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From Boulogne to Austerlitz – Napoleon’s Campaign of 1805 (Special Campaigns Series #17)
by Lt.-Colonel Reginald G. BurtonThis ebook is purpose built and is proof-read and re-type set from the original to provide an outstanding experience of reflowing text for an ebook reader. A short but very useful account of Napoleon's most brilliant campaign as Emperor, culminating in smashing the Third Coalition against France. Lt.-Col. Burton dispenses with the extraneous elements and focuses primarily on the actions of Napoleon as he guides his troops from Boulogne, where they have been training for an invasion of Britain, to face his Austrian and Russian foes across the Rhine. Another excellent volume in the Special Campaigns series produced around the turn of the 20th century by serving or recently retired British and Indian Army officers. Lt.-Col. Burton wrote a number of books on Napoleon's campaigns for the series and was an acknowledged expert on the era. He applies his expert eye to the lightning moves of the Emperor, contrasted by the lumbering vacillations of his opponents. Title - From Boulogne to Austerlitz - Napoleon's Campaign of 1805 Series Name - Special Campaigns Series Series Number -- 17 Author -- Lt.-Colonel Reginald G. Burton (Indian Army) (1864-1923) Text taken, whole and complete, from the edition published in 1912, London, by George Allen and Co. Ltd. Original - 105 pages. Illustrations - eight maps and plans.
From Buchenwald to Carnegie Hall (Willie Morris Books in Memoir and Biography)
by Charles Patterson Marian FilarBefore the Nazis sent members of the Filar family to Treblinka, these were the last words Marian Filar's mother said to him: “I bless you. You'll survive this horror. You'll become a great pianist, and I'll be very proud of you.” Born in 1917 into a musical Jewish family in Warsaw, Filar began playing the piano when he was four. He performed his first public concert at the age of six. At twelve he played with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra and went on to study with the great Polish pianist and teacher Zbigniew Drzewiecki at the State Conservatory of Music. After the German invasion, Filar fled to Lemberg (Lvov), where he continued his music studies until 1941, when he returned to his family in the Warsaw Ghetto. The Nazis killed his parents, a sister, and a brother, but he and his brother Joel survived as workers on the German railroad. After taking part in the Warsaw Ghetto uprising, Marian and Joel were captured and sent to Majdanek, Buchenwald, and other concentration camps. After liberation Filar was able to resume his career by studying with the renowned German pianist Walter Gieseking. In 1950 he immigrated to the United States and soon after was performing concerts with Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphia Orchestra. He made his Carnegie Hall debut on New Year's Day, 1952. He became head of the piano department at the Settlement Music School in Philadelphia and later a professor of music at Temple University, while continuing to perform in Europe, South America, Israel, and the United States. Filar does not end his story with liberation but with the fulfillment of his mother's blessing. Without rancor or bitterness, his memoir comes full circle, ending where it began—in Warsaw. In 1992 Filar traveled to Poland to visit the school next to what had once been the Umschlagplatz, the place from which Jews had been sent to Treblinka and where he said farewell to the mother who blessed him.
From Bullets to Ballots: The Transformation of Rebel Groups into Political Parties (Democratization Special Issues)
by John IshiyamaIn recent years, an increasing amount of research has argued that the successful transformation of rebel organization into parties is critical to stable post-conflict peace and democratization. However, the process of the transformation of rebel groups into parties is not well understood. Under what conditions do rebel groups transform into parties? Or into something else? What are the causal mechanisms that lead to the "successful" transformation of rebel groups into political parties? Does the transformation of rebel groups into parties actually contribute to political stability and democratization? How does transformation differ from region to region? The chapters in this book directly address these questions, and include a combination of broader theoretical and empirical chapters coupled with several in depth case studies by some of the most notable scholars in the field. It should prove indispensable to students of both civil wars, post-conflict peace, and political parties. This book was originally published as a special issue of Democratization.
From Bullies to Officers and Gentlemen: How Notions of Professionalism and Civility Transformed the Ghana Armed Forces
by Humphrey Asamoah AgyekumBased on unprecedented access to the Ghanaian military barracks and inspired by the recent resurgence of coups in West Africa, Agyekum assesses why and how the Ghana Armed Forces were transformed from an organization that actively orchestrated coups into an institution that accepts the authority of the democratically elected civilian government. Focusing on the process of professionalization of the Ghanaian military, this ethnography based monograph examines both historical and contemporary themes, and assesses the shift in military personnel from ‘Buga Buga’ soldiers – uneducated, lower-class soldiers, human rights abusers – to a more ‘modern’ fighting force.
From Byron to bin Laden: A History of Foreign War Volunteers
by Nir ArielliWhat makes people fight for countries other than their own? Nir Arielli offers a wide-ranging history of foreign-war volunteers, from the French Revolution to Syria. Challenging notions of foreign fighters as a security problem, Arielli explores motivations, ideology, gender, international law, military significance, and the memory of war.
From Cadet To Colonel: The Record Of A Life Of Active Service Vol. I (From Cadet To Colonel: The Record Of A Life Of Active Service #1)
by Major-Gen. Sir Thomas Seaton K.C.B.At the tender age of 16 Thomas Seaton took up a cadestship in the East India Company in 1822, and waved farewell to his native London for a career of soldiering in India. He was to spend most of his life in the Indian sub-continent and its border regions, at the sharp end of the expansion of the British Empire.Plunged into a new world of sights and scenes of India Lieutenant Seaton of the 35th Native Infantry had little time to adjust before beginning his first major campaign at the bloody siege of the siege of Bhurtpore. A few years later, he was part of the very unsuccessful British incursion into Afghanistan in 1842, his memoirs as one of the besieged in Jalalabad are among the best that have ever been written. A decade later, as the first signs of Great Mutiny among were noticed among the native troops, Seaton's superiors ordered him from his sick bed to take command of the 60th Native Infantry, a regiment that was known to be close to open revolt, despite Seaton's dest efforts the 60th mutinied and their British officers barely escaped with their lives. Seaton served with distinction at the siege of Delhi and after the fall of the city was sent with reinforcements to the beleagured Fatehgarh. In command of the forces that would soon be outnumbered, Colonel Seaton determined on a brave course of action; a night march followed by a surprize attack on the rebels. Colonel Seaton smashed the rebel troops leaving the entire area free from their influence. In this brilliant action he and his men "had marched, out and home, forty-four miles, had fought an action, defeating the enemy with considerable loss, and capturing their guns, ammunition, tents, stores, and baggage, and they had returned home safely with the captured guns, without leaving behind a single straggler, and, in spite of the tremendous heat, doing all in a little over twenty-two hours.". A fine action packed memoir filled with vignettes and anecdotes of the British Raj.
From Cadet To Colonel: The Record Of A Life Of Active Service Vol. II (From Cadet To Colonel: The Record Of A Life Of Active Service #2)
by Major-Gen. Sir Thomas Seaton K.C.B.At the tender age of 16 Thomas Seaton took up a cadestship in the East India Company in 1822, and waved farewell to his native London for a career of soldiering in India. He was to spend most of his life in the Indian sub-continent and its border regions, at the sharp end of the expansion of the British Empire.Plunged into a new world of sights and scenes of India Lieutenant Seaton of the 35th Native Infantry had little time to adjust before beginning his first major campaign at the bloody siege of the siege of Bhurtpore. A few years later, he was part of the very unsuccessful British incursion into Afghanistan in 1842, his memoirs as one of the besieged in Jalalabad are among the best that have ever been written. A decade later, as the first signs of Great Mutiny among were noticed among the native troops, Seaton's superiors ordered him from his sick bed to take command of the 60th Native Infantry, a regiment that was known to be close to open revolt, despite Seaton's dest efforts the 60th mutinied and their British officers barely escaped with their lives. Seaton served with distinction at the siege of Delhi and after the fall of the city was sent with reinforcements to the beleagured Fatehgarh. In command of the forces that would soon be outnumbered, Colonel Seaton determined on a brave course of action; a night march followed by a surprize attack on the rebels. Colonel Seaton smashed the rebel troops leaving the entire area free from their influence. In this brilliant action he and his men "had marched, out and home, forty-four miles, had fought an action, defeating the enemy with considerable loss, and capturing their guns, ammunition, tents, stores, and baggage, and they had returned home safely with the captured guns, without leaving behind a single straggler, and, in spite of the tremendous heat, doing all in a little over twenty-two hours.". A fine action packed memoir filled with vignettes and anecdotes of the British Raj.
From Calais to Colditz: A Rifleman's Memoir of Captivity and Escape
by Philip PardoeFrom Calais to Colditz has never been published before but readers will surely agree that the wait has been worthwhile. The author was a young platoon commander when his battalion were ordered by Prime Minister Winston Churchill to defend Calais to the last man and so distract German attention from the evacuation of the BEF at Dunkirk.After an intense four day battle, the survivors were subjected to a gruelling twelve day march towards Germany. There followed incarceration in a succession of POW camps during which the author succeeded in escaping twice, both over the wire and by tunnelling, remaining at large on one occasion for twelve days. These exploits qualified him for a place in the notorious Colditz Castle, the supposed escape-proof camp. The descriptions of his colourful fellow prisoners, their captors and their extraordinary experiences are as good as any of the previous accounts and in many respects more revealing.How fortunate it is that From Calais to Colditz can now be read by a wide audience.
From Captives to Consuls: Three Sailors in Barbary and Their Self-Making across the Early American Republic, 1770-1840 (Studies in Early American Economy and Society from the Library Company of Philadelphia)
by Brett GoodinHow three white, non-elite American sailors turned their experiences of captivity into diverse career opportunities—and influenced America's physical, commercial, ideological, and diplomatic development.Winner of the John Lyman Book Award by the North American Society for Oceanic HistoryFrom 1784 to 1815, hundreds of American sailors were held as "white slaves" in the North African Barbary States. In From Captives to Consuls, Brett Goodin vividly traces the lives of three of these men—Richard O'Brien, James Cathcart, and James Riley—from the Atlantic coast during the American Revolution to North Africa, from Philadelphia to the Louisiana Territories, and finally to the western frontier. This first scholarly biography of American captives in Barbary sifts through their highly curated writings to reveal how ordinary individuals in extraordinary circumstances could maneuver through and contribute to nation building in early America, all the while advancing their own interests. The three subjects of this collective biography both reflected and helped refine evolving American concepts of liberty, identity, race, masculinity, and nationhood. Time and again, Goodin reveals, O'Brien, Cathcart, and Riley uncovered opportunities in their adversity. They variously found advantage first in the Revolution as privateers, then in captivity by writing bestselling captivity narratives and successfully framing their ordeal as a qualification for coveted government employment. They even used their modest fame as ex-captives to become diplomats, get elected to state legislatures, and survey the nation's territorial expansions in the South and West. Their successful self-interested pursuit of opportunities offered by the expanding American empire, Goodin argues, constitutes what he calls "the invisible hand of American nation building."Goodin shows how these ordinary men, lacking the genius of a Benjamin Franklin or Alexander Hamilton, depended on sheer luck and adaptability in their quest for financial independence and public recognition. Drawing on archival collections, newspapers, private correspondence, and government documents, From Captives to Consuls sheds new light on the significance of ordinary individuals in guiding early American ideas of science, international relations, and what it meant to be a self-made man.
From Chauffeur to Brigadier
by Brig.-Gen. C. D. Baker-CarrOriginally published in 1930, these are the remarkable memoirs of Brigadier General Christopher D'Arcy Bloomfield Saltern Baker-Carr (1878-1949), a British Army staff officer who went on to rise through the ranks to become an important military commander during World War I.His account begins in August 1914 with his departure for the front in France and concludes four years later with his experiences at his last headquarters, situated in a small town in northern France, Caudry.“It was my unique privilege during the Great War to be closely associated with the development and organisation of the most important defensive weapon, the machine gun, and of the most important offensive weapon, the tank.“Today, perhaps, it will seem incredible that the High Command failed to appreciate the true value of the machine gun and the tank in the early stages of their development. It will seem even more incredible that, at a later period, it was necessary to scheme and struggle against official lukewarmness, at times almost indistinguishable from hostility, in order to secure the increase in the numbers of these arms, which, as was evident to everybody else, had proved themselves to be the greatest preservers of life yet discovered.“In the following pages I have endeavoured to set down an account of the difficulties encountered, of failures and successes, of high hopes brought to the ground by lack of faith and vision, of the ultimate recognition at long last, of the superiority of machinery and metal over beef and brawn.“Much of what I have written, especially in the earlier portions of the book, is, of necessity, a personal narrative, and I have described events and occurrences as I, myself, saw them.”—Brig.-Gen. C. D. Baker-Carr
From Chivalry to Terrorism: War and the Changing Nature of Masculinity
by Leo BraudyManliness has always been linked to physical prowess and to war; indeed the warrior has been the archetypal man across countless cultures throughout time. In this magisterial excursion through literature, history, warfare, and sociology, one of our most prominent scholars tracks the complex relationship between the changing methods and goals of warfare and shifting models of manhood. This journey takes us from the citizen soldiers of ancient Greece to the medieval knights to the misogynistic terrorists of Al Qaeda. As he chronicles these transformations, Leo Braudy weighs the significance of everything from weapon technology to the hairstyles favored during different eras. He offers fresh insights on codes of war and codes of racial purity, and on cultural and historical figures from Socrates to Don Quixote to Napoleon to Custer to Rambo. Epic in scope and free of academic jargon,From Chivalry to Terrorismis a masterwork of scholarship that is both accessible and breathtakingly ambitious.
From Churchill's SAS to Hitler's Waffen-SS: The Secret Wartime Exploits of Captain Douglas Berneville-Claye
by Michael Scott"Thoroughly researched and well written, this book astounds the reader as to how its subject managed to get away with all the things he did. The author tells a good story about a bad man and his wartime escapades." —WWII History MagazineCaptain Douglas Berneville-Claye was serving with the fledgling SAS with fellow officers such as David Stirling and Blair ‘Paddy’ Mayne when he was captured in the Western Desert. He was ‘turned’ and became a member of the Nazi Waffen-SS. Collaboration with the enemy was confirmed when dressed as an SS captain he approached remnants of the British Free Corps; the Waffen-SS unit composed of renegade British nationals. He exhorted them to serve under his command against Russian forces. Post-war Berneville-Claye was investigated by MI5 for treachery. Following an Army court-martial he was dishonorably dismissed and sentenced to six months imprisonment. Upon release, his escapades and private life were no less contentious. A philanderer and bigamist, he married four times, sired ten children and rubbed shoulders with the criminal underworld in and out of prison. Eventually he succeeded in emigrating to Australia. Thanks to the author’s painstaking research, this is a compelling yet shocking biography of one of the most intriguing, colorful and disreputable characters of his era. How he escaped with his life is a question readers will ponder.
From Classroom to War of Resistance: Chinese Military Interpreter Training during World War II
by Jie LiuThis book focuses on a long- neglected yet important topic in China’s translation history: interpreter/ translator training and wartime translation studies. It examines the military interpreter training programmes after the outbreak of the Pacific War (1941–1945), further revealing the indispensable role of translation and interpreting in war. The author explores the relationship between linguistic education and war context in the China- Burma- India Theatre, where international cooperation was salient. Some 4,000 interpreting officers played a vital role in assisting in air defence, transportation, training of the Chinese army and coordinating expeditionary operations. The book seeks to bring these interpreters to life, telling the stories of why they joined the war, how they were trained and what they did in the war. Through the study of training programmes, historical archives, accounts and trainees’ memoirs, discussions revolve around key strands of education, including curriculums, textbooks and training methods. Utilising foreign language education practices as its main case study, the book analyses these through the framework of linguistic and translation theories. The book contributes to Chinese interpreting history by exploring its first-ever nationwide professional interpreting (and translation) training practices, and will inspire scholars of translation/ interpreting training, world modernhistory and foreign language education in general.
From Coastal Command to Captivity: The Memoir of a Second World War Airman
by Allan HunterThanks to the perseverance and editorial effort of his son Allan, Jim Hunter's splendid war memoirs of flying and captivity can now be enjoyed by a wider audience. In the first part there is the account of his flying career in RAF Coastal Command, culminating in an extraordinarily brave attack by him and his Beaufighter on the German battle cruiser Scharnhorst. Shot down, he became a POW and the second half tells of his experiences in Stalag Luft 3.All this and more make From Coastal Command to Captivity a superb read and a late, but great, addition to the bibliography of POW life during the Second World War.
From Cold War to New Millennium: The History of The Royal Canadian Regiment, 1953–2008
by Colonel Bernd HornCanadian regimental histories are war stories that provide testimony to the feats of courage and tenacity of Canadians tested in combat or engaged in the sometimes tedious regimen of peace. These regimental histories speak to the collective military heritage and legacy of the country. They are, in fact, windows on our nation and ourselves. This volume, the companion to Establishing a Legacy, the first volume, provides a detailed account of The Royal Canadian Regiments story from 1953 to 2008.The RCRs history after the Korean War paralleled the growth and evolution of Canada through dangerous and trying times, from the brink of nuclear Armageddon to a freefall of global destabilization, economic catastrophe, resurging global terrorism, and the birth of transnational terror networks. The RCR contributed to the victory in the Cold War, participated in the bitter stabilization campaigns of the 1990s in the former Yugoslavia, and fought and bled heavily in the reconstruction and counter-insurgency battle in Afghanistan.
From Colonial Warrior to Western Front Flyer: The Five Wars of Sydney Herbert Bywater Harris
by Carole McEntee-TaylorSydney Herbert Bywater Harris was an adventurer, a man possessed of great courage and charm, who fulfilled every schoolboy fantasy and really did 'live the dream'. The second youngest of seven children, the ordinary life held little appeal for Sydney so, in 1898, at the age of 17, he left home in Ilford for the Klondike gold rush. Arriving too late to make his fortune he decided to join the US Army.Two and a half years later, after seeing action in the Boxer Rebellion and the Philippines Insurrection, Sydney returned to England where he met and married Elsa de Verde Verder, a lady from an affluent Vermont family. A year later Sydney joined the Kings Colonials Imperial Yeomanry, later renamed the King Edward's Horse. Still seeking excitement, in August 1914 he transferred to the Royal Flying Corps and in 1916 went to France with 23 Squadron to fly the FE2b. Life expectancy for pilots on the front lines was very short and he was badly wounded while gun-spotting over enemy lines. After several months recovering he was posted to Turnberry as Chief Instructor and on the 13th August 1917, he was posted to Marske (by-the-Sea), with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel, to form and command No.2 Fighting School. In 1919 he was awarded the Air Force Cross.But war was not quite finished with Sydney. In 1936, fleeing imminent bankruptcy, he became involved with the International Brigades in the Spanish Civil War. Returning back to England he joined the RAFVR (Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve) and when the Second World War broke out he was posted to Turnhouse as Section Controller. This really didn't suit him and, determined to see more action, at the age of 58, he arranged a transfer to France as Adjutant with No 1 Squadron where his duties included liaising with the French Air Force. He later transferred to 1 ATS near Perpignan and was one of the last to leave France with the German Blitzkrieg only a few hours away. Despite his ill health he continued to serve throughout the war and in 1947 became Commander at Marchwood Park where the members of the 'Guinea Pig' club went to recover.A remarkable life led in an era of endless possibilities.Royalties from this book will go to Help 4 Homeless Veterans who support Servicemen and women into suitable accommodation, and empower them to develop a civilian career through their links with employers and other organisations.
From Congo to Kosovo: Civilian Police in Peace Operations (Adelphi series #343)
by Annika S HansenAn examination of the role of civilian police in peace operations, which has expanded greatly since the early 1990s and has culminated in international policemen assuming responsibility for law and order in Kosovo and East Timor. It looks at the way civilian police play a critical role in reforming local police forces and at times enforcing the law themselves.
From Corunna to Waterloo: With The Hussars 1808 To 1815
by John MolloBasing his story on contemporary letters, diaries and reports and a comprehensive bibliography, John Mollo takes the reader into the heart of the Hussar Brigade in peace and war, depicting its many colourful characters with a sure hand and describing every facet of day-to-day life, in barracks and on the battlefield. This is a story based on the harsh realities of war in the early years of the nineteenth century. Written with great elegance, the touch of a natural story teller and the imprint of a true lover and student of military history, this is a book to treasure.
From Courtesan to Convenient Wife (Matches Made in Scandal #2)
by Marguerite KayeAn Englishwoman is hired to masquerade as a Parisian wine merchant’s bride, but her secret past could cause trouble in this Regency romance.In this Matches Made in Scandal story, Jean-Luc Bauduin, Parisian society’s most eligible bachelor, is determined to take only a wife of his choosing. But until that day comes, he’ll ward off his admirers by hiring Lady Sophia Acton to wear his ring! The passion Jean-Luc shares with his convenient bride is enormously satisfying—until he discovers Sophia’s utterly scandalous past!Matches Made in Scandal series:From Governess to CountessFrom Courtesan to Convenient WifeHis Rags to Riches ContessaA Scandalous Winter WeddingPraise for the novels of Marguerite Kaye“Readers will be seduced by the passionate natures of the protagonists, and the fast-paced, thrilling adventure.” —RT Book Reviews on The Harlot and the Sheikh
From D-Day to Victory Boxed Set
by Stephen E. Ambrose“This e-book box set includes the following books by Stephen E. Ambrose, chronicling the pivotal moments from WWII—from D-Day to the capture of Hitler’s Eagle’s Nest. Band of Brothers: A riveting account of Easy Company, 506th Airborne Division, U.S. Army—responsible for everything from parachuting into France early D-Day morning to the capture of Hitler's Eagle's Nest at Berchtesgaden. Drawing on hours of interviews with survivors as well as the soldiers' journals and letters, here are the stories, often in the men's own words, of these American heroes. D-Day: The preeminent chronicle of the most important day in the twentieth century —drawn from more than 1,400 interviews with American, British, Canadian, French, and German veterans. Pegasus Bridge: A gripping account of the first engagement of D-Day—Pegasus Bridge. In the early morning hours of June 6, 1944, a small detachment of British airborne troops stormed the German defense forces and paved the way for the Allied invasion of Europe. Ambrose traces each step of the preparations over many months to the minute-by-minute excitement of the hand-to-hand confrontations on the bridge.”
From Dartmouth to War: A Midshipman in the Mediterranean 1940-1941
by Adrian HollowayAdrian Holloway was only seventeen when he left the Royal Naval College at Dartmouth in 1940 and joined HMS Valiant as a Midshipman, sharing a gunroom with Midshipmen Terry Lewin and HRH Prince Philip. He arrived in the Mediterranean in time to witness the darkest days of the Mediterranean Fleet – providing cover for the Fleet Air Arm’s raid on Taranto, fighting at the Battle of Matapan and taking part in the evacuation of Crete – during which time the Royal Navy’s vessels were decimated. He also witnessed the sinking of HMS Barham, and after returning from an appointment to the Australian destroyer HMAS Nizam, was back on board Valiant when Italian frogmen mined her in Alexandria Harbour in 1941.In From Dartmouth to War Adrian Holloway presents a fascinating first-hand account of the war at sea, vividly recalling what it was like to be in battle whilst still little more than a schoolboy. He describes the transition from the safety of Dartmouth to the terror and confusion of the open ocean, at a time when Britain stood alone against the Axis. Complete with personal photographs, track charts and naval signals, this book provides an invaluable insight into the wartime activities of a junior officer.
From Deficit to Deluge: The Origins of the French Revolution
by Thomas E. Kaiser Dale K. Van KleyFrom Deficit to Deluge takes stock of shifts in scholarly investigation of the origins of French Revolution. During the last decade, scholars have moved beyond "revisionist" historians of the 1970s, who highlighted the monarchy's degeneration into despotism, to explore related conflicts in the realms of finance, social relations, religion, diplomacy, the Enlightenment, and colonial policy. In this book, seven established authorities explore some of these critical intersections, and together they make clear the role that unresolved tensions in these realms played in the essentially political narrative told by post-Marxian revisionist historiography. While each chapter of From Deficit to Deluge focuses upon one site of contention--fiscal, social, religious, diplomatic, ideological, and colonial--they all help to explain how long-standing structural problems of the Old Regime caused a fairly "normal" fiscal crisis to metastasize into a revolution. As the editors show in their introduction and conclusion, the growing democratization of politics sparked by the monarchy's clumsy efforts to solve the fiscal crisis put these wide-ranging problems at the epicenter of political debate, thereby sapping the foundations of royal authority and the social hierarchy.
From Democrats to Kings: The Brutal Dawn of a New World from the Downfall of Athens to the Rise of Alexander the Great
by Michael ScottA popular history of how the ancient world turned from a democracy to a monarchy and &“shine[s] a light on the culture that bloomed as Athens faded.&”(The Daily Mail) Athens, 404 BC. The Democratic city-state has been ravaged by a long and bloody war with neighboring Sparta. The search for scapegoats begins and Athens, liberty's beacon in the ancient world, turns its sword on its own way of life. Civil war and much bloodshed ensue. Defining moments of Greek history, culture, politics, religion and identity are debated ferociously in Athenian board rooms, back streets and battlefields. By 323 BC, Athens and the rest of Greece, not to mention a large part of the known world, has come under the control of an absolute monarch and a model for despots for millennia to come: Alexander the Great. In this superb popular history, Michael Scott explores the dramatic and little-known story of how the ancient world went from democracy to monarchy in less than 100 years. A superb example of popular history writing, From Democrats to Kings gives us a fresh take on the challenges we face today as democracies—old and new—fight for survival, in which war-time and peace-time have become indistinguishable and in which the severity of the economic crisis is only matched by a crisis in our own sense of self. &“Accessible and punchy . . . a wide readership cannot fail to be entertained as well as instructed about a world that is both familiar and alien, modern as well as ancient.&” —Paul Cartledge, author of Thermopylae &“Gloriously entertaining and provocative.&” —Tom Holland, author of Rubicon, Persian Fire
From Desert One to Desert Storm: Operation Eagle Claw as a Critical Movement (Critical Moments in American History)
by Tal TovyThis book recounts the history of the US Special Operations Forces (SOF) after the failure of Operation Eagle Claw in 1980, examining the events that led to and followed a series of organizational and operational reforms in the American military system.Operation Eagle Claw’s damage to America’s image was a critical moment in American miliary history that extended beyond the exclusive purview of the military. The establishment of the Special Operations Command in 1987 would mark the only time to date that Congress has ever directed the executive branch to establish a military command. This book surveys the decades leading up to and proceeding Operation Eagle Claw, beginning with the SOF in the years after Vietnam and ending with the SOF’s performance in Operations Just Cause and Desert Storm.With thoughtful analysis and supplementary primary source documents, From Desert One to Desert Storm: Operation Eagle Claw as a Critical Movement is a useful resource for courses on American military history, the Cold War, and the United States and the Middle East.
From Dieppe to D-Day: The Memoirs of Vice Admiral ‘Jock’ Hughes-Hallett
by John 'Jock' Hughes-HallettWhen studying the planning behind the Combined Operations cross-Channel raids that harassed the Germans along the coast of Occupied France during the Second World War, one name appears repeatedly – that of Captain John ‘Jock’ Hughes-Hallett. Hughes-Hallett was Deputy Director of the Local defense Division at the Admiralty in 1940 and 1941, before becoming Naval Adviser at Combined Operations Headquarters. Along with the head of Combined Operations, Lord Louis Mountbatten, Hughes-Hallett orchestrated the Commando raids from Norway to Normandy – attacks which tied down German troops far in excess of the numbers employed on the raids. Hughes-Hallett became Commodore commanding the Channel Assault Force (known as ‘J’ Force) and Naval Chief of Staff (X) from 1942 to 1943. He is perhaps best known for being the Naval Commander of the Dieppe Raid of August 1942, and attack which, despite its disastrous outcome, led to one of the most important decisions regarding the D-Day landings of June 1944. At a meeting following the Dieppe raid, Hughes-Hallett declared that if a port could not be captured, then one should be taken across the Channel. Although this was met with derision at the time, the concept of Mulberry Harbours began to take shape when Hughes-Hallett moved to be Naval Chief of Staff to the Operation Overlord planners. It was in the planning for D-Day that the then Commodore Hughes-Hallett’s experience came to the fore. The ultimate success of that enormously complex operation owed much to his many years in Combined Operations. Hughes-Hallett retired from the Royal Navy with the rank of Vice Admiral, taking up a new career as Member of Parliament for Croydon East and then Croydon North East. It is remarkable that the Hughes-Hallett memoirs have not been published until now for, without doubt, they constitute one of the most important wartime autobiographies to presented to the world in recent decades.