Libros

In August 1940, the Luftwaffe began an operation to destroy or neutralize RAF Fighter Command, and enable Hitler to invade Britain that autumn. It was a new type of air warfare: the first ever offensive counter-air campaign against an integrated air defence system. Powerful, combat-proven and (...)

In 1519, the Conquistador Hernán Cortés landed on the mainland of the Americas. His quest to serve God, win gold, and achieve glory drove him into the heartland of what is now Mexico, where no European had ever set foot before. He marched towards to the majestic city of Tenochtitlan, floating like (...)

Although the F-4 Phantom II was the most important fighter-bomber to see action with all three American services during the Vietnam War, it was essentially a US Navy design, and the carrier-borne squadron crews were its main operators in combat.The aircraft pioneered the use of long-range, (...)

In many ways, the Heinkel He 177 'Greif' (Griffon) was Nazi Germany's 'lost' strategic bomber. With some fundamental creases ironed out, and built in large numbers, the He 177 would have offered the Luftwaffe the means with which to carry out long-range, mass bombing attacks against targets of a (...)

Intended as a progressive development of the twin-engined Bf 110 Zerstoerer ('destroyer' or heavy fighter), the Me 210 first took to the air in September 1939. However, due to a lack of sufficient flight-testing before being declared service-ready, the Me 210 suffered from a less than satisfactory (...)

As 1794 opened, Revolutionary France stood on a knife's edge of failure. Its army and navy had been shaken by the revolution, with civil war and famine taking its toll on their resources. Seeking to bring a revitalizing supply of food from its Caribbean colonies and the United States, the French (...)

The siege of Constantinople in AD 717-18 was the supreme crisis of Western civilization.The Byzantine Empire had been reeling under the onslaught of Arabic imperialism since the death of the Prophet, whilst Jihadist armies had detached Syria, Palestine, Egypt, and Carthage from imperial control and (...)

The final months of Allied naval bombardments on the Home Islands during World War II have, for whatever reason, frequently been overlooked by historians. Yet the Allies' final naval campaign against Japan involved the largest and arguably most successful wartime naval fleet ever assembled, and was (...)

In 1938, the Yokosuka Naval Air Technical Arsenal, acting under the requirements issued by the Kaigun Koku Hombu for a Navy Experimental 13-Shi Carrier Borne specification for a dive-bomber to replace the venerable 'Val' aboard carriers. The resulting D4Y Suisei ('Comet'), codenamed 'Judy' by the (...)

This illustrated study explores, in detail, the RAF's first concentrated air campaign of World War II against one of the hardest and most important targets in Germany - the industrial heartland of the Ruhr that kept Hitler's war machine running.Between March and July 1943, RAF Bomber Command (...)

This superbly illustrated study explores the epic clashes of British and German heavy cruisers at the beginning of World War II.The opposing heavy cruisers of the German Kriegsmarine and the Royal Navy engaged in a global game of cat and mouse during the opening years of World War II. This was a (...)

In over 30 years of service, the Harrier has seen significant combat action for the British Royal Navy and the USMC: from the Falklands to Bosnia and Kosovo, from the First Gulf War to Afghanistan, the Harrier has played a key role. It has also seen service for Italy, Spain, and India. Distinctive (...)