Series: Combat

This absorbing study pits US Army National Guardsmen against Japanese soldiers in the uniquely hostile setting of the New Guinea campaign in World War II. When Japanese forces attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, New Guinea — the world’s second-largest island — was administered partly by Australia and partly by the Dutch East Indies. The New Guinea campaign (January 1942–August...

This absorbing study casts light on the tactics, weapons, and combat effectiveness of the US Marines and North Korean soldiers who fought one another in August and September 1950. Equipped with Soviet tanks and bolstered by a cadre of combat veterans returning from the Chinese Civil War, North Korea’s army launched its surprise offensive against the Republic of Korea on...

In 1915–18, ANZAC and Ottoman soldiers clashed on numerous battlefields, from Gallipoli to Jerusalem. This illustrated study investigates the two sides’ fighting men. The Gallipoli campaign of 1915–16 pitched the Australian and New Zealand volunteers known as the ANZACs into a series of desperate battles with the Ottoman soldiers defending their homeland. In August 1915, the bitter struggle for the...

A fully illustrated study of the troops fighting for Caesar and Pompey in three major battles of the Roman Civil War. Triggered by the tensions surrounding Julius Caesar’s return to Rome from Gaul, the civil war that broke out in 49 BC convulsed the Roman world. Commanders and troops loyal to Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, known as Pompey, confronted those following...

Fully illustrated, this absorbing study assesses the Commonwealth and Italian infantrymen pitted against one another during the First and Second battles of El Alamein in 1942. By July 1942, the Allied troops fighting in North Africa, the multinational Eighth Army, had withdrawn to the El Alamein line, the last position stopping their German and Italian opponents from reaching the Suez...

This engrossing book pits the legionaries of Imperial Rome against their Germanic and Sarmatian opponents in the 2nd century AD. Shortly after Marcus Aurelius came to power in AD 161, the Roman Empire was racked by a series of military crises. While unrest in Britain and a new war with Parthia were swiftly dealt with, the invasion of Roman territory...

An illustrated study of the British tribal warriors and Roman auxiliaries who fought in three epic battles for control of Britain in the 1st century AD. Following the Roman invasion of Britain in AD 43, the tribes of the west and north resisted the establishment of a ‘Roman peace’, led in particular by the chieftain Caratacus. Even in the south-east,...

This book examines the US infantry against the Chinese Army amid the unforgiving terrain of Korea during the first real clash of the Cold War. On June 25, 1950, North Korean troops invaded South Korea, triggering a bitter conflict that drew in US and other United Nations forces in support of the South, and soon prompted the Chinese to intervene...

During the 19th century, US forces confronted the Seminole people in a series of bitter wars over the fate of Florida. After the refusal of the Seminoles to move west to the Creek Reservation in Mississippi, the US government sent troops to bring Florida under federal control, marking the beginning of the Second Seminole War. On December 28, 1835, troops...

British Light Infantryman vs Patriot Rifleman by Robbie MacNiven is a fully illustrated book that assesses the origins, equipment, and fighting styles of the irregular warfare specialists involved in the American Revolutionary War. Amid North America’s often forested, broken, or rugged terrain, 18th-century armies came to rely on soldiers capable of fighting individually or in small groups. During the American...

This illustrated study reveals the crucial roles played by German troops and commanders fighting on both sides during the American Revolution. During the American Revolutionary War, the British Crown deployed hired German troops in its efforts to defeat the Patriots. Facing a steep learning curve, the newly established Continental Army—some of the soldiers in its ranks also German-speakers, notably those...

Written by an authority on the Normandy battle, this book examines the battles between German airborne troops and US Army forces in July 1944. For six weeks in the summer of 1944, US forces tasked with capturing the vital road hub of Saint-Lô in Normandy struggled to make progress amid the bocage – hedgerow country interspersed with marshland, where infantry...

Patriot vs Loyalist by Si Sheppard delves into the turbulent times following the American Declaration of Independence, when communities from Boston to Savannah faced the critical decision to strive for an independent republic or remain loyal to the British Crown. This comprehensive study examines the origins, methods, and combat records of the forces on both sides of the conflict. The...

Fully illustrated, this book assesses the Roman and Dacian fighting men who clashed in three bloody encounters during the Dacian Wars of AD 85–106. While the Roman emperor Trajan’s two campaigns against the Dacian people (AD 101–02 and 105–06) are widely known, the earlier conflicts between the Dacians and their Roman neighbours are also important. Drawing upon the latest research...

This colourful study investigates the Byzantine and Seljuk forces that fought in a series of battles with profound implications for the Middle East during the 11th and 12th centuries. The Byzantine defeat at Manzikert, in one of history’s pivotal battles, resulted in the victorious Seljuk Turks pushing west to the Bosporus. Byzantine appeals for aid sparked the First Crusade, as...

Fully illustrated, this study examines the US Army and Japanese troops who fought for control of the Philippine Islands in the climactic months of World War II. In October 1944, the Sixth US Army landed on Leyte in the Japanese-held Central Philippine Islands, initiating a series of battles that became the largest contest between the US and Japanese armies. Determined...

The Nazi invasion of Poland in September 1939 saw mostly untested German troops face equally inexperienced Polish forces. With the Polish senior leadership endeavouring to hold the country’s industrialised east, Hitler’s forces unleashed what was essentially a large pincer operation intended to encircle and eliminate much of Poland’s military strength. Harnessing this initial operational advantage, the Germans were able to...

Fully illustrated with specially commissioned artwork and mapping, plus carefully chosen archive illustrations, many in colour, this lively study investigates the Mexican soldiers and Texian volunteers who fought one another in three key battles during the Texas Revolution. Following unrest throughout Mexico, in 1835 a revolt began in Texas among the Anglophone and Tejano-speaking settlers, known as Texians. Having retreated...

Specially commissioned artwork and thrilling combat accounts transport the reader to the far-flung and inhospitable East African theatre of World War I, where the Schutztruppe faced off against the King's African Rifles. In an attempt to divert Allied forces from the Western Front, a small German colonial force under the command of Oberst Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck raided British and Portuguese...

During the 16th century, Japan underwent a military revolution, characterised by the deployment of large armies, the introduction of firearms, and an eventual shift towards fighting on foot. This study encapsulates these great changes through an exploration of the experience on the ground at three key battles: Uedahara (1548), Mikata ga Hara (1573), and Nagashino (1575), in which two very...

In a bid to recapture territory conceded following the Winter War of 1939–40, Finnish forces cooperated with Nazi Germany and other Axis powers during the invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941. Rapid Finnish progress in reoccupying lost ground in Karelia during the first few months of the invasion gave way to a more static form of warfare from...

After the US declaration of war on Germany, hundreds of thousands of American troops flooded into France and were thrust into the front line. Among them was the US Marine Corps' 4th Marine Brigade whose first major action was the battle of Belleau Wood in June 1918, fighting elements of Germany's 10th, 28th, and 237th Infantry divisions. Volunteers to a...

Between June 1812 and January 1815, US and British forces, notably the regular infantrymen of both sides (including the Canadian Fencibles Regiment), fought one another on a host of North American battlefields. This study examines the evolving role and combat performance of the two sides’ regulars during the conflict, with particular reference to three revealing battles in successive years: Queenston...