Philip Jowett – författare

During Japan's devastating Pacific offensive of 1941/42, the Allies paid a high price for their failure to take seriously an army which had already been fighting in Manchuria and China for ten years. That army was a unique blend of the ancient and the modern and its up-to-date equipment and resourceful tactics served an almost medieval code of unquestioning obedience and ruthless aggression.This first of two titles covers the organisation, equipment, uniforms and character of Japanese ground forces in the Chinese and early Pacific campaigns, illustrated with insignia charts, many rare photographs, and eight meticulous uniform plates.

At its peak the Italian Army contributed 2.5 million troops to the Axis war effort.English-speaking readers tend to think of this army in terms of the North African campaign; but far more Italian troops served in other theatres. They invaded, and later bore the major burden of occupying, the Balkan countries; and Italy sent 250,000 troops to fight on the Russian Front. In this, the first of a three-part study, Philip Jowett covers the European theatre including Russia from 1940 to Italy's armistice with the Allies in 1943.Many interesting uniforms, a number of them less often found in print, are meticulously illustrated by Stephen Andrew.

Within months of its greatest triumph in 1942, the Japanese Imperial Army began to face the difficulties which would eventually destroy it - overstretched supply lines, and inadequate industrial support.Yet as the Allies grew steadily stronger and more skilful, the Japanese Army and Naval Landing Forces dug in to defend their conquests with a determination which shocked all who fought them. In this second book the author describes the deployments, organisation, uniforms and equipment of the Army - including the dreaded Kempei-tai military police - the naval infantry, paratroopers, special raiding units, and foreign auxiliaries during the long and savage war in Burma and the Pacific.His text is illustrated with many rare photographs, three insignia charts, and eight highly detailed colour plates.

At its peak the Italian Army contributed 2.5 million troops to the Axis war effort.In addition to its major role in North Africa, Italy's army invaded, and later bore the main burden of occupying, the Balkan countries. Italy also sent 250,000 men to fight on the Russian Front.In this second book of a three-part study Philip Jowett covers the organisation, uniforms and insignia of the Italian troops committed to both the North African campaign, and the often neglected East African fighting of 1940-41, including the colonial units. Stephen Andrew's meticulous colour plates illustrate a wide range of uniforms.

Immediately after the Allied invasion of Italy in September 1943, Mussolini was deposed and the new Italian government switched sides. The German occupying forces swiftly freed Il Duce and ruthlessly disarmed the Italian Army; and from then until the end of the war in April 1945 Italian troops fought on both sides with the forces of the new Fascist 'Salo Republic', in the Allied 'Co-Belligerent Forces', and in the Partisan movement. This period of bitter struggle saw the appearance of many new units and a wide range of interesting uniforms, described and illustrated in this final part of Philip Jowett's comprehensive three-volume series.

In 1912, the Balkan states formed an alliance in an effort to break free from the crumbling Ottoman Empire.Forming an army of some 645,000 troops from Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Montenegro, they took on a force of 400,000 Turkish soldiers. Both sides were equipped with the latest weapons technology.This book looks at the diverse and sometimes colourful uniforms worn by both sides, paying special attention to insignia, weapons and equipment. It also gives an overview of the campaigns that became a 'priming pan' of World War I.

As 1941 dawned, the British were mopping up the last Italian strongholds in Libya after seven months of fighting. The outnumbered British Western Desert force of 30,000 men had effectively defeated an Italian force of 250,000. The British had captured hundreds of thousands of Italian soldiers, plus hundreds of tanks and artillery pieces and several thousand valuable trucks, and pushed the Italians out of Egypt and then across the coastline of Libya until they controlled only a small section of western Libya.In response to this collapse, Adolf Hitler intervened, sending the Afrika Korps under General Erwin Rommel to reinforce Mussolini’s struggling forces. From March to December 1941, German and Italian troops clashed with the British Commonwealth forces in a series of major battles. Despite limited resources, Rommel’s tactical prowess allowed him to outmaneuver the British, launching rapid offensives that pushed them back into western Egypt. The British, determined to protect the Suez Canal, mounted their own counteroffensives—Operations Brevity, Battleaxe, and Crusader—but struggled to gain the upper hand.A key flashpoint was the port of Tobruk—the only major port in the theater still held by the British. Besieged for much of 1941, its defenders withstood repeated Axis assaults, preventing Rommel from securing a crucial supply hub. By the end of the year, both sides had suffered heavy losses, and the campaign ended in a stalemate, setting the stage for further clashes in 1942.Featuring over 150 photographs, detailed maps, and artwork, this book provides an in-depth look at the soldiers, strategies, and shifting tides of the 1941 desert war.

Depicts the forces involved in uprisings and border conflicts after the break-up of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.The Austro-Hungarian Empire during World War I had included peoples of German, Hungarian, Polish, Czech, Slovakian, Serbian, Bosnian and other origins, whose ambitions for independent nationhood were complicated by mutual religious and ethnic hostilities. In this fully illustrated study, Philip Jowett examines the organization and appearance of the forces involved in the internal risings, border disputes and full-scale wars that followed the break-up of the Empire, as the composition and frontiers of new national states emerged from the immediate chaos.Principally, Poland restored and defended the nationhood it had lost in the 18th century, while the new republic of Czechoslovakia was established after hostilities against both the Poles and Hungarian communists. Austria became a republic, and its paramilitary Freikorps fought Slovenians in Carinthia and various Serbo-Croat forces. The Hungarian republic defeated a Hungarian Soviet Republic led by Bela Kun, and suffered temporary Romanian occupation of territory including Budapest, while Hungarian nationalists fought Austrian gendarmes. The colourful and diverse armies of these nascent countries are described and illustrated in this lively account of their foundational years.

Defeated in the Sino-Japanese War 1894–95 and the Boxer Rebellion of 1900, Imperial China collapsed into revolution and a republic was proclaimed in 1912.From the death of the first president in 1916 to the rise of the Nationalist Kuomintang government in 1926, the differing regions of this vast country were ruled by endlessly forming, breaking and re-forming alliances of regional generals who ruled as ''warlords''. These warlords acted essentially as local kings and much like Sengoku-period Japan, fewer, larger power-blocks emerged, fielding armies hundreds of thousands strong. In the mid to late 1920s some of these regional warlords.This book reveals each great warlord as well as the organization of their forces, which acquired much and very varied weaponry from the west including the latest French air force bombers. They were also joined by Japanese, White Russian and some Western soldiers of fortune which adds even more colour to a fascinating and oft-forgotten period.

In 1935, Fascist Italy invaded Abyssinia (now Ethiopia), one of just two independent states in Africa at the time. Italy first invaded Ethiopia in 1895 and was driven out by the army of Emperor Menelik II. In 1935, the defensive effort would be led by Emperor Haile Selassie I. Benito Mussolini (the Italian “Duce”) claimed victory in 1936, but the struggle of Selassie and his people against impossible odds won worldwide admiration. This work supplements a concise narrative history of the conflict with more than 600 captioned photos, including detailed coverage of both armies.

The battle for Burma during the Second World War was of vital importance to the Allies and the Japanese. The Allies fought to protect British India and force the Japanese out of Burma; the Japanese fought to defend the north-west flank of their newly conquered empire and aimed to strike at India where anti-British feeling was growing stronger. Yet the massive military efforts mounted by both sides during four years of war are often overshadowed by the campaigns in Europe, North Africa, the Pacific and China.Philip Jowett, using over 200 wartime photographs, many of them not published before, retells the story of the war in Burma in vivid detail, illustrating each phase of the fighting and showing all the forces involved - British, American, Chinese, Indian, Burmese as well as Japanese. His book is a fascinating introduction to one of the most extreme, but least reported, struggles of the entire war.The narrative and the striking photographs carry the reader through each of the major phases of the conflict, from the humiliation of the initial British defeat in 1942 and retreat into India and their faltering attempts to recover the initiative from 1943, to the famous Chindit raids behind Japanese lines, the Japanese offensive of 1944 and their disastrous retreat and ultimate defeat.

The occupation of Europe by Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy from 1939 met with resistance from all the peoples of Western, Central and Eastern Europe as well as the Balkans. This resistance took various forms from low level sabotage and intelligence gathering in some Western European countries to full scale Partisan resistance in other parts of Europe. In this first of two volumes on Partisans and Guerrillas between 1939 and 1945 the Partisans of Poland from 1939, the Soviet Union from 1941 and Czechoslovakia from 1939 are covered. Italian Partisans were active from the fall of Mussolini in 1943 and the French Resistance went from insurgency in 1940 until from 1942 til 1945 it developed into full scale partisan warfare in some remoter regions of the country.Using over 300 wartime photographs some of which have not been published before Philip Jowett retells the story of resistance, guerrilla and partisan warfare. This brutal chapter in World War Two annals was to greatly effect the situation at the front line while the populations of occupied countries suffered the wrath of the occupying armies. His second volume in this series will feature the occupied Balkans where some of the fiercest partisan fighting of the war took place.

The Second World War Italian campaign is often less well remembered than the struggle of the Germans against the western Allies in north-west Europe and against the Soviet Union in the east. But, as this book demonstrates in over 300 photographs, the Italian peninsula was a major theatre of the war in itself.More than a million Allied troops fought there, more than half a million Germans and Italians; there were over 600,00 casualties and well over 100,000 dead. The soldiers of many nations took part - Americans, Australians, Brazilians, British, Canadians, French, Germans, Greeks, Indians, Italians, Poles, South Africans - in a gruelling and protracted sequence of battles across rocky, mountainous terrain that made a mockery of Churchill's description of it as the soft underbelly' of occupied Europe.Every stage of the campaign is represented in the photographs - from the Allied landings in Sicily in 1943, through the tenacious defence by the Germans of a series of fortified lines as the Allies struggled north, to the final Allied advance across the Po in April 1945 and the German surrender. As well as showing the soldiers on all sides and the towns and Italian landscapes in which the fighting took place, the photographs record the appalling devastation the warfare left in its wake.

This new history of China''s pivotal wars from 1894 to 1949 explains how China was transformed from a isolated and ramshackle medieval empire into a fledgling new world power.China is one of the great powers of the modern world. Yet in the late 19th century China was a ramshackle and isolated medieval empire upon whom the European colonial powers could impose their wishes at will.China''s Wars describes the series of conflicts from 1894 to 1949 that forged modern China, from colonial clashes such as the Boxer Rebellion, through the chaotic years of warlord domination to the Japanese invasion, the Second World War and the bitter Civil War that followed.Previously unpublished photographs, contemporary pictures and specially-commissioned maps illustrate these tumultuous events and the men who fought them, events that would end with the eventual triumph of the Communist Party and the rise of modern China.

This new history of China''s pivotal wars from 1894 to 1949 explains how China was transformed from a isolated and ramshackle medieval empire into a fledgling new world power.China is one of the great powers of the modern world. Yet in the late 19th century China was a ramshackle and isolated medieval empire upon whom the European colonial powers could impose their wishes at will.China''s Wars describes the series of conflicts from 1894 to 1949 that forged modern China, from colonial clashes such as the Boxer Rebellion, through the chaotic years of warlord domination to the Japanese invasion, the Second World War and the bitter Civil War that followed.Previously unpublished photographs, contemporary pictures and specially-commissioned maps illustrate these tumultuous events and the men who fought them, events that would end with the eventual triumph of the Communist Party and the rise of modern China.

A comprehensive guide to the armies that fought a devastating and decisive conflict in the Eastern Mediterranean between the two World Wars of the 20th century.From the initial Greek invasion, designed to "liberate" the 100,000 ethnic Greeks that lived in Western Turkey and had done for centuries, to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk's incredibly efficient formation of a national government and a regular army, this was a war that shaped the geopolitical landscape of the Mediterranean to this day. It gave birth to the modern Turkish state, displacing millions and creating bitter memories of atrocities committed by both sides.Augmented with very rare photographs and beautiful illustrations, this ground-breaking title explores the history, organization, and appearance of the armies, both guerrilla and conventional, that fought in this bloody war.

A comprehensive guide to the armies that fought a devastating and decisive conflict in the Eastern Mediterranean between the two World Wars of the 20th century.From the initial Greek invasion, designed to "liberate" the 100,000 ethnic Greeks that lived in Western Turkey and had done for centuries, to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk''s incredibly efficient formation of a national government and a regular army, this was a war that shaped the geopolitical landscape of the Mediterranean to this day. It gave birth to the modern Turkish state, displacing millions and creating bitter memories of atrocities committed by both sides.Augmented with very rare photographs and beautiful illustrations, this ground-breaking title explores the history, organization, and appearance of the armies, both guerrilla and conventional, that fought in this bloody war.

A comprehensive guide to the armies that fought a devastating and decisive conflict in the Eastern Mediterranean between the two World Wars of the 20th century.From the initial Greek invasion, designed to "liberate" the 100,000 ethnic Greeks that lived in Western Turkey and had done for centuries, to Mustafa Kemal Atatürk''s incredibly efficient formation of a national government and a regular army, this was a war that shaped the geopolitical landscape of the Mediterranean to this day. It gave birth to the modern Turkish state, displacing millions and creating bitter memories of atrocities committed by both sides.Augmented with very rare photographs and beautiful illustrations, this ground-breaking title explores the history, organization, and appearance of the armies, both guerrilla and conventional, that fought in this bloody war.

Some of the most famous Western movies have been set against the background of the Mexican Revolution of the early 20th century.Now, for the first time in English, Osprey offers a concise but fact-packed account of the events, armies, uniforms and weapons of those ten chaotic and bloody years, putting in context such famous but half-understood names as Diaz, Pancho Villa, Zapata, Madero and Huerta.The text is illustrated with many rare and fascinating period photographs, and with eight detailed color plates of orfiristas and Rurales, Maderisitas, Federales, Villistas, Zapatistas, and US volunteers and intervention troops.

Some of the most famous Western movies have been set against the background of the Mexican Revolution of the early 20th century.Now, for the first time in English, Osprey offers a concise but fact-packed account of the events, armies, uniforms and weapons of those ten chaotic and bloody years, putting in context such famous but half-understood names as Diaz, Pancho Villa, Zapata, Madero and Huerta.The text is illustrated with many rare and fascinating period photographs, and with eight detailed color plates of orfiristas and Rurales, Maderisitas, Federales, Villistas, Zapatistas, and US volunteers and intervention troops.

An in-depth analysis of the Chinese Armies that fought a series of increasingly fractious wars over nearly a century.Beginning with a run through of the Chinese forces that combated the British and French during the two Opium Wars, this history goes on to trace the forces who were drawn into internal wars and rebellions in the 1850s and 60s, the open warfare in North Vietnam, the string of defeats suffered during the First Sino-Japanese war and the Boxer Rebellion.Providing an unparalleled insight into the dizzying array of troop types and unique uniforms, this is a history of the sometimes-painful modernization of China's military forces during one of her most turbulent periods of history.

An in-depth analysis of the Chinese Armies that fought a series of increasingly fractious wars over nearly a century.Beginning with a run through of the Chinese forces that combated the British and French during the two Opium Wars, this history goes on to trace the forces who were drawn into internal wars and rebellions in the 1850s and 60s, the open warfare in North Vietnam, the string of defeats suffered during the First Sino-Japanese war and the Boxer Rebellion.Providing an unparalleled insight into the dizzying array of troop types and unique uniforms, this is a history of the sometimes-painful modernization of China''s military forces during one of her most turbulent periods of history.

An in-depth analysis of the Chinese Armies that fought a series of increasingly fractious wars over nearly a century.Beginning with a run through of the Chinese forces that combated the British and French during the two Opium Wars, this history goes on to trace the forces who were drawn into internal wars and rebellions in the 1850s and 60s, the open warfare in North Vietnam, the string of defeats suffered during the First Sino-Japanese war and the Boxer Rebellion.Providing an unparalleled insight into the dizzying array of troop types and unique uniforms, this is a history of the sometimes-painful modernization of China''s military forces during one of her most turbulent periods of history.

With decades of research to draw from Philip Jowett explores this extraordinary David-and-Goliath conflict, where the rag-tag Igbo tribal army of secessionist Biafra faced off against the Nigerian Federal forces.It was an African war that captured the attention of the western media, with individual commanders such as Biafran leader Colonel Ojukwu and Federal Colonel Adekunle becoming familiar figures across the globe. The Nigerian forces easily outnumbered their opponents and benefitted from British and Soviet equipment, yet against all the odds the Biafrans held out for two and a half years, inflicting many setbacks on the Federal forces before their eventual surrender in 1970.Specially commissioned artwork and historical photos, including some from respected Italian war photographer Romano Ganoni, reflect the diverse array of uniforms and equipment on both sides, with images ranging from Sandhurst-educated officers in immaculate uniform to ragged militiamen armed with World War II kit.

With decades of research to draw from Philip Jowett explores this extraordinary David-and-Goliath conflict, where the rag-tag Igbo tribal army of secessionist Biafra faced off against the Nigerian Federal forces.It was an African war that captured the attention of the western media, with individual commanders such as Biafran leader Colonel Ojukwu and Federal Colonel Adekunle becoming familiar figures across the globe. The Nigerian forces easily outnumbered their opponents and benefitted from British and Soviet equipment, yet against all the odds the Biafrans held out for two and a half years, inflicting many setbacks on the Federal forces before their eventual surrender in 1970.Specially commissioned artwork and historical photos, including some from respected Italian war photographer Romano Ganoni, reflect the diverse array of uniforms and equipment on both sides, with images ranging from Sandhurst-educated officers in immaculate uniform to ragged militiamen armed with World War II kit.

With decades of research to draw from Philip Jowett explores this extraordinary David-and-Goliath conflict, where the rag-tag Igbo tribal army of secessionist Biafra faced off against the Nigerian Federal forces.It was an African war that captured the attention of the western media, with individual commanders such as Biafran leader Colonel Ojukwu and Federal Colonel Adekunle becoming familiar figures across the globe. The Nigerian forces easily outnumbered their opponents and benefitted from British and Soviet equipment, yet against all the odds the Biafrans held out for two and a half years, inflicting many setbacks on the Federal forces before their eventual surrender in 1970.Specially commissioned artwork and historical photos, including some from respected Italian war photographer Romano Ganoni, reflect the diverse array of uniforms and equipment on both sides, with images ranging from Sandhurst-educated officers in immaculate uniform to ragged militiamen armed with World War II kit.

From the Mexican Revolution to the Zarumilla War, in the first 40 years of the 20th century the nations of Central and South America were frequently disturbed by border clashes, civil wars and revolution.Many of these conflicts became known as ''Banana Wars''. Some involved only lightly armed guerrillas, but others saw armies operating artillery and armoured vehicles, supported by aircraft and river navies. The conflicts in Honduras and Nicaragua saw the intervention of US Marines, and later wars involved armour and aircraft from the militaries of Europe.Using detailed colour plates and a wealth of contemporary photographs, this book shows the uniforms, equipment and strategies of the armies involved in these conflicts little known in the West. Covering wars crossing the length and breadth of the continent, this is the fascinating account of the wars that helped shape modern Latin America.

From the Mexican Revolution to the Zarumilla War, in the first 40 years of the 20th century the nations of Central and South America were frequently disturbed by border clashes, civil wars and revolution.Many of these conflicts became known as ''Banana Wars''. Some involved only lightly armed guerrillas, but others saw armies operating artillery and armoured vehicles, supported by aircraft and river navies. The conflicts in Honduras and Nicaragua saw the intervention of US Marines, and later wars involved armour and aircraft from the militaries of Europe.Using detailed colour plates and a wealth of contemporary photographs, this book shows the uniforms, equipment and strategies of the armies involved in these conflicts little known in the West. Covering wars crossing the length and breadth of the continent, this is the fascinating account of the wars that helped shape modern Latin America.

From the Mexican Revolution to the Zarumilla War, in the first 40 years of the 20th century the nations of Central and South America were frequently disturbed by border clashes, civil wars and revolution.Many of these conflicts became known as 'Banana Wars'. Some involved only lightly armed guerrillas, but others saw armies operating artillery and armoured vehicles, supported by aircraft and river navies. The conflicts in Honduras and Nicaragua saw the intervention of US Marines, and later wars involved armour and aircraft from the militaries of Europe.Using detailed colour plates and a wealth of contemporary photographs, this book shows the uniforms, equipment and strategies of the armies involved in these conflicts little known in the West. Covering wars crossing the length and breadth of the continent, this is the fascinating account of the wars that helped shape modern Latin America.