Boeing C-73

The Boeing C-73 was the military designation given to a number of Model 247 twin-engine transport aircrafts that were taken into military service early in the Second World War.

Boeing Y1C-18

The Boeing Y1C-18 was the military designation given to a single Boeing Monomail (Model 200) that was evaluated by the USAAC.

Gaspard II de Coligny, Admiral of France (1519-1572)

Gaspard II de Coligny, Admiral of France (1519-1572) was a successful French commander during the later stages of the Italian Wars who became a Huguenot leader in the French Wars of Religion and who was killed during the St Bartholomew's Day Massacre of August 1572.

Guillaume Gouffier, Lord of Bonnivet, Admiral of France (c.1488-1525)

Guillaume Gouffier, Lord of Bonnivet, Admiral of France (c.1488-1525) was a French commander who performed well battle early in his career, but who proved to be an ineffective commander when given control of the French army in Italy in 1523-24.

Boeing/ Stearman XA-21

The Boeing/ Stearman XA-21 was a twin-engine attack aircraft that was one of the most advanced aircraft to emerge from the Stearman Company.

Boeing Y1B-9A

The Boeing Y1B-9A was an early monoplane bomber originally developed as a private venture in 1930-31 but that failed to gain any production orders.

3rd Reconnaissance Group (USAAF)

The 3rd Reconnaissance Group (USAAF) was a reconnaissance unit that served in the Mediterranean, supporting the campaigns in Tunisia, Sicily and mainland Italy.

2nd Reconnaissance Group (USAAF)

The 2nd Reconnaissance Group (USAAF) was a home-based training unit that operated for two years from May 1942 until May 1944.

1st Photographic Group

The 1st Photographic Group was formed in June 1941 to expand photographic mapping in the USAAF and to provide long-range photographic reconnaissance similar to the British model.

Pierre Terrail, seigneur of Bayard (1475-1524)

Pierre Terrail, seigneur of Bayard (1475-1524) was a French military leader who earned an impressive reputation during the Italian Wars and become known as the 'Fearless and blameless knight', while later commanders of promise were sometimes called the 'New Bayard'.

Bernard Stuart, Seigneur of Aubigny

Bernard Stuart, Seigneur of Aubigny, was a French general from a family of Scottish origins, and was a fairly unsuccessful French commander in the early phases of the Italian War.

Boeing Model 76

The Boeing Model 76 was an export version of the Model 75 'Kaydet' trainer, given more powerful engines and light armament and used as combat trainers and attack aircraft.

Boeing XN2B-1

The Boeing XN2B-1 was an experimental trainer produced by fitting an experimental Fairchild-Caminez engine to a Boeing Model 64 primary trainer.

The British Army in Italy, 1917-1918, John Wilks and Eileen Wilks.

The British Army in Italy, 1917-1918, John Wilks and Eileen Wilks.

Looks at the activities of the British expeditionary force sent to Italy after the Battle of Caporetto, including their part in stopping the final Austrian offensive of the war and in the victorious battle of Vittorio Veneto, which came just before the armistices that ended the war.
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German Destroyers of World War II, Gerhard Koop and Klaus-Peter Schmolke.

German Destroyers of World War II, Gerhard Koop and Klaus-Peter Schmolke.

A very useful history of the forty two destroyers that served with the German Navy during the Second World War, organised first by design feature, then by combat engagement and finally destroyer-by-destroyer to paint a complete picture of these hard working but temperamental warships.
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German Light Cruisers of World War II, Gerhard Koop and Klaus-Peter Schmolke.

German Light Cruisers of World War II, Gerhard Koop and Klaus-Peter Schmolke.

A detailed history of the six light cruisers of the German Navy written by an author who actually served on one of them, this is an impressively unbiased examination of a fairly unimpressive set of warships that were never quite able to live up to the demands made of them.
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Nieuport 11

The Nieuport 11 was a single seat scout that entered French service at the start of 1916 and that helped defeat the 'Fokker scourge', the period of German air dominance won by the famous Fokker monoplanes.

Nieuport 10

The Nieuport 10 was designed as a two-seat biplane reconnaissance aircraft, but most were converted into single-seat fighters, making it the first in the long series of Nieuport fighters that served with the British, French, American, Italian and Russian air services during the First World War.

Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua (1466-1519)

Francesco II Gonzaga, Marquess of Mantua (1466-1519) was an Italian general best known for commanding the Italian army at the battle of Fornovo in 1495 when he was commander of the armies of Venice, but who also spent many years in the French service as well as briefly fighting for the Pope.

Andrea Doria (1466-1560)

Andrea Doria (1466-1560) was one of the most successful Italian leaders of the long-running Italian Wars and was a very able naval leader who ended his life as ruler of Genoa.

Bartolomeo d'Alviano (1455-1515)

Bartolomeo d'Alviano (1455-1515) was an Italian condottiere who fought both for and against the French in the early stages of the Italian Wars.

Boeing-Stearman PT-27

The Boeing-Stearman PT-27 was the designation for 300 Model 75 primary trainers produced to go to Canada under Lend-Lease.

Boeing-Stearman PT-18

The Boeing-Stearman PT-18 was the USAAF designation for all Model 75 primary trainers powered by Jacobs engines.

Boeing-Stearman PT-17

The Boeing-Stearman PT-17 was the USAAF designation for all Model 75 primary trainers powered by Continental engines.

USS Kentucky (BB-66)

The USS Kentucky (BB-66) would have been the last of six Iowa class battleships. She was incomplete at the end of the Second World War, and although work continued on her intermittently until the mid-1950s with some proposals to complete her as a missile battleship she was eventually sold for scrap in 1958.

Pope Clement VII (1478-1534, Pope 1523-1534)

Pope Clement VII (1478-1534, Pope 1523-1534) was Pope during most of the First and Second Hapsburg-Valois Wars in Italy, and was seen as a weak, vacillating Pope whose actions or inactions led to the sack for Rome of 1527 and the English split with Rome of 1534.

Alexander VI (c.1431-1503, Pope 1492-1503)

Alexander VI (c.1431-1503, Pope 1492-1503) was one of the worst examples of a Renaissance Pope, seen as more interested in the power of his family, Italian politics and patronising the arts than in religion.

Boeing-Stearman N2S

The Boeing-Stearman N2S was the designation given to all US Navy versions of the Boeing-Stearman Model 75 Primary Trainer.

Boeing-Stearman PT-13

The Boeing-Stearman PT-13 was the USAAF designation for all Model 75 primary trainers powered by Lycoming engines.

The Dam Buster Raid - A reappraisal 70 years on, Alan W. Cooper.

The Dam Buster Raid - A reappraisal 70 years on, Alan W. Cooper.

More of a re-telling than a reappraisal, the accounts of the raid and its aftermath is good, but the build-up to the attack is less well handled. Most valuable when it looks at the post-raid and post-war lives of the participants - an area that I haven’t seen covered in such detail before.
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From the Imjin to the Hook, James Jacobs.

From the Imjin to the Hook, James Jacobs.

Interesting autobiography of a national serviceman who serving with the artillery in Korea before volunteering for a second spell of service late in the same war. A very readable account of life in the British Army in Korea, seen from a slightly unusual angle - I've not read an account from the artillery before.
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Don't Hurry me down to Hades: The Civil War in the words of those who lived it, Susannah J. Ural.

A history of the American Civil War supported by a heavy use of contemporary sources and in particular letters, speeches and diaries - materials that were either intended for immediate reading or were private - rather than post-war memoirs, often distorted by the aims of their authors. The result is an immediacy and a freshness that takes us back to those dark years and helps us see the wider impact of the war.
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Italian Wars (1494-1559)

The Italian Wars (1494-1559) saw a prolonged period of struggle between the major European powers for control of Italy. It began with a French attempt to press a claim to the Kingdom of Naples, but soon expanded into a general clash between the houses of Valois and Habsburg, and in particular between Francis I of France and the Emperor Charles V.

USS Illinois (BB-65)

USS Illinois (BB-65) was the fifth member of the Iowa class of fast battleships. She was incomplete at the end of the Second World War, was cancelled in August 1945 and scrapped in place in the ship yard.

USS Wisconsin (BB-64)

USS Wisconsin (BB-64) was an Iowa class battleship that served in the Pacific in 1945, served as a bombardment ship during the Korean War and was reactivated during the 1980s, fighting in the First Gulf War of 1991.

364th Fighter Group (USAAF)

The 364th Fighter Group (USAAF) entered combat as a fighter escort unit, protecting the Eighth Air Force's heavy bombers, but later added ground attack duties to its role.

361st Fighter Group (USAAF)

The 361st Fighter Group (USAAF) provided fighter escorts for the Eighth Air Force's strategic bombing campaign and also carried out a number of ground attack missions.

37th Fighter Group (USAAF)

The 37th Fighter Group (USAAF) was a fighter unit that served as part of the defense force of the Panama Canal from 1940 until 1943.