Böcker utgivna av Helion & Company

Explores Early Modern Southeast Asian warfare, blending war elephants, firearms, sieges, and cultural traditions.Elephants and Gunpowder presents for the first time a chronological, detailed and richly illustrated account of the development of warfare in mainland Southeast Asia during the Early Modern Period. It begins by describing the region's medieval military inheritance that was dominated by the use of war elephants. Firearms began to appear during the late fourteenth century and would be used alongside elephants and cavalry in a long series of wars between Burma (Myanmar) and Siam (Thailand). Exciting sieges and dramatic naval combat are also discussed along with much fascinating material about beliefs in omens and divination and the impact of foreign mercenaries. While cannons re around them elephants act as mounts for noble hand-to-hand combat, as living battering rams to use against city gates and, in the form of the precious and much coveted white elephant, as both an excuse and a pretext for war itself. The text is complemented by a large number of carefully selected photographs, maps and specially commissioned artwork that present the arms and armaments of the Southeast Asian warrior and his elephants in a way never seen before.​​

Dr. Opiyo Oloya's The Best Army Doesn't Wear Kilts offers a compelling exploration of the professionalization of Uganda's People's Defence Forces (UPDF). Drawing on the extraordinary transformation of the National Resistance Army (NRA) from a rebel group in south-central Uganda in the 1980s into a globally respected military force, this book distills ten universal lessons for organizational success.From the NRA's disciplined approach to resourcefulness and its strategic emphasis on education, adaptability, and community engagement, Oloya unpacks the guiding principles that shaped this army's journey to professionalization. With a keen focus on leadership, organizational culture, and resilience, the book highlights how a shared vision and adherence to core values transformed a fledgling movement into a force recognized for operational excellence across Africa.Rich with historical detail, Oloya contextualizes the NRA's evolution within the broader legacy of Ugandan armed forces and colonial histories, drawing parallels that resonate with modern organizations navigating complexity and change. Whether dissecting the importance of branding, the cultivation of discipline, or the need to embrace innovation and learn from past mistakes, Oloya offers a roadmap for leaders across industries.A must-read for business leaders, strategists, and history enthusiasts, The Best Army Doesn't Wear Kilts demonstrates how the principles underpinning military success can be applied to drive organizational growth and sustain competitive advantage. In a world of rapid change and uncertainty, this book inspires leaders to think boldly, act decisively, and build enduring institutions.

In 1910, less than a decade after achieving independence from Spain, Cuba began its first aeronautical activities and by 1913 the Cuerpo de Aviación del Ejército de Cuba (CAEC, Cuban Army Aviation Corps) had been created, well before many other Latin American countries established similar services. Cuban military pilots trained in the United States during the First World War and came close to being sent to the Western Front in France, however, the war ended before this could occur.The CAEC grew over the following years, and as Cuba supported the Allied cause during the Second World War benefited from the US Lend-Lease Program, and in the post-war years from other programs such as the American Republics Program (ARP) and the Mutual Defence Assistant Program (MDAP). These programs provided not only aircraft to the CAEC but also training for its pilots and mechanics.This volume examines the genesis of Cuban aviation, the organisation and evolution of the CAEC, Cuban Military Aviation in the Second World War, the failed operation of the Caribbean Legion in Cayo Confites, Cuban Naval Aviation and the CAEC in the late 1940s and early 1950s and includes a short biography of Fulgencio Batista. Annexes detail all the CAEC aircraft types from 1913 to 1952, when it was restructured to become Cuban Army Air Force (examined in a companion volume), as well as those of the Naval Aviation during the same period.Cuban Military Aviation Volume 1: Organisation and Development of the Cuban Army Air Corps 1913-1952 is illustrated throughout with original photographs and includes specially commissioned colour artworks.

For four days in early 1991, Royal Navy Lynx helicopters buzzed low around the Shatt-al-Arab marshlands of southern Iraq. They were searching for the Iraqi fleet, and whenever discovered their hulls became targets for cutting edge smart munitions. This British-led operation, termed the Battle of Bubiyan, sank the majority of the Iraqi fleet.When Commodore Paul Haddacks led his task force into the Persian Gulf, such successes were far from certain. The sailors of the Royal Navy had been made by the Falklands Conflict and unique among the coalition fleet, they alone had experienced large scale modern naval warfare. The narrow stretch of water the Pentagon tasked Commodore Haddacks with securing bristled with coastal anti-ship batteries, labyrinthine floating minefields and Iraqi fast attack craft, evoked harsh memories of San Carlos Bay. Whilst other fleet commanders were confident, those of the British fleet were concerned. Volume 1 of Between Sand and Sea: Royal Navy Operations from the Gulf War to Qaddafi 1990 - 2011 examines how the Royal Navy exceeded these challenges and came out of them with a new confidence in a remade world.The First Gulf War is the first of three conflicts that will be covered by this series that will also examine 2003's Second Gulf War and 2011's Libyan War. Across three volumes the story of a navy in transition is told. A fleet that in 1991 was neglected, repeatedly downsized and filled with mid-century vessels, became a modern and dynamic force by 2011: a reborn Royal Navy redesigned for expeditionary warfare in the American Age. Each volume is extensively illustrated with contemporary photographs, and specially commissioned maps and colour artworks.

A study of the last 100 years of conflict suggests that air power dominates warfare. Air power was successfully applied in the Spanish Civil War, First and Second World Wars, Vietnam War, Six Day War, Yom Kippur, Gulf War, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Afghanistan 2003 and Libya. John Warden, asserts 'Those who have air power overwhelm those who do not; those who do not have it spend their energies trying to get it, thwart it or escape it.' Air power will be a decisive factor in the outcome of future wars. As China flexes its muscles an understanding of the challenges facing the PLAAF is crucial for India and the world at large. A study of the operational capabilities of the IAF and the PLAAF has not previously received a systematic and a rigorous assessment.The literature on the operational dynamics of PLAAF and IAF during a war remains sparse and underdeveloped despite a large and growing volume of work on overall Chinese military capabilities. Understanding both the IAF's and the PLAAF's history, organisation, culture and weapons systems and their trajectory into the near future are important for assessing their capabilities for fighting wars.In the context of the escalating Sino-Indian rivalry, this work sets out to examine how the PLAAF and IAF would perform in a conflict; the nature of air power disparity between India and China, and whether the existing numerical disparity between India and China give China a clear and incontestable advantage.Air Power in the Indo-Pacific sets out to understand the interaction between the crucial determinants of modern warfare such as technology, strategic advantage in high altitude warfare, streamlined organisation, leadership, weapons platforms, combat experience, force structures, doctrinal and operational concepts, training, geography, weather and distance to better understand the war fighting capabilities of the IAF and PLAAF.Air Power in the Indo-Pacific: Indian Air Force and People's Liberation Army Air Force Capabilities into the 2030s brings about an understanding of China's past and present approaches to air power and provides a crucial baseline for assessing future challenges. It provides a qualitative assessment of the IAF and PLAAF weapons systems and platforms and battle preparedness. Rare historical anecdotes and insights pertaining to air power and China are examined. The book's comprehensive assessment of the forces that drive the PLAAF is a critical reading for anyone trying to understand air power in the Indo Pacific region and aims to change the way the world looks at the PLAAF.This volume is illustrated throughout with original photographs, and specially commissioned colour artworks and maps.

Renatio et Gloriam is a set of tabletop miniature rules that allows you to fight large-scale battles from the Renaissance. It brings to life the epic battles between the formidable armies of Louis XIV and the resolute forces of the League of Augsburg.Renatio et Gloriam: The Sun King's Wars contains list for European armies from 1640 to 1699, including - Bourbon France, Habsburg Austria & Spain, the Dutch Republic, Palatinate-Zweibrücken Sweden, Brandenburg-Prussia & Orange-Nassau England.Renatio et Gloriam: The Sun King's Wars offers a deep dive into one of the most captivating eras of European warfare. Command legendary generals, outmanoeuvre your opponents, and alter the course of history. Are you ready to uphold the grandeur of Louis XIV or defend the balance of power with the League of Augsburg? The choice is yours!

The medieval English longbow has been the subject of considerable debate. The English Longbow - Investigating a Myth will draw out the arguments concerning it and produce a balanced and convincing summary. The book opens with a detailed description of the weapon system - the bow, arrow, and arrowheads. The origin of the longbow has been much discussed and the Shortbow-Longbow conundrum is examined in depth. The longbow's capabilities and effectiveness are evaluated using recent research allied to contemporary accounts. The part the bow played in the 'Infantry Revolution' and the longbow's relationship with the crossbow are covered.The longbow could only be employed in war if the monarch could mobilise the resources needed to manufacture it and if English society could provide the strong-backed archers able to use it. These issues are investigated, including a consideration of the legal and societal framework needed.The English Longbow - Investigating a Myth is an honest appraisal of the longbow. It is not a book of battles but one that describes how the bow was used, sometimes successfully and sometimes not. It provides a comprehensive and balanced assessment of what was and remains the weapon that made Britain.

Confrontation of Kings presents, for the first time in English, the largest battle of the war of the Swedish Deluge (1655-1660). During three days of fighting, the Swedish-Brandenburg Alliance faced the combined Polish, Lithuanian, and Tatar armies. It was a clash between Western and Eastern styles of warfare, but it was also a clash between the irreconcilable Polish and Swedish monarchs, John II Casimir and Charles X Gustavus, over hegemony in the Baltic region. This is an in-depth study of the battle based on contemporary sources, including previously unpublished archival materials, many of which were written by soldiers who took part in the struggle. In addition, Confrontation of Kings provides full details on the dissimilar military systems of Sweden, the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, Brandenburg-Prussia, and the Tatar Khanate of the Crimea, with detailed reconstructions of the organisation and strength of the armies that confronted each other at Warsaw. The book will equally appeal to enthusiasts of military history and professional historians. The authors present new research on a war previously seldom described in English, describing the battle from the perspective of both sides. As well as examining the wider picture of the previous campaigns in Poland and the events that led up to the battle itself.

The Battle of Lens marked the climax of a decade of war between France and Spain; the two contenders were exhausted, having fought in Spain, France, Flanders, Italy and Germany. The conflict would be settled in a pitched battle near the city of Lens, Flanders, in the summer of 1648.The Spanish had neutralised the Dutch for the campaign of 1648, so they prepared to launch a major offensive against the French, who had occupied important cities in Flanders for years. Thus, the new governor, Archduke Leopold William, brother of Emperor Ferdinand III of Habsburg, took charge of an army of almost 20,000 troops.The French were commanded by the Prince of Condé, who knew how to instil a spirit of resistance in his troops.The two armies carried out marches and countermarches to outwit their opponent and seize cities: Condé conquered Ypres, but the Archduke took Lens. Condé tried to rescue the city, but arrived too late. However, the campaign was not lost for France; the brilliant Condé decided to deploy his army on the plain to decide the campaign, its own prestige, and the fate of the war.

King George's Army: British Regiments and the Men who Led Them 1793-1815 will contain five volumes, with coverage given to army administration and cavalry regiments (Volume 1), infantry regiments (Volumes 2, 3 and 4), and ordnance (Volume 5). It is the natural extension to the web series of the same name by the same author which existed on the Napoleon Series from 2009 until 2019, but greatly expanded to include substantially more biographical information as well as biographies of leading political figures concerned with the administration of the army as well as commanders in chief of all major commands.Volume 4 covers in great detail the 61st to 104th Regiments of Foot within the army of King George the Third for the period of the Great War with France; and the men who commanded them. Regimental data provided includes shortform regimental lineages, service locations and dispositions for the era, battle honours won, tables of authorised establishments, demographics of the field officer cohorts and of the men, even sources of recruits from the militia. But the book is essentially concerned with the field officers, the lieutenant colonels and majors who commanded the regiments, and Volume 4 alone contains around 1,000 mini-biographies of men who exercised such command, including their dates of birth and death, parentage, education, career (including political), awards and honours, and places of residence. Volume 5 will extend the coverage to ultimately record over 4,500 biographies across more than 200 regiments.These biographies will show the regimental system in action, officers routinely transferring between regiments for advancement or opportunity, captains who were also (brevet) colonels, many who retired early, some who stayed the distance to become major generals and beyond. Where it has been possible to accurately ascertain, advancement by purchase, exchange or promotion has also been noted.Readers with military ancestors will no doubt find much of interest within, and the author hopes that the work will allow readers to break down a few 'brick walls'; either through connecting to the officers recorded, or through an understanding of the movements of the regiments around the world, or from the volunteering patterns of the militia regiments into the regular army.Encyclopaedic in scope, and aimed to be a lasting source of reference material for the British army that fought the French Revolution and Napoleon between 1793 and 1815, King George's Army: British Regiments and the Men who Led Them will hopefully be a necessary addition to every military and family history library for years to come.

On 10 June 1940, Italy declared war on France and England, siding alongside its German ally which had been at war since September 1939. Abandoning the policy of non-belligerence and keeping faith with the Pact of Steel signed with Germany Hitler, fascist Italy went to war after the German armies had already conquered half of Europe. A short but tough campaign to fight especially due to the nature of the terrain, which put the Italian troops to the test, who ultimately emerged victorious.