Few events had a greater influence on Europes railways in the 20th century than the Second World War. As described in this book, thousands of steam engines were produced for the conflict by all sides. Although many were damaged during the war, most survived. Indeed, many of the British and American engines arrived in Europe too late and were ......

At the dawn of the supersonic jet age, aircraft designers were forced to devise radical new planforms that suited the new power of the jet engine. One of the most successful was the delta wing. Although Gloster produced the delta wing Javelin, and Boulton Paul -its P.111 research aircraft - Fairey and Avro were the champions of the delta in ......

The story of Frank Whittle - RAF pilot, mathematician of genius, inventor of the jet engine and British hero. In 1929, a twenty-two-year-old maverick named Frank Whittle - a self-taught aeronautical obsessive and risk-takingly brilliant RAF pilot - presented a blueprint for a revolutionary, jet-powered aircraft engine to the Air Ministry. His ......

The outbreak of the Second World War had an enormous effect on the railway system in Britain. Keeping the trains running through times of conflict was not such a distant memory for the railway companies and their workers but in this second major war of the twentieth century, the task was to prove a very different one. The railway system no ......

The piston engines that powered Second World War fighters, the men who designed them, and the secret intelligence work carried out by both Britain and Germany would determine the outcome of the first global air war.

Advanced jet engines may have been in development but every militarily significant air battle was fought by ......

The XB-40 and XB-41 were secret, little-known experimental modifications of the B-17F and B-24D, respectively, into heavily-armed bomber gunships sometimes referred to as "bomber escorters". They were developed during early World War II in response to the lack of a USAAF long-range fighter aircraft able to escort and protect regular B-17 ......

With its roots dating back to the late 1940s in the de Havilland Comet airliner, the Nimrod already had pedigree when it first appeared in the late 1960s in place of the Shackleton in the Maritime Reconnaissance role. Fewer than fifty were built for the RAF, the type being steadily upgraded throughout its career right up to its retirement in ......

Hawaii, 7th December 1941, shortly before 8 in the morning: Japanese torpedo bombers launch a surprise attack on the US Pacific fleet anchored in Pearl Harbor. The devastating attack claims the lives of over 2,400 American soldiers, sinks or damages 18 ships and destroys nearly 350 aircraft. The US Congress declares war on Japan the following ......

"Despite everything I felt very lucky to have flown Corsairs, they were the best you know even though it took me sometime to realise this when so many friends died flying them." (Colin Facer, Corsair pilot, HMS Illustrious) The Vought-Sikorsky Corsair was one of the most potent fighters of the Second World War. It was also one of the most ......

The wartime Jeep continues to fascinate enthusiasts around the world, nearly eight decades after the first prototypes were built. Yet while it is true that there was only ever one Jeep, it is emphatically not the case that there was only one variety of Jeep. Not only were Jeeps built by both Willys and Ford, but the supposedly standardised ......

The striking power of the Imperial Japanese Navys carrier- based attack aircraft was established at Pearl Harbor, and the IJNs carrier- based torpedo and dive- bombers showed their prowess again at the Battle of Coral Sea when they sank the US Navy carrier USS Lexington and damaged the carrier USS Yorktown. Even at the disastrous Battle of ......

 In this highly detailed book, naval historian Edward Hampshire reveals the fascinating history of the nuclear-powered attack submarines built and operated by the Soviet Union in the Cold War, including each class of these formidable craft as they developed throughout the Cold War period. The November class, which were the ......

Lightning Strikes-The Lockheed P-38 is a comprehensive history of one of the most successful and versatile aircraft of the Second World War. The book covers its design, production and technical details as well as its service in every USAAF combat theatre, with foreign air forces and as postwar civilian aircraft-supplemented by detailed appendices.

The PzKpfw III (Panzerkampfwagen III) is a German medium tank designed by Daimler-Benz AG. The first tests of the vehicle took place in 1936. The construction of the PzKpfw III consisted of four main modules: the turret, the front of the hull, the rear of the hull with the engine compartment cover and the lower hull.

The first ......

Whilst the First World War had seen an exceptional growth in the use and production of military cartography, the global conflict that followed employed maps, charts, reconnaissance, radar, sonar and the systematic recording and processing of geographical and topographical information on an unprecedented scale. It is impossible to understand the ......

The armoured car has an important place in the early history of Soviet armoured fighting vehicles (AFVs) - they were the most important AFV during the Russian Civil War and figured prominently in the mechanization of the Red Army that began in late 1929. The 1930s saw the development and production of a wide variety of armoured cars, which were ......

This book is a compilation of 4-view colour profiles, scale plans and photographic details of the single variant of the NAA Mustang P-51B-1-NA, featuring scale plans in 1/72 and 1/48 scales plus drawings from wartime technical manuals and also photographs of the details in b+w and colour.

This book is a compilation of 4-view colour profiles, scale plans and photographic details of the single variant of the Henschel Hs 126B-1, featuring scale plans in 1/72 and 1/48 scales plus drawings form wartime technical manuals and also photographs of the details in b+w and colour.

Scale plans for aero modellers in 1/72 scale of the Republic F-105 Thunderchief fighter aircraft, featuring twelve A3 size scale plans of the different versions.

Twelve fold-out large-format (650 x 297 mm) plans for 1/48 scale aero modellers of the variants of the Russian/Soviet multi-purpose military helicopter.

Scale plans for aero modellers in 1/48 scale of the Republic F-105 Thunderchief fighter aircraft, featuring twelve A3 size scale plans of the different versions.