The Border War saw the biggest armoured battles in Africa since World War II.Starting as a counter-insurgency operation by the South African Defence Force (SADF) against the South West Africa People's Organisation, South Africa became embroiled in the complex Angolan Civil War, where they came up against enemies well supplied with equipment and armoured vehicles from the Soviet Union.With the aid of stunning illustrations and photographs, this study details...

US military veteran and historian Dan Tharp's Africa Lost tells the inside story of some of the greatest special operators you've never heard of.Some of the most explosive combat in Special Operations history is almost completely unknown to the Western World. Everyone knows about Navy SEALs and Green Berets but nobody knows about the deep recce, sabotage, and direct action missions conducted by the Rhodesian SAS. The Rhodesian Light Infantry was a killing ...

“A VIVID NARRATIVE . . . A splendid first-person account of the costly campaign that enabled Allied forces to wrest Guadalcanal from the Japanese in World War II’s Pacific theater.”—Kirkus Reviews“By reading and studying No Bended Knee, the military professional can gain an appreciation for war at the strategic, operational, and tactical levels. Twining writes as he served his corps—boldly and straightforwardly, with impeccable detail and superb und...

Every war has at least one - a unit so different, so daring, that it becomes the stuff of which legends are made and heroes are born. Among the South African forces fighting in Angola from 1975 to 1989, that unit was 32 Battalion. Founded in utmost secrecy from the vanquished remnants of a foreign rebel movement, undefeated in 12 years of front-line battle, feared by enemies that included both conventional Cuban armies and Namibian guerrilla fighters, the Buffalo Soldiers became the South ...

Shrouded in secrecy due to the covert nature of their work, the legendary Recces have fascinated South Africans for years. Now one of these elite soldiers has written a tell-all book about the extraordinary missions he embarked on and the nail-biting action he experienced in the Border War. Shortly after passing the infamously gruelling Special Forces selection course in the early 1980s, Koos Stadler joined the so-called Small Teams group at 5 Reconnaissance Regiment. This subunit was made...

**A New York Times Bestseller"A beautiful blend of history and prose and proves again Mr. Toll’s mastery of the naval-war narrative." —Wall Street Journal**This masterful history encompasses the heart of the Pacific War—the period between mid-1942 and mid-1944—when parallel Allied counteroffensives north and south of the equator washed over Japan's far-flung island empire like a "conquering tide," concluding with Japan's irreversible strategic defeat in th...

From the depths of defeat...On December 8, 1941, one day after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the Japanese Air Force struck the Philippines in the first blow of a devastating invasion.With an undersupplied patchwork army at his command, General Douglas MacArthur led a valiant defense of the Philippines. When defeat came, MacArthur swore he would return, while thousands of POWs fell into Japanese hands — and faced a living hell that many would not survive....

Battle for Cassinga is written as a firsthand account by an ordinary South African paratrooper who was at the 1978 assault on the Angolan headquarters of PLAN, the armed wing of SWAPO. The book relates why the South African government took the political risk in attacking the fortress in an external operation and examines the SWAPO claims that Cassinga was a refugee camp guarded by a few PLAN soldiers. It also explains why Sam Nujoma the SWAPO leader had no option but to perpetuate this fal...

On 7 December 1941, the Japanese navy attacked Pearl Harbour. Simultaneously, they launched all-out assaults on Malaya, Hong Kong and the Philippines. Japan's sphere of influence spread at a phenomenal rates and it seemed the their dream of empire was about to be realized.Featuring remarkable photographs and useful maps*, Victory in the Pacific* examines how the tide of Japanese victory was turned. Following pivotal battles such as the Battle of Guadalcanal, the Battle of Leyte Gul...

This seminal work documents the clandestine sea borne operations undertaken by South Africa’s 4 Reconnaissance Commando Regiment. It breathtakingly reveals the versatility and effectiveness of this elite unit which worked with a range of other South African and Rhodesian forces, including the Rhodesian SAS, to engage in a range of raiding and war fighting activities. These operations saw the clandestine reconnaissance of harbors, the sinking of enemy shipping and the destruction of shore i...

Rangers, Green Berets, SEALs, Delta Force, LRRPs, Force Recon—and the struggle of the best and the bravest to keep America freeThey’re some of the toughest and most highly trained fighting men in the world—going where no ordinary soldier would go and doing what no ordinary soldier would dare. Outnumbered and outgunned, operating in small teams of five or six-deep in enemy territory far from help, they rely on their wits, their skills, and each other...

The Sniper at War looks at the impact and role of the sniper from the American Revolutionary War to the present day. It was not until the late 18th century that advances in technology made accurate sniping with a gun possible. The American backwoodsmen took a toll of the redcoats with their hunting rifles, and the modern art of sniping was born. The book looks at how the art of sniping in war has become more professional and specialised, with dedicated training courses and equipment. Famou...