At a time when Napoleon needed all his forces to reassert French dominance in Central Europe, why did he fixate on the Prussian capital of Berlin? Instead of concentrating his forces for a decisive showdown with the enemy, he repeatedly detached large numbers of troops, under ineffective commanders, toward the capture of Berlin. In "Napoleon and Berlin, " Michael V. Leggiere explores Napoleon's almost obsessive desire to capture Berlin and how this strategy ultimately lost him all of Germany.

Napoleon's motives have remained a subject of controversy from his own day until ours. He may have hoped to deliver a tremendous blow to Prussia's war-making capacity and morale. Ironically, the heavy losses and strategic reverses sustained by the French left Napoleon's Grande Armee vulnerable to an Allied coalition that eventually drove Napoleon from Central Europe forever.

The Lockheed P-80/F-80 Shooting Star was the first American operational jet fighter. David McLarens new book chronicles the development and early trials of the aircraft during Lockheeds groundbreaking attempts to create a viable jet fighter, in a period when jet propulsion was still an innovative unknown. This period also saw engineers and test pilots like Kelly Johnson and Tony LeVier facing many challenges, incidents and accidents as they attempted to create a new fighter from yet untested aerodynamic theories, and engines that were still under development. Also discussed are the record breaking transcontinental and absoulte speed records set by the Shooting Star. Detailed analysis of the Shooting Stars combat record in Korea shows why the F-80 flew more combat missions than any aircraft in the war theater. Also presented is a summation of all USAF, USAFR, and foreign countries that flew the P-80/F-80. David McLaren is also the author of Lockheed F-94 Starfire(with Marty Isham), and Beware the Thunderbolt!: The 56th Fighter Group in World War II (both titles are available from Schiffer Publishing Ltd.).

Chris Hughes, the "Daily Mirror's" defence correspondent, was the first western reporter into Iraq after 9/11, the first into Saddam's secret bunker and the only one to visit Osama bin Laden's mountain lair. He was also the only western journalist present when American Marines killed and wounded unarmed demonstrators in Fallujah, sparking the savage insurgency. He's survived carjackings and missile attacks, watched mothers weep over the skeletons of sons dragged from mass graves and joined mercenaries flying crates of guns out of Baghdad. Hughes has been to every major troublespot in Iraq in a dozen visits, mixing with the SAS, British mercenaries and ordinary Iraqis; in "Road Trip To Hell", he tells their stories with wit and irreverence in a very readable style. He admits he's no expert on the Middle East - 'I wanted to call this book "Clueless in Gaza",' he writes, 'but George W Bush rarely invades places with potential for witty literary allusion' - but he has a fine eye for detail and black humour and gives a unique insight into a terrible, crazy war.

The mass of available data about World War II has never been as large as it is now, yet it has become increasingly complicated to interpret it in a meaningful way. Packed with cleverly designed graphics, charts and diagrams, World War II: Infographics offers a new approach by telling the story of the conflict visually. Encompassing the conflict from its roots to its aftermath, more than 50 themes are treated in great detail, ranging from the rise of the Far Right in pre-war Europe and mass mobilization, to evolving military tactics and technology and the financial and human cost of the conflict. Throughout, the shifting balance of power between the Axis and the Allies and the global nature of the war and its devastation are made strikingly clear.

Hierdie gids bied die besoeker of belangstellende die geleentheid om al die plekke in Pretoria en omgewing wat op die een of ander wyse 'n verbintenis met die Anglo-Boereoorlog gehad het, te besoek. 'n Kort agtergrondskets word oor elke plek en die betrokke historiese figure gegee. Plekke wat naby mekaar le, is in afdelings saamgegroepeer. Tesame met die kaarte en kleurfoto's behoort dit maklik te wees om enige besondere plek te vind.