This is the story of the defeat of Soviet Russia's forces in Afghanistan by a guerrilla force known as the Mujahideen, heavily backed by Pakistan and the USA. The Mujahideen paved the way for the Taliban regime, to exist having all but defeated the Russian Army in the late 80's.The author, Brigadier Mohammad Yousaf, was head of the Afghan Bureau of Pakistan's Inter-Service Intelligence and as such was effectively the Mujahideen's commander-in-chief. He controlled the flow of thousands of t...

A biography of the notorious tribal leader whose empire challenged the Romans.Most know the name Attila the Hun—but few are familiar with the full history behind this historical figure. Rising to the Hunnic kingship around 434, he dominated European history for the next two decades. Attila bullied and manipulated both halves of the Roman Empire, forcing successive emperors to make tribute payments or face invasion.Here, Ian Hughes recounts Attila's rise to ...

"An unusual history of an unusual soldier of Rome who rose to Emperor . . . an engaging history of a fascinating subject—Very Highly Recommended." — FiretrenchThis is the only fully illustrated military life of the Emperor Publius Licinius Egnatius Gallienus (253-268). Considered the most blatantly military man of all of the soldier emperors of the third century, Gallienus is the emperor in Harry Sidebottom's bestselling Warrior of Rome novels....

"A very good read . . . and a reminder that the Romans were hardly the only imperialist warmongers of the ancient world." — StrategyPageCarthage was the western Mediterranean's first superpower, long before Rome, and her military history was powerful, eventful, and checkered even before her "Punic Wars" against Rome. Although characterized in the surviving sources and modern studies as a predominantly mercantile state, Carthage fought many wars, both aggre...

“A heart-pounding, mind-bending adventure.” —Ilyon WooA riveting biography of Alexander the Great’s final years, when the leader’s insatiable desire to conquer the world set him off on an exhilarating, harrowing journey that would define his legacy.By 330 B.C.E., Alexander the Great had reached the pinnacle of success. Or so it seemed. He had defeated the Persian ruler Darius III and seized the capital city of Persepolis. His exhausted and ...

"[The] well known historian . . . attempts to find the elusive King Arthur through a study of the military of the period following the Fall of Rome." —FiretrenchKing Arthur is one of the most controversial topics of early British history. Are the legends based on a real historical figure or pure mythological invention? Ilkka Syvänne's study breaks new ground, adopting a novel approach to the sources by starting with the assumption that Arthur existed and that Geoffr...

"C apture[s] the essence of the struggle within Rome for reform and power and dominance . . . a page turner of a book . . . that offers fresh insight." — FiretrenchFollowing the First Civil War the Roman Republic was able to rebuild itself and restore stability. Yet the problems which had plagued the previous seventy years of the Republic, of political reform being met with violence and bloodshed, had not been resolved and once again resum...

The Neolithic ('New Stone Age') marks the time when the prehistoric communities of Europe turned their backs on the hunter-gatherer lifestyle that they had followed for many thousands of years, and instead, became farmers. The significance of this switch from a lifestyle that had been based on the hunting and gathering of wild food resources, to one that involved the growing of crops and raising livestock, cannot be underestimated. Although it was a complex process that varied from place t...

The author of 24 Hours in Ancient Athens "tells the powerful story of how Greek history survived the meteor of Alexander and his brief world empire" ( Firetrench).When Alexander the Great died in 323 BC, he left an empire that stretched from the shores of the Adriatic to the mountains of Afghanistan. This empire did not survive Alexander's death, and rapidly broke into several successor states. These states, subst...

A Roman historian examines the motivation and strategy behind Marc Anthony's invasion of Parthia and the reasons for its ultimate defeat.In the mid-first century BC, the Roman Empire was rivaled only by the Parthian Empire to the east. The first war between these two ancient superpowers resulted in the total defeat of Rome and the death of Marcus Crassus. When Rome collapsed into Civil War in the 1st century, BC, the Parthians took the opportunity conquer the Middle...

This in-depth chronicle examines the series of political upheavals that led to division, violence, and civil war in the ancient Roman Republic.The last century of the Roman Republic saw the consensus of the ruling elite shattered by a series of high-profile politicians who proposed political or social reform programs, many of which culminated in acts of bloodshed on the streets of Rome itself. This began in 133 BC with the military recruitment reforms of Tiberius Gr...

The dramatic history behind one of the great landmarks of ancient Israel.In the spring of 73 AD, the rock fortress of Masada on the western shore of the Dead Sea was the site of an event that was breathtaking in its courage and self-sacrifice. Here the last of the Jewish Zealots who, for nearly eight years, had waged war against the Roman occupiers of their country made their last stand. The Zealots on Masada had withstood a two-year siege but with Roman victory fi...