BRITISH & GERMAN
BATTLECRUISERS:
THEIR DEVELOPMENT AND OPERATIONS
by Michele Cosentino & Ruggero
Stanglino
The fast and formidably armed
battlecruisers of Great Britain and Germany developed before
and during the First World War are compared and contrasted
in detail that has never been attempted before. Chapters are
devoted to their development, design and construction,
protection, propulsion plants, weapons, fire control, and
communication systems, focussing particularly on their
strengths and weaknesses. The ships eventually clashed in
the North Sea at Dogger Bank, in January 1915, and a year
later at Jutland when three British ships were destroyed.
New in d/w - Large format, 276pp,
250 photos & 3-view drawings
On 1st August, 1944, Polish
insurgents of the Home Army rose against the Germans. The
resulting two-month battle left the city in ruins and led to
bitter controversies over the Allies failure to rescue the
city. This account of the uprising is highlighted by
reminiscences from Polish and German participants, but the
bulk relates to the political background and in the
aftermath with diplomatic wrangling between the exiled
Polish government in London, the Western Allies and Stalin.
It denounces Stalin for deliberately allowing the
non-Communist Home Army to be crushed, the Western Allies
for acquiescing, and British intellectuals for toeing the
Communist line.
Commodus
is synonymous with debauchery and megalomania, best
remembered for fighting as a gladiator. Ridiculed and
maligned by historians, much of his infamy is clearly based
on fact, but is this the real story? This book sets his
twelve-year reign in its historical context, showing that
the 'kingdom of gold' he supposedly inherited was actually
an empire devastated by plague and war. Openly autocratic,
Commodus compromised the privileges and vested interests of
the senatorial clique, who therefore plotted to murder him.
Surviving repeated conspiracies only convinced Commodus that
he was under divine protection.
Fine in d/w.
Slight binding imperfection - 293pp, 3 maps, 37 b/w
illustrations
ATOMIC: THE
FIRST WAR OF PHYSICS AND
THE SECRET HISTORY OF THE ATOM BOMB - 1939-49
by Jim Baggott
A popular account of the race to
build humankind's most destructive weapon. The book draws on
declassified material, such as MI6's FarmHall transcripts,
coded Soviet messages cracked by American cryptographers in
the Venona project, and interpretations by Russian scholars
of documents from the Soviet archives. This is an epic story
of science and technology at the very limits of human
understanding - a tale barely believable as fiction, which
just happens to be historical fact.
The
Fairey Fulmar emerged in 1938 as an adaption to
Specification O.8/38 for a two-seat Naval fighter, from the
PA/34 day bomber - essentially a navalised Battle.
Differences included a small reduction in wing span, folding
wings, and deck-arrester gear and catapult points, and
modified cockpit canopy. It was powered by a 1,275 hp Merlin
VIII, and rmament comprised eight Browning 0.303-in guns in
the wings and provision for a similar Vickers K gun in the
rear cockpit
.
New in card cover
- A4 format, 48pp, numerous b/w photos & colour plates,
foldout 1:72 scale plans
