History and Archaeology

This second of two volumes on the North American B-25 Mitchell covers the late-WWII G through J, F-10, and PBJ variants of the famed US medium bomber. Among the many topics discussed are the Mitchell versions used by the US Navy and Marine Corps, as well as photo-recon and experimental types.

This historical biography of John Monroe “Hawk” Smith, Navy fighter pilot, is a gripping account of valor, sacrifice, and adventure during one of the most tumultuous periods in carrier aviation.  It was no surprise when Hawk, having completed a stunning tour as commanding officer of TOPGUN, received orders to a frontline F-14 Tomcat squadron—VF-213, the “Black Lions.

Masquerading as a civilian airliner during the mid-1930s, the Heinkel He 111 medium-range bomber saw its first combat in 1936 with Germany’s Condor Legion during the Spanish Civil War. The initial stages of World War II confirmed the design’s prominent role in advancing the German blitzkrieg in Poland and France.

Ferdinand Porsche was an Austrian engineer born in 1875. In the interwar period, Ferdinand founded an automotive consultation firm, which gradually grew into today's Porsche AG automotive company. Porsche's firm was responsible for the design of the "Volkswagen," a simple model known today as the Beetle.

WWII ended, legal reckoning began. At least 100 former Trawniki guards were investigated, arrested, and tried in the postwar period, mostly in the Soviet Union. Dozens were sentenced to death and executed. Others received 25 years' imprisonment in Soviet gulags. In 1955, a general amnesty caused all those imprisoned to be released.

Germany built the first operational jet aircraft during World War II, the Messerschmitt Me 262. Siegfried Decher was part of the engineering team that designed the engines that powered the 262. At the end of the war, Decher was nearly stranded in the Soviet Occupation Zone, but the US military made contact and offered a way out.

A moving and joyful celebration of not only survival but also resilience and joy, expressed through 90 black-and-white portraits of Holocaust survivors and personal stories of their postwar lives. The survivors, many photographed with their family members, share lessons they have learned and pass on the wisdom that comes from building a life of one's choosing out of the wreckage of despair.

Introduced in 1941, the Short Stirling was the Royal Air Force’s first four-engine heavy bomber of the Second World War. However, early on, the Stirling’s performance was compromised by several issues: ...

Featuring sloping armor and armed with a powerful 75 mm gun, Germany’s Panther tank was developed as a counter to the Soviet T-34.  Entering production in 1943, the Panther was intended to become Germany’s standard medium tank.  Although featuring potent armament and excellent armor, the Panther was hampered by disruptive production and drivetrain maintenance requirements.

Author of the definitive A Collector's Guide to the Savage 99 Rifle and Its Predecessors, the Model 1895 and 1899, David Royal now presents the beautiful and elaborately engraved variants of the 99. Although widely perceived as utilitarian, Savage’s Models 1895, 1899, and 99 were often ornamented by gifted artisans.

This definitive work on air rescue operations of the US Army Air Force and US Air Force takes the reader from the birth of the service during World War II, through the Korean and Vietnam Wars, to present-day operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Based on an adaptation of the White Scout Car, the US half-track vehicles of  WWII combined the cross-country ability of a fully tracked vehicle with the road performance of a medium truck.  A myriad of variations of these vehicles were produced, including prime movers, armored personnel carriers, mortar carriers, and a wide range of heavily armed variants.

Rolf Fischer was born near Bremen in 1927. At age 15, he and his classmates were called up to serve as auxiliaries at the local antiaircraft defense battery. Here Rolf and his friends experienced Allied bombing raids, death, and killing. Along with the young auxiliaries, the flak battery comprised wounded front veterans and Soviet prisoners of war, referred to as “Hiwis.

The Vickers Armstrong Wellington, affectionately dubbed the “Wimpy” after the hamburger-scoffing cartoon character, lays claim to two distinctions within RAF WWII annals. The first related to its geodetic structure, with a cloth covering that proved to be superior to previous designs for surviving battle damage.

In 1935, Fascist Italy invaded Abyssinia (now Ethiopia), one of just two independent states in Africa at the time. Italy first invaded Ethiopia in 1895 and was driven out by the army of Emperor Menelik II. In 1935, the defensive effort would be led by Emperor Haile Selassie I.

Two Great Knights of Adventure was written by Jacques Mortane in 1936. Mortane was on friendly terms with both Marc Pourpe and Raoul Lufbery and wrote the book as a tribute to the two pilots, both of whom were killed in the First World War.

This is the history of the distinctive fighting knife of the Gaelic Irish, the skean (Irish: scian). Author Robert Gresh has scoured primary sources for references to the weapon in use and traveled to examine the known surviving examples.

What’s Your Call Sign? is filled with cleverly written and funny stories behind the seemingly mean-spirited nicknames naval aviators use to address each other as terms of endearment. As such, these stories provide a realistic and true insight into the life of naval aviators that reveals their human side.

In many ways, the M26 Pershing was the most advanced and most powerful tank fielded by the US military during the Second World War. The prototype T26 "heavy" tank design was developed to answer the threat of the German Panther and Tiger tanks. Unfortunately for US Army tankers, the T26 tank wasn't ready for field use until 1945.

Based on the original letters of physics professor Robert Wichard Pohl, who spent several years flying on zeppelins during the First World War, this book tells the story of the first flight to exceed 100 hours in the air. Along the way, it tells the story of those men responsible for the flight, as well as the history of both airship development and the continuing interest in transatlantic flight.