The Russian Jaeger regiments and Napoleon's Young Guard clashed repeatedly during the campaigns of 1812–14.The Russian Jaeger were light infantry who gained enormous experience and prestige during the struggle to rid Europe of Napoleon's armies, while the Young Guard was expanded to become the main strike force of the French field armies. In appalling winter conditions in 1812, the Young Guard turned to confront their opponents, including Jaeger forces, at Krasnyi....

The Bavarian Army has been overshadowed by those of Gustavus Adolphus’ and Wallenstein’s Armies, but it was one of only a few armies to have fought throughout the Thirty Years War, first as part of the Catholic League and then an independent army after the Peace of Prague. Among the generals of the Bavarian Army were Count Johan von Tilly and Gottfried von Pappenheim, who are two of the most famous generals of the war. This book covers not only the Bavarian Army’s organization, but also ha...

The Russian Jaeger regiments and Napoleon's Young Guard clashed repeatedly during the campaigns of 1812–14.The Russian Jaeger were light infantry who gained enormous experience and prestige during the struggle to rid Europe of Napoleon's armies, while the Young Guard was expanded to become the main strike force of the French field armies. In appalling winter conditions in 1812, the Young Guard turned to confront their opponents, including Jaeger forces, at Krasnyi....

The Eastern Association is best known for its performance at the battle of Marston Moor and the rise of Oliver Cromwell, but it was so much more. It was one of the most successful Parliamentary armies that served during the First Civil War; firstly having to secure the counties of East Anglia from Royalist sympathizers and then supporting Lord Fairfax’s Northern Association in its struggle with Newcastle’s Army and the latter’s final defeat at the battle of Marston Moor. It then assisted t...

Julius Caesar's The Gallic War, or Commentarii de Bello Gallico, recounts the campaigns of 58–50 BCE by which Rome subdued Gaul and confronted Germans and Britons beyond its familiar frontiers. Written in a spare, disciplined Latin and famously in the third person, the work fuses military report, ethnographic observation, and political self-fashioning. Its clarity and apparent objectivity belong to the Roman commentarius tradition, yet beneath the unadorned style lies a persuasive narrativ...

Great battles mark history's turning points, occurring as they do where cultures and ideologies clash.While some battles have been won by the superior force, others have been won by a sheer dogged refusal to surrender in the face of overwhelming odds. Superior weaponry has sometimes brought victory, as at Plassey, while the superior generalship of a Napoleon, a Wellington, or a Marlborough has won the day on other occasions.All the great battles in this boo...

Filled with fresh interpretations and information, puncturing old myths and challenging new ones, Battle Cry of Freedom will unquestionably become the standard one-volume history of the Civil War. James McPherson's fast-paced narrative fully integrates the political, social, and military events that crowded the two decades from the outbreak of one war in Mexico to the ending of another at Appomattox. Packed with drama and analytical insight, the book vividly recounts the momentous...

'On War' is a book on war and military strategy. It was written shortly after the Napoleonic Wars by the Prussian general Carl von Clausewitz. It is one of the most important treatises on political-military analysis and strategy ever written, and even today it remains both controversial and an influence on strategic thinking. This edition comprises all eight books.

An authoritative illustrated analysis of the history of the military Special Forces units of the Soviet Union and Russian Federation.When the shadowy, notorious Spetsnaz were first formed, they drew on a long Soviet tradition of elite, behind-the-lines commando forces from World War II and even earlier. Throughout the 1960s–70s they were instrumental both in projecting Soviet power in non-aligned states and in suppressing resistance within the Warsaw pact.A...

The short but savage Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 pitched well-equipped but complacent British soldiers into combat with the Zulu, one of history's finest fighting forces.The clashes between these two different armies prompted tactical innovation on both sides, as the British and their Zulu opponents sought to find the optimal combination of mobility, protection and firepower. This engrossing study traces the changing face of infantry combat in the Anglo-Zulu War. Three ...

A “big, serious, and thoroughly intelligent” (New York Review of Books) history of the Cold WarWe think of the Cold War as a clash of two superpowers, the United States and the Soviet Union. But in The Cold War, award-winning historian Odd Arne Westad argues that the war must be understood as a global confrontation, with roots in the Industrial Revolution and ongoing repercussions around the world. The Cold War may have begun on the perimeters of ...

A detailed illustrated study of Putin's shadowy security and paramilitary armed forces.While the size of Russia's regular forces has shrunk recently, its security and paramilitary elements have become increasingly powerful. Under the Putin regime they have proliferated and importantly seem set to remain Russia's most active armed agencies for the immediate future.In parallel, within the murky world where government and private interests intersect, a number ...