Osprey

During the 14th and 15th centuries military tactics in Europe underwent a period of sustained transformation of which the outcome was the rejuvenation of the footsoldier as the major tactical unit. One nation alone stands principally responsible for this development - the Swiss Confederation. For (...)

Orville and Wilbur Wright, two bicycle-making brothers from Dayton, Ohio, secured their place as the most famous names in aviation history when, on December 17, 1903, they made the first powered, controlled, and sustained heavier-than-air flight. But their success over the cold and windswept (...)

Adopted from the Celts in the 1st century BC, the spatha, a lethal and formidable chopping blade, became the primary sword of the Roman soldier in the Later Empire. Over the following centuries, the blade, its scabbard, and its system of carriage underwent a series of developments, until by the 3rd (...)

A fully illustrated overview of the USSR's bloody conflict in Afghanistan and its long legacy.The Soviet invasion of its neighbour Afghanistan in December 1979 sparked a nine-year conflict until Soviet forces withdrew in 1988 89, dooming the communist Afghanistan government to defeat at the hands (...)

A highly illustrated history of the Wars of the Roses based on the medieval art of Graham Turner.The period of civil strife in the second half of the 15th century now known as the Wars of the Roses was one of the most dramatic and tumultuous in English history.Since first being inspired by a visit (...)