Narva: The Battle of Nations

In the latter half of 1943, the German Wehrmacht had seen disaster follow disaster on the Eastern Front. Read more

The Battle of Sedan: Napoleon III’s Empire in the Balance

Louis Napoleon Bonaparte, the nephew and namesake of the great Napoleon, once said, “March at the head of the ideas of your century, and these ideas follow you and support you. Read more

V-E Day: Victory at Last for World War II’s Allies

Within his reinforced concrete bunker, 50 feet below the garden of the New Reichs Chancellery on Berlin’s Wilhelmstrasse, German dictator Adolf Hitler, his soon-to-be bride Eva Braun, and several hundred friends, SS guards, and staff members could feel the concussion and hear the unending drumroll of thousands of Soviet artillery shells reducing the already-battered capital city of the Third Reich to unrecognizable rubble. Read more

John Taylor Wood, Hero of the Confederate Navy

The epic battle between the Virginia (Merrimack) and Monitor might never have taken place because, as strange as it may seem, the Confederates did not have enough experienced men to man their ship. Read more

Omaha Beach H-Hour D-Day June 6, 1944

Editor’s Note: The following is excerpted from Omaha Beach: D-Day June 6, 1944 by Joseph Balkoski (Stackpole Books, 2004; www.stackpolebooks.com). Read more

The Mystery of Slapton Sands: Operation Tiger

In the early 1970s, a former British Royal Air Force policeman–turned-hairdresser, Ken Small, visited South Devon on England’s Channel coast. Read more

Russian Invasion

A t 4:15 a.m. on February 24, 2022, a pre-recorded television segment played in which Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a “Special Military Operation” against neighboring Ukraine. Read more

Daniel Murphy’s ‘Horse Soldiers at Gettysburg’

On the evening of June 30, 1863, Union General John Buford’s 1st Division of cavalry prepared to meet advancing Confederate troops, the next day. Read more

Amir Bega’s ‘Undercurrent’

As Amir Bega prepared to go on leave for the Yom Kippur holiday, Egypt and Syria attacked Israel, plunging him into war before his training was finished. Read more

István Toperczer’s ‘Dogfight’

The MiG-21 served as the primary fighter of the Soviet Bloc during the 1960s. During the Vietnam War the Soviet Union distributed this inexpensive, durable interceptor to North Vietnam and trained hundreds of its pilots. Read more

Michael G. Vickers’ By All Means Available

Michael Vickers served his country during the Cold War in a variety of roles. He began as a non-commissioned officer in the US Army’s Special Forces, enlisting in June 1973. Read more

David A. Smith’s ‘A New Force at Sea’

By Christopher Miskimon

George Dewey proved one of the most important naval officers of the last half of the 19th Century. Read more

The Siege of Malta in WWII: Holding on to the Island Fortress

When World War II began in September 1939, just nine months before the Siege of Malta, its three small islands in the central Mediterranean were still considered part of the British Commonwealth. Read more

The Battle of Oriskany: Into the Trap

The year 1776 ended on a high note for Washington’s Continental Army despite its earlier devastating defeats on Long Island and Manhattan. Read more

Roger Fenton, Crimean War Photographer

In the annals of war photography, Roger Fenton stands with Mathew Brady, Alexander Gardener, and James Robertson as one of the pioneering spirits. Read more

The British Bailey Bridge

I was always fascinated by the mastery of water,” Sir Donald Coleman Bailey reflected, long after the end of World War II. Read more

The Battle of Peleliu: Shocked Beyond Imagination

As he watched the preliminary bombardment from the railing of his ship, Colonel Lewis B. “Chesty” Puller had deep reservations. Read more

Soviet Memorabilia

In 1917, after almost three years of hard fighting in World War I, the Romanov dynasty came to an end with the abdication of Czar Nicolas II of Russia. Read more

Death of an Empire: The Fall of Constantinople

Early in the morning of Tuesday, May 29, 1453, they came swarming like hungry wolves over the plain between the Turkish palisades and the battered walls of Byzantium. Read more

The Daring Calcutta Light Horse Raid

Freighter Ehrenfels’ siren shrieked through the muggy night across the harbor. As the captain pulled down hard on the alarm cord, the alarm howled out over the steaming darkness, screaming that British raiders were in the harbor, alerting Ehrenfels’ crew and calling for help from ashore. Read more