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Bombers over Sand and Snow: 205 Group RAF in World War II
by Alun Granfield205 Group RAF provided the only mobile force of heavy night bombers in the Mediterranean theater in the Second World War. It operated mainly from bases in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Italy, with occasional excursions to Malta, Greece and Iraq, attacking tactical and strategic targets according to the demands of the wider war in the theater. The force was relatively small when compared with the numbers of aircraft available to Bomber Command in the Western European theater, and it carried on using the venerable Vickers Wellington long after this aircraft had been relegated to the training role in the United Kingdom.Like their UK-based counterparts the night bombers were intended to operate in a strategic role, bombing targets away from the immediate battlefront. However, the demands of the war in the Middle East and Mediterranean soon diverted the bombers from their strategic role and saw them operating much closer to the front line in support of the hard pressed ground forces.The bomber squadrons in North Africa usually operated from Advanced Landing Grounds scraped out of the bare desert, with only a few tents for shelter. In Italy they did have more or less permanent bases, but they still lived in tents (if they were lucky) often surrounded by a sea of mud. There were no pubs, often no beer, and the only contact with their families were the eagerly awaited letters from home. Also the squadrons in England did not have Rommel continually knocking on their door. Thus, the operations of the night bombers in the Middle East and Mediterranean were often governed by the general progress of the war in the theater. The ebb and flow of the land battles not only determined the activities of the night bombers, but also determined their location. This book tells their story.
Bombing Civilians
by Marilyn B. Young Yuki TanakaBombing Civilians examines a crucial question: why did military planning in the early twentieth century shift its focus from bombing military targets to bombing civilians? From the British bombing of Iraq in the early 1920s to the most recent policies in Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Lebanon, Bombing Civilians analyzes in detail the history of indiscriminate bombing, examining the fundamental questions of how this theory justifying mass killing originated and why it was employed as a compelling military strategy for decades, both before and since the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
Bombing Germany: The Destruction of Pforzhelm and the Closing Months of Bomber Command's War
by Tony ReddingDuring 1942 and 1943 the striking power of RAF Bomber Command was transformed by the arrival of heavy bombers, advanced navigation and blind bombing systems, and new tactics to concentrate the bombers over the target and swamp the German defences. By October 1944 most of Germany's cities were in ruins, yet the bombing continued to intensify, reaching unprecedented levels in the final seven months of the air campaign. The value of further area raids was questioned during the opening months of 1945, yet the Allies destroyed the remaining cities in a bid to hasten the end of the war. The handful of German cities still largely unscathed in early February 1945 included Dresden, which was obliterated on 13 February. Ten days later, the South German city of Pforzheim was destined to suffer the same fate.This book commemorates the efforts of the aircrew members who risked their lives, consolidating a host of intriguing first-hand accounts. It also considers Pforzheim as a representative community under National Socialist rule. The city's survivors remember the horror of the raid and its aftermath, including eventual occupation by French Colonial troops and, subsequently, American forces. Tony does an admirable job of presenting historical context when considering actions in times of extreme trauma and his narrative offers an intriguing, engaging and poignant evocation of the closing months of Bomber Command's war.
Bombing Hitler's Hometown: The Untold Story of the Last Mass Bomber Raid of World War II in Europe
by Mike CroissantOne of WWII&’s final untold stories, this visceral account of the white-knuckled bombing mission American airmen carried out on Hitler&’s hometown of Linz, Austria is now told for the first time through the eyes of the men on the airplanes as well as the innocent Austrians under the bombs. Fans of Masters of the Air and Unbroken will be riveted by this groundbreaking true story of the aerial bombing and its aftermath from retired CIA officer Mike Croissant. Foreword by Richard Overy, author of The Bombers and the Bombed In April 1945, Linz was one of Nazi Germany&’s most vital assets. It was a crucial transportation hub and communications center, with railyards brimming with war materiel destined for the front lines. Linz was also the town Hitler claimed as home and had long intended to remake as the cultural capital of Europe, filling its planned Fuehrermuseum with world-famous art stolen from his conquered territories. Inevitably, Linz was also one of the most heavily defended targets remaining in Europe. The airmen of the Fifteenth Air Force were a mix of seasoned veterans and newcomers. As their mission was unveiled in the predawn hours of April 25th, audible groans and muffled expletives passed many lips. The reality of that mission would prove more brutal than any imagined. In the unheated, unpressurized B‑24 Liberator and B‑17 Flying Fortress heavy bombers, young men battled elements as dangerous as anything the Germans could throw at them. When batteries of German anti‑aircraft guns opened fire, the men flew into a man‑made hell of exploding shrapnel. Aircraft and men fell from the sky as Austrian civilians on the ground also struggled to survive beneath the bombs during the deadly climax of Hitler&’s war. Drawing on interviews with dozens of America&’s last surviving World War II veterans, as well as previously unpublished sources, Mike Croissant compellingly relates one of the war&’s last truly untold stories—a gripping chronicle of warfare, the death of Nazi Germany, and the beginning of the Cold War. It is also a timeless tale of courage and terror, loss and redemption, humanity and savagery.
Bombing To Surrender: The Contribution Of Air Power To The Collapse Of Italy, 1943
by Major Phillip A. SmithThroughout this first century of air power, military theorists have proposed numerous schemes as the best use of air power. Airmen of many nations tried and tested these theories in wars large and small and they have learned, ignored, or forgotten many lessons. Of the four major coercive mechanisms available to air power-punishment, risk, military denial and decapitation-Robert Pape in Bombing to Win, concludes that military denial is the best use of air power. Furthermore, Pape argues that recent technological advances only enhance the military denial mechanism. In his appendix, Pape categorizes the Italian case as another case of successful military denial.This study examines the collapse of Italy in 1943 and the contribution of air power to this collapse. Several broad works, often citing Ernest May in "Lessons" from the Past, claim that air power decisively caused the Italian surrender, but do not indisputably argue this point nor do they define the coercive mechanism(s) air power employed to achieve this result. Studies such as the U.S. Strategic Bombing Survey or the British Bombing Survey Unit largely ignore Italy or in the case of F. W. Deakin's The Brutal Friendship, cite the coalition politics as the primary cause of Italy's surrender...In an era of clean conflict, both painless and quick, leaders and airman downplay the psychological effects of air power-with the exception of the questionable negative effects of casualties on the democracies. Operation DESERT STORM typifies both these effects. Furthermore, attrition-based computer wargame simulations largely ignore the human element. The collapse of Italy serves as one example where the psychological effects of air power outweighed the physical damage caused by bombing.
Bombing the City: Civilian Accounts of the Air War in Britain and Japan, 1939–1945 (Studies in the Social and Cultural History of Modern Warfare)
by Aaron William MooreWorld War II is enshrined in our collective memory as the good war - a victory of good over evil. However, the bombing war has always troubled this narrative as total war transformed civilians into legitimate targets and raised unsettling questions such as whether it was possible for Allies and Axis alike to be victims of aggression. In Bombing the City, an unprecedented comparative history of how ordinary Britons and Japanese experienced bombing, Aaron William Moore offers a major new contribution to these debates. Utilising hundreds of diaries, letters, and memoirs, he recovers the voices of ordinary people on both sides - from builders, doctors and factory-workers to housewives, students and policemen - and reveals the shared experiences shaped by gender, class, race, and age. He reveals how it was that the British and Japanese public continued to support bombing elsewhere even as they experienced firsthand its terrible impact at home.
Bombing the Marshall Islands: A Cold War Tragedy
by Robert A. Parsons Keith M. ZaballaDuring the Cold War, the United States conducted atmospheric tests of nuclear weapons in the Marshall Islands of the Pacific. The total explosive yield of these tests was 108 megatons, equivalent to the detonation of one Hiroshima bomb per day over nineteen years. These tests, particularly Castle Bravo, the largest one, had tragic consequences, including the irradiation of innocent people and the permanent displacement of many native Marshallese. Keith M. Parsons and Robert Zaballa tell the story of the development and testing of thermonuclear weapons and the effects of these tests on their victims and on the popular and intellectual culture. These events are also situated in their Cold War context and explained in terms of the prevailing hopes, fears, and beliefs of that age. In particular, the narrative highlights the obsessions and priorities of top American officials, such as Lewis L. Strauss, Chairman of the Atomic Energy Commission.
Bombing the People
by Thomas HipplerGiulio Douhet is generally considered the world's most important air-power theorist and this book offers the first comprehensive account of his air-power concepts. It ranges from 1884 when an air service was first implemented within the Italian military to the outbreak of the Second World War, and explores the evolution and dissemination of Douhet's ideas in an international context. It examines the impact of the Libyan war, the First World War and Ethiopian war on the development of Italian air-power strategy. It also addresses the issue of Douhet's advocacy of strategic bombing, exploring why it was that Douhet became an advocate of city bombing; the meaning and the limits of his core concept of 'command of the air'; and the mutual impact of air power, military and naval thought. It also takes into account alternatives to Douhetism such as the theories developed by Amedeo Mecozzi and others.
Bombing to Win: Air Power and Coercion in War
by Robert A. PapeFrom Iraq to Bosnia to North Korea, the first question in American foreign policy debates is increasingly: Can air power alone do the job? Robert A. Pape provides a systematic answer. Analyzing the results of over thirty air campaigns, including a detailed reconstruction of the Gulf War, he argues that the key to success is attacking the enemy's military strategy, not its economy, people, or leaders. Coercive air power can succeed, but not as cheaply as air enthusiasts would like to believe. Pape examines the air raids on Germany, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, and Iraq as well as those of Israel versus Egypt, providing details of bombing and governmental decision making. His detailed narratives of the strategic effectiveness of bombing range from the classical cases of World War II to an extraordinary reconstruction of airpower use in the Gulf War, based on recently declassified documents. In this now-classic work of the theory and practice of airpower and its political effects, Robert A. Pape helps military strategists and policy makers judge the purpose of various air strategies, and helps general readers understand the policy debates.
Bombs Away
by Harry TurtledoveIn his acclaimed novels of alternate history, Harry Turtledove has scrutinized the twisted soul of the twentieth century, from the forces that set World War I in motion to the rise of fascism in the decades that followed. Now, this masterly storyteller turns his eyes to the aftermath of World War II and asks: In an era of nuclear posturing, what if the Cold War had suddenly turned hot? Bombs Away begins with President Harry Truman in desperate consultation with General Douglas MacArthur, whose control of the ground war in Korea has slipped disastrously away. MacArthur recognizes a stark reality: The U.S. military has been cut to the bone after victory over the Nazis--while China and the USSR have built up their forces. The only way to stop the Communist surge into the Korean Peninsula and save thousands of American lives is through a nuclear attack. MacArthur advocates a strike on Chinese targets in Manchuria. In actual history, Truman rejected his general's advice; here, he does not. The miscalculation turns into a disaster when Truman fails to foresee Russia's reaction. Almost instantly, Stalin strikes U.S. allies in Europe and Great Britain. As the shock waves settle, the two superpowers are caught in a horrifying face-off. Will they attack each other directly with nuclear weapons? What countries will be caught in between? The fateful global drama plays out through the experiences of ordinary people--from a British barmaid to a Ukrainian war veteran to a desperate American soldier alone behind enemy lines in Korea. For them, as well as Truman, Mao, and Stalin, the whole world has become a battleground. Strategic strikes lead to massive movements of ground troops. Cities are destroyed, economies ravaged. And on a planet under siege, the sounds and sights of nuclear bombs become a grim harbinger of a new reality: the struggle to survive man's greatest madness. Praise for Harry Turtledove "Turtledove is the standard-bearer for alternate history."--USA Today Last Orders "All quite plausible . . . Turtledove's focus on the characters serves to fill out the big picture with patient, nitty-gritty detail. . . . Armchair warriors will have much to ponder."--Kirkus Reviews Two Fronts "A you-are-there chronicle of battle on land and sea and in the air."--Tor.com Coup d'Etat "This is what alternative history is all about."--Historical Novel Society The Big Switch "The Hugo Award winner continues to delight in exploring the world of 'what if?' "--Library JournalFrom the Hardcover edition.
Bombs Away!: Dramatic First-Hand Accounts of British & Commonwealth Bomber Aircrew in WWII
by Martin W. BowmanThis is a unique selection of wide-ranging experiences of British and Commonwealth Bomber Command aircrew during World War II. Their endearing bravery and fortitude and sometimes their despondency and cynicism, shows through in these stirring, daring, often irreverent, humorous and sometimes sardonic but memorable stories. All reflect the ethos, camaraderie, fear and bravery of the largely ordinary men, most of whom were plucked from civvy street and thrust into a frightening, bitter conflict which was made even more dangerous by the lethal advance of technology.Death would normally come from an anonymous assassin, either in the black of night, or from behind a cloud or out of the sun, or simply from the Flak gunner on the ground. And, if all this was not enough, the often unmerciful weather was no respecter of mortality. There was no escaping the all-embracing shock wave that rippled through the bomber squadrons after a heavy mauling over enemy territory. Nothing could be more poignant than the vacuous places at tables in the depleted mess halls, the empty locker of the departed, or the dog pining by the barracks for its missing master. Each man had to deal with tragedy in his own inimitable way. Some hid their feelings better than others did only for the pain to resurface months or even years later. Some who had survived the physical pressures and who completed their tours then succumbed to the mental torture that had eaten away at their psyche during the incessant and interminable onslaught day after day, night after night. There was little respite. The valorous men of Bomber Command were, in turn, the Light Brigade, the stop gap, the riposte, the avengers, the undefeated. Always, they were expendable.
Bombs Away!: The World War II Bombing Campaigns over Europe
by John R. BruningBombs Away! covers strategic bombing in Europe during World War II, that is, all aerial bombardment of a strategic nature which took place between 1939 and 1945. In addition to American (U.S. Army Air Forces) and British (RAF Bomber Command) strategic aerial campaigns against Germany, this book covers German use of strategic bombing during the Nazi’s conquest of Europe: the Battle of Britain, Operation Barbarossa, and the V 1 and V 2, where the Luftwaffe targeted Warsaw and Rotterdam (known as the Rotterdam Blitz). In addition, the book covers the blitzes against London and the bombing of other British industrial and port cities, such as Birmingham, Liverpool, Southampton, Manchester, Bristol, Belfast, Cardiff, and Coventry bombed during the Battle of Britain. The twin Allied campaigns against Germany—the USAAF by day, the RAF by night—built up into massive bombing of German industrial areas, notably the Ruhr, followed by attacks directly on cities such as Hamburg, Kassel, Pforzheim, Mainz, Cologne, Bremen, Essen, Düsseldorf, Hanover, Dortmund, Frankfurt, and the still controversial fire-bombing of Hamburg and Dresden. In addition to obvious targets like aircraft and tank manufacturers, ball bearing factories and plants that manufactured abrasives and grinding wheels were high priority targets. Petroleum refineries were a key target with USAAF aircraft based in North Africa and later Italy, bombing the massive refinery complexes in and around Ploesti, Romania, until August 1944 when the Soviet Red Army captured the area. Other missions included industrial targets in southern Germany like Regensburg and Schweinfurt. Missions to the Nazi capital, Berlin, started in 1940 and continued through March 1945. Throughout the war there were 314 air raids on Berlin. All of this is covered in detail with authoritative text and hundreds of archival photographs, many rare or never before published.
Bombs Away: Militarization, Conservation, and Ecological Restoration
by David G. HavlickWhen viewed from space, the Korean Peninsula is crossed by a thin green ribbon. On the ground, its mix of dense vegetation and cleared borderlands serves as home to dozens of species that are extinct or endangered elsewhere on the peninsula. This is Korea’s demilitarized zone—one of the most dangerous places on earth for humans, and paradoxically one of the safest for wildlife. Although this zone was not intentionally created for conservation, across the globe hundreds of millions of acres of former military zones and bases are being converted to restoration areas, refuges, and conservation lands. David G. Havlick has traveled the world visiting these spaces of military-to-wildlife transition, and in Bombs Away he explores both the challenges—physical, historical, and cultural—and fascinating ecological possibilities of military site conversions. Looking at particular international sites of transition—from Indiana’s Big Oaks National Wildlife Refuge to Cold War remnants along the former Iron Curtain—Havlick argues that these new frontiers of conservation must accomplish seemingly antithetical aims: rebuilding and protecting ecosystems, or restoring life, while also commemorating the historical and cultural legacies of warfare and militarization. Developing these ideas further, he shows that despite the ecological devastation often wrought by military testing and training, these activities need not be inconsistent with environmental goals, and in some cases can even complement them—a concept he calls ecological militarization. A profound, clear explication of landscapes both fraught and fecund, marked by death but also reservoirs of life, Bombs Away shows us how “military activities, conservation goals, and ecological restoration efforts are made to work together to create new kinds of places and new conceptions of place.”
Bombs Away: The Story of a Bomber Team
by John SteinbeckA magnificent volume of short novels and an essential World War II report from one of America's great twentieth-century writers<P> On the heels of the enormous success of his masterwork The Grapes of Wrath and at the height of the American war effort John Steinbeck, one of the most prolific and influential literary figures of his generation, wrote Bombs Away, a nonfiction account of his experiences with U.S. Army Air Force bomber crews during World War II. Now, for the first time since its original publication in 1942, Penguin Classics presents this exclusive edition of Steinbeck's introduction to the then-nascent U.S. Army Air Force and its bomber crew the essential core unit behind American air power that Steinbeck described as "the greatest team in the world."
Bombs Over Bikini: The World's First Nuclear Disaster
by Connie GoldsmithIn 1946, as part of the Cold War arms race, the US military launched a program to test nuclear bombs in the Marshall Islands of the Pacific Ocean. From 1946 until 1958, the military detonated sixty-seven nuclear bombs over the region's Bikini and Enewetak Atolls. The twelfth bomb, called Bravo, became the world's first nuclear disaster. It sent a toxic cloud of radiation over Rongelap Atoll and other nearby inhabited islands. The testing was intended to advance scientific knowledge about nuclear bombs and radiation, but it had much more far-reaching effects. Some of the islanders suffered burns, cancers, birth defects, and other medical tragedies as a result of radiation poisoning. Many of the Marshallese were resettled on other Pacific islands or in the United States. They and their descendants cannot yet return to Bikini, which remains contaminated by radiation. And while the United States claims it is now safe to resettle Rongelap, only a few construction workers live there on a temporary basis. For Bombs over Bikini, author Connie Goldsmith researched government documents, military film footage, and other primary source documents to tell the story of the world's first nuclear disaster. You'll meet the people who planned the test operations, the Marshall Islanders who lost their homes and suffered from radiation illnesses, and those who have worked to hold the US government accountable for catastrophically poor planning. Was the new knowledge about nuclear bombs and radiation worth the cost in human suffering? You decide.
Bombs and Barbed Wire: One Man's Great Escape
by Jeff SteelHis hatred of Nazism made him leave his six-month marriage to Miranda on hold. Over Germany his Halifax bomber is shot down by a night fighter: He has ten seconds to act or he will never see her again. Ambrose Adlam did not even want to go to war. Hitler&’s war came looking for him. The war enveloped him, it took over his world; there was no escape. To do nothing was not an option. Ambrose joined RAF ground crew. That was not enough. He volunteered for active service as a Flight Engineer in Halifax bombers. The RAF high command forgot to tell him that his chance of survival was minimal. Ambrose found out the hard way as his bomber plummeted to earth in flames. Parachuting into a duck pond in Nazi Germany, he narrowly escaped death. On the run, he is pursued by German forces. They shot him. He survived. An odyssey through the monstrous world of Luftwaffe prisoner of war camps brought him to the eastern fringe of the Third Reich. The camp was called Stalag Luft III. Beneath the exterior calm of the camp routine, an ambitious plot was brewing. The prisoners were organising a mass breakout. There were hundreds involved. As a non-officer he would not be one to break free … but there was a lot that he could do to support the Great Escape.This was his war, his mission in life and his purpose. But would he ever see Miranda again? A gripping true story of love and war constructed from meticulous research, family records and eye-witness accounts.
Bonaparte
by John Cournos Eugene TarléNapoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) is one of the most illustrated political and military figures of the last two millennia. He has remained in the memory of the world as a legend that the passage of the years has failed to blur. On the contrary, Napoleon Bonaparte widely continues to be considered the personification of human genius.In this memoir, which was first published in this English translation in 1937, author and historian Evgeny Tarle vividly presents in detail Napoleon’s life and official activity.“THE man, with whose life and personality this book deals, presents one of the most extraordinary phenomena in world history. It is not surprising that he has been, still is, and will continue to be, the subject of many biographies.“As recently as 1914, a section of the militant German press sang fervent praises of Napoleon as the creator of the Continental Blockade and as the author of the idea of uniting the European continent against England; after the World War, the victorious Allies, inspired by his example, inserted the more ruthless clauses into the Versailles Treaty; and the Fascist dictatorship in Italy made the study of Napoleon’s personality a compulsory course of history instruction in the schools. And before and after the World War the figure of Napoleon loomed constantly before the minds of the ruling classes, frightened by approaching revolution and yearning for the strong man and deliverer.“The grandiose Napoleonic epic has had almost as strong a hold on political philosophers and theoreticians as on historians, publicists and poets. Beginning with the Hegelians and ending with the revolutionary Marxist writers, there has been no single noticeable current of social and philosophic thought which, in one fashion or another, has not been influenced by Napoleon.”—E. V. Tarle, Introduction
Bonaparte (Routledge Library Editions: Military and Naval History)
by Corelli BarnettThis book, originally published in 1978, argues that there was no ‘turning-point’ in Bonaparte’s career, but rather a consistent pattern from beginning to end. As a commander Bonaparte’s forte was speed and aggressiveness. As a planner, however he was slapdash: his armies starved and went barefoot. The author argues that far from being a master of concentration of force on the battlefield, he was again and again caught with his army dispersed and only rescued from disaster by the last-minute arrival of reinforcements.
Bonaparte In Egypt [Illustrated Edition]
by J. Christopher HeroldIncludes over 30 illustrations and 5 maps.Originally published in 1962, J. Christopher Herold's Bonaparte in Egypt is the best modern account of this extraordinary campaign. In a detailed study, elegantly written, Herold covers all aspects of Bonaparte's expedition: military, political, and cultural. It was a bold adventure, full of drama, topped and tailed by the extremes of total triumph and utter defeat. Although Bonaparte was victorious at the Battle of the Pyramids and occupied Cairo, his fleet was completely destroyed by Nelson at Abukir Bay and his ambition to conquer the Holy Land was frustrated at Acre. Despite these reverses. Bonaparte returned to France where he was greeted as a hero and seized political power in 1799. His attempt to take permanent control of Egypt and Syria for France was a critical stage on his road to power, and it is one of the most revealing episodes in his spectacular career.
Bonaparte in Egypt
by J. Christopher HeroldThis classic study of the French occupation of Egypt presents a lucid and comprehensive account of Napoleon&’s stunning victories and devastating losses. Originally published in 1962, J. Christopher Herold's Bonaparte in Egypt is considered the definitive modern account of this extraordinary campaign. In an elegantly written and detailed study, Herold covers all aspects of Bonaparte's expedition: military, political, and cultural. Napoleon Bonaparte&’s invasion of Egypt was a bold adventure that reached the extremes of total triumph and utter defeat. Bonaparte won a decisive victory at the Battle of the Pyramids and quickly captured Cairo. But his fleet was completely destroyed by Admiral Nelson at Abukir Bay and his ambition to conquer the Holy Land was frustrated at Acre. Despite these reverses, Bonaparte returned to France where he was greeted as a hero and seized political power in 1799. His attempt to take permanent control of Egypt and Syria for France was a critical stage on his road to power, and it is one of the most revealing episodes in his spectacular career.
Bonaparte's Avengers (The Alain Lausard Adventures)
by Richard HowardAs Napoleon prepares to invade Prussia, a war-weary sergeant is pushed to his limit in this epic military adventure series. France, 1806. Napoleon Bonaparte&’s Grande Armeé is poised for war. But this is no ordinary mission. Having crushed the forces of Austria and Russia the year before, Bonaparte now seeks to avenge the French Army&’s annihilation by Frederick the Great&’s Prussian forces in 1757. When Prussia refuses to comply with Bonaparte&’s demands that they surrender and form an alliance against England, war becomes inevitable. Sergeant Alain Lausard and his war-weary squadron of dragoons have been through many epic battles under Napoleon&’s command. They would do anything for their great leader. But as they prepare to enter into yet another bloody campaign that will feature battles at Jena and Auerstadt, their loyalties are stretched to the limit . . .
Bonaparte's Conquerors (The Alain Lausard Adventures)
by Richard HowardA cavalry officer roots out conspirators in Paris as Napoleon mounts his fateful coup in this epic historical novel. France, 1799: As corruption spreads through the ruling Directory and rebels terrorize the countryside, the ideals of the Revolution seem far away. Napoleon Bonaparte returns from Egypt determined to restore order—and take control. Recalled to Paris to buttress their commander&’s political ambitions, Alain Lausard and his heroic cavalry unit look on as Bonaparte stages a coup d&’état. With Bonaparte under pressure to make peace with France&’s enemies abroad, Lausard&’s dragoons are reduced to flushing out enemies hiding in the gutters of Paris. When Bonaparte prepares to reclaim lost territory in Italy, Lausard is relieved. He owes his freedom to Bonaparte—and only through war can he contain the guilt he still feels for fleeing his family during The Terror. As the French cavalry crosses the Alps, Lausard&’s men will face their most daunting challenge yet . . .
Bonaparte's Horsemen (The Alain Lausard Adventures)
by Richard HowardAs they march into Poland, an exhausted Grand Armeé must battle both enemies and the elements in this epic adventure of the Napoleonic Wars.Poland, 1807: Sergeant Alain Lausard and his loyal dragoons have never known a campaign like it. Already spent from their victory over Prussia, they must now march into Poland and battle General Bennigsen&’s Russian troops. And the Tsar is not the only enemy that must be overcome: country and climate conspire to make conditions impossible. The Grande Armeé may be renowned for its ability to move with speed and purpose, but as torrential rain turns Polish roads to quagmires, they face a battle-hardened foe just as their strength reaches its lowest ebb. Perhaps not even Bonaparte&’s tactical brilliance will be enough to save Lausard and his men from a deadly debacle . . .
Bonaparte's Invaders (The Alain Lausard Adventures)
by Richard HowardNapoleon&’s mighty army face the inferno of the Egyptian desert in this thrilling historical adventure, the sequel to Bonaparte&’s Sons.France, 1798. Seventeen thousand French troops leave Toulon harbor in May, unaware of their ultimate destination. Barely three months after taking Rome, Napoleon Bonaparte has rewarded his finest regiments with a place among the Army of the Orient, bound for Egypt. Alain Lausard and his cavalry unit are on board the frigate L&’Esperance. Their first battle is merely to survive the degradation that is life at sea. By the time they stagger, starved and exhausted, upon the shores of Egypt, Lausard&’s dragoons have more than glory to fight for. As his beleaguered soldiers march into the desert, Bonaparte watches his tactical gamble collapse. Even when the Mameluke army is defeated beneath the pyramids, Admiral Nelson&’s destruction of the French fleet and Bonaparte&’s obsessive war-mongering convince Lausard that he will never see Paris again . . .
Bonaparte's Sons (The Alain Lausard Adventures)
by Richard HowardIn this sweeping historical series debut, a fallen French aristocrat must prove himself in the furnace of Napoleon&’s army.France, 1795: Confusion and fear reign in the Republic. With her troops facing starvation and annihilation on three fronts, France is killing her patriots. Alain Lausard, an aristocrat whose family were massacred in The Terror, now rots in prison. His one chance at freedom is to serve in the faltering Italian campaign, now commanded by a young Napoleon Bonaparte. Trained as a soldier, Lausard commands respect for turning his ragged miscreants into ruthless cavalry. Yet tensions remain. As the unit falls under the command of the despotic Cezar, a hazardous mission behind enemy lines threatens everything . . .