This detailed treatment of Civil War ironclads in the broader context of world naval developments has sparked a debate among U.S. Naval strategists. Many readers will learn for the first time of the influence on both Union and Confederate observers of Crimean War and other European armor, and learn the subsequent history of many Civil War naval vessels that later saw action in Peru, Paraguay, and Japan.

The only biography of Prince Valerio Borghese-the legendary Italian World War II naval commando whose covert activities shocked the Allies and became a model for today's special forces. At the beginning of World War II, Prince Junio Valerio Borghese, dashing Italian nobleman, assembled the famous Decima MAS naval unit-the first modern naval commando squad. Borghese's frogmen were trained to fight undercover and underwater with small submarines and assault boats armed with a variety of destructive torpedoes. The covert tactics he and the Decima MAS developed, including the use of midget submarines, secret nighttime operations, and small teams armed with explosives, have become a standard for special forces around the world to this very day.After the Italian capitulation in 1943, Borghese determinedly fought on as a Fascist commando leader. After the war, he became a man of mystery, variously said to be involved with several right-wing conspiracies, abortive coups, and clandestine activity. The Prince's death in 1974 was every bit as mysterious as his life.Greene and Massignani have drawn upon official archives as well as information from Allied and Axis veterans in an unpreceden

In the early hours of 9 April 1940, Adolf Hitler's forces made their next move of the Second World War, and, striking north, launched their invasion of Denmark and Norway. Ostensibly undertaken as a preventive manoeuvre against a planned, and openly discussed Franco-British plan to occupy Norway, Operation _Weserubung_ has, more than any other campaign of the Second World War, been shrouded in mystery. Strategic political and legal issues were unclear and military issues were dominated by risk. The German success was the result of improvisation and the application of available forces far beyond the comprehension of their British and Norwegian counterparts. The operation necessitated combining the resources of air force, army and navy. Troops were transported into battle by warship and aircraft, and paratroopers were used for the first time. This combined arms assault was the first three dimensional strategic invasion in history. In _Hitler Strikes North,_ Jack Greene and Alessandro Massignani detail the course of this ground-breaking invasion, at the same time providing valuable historical and modern lessons about the role of combined arms planning, the strategic demand for resources, and the use of military force.

In the deserts of North Africa and the Middle East some of World War II's greatest legends were born as Erwin Rommel the "Desert Fox" led his Afrika Korps against the "Desert Rats" of the British 8th Army led by Bernard Montgomery. Both sides recruited local people to their cause, winning stunning victories but planting the seeds of conflicts to come.This exceptional work draws on exclusive interviews with Rommel's German-Italian translator, covers the Mediterranean grand strategy of both sides, evaluates the impact of the campaign on today's North Africa and Middle East, and gives a complete description of operations in Syria and Iraq.The dramatic text, which includes the first English language coverage of the Italian-Australian atrocity controversy, is backed up by rare photos taken by veterans of the action, new maps, and complete orders of battle for both Axis and Allies, including the most accurate listing of Italian units yet available.