The first American troops to wade ashore on Omaha Beach were jokingly known as the Suicide Wave. Almost none came back. An epic battle that involved 156,000 men, 7,000 ships and 20,000 armoured vehicles, the desperate struggle unfolded on 6th June 1944. Above all it's a story of individual heroics, of men who were driven to keep fighting until the German defences were smashed and the precarious beachhead secured. If driven back into the sea, the invasion would be stalled for years. Southern England was a vast marshalling yard for military supplies. For almost 75 years since that day many voices involved have remained unheard - ordinary Allied soldiers, German defenders, French civilians. Compellingly authentic, revelatory and beautifully written, Giles Milton's bold history narrates the day's events through the tales of survivors - the teenage Allied conscript, the crack German defender, the French Resistance fighter. From the military architects at Supreme Headquarters to the young schoolboy in the Wehrmacht's bunkers, the book lays bare the absolute terror of those trapped in the front line of Operation Overlord and gives voice to the French butcher's daughter, the Panzer Commander's wife, and the chauffeur to the General Staff. The book reveals 'the longest day' as never before, less a masterpiece of strategic planning than a day on which thousands of scared young men found themselves staring death in the face. Vivid, graphic and moving this is a completely fresh and very human approach to military history. 486pp in illustrated paperback.

Captain of HMS Endurance during the Falklands conflict of 1982, Nick Barker made his first visit to the islands in December 1980. Endurance, or Red Plum as she was always called, had joined the Royal Navy in 1968 and was a listening station which assisted the work of the British Antarctic Survey. A former merchant ship, she attracted little attention in spite of carrying guns and two helicopters, but with just one propeller she was not an easy ship to control and the plan was to pay her off in 1982. The Argentinians had been laying claim to the Falklands during the 1970s and with only a frigate left to monitor the region they now saw the Endurance's decommissioning as the last remaining obstacle to recapturing the Malvinas. An appeal to the prime minister, Margaret Thatcher, for Endurance's reprieve met with a refusal, but everything changed when war broke out. Information was scarce and those on the ground were often the last to hear of Argentine manoeuvres, but at the dead of night Barker daringly captained the Plum out of South Georgia through the narrow Merton Passage to reach the Falklands in a force-10 gale, only to be ordered back to South Georgia. Barker's first-hand account of the conflict has the immediacy of someone in the thick of it subjected to contradictory orders with a strong sense that everything was going disastrously wrong. Endurance contributed to the British victory, but Barker's efforts to save the ship after the war came to nothing. 254pp, paperback, maps, photos.

From the elegant prototype Model-40 biplane of 1925 which was adapted to carry mail between Chicago and San Francisco, to the 787 "Dreamliner" with its glass-fibre structure, this neat fact file tells you everything you wanted to know about Boeing aircraft and a whole lot more besides. Making its name as a supplier of military aircraft in WWI, in 1933 the Boeing company diversified into the passenger market with the 247, which combined aerodynamic form and excellent flying performance with space for 10 passengers and their luggage, a potential distance of 1200 km and a cruising speed of 304 km per hour. This cantilevered low-wing monoplane was ordered in such large numbers that new assembly techniques had to be developed. By 1949 the 377b Stratocruiser prioritised comfort over speed in the era of expanding leisure flights, incorporating a lounge and bar on the lower deck. At the same time Boeing was in the forefront of the jet aircraft speed revolution, with Pan-American launching its London-New York passenger service in 1958 using a Boeing 707, soon to be superseded by the 727 with its three turbofans and a T-tailplane. In 1968 both Lufthansa and United put the new 737 into service. 1969 saw the first take-off of the 747 "Jumbo" Jet2, which by 1970 was in regular transatlantic service with Pan-Am. In the 21st century Boeing suffered setbacks but a comeback has been based on its global reach, employing over 150,000 workers in 67 countries. 111pp, softback, 39 featured aircraft with history, specifications and colour photos.

'Military Dress and Court Regalia in the Later Romano-Byzantine Empire' is the sub-title of this richly illustrated book. Drawing on literary and artistic sources, archaeology and reconstructions, this is the most detailed study of its kind to date accompanied by 60 black and white images and 24 specially commissioned colour plates by Graham Sumner. Dawson examines the range and style of clothing worn in the Roman Empire from the 6th century to the end of the Empire in 1453. The regalia embrace not only garments of distinctive form and decoration, but also both dress and non-dress accessories. Among the 24 full colour full page plates we can view up close judicial officers, soldiers on parade in the 10th century, a courtier and servant, ladies of the court circa 650-900, robing an emperor and an empress in the 6th century. Garments were crucial in displaying rank and function on an everyday basis and varied considerably for special occasions. Military dress largely reflected form current amongst ordinary men with an emphasis on functionality. In the colour image of the Empress we see the decoration of sementa on the shoulders and knees, and klavoi projecting up from the hem in accord with venerable Roman custom, although more typical of male dress. The sleeves are of the Persian form, and she holds a crown or diadema. The dress is pale blue, the decoration in rich gold with red and green embroidery. With full coverage of turbans, footwear, overgarments, headgear and regalia tunics called kamision and khiton. A Pen & Sword glamorous 170 large page volume.

A thorough account of the Home Front in a region which backed up troops by manufacturing munitions and maintaining essential industries to 'keep the home fires burning', as well as hosting, educating and caring for thousands of evacuees. The region had two regiments: the Sherwood Foresters and the Derbyshire Yeomanry. Chatsworth House was used by Penrhos College and Hardwick Hall gave much of its park and lands over to military barracks and a gymnasium space for interned Italian prisoners. Learn that Glossop and Buxton were surrounded in absolute secrecy to protect them from the shelling by Luftwaffe aircraft as they held the largest store of ammunition in the country in underground tunnels through Harpur Hill. In Crich parish, there were WVS first aid exercises where members would mock up injuries on themselves with dirt or lipstick and present themselves as 'casualties'. There are brilliant black and white photographs included from the old silk mill in Derby and a photograph of the moors between Howden Reservoir and Margery Hill which claimed several plane crash victims, to an Air Raid Precautions (ARP) warden in gas-protection clothing. Paperback, images, 102pp.

In this publication from Images of War, witness the struggle between the Nazis and Allied military over a ten month period, between 1944 and 1945. This is a fascinating combination of rare photographs from the war time archive and authoritative commentary from Hans Seidler, an authority on German armed forces and their equipment. The book includes chapters on different historical moments on defending northern France and the Rhine, and battles in Holland and Belgium, as well as appendices on the battle in Ardennes on 15 December 1944, weapons composition in 1944, and the composition of infantry and panzergrenadier division. The author provides stunning detail of the machinations of the German army including how heavy weapons in the engineer battalion were predominantly pulled by animal draught while the troops were mounted on bicycles during 1944 as well as a note on one photo that shows a well-concealed soldier who has a rubber band holding foliage in place around his steel helmet which was the most popular means of camouflaging a helmet, alongside the use of chicken wire. A highlight is, of course, the photographs, ranging from a shot of a column of vehicles and troops marching on a road with a 2cm FlaK gun defending the column from a possible attack, to shots of people on the front such as a grenadier smiling at the camera while armed with a deadly Panzerfaust (a handheld rocket-propelled grenade) over his shoulder and an SS grenadier sitting in a Volkswagen Schwimmwagen during reconnaissance operations on the Western Front. On one page, grenadiers are hitching a lift onboard a Panther Ausf.G. in France with saplings placed over the Panther to help conceal it for enemy observation. On another, Waffen-SS soldiers advance through a wooded area in summer camouflage smocks providing additional concealment during daylight. The photos offer insight into the day-to-day lives of individuals in the army, such as a shirtless gunner tucking into his rations while standing next to his 8gun, a crew sitting and chatting on the tracks of a Sturmgeschütz, and a Hitlerjugend soldier in camouflage laying out a national flag for aerial recognition by placing rocks on the flag to stop it blowing in the wind. This is fascinating and, at times, an intimate look into life behind German lines. Paperback, black and white photographs, 144pp.

Irish troops had fought for Louis XIV in the 1670s and took part in most of the major conflicts of the time including the Wars of the 1670s, the Nine Years War, the War of the Spanish Succession, the War of the Austrian Succession, the 1745 Jacobite Rebellion and in the Americas. Their many battles included Neerwinden, Steenkirke, Blenheim, Oudenarde, Ramillies and Malplaquet; Fontenoy, Culloden and York Town. They served alongside the French Army until the French Revolution. They fought in French service initially under Charles II but then in exile as James II lost his throne. The links between the regiments and the characters that form the core of the story are outlined and discussed and the Irish Brigade went on from becoming just another 'foreign' regiment to an elite formation. Ironically, while supporting the Jacobite cause, their link with the French enemy helped solidify the position of the English crown. They were sent to France under Lord Mountcashel in 1689. With the fall of Limerick in 1691, Patrick Sarsfield led the second 'flight' of 'Wild Geese' to the continent to fight in a war for the French, against the Grand Alliance of Europe, in the vain hope that their loyalty might warrant French support in a return to Ireland under a Stuart king. D. P. Graham explains the origins of the brigade and its regiments, the personalities who led them and formed their reputation, and the circumstances of their final dissolution in the aftermath of the French Revolution. 472pp.

In the hard-fought winter of 1944, the Allies advanced northwards through Italy but halted on the fearsome mountainous defences of the Gothic Line. Two men were parachuted in in an effort to break the deadlock, their mission to penetrate deep into enemy territory and lay waste to the Germans' impregnable headquarters. At the 11th hour, mission commanders radioed for David 'The Mad Piper' Kilpatrick to be flown in, resplendent in his tartan kilt. They wanted this fearless war hero to lead the assault, piping Highland Laddie as he went, so leaving an indelible British signature to deter Nazi reprisals. Another man sent in was Michael 'Wild Man' Lees, veteran agent with the Special Operations Executive, Churchill's shadowy 'Ministry for Ungentlemanly Warfare'. Another was legendary SAS Commander Major Roy Farran. Their mission was to raise an impossible-seeming army from Italian partisans, escaped Russian POWs, French Foreign Legionnaires and even German deserters and kill the top Nazi generals. As the column of raiders formed up, there was shocking news. High Command radioed through an order to stand down, having assessed the chances of success as little more than zero. But in defiance of orders and come hell or high water, they were going in. If they succeeded, the Gothic Line would fall, so saving countless Allied lives. Relying on files declassified for the purposes of writing this book, authentic eyewitness testimony, and working with the families of key figures involved, Lewis reveals an untold epic of daring, ruthless rule breaking and shocking betrayal. 400 page paperback, 16 pages of photos.

The author has written a great number of books on the Roman world over the last 30 years and was part of Channel 4's archaeology series Time Team for 15 years. This is his richly researched, detailed and plausible portrait, bang up to date with all the latest archaeological finds, a 2021 paperback sub-titled 'Living, Fighting and Dying in the Roman Army.' He provides a remarkably precise picture of how the men were armed and billeted, what they ate, drank, wore, how they were promoted or punished, how they built their great, straight roads, and what they did for sexual relief. The Roman Army was the greatest fighting machine the ancient world produced, which depended on soldiers not just to win its wars, defend its frontiers and control the seas, but also to act as the engine of the state. Roman legionaries and auxiliaries came from across the Roman world and beyond and served as tax collectors, policeman, surveyors, civil engineers and if they survived, in retirement as civic worthies, craftsmen and politicians. Some even rose to become emperors. Through the words of Roman historians and those of the men themselves through their religious dedications, tombstones and even private letters and graffiti, Guy de la Bedoyere throws open a window on how the men, their wives and their children lived, from bleak frontier garrisons to guarding the emperor in Rome. A ringside seat to history, we see them fighting over the emperors' wars, mutinying over pay, marching in triumphs and throwing their weight around in the streets. 506pp, paperback with 16 pages of colour plates.

An incredible true story of two idealistic young lovers who led Germany's largest anti-Nazi resistance group, right in the darkening heart of Berlin. Summertime 1935 and on a lake near the city a young man is out sailing when he glimpses a woman reclining in the prow of a passing boat. Harro Schulze-Boysen had already shed blood in the fight against Nazism by the time he and Libertas Hass-Heye began their whirlwind romance. She joined the cause and soon the two lovers were leading a network of anti-fascist fighters that stretched across Berlin's bohemian underworld. Poets, philosophers, workers and artists, they were all freethinkers united by a desire to bring down Hitler at any cost. Harro himself infiltrated German intelligence and began funnelling Nazi battle plans to the Allies, including the details of Hitler's surprise attack on the Soviet Union. Meanwhile Libertas used her position at the Propaganda Ministry to begin collecting evidence of the mass murder of Jews. They knew the stakes all too well, but nothing could prepare them for the betrayals they would suffer in this war of secrets - a struggle in which friend could be indistinguishable from foe. Drawing on unpublished diaries, letters and Gestapo files, Ohler spins an unforgettable tale of love, heroism and sacrifice where daily life was a minefield, and a mis-step could have fatal consequences. We meet not mythic heroes but flawed humans struggling for meaning in a time of terror - writers, artists, a fashion designer, a dentist - you will feel a little stronger and braver after reading about these remarkable men and women. Told with immediacy and encroaching terror. With coloured maps on the endpapers, 293pp, illus.