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Botha, Smuts And The Great War

by Garcia Antonio Garcia e Van Der Waag Ian Van Der Waag

~~17,23€~~ 13,78€ 20% OFF

 In Botha, Smuts and the Great War 1914-1918 authors Antonio Garcia and Ian Van Der Waag conducted painstaking research in South Africa and the United Kingdom to produce this, first-of-a-kind volume on the wartime roles of South African prime minister, General Louis Botha and his deputy General Jan Smuts. These very different men appealed to different audiences. Botha’s nuance and emotional intelligence complemented Smuts’s intellectualism. Thrown into a world conflagration in August 1914 and facing internal rebellion and the threat posed by German troops on the borders, they led South Africa’s Union Defence Force. Both Botha and Smuts commanded in the field. Steadily, the South African army they commanded - benefiting from wartime training, sometimes in the field - gained resilience, experience, and battle-hardiness, adapting to the conditions of the campaigns and the demands of the tasks. South Africa’s campaigns were complex and divergent, starting with the invasion of neighbouring German South West Africa - to neutralise enemy radio stations and so aid the security of the South Atlantic. Suddenly suspended following the outbreak of the Afrikaner Rebellion, the campaign recommenced in January 1915. Following its conclusion, an infantry brigade, raised for Western Front service, was diverted to Egypt before facing near annihilation at Delville Wood. Simultaneously, a large South African force, fighting alongside British, African and Indian forces, overcame German resistance in East Africa whilst a brigade of field artillery and later the Cape Corps served in Egypt and Palestine. Moreover, approximately 6,500 South Africans served in the British Army, Royal Flying Corps/Royal Air Force and in the Royal Navy. Although lionised during the war by a British public hungry for heroes, there is a different side to Botha and Smuts. Shunned by Afrikaner nationalists at the time, they have remained divisive figures. Responsible for the enactment of the Land Act of 1913, which shaped South Africa’s socio-economic and political landscape. Botha’s statues in Cape Town, Durban and Pretoria were vandalised on a number of occasions between 2015 and 2022, and there were recent calls for Smuts’s statues to be removed. Behind Botha’s charming, attractive façade, and Smuts’s stoic machine, were two very human, imperfect, and quite probably inconsiderate, men. Together they provide a wonderful lens through which to examine the potent forces of the early twentieth-century world and the country they hoped to forge. Myopic compatriots had constrained their plans; but it was the outbreak of war in 1914 that offered the most significant opportunities and brought the most adverse challenges. They fought insurmountable odds, and achieved great victories, at home and abroad, but also made startling errors and, ultimately, in classical fashion risked being crushed by the weight of the world they tried to create.
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Piercing The Fog Of War - The Theory And Practice Of Command In The British And German Armies, 1918-1940

by Samuels Martin Samuels

~~23,78€~~ 19,02€ 20% OFF

 Since the late 1970s, anglophone and German military literature has been fascinated by the Wehrmacht‘s command system, especially the practice of Auftragstaktik. There have been many descriptions of the doctrine, and examinations of its historical origins, as well as unflattering comparisons with the approaches of the British and American armies prior to their adoption of Mission Command in the late 1980s. Almost none of these, however, have sought to understand the different approaches to command in the context of a fundamental characteristic of warfare - friction. This would be like trying to understand flight, without any reference to aerodynamics. Inherently flawed, yet this is the norm in the military literature. This book seeks to address that gap. First, the nature of friction, and the potential command responses to it, are considered. This allows the development of a typology of eight command approaches; each approach then being tested to identify its relative effectiveness and requirements for success. Second, the British and German armies’ doctrines of command during the period are examined, in order to reveal similarities and differences in relation to their perspective on the nature of warfare and the most appropriate responses. The experience of Erwin Rommel, both as a young subaltern fighting the Italians in 1917, and then as a newly-appointed divisional commander against the French in 1940, is used to test the expression of the German doctrine in practice. Third, the interaction of these different command doctrines is explored in case studies of two key armoured battles, Amiens in August 1918 and Arras in May 1940, allowing the strengths and weaknesses of each to be highlighted and the typology to be tested. The result is intended to offer a new and deeper understanding of both the nature of command as a response to friction, and the factors that need to be in place in order to allow a given command approach to achieve success. The book therefore in two ways represents a sequel to the author’s earlier work, Command or Control? Command, Training and Tactics in the British and German Armies, 1888-1918 (London: Cass, 1995), in that it both takes the conceptual model of command developed there to a deeper level, and also takes the story from the climax of 1918 up to the end of the first phase of the Second World War.
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Fighting Vichy From Horseback - British Mounted Cavalry In Action, Syria 1941

by Washington Jonathan Washington

~~19,88€~~ 15,90€ 20% OFF

 This book starts with the story of a division that was never intended to fight; the British I Cavalry Division in World War Two. It was composed almost exclusively of yeomanry horsemen from Britain''s Territorial Army - a force that had been ignored by Whitehall''s military reforms since 1920. One of their only upgrades in the 20th century had been the upgrade from leather saber grips to rubber. When war came in 1939 the only plans that existed for them were to duly mobilize with horses compulsorily purchased from the civilian population. This combination of territorials and civilian horses of unknown pedigree impressed no-one at first. Even today, outside regimental histories and war diaries, its fighting contribution is barely credited. Yet in May 1941, an incongruous saga of deception, desperation and reinvention, saw British horsemen advancing into Syria on Operation "Exporter", with each patrol''s point man nervously clutching his rubber-gripped saber. The leading patrols were soon under fire, and an entire regiment was swimming the Litani river, with some elements taking on aircraft. Incredibly, by the end of the campaign, these horsemen had proved themselves so effective that the British had completely rewritten their doctrine for mounted cavalry. That the horsemen were able to adapt and overcome in 1941, mounted throughout the campaign as they were, is one of the most remarkable aspects of their saga. The fact that they were ever mobilized as cavalry is probably the second. Ever since the reorganization of the reserve forces in 1920, the yeomanry had been theoretically destined for mechanization. When war broke out in September 1939 the vehicles and training had still not materialized and these yeomanry were fit for very little; over half the troopers were townsmen who had never ridden before joining in April 1939. Any doubts the authorities may have had about the division''s unsuitability for active service must have been confirmed by the odyssey of train, ferry and alcohol that saw the 7,800 horses and men out to Palestine, losing each other at various stages along the way. One stranded yeomen locked himself and his charger in a railway waiting room with brandy until help came. Yet this was the force that was ear-marked to garrison Palestine. To Churchill''s eyes they were an anachronism. He fumed about their very existence, fulminating that these regiments deserved a "man''s part in this war". He personally took to task those responsible for still maintaining horsed soldiers. However his subordinates willfully deceived him and continued to maintain a cavalry arm to protect the northern border of Middle East command. The story behind these clashing mindsets is as much a part of I Cavalry Division''s story as their deeds in Syria. The historiography of cavalry ...
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Battle Of Megiddo - Palestine 1918

by Osborne Eric W. Osborne

~~17,23€~~ 13,78€ 20% OFF

 The Battle of Megiddo was not only the last large cavalry offensive in world history, but also a tribute to combined arms operations fostered over the course of the First World War. Fought between 19-25 September 1918, it was the final Allied offensive of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. The contending forces were the British Empire’s EEF (Egyptian Expeditionary Force) of three infantry and one mounted corps pitted against the Ottoman-German Yildirim Army Group which numbered three weak armies with the approximate total strength of a single enemy corps. Comparable to what General Erich von Ludendorff called the ‘Black Day’ of the German Army (opening of the Battle of Amiens, 8 August 1918) on the Western Front, the complete Ottoman defeat would have been impossible without the application of superior logistics. Whilst Megiddo did not determine the outcome of the war in the Middle East, the ramifications of the victory decisively shaped the post-war world in the region.
ENGLISH

War Of The Wind

by Victoria Williamson

~~12,16€~~ 9,73€ 20% OFF

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 A thrilling new adventure story with delightfully diverse disability representation. Set on a remote Scottish island, War of the Wind introduces us to a cast of characters with additional support needs. It is simultaneously a page-turning eco-thriller about government testing gone wrong and a heartwarming celebration of our differences.
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In Our Time - Continuing The Story Of The Leicester Drama Society

~~26,97€~~ 21,58€ 20% OFF

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 This book looks behind the scenes at the work of the Society over the last fifty years... the productions, personalities and problems overcome through the years, including the recent pandemic.
Turret Versus Broadside - An Anatomy Of British Naval Prestige, Revolution And Disaster 1860-1870

by Howard J. Fuller

~~47,32€~~ 37,86€ 20% OFF

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 A sweeping, in-depth examination of the legendary naval controversy which shook the Victorian Royal Navy and climaxed in the foundering of HMS Captain in 1870.
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Eagles Over Husky - The Allied Air Forces In The Sicilian Campaign, 14 May To 17 August 1943

by Fitzgerald-Black Alexander Fitzgerald-Black

~~27,81€~~ 22,25€ 20% OFF

 The Allied Air Forces in the Sicilian Campaign 14 May to 17 August 1943. 32 b/w images, 4 b/w maps, 10 tables
ENGLISH

Prelude To Berlin - The Red Army'S Offensive Operations In Poland And Eastern Germany, 1945

by Soviet General Staff

~~60,83€~~ 48,66€ 20% OFF

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 Prelude to Berlin offers a panoramic view of the Soviet strategic offensives north of the Carpathians in the winter of 1945.
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Enduring The Whirlwind - The German Army And The Russo-German War 1941-1943

by Gregory Liedtke

~~33,80€~~ 27,04€ 20% OFF

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 Many aspects of the ferocious struggle between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union during the Second World War remain obscure or shrouded in myth, this book hopes to address this.
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Monty'S Functional Doctrine - Combined Arms Doctrine In British 21st Army Group In Northwest Europe, 1944â€“45

by Charles Forrester

~~54,01€~~ 43,21€ 20% OFF

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 Using a combination of new perspectives and new evidence, this book presents a reinterpretation of how 21st Army Group produced a successful combined arms doctrine by late 1944 and implemented this in early 1945.
Eagles Over Husky - The Allied Air Forces In The Sicilian Campaign, 14 May To 17 August 1943

by Alexander Fitzgerald-Black

~~47,32€~~ 37,86€ 20% OFF

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 The Allied Air Forces in the Sicilian Campaign 14 May to 17 August 1943. 32 b/w images, 4 b/w maps, 10 tables
ENGLISH

Enduring The Whirlwind - The German Army And The Russo-German War 1941-1943

by Liedtke Gregory Liedtke

~~19,86€~~ 15,89€ 20% OFF

 Many aspects of the ferocious struggle between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union during the Second World War remain obscure or shrouded in myth, this book hopes to address this.
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From Tobruk To Tunis - The Impact Of Terrain On British Operations And Doctrine In North Africa, 1940-1943

by Dando Neal Dando

~~23,84€~~ 19,07€ 20% OFF

 This book focuses on the extent to which the physical terrain features across Egypt, Libya and Tunisia affected British operations throughout the campaign in North Africa during the Second World War. One main theme of the work analyses the terrain from the operational and tactical perspective and argues that the landscape features heavily influenced British operations and should now be considered alongside other standard military factors. The work differs from previous studies in that it considers these additional factors for the entire campaign until the Axis surrender in May 1943. Until now it has been widely assumed that much of the Western Desert coastal plateau was a broadly level, open region in which mobile armored operations were paramount. However this work concentrates on the British operations to show they were driven by the need to capture and hold key features across each successive battlefield. At the operational level planning was led by the need to hold key ground across Libya and especially the province of Cyrenaica during the crucial middle period of the campaign. A secondary theme of the work argues that British forces began to improvise certain tactical doctrines, which altered the early practice of combined arms assaults into one of the Infantry and Armored formations fighting largely separated battles until the autumn of 1942. Other developments in doctrine which were affected by the terrain included the practice of unit dispersal to hold key ground and the use of temporary units such as Jock columns to harass and engage the enemy. The two themes are inter-linked and contribute fresh insights to the debate on British methods of warfare. The author has consulted key primary documents, reports, war diaries and published memoirs, from major UK archives and compared these with the campaign historiography to develop the main themes of the work. These include the National Archives, the Churchill Archives Center, the Liddell-Hart Center for Military History, the National Army Museum, John Rylands Center, Imperial War Museum at London and Duxford and London and the Tank Museum Archives at Bovington. The sources include unit war diaries, after action reports, along with many of the key published and some unpublished memoirs. His text is supported by 24 pages of specially commissioned color maps.
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Monty'S Functional Doctrine - Combined Arms Doctrine In British 21st Army Group In Northwest Europe, 1944-45

by Forrester Charles Forrester

~~19,86€~~ 15,89€ 20% OFF

 Using a combination of new perspectives and new evidence, this book presents a reinterpretation of how 21st Army Group produced a successful combined arms doctrine by late 1944 and implemented this in early 1945.
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Courage Without Glory - The British Army On The Western Front 1915

~~40,49€~~ 32,39€ 20% OFF

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 The experience of the British Army during 1915 through a series of thematic essays.
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Operation Market Garden - The Campaign For The Low Countries, Autumn 1944: Seventy Years On

by Buckley John Buckley e Preston-Hough Peter Preston-Hough

~~23,84€~~ 19,07€ 20% OFF

 In September 1944 the Western Allies mounted an audacious attempt to seize a crossing over the Rhine into Germany in a bid to end the Second World War quickly. Yet despite the deployment of thousands of American, British and Polish airborne troops, in conjunction with the efforts of ground forces to link up with them, ultimately at Arnhem in the Netherlands, the plan failed spectacularly and the war continued well into 1945. Famously depicted in the blockbuster film A Bridge Too Far (1977) the operation, code named Market Garden, has attained iconic status and is the subject of countless books, documentaries and articles, and is subjected to more speculation than almost any other Allied operation of the war. After 70 years it is time to reevaluate the importance, impact and outcome of Market Garden, alongside a wider reappraisal of the fighting in the Low Countries in the autumn of 1944. This collection of essays addresses such questions as: • Why did Market Garden take place? • Why did it fail? • What were the consequences of the operation? • How did it impact on the experience of war in the Low Countries in 1944? • How and why has it been depicted, studied and commemorated in the years since 1944? • How did Market Garden fit into the overall campaign in the Low Countries in the autumn of 1944? Operation Market Garden: The Campaign for the Low Countries, Autumn 1944: Seventy Years On is the result of a major international conference held at the University of Wolverhampton in September 2014. The contributors are drawn from a body of historians, military professionals and researchers who met to reevaluate these questions after the passage of 70 years. It highlights many new areas of interest and forces us to rethink our understanding of this pivotal period of the Second World War.
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What Went Wrong In Afghanistan? - Understanding Counter-Insurgency Efforts In Tribalized Rural And Muslim Environments

by Gurcan Metin Gurcan

~~15,89€~~ 12,71€ 20% OFF

 Since 20 December 2001 - the date which marked the authorization of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) to assist the Afghan Government - hundreds of thousands of coalition soldiers from around 50 different states have physically been and served in Afghanistan. Roughly 20 rotation periods have been experienced; billions of US dollars have been spent; and almost 3,500 coalition soldiers and 7,400 Afghani security personnel have fallen for Afghanistan. In this badly-managed success story, the true determiner of both tactical outcomes on the ground and strategic results was always the tribal and rural parts of Muslim-populated Afghanistan. Although there has emerged a vast literature on counterinsurgency theories and tactics, we still lack reliable information about the motivations and aspirations of the residents of Tribalised Rural Muslim Environments (TRMEs) that make up most of Afghanistan. The aim of this book is to describe some on-the-ground problems of counterinsurgency (COIN) efforts in TRMEs - specifically in rural Afghanistan - and then to propose how these efforts might be improved. Along the way, it will be necessary to challenge many current assumptions about the conduct of counterinsurgency in Afghanistan. Most generally, the book will show how counterinsurgency succeeds or fails at the local level (at the level of tactical decisions by small-unit leaders) and that these decisions cannot be successful without understanding the culture and perspective of those who live in TRMEs. Although engaging issues of culture, the author is not an anthropologist or an academic of any kind. He is a Muslim who spent his childhood in a TRME - a remote village in Turkey - and he offers his observations on the basis of 15 years'' worth of field experience as a Turkish Special Forces officer serving in rural Iraq, Turkey, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Afghanistan. Cultures in these areas are not the same, but there are sufficient similarities to suggest some overall characteristics of TRMEs and some general problems of COIN efforts in these environments. In summary, this book not only challenges some of the fundamentals of traditional counterinsurgency wisdom and emphasizes the importance of the tactical level - a rarely-studied field from the COIN perspective - but also blends the firsthand field experiences of the author with deep analyses. In this sense, it is not solely an autobiography, but something much more.
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Flight Plan Africa - Portuguese Airpower In Counterinsurgency, 1961-1974

by Cann John P. Cann e John P. Cann

~~23,84€~~ 19,07€ 20% OFF

 Following the 1952 reorganization of the Portuguese Air Force from the army and naval air arms, Portugal now had an entity dedicated solely to aviation that would bring it into line with its new NATO commitment. As it proceeded to develop a competence in modern multiengine and jet fighter aircraft for its NATO role and train a professional corps of pilots, it was suddenly confronted in 1961 with fighting insurgencies in all three of its African possessions. This development forced it to acquire an entirely new and separate air force, the African air force, to address this emerging danger. This is the story of just how Portuguese leadership anticipated and dealt with this threat, and how it assembled an air force from scratch to meet it. The aircraft available at the time were largely castoffs from the larger, richer, and more sophisticated air forces of its NATO partners and not designed for counterinsurgency. Yet Portugal adapted them to the task and effectively crafted the appropriate strategies and tactics for their successful employment. The book explores the vicissitudes of procurement, an exercise fraught with anti-colonial political undercurrents, the imaginative modification and adaptation of the aircraft to fight in the African theaters, and the development of tactics, techniques, and procedures for their effective employment against an elusive, clever, and dangerous enemy. Advances in weaponry, such as the helicopter gun ship, were the outgrowth of combat needs. The acquired logistic competences assured that the needed fuel types and lubricants, spare parts, and qualified maintenance personnel were available in even the most remote African landing sites. The advanced flying skills, such as visual reconnaissance and air-ground coordinated fire support, were honed and perfected. All of these aspects and more are explored and hold lessons in the application of airpower in any insurgency today.
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'Theirs Not To Reason Why' - Horsing The British Army 1875-1925

by Winton Graham Winton

~~27,81€~~ 22,25€ 20% OFF

 This book provides the first comprehensive study of the British Army's use of horses between 1875-1925, including their use in the 1899-1902 Anglo-Boer and the Great War 1914-1918.
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Under Most Trying And Difficult Circumstances - The Actions Of The 59th (2nd North Midland) Division 1914-1918

by Nigel Atter

~~33,80€~~ 27,04€ 20% OFF

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Tanks In Unexpected Places - The Fighting Effectiveness Of 4th (Independent) Armoured Brigade 1943-45

by Jonny Briggs

~~47,32€~~ 37,86€ 20% OFF

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Spreading Ink Blots From Da Nang To The Dmz - The Origins And Implementation Of Us Marine Corps Counterinsurgency Strategy In Vietnam, March 1965 To November 1968

by David Strachan-Morris

~~33,80€~~ 27,04€ 20% OFF

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The Doctrine Of The British Army - The Conception & Implementation Of Field Service Regulations In The British Army 1900-1918

by David Keable-Elliott

~~47,32€~~ 37,86€ 20% OFF

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