The air campaign that incinerated Japan's cities was the first and only time that independent air power has won a war.As the United States pushed Imperial Japan back towards Tokyo Bay, the US Army Air Force deployed the first of a new bomber to the theater. The B-29 Superfortress was complex, troubled, and hugely advanced. It was the most expensive weapons system of the war, and formidably capable. But at the time, no strategic bombing campaign had ever brought abo...

Arguably the first 'modern' air campaign, this is the story of Linebacker I which brought laser-guided bombs, electronic warfare and anti-radar missiles to bear on North Vietnam's invading army.At Easter 1972, North Vietnam invaded the South, and there were almost no US ground troops left to stop it. But air power reinforcements could be rushed to the theater. Operation Linebacker's objective was to destroy the invading forces from the air and cut...

A highly illustrated account of the battle for Blanc Mont Ridge in 1918, where the US attackers broke the German line and sent them into headlong retreat in one of the major US victories of World War I.The dominating Blanc Mont Ridge complex in the Champagne region of France was home to some of the most complex German defences on the Western Front. Its heights offered artillery observation that made even approaching the ridge virtually suicidal.Pessimistic ...

A highly illustrated study of the naval campaign of the Russo-Japanese War of 1904–05, focusing on the decisive battle of Tsushima.Japan was closed to the world until 1854 and its technology then was literally medieval. Great Britain, France and Russia divided the globe in the nineteenth century, but Japan was catching up. Its army and navy were retrained by Western powers and equipped with the latest weapons and ships. Japan wanted to further emulate its European ...

A highly illustrated history of Operation Suvorov, the Soviet assault against German positions around Smolensk in late 1943.With the German defeat at Kursk, the Soviet Stavka (high command) ordered the Western and Kalinin Fronts to launch Operation Suvorov in order to liberate the city of Smolensk. The Germans had held this city for two years and Heeresgruppe Mitte's (Army Group Centre) 4. Armee had heavily fortified the...

A highly illustrated study of the battle of the Imjin River in Korea, a heroic defense by the US and UK forces against overwhelming Chinese numbers.After China's November 1950 intervention in the war and the subsequent battle of the Chosin Reservoir, UN forces faced a new onslaught in the spring of 1951 with over 350,000 veteran troops attacking along the Imjin River. The US 3rd Infantry Division took the brunt of the attack along with the attached British 29th Inf...

A highly illustrated account of one of the major battles of Italy's 13th century wars, immortalized in the Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri who was one of the combatants.Campaldino is one of the important battles between the Guelphs and Ghibellines - the major political factions in the city states of central and northern Italy. It heralded the rise of Florence to a dominant position over the area of Tuscany and was one of the last occasions when the Italia...

The colourful, enthralling story of the Russo-Mongol battle of Kulikovo, involving: the killing of a Muscovite prince (only for it to turn out to be a body double) and an unexpected ambush to turn looming defeat into glorious victory.The 14th-century Mongol conquest of the Rus' – the principalities of Russia – was devastating and decisive. Cities were lain waste, new dynasties rose and for a hundred years the Russians were under unquestioned foreign rule. However, ...

The last in the Campaign series covering the Ohio Native American wars, this is the story behind the largest battle in the Western theatre of the American Revolutionary War.As the Revolutionary War raged on fields near the Atlantic, Native Americans and British rangers fought American settlers on the Ohio River frontier in warfare of unsurpassed ferocity. When their attacks threatened to drive the Americans from their settlements in Kentucky, Daniel Boone, Simon Ke...

A highly illustrated study of the Solomons campaign in 1943–44 from Guadalcanal, as the US forces advanced through the island chain, to the vital Japanese base at Rabaul.Victory at Guadalcanal for the Allies in February 1943 left them a vital foothold in the Solomon Islands chain, and was the first step in an attempt to isolate and capture the key Japanese base of Rabaul on New Britain. In order to do this they had to advance up the island chain in a combined air, ...

The Linebacker II campaign of 1972 saw America's fearsome but irreplaceable B-52s finally sent into action above the Vietnamese capital Hanoi in an attempt to bomb the Vietnamese to the negotiating table.After the failed April 1972 invasion of South Vietnam and the heavy US tactical bombing raids in the Hanoi area, the North Vietnamese agreed to return to the Paris peace talks, yet very quickly these negotiations stalled.In an attempt to end the wa...

A highly illustrated history of the Spanish conquest of Mexico from 1519 to 1521, an epic clash of civilisations that saw the destruction of the Aztec Empire.In 1519, the Conquistador Hernán Cortés landed on the mainland of the Americas. His quest to serve God, win gold, and achieve glory drove him into the heartland of what is now Mexico, where no European had ever set foot before. He marched towards to the majestic city of Tenochtitlan, floating like a jewel in t...