As armoured warfare tactics matured, mechanised infantry became a key ingredient in what is now called 'combined arms' doctrine. For the US Army of World War 2, the most important technical aspect of infantry mechanisation was the development of the M3 half-track personnel carrier. Steven Zaloga guides the reader through the early 1930s development of the half-track, its first deployment in action in the Philippines in 1941 and its varied and vital role in international deployments since World War 2. This authoritative text also examines the operators of half-tracks and the troops that they carried.

United States manufacturers produced more than 40,000 halftracks from 1933 until 1944. These mostly-armored vehicles moved artillery and infantry on rough terrain, snow and sand during World War II and Korea. Based on an adaptation of the White Scout Car, the US half-track vehicles of WII combined the cross-country ability of a fully-tracked vehicle with the road performance of a medium truck. Variations of these vehicles included prime movers, armored personnel carriers, mortar carriers and a wide range of heavily armed variants. Vehicles produced by Autocar, Diamond T and White were used by U.S. forces, while similar International Harvester-built vehicles were supplied to our Allies through Lend-Lease. Both the Army and Marines took them into battle. They left their mark in Africa, Europe, Pacific islands and Korea. When the U.S. entered Vietnam, French halftracks were already in country. Before retirement, the Israeli Army listed about 600 halftracks in March 2008. Argentina donated its final 24 M9s to Bolivia in 2006.

On October 6, 1973, Israel's Northern Command was surprised by the thunder of cannon fire and the sight of dense, black smoke. A Syrian force of 1,400 tanks supported by artillery and air power had attacked from the north while the Egyptian military invaded the Sinai Peninsula in the south. Although Israel ultimately prevailed, the Yom Kippur War (or Ramadan War, as it is known in Arab countries) shattered the illusion of Israeli invincibility. Inside Israel's Command offers a definitive history of the northern theater of this key conflict. Led by Israel's foremost scholar of the war, Dani Asher, the contributors--Major General Yitzhak Hofi, Major General Uri Simchoni, Brigadier General Avraham Bar David, and Colonel Hagai Mann--all held key positions during the fighting. Together, they offer fresh insight into the pivotal battles that changed the course of the war as well as the disastrous effects of a flawed postwar evaluation that adversely affected the careers of several high-ranking intelligence officials and the course of defense strategic planning thereafter. Featuring rare lists of the official citations of soldiers who were decorated for their performance in combat, this seminal study contributes significantly to our understanding a troubled region. -- Back cover.

On May 14, 1948 the State of Israel was declared, announced by David Ben-Gurion at a small gathering that assembled in the main hall of the Tel Aviv Art Museum. Within a time frame of only nineteen years, culminating in the Six-Day War, Israel fought three separate wars. But within its first four years, thanks to mass immigration, its population doubled. Furthermore, Israel had been confronted with acute economic difficulties, intra Jewish ethnic tensions, a problematic Arab minority and a secular-religious divide. Apart from defence issues, Israel faced a generally hostile or, at best, indifferent international community rendering it hard pressed in securing great power patronage or even official sympathy and understanding. Based on a wide range of sources, both in Hebrew and English, this book contains a judicious synthesis of the received literature to yield the general reader and student alike a reliable, balanced, and novel account of Israel?s fateful and turbulent infancy.