When his American stepmother, who inherited his father's estate, is found dead, the Duke of Strickland, whom everyone knows detested the dowager duchess, fights for his castle and his reputation when Raya Darwish, the dowager duchess's heir, arrives to claim what is hers.

When Britain ceded the territory of West Florida-what is now Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida-to Spain in 1783, America was still too young to confidently fight in one of Europe's endless territorial contests. So it was left to the settlers, bristling at Spanish misrule, to establish a foothold in the area. Enter the Kemper brothers, whose vigilante justice culminated in a small band of American residents drafting a constitution and establishing...

The enjoyment of wargaming is greatly enhanced if the battles (games) are played within well thought-out scenarios. Instead of simply lining up evenly-matched armies and fighting to the death, the players can have realistic objectives (such as the capture of a vital piece of terrain or delaying a superior enemy to cover a retreat) and be confronted with more challenging tactical decisions. Devising such scenarios can take a lot of effort, and more...

The Charge of the Light Brigade is one of the most famous, controversial and emotive small-scale actions in military history. Over the 160 years since the event, and since it was immortalized in Tennyson's poem, it has generated a stream of writing and debate. Yet, as this new book by Anthony Dawson shows, the subject is far from exhausted. His selection of previously unpublished letters and journal accounts of the two cavalry charges at the Battle...

The Duke of Wellington described the Battle of Waterloo as "the most desperate business I ever was in... I was never so near being beat." The courage of British troops that day has been rightly praised ever since, but the fact that one-third of the forces which gave him his narrow victory were subjects, not of George III but of the King of the Netherlands has been almost completely ignored. This book seeks to correct a grave injustice through the...

The Napoleonic Wars was truly a world-wide conflict and Britain found itself engaged in battles, sieges and amphibious operations around the globe. Following every battle the commanding officer submitted a report back to the Admiralty or the War Office. Presented here together for the first time are those original despatches from some forty generals, captains and admirals detailing more than eighty battles that took place in India, Africa, Europe...

1812 was the year in which the Peninsular War swung in the favor of the combined forces of the British, the Spanish and the Portuguese. This was the result of a series of victories over the French gained by the allied armies under Wellington, and this is the subject of Peter Edwardss compelling new history. The year began with Wellington launching a series of raids in Estramadura to distract French attention from preparations for an assault on Ciudad...

This superb reference book achieved the status of classic soon after its first publication in 1993; it was soon out of print and is now one of the most sought-after naval reference books. And with good reason. Offering an unprecedented range of descriptive and illustrative detail, the author describes the evolution of the battleship classes through all their modifications and refits. As well as dealing with design features, armour, machinery and...

The Peninsular Campaign was conducted over terrain ranging from the sun scorched plains of Andalusia to the picturesque snow covered passes of the Pyrenees. Drawing on the experiences and observations of fifty-six officers and men who fought during the years 1808 to 1814, The Peninsula Years is a thrilling and fast moving narrative of the bloody campaigns in the Iberian Peninsula, as well as showing insight into the everyday hardships common to the...

This is not only the story of one man's war, but of an aircraft - the Typhoon, or "Tiffy" as it was affectionately known - which the author describes as a "low-bred carthorse whose pedigree had received a sharp infusion of hot-headed sprinter's blood". He recounts his time as a young commander of a rumbustious New Zealand Air Force squadron, and later as the RAF's youngest Group Captain at the age of 25. His story includes conflict in the air over...