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The Evolution of British Counter-Insurgency during the Cyprus Revolt, 1955–1959
by Preston Jordan LimThis book evaluates the prosecution of British counter-insurgency operations during the Cyprus Revolt of 1955-1959. Historians have typically cast the Cyprus Revolt as a failure, situating it within the larger pattern of the post-1945 failure of conventional armies to deal with insurgencies. By analyzing the reminiscences of British policemen, National Servicemen, and officers both junior and senior, the study provides a ground-up assessment of the British counter-insurgency effort. The work examines also the contradictions gripping Greek and Turkish Cypriot opinion, arguing that developments during this time period set the scene for intercommunal violence in the 1960s and 1970s. Military history is taken in a broad sense and includes the Cypriot government’s attempts to control its image in the eyes of international opinion. By intimately dealing with indigenous news outlets like the Times of Cyprus and Halkın Sesi, this book offers lessons for modern policymakers and civil servants concerned with the importance of sound press strategy.
The Evolution of British Counter-Insurgency during the Cyprus Revolt, 1955–1959
by Preston Jordan LimThis book evaluates the prosecution of British counter-insurgency operations during the Cyprus Revolt of 1955-1959. Historians have typically cast the Cyprus Revolt as a failure, situating it within the larger pattern of the post-1945 failure of conventional armies to deal with insurgencies. By analyzing the reminiscences of British policemen, National Servicemen, and officers both junior and senior, the study provides a ground-up assessment of the British counter-insurgency effort. The work examines also the contradictions gripping Greek and Turkish Cypriot opinion, arguing that developments during this time period set the scene for intercommunal violence in the 1960s and 1970s. Military history is taken in a broad sense and includes the Cypriot government’s attempts to control its image in the eyes of international opinion. By intimately dealing with indigenous news outlets like the Times of Cyprus and Halkın Sesi, this book offers lessons for modern policymakers and civil servants concerned with the importance of sound press strategy.
Teenage Safari: A South African Conscript in the Border War in Angola and Namibia (PDF)
by Evan DaviesA wide-eyed South African conscript relates his small share of the war in Angola and Namibia in the 1980s. This is not the usual military history, written by a commander armed with facts, nor a researched story of a war or campaign. It is a personal experience. Being brutally honest it will resonate not only with readers of all things military but also with a wider literary audience, for its poetic prose and subtle sentiments, and for its entertaining narrative. It may thus be of interest not only to the South African men who were there, but to their women who were left behind, and to all men and women anywhere. It is a book by a non-warrior dumped into a war, which nevertheless provides vivid alternative first-hand accounts whose validity cannot simply be brushed aside by professional historians.
The Bitter Sea: The Brutal World War II Fight for the Mediterranean (PDF)
by Simon BallThe Mediterranean Sea lies at the very heart of recent world history. To the British during the Second World War, the Mediterranean was the world’s great thoroughfare. To the Americans, it represented the answer to anti-imperialism. And to Mussolini, it encapsulated his violent vision of conquest. These three great powers attempted to overthrow the existing order in the Mediterranean, resulting in a collision of allies as well as enemies that hadn’t been seen before: the Germans fought against the Italians, the Americans against the Arabs, the Jews against the British, the French against nearly everyone. The Mediterranean was indeed ‘the bitter sea’. In this masterly history, Simon Ball takes us through the tumultuous events set in motion by Mussolini’s lust for conquest that ended with the creation of Israel. Long drawn-out battles on land, sea and air – dominated by WWII’s most illustrious leaders, Churchill, Eisenhower and Rommel amongst them – resulted in Allied victory in the battle of El Alamein, the terrifying desert campaigns of Africa and the eventual defeat of Italy and then Germany. The wars in the Mediterranean had huge consequences for all those who fought in them, but none more profound than those experienced by the lands, nations and peoples that lived around the sea itself. Based on entirely original research, ‘The Bitter Sea’ is expertly written, utterly compelling and unquestionably important.
Alliance: The Inside Story Of How Roosevelt, Stalin And Churchill Won One War And Began Another
by Jonathan FenbyThe history of the Second World War is usually told through its decisive battles and campaigns. But behind the front lines, behind even the command centres of Allied generals and military planners, a different level of strategic thinking was going on. Throughout the war the 'Big Three' -- Churchill, Roosevelt and Stalin -- met in various permutations and locations to thrash out ways to defeat Nazi Germany -- and, just as importantly, to decide the way Europe would look after the war. This was the political rather than military struggle: a battle of wills and diplomacy between three men with vastly differing backgrounds, characters -- and agendas. Focusing on the riveting interplay between these three extraordinary personalities, Jonathan Fenby re-creates the major Allied conferences including Casablanca, Potsdam and Yalta to show exactly who bullied whom, who was really in control, and how the key decisions were taken. With his customary flair for narrative, character and telling detail, Fenby's account reveals what really went on in those smoke-filled rooms and shows how "jaw-jaw" as well as "war-war" led to Hitler's defeat and the shape of the post-war world.
The Art of War: An Illustrated Edition (The Illustrated Library of Chinese Classics)
by Sunzi C. C. Tsai Brian Bruya Lawrence FreedmanA delightfully illustrated version of Sunzi’s classic The Art of War by bestselling cartoonist C. C. TsaiC. C. Tsai is one of Asia's most popular cartoonists, and his editions of the Chinese classics have sold more than 40 million copies in over twenty languages. This volume presents Tsai's delightful graphic adaptation of Sunzi's Art of War, the most profound book on warfare and strategy ever written--a work that continues to be read as a handbook for success not just by military commanders but also by leaders in politics, business, and many other fields.Conceived by a Chinese warrior-philosopher some 2,500 years ago, The Art of War speaks to those aspiring to rise through the ranks and help build successful countries. How can that goal best be achieved, and what is the role of warfare, if any, in the process? What are the powers and limits of the general in command? How can you win without going to war? Sunzi's answers to these and other questions are brought to life as never before by Tsai's brilliant cartoons, which show Sunzi fighting on dangerous ground, launching a surprise attack, spying on his enemies, and much more.A marvelously rich introduction to a timeless classic, this book also features a foreword by Lawrence Freedman, one of the world's leading authorities on military strategy, which illuminates how The Art of War has influenced Western strategic thought. In addition, Sunzi's original Chinese text is artfully presented in narrow sidebars on each page, enriching the books for readers and students of Chinese without distracting from the self-contained English-language cartoons. The text is skillfully translated by Brian Bruya, who also provides an introduction.
Operation Barbarossa and Germany's Defeat in the East (PDF)
by David StahelOperation Barbarossa, the German invasion of the Soviet Union, began the largest and most costly campaign in military history. Its failure was a key turning point of the Second World War. The operation was planned as a Blitzkrieg to win Germany its Lebensraum in the east, and the summer of 1941 is well-known for the German army's unprecedented victories and advances. Yet the German Blitzkrieg depended almost entirely upon the motorised Panzer groups, particularly those of Army Group Centre. Using archival records, in this book David Stahel presents a history of Germany's summer campaign from the perspective of the two largest and most powerful Panzer groups on the Eastern front. Stahel's research provides a fundamental reassessment of Germany's war against the Soviet Union, highlighting the prodigious internal problems of the vital Panzer forces and revealing that their demise in the earliest phase of the war undermined the whole German invasion.
The Republic in Danger: General Maurice Gamelin and the Politics of French Defence, 1933–1940 (PDF)
by Martin S. AlexanderThis is the first full-length study in English of the career of one of France's most controversial military leaders, General Maurice Gamelin (1872–1958). Gamelin was reviled by many of his contemporaries and denigrated by historians as 'the man who lost the Battle of France'. Here Gamelin is re-appraised in the context of the unstable civil-military relations and national decline of the years 1933–40.
Mussolini and his Generals: The Armed Forces and Fascist Foreign Policy, 1922–1940 (PDF)
by John GoochThis is the first authoritative study of the Italian armed forces and the relationship between the military and foreign policies of Fascist Italy from Mussolini's rise to power in 1922 to the catastrophic defeat of 1940. Using extensive new research, John Gooch explores the nature and development of the three armed forces, their relationships with Mussolini and the impact of his policies and command, the development of operational and strategic thought, and the deployment and use of force in Libya, Abyssinia and Spain. He emphasizes Mussolini's long-term expansionist goals and explains how he responded to the structural pressures of the international system and the contingent pressures of events. This compelling account shows that while Mussolini bore ultimate responsibility for Italy's fateful entry into the Second World War, his generals and admirals bore a share of the blame for defeat through policies that all too often rested on irrationality and incompetence.
The Dead March: A History of the Mexican-American War
by Peter GuardinoFocusing on ordinary Mexicans and Americans, Peter Guardino offers a clearer picture than we have ever had of the brief, bloody war that redrew the map of North America. He shows how dramatically U.S. forces underestimated Mexicans’ patriotism, fierce resistance, and bitter resentment of American claims to national and racial superiority.
The Dead March: A History of the Mexican-American War (PDF)
by Peter GuardinoFocusing on ordinary Mexicans and Americans, Peter Guardino offers a clearer picture than we have ever had of the brief, bloody war that redrew the map of North America. He shows how dramatically U.S. forces underestimated Mexicans’ patriotism, fierce resistance, and bitter resentment of American claims to national and racial superiority.
The Jews of Nazi Vienna, 1938-1945: Rescue and Destruction (Palgrave Studies in the History of Genocide)
by Ilana Fritz OffenbergerThis book examines Jewish life in Vienna just after the Nazi-takeover in 1938. Who were Vienna’s Jews, how did they react and respond to Nazism, and why? Drawing upon the voices of the individuals and families who lived during this time, together with new archival documentation, Ilana Offenberger reconstructs the daily lives of Vienna’s Jews from Anschluss in March 1938 through the entire Nazi occupation and the eventual dissolution of the Jewish community of Vienna. Offenberger explains how and why over two-thirds of the Jewish community emigrated from the country, while one-third remained trapped. A vivid picture emerges of the co-dependent relationship this community developed with their German masters, and the false hope they maintained until the bitter end. The Germans murdered close to one third of Vienna’s Jewish population in the “final solution” and their family members who escaped the Reich before 1941 chose never to return; they remained dispersed across the world. This is not a triumphant history. Although the overwhelming majority survived the Holocaust, the Jewish community that once existed was destroyed.
The Jews of Nazi Vienna, 1938-1945: Rescue and Destruction (Palgrave Studies in the History of Genocide)
by Ilana Fritz OffenbergerThis book examines Jewish life in Vienna just after the Nazi-takeover in 1938. Who were Vienna’s Jews, how did they react and respond to Nazism, and why? Drawing upon the voices of the individuals and families who lived during this time, together with new archival documentation, Ilana Offenberger reconstructs the daily lives of Vienna’s Jews from Anschluss in March 1938 through the entire Nazi occupation and the eventual dissolution of the Jewish community of Vienna. Offenberger explains how and why over two-thirds of the Jewish community emigrated from the country, while one-third remained trapped. A vivid picture emerges of the co-dependent relationship this community developed with their German masters, and the false hope they maintained until the bitter end. The Germans murdered close to one third of Vienna’s Jewish population in the “final solution” and their family members who escaped the Reich before 1941 chose never to return; they remained dispersed across the world. This is not a triumphant history. Although the overwhelming majority survived the Holocaust, the Jewish community that once existed was destroyed.
Memories from the Frontline: Memoirs and Meanings of The Great War from Britain, France and Germany (Palgrave Studies in Life Writing)
by Jerry PalmerThis book analyses soldiers’ memoirs from the Great War of 1914-18 from Britain, France and Germany. It considers both the authors’ composition of the memoirs and the public response to them. It provides contextual analysis through a survey of the different types of contemporary writing about the Great War, through an analysis of changes in the language used to describe combat, and through an analysis of those people whose accounts of the war were either excluded or marginalised. It also considers the international response to the most successful of the texts. The purpose of the analysis is to show how soldiers’ memoirs contributed to the collective memory of the war and how they influenced public opinion about the war. These texts are both autobiographical and historical and their relationship to the fields of autobiography and historical writing is also considered, as well as to the distinction between fact and fiction.
Memories from the Frontline: Memoirs and Meanings of The Great War from Britain, France and Germany (Palgrave Studies in Life Writing)
by Jerry PalmerThis book analyses soldiers’ memoirs from the Great War of 1914-18 from Britain, France and Germany. It considers both the authors’ composition of the memoirs and the public response to them. It provides contextual analysis through a survey of the different types of contemporary writing about the Great War, through an analysis of changes in the language used to describe combat, and through an analysis of those people whose accounts of the war were either excluded or marginalised. It also considers the international response to the most successful of the texts. The purpose of the analysis is to show how soldiers’ memoirs contributed to the collective memory of the war and how they influenced public opinion about the war. These texts are both autobiographical and historical and their relationship to the fields of autobiography and historical writing is also considered, as well as to the distinction between fact and fiction.
Economics and Modern Warfare: The Invisible Fist Of The Market
by Michael TaillardThis book demonstrates how economic tools have been used throughout history to accomplish goals of military conflict, how they can be used more effectively than traditional means of warfare in the modern era, and how we can derive a better understanding of economic strategy applicable not just to the military but also to market competition. This new edition includes a thorough updating of chapters on advances in our understanding of economic warfare and more recent examples, such as ISIS’s reliance on obtaining control over oil production facilities, North Korea’s nuclear program, and China’s emphasis on scientific research and technological innovation. This edition also features an entirely new chapter on the commercialization of the conflict over the region of Kashmir.
Coping with Hunger and Shortage under German Occupation in World War II
by Tatjana Tönsmeyer Peter Haslinger Agnes LabaThis volume demonstrates how German expansion in the Second World War II led to shortages, of food and other necessities including medicine, for the occupied populations, causing many to die from severe hunger or starvation. While the various chapters look at a range of topics, the main focus is on the experiences of ordinary people under occupation; their everyday life, and how this quickly became dominated by the search for supplies and different strategies to fight scarcity. The book discusses various such strategies for surviving increasingly catastrophic circumstances, ranging from how people dealt with rationing systems, to the use of substitute products and recycling, barter, black-marketeering and smuggling, and even survival prostitution. In addressing examples from Norway to Greece and from France to Russia, this volume offers the first pan-European perspective on the history of shortage, malnutrition and hunger resulting from the war, occupation, and aggressive German exploitation policies.
Admiral Bill Halsey: A Naval Life
by Thomas Alexander HughesWilliam Halsey, the most famous naval officer of World War II, was known for fearlessness, steely resolve, and impulsive errors. In this definitive biography, Thomas Hughes punctures the popular caricature of the fighting admiral to present a revealing human portrait of his personal and professional life as it was lived in times of war and peace.
Presidents and Their Generals: An American History of Command in War
by Matthew MotenSince 1945, as the U.S. has engaged in near-constant “wars of choice” with limited congressional oversight, the executive and armed services have shared primary responsibility for often ill-defined objectives, strategies, and benefits. Matthew Moten shows the significance of negotiations between presidents and the generals allied with them.
Long Wars and the Constitution
by Stephen M. GriffinExtension of presidential leadership in foreign affairs to war powers has destabilized our constitutional order and deranged our foreign policy. Stephen M. Griffin shows unexpected connections between the imperial presidency and constitutional crises, and argues for accountability by restoring Congress to a meaningful role in decisions for war.
The Missile Next Door: The Minuteman In The American Heartland
by Gretchen HeefnerIn the 1960s the Air Force buried 1,000 ICBMs in pastures across the Great Plains to keep U.S. nuclear strategy out of view. As rural civilians of all political stripes found themselves living in the Soviet crosshairs, a proud Plains individualism gave way to an economic dependence on the military-industrial complex that still persists today.
Overreach: Delusions of Regime Change in Iraq
by Michael MacDonaldIn the run-up to the Iraq invasion, a number of Americans thought the idea was crazy. Now everyone, except a few die-hards, thinks it was. So what was going through the minds of the talented and experienced men and women who planned and initiated the war? What were their assumptions? Overreach aims to recover those presuppositions.
Elvis’s Army: Cold War Gis And The Atomic Battlefield
by Brian McAllister LinnWhen the Army drafted Elvis in 1958, it set about transforming the King of Rock and Roll from a rebellious teen idol into a clean-cut GI trained for nuclear warfare. Brian Linn traces the origins, evolution, and ultimate failure of the army’s attempt to reinvent itself for the Atomic Age, and reveals the experiences of its forgotten soldiers.
Safe Passage: The Transition from British to American Hegemony
by Kori SchakeHistory records only one peaceful transition of hegemonic power: the passage from British to American dominance of the international order. To explain why this transition was nonviolent, Kori Schake explores nine points of crisis between Britain and the U.S., from the Monroe Doctrine to the unequal “special relationship” during World War II.
From Byron to bin Laden: A History of Foreign War Volunteers
by Nir ArielliWhat makes people fight for countries other than their own? Nir Arielli offers a wide-ranging history of foreign-war volunteers, from the French Revolution to Syria. Challenging notions of foreign fighters as a security problem, Arielli explores motivations, ideology, gender, international law, military significance, and the memory of war.