From the creation of the first volunteer paratroop unit shortly after the birth of Israel and of the Israeli Defense Force, this arm of service has been recognized as elite. They have also been the first choice for daring special missions, and it is mainly from their ranks that Israel's Special Forces units have been recruited. A unique aspect of the Israeli military is the cross-posting of officers from the airborne, armoured and other units, to ensure that all unit commanders share their aggressive qualities and thorough understanding of the capabilities of all arms. In this way the influence of the paratroop arm has been out of proportion to its size.
This fully illustrated study is a complete history of Israeli paratroopers from its creation to the present day, including relevant developments in their role and organization, as well as their achievements and setbacks in conflicts such as the Six Days War and Yom Kippur War.
Richly illustrated, this title describes Anglo-Saxon monarchs, warlords and their warriors and households in Anglo-Saxon Britain, from the first post-Roman mercenaries to the Norman Conquest.
In a country fragmented by Roman withdrawal during the 5th century AD, the employment of Germanic mercenaries by local rulers in Anglo-Saxon Britain was commonplace. These mercenaries became settlers, forcing Romano-British communities into Wales and the West Country. Against a background of spreading Christianity, the struggles of rival British and Anglo-Saxon kingdoms were exploited by the Vikings, but eventually contained by the Anglo-Saxon king, Alfred of Wessex. His descendants unified the country during the 10th century, however, subsequent weak rule saw its 25-year incorporation into a Danish empire before it finally fell to the Norman invasion of 1066.
Scholars of the early Church have long known that the term 'Dark Ages' for the 5th to 11th centuries in Britain refers only to a lack of written sources, and gives a false impression of material culture. The Anglo-Saxon warrior elite were equipped with magnificent armour, influenced by the cultures of the late Romans, the Scandinavian Vendel people, the Frankish Merovingians, Carolingians and Ottonians, and also the Vikings.
In this volume, co-authors Raffaele D'Amato and Stephen Pollington access their extended knowledge to paint a vivid picture of the kings and warlords of the time with the aid of colour illustrations, rare photos and the latest archaeological research.
Gaius Julius Caesar remains the most famous Roman general of all time. Although he never bore the title, historians since Suetonius have judged him to be, in practice, the very first 'emperor' - after all, no other name in history has been synonymous with a title of imperial rule. Caesar was a towering personality who, for better or worse, changed the history of Rome forever. His unscrupulous ambition was matched only by his genius as a commander and his conquest of Gaul brought Rome its first great territorial expansion outside the Mediterranean world. His charismatic leadership bounded his soldiers to him not only for expeditions 'beyond the edge of the world' - to Britain - but in the subsequent civil war that raised him to ultimate power. What is seldom appreciated, however is that the army he led was as varied and cosmopolitan as those of later centuries, and it is only recently that a wider study of a whole range of evidence has allowed a more precise picture of it to emerge. Drawing on a wide range of new research, the authors examine the armies of Julius Caesar in detail, creating a detailed picture of how they lived and fought.
An illustrated study of Rome's key enemies from the Late Principate and Dominate: the western Visigoths and the eastern Ostrogoths.
The Goths were a Germanic people who, under pressure from the Huns, migrated during the 2nd century AD to the Balkans, where they split into the Visigoths to the west, and the Ostrogoths to the east. After first raiding and looting Roman territory, some eventually came to serve as allies to the Empire, but this allegiance would collapse following a Hun advancement that saw the Goths forced south against the Danube. Failure to negotiate settlement in this new, Roman-held territory led to wars, during which the Ostrogoths won a decisive victory over a Roman army at Adrianople (AD 378), and the Visigoths finally sacked Rome itself (AD 410).
In this fascinating study, Roman military historians Raffaele D'Amato and Andrea Salimbetiand Andrea Salimbeti examine Rome's fierce clashes with the Gothic peoples, exploring their role in the fall of the Western Empire and eventual transition from Roman to early medieval Europe. Newly commissioned artwork, artefact photos and expert research combine to bring to life key events in the Goths' history, including the Ostrogoths' defeat by Emperor Justinian in the 6th century, the establishment of Gothic kingdoms in Italy and the Iberian Peninsula, and their service as subjects and soldiers in Byzantine Crimea.
This illustrated study lifts the veil on the gladiators of ancient Rome, who provided a bloody spectacle for the people of the Eternal City and its vast empire.
By the start of the Principate in 27 BC, the gladiator games were a long-standing part of the social and political life of Rome and its sprawling empire. In the wake of reforms enacted by Augustus, the games continued to be at the heart of Roman culture and politics during the 1st and 2nd centuries AD.
While prominent citizens harnessed the opportunities offered by the gladiator games to enhance their own reputations and reward their clients, the emperors soon assumed a near-monopoly on the provision of games; several even entered the arena themselves, most notoriously Commodus. In the quest for novelty, prisoners, criminals and women came to participate in this grisly 'sport'. Only after the adoption of Christianity as the state religion in AD 380 did armed combat between gladiators enter a decline, and even then beast hunts persisted into the 6th century.
Although much evidence remains, both literary and archaeological, the gladiators and their world continue to be misunderstood. Featuring full-colour reconstructions of these legendary arena fighters, this book draws upon the latest research and the author's own findings to cast new light on these formidable arena fighters and their legacy.
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