Since 1945, British and Commonwealth troops have been involved in fifteen major campaigns and conflicts, not a single year having passed in peace. The chapters (Java, Palestine, Malaya, Korea, Kenya, Cyprus, Canal Zone & Suez, Muscat and Oman, Brunei and Borneo, South Arabia/Aden, Northern Ireland, Dhofar, Falklands, Gulf, Bosnia & Kosovo) are all by an acknowledged expert and/or participant.

Based on gripping first-hand testimony from the archives of the Imperial War Museum, this book reveals what it was really like to serve in the Royal Navy during the First World War. It was a period of huge change – for the first time the British navy went into battle with untried weapon systems, dreadnoughts, submarines, aircraft and airships. Julian Thompson blends insightful narrative with never-before-published stories to show what these men faced and overcame. Officers and men, from admirals down to the youngest sailors faced the same dangers, at sea in often terrible weather conditions, with the ever-present prospect of being blown to pieces, or choking to death trapped in a compartment or turret as they plunged to the bottom of the sea. In their own words they share their experiences, from from long patrols and pitched battles in the cold, rough water of the North Sea to the perils of warfare in the Dardanelles; from the cat-and-mouse search for Vice-Admiral Graf von Spee in the Pacific to the dangerous raids on Ostend and Zeebrugge. We see what it was like to spend weeks in the cramped, smelly submarines of the period, or to attack U-boats from unreliable airships.

An unrivalled and readable introduction to the years of Trench Warfare' TESThe First World War was won and lost on the Western Front. Covering the whole war, from the guns of August 1914 to the sudden silence of the November 1918 Armistice, the IWM Book of the Western Front reveals what life was really like for the men and women involved. With first-hand accounts of off-duty entertainments, trench fatalism, and going over the top, this is an extremely important contribution to the continuing debate on the First World War. Malcolm Brown has updated this edition, introducing new evidence on sex and homosexuality, executions, the treatment or mistreatment of prisoners and shell shock.'A blockbuster . . . as near as anyone is likely to get to the authentic life of the trenches' Yorkshire Post

A moving and evocative recreation of 1914 - the beginning of the First World War and the year when the world changed for ever

World War I has long been acknowledged as one of the great traumas of modern history. In this conflict the Western Front - for the British, the French, the Americans and the principal enemy, the Germans - was the central stage ... This book includes material from the enormous archives of the Imperial War Museum, from first-hand contemporary accounts and letters. All aspects are dealt with: the great battles such as the Somme, Passchendaele, Ludendorf's final offensive, and the experiences of subalterns, privates, gunners, nurses, Australians, war artists and officers.--Publisher's description.

An account of the various units of the British special forces used during the Second World War, perfect for military enthusiasts and WWII history buffs. War Behind Enemy Lines tells the unvarnished story of British Special Forces in the Second World War. While the SAS and SBS remain household names today, there were a plethora of lesser known units, large and small, that played their part before departing the scene. Of special note was the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) formed in North Africa who imparted their skills to David Stirling’s SAS in the early days. The Special Boat Sections and Squadron and other Royal Marine units inflicted great damage. Popski’s Private Army used heavily armed jeeps effectively in Italy while the Jedburghs parachuted in to assist the French Resistance. In Burma, the Chindits, under the controversial Orde Wingate, conducted deep penetration patrols against the Japanese, suffering heavy casualties from enemy action and disease. Drawing on personal accounts as well as official records, Julian Thompson paints a vivid picture of the operations and contribution of these and other units. He also analyses, using his own experience, the reasons for the resulting successes and failures.There is unlikely to be a more comprehensive and authoritative account of the “Golden Age of British Special Forces.”

A moving and evocative recreation of 1914, the beginning of the First World War and the year the world changed forever. Uses diaries and letters from the Imperial War Museum.