The cavalry regiments of the US Army were in the process of being transformed into a mechanised force when the USA entered World War II. While those cavalry regiments deployed to the Pacific to fight the Japanese were turned into infantry units those sent to Europe were employed as light armour in the cavalrys traditional spearhead roles
- reconnaissance the screening of advances & flanks & the pursuit of beaten enemy forces. Equipped with M8 Greyhound armored cars M5 Stuart & M24 Chaffee light tanks & halftracks these units were designated cavalry groups (mechanized) each c. 1 700 strong & divided into two heavily armed squadrons. They were seldom attached to divisions but to higher-level corps commands meaning they could be shifted around quickly & independently & be formed at need into flexible battle groups with armored infantry & other units depending on the mission. Featuring specially drawn full-color illustrations depicting uniforms insignia armoured vehicles & tactical scenarios this is the story of the US cavalry units that led the advance to victory in Europe during World War II.
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Written by veteran game designers Alessio Cavatore & Rick Priestley Bolt Action" provides all the rules needed to bring the great battles of World War II to your tabletop. Using miniature soldiers tanks & terrain you can fight battles in the shattered towns of occupied France the barren deserts of North Africa & even the sweltering jungles of the Pacific. Players get to decide which of the major or minor World War II powers they would like to represent & then construct their armies from the lists provided. Army options are almost limitless allowing you to build the kind of army that most appeals to your style of play from heavily armored tank forces to lightly armed but highly skilled. The choice is yours. Created as a joint project between Warlord Games the premiere historical miniatures company & Osprey Publishing the leading independent military history publisher " Bolt Action" is sure to be the most popular new wargame on the market." ...

The twentieth century saw an unprecedented emphasis on fighting in all terrains seasons & weather conditions. Such conditions made even basic survival difficult as subzero temperatures caused weapons to jam engines to seize up & soldiers to suffer frostbite snow blindness & hypothermia. The conditions often favoured small groups of mobile lightly armed soldiers rather than the armoured forces or air power that dominated other combat environments. Some European armies developed small numbers of specialist alpine troops before & during World War I but these proved to be insufficient as nearly all the major combatants of World War II found themselves fighting for extended periods in extremely hostile cold-weather and/or alpine environments. Drawing upon manuals memoirs & unit histories & illustrated with period tactical diagrams & specially commissioned full-colour artwork this study sheds new light on the winter-warfare tactics & techniques of the US British German Soviet & Finnish armies of World War II. ...

In World War One: A Short History" Norman Stone provides a terse opinionated & wry short history of the First World War. In 1914 a new kind of war & a new kind of world came about. Fourteen million combatants died a further twenty million were wounded four empires were destroyed & even the victors' empires were fatally damaged. The First World War marked a revolution in the technology of slaughter as trench warfare artillery barrages tanks & chemical warfare made their mark on the battlefield for the first time. The sheer complexity & scale of the war have encouraged historians to write books on a similar scale. But in only 140 pages Norman Stone distils a lifetime of teaching arguing & thinking to reframe the overwhelming disaster whose aftershocks shaped the rest of the twentieth century. " Bold provocative & witty.. .one of the outstanding historians of our age". (" Spectator"). " Do we need another history of the First World War? The answer in the case of Norman Stone's short book is yes
- because of its opinionated freshness & the unusual sharp facts that fly about like shrapnel". (" Literary Review"). " Exhilarating.. .scintillating.. .a heady cocktail". (" Observer"). " Entertaining & insightful.. .one of the handful of living historians who can write with style & wit". (Tibor Fischer " Sunday Telegraph" Books of the Year). Norman Stone is one of Britain's most celebrated historians. He is the author of " The Eastern Front 1914-1917" " Hitler: An Introduction" " Europe Transformed" & " The Atlantic & its Enemies". He has taught at the universities of Cambridge Oxford & Bilkent where he is now Director of the Turkish-Russian Centre."
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A pacy compelling & penetrating account from Wolfson Prize-winning author Norman Stone that shows World War Two in a fresh new light. The Second World War is the nightmare that sits at the heart of the modern era
- a total refutation of any notion of human progress & a conflict which still haunts us seventy years on. Norman Stone's gripping new book aims to tell the narrative of the war in as brief a compass as possible making a sometimes familiar story utterly fresh & arresting. As with his highly acclaimed World War One: A Short History there is a compelling sense of a terrible story unfolding of a sceptical & humorous intelligence at work & a wish to convey to an audience who may well have no memory of the conflict just how high the stakes were. This is a beautifully written clever & imaginative attempt to convey what can almost not be conveyed. About the author: Norman Stone is one of Britain's greatest historians. His major works include The Eastern Front 1914-1917 (winner of the Wolfson Prize & published by Penguin) Europe Transformed & The Atlantic & Its Enemies (published by Penguin). He has taught at the universities of Cambridge Oxford & Bilkent where he is now Director of the Turkish-Russian Centre. He lives in Ankara. Reviews: Professor Norman Stone has achieved the impossible; he has somehow written a comprehensive history of the Second World War in just under 200 pages summarising the entire conflict while leaving out nothing of importance & bringing his lifetime of study of the subject to bear in a witty incisive & immensely readable way... Norman Stone has proved yet again that he is one of the most original witty & powerful British historians writing today". (Andrew Roberts Standpoint). " The joy & strength of this compact history besides its trenchancy & in the publishers' words the "sceptical & humorous intelligence at work" is its narrative clarity.. .a book to clear the mind after the grand tour of the big volumes". (Allan Mallinson The Times). " Novices will receive a painless introduction but educated readers should not pass up the highly opinionated prologue & epilogue & the author's trademark acerbic commentary throughout... Readers of all stripes.. .will find plenty to ponder". (Kirkus Reviews)."
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It began with rumours from China about another pandemic. Then the cases started to multiply & what had looked like the stirrings of a criminal underclass even the beginnings of a revolution soon revealed itself to be much much worse. Faced with a future of mindless man-eating horror humanity was forced to accept the logic of world government & face events that tested our sanity & our sense of reality. ...

World War Z" is the eagerly awaited film starring Brad Pitt. The story revolves around United Nations employee Gerry Lane (Pitt) who traverses the world in a race against time to stop a pandemic that is toppling armies & governments & threatening to annihilate humanity itself. " World War Z: The Art of the Film" is the official illustrated companion to the movie & features a wealth of stunning production art design sketches & storyboards alongside the full shooting script. (TM) & (c) 2013 Paramount Pictures. All Rights Reserved." ...

This is a fantastic reference book on the two most important conflicts of the 20th Century; World Wars 1 & 2. It provides detailed accounts of the causes & effects of each war as well as describing their main battles innovations & leaders. It also describes the cultural legacies of the wars including the impact they made to the roles of women & how they inspired poets artists & writers. It is illustrated with dramatic photographs & detailed colour maps. It is Internet-linked to provide young learners with the opportunity for further independent research. ...

I am dividing. It is as though I am holding myself cupped in my own hands & I am falling to pieces there slipping through my fingers. & that is true. That is how we are in the world. We are pieced together out of lots of different bits. Its magical.. . There are more than seven billion people on the planet. They have on average over 10 billion nerve cells in their brains & 5 litres of blood pumping through their bodies. Their skeletons are made up of 206 bones & their hearts beat Approx. 72 times per minute. They are connected to each other in more ways than they can possibly imagine. Philip is one of them. Sue is another. This is their story. It is the story of one year & two lives & what it means to live in them. It is a story about love & courage risk & betrayal; about the choices we make & the consequences that shape us. It is a story that will make you look at the world with new eyes. ...

On the day after Halloween in the year 1327 four children slip away from the cathedral city of Kingsbridge. They are a thief a bully a boy genius & a girl who wants to be a doctor. In the forest they see two men killed. As adults their lives will be braided together by ambition love greed & revenge. They will see prosperity & famine plague & war. One boy will travel the world but come home in the end; the other will be a powerful corrupt nobleman. One girl will defy the might of the medieval church; the other will pursue an impossible love. & always they will live under the long shadow of the unexplained killing they witnessed on that fateful childhood day. Ken Follett's masterful epic The Pillars of the Earth enchanted millions of readers with its compelling drama of war passion & family conflict set around the building of a cathedral. Now World Without End takes readers back to medieval Kingsbridge two centuries later as the men women & children of the city once again grapple with the devastating sweep of historical change. ...