What challenges will America face in armed conflicts of the future and how will we prepare for them? National security depends upon the ability of the military to “predict” the future nature of war. Despite the difficulty in making such predictions, one must remember: nation states and other countries will continue to use armed conflict as a means to further their aims, and these aims will, at times, run contrary to American interests. As a result, the United States will continue to be con...

Alexander the Great died when he was quite young. He was but thirty-two years of age when he ended his career, and as he was about twenty when he commenced it, it was only for a period of twelve years that he was actually engaged in performing the work of his life. Napoleon was nearly three times as long on the great field of human action.Notwithstanding the briefness of Alexander’s career, he ran through, during that short period, a very brilliant series of exploits, which were so ...

Discover the true origins of what it means to be 'Machiavellian' through the absorbing treatise The Prince. One of the first and foremost works on political philosophy, Machiavelli leaves morals and ideals behind and cuts right to the heart of what it means to take and hold on to power. Heavily immersed in the ruthless and cunning world of the Medicis and the Borgias, he was well-placed to observe human nature and the practicalities of rule. A must-read both for its historical interest and...

Military treatises have long fascinated readers, even those who are not professional military men, and people in other fields have long sought to apply the lessons learned in military treatises to other walks of life. Among the worlds military treatises, without question two of the most famous and influential are Sun Tzus The Art of War and Carl von Clausewitzs On War, written over 2,000 years apart but containing similar and useful advice for readers, and still staples of literature for peo...

Could the South have won the Civil War?To many, the very question seems absurd. After all, the Confederacy had only a third of the population and one-eleventh of the industry of the North. Wasn’t the South’s defeat inevitable?Not at all, as acclaimed military historian Bevin Alexander reveals in this provocative and counterintuitive new look at the Civil War. In fact, the South most definitely could have won the war, and Alexander documents exactly how a Confederate victory...

Master the Japanese martial art of ninjutsu with this illustrated, informative guide.In The Ninja Defense, the classic art of the ninja is updated for maximum effectiveness in modern day situations. Stephen K. Hayes is a Black Belt Hall of Fame member, founder of To-Shin Do, and acknowledged "Father of American Ninjutsu." He has distilled and refined the knowledge he has built studying and teaching ninjutsu for decades into a comprehensive self-defense sys...

When World War II broke out in Europe, the American army had no specialized division of mountain soldiers. But in the winter of 1939–40, after a tiny band of Finnish mountain troops brought the invading Soviet army to its knees, an amateur skier named Charles Minot “Minnie” Dole convinced the United States Army to let him recruit an extraordinary assortment of European expatriates, wealthy ski bums, mountaineers, and thrill-seekers and form them into a unique band of Alpine soldiers. These...

This exciting new translation of the Chinese classic is designed to delight modern readers.The Three Kingdoms is an epic Chinese novel written over six centuries ago. It recounts in vivid historical detail the turbulent years at the close of the Han Dynasty when China broke into three competing kingdoms and over half the population was killed or driven from their homes. readers will experience the loyalty and treachery, the brotherhood and rivalry of China...

The reigns of Augustus and his successor Tiberius saw an epic struggle between the Romans and local peoples for the territory between the Rhine and Elbe rivers in what is now Germany.Following two decades of Roman occupation, Germania Magna erupted into revolt in AD 9 following the loss of the three legions commanded by Publius Quinctilius Varus to the Cheruscan nobleman Arminius and an alliance of Germanic nations in the dense forests of the Teutoburger Wald. The ...

The short but savage Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 pitched well-equipped but complacent British soldiers into combat with the Zulu, one of history's finest fighting forces.The clashes between these two different armies prompted tactical innovation on both sides, as the British and their Zulu opponents sought to find the optimal combination of mobility, protection and firepower. This engrossing study traces the changing face of infantry combat in the Anglo-Zulu War. Three ...

Samurai Tales is about the legendary men from the samurai class who fought for the helm of power in 19th century Japan. These are stories of courage, honor, fidelity, disgrace, fate, and destiny set in the bloody time of political change and social upheaval in the final years of the Shogun.The final years of the samurai were an age of unprecedented turmoil and bloodletting in Japan. They heralded the end of nearly three centuries of rule under the Tokugawa...

On 9 July 1755 amid the wilderness of North America, Britain suffered one of the most humiliating defeats in her history. This illustrated volume explores the lead-up, the battle and its far-reaching consequences.General Braddock's army, a mixture of British regulars and American militia, was shattered, losing over 900 men from a force of 1,300. Braddock was killed and the remnants of his army rescued by his aide, Colonel George Washington. The origins of this defe...