TRENDING SUNZI-SUN TZU · COMMONER-KNIGHTS · THE FAINTING GENERAL · JULIUS CAESAR · NORMANDY 2025
CLASSICAL MILITARY HISTORY: c.1000-BCE-500 CE
Classical and medieval India produced very few military treaties and tactics and strategy. Unlike in classical Greece and Rome and China, Indian writers were not interested in chronicling the origin, course, and outcome of major wars and campaigns, nor do we have memoirs detailing the strategic processes of major military figures. (Click on image for complete article)
19TH CENTURY HISTORY AND CONFLICT
The US Presidential election of 1852 pitted two former veterans of the Mexican-American War (1846–8), and because the platforms of the Democrat and Whig parties were watered down in an attempt to steal each other’s supporters, the election turned into a bitter contest of personal attacks rather than policy. (Click image for complete article)
CLASSICAL MILITARY HISTORY: c.1000 BCE-500 CE
The most influential military theorist in East Asian history is Sunzi (more commonly Sun Tzu in the Wade-Giles transliteration), author of The Art of War, a title translated as bingfa in Chinese literature. Chinese history records numerous bingshi or “art of war” treatises written by different authors across the ages. (Click image for complete the article)
19TH CENTURY HISTORY AND CONFLICT
In the autumn of 1809, at an important crossroads in the Peninsular War in Spain (1808-14), Napoleon began considering a complete overhaul of his occupation strategy. The change was prompted due to a shortage of funds in Paris to fuel the unexpected conflict, but played into the provincial nature of a growing guerrilla insurgency coalescing along regional lines led by local chieftains such Juan Martín Díez (El Empecinado). (Click image for the complete article)
WORLD WAR ONE AND THE INTERWAR YEARS
World War One was one of the deadliest conflicts in human history. The war, which lasted from 1914 to 1918, resulted in an estimated nine million soldiers killed and 23 million wounded. Additionally, five million civilians died as a result of the fighting, hunger, and disease. Millions more died from genocide, and the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic was also exacerbated by the movement of combatants during the war. (Click image for full article.)
The USS Indianapolis, a Portland-class heavy cruiser, was commissioned into the United States Navy in 1932. It bore witness to pivotal moments of World War II, playing a crucial role as a flagship across various operations within the Pacific Theater. Notable among its engagements were the Aleutian Islands campaign and the formidable Battle of Okinawa. (Click image for full article.)
D-DAY AND THE WAR IN WESTERN EUROPE
The Warsaw Uprising stands as one of the more tragic events of World War II, exemplifying the extraordinary courage and resilience of the Polish Home Army and civilians under brutal German occupation. Not to be confused with the Jewish-only Warsaw Ghetto Uprising of 1943, the Warsaw Uprising was launched on 1 August 1944, this valiant attempt to liberate Warsaw was both a testament to human spirit and a tragic tale of betrayal and loss. (Click image for full article.)
The Battle of Guadalcanal was the earliest major ground battle of the Pacific War, fought between 7 August 1942, and 9 February 1943. It was a pivotal battle that saw the Allies, primarily the United States, take a crucial step towards victory in the Pacific Theater. The battle was the first offensive launched by the U.S. in the Pacific, and it was also the first time that the Japanese Imperial Army had been defeated on land. (Click image for full article.)
The Tet Offensive, launched by communist North Vietnamese forces on 31 January 1968, was a series of attacks meant to weaken the morale of South Vietnam and its allies, ultimately leading to a communist victory. The attacks were meant to take place simultaneously throughout the country, targeting major cities and military installations. (Click image for full article.)
William Wallace evaded the iron grasp of English forces for years; however, the shadow of betrayal followed him as closely as his enemies. On the fateful day of 5 August 1305, it was John de Menteith, a Scottish knight pledged to King Edward, who turned the tide of fate against Wallace. In the darkness of pre-dawn at Robroyston, near Glasgow, Wallace was apprehended and ensnared by English soldiers—a moment of infamy marked by a Celtic cross monument today. (Click image for complete article.)
D-DAY AND THE WAR IN WESTERN EUROPE
World War II was one of the most devastating conflicts in human history, resulting in the loss of millions of lives and ravaging entire nations. The myriad of causes that led up to the war were both complex and multifaceted, originating from various economic, political, and ideological factors that contributed to the global climate of tension, aggression, and mistrust. (Click image for complete article.)
AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY WAR: 1775-1783
The conclusion of the American Revolutionary War on 3 September 1783, resonates profoundly in the annals of global history. The signing of the Treaty of Paris on this date marked the formal cessation of hostilities between Great Britain and the United States, inaugurating a new era for both nations. (Click image for complete article)
EARLY 20TH CENTURY WAR AND CONFLICT
Roosevelt’s involvement with the Russo-Japanese War began with a close following of the battlefield developments. By January, 1905, Roosevelt was seen as a possible peace mediator. In diplomatic negotiations, Roosevelt kept telling his Harvard classmate, Baron Kaneko, that Japan should not make “exorbitant” demands as a price for peace. (Click on the image for the full article.)
HBO’s Band of Brothers, which debuted in 2001, stands as one of the seminal achievements in historical television. As the series approaches its 25th anniversary in 2026, its continued influence on audiences, scholars, and broader cultural discourse surrounding the Second World War remains remarkable. (Click Image for the full article)
The Battle of Peleliu was a pivotal moment in the Pacific Theater of World War II. Codenamed Operation Stalemate II, the battle was fought between the United States and Japan from 15 September to 27 November 1944. The objective was to capture the airfield on the small coral island, which was a part of a larger offensive campaign known as Operation Forager. Click on the image for the full article.
The Battle of Antietam, fought on 17 September 1862, between Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's Army of Northern Virginia and Union Gen. George B. McClellan's Army of the Potomac, remains one of the most significant battles of the American Civil War. It was the first major engagement in the Eastern Theater of the war to take place on Union soil and resulted in the bloodiest single day in American history, with a combined total of 22,726 casualties. Click image for full article
D-DAY AND WAR IN WESTERN EUROPE
Operation Market Garden, one of the most ambitious military plans of World War II, was designed to bring the war on the Western Front to an end by the end of 1944. However, the operation turned out to be a costly failure that resulted in the loss of almost one-third of the British 1st Airborne Division, an American unit, and thousands of other Allied troops. (Click image for complete article.)
The Battle of Chickamauga, fought on 19-20 September 1863, was a turning point in the American Civil War. The Union forces, under Maj. Gen. William Rosecrans, were defeated by the Confederate Army of Tennessee, led by Gen. Braxton Bragg, in what would become one of the bloodiest battles of the war in terms of casualties. Click on the image for the full article.
The Battle of Hürtgen Forest has been regarded as one of the most underreported and least understood battles of World War II. The battle, which lasted from 19 September to 16 December 1944, marked the longest and most grueling battle ever fought by the United States Army on German soil during the war. (Click image for complete article)
WORLD WAR I AND THE INTERWAR YEARS
The Western Front, in the region today called Grand Est, saw the largest number of American soldiers in history fight in the Meuse–Argonne offensive. This epic confrontation was a critical battle in the final year of World War I, lasting from 26 September 1918 to 11 November 1918. This involved the largest contingent of American soldiers in any battle, with 1.2 million soldiers taking part. (Click on the image for the full article.)
The discourse amongst historians has revolved around identifying the turning points of World War II, spanning from 1941-42 to the spring of 1943. Winston Churchill considered the Battle of Kursk in 1943 following Stalingrad as the decisive moment. Richard Overy, on the other hand, believes that the years between 1942 and 1944 had several turning points, and specifically, 1943 and the Battle of Stalingrad. (Click image for complete article.)
The Battle of Mogadishu, also known as the Black Hawk Down incident and in Somali as Maalintii Rangers ('Day of the Rangers'), was a significant conflict during Operation Gothic Serpent. It took place on 3-4 October 1993, in Mogadishu, Somalia, and saw United States forces, under the support of UNOSOM II, engage with the Somali National Alliance (SNA) and local militia from southern Mogadishu. (Click image for complete article)
The First Battle of Ypres was a significant military engagement during World War I that occurred between 19 October and 22 November 1914. This battle was part of the wider First Battle of Flanders that occurred between the German, French, Belgian and British armies. It was fought from Arras in France to Nieuwpoort on the Belgian coast, with the battles at Ypres marking the end of the Race to the Sea. (Click image for complete article)
The Naval Battle of Leyte Gulf was the largest naval battle in World War II and one of the largest in history and a decisive victory for the Allies, and it had far-reaching implications for the course of the War in the Pacific. The battle demonstrated the superiority of Allied naval power and marked the end of Japan's naval dominance. It took place in the waters near the island of Leyte in the Philippines from 23 to 26 October 1944. (Click on image for complete article.)
The Great Depression was a catastrophic economic event that had its origins in the United States in the aftermath of World War I but soon spread to the rest of the world. The roaring twenties, as they came to be known, brought prosperity and considerable wealth to the Americans. However, the good times were not to last, and a series of economic crises led to one of the most severe economic downturns in human history and ultimately to another World War. (Click image for complete article)
The Axis forces had been continuously advancing since the start of the North African campaign in February 1941. The capture of Tobruk by the German-Italian forces in June 1942 resulted in the Axis armies being at the doorstep of the strategically important Suez Canal. However, this advancement stalled in July 1942 at the first Battle of El-Alamein where the British forces successfully blocked the Axis forces. (Click image for complete article)
Known in recent years before his death in 2018 as a 'maverick' politician, the late Arizona senator was a U.S. Navy pilot whose five-and-a-half year struggle as a POW in North Vietnam became legendary. John Sidney McCain III was born on 29 August 1936, in the Panama Canal Zone. Growing up in a military family, he was exposed to the navy life at an early age. (Click image for complete article)
The Crusades were a series of religiously motivated military expeditions that took place between 1095 and 1291. The primary goal of the Crusaders was to reclaim the Holy Land from the Muslim infidels who had taken control of Jerusalem. These expeditions marked one of the most significant moments of the medieval era, and their impact on Western civilization remains evident to this day. (Click image for complete article)
The Russian Civil War of 1917 marked the beginning of a new era in Russian history. The overthrow of the social-democratic Provisional Government in the October Revolution led to a multi-party conflict, with different factions fighting for control over Russia's political future. The conflict gave rise to the formation of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic, which later transformed into the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, spanning most of its territory. (Click image for complete article)
The Battle of Ia Drang during the Vietnam War is a significant military engagement that is notable for being the first major battle between the United States Army and the People's Army of Vietnam. The battle was part of the Pleiku Campaign conducted early in the Vietnam War at the eastern foot of the Chu Pong Massif in the central highlands of Vietnam in 1965. The battle is significant because it set the blueprint for the Vietnam War, with the U.S. forces relying on air mobility, artillery fire, and close air support, while the PAVN neutralized that firepower by quickly engaging American forces at very close range. (Click image for the complete article)
LEYDEKKERS PHOTOGRAPHY
American Cemetery Normandy · Auschwitz Birkenau · The Bedford Boys · Belgium · Berchtesgaden and The Eagle's Nest · Buchenwald · Dieppe, France · Equipment · Finland · Germany · The Great War · Holland · The Holocaust · Hong Kong · Italy · Juno Beach · La Cambe German War Cemetery · Landsberg Prison · Militracks 2023 · Monte Cassino · Museums · Netherlands · Normandy 2023 · Normandy 2024 · Normandy, France · Omaha Beach · Operation Market Garden · Pointe du Hoc · Resistance Museum (Verzetsmuseum Amsterdam) · The Somme · Spottinger Cemetery · Treblinka · Vimy Ridge · War Museum Medemblik · Waterloo · World War II Veterans
FEATURED ARTICLES, SEMINARS & LECTURES
THE EDGE OF HISTORY
Ancient, Classical and Medieval Military History: Popular History
PROF. BRIAN TODD CAREY'S OPEN SEMINARS & ARTICLES
Ancient Military History: c.3100-c.1000 BCE
Classical Military History: c.1000-BCE-500 CE
Medieval Military History: c.500-c.1500
EARLY MODERN ERA
Early Modern and Napoleonic Wars: 1500-1815
AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY PERIODS
Mexican-American War: 1846-1848
Revolutionary War: 1775-1783
War of 1812
All 18th and 19th Century Conflict
U.S. CIVIL WAR & RECONSTRUCTION
U.S. Civil War: 1861-1865
WORLD WAR I & THE INTERWAR YEARS
World War I: 1914-1918
The Gathering Storm: 1919-1939
WORLD WAR II
North Africa and Italy
Battle for the Seas
China-Burma-India Theatre
D-Day and the European Theatre
Eastern Front
Holocaust, Shoah
Pacific Theatre
KOREA
Korean War: 1950-1953
VIETNAM, LAOS & CAMBODIA
Vietnam War Era: 1955-1975
MODERN WAR & CONFLICT
Modern War and Conflict: 1976-Present
SEE ALSO
Aerial and Naval Warfare Throughout History
Book Forum and Reviews
The Home Front
War in Film and Propaganda
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BOOK REVIEWS
Perilous Fight: America's Intrepid War with Britain on the High Seas, 1812-1815
by Stephen Budiansky, author
Posted by Jim Gallen on 26 June 2025 at 11:09pm
Much of the cause of the War of 1812 arose out of maritime disputes: Free Trade and Sailors’ Rights. Perilous Fight is an exhaustive study of America’s War with Britain on the high seas, 1812-1815. The full review · All Book Reviews
NEW TITLES FOR 2025
America and the Mexican War of Independence: Insurgents, Patriots, and Brethren in Arms, 1810-1821
by Benjamin J. Swenson (Author)
Publisher: McFarland. Publication date: October 1, 2025. Softcover, 190 pages. ISBN 1476696802
From the publisher, "In 1810, the Atlantic World was in turmoil. Revolution, pirates, proxy wars and clandestine operations ran rampant. Napoleon had invaded Spain, Louisiana Territory was in crisis, and Americans were preparing to declare war against the British."
The Battle of Manila: Poisoned Victory in the Pacific War
by Nicholas Evan Sarantakes (Author)
Publisher: Oxford University Press. Publication date: 3 February 2025. Hardcover, 528 pages. ISBN-10 0199948852
From the publisher: "In 1945 the United States and Japan fought the largest and most devastating land battle of their war in the Pacific, a month-long struggle for the city of Manila. The only urban fighting in the Pacific theater, the Battle of Manila was the third-bloodiest battle of World War II, behind Leningrad and Berlin."
From Trenton to Yorktown: Turning Points of the Revolutionary War
by John R. Maass (Author)
Publisher: Osprey Publishing. Publication date: 11 February 2025. Hardcover, 272 pages. ISBN-10 1472863755
From the publisher: "For eight grueling years, American and British military forces struggled in a bloody war over colonial independence. This conflict also ensnared Native American warriors and the armies and navies of France, Spain, the Dutch Republic, and several German principalities."
Manfred von Richthofen: His Life and Times in Pictures
by Tim Hillier-Graves (Author)
Publisher: Air World. Publication date: 30 January 2025. Hardcover, 272 pages. ISBN-10 1036100316
From the publisher: "It is more than a hundred years since the First World War fighter ace Manfred von Richthofen was killed in combat on the Western Front. By then, due to a strange twist of fate, his name was becoming as well known in Britain, France and the USA as it was in Germany."
Somewhere Toward Freedom: Sherman's March and the Story of America's Largest Emancipation
by Bennett Parten (Author)
Publisher: Simon & Schuster. Publication date: 21 January 2025. Hardcover, 272 pages. ISBN-10 1668034689
From the publisher: "In the fall of 1864, Gen. William T. Sherman led his army through Atlanta, Georgia, burning buildings of military significance—and ultimately most of the city—along the way. From Atlanta, they marched across the state to the most important city at the time: Savannah."
First Blood in Normandy: The Combat History of the 17th SS Panzer Grenadier Division Gotz von Berlichingen
by Hans Stober (Author)
Publisher: Pen and Sword Military. Publication date: 30 May 2025. Hardcover, 520 pages. ISBN-10 1399024043
From the publisher: "This is the first book in a series that describes in detail the establishment and combat history of the 17th SS Panzer-Grenadier-Division “Gotz von Berlichingen”. By order of Adolf Hitler, this division was established in October 1943 in France and trained there until its first actions at the beginning of June 1944."
The Skeptic Isle
by Steven Casey (Author)
Publisher: Oxford University Press. Publication date: May 1, 2025. Hardcover, 384 pages. ISBN 9780197781876
From the publisher: "Provides a significant new interpretation of how the British government sold every aspect of the Second World War, from morale to mobilization, rationing to civil defense, the football field to the battlefield. Shows the limits to the wartime consensus, not only inside Westminster and along Fleet Street, but also across the country, as many people questioned the official information they received."
Gettysburg
by Adam I. P. Smith (Author)
Publisher: Oxford University Press. Publication date: August 7, 2025. Hardcover, 332 pages. ISBN 9780199671274
From the publisher: "The Great Battles Series. The story of the world's most important battles -- how they were fought, how they have been commemorated, and the long historical shadows that they have cast."
Life in the Viking Great Army: Raiders, Traders, and Settlers
by Dawn Hadley (Author), Julian Richards (Author)
Publisher: Oxford University Press. Publication date: April 9, 2025. Hardcover, 432 pages. ISBN-10 147286946X
From the publisher: "The Viking Great Army that landed in East Anglia in late 865 had a lasting impact on English society, culture, politics, and economy. The Viking Great Army landed in East Anglia in late 865 and over the following fifteen years it fought numerous battles in all four Anglo-Saxon kingdoms, made and broke peace treaties, and deposed or killed at least three Anglo-Saxon kings, replacing them with its own appointees."
Opening the Gates of Hell: Germany's Invasion of Russia, June-July 1941
by Richard Hargreaves (Author)
Publisher: Osprey Publishing. Publication date: June 3, 2025. Hardcover, 488 pages. ISBN-10 147286946X
From the publisher: "A unique account of the opening weeks of history's largest, most brutal conflict, told through the eyes of those who were there and based on original source material from across Europe. Opening the Gates of Hell is based on over a decade's research in archives and sites across Europe."
Gettysburg: The Tide Turns: An Oral History
by Bruce Chadwick (Author)
Publisher: Pegasus Books. Publication date: May 20, 2025. Hardcover, 272 pages. ISBN-10 1639368256
From the publisher: "The definitive oral history of the battle that turned the tide of the Civil War that combines vivid first-hand accounts with rich historical narrative. In late June of 1863, one month after his victory over Union forces at Chancellorsville, Virginia, General Robert E. Lee, head of the Army of Northern Virginia, invaded the North."
Korea: War Without End
by Richard Dannatt (Author), Robert Lyman (Author)
Publisher: Osprey Publishing. Publication date: May 20, 2025. Hardcover, 352 pages. ISBN-10 1472869753
From the publisher: "Korea: War Without End examines the stand-off between East and West in Korea that ultimately defined the second half of the 20th century. It provides a critical analysis of the lack of preparation by the West for war; the results of the North Korean invasion in June 1950; the counter-stroke by MacArthur in September ..."
Nightmare in the Pacific: The World War II Saga of Artie Shaw and His Navy Band
by Michael Doyle (Author)
Publisher: University of North Texas Press. Publication date: January 15, 2025. Hardcover, 288 pages. ISBN-10 1574419463
From the publisher: "World War II loomed over the twentieth century, transforming every level of American society and international relationships and searing itself onto the psyche of an entire generation, including that of seven American presidents: John F. Kennedy, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Lyndon B. Johnson, Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush. "
Every Weapon I Had: A Vietnam Vet's Long Road to the Medal of Honor
by Paris Davis (Author)
Publisher: St. Martin's Press. Publication date: June 17, 2025. Hardcover, 256 pages. ISBN-10 1250387655
From the publisher: "The story of a Green Beret commander's heroism during the Vietnam War, and the long fight to recognize his bravery. Every Weapon I Had is an inspiring tale of valor and sacrifice, set against the backdrop of major escalations in both the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights movement."
The Raider: A New England Runaway, the Chinese Communists, and the Birth of U.S. Marine Special Forces in World War II
by Stephen R. Platt (Author)
Publisher: Knopf. Publication date: May 13, 2025. Hardcover, 544 pages. ISBN-10 0525658017
From the publisher: "The extraordinary life of forgotten World War II hero Evans Carlson, commander of America’s first special forces, secret confidant of FDR, and one of the most controversial officers in the history of the Marine Corps, who dedicated his life to bridging the cultural divide between the United States and China"
The Traitor of Arnhem: The Untold Story of WWII's Greatest Betrayal and the Moment that Changed History Forever
by Robert Verkaik (Author)
Publisher: Pegasus Books. Publication date: February 4, 2025. Hardcover, 400 pages. ISBN-10 1639368272
From the publisher: "Revealing the hidden role of the Cambridge Spies during this Allied defeat, The Traitor of Arnhem relates for the first time the startling betrayal that changed the course of World War II. The end of World War II is in sight."
The Killing Season: The Autumn of 1914, Ypres, and the Afternoon That Cost Germany a War
by Robert Cowley (Author)
Publisher: Random House. Publication date: February 18, 2025. Hardcover, 704 pages. ISBN-10 1400068525
From the publisher: "The final months of 1914 were the bloodiest interval in a famously bloody war, a killing season. They ended with the First Battle of Ypres, a struggle in West Flanders, Belgium, whose importance has been too long overlooked—until now."
Scorched Earth: A Global History of World War II
by Paul Thomas Chamberlin (Author)
Publisher: Basic Books. Publication date: May 6, 2025. Hardcover, 672 pages. ISBN-10 1541619269
From the publisher: "In Scorched Earth, historian Paul Thomas Chamberlin dispatches the myth of World War II as a good war. Instead, he depicts the conflict as it truly was: a massive battle beset by vicious racial atrocities, fought between rival empires across huge stretches of Asia and Europe."
Shots Heard Round the World: America, Britain, and Europe in the Revolutionary War
by John Ferling (Author)
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing. Publication date: April 1, 2025. Hardcover, 560 pages. ISBN-10 163973015X
From the publisher: "In April 1775, British troops marched to Lexington, where an armed group of Yankees awaited them. Despite an order to disperse, shots rang out. Militiamen were killed. The British continued marching, only to find even greater trouble in Concord and all the way down the road back to Boston."
Paris Undercover: A Wartime Story of Courage, Friendship, and Betrayal
by Matthew Goodman (Author)
Publisher: Ballantine Books. Publication date: February 4, 2025. Hardcover, 448 pages. ISBN-10 0593358929
From the publisher: "Etta Shiber and Kate Bonnefous are the unlikeliest of heroines: two seemingly ordinary women, an American widow and an English divorcée, living quietly together in Paris. Yet during the Nazi occupation, these two friends find themselves unexpectedly plunged into the whirlwind of history."
The Price of Victory: A Naval History of Britain: 1815–1945
by N. A. M. Rodger (Author)
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company. Publication date: May 13, 2025. Hardcover, 976 pages. ISBN 0393292223
From the publisher: "Across two acclaimed volumes, preeminent naval historian N. A. M. Rodger has traced the progress of naval warfare in Britain from the seventh century through to Trafalgar, combining decades of scholarship with original insights and analysis."
The Ride: Paul Revere and the Night That Saved America
by Kostya Kennedy (Author)
Publisher: St. Martin's press. Publication date: March 25, 2025. Hardcover, 304 pages. ISBN-10 125034137X
From the publisher: "On April 18, 1775, a Boston-based silversmith, engraver, and anti-British political operative named Paul Revere set out on a borrowed horse to fulfill a dangerous but crucial mission: to alert American colonists of advancing British troops, which would seek to crush their nascent revolt."
Summer of Fire and Blood: The German Peasants' War
by Lyndal Roper (Author)
Publisher: Basic Books. Publication date: February 11, 2025. Hardcover, 544 pages. ISBN-10 154164705X
From the publisher: "The German Peasants’ War was the greatest popular uprising in Western Europe before the French Revolution. In 1524 and 1525, it swept across Germany with astonishing speed as well over a hundred thousand people massed in armed bands to demand a new and more egalitarian order. "
Remember Us: American Sacrifice, Dutch Freedom, and A Forever Promise Forged in World War II
by Robert M. Edsel (Author), Bret Witter
Publisher: Harper Horizon. Publication date: April 29, 2025. Hardcover, 496 pages. ISBN-10 140033781X
From the publisher: "Set during the horrors of World War II, Remember Us by Robert Edsel—#1 New York Times bestselling author of The Monuments Men—opens in Limburg, a small, rural province at the southern tip of the Netherlands. In the pre-dawn hours of May 10, 1940, Hitler’s forces rolled through the city, shattering more than 100 years of peace in the Netherlands."
Second Front: Anglo-American Rivalry and the Hidden Story of the Normandy Campaign
by Marc Milner (Author)
Publisher: Yale University Press. Publication date: May 13, 2025. Hardcover, 688 pages. ISBN-10 030027887X
From the publisher: "In June 1944, an Allied army of British, American, and Canadian troops sought to open up a Second Front in Normandy. But they were not only fighting to bring the Second World War to an end. After decades of Anglo-American struggle for dominance, they were also contending with one another—to determine who would ascend to global hegemony once Hitler’s armies fell."
Bagration 1944: The Great Soviet Offensive
by Prit Buttar (Author)
Publisher: Osprey Publishing. Publication date: March 11, 2025. Hardcover, 480 pages. ISBN-10 1472863518
From the publisher: "Throughout the war on the Eastern Front, there were two consistent trends. The Red Army battled to learn how to fight and win, while involved in a struggle for its very survival. But by 1944 it had a leadership that was able to wield it with lethal effect and with far more effective equipment than before."
Ring of Fire: A New History of the World at War: 1914
by Alexandra Churchill (Author), Nicolai Eberholst (Author)
Publisher: Pegasus Books. Publication date: August 12, 2025. Hardcover, 528 pages. ISBN-10 1639369279
From the publisher: "The dramatic story of 1914—the start of World War I—presenting an expansive, dynamic history of the start of this truly global conflict. Most countries did not know what they were getting into during the precarious days of 1914."
Crescent Dawn: The Rise of the Ottoman Empire and the Making of the Modern Age
by Si Sheppard (Author)
Publisher: Osprey Publishing. Publication date: February 25, 2025. Hardcover, 528 pages. ISBN-10 1472851463
From the publisher: "A groundbreaking new history of the wars of the Ottoman Expansion, a truly global conflagration that crisscrossed three continents and ultimately defined the borders and future of a modern Europe. The determined attempt to thwart Ottoman dominance was fought across five theaters from the Balkans to the Mediterranean and the Indian Ocean, from Persia to Russia."
Lincoln's Peace: The Struggle to End the American Civil War
by Michael Vorenberg (Author)
Publisher: Knopf. Publication date: March 18, 2025. Hardcover, 480 pages. ISBN-10 1524733172
From the publisher: "We set out on the James River, March 25, 1865, aboard the paddle steamboat River Queen. President Lincoln is on his way to General Grant’s headquarters at City Point, Virginia, and he’s decided he won’t return to Washington until he’s witnessed, or perhaps even orchestrated, the end of the Civil War."
Devil’s Fire, Southern Cross: The Conclusion of the Guadalcanal-Solomons Campaign, October 1943-February 1944
by Jeffrey Cox (Author)
Publisher: Osprey Publishing. Publication date: June 3, 2025. Hardcover, 488 pages. ISBN-10 1472864484
From the publisher: "This page-turning history examines the closing months of the vital campaign which ultimately determined the successful conclusion of the Pacific War for the Allies. But it had not been a smooth process. The campaign continued in fits and starts with both the US Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy making crucial errors."
Midnight on the Potomac: The Last Year of the Civil War, the Lincoln Assassination, and the Rebirth of America
by Scott Ellsworth (Author)
Publisher: Dutton. Publication date: July 15, 2025. Hardcover, 336 pages. ISBN-10 0593475615
From the publisher: "Told with a page-turning pace, New York Times bestselling author and historian Scott Ellsworth has written the most compelling new book about the Civil War in years. Focusing on the last, desperate months of the war, when the outcome was far from certain, Midnight on the Potomac is a story of titanic battles, political upheaval, and the long-forgotten Confederate terror war against the loyal citizens of the North."
No More Napoleons: How Britain Managed Europe from Waterloo to World War One
by Andrew Lambert (Author)
Publisher: Yale University Press. Publication date: June 24, 2025. Hardcover, 512 pages. ISBN-10 0300275552
From the publisher: "At the conclusion of the Napoleonic Wars, a fragile peace emerged in Europe. The continent’s borders were redrawn, and the French Empire, once a significant threat to British security, was for now cut down to size. But after decades of ceaseless conflict, Britain’s economy was beset by a crippling debt."
The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780
by Rick Atkinson (Author)
Publisher: Crown. Publication date: April 29, 2025. Hardcover, 880 pages. ISBN-10 0593799186
From the publisher: "The first twenty-one months of the American Revolution—which began at Lexington and ended at Princeton—was the story of a ragged group of militiamen and soldiers fighting to forge a new nation. By the winter of 1777, the exhausted Continental Army could claim only that it had escaped annihilation by the world’s most formidable fighting force."
The Knights Templar: History & Mystery
by Tony McMahon
Publisher: Pen and Sword Military. Publication date: January 30, 2025. Hardcover, 232 pages. ISBN-10 1036113485
From the publisher: "The Knights Templar have fascinated us for centuries. They were holy warriors who fought with incredible bravery in the Crusades but were then destroyed by their own side. In battle they were the bravest knights – first on the battlefield and the last to quit.'
Martin Bormann: Hitler’s Executioner
by Volker Koop (Author)
Publisher: Frontline Books. Publication date: January 31, 2025. Softcover, 248 pages. ISBN-10 1526797518
From the publisher: "Born on 17 June 1900, Martin Ludwig Bormann became one of the most powerful and most feared men in the Third Reich. An obsessive bureaucrat, it was Bormann who helped steer Hitler’s apparatus of terror so effectively that he became the clandestine ruler of Nazi Germany."
