Military (455)

COIN Operations in Paraguay (Latin America@War 27)

ISBN: 9781915070746

Author: Antonio Sapienza    Publisher: Helion & Company

From 1954 Paraguay was held in the grip of a Right-wing dictatorship under General Alfredo Stroessner. In the years that followed, a number of opposition groups...


From 1954 Paraguay was held in the grip of a Right-wing dictatorship under General Alfredo Stroessner. In the years that followed, a number of opposition groups resorted to armed struggle in order to achieve their aims. Government countermeasures were brutal, with torture and extra-judicial killings being routinely employed. COIN Operations in Paraguay is the first detailed English-language account of these armed opposition groups, their aims, their structures and their campaigns against the Stroessner government. It also details the ruthless government reaction and the support and opposition of other Latin American governments to the situation in Paraguay at this time. In addition to these conflicts within Paraguay, the 1980 assassination on Paraguayan soil of Anastasio Somoza Debayle, the exiled last dictator of Nicaragua, is examined in detail. COIN Operations in Paraguay includes over 190 photographs and 18 specially commission full-color artworks.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 72


Dimensions: 210 x 297 mm


Publication Date: 22-03-2022


Tags: Military   History
$49.99
Czechoslovak Arms Exports to the Middle East: Volume 2 (Middle East@War 44)

ISBN: 9781915070784

Author: Martin Smisek    Publisher: Helion & Company

During the Cold War, communist Czechoslovakia was one of the largest arms exporters to the Middle East among the Soviet Bloc countries. The second volume of thi...


During the Cold War, communist Czechoslovakia was one of the largest arms exporters to the Middle East among the Soviet Bloc countries. The second volume of this mini-series describes the history of arms exports from Czechoslovakia to Egypt including related military assistance. Although Egypt had expressed interest in buying Czechoslovak arms just before the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, no deliveries were eventually made. The reason was the preferences of Prague, which fully supported Israel. The situation began to change from July 1950 when Czechoslovakia banned exports of its weapons to the Jewish country. These developments culminated in September 1955, when the first huge Czechoslovak-Egyptian arms deal was concluded. As a proxy of Moscow, Prague delivered impressive quantities of armament and ammunition together with spare parts, logistics, and support equipment. At the same time, Czechoslovak military instructors and advisors were sent to Egypt. A crucial role was played by a group of Czechoslovak Air Force personnel, whose task was to provide the tactical and combat training for two Egyptian fighter squadrons equipped with MiG-15bis jets prior to the Suez Crisis in 1956. At the same time, Egyptian military specialists were trained in the facilities of the Czechoslovak People's Army. However, from the end of the 1950s, there was a significant reduction in the supply of military hardware from Czechoslovakia because Prague was unwilling or unable to supply the state-of-the-art weapons required by the Egyptians.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 72


Dimensions: 210 x 297 mm


Publication Date: 08-03-2022


Tags: Military   History
$49.99
Syrian Conflagration: Revised Edition (Middle East@War 45)

ISBN: 9781915070814

Author: Tom Cooper    Publisher: Helion & Company

The Syrian Civil War experienced an entirely unexpected transformation during its first two years. It started as unrest and a series of mass demonstrations with...


The Syrian Civil War experienced an entirely unexpected transformation during its first two years. It started as unrest and a series of mass demonstrations within the Syrian population in the context of wider protest movements in the Middle East and North Africa in 2011, known as the Arab Spring. Unlike events in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia and Yemen, where oppressive governments were toppled by the end of that year, the government of Syria deployed the full force of its military, its intelligence apparatus, and paramilitary groups, launching an unprecedented crackdown that resulted in the arrest, detention and killing of many thousands. Despite its brutality, this effort backfired: it provoked mass desertions of the Syrian military and then an armed uprising. The emerging insurgency was generally successful through 2012, although failing to capture Damascus, it secured more than half of Aleppo and Homs, the provincial capital of Raqqa, and nearly all of north-eastern and north-western Syria under its control. Although propped-up by economic and military support from the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Russian Federation, the government of Syria was nearing the brink of collapse during the first half of 2013 when, prompted by Tehran, Hezbollah - a Shi'a Islamic militant group and political party from Lebanon - entered the conflict on its side. Soon after, Hezbollah was reinforced by significant contingents of Iranian-sponsored Shi'a from Iraq, Lebanon and elsewhere, followed by volunteers from Iran, including crack units of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps. Meanwhile, already split along the lines of Syria's complex demography, much of the insurgency transformed from a secular and non-sectarian movement into proxies of various foreign powers, foremost Saudi Arabia and Qatar, but also Turkey and Kuwait. Furthermore, foreign Jihadists motivated by al-Qaida joined the fray, aiming to establish an Islamist state and clandestinely cooperating with the government, they fell upon the insurgency.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 96


Dimensions: 210 x 297 mm


Publication Date: 20-06-2022


Tags: Military   History
$49.99
South Africa's Boarder War 1966-89

ISBN: 9781915113009

Authors: Al Venter, Willem Steenkamp    Publisher: Helion & Company

Of all the books about South Africa's 21-year 'Border War' - fought on both sides of Angola's frontier with present-day Namibia - South Africa's Border War has ...


Of all the books about South Africa's 21-year 'Border War' - fought on both sides of Angola's frontier with present-day Namibia - South Africa's Border War has always been rated as among the best. A significant, full-color volume, it originally sold 31,000 copies in South Africa alone and has been out of print for decades. This version is the first re-issue of the original, written by Willem Steenkamp. Almost all the photos were taken by Al J. Venter who covered that conflict intermittently for almost two decades. Both Steenkamp and Venter have gone on to produce other works on that bitter conflict, but neither they nor anybody else has been able to match this beautiful coffee-table volume. Both agree that the book should be regarded as a tribute to a generation of fighting men, where sons often followed in the footsteps of their fathers, serving in the same units a generation apart. Though South Africa's 'Border War' started slowly with the first major clash of the conflict taking place on South West African soil at Omugulugwombashe in August 1966, hostilities escalated steadily, to the point where Moscow provided the Marxist Luanda government with all the military hardware it needed. Tens of thousands of Cuban troops were drafted into Angola after Portugal had abandoned its African territories. The conflict then entered several conventional phases that involved long-range South African armored strikes into Angola's interior and several major tank battles that eventually brought hostilities to an end. Luanda by then had already used chemical weapons on a limited scale and Pretoria was considering deploying its newly-developed nuclear arsenal. Willem Steenkamp, a seasoned war correspondent, covers all these historical issues in South Africa's Border War, as well as ancillary military strikes in several other black African countries that included Zambia and Mozambique. The book is exceptionally well illustrated, with hundreds of color as well as black-and-white photos; truly a valuable addition to recent African military history.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 256


Dimensions: 210 x 297 mm


Publication Date: 29-04-2022


Tags: History   Military
$79.99
A Legion Para in Algeria

ISBN: 9781915113726

Author: Peter Hoskins    Publisher: Helion & Company

Tony Hunter-Choat had a long and distinguished career in the British Army, including as CO of 23rd SAS Regiment. This book tells the story of his formative year...


Tony Hunter-Choat had a long and distinguished career in the British Army, including as CO of 23rd SAS Regiment. This book tells the story of his formative years as a paratrooper with the elite 1st Foreign Parachute Regiment (1st REP) of the French Foreign Legion between 1957 and 1962 before he joined the British Army. In March 1957 the 21 years old Tony Hunter-Choat took the momentous decision to abandon his architectural studies which he was close to completing and join the Foreign Legion. He pawned his few possessions of value and used the proceeds to pay for his passage to Paris to enlist. In the training that followed he excelled and was selected for para training before joining the 1st REP, considered an elite unit not just in the Foreign Legion but throughout the French Army. Thus began an adventure which thrust him into the forefront of perhaps the most savage of post Second World War wars of decolonization and end of the European empires. He quickly proved his worth and became the youngest NCO in the Foreign Legion. In little more than two and a half years he had been promoted to Sergeant. The period of Tony's service saw him involved in ferocious combat; combat which resulted in three awards of the Croix de la Valeur Militaire, the Médaille Militaire and in due course appointment as Commander of the Légion d'Honneur - a singular achievement for a Briton. Tony served during a turbulent time for France, with the return to power of General de Gaulle in the face of the threat of a military coup d'état and the Generals' Putsch against de Gaulle in 1961. Tony was heavily involved in the Putsch with his regiment, which was disbanded as a consequence of its key role. The book is based on Tony's memoir. A memoir which is modest but paints a vivid picture of combat in the Algerian War, it also gives a most interesting, and at times amusing, insight into the values of the Legion and the everyday life of a legionnaire. As a French general said at Tony's memorial service it was during his life in the Legion that: '...through hardship and comradeship he learnt the hard way to be a man you can rely on: loyal, faithful, terrible to his enemies, generous to his friends.'


Bind: paperback


Pages: 190


Dimensions: 152 x 229 mm


Publication Date: 20-10-2022


Tags: Military   History
$55.00
All For One, One For All (Latin America@War 23)

ISBN: 9781914059193

Author: Jorge Boveda    Publisher: Helion & Company

All for One, One for All provides a contemporary perspective of the baptism of fire of one of the oldest, most resourceful and well-trained war fighting institu...


All for One, One for All provides a contemporary perspective of the baptism of fire of one of the oldest, most resourceful and well-trained war fighting institutions in Latin America: the Argentine Navy. It offers a rare insight into the relationship between institutional culture and modern warfare, with specific reference to the Falklands/Malvinas War of 1982, and is a case study of how a very modest navy with very few naval platforms engaged in a limited war against a major naval power and nevertheless was able to make its mark. This book examines the institutional culture that accounts for a great deal of the activities and rationale of the Argentine Navy as an instrument of state policy and includes a detailed reconstruction of all operations by the Argentine Navy during the Falklands/Malvinas War. The Falklands/Malvinas campaign was a major naval landmark for the Argentine Navy, but the influence of institutional culture was clearly identifiable in the actions of the service as a whole. All for One, One for All provides a much needed cultural interpretation of the Argentine Navy, and is essential reading for anyone interested in modern Argentine naval history and strategy. It includes over 100 photographs, specially commissioned maps and unique color profiles.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 88


Dimensions: 210 x 297 mm


Publication Date: 20-05-2021


Tags: Military   History
$49.99
USS Intrepid

ISBN: 9780764363573

Author: David Doyle    Publisher: Schiffer Books

USS Intrepid, the "Fighting I," was one of America's longest-serving aircraft carriers. Launched during WWII, Intrepid and her crews weathered kamikazes, torped...


USS Intrepid, the "Fighting I," was one of America's longest-serving aircraft carriers. Launched during WWII, Intrepid and her crews weathered kamikazes, torpedoes, and typhoons throughout three years of heavy combat. Decommissioned after WWII, Intrepid was recommissioned in 1955 and designated as an attack carrier (CVA), and in 1961 as an antisubmarine warfare carrier (CVS). In the early 1960s, Intrepid served to retrieve some of the nation's first astronauts during the pioneering Mercury and Gemini spaceflights. In 1966, Intrepid made the first of three deployments to the Tonkin Gulf for combat operations with Carrier Air Wing 10 during the Vietnam War. Intrepid cruised throughout the North Atlantic and Mediterranean in the early 1970s while patrolling for Soviet submarines in antisubmarine operations during the Cold War. With her days at sea over, Intrepid first hosted the Navy exhibits during the US bicentennial celebrations in 1976, before finding a new home as the Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum on the Hudson River waterfront in New York City.


Bind: hardback


Pages: 144


Dimensions: 229 x 229 mm


Publication Date: 28-05-2022


$55.00
Phantom Boys (PB)

ISBN: 9781911621881

Author: Richard Pike    Publisher: Grub Street

Originally developed for the US Navy, this twin-engined supersonic long-range fighter-bomber first flew in the spring of 1958. It then entered service for the U...


Originally developed for the US Navy, this twin-engined supersonic long-range fighter-bomber first flew in the spring of 1958. It then entered service for the US Navy in 1961, and in 1969 with the Fleet Air Arm and RAF in the UK. Regarded as one of the most versatile fighters ever built, the Phantom F-4 was the US Navy’s fastest and highest-flying aircraft. It was flown by both US military demonstration teams (Navy Blue Angels and the Air Force Thunderbirds) from 1969 to 1973. It ended its service in 1991 with the RAF. But it continued to serve a variety of air forces across the world, with some still in service fifty years after its first flight. Throughout the twenty chapters of this book, thirteen contributors will take readers across the world with adventures in the Falkland Islands, the United States of America, the United Kingdom, the Far East and Germany. There are anecdotes of reconnaissance missions, encounters with the Russian Tupolevs, record-breaking flights and life on HMS Ark Royal.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 224


Dimensions: 156 x 234 mm


Publication Date: 30-04-2020


Tag: Military
$35.00
Oswald Boelcke (PB)

ISBN: 9781911621423

Author: R Head    Publisher: Grub Street

Oswald Boelcke was Germany’s first ace in World War One with a total of forty victories. His character, inspirational leadership, organisational genius, devel...


Oswald Boelcke was Germany’s first ace in World War One with a total of forty victories. His character, inspirational leadership, organisational genius, development of air-to-air tactics and impact on aerial doctrine are all reasons why Boelcke remains an important figure in the history of air warfare. In this definitive biography RG Head explores why Oswald Boelcke deserves consideration as the most important fighter pilot of the 20th century and beyond; but also for setting the standard in military aviation flying. This book will appeal to enthusiasts of the German air force, military aviation in general and World War One in particular.


Bind: paperback


Pages: 240


Dimensions: 170 x 246 mm


Publication Date: 25-07-2019


Tags: History   Military
$39.99
DH9: From Ruin To Restoration

ISBN: 9781908117335

Author: Guy Black    Publisher: Grub Street

In 2000 aircraft restorer Guy Black of Aero Vintage located the hulks of at least two Airco DH9 bombers in a remote part of India - hidden away in what had been...


In 2000 aircraft restorer Guy Black of Aero Vintage located the hulks of at least two Airco DH9 bombers in a remote part of India - hidden away in what had been a Maharaja's elephant stable at his palace in Bikaner, Rajasthan. They were truly remarkable finds, and extremely rare examples of a near-extinct and important WWI aircraft type - none of which had survived in Britain. Recognising their importance to the UK's aviation heritage, and excited by the challenge of restoration, Guy set about negotiating their purchase and returning them back to England. Here the whole intriguing story is told - fully illustrated step-by-step - from discovery to recovery, through to research, restoration, re-construction and first flight, all in fascinating, meticulous detail. Also covered is the account of the restoration of the first DH9 to be completed, now housed as a non-flying exhibit at the IWM Duxford.


Bind: hardback


Pages: 192


Dimensions: 170 x 240 mm


Publication Date: 23-09-2019


Tags: Military   Transport
$55.00 $6.00
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