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Books : History : Military : Weapons & Warfare : Conventional : General
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From an award-winning 60 Minutes reporter comes the extraordinary story of the largest and most successful CIA operation in history-the arming of the Mujahideen in Afghanistan. After the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan in 1979, pressure mounted for the Americans to support the Afghan resistance. Charlie Wilson, a maverick congressman from East Texas who sat on the powerful House Defense Appropriations Committee, persuaded his colleagues to allocate $10 million to fund the CIA's effort to arm the Mujahideen. Charlie Wilson's War tells the story of what became the largest covert operation in history; funding eventually grew to over $1 billion a year. The book includes an incredible cast of characters: Charlie, the charismatic, hard-partying congressman who raised eyebrows when traveling to Pakistan with unusual companions -- one his personal belly dancer, another an ex-beauty queen -- but was passionate about supporting the Afghans and brilliant at getting deals done. Gust Avrakotos, a working-class Greek among Ivy Leaguers at the CIA who set up the team that ran the largest operation in the history of the CIA. President Zia of Pakistan, who became great friends with Charlie and used his leverage to get huge aid dollars as well as keep the West looking away as he built the first Muslim bomb. Moving from the back rooms of the Capitol, to secret chambers at Langley, to arms-dealers conventions, to the Khyber Pass, Charlie Wilson's War is brilliantly reported -- one of the most detailed and compulsively readable accounts of the inside workings of the CIA ever written, with a cast of characters and a plot out of Le Carre or Clancy. This book is a remarkable account of the last battle of the Cold War, a battle that helped weaken the Soviet Union and led to its collapse and, of course, paved the way to the rise of the Taliban, with consequences that we are dealing with today.
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* Hundreds of photos, including many never published before* Riveting accounts of armored warfare in World War II
* Compares the Sherman to other tanks, including the Panther and Tiger
* Author is a world-renowned expert on the Sherman tank and American armor
Some tank crews referred to the American M4 Sherman tank as a "death trap." Others, like Gen. George Patton, believed that the Sherman helped win World War II. So which was it: death trap or war winner? Armor expert Steven Zaloga answers that question by recounting the Sherman's combat history. Focusing on Northwest Europe (but also including a chapter on the Pacific), Zaloga follows the Sherman into action on D-Day, among the Normandy hedgerows, during Patton's race across France, in the great tank battle at Arracourt in September 1944, at the Battle of the Bulge, across the Rhine, and in the Ruhr pocket in 1945.
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In this book Steven J Zaloga offers a fascinating comparison of the combat performance of the two most important tanks involved in the crucial fighting of 1944, the Sherman and the Panther. Examining the design and development of both tanks, Zaloga notes the obvious superiority that the Panther had over the Sherman and how the highly engineered German tank was eventually beaten back, not necessarily by the improvements made to the Sherman, but rather by the superior numbers of tanks that the Allies were able to put into the field.
Putting the reader into the heart of this battle between quality and quantity Zaloga examines the tactical intricacies of the battles between these two rivals. Using a compelling account of the ferocious fighting in the Ardennes region to explain the successes and failures of each tank he also highlights the fact that a tank can only be as good as its crew, weighing up the impact of low morale, high cost and mediocre crew training on the Panthers superiority. Packed with full-colour battlescenes, technical drawings, photographs, digital gunsight views, extracts from crew training manuals and real combat reports, this book brings to life the titanic battles between the Sherman and the Panther.
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The only insider's account ever written on America's most powerful weapon in the war against terrorism
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The Civil War's single-shot, muzzle-loading musket revolutionized warfare - or so we've been told for years. Noted historian Earl J. Hess forcefully challenges that claim, offering a new, clear-eyed, and convincing assessment of the rifle musket's actual performance on the battlefield and its impact on the course of the Civil War.Many contemporaries were impressed with the new weapon's increased range of 500 yards, compared to the smoothbore musket's range of 100 yards, and assumed that the rifle was a major factor in prolonging the Civil War. Historians have also assumed that the weapon dramatically increased casualty rates, made decisive victories rare, and relegated cavalry and artillery to far lesser roles than they played in smoothbore battles.Hess presents a completely new assessment of the rifle musket, contending that its impact was much more limited than previously supposed and was confined primarily to marginal operations such as skirmishing and sniping. He argues further that its potential to alter battle line operations was virtually nullified by inadequate training, soldiers' preference for short-range firing, and the difficulty of seeing the enemy at a distance. He notes that bullets fired from the new musket followed a parabolic trajectory unlike those fired from smoothbores; at mid-range, those rifle balls flew well above the enemy, creating two killing zones between which troops could operate untouched. He also presents the most complete discussion to date of the development of skirmishing and sniping in the Civil War.Drawing upon the observations and reflections of the soldiers themselves, Hess offers the most compelling argument yet made regarding the actual use of the rifle musket and its influence on Civil War combat. Engagingly written and meticulously researched, his book will be of special interest to Civil War scholars, buffs, re-enactors, and gun enthusiasts alike.
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Showcasing more than 300 guns, from rifles and pistols to machine guns and grenade launcher, this 800-year visual history is the perfect gift book for anyone interested in firearms.
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Praise for Merchant of Death"A riveting investigation of the world's most notorious arms dealer--a page-turner that digs deep into the amazing, murky story of Viktor Bout. Farah and Braun have exposed the inner workings of one of the world's most secretive businesses--the international arms trade."
—Peter L. Bergen, author of The Osama bin Laden I Know"Viktor Bout is like Osama bin Laden: a major target of U.S. intelligence officials who time and again gets away. Farah and Braun have skillfully documented how this notorious arms dealer has stoked violence around the world and thwarted international sanctions. Even more appalling, they show how Bout ended up getting millions of dollars in U.S. government money to assist the war in Iraq. A truly impressive piece of investigative reporting."
—Michael Isikoff, coauthor of Hubris: The Inside Story of Spin, Scandal, and the Selling of the Iraq War"Douglas Farah and Stephen Braun are two of the toughest investigative reporters in the country. This is an important book about a hidden world of gunrunning and profiteering in some of the world's poorest countries."
—Steve Coll, author of Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001"In Merchant of Death, two of America's finest reporters have performed a major public service, turning over the right rocks that reveal the brutal international arms business at the dawn of the twenty-first century. In Viktor Bout, they have given us a new Lord of War, a man who knows no side but his own, and who has a knack for turning up in every war zone just in time to turn a profit. As Farah and Braun uncover and document his troubling role in the Bush Administration's Global War on Terror, his ties to Washington almost seem inevitable."
—James Risen, author of State of War: The Secret History of the CIA and the Bush Administration"An extraordinary and timely piece of investigative reporting, Merchant of Death is also a vividly compelling read. The true story of Viktor Bout, a sociopathic Russian gunrunner who has supplied weapons for use in some of the most gruesome conflicts of modern times--and who can count amongst his clients both the former Taliban regime in Afghanistan and the U.S. military in Iraq--is a stomach-churning indictment of the policy failures and moral contradictions of the world's most powerful governments, including that of the United States."
—Jon Lee Anderson, author of The Fall of BaghdadTwo respected journalists tell the incredible story of Viktor Bout, the Russian weapons supplier whose global network has changed the way modern warfare is fought. Bout’s vast enterprise of guns, planes, and money has fueled internecine slaughter in Africa and aided both militant Islamic fanatics in Afghanistan and the American military in Iraq. This book combines spy thrills with crucial insights on the shortcomings of a U.S. foreign policy that fails to confront the lucrative and lethal arms trade that erodes global security.
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In this book expert author and tactician Gordon L Rottman provides the first English-language study of Japanese Army and Navy tank units, their tactics and how they were deployed in action. The Japanese army made extensive use of its tanks in the campaigns in China in the 1930s, and it was in these early successes that the Japanese began to develop their own unique style of tank tactics. As Japanese tanks battled in Singapore, Malaya and Burma this Japanese vision became clearer as light tanks were deployed in the jungles of southeastern Asia, where conventional Western tactics dictated that tanks would be useless.
From the steam-rolling success of the Japanese as they invaded Manchuria until the eventual Japanese defeat, the book provides a battle history of the Japanese tank units as they faced a variety of enemies from the Chinese, to the Russians, to the British and the Americans, providing a fascinating insight into the range of tactics that were deployed against these contrasting enemies - from innovative attack procedures to desperate defensive maneuvers even as their tanks were rapidly outclassed in terms of design and armament.
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Robert A. Forczyk provides a riveting and intense description of the design and development of these two deadly opponents, the Panther and the T-34, analyzing their strengths and weaknesses and describing their tactics, weaponry and training. Moreover he gives an insight into the lives of the tank crews themselves, who were caught up in the largest land conflict of World War II, in some of the most important engagements in the history of warfare.
Innovative digital artwork and first-person perspectives place the reader in the midst of a duel between the titans of the Soviet and German armed forces in a ruthless and relentless death match that would determine the war on the Eastern Front and, indeed, the fate of Nazi Germany.
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Combat mind-set, proper sighting, tactical residential architecture, nuclear war - these are some of the many subjects explored by Jeff Cooper in this illustrated anthology. The author discusses various arms, fighting skills and the importance of knowing how to defend oneself, and one's honor, in our rapidly changing world.
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Understanding Ballistics explains basic to advanced firearm ballistics in understandable terms. Many presumably difficult areas are explained in an easy to follow style. This is the only complete reference book of extensive information. It is authoritative and a standard reference work for advanced studies and required reading for firearm owners. There are 373 pages of little known facts illustrated with drawings and charts. This is a complete guide that is chock full of valuable data with illustrations, tables, tips, glossary, index and detailed factual information. Understanding Ballistics is a must for beginner or expert.
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Only firearms reference to include comprehensive bayonet listings - with photos and prices.This one-volume reference to military firearms of the past 130 years is unmatched in depth of identifying details. More affordable than the closest competition, this general guide delivers descriptions for more than 2,000 antique, vintage, collectible and modern military firearms - providing you with 300+ more listings than the previous edition, all for the same price. Arranged alphabetically by nation, then category, this easy-to-use identification guide includes a separate section for machine guns/submachine guns, and features, for the first time, descriptions and values for bayonets.
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This heavily illustrated manual provides a timely, in-depth review of the art of sniping in war and anti-terrorist environments. Drawing on a vast, firsthand knowledge of sniper skills, former British Army sniper and sniper instructor Mark Spicer describes the role of the sniper in peace and in war, in reconnaissance and counter-surveillance, in cities, in vehicles, at night and by day. He presents crucial information about training and equipment, judgment and positioning, details of great relevance to professional marksmen, both military and law enforcement. This comprehensive manual will also be of interest to hunters, weapons enthusiasts, competition shooters, and paintball participants. Illustrations, diagrams, and related information throughout.
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For 4,000 years weapons, and the warriors who used them, have acted as the cutting edge of history, using ax, spear, bow, sword, gun, and cannon to determine the rise of kingdoms and the fall of empires. From the stone axes of the earliest warfare to the heavy artillery of today's modern armies, this awe-inspiring book portrays for the first time the entire spectrum of weaponry. A spectacular, unprecedented visual reference to the design, function and history of arms and armor from around the world. Combines specially commissioned photography and sophisticated design with authoritative text and exhaustive coverage. Beautifully photographed and richly detailed catalogues display - often at actual size - all the major types of weapon, from spears to machine-guns. Profiles the warriors who have deployed the weapons to devastating effect, from the Roman legionary to the US Navy Seal. Includes features that showcase individual weapons in stunning detail.
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This volume examines the transformation of China's military over the past 15 years while projecting out to the next decade how China may act politically and militarily to defend its interests out into the next decade.
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Sharman Firefly vs Tiger
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Mauser military rifles offer collectors almost unlimited variations, and author Bob Ball continues to find rare and interesting specimens. The second edition of this popular book brings more than 100 new photos of these historic rifles and the wars in which they were carried.Every detail is presented, from the length and weight of the rifle to the manufacturers markings. This book shows collectors precisely how to identify every model from 1871 to 1945 and provides production figures and the relative rarity of each model. Because Mauser rifles were produced under contract in so many different nations, the book is organized alphabetically by country and the year of production.
-Historic photos of the rifles in action.
-Detailed photos of markings and insignia.
-New photos of rare rifles.
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The most comprehensive, authoritative guide to identifying firearms includes:
- Pistols, revolvers, submachine guns, machine guns, bolt-action and automatic rifles, and shotguns
- Technical specifications
- Manufacturers and brand names index
- Firearm safety information
- More than 400 photographs