Paul Knight - Böcker

The longbow and the archer occupy a special place in English history. For over 200 years English armies across Europe dominated battlefields with a weapon that was as effective as it was simple: the longbow. Paul Knight assesses the rise of the longbow from a minor weapon in the Anglo-Saxon, Viking and Norman armies.

When war broke out between the British and Turkish empires in 1914, the 6th (Poona) Division sailed from India to Basra to bolster Britain's allies, deny the port to enemy shipping, and secure Britain's Persian oil supplies. Further expansion followed: the capture of Al-Amara was the British Army's greatest victory of 1915. When an advance on Baghdad was repulsed, the Siege of Kut became the British Army's longest siege and greatest surrender. Attempts to relieve Kut led to unsuccessful battles that were bloody and muddy even by Western Front standards. Under new leadership, revitalized and reinforced, the British avenged their defeat when Baghdad was captured in March 1917. Thereafter, the British Empire committed, in campaigns of limited value to the overall war effort, huge levels of manpower and materiel desperately needed elsewhere. What was created was modern Iraq and the first Arab government in Baghdad in over 400 years.This detailed history places the campaign in context of Allied operations in the Middle East and sheds light on several unsung heroes of the war, including General Charles Townshend whose spectacular 1915 victories led to humiliating defeat and captivity in 1916; General Frederick Stanley Maude whose March 1917 entry into Baghdad preceded General Allenby's entry into Jerusalem by eight months; and Miss Gertrude Bell, a "female Lawrence of Arabia" who played a central role in the creation of the new Iraqi state.

The battle of Againcourt in 1415 was not the decisive encounter that both Shakespeare and Kenneth Branagh suggest it was. This book details the English Army that Henry V led back into France in 1417 to conquer Normandy and again take the war to the French. With his Burgundian allies it took another 3 years campaigning to force Charles VI to recognise him as his heir by the Treaty of Troyes in 1420. Powerful enemies remained even after this, notably the Daupin, and the war continued. In 1422 Henry died succeeded by the 9-month-old-Henry VI and by 1429 English fortunes were in decline. More than 20 years of warfare would pass before the English were driven from France, with the exception of Calais. This period of the war is often ginored in preference to the battles of Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt but in fact is the decisive phase of the conflict. This title fills that gap, bringing the research up to date and examines the army that fought these campaigns in great detail looking at its composition, organisation, equipment and weaponry.

Game fishes, particularly those of the salmon family, are critical indicators of the health of those ecosystems upon which we now know we are dependent. As the authors of this important environmental book argue, “Our game fishes [then] serve as more than merely an indicator of healthy waters.  Instead, they can be regarded as iconic of the ecosystems in which they occur.” Moreover, “the quality requirements of different types of fish population have formed the backbone of a great deal of water management in the UK, Europe and the USA over several decades.”With sections on how and why Britain’s game fishes are under pressure from changes in land use, agriculture, housing needs, etc. – and their concomitant pollution effects – this book assesses how our knowledge of these game fishes reflect the changing values we place on our surrounding wildlife.

Travel from Scottish streams to shark infested seas and from the frozen tundra to tropical reefs. There’s every style of fishing, from the magic touch of the fly to blood-and-thunder battles with monsters of the deep. Shiver at ghostly tales from the river bank and marvel at incredible exploits with rod and line. There are stories of ones that got away as well as catches that set records. Discover a treasure trove of stories, invested with a drama and poetry that makes this essential reading for all fishermen, everywhere.