When one thinks of influential World War II military figures, five-star generals such as Dwight D. Eisenhower and Omar Bradley instantly come to mind. As important as these central figures were to the Second World War, the conflict produced equally effective lower-profile leaders whose influence had an undeniable impact.Among these leaders are William Simpson, commander of the US Ninth Army, and James Moore, his chief of staff. Working in tandem, the pair helmed a unit that gained ...

In Sabers through the Reich, William Stuart Nance provides the first comprehensive operational history of American corps cavalry in the European Theater of Operations (ETO) during World War II. The corps cavalry had a substantive and direct impact on Allied success in almost every campaign, and served as offensive guards for armies across Europe, conducting reconnaissance, economy of force, and security missions, as well as prisoner of war rescues. From D-Day and Operation Cobra t...

"A fantastic read . . . Whether your interest is armour or history I would highly recommend this book" ( Military Modelling).The tank destroyer was a bold—though some would say flawed—answer to the challenge posed by the seemingly unstoppable German Blitzkrieg. The TD was conceived to be light and fast enough to outmaneuver panzer forces and go where tanks could not. At the same time, the TD would wield the firepower needed to kill any German tank on the b...

This is the fascinating account, as recorded from the US perspective, of the bitter fighting during the eight days and nights of encirclement at Bastogne. First published in the pages of the Infantry Journal in 1946, this contemporary account by S.L.A. Marshall was rescued from obscurity by the US Armys Center Of Military History and is now appearing in e-book form for the first time. There are few better or more authoritative accounts of the struggle as seen through the eyes of the American ...

The Second World War was the final global conflict of the twentieth century. It involved more combatants, and a wider range of battlefield terrain than any other conflict in history, from the frozen plains of Russia to the baking Libyan desert, and from the atolls of the Pacific to the skies over Britain.In Turning the Tide, Nigel Cawthorne has taken a fresh look at the crucial battles which decided the outcome of the Second World War, beginning with the evacuation of Dunkirk in 19...

This WWII history critically reexamines one of the most dramatic and significant battles to follow the D-Day landings in Normandy.The destruction of the trapped German forces in the Falaise pocket in August 1944 is one of the most famous episodes of the Normandy campaign. But myths have grown up around the battle, and its impact on the course of the war is often misunderstood. In this meticulously researched study, Anthony Tucker-Jones dispels misconceptions about t...

The ferocious battles for survival fought by trapped German forces in Russia have become synonymous with that most terrible of all military campaigns. Shortly after the war the personal experiences of those who had fought in the battles were collected together as the German Report Series. The German report series includes invaluable information from impeccable sources on the pockets formed at Klin, Velikiye Luki, Cherkassy and Kamenets-Podolskiy.

In this classic portrait of Dwight D. Eisenhower the soldier, bestselling historian Stephen E. Ambrose examines the Allied commander’s leadership during World War II.Ambrose brings Eisenhower’s experience of the Second World War to life, showing in vivid detail how the general’s skill as a diplomat and a military strategist contributed to Allied successes in North Africa and in Europe, and established him as one of the greatest military leaders in the world. Ambrose, then the Assoc...

In his controversial and award-winning 2003 book Fields of Fire, Terry Copp offered a stunning reversal of accepted military history, challenging the conventional view that the Canadian contribution to the Battle of Normandy was a failure. Cinderella Army continues the story of the operations carried out by the First Canadian Army in the last nine months of the war, and extends the argument developed in Fields of Fire that "the achievement of the Allied and espec...

This is one of the most significant military books of the twentieth century. By an outstanding soldier of independent mind, it pushed forward the evolution of land warfare and was directly responsible for German armoured supremacy in the early years of the Second World War.Published in 1937, the result of 15 years of careful study since his days on the German General Staff in the First World War, Achtung Panzer! argues how vital the proper use of tanks and supporting armou...

The Panzer Lehr Division was one of the most élite German armoured formations in existence in early 1944. Its baptism of fire was in the deadly Normandy bocage. Although suffering heavy losses in Normandy, the Division continued to fight in North-West Europe until the end of the war, seeing particularly notable service during the Ardennes Offensive and in the Ruhr. The first volume in the new Helion series WWII German Military Studies prints an extensive number of reports written by former...

In December 1944 the German military made its final attempt to end the Second World War by throwing in all its reserves in a desperate attempt to shatter the Allied lines. After breaking through the American-held sector in the Ardennes, two Panzer armies headed for the bridges over the River Meuse. However, a combination of poor planning, bad weather, tortuous terrain and, above all, the determined defence of keys towns and villages delayed the advance. The Allies were abl...