The Battle of Kohima, though fought on a smaller scale than its Russian equivalent, is rightly remembered as the ‘Stalingrad of the East’. It was a vital turning-point in the Second World War. An Anglo-Indian force – initially totalling just 1,500 men – endured a gruelling siege by a Japanese army ten times the size, [...]

The Life and Times of Frank Thornton Birkinshaw is exactly that, devoting two of its chapters to Frank’s enlistment in the 8th Royal Warwicks and his later transfer to the RFC. Frank celebrated his 17th birthday in the trenches of Ploegsteert, on the Western Front, and his letters home tell the familiar grim story of [...]

Wellington’s Highland Warriors: from the Black Watch Mutiny to the Battle of Waterloo. The amalgamation of the Scottish regiments into one ‘super-regiment’, the Royal Regiment of Scotland, in 2004 left many lamenting the demise of the long tradition of some of the British Army’s most famous regiments. Since the shift from the traditional system, the [...]

The Battle of Britain: five months that changed history, May-October 1940 Those with a special interest in the Battle of Britain or air war more generally will enjoy this book. It is a lively, detailed, not to say exhaustive narrative of the entire battle. Careful attention is given to both sides. The story is told [...]

The Battle of Britain, was the first major campaign to be fought entirely by air forces, and marked the first defeat of Hitler’s military forces. It was a long, vigorously fought battle, in which 2,500 RAF pilots were pitted against the larger and more experienced forces of the German Luftwaffe. Despite their apparent disadvantages, the [...]

Berlin at War: life and death in Hitler’s capital, 1939-45 Remarkably, although there have been many studies in English of how London stood up to the Blitz, Roger Moorhouse’s is the first on the German capital at war. Much of Berlin’s experience mirrors that of London. There is, for example, a familiar sounding chapter on [...]

British Army Cap Badges of the First World War This is one of the best books on cap badges that I have seen for a long time. The book is superbly illustrated throughout, with images not only of the badges themselves, but also of soldiers wearing them. As the authors themselves state, it is impossible [...]

Pritt Buttar’s look at the Soviet assault on Prussia focuses on the brutality and vengeance of the Red Army’s merciless campaign. Through previously unseen testimony and sagacious analysis by the author, the chilling events of 1944-45 Prussia are brought to life. Buttar assumes the perspectives of both those at command level and of the soldiers [...]