From the author of D-Day: "an amazing tale of how the world's very first special force was created specifically for North Africa during WWII" ( Books Monthly).The origins of most of the West's Special Forces can be traced back to the Long Range Desert Group, which operated across the limitless expanses of the Libyan Desert, an area the size of India, during the whole of the Desert War from 1940 to 1943. After the defeat of the Axis in North Africa,...

Scottish history has been shaped and defined by a series of great battles. John Sadler gives the first full military history of Scotland for many years. From Mons Graupius to Culloden, he shows how terrain and politics shaped the campaigns and decisive engagements we still remember today. Each chapter also features sections on the development of warfare - its tactics, equipment and styles of fighting.For the military historian, Scotland is a fascinating example of how a small count...

A startling new history of the Campbell massacre of the McDonald Clan, one the most emotive episodes in Scottish history. In the early hours of 13 February 1692, English Redcoats under the command of Campbell of Glenlyon, who for the past week had been peacefully quartered on the inhabitants of Glencoe, fell upon their MacDonald hosts. In the ensuing hours 38 defenceless men, women, and children were murdered in cold blood. The massacre, sanctioned by the new king of England, William of Or...

This medieval military history uses archeological research to shed new light on this significant and bloody battle in the Wars of the Roses.The battle at Towton in Yorkshire on March 29th, 1461, was a major turning point in the Wars of the Roses. It was also the largest, longest fought, and bloodiest day in English medieval history. In terms of the number of troops involved, the ruthlessness of the fighting, the quantity of casualties, and the decisive nature of its...

An in-depth account of the invasion of Crete by Nazi Germany during World War II, the courageous civilian resistance, and the Allies' devastating defeat.Unlike the few other books written on the catastrophic fall of Crete in May 1941, this book concentrates on the military actions between the first German paratroop landing on 20 May and the final defeat and evacuation on 30 May. As well as studying the strengths, tactics, leadership and weapons of both sides, the bo...

For two years in the mid-thirteenth century England was torn by a bloody civil war between the king and his nobles. For a short time, the country came close to unseating the monarchy, and the outcome changed the course of English history. Yet this critical episode receives far less attention than the Wars of the Roses and the English Civil Wars that followed. John Sadler, in this highly readable and perceptive study of the Barons' War, describes events in vivid detail. He explores the lead...

In the 18th century in the town of Gorkha, just north of Kathmandu, ruler Prithvi Narayan fought campaigns against his neighbors and the British. During the fighting his warriors, renowned for their aggression and courage, gained the respect of the British, who appreciated that the steadfast warriors would make excellent soldiers. Upon the declaration of peace in 1816, a partnership was born. This alliance would play a vital role in UK defense over the next two centuries, from surviving th...

On 21 July 1403 Sir Henry Percy – better known as Hotspur – led a rebel army out at Shrewsbury to face the forces of the king Henry IV. The battle was both bloody and decisive. Hotspur was shot down by an arrow and killed. Posthumously he was declared a traitor and his lands forfeited to the crown. This was an ignominious end to the brilliant career of one of the most famous medieval noblemen, a remarkable soldier, diplomat and courtier who played a leading role in the reigns of Richard II...

A history of combat in Scottish waters—from the Iron Age to the Cold War—and the changes in the technology and tactics of naval warfare.Scotland's long coastline runs from the waters of Galloway and the Solway, through the Irish Sea to the long sea lochs and myriad islands of the Celtic west, around grim Cape Wrath, the coast of Caithness, Pentland Firth and the Orkneys, eastward down to the Moray Firth, the eastern seaboard, to the Forth and the sentinel of the Ba...

Scotland's long coastline runs from the waters of Galloway and the Solway, through the Irish Sea to the long sea lochs and myriad islands of the Celtic west, around grim Cape Wrath, the coast of Caithness, Pentland Firth and the Orkneys, eastward down to the Moray Firth, the eastern seaboard, to the Forth and the sentinel of the Bass Rock. It is an ancient strand redolent with history. Sea battles have been fought in its lee from the time of Agricola to the Atlantic convoys. In Blood on th...

The 2014 Scottish independence debate and the re-ignition of the SNP’s call for a second vote in the wake of Brexit - and indeed Brexit itself - begs a reappraisal of what nationality and borderer identity actually mean in the twenty-first century and how the past affects this. As a borderer and historian John Sadler is uniquely qualified to examine the border from Roman times to today. He’s been in these Marches all his life, read about their wild inhabitants, traversed every inch and stu...

The Battle of Bannockburn in 1314 was one of the decisive battles of British history. The bitter hostility between England and Scotland which had continued since 1296, the contrasting characters of the opposing commanders Edward II and Robert the Bruce, the strategy of the campaign and the tactics of the battle itself—all these elements combine to make the event one of absorbing and lasting interest. The enormous impact of the Scottish victory on the fate of the two kingdoms means the batt...