History and Archaeology

This remarkable story exposes the Sherman tank scandal of World War II, involving some of the biggest American names and stretching from the White House and Pentagon to factories and battlefronts. Outgunned by more powerful German opponents, the inferiority of American tanks led to some of the worst setbacks of the war, prolonging it in Europe.

When Odilo Globocnik, SS and police leader in Lublin, Poland, transferred to the Italian OZAK region in late 1943, he took with him a group of around 100 men who had run the notorious Aktion Reinhard extermination camps—Belzec, Treblinka, Sobibor—where 1.5 million people (mostly Jews) had been killed.

This book is a comprehensive collector’s guide to Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF), and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF) civilian contractors’ private-purchase and service-issue clothing, equipment, and weapons as they were worn and used in the field between 2002 and 2014.

Reichsführer-SS, Chief of German Police, Reich Commissar for the Consolidation of German Nationhood, Reich Minister of the Interior, Commander of the Replacement Army, and Commander-in-Chief of Army Group Vistula—Heinrich Himmler ultimately combined all of these positions in his person. All of his roles are described and explained in detail for the first time in this comprehensive book.

This illustrated book covers the complete history of the United States’ Los Angeles class attack submarines from initial design and construction, through testing and trials, to its current operations.

This meticulously researched volume is a must in the library of any aviation buff: the most comprehensive descriptive and illustrated history of military and civilian aircraft and their pilots (men and women) to increase the range and endurance of their aircraft.

Formed in 1942, the 8th SS Cavalry Division “Florian Geyer” was one of the most controversial units in the Waffen-SS. Created with the intention of making it an elite unit within the Waffen-SS, it instead saw its main employment from the beginning of the war in Russia as a rear area security force against partisans.

This book is the complete history of the 6th SS Gebirgs (Mountain) Division “Nord” in WWII. Formed in 1941, “Nord” was employed along the Finnish–Lapland front against battle-tested Soviet forces from 1941–44. Following the signing of the armistice between Finland and the Soviet Union in the summer of 1944, the division was moved to the western front.

Knights of the Skull is a full-color, graphic non-fiction series chronicling the development of the German Panzer (armored) forces in World War II. Beginning with the early campaigns in 1939–41, this first volume features the unleashing of Blitzkrieg in Poland in 1939, the incredible defeat of the western Allies in France in 1940, and then the legendary Gen.

Famously pictured in the opening credits of the popular television series M.A.S.H., Bell’s Model 47 helicopter was the first helicopter certified for civilian use in March 1946 and went on to serve a wide variety of military and civilian applications. With its signature bubble canopy, the Model 47, and particularly its H-13 Sioux military variant, served in both Korea and Vietnam.

Knights of the Skull is a full-color, graphic non-fiction series chronicling the development of the German Panzer (armored) forces in World War II. Volume 2 starts with the April 1941 Balkans and Greece campaigns, then moves into the planning and early months of Operation Barbarossa—the German invasion of the Soviet Union in June 1941.

The Bell AH-1 was the first helicopter designed and built exclusively for combat. First flown in 1965, the AH-1, with its characteristic streamlined silhouette and stub wings, quickly became an indispensable asset and feared opponent. Development continued over the years and even today much improved and higher performance versions are still in service around the world.

One of the most infamous of all Waffen-SS formations, the 3rd SS-Panzer Division “Totenkopf” has always been identified as the very essence of the notorious “Black Order.” Associated with war crimes in official historiography, formed initially with personnel coming from guard units from concentration camps, the unit was nevertheless able to prove itself on the battlefield, distinguishing itself ...

Since the 1980s, the American M1 Abrams series of tanks has been widely regarded as among the finest main battle tanks in the world. This volume is a concise look at the background, development, and Army and Marine operational history of the Abrams from the 1970s to the present.

Wilfried Sonnenthal joined the SS Signals Replacement Battalion in Nuremberg in January 1943, and in June 1943, he was transferred to the SS-Karstwehr-Bataillon in Pottenstein. With this battalion he took part in the disarming of the Italian Army in northern Italy in September 1943, and then was assigned to guard the Adriatic Coastland Zone of Operations.

This lavishly photographed and authoritative book presents the secret history of Soviet subminiature spy cameras during the Cold War. It is a history that could only have been written by the veteran KGB technical intelligence officers who created and used the cameras in secret operations.

This book presents a detailed look at the design and development of the legendary MiG-21, including its powerplant, armament, upgrades, and variants. The Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21 was the standard fighter/interceptor aircraft of the Warsaw Pact and it stood up to its western counterparts for decades.

Willy Messerschmitt's Bf 109 is among the most famous fighter aircraft in the history of military aviation, and it was during the Spanish Civil War that it first saw combat. Using newly discovered records, the author describes the Bf 109's operational career with the Legion Condor, the German military unit that fought in Spain.

John C. Woods, the US Army's hangman during World War II, is known for his role executing ten senior Nazis in 1946. For the first time, learn about Woods's early life in Kansas and his dishonorable discharge before World War II. Discover how volunteering as a military executioner would lead Woods to his career as a hangman.

The Colt M1911 is one of the most well-known and popular military weapons of the 20th century. Designed by John Browning, this pistol, with its legendary reliability and firepower, represents the developmental starting point of a majority of automatic pistols to this day. It was the standard-issue sidearm of the US armed forces for more than 70 years and is still in use throughout the world.