Africa currently faces more wars, insurgencies, army mutinies, coups d’état and rebellions than at any time since World War II. Conflict in all forms has become endemic, now accentuated by a relative newcomer: Jihadism, increasingly linked to either Islamic State or al-Qaeda.The year 2020 saw a record high in state-based conflicts on the African continent: around 22,000 incidents of armed conflict recorded. There were two dozen country-based military struggles recorded, three or four more than in 2018. Of these, 13 battled over territory, the highest number ever. Incidents of conflict have risen each year since, and the broader canvas since Russia’s invasion of the Ukraine suggests things will continue to worsen. Islamic Jihadist forces are responsible for much of this, involved in a succession of conflicts in Africa. These range all the way across the Sub-Sahara swathe, Mauretania, Mali, Burkina Faso and Chad, the Sudans as well as Somalia. A more recent entrant to the fray is Tanzania, whose Dar es Salaam government in late 2021 appealed to the European Union for military help to counter an escalating Jihadist insurgency in its southern province.The upward trend is sobering. And there are long-term security implications both within and beyond Africa – if conditions do deteriorate, Europe will ultimately be threatened. Veteran war correspondent Al Venter brings his decades of experience to illuminate what Islamic Jihadist forces are effecting in Africa, and why, and what the future may hold.

The Creek War (1813–1814) was not only a brutal civil war within the Creek Nation but also part of a broader international struggle tied to the War of 1812. It ended with America’s victory, a watershed moment that expanded white settlement into Creek territories and influenced the course of the larger war with Great Britain.Following the American Revolution, tensions had grown between settlers in Georgia and the Creek Nation over contested lands and cultural assimilation. Divisions within the Creek Nation deepened, with the Lower Creeks, many of whom aligned with U.S. policies, opposing the Red Sticks, who resisted white encroachment and sought to restore Indigenous traditions and autonomy. These divisions set the stage for a violent conflict that engulfed the Creek homeland, stretching across Georgia, Alabama, and the Mississippi Territory. The Creek War’s pivotal moments included the Fort Mims Massacre, which shocked U.S. settlers and government officials alike, and Andrew Jackson's decisive victory at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend in March 1814. Jackson's campaigns, supported by allied Choctaws, Cherokees, and friendly Creeks, decimated Red Stick forces and led to the Treaty of Fort Jackson, which forced the Creek Nation to cede millions of acres, paving the way for further expansion—and eventual tragedy—with the Indian Removal Act in the 1830s.This illustrated book chronicles the war’s key battles, from the massacre at Fort Mims to the decisive Battle of Horseshoe Bend. It examines the roles of volunteer militias, U.S. Army regulars, and allied Indigenous forces, highlighting their triumphs and struggles as they contended with harsh terrain, logistical challenges, and short enlistments.

While most of the fighting of the War of 1812 raged along the Canadian border, the Gulf of Mexico eventually emerged as a critical battleground. The struggle for control of the Mississippi River and the port city of New Orleans became a high-stakes contest, with both the United States and Great Britain recognizing the region’s strategic and economic importance. The Mississippi was the main artery for trade and communication in the trans-Appalachian west, and New Orleans, positioned at the river’s mouth, was vital for controlling the region’s commerce. For Britain, capturing the city would not only cripple the American economy but also provide a bargaining tool during peace negotiations. For the United States, safeguarding New Orleans was essential to securing its western territories and preventing foreign powers from gaining a foothold on its southern frontier.The fighting in the Gulf Theater also reflected broader geopolitical tensions. Spain’s declining hold on Florida and Louisiana complicated the region’s dynamics, as did Britain’s support for Native American resistance to U.S. expansion. The Creeks and other southeastern tribes were drawn into the conflict, with devastating consequences for their communities.The campaigns in the Gulf culminated in the battle of New Orleans, where Andrew Jackson’s forces decisively repelled a British invasion. Although the battle occurred after the Treaty of Ghent had been signed, it cemented U.S. control over the region and boosted national confidence in the war’s aftermath.This illustrated volume examines key episodes in the theater including the battles of Fort Bowyer, the capture of Pensacola, the fighting at New Orleans and the battle of Fort St. Philip, and situates these events within the broader context of U.S. territorial ambitions and Native American resistance.

The German procurement process resulted in a wide range of gun-armed armored vehicles—assault guns, tank destroyers and self-propeled artillery—mounting both German and captured guns. Some were developed from existing German chassis; many employed captured enemy vehicles or were built in the factories of the countries they had conquered.Originally designed as infantry support vehicles, the Sturmgeschütz arm was controlled by the artillery but ended the war having knocked out more enemy tanks than the Panzers. Mainly built on the chassis of the PzKpfw III, particularly after it became obsolete, the StuGs proved durable and effective in infantry support and, when upgunned and even without a turret, as tank killers.The Germans produced a range of vehicles to fend off enemy armor. They mounted increasingly larger guns on any chassis they could lay their hands on, often captured vehicles—the Marder series on French or Czech chassis. There was also the Jagdpanzer range, better protected with an armored casemate providing overhead armor, based on tank chassis. Heavier Jagdpanzer were produced as the war continued the Hornisse/Nashorn (but without overhead protection), the Ferdinand/Elefant and the Jagdpanther armed with 8.8cm weapons. A few of the massive 12.8cm-armed Jagdtiger appeared before war’s end.Blitzkrieg showed that the Panzer divisions needed mobile artillery support, so the Germans mounted artillery weapons on tracked chassis: first PzKpfw Is and IIs and then PzKpfw IIIs and 38(t)s. The best known are the Wespe (on the PzKpfw II), the Grille (on the PzKpfw 38(t)), the Hummel (on the Geschützwagen III/IV), and the Sturmpanzer (on the PzKpfw IV).While some of the crew duties on these vehicles were similar to those of the Panzertruppen, they were completely different vehicles to fight in and fight with: strategically, operationally, tactically and logistically. This fully illustrated book tells the story of the soldiers who crewed these vehicles.

The War of 1812 was born out of longstanding tensions between the United States and Great Britain. Centered on maritime disputes, the war arose from British policies that disregarded U.S. sovereignty, including the impressment of American sailors into the Royal Navy and restrictions on American trade. These provocations, coupled with British support for Native American resistance on the western frontier, led President James Madison to advocate for military action.The book explores the United States' ambitious yet flawed strategy of 1812 to invade Canada as a means to counter British aggression. Despite initial optimism, the U.

The War of 1812 reached a fever pitch along the American border with Canada during the fighting season of 1814. After eighteen months of war, victory over Great Britain remained an elusive goal for the United States;American attempts to conquer Canada had failed, and Britain had not budged on its assertion that it had the right to impress U.S. sailors of British birth. In the South, fighting with the Red Stick Creeks smoldered, while on the Atlantic seaboard the Royal Navy had tightened its blockade and begun raiding villages and plantations on Chesapeake Bay with impunity. While the United States improved the quality of its armed forces and leadership, flawed strategies and resource shortages hindered its campaign to seize Upper and Lower Canada. Meanwhile, with war in Europe finally over, the British were working to transfer numbers of experienced soldiers and sailors to join the struggle against the United States. Following the battles and campaigns of the year—including the clashes at Chippewa and Lundy’s Lane, the siege of Fort Erie, and at Plattsburgh—the United States controlled only a small portion of Upper Canada across from Detroit. Great Britain occupied eastern Maine, Fort Niagara, Fort Mackinac, and the upper Mississippi Valley. The stunning and unlikely victory at Plattsburgh maintained Lake Champlain as a U.

During the Polish campaign, SS combat units were seconded to various formations of the Heer. Still considered more parade troops than frontline soldiers, they did not prove a decisive factor in the fighting, but the campaign was important for their transformation into real fighting units. They were criticized for their losses, and the officers were blamed, being considered poorly and inadequately trained. The SS officers in turn accused Heer commanders for sacrificing SS troops in suicidal missions. Himmler became convinced that if his units were used autonomously they could have better demonstrated their full potential, leading him to push for the SS to be considered a separate fighting force.Fully illustrated, this Casemate Illustrated describes the actions of the SS units that fought on the front line in Poland, primarily the Leibstandarte Adolf Hitler, the SS-Verfügungstruppen and the SS-Heimwehr-Danzig.

The People’s Army of Vietnamese’s decision to utilize armor as part of its warfighting strategy was a product of various geopolitical factors that surrounded Hanoi during various parts of the Vietnam War. During the First Indochina War, the People’s Republic of China (PRC) emerged as the foremost communist benefactor of North Vietnam. The Soviet Union however, largely stood by. While worried by the PRC’s and Soviet Union’s actions during the Geneva Conference of 1954, Hanoi still felt the need to maintain good relations with both countries. This was reinforced when the Sino-Soviet split occurred in 1956 and Hanoi was forced to walk a tight rope between Beijing and Moscow. As the United States escalated its war in Vietnam, Moscow (now under new leadership) sought to increase its material support for Hanoi.As the war progressed, Hanoi sought to fight larger battles against the Americans and their South Vietnamese allies. In order to fight larger battles, the PAVN needed more modern military equipment that only the Soviet Union could provide. This, paired with the chaos of the ongoing Cultural Revolution in China, led Hanoi to lean more towards Moscow in the latter years of the Vietnam War.As part of this newly blossomed relationship, Moscow began to furnish the PAVN with more modern weapons including Soviet armor. Initially, the PAVN’s use of armor at Lang Vei (1968) and Laos (1971) was met with some success. However, in 1972, Hanoi panicked as the United States began to reach “détente” with Beijing and Moscow. This led to fears of another Geneva and thus lead Hanoi to pursue a rushed “Easter Offensive” in March 1972 which saw ill-trained PAVN tank crews fall prey to poor planning and bad strategy. This changed in 1975 when following the Paris Peace Accords and subsequent combined arms training in the Soviet Union, the PAVN victoriously drove its Soviet armor into Saigon.

“In 2016, I was responsible for the deaths of over 600 people. But they deserved to die. All of them. History will not grant the Islamic State a redemption arc. They were the bad guys, the evil of our time. I don’t lose sleep over what we did. However, I still struggle with how easy it was. I still relive the darkest moments of that year. Technology turned warfare into a game, and we treated it as such.”Brennan Deveraux deployed to Iraq from January 2016 to August 2016, serving in the Strike Cell as the theater-level rocket artillery liaison for Operation Inherent Resolve, firing over 500 rockets and killing over 600 enemy fighters. His account relates a personal journey, addressing how US soldiers dealt with slaughtering a technologically inferior foe. This includes detailed and honest accounts of numerous artillery missions. He is open about having had a desire to rack up statistics and is candid about some choices he is not proud of. He shares the dark humor of war that he and his fellow soldiers sought refuge in when dealing with death, helping them escape their actions. Even so, at times they realized that they had lost their humanity, and the reality of warfare once again set in. When Brennan returned home, he was forced to face what he had done overseas in a life-changing moment with his family, experiencing an anxiety attack he could not explain.Brennan’s story is important because it paints a very different picture of what it means to be a soldier in a 21st-century military, exposing the impact of “remote” warfare on service members. It is a reflection on war and a soldier’s role in it, emphasizing the importance of empathy—even for the bad guys—and an appreciation for the families impacted by the inherent violence.

In early 1813, Britain launched a campaign on the Chesapeake Bay to try and divert American regulars from the Canadian border and put pressure on the United States to come to terms. Wishing to keep the Regular Army on the northern front, Secretary of War John Armstrong chose to rely on local forces and state militias to protect the Chesapeake Bay region, believing British raids posed more of a distraction than a serious threat. This defensive approach meant that towns, ports, and even the nation’s capital were left vulnerable to attack, and the responsibility for protection largely fell to less experienced, hastily organized militia units. While American forces successfully defended Craney Island near Norfolk, staving off British occupation, British forces routed an American force at Bladenburg, opening the path to Washington, where they set fire to public buildings, including the White House and the Capitol. This symbolic victory was followed by the Battle of North Point and the defense of Fort McHenry, where Americans managed to turn back British forces in Baltimore. Although the British raid on Washington was a symbolic coup, it did not disrupt the U.S. government or significantly affect the war. The failed attempt to capture Baltimore, combined with a decisive American victory at Plattsburgh, New York, underscored American resilience and contributed to Britain’s decision to end the war without any territorial concessions.Illustrated with photographs and maps, The U.S. Army in the Chesapeake Campaign 1813–14 examines this campaign’s key engagements.

America had gone to war in June 1812 confident that the conquest of Canada would be swift and decisive. However, ill-prepared and hindered by inexperienced leaders, untrained troops, and a lack of resources, the United States quickly found itself on the defensive, suffering major setbacks at Detroit, Queenston, and the River Raisin. By the end of the year, British and Canadian forces stood firm, and some American-held territories had even fallen to the British. Recognizing the need for significant change, President James Madison’s administration took steps to reform the army and improve recruitment, pay, and supply logistics. In an important shift, the U.S. Navy bolstered its role by appointing Captain Isaac Chauncey to build a fleet on the Great Lakes.Chauncey’s efforts set off a naval arms race that became crucial to American operations in the Northwest. Meanwhile, Congress expanded the army, adding new regiments, reorganizing recruitment, and improving pay. Unfortunately the desperate need for troops on the front line mean that companies were marched off as soon as assembled and a regiment therefore rarely had all its companies assembled.American forces launched multiple operations in the Canadian theater in 1813, including the raid on York, the capture of Fort George, defensive battles in the Northwest, naval battles on Lake Ontario and the failed Montreal advance but these engagements provided only limited gains. Strategic errors, supply issues, and weak leadership undercut potential victories, leaving the war’s outcome uncertain.This illustrated history provides a clear account of the 1813 campaign, examining key battles, strategic shifts, and the efforts to strengthen American forces amid ongoing setbacks. Despite limited progress, the trials of 1813 allowed Madison to identify rising officers like Brown and Scott, who would bring hard-won experience to the coming year’s campaigns.

Sons of the Arghandab tells the story of the 1-320th Field Artillery "Top Guns" Battalion, 101st Airborne, in the Arghandab Valley, 2010-2011.The Arghandab River Valley is known for its lush vegetation from its grape furrows and its pomegranate orchards. It’s also known as the birthplace of several Taliban leaders such as Mullah Omar and Akhtar Mohammad Mansour, and was a major crossing route for weapons coming from Pakistan into Kandahar. This hostile environment had already claimed the lives of many seasoned Infantrymen. But the Top Guns weren't infantrymen, they were artillerymen, deployed without their usual weapons and with minimal last-minute training, redesignated as "provisional infantrymen." Painstakingly researched by one of the Top Guns and told through the perspectives of the men who survived that terrible year, this is the harrowing story of Alpha, HHB, and Bravo Batteries as they undertook the challenges of an Artillery unit charged with an Infantry mission in the most hostile killing fields in Afghanistan.

Hero of Belleau Wood, Lemuel Shepherd was the living embodiment of a Marine Corps legend, for Belleau Wood was synonymous with Marine valor and sacrifice.At the age of just 22, after early graduation from Virginia Military Institute following the United States’ entry into World War I, Lemuel Shepherd was made a platoon commander in the 5th Regiment of Marines. His first challenge was to help screen and organize the many recruits needed to convert the company up to war strength. Within just a couple of weeks of reporting for duty, he was on a ship bound for Europe. He would participate in the Aisne-Marne offensive, facing machine guns at the famous battle of Belleau Wood, receiving the DSC and Navy Cross for his gallantry. There he was twice wounded. He returned to the front in August, seeing action in the St. Mihiel and Meuse-Argonne offensives, being wounded for the third time.His career in the Marine Corps continued after the war, encompassing time as aide-de-camp to the commandant of the Marine Corps, duty in China and Haiti, and a period on the staff of Marine Corps Schools, Quantico. After the US entered World War II, Shepherd took command of the 9th Marine Regiment, training it and leading it overseas. Promoted to brigade command in July 1943, he served on Guadalcanal, then as assistant division commander in the Cape Gloucester operation. In May 1944, he assumed command of the 1st Provisional Marine Brigade and led them in the invasion and recapture of Guam. Finally, he commanded the 6th Marine Division through the battle of Okinawa, for which he received a Gold Star. He would command all Marines in the Pacific during the Korean War, and then in 1952 he was appointed as the 20th Commandant of the Marine Corps, introducing a number of important policies that increased military proficiency for the corps.This new biography utilizes Shepherd’s oral history, a wide range of archival records from the Marine Corps History Division and the Virginia Military Institute, and a personal interview conducted by the author with General Shepherd in the 1980s, to give a fuller picture of the consummate “Leatherneck.”

A candid and multifaceted look at life as a security contractor in Iraq in the early years after the American invasion. It’s not just a story of surviving IEDs and firefights while protecting American contractors—though those moments are vividly recounted—it’s also an exploration of the broader, often unexpected, experiences that defined the author’s two and a half years in Iraq.Structured as a series of concise, self-contained chapters, the book captures a wide range of events and encounters: high-speed crashes, tense standoffs with Iraqi security forces, the ever-present uncertainty of knowing who to trust, and the toll of living in a warzone—but outside the protection of the military—on contractors, clients, and locals alike. The focus isn’t just on action but also on the everyday challenges and the strategies necessary to stay safe in such a dangerous and unpredictable environment.The book introduces the diverse people the author met through his work, from former Green Berets, British Royal Marines and South African commandos, through to Gurkhas, a former member of the French Foreign Legion, and even a Buddhist monk. There are stories of heroic, larger-than-life figures and of outlaws who came to Iraq because they didn’t fit in anywhere else and ended up not fitting in there either. It also delves into the lives of Iraqi civilians, who offered glimpses of kindness and humanity amid the chaos. These stories provide readers with a nuanced and personal perspective on a challenging and complex chapter of modern conflict.

The temperature was 40 degrees below zero when fighter planes screamed out of the clouds, puncturing the fuselage with a spray of machinegun fire and sending the bomber beside them into a death spin. This was followed by intense flak, as a hundred cannons on the ground tried to blow them out of the sky.When they finally made it back to the base, another enemy awaited them: homesickness, crushing boredom, relentless cold, and more mud than they could imagine. Bert Ibelle was a 19-year-old freshman at Dartmouth College when he enlisted in the Army Air Corps to fly dozens of bomber missions over Nazi-occupied Europe and win the Purple Heart. His buddy, Fran Brighenti, served as an infantry marksman on the opposite side of the globe, slogging through the steaming jungles of the Philippine and the fiery hell of Okinawa.Their wars couldn’t have been more different, nor could their approach to life. While the ever-exuberant Fran was a ladies man, Bert only had eyes for “Red,” the girl back home who was in love with another young man.This is their story—one that combines terror, humor, friendship, and a son’s search for his elusive father.

The week-long Allied bombing campaign against Hamburg in late July 1943 was not only hugely destructive but also had a significant impact on the German night fighter arm. From now on, the “boxes” of Kammhuber’s “Raumnachtjagd” would be the starting point from which fighters would be led into the bomber stream as early as possible, a tactic dubbed “Zahme Sau.” The night fighters had to quickly adopt new “freelance” procedures, and also found themselves increasingly engaged in daylight operations. These actions resulted in heavy losses—especially of experienced aces—which the Nachtjagd could ill afford and struggled to replace.The winter of 1943/44 saw a series of huge raids on Berlin. Although hard pressed, the Nachtjagd aces were still able to score some heavy tactical victories. Over a thousand RAF “Viermots” were shot down—more than double the expected losses—before the campaign was cut short. New night fighter aces emerged, often former transport and reconnaissance pilots, and the upward firing armament of the Bf 110s and Ju 88s could cut swathes through the “stream.” However, by mid-1944, as the Allies advanced, the night fighter aces were forced into new roles, including ground-strafing armor and troop concentrations, a role for which they were clearly unsuited. A small number of Me 262 jets were deployed in a new NJG 11, but exclusively committed against the rapid twin-engined Mosquitos of the RAF’s Light Night Striking Force. Heinkel He 219s were never available in significant numbers and prowling Mosquito intruders were an ever-present danger to Nachtjagd crews.While the surviving night fighter aces continued their defensive actions virtually every night, by March 1945 the Nachtjagd was in terminal decline. Of the 1,100 night fighter pilots and crew who claimed at least one victory, some 669 were lost, a casualty rate of around 74 percent.Fully illustrated and featuring newly translated personal accounts, this is a chronological account of the Luftwaffe night fighters in the second part of the war, covering major campaigns, the biographies of individual aces, and the details of their aircraft.