History of War

An oil well burns brightly in the Kuwaiti desert, silhouetting an abandoned Iraqi tank during the First Gulf War. After the American-led coalition launched Operation Desert Storm to liberate annexed Kuwait, retreating Iraqi forces set hundreds of wel

Ambrose Dudley, Earl of Warwick led the English defence at Le Havre but never believed that the garrison would succeed. He wrote to Elizabeth, “I fear you are much too abused in the good opinion you have in the strength of this town” “ STORMY WEATHE

“I KNOW I HAVE THE BODY OF A WEAK, FEEBLE WOMAN; BUT I HAVE THE HEART AND STOMACH OF A KING, AND OF A KING OF ENGLAND TOO”  The strategically important town of Zutphen is besieged by an Anglo-Dutch army, and a Spanish convoy is despatched. An English

The destruction of the Spanish Armada in 1588 overshadows all other events in the undeclared Anglo-Spanish War of 1585-1604. It was certainly a significant defeat for the Spanish, but it neither ended the war nor allayed English fears of a Spanish in

“RALEIGH AND ESSEX WERE EACH DETERMINED TO LEAD THE NAVAL ASSAULT INTO THE BAY OF CÁDIZ, AND ESSEX FUMED WHEN HE WAS ASSIGNED A BACKUP ROLE” The 1596 raid on Cádiz was a lesson in the dangers of a divided command. Although Spanish leadership at Cádi

“LIFE FOR THE COMMON SAILOR WAS HARD, WHETHER IN THE NAVY OR IN A PRIVATELY OWNED VESSEL” During a period of military innovation, the battlefield was transforming and gunpowder weaponry was firmly in the ascendancy. As technological advancements wer

“STALINGRAD HAD BECOME THE FOCAL POINT OF THE EASTERN FRONT AS ITS DEFENDERS SIMPLY REFUSED TO GIVE UP” It had not been one of the major objectives of the Axis’s summer offensive of 1942, but by September that year Stalingrad had become the focal p

The legacy of Stalingrad: Axis corpses await burial on the outskirts of the city “IN 1955, ONLY 5,000 STALINGRAD VETERANS RETURNED TO GERMANY” It had taken the Soviets some time to realise the numbers trapped in the Stalingrad pocket. Consequently

The Parliamentary War Memorial was unveiled in Westminster Hall in 1922 to commemorate the members of both Houses of Parliament and their sons who lost their lives in World War I True to their credentials as leaders, the vast majority of MPs served

22 sitting MPs of the British House of Commons were killed between 1914-18 What was the idea behind the book? The original idea came to me about two years ago. I got invited to Downing Street by my then-MP because I’d done some local project work.

“SERBIA WAS NOW HOME TO MINORITIES WITH ASPIRATIONS AND GRIEVANCES OF THEIR OWN. THEY PROVED AS HOSTILE TO THEIR NEW SERBIAN OVERLORDS AS BOSNIAN SERBS, LIKE THE ASSASSIN GAVRILO PRINCIP, WERE TO AUSTRIA-HUNGARY” Though the Kingdom of Serbia had eme

“THE SOUTH SLAVS WERE UNITED BY A COMMON LANGUAGE AND DIVIDED BY ALMOST EVERYTHING ELSE” At the time of World War I the South Slavs were a people united by a common language and divided by almost everything else. Consisting broadly of four groups of

“FOR JOINING THE OFFICERS OF THE GRENADIER GUARDS, AND ASSISTING IN DEFENDING THE COLOURS OF THAT REGIMENT, WHEN HARD PRESSED AT THE SANDBAG BATTERY”VC Recommendation After the Crimean War, Peel would receive his Victoria Cross for several acts of b

Airborne troops destroying enemy bunkers after an assault on Hill 875 A C-123 cargo aircraft downed by North Vietnamese anti-aircraft fire burns on the airstrip at Khe Sanh Combat Base On the night of 2 January movement was detected outside the wes

An RAF pilot and co-pilot navigate their CH-47 over Wales “THE LACK OF A TAIL ROTOR PERMITS NEARLY 100 PER CENT POWER TO BE USED FOR LIFT, MAKING IT IDEAL FOR AIRCRAFT RECOVERY MISSIONS” Initially designed and built by Boeing Vertol in the early 19

Gary Oldman is transformed with prosthetic make-up into WInston Churchill Starring: Gary Oldman, Lily James, Kristen Scott Thomas, Ben Mendelsohn Director: Joe Wright Released: Out now Certificate: PG Director Joe Wright and screenwriter Anthony Mc

A US Navy ship sits in port at Trieste, in one of the most contentious and strategically important sites in world politics at the time “IN MID-APRIL, TITO CAME OUT AND BOLDLY ANNOUNCED YUGOSLAVIA’S CLAIMS TO TRIESTE. THE FACT THAT HIS STATEMENT WAS

“TIME AND AGAIN THROUGH EVERY BIOGRAPHY EACH MP OR SON WAS DETERMINED TO LEAD FROM THE FRONT, PROVE THEMSELVES TO THEIR MEN AND IN MANY CASES DIE FOR THEM” Author: Neil Thornton Publisher: Fonthill Media Price: £25 (Hardback) The phrase “lions led

“SOLDIERS DO NOT LAY DOWN THEIR LIVES, NOR DO THEY SACRIFICE THEIR LIVES – THEY LOSE THEM” The first ‘Poppy Appeal’ was carried out by the British Legion in November 1921 and raised over £106,000 to help World War I veterans with employment and hous

Lawrence gifted his robes to an army friend called Arthur Russell in the 1920s, but Russell subsequently had to prevent his mother from making dresses out of them Lawrence later posed with his jambiya dagger and robes for publicity photographs, scul