Si Sheppard Books

This study explores, in fascinating detail, the story of how the skill of codebreakers and fighter pilots terminated the career of Admiral Yamamoto--and the subsequent controversy over who fired the fatal shots. He masterminded the most devastating surprise attack against the United States in its history. He was a marked man in the war that followed. A key intelligence breakthrough enabled the military to pinpoint his location. An elite team was assembled and charged not with his capture and subsequent trial but with his execution. Osama bin Laden? No--this was Admiral Isoroku Yamamoto, the Commander-in-Chief of the Japanese Combined Fleet during World War II. This new title analyses the origins, implementation, and outcomes of Operation Vengeance, the long-range fighter interception of Admiral Yamamoto's transport aircraft that sent him to his death on April 18, 1943. Author Si Sheppard examines every angle of the operation in detail, including the role of intelligence work in pinpointing the time and location of Yamamoto's flight, the chain of command at the highest level of the US political and military establishment who ordered the attack, and the technical limitations that had to be overcome in planning and conducting the raid. It also provides a close study of the aerial combat involved in completing the mission, offering a holistic exploration of the operation which avenged Pearl Harbor.

This fascinating book explores the epic clash between two ancient empires in a 250-year conflict which would define the boundaries of the ancient world for more than seven centuries. číst celé

In 1915–18, ANZAC and Ottoman soldiers clashed on numerous battlefields, from Gallipoli to Jerusalem. This illustrated study investigates the two sides' fighting men. The Gallipoli campaign of 1915–16 pitched the Australian and New Zealand volunteers known as the ANZACs into a series of desperate battles with the Ottoman soldiers defending their homeland. In August 1915, the bitter struggle for the high ground known as Chunuk Bair saw the peak change hands as the Allies sought to overcome the stalemate that set in following the landings in April. The ANZACs also played a key part in the battle of Lone Pine, intended to divert Ottoman attention away from the bid to seize Chunuk Bair. The Gallipoli campaign ended in Allied evacuation in the opening days of 1916. Thereafter, many ANZAC units remained in the Middle East and played a decisive role in the Allies' hard-fought advance through Palestine that finally forced the Turks to the peace table. The fateful battle of Beersheba in October 1917 pitted Australian mounted infantry against Ottoman foot soldiers as the Allies moved on Jerusalem. In this book, noted military historian Si Sheppard examines the fighting men on both sides who fought at Lone Pine, Chunuk Bair and Beersheba. The authoritative text is supported by specially commissioned artwork and mapping plus carefully chosen archive photographs.

This is the detailed story of the Vikings' expedition to conquer medieval Paris - a brutal year-long siege which ultimately brought about the foundation of modern France.The Vikings' siege of Paris in 885–86 was a turning point in the history of both Paris and France. In 885, a year after Charles the Fat was crowned King of the Franks, Danish Vikings sailed up the Seine demanding tribute. The Franks' refusal prompted the Vikings to lay siege to Paris, which was initially defended by only 200 men under Odo, Count of Paris, and seemingly in a poor state to defend against the Viking warriors in their fleet of hundreds of longships.Paris was centered around the medieval Île de la Cité, the natural island now in the heart of the city, fortified with bridges and towers. The Vikings attempted to break the Parisian defenders, but the city itself still held out, and after a year Charles' army arrived to lift the siege. But Charles then allowed the Vikings to sail upstream against the revolting Burgundians. Outraged at this betrayal, the Parisians refused to let the Vikings return home via the Seine, forcing them to portage their boats overland to the Marne in order to reach the North Sea. When Charles died in 888, the people of the of the Île de France elected Odo as their king. The resistance of Paris therefore marked the end of the Carolingian line and the birth of a new kingdom.This fully illustrated volume, accompanied with maps and strategic diagrams tells the full story of the Vikings' expedition to conquer medieval Paris, highlighting a key moment in the history of France and its foundation as a nation.

"The siege of Constantinople in AD 717--18 was a key clash between the expanding Umayyad Caliphate and the Byzantine Empire, and one which influenced the fate of Western civilization. In this specially illustrated study, Si Sheppard examines the course of this pivotal campaign."--Amazon.com

The American Revolutionary War was America's first civil war. As the conflict raged from Canada to the Caribbean and from India to Gibraltar, it was in American communities that the war was the most intimate, the most personal, and -- accordingly -- the most vicious. In 1775, the inhabitants of British America included those born in North America and newly arrived immigrants; the established landed aristocracy and the indigent; the diverse nations of the Native Americans; and people of African descent, both slave and free. The coming of war forced every person to make the choice of whether to side with the Patriots or remain loyal to the British Crown. With so many cross-cutting imperatives, the individual decisions made splintered communities, sometimes even households, turning neighbor against neighbor in an escalating spiral of ostracism, embargo, exile, raid, reprisal, and counter-reprisal. Accordingly, the war on the frontiers and on the margins of conflict was as underhanded and ugly as any of the 21st century's insurgencies. In this study, the origins, fighting methods, and combat effectiveness of the combatants fighting on both sides are assessed, notably in three significant clashes of the American Revolutionary War: the long struggle for Westchester County, New York, in 1776–83; the battle of Oriskany, August 6, 1777; and the battle of Kings Mountain, October 7, 1780. -- Amazon

Ústředním tématem této knížky je situace, která nastala po zavraždění Caesara, a dramatické události, které následovaly poté, co se vydali Antonius a Octavianus pronásledovat Caesarovy vrahy Bruta a Cassia. Autorovo nadání napínavě a zároveň s odbornou znalostí vylíčit motivy spiklenců, měnící se politické klima, průběh občanské války, zápletky vztahu dvou hlavních aktérů Antonia a Octaviana, strukturu římského vojska a konečné zúčtování s republikány, které osudově ovlivnilo další vývoj Říma, činí z této knížky skvělou četbu a příležitost důkladněji poznat významnou část římských dějin. Ani v tomto svazku Válečných tažení samozřejmě nechybějí mapy a množství barevných a černobílých ilustrací.