Social sciences

At once an examination of gender ideology in the Third Reich, a history of women in uniform as photographic theme, and an analysis of the functions of wartime photography, The Woman in My Uniform compiles  original Third Reich photos of German women wearing men's military uniforms—often their husband's, boyfriend's, or family member's—nearly all never before published.

This unique volume in the U-boat Aces series features the three German naval captains—Karl-Heinz Moehle, Reinhard Hardegen, and Horst von Schroeter—who commanded the U-123, a type IXB U-boat. In 12 patrols and 720 days at sea during its four-year WWII combat career, U-123 sank an incredible 44 Allied merchant and warships, ranking it with the third-most U-boat sinkings.

Tank design bureaus first became involved in the development of very heavy tanks after WWI. In addition to the militaries of Germany and England, the Soviet Union was also fascinated by these monsters. Behind it was the concept of transferring the heavy armament of naval warfare to land warfare.

Closed in 1949, the Sukhoi Design Bureau was reborn in 1953 to meet an urgent demand for a fast interceptor that would counter the threat posed by NATO bombers. It wasted no time developing a succession of missile-armed, Mach 2 interceptors characterized by delta wings; the single-engined Su-9 entered service in 1960, followed by the up-armed Su-11 in 1964 and the twin-engined Su-15 in 1967.

The Mil Mi-24 Soviet/Russian gunship and attack helicopter has been in continuous combat service since its first appearance in the early 1970s. Its impressive performance, ability to transport fully armed troops, and imposing armament soon earned the Mi-24 the nickname “Crocodile” and have made the big helicopter an opponent that is still feared to this day.

The story of an iconic model in the long history of Harley-Davidson motorcycles, the WLA, which was used by Allied forces during WWII, is told for the first time. Developed for the US Army's mechanized cavalry, it became the leading US military motorcycle of the war. It served the US armed services as a messenger and military police vehicle.

The German MG (Maschinengewehr) 34, along with the later-war MG 42, was a recoil-operated, air-cooled machine gun and is considered the world’s first general-purpose machine gun. Considered the most advanced machine gun in the world at the time, its ease of mobility and high rate of fire—900 rounds per minute—made it ideal both for infantry and antiaircraft use.

Since the mid-1980s, the American High Mobility Military Wheeled Vehicle (HMMWV, or Humvee) has become synonymous with the US military.  In service all around the world for decades, it remains—Iraq War controversies notwithstanding—the world standard in light military tactical vehicles.

The Boeing B-29 Superfortress was not only the largest and most advanced US aircraft to see combat in World War II, it was also the most expensive weapons system of the war, even exceeding the cost of developing the atomic bomb—the weapon that ultimately would be delivered to Hiroshima and Nagasaki by a pair of B-29s in August 1945.

The Hummel ("bumblebee") and Nashorn ("rhinoceros") are two of Nazi Germany's most widely recognized self-propelled artillery pieces. The Hummel, with its heavy field howitzer, was indispensable as heavy field artillery despite its open-top fighting compartment.

Even today, almost eighty years after its first flight, the North American P-51 Mustang remains one of the most famous and recognizable aircraft in the world. Nimble and fast, qualities that lead the Mustang to be used even today in air races, the aircraft was forged in battle.

The M18 was developed in an era when the United States fought tanks not with other tanks, but with specialized tank destroyers. With a powerful aircraft-style radial engine pushing it at up to 50 miles per hour, and mounting a potent 76 mm cannon, the Buick-built M18 Hellcat, or “Hell-Cat” as Buick's publicists named it, provided US troops with a powerful shoot-and-scoot answer to heavily armored ...

Adopted by the German Wehrmacht at the end of 1939, more than 1.2 million P.38s were manufactured up to 1945. Designed by the Walther company from its civilian model PP, it was the first double-action military pistol. Its robustness and simplicity of manufacture made it a worthy successor to the legendary P.08 Luger in the Second World War.

This book presents the evolution and development of perhaps the most iconic German fighter of WWI—the Fokker Dr. 1 triplane or “Dreidecker.” The Dr. 1 was born from experiments in cantilever monoplanes and the excellent combat record of the Sopwith triplane, which appeared at the western front at the end of 1916.

The Panzerkampfwagen III, or Panzer III as it is more commonly known, was a fixture in German armor formations during WWII. Initially developed to combat armored vehicles, in time the type evolved into an infantry support tank. Although production of the Panzer III ended in 1943, the type remained in service through the end of the war.

Successors to the US Navy’s Los Angeles–class fast-attack submarines (presented in volume 1), the Seawolf- and Virginia-class SSNs are presented here from their initial design and construction, through testing and trials, to current operations.

This book provides a unique, illustrated history of the US Navy Fighter Weapons School’s 50-year history. Currently located at Naval Air Station Fallon, Nevada, TOPGUN was formed in late 1968 at Naval Air Station Miramar, California, to create a graduate-level course in fighter tactics for Navy pilots deploying to Vietnam.

This second of two volumes on American landing craft of World War II focuses on the larger LCT, LSM, LCS(L)(3), and LST vessels that transported tanks and heavy equipment to the shores of North Africa and Normandy and throughout the Pacific. The need for massive numbers of landing craft capable of disgorging huge numbers of troops and equipment was predicted by the US Army in 1940.

Rangers Led the Way is a collection of interviews from 20 Rangers who fought in Europe during WWII, including the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th Ranger Battalions. The book also includes historical context so the actions described in the interviews can be understood as part of the larger war.

This lavishly illustrated and authoritative book presents the secret history of Stasi and Warsaw Pact subminiature spy cameras used during the Cold War. It is a history that could have been written only through the collaboration of veteran Stasi technical intelligence officers and the world's foremost historians on Cold War spy cameras and tradecraft.