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The borders of the Roman Empire were frontiers that were often wild
and dangerous. The expansion of the empire after the Punic Wars saw
the Roman Republic become the dominant force in the Mediterranean
as it first took Carthaginian territories in Gaul, Spain and north
Africa and then moved into Greece with purpose, subjugating the
area and creating two provinces, Achaea and Macedonia. The growth
of the territories under Roman control continued through the rise
of Julius Caesar - who conquered the rest of Gaul - and the
establishment of the empire: each of the emperors could point to
territories annexed and lands won. By AD 117 and the accession of
Hadrian, the empire had reached its peak. It held sway from Britain
to Morocco, from Spain to the Black Sea. And its wealth was coveted
by those outside its borders. Just as today those from poorer
countries try to make their way into Europe or North America, so
those outside the empire wanted to make their way into the Promised
Land - for trade, for improvement of their lives or for plunder.
Thus the Roman borders became a mix - just as our borders are today
- of defensive bulwark against enemies, but also control areas
where import and export taxes were levied, and entrance was
controlled. Some of these borders were hard: the early equivalents
of the Inner German Border or Trump's Wall - Hadrian's Wall and the
line between the Rhine and Danube. Others, such as these two great
rivers, were natural borders that the Romans policed with their
navy. This book examines these frontiers of the empire, looking at
the way they were constructed and manned and how that changed over
the years. It looks at the physical barriers - from the walls in
Britain to the Fossatum Africae in the desert. It looks at the
traders and the prices that were paid for the traffic of goods. It
looks at the way that civil settlements - vici - grew up around the
forts and fortlets and what life was like for soldiers, sailors and
civilians. As well as artefacts of the period, the book provides a
guidebook to top Roman museums and a gazetteer of visitable sites
Amphibious operations have always been an important element of
warfare, but they reached their climax during the Second World War
when they were carried out on a large scale in every theatre of the
conflict. That is why this wide-ranging, highly illustrated history
of amphibious warfare 1939-1945 by Simon and Jonathan Forty is of
such value. Their book gives graphic accounts of the main
amphibious assaults launched by the major combatants, in particular
the British, American, German and Japanese - not just large-scale
landings like those in North Africa, Normandy, the Philippines and
Okinawa, but also raids such as Dieppe and St Nazaire and
evacuations like Dunkirk and Kerch. The rapid development of
amphibious tactics and equipment is an essential element of the
story, as are the vital roles played by the navies, air forces,
armies and special forces in each complex combined operation. There
is also a section on amphibious operations that were planned but
didn't happen, such as the German invasion of Britain and the
Italian and German operation against Malta.
It is said that artillery won the Second World War for the Allies -
that Soviet guns wore down German forces on the Eastern Front,
negating their superior tactics and fighting ability, and that the
accuracy and intensity of the British and American artillery was a
major reason for the success of Allied forces in North Africa from
El Alamein, in Italy and Normandy, and played a vital role in the
battles of 1944 and 1945\. Yet the range of weapons used is often
overlooked or taken for granted - which is why this highly
illustrated history by Simon and Jonathan Forty is of such value.
They stress the importance of artillery on every front and analyse
how artillery equipment, training and tactical techniques developed
during the conflict. The selection of wartime photographs - many
from east European sources - and the extensive quotations from
contemporary documents give a graphic impression of how the guns
were used on all sides. The photographs emphasize the wide range of
pieces employed as field, anti-aircraft and anti-tank artillery
without forgetting self-propelled guns, coastal and other
heavyweights and the development of rockets. The authors offer a
fascinating insight into the weapons that served in the artillery
over seventy years ago.
The infantry can always be found at the sharp end of the
battlefield. You may be able to crush an opponent with armour or
artillery, but there's only one way to take and hold ground and
that's with riflemen - the 'poor bloody infantry'. And it is the
infantrymen of the Second World War - from all sides, Allied and
Axis - who are the subject of this highly illustrated history. It
uses over 400 wartime photographs plus contemporary documents and
other illustrations to show the developments in equipment, training
and tactical techniques and to give an insight into the experience
of the infantry soldier during the conflict. Although the infantry
were critical to the war effort, their contribution is often
overshadowed by the more dramatic roles played by soldiers with
more specialized skills - like tank crew, paratroopers and special
forces. They also suffered devastating casualties, in particular
during the last phase of the war in the west when around 20 per
cent of an infantry division's riflemen were likely to die and over
60 per cent could expect to be wounded. So as well as describing
how the infantry fought, the authors look at the motivation which
kept them fighting in awful conditions and despite brutal setbacks.
The result is a thorough, detailed and revealing portrait of
infantry warfare over seventy years ago.
On the battlefields of Europe and North Africa during the Second
World War tanks played a key role, and the intense pressure of
combat drove forward tank design and tactics at an extraordinary
rate. In a few years, on all sides, tank warfare was transformed.
This is the dramatic process that Simon and Jonathan Forty
chronicle in this heavily illustrated history. They describe the
fundamentals of pre-war tank design and compare the theories
formulated in the 1930s as to how they should be used in battle.
Then they show how the harsh experience of the German blitzkrieg
campaigns in Poland, France and the Soviet Union compelled the
Western Allies to reconsider their equipment, organization and
tactics - and how the Germans responded to the Allied challenge.
The speed of progress is demonstrated in the selection of over 180
archive photographs which record, as only photographs can, the
conditions of war on each battle front. They also give a vivid
impression of what armoured warfare was like for the tank crews of
75 years ago.
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