Osprey's Big Reveal: General Military (1)

To navigate your way through the Big Reveal please use the links in the bar above.

On the Big Reveal today, we have the first of our General Military reveal to share with you. Let us know what you think of these books below!

 GNM: Abandon Ship

The Falklands War was a pivotal event in 20th century British history, and is within living memory of many. The war came as a surprise to most and was to test the British forces – who were mainly trained for a war with the USSR – to their limits, in very different circumstances to those envisaged during the Cold War era. The emphatic British victory was not without costs or mistakes, but the courageous exploits of the men and ships of the Royal Navy were instrumental in facilitating the amphibious landings which recaptured the islands from the Argentinian invaders. The drama of events and the heroism of those involved makes for compelling reading.

Taking advantage of the latest available British and Argentinian sources, including documents recently released following Freedom of Information requests by the author himself, Dr Paul Brown describes the dramatic events leading up to the loss of six British ships: HMS Antelope, Ardent, Coventry and Sheffield, RFA Sir Galahad and SS Atlantic Conveyor, as well as the controversial sinking of the Argentinian cruiser General Belgrano by HMS Conqueror.

GNM: Blade of a Sword

Combining traditional military history with a trench-level soldier’s view of the Great War, this book tracks the experiences of an elite German regiment throughout the conflict, following the men who fought and died in the service of what would ultimately prove to be a futile cause.
 
The German 73rd Fusilier Regiment spent the whole of World War I on the Western Front and was one of the Imperial German Army’s most elite units. Starting with the occupation of Liège, it took part in nearly every major campaign in the West, including the Champagne offensives, the Somme, Vimy Ridge, Passchendaele and the Operation Michael offensives. Using the personal accounts of the soldiers themselves, including Ernst Jünger, author of Storm of Steel, this engrossing story of a regiment at war presents the horror of trench warfare on a human scale, through the eyes of ordinary men-at-arms, as they fought for honour and survival in military history’s most brutal  theatre of combat.

GNM: Blitzkrieg

On 1 September 1939, Nazi Germany launched the invasion of Poland, employing a new type of offensive warfare that was to redraw the face of Europe: Blitzkrieg. Based on speed, manoeuvrability and the concentration of firepower, the strategy saw startling success as the panzer divisions, supported by Stuka dive-bombers, spread terror and mayhem, reaching Warsaw in just one week. The swift and conclusive defeat of France would follow in 1940

Though the dominance of the Blitzkrieg method was to be challenged in the latter part of the war, as Allied forces found methods of disrupting the attacks and dominating the battlefields, its unparalleled success in the early years of the conflict brought Europe to its knees.

Supported by numerous maps and photographs, Blitzkrieg: The Invasion of Poland to the Fall of France tells the story of these first breakneck attacks, analysing the technology, planning and execution, as well as the challenges faced by the Germans in the pursuit of this new and deadly form of warfare.

GNM: Never Greater Slaughter

Late in AD 937, four armies met in a place called Brunanburh. On one side stood the shield-wall of the expanding kingdom of the Anglo-Saxons. On the other side stood a remarkable alliance of rival kings — at least two from across the sea — who’d come together to destroy them once and for all. The stakes were no less than the survival of the dream that would become England.

For centuries, the location of this great battle has been lost. Today, an extraordinary effort, uniting enthusiasts, historians, archaeologists, linguists, and other researchers — amateurs and professionals, experienced and inexperienced alike — may well have found the site of the long-lost battle of Brunanburh, over a thousand years after its bloodied fields witnessed history.

Never Greater Slaughter will be, in part, the story of this remarkable discovery. It will also be the story of why and how the battle happened. Most importantly, though, this book will be about the men who fought and died at Brunanburh, and how much this forgotten struggle can tell us about who we are and how we relate to our past.

GNM: Churchill, Master and Commander

This book is intended to assess what in his formative years shaped Winston Churchill as a military commander, and then to examine how in high office he got it both right and wrong. From his earliest days he was an extreme risk taker and he carried this into adulthood. Today Churchill is widely hailed as Britain’s greatest wartime leader and politician. Deep down, though, he was foremost a warlord. Just like his ally Stalin, and his arch enemies Hitler and Mussolini, Churchill could not help himself and insisted on personally directing the strategic conduct of World War II. For better or worse he insisted on being political master and military commander. Again, like his wartime contemporaries, he had a habit of not heeding the advice of his generals, which sometimes ended in disaster, for example in Norway, North Africa, Greece and Crete during 1940–41. Yet on occasions he got it just right: events such as the British miracle at Dunkirk and victory in the Battle of Britain showed that he was a much-needed decisive leader. Nor did he shy away from difficult decisions. Ultimately his subsequent dogged defiance in Egypt and Burma paved the road to victory.

GNM: German Army Uniforms of World War II

In the years after World War I, the defeated and much-reduced German Army developed new clothing and personal equipment that drew upon the lessons learned in the trenches.The outbreak of war in 1939 prompted further adaptations and simplifications of uniforms and insignia. Medals and awards increased in number as the war went on. Specialists such as mountain troops, tank crews and combat engineers were issued distinctive uniform items and kit, while the ever-expanding variety of fronts on which the German Army fought prompted the rapid development of clothing and equipment for different climates and conditions. In addition, severe shortages of raw materials and the demands of clothing and equipping an army that numbered in the millions forced the simplification of many items and the increasing use of substitute materials in their manufacture.

In this fully illustrated book noted authority Dr Stephen Bull examines the German Army’s wide range of uniforms, personal equipment, weapons, medals and awards, and offers a comprehensive guide to the transformation that the German Army soldier underwent In the period from September 1939 to May 1945.

GNM: Korean Air War

Often overlooked, the time is now right for a new account of the Korean War (1950–53), given recent political events and, in particular, the aerial aspect. With a paucity of major accounts that go beyond one side or aspect of the conflict, Michael Napier has written this meticulously researched new volume. The war proved a technological watershed as the piston-engined aircraft of World War II ceded to the jet aircraft of modern times, establishing tactics and doctrine that are still valid today.

This wide-ranging study covers the parts played by the forces of North Korea, China, the former Soviet Union, the US, the UK, Australia, Canada and South Africa in a volume rich with combat reports and first-person accounts. This lavishly illustrated hardback will appeal to aviation enthusiasts and those with a fascination for the Korean War as we enter the 70th anniversary of the conflict.

GMN: No Wider War

Following on from the first volume, In Good Faith, which looked at the Japanese surrender in 1945 through America’s involvement in the French Indochina War and the initial advisory missions that followed, No Wider War takes up the story from the first deployment of US combat ground troops in March 1965 through to the fall of the South in April 1975.

Drawing on the latest research, unavailable to the authors of the classic Vietnam histories, No Wider War follows the story of America’s increasingly heavy commitment to the war from the Marines on the beaches of Da Nang, through the 1st Air Cavalry Division in the Central Highlands, the siege of Khe Sanh, the Tet Offensive of 1968 and the gradual Vietnamisation of the war and draw down of American forces before the final loss of the South in 1975. Examining in depth both the events and the key figures of the conflict, this is a definitive new history of American engagement in Vietnam.

GNM: Panzer IV

The Panzer IV programme was started in 1934, forming, alongside the Panzer IIs and IIIs, the schnellen Truppen, the force that was to become the Panzerwaffe. At first, German planners envisioned the tank in a secondary role, but during the invasions of The Low Countries and France, it took on a more central role.

When the Panzerwaffe turned east to attack the Soviet Union, the Panzer IV initially fared poorly against the better-armed T-34. However, upgrades to its gun and armour protection saw it perform far better, not only against Soviet armour but also against British and American tanks in North Africa and Italy. In 1944, it was slowly replaced by the Panzer V Panther, but the dire strategic situation meant that it bore the brunt of the Allied D-Day invasion and its aftermath, and it remained in service until the end of the war.

Fully illustrated throughout with contemporary photographs, this fascinating study from German armour expert Thomas Anderson tells the complete story of Germany’s most widely produced tank of World War II, from its design and development to its many upgrades and variants.