This is the history of England's turbulent times, told through the stories of the country's nobility. The book begins with the Norman Conquest in 1066 and ends with the union of England and Scotland in 1707. The nobility fought wars against Scotland in the north and against France on the Continent. They conquered Ireland and Wales and then had to deal with the rebellions that followed. This is the story of their abduction plots and assassination attempts and the brutal retribution when the treachery failed. It recalls the barons' rebellions and the peasant uprisings against the king. It also explains the reasons behind the family factions who fought for the crown, the most famous example being the War of the Roses. Also covered are the noble marriages arranged by the king to reward loyalty and maintain the balance of power. It tells of the children betrothed to marry, the failed marriages of convenience and the secret marriages for love. Learn how Henry VIII introduced new problems when he appointed himself head of the Church of England. Successive monarchs switched between the new church and the Catholic Church. Then there was the challenge to Charles I's rule in the Civil Wars.The story ends with the union of England and Scotland and the creation of Great Britain in 1707. It was also the end of the period of treachery and retribution which had plagued the English crown for nearly 650 years.

Medieval Europe is a dark and dangerous place. In 1054 the Church tears itself in two, setting the scene for nearly 500 years of turmoil. Empires will collide and dynasties will rise and fall; marriages will be made and alliances broken. It is a place where love clashes with ambition and violence rules - enemies are blinded, rivals are murdered and heretics are burnt at the stake. As the Black Death sweeps the continent and the Mongol hordes threaten its borders, can the kings of the old world survive the dawn of a new era?

In December 1944 the German military made its final attempt to end the Second World War by throwing in all its reserves in a desperate attempt to shatter the Allied lines. After breaking through the American-held sector in the Ardennes, two Panzer armies headed for the bridges over the River Meuse. However, a combination of poor planning, bad weather, tortuous terrain and, above all, the determined defence of keys towns and villages delayed the advance. The Allies were able to hold the northern and southern shoulders of the attack, hemming the Germans in. The Bulge had been created, and as the fortunes of battle were reversed, the Allies struck back. In Battle of the Bulge 1944-45, historian Andrew Rawson gives a clear, concise account of those dramatic days at the end of 1944, supported by a timeline of events and orders of battle. If you want to understand what happened and why - read on.

Poland was re-created as an independent nation at the end of the First World War, but it soon faced problems as Nazi Germany set about expanding its control on Europe. The Wehrmacht's attack on 1 September 1939 was followed by a Red Army invasion two weeks later. The people of Poland were then subjected to a terrifying campaign of murder, imprisonment and enslavement which only increased as the war dragged on. Polish Catholics faced violence and deportation as they adapted to the draconian laws implemented by the German authorities. Meanwhile, the Polish Jews were forced into ghettos while the plans for the Final Solution were implemented. They then faced annihilation in the Holocaust, code named Operation Reinhard. Despite the dangers, many Poles joined the underground war against their oppressors, while those who escaped sought to fight for their nation's freedom from abroad. They sent intelligence to the west, attacked German installations, carried out assassinations and rose up to confront their enemy, all against impossible odds. The advance of the Red Army brought new problems, as the Soviet's dreaded NKVD introduced its own form of terror, hunting down anyone who fought for an independent nation. The story concludes with Poland's experience behind the Iron Curtain, ending with the return of democracy by 1991.

Operation Detachment, the US invasion of Iwo Jima on 19 February 1945, was the first campaign on Japanese soil and resulted in some of the fiercest fighting in the Pacific. If you truly want to understand what happened and why - read Battle Story. Detailed profiles explore the leaders, tactics and equipment of the US and Japanese armies. Nine specially commissioned maps track the progress of the battle and the shifting frontlines. Rare photographs place you in the centre of the unfolding action. Diary extracts and quotes give you a soldier's eye-view of the battle.Orders of Battle reveal the composition of the opposing forces' armies. Packed with fact boxes, this short introduction is the perfect way to explore this important battle.

The Battle of Loos formed part of a wider offensive conducted by both French and British Forces in September 1915. The British First Army, under the leadership of General Haig, were to break through the German line at Loos thanks in part to their superior numbers, while other operations were to achieve a similar result in Champagne and at Vimy Ridge.Due to lack of artillery the Loos attack was planned to be preceded by a massive gas attack. Chlorine gas would hopefully entirely overcome the Germans' inadequate gas masks and lead to a swift breakthrough.Unfortunately all did not go to plan. First some of the gas was blown back into the British trenches causing over 2,000 casualties. Then when the assault itself took place the attackers were met by fierce German resistance, none more so than at Hill 70 where the German defences were strong. Despite many waves of attack, very few troops made it into enemy trenches. After a few days the attack had to be called off. It had cost 60,000 British casualties for virtually no gain. Rudyard Kipling's son John, serving with the Irish Guards, was also lost.

The full story of one of the bloodiest battles of the war in the Pacific Operation Detachment, the invasion of Iwo Jima on February 19, 1945, was the first campaign on Japanese soil and resulted in some of the fiercest fighting of the Pacific campaign. U. S. Marines supported by the Navy and Air Force fought the Japanese both over and underground on the island of volcanic ash, in a battle which was immortalized by the raising of the Stars and Stripes above Mount Suribachi. It was a battle that the Japanese could not win but they were determined to die trying; of the 18,000-strong garrison, only 200 were taken prisoner. Americans lost more in the 35 day battle, but at the end had possession of three airfields in range of the Japanese mainland. This book gives a clear, concise account of those dramatic days in 1945, supported by a timeline of events and orders of battle.

The men who went to war in August 1914 fought completely differently to those who survived until the Armistice on 11 November 1918. This is a study of the bloody learning process the British Expeditionary Force had to go through on the Western Front. The development of the tactics is explained as is the impact new weapons and ammunition had on the battles. The challenges presented when the Germans changed their defensive tactics or upgraded their fortifications is also looked at. Each battle and campaign is studied in turn, starting with the first lessons learnt by the Old Contemptibles who served 1914 and the rigid attack plans of 1915. Next comes the rapid evolution of infantry and artillery plans during the Somme campaign in the summer of 1916 and the changes made to accommodate the tank in the autumn. The important developments in combined arms warfare, and the German reactions to it, are followed through as the 1917 campaigns of Arras and Ypres are discussed. The year ends with a look at the Tank Corps' successes and problems which were highlighted at Cambrai. The year 1918 starts with the huge German offensives across the Somme, the Lys and on the Aisne. The strategic mistakes made before the battles, and the tactical decisions made during them, are looked at in turn. Finally, we see how the art of combined arms warfare matured during the offensives of July and August 1918, culminating with the breaking of the Drocourt-Queant Line and the Hindenburg Line in September.

_Cambrai Campaign 1917_ is an account of the British Expeditionary Force s battles in November and December of 1917\. It starts with the plan to carry out a tank raid on the Hindenburg Line at Cambrai. The raid grew into a full scale attack and Third Army would rely on a different style of attack. The preliminary bombardment would be done away with and the troops would assemble in secret. Predicted fire had reached such a level of accuracy that 1,000 guns could hit targets without registration. Meanwhile, over 375 tanks would lead the infantry through the Hindenburg Line, ripping holes in the wire and suppressing the enemy. The study of the German counter-attack ten days later, illustrates the different tactics they used and the British experience on the defensive. Each stage of the battle is given equal treatment, with detailed insights into the most talked about side of the campaign, the British side. It explains how far the Tank Corps had come in changing the face of trench warfare. Over forty new maps chart the day by day progress of each corps on each day. Together the narrative and the maps provide an insight into the British Army s experience during this important campaign. The men who made a difference are mentioned; those who led the advances, those who stopped the counter-attacks and those who were awarded the Victoria Cross. Discover the Cambrai campaign and learn how the British Army s brave soldiers fought and died fighting to achieve their objectives.

Between December 1941 and July 1945 the Allied Heads of State met nine times to decide the ongoing strategy of World War II with their chiefs of staff. President Franklin Roosevelt and Prime Minister Winston Churchill decided the strategies for the Mediterranean and the Far East at the Arcadia conference in December 1941, reconvening in Casablanca for the symbol conference in 1943. They then considered the European campaign at the Trident Conference in May and the Quadrant conference in August. Generalissimo Chiang Kai-Shek joined them in Egypt for the Sextant Conference in November 1943, while Premier Joseph Stalin welcomed them to Tehran for the Eureka conference. The Octagon conference in September 1944 reaffirmed the Allied partnership's commitment to the European campaign. They then travelled to Yalta in the Crimea the following February to agree with Stalin how to end the war in Europe at the Argonaut conference. At the final conference in Potsdam, Berlin, in July 1945 President Harry S. Truman took the place of the recently deceased Roosevelt and the new PM Clement Atlee replaced Churchill part-way through the conference. They discussed the chaos of Europe and an end to the campaign against Japan; Truman also took Stalin aside to tell him about the atomic bomb. He affected indifference 0- but his spies had forwarned him of its existence. Discover what they discussed though the edited minutes of the meetings. Read the reasons and the compromises behind the decisions. follow the heated discussions as the war turned in favour of the Allies - and learn how the foundations for the post war world were laid. This is a history in the raw, unmediated: how would you, as President of the United States, reply to Stalin's formal suggestion that between 50,000 and 100,000 of the German High Command be liquidated at war's end? All the minutes are supported by footnotes containing extensive supplementary information?