Tanks and armored fighting vehicles have dominated the battlefield in all conflicts all over the world. Their amazing firepower, armor, and mobility has lead to most countries maintaining a fleet of these versatile and fearsome machines. Tanks and Armored Fighting Vehicles features the best of these vehicles.Entries are listed chronologically from 1915 to the present day. Each entry is accompanied by a de*ion of its development and service record, and a full specification table is included, detailing all the essential data:armament, crew, dimensions, speed,range, engine types, and power utput. Specifications are given with both imperial and metric measures listed. Among the vehicles featured in the volume are the British Mk I tank of World War I, the German Panther, and the American M4 Sherman of World War II, and the MI Abrams seen in battle today. All of the major manufacturers in the US, UK, Germany, France, and Russia are covered, alongside the smaller nations to present a global commentary on the

On January 30, 1889,at the champagne-splashed height of the Viennese Carnival, theHandsome and charming Crown Prince Rudolf fired a revolver at histeenaged mistress and them himself. The two shots that rang out atMayerling in the Vienna Woods echo still.

This celebration of the English countryside does not only focus on the rolling green landscapes and magnificent monuments that set England apart from the rest of the world. Many of the contributors bring their own special touch, presenting a refreshingly eclectic variety of personal icons, from pub signs to seaside piers, from cattle grids to canal boats, and from village cricket to nimbies. First published as a lavish colour coffeetable book, this new expanded paperback edition has double the original number of contributions from many celebrities including Bill Bryson, Michael Palin, Eric Clapton, Bryan Ferry, Sebastian Faulks, Kate Adie, Kevin Spacey, Gavin Pretor-Pinney, Richard Mabey , Simon Jenkins, John Sergeant, Benjamin Zephaniah, Joan Bakewell, Antony Beevor, Libby Purves, Jonathan Dimbleby, and many more: and a new preface by HRH Prince Charles.

World War II: A Photographic History charts the world's first truly globalconflict, from the pre-war tensions to the final reckoning of those guilty of war crimes. The narrative, capturing the heroism and the sacrifices people made, is told through remarkable photographs from theDaily Mail archive, many seen here for the first time.

The Histories, by Herodotus, is part of the Barnes NobleClassics series, which offers quality editions at affordableprices to the student and the general reader, including newscholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully craftedextras. Here are some of the remarkable features of Barnes Noble Classics: New introductions commissioned from today s topwriters and scholars Biographies of the authors Chronologies ofcontemporary historical, biographical, and cultural eventsFootnotes and endnotes Selective discussions of imitations,parodies, poems, books, plays, paintings, operas, statuary, andfilms inspired by the work Comments by other famous authors Studyquestions to challenge the reader s viewpoints and expectationsBibliographies for further reading Indices Glossaries, whenappropriateAll editions are beautifully designed and are printed tosuperior specifications; some include illustrations of historicalinterest. Barnes Noble Classics pulls together aconstellation of influences—biographical, his

Although written over four hundred years after Alexander'sdeath, Arrian's account of the man and his achievements is the mostreliable we have. Arrian's own experience as a military commandergave him unique insights into the life of the world's greatestconqueror. He tells of Alexander's violent suppression of theTheban rebellion, his defeat of Persia and campaigns through Egyptand Babylon - establishing new cities and destroying others in hispath. While Alexander emerges as a charismatic leader, Arriansucceeds brilliantly in creating an objective portrait of a man ofboundless ambition, who was exposed to the temptations ofpower.

Another influential Penguin Classic-nowavailable in our signature black-spinedress For more than two thousand years,Sun-Tzu's The Art of War has provided military leaders withessential advice on battlefield tactics, managing troops andterrain, and employing cunning and deception. An elemental part ofChinese culture, it has also become a touchstone for the Westernstruggle for survival and success, whether in battle, in business,or in relationships. With this volume's crisp, accessibletranslation and lively, learned introduction, even those readersfamiliar with The Art of War will experience it anew,finding it more fascinating-and more chilling-than ever.

The national bestselling World War II memoir with aforeword by John McCain. As part of the elite101st Airborne paratroopers, Lt. Lynn "Buck" Compton fought incritical battles of World War II as a member of Easy Company,immortalized as the Band of Brothers. This is the true story of a real-life hero. From his years as atwo-sport UCLA star who played baseball with Jackie Robinson andfootball in the 1943 Rose Bowl, through his legendary post-WorldWar II legal career as a prosecutor, in which he helped convictSirhan Sirhan for the murder of Robert F. Kennedy, Buck Compton'sstory truly embodies the American Dream: college sports star,esteemed combat veteran, detective, attorney, judge.

Acclaimed historian Niall Ferguson ranges across the entirehistory of America’s foreign entanglements and delves into all thedimensions of American power—military, economic, cultural, andpolitical. The result is a book whose conclusions are asconvincing, and troubling, as they are original. Fergusondemonstrates that America has always been an empire in denial andshows the fateful consequences of its special brand of imperialism.He examines the challenges to the United States from its principalrivals, the European Union and China, and offers a compellinganalysis of the connection between the country’s domestic economichealth and its foreign affairs—the bottom line of imperialism,American style. Colossus is a peerless reckoning withAmerican power that should be read by any thinking citizen of thisunspoken empire.

More than fifteen million Americans currently practice yoga (according to Yoga Journal ), but how many of them know the true story of how Downward Dog first captivated America? Resurrecting a fascinating and forgotten tale, journalist Robert Love returns to the Gilded Age, when Dr. Pierre Bernard (n Perry Baker in Iowa) revived a discipline banned in Victorian India, packaged it for Americans, and taught legions of followers, who bankrolled his luxurious Hudson River ashram- the first in the nation. Filled with Jazz Age celebrities, heiresses, spies, and outraged clergy, The Great Oom is the enthralling life story of the unlikeliest of gurus, and a stunning saga of mysticism, intrigue, and the American dream.

Bill Bryson is one of the world’s most beloved and bestselling writers. In A Short History of Nearly Everything, he takes his ultimate journey–into the most intriguing and consequential questions that science seeks to answer. It’s a dazzling quest, the intellectual odyssey of a lifetime, as this insatiably curious writer attempts to understand everything that has transpired from the Big Bang to the rise of civilization. Or, as the author puts it, “…how we went from there being nothing at all to there being something, and then how a little of that something turned into us, and also what happened in between and since.” This is, in short, a tall order. To that end, Bill Bryson apprenticed himself to a host of the world’s most profound scientific minds, living and dead. His challenge is to take subjects like geology, chemisty, paleontology, astronomy, and particle physics and see if there isn’t some way to render them comprehensible to people, like himself, made bored (or scared) stiff of sc

A military leader of legendary genius, Caesar was also a greatwriter, recording the events of his life with incomparableimmediacy and power. "The Civil War" is a tense and grippingdepiction of his struggle with Pompey over the leadership ofRepublican Rome - a conflict that spanned the entire Roman world,from Gaul and Spain to Asia and Africa. Where Caesar's own accountleaves off in 48 BC, his lieutenants take up the history,describing the vital battles of Munda, Spain and Thapsus, and theinstallation of Cleopatra, later Caesar's mistress, as Queen ofEgypt. Together these narratives paint a full picture of the eventsthat brought Caesar supreme power - and paved the way for hisassassination only months later.

In the greatest work of history in the English language,Edward Gibbon compresses thirteen turbulent centuries into agripping epic narrative. It is history in the grandeighteenth-century manner, a well-researched drama charged withinsight, irony, and incisive character analysis. In elegant prose,Gibbon presents both the broad pattern of events and thesignificant revealing detail. He delves into religion, politics,sexuality, and social mores with equal authority and aplomb. Whilesubsequent research revealed minor factual errors about the earlyEmpire, Gibbon's bold vision, witty de*ions of a vast cast ofcharacters, and readiness to display his own beliefs and prejudicesresult in an astonishing work of history and literature, at oncepowerfully intelligent and enormously entertaining. Based on David Womersley's definitive three-volume PenguinClassics edition of The Decline and Fall of the RomanEmpire , this abridgement contains complete chapters from allthree volumes, linked by extended bridging pass

Her enthusiasm for animals and travel has led her to visit many countries around the world where she can indulge her passion for watching and photographing wildlife. She is a[so author of Africa: Natural Spirit of the African Continent, Spirit of the Jungle, Spirit of the Elephant and Spirit of India in this series. Gill currently lives in a converted barn by the coast in Pembrokeshire with her graphic designer husband and three cats.

In October 1942, a panzer officer wrote Stalingrad is no longer a town... Animals flee this hell; the hardest stones cannot bear it for long; only men endure . The battle for Stalingrad became the focus of Hitler and Stalin's determination to win the gruesome, vicious war on the eastern front. The citizens of Stalingrad endured unimaginable hardship; the battle, with fierce hand-to-hand fighting in each room of each building, was brutally destructive to both armies. But the eventual victory of the Red Army, and the failure of Hitler's Operation Barbarossa, was the first defeat of Hitler's territorial ambitions in Europe, and the start of his decline. An extraordinary story of tactical genius, civilian bravery, obsession, carnage and the nature of war itself, Stalingrad will act as a testament to the vital role of the soviet war effort.

"So much nonsense has been written on suburban life and mores that it comes as a considerable shock to read a book by someone who seems to have his own ideas on the subject and who pursues them relentlessly to the bitter end," said LJ's reviewer (LJ 2/1/61) of this novel of unhappy life in the burbs. It is reminiscent of the popular film American Beauty in its depiction of white-collar life as fraught with discontent. Others have picked up on this theme since, but Yates remains a solid read.

The 1914-18 conflict was called 'the war to end all wars'. World War I: A Photographic History charts the course of this epic struggle, from the assassin's bullet in Sarajevo which sparked the conflict to the flawed Treaty of Versailles which ended it. Superbly illustrated with photographs from the Daily Mail archives, many reproduced for the first time, these pages capture a defining moment in world history.

"A colorful and gripping portrait of the threeaging leaders at their historic encounter." - The Wall StreetJournal For eight fateful days in 1945, threeof the towering figures of the twentieth century-FDR, Churchill,and Stalin-met at a resort town on the Black Sea to decide on astrategy to defeat Germany and Japan, and to carve up the world.For more than sixty years, opinion has been bitterly divided onwhat they achieved. Did Yalta pave the way to the Cold War? Did FDRgive too much to Stalin? In this groundbreaking book, Harvardhistorian S. M. Plokhy draws on newly declassified Soviet documentsand unpublished diaries and letters of the participants to set therecord straight.

A New York Times Book Review Notable Book of the Year A Washington Post Best Book of the Year A Businessweek Best Business Book of the Year A Chicago Tribune Best Book of the Year In this brilliant, essential book, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Thomas L. Friedman speaks to America's urgent need for national renewal and explains how a green revolution can bring about both a sustainable environment and a sustainable America. Friedman explains how global warming, rapidly growing populations, and the expansion of the world’s middle class through globalization have produced a dangerously unstable planet--one that is "hot, flat, and crowded." In this Release 2.0 edition, he also shows how the very habits that led us to ravage the natural world led to the meltdown of the financial markets and the Great Recession. The challenge of a sustainable way of life presents the United States with an opportunity not only to rebuild its economy, but to lead the world in radically innovating toward cleaner energy.

An entertaining, anecdotal look at the origins of language and ideas in the USA. Bryson explains why two bicycle repairmen from Ohio succeeded in mastering manned flight, why the assassination of President Garfield led to the invention of air conditioning, and many other improbable but true facts.

YA?The events in this book are horribly off-putting, which, paradoxically, is why they must be remembered. Chang tells of the Sino-Japanese War atrocities perpetrated by the invading Japanese army in Nanking in December 1937, in which roughly 350,000 soldiers and civilians were slaughtered in an eight-week period, many of them having been raped and/or tortured first. Not only are readers given many of the gory details?with pictures?but they are also told of the heroism of some members of a small foreign contingent, particularly of a Nazi businessman who resided in China for 30 years. The story of his bravery lends the ironic touch of someone with evil credentials doing good. Once the author finishes with the atrocities, she proceeds with the equally absorbing and much easier-to-take story of what happened to the Nazi businessman when he returned to Germany and the war ended. This by itself is material for a movie. The author tells why the Japanese government not only allowed the atrocities to occur but also r

Menzies makes the fascinating argument that the Chinese discovered the Americas a full 70 years before Columbus. Not only did the Chinese discover America first, but they also, according to the author, established a number of subsequently lost colonies in the Caribbean. Furthermore, he asserts that the Chinese circumnavigated the globe, desalinated water, and perfected the art of cartography. In fact, he believes that most of the renowned European explorers actually sailed with maps charted by the Chinese. Though most historical records were destroyed during centuries of turmoil in the Far East, he manages to cobble together some feasible evidence supporting his controversial conclusions. Sure to cause a stir among historians, this questionable tale of adventure on the high seas will be hotly debated in academic circles. Margaret Flanagan

This "New York Times" bestseller tells the harrowing true story of nine American airmen shot down over the Pacific. One of them, George H.W. Bush, was miraculously rescued. This edition features the same Afterword by the author that appeared in the trade paperback edition. 作者简介： James Bradley is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Flags of Our Fathers and the son of one of the men who raised the American flag on Iwo Jima. The story of the events on Chichi Jima was first brought to his attention after the publication of that book and involved several years of research, travel, and writing-including a return trip to Chichi Jima with President George H. W. Bush. This is Bradley's second book. He lives in New York.