Osprey

Velikiye Luki had been an important Russian fortress city since the 13th century and had become an important rail-hub by the 19th century. In August 1941, the Germans occupied the city of 30,000 during Operation Barbarossa and made it a bulwark on the boundary between Heeresgruppe Nord and (...)

Preceding and simultaneously with the conquest of England by Duke William, other ambitious and aggressive Norman noblemen (notably the Drengot, De Hauteville and Guiscard families) found it prudent to leave Normandy. At first taking mercenary employment with Lombard rulers then fighting the (...)

As the outbreak of World War II approached, Nazi Germany ordered artillery manufacturers Krupp and Rheimetall-Borsig to build several super-heavy siege guns, vital to smash through French and Belgian fortresses that stood in the way of the Blitzkrieg. These 'secret weapons' were much larger than (...)

World War II was a significant period of development for American missile programs, during which time the US built pioneering examples of guided weapons systems. However, whilst the German missiles of World War II are famous around the world, their American counterparts have remained shrouded in (...)

This study analyzes the battle of Dettingen, one of the major Allied victories of the War of the Austrian Succession, and the last time a British monarch commanded troops in the field.The death of the Emperor Charles VI in 1741 was the catalyst for a conflict ostensibly about the female inheritance (...)

Between 1941 45, the Germans recruited around 175,000 men from a number of minorities in the USSR, distinguishing between "Turkomans" (predominantly Muslims) and "Caucasians" (predominantly Orthodox Christians). Of these, many formed rear-area auxiliary units, but at least 55,000 were combat (...)

The Roman shield, the scutum, was central to the Romans' conquest of the known world, and has become an emblem of the legions at the forefront of that effort. This new study draws on the latest research to reveal the history of this iconic equipment.The introduction of the scutum in the 4th century (...)

A new history of the development of the Dutch fleet in the early 20th century, and the role these warships played in World War II, from the defense of Rotterdam to the Battle of the Java Sea and beyond.In the late 19th and early 20th century, a combination of coastal defense for the homeland and (...)