Pen Sword Military imprint: 1157 books
Facing Fearful Odds
My Father's Story of Captivity, Escape & Resistance 1940-1945
Language: English
Release Date: October 30, 2014
On 22 May 1940 Alec Jay arrived in Calais with his Battalion, the Queen Victoria Rifles. After four days of intense fighting, he was taken prisoner of war along with those of his colleagues who were not killed. The Calais Garrison was not evacuated.
His situation as a POW was exceptionally perilous...
Chiang Kai-shek Versus Mao Tse-tung: The Battle for China 1946–1949
Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives
Language: English
Release Date: April 30, 2018
A vivid portrait of the final years of the civil war between the Chinese Nationalists and Communists, including many previously unpublished photos.
This volume in the Images of War series is the first photographic history of the Chinese Civil War, fought between Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalists...
Commandos and Rangers
D-Day Operations
Language: English
Release Date: July 25, 2012
In the dark days of 1940, Prime Minister Winston Churchill showed his belief in ultimate victory by ordering the raising of the elite Commandos to ‘break the intolerable shackles of defeat.’ Having proved their worth in numerous raids and operations in the Mediterranean they and their American...
Operation Sealion
Hitler's Invasion Plan for Britain
Language: English
Release Date: November 30, 2016
During the Summer of 1940, Hitlers Germany appeared unstoppable. The Nazis were masters of mainland Europe, in alliance with Stalins Russia and only the English Channel prevented an immediate invasion.
Britain stood alone. The BEF had been routed but, due to the Dunkirk miracle, most of her...
A Vatican Lifeline '44
Allied Fugitives Aided By the Italian Resistance Foil the Gestapo in Nazi-Occupied Rome
Language: English
Release Date: May 23, 1995
A memoir of an Allied soldier and former POW in Rome, and the unexpected support he received from the Italian people—and from a heroic Catholic monsignor.
It is a widely held belief that the Italians in the Second World War failed to win much in the way of martial glory. But the scoffers tend...
by Paul Chrystal
Language: English
Release Date: February 28, 2017
Language: English
Release Date: February 28, 2017
A look at how warfare affected—and was affected by—women in ancient times.
Although the conduct of war was generally monopolized by men in the Greco-Roman world, there were plenty of exceptions, with women directly involved in its direction and even as combatants—Artemisia, Olympias, Cleopatra,...
German Machine Guns in the Second World War
Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives
Language: English
Release Date: July 3, 2013
German Machine Guns of the Second World War is a highly illustrated record of the German war machine between 1939 – 1945. Many of the photographs, all from the authors collection, come originally from the albums of individuals who took part in the war.
Arranged by theatre chronologically, the...
by Jack Sheldon
Language: English
Release Date: October 6, 2007
Language: English
Release Date: October 6, 2007
Even after the passage of almost a century, the name Passchendaele has lost none of its power to shock and dismay. Reeling from the huge losses in earlier battles, the German army was in no shape to absorb the impact of the Battle of Messines and the subsequent bitter attritional struggle.
Throughout...
British Special Forces
The Story of Britain's Undercover Soldiers
Language: English
Release Date: January 1, 2006
This is the first comprehensive history of all the British Special Forces, from their beginnings during the Second World War to the Falklands War.
The birth of many of the Special Forces was controversial - they were accused of being 'private armies' and a waste of valuable manpower that could...
by Michael Pearson
Language: English
Release Date: September 3, 2014
Language: English
Release Date: September 3, 2014
This is not a book about the Great War; it is about life during the war. Changes in people's lives: their work, home, food, entertainment and news. I used original research material including newspapers, to paint a picture of life in the Black Country.
Manufacturing was vital; we were well-equipped...
by Stephen Wade
Language: English
Release Date: November 30, 2016
Language: English
Release Date: November 30, 2016
Harrogate and Ripon, just a few miles apart in one of the most beautiful localities in Yorkshire, have rarely had their contributions to the Great War told all together, in one volume. Stephen Wade has written an account of their importance, from the Ripon camps, where thousands of infantrymen for...
by Stephen Wade
Language: English
Release Date: October 31, 2016
Language: English
Release Date: October 31, 2016
In 1914, when the call came for Kitchener's new army to be recruited, Leeds was at the heart of the West Riding conurbation, where many men joined the Pals' Battalions. However, the city was to participate in the war effort in so many other ways. It was a textile town, with a long history of tailoring...
by Derek Tait
Language: English
Release Date: February 28, 2015
Language: English
Release Date: February 28, 2015
Exeter played a vital role during the First World War supplying men for the Army and raising funds to help troops overseas. The Mayoress and her team played a key part collecting money to aid homeless Belgian refugees in the city while also supporting other worthy causes both home and overseas. Soldiers...
by Derek Tait
Language: English
Release Date: October 30, 2017
Language: English
Release Date: October 30, 2017
When war was declared on 1 September 1939, the people of Devon pulled together in a way that they hadn't done since the Great War of 1914-18. This book covers the people of Devon's contribution to the war effort, from the commencement of the conflict in September 1939, to its end in September 1945....