Nigel Thomas - Böcker

In March 1941, an anti-German coup in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia prompted Hitler to order an invasion using allied Italian, Hungarian, Bulgarian and Romanian forces. Operation Marita was an invasion of Yugoslavia and simultaneously Greece.At the same time, the constituent region of Croatia broke away from Yugoslavia and joined the Axis powers. Royal Yugoslav armed forces, despite advancing against the Italians in Albania were forced to surrender after 11 days' fighting and some 1,000 soldiers, airmen and sailors escaped to British-occupied Egypt to form Free Yugoslav units. From there, guerrilla resistance to the Axis occupiers broke out and continued with increasing strength until the end of the war under Mihailovic’s royalist 'Chetniks' and Tito's Communist 'Partisans' (both supported by Britain).However, hostilities between the two movements eventually led to the Chetniks entering into local agreements with Italian occupation forces and Britain switching its support entirely to the Partisans. The advance of the Red Army increased Partisan strength and, during 1944–45, they created what could be described as a lightly equipped conventional army.Featuring meticulously-drawn illustrations of different insignia, uniforms and equipment from each faction, this volume describes, in detail, both the political and military implications of the war and how it was fought, setting the scene for the subsequent rise of Tito to power within Yugoslavia.

On 6 April, the German 2nd and 12th Armies, Italian 2nd and 9th Armies, and the Hungarian 4th, 5th and Mobile Corps invaded Yugoslavia from Italy, Germany, Rumania, Bulgaria and Albania.Few of the Royal Yugoslav Army's 30 divisions actively resisted, and after 11 days the Yugoslav High Command surrendered. In Croatia, a puppet state was installed. Axis forces quickly occupied the principal towns and patrolled the main road and rail links, but in the villages, countryside and mountains a vicious and complex guerrilla war was brewing.This book takes a close look at the German, Italian, Croatian, Serbian, Montenegrin, Bulgarian, Macedonian, and Slovenian units that fought for the Axis powers in Yugoslavia.

Disability sport is a relatively recent phenomenon, yet it is also one that, particularly in the context of social inclusion, is attracting increasing political and academic interest. The purpose of this important new text – the first of its kind – is to introduce the reader to key concepts in disability and disability sport and to examine the complex relationships between modern sport, disability and other aspects of wider society. Drawing upon original data from interviews, surveys and policy documents, the book examines how disability sport has developed and is currently organised, and explores key themes, issues and concepts including: disability theory and policy the emergence and development of disability sport disability sport development in local authorities mainstreaming disability sportdisability, physical education and school sport elite disability sport and the Paralympic Games disability sport and the media. Including chapter summaries, seminar questions and lists of key websites and further reading throughout, Sport, Disability and Society provides both an easy to follow introduction and a critical exploration of the key issues surrounding disability sport in the twenty-first century. This book is an invaluable resource for all students, researchers and professionals working in sport studies, disability studies, physical education, sociology and social policy.Nigel Thomas is Head of Sport and Exercise at Staffordshire University, UK, where his research focuses on the history, mainstreaming, and media coverage of disability sport. He previously worked for ten years with young disabled people as a sports development officer in local authorities and national governing bodies.Andy Smith is Lecturer in the Sociology of Sport and Exercise at the University of Chester, UK. He is a co-editor of the International Journal of Sport Policy, and a co-author of Sport Policy and Development: A Sociological Introduction, and An Introduction to Drugs in Sport: Addicted to Winning? Both books are published by Routledge (2009).

Disability sport is a relatively recent phenomenon, yet it is also one that, particularly in the context of social inclusion, is attracting increasing political and academic interest. The purpose of this important new text – the first of its kind – is to introduce the reader to key concepts in disability and disability sport and to examine the complex relationships between modern sport, disability and other aspects of wider society. Drawing upon original data from interviews, surveys and policy documents, the book examines how disability sport has developed and is currently organised, and explores key themes, issues and concepts including: disability theory and policy the emergence and development of disability sport disability sport development in local authorities mainstreaming disability sportdisability, physical education and school sport elite disability sport and the Paralympic Games disability sport and the media. Including chapter summaries, seminar questions and lists of key websites and further reading throughout, Sport, Disability and Society provides both an easy to follow introduction and a critical exploration of the key issues surrounding disability sport in the twenty-first century. This book is an invaluable resource for all students, researchers and professionals working in sport studies, disability studies, physical education, sociology and social policy.Nigel Thomas is Head of Sport and Exercise at Staffordshire University, UK, where his research focuses on the history, mainstreaming, and media coverage of disability sport. He previously worked for ten years with young disabled people as a sports development officer in local authorities and national governing bodies.Andy Smith is Lecturer in the Sociology of Sport and Exercise at the University of Chester, UK. He is a co-editor of the International Journal of Sport Policy, and a co-author of Sport Policy and Development: A Sociological Introduction, and An Introduction to Drugs in Sport: Addicted to Winning? Both books are published by Routledge (2009).

The 1930s were a time of growing tension for the smaller states of Eastern Europe.Since the end of the First World War they had enjoyed an independence which most of them had not known for centuries, but this was now threatened by the growing power of Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia. Instead of combining for self defence, they were bitterly divided. The Munich crisis showed how little reliance could be placed on the Western democracies, whose power to intervene militarily in Eastern Europe was negligible. In effect this left the smaller East European states with little alternative but to become clients of either Germany or Russia.This is a concise introduction to the Eastern European states who allied with Germany in World War 2.

A compact volume on the history, organisation, uniforms and equipment of the Communist-led and non-Communist resistance groups resisting German occupation.During 1941 the Germans occupied first Greece and the former Yugoslavia, then enormous areas of European Russia. Once the front line troops had moved on the struggle continued as bands of resistance fighters waged war against the occupation forces until their final withdrawal. The term 'partisan' is associated with Communist-led bands and they were often the most fanatical defenders of the Soviet realm. However, there were also non-Communist resistance groups which were nationalist and broadly constitutionalist and as a result a complicated three-way war developed.This book details the guerrilla war which was waged in the various regions and the uniforms and equipment of the combatants.

A concise illustrated study of the first military conflict of the Cold War.At 4am on Sunday 25 June 1950, powerful North Korean forces invaded South Korea, advancing down the Uijongbu Corridor towards the Southern Capital of Seoul. South Korean troops resisted bravely, but were crushed by overwhelming Northern superiority. Later that day, the United Nations Security Council condemned the aggression, and on 7 July appointed US General of the Army Douglas MacArthur to command UN forces which would be sent to save South Korea. Nigel Thomas and Peter Abbott explore the history of this conflict, which pitted UN forces against the People's Republic of China in a struggle that resulted in hundreds of thousands of casualties.The text is accompanied by black and white photographs, maps and diagrams, along with colour plates from artist Mike Chappell depicting uniforms and equipment of soldiers of North and South Korea, People's Republic of China, the United States and other UN forces.

Once predicted to be 'the Middle East of the Year 2000', Central America and the Caribbean have long been a powder keg of revolutionary activity and guerrilla warfare.The United States, with important strategic and economic interests in the region, has traditionally opted for a military solution toward the political upheaval, developing a range of responses, from direct military intervention to the training of tens of thousands of Latin-American soldiers in anti-guerrilla warfare techniques.This text, enhanced by colour plates and numerous photographs, examines the history of the Central American Wars by country, detailing the organization and uniforms of the combatants.

First published in 1997. Area Child Protection Committees are at the heart of interagency child protection services in Britain. Drawing on original research, this book provides the first detailed analysis of ACPs and how they operate. The authors examine the policy role of the committees, the processes of representation, and the effectiveness of the committees’ work both in directing practice and in responding to change. They also report on research into how ACPCs deal with cases that go wrong. The book considers the impact both of agency reorganisation and of changes in child care policy on the work of the committees, and includes an account of the development of children’s service plans. If child protection policy is to change its direction, then ACPCs will have to change too. This book aims to contribute to an understanding of how that can happen.

First published in 1997. Area Child Protection Committees are at the heart of interagency child protection services in Britain. Drawing on original research, this book provides the first detailed analysis of ACPs and how they operate. The authors examine the policy role of the committees, the processes of representation, and the effectiveness of the committees’ work both in directing practice and in responding to change. They also report on research into how ACPCs deal with cases that go wrong. The book considers the impact both of agency reorganisation and of changes in child care policy on the work of the committees, and includes an account of the development of children’s service plans. If child protection policy is to change its direction, then ACPCs will have to change too. This book aims to contribute to an understanding of how that can happen.

In 1918 war broke out for Poland’s independence, involving the the Poles, the Red and White Russian armies, at least two different Ukrainian forces, and Allied intervention troops. The armies that fought these campaigns were extraordinarily varied in their uniforms and insignia, equipment and weapons, and when peace was signed in 1921, Poland had achieved recognised nationhood for the first time since 1794.Featuring specially commissioned full-colour artwork, this engaging study explains and illustrates the armies that fought in the epic struggle for the rebirth of the independent Polish nation, in the bitter aftermath of World War I and the Russian Revolution.

Surely nobody who had suffered the ferocity of the Nazi invasion could consider switching sides and joining the Germans? Yet that is exactly what up to 400,000 Soviet citizens did in World War II.These included not only the ‘legions’ recruited from non-Russian ethnic groups eager for freedom from Stalin’s dictatorship, but also some 100,000 Russians and Cossacks. What began as small local security units of ‘Ostruppen’, enrolled for the ongoing campaigns against Soviet partisans, were later reorganized, given special systems of uniform and insignia, amalgamated into larger formations, and eventually committed to the front line.This book is an essential guide to the appearance, formation and equipment of the myriad Russian and Soviet units that fought for the Germans. Featuring rare photographs and revealing colour illustrations, this is a peerless visual reference to the troops who switched from one ruthless superpower to another and met with a horrific fate when the fighting was over.

In World War II Germany's doctrine of mobile warfare dominated the battlefield. By trial and error, the Germans were the first to correctly combine the strength in tanks and in mobile infantry and artillery.This integration of mobile units, equipment and tactics underpinned Germany's successes in the first half of the war. As the war dragged on, the Allies sought to copy German tactics but German armies remained supreme in this type of warfare until their losses had seriously degraded their capabilities. This study traces the development of the different types of unit that came together in the Panzergrenadier branch from the inter-war years through World War II.Using colour plates to display the changes in uniform, equipment and insignia in all theatres of operations throughout the conflict, this is a complete account of Hitler’s elite armoured infantry.

Due to its partitions and dissolution in the late eighteenth century, hundreds of thousands of Polish soldiers enlisted in distinct units in the armies of many countries.Polish legions were found primarily in the Russian and Austro-Hungarian empires, but also that of the German Reich and the French Republic. All these forces were uniformed and equipped by the parent armies, though often with explicitly Polish features. The collapse of Tsarist Russia in 1917 and of the Central Powers in 1918 allowed these diverse forces to unite in a re-created Polish Army under the new-born Second Polish Republic in November 1918.With full colour illustrations of their unique and colourful uniforms as well as contemporary photographs, this is the fascinating story of the Poles who fought on both sides of the trenches in World War I and then united to fight for their freedom in the Russian Civil War.

Immediately following the end of World War I, amid the collapse of the German, Austro-Hungarian and Russian Empires, bitter fighting broke out in the Baltic region as Poland, Finland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania struggled for their independence, and Red and White Russian armies began their civil war.There were also German forces still active in what had been the northern end of Germany's Eastern Front. This book offers a concise but detailed introduction to this whole theatre of war, focusing on the Estonian, Latvian, Lithuanian and relevant German and Russian forces, plus Finnish, Danish and Swedish contingents. For each region there is a detailed map as well as meticulous orders-of-battle and insignia charts.Detailed for the first time in the English language, this fascinating book concisely tells the story of the birth of these Baltic nation states.

Between 1941–45, the Germans recruited around 175,000 men from a number of minorities in the USSR, distinguishing between 'Turkomans' (predominantly Muslims) and 'Caucasians' (predominantly Orthodox Christians).Of these, many formed rear-area auxiliary units, but at least 55,000 were combat troops. The first recruits formed two battalions in the 444th Security Division raised as early as November 1941; during 1942–­43 seven legions were formed, each of several battalions, eventually totalling some 53 battalions (equivalent to about 6 full divisions). However, with one exception (162nd Turkoman Division), they were not deployed as whole formations; after training in Poland, individual battalions were posted to fill out German regiments in the front lines, at first in Army Group South but later in all three Army Groups fighting on the Eastern Front. Units were also sent to Yugoslavia, Italy and the Western Front.This fully illustrated history of the Eastern legions details the organization, battle orders, combat history, uniforms and insignia of these unique units, combining contemporary photographs and full-colour illustrations with expert research from military historian Dr Nigel Thomas.

Featuring rare photos, detailed colour illustrations and insignia tables, this study explores the contribution made by Czech and Slovak troops fighting alongside Allied forces during World War II. Following the Anglo-French failure at the Munich Conference in March 1938 to prevent a Nazi take-over of Bohemia-Moravia (modern Czech Republic/Czechia), many frustrated Czech and Slovak soldiers sided with Allied forces and fought alongside their armies – first in Poland, then in France, and finally from Britain. Using depictions of relevant uniforms and equipment plus photos of the troops in action, military uniformology expert Nigel Thomas explains how the Czech Army was organized and how it fought alongside Allied forces in the Middle East and at Normandy. He describes the involvement of free Czech agents operating from Britain in Operation Anthropoid, the assassination of Nazi governor Reinhard Heydrich in occupied Bohemia-Moravia, and the part Czech soldiers played in mutinies in both Italy and Prague against German occupation which ultimately helped to secure a final Allied victory.

An illustrated study of the uniforms and personal equipment worn by the personnel of the Kriegsmarine, the German Navy of the Third Reich, from 1935–45.Founded in defiance of the Treaty of Versailles, the Kriegsmarine was established in 1935 and reached a peak strength of more than 800,000 personnel in 1944. Its original aim of amassing a surface fleet on parity with Great Britain’s Royal Navy shifted with the outbreak of World War II, after which focus moved to submarine warfare, with the Kriegsmarine’s U-boats exacting a heavy toll on Allied shipping across the globe. Meanwhile, several of its formidable capital ships – notably the Graf Spee, Bismarck, Tirpitz, Scharnhorst and Gneisenau – saw widespread action as Nazi Germany strove to defeat the Allies at sea.In this new study, Nigel Thomas examines the evolving organization, uniforms and equipment used by the Kriegsmarine during its ten-year existence, spanning its pre-war beginnings, the invasion of Norway in 1940, and through to the deployment of Kriegsmarine personnel as grounds troops from 1943–45. The different gear worn by its various branches of service is described in detail and illustrated with newly commissioned colour artwork and an array of specially selected photographs.

The armies of Denmark, Norway, the Netherlands and Belgium bore the first crushing impact of Hitler’s mighty Blitzkrieg war machine in Western Europe, in a campaign that astonished and terrified the world.The German Wehrmacht was millions strong, equipped with the latest guns, tanks and aircraft, and had the priceless advantage of having learned the realities of modern warfare in Poland the previous September. The defenders of Scandinavia and the Low Countries were raised from small populations, and were inadequately funded, trained, equipped and armed. Their modest numbers, inexperience, and largely indefensible borders condemned them to rapid defeat. For this reason they have tended to be neglected by history – in many cases, unjustly.Featuring period photographs and full-colour artwork, this book examines the dress, insignia, equipment, organization and combat performance of the Danish, Norwegian, Dutch and Belgium armies - thousands of soldiers who fought heroically in hopeless defence against the Nazi juggernaut.

The Baltic region of Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia saw some of the most prolonged and savage fighting of any on Germany's Eastern Front during World War II. The coastal nations were invaded by the USSR in 1940; captured by the Wehrmacht in 1941; provided major recruitment for the German Army and Waffen-SS in 1941-44; were retaken by the Red Army in 1944-45 despite stubborn resistance; yet still sustained a guerrilla movement which was not wiped out by the Russian occupiers until 1952. The tragic period covered in this book saw many combat and local security units raised by both sides, offering a most interesting range of uniforms and insignia.

It was the Balkan flashpoint which set off World War I, yet the fighting there is curiously neglected, although it was an inportant 'second front' cutting the Central Powers in two and preventing direct German/Turkish co-operation. The campaigns in the Balkans in 1915-18 involved the British, French, Russian and Italian armies, together with the local Serbian, Montenegrin, Greek and Rumanian forces, fighting German, Austrian and Bulgarian troops. This concise but comprehensive account identifies, describes and illustrates all these forces. The text is illustrated with rare photographs never before seen in the West, and with full orders-of-battle and insignia charts.

This is the first of three books that study the German Army of World War I in great detail. They give a comprehensive study of the organisation, uniforms, insignia and equipment of the Imperial German army - in practice the combined armies of Prussia, Bavaria, Saxony and Wurttemberg. This first volume covers the troops who fought at Mons, Arras, and 1st Ypres in 1914; in winter 1914; at Neuve Chappelle, 2nd Ypres, Artois and the Argonne, 1915; and in East Prussia and Poland, 1914-15. It reflects the impact of the first period of trench warfare on the uniforms worn at the outbreak of war.

The years 1915-17 saw the Imperial German Army, like the other Great War combatants, forced to adapt to the new realities of static trench warfare. Prewar uniforms and equipment had to be modified, for reasons of both utility and economy; on battlefields ruled by machine guns and artillery the steel helmet reappeared, and masks to protect against the terrifying new weapon of poison gas. The fashionable cavalry regiments became irrelevant on the Western Front; many were dismounted to join the infantry, while new types of unit usurped their prestige - assault battalions, and the air corps. This second volume in a three-part sequence offers a mass of detail on organization, uniforms and insignia, illustrated with rare photographs and meticulous colour artwork.

This third volume of a mini-series covering the German forces in World War I examines the troops that fought during the climax of the war on all fronts: the last great battles of attrition in the West (Arras, Messines, 3rd Ypres - Passchendaele/Langemarck - and Cambrai, 1917) and the collapse of Russia in the East. The 'Kaiserschlacht' campaign is covered, as are the German operations in Italy, the Balkans, and in support of Turkey in the Middle East. Uniform changes during this period reflected the introduction of new tactics and weapons and new types of troops, such as tanks and assault battalions.

The breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s was the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II, costing thousands of lives. Nigel Thomas and K Mikulan provide the first detailed account of the struggle that focuses on the numerous combatant armies. Including extensive research through official documents and local sources, they examine the political background and the military campaigns, supplementing their text with detailed maps, orders of battles, rank insignia plates and colour photographs and illustrations. This book, the first in a two-part series, is the only concise, authoritative and illustrated guide to the regular and militia forces of the campaigns in the former Yugoslavia.

Following the death of the Yugoslavian strongman President Tito in 1980, the several semi-autonomous republics and provinces that he had welded into a nation in 1945 moved inexorably towards separation. As the world watched a series of wars ripped through this modern European state. In this second of two volumes, experts on the Balkan region give a clear and concise explanation of the armies of the Croatian War of Independence 1991-92 and the Bosnian Civil War 1992-95. This includes the regular and militia forces which fought in these campaigns and which ultimately resulted in the UN/NATO policing of Croatia and Bosnia that continues to this day. The book details this fascinating conflict and is illustrated with rare photos and an extraordinary range of colour uniform plates.

The Royal Hungarian Army was Germany's largest ally on the Eastern Front, but information about the Hungarian Army in English is rare.Deployed in Ukraine at the beginning of the war, the Hungarian Army was involved in a number of brutal encounters with the Red Army, including stubborn resistance in Transylvania in the summer of 1944, and the brave defense of Budapest in the face of overwhelming odds.The Hungarian Army was a varied and colourful force, ranging from mountain troops and tank units to horse cavalry and specialist infantry. All of these are illustrated in full-colour artwork, with full details about the Hungarian Army's own, quite distinct uniforms and insignia as well as many of its own weapons and tanks.This is an essential starter resource for wargamers, modelers, re-enactors and military historians.

Even after 20 years of children's rights and new thinking about childhood, children are still frequently seen as apolitical. All over the world there has been a growing emphasis on 'participation', but much of this is adult-led, and spaces for children's individual and collective autonomy are limited. "Children, politics and communication" questions many of the conventional ways in which children are perceived. It focuses on the politics of children's communication, in two senses: children as political actors, and the micropolitics of children's interaction with each other and with adults. It looks at how children and young people communicate and engage, how they organise themselves and their lives, and how they deal with conflict in their relationships and the world around them. These are children at the margins, in various ways, but they are not victims; they are finding ways to take charge of their own lives.The book is also about adults and how they can interact with children and young people in ways that are sensitive to children's feelings, empowering and supportive of their attempts to be autonomous. With international contributions from a range of disciplines, "Children, politics and communication" is timely and relevant for policy makers, practitioners and researchers engaging with children and young people.