'Better Begging Than Fighting'
'Better Begging Than Fighting'

Author: John Barratt

Publisher: Century of the Soldier

Published: 2016

Total Pages: 0

ISBN-13: 9781910777725

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Cromwell's alliance with France in 1657 opened for the English Republic and Charles II's army in exile a new theater of war in Flanders - in addition to England's ongoing war with Spain. It resulted in the old opponents of the Civil Wars in Britain meeting in combat once again. This book tells the story of the two armies: Charles II's polyglot army of Irish, Scottish and English soldiers - fighting for the Stuarts for a variety of reasons - and the expeditionary force dispatched by Cromwell to assist his French allies, with the objective of securing Dunkirk as an English possession. The book, the first detailed study in English, will relate how the two armies were raised and equipped; the commanders and their colorful personalities; and the lives of the soldiers and their campaigns - climaxing with the Battle of the Dunes and the siege of Dunkirk. It will examine the English garrison, and the later history of this and of Charles II's 'forgotten army'. It will also look at the Spanish and French armies, with which Royalists and Republicans were allied. Full use will be made of contemporary and more modern sources - including the letters, journals and memoirs of participants on both sides. The book will be of interest to historians and students of the period, re-enactors and wargamers, and to all interested in a little-known conflict fought across an area much more familiar to English readers for its later wars.

Scalpburner
Scalpburner

Author: Tom Lonergan

Publisher: iUniverse

Published: 2008-04

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 0595512321

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The questions of our origin and cosmic abundance of life are among the most compelling facing humanity. We have determined much about the nature and origin of the Universe and our place in it, but with virtually all evidence of our origin long since gone from our world and an unimaginably vast Universe still to explore, defining answers are difficult to obtain. For all of the difficulties facing us however, the planet Mars may act as a cosmic stepping stone in uncovering some of the answers. Although different today, the origin and early history of both Earth and Mars may have been similar enough to consider an origin to life on both. But because Mars planetary processes collapsed over three billion years ago just as life was beginning to flourish on Earth a significant and unique record of activity from that era perhaps relevant to the origin of life still resides there today. In recognition of this, both the US and Europe are currently engaged in one of the most ambitious programs of exploration ever undertaken. Built on our legacy of Mars exploration from the Viking era and before, a far-reaching, phased, program of robotic exploration now and over the coming decades aims at obtaining definitive answers about the origin and nature of the red planet and what it has to say about the origin and cosmic abundance of life. This book examines these issues in one of the most comprehensive treatments ever written about the planet Mars and our legacy of engagement with it, in language suitable for non-expert and expert alike. Opening chapters consider the question of life in the Universe and the origin of life on Earth and what challenges face us in uncovering defining answers. With a realization of its importance in this, the next section examines the legacy of our engagement with Mars. From Kepler s work on its orbit, Schiaparelli s efforts to resolve its surface features and NASA s Mariner and Viking programs attempting to determine whether life resides upon the surface, Mars has remained elusive, yet always prodding and extending our capabilities in exploration and our perception of our place in the Universe. Subsequent chapters consider our current understanding of the planet and the recently devised comprehensive program for scientific exploration. All recent, current and upcoming missions and the latest findings are discussed in detail, providing our best understanding yet of a vast and ancient landscape indeed characterized by significant activity relevant to our quest and which also points to a planet far from dead today. Late chapters consider NASA and ESA plans for Mars over the next thirty years, increasingly shaped by the scientific successes to date, unprecedented public interest and by issues of planetary protection. And with mounting political interest, our program for Mars may culminate in a human mission to Mars, perhaps sometime around 2040. The greatest discovery, however, remains to be made. If even one microbe is found on Mars, it will reveal a cosmic context for life with Earth as one place among many harboring life, confirming our cosmic origins and destiny.

To Settle the Crown
To Settle the Crown

Author: Jonathan Worton

Publisher: Helion and Company

Published: 2016-03-15

Total Pages: 292

ISBN-13: 191437732X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

While the First, or 'Great', English Civil War of 1642-6 was largely contested at regional and county level, in often hard-fought and long-lasting local campaigns, historians often still continue to dwell on the well-known major battles, such as Edgehill and Naseby, and the prominent national leaders. To help redress this imbalance, To Settle The Crown: Waging Civil War in Shropshire, 1642-1648 provides the most detailed bipartisan study published to date of how the war was actually organized and conducted at county level. This book examines the practicalities, the 'nuts and bolts', of contemporary warfare by reconstructing the war effort of Royalists and Parliamentarians in Shropshire, an English county on the borderland of Wales - a region that witnessed widespread fighting. Shropshire was contested during the First Civil War - when it became one of the most heavily garrisoned counties in England and Wales - and experienced renewed conflict during the Second Civil War of 1648. Based on a Doctoral thesis, and therefore drawing primarily on contemporary sources revealing much new information, To Settle The Crown examines key aspects of the military history of the English Civil Wars: allegiance and motivation; leadership and administration; recruitment and the form of armed forces; military finance; logistics; and the nature and conduct of the fighting. Furthermore, while previous studies have tended to concentrate on the Parliamentarians, the comparatively plentiful evidence from Shropshire has allowed the Royalist war effort there to be reconstructed in rare detail. This book reveals for the first time the extent of military activity in Shropshire, describing the sieges, skirmishes and larger engagements, while reflecting on the nature of warfare elsewhere across Civil War England and Wales. In also providing a social context to the military history of the period, it explains how Royalist and Parliamentarian activists set local government on a wartime footing, and how the populace generally became involved in the administrative and material tasks of war effort. Extensively illustrated, fully referenced to an extensive bibliography, and including a useful review of Civil War historiography, To Settle The Crown: Waging Civil War in Shropshire, 1642-1648 is a significant fresh approach to the military history of the English Civil Wars.

Charles XII's Karoliners
Charles XII's Karoliners

Author: Sergey Shamenkov

Publisher: Helion and Company

Published: 2022-06-23

Total Pages: 156

ISBN-13: 1804515957

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book examines the evolution and changes in Swedish infantry and artillery uniforms during the Great Northern War. The author reconstructs in detail the appearance of infantry and artillery officers, NCOs, and privates of the time of Charles XII, drawing on a number of studies and articles, and based on extant artifacts, and written and iconographic documents that have survived to our time. The book illustrates both major and minor changes in the cut, style, and adornments of the uniforms of infantry and artillery officers, NCOs, and privates that occurred shortly before or during the war. It also provides detailed insights into the differences between the Carolean uniforms of the “older model” of 1687, which served as the basis for later modifications, and the “younger model” of 1706, as well as into different variations in transitional models existing between the two. The book also studies the different variations of headgear used by Swedish officers, NCOs, and privates, with a particular focus on grenadier caps, and examines soldiers’ accouterments and dress. The uniforms and insignia of Swedish infantry and artillery officers are described in a separate section. Along with published sources, this book also relies on little-known or previously unpublished documents. The text is accompanied with photos of surviving uniforms, archaeological finds and period artworks, and is richly illustrated with the author’s graphic reconstructions of period uniforms. A full-color section is dedicated to the author’s own plates, which show officers, NCOs, and privates of Charles XII’s army during the Great Northern War. These eye-catching graphic reconstructions with detailed descriptions will be helpful for historians, artists, reenactors, and filmmakers. They will also be invaluable to those who are fond of historical figurines and to those who create their own tabletop armies to play out historical battles.

The Khotyn Campaign of 1621
The Khotyn Campaign of 1621

Author: Micha? Paradowski

Publisher: Helion and Company

Published: 2023-09-25

Total Pages: 272

ISBN-13: 1804514993

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In autumn 1621, at a fortified camp near Khotyn (Chocim), in the Principality of Moldavia, allied Polish, Lithuanian and Cossack armies faced a large Ottoman army led by Sultan Osman II. It was the concluding act of a war that had started with the defeat of a Polish army at Cecora one year earlier. As such it was actually part of the longer conflict, waged over the Commonwealth’s and the Ottoman’s influence over Moldavia. Throughout the whole of September and the first half of October 1621, the allied army managed to defend their camps against Turks, with both sides taking heavy losses from the hardship of the siege operations and worsening weather conditions. The conflict ended with the Treaty of Khotyn (9 October 1621) which did not particularly favor either of the sides. All the same, stopping the Ottoman was seen as a huge success for the Commonwealth, while attitudes on the Ottoman sides were far from victorious. The aftershock of the war led to the rebellion of janissaries in 1622, resulting in the overthrow and murder of Sultan Osman II. The book focuses on the Khotyn campaign of 1621, describing the day-by-day actions of the combatant armies – assaults, sallies and raids – during the whole of the siege. Additional theaters of war, such as Cossack operations from the summer of 1621 and Tatars raids against the Polish interior, are described as well. The reader will also find here details of the organization and strength of the fighting armies, information about the battle dispositions of the troops at Khotyn and commanders leading the troops. Actions leading to the outbreak of the open conflict between the Commonwealth and the Ottoman Empire are explained in a separate chapter, providing a good historical background of the war. Another chapter covers the outcome of the war and the ways that influenced the internal and external situation of both the Commonwealth and the Ottoman Empire. As with his previous works, the author has utilized a large number of primary sources: from the diaries of soldiers taking part in the campaign, through chronicles, official letters and documents from the period to army musters. Among the documents used are not only those written by Poles and Lithuanians, but also documents from Cossacks, Germans and Ottomans. Modern works, especially from Polish and Ukrainian historians, have also been used, in order to provide the most up-to-date and in-depth research. As this topic has previously not had much coverage in English, this book will be a valuable addition to the library of anyone interested in the history of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, in Zaporozhian Cossacks and in the Ottoman Empire in the early seventeenth century.

The Secrets of the Gods
The Secrets of the Gods

Author: Claudiu Gilian

Publisher: Claudiu-Gilian Chircu

Published: 2017-03-22

Total Pages: 806

ISBN-13:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

What would it be like to realize one day that everything you believed to be true was nothing but a lie? That you lived in an illusion constantly fed by those around you? That reality is often diametrically opposed to the chimera that was inoculated to you? That to learn the truth you need to forget everything you know? - What is God? - Are aliens real? - Is the material universe just an illusion? - Why are we here, where do we come from and where do we go after death? - Is Earth a prison? - Are humans the descendants of the gods of the past? - Is the Bible just a collection of plagiarized myths? - Was Christianity invented by Philo of Alexandria? - Was the Garden of Eden located on the territory of today's Romania? - Are Lucifer and Adam the same character? - Is Noah's Ark one of the Giza pyramids? - Is the Great Pyramid an interdimensional travel device? - Was the prophet Abraham a descendant of the Akkadian emperor Sargon the Great? - Was Moses really Pharaoh Akhenaton? - Is there an unseen war between the Aryan and Semitic races? - Did Alexander the Great discover the source of life in Dacia? - Did Pharaoh Tutankhamun's family practice black magic? - Does the Asteroid Belt come from the Mariana Trench? - Are the fallen angels at the top of the Masonic pyramid? - Is time travel possible? - Is the Apocalypse an event of the past? - Was Jesus possessed? All these questions (and many more) can be answered by "The Secrets of the Gods", a secret history of the world, based on the decoding of ancient myths, as well as on the results of modern scientific research. A unique and controversial interpretation of universal history, which brings to the general public the secrets of the gods, until now reserved only for the initiated.

Creating Memory
Creating Memory

Author: Farah Mendlesohn

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2020-09-23

Total Pages: 324

ISBN-13: 3030545377

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

This book considers the English Civil Wars and the civil wars in Scotland and Ireland through the lens of historical fiction—primarily fiction for the young. The text argues that the English Civil War lies at the heart of English and Irish political identities and considers how these identities have been shaped over the past three centuries in part by the children’s literature that has influenced the popular memory of the English Civil War. Examining nearly two hundred works of historical fiction, Farah Mendlesohn reveals the delicate interplay between fiction and history.

Where I'm Bound
Where I'm Bound

Author: Allen Ballard

Publisher: iUniverse

Published: 2012-02-10

Total Pages: 321

ISBN-13: 1462052746

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A former slave turned cavalry scout becomes a hero for an African-American cavalry regiment in the Civil War. But, as the war draws to an end, the soldier, Joe Duckett, embarks on his most dangerous mission yet-to return to the plantation from which he escaped to find his wife and daughter. A Washington Post Notable Book. Also a winner of the First Novelist Award from the Black Caucus of the American Library Association. "The important story of black soldiers in the Union Army has finally found a writer of historical fiction equal to the occasion." James A McPherson, Professor of History, Princeton University