Engelska

Volume VI of the series covers the unit emblems and tactical aircraft markings of the forty-eight USAAF combat groups and eight squadrons that served in the China-Burma-India Theater and Western Pacific Area of Operations during WWII. Additional units covered include the Chinese-American Composite Wing and special AAF Air Task Forces that also served in the CBI. The three main Army Air Forces contained within this work are represented by over 1,200 images, including 272 unit insignia, both approved and unofficial designs, including any known variants. Both group and squadron tactical aircraft markings are presented using 203 full color illustrations, including 143 wartime era photographs accompanied by historical and descriptive background text. A quick referral visual index for AAF fighter and bomb group/squadron tactical aircraft markings, group/squadron overseas station assignment maps, AAF/CBI order of battle charts, and the historical evolution of these US aircraft markings round out this fine reference work.

The 7th Waffen SS Mountain Division was raised for war in the rugged terrain of Yugoslavia. The unit included a huge number of Volksdeutsche, ethnic Germans recruited from outside the Reich. After numerous anti-guerrilla operations in Bosnia, Croatia, Montenegro, and Serbia, towards the end of the war it was employed against units of the Bulgarian Army and Red Army forces in the difficult mission of covering the withdrawal of German forces retreating from Greece and Albania. It was one of the few Waffen-SS formations to be used in offensive actions during the final phases of the war. Prinz Eugen fought a brutal, ugly war in the Balkans; it was an effective combat force, but also capable of extreme cruelty towards prisoners and civilians. This work is the most extensive illustrated history of the unit to date.

Four generic motives have historically led states to initiate war: fear, interest, standing, and revenge. Using an original data set, Richard Ned Lebow examines the distribution of wars across three and a half centuries and argues that, contrary to conventional wisdom, only a minority of these were motivated by security or material interest. Instead, the majority are the result of a quest for standing, and for revenge - an attempt to get even with states who had previously made successful territorial grabs. Lebow maintains that today none of these motives are effectively served by war - it is increasingly counterproductive - and that there is growing recognition of this political reality. His analysis allows for more fine-grained and persuasive forecasts about the future of war as well as highlighting areas of uncertainty.

In 1944 the Maus giant battle tank, weighing almost 190 tons, was supposed to help turn the Wehrmacht's fortunes of war on the Eastern Front. Just two prototypes of this monster were delivered, for its undeniable advantages-tremendous firepower and virtually impenetrable armor-were outweighed by the disadvantages of its slowness, excessive use of materials in construction, and fuel consumption so high that it was, by that time, far beyond the Germans' ability to supply. With this volume, Michael Fröhlich continues the legendary Spielberger series and delves into one of the most curious military vehicles produced by Germany-the Maus super-heavy tank. For the first time, this book tells the complete story of this vehicle, including its inner workings, accompanied by many previously unpublished illustrations. But that is not all: the book includes another novelty, the complete operating instructions for the tank's crew!

Contains 124 extraordinary color profiles, portraying examples of nearly all types of single-seated fighter aircraft used by the Luftwaffe in World War II. All of the detailed profiles represent aircraft flown by German aces, some of the most famous and successful as well as those of lesser known. Also contains over 100 color illustrations of Luftwaffe unit markings, uniform insignia, camouflage colors, unit code styles, kill markings, and related features.

Created from elements of I./JG 77 and IV./JG 1 in January 1942, Jagdgeschwader 5 "Eismeer" is one of the lesser-known German fighter units of the Second World War. It nevertheless had an impressive operational history, as this book shows. The unit's successes were equally great. The Geschwader's ranks included a number of outstanding fighter pilots who marked JG 5 and accounted for a large percentage of its victories: names like Bartels, Brunner, Carganico, Döbrich, Dörr, Ehrler, Linz, Mors, Müller, Norz, Schuck and Weißenberger will always be associated with JG 5. Produced on the initiative of the Eismeerjäger Veterans Association, this account of operations by JG 5 is intended to further round out the history of the German fighter arm and provide the reader with a picture of the fighting in the far north.

Developed as the answer to the American B-1, the Tupolev Tu-160 was the Soviet Union's most potent strategic bomber. Several project versions were rejected, and a highly controversial contest involving some of the Soviet Union's top-class aircraft design companies took place before the Tu-160 variable-geometry bomber reached the hardware stage. Its design made use of many advanced features not used previously on Soviet bombers. While being a nuclear deterrent for most of its career, the Tu-160 has recently seen actual combat in the war on terrorism. The Tu-160 story is not over yet, since Russia is now resuming production of the type to bolster its strategic potential. The book gives the type's complete development, test and service history of the Tu-160, including such intriguing episodes as the type's overseas deployment to Venezuela, and the flight of a Tu-160 with Russian President Vladimir Putin aboard. It is richly illustrated with color photos and original factory drawings. A comparison is made of the Tu-160 and its American counterpart, the B-1.