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This is the first book devoted to the subject of reconnaissance in the nascent Tank Corps in the Great War. It is a neglected field in spite of passing references to reconnaissance in a number of early books on the history of the Tank Corps. This is also the first attempt to provide a conceptual framework in which to consider intelligence and reconnaissance work and to see it in the broader context of military reconnaissance. Adding the term 'Reconography' to the military lexicon draws attention to a little-known monograph on the subject which has never entered the popular domain before now. The introduction of the tanks on the Western Front in 1916 launched a new form of armored warfare. After their baptism on 15 September 1916, the tanks became dependent on a few reconnaissance officers to guide them into action. The importance of these officers was fully recognized within the Tank Corps itself, but less so outside. The reconnaissance officers came to form an elite group of talented men, a special caste, whose contribution to the nascent Tank Corps was far greater than their numbers might suggest. It is surprising, therefore, that the contribution made by these officers has hitherto been neglected in the historiography of British tank operations in the First World War. This book aims to appeal at a number of levels: it seeks to pull together the activities, skills and techniques of tank Intelligence and reconnaissance officers and assess their place and contribution to British tank operations in the Great War; it places tank reconnaissance work in the wider context of intelligence and reconnaissance activities prior to the war and it also provides a case study of the tensions that inevitably occur when new wine is put into old bottles, or more prosaically, new technology into existing organizations. It has been necessary to create conceptual structures in which reconnaissance operations can be analyzed; it attempts to breathe life into what some might regard as a dull technical subject by devoting space to key figures in Tank Corps' intelligence and reconnaissance activities. Fortunately, and perhaps as a consequence of their activities, they were some of the most colorful and interesting figures in the Tank Corps at that time. In awarding the author the WFA-Helion Holmes Prize, the judges concluded that 'his work reflects deep research, a high standard of writing and a notable originality'.

Designed by Sydney Camm as a swept wing, daytime interceptor with excellent maneuverability, the Hunter became the first jet aircraft manufactured by Hawker for the Royal Air Force. It set numerous aviation records and saw widespread service with a large number of RAF units in Europe and abroad. When the Royal Air Force received newer aircraft capable of supersonic speeds to perform the interceptor duties, many Hunters were modified and re-equipped for ground-attack and reconnaissance missions instead. Because they were deemed surplus to British requirements, most of these were subsequently refurbished and exported to foreign customers - so also to Iraq and Jordan. Hawker Hunters at War covers every aspect of Hunter's service in the two countries, from in-depth coverage of negotiations related to their export to Iraq and Jordan, to all-important details of their operational service during 1958-67. It culminates in detailed examination of their role in the June 1967 Arab-Israeli War (also known as the 'Six Days War') and extensive tables listing all aircraft delivered and their fates. Almost entirely based on interviews with retired commanding officers and pilots of the former Royal Iraqi Air Force, Iraqi Air Force and Royal Jordanian Air Force - as well as plenty of unpublished official documents from British, Iraqi and Jordanian archives - the narrative is providing an unprecedented insight into a number of contemporary affairs. Profusely illustrated with well over 100 photographs and 15 color profiles showing all aspects of camouflage, markings and various equipment, Hawker Hunters at War is the ultimate profile of Hunter's colorful and action-packed service in Iraq and Jordan during a period when this legendary type formed the backbone of local air forces.

Military manuals have been used as a source through a range of historical studies, but only recently has their potential to Conflict Archaeology truly been recognized. Military manuals allowed the progression of the Military Revolution from the informed amateur towards the scientific, mathematical choreography for massed troops at the height of the Military Revolution, and their use as a viable historical resource often taken at face value - negating their worth. Using correlated GIS, landscape archaeology, metal detecting, military knowledge and experimental archaeology, we might understand more fully the limitations and strengths drill books provide us. Like a dance, military theory provides a certain number of ways individuals may progress through a landscape. Using examples taken from recent investigations at sites such as Edgehill, Lutzen and Lostwithiel, this paper shall examine to what extent individual drill can be identified in the archaeological record. This publication hopes to prove to what level and extent this can be applied to predictive modeling of artifact collections on battlefields - thus providing depth to the archaeological study of fields of conflict. Like investigations on the Little Bighorn battlefield, through use of wear analysis of the material remains of conflict, we can effectively tell the nuances of individual drill, practice and movement of people across a landscape; their drill actively mirroring subtleties in our understanding of interpretation. Taking the works of such writers and artists as Bariffe, de Gheyn and Ward, the author attempts to actively break down how individual and group drill will leave material remains and the archaeological means these might be taken down, but equally, this work also attempts to investigate and breach the subject of whether such manuals can also be used to dictate the survivability of 17th century fortifications - often within urban landscapes devoid of their civil war origins, as can be seen at Alton and Basing House. Theoretical in its nature and utilizing and combining elements of research not previously collaborated, The Arte Militaire is unique in not merely showing how military manuals were used, but rather how they can still be seen within the historical landscape.

The author's compilation of a unique register identifying those individual South Wales miners who served in the tunneling companies has allowed a remarkable story to be told. For the first time, the lives of individual South Wales miners are highlighted from pre-war mining days: their very personal contribution within the tunneling companies, to the resting places of those who did not survive the war - and, for the survivors, their ultimate dispatch home. The underlying theme is of an indefatigable band of men, together with like-minded miners from other British coalfields, asked to carry out multi-tasked duties associated with a form of military mining not foreseen prior to the outbreak of war. Before a major battle, these men constructed large underground dugouts to house troops away from enemy shell fire. In exploding huge mines under German lines immediately before the British attack, they aided the advancing infantry in causing death and confusion in the German lines. During the British advance in 1918, they became experts in the dangerous work of defusing enemy booby-traps, delay-action and landmines in front of the advancing troops. They showed all the resolution, fortitude and determination - if not sheer bloody-mindedness - to see the job through; so reminiscent of the miner at home struggling to earn a decent rate of pay in the most arduous of conditions. There was a price to pay... Details are given of the 207 miners who died whilst on active service and of how many others were repatriated after gunshot wounds, gas poisoning or ill-health. Accounts are given of miners entombed underground as a result of enemy explosions; medals awarded for acts of bravery when attempting to free trapped miners; and of those taken as prisoners of war when the enemy broke into British workings. Old men and young boys lied about their ages to gain acceptance into the tunneling companies - and suffered the harsh consequences. A unique investigation such as this not only acknowledges the miners' personal contribution as tunnelers, but also serves as a scholarly and novel addition to the existing literature concerning the history of the Great War, its tunneling companies, South Wales, its coalfield and the lives of its miners. There can be little doubt that this work will, in years to come, establish itself as a standard text in the history of military mining not only in a specific sense, but also as a work on the Great War in general.

-Published in cooperation with the Association of the United States Army.-

Towards a Wider War examines British policy, grand strategy, military operations and tactical execution in the critical period of the 'Phoney War' - culminating in Scandinavia and the forlorn campaign in Norway. Recognizing that political and military leaders rarely plan for failure, the work assesses the strengths and weaknesses of British performance in the last year of peace and during the first critical months of war. Fundamentally, major problems were evidenced across the spectrum of war, but perhaps the greatest failing demonstrated remained in the higher direction of war and the mismatch between avowed strategy and operational capability. Based on official and unofficial records - and a review of the existing secondary literature - Towards a Wider War offers a reasoned and balanced assessment of British war-making at the start of the Second World War. Following a summation of the actual experience of war, the work investigates and assesses the style and manner of Britain's higher direction of war and the effectiveness of each of the services at the strategic, operational and tactical levels of war - as well as their abilities to cooperate in the joint environment. Along the way, fresh insight is offered into the centrality of economic warfare in British planning; the place of the War Cabinet in executing oversight of the war; and the workings of the Chiefs of Staff Committee and the role of the Joint Planning Committee. Of the services, the Royal Navy was most prepared for war in a European theatre in 1939. Force structure alone made this so, yet German aggression against Poland demonstrated the limitations of maritime power. Both the British Army and the Royal Air Force were undergoing major expansion programs when war arose and, for the former, it was thought three years would be required before deficiencies were alleviated. Sustaining public support during the interim was by no means assured - and in the background stood the necessity to avoid another bloodletting on the Western Front. These factors loomed large in London in late 1939 and that Italy - a presumed belligerent - had opted for neutrality painted initial strategic plans false. Increasingly, Britain (and France) looked to defeat Germany by removing her access to those commodities that made modern warfare possible: petroleum, iron ore and finance. That it increasingly appeared Nazi Germany was allied to Communist Russia only made the problem of making war more vexing. Towards a Wider War offers a unique single-volume analysis of British war-making at the pivotal beginning of the Second World War when all remained to be won -- or lost -- in the far north.

On 6 June 1944 British, American, Canadian and French troops landed in Normandy by air and sea. This was one of the key moments of the Second World War, a long-anticipated invasion which would, ultimately, lead to the defeat of Nazi Germany. By the day's end a lodgment had been effected and Operation OVERLORD was being hailed as a success. In reality the assault had produced mixed results and at certain points along the French coastline the position was still far from certain. The key Allied objectives had also not been captured during the first day of the fighting and this failure would have long-term consequences. Of the priority targets, the city of Caen was a vital logistical hub with its road and rail networks plus it would also act as a critical axis for launching the anticipated follow-on attacks against the German defenders. As a result an entire brigade of British troops was tasked with attempting its capture but their advance culminated a few miles short. This new book examines this significant element of the wider D-Day operation and provides a narrative account of the operations conducted by 3 British Infantry Division. It examines in some detail the planning, preparation and the landings that were made on the beaches of Sword sector. To do this it considers the previously published material and also draws upon archival sources many of which have been previously overlooked to identify key factors behind the failure to capture the city. Its publication coincides with the 70th anniversary of the Allied liberation of France.

After the battle of Sedan on September 1, 1870 and the collapse of the Second Empire, followed by the investment of Paris, the Government of National Defence set about raising fresh armies. These had as their first objective the relief of the capital.

Addressing a historical period so far mostly ignored, this new work provides some examples of the many interesting and talented officers who exercised command during the Victorian Era.

Sir Henry Brackenbury is a now largely forgotten but extremely important soldier, writer, and administrator of the late Victorian era. To Lord Wolseley Brackenbury was "not one of but the cleverest man in the army" and "that first-rate man of business", to the conservative Duke of Cambridge he was "a very dangerous man" whilst King Edward VII remembered him as the man who "pulled the army out of a hole in South African". Born to a minor Lincolnshire landowning family of modest but comfortable means, and as the youngest son of a youngest son, it was always essential that Henry Brackenbury had a 'career'. Although initially studying for a career in the legal profession he was commissioned as a Lieutenant in the Royal Artillery in 1856.He saw active service during the Indian Mutiny, but after that he settled down into a series of administrative and teaching appointments within the Royal Artillery and as Professor of Military History at the Royal Military Academy Woolwich. Finding he had a considerable amount of spare time on his hands he was encouraged to write a history of the origins of artillery in Europe. With this he started an illustrious literary career which would see him produce five books alongside a large number of journal and newspaper articles. He had a simple narrative style alongside an ability to engage the more technical reader. Being of limited personal means the financial success of his literary work was extremely important.He worked for the National Aid Society on the continent during the Franco-Prussian War, and in 1872 he was asked by Garnet Wolseley to join his staff and accompany him to Ashantiland. This was the start of a long association as one of what would become known as the 'Wolseley Ring' that would see Brackenbury serve in Natal, Cyprus, Zululand and ultimately the Sudan where Brackenbury would lead the River Column and end the war by being promoted to Major-General.The reminder of his career saw him undertake three key administrative posts. As Head of the Intelligence Branch of the War Office, where he became a Chief of Staff in all but name. Later as Military Member of the Governor General of India where he combined the roles of a Chief of Staff and Secretary of State for War completely reforming the administrative and financial systems of the Indian Army and establishing the Indian Army's first mobilisation scheme. Finally as Director General of the Ordnance he had to deal with the large scale demands that the South African War placed on his department and him personally. His extremely interesting and significant military career has largely been overlooked until now. Alongside the private papers in the public domain the author has been granted unprecedented access to the private archives of the Brackenbury family and has viewed many letters of a more personal nature, and has been able to produce the first detailed biography of Sir Henry Brackenbury.

This is a biography of one of the most undervalued commanders of the Second World War, General Stanislaw Maczek, a soldier overlooked by most military historians in the West both because he was Polish and above politics.

Panzergrenadiers to the Front!"" is the first in-depth look at the enigmatic Panzergrenadier-Division 'Brandenburg' formation and its five-month combat career along the Eastern Front at the end of the Second World War.

""The End of Empire"" is a continuation of Nafziger's definitive military studies of the Napoleonic era beginning with the 1812 campaign and progressing through the 1813 campaign. Having suffered a massive reversal of fortunes in Russia Napoleon found himself confronted, in Germany, by the combined forces of Russia, Prussia, and Austria.

During World War II, Portugal played its cards uncommonly well as a neutral and subsequently became a member of NATO. This membership resulted in a modernizing of its navy and its integration into the Atlantic Alliance.

Few army chaplains had as varied a career during the First World War as the Reverend Benjamin O'Rorke. A regular army chaplain who had seen service in the Boer War he was mobilised with 54 other chaplains at the start of hostilities. He went to France with 4 Field Ambulance where he was taken prisoner by the Germans at the end of August 1914.

On 1 October 1990, hundreds of Banyarawanda militants that served with the Ugandan Army deserted their posts to form the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) and invade Rwanda. Thus began the Rwandan Civil War, which was to culminate in the famous genocide of nearly one million of Tutsi and moderate Hutus, in 1994.

In 1971, Idi Amin Dada, seized power in a military coup in Uganda. Characterized by human rights abuses, political repression, ethnic persecution, judicial killings, corruption and economic mismanagement, Amin's rule drove thousands into exile. With Tanzanian leader Julius Nyerere offering sanctuary to Uganda's ousted president, Milton Obote, Ugand

Confrontations between Libya, and the USA and France reached their highest point in the period between April 1986 and early 1989.

The first volume in this mini-series spanned the first decade of confrontations between Libya and several of its neighbors, but foremost the USA and France, between 1973 and 1985, the second is to cover the period of less than a year - between mid-1985 and March 1986, when this confrontation reached its first climax. Through mid and late 1985, rela

The journal of Prussian Major General Benno von Studnitz was originally published in 1891 in a very limited German language edition. Now, translated and edited by his great-grandson, the General's journal appears for the first time in English.