The Americans and Germans at Bastogne – First-Hand Accounts of the Commanders who Fought, Gary Sterne

A look at the siege of Bastogne as seen by a range of the American and German commanders involved in the battle, giving us an idea of just how differently the two sides saw the battle as it was evolving. On occasions it perhaps tells us more about who various German commanders wanted to blame for their failures (never themselves), but even so we still get some valuable insights into how they saw the battle, including a constant belief that the Americans were attempting to break out, and how late into the battle it was before the Germans believed that Bastogne was actually cut off  

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Rome, Blood and Power – Reform, Murder and Popular Politics in the Late Republic 70-27 BC, Gareth C. Sampson

Looks at one of the most familiar periods in Roman history, but with a focus on the various attempts to reform the Republic to make it more stable, all of which failed until Augustus realised that the trick was to take control without actually looking like you were changing anything. An interesting approach that helps to explain why a series of apparently dominant figures, from Marius and Sulla to Pompey and Caesar proved unable to maintain their power once they had seized it by focusing on the details of the politics of the city of Rome herself 

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HMS Goshawk (1911)

HMS Goshawk (1911) was an Acheron destroyer that served with the Harwich Force until late in 1916, fighting at Heligoland, Dogger Bank and Jutland, then with the 2nd then 4th Flotillas at Devonport, ending the war in the Mediterranean.

USS William B. Preston (DD-344)

USS William B. Preston (DD-344) was a Clemson class destroyer that was caught up in the Japanese invasion of the Philipinnes in 1941-42, and badly damaging during the bombing of Darwin. She spent the rest of 1942-43 supporting Catalina patrols along the west coast of Australia, most of 1944 as a target vessel for submarine exercises, and the rest of the war acting as a plane guard for naval aviators in training in the United States.

P.Z.L. P.6

The P.Z.L. P.6 was one of two radial powered developments of the P.1 fighter that were produced at the same time in 1929-30, but lost out to the second model, the high altitude P.Z.L. P.7

No.404 Squadron, RCAF

No.404 Squadron, RCAF, was a long range fighter and anti shipping squadron that served with RAF Coastal Command from 1941-45.

Japanese Armies 1868-1877 – The Boshin War and Satsuma Rebellion, Gabriele Esposito

Looks at the armies of the two wars that saw the Japanese Shogunate overthrown by pro-Imperial, anti-Foreign forces, who were then in turn defeated by the westernised forces of the newly restored Emperor. As a result we see two wars in which medieval samurai could be found fighting alongside and against modern Westernised infantry, making this one of the most varied examples of a Men-at-Arms you will ever find! 

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USS Enterprise (CV-6), David Doyle

A splendid pictorial history of USS Enterprise, with an impressive selection of photographs that trace her from construction to scrapping, along with all of her combat experiences. This is an impressive collection of photographs, allowing us to see every aspect of her career, including her fairly extensive battle damage, as well as a good selection of detailed photographs of individual aspects of parts of the ship

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The Light Division in the Peninsular War 1811-1814, Tim Saunders and Rob Yuill

Part two of this history of the Light Division covers the largely victorious final four years of the war, and covers the siege of Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz, the battles of Salamanca, Vitoria and the Pyrenees and the invasion of France. A well written text, all supported plentiful extracts from contemporary diaries, largely covering the period after the death of the division’s most famous and succesful commander, General Craufurd.

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HMS Forester

HMS Forester was an Acheron class destroyer that served with the Harwich Force, fighting at Heligoland and Dogger Bank, then supported the 3rd Battle Squadron, before taking on more anti-submarine duties. She ended the war in the Mediterranean, along with the other surviving members of her class.