This is the first title in a series that takes a detailed look at fortifications and defensive systems throughout history. The prolonged and bloody fighting for control of the Japanese occupied Pacific islands in World War II is a key point in the history of 20th century warfare. No two islands were[...]

The German Army of World War II was a highly mobile force. The experience of trench warfare in World War I had done much to shape Germany's blitzkrieg doctrine and concepts of field fortification, and the mobile warfare ethos of World War 2 was designed to avoid the previous war's stalemate. This ti[...]

This book examines in detail the Japanese Infantryman who, despite comparisons with the notorious German Waffen SS, was an enigma to Westerners. Brutal in its treatment of prisoners as well as the inhabitants of the areas that it conquered, the Imperial Japanese Army also had exacting standards for [...]

In November 1943 US forces successfully seized Tarawa and Makin in the first major counteroffensive of the Central Pacific; however, US casualties were heavy. By the end of January 1944. Operation 'Flintlock' - the seizure of the Marshall Islands - was launched: the next stepping-stone towards Japan[...]

The 1941 Japanese Pacific onslaught saw the defeat of Allied forces on all fronts, with the Philippines, Netherlands East Indies, and Commonwealth possessions falling under their control. During 1942-43, the Japanese consolidated their gains and redeployed forces in an attempt to break the Southern [...]

The eight-wheeled (8x8) Stryker combat light armored vehicle was adopted by the US Army in 2002 to provide a comparatively rapidly deployable contingency force with armor protection, tactical mobility and heavy firepower, as well as advanced command, control communications, computer, intelligence, s[...]

Airborne warfare - the deployment of large numbers of troops by parachute and glider - reached its zenith during World War II - the only war in which its potential prizes ever justified its great costs, material and human. It required wholly new equipment and tactics; offered a new capability - to i[...]

From June 1941, the Soviets were forced to undertake large-scale defensive operations in the face of the overwhelming German blitzkrieg assault, operations which ran counter to their preference for highly mobile, offensive warfare. Lessons were quickly learned across a wide variety of terrain and cl[...]

With its first major use in battle during the Vietnam War, the helicopter ushered in a radically different way of fighting, despite its proven vulnerability to ground fire. Either delivering troops into hostile territory and removing them after the fighting ended, or armed with guns, grenade launche[...]

Commonly mistaken for the locally raised Viet Cong, the NVA was an entirely different force, conducting large-scale operations in a conventional war. Despite limited armour, artillery and air support, the NVA were an extremely politicized and professional force with strict control measures and leade[...]

Booby traps laid by troops in war zones in World War II are largely neglected in histories and memoirs, and rarely examined in detail. Yet for a soldier, the threat of booby traps was hugely significant and the ability to find and disarm them was essential. This is the first comprehensive study of W[...]

The RPG-series of weapons is the most widely used family of lightweight antitank weapons in the world today. RPGs have been used not only against their intended targets, but against personnel, fortifications, buildings, soft-skin vehicles, watercraft, and aircraft. Lightweight, relatively compact, e[...]

The Kalashnikov AK-47 is the most ubiquitous assault rifle in the world, with more AK-47s and its variants in use than any other individual small arm. Created by Senior Sergeant Mikhail Kalashnikov, and first adopted by the USSR soon after World War II, its production continues to this day, with an [...]