Books

The Dornier Do 217 represented the refinement of German twin-engined bomber design, a progression from the earlier Do 17. From 1941, the Do 217 became the mainstay of the Luftwaffe's bomber arm in the West, equipping four Gruppen for operations over Britain. It carried out day and night attacks on British shipping, coastal targets, towns and industrial centres, both in formation and in lone attacks known to the German crews as 'Pirate' operations. These missions, though achieving some success, w...

This book covers the design, development, production and operational service of the Vickers Wellington from before the Second World War through to the 1950s. The aircraft and crews served with great distinction from the start to the end of the Second World War despite heavy losses. The aircraft was operated by Bomber Command until replaced by the bigger four engine heavy bombers, and played a major part in the Mediterranean Theatre. Its versatility was show with maritime operations against the U...

The key naval battles against Imperial Japan in the Pacific during the Second World War have been described many times by numerous diligent and skilful historians. Such histories are, of course, the products of many years, even decades, of accumulated knowledge, but also of a received consensus of how the war played out to its, seemingly, inevitable conclusion. That of course is not how it was perceived at the time. These accounts can never be superseded and never replaced. Written by naval offi...

When the Second World War ended in 1945 the Soviets had numerous conventional anti-aircraft guns and piston engine fighters in service but with the rapid advances of aviation technology much of this was facing obsolescence. Worse, the war-ravaged country was facing new challenges as the end of the war did not bring a time of universal peace but instead a new rivalry with the West in a Cold War, which could at any time turn hot both figuratively and literally. Western competitors for world domina...

In 1975, Lieutenant Commander Valeriy Sablin led his crew in a mutiny on the Soviet warship Storozhevoy. The ship was then located in Riga, Soviet Latvia. Sablin’s avowed intention was to foment a new communist revolution by taking the warship to Leningrad, where he expected to receive the support of the navy and the masses. However, the Soviet leadership thought that Sablin intended to defect to Sweden, bringing with him a warship of modern design with all its armaments, electronics, communicat...

The scope of World War II Snipers is extensive, with three chapters each on the major theatres of the war including Western Europe, Eastern Europe and the Pacific. These are supported by a lengthy chapter on the sniper rifles used by the snipers and their equipment. Finally, the last chapter discusses many overlooked or ignored subjects not raised by other researchers and provides much food for thought.

This is the story of a tank regiment: the 2nd Fife and Forfar Yeomanry in the Second World War. Raw and visceral personal recollections from the men themselves recall some of the most dramatic and horrific scenes imaginable - the sheer nerve-wracking tension of serving in highly inflammable Sherman tanks, the sudden impact of German shells, the desperate scramble to bail out, and the awful fate of those who couldn't. Even if they made it out of the tank, they were still vulnerable to being bruta...

Smashing Hitler's Guns is a ground-breaking new history of the legendary Rangers' attack on Pointe-du-Hoc. The Ranger attack on the German gun batteries at Pointe-du-Hoc in the early morning hours of D-Day is the stuff of legend. The gun batteries were strategically positioned between the two American D-Day landing beaches, and were considered the main threat to the Operation Neptune landings.

This vivid narrative history tells the full story of the US Air Force's involvement in the wars in the air over Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. The involvement of the US Air Force in the Southeast Asian Wars began in 1962 with crews sent to train Vietnamese pilots, and with conflict in Laos, and finally ended in 1972 with the B-52 bombing of Hanoi, though there were Air Force pilots unofficially flying combat in Laos up to the end in 1975. The missions flown by USAF aircrews during those years in So...

In 1940, the skies over Britain were full of dogfighting aircraft as RAF pilots fought to repel the might of the German Luftwaffe. The history of the battle has been recounted many times, but this book offers a new approach, through razor-sharp contemporary imagery of restored Battle of Britain warbirds, combined with extensive archive material that is previously unpublished. The unique illustrations, many of which are drawn from John Dibbs Battle of Britain restored image archive and other pers...

This important new reference work details all those ships and vessels of the Royal Navy, large and small, which were lost by accident or enemy action, during the twentieth century, from the end of the First World War, to the last years of the century. In all, the fates of over 2,000 ships and small craft are covered, from aircraft carriers and battleships to motor launches, harbour tenders and tugs. Those vessels hired or purchased for wartime service, such as trawlers, paddle steamers and yacht...

Master modeller Per Olav Lund displays a dozen of his incredible projects in this 128-page book, ranging from the ice-cold Arctic to Sci-Fi, with World War One and civilian scenes in between. Although this is not a traditional step-by-step book, each build is lavishly illustrated to explain the techniques and build sequences involved.