The Command of the Ocean" describes with unprecedented authority & scholarship the rise of Britain to naval greatness & the central place of the Navy & naval activity in the life of the nation & government. It describes not just battles voyages & cruises but how the Navy was manned how it was supplied with timber hemp & iron how its men (and sometimes women) were fed & above all how it was financed & directed. It was during the century & a half covered by this book that the successful organizing of these last three
- victualling money & management
- took the Navy to the heart of the British state. It is the great achievement of the book to show how completely integrated & mutually dependent Britain & the Navy then became."

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Use these small sticky strips for damage free hanging of posters & pictures which can also can be removed cleanly. Full instructions on how to apply & remove included on the packaging. Not to be used on wallpaper vinyl surfaces antiques & valuables. Do not use for hanging items over a bed. ...

Edward Pellew captain of the legendary Indefatigable was quite simply the greatest frigate captain in the age of sail. An incomparable seaman ferociously combative yet chivalrous a master of the quarterdeck & an athlete of the tops he was as quick to welcome a gallant foe into his cabin as to dive to the rescue of a man overboard. He is the likely model for the heroic but all-too-human Jack Aubrey in Patrick OBrians novels. Pellew was orphaned at eight but fought his way from the very bottom of the Navy to fleet command & a viscountcy. Victories & eye-catching feats won him a public following. Yet as an outsider with a gift for antagonizing his better-born peers he made powerful enemies. Redemption came with his last command when he set off to do battle with the Barbary States & free thousands of European slaves. Contemporary opinion held this to be an impossible mission & Pellew himself in leading from the front in the style of his direct contemporary Nelson did not expect to survive. Pellews humanity as much as his gallantry fondness for subordinates & blind love for his family & the warmth & intimacy of his letters make him a hugely engaging & sympathetic figure. In Stephen Taylors magnificent new life he at last has the biography he deserves. ...

June 1940: As Britains soldiers limped home from Dunkirk a maverick Army officer was already devising a bold plan to hit back at the enemy. His idea was to revolutionise military thinking & change the face of warfare for ever. Relying as much on stealth & guile as on courage & stamina the Commandos brought to the battlefield the skills of the guerrilla. Trained by an unconventional band of experts & led by a big-game hunter a film star a Highland chief & an eccentric wielding a bow & arrow they became the spearhead of the Allied drive for victory. Weaving together official documents new research & veterans own accounts Commando reveals for the first time the exhilarating full story of WWIIs most formidable fighting force. ...

Chris Terrill is a man in search of his limit. He's 55 years old. He is not a soldier. He is being trained by the Royal Marines & he is going to Afghanistan. The only difference is that instead of a gun Chris will be holding a camera & filming the whole ordeal for a major TV series. The Royal Marines Commando training base in Lympstone Devon has a famous motto: '99.9 per cent need not apply'. Of those who start training after a very tough selection process nearly 50 per cent fail to make it through the most gruelling physical tests of any armed forces in the world in an eight month training regime. The elite who do eventually pass out are generally eighteen years old & at the peak of physical condition. But Chris Terrill is the exception: this book will tell of his heroic struggle to become the oldest man to win the coveted Royal Marines Commando Green Beret & enter the record books. & after six months of hell what next? Chris will follow the raw recruits on a tour to Southern Afghanistan. He will tell the story in book & film of the fears & hopes of the youngsters as they are plunged into one of the planet's most dangerous wars in the outlaw mountain terrain of Helmand Province. He will tell of ferocious battles against the Taliban of firefights of jaw-dropping heroism British sang froid & humour & tragedy as causalities are suffered
- all from the unique perspective of a civilian who has achieved the ultimate accolade: to be accepted as an honorary Royal Marines Commando. Commando" is a brilliant account of modern war on the front line."
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Eric Harden was the only British army medic to be awarded the nations highest honour for battlefield bravery during the Second World War & remains the only rank & file member of the Royal Army Medical Corps to be recognised by the award of the Victoria Cross. As a pre-war member of the St John Ambulance he saw service during the 1940-41 Blitz & later volunteered for the Commandos under-going the same rigorous training as the fighting men before being attached to 45 Royal Marine Commando. He landed with his unit on D-Day & was involved in some of the fiercest fighting of the Normandy campaign. During a bitter battle on the Dutch-German border Harden known throughout his unit as Doc was killed saving the lives of wounded men trapped in no-mans l&. Commenting on the posthumous award in a speech to the House of Commons the Secretary of State for War the Rt Hon James Grigg was sufficiently moved by his selfless actions to say: I do not remember ever reading anything more heroic."" ...

Following the bestselling success of Carltons man-size Commando anthologies here is a new pocket-format compilation of three classic comic-strip war stories printed the same size as the original Commando comics. Tally Ho!" features a trio of explosive air-war yarns that show the heroic RAF flyers at their best. From fighter sorties over occupied France & bombing raids on the Afrika Korps to Hurricane attacks on the Japanese this action-packed but handily formatted collection of Second World War stories will thrill Commando fans of all ages." ...

For everyone in Britain these were the darkest days of the Second World War. Our army or what was left of it had been withdrawn from France via the beaches of Dunkirk disabling & abandoning arms & equipment during the desperate evacuation. While they reorganized & re-equipped there was no effective fighting force to stand against Hitlers Wehrmacht should they choose to invade. Crossing the channel with an invasion fleet was however not an operation to be contemplated without complete control of the sky otherwise the transports & landing craft would be blown out of the water by the RAF. The Nazis answer? Neutralise the RAF. Destroy its runways destroy its aircraft on the ground destroy its support networks & most of all kill its pilots. The RAF of course had other ideas & during the summer of 1940 the Battle of Britain was fought in the skies over southern Engl&. The courage & skill of the RAF pilots & ground crews during those few hectic weeks has formed the backdrop to some of the most outstanding Commando tales ever published. Stories like Ace Without Honour" " Island of Heroes" & " Brigand Squadron" as well as " Blind Courage" " Fly Fast-Shoot Fast" or " Spitfire Spirit" bring the atmosphere of the battle spinning into the 21st century. Presented 25 per cent larger than when originally published this special edition drops you out of the sun into the midst of the dog fights the howl of the Merlin engine on full boost almost drowning out the roar of the Brownings thundering away in the wings either side of your cockpit. Whether you are a novice sprog comic book pilot or a seasoned veteran the fantastic aero art created by the Commando artists & the compelling stories will leave you gasping for the next Scramble!" ...

Following the bestselling success of Carltons man-size Commando anthologies here is the latest of the pocket-format compilations each containing of three classic Commando war stories printed the same size as the original comics. Bombs Away!" features " Ghost Pilot" " Hoodoo Ace" & " Deck-Level Dawson". Hair-rising tales of bombing missions in Lacasters & Stirlings make this action-packed but handily formatted collection of stories a thrill for Commando fans of all ages." ...

This is the Ten Best D-DAY Commando Comic Books Ever! D-Day was the largest amphibious invasion in history & one of the worlds most famous military actions. It has become the stuff of legend through films such as Saving Private Ryan" & TV series such as " Band of Brothers". This hard-hitting anthology of war comic stories covers all the heroic action of " The Longest Day" 6 June 1944. From " Ambush at Dawn" " Normandy Drop" & " Blood of Heroes" to " Operation Bulldog" " Commando: D-Day Fight or Die!" features ten action-packed stories of the Tommies who stormed Hitlers formidable Atlantic Wall from air land & sea
- & won."
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