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Imperatores Victi: Military Defeat and Aristocractic Competition in the Middle and Late Republic
Par Nathan S. Rosenstein. 2023
Given the intense competition among aristocrats seeking public office in the middle and late Roman Republic, one would expect that…
their persistent struggles for honor, glory, and power could have seriously undermined the state or damaged the cohesiveness of the ruling class. Rome in fact depended on aristocratic competition, since no professional bureaucracy directed public affairs and no salary was attached to any public office. But as Rosenstein adeptly shows, competition appears to have been surprisingly limited, in ways that curtailed the possible destructive effects of all-out contests between individuals.Imperatores Victi examines one particularly striking case of such checks on competition. Military success at all times represented an abundant source of prestige and political strength at Rome. Generals who led armies to victory enjoyed a better-than-average chance of securing higher office upon their return from the field. Yet this study demonstrates that defeated generals were not barred from public office and in fact went on to win the Republic's most highly coveted and hotly contested offices in numbers virtually identical with those of their undefeated peers. Rosenstein explores how this unexpected limit to competition functions, reviewing beliefs about the religious origins of defeat, assumptions about common soldiers' duties in battle, and definitions of honorable behavior of an aristocrat during a crisis. These perspectives were instrumental in shifting the onus of failure away from a general's person and in offering positive strategies a general might use to win glory and respect even in defeat and to silence potential critics among a failed general's peers. Such limits to competition had an impact on the larger problems of stability and coherence in the Republic and its political elite; these larger problems are discussed in the concluding chapter. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1990.Winners in Peace: MacArthur, Yoshida, and Postwar Japan
Par Richard B. Finn. 2023
Singular for its breadth and balance, Winners in Peace chronicles the American Occupation of Japan, an episode that profoundly shaped…
the postwar world. Richard B. Finn, who participated in the Occupation as a young naval officer and diplomat, tells the full story of the activities from 1945 to 1952. He focuses on the two main actors, General Douglas MacArthur and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Yoshida, and details the era's major events, programs, and personalities, both American and Japanese. Finn draws on an impressive range of sources—American, Japanese, British, and Australian—including interviews with nearly one hundred participants in the Occupation. He describes the war crimes trials, constitutional reforms, and American efforts to rebuild Japan. The work of George Kennan in making political stability and economic recovery the top goals of the United States became critical in the face of the developing Cold War.Winners in Peace will aid our understanding of Japan today—its economic growth, its style of government, and the strong pacifist spirit of its people. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1992.On the Wings of War and Peace: The RCAF during the Early Cold War
Par William March, Randall Wakelam, Peter Rayls. 2023
Bringing together leading researchers on Canadian air power, On the Wings of War and Peace captures the history of the…
Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) during the first decades of the Cold War – a period which marked the zenith of air force accomplishments in peacetime Canada. The volume covers topics that go beyond straightforward flying operations, examining policies that drove operational needs and capabilities and the personnel, technical, and logistical functions that made those operations possible. With contributions written by former RCAF members who have both expert and personal knowledge of their topics, On the Wings of War and Peace brings new perspectives to the RCAF’s role in shaping the modern Canadian nation.Kosovo: How Myths and Truths Started a War
Par Julie A. Mertus. 1999
Julie Mertus provides one of the first comprehensive looks at the explosive situation in Kosovo, where years of simmering tensions…
between Serbs and Albanians erupted in armed conflict in 1998. In a profound and detailed study of national identity and ethnic conflict, Mertus demonstrates how myths and truths can start a war. She shows how our identity as individuals and as members of groups is defined through the telling and remembering of stories. Real or imagined, these stories shape our understanding of ourselves as heroes, martyrs, conquerors, or victims. Once we see ourselves as victims, Mertus claims, we feel morally justified to become perpetrators.Based on a series of interviews conducted in Kosovo, Serbia proper, and Macedonia, this book is one of the first extended treatments of the years leading to war in Kosovo. Mertus examines the formation of Serbian national identity, and closely scrutinizes the hostilities of the region. She shows how myth and experience inform the political ideologies of Kosovo, and explores how these competing beliefs are created and perpetuated. This sobering overview of the region provides a window into a complex struggle whose repercussions reach far into the international community.Decision-Making for Defense
Par Charles J. Hitch. 2023
When President Kennedy appointed Robert McNamara Secretary of Defense in January, 1961 and McNamara called on Charles Hitch to join…
him, a new era of defense policy leadership was clearly at hand. Great problems of organization had emerged along with vast increases in American responsibility for the security of the free world in the post-war era of rapidly changing military technology. Defense department unification and other controversial questions of organization of the defense establishment assumed new dimensions with the advent of the new techniques of planning and analysis. Hitch discusses, from the rare perspective of an analytically gifted insider, how the Department of Defense achieved balanced programs and more effective forces through the firm application of the new management techniques without sweeping changes of organization structure. Important challenges still lie ahead. As Hitch says: "The objectives, the organization, and the management techniques of national defense are all interrelated. Organization and procedures must be adapted to our changing nationaal policies and objectives as well as to changes in the character of our resources and technologies. It will take all our ingenuity and skill to make these necessary adaptations so that we can continue to provide unified management of so great an enterprise as our present military establishment. At the beginning of our Constitutional history the building of three frigates and the management of a few companies to fight Indians were considered too great a task for the War Department alone." Management of the American defense establishment has been a subject of fascination, concern and occasional despair to generation of Presidents, legislators, military leaders, and informed citizens. Hitch provides historical perspective on these tasks of decision-making for national security, and he explains clearly and succinctly the contemporary problems of fitting together strategic alternatives, weapons technology, and economic resources to achieve a rational pattern of defense management. The modern tools for this task are new techniques of planning, programming, and budgeting, and, for evaluating complex situations, the methods of systems analysis, all of which are discussed in detail. Hitch was involved both in the origination of these management techniques while at the RAND Corporation and in the tremendous task of putting them to consistent, far reaching, and practical use in the Department of Defense. President Johnson termed Hitch "a principal architect of America's modern defense establishment . . . It is largely as a result of [his] efforts that this country now possesses the most balanced, flexible, combat-ready defense force in history and management system to maintain our superior military posture and use it with precision." This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press's mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1965.Idaho Falls: The Untold Story of America's First Nuclear Accident
Par William McKeown. 2003
The little-known true story of a mysterious nuclear reactor disaster—years before Three Mile Island, Chernobyl, or Fukushima. Before the…
Three Mile Island incident or the Chernobyl disaster, the world&’s first nuclear reactor meltdown to claim lives happened on US soil. Chronicled here for the first time is the strange tale of SL-1, an experimental military reactor located in Idaho&’s Lost River Desert that exploded on the night of January 3, 1961, killing the three crewmembers on duty. Through exclusive interviews with the victims&’ families and friends, firsthand accounts from rescue workers and nuclear industry insiders, and extensive research into official documents, journalist William McKeown probes the many questions surrounding this devastating blast that have gone unanswered for decades. From reports of faulty design and mismanagement to incompetent personnel and even rumors of sabotage after a failed love affair, these plausible explanations raise startling new questions about whether the truth was deliberately suppressed to protect the nuclear energy industry.The Fighting Commodores: Convoy Commanders in the Second World War
Par Alan Burn. 1999
As Britain came terrifyingly close to running out of supplies during the Second World War, a group of retired senior…
naval officers returned to the sea in the role of convoy commanders, and thereby turned the tide.The Eastern Front Air War, 1941–1945: Rare Photographs From Wartime Archives (Images of War)
Par Anthony Tucker-Jones. 2016
This lavishly illustrated WWII history examines the bitter aerial combat of the Eastern Front through rare wartime photographs and informative…
text. Though the air war was a major aspect of the Eastern Front conflict, it has long been neglected by historians. Anthony Tucker-Jones&’s photographic history offers a vividly detailed introduction to the subject. With more than 150 archival images—most of which have never been published before—this volume examines Stalin&’s Red Air Force and Hitlers Luftwaffe, their equipment, and the role they played in supporting the war on the ground. Just before Hitler&’s invasion of the Soviet Union, Stalin had decimated the leadership of the Red Air Force in a series of purges. Thousands of Russian fighter aircraft were swiftly destroyed in the German Blitzkrieg. But a remarkable recovery followed as the Red Air Force turned the tide against the ravages of the Luftwaffe to wrestle back air superiority by 1944.Hunters Over Arabia: Hawker Hunter Operations in the Middle East
Par Ray Deacon. 2019
&“Provides an incredible insight into not only the majestic and beautifully lined Hunter, but also to RAF operations in insurgent…
wars.&” —Flight Line Book Review Based on official records held at the National Archives and other published sources, Hunters over Arabia presents an in-depth account of the operations performed by the Hawker Hunter squadrons policing the desert wastelands and high mountain ranges of the Middle East. Copiously illustrated with color and black and white photographs, a high percentage of operations performed by this versatile British ground attack and reconnaissance fighter are described in detail. Using a chronological format, the narrative focuses on the period during which the Hunter served in the Middle East, from 1960 to 1971. Further chapters are dedicated to the three Hunter variants most closely associated with the Middle East, the FGA.9, FR.10 and T.7, together with their respective allocation dates. A short background to Aden, its historical links to Britain, and RAF airfields administered by Middle East Command complete this factual account. &“Will be referenced for years to come as the authoritative source of operations across the troubled Middle East at the end of British influence.&” —Aircrew Book Review &“Fantastic color and black and white images and beautifully written with great use of National Archive documentation. This book will thrill and inform all enthusiasts of the Hawker Hunter.&” —Vintage AirfixBravo Company: An Afghanistan Deployment and Its Aftermath
Par Ben Kesling. 2022
A timely, powerful, and sweeping portrait of a company of men who went to war in Afghanistan, their troubled deployment,…
and their lives since returning home “An honest account of bravery, sacrifice, and what it means to seek redemption. As a veteran of combat himself, Ben Kesling is able to intimately and honestly document war and its aftermath in ways others haven’t.” —Jake Tapper, CNN anchor In Bravo Company, journalist and veteran Ben Kesling tells the story of the war in Afghanistan through the eyes of the men of one unit, part of a combat-hardened parachute infantry regiment in the 82nd Airborne Division. A decade ago, the soldiers of Bravo Company deployed to Afghanistan for a tour in Kandahar’s notorious Arghandab Valley. By the time they made it home, three soldiers had been killed in action, a dozen more had lost limbs, and nearly half of the company had Purple Hearts. In the decade since, two of the soldiers have died by suicide, more than a dozen have tried, and others admit they’ve considered it. Declared an “extraordinary risk” by the Department of Veterans Affairs, the members of Bravo Company were chosen as test subjects for a new approach to the veteran crisis, focusing less on individuals and more on the group. Bravo Company has an insider’s eye and ear, and draws on extensive interviews and original reporting. It follows the men from their initial enlistment and training, through their deployment and a major shift in their mission, and then on to what has happened in the decade since as they returned to combat in other units or moved on with their lives as civilians, or struggled to do so. This is a powerful, insightful, and memorable account of a war that didn’t end for these soldiers just because they came home.Men of The Battle of Britain: A Biographical Dictionary of the Few
Par Kenneth G. Wynn. 2015
Since it was first published in 1989, Men of the Battle of Britain has become a standard reference book for…
academics and researchers interested in the Battle of Britain. Copies are also owned by many with purely an armchair interest in the events of 1940.The book records the service details of the airmen who took part in the Battle of Britain in considerable detail. Where known, postings and their dates are included, as well as promotions, decorations and successes claimed flying against the enemy. There is also much personal detail, often including dates and places of birth, civilian occupations, dates of death and place of burial or, for those with no known grave, place of commemoration. There are many wartime head-and-shoulders photographs. Inevitably the high achievers who survived tend to have the longest entries, but those who were killed very quickly, sometimes even on their first sortie, are given equal status.The 2015 third edition will include new names and corrected spellings, as well as many new photographs. Plenty of the entries have been extended with freshly acquired information. The stated nationalities of some of the airmen have been re-examined and, for example, one man always considered to be Australian is now known to have been Irish.Three German Invasions of France: The Summers Campaigns of 1830, 1914, 1940
Par Douglas Fermer. 2013
Tension and rivalry between France and Germany shaped the history of Western Europe in the century from 1860. Three times…
that hostility led to war and the invasion of France - in 1870, 1914 and 1940. The outcomes of the battles that followed reset the balance of power across the continent. Yet the German invasions tend to be viewed as separate events, in isolation, rather than as connected episodes in the confrontation between the two nations. Douglas Fermer's fresh account of the military campaigns and the preparations for them treats them as part of a cycle of fear, suspicion, animosity and conflicting ambitions extending across several generations. In a clear, concise account of the decisive opening phase of each campaign, he describes the critical decision-making, the manoeuvres and clashes of arms in eastern France as German forces advanced westwards. As the 100th anniversary of the start of the Great War approaches, this is a fitting moment to reconsider these momentous events and how they fit into the broad sweep of European history.Disasters Underground
Par N. J. McCamley. 2004
The rapid expansion of the RAF during the mid/late 1930s necessitated a massive storage requirement for high explosive bombs and…
other ordinance. Drawing on the experience of the Great War ammunition factories, the authorities set about identifying underground sites around Britain safe from the threat of air attack. Unfortunately in the haste of the moment safety arrangements were not a high priority and, as a result, there were a number of appalling accidents; the most serious occurred in November 1944 when 3,800 tons of HE bombs detonated at the same time resulting in the deaths of 68 people in a Staffordshire quarry.Frank McClean: Godfather to British Naval Aviation
Par Philip Jarrett. 2011
During aviations pioneering years Francis Kennedy McClean used his vast inherited wealth to help the now famous Short Brothers company…
become established as one of Britains greatest aircraft manufacturers and, in doing so, he helped the Royal Navys first pilots into the air. In effect, he was Godfather to British naval aviation.But McClean did much more than even that. He was himself a balloonist and pioneer aviator, flying with Wilbur Wright in France in December 1908. He provided the Royal Aero Club with one of the first flying grounds in the UK; personally purchased no fewer than sixteen aeroplanes from Short Brothers before the First World War, and also acted as the companys unpaid test pilot. Convinced that aviation was destined to play a vital role in the nations defence, he made his own aeroplanes freely available for training and ensured that the Navy had a suitable site from which to fly, founding Englands first naval flying school, at Eastchurch in Kent. His flight up the Thames to Westminster on 10 August 1912, during which he flew between the upper and lower spans of Tower Bridge and passed beneath the other bridges, caught the public imagination, but despite all these achievements he remained unassuming, modest and reticent. This is a fascinating and informative account of McCleans great influence on early aviation, and his achievements and significant contribution to naval aviation are revealed here for the first time.Pocket Battleships of the Deutschland Class: Warships of the Kriegsmarine (Warships Of The Kriegsmarine Ser.)
Par Gerhard Koop, Klaus-Peter Schmolke. 1990
A concise, authoritative, heavily illustrated summary of this class of German WWII-era warships, covering their design histories and careers. …
The Deutschland class included three ships of a design so revolutionary that it defied conventional categories. Deutschland (later renamed Lützow), Admiral Scheer, and Admiral Graf Spee were simply termed Panzerschiffe (armored ships) by the Germans, but they were known to their opponents by the far more evocative term Pocket Battleships. Part of a six-volume series on the German Navy&’s WWII-era warships written by Gerhard Koop and illustrated by Klaus-Peter Schmolke, this book contains an account of the development of the Deutschland class, a detailed description of the ships with full technical details, and an outline of their service, heavily illustrated with plans, battle maps, and a substantial collection of photographs.Coal Miners (Images of the Past)
Par Brian Elliott. 2015
There have been many books published about the coal mining industry of Britain but relatively few about the miners themselves.…
This book is unique in that it concentrates on the miner, his family and his work through a careful selection of illustrations. Although most of the images are photographic, and therefore relate to the latter part of the nineteenth to the closing years of twentieth century, use is also made of much earlier sources, from woodcuts and engravings to illustrations in contemporary journals and magazines. A good deal of the material has come from the author's own collection, accumulated over many years of research; and also from archive sources. The selection is wide ranging, covering the traditional coal mining regions of Britain, from Scotland and northern England, through the midland coalfields and to Wales, as well as images from smaller coalfields such as Cumbria and Somerset. Today, coal mining is a virtually a lost industry and the men, women and children involved in what was once Britain's most important economic but most dangerous activity deserve both recognition and celebration.Torpedo: The Complete History of the World's Most Revolutionary Naval Weapon
Par Roger Branfill-Cook. 2014
An encyclopedic study of the ship-killer par excellence—from its development to post-World War II usage. &“A well-written book, lavishly illustrated.&”…
—International Journal of Maritime History The torpedo was the greatest single game-changer in the history of naval warfare. For the first time it allowed a small, cheap torpedo-firing vessel—and by extension a small, minor navy—to threaten the largest and most powerful warships afloat.The traditional concept of seapower, based on huge fleets of expensive capital ships, required radical rethinking because of this important naval weapon. This book is a broad-ranging international history of the weapon, tracing not only its origins and technical progress down to the present day, but also its massive impact on all subsequent naval wars. Torpedo contains much new technical information that has come to light over the past thirty years and covers all of the improved capabilities of the weapon. Heavily illustrated with photos and technical drawings this is a book no enthusiast or historian can afford to miss.&“The torpedo—one of the most fearsome weapons ever created by man—is well worth its own history.&” —Forum NavaleMan-of-War Life: A Boy's Experience In The United States Navy (Seafarers' Voices)
Par Charles Nordhoff. 1845
Like many a restless teenager before him, Charles Nordhoff craved excitement and in 1844, when barely 14, he managed to…
talk his way into the US Navy. A bookish lad who had been apprenticed to a printer, Nordhoff was better educated than most of his fellow seamen, and was well equipped to describe what became a three-year round-the-world adventure. He was lucky in his ship, USS Columbus, a large 74-gun ship of the line that had been chosen to undertake a diplomatic mission to China, and then to Japan, in an abortive attempt to open the latter to American trade. In the course of this voyage, Nordhoff was to see many countries of south-east Asia and the Far East, before crossing the Pacific, visiting South America, rounding Cape Horn, and finally returning to Norfolk, Virginia, having crossed the Equator six times. Apart from its descriptions of exotic climes, much of the interest in the book lies in a boys view of naval life and how the ship was run. The US Navy was small and followed very conservative principles, with an emphasis on discipline, routine and training that would have been familiar a century earlier. However, it was also subtly different: more humane in its treatment of the crew, less draconian in punishment, and a promoter of what would be considered Victorian moral values. The book offers a valuable and entertaining account of life in the last days of the sailing warship.Germany's High Sea Fleet in the World War
Par Reinhard Scheer. 2014
Anglo-German naval rivalry before 1914 had been expected to culminate in a cataclysmic fleet action in the North Sea once…
war was declared, a battle upon which the outcome of the war would depend: yet the two fleets met only once, at Jutland in 1916, and the battle was far from conclusive. In his own account of the war in the North Sea, first published in 1920, Admiral Scheer, the German commander at Jutland, gives his own explanation for the failure of either fleet to achieve the decisive victory expected of it, particularly the failure of his own operation plans that resulted in the battle of Jutland. This book is an invaluable account of one of the most important theatres of the First World War, written by one of its most senior commanders.In the Words of Napoleon: The Emperor Day by Day (The Napoleonic Library)
Par Philip Haythornethwaite. 2002
A powerful portrait of a complex individual. It uses Napoleons own words to show his genius, arrogance, insecurities, and frustrations.…
The reader will be amazed by Napoleons attention to detail, from those of pressing national interests to the mundane (such as the problem of heartbroken soldiers in his guard.) . . . This makes it an invaluable reference book that should be on the bookshelf of anyone interested in the period. Rob Burnham, Editor, Napoleon SeriesIn the words of Napoleon is a startling insight into the life and deeds of Napoleon I. Derived from Napoleons extensive correspondence and his other writings and recorded speech, this valuable compilation acts as a diary or journal, encompassing the whole of the emperors life. Napoleons words as recorded on a particular day are set down as entries, and these offer a unique glimpse into the major events of the Napoleonic period.The diary reveals Napoleons thoughts and actions as his great life unfolded and throws light on his attitudes to war, politics and the many varied personalities who surrounded or opposed him. As entries appear on an almost daily basis, the reader has the opportunity to trace the surging course of events as they happened, and to witness the emperors response to the rise and fall of his fortunes.Philip Haythornthwaite provides a fascinating introduction which analyses Napoleons words, and includes biographical sketches of the key personalities of the era.