Steve Dunn is the author of 15 books, mostly on specific aspects of World War I at sea, from the Dover Patrol to the defence of the Western Approaches. In Spectre of Invasion, he has turned his hand to a…
The National Army Museum has obtained three important archival collections containing soldiers’ first-hand accounts of the Napoleonic Wars. The first is an account of the Waterloo campaign by Lieutenant and Captain Henry Weyland Powell. In it, he details events from…
On the face of it, Operation Barbarossa – Nazi Germany’s 1941 invasion of the Soviet Union – is straightforward to understand. Germany was at first strikingly successful, then faltered, and ultimately failed to subdue the Soviets, leading to rout and…
As thousands died on WWI’s Western Front, a young officer by the name of T E Lawrence was among those fighting a very different war in the Middle East. Here, Nicholas Saunders reveals how a British-backed uprising proved a turning point in history.
Students of military history find much to fascinate in the subject: strategy, tactics, weapons, uniforms, battles, and the lives of the great generals. Exactly how wars come about and the ethics of combat may seem secondary issues, yet they are woven into the history
In the concluding part of our series marking 250 years since the Declaration of Independence, Fred Chiaventone reveals how the Revolutionary War was won at last.
In the third part of his series marking the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence, Fred Chiaventone examines the crucial events of 1777-1780.
Nick Spenceley reconsiders The Right of the Line by John Terraine
The French Revolution was a turbulent era of shifting loyalties, during which even humbly born soldiers could rise to the top, as Nigel Jones reveals in the final part of his series on treachery.
REVIEW BY CALUM HENDERSON When Tim Bouverie’s first book Appeasing Hitler appeared in 2019, it was generally considered to be something of a stunning debut: an eloquent and well-researched history of one of the most written-about periods in British history…
REVIEW BY DAVID PORTER In January 1945, the Red Army launched a powerful operation that was intended to go all the way to Berlin. The Vistula–Oder Offensive, as it was known, is the subject of this new book by Prit…
In the second part of our special, Graham Goodlad assesses Austria-Hungary’s failure to achieve victory against Italy.
REVIEW BY MARC DeSANTIS Alexander the Great of Macedonia is one of the best-known figures of ancient history. Comparatively large amounts of written material concerning his short but extraordinarily eventful life have survived from ancient times. This is a boon…
In the last part of our series marking the 80th anniversary of World War II’s final months, Taylor Downing asks whether the Allies had any choice but to use their devastating new weapon to end the war.
Nick Spenceley reconsiders Alfred Thayer Mahan’s The Influence of Sea Power Upon History.
In the third part of our series on the American Civil War, Fred Chiaventone traces the conflict’s bloody final months.
Younger readers might be forgiven for thinking that Enemy at the Gates is merely a novelisation of the 2001 film of the same name. But the movie – directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud and starring Jude Law – in fact takes its title from William Craig’s groundbreaking 1973 history of Stalingrad, the first Western history to make extensive use of Russian sources.
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Stephen Roberts analyses the engagement that helped launch Britain’s empire in India.
REVIEW BY TAYLOR DOWNING The military historian Peter Caddick-Adams has written this witty and enjoyable political biography of Winston Churchill. Unlike the multivolume authorised biography written mostly by Sir Martin Gilbert – which contained more than three million words –…
The use of ‘native levies’ has long been a feature of foreign wars – but their employment and their sacrifice reached a peak during the British colonial era. Stephen Roberts uncovers a forgotten story.
In the last part of our series marking the 150th birthday of Winston Churchill, Taylor Downing examines his relationships with some of the brilliant mavericks who contributed to final victory during World War II.
REVIEW BY ANDREW MULHOLLAND History is usually about people, while military strategy tends not to be, and can sometimes seem rather dry. This book by Phillips O’Brien reminds us that it is leaders who actually determine strategy, with all of…
Graham Goodlad analyses the battle that saved Paris but initiated four years of trench warfare.
REVIEW BY JONATHAN EATON Sir Max Hastings has an established reputation as a leading writer on 20th-century conflicts, drawing on his previous experience as both a war correspondent and newspaper editor. His recent works have included studies of Vietnam and…
MHM’s round-up of the latest military history titles.
The decisive victory of World War II in Western Europe took place 80 years ago this summer. On 6 June 1944, after months of planning, around 150,000 men from five divisions – two American, two British, and one Canadian —…
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Graham Goodlad analyses Slim’s crucial victory, which dispelled the myth of Japanese invincibility.
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Napoleon and Hitler both drew up detailed plans for the invasion of Britain, spreading alarm among the public and forcing urgent measures from the UK government in return. Here, David Porter compares the plans, and the threat posed by the country’s two would-be invaders.
REVIEW BY CALUM HENDERSON Leningrad – today known as St Petersburg – was a key military and industrial target in the early years of the Second World War. But the city also held a psychological attraction for the invading armies…
REVIEW BY ANDREW MULHOLLAND Few recent military books can have been quite as timely as this one. For while conceived several years ago, Richard Dannatt and Robert Lyman’s study of the British Army brings us right up to date and…
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It was the critical time, when the tide finally turned in the West. But even victories at Stalingrad, in North Africa, and in Sicily could not mask the tensions between the Allied ‘Big Three’. Eighty years on, Taylor Downing describes a pivotal period in World War II.