Pen And Sword: 3067 books

Brian Mercer is one of the most outstanding post-war RAF fighter pilots and in this eminently readable autobiography he recaptures life as it was in the days of transition from flying piston-powered aircraft to jet power. His flying and leadership skills resulted in a long association with what was...

A nation's history is littered with conveniently forgotten defeats and military disasters but it is unusual for significant victories to be ignored. Richard Hopton, the up-and-coming historian, has uncovered the long overlooked defeat of Napoleon's forces by General Sir John Stuart at Maida, Southern...

Railway art has existed as long as there have been Railways. Many famous names have included some aspect of railways in their paintings, notably Claude Monet and J M W Turner. This tradition has been kept alive by the formation in the UK of the Guild of Railway Artists, which now consists of over...

The Supermarine Swift was rushed into service with the RAF during 1954 to become Britain's first second-generation jet fighter. In this role it was not deemed a success and has been burdened with a bad reputation since that time. It was eventually replaced by the famous Hawker Hunter that had been...

This history of the Life Guards traces the regiment's story right to the end of its existence and its amalgamation with the Blues and Royals.

The rapid expansion of the RAF during the mid/late 1930s necessitated a massive storage requirement for high explosive bombs and other ordinance. Drawing on the experience of the Great War ammunition factories, the authorities set about identifying underground sites around Britain safe from the threat...

By any standards, Admiral Sir John Treacher is an exceptional man who has had the fullest of lives. Old enough to have served and be sunk in the War, he went to be a naval aviator flying in the Korean War. His career took ff too and he rose rapidly to be the captain of the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle...

For most British people the weekend of 27/28 October 1962 could so very easily have been their last weekend on earth, yet astonishingly the fact that Britain's nuclear deterrent forces went to an unprecedented level of readiness was kept secret from the public. Thor nuclear-tipped ballistic missiles...

Alexander Ollar, raised in Scotland, became an exceptional sporting shot and volunteered as an RAF Air Gunner in 1939. Helmut Lent enrolled for pilot training in the Luftwaffe as soon as he was old enough. Both were men of integrity and honour. In July 1942, these two airmen meet for the first time in the night skies over Hamburg - only one will survive.

Military bridging, often impeded by mines and hostile enemy fire, is a vital part of the advance of any modern army. Britain's Royal Engineers have played a leading role in this crucial military operation, from the ravines behind the D-Day beaches to recent operations in Bosnia and Kosovo. The Royal...

On 12 April 1919, the Paris police arrested a bald, short, 50-year-old swindler at his apartment near the Gare du Nord, acting on a lead from a humble housemaid. A century later, Henri Désiré Landru remains the most notorious and enigmatic serial killer in French criminal history, a riddle at the...

The Railways of the USA have a great following, both in the United States where there are large numbers of rail fans and increasingly in Britain/Europe, where there are enthusiasts who visit and model North American railroads.

Horatio Nelson's first captain was William Locker who recognised the exceptional talents of the young midshipman who was to become the most famous sailor in history. Thirty-seven years later Admiral Lord Nelson wrote to Locker 'I have been your scholar; it was you who taught me to board a Frenchman...

This is the story of the Battle of Calais, a short but bloody struggle to delay the German advance in May 1940. It is a story of uncertainty, of taut nerves, of heat, dust, raging thirst and hand-to-hand fighting in the narrow streets of the channel port now known to millions of Britons as a gateway...