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The German battleships Bismarck and Tirpitz had brutally short
careers. The Bismarck was sunk by the Home Fleet on her first
operational sortie in May 1941. But the Tirpitz, hiding in
Norwegian fjords, remained a menace to Allied convoys and tied down
the British Home Fleet for three years. Periodic scares that the
Tirpitz was 'out' disrupted naval operations and in 1942 led to the
dispersal and destruction of Convoy PQ17. Many attacks on the
Tirpitz were made by British X-craft and Chariots, by the Fleet Air
Arm and by RAF Bomber Command. From May 1940 over 700 British
aircraft tried to bomb, mine or torpedo the Tirpitz on 33 separate
missions; she was finally destroyed by Lancaster bombers with 5-ton
Tallboy bombs. This is the most comprehensive account of the air
attacks on 'the beast' ever published, which is the result of
extensive research of the British and German records by the author,
former head of Defence and International Affairs at RMA Sandhurst.
First published in 1999, this book explores how, from the stone
bridges of neoclassicism which soar out of wild woods to span
pastoral valleys to the post-1750 engineer's bridge with its links
to the more industrial landscape, the bridge was a popular feature
in painting throughout the period 1700-1920. Why did so many
artists choose to portray bridges? In this lavishly illustrated and
intriguing book, John Sweetman seeks to answer this question. He
traces the history of the bridge in painting and printmaking
through a vast range of work, some as familiar as William Etty's
The Bridge of Sighs and Claude Monet's The Railway Bridge at
Argenteuil and others less well known such as Wassily Kandinsky's
Composition IV and C.R.W. Nevinson's Looking Through the Brooklyn
Bridge. Distinctive characteristics emerge revealing the complex
role of the bridge as both symbol and metaphor, and as a place of
vantage, meeting and separation.
First published in 1999, this book explores how, from the stone
bridges of neoclassicism which soar out of wild woods to span
pastoral valleys to the post-1750 engineer's bridge with its links
to the more industrial landscape, the bridge was a popular feature
in painting throughout the period 1700-1920. Why did so many
artists choose to portray bridges? In this lavishly illustrated and
intriguing book, John Sweetman seeks to answer this question. He
traces the history of the bridge in painting and printmaking
through a vast range of work, some as familiar as William Etty's
The Bridge of Sighs and Claude Monet's The Railway Bridge at
Argenteuil and others less well known such as Wassily Kandinsky's
Composition IV and C.R.W. Nevinson's Looking Through the Brooklyn
Bridge. Distinctive characteristics emerge revealing the complex
role of the bridge as both symbol and metaphor, and as a place of
vantage, meeting and separation.
The bitter war between Russia and Turkey, aided by Britain and
France, was the setting for the stuff of legends. This book details
the gallant yet suicidal Charge of the Light Brigade. It relates
the reports made by the first real war correspondent, William
Russell of the London Times - reports which served only to
highlight the army's problems - and memorializes the heroic deeds
of Florence Nightingale, who struggled to save young men from the
most formidable enemy in the Crimean War: not the Russians, but
cholera.
The Oriental Obsession begins in the early sixteenth century with
Cardinal Wolsey waiting two years for the delivery of sixty rare
Turkey carpets from Venice, and ends in the age of the great
exhibitions and emporia on both sides of the Atlantic, before and
after 1900, when Islamic objects were seen, appreciated, and bought
by millions of the public. The book is concerned with a subject
which has not been treated before - the history over four centuries
of Islamic artistic traditions and European ideas of Islam as they
affected the visual arts of the west and particularly the
English-speaking peoples. Studies of individual aspects have been
made previously, but this is the first time that an attempt has
been made to consider the subject as a whole. The geographical
purview extends from Moorish Spain in the west to British India in
the east and, besides architecture, the activities that are
involved include painting, ceramics, textiles, metalwork, furniture
and bookcrafts.
In 1917, David Lloyd George declared that airmen were 'the cavalry
of the clouds - the knighthood of this war.' This romantic image
was fostered post-war by writers of adventure stories and the
stunts of Hollywood filmmakers, and yet it was far from the harsh
reality of the life of an airman. From their baptism of fire in
1914 carrying out reconnaissance and experiencing the first
dogfights, to the breakthrough in 1918 which claimed heavy
casualties, the aerial defenders of Britain were continually
tested. In Cavalry of the Clouds John Sweetman describes the
development of British air power during the First World War on the
Western Front, which culminated in the creation of the first
independent air force, the RAF. By making use of the correspondence
of airmen and ground staff of all nationalities, he illustrates the
impact this new type of conflict had on those involved and their
families at home. Extensively researched and handsomely illustrated
with contemporary photographs, Cavalry of the Clouds is an
essential reference work for any student of military history.
During the Second World War aeronautical technology gathered rapid
pace. By 1945, bombers had not only greatly increased in engine
power and range, but the bombs which they carried rose from 250lbs
to 10 tons; the navigator's pencil and rubber of 1939 had been
supplemented by infinitely more sophisticated electronic aids. Yet
the success or failure of each and every bomber still depended
entirely on the efficiency of every member of the crew at his
individual position, the interaction and co-operation of all crew
members as a body. One member of 617 squadron graphically explained
that 'every time we went out, it was seven men against the
Reich'.;Drawing on letters, journals and diaries, John Sweetman
examines the lives the bomber crews lived, from the highs and lows
of their missions to the complexities of their friendships and the
impact their place in the war had on the families and loved ones
they left behind. Part collective biography, part military history,
part social history: this will remain the definitive account of the
bomber crews of the Second World War for years to come.
This Man Saved Britain' ran a headline in the News Chronicle on 18
February 1941, in a reference to the role of Sydney Camm, designer
of the Hawker Hurricane, during the Battle of Britain. Similarly,
the Minister of Economic Warfare, Lord Selborne, advised Winston
Churchill that to Camm England owed a great deal'. Twenty-five
years later, following his death in 1966, obituaries in the Sunday
Express and Sunday Times, among other tributes, referred to
Hurricane Designer' or Hurricane Maker', implying that this machine
represented the pinnacle of Camm's professional achievement. Sir
Thomas Sopwith, the respected aircraft designer and Hawker aircraft
company founder, believed that Camm deserved much wider
recognition, being undoubtedly the greatest designer of fighter
aircraft the world has ever known.' Born in 1893, the eldest of
twelve children, Camm was raised in a small, terraced house.
Despite lacking the advantages of a financially-secure upbringing
and formal technical education after leaving school at 14, Camm
would go on to become one of the most important people in the story
of Britain's aviation history. Sydney Camm's work on the Hurricane
was far from the only pinnacle in his remarkable career in aircraft
design and engineering - a career that stretched from the biplanes
of the 1920s to the jet fighters of the Cold War. Indeed, over
fifty years after his death, the revolutionary Hawker Siddeley
Harrier in which Camm played such a prominent figure, following a
stellar performance in the Falkland Island crisis', still remains
in service with the American armed forces. It is perhaps
unsurprising therefore, as the author reveals in this detailed
biography, that Camm would be knighted in his own country, receive
formal honours in France and the United States, and be inducted
into the International Hall of Fame in San Diego.
A comprehensive account of the most audacious bombing raid of the
Second World War. Operation Chastise - the Dambusters Raid, as it
became known - undertaken by 19 Lancasters of 617 Squadron on the
night of 16 May 1943, was the most audacious bombing raid of the
Second World War. For the loss of 11 aircraft, the Mohne and Eder
dams in Germany's industrial heartland were breached, and a famous
if controversial victory won. John Sweetman's book is the most
comprehensive account of this legendary mission, from the
development of Barnes Wallis' 'bouncing bomb' (in reality a
revolving depth-charge) to every moment of the raid itself, under
the charismatic command of Guy Gibson, VC. It recalls a time of
commitment, perseverance and sheer dogged determination in the face
of dangerous and improbable odds.
The bridge was a popular feature in painting throughout the period
from 1700 to 1920, but why did so many artists choose to portray
the structures? This study traces the history of the bridge in
painting and printmaking through a range of works, including
William Etty's "The Bridge of Sighs", Claude Monet's "The Railway
Bridge", Wassily Kandinsky's "Composition IV" and C.R.W. Nevinson's
"Looking Through Brooklyn Bridge", revealing its complex role as
both symbol and metaphor, and as a place of vantage, meeting and
separation.
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