Peter Hart

"La Gran Guerra —escribe Peter Hart, investigador del Imperial War Museum de Londres— fue el acontecimiento más importante del siglo XX". Fue la primera guerra que abarcó el mundo entero: millones de

The Great War was the first truly global conflict, and it changed the course of world historyIn this magnum opus, critically-acclaimed historian Peter Hart examines the conflict in every arena around the world, in a history that combines cutting edge scholarship with vivid and unfamiliar eyewitness accounts, from kings and generals, and ordinary soldiers. He focuses in particular on explaining how technology and tactics developed during the conflict - and determines which battles were crucial to its outcome. Combatants from every corner of Earth joined the fray, but their voices are rarely heard together. This is a major history of the conflict whose centenary is fast approaching.Published in paperback for the anniversary of the conflict, this is a pioneering and comprehensive account of the First World War, comparable to Anthony Beevor or Max Hastings.

In the 1880s control over northeastern Africa was a political minefield into which Prime Minister Gladstone did not want to step until his emissary Charles Gordon was besieged in Khartoum and the city became the focal point for war It was the height of European colonialism Injustices were administered bloody battles fought and civilians caught in the crossfire Among the British officers were figures who would later adopt starring roles in the First World War such as Egyptian Army sapper Captain Herbert Kitchener By turns shocking and dynamic Chain of Fire examines the terrible desert wars using the testimonies of the men who fought there

Combine the thrill, freedom and exhilaration of surfing, skiing and sailing, and you have an understanding of the attraction of windsurfing. This book is the ultimate guide to windsurfing; packed full of information and with photographs by John Carter, it offers a full explanation of equipment, a detailed description of the basic as well as intermediate and advanced techniques, and has specific chapters on planing, sailing smaller boards, gybing, wave sailing and much more. With over 200 great photographs, informative diagrams, a glossary and list of useful addresses, this is the complete guide to the sport.

The story of the decimation of the Royal Flying Corps over Arras in 1917As the Allies embarked upon the Battle of Arras, they desperately needed accurate aerial reconnaissance photographs. But by this point the Royal Flying Club were flying obsolete planes. The new German Albatros scouts massively outclassed them in every respect: speed, armament, ability to withstand punishment and manoeuverability. Many of the RFCs pilots were straight out of flying school - as they took to the air they were sitting targets for the experienced German aces. Over the course of Bloody April the RFC suffered casualties of over a third. The average life expectancy of a new subaltern on the front line dropped to just eleven days. And yet they carried on flying, day after day, in the knowledge that, in the eyes of their commanders at least, their own lives meant nothing compared to the photographs they brought back, which could save tens of thousands of soldiers on the ground. In this book Peter Hart tells the story of the air war over Arras, using the voices of the men who were actually there.

How the age of the great WWI aces came to an end in the skies over the Western FrontAt the beginning of 1918 the great aces seemed invincible. Flying above the battlefields of the Western Front, they cut a deadly swathe through the ranks of their enemies, as each side struggled to keep control of the air. Some were little more than boys when they started to fly, yet they were respected and feared as some of the deadliest killers in the sky. But as the press of fighting increased with the great offensives of 1918, nervous stress and physical exhaustion finally began to take their toll - and one by one the aces began to fall.This book charts the rise and fall of the WWI aces in the context of the vast battles that were taking place in 1918. It shows the vital importance of reconnaissance, and how large formations of aircraft became the norm - bringing an end to the era of the old, heroic lone wolves. As the First World War came to a close very few of the aces survived. This epic history of the final year of the air war is both a chronicle of the ways in which 1918 changed aerial combat forever, and a requiem for the pioneers of aerial combat who eventually became the victims of their own brilliant innovations.

Since emerging from tabloid-television infamy as the former host of Inside Edition, Bill OReilly has taken his brand of provocative rhetoric to the next level: from shock-TV to the No Spin Zone. Despite his outspoken support for Bushs tax cuts and a war with Iraq, and his attacks on everything from National Public Radio to "welfare mothers," OReilly fashions his program, The OReilly Factor, as "without an agenda or any ideological prejudices." Presenting opposing viewpoints and likely to express views that occasionally diverge from the conservative orthodoxy, OReilly has styled himself as a straight-shooting man of the people, wary of the conservative label with which liberals would tag him. In The Oh Really? Factor, brimming with examples of OReillys error, contradiction, and hard-right political tilt, Hart exposes the No Spin Zone as little more than clever marketing. The Oh Really? Factor reflects hundreds of hours of research, fact checking, and analysis of the same evidence OReilly uses to support his claims. In this concise and compelling analysis of OReillys views, Hart underscores this pundits masked partisanship; adversarial stance toward unions, Blacks, immigrants, and gays and lesbians; and his kid-gloves treatment of the Right. Forming an important corrective, The Oh Really? Factor snags OReilly in his own spin.

The story of the huge mobile battles of 1918, which finally ended the Great War.1918 was the critical year of battle as the Great War reached its brutal climax. Warfare of an epic scale was fought on the Western Front, where ordinary British soldiers faced the final test of their training, tactics and determination. That they withstood the storm and began an astonishing counterattack, is proof that by 1918, the British army was the most effective fighting force in the world. But this ultimate victory came at devastating cost.Using a wealth of previously unpublished material, historian Peter Hart gives a vivid account of this last year of conflict - what it was like to fight on the frontline, through the words of the men who were there. In a chronicle of unparalleled scope and depth, he brings to life the suspense, turmoil and tragedy of 1918s vast offensives.

"La Gran Guerra —escribe Peter Hart, investigador del Imperial War Museum de Londres— fue el acontecimiento más importante del siglo XX". Fue la primera guerra que abarcó el mundo entero: millones de

Dramatic, illustrated account of the biggest naval battle of the First World War.On 31 May, 1916, the great battle fleets of Britain and Germany met off Jutland in the North Sea. It was a climactic encounter, the culmination of a fantastically expensive naval race between the two countries, and expectations on both sides were high. For the Royal Navys Grand Fleet, there was the chance to win another Trafalgar. For the German High Seas Fleet, there was the opportunity to break the British blockade and so change the course of the war. But Jutland was a confused and controversial encounter. Tactically, it was a draw; strategically, it was a British victory.Naval historians have pored over the minutiae of Jutland ever since. Yet they have largely ignored what the battle was actually like for its thousands of participants. Full of drama and pathos, of chaos and courage, JUTLAND, 1916 describes the sea battle in the dreadnought era from the point of view of those who were there.

A compelling account of the battle for Passchendaele from grand strategy at the highest levels right down to the experience of the ordinary infantrymen.In the autumn of 1917, after years of stalemate at Ypres, the British and French armies launched a massive offensive to take Passchendaele Ridge. Following an intensive bombardment the Allies began their attack, but the low ground between the lines had been churned into a quagmire, and the attack was literally bogged down.All surprise had been lost, and the German defence in depth was well organised. For the first time the Germans used mustard gas, while German planes flew low to strafe the British infantry with machine guns. After two and a half months the British finally took the ridge they had been aiming for, but at the cost of over 300,000 Allied lives. German losses in the offensive were estimated at 260,000.Based on the archival holdings at the Imperial War Museum, this book gathers together a wealth of material about this horrific offensive. A history to appeal to the scholar and the general reader alike.

A major new history of the most infamous battle of the First World War, as described by the men who fought it.On 1 July 1916, Douglas Haigs army launched the Big Push that was supposed finally to bring an end to the stalemate on the Western Front. What happened next was a human catastrophe: scrambling over the top into the face of the German machine guns and artillery fire, almost 20,000 British and Commonwealth soldiers were killed that day alone, and twice as many wounded - the greatest loss in a single day ever sustained by the British Army. The battle did not stop there, however. It dragged on for another 4 months, leaving the battlefield strewn with literally hundreds of thousands of bodies. The Somme has remained a byword for the futility of war ever since. In this major new history, Peter Hart describes how the battle looked from the point of view of those who fought it. Using never-before-seen eyewitness testimonies, he shows us this epic conflict from all angles. We see what it was like to crawl across No Mans Land in the face of the German guns, what it was like for those who stayed behind in the trenches - the padres, the artillerymen, the doctors. We also see what the battle looked like from the air, as the RFC battled to keep control of the skies above the battlefield. All this is put in the context of the background to the battle, and Haigs overall strategy for the Western Front, making this the most comprehensive history of the battle since Lyn MacDonalds bestselling work over 20 years ago.