unremarkable
in a war where many young men would die, but his father's response
to his untimely death was. Sir Oliver Lodge, physicist, scientist,
part inventor of the wireless telegraph and the spark plug, could
not let go of Raymond and went on a controversial and bizarre
journey into the realm of life after death. Following Sir Oliver's
journey, Dear Raymond, explores the untapped topic of spirituality
pre- and post-war, the influence that a national tragedy can have
on a nation's belief system and the long lasting effects from this
time that we still feel today. Alongside Lodge were some of the
great names of the day, as a member of the Ghost Club and the
Fabian Society he was in contact with famous men such as Sir Arthur
Conan Doyle, who went on his own mission into the afterlife after
losing a son. Lodge's exploration and the controversy it exploded
opens our eyes to how modern religion has been shaped and changed
by the conflicts of the Twentieth Century.
Now It Can Be Told comprises of Philip Gibbs recollections
regarding the First World War, in which he served as an officially
commissioned war reporter. Titled in reference to the relieving of
censorship laws following the conclusion of World War One in 1918,
this book is noticeably different from the censored or dumbed-down
accounts published under Gibbs' byline in popular newspapers as the
conflict wore on. In this book, the full scale of the horror
wrought in Europe is told unflinchingly with the aim of showing the
depravity of conflict and the destruction that results. Early in
the war, Gibbs' frank and accurate accounts of the carnage of
modern warfare unnerved the British government, who were concerned
his accounts would demoralize citizens and turn them against the
war effort. Gibbs was ordered home; on refusing to cease reporting,
he was arrested and forcibly brought back to Britain.
Infused with colour, scenes from the Anglo-Boer War suddenly come to life in this striking collection of colourised photos from one of the biggest conflicts on South African soil.
The Anglo-Boer War, or South African War, pitted the two Boer republics of Transvaal and the Orange Free State against British imperial might. The effects of this devastating war on the political, economic and social landscape were felt long after its end. The Boer War in Colour contains many iconic photos from the war, as well as several previously unpublished images.
Over the past 120 years, hundreds of books on the Anglo-Boer War have been published, but this will be the first to show this conflict in full colour – introducing a fresh perspective and transforming it into living history.
This comprehensive volume tells the rarely recounted stories of the
numerous foreign air forces that supported the German Luftwaffe as
part of the Axis' quest to dominate the European and Pacific
theaters-a highly compelling and often overlooked chapter of World
War II history. The Axis Air Forces: Flying in Support of the
German Luftwaffe presents an untold history of that global
conflict's little-known combatants, who nonetheless contributed
significantly to the war's outcome. While most other books only
attempt to address this subject in passing, author Frank Joseph
provides not only an extremely comprehensive account of the "unsung
heroes" of the Axis fliers, but also describes the efforts of Axis
air forces such as those of the Iraqi, Manchurian, Thai or
Chinese-specific groups of wartime aviators that have never been
discussed before at length. This book examines the distinct but
allied Axis air forces of Western Europe, Eastern Europe, the
Middle East, and Asia. An extensive introduction provides coverage
of Luftwaffe volunteers from Greece, Lithuania, Holland, Denmark,
Norway and even the United States. Detailed descriptions of the
personnel themselves and the aircraft they operated are portrayed
against the broader scope of combat missions, field operations, and
military campaigns, supplying invaluable historical perspective on
the importance of their sorties. Photographs of the aircraft
described in the text A comprehensive bibliography lists source
materials
George Washington and his Continental Army braving the frigid
winter at Valley Forge is an iconic image in the popular history of
the American Revolution. Such winter camps, Steven Elliott tells us
in Surviving the Winters, were also a critical factor in the waging
and winning of the War of Independence. Exploring the inner
workings of the Continental Army through the prism of its
encampments, this book is the first to show how camp construction
and administration played a crucial role in Patriot strategy during
the war. As Elliott reminds us, Washington's troops spent only a
few days a year in combat. The rest of the time, especially in the
winter months, they were engaged in a different sort of battle -
against the elements, unfriendly terrain, disease, and hunger.
Victory in that more sustained struggle depended on a mastery of
camp construction, logistics, and health and hygiene - the
components that Elliott considers in his environmental,
administrative, and operational investigation of the winter
encampments at Middlebrook, Morristown, West Point, New Windsor,
and Valley Forge. Beyond the encampments' basic function of
sheltering soldiers, his study reveals their importance as a key
component of Washington's Fabian strategy: stationed on secure,
mountainous terrain close to New York, the camps allowed the
Continental commander-in-chief to monitor the enemy but avoid
direct engagement, thus neutralizing a numerically superior
opponent while husbanding his own strength. Documenting the growth
of Washington and his subordinates as military administrators,
Surviving the Winters offers a telling new perspective on the
commander's generalship during the Revolutionary War. At the same
time, the book demonstrates that these winter encampments stand
alongside more famous battlefields as sites where American
independence was won.
This innovative collection offers one of the first analyses of
criminologies of the military from an interdisciplinary
perspective. While some criminologists have examined the military
in relation to the area of war crimes, this collection considers a
range of other important but less explored aspects such as private
military actors, insurgents, paramilitary groups and the role of
military forces in tackling transnational crime. Drawing upon
insights from criminology, this book's editors also consider the
ways the military institution harbours criminal activity within its
ranks and deals with prisoners of war. The contributions, by
leading experts in the field, have a broad reach and take a truly
global approach to the subject.
Joe Pappalardo's Inferno tells the true story of the men who flew
the deadliest missions of World War II, and an unlikely hero who
received the Medal of Honor in the midst of the bloodiest military
campaign in aviation history. There's no higher accolade in the
U.S. military than the Medal of Honor, and 472 people received it
for their action during World War II. But only one was demoted
right after: Maynard Harrison Smith. Smith is one of the most
unlikely heroes of the war, where he served in B-17s during the
early days of the bombing of France and Germany from England. From
his juvenile delinquent past in Michigan, through the war and
during the decades after, Smith's life seemed to be a series of
very public missteps. The other airmen took to calling the 5-foot,
5-inch airman "Snuffy" after an unappealing movie character. This
is also the man who, on a tragically mishandled mission over France
on May 1, 1943, single-handedly saved the crewmen in his stricken
B-17. With every other gunner injured or bailed out, Smith stood
alone in the fuselage of a shattered, nameless bomber and fought
fires, treated wounded crew and fought off fighters. His ordeal is
part of a forgotten mission that aircrews came to call the May Day
Massacre. The skies over Europe in 1943 were a charnel house for
U.S. pilots, who were being led by tacticians surprised by the
brutal effectiveness of German defenses. By May 1943 the combat
losses among bomb crews were a staggering 40 to 50 percent. The
backdrop of Smith's story intersects with some of the luminaries of
aviation history, including Curtis Lemay, Ira Eaker and "Hap"
Arnold, during critical times of their storied careers. Inferno
also examines Smith's life in a new, comprehensive light, through
the use of exclusive interviews of those who knew him (including
fellow MOH recipients and family) as well as public and archival
records. This is both a thrilling and horrifying story of the air
war over Europe during WWII and a fascinating look at one of
America's forgotten heroes.
Again available in paperback is Eric Sevareid's widely
acclaimed Not So Wild a Dream. In this brilliant first-person
account of a young journalist's experience during World War II,
Sevareid records both the events of the war and the development of
journalistic strategies for covering international affairs. He also
recalls vividly his own youth in North Dakota, his decision to
study journalism, and his early involvement in radio reporting
during the beginnings of World War II.
The Bosnian war of 1992-1995 was one of the most brutal conflicts
to have erupted since the end of the Second World War. But although
the war occurred in 'Europe's backyard' and received significant
media coverage in the West, relatively little scholarly attention
has been devoted to cultural representations of the conflict.
Stephen Harper analyses how the war has been depicted in global
cinema and television over the past quarter of a century. Focusing
on the representation of some of the war's major themes, including
humanitarian intervention, the roles of NATO and the UN, genocide,
rape and ethnic cleansing, Harper explores the role of popular
media culture in reflecting, reinforcing -- and sometimes
contesting -- nationalist ideologies.
Early in 1945 the British Liberation Army (BLA), who had battled
their way from the Normandy beaches to the borders of Germany,
embarked on Operation Eclipse. This was the 'end-game' of the
Second World War, the unique military campaign to invade and
conquer Hitler's Third Reich and liberate 20 million enslaved
nationals from Holland, Denmark and Norway; to free multitudes of
displaced persons (DPs) or slaves; and inter alia to free the
survivors of twenty concentration camps and many Allied POW camps.
The Allied Military Government (AMG) brought law and order to 23
million German nationals in the allocated British zone of
occupation (BAOR) and appropriate retribution too. A thrilling race
with Stalin's Red Army ensued to reach the Baltic. A matter of a
few hours and Denmark and Norway would have been swept into the
evil Soviet empire. The author fought vigorously as a junior RHA
officer in the five great river battles - Rhine, Dortmund-Ems,
Weser, Aller and the Elbe. Soon after VE Day he was the junior
officer in War Crimes Tribunals in Hamburg and Oldenburg and
witnessed Mr Alfred Pierrepoint administering the hanging of prison
camp guards.
|
You may like...
Israel Alone
Bernard-Henri Levy
Paperback
R473
R370
Discovery Miles 3 700
|