Steve Noon – illustratör

Följ med på en häpnadsväckande resa genom historien, från stenåldern till framtid. Här får du följa aktiviteten och utvecklingen på en och samma gata genom 12 000 år och dessutom se hur det kanske ser ut femtio år framåt i tiden! I otroligt detaljrika och verklighetstrogna illustrationer ser man hur människorna under olika tidsperioder bodde och levde, vad de hade för kläder, vad de åt, vad de jobbade med. I boken presenteras femton olika epoker, varje uppslag visar en ny tidsperiod. Du kommer få se magnifika byggnader resas och vittra sönder, kyrkor byggas där antika tempel tidigare stod, broar i trä försvinna för att senare återuppbyggas i sten. Och kommer vi i framtiden kanske resa med flygande taxibilar och gå på insektskafé? På varje uppslag finns det massor av saker att upptäcka, du kommer vilja läsa boken om och om igen för att hitta nya spännande detaljer!

Fully illustrated, this book examines the evolving armored vehicle tactics used by US forces during World War II.US tank tactics were governed, in practice, by the terrain and the enemy as much as the quality of equipment, so they developed markedly between November 1942 and May 1945. When the United States entered the ground war against Germany and Italy in North Africa in November 1942, both a proportion of its armored equipment, and the doctrine on how to use it in battle, were immature, and its crews were novices compared with those of the battle-hardened Panzer formations. The fighting in French North Africa taught the US Army costly lessons, but these were learned rapidly.The campaigns that followed in Sicily and Italy in 1943 demanded further tactical adaptation, and this was doubly true in the extremely thick terrain of Normandy in summer 1944. Again, the sweep across France, the Low Countries, over the Rhine, and across Germany, although against weakened opposition, raised continuing challenges, and the US Armored Force was learning lessons in battle right up to VE Day. Similarly, the war against Japan on the Pacific islands had its own distinct character.This book, by an internationally respected historian, concentrates on tracing these developments of how battles were fought rather than upon the technicalities of the tanks themselves, and is illuminated by after-action reports of typical actions in all theaters.

Illustrated throughout, this is the first book to study the Soviet and German armoured forces that fought the campaign for the Eastern Front’s vital oilfields. Although Sixth Army’s battle for Stalingrad dominates accounts of the German summer 1942 offensive, the parallel thrust by von Kleist’s elite First Panzer Army actually came closer to Hitler’s main strategic objective of 1942: the Caucasus oilfields. In this book, military historian William E. Hiestand presents an analysis of the armoured forces that fought this campaign. The Germans struggled with difficult terrain, stiffening Soviet resistance, and extraordinarily long lines of communications, but the campaign would see the Panzers battle into the mountains and towards the Caspian Sea, marking the Wehrmacht’s deepest thrust eastward. The Soviet defenders had to make do with tank brigades of obsolete T-26s and inferior T-70s, with limited T-34s and KV-1s, as most T-34 production was funnelled towards Stalingrad. However the Western Allies had opened the Persian Corridor to the USSR, and the Caucasus defenders made extensive use of Lend-Lease Valentine and M3 Lee tanks. Illustrated with rare photos and detailed new profiles of the tanks on both sides, this book explores how armour fought the campaign, until the collapse of German forces around Stalingrad forced von Kleist’s Panzers to retreat, ending German hopes of securing the vital oil.

On average a Special Operations Executive (SOE) agent would be dead within three months of being parachuted into action.Terry Crowdy tells the extraordinary story of these agents, some of whom were women as young as 22, following them through their experiences beginning with their recruitment and their unorthodox training methods, which included hand-to-hand combat and parachuting.Packed with photographs and full-colour artwork, this book recounts the incredible combat missions of the SOE agents from their role in the attacks on a heavy water plant in Norway, to operations in the field with Yugoslav and Greek partisans, as well as sabotage missions ranging from blowing up bridges to the raising of full-scale partisan armies as they attempted to fulfill Churchill's directive to set occupied Europe ablaze.

A rigorous and absorbing study of the first major Allied operation in Normandy after the D-Day landings.Blending expert analysis, specially commissioned artwork and illustrative maps, this book tells the story of the bitter struggle to capture this vital point. Cherbourg was recognized by both the German and Allied High commands as crucial to the Allied foothold in Normandy – it was the nearest major port and was desperately needed by the Allies for major logistical operations to support their forces on long stretches of open beach. Hitler, on the other hand, declared Cherbourg to be a 'Festung' (fortress), a designation everyone knew to mean that its defenders were to fight to the last man.After a grueling struggle that involved several distinct tactical phases to overcome the different elements of Cherbourg's defence, the campaign resulted in a bittersweet Allied victory, the drama and significance of which are explained in full in this work.

The first in a three-book series examining the Stalingrad campaign, one of the most decisive military operations in World War II that set the stage for the ultimate defeat of the Third Reich.After failing to defeat the Soviet Union with Operation Barbarossa in 1941, Adolf Hitler planned a new campaign for the summer of 1942 that was intended to achieve a decisive victory: Operation Blue (Case Blau). In this new campaign, Hitler directed that one army group (Heeresgruppe A) would advance to seize the Soviet oilfields in the Caucasus, while the other (Heeresgruppe B) pushed on to the Volga River. The expectation was for a rapid victory – instead, German forces had to fight hard just to reach the outskirts of Stalingrad, and then found themselves embroiled in a protracted urban battle amid the ruins of a devastated city on the Volga.The Soviet Red Army was hit hard by the initial German offensive but held onto the city and then launched Operation Uranus, a winter counteroffensive that encircled the German 6. Armee at Stalingrad. Despite a desperate German relief operation, the Red Army eventually crushed the German forces and hurled the remnants of the German southern front back in disorder.This first volume in the Stalingrad trilogy covers the period from 28 June to 11 September 1942, including operations around Voronezh. The fighting in the Don Bend, which lasted weeks, comprised some of the largest tank battles of World War II – involving more armour than the tanks employed at Prokhorovka in 1943.

A meticulous illustrated examination of Operation Avalanche, the highly contested British and US invasion of the Italian mainland.In mid-September 1943, as the opening move of the Allied campaign to liberate the mainland of Italy, an Anglo-American invasion force landed on the beaches of the Gulf of Salerno, only a few dozen miles to the south of Naples. Italy had just surrendered, and the soldiers in the landing craft prayed that the invasion would be unopposed.It was not to be. The Germans had seized control of the Italian-built beach defences, and were ready and waiting. The ferocious ten-day battle at Salerno was eventually decided by a combination of Allied reinforcements, and secondary landings in support of the beleaguered Salerno bridgehead.Using documentary records, memoirs and eyewitness accounts from all sides, Angus Konstam recreates the battle day by day, hour by hour. His methodically researched account offers a fresh perspective on a decisive battle that has largely been neglected by British and American historians.

It has been said in China that a city without a wall would be as inconceivable as a house without a roof. Even the smallest village invariably had some form of defensive wall, while the Great Wall of China was an attempt to build a barrier along the most vulnerable border of the entire country. Yet the finest examples of walled communities were China's walled cities, whose defensive architecture surpassed anything along the Great Wall. This book traces the evolution of the walled city from the 3,000 year old remains of the beaten earth walls of the Shang dynasty to the huge stone fortifications of the Ming dynasty.Stephen Turnbull, expert military historian, reveals the defensive structures from all the major ancient Chinese cities, and discusses how they protected entire communities, and not just castle dwellers, with colour artwork reconstructions, maps and archive photographs.

Fully illustrated with specially commissioned artwork and mapping plus carefully chosen archive illustrations, many in color, this lively study investigates the Mexican soldiers and Texian volunteers who fought one another in three key battles during the Texas Revolution.Following unrest throughout Mexico, in 1835 a revolt began in Texas among the Anglophone and Tejano-speaking settlers, known as Texians. Having retreated after their defeat at Bexar in December 1835, Mexican troops were ordered to re-occupy Texas in early 1836. In this volume, US military history expert Ron Field explores in detail three key battles that ensued. From February 23, Mexican forces besieged the Texian forces at the Alamo at San Antonio de Bexar; in the subsequent battle on March 6, almost all of the Texian defenders were killed. On March 19, forces en route to join the main Texian army were surrounded by Mexican troops at Coleto Creek. Following their surrender, about 340 Texian prisoners were shot by Mexican soldiers in what became known as the Goliad Massacre. On April 21, a Texian force launched a surprise attack on a larger Mexican army near the San Jacinto River, the decisive Texian victory that resulted is the third battle to be investigated in this study.Featuring full-color artwork and maps and drawing upon the latest research, this book investigates the fighting men of both sides at the Alamo, Coleto Creek, and the San Jacinto River, casting light on the doctrine, tactics, weaponry, and combat record of the Texian and Mexican combatants who clashed in the first weeks of the emerging Republic of Texas.

Attila var hunnernas kung 343-453. I de nordiska sagorna kallas han för Atle. Hunnerriket var det största riket på sin tid, alltså även större än romarriket. I Europa härskade Attila över ett stort antal folk i Europa, från Donau i söder, ända upp till Östersjöns kust. Attila betraktas som en av de största och mest effektiva militäriska ledarna någonsin. Under ett antal framgångsrika fälttåg, från år 430 fram till sin död, härjade han och hans horder i det östromerska riket, belägrade Konstantinopel, och härjade sedan även det västromerska riket. År 452 hotade till och med hunnernas horder självaste Rom. I den här väl illustrerade boken analyseras myterna och vi får en förklaring till varför Attila och hunnerna kunde vara så framgångsrika erövrare med så kompetent motstånd som till exempel romarna och goterna. Med kartor, foton och illustrationer beskrivs både hunnerrikets utveckling, de viktigaste slagen och även taktik, beväpning och rustning. Ur innehållet: * De tidiga åren. * Attila som militär befälhavare. * De viktigaste fälttågen och slagen. * Livet i fält. * Attilas motståndare. * Berättelserna och myterna. * Attilas död.

In 1915–18, ANZAC and Ottoman soldiers clashed on numerous battlefields, from Gallipoli to Jerusalem. This illustrated study investigates the two sides’ fighting men.The Gallipoli campaign of 1915–16 pitched the Australian and New Zealand volunteers known as the ANZACs into a series of desperate battles with the Ottoman soldiers defending their homeland. In August 1915, the bitter struggle for the high ground known as Chunuk Bair saw the peak change hands as the Allies sought to overcome the stalemate that set in following the landings in April. The ANZACs also played a key part in the battle of Lone Pine, intended to divert Ottoman attention away from the bid to seize Chunuk Bair.The Gallipoli campaign ended in Allied evacuation in the opening days of 1916. Thereafter, many ANZAC units remained in the Middle East and played a decisive role in the Allies’ hard-fought advance through Palestine that finally forced the Turks to the peace table. The fateful battle of Beersheba in October 1917 pitted Australian mounted infantry against Ottoman foot soldiers as the Allies moved on Jerusalem. In this book, noted military historian Si Sheppard examines the fighting men on both sides who fought at Lone Pine, Chunuk Bair and Beersheba. The authoritative text is supported by specially commissioned artwork and mapping plus carefully chosen archive photographs.

At the turn of the 20th century, the region of Manchuria sat atop a potentially catastrophic political fault line; the ancient strength of China was crumbling, leaving opportunities for both Russia and Japan to claw out new territories from the edges of that dying empire.Russian pride would contend with Japanese ambition in a conflict that ushered in the age of massed armies fighting on battlefields that were being redefined by the new tools of war such as newer, larger artillery pieces, and the use of machine guns in pitched battles. The vast, but over-stretched Russian Army was expected to steamroller its far smaller opponent, but the aggressiveness and zeal of the more modern Japanese military confounded expectations.Examining these two armies in detail, this fully illustrated study tells the story of how these two empires clashed in the Russo-Japanese War, heralding a new phase in modern warfare as World War I loomed on the horizon.

The final part in a three-book series on the Battle of Stalingrad, examining the Soviet encirclement, German relief efforts, and the final surrender of Paulus’ 6.Armee.Having fought hard just to reach the outskirts of Stalingrad, the Axis forces found themselves embroiled in a protracted urban battle amid the ruins of a devastated city on the Volga. The Soviet Red Army was able to hold onto the city then mount a surprise winter counter-offensive known as Operation Uranus, which succeeded in encircling the German 6.Armee at Stalingrad. Despite a desperate German relief operation, the Red Army eventually crushed the 6.Armee and hurled the remnants of the German southern front back in disorder.This third and final volume in the Stalingrad trilogy begins just after the German 6.Armee has been isolated at Stalingrad, and covers the period from 24 November 1942 to 2 February 1943. The specially commissioned maps and 3D diagrams guide the reader in step-by-step, easily to follow detail through the German relief operation (Wintergewitter), the fighting on the Chir River, and the Soviet operations Koltso and Little Saturn, and are complimented by the battlescene artworks that vividly depict the harsh conditions experienced by the common soldiers fighting on both sides.

The second in a three-part series examining the Stalingrad campaign, one of the most decisive military operations in World War II, that set the stage for the ultimate defeat of the Third Reich.By early September 1942, 6.Armee and 4.Panzer-Armee had reached the outskirts of Stalingrad, and Hitler believed it was about to fall. He ordered for the capture of the city as soon as possible, but this was easier said than done.On 13 September, a direct German assault was launched against the city on the Volga and a protracted urban battle followed amid the ruins, already devastated by massive Luftwaffe raids. Although hit hard by the initial German offensive, a ruthless and obstinate Red Army was able to hold onto the city through a costly battle of attrition that sacrificed huge amounts of men and materiel.This second volume in the Stalingrad trilogy, written by a leading expert on the military history of the Eastern Front, brings the fighting in the city to life in full visual detail, including the iconic battles at the Krasny Oktyabr Steel Plant, the Grain Elevator, the Barrikady and STZ factories, the ‘Tennis Racquet’ and Rynok–Spartanovka.Drawing from sources on both sides, this book offers a truly comprehensive account of history’s greatest urban battle.

Overshadowed by the dramatic British failure at Arnhem, the US 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions were a vital component of Operation Market-Garden and succeeded in capturing their objectives at Eindhoven and Nijmegen.In the summer of 1944, plans began for a complex operation to seize a Rhine river bridge at Arnhem in the Netherlands. The American portion of the airborne mission was to employ two divisions of the US XVIII Airborne Corps to seize key terrain features that otherwise might delay the advance of British tanks towards the bridge.The 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions succeeded in their tasks of capturing the vital bridges at Eindhoven at Nijmegen in the face of fierce German resistance. However, the delays caused to the British armored advance, combined with stronger than expected fighting at Arnhem led to the withdrawal of the remnants of the British 1st Airborne Division in one of the Western Allies’ most costly defeats of World War II.Contemporary photographs, maps and detailed color artwork complement extensive archival research that reveals the successes of those American airborne missions, largely overshadowed by the failure of the operation as a whole.

Despite the attention paid to the Afrikakorps over the years, it was the numerically far superior forces of the Italian Army that held the line and formed the bulk of the fighting power available to the Axis powers during the War in the Desert from 1941 through to 1943.Their performance has been unfairly criticised over the years – the best units of the Italian Army were equal to those of the British and Germans – but they suffered from a lack of mobility and poor equipment that made it impossible for them to meet mobile British forces on anywhere near equal terms. Despite this, the Italian Army went through many changes through the period, with the introduction of a variety of elite units – armoured, mechanised and parachute divisions that did much to restore the fighting reputation of the Italian soldier in the desert war. Their German allies belatedly acknowledged this with the redesignation of Panzerarmee Afrika as 1st Italian Army in February 1943.This title details recruitment, organisation and experience of the Italian forces in this theatre, casting fresh light on a force whose fighting power and capabilities have been unfairly ignored and maligned for too long.

A complete examination of Patton's campaign to take the fortified city of Metz.General George Patton's most controversial campaign was the series of battles in autumn 1944 battles along the German frontier which centered on the fortified city of Metz. In part, the problem was logistics. As was the case with the rest of the Allied forces in the European Theatre, supplies were limited until the port of Antwerp could finally be cleared. Also problematic was the weather. The autumn of 1944 was one of the wettest on record, and hardly conducive to the type of mechanized warfare for which Patton was so famous.However at the heart of the problem was the accretion of sophisticated fortifications. Metz had been fortified since ancient times, heavily rebuilt by France in the post-Napoleonic period, modernized by Germany in 1870–1914, and modernized by France during the Maginot effort in 1935–40. The Germans hoped to hold Metz with a thin screen of second-rate troops, counting on the impregnable fortifications.This book covers the entire campaign from beginning to end, offering an unbiased assessment of the success and failures of both the Allied and Axis efforts.

A highly illustrated account of the many and complex operations in the final months of World War II in Europe, detailing the behind-the-scenes political machinations.As the final month of fighting in Europe in 1945 dawned the Allies embarked upon a series of mopping up operations, destroying the last centres of German resistance as the essentially defeated Wehrmacht fought on in increasingly desperate conditions, driven on by the explicit no surrender order issued by Hitler.Yet at the same time, the Allied alliance was already on shaky ground, as German resistance was crushed the Allies began to eye each other nervously across a battletorn Europe, with the politically driven military decisions to have a huge impact on the future of the continent.This book traces the final operations of the war, from the liberation of Denmark, the Allied drive towards the Baltic straits, incursions in Yugoslavia, Hungary, Czechoslovakia and engagements in Eastern and Western Germany, whilst also analyzing how the Allied strategies in the final days of the war were a hint of the future difficulties that would drive the Cold War.

A study of the US infantry's struggle to wrest control of Normandy, the Siegfried Line and the Ardennes from their German opponents, offering a glimpse into close-quarters infantry combat of World War 2.The Allied airborne and amphibious landings on D-Day opened up the long-awaited Second Front against Nazi Germany, but after overcoming the German coastal defenses at Utah and “Bloody Omaha,” the US Army found itself having to contest every hedgerow and street in a nightmarish battle of attrition.It was the humble infantrymen of both sides who would play a vital role in taking and holding key objectives. Battles across Europe tested both sides to the limit, from the close-quarters warfare around Cherbourg in June 1944 to the struggle for the Scharnhorst Line in October and the brutal cold-weather fighting in the Ardennes that December.Featuring full-color artwork, specially drawn maps, and archive photographs, this study offers key insights into the tactics, leadership, and combat performance of the US and German infantrymen pitched into three pivotal actions at the height of World War II.

Examines and analyses how the Soviet tank forces that fought at Stalingrad were rejuvenated in the months leading up to the battle, and the role they played in this iconic campaign. The Stalingrad campaign was a major turning point of World War II. The German Sixth Army’s 22 divisions and 250,000 troops were encircled and destroyed, while the Soviet 62nd Army’s desperate defense of the city and the suffering of the starving German troops receives much justifiable attention. Here, Soviet armor expert William E. Hiestand draws attention to the less-covered element of the battle: the reborn Soviet tank and mechanized corps that delivered the death blow to Hitler’s hopes. He explains how in summer 1942, the Soviet tank forces were failing to reach their potential; despite being equipped with superb T-34 and heavily armored KV-1 tanks, the Red Army’s newly formed tank corps were unable to integrate their armored thrusts with supporting infantry and artillery, and their disjoined attacks were repeatedly shattered. By November 19, however, Soviet organization, command and control, training, and tactics had matured, allowing the Fifth Tank Army to launch the decisive penetration through the Romanian Third Army.Packed with rare archive photos and superb profiles of the tanks involved, this book shows that it was at Stalingrad that the Red Army’s armored spearhead evolved into a force that could dominate the Eastern Front.

The most famous example of fortification in the world, the Great Wall of China stretches for more than 6,000km across inhospitable terrain.Charting its development from its earliest origins in the 7th century BC through to the present day, this account reveals the true history of the wall, and explores the myths that surround it. Included are details of what it was like to live within the wall, how it was garrisoned and patrolled, and a discussion of how effective it was against attack.Through extensive examination of both ancient and modern sources, colour maps, artwork and photographs, this book illustrates why the wall is one of the great wonders of the world.

Continental Army regulars fought in massive and famous battles from New England to Virginia, but in the South a different kind of warfare was afoot.Local militia, sometimes stiffened by a small core of the Continental Line, played a pivotal role. This lesser-known war ultimately decided the fate of the Revolution by thwarting the British "Southern strategy". In this book, the authors provide a unique and personal focus on the history of their own ancestors, who fought for the South Carolina Militia, to show just how effective the irregular forces were in a complex war of raids, ambushes, and pitched battles.The book explores the tactics, equipment, leadership and performance of the opposing Patriot and Rebel forces, shining new light on the vicious struggle in the South.

Operation Tidal Wave was one of the boldest and most controversial air raids by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF).At the time, the Romanian Ploesti oil fields produced about a third of all Axis oil, and was Germany’s single most important fuel source. In the summer of 1943, the USAAF decided to stage a major raid on Ploesti from air bases in Libya. The resulting Operation Tidal Wave raid on 1 August 1943 was one of the costliest to date, losing 53 aircraft, about a third of the starting force. Of the more than 150 bombers that took part in the raid, only 88 B-24s returned to Libya, 55 of which were damaged.On the other hand, of the 17 Medals of Honor awarded to US soldiers and airmen from Pearl Harbor in 1941 to D-Day in 1944, 5 were awarded to pilots of the Tidal Wave mission in recognition of their extraordinary performance. Although undoubtedly bold and heroic, the mission had questionable results. Initial assessments argued that the mission caused 40% of the refinery capacity at Ploesti to be lost but subsequent studies concluded that the damage was quickly repaired and that output had exceeded August levels within a month.This new study examines the raid in detail, exploring the reasons why its dubious success came at such a high price. Supported by maps, diagrams, and full-colour artwork including battlescenes and bird’s-eye views, this is the full story of the audacious Ploesti raid of 1943.

Much has been written of the titanic clashes between the Wehrmacht and the Red Army at Stalingrad. This volume tells the other, equally important half of the story of Fall Blau (Case Blue).Learning from their experiences during the sweeping advances of Operation Barbarossa a year before, Wehrmacht commanders knew that Nazi Germany's lack of oil was a huge strategic problem. Seizure of the Caucasus oilfields, which were responsible for 82% of the Soviet Union's crude oil, would simultaneously alleviate the German army's oil shortages whilst denying vital fuel resources to the Red Army.Whilst Army Group B advanced along the Volga towards Stalingrad, Army Group A, spearheaded by Ewald von Kleist's elite Panzerarmee 1 was to advance into the Caucasus to seize the oilfields of Maikop, Grozny and Baku.Featuring full-colour artwork, archival photos and detailed analysis, this book follows the vicious, intense fighting that characterised one of the most important campaigns of World War II.

A highly illustrated account of the daring German assault by Heersgruppe A through Holland and Belgium in May 1940.The great blitzkrieg campaign of May/June 1940 saw German forces pour through Holland and Belgium to confront the French and British. The assault was audacious; it relied on speed, feinting and manoeuvre as much as superior force, and in the end these qualities were to prove decisive to German success.Featuring vivid illustrations, illuminative bird's eye views and maps, this book charts the unfolding of an unprecedented 'lightning war', which saw the first ever airborne assault at a strategic level, and the largest clash of armour to date. Never in the history of warfare had the clash between such large, powerful, and apparently equal forces been decided so swiftly and conclusively.

A comprehensive guide to one of the most critical battles that sounded the death knell for the Roman Republic and changed the course of history.Immortalised by Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, the battle of Philippi was the final meeting between the forces of Mark Antony and Octavian against the armies of Caesar’s assassins Brutus and Longinus. In this book Si Sheppard takes a detailed look at the campaign that was waged around the Macedonian city of Philippi.In the bloody and close combat, legionary fought legionary amid great slaughter, until Brutus’ forces were defeated. Brutus fled and committed suicide the following day. The Republican cause crushed, Rome now rested in the hands of the Second Triumvirate.Packed with photographs, breathtaking battlescene artwork and detailed maps illustrating the course of the battles on land and on sea, this is the history of the campaign which finally put the Republican movement to bed.

Working as an underground force, the French Resistance was initially formed spontaneously from scattered groups of the displaced and discontent.As the war progressed the Resistance developed into a secret army, terrorizing the occupying forces and would-be collaborators alike although they were unprotected by the Geneva Convention and faced torture and execution if captured. Striking photographs, coupled with first-hand accounts of capture and its terrible consequences, create an engaging and human history of the French Resistance fighter.Terry Crowdy details the military achievements, tactics, backgrounds and motivations of the patriots whose assistance helped ensure the success of the D-Day landings and French liberation.

The portable flamethrower literally placed the power of fire in human hands.Capable of inflicting horrific injuries – or of using up the oxygen supply inside a building, causing the occupants to suffocate – it projected a stream of flammable liquid, which could be ‘bounced’ off the interior surfaces of tunnels, buildings and other defended structures to reach deep inside a fortification.From its combat debut with German troops in World War I to its deployment in Vietnam, Chechnya and elsewhere, the flamethrower has proven to be devastatingly effective, not least because of its huge psychological impact on enemy troops. Yet despite this, the weapon and its operators have always been vulnerable, suffering from a very particular set of limitations, all of which are explored here. Featuring expert analysis, first-hand accounts and a startling array of illustrations and photographs, this is the definitive guide to an extraordinary chapter in the history of military technology.