What can the life of the modern professional soldier have in common with a Roman legionary, a Frankish warrior, or the musketeer of the English Civil War? The Footsoldier tells the story from the personal viewpoint of individual soldiers over the last 2,500 years. With stories ranging from Timocrates of Athens -- practising his shield and sword skills at the gymnasium -- to Corporal Joe Borelli, US 2nd Armored Division -- complaining about 'C' rations after more than eighteen months active service in World War II Europe -- a clear account of the development of warfare emerges, with no lack of insight into its prizes and its costs. Detailed information about uniforms and equipment is accompanied by superb color illustrations. "...informative, exciting, accurate and realistic." -- Times Literary Supplement (London)

The Footsoldier (Rebuilding the Past)

Windrow, Martin

Children's Books

Oxford University Press

"No other animal has been as closely woven into the long adventure of human history as the horse".The Horse Soldier looks at the horse's central role in over three thousand years of human warfare, from Ancient Greek times through to the First World War, and its eventual replacement by the tank. Detailed information on the life and equipment of horse and rider -- from a Cromwellian Ironside to a French hussar in the 1812 retreat from Moscow, a Mongol archer to a US Cavalry trooper fighting the Cheyenne in 1876 -- is accompanied throughout by superb color illustrations. "A gripping slice of history, told with passion and pity." -- The Guardian (England)

The Horse Soldier (Rebuilding the Past)

In December 1953 the French army challenged its elusive Vietnamese enemies to a stand-up battle. French paras landed on the border between Vietnam and Laos, astride the Communist lines of communication. The Vietnamese not only attacked, they isolated the French force and besieged it in its jungle base. The hunters became the hunted. As defeat loomed, the French appealed to the USA where Vice-President Nixon and Air Force General Le May planned to drop atomic bombs on the Vietnamese supply dumps. It fell to Winston Churchill to block the use of atomic weapons in Vietnam: President Eisenhower would not employ them without his consent. What followed became a Stalingrad in the jungle: the French were worn down and destroyed. The French withdrew from Vietnam but the country was divided at US insistence, creating the short-lived 'Republic of South Vietnam' for which 55,000 US servicemen would die over the next 20 years. The French colonial army regrouped in Algeria where a new war began, one it was so determined to win that its officers would ultimately attempt a coup d'etat. Dien Bien Phu is a true landmark battle. Its political consequences were profound. Militarily, it was the first defeat of modern western forces by an Asian guerrilla army.

The Last Valley

History

Asia

Weidenfeld&Nicolson

Thanks to countless films and books, an entire mythology surrounds the French Foreign Legion and the anonymous, desperate men who fought and died under the desert sun. But the reality is far richer, and Martin Windrow describes it in gripping detail, including the colonial missions in North Africa and Vietnam, the imperative to build empire, and the impact of Islamic fundamentalism.

Our Friends Beneath the Sands: The Foreign Legion in France's Colonial Conquests 1870-1935

Europe

Weidenfeld Nicolson Ltd

In winter 1953-54 the French army in Vietnam challenged its elusive enemy, General Giap's Viet Minh, to pitched battle. Ten thousand French paras and legionnaires, with artillery and tanks, were flown to the remote valley of Dien Bien Phu to build a fortress upon which Giap could smash his inexperienced regiments. The siege which followed became a Stalingrad in the jungle, and its outcome shocked the world. politico-military position...Anyone who found Stalingrad absorbing will find this book equally so. Like Beevor, Windrow gives one the very essence of battle... His character sketches of individuals, from commanding officers down, are deft and acute...This book is a wonderful account of a terrible battle' Allan Massie, Literary Review

Orion Publishing Co

In December 1953 the French army occupying Vietnam challenged the elusive Vietnamese army to engage in a decisive battle. When French paratroopers landed in the jungle on the border between Vietnam and Laos, the Vietnamese quickly isolated the French force and confronted them at their jungle base in a small place called Dien Bien Phu. The hunters-the French army-had become the hunted, desperately defending their out-gunned base. The siege in the jungle wore on as defeat loomed for the French. Eventually the French were depleted, demoralized, and destroyed. As they withdrew, the country was ominously divided at U.S. insistence, creating the short-lived Republic of South Vietnam for which 55,000 Americans would die in the next twenty years.

The Last Valley: Dien Bien Phu and the French Defeat in Vietnam

Da Capo Press

In December 1953 French paratroopers, who had been searching for the elusive Vietnamese army, were quickly isolated by them and forced to retreat into their out-gunned and desolate jungle base-a small place called Dien Bien Phu. The Vietnamese besieged the French base for five long and desperate months. Eventually, the demoralized and weakened French were utterly depleted and withdrew in defeat. The siege at Dien Bien Phu was a landmark battle of the last century-the first defeat of modern western forces by an Asian guerilla army.The Last Valley is the first new account of the battle since the 1970s. The author has incorporated much new material from French and Vietnamese sources, including veteran interviews, making this the most complete account to-date. And Martin Windrow has received widespread praise from top historians such as John Keegan and Max Hastings (below), as well as reviewers on both sides of the Atlantic.

The story of an odd couple-a British military historian and the Tawny Owl with whom he lived for fifteen years Martin Windrow was a war historian with little experience with pets when he adopted an owl the size of a corncob. Adorable but with knife-sharp talons, Mumble became Windrow's closest, if at times unpredictable, companion, first in a South London flat and later in the more owl-friendly Sussex countryside. In The Owl Who Liked Sitting on Caesar, Windrow recalls with wry humor their finer moments as well as the reactions of incredulous neighbors, the awkwardness of buying Mumble unskinned rabbit at Harrods Food Hall, and the grievous sense of loss when Mumble nearly escapes. As Windrow writes: "Mumble was so much a part of my life in those days that the oddity of our relationship seldom occurred to me, and I only thought about it when faced with other people's astonishment. When new acquaintances learned that they were talking to a book editor who shared a seventh-floor flat in a South London tower block with a Tawny Owl, some tended to edge away, rather thoughtfully . . . I tried to answer patiently, but I found it hard to come up with a short reply to the direct question 'Yes, but . . . why?'; my best answer was simply 'Why not?'" Windrow offers a poignant and unforgettable reminiscence of his charmed years with his improbable pet, as well as an unexpected education in the paleontology, zoology, and sociology of owls.

The Owl Who Liked Sitting on Caesar: Living with a Tawny Owl

Crafts, Hobbies & Home

Pets & Animal Care

Farrar. Straus and Giroux

A concise dictionary of the most important military leaders in history, featuring detailed capsule biographies of 200 individuals from antiquity to the modern age. Included are military leaders known for their sheer genius (Genghis Khan, Frederick the Great, Napoleon); strategic ability (Wellington, Lee, Rommel, Eisenhower); incompetence or villainy (Custer, Budenny, Benedict Arnold); and administrative or theoretical mastery (Clausewitz, Liddel-Hart). Still others are included for their innovativeness (T. E. Lawrence), notoriety (Jeanne d'Arc, El Cid) or because, as with certain medieval figures, their careers are a particularly apt reflection of their times. Written by two respected authorities in the field, it is both an ideal reference for military historians and a uniquely entertaining and browsable text for general readers.

A Concise Dictionary of Military Biography: The Careers and Campaigns of 200 of the Most Important Military Leaders

Biographies & Memoirs

MASON, Francis K.

Leaders & Notable People

wiley

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Windrow, Martin. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Windrow, Martin

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Windrow, Martin. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Footsoldier (Rebuilding the Past)

The Horse Soldier (Rebuilding the Past)

The Last Valley

Our Friends Beneath the Sands: The Foreign Legion in France's Colonial Conquests 1870-1935

The Last Valley

The Last Valley: Dien Bien Phu and the French Defeat in Vietnam

The Last Valley: Dien Bien Phu and the French Defeat in Vietnam

The Owl Who Liked Sitting on Caesar: Living with a Tawny Owl

The Owl Who Liked Sitting on Caesar: Living with a Tawny Owl

A Concise Dictionary of Military Biography: The Careers and Campaigns of 200 of the Most Important Military Leaders