The development of rocket and jet aircraft by the Germans before and during the Second World War is something that intrigues all those interested in the history of aviation. The first trials of the V1 (Doodlebug) were carried out with a pilot at the controls, on occasion the world-famous aviatrix Hannah Reitsch. The first encounter with a jet aircraft by Allied airmen is documented here, including the first shooting down of a jet aircraft by an Allied pilot.Roc...

This true crime history of the American Frontier separates fact from fiction with in-depth profiles of thirty-eight career criminals and infamous outlaw gangs.In the years following the American Civil War, the country's western frontier was home to a prodigious number of myth-making cowboys, infamous gunslingers, saloon madams, and not always law-abiding lawmen. But the romantic mystique of these individuals and the time in which they lives is largely the product of...

Stepping Stones to the Stars is the story of manned spaceflight from its inception to the era of the Space Shuttle. It begins with a short history of the evolution of the rocket, before describing the first manned rocket flights by both the Americans and the Russians. There is also the little-known story of what is thought to be the earliest manned rocket flight, said to have taken place in 1933 on the island of Rügen in the Baltic under the control of the German ...

True stories of sheriffs, marshals, rangers, and others in frontier law enforcement who fought to bring order to the lawless West—includes photos.Faced with ruthless criminals, trigger-happy gunslingers and assorted desperados, the lawmen of the Old West tried, and sometimes died, in their efforts to bring some semblance of order to their towns and communities. This book introduces more than thirty of them, from familiar names like Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson to le...

The ideas behind the Grumman F-14 Tomcat first began to take shape back in the late 1950s when it was discovered that the Soviet Union was quickly developing an increasingly accurate airborne missile system that would pose a major threat to the US Navy’s warships. Entering service in 1974 with VF-1 and VF-2 on USS Enterprise, the F-14 was one of the most sophisticated, reliable and deadly aircraft of its day. In this book, author Terry Treadwell looks at the development and evolution of th...

Overview of Russia’s space program, covering history, key missions, challenges, achievements, and international collaboration.This is not the definitive work on the Russian space program, but it will give the reader an insight into a political and complex world of space science. Although the success of the high-profile American space program had grabbed all the headlines, Russia slowly, but consistently, has continued to expand their contribution to the exploration...

If one aircraft was to represent the First World War, it could be the distinctive red Fokker Triplane of Manfred von Richthofen. With an astonishing eighty aerial victories, the Red Baron became a legend in his own, short, lifetime. Regarded as one of the most widely known fighter pilots of all time, von Richthofen is also considered to be the First World War's 'ace-of-aces'. While much is known about this German aristocrat, what this book accomplishes is a pictorial portrait of von Richth...

For most prisoners of war in the Second World War, life behind bars was nothing like the films. The tales of brave escape attempts told in accounts such as the iconic film The Great Escape are exciting enough, but how much of the detail is true? In Great Escapes ex-RAF officer and researcher for the RAF Escaping Society Terry Treadwell tells the incredible tales of some of the lesser known attempts to escape POW camps. All the amazing details are from real-life escape atte...

Details the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo programs, exploring space exploration challenges and triumphs.This book is about how the dreams of exploring other worlds became a reality with the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs. The problems encountered in the development of the spacecraft, including the disastrous fire aboard Apollo 1 which resulted in the deaths of the three American astronauts, Gus Grissom, Ed White and Roger Chafee are covered. When Neil Armstrong ...

The Imperial Japanese Navy developed the submarine faster than any other country in the world. But as a result of rivalries between the two military hierarchies, the Army and the Navy, they never utilized the submarine to its full extent. Nevertheless, during the Second World War, Japan deployed a number of unique submarines.These included the Type B1 which carried a Yokosuka E14Y1 reconnaissance seaplane in a watertight capsule attached to the deck of the submarine. One of these a...

Much has been written about the British aircraft of the First World War, but little has surfaced about the aircraft of the Axis powers, Germany and Austria. Here, Terry C. Treadwell tells the story of the aircraft from companies such as Fokker, builder of the famous triplane, as fl own by Baron von Richthofen's Flying Circus, AEG, Albatros, Junkers and Hansa. From reconnaissance aircraft to state-of-the-art bombers that could reach London, this is the definitive guide to aircraft of the Ax...

"Follows the development of US aviation from the captive balloons of the Civil War, through WWI and into the post war years . . . Highly Recommended." —FiretrenchStrike from the Air looks at the early development of the U.S. military aviation branches, starting with the Civil War and moving to the first use of military aircraft during General Pershing's pursuit of the revolutionary Pancho Villa. Before the country was drawn into the First World War, a numb...