Thursday, September 30, 2010

Arado Ar 66

The Arado Ar 66 was a two-seat biplane trainer that became the Luftwaffe's most numerous primary training aircraft

Arado Ar 65

The Arado Ar 65 was the first front-line fighter to equip the fighter-squadrons of the Luftwaffe after Hitler's rise to power, although it was developed in the last years of the Weimar Republic

Ancient Warfare Special Issue 2010: Core of the Legion - The Roman Imperial centuria.

Ancient Warfare Special Issue 2010: Core of the Legion - The Roman Imperial centuria.

Ancient Warfare Special 2010 - Core of the Legion, The Roman Imperial centuria. Special issue looking at the early Imperial century, the best known sub-unit of the Roman Legion. Articles look at the organisation, equipment and battlefield role of the century and the careers of their centurions, as well as a fascinating look at the fragmentary administrative documents that have survived.

see more

Afrikakorps Soldier 1941-43, Pier Paolo Battistelli

Afrikakorps Soldier 1941-43, Pier Paolo Battistelli.

A look at the recruitment, training, equipment and daily life of the soldiers of the Afrikakorps, with useful details on how things changed over the life of the Korps, as the nature of the desert war changed and the Axis powers went onto the defensive

read full review

Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Kawasaki Type 88 Light Bomber

The Kawasaki Type 88 Light Bomber was based on the Type 88-II Reconnaissance Biplane, but with the ability to carry a 200kg (441lb) bomb load

Kawasaki Type 88 Reconnaissance Biplane

The Kawasaki Type 88 Reconnaissance Biplane was a single-engined biplane designed by the German Dr Richard Vogt that served with the Imperial Japanese Army during the early 1930s

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Arado Ar 64

The Arado Ar 64 was the first Arado fighter design to progress past the prototype stage, although it never entered service, being superseded by the Ar 65

Arado SSD I

The Arado SSD I was a single-seat float biplane produced in 1929 and that was designed to be launched by catapult from ships at sea.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Blohm und Voss Bv 222 Wiking

The Blohm und Voss Bv 222 Wiking was the largest flying boat to reach operational status during the Second World War, although it was produced in tiny numbers, and indeed never really reached full production status

Blohm und Voss Bv 142

The Blohm und Voss Bv 142 was a land-plane version of the Ha 139 float seaplane, also designed as a trans-Atlantic mail plane, and that was also taken into Luftwaffe service

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Arado SD III

The Arado SD III was a single-seat sesquiplane fighter produced alongside the similar SD II and that became the basis for the Arado Ar 65

Arado SD II

The Arado SD II was a single-seat sesquiplane fighter produced alongside the similar SD III and that became the basis for the Arado Ar 64

Arado SD I

The Arado SD I was one of the first new fighter aircraft designed in Germany after the First World War and was a single-seat sesquiplane produced in 1927.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

In a Bosnia Trench, A Wartime Memoir of a Muslim Bosnian Soldier, Elvir Kulin with Maury Hirschkorn

In a Bosnia Trench, A Wartime Memoir of a Muslim Bosnian Soldier, Elvir Kulin with Maury Hirschkorn.

A impressively un-judgemental account of the Bosnia War as seen by a young Bosnian Muslim from the Sarajevo area, of value both for its account of the fighting, and of the rapid descent into civil war in the former Yugoslavia.

read full review

The Battle of Britain, John Frayn Turner

The Battle of Britain, John Frayn Turner.

A account of the battle of Britain centred around a day-by-day account of the fighting, and with a bias towards Leigh Mallory, Douglas Bader and the 'Big Wing'. A refreshing change from some of the drier recent works on the battle, although presenting one particular view of events.

read full review

Colditz: Oflag IV-C, Michael McNally.

Colditz: Oflag IV-C, Michael McNally.

An interesting approach to a familiar subject, covering the historical development of Colditz castle from the earliest wooden fort of the eleventh century to the modern attempts to restore the castle, as well as looking at its time as a Prisoner of War camp and location for some famously ambitious escape attempts

read full review

The Right of the Line: The Role of the RAF in World War Two, John Terraine.

The Right of the Line: The Role of the RAF in World War Two, John Terraine.

This is the classic account of the RAF's role in the Second World War, a massive piece of work that focuses on the main threads of the air war, from pre-war preparations to the final victory in Europe, through the Battles of Britain and the Atlantic and the long and costly strategic bombing campaign. An essential read on an crucial part of the war

read full review

A Soldier of the Seventy-first, From De la Plata to Waterloo 1806-1815, Joseph Sinclair.

A Soldier of the Seventy-first, From De la Plata to Waterloo 1806-1815, Joseph Sinclair.

The memoir of an educated private soldier who enlisted in the British after a family argument, and who went on to serve in South American, Walcheren and the Peninsular War, producing a thoughtful and literate account of the life of a private soldier in a period when very few of his fellow private soldiers left any record of their experiences

read full review

Blohm und Voss Bv 139

The Blohm und Voss Bv 139 was the designation given to three four-engined flying boats produced as mail planes for Lufthansa, but that served with the Luftwaffe during the Second World War

Blohm und Voss Bv 138

The Blohm und Voss Bv 138 was a three-engined long-range reconnaissance flying boat that was the most numerous of their own aircraft produced by Blohm und Voss.

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Focke-Wulf Ta 154 Moskito

The Focke-Wulf Ta 154 Moskito was a twin-engined night fighter of wooden construction that was cancelled soon after entering production, partly because of problems with the glue holding it together

Focke-Wulf Ta 211

The Focke-Wulf Ta 211 was the original designation given to the Ta 154 twin-engined fighter, at a time when it was being developed as a high-speed bomber.

Monday, September 20, 2010

Siege of Isfizar (1383)

The siege of Isfizar (1383) saw Tamerlane put down a revolt in a city south of Herat, and ended with yet another of his trademark atrocities

Revolt of Herat of 1383

The revolt of Herat of 1383 was a short-lived rebellion against Tamerlane that ended with a massacre and the increasingly familiar site of towers of skulls outside the city

Friday, September 17, 2010

Churchill's Desert Rats in North-West Europe, From Normandy to Berlin, Patrick Delaforce.

Churchill's Desert Rats in North-West Europe, From Normandy to Berlin, Patrick Delaforce.

An account of 7th Armoured Division's part in the fighting between D-Day and the final German surrender, a period that saw the Desert Rats take part in some of the most famous battles in Normandy, the 'Great Swan' across France, the liberation of parts of Belgium, the crossing of the Rhine and the capture of Hamburg

[read full review]

The Royal Air Force at Home, The History of RAF Air Displays From 1920, Ian Smith Watson.

The Royal Air Force at Home, The History of RAF Air Displays From 1920, Ian Smith Watson.

A comprehensive look at the history of RAF air displays and the aircraft that took part in them, focusing to a large extend on the post-war displays, including the huge number of 'at-home' displays inaugurated to commemorate the Battle of Britain

[read full review]

V Weapons Hunt - Defeating German Secret Weapons, Colonel Roy M. Stanley II, USAF (Ret).

V Weapons Hunt - Defeating German Secret Weapons, Colonel Roy M. Stanley II, USAF (Ret).

An utterly fascinating look at the role photo reconnaissance played in the hunt for the German 'V' weapons during the Second World War, written by a former photo-interpreter and illustrated with a vast number of well annotated wartime aerial photographs.

[read full review]

heffield City Battalion, The 12th (Service) Battalion York & Lancaster Regiment, Ralph Gibson & Paul Oldfield.

Sheffield City Battalion, The 12th (Service) Battalion York & Lancaster Regiment, Ralph Gibson & Paul Oldfield.

An excellent battalion history, looking at a unit that went to Egypt for a short period before returning to Europe to take part in the disastrous first day of the Battle of the Somme. Includes a good section on the reasons for the failure at the Somme, providing more detailed background material than is often the case in regimental histories.[read full review]

heffield City Battalion, The 12th (Service) Battalion York & Lancaster Regiment, Ralph Gibson & Paul Oldfield.

Sheffield City Battalion, The 12th (Service) Battalion York & Lancaster Regiment, Ralph Gibson & Paul Oldfield.

An excellent battalion history, looking at a unit that went to Egypt for a short period before returning to Europe to take part in the disastrous first day of the Battle of the Somme. Includes a good section on the reasons for the failure at the Somme, providing more detailed background material than is often the case in regimental histories.[read full review]

Focke-Wulf Fw 189 'Uhu' (Eagle Owl)

The Focke-Wulf Fw 189 'Uhu' (Eagle Owl) was the most successful German short-range reconnaissance aircraft of the Second World War, entering service in time to take part in the invasion of the Soviet Union and remaining in use in its main role well into 1944

Focke-Wulf Fw 58 Weihe (Kite)

The Focke-Wulf Fw 58 Weihe (Kite) was a twin-engined aircraft that was used as a light transport, air-ambulance and navigational trainer by the Luftwaffe

Arado Ar 198

The Arado Ar 198 was a short-range reconnaissance aircraft designed to the same specifications as the Fw 189 but that never progressed beyond the prototype stage.

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Blohm und Voss Bv 237

The Blohm und Voss Bv 237 was a design for an asymmetric dive-bomber largely based on the earlier Bv 141 reconnaissance aircraft

Blohm und Voss Bv 141

The Blohm und Voss Bv 141 was an asymmetric reconnaissance aircraft designed in response to the same specification that led to the Focke-Wulf 189

Wednesday, September 15, 2010

HMS Tracker

HMS Tracker was an Attacker class escort carrier that was one of the few members of her class to be used extensively on convoy escort duties, before spending the first part of 1945 acting as a ferry carrier for the US Navy

HMS Striker

HMS Striker was an Attacker class escort carrier that took part in operations off the Norwegian coast during 1944, as well as playing a part in the D-Day landings and escorting convoys to Russia

Saturday, September 04, 2010

Siege of Fushanj (1381)

The siege of Fushanj (1381) was Tamerlane's first military successes in Khorasan, and a precursor to his first short siege of Herat

Siege of Herat of 1381

The siege of Herat of 1381 was an easy success that ended Tamerlane's first major campaign in Khorasan and saw his empire expand out of its original base in Transoxiana into the former empire of the Il-Khans in Persian for the first time

Thursday, September 02, 2010

Focke-Wulf Fw 187 Falke (Falcon)

The Focke-Wulf Fw 187 Falke (Falcon) was a high performance twin-engined fighter that was developed in single and two seat versions, but that never attracted the support of the German air ministry, and didn't enter production

Focke-Wulf Fw 57

The Focke-Wulf Fw 57 was a twin-engined heavy fighter that never developed beyond the prototype stage, although it did make its maiden flight in 1936

Focke-Wulf Fw 56 Stösser (Falcon)

The Focke-Wulf Fw 56 Stösser (Falcon) was an advanced training aircraft that was used at German fighter pilot schools throughout the Second World War.

Wednesday, September 01, 2010

Siege of Urganch of 1379

The siege of Urganch of 1379 was the key victory during Tamerlane's fourth war in Khwarezm, and saw the city fall after a siege of three months.

Siege of Kath (1372)

The siege of Kath (1372) was an early success during Tamerlane's first expedition into Khwarezm, and was followed by one of the first examples of the atrocities that so often followed when Tamerlane captured a city.