Index, bibliography, notes, ill (b/w), p.348.From the 1930s through WWII to Afghanistan today, from total war to counterinsurgency, this history unravels and defines the intangible qualities that differentiate the "Sky Men" from other soldiers Seventy years ago the Parachute Regiment was formed - the army's elite air assault force was tough, well-trained, and designed to fight hazardous operations behind enemy lines with little or no backup. Dropping into the middle of enemy territory, these "Sky Men"- British, American, German, and Russian soldiers - engage in gruelling combat in the most dangerous conflict zones around the world. Ex-Parachute Regiment officer Robert Kershaw reveals the history of these airborne forces and their role during the most dramatic battles of the 20th century. He finds out what drives a "Sky Man" to take these extraordinary risks, and what marks these sky warriors out from ordinary soldiers. How do military paratroopers conquer the fear of jumping from aircraft at low level, by night, and frequently under fire? Has the helicopter replaced the need for parachutists in the 21st Century? Has the increasing lethality of anti-aircraft weapons made the airborne option redundant? These issues are examined alongside the personal experiences of the Soviet "Locust Warriors," German Fallschirmjäger, British Red Devils, American "devils in baggy-pants," and Les Paras. Based on letters, diaries, and exclusive interviews with soldiers from around the world, this book is full of vivid personalities and nail-biting action.great britain - history - military, great britain - parachute regiment

Index, ill (b/w plates), p.362.non-fictionAt 11:28 a.m. on Saturday, August 12, 2000, high in the Arctic Circle under the roiling surface of the unforgiving Barents Sea, Captain Gennady Lyachin was taking the Kursk, the pride of Russia's elite Northern Fleet, through the last steps of firing a practice torpedo, part of an elaborate naval exercise. Suddenly, the torpedo exploded in a massive fireball, instantly incinerating all seven men in the submarine's forward compartment. The horror, however, was just beginning. The full, gripping story of the remarkable drama inside the Kursk and of the desperate rescue efforts has never been told - until now.russian submarine kursk explosion, submarine disasters - russia

ill, map, p.319.fictionThe novel that launched the astonishing career of one of the 20th century's greatest writers of action and suspense - an acclaimed classic of heroism and the sea in World War II. The story of men who rose to heroism, and then to something greater, HMS Ulysses takes its place alongside The Caine Mutiny and The Cruel Sea as one of the classic novels of the navy at war. It is the compelling story of Convoy FR77 to Murmansk - a voyage that pushes men to the limits of human endurance, crippled by enemy attack and the bitter cold of the Arctic. world war 1939-1945 - fiction, russian convoys - fiction

Index, bibliography, ill, maps, p.288.non-fictionReaping the Whirlwind offers amazing insight into the events of World War II through the eyes of those who fought against the Allied forces in all theatres of the war. Readers will comb through many previously unpublished accounts of the war from German, Italian and Japanese soldiers, civilians and military leaders. The book covers every major arena of the war: Europe; the German invasion of Russia; Rommel's Afrika Korps; and the Pacific war between Japan and forces of the US, Australia and New Zealand. Reaping the Whirlwind uses the authentic voices of Germans and Japanese people caught up in the conflict and highlights the similar deprivations and dangers experienced by both victors and vanquished. world war 1939-1945 - participation - germany, world war 1939-1945 - participation - japan

Index, bibliography, notes, maps, p.524.non-fictionIn the middle of the 20th century the Nazi and Soviet regimes starved, shot and gassed, 14 million people in the zone of death between Berlin and Moscow ... today's Ukraine, Belarus, Poland, western Russia and the eastern Baltic coasteastern europe - history - twentieth century, massacres - eastern europe - twentieth century

Bibliography, ill, maps, p.304.non-fictionThis book describes the battles on the Eastern front in 1944 which resulted in the destruction of Army Group Centreworld war 1939-1945 - campaigns - soviet union, operation bagration

Ill, p.62.non-fictionStarting the war with only 35 aircraft, Austro-Hungarian industry went on to produce only moderate numbers of poor quality aircraft. The fliers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire operating on the Serbian and Russian fronts were fortunate at first, finding themselves faced by small numbers of aircraft yet more obsolescent than their own. Serbia fell in 1915, but when Italy declared war the Austro-Hungarians were still faced with a two-front war ' a static front against Italy, and a far more fluid one against Russia. Austro-Hungarian fighter pilots performed bravely and often very effectively under extremely difficult geographic, climatic and operational conditions. world war 1914-1918 - aerial operations - austria, fighter pilots - austria

Ill, p.63.non-fictionStarting the war with only 35 aircraft, Austro-Hungarian industry went on to produce only moderate numbers of poor quality aircraft. The fliers of the Austro-Hungarian Empire operating on the Serbian and Russian fronts were fortunate at first, finding themselves faced by small numbers of aircraft yet more obsolescent than their own. Serbia fell in 1915, but when Italy declared war the Austro-Hungarians were still faced with a two-front war ' a static front against Italy, and a far more fluid one against Russia. Austro-Hungarian fighter pilots performed bravely and often very effectively under extremely difficult geographic, climatic and operational conditions. world war 1914-1918- aerial operations - austria, fighter pilots - austria

Ill, p.320.non-fictionA first hand account by an Australian airman of his escape from a Turkish prison camp during the first world war - only to land in the middle of the violence of the Russian revolutionworld war 1914-1918 - prisoners of war - turkey, escapes - turkey

Index, bibliography, ill, maps, p.625.non-fictionIn the wake of the September 11th horror, nothing could be timelier than this exploration of world terrorism and the forces that fight it--armies and missions often shrouded in mystery. A foremost expert on guerrilla warfare presents, for the first time, a comprehensive investigation of covert military operations from Vietnam to Afghanistan. Among the revelations: that the CIA handed out shoulder-fired antiaircraft missiles "like lollipops" to Osama bin Laden and other mujahadeen leaders, weapons they may now turn against us how British SAS operated inside Afghanistan against the Russians and used "former special forces" personnel for clandestine missions why secret militia and locally recruited fighters successfully defeated guerrillas and terrorists in Oman, Malaya, and Borneo, but could not in Indochina and Algeria and how "fighting dirty" sometimes meant helping drug dealers in exchange for their support. Most relevant is the detailed analysis of why Russia failed to conquer Afghanistan, what we can learn from their experience, and the perils awaiting any invader. special forces - operations - 20th century, special forces - operations - 20th century

Index, bibliography, ill, maps, p.222.non-fictionA northern sea saga of heroism, bravery and enduranceworld war 1939 – 1945 –naval operations - britain, russian convoys

Ill, maps, p.285.non-fictionSlavomir Rawicz was a young Polish cavalry officer. On 19th November 1939, he was arrested by the Russians and after brutal interrogation he was sentenced to 25 years in the Gulags. After a three month journey to Siberia in the depths of winter he escaped with six companions. This title tells the true story of his adventure, survival and escape. political prisoners - soviet union - autobiography, prisons and prisoners - russia

Index, ill, maps, p.740.non-fictionWorld War II Album presents a simultaneous documentary view of every theater of the war, from the steppes of Russia to the jungles of Malaysia and the Solomons; from the freezing cold of the northernmost fjords to the scorching sands of the Libyan desert; from the bunkers of the West Wall to the boundless oceans.world war 1939-1945 - pictorial works, world war 1939-1945 - history

Index, bib, ill, maps, p.640.non-fictionFew years can justly be said to have transformed the earth: 1914 did. In July that year, Germany, Austria-Hungary, Russia, Britain and France were poised to plunge the world into a war that would kill or wound 37 million people, tear down the fabric of society, uproot ancient political systems and set the course for the bloodiest century in human history. In the longer run, the events of 1914 set the world on the path toward the Russian Revolution, the Treaty of Versailles, the rise of Nazism and the Cold War. In 1914: The Year the World Ended, award-winning historian Paul Ham tells the story of the outbreak of the Great War from German, British, French, Austria-Hungarian, Russian and Serbian perspectives.world war 1914 - 1918 - history, world war 1914-1918 - causes

Index, bib, ill, maps, p.330.non-fictionA scholarly history of the Russian German conflict in World War twoworld war 1939-1945 - campaigns - russia, soviet union - history

Index, bib, ill, p.558.Packed with insight and terrific spy stories, this masterly book looks at the secret war on a global basis, bringing together the British, American, German, Russian and Japanese histories. In 'The Secret War', Max Hastings examines the espionage and intelligence machines of all sides in World War II, and the impact of spies, code-breakers and partisan operations on events. Written on a global scale, the book brings together accounts from British, American, German, Russian and Japanese sources to tell the story of a secret war waged unceasingly by men and women often far from the battlefields but whose actions profoundly influenced the outcome. world war 1939-1945 - espionage, world war 1914-1918 - secret service

Ill, p.357.non-fictionIn the Third Reich young Wolfgang Samuel and his family are content but alone. The father, a Luftwaffe officer, is away fighting the Allies in the West. In 1945 as Berlin and nearby communities crumble, young Wolfgang, his mother Hedy, and his little sister Ingrid flee the advancing Russian army. They have no inkling of the chaos ahead. The boy and his mother must prevail over hunger and despair, or die." "In Strasburg, a small town north of Berlin where they find refuge, Wolfgang begins to comprehend the evils the Nazi regime has brought to Germany. As the Reich collapses, mother, son, and little sister flee again just ahead of the Russian charge.world war 1939-1945 - refugees, wolfgang samuel - biography

Ill, maps, p.194.non-fictionAccount of a journalists experience behind the lines in the Russian Afghanistan conflictafghanistan - soviet occupation 1979-1889, journalists - britain - biography

Index,notes, p274.non-fictionhe presence of Osama bin Laden and his terrorist bases in Afghanistan has brought the Taliban into sharp focus as the most radical and extreme Islamist movement in the world today. Little is known about the Taliban because of the deep secrecy that surrounds the organization, its leaders and aims." "The Taliban has become a major player in the new 'Great Game' - harking back to the late-nineteenth-century British and Russian confrontation in the region - involving competition between Western oil companies, manipulation from Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Iran, and covert operations by the CIA. Taliban sheds new light on a shadowy movement which poses a real threat to world peace.afghanistan - politics and government, afghanistan - islam and politics

Index, bibliography, ill, p.208.non-fictionDescribes the turning point on the Russian front in 1942-1943world war 1939-1945 - russia, world war 1939-1945 - campaigns - russia

Index, bib, ill, p.208.non-fictionDescribes the victorious advance of the Red army after 1943world war 1939-1945 - campaigns - russia, world war 1939-1945 - red army

Index, bib, ill, p.208.non-fictionThe Finno - Russian war and the German invasion of Norway are described hereworld war 1939-1945 - campaigns - scandinavia, world war 1939-1945 - finland

Index, ill, notes, p.502.Richard Sorge was a Russian spy in Tokyo who had infiltrated the German embassy and was able to pass sensitive information to Moscowworld war 1939-1945 - espionage, espionage - soviet union

Index, ill, maps, p.512.non-fictionDetailes account of the battle of Stalingradbattle for stalingrad, world war 1939-1945 - campaighs - russia

Index, ill, p.232.This account looks at the Crimean war from the Russian perspective using lettwers diaries and eye witness accountscrimean war - history, russian empire - history

Index, bibliography, ill, maps, p.176.non-fictionChapter heads: The Red Falcons of Bolshevism--Waging peace testing for war --The struggle for survival--Armies of the air--Pobyeda! Victory!world war 1939-1945 - aerial operations - russia, soviet union - air force

Index, bibliography, ill, maps, p.335.non-fictionn 1900, Germany was one of modernity's great success stories: The most progressive and dynamic nation in Europe, it was the only country whose rapid economic growth and innovation rivaled that of the United States. Its political culture was far less authoritarian than Russia's and less anti-Semitic than France's. Representative institutions thrived, and competing political parties and elections were a central part of life. How, then, could it be that in little more than a generation this stable modern country would fall into the hands of Adolf Hitler and the violent, racist, extremist political movement he led, a movement that would lead Germany and then all of Europe into utter moral, physical, and cultural ruin?" "There is no story in twentieth-century history more important to understand, and Richard Evans has written the definitive account for our time. A masterful synthesis of a vast body of scholarly work integrated with important new research and interpretations, Evans's history restores drama and contingency to the rise to power of Hitler and the Nazis, even as he shows how ready Germany was by the early 1930s for such a takeover to occur. Its citizens were angry and embittered by military defeat and economic ruin, and its young democracy undermined by a civil service, an army, and a law enforcement system deeply alienated from the new order. The electorate was beset by growing extremism and panic about communism; and the small but successful Jewish community was subject to wide-spread suspicion and resentment. In the end, though nothing about what happened was preordained, Germany proved to be fertile ground for Nazism's ideology of hatred.germany - politics and government 1933-1939, germany - nazi party

Index, bib, ill, maps, p.192.non-fictionA detailed pictorial and textual description of the evolution of Russian armoured vehicles.russia - armoured fehicles, tanks - military science - russia

Index, bib, ill, maps, p.185.non-fictionChronicles the invasion of Russia during World War IIgermany - history - 1939-1945, world war 1939-1945 - campaigns - russia

Index, bib, ill, maps, p.185.non-fictionChronicles operation Barbarossa, the invasion of Russia, by Germany during World War IIgermany - history - 1939-1945, world war 1939-1945 - operation barbarossa