Stephen Hart – författare

A reinterpretation of the British Army's conduct in the crucial 1944-45 Northwest Europe campaign, this work examines systematically the Colossal Cracks operational technique employed by Montgomery's Anglo-Canadian 21st Army Group and demonstrates the key significance that morale and casualty concerns exerted on this technique. To ensure a full understanding of the campaign, one needs to look not only at Montgomery's methods but at those of his army commanders, Dempsey and Crerar; thus, this study addresses the scant attention to date paid to these two figures. Hart suggests that Montgomery and his two senior subordinates handled this formation more effectively than some scholars have suggested. In fact, Colossal Cracks, the concentration of massive force at a point of German weakness, represented the most appropriate weapon the 1944 British Army could develop under the circumstances.Previous studies have been characterized by an overemphasis on Montgomery's role in the campaign, rather than a systematic examination of overall British methods. They have ignored the difficulties that the 1944 British Army faced given its manpower shortage, and they have underestimated the appropriateness of Monty's methods to the campaign war aims that Britain pursued: namely, the desire that Britain's modest military forces secure a high profile within a larger Allied effort. The cautious, firepower-laden approach used by the 21st Army Group was both crude and a double-edged sword; however, despite these weaknesses, Colossal Cracks represented an appropriate technique given the nature of British war aims and the relative capabilities of the forces involved. It proved to be just enough to defeat the Germans and keep alive British hopes that her war aims might be achieved.

Contemporary Latin American Cultural Studies is a collection of new essays by recognised experts from around the world on various aspects of the new discipline of Latin American cultural studies. Essays are grouped in five distinct but interconnected sections focusing respectively on: (I) the theory of Latin American cultural studies; (II) the icons of culture; (III) culture as a commodity; (IV) culture as a site of resistance; and (V) everyday cultural practices. The essays range across a wide gamut of theories about Latin American culture; some, for example, analyse the role that ideas about the nation - and national icons  have played in the formation of a sense of identity in Latin America, while others focus on the resonance underlying cultural practices as diverse as football in Argentina, TV in Uruguay, cinema in Brazil, and the 'bolero' and soaps of modern-day Mexico. Contemporary Latin American Cultural Studies has an introduction setting the ideas explored in each section in their proper context. The essays are written in jargon-free English (all Spanish terms have been translated into English), and are supplemented by a concluding section with suggestions for further reading.

James Chuter Ede (1882-1965) served the longest term of office as Home Secretary in the last 200 years, three weeks more than Theresa May. He is the only senior member of Attlee's legendary 1945 cabinet not yet to have found a biographer. His contribution to that government - and in Robert Harris's words, 'We still live in the society shaped by Clement Attlee' - although largely unsung, was immense. Alongside towering achievements such as Bevan's NHS, his own measures, in administrative, legal and social reform, did much to set the seal on Labour's reforming programme, including the Criminal Justice Act 1948, paving the way for the abolition of capital punishment. Previously, working with RA Butler, he provided a major contribution to the Education Act 1944\. Equally interesting for historians and readers of history is how Ede's life and career present a political, cultural and social account, in his journey from Victorian family life with a Liberal background, through Cambridge and the Unitarian religion, to Labour politics, working in education and local government. He represented suburban Mitcham and then industrial South Shields in Parliament, where his performances were legendary in an age of oratory - low-key, yet cutting and decisive. This will be an important contribution to the burgeoning interest in the historiography of post World War II Labour Britain.

Organised chronologically by type, Russian Tanks of World War II offers a highly-illustrated guide to the main armoured fighting vehicles used by the Red Army during World War II. The book offers a comprehensive survey of Soviet AFVs, from the pre-war T-18 light tank and BT fast tank series to the heavy Joseph Stalin tanks and self- propelled guns of the final months of the war. All the major and many minor tanks are featured, including every significant variation of the T-26 light tank, KV series and T-34 to see action on the Eastern Front. There are also chapters on the many types of self-propelled guns developed by Soviet industry, as well as Allied Lend-Lease AFVs, such as the British Churchill and Valentine tanks and American Sherman and Stuart tanks. Each featured profile includes authentic markings and colour schemes, while every separate model is accompanied by exhaustive specifications. Packed with 120 newly-commissioned, full-colour artworks with exhaustive specifications, Russian Tanks of World War II is a key reference guide for military modellers and World War II enthusiasts.

Created from what was left of the gigantic stockpiles of Soviet armoured fighting vehicles after the end of the Cold War, the Russian armoured forces were reorganized in the early 1990s. Ground forces were involved in a series of conflicts in border states, nationalistic insurrections of minorities following the end of the Soviet Union, and the lifting of its iron fist on these regions. From Chechnya to the Crimea to the Ukraine, Modern Russian Tanks explores the main battle tanks, armoured fighting vehicles, armoured personnel carriers, self- propelled guns and missile-launching platforms in service since 1990. Organised by type and then alphabetically by manufacturer, the entries include the BMD-3, BMPT Terminator, T-90 and T-15 main battle tank, and their variants, as well as the Buk missile system responsible for shooting down the Malaysian Airlines 777 jet over Ukraine in 2014. Illustrated with expert colour profile artworks for each entry and completed with technical specifications, Modern Russian Tanks is a detailed reference guide for modellers and enthusiasts with an interest in modern military technology.

With the United States producing almost 90,000 AFVs during World War II, American tanks made up the bulk of those deployed by the western Allies, and were even supplied through the lend-lease scheme to the Soviet army on the Eastern Front. American Tanks of World War II explores the tanks, self-propelled guns, halftracks and armoured cars deployed by American forces, from the Torch landings in Algeria to the hard fighting in Normandy and the bitter Ardennes offensive. Organised chronologically by type, the entries include the M3 Stuart, the first American-crewed tank to engage the enemy in tank combat in the war; the ubiquitous M4 Sherman, which proved cheap and reliable and was built in great numbers and in many variants; the M22 Locust light tank, designed to be air-dropped in support of airborne units; and the M26 Pershing, a heavy tank that arrived late in the war and was capable of beating the best tanks Germany had to offer. There are also chapters on the many motor gun carriages used by US forces, including the M8 HMC and T12 halftrack, both designed to provide close support for infantry. Illustrated with expert colour profile artworks for each entry and completed with technical specifications, American Tanks of World War II is a detailed reference guide for modellers and enthusiasts with an interest in World War II AFV technology.

“You are about to embark upon the Great Crusade, toward which we have striven these many months. The eyes of the world are upon you. The hope and prayers of liberty-loving people everywhere march with you.” – General Dwight D. Eisenhower, Order of the Day, June 6, 1944 By May 1944, more than 2.8 million Allied troops, with 4,000 American, British and Canadian ships, were amassed in southern England, waiting to cross the English Channel in the largest seaborne invasion of history. More that 1,200 planes stood ready to deliver specialist airborne troops behind enemy lines, to silence German ground resistance and destroy local infrastructure, and to dominate the skies of the battle theatre. D-Day provides a photographic exploration of this monumental military and political event that helped bring about the end of Nazi Germany’s four-year occupation of Europe. The book is divided into chapters covering the first days of the landings on the five beaches: Omaha, Utah, Gold, Juno and Sword; separate chapters cover the airborne landings of the famous American 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions and the British 6th Airborne, as well as the crucial help of French Resistance fighters in providing intelligence and disrupting German communications and supply lines.

The Tank Warfare Illustrated Atlas is a highly illustrated and accessible account of the development of tank warfare, from World War I to the present day. Featuring more than 120 complex computer-generated battle maps and graphics, the book ranges from the first significant use of tanks at Cambrai during World War I through to major tank battles of World War II, the Indo-Pakistan War, the Arab-Israeli Wars, the Iran–Iraq War, the Allied invasions of Iraq in 1991 and 2003, and the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. All the maps have been specially commissioned from an expert cartographer. Each map has been designed to highlight a particular aspect of combat and so they vary in shape and size – from isometric to semi-circular and full-page to double-spread – and in outlook, with some maps giving a global perspective while others take a narrow focus. Major battles such as Villers-Bretonneux, Amiens, Kursk and the Golan Heights are shown in great detail. All maps are accompanied by a key, which helps the reader to understand the action and events. With extensively researched text telling the history and the stories behind these battles concisely and clearly and more than 150 striking illustrations and photographs, the Tank Warfare Illustrated Atlas provides an invaluable work of reference for both the general reader and the serious student of tank warfare.

A comprehensive review of the wide and varied range of window tracery designs that emerged during the medieval period.While the terms used to describe the tracery of medieval church windows are familiar (Early English, Decorated, Perpendicular), there has been no really detailed attempt to examine it as a distinct, stylistic architectural form, agap which this book seeks to address. Based upon a visual catalogue of over 250 images of surviving types and styles from churches throughout England, it traces the progression of ideas and the continuity of motifs and themes intracery patterns from the thirteenth to the sixteenth centuries, showing how different themes emerged within the main architectural styles; it also looks at the distinction between a window's architectural form and its tracery style, and describes the several different tracery techniques. The volume is completed with a detailed glossary.Stephen Hart is a retired architect, and the author of numerous works, including Flint Flushwork.

Doctors S. & R. Hart present a detailed reference directory, illustrated throughout with colour artworks and black-and-white photographs of all the main German tracked armoured fighting vehicles.

Copiously illustrated and with many colour maps, here is a comprehensive and detailed survey of Hitler's army, covering all aspects from the men to the campaigns to the command structure and to the hardware. - Compelling history of one of the greatest modern fighting forces. - The basic structure of the book is chronological, but in telling the story of the campaigns of the Germany Army, The Wehrmacht, through the use of boxes annotated with explanatory artworks, analyses in detail the tactics of the armies, corps and divisions of the Germany Army, such as the Blitzkrieg and the concept of mobile defence used so successfully during the latter stages of the war. - Examines the key moments of success and crisis, covering the creation of the machine, the years of attack, the nature of the army, the years of defence and the hardware used. - Explains why the German soldier was so successful in World War II. - Command and control explained in full. - Detailed orders of battle of German armies on all fronts in World War II. - Organisation and tactics of German field divisions included. - Line artworks of all major items of hardware in use with the Germany army.- Colour diagrams illustrate battles and actions.

East Anglia has a unique and very substantial heritage of flint-built churches and secular buildings over a wide area that range from Saxon times to the 20th century, many of them of exceptional beauty, and most in a good state of preservation. Stephen Hart considers that these buildings, in which a large number of different flintwork techniques and designs are used that are partly functional, partly dependent upon local materials and partly aesthetic in inspiration, constitute an important part of our heritage. It has only been scantily treated in previous works. His book is the first comprehensive one to be written on English flint architecture and is likely to become the definitive work on the subject. He shows that, although some of these techniques and designs are also to be found in other chalkland regions of England, including Hampshire, Sussex (e.g. Goodwood House), Kent, Wiltshire and Dorset, the greatest variety is in East Anglia. He has devised a classification system based on analysis of the materials and workmanship in flintwork which distinguishes between different types of flint, including flint combined with brick and stone.The numerous colour plates and black and white photographs convey the fascinating multiplicity of styles to be found, some of them reminiscent of the work of contemporary artists like Richard Long, and the virtuoso skills of the craftsmen who created them. There is a deeper consciousness and wider appreciation of vernacular architecture today in Britain than there has ever been, and the book could well inspire people to explore new possibilities in the use of flint architecture. Apart from its general appeal, it is a book that will strike a particular chord among architects, designers, craftsmen, local historians, artists and regional councils responsible for planning and conservation.