British Second World War tanks performed so badly that it is difficult to bring to mind any other British weapon of the period that provokes such a strong sense of failure. Unfortunately, many of the accusations appear to be true - British tanks were in many ways a disgrace. But why was Britain, the country that invented them, consistently ......

The Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor was conceived for peace but turned to a warlike purpose savaging convoys bringing vital supplies to Britain. The aircraft Churchill called "the scourge of the Atlantic" became synonymous with the struggle to supply the Allies by sea. As a truly long-range reconnaissance bomber, the Condor acted as the eyes and ears ......

Without the Red (or Soviet) Army, it is likely that the Western Allies would have taken much longer to defeat the Third Reich - they may even have lost altogether. However even decades after the wars end, little is widely known about this giant organization that numbered millions of soldiers. Broken down by key battles or campaigns within each ......

Beginning with the Polish, French, Dutch, Belgian, Danish, Norwegian and British forces that attempted to stem the Blitzkrieg, and ending with the composite Allied forces that Eisenhower halted on the Elbe river, a wide range of ground forces fought against the Third Reich in the European and Mediterranean theatres. Broken down by key battles ......

A study of the design, development and eventual fates of the uncompleted super-battleships intended to be built before and during World War II. At the start of World War II the battleship was still king, and all the major powers were designing even mightier battleships to surpass their most modern and powerful classes. But when ......

Volume 2 of our two-volume visual history of the North American B-25 Mitchell. This second of two volumes on the North American B-25 Mitchell covers the late-WWII G through J, F-10, and PBJ variants of the famed US medium bomber. Among the many topics discussed are the Mitchell versions used by the US Navy and Marine Corps, as well as ......

The Second World War was a time of tremendous technological progress in aviation with innovations such as jet engines and swept wings being brought in as engineers on all sides desperately sought every possible performance advantage. In Germany, the quest for better aircraft resulted in some astonishing designs - everything from bombers with ......

A new history and analysis of the German and Soviet tank forces that battled on eastern German soil in the final months of World War II. The final months of World War II on the Eastern Front saw the Wehrmacht fighting with exhausted armoured divisions, albeit now armed with the most advanced and heaviest tanks of the war, to ......

Packed with never-before-seen photos and plans and meticulous new digital artwork, this is the first history of the USAAFs futuristic World War II prototype interceptor, the XP-67 "Moonbat". The series of X-planes that sprang from the US Armys Request for Data R40C, focused on high-altitude, high-speed, long-range bomber ......

September 1940: In the midst of the Second World War, the Luftwaffe unleashed a series of devastating raids on Southampton, all but destroying its spitfire factories. But production didnt stop. Instead, manufacturing of this iconic fighter moved underground, to secret locations staffed by women, children and non-combatant men. With little ......

The Pzkpfw Ill was the most effective tank available to the German army in North Africa during the battles of 1941. It outnumbered all the other types in service with the Afrikakorps at that time and when compared to the Pzkpfw I and Pzkpfw II designs it was a potent, modern weapons system. Although less heavily armoured than its British ......

The Allied invasions of Sicily and the Italian mainland had been met with tenacious resistance by the Germans but the defence consisted for the most part of armoured units that were little different to those the British had faced in North Africa. But in early 1944, with the landings at Anzio and Nettuno and the attempt to bypass the German ......

What was it like to command a T-34 tank on the Eastern Front during the Second World War? How were tank operations organized and carried out, what was the actual experience of combat, and what were the qualities that made the difference between success and failure - and what were the chances of survival? Vasiliy Pavlovich Bryukhovs vivid, ......

While the Red Armys arsenal at the start of the Second World War included weapons dating back to the Great War or earlier, the 1930s modernisation programme had introduced the automatic Tokarev pistol and self-loading Tokarev rifle. Its small arms were soon replaced by mass-produced sub-machine guns, such as the PPSh 1941, nicknamed the ......

The perfect companion to Masters of the Air on Apple TV+, this is a superbly illustrated examination of the aircraft, pilots, crews and operations of the US Eighth Air Force. The US Eighth Air Force-known as the "Mighty Eighth"-was a combat air force activated in Georgia, USA on January 28, 1942. Its bomber command ......

Illustrated with colourful artworks of carrier aircraft and their markings, Allied Carrier Aircraft of World War II is a detailed guide to all the aircraft deployed by the Allied navies from 1939 to 1945. Organised chronologically by type and nationality, this book includes fighters, fighter-bombers, torpedo bombers, dive-bombers, ......

The Pacific Profiles series presents the most accurate WWII profiles of aircraft which served in the South Pacific theatre. Volume Seven covers the Douglas C-47, including numerous derivatives such as the C-53, R4D and DC-3. This was the most universal aircraft type to appear in the South Pacific and was deployed from day one to the cessation ......

The 1944 Allied invasion of France was a combined effort, with land- and sea-based forces supported by a huge aerial task force, which included legendary aircraft such as the Spitfire, Mosquito, Dakota and Mustang. The force comprised the RAF, its commonwealth allies and the USAAF, which resulted in an eclectic mix of gliders, heavy bombers, ......

The untold story of the elite force that spearheaded almost every British bombing raid over Nazi Germany by the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Kamikaze Hunters. Perfect for fans off John Nichols Spitfire, Patrick Bishops Fighter Boys and Dambusters Dark low-level raids, dodging anti-aircraft flak to make pinpoint-accurate drops - the ......

The British Admiraltys telegram arrived at Navy Office in Melbourne, the order to go to all-out war. It was coldly succinct- TOTAL GERMANY ... The war at sea had begun. When the Second World War broke out in September 1939, the British asked Australia for help. With some misgivings, the Australian government sent five destroyers to beef up the ......

 Illustrated with detailed artworks of German tanks and their markings with exhaustive captions and specifications, Wehrmacht Panzer Divisions 1939-45 is the definitive study of the equipment and organisation of the Wehrmachts armoured divisions. Organised by division, the book describes in depth the various models of ......

Allied Fighters 1939-45 offers an highly-illustrated guide to Allied fighter aircraft that fought in Europe during World War II. Featuring all the main models flown by the Allied air forces from 1939 to 1945, the book offers a wealth of detail, including unit markings, organization, numbers of aircraft flown by campaign and exhaustive ......

Using first-hand accounts and brand-new artwork, this book brings to life the realities of flying the Bf 109 in combat during the very first battles of World War II. The Bf 109 was one of the principal fighter aircraft types in the Luftwaffes inventory during the opening months of World War II and it was central to many of ......

The book describes some of the most daring air attacks of World War II. Some were outstanding successes and some were unmitigated disasters. North Sea Battle: In the early weeks of World War II, Britain and Germany were determined to attack one anothers warships in their respective naval bases. Both RAF and Luftwaffe learned the folly of ......

How did 9.SS-Panzer-Division modify their Jagdpanzer IVs? Whose Panzer crashed into a restaurant? What unique Panther was found in Greece? How do you kill a Tiger with a 6-pounder? The answers to these and other questions are found in Panzerwrecks 24, with 141 rare and unpublished large-format photographs sourced from around the world, seven ......

Compared to the fighting in Northwest Europe or the epic battles in the Soviet Union, the battles for the possession of the Italian peninsula seem to seem to pale in insignificance. The Allies regarded it as a side-show and the men that fought there were often referred to as the D-Day Dodgers. The Germans must have regarded it similarly judging ......

A new pictorial history of one of the most significant aircraft of the Second World War. Masquerading as a civilian airliner during the mid-1930s, the Heinkel He 111 medium-range bomber saw its first combat in 1936 with Germanys Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War. The initial stages of World War II confirmed the designs prominent role ......

Offering an unprecedented range of descriptive and illustrative detail, the author describes the evolution of the battleship classes through all their modifications and refits. As well as dealing with design features, armor, machinery and power plants and weaponry, he also examines the performance of the ships in battle and analyses their ......

 Rise of the War Machines: The Birth of Precision Bombing in World War II examines the rise of autonomy in air warfare from the inception of powered flight through the first phase of the Combined Bomber Offensive in World War II. Raymond P. OMara builds a conceptual model of humans, machines, and doctrine that ......

Illustrated with detailed artworks of American, British, Canadian, Australian, French, Polish and other Western Allied nations tanks and their markings with exhaustive captions and specifications, World War II Tanks: Western Allies 1939-45: Identification Guide offers an highly-illustrated guide to the main armoured fighting vehicles ......