Campaign – serie

A detailed account of the dramatic success and failures of Hitler's U-boats in the mid-war years during the best-known naval campaign of World War II. At the start of 1942, the Germans benefited from the lack of American preparations to defend shipping along the US East Coast, and this 'Second Happy Time' saw serious Allied losses between January and July 1942. After this Allied disaster, Admiral Dönitz planned to shift his focus to the North Atlantic. This was interrupted by the Allied invasion of North Africa, which diverted the U-boat force until the end of 1942. When Dönitz was finally able to move his U-boats into the North Atlantic, they inflicted very heavy losses on Allied shipping and, by March 1943, looked poised for victory.Respected naval historian Mark Stille analyses this critical period in the Battle of the Atlantic, describing how Allied advances in technology and intelligence saw the balance shift, with a stunning 34 boats lost in May 1943 alone and the Germans forced to withdraw. He also examines whether the Germans could have ever actually threatened the Allied sea lanes of communication effectively. Using maps, diagrams, photographs and stunning battlescene artworks, the weapons, personalities, and tactics of the opposing sides are brought vividly to life in a unique and engaging way.

An in-depth look at one of the biggest set-piece battles and one of the most decisive in European history pre-WWI.Growing friction between the centuries-old Austrian Empire, self-styled guardian of Germany, and the smaller but more dynamic Prussian Empire led to war between the two countries. In June 1866, three Prussian armies crossed into Bohemia, and brushed aside the hastily assembled Austrian forces that stood in their path. The battered Austrians fell back to the town of Könnigrätz (now the Czech city of Hradec Králové) on the River Elbe, where their reserves were waiting. The battle began on 3 July and resulted in a Prussian victory.Expert historian Angus Konstam explores this critical battle of the Austro-Prussian War, examining what the Prussian victory meant for the political landscape and how it led to the modern German state. Featuring stunning artwork, detailed maps and period images, this book also highlights how advanced Industrial Age technology played an important role, and how more modern tactics fought against the old style.

A detailed look at the 1983 American invasion of Grenada, the largest and most significant US military operation since the end of the Vietnam War.When a hardline Marxist faction overthrew Grenada’s existing communist regime in October 1983, a coalition of Caribbean countries requested US military assistance. With many American students on the island, President Ronald Reagan and military leaders were forced to plan the operation with minimal warning and poor intelligence. Operation Urgent Fury – the US invasion of Grenada – began on October 25, and was the only time that President Reagan deployed American ground forces in combat during his presidency.This was the first major deployment of the post-Vietnam all-volunteer force and involved the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, and special forces. Despite international criticism and UN disapproval, the US maintained that rescuing the American citizens trapped in Grenada was reason enough to invade. This book examines the tricky political situation Reagan faced, the three-day battle against Grenadian and Cuban forces, and how this operation led to the modernization of the US military and prepared it for post-Cold War conflicts. With detailed maps, diagrams, and stunning artwork, this book explores the legacy of this small but crucial military campaign in US history.

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.

One of the most innovative Allied offensives of the Normandy Campaign, Operation Totalize could have brought the war to an early end.Lieutenant-General Guy Simonds' II Canadian Corps launched an attack from its positions along the Bourguébus Ridge south of Caen, striking south-southeast astride the main Caen–Falaise road toward the high ground that dominated the town of Falaise and the key west-east lateral road that ran through this town. Using sophisticated operational art the initial break-in achieved rapid success; indeed, more tactical success than any previous Allied break-in attack in Normandy.However, despite this rapid initial success, Totalize did not subsequently secure a decisive operational-level victory. Indeed, Simonds' forces subsequently struggled swiftly to complete the second break-in battle, and to transit into rapid exploitation operations.Had Simonds' force been successful the German army may not have been able to extract themselves from the Falaise pocket and would have been surrounded and defeated – possibly bringing about the early end of the war in Europe.

A highly illustrated, authoritative exploration of Operation Apache Snow, including the infamous Battle of Hamburger Hill (Ap Bia Mountain), one of the most significant and well-known actions in the Vietnam War.Operation Apache Snow was the result of a renewed Allied effort in early 1969 to neutralize the North Vietnamese forces in the A Shau, a 45km-long valley located in the southwestern Thua Thien Province. This area had long provided an infiltration corridor for Communist forces from the Ho Chi Minh Trail in Laos to the coastal cities of northern I Corps Tactical Zone.The ensuing battle to take Ap Bia Mountain, which became known as Hamburger Hill, lasted for ten days. Although US and South Vietnamese forces were ultimately successful in taking the hill, the heavy casualties incurred in the bitter fighting caused a furor in Congress, with many congressmen denouncing the action.In this work, respected Vietnam War historian James H. Willbanks documents the planning and execution of Operation Apache Snow. The progress of the operation is carefully presented using maps and diagrams, and the forces and weaponry of both sides are brought to life in photos and color battlescenes. Willbanks also explores why, despite the Allied success in taking Hamburger Hill, the battle came to symbolize the frustration of winning costly encounters without ever consummating a strategic victory.

A compact, illustrated volume detailing the capture of Walcheren by amphibious assault.Although the Alllies captured Antwerp in September 1944, the port itself could not be opened due to the continued German presence on the island of Walcheren, which guarded the port entrance. In November, the Allies launched an assault on the island, using a number of Commando units. Supported by warships and assault vehicles, the Allies fought their way ashore and engaged in deadly streets battles with the Germans.Richard Brookes examines the capture and how it would ensure the Allies had sufficient logistic arrangements in place to hold off the German assault in the Ardennes.

A richly illustrated, compact take on a high-drama battle of the Thirty Years War.The Thirty Years War, a religious conflict between Catholics and Protestants, raged across Europe between 1618 and 1648, devastating huge areas of Germany. By 1632 the Protestant powers were in a desperate situation until King Gustavus Adolphus II of Sweden, 'the Lion of the North', came to their rescue.This book describes how, having smashed one of the two main Catholic armies, he faced the other at Lützen near Leipzig in November 1632. In a nightmare battle fought in thick fog, his Swedish troops locked horns with the Imperial army. It was a bloody clash, in which Gustavus himself demonstrated true courage at the head of his cavalry and one for which he would pay the ultimate price.Complete with illustrations throughout, including special battlescene maps, this slim volume lifts the lid on the battle and its outcome.

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.

Supported by original sources and thoroughly illustrated, a detailed account of the Douglases' fight against the Percys.In his Chronicles, Froissart describes Otterburn as ‘the best fought and the most severe’ battle of his time. Fought at Redesdale in Northumberland in August 1388, the battle originated from the ongoing war between the Scots and the English following Robert Bruce’s victory over the English at Bannockburn in 1314.Using all the contemporary sources, this book details the events that led up to the clash on the borders, examines the opposing armies, their weaponry and their commanders – including the Douglases on the Scots side and the Percys on the English – and gives a full account of the battle and its aftermath.

A highly illustrated updated study of Patton’s daring attempt to bounce the river Rhine in March 1945.In January 1945, the collapse of the German front along the Siegfried Line led to a large-scale dissolution of German combat forces and capability. Pressed hard by Allied forces advancing eastward, German units often found themselves trapped west of the Rhine River. With his eye on history, US Lt. Gen. George S. Patton, Jr. was determined to be the first leader since Napoleon to make an assault crossing of the Rhine. The most logical crossing-place was at Mainz, as it served as a major railroad logistical link from west to east. However, Patton was aware that this would be obvious to the Germans, and therefore he and his staff made rapid plans for another site at Nierstein and Oppenheim, about 12 miles south of Mainz.The crossing began at 2230 hours on 23 March, when the first boats carrying 11th Infantry Regiment troops left the western bank of the Rhine. They met with little opposition; despite a few sharp counterattacks, overall resistance was light and American forces suffered few casualties. By 24 March, the US 4th Armoured Division under Brig. Gen. William Hoge crossed the Rhine and began the exploitation phase. By 26 March, the exploitation to the Main River was clearly a rout, exacerbated by additional crossings of the Rhine by other Allied units over the next few days.Illustrated throughout with stunning full-colour artwork, maps, and bird’s-eye-views, this title details the complete history of this dramatic campaign.

The last great assault by the German Army in the West.Operation Nordwind is one of the lesser known campaigns of World War II yet one of the more intriguing. Largely overshadowed by the Battle of the Bulge further north, Nordwind was the last great operation by the Waffen-SS Panzer divisions in the west, and the last time the Wehrmacht was on the offensive in the West. The campaign also highlights the difficulties of inter-Allied cooperation between the Americans and the French.Though extensively treated in German and French accounts, the campaign has not been well covered in English until now. Alongside detailed illustrations and maps, Steven J. Zaloga unpacks the story of one of Hitler's final battles.

The first in a series of illustrated books exploring the longest and best-known naval campaign of World War II, focusing on the struggle between Allied naval and air forces and Hitler's U-boats.When fighting broke out in September 1939, neither the British Royal Navy nor the German Kriegsmarine were prepared for another war in the North Atlantic. Having defeated the U-boats in World War I, the Royal Navy was confident it would succeed again. This was quickly shown to be a delusion, as neither the scale of forces available nor their tactics were sufficient. The Germans were even less prepared, having only a small number of U-boats and fewer still that were large enough for operations in the Atlantic. The Germans attempted to win a tonnage war against Allied shipping, with well-trained and bold U-boat commanders enjoying some brilliant successes. However, torpedo problems and the shortage of U-boats prevented the Germans from inflicting crippling losses, even though the British found it impossible to protect all shipping, primarily because of a lack of convoy escorts and inadequate air cover.Respected naval historian Mark Stille examines the struggle between Allied naval and air forces and German U-boats in the first 15 months of World War II. Featuring maps, diagrams, photographs and stunning battlescene artworks, this book vividly brings to life the weapons, personalities and tactics of the opposing sides.

The Kursk campaign was the major German offensive of 1943 and the last strategic offensive the Germans were to launch on the Eastern Front in World War II.Mauled at Stalingrad, the German army looked to regain the initiative on the Eastern Front with a huge offensive launched near the city of Kursk, 280 miles south-west of Moscow. Armed with the new Panther tank, Hitler and Field Marshal von Manstein were confident that they could inflict another crushing defeat on the Soviet Union. What they did not know is that the Soviets knew about the coming attack, and they were ready.This book focuses on the southern front of this campaign, which featured one of the biggest clash of armour of the warin the battle of Prokhorovka which involved over a thousand tanks. It examines in detail the tactics and mistakes of the army commanders as they orchestrated one of the bloodiest battles in World War II.Using campaign maps, stunning photographs and vivid artwork, this new study, a companion to Campaign 272 Kursk 1943: The Northern Front, examines whether that the German offensive was doomed from the start as it takes the reader through this titanic clash of armour.

The Kursk campaign was the major German offensive of 1943 and the last strategic offensive the Germans were to launch on the Eastern Front in World War II.In the summer of 1943, recoiling from defeat at Stalingrad, Hitler conducted a limited objective offensive to eliminate the Soviet Kursk salient. Operating a classic pincer attack of the kind that succeeded during the 1942 Kharkov campaign he hoped that the resulting heavy losses inflicted on the Red Army would give the Wehrmacht time to recover its strength. However, the Soviet anticipation of the attack led to extensive losses on both sides as Soviet anti-tank mines and fierce fighting pushed the Germans back, liberating the German-held Orel in the process.Focusing on the northern front of the battle with Generaloberst, Walter Model’s forces pitted against General Rokossovsky’s Central Front between 5 July and 18 August, this volume will explore both the German offensive and the Soviet counteroffensive. Using documents from both sides, extensive photographs – both contemporary and modern, maps and bird’s-eye-views this title will shed new light on this often ignored part of the battle.

A detailed, compact volume examining the 1809 campaign on the Danube, which was to break the spell of Napoleon's invincibility. Wagram – the largest battle in history at the time – was Napoleon's revenge for his first personal defeat on the battlefield, at Aspern–Essling. In gaining this revenge the French commander was not wholly successful. Although the French won the battle as the Austrians eventually quit the field, the victory was an extremely hollow one.Both these epic battles are expertly described by Ian Castle, chronicling the many changes of fortune as each side captured, lost, then recaptured key positions.

The product of meticulous research in Austrian archives, this volume outlines Archduke Charles' Bavarian defeat, face-to-face with Napoleon.In the Spring of 1809, the Austrian army, buoyant and full of new-found patriotic fervour, rolled across the frontier with Bavaria. The time had come to exact revenge for the humiliating defeat suffered at Austerlitz. But ten days later, harassed by ceaseless rain, they were streaming back from the Abens river with Napoleon in hot pursuit. Napoleon had not been in the front line when Austria had launched its campaign and the French and their German allies had blundered backwards and forwards across the Bavarian countryside. But, with the appearance of Napoleon, Archduke Charles lost the initiative.Based for the first time upon the Austrian primary sources, this title takes the reader through the various clashes of this significant campaign.

In early 1940, a battle raged to control the ice-free, iron-ore port in northern Norway – with changing fortunes until the very end. This highly detailed book covers both the naval battles and the individual Norwegian, British, Polish, French and German units that fought the land campaign over northern Norway. Highly detailed maps guide you step by step through the events. Few other books on Narvik give you as much detail on the forces of the fighting five. From Gebirgsjägers to Guardsmen, Fallschirmjägers to Foreign Legionnaires, it offers you an impressive level of tactical detail, even down to company command, whilst also helping you understand the strategic confusion surrounding the whole Allied expedition to the north too. Among the naval clashes covered in this action-packed story are the destroyer battles in the fjords, the sinking of the aircraft carrier HMS Glorious and the roles the famous battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau played in the fighting. No less dramatic are the land battles, which include amphibious landings, sabotage, commando raids, daring ski missions and a rare parachute insertion by Gebirgsjäger troops.

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.

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.

A highly illustrated account of the battle for the Demyansk Pocket on the Eastern Front in World War II.The fighting around the town of Demyansk was one of the longest encirclement battles on the Eastern Front during World War II, stretching from February 1942 to February 1943. Originally, the German 16. Armee occupied Demyansk in the autumn of 1941 because it was key terrain that would be used as a springboard for an eventual offensive into the Valdai Hills. Instead, the Soviet winter counteroffensive in February 1942 encircled the German II Armeekorps and other units, inside the Demyansk Pocket.Yet despite severe pounding from five Soviet armies, the embattled German troops held the pocket and the Luftwaffe organized a major aerial resupply effort to sustain the defenders. For the first time in military history, an army was supplied entirely by air. In February 1943, Marshal Timoshenko was ordered to launch an offensive to cut off the base of the salient and annihilate the 12 divisions.At the same time, Hitler finally came to his senses after the Stalingrad debacle and authorized the 16. Armee to withdraw from the pocket. This volume will conclude with the drama of a German Army-sized withdrawal under fire in winter, under attack from three sides.

An illustrated look at Ancient Egypt and one of the earliest recorded battles that put a stop to Ramesses II's drive into Syria.In c. 1286 BC, Ramesses II was pharaoh and commander of the Egyptian army. He led an expedition northwards from the eastern delta, through Palestine, and aimed for the city of Kadesh, which was currently in the hands of the Hittites. What Ramesses did not expect was that the Hittites' leader, King Muwatallis, was in the city, which made his plans much harder. Meeting in battle at the Orontes River in southern Syria, it was the largest clash of chariots ever seen. The Hittites proved to be formidable opponents, managing to slice through the second division of the Egyptian army with a targeted chariot attack. In the end, the Hittites were forced to retreat but the Egyptians also failed to capture Kadesh and had to withdraw out of Syria.In this detailed volume, Egyptologist Anthony Spalinger explores the history of the Egyptians and Hittites, looking at how they fought and how Kadesh came to be considered one of the most decisive battles of the ancient world. With stunning artwork, maps, diagrams and images of carvings from multiple temples, Ancient Egypt is brought to life, showcasing one of the earliest recorded set-piece battles.

The final instalment in Osprey's trilogy on Operation Market-Garden, this is a fascinating account of the British XXX Corps assault towards the Rhine at Arnhem.Field Marshal Montgomery's plan to get Second British Army behind the fortifications of the German Siegfried Line in 1944 led to the hugely ambitions Operation Market-Garden. Part of this plan called for a rapid advance from Belgium through Holland up to and across the lower Rhine by the British XXX Corps along a single road already dominated by airborne troops. Their objective along this road was the bridge at Arnhem, the target of British and Polish airborne troops. Once XXX Corps had reached this bridge it would then make for the German industrial area of the Ruhr. The operation was bold in outlook but risky in concept.Using specially commissioned artwork and detailed analysis, Ken Ford completes this trilogy on Operation Market-Garden by examining this attack which, if successful, could have shortened the war in the west considerably. Yet it turned out to be a bridge too far.

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.

A highly illustrated and detailed study of the Utah Beach & the US Airborne Landings.On their western flank, the Allied landings on D-Day combined a parachute drop by the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions with an amphibious assault on “Utah” Beach by the US 4th Infantry Division. The landings came ashore in the wrong place but met weaker German resistance as a result. The heaviest fighting took place inland where the badly scattered paratroopers gradually gathered in small groups and made for their objectives.This book traces the story of D-Day on Utah beach, revealing how the infantry pushed inland and linked up with the Airborne troops in a beachhead five miles deep. Now the battle to break out and seize the key port of Cherbourg could begin.

A highly illustrated and detailed study of the Sword Beach & the British Airborne Landings. At 0016hrs on 6 June 1944 a Horsa glider ground to a halt a mere 60 yards from the Orne Canal bridge at Bénouville in Normandy. A small group of British paratroopers burst from it and stormed the bridge within minutes. The Allied liberation of Nazi-occupied Europe had begun. Within a few hours landing craft would swarm towards Ouistreham as British 3rd Division stormed ashore at Sword Beach.The battle would then begin to break through to relieve the paratroopers. In the third of the D-Day volumes Ken Ford details the assault by British 6th Airborne Division and the British landings on Sword Beach that secured the vital left flank of the invasion.

A highly illustrated and detailed study of the Omaha Beach landings. The D-Day landings of 6 June 1944 were the largest amphibious military operation ever mounted. The greatest armada the world had ever seen was assembled to transport the Allied invasion force across the Channel and open the long-awaited second front against Hitler’s Third Reich. Of the landings on the five assault beaches, Omaha Beach was the only one ever in doubtWithin moments of the first wave landing a third of the assault troops were casualties. Yet by the end of D-Day the Atlantic Wall had been breached and the US Army’s V Corps was firmly entrenched on French soil.

A highly illustrated and detailed study of the Gold and Juno Beaches Landings Operation Overlord, the Allied invasion of Normandy, was the greatest sea-borne military operation in history. At the heart of the invasion and key to its success were the landings of British 50th Division on Gold Beach and Canadian 3rd Division on Juno Beach.Not only did they provide the vital link between the landings of British 3rd Division on Sword Beach and the Americans to the west on Omaha, they would be crucial to the securing of the beachhead and the drive inland to Bayeux and Caen.In the fourth D-Day volume Ken Ford details the assault that began the liberation of Nazi-occupied Europe.

Russian expert Mark Galeotti provides an in-depth look at the siege that pitted Ivan the Terrible and Russia's first standing army against the Khanate of Kazan, leading to Muscovy's rise.The Khanate of Kazan, one of the greatest Turkic successor states to the Mongol Golden Horde, had for generations been a thorn in Muscovy's side, raiding its lands for slaves and plunder. The newly crowned Ivan IV, who would become known as Ivan the Terrible, was determined to end the threat once and for all, leading a massive army against Kazan in 1552, comprising the Streltsy (musketeers), Russia's first standing army, and a massive artillery and engineer train, including an English expert in siegecraft. Kazan was finally taken and brought directly into Muscovy's control, making it a truly multi-ethnic empire. The next four years would see a bitter guerrilla war against the Russians, but they were committed to the march south – going on to conquer the Astrakhan Khanate and the move east into Siberia, setting the scene for the rapid expansion of the Russian Empire under Ivan's Romanov successors.In this gripping tale of Russian history, expert historian Mark Galeotti explores the major land and river offensive that saw Kazan fall to Ivan the Terrible's Army. With colourful battlescenes, detailed 2D maps and 3D diagrams, this book showcases how this siege marked the rise of Muscovy and ultimately helped lead to the Russian state today.