Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Decimus Brutus (d.43)

Decimus Brutus (d.43) was a support of Julius Caesar during the Gallic and Civil Wars, before betraying him and joining the conspiracy that ended in Caesar's murder.

Battle of Carteia (46 BC)

The battle of Carteia (46 BC) was a minor naval victory won by one of Caesar's lieutenants over a Pompeian fleet that had escaped from Africa to Spain after the battle of Thapsus (47 BC).

Children of the Camps: Japan's Last Forgotten Victims, Mark Felton

Children of the Camps: Japan's Last Forgotten Victims, Mark Felton.

A study of the fate of the children taken into internment camps by the Japanese after their rapid conquests in the Far East in 1941 and 1942. Covers a wide geographical area, from China through Malaya and Singapore to the Dutch East Indies and the Philippines.

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Marlborough, Angus Konstam

Marlborough, Angus Konstam.

A useful short biography of John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough, looking at his battlefield victories and the way in which they were won, as well as at his skills as a diplomat and the leader of a coalition army. Concludes with a look at the dramatic fluctuation in his historical reputation.

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Thursday, March 24, 2011

The Tyrants of Syracuse: War in Ancient Sicily Volume I: 480-367 BC, Jeff Champion

The Tyrants of Syracuse: War in Ancient Sicily Volume I: 480-367 BC, Jeff Champion.

A study of the military history of ancient Sicily, from the battle of Himera in 480 BC to the death of Dionysius I, tyrant of Syracuse, in 367 BC. This period saw the Greeks of Sicily fight the Carthaginians, the invading Athenians, the natives Sicilians, and perhaps most frequently each other

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10 Commando 1943-1945, Ian Dear

10 Commando 1943-1945, Ian Dear.

A fascinating study of 10 Commando, a unit made up of foreign volunteers who had escaped from Europe to Britain and that carried out cross-channel raids, took part in the fighting in Italy and Yugoslavia, the D-Day landings and the liberation of Europe and the battles of Arnhem and Walcheren.

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Wednesday, March 23, 2011

Robert E. Lee, Ron Field

Robert E. Lee, Ron Field.

Biography of Lee focusing on his civil war career and in particular his role in the most famous set-piece battles in the Eastern Theatre, including his triumphs at Second Bull Run, Chancellorsville and Fredericksburg and his failures at Antietam and Gettysburg. Also includes a useful section on the way in which Lee's reputation has changed over the years.

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The Shepherd Lord, George Peter Algar

The Shepherd Lord, George Peter Algar.

A novelization of the true story of Henry, 10th Lord Clifford, who was spirited away after his father's death at the Battle of Towton, and raised in hiding by his former wet-nurse and her shepherd husband. The basic outline of the story is well documented, but the twenty year gap between Henry's disappearance and his return after Bosworth is a mystery, and this is when Algar sets most of his entertaining story.

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Thursday, March 17, 2011

Eastern Inferno, The Journals of a German Panzerjäger on the Eastern Front, 1941-1943, Hans Roth.

Eastern Inferno, The Journals of a German Panzerjäger on the Eastern Front, 1941-1943, Hans Roth.

The remarkable journals of Hans Roth, who fought with an anti-tank unit attached to a German infantry division on the Eastern Front from 1941 until his death some time in 1944. Roth took part in the initial invasion, the battle for Kiev and the shattering retreat from Stalingrad, before disappearing during the destruction of Army Group Centre in 1944.

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The Vought F4U Corsair, Rafe Morrissey and Joe Hegedus

The Vought F4U Corsair, Rafe Morrissey and Joe Hegedus.

A modeller's guide to the Vought Corsair, providing a detailed account of the aircraft's physical development, lavishly supported with photographs and detailed plans as well as a section of reviews of models at various scales. Aimed at someone who already knows how to model, and who wants to know the precise details of each variant of the aircraft.

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Wednesday, March 16, 2011

The Distant Drum - A Memoir of a Guardsman in the Great War, F. E. Noakes

The Distant Drum - A Memoir of a Guardsman in the Great War, F. E. Noakes.

A rare example both of an autobiography written by a private soldier serving in the Guards during the First World War, and of an autobiography that covers the events of 1917 and 1918, including the German offensives in the spring and the final victorious Allied campaigns.

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'A Very Fine Commander': The Memoirs of General Sir Horatius Murray, ed. John Donovan.

'A Very Fine Commander': The Memoirs of General Sir Horatius Murray, ed. John Donovan.

Interesting autobiography of a lesser known British general of the Second World War, tracing his career as he moved from staff posts at home to combat in North Africa, Sicily, Normandy, Italy and Austria and his post-war career that saw him serve in Palestine and Korea and rise to high rank within NATO.

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Stilicho, the Vandal who Saved Rome, Ian Hughes

Stilicho, the Vandal who Saved Rome, Ian Hughes.

A study of the life and times of Flavius Stilicho, a half-Roman half-Vandal soldier and politician who struggled to preserve the Western Roman Empire in the last decades before the sack of Rome in 410 AD. Hughes includes some very useful material on the wider Roman world and army, making this a very useful book.

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Friday, March 11, 2011

No.237 (Rhodesian) Squadron

No.237 (Rhodesian) Squadron began the Second World War as an army co-operation squadron based in Kenya, and took part in the invasion of Italian East Africa, the campaign in the Western Desert and the invasions of Italy and Southern France.

No.236 Squadron

No.236 Squadron spent most of the Second World War serving with Coastal Command, forming part of the North Coates strike wing from its formation in November 1942 until the end of the war.

No.235 Squadron

No.235 Squadron served with Coastal Command for most of the Second World War, serving as an anti-shipping force from 1940-1943 and 1944 to the end of the war, and as a fighter squadron over the Bay of Biscay in 1943-44.

Tuesday, March 08, 2011

Battle of Britain (10 July-31 October 1940)

The Battle of Britain (10 July-31 October 1940) was one of the decisive battles of the Second World War, and saw the RAF defeat a German attempt to gain air superiority over southern England in preparation for Operation Sealion, the planned invasion of Britain. The battle was also the first major defeat to be suffered by the Germans during the Second World War, and by keeping Britain in the war denied Hitler the quick victory that he had expected.

Monday, March 07, 2011

No.234 Squadron

No.234 Squadron was a fighter squadron that served in the United Kingdom throughout the Second World War, taking part in the Battle of Britain and the offensive sweeps across France.

No.233 Squadron

No.233 Squadron performed two very different role during the Second World War, first as a maritime reconnaissance and then anti-submarine warfare squadron in Coastal Command, and second as a transport squadron working with airborne forces.

No.232 Squadron

No.232 Squadron went through three incarnations during the Second World War, first as a fighter squadron that was caught up in the disasters in the Far East early in 1942, then as a fighter squadron in the Mediterranean and finally as a transport squadron in the Far East.

Thursday, March 03, 2011

No.231 Squadron

No.231 Squadron served as an army co-operation and reconnaissance squadron from 1940 until 1943 when it briefly joined Second Tactical Air Force before being disbanded at the start of 1944

No.230 Squadron

No.230 Squadron was a flying boat squadron that served in the Indian Ocean and the Mediterranean during the Second World War.

No.229 Squadron

No.229 Squadron was formed as a shipping protection squadron, but spent most of the Second World War as a single-engined fighter squadron, taking part in the Battle of Britain, the fighting in the Middle East and the invasion of Europe in 1944-45.

Wednesday, March 02, 2011

No.228 Squadron

No.228 Squadron was a flying boat squadron in Coastal Command that served in the Mediterranean from the summer of 1940 until the summer of 1941, but spent most of the rest of the war operating from Britain.

No.227 Squadron

No.227 Squadron went through three active incarnations during the Second World War, the first two as anti-shipping and maritime reconnaissance squadrons in the Mediterranean and the last as a Lancaster squadron in Bomber Command

No.225 Squadron

No.225 Squadron was a tactical reconnaissance squadron that was home-based from 1939 until 1942, before moving to the Mediterranean where it took part in the campaigns in North Africa, Sicily, Italy and the Balkans.