In 1908 the most incredible naval arms race in history began. Flush with cash from rubber and coffee, Brazil decided to order three of the latest, greatest category of warship available – the dreadno
Allied success in invading Fortress Europe (the area of Continental Europe occupied by Nazi Germany) depended on getting armor onto the beaches as fast as possible. This book explains how the Allies
Ever since the mid-19th Century, national militaries have sought to create monster artillery pieces, designed to shatter armies, cities, and fortresses and their morale. Starting with William Armstro
The Midway-class were the US Navy's biggest carriers built during World War II. Superbly illustrated, this explains how they became the backbone of the Cold War fleet.
Entering service in Septembe
Superbly illustrated with original artwork throughout, this book explores the ironclad warships that fought the little-known battles of South America's War of the Pacific.
In the late 19th century
The first book to examine the Japanese and American tank forces in the Philippines campaigns, which saw the biggest armored clashes of the Pacific War.
The Philippines saw the most extensive tank
The Battle of the Komandorski Islands was unique among World War II naval battles. It was the last daytime naval surface battle of World War II where aircraft played no role, and saw a squadron of US
Chariots, the first mobile fighting vehicle, seem to have originated in Mesopotamia in the third millennium BC. The highly mobile two-wheeled war chariot, carrying a driver and an archer armed with a
The Soviet Union's cruise missile submarines from the modified Whiskey, to the Oscar II classes were among the most formidable vessels of the Cold War. They were initially designed to carry land atta
In the summer of 1943, Hitler's army had rebuilt its Panzer forces after defeat at Stalingrad and retreat from the Caucasus. New types, including the Panther, Tiger, and Elefant, at last added techni
From the Mediterranean to the Black Sea, from the Balkans to Mesopotamia, gunboats played an influential part in the story of World War I. This detailed technical guide to the gunboats of all the maj
The lifeblood of the Confederacy, the blockade runners of the Civil War usually began life as regular fast steam-powered merchant ships. They were adapted for the high-speed dashes through the Union
Because of the length of the coastline of the United States, from the beginning American ordnance and engineers placed an emphasis on heavy artillery mounted in coastal defences. The Union army organ
Perhaps the most influential arm of either army in the prosecution of the American Civil War, the artillery of both sides grew to be highly professional organizations, centralizing their artillery, o
A compelling account of the heavily armed and highly mobile Soviet river gunboats which took on the Germans during World War II.
Russia's enormous river system has long been its highway and, as ea
A comprehensive, illustrated account of the new generation of advanced tanks to emerge during the last 15 years of the Cold War, showcasing major improvements in armor protection, gunsights, and fire
An illustrated history of the long Cold War careers of the US Navy's last gun destroyers, from the modernized World War II-era Fletcher-class to the Forrest Sherman-class.
The finest American dest
Illustrated with original artwork and archive photos, this is the history of Germany's extensive use of captured tanks in World War II.
In this book Steven J. Zaloga, one of the world's leading ar
The Imperial Japanese Navy was a pioneer in naval aviation, having commissioned the world's first built-from-the-keel-up carrier, the Hosho. Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, it experimented with its c
The catapult (katapeltikon) was invented under the patronage of Dionysius I, tyrant of Syracuse, in the 4th century bc. At first only the arrow-firing variant was used, and it was not until the reign
The Destroyer Escort was the smallest ocean-going escort built for the United States Navy - a downsized destroyer with less speed, fewer guns, and fewer torpedoes than its big brother, the fleet des
In the years after World War II, new guided missile technology offered surface ships the chance to destroy airborne threats from afar, thereby preserving their role in naval warfare. This book examin
This detailed study of the naval Spanish Civil War describes how the Spanish Navy, torn in two and comprising a Republican and Nationalist part, fought a civil war at sea involving both Hitler's and
A study of the Soviet and NATO armored forces that faced each other off in Central Europe in the early Cold War, and how their technology, tactics, and doctrine were all rapidly developed.
For 45
Aircraft carriers were the US Navy's principal weapon against Japan during the Pacific War. Development of the Essex class began in 1939, becoming the largest class of carrier ever to be built. Early
Amphibious assault ships have been at the centre of nearly all of Britain's expeditionary campaigns since World War II, from the Suez crisis of 1956 to operations as far afield as Borneo (1963-66), t
The Red Army suffered such catastrophic losses of armour in the summer of 1941 that they begged Britain and the United States to send tanks. The first batches arrived in late 1941, just in time to ta
World War II was a significant period of development for American missile programs, during which time the US built pioneering examples of guided weapons systems. However, whilst the German missiles o
During World War II, Germany, Japan, and Italy built approximately 2,000 small, inherently stealthy, naval craft to perform special operations and conventional naval missions. Much more numerous and
The Imperial Japanese Navy went to war with 17 light cruisers and another three cruiser-sized training ships. Of these, most were 5,500-ton ships designed to act as destroyer squadron flagships. This