Falklands War veteran, 2 Para and SAS, here is a true story of a great victory against all the odds, told by the men who won it. In April 1982, Argentina invaded and occupied the Falkland Islands, a British overseas territory in the South Atlantic. On 28th May, 450 men of the 2nd Battalion, the Parachute Regiment, went into action to retake the settlement of Goose Green on East Falkland, where more than 1,000 Argentine soldiers were holding 119 Falkland Islanders - men, women, children and one baby - in squalid conditions. 40 years on, Goose Green is still the biggest and bloodiest battle the British Army has fought in modern times, and this book is the living narrative of that battle. It is told by the very men who fought it, not just the soldiers but also the SAS, the Royal Navy and Merchant Navy, and others, in more than 100 exclusive personal accounts which are horrifying, touching, occasionally heart-breaking and sometimes extremely funny, presenting the most vivid and authentic records of battle ever published. Includes maps and Roll of Honour, 410pp in paperback, 16 pages of colour and black and white photos.

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The sound of silence - even the Heckler & Koch 'sound dampened' is not completely silent because when a gun is fired there are actually two noises - the explosion of the cartridge, and the high-velocity crack of the bullet if it breaks the sound barrier. This authoritative illustrated historical reference guide to military, law enforcement and antique firearms from around the globe contains the world's most important small guns. From the medieval hand cannon and the matchlock handgun to the Luger P08 and today's FN P90, here are famous small arms including the Colt .45, the Browning High-Power M1935, the Smith & Wesson and the Sten Machine Gun. This magnificent volume has 180 specially commissioned photographs and artworks including cutaway diagrams to show internal components and gun operation and is expertly written by leading professionals in their field. Old weapons are often objects of beautiful craftsmanship both in their workings and their ornate inlay, carvings and metalwork. Just as impressive are the sleek, light and efficient modern designs. Grouped according to country of origin, the entries focus on the salient features of each gun with a full specification, manufacturer, calibre, magazine, action, total length, barrel length, and weight unloaded together with a close-up colour photograph. 256 large pages, 22 x 28cm.
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A powerful Second World War story of three brothers and their sense of hope during the Holocaust, the book reads like a thriller. Harry Lenga was born in 1919 to a family of Chassidic Jews in Kozhnitz, Poland, and this true story narrated by him from his early life takes him through the ghettos, labour and death camps and early stages of 'liberation' where he and his brothers survived against the odds by a combination of luck, tremendous ingenuity, inner strength and belief, and because they could fix watches, a skill they had learned from their father, their lives were saved. Upon the German invasion of Poland, the Lenga family was upended and Harry and his brothers Mailekh and Moishe lived under the most devastating conditions imaginable, with death always imminent. They fixed watches for the Germans in the ghettos and the brutal slave labour camps of occupied Poland and Austria, from Wolanow and Starachowice to Auschwitz and Ebensee. The brothers endured, bartered, worked, prayed and lived to see liberation. In the retelling of their story there is little complaint or self-pity, and Harry's heartening story is an account of his childhood, the lessons learned from his own father, his harrowing tribulations, and the inspiring life before, during and after the war in a singular and vital story. It is a profoundly moving tribute to fortitude, resilience, brotherly love and faith. 'I really came to appreciate the life and death significance of having something as simple as a pair of shoes, a battered metal soup bowl, or a shave,' - Simon Scarrow. "So as a joke about the ARBEIT MACHT SREI ('Work Makes You Free') sign on the gate of the Auschwitz 1 camp. We would point to the smoke and the fire coming up from the crematoriums and say, 'Probably tomorrow that will be our ticket to freedom.'" 324pp, many photos.

The Royal Navy and the British People 1688-1815. The Navy's position in the British imagination as the intrepid defender of our island nation goes back to Drake and the Spanish Armada, and a succession of flamboyant naval officers who were part patriot, part pirate. The introduction to this collection of essays suggests that patriotism was associated with political opposition at the time of the Glorious Revolution in 1688, transforming itself under increasing government control to a conservative virtue by the opening years of the 19th century and the ascendancy of Lord Nelson. The French and Spanish wars of the mid-18th century were an ever-present threat to shipping, trade and the peaceful pursuit of national prosperity. Spectacular paintings of the battle of Porto Bello in 1739 and a beautiful royal blue dress coat of a lieutenant from 1748 are indications of the central role played by the Navy. At the end of the 18th century the situation escalated under Napoleon's aggression and Nelson came to the rescue with strategies learnt under Admiral Lord Hood. Nelson was not born in the top echelons of society, and his notorious affair with Emma Hamilton was a well-known scandal, but he was extremely popular with his men. In fact the term gentleman was under revision during this period and increasingly denoted middle class virtues. Nelson's rise through the ranks occurred as the French Revolution was undermining the French navy, which found itself lacking traditional skills and expertise following the cull of officers by the Revolutionary powers. Nelson's death aboard HMS Victory, following his final triumph at Trafalgar in 1805, and his subsequent state funeral, receive full illustration and analysis. This volume accompanies the opening of a dedicated gallery at the National Maritime Museum and the distinguished contributors include Dan Snow and Andrew Lambert. 240pp, high quality colour reproductions.

George Blake became a Russian spy when he was a prisoner of the Communist North Koreans. When North Korea crossed the border and invaded Seoul in 1950, capturing diplomats, nuns and American prisoners of war, Blake, an MI6 diplomat who had worked for the Dutch resistance in the War, made several daring bids to escape, but the starving and disease-ridden prisoners were forced to march north. Far from being shocked by the ruthless torture inflicted by the Korean commanding officer "The Tiger", Blake was more disappointed by the lack of heroism of his American fellow-prisoners. A fluent linguist who had graduated in Russian, he secretly offered his services to the Russian government. Back in England, Blake joined MI6's Section Y at 2 Carlton Gardens, marrying MI6 secretary Gillian Allen, and was posted to Berlin where the CIA, outclassed by the KGB on every front, had initiated the project of constructing a tunnel to tap the Russian lines communication. The Russians allowed it to continue in order not to compromise their source. By 1954 Kim Philby's usefulness had run its course and Blake was ideally placed to replace him. When he was finally caught and sentenced to 42 years, Blake's predilection for daring escapes served him one last time and the friends who sprung him from Wormwood Scrubs drove him to East Germany in a secret compartment of their camper van. Thrilling from start to finish. 530pp, paperback, bibliography, photos.

HMS Vanguard was completed during WWII against all the odds of wartime shortages and strategic restrictions, and was used by the royal family for state visits in the fifties. This tribute to a great ship comes with extensive specifications and cross sections as well as fascinating archive photography. The Washington naval treaty of 1921 put a limit on the size and displacement of battleships for the UK, USA, France and Russia, but all the major powers enhanced their battleship programmes in the thirties. Britain initially adhered to the restrictions although the US utilised an escalator clause, and in 1937 Britain laid down five battleships of the George V class with 14" guns and radar. Dual purpose secondary guns intended as anti-aircraft artillery were found to be too heavy. Japan was now using 16" guns and in 1938 as war became inevitable Britain initiated a new class of ship with 9 x 16" guns and a displacement of 40,000 tons. The Lion and Temeraire were laid down but never completed, and the slightly improved Vanguard was the only ship to be laid down and launched by the end of the war because of the constant interruption of all longer-term shipbuilding plans. The innovation of a flat stern was new on a capital ship. When Princess Elizabeth launched HMS Vanguard it was the first use of her personal standard, though details of the event are shrouded in wartime secrecy. There are some superb photos of Vanguard's maiden voyage down the Clyde, together with full specifications on pullout pages with diagrams and cross-sections, not only of the ship itself but also the guns and other machinery. After the war the ship was adapted for the Royal tour to South Africa in 1947, and several fascinating archive photos show the cabins of the King, Queen and young princesses. HMS Vanguard was finally scrapped in 1960, and a series of photos documents the progress of the demolition. 128pp, archive photos, a few in colour, and numerous diagrams and cross-sections and a splendid double gatefold of layout and decks. 25 x 29.5cm.
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Sub-titled ' The Great Vendée Rising of 1793', France was facing foreign invasion along its borders and a fierce political war was raging in Paris when a large-scale revolt, centred on the western Department of the Vendée, suddenly erupted, almost bringing the new-born French Republic to its knees. The immediate trigger for this Great War was the attempted imposition of conscription, but the region seethed at the erosion of its traditional values and way of life. The persecution of the Catholic Church and killing of the king symbolised to the Vendéens how dangerous the new Republic had become. In a matter of weeks, tens of thousands had flocked to fight for the 'Catholic and Royal' cause. Crammed with detail and very readable, specifically the Counter Revolution, the 50 plus maps are exceptional, and particularly useful for those interested in battle strategy or wargaming. There are appendices which give brief descriptions of the major players on both sides, and composition of the forces month by month. In all it is the story of the New Republic's ferocious military campaigns against the armies of the Vendée, which fiercely defied them between March and December 1793, tying down hundreds of thousands of troops desperately needed on the frontiers. Napoleon later called it 'The War of the Giants', and it directly led to the implementation of some of the Republic's most extreme laws. 50 maps, 376pp.

Sub-titled 'The Battles of Salamis, Plataea, Mycale and After', the book is the dramatic conclusion to a series which explains the reversal of fortunes and final defeat of Xerxes' Persian invasion of Greece. The focus is on the successful repulsion of the massive Persian fleet at Salamis, a resounding naval victory with parallels to the English defeat of the Spanish Armada. Along with the backstage policies and cloak-and-dagger events, the analysis of hard data and naval and military realities and environment shows the reason for this outcome. It closely follows the double campaign of the following year that ended the Persian threat. The massive land victory at Plataea which ousted the empire from mainland Greece and crippled its armies, and the amphibious operation at Mycale which destroyed the remnants of the royal Persian Armada and shut the doors on further Persian incursions in Greece are examined in detail. Kambouris examines the plans, potential, assets and liabilities of the protagonists to explain command decisions and developments in the field. The major invasion launched by the Achaemenid Empire under King Xerxes' in early 480BC, the formidable obstacles projected by the Greek mettle and ingenuity in the Pass of Thermopylae slaying King Leonidas of Sparta and his personal guard of 300 knights was thanks to the very robust command, control and intelligence system the Imperials had in place. Their weakest element was the Imperial Navy, comfortably outnumbered by the Greek Navy by 3 to 1 at the beginning of the campaign. The fleet retired from its forward base in Cape Artemisium unimpeded and Greek confidence was increased. A lightning terror campaign brought the Empire to the first declared objective, Athens. A fresh appraisal to these hugely significant events of 2½ millennia ago. 256pp, fact boxes inserted. A heavyweight quality publication on the Greco-Persian Wars. Some colour images.

The rise of Alexander the Great, the conquest of the Persian Empire, Alexander's campaigns in Central Asia and India, weapons and equipment of the Macedonian Army, its history and organisation from the years 359-323 BC are the subject of this complete and detailed analysis. The Army was built by Philip II and later employed to world-changing effect by his son, Alexander III (the Great). Esposito explains how Philip took the traditional forces of Macedon and reformed them into the most modern and sophisticated combined-arms force in the Mediterranean world. Not only the formidable pike phalanx and the hard-charging Companion cavalry, but also the less famous components such as light infantry and cavalry types are described in detail. The tactics employed in the great battles that won the largest empire the world had seen are analysed and there are numerous colour photos showing replica weapons and equipment in use. We will also see how the Macedonians played an important role in the history of Greece before the ascendancy of Philip and how the latter was able to subdue most of the southern Balkans in just a few years. Here too are the iconic military units of the foot companions, the horse companions and the hypaspists and the great victories in Asia at the River Granicus, Issus, Tyre, Gaza, Gaugamela, the Persian Gate, Sogdian Rock and River Hydaspes. 144 large pages, many colour photos.