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

Cauldron of Death: the Demyansk Salient and the Eastern Front

On the vast Eastern Front, the Demyansk salient represented little more than a smudge on the battle map. Read more

Roman Marching Camps: An Essential Element in Rome’s Empire-Building

From the late 3rd century bc to the 3rd century ad, Roman troops on campaign built a defended camp at their resting place each night. Read more

Fallen Timbers

On a December day in 1793, Maj. Gen. Anthony Wayne led a column of soldiers to a spot deep in the Ohio wilderness not far from the Wabash River. Read more

Louis XIV: the Sun King of France

Louis XIV of France is remembered as the Sun King, the most resplendent figure of his age, the man who snatched dominance of Europe from the Spanish and built France into the preeminent power of the second half of the 17th century. Read more

Germanic Tribe Run Amok: Caesar vs. Ariovistus

East of the Rhine the horizon melted away in an unbroken emerald sea upon which, or so the legends told, giants piled up ranges of rugged hills. Read more

Collecting Identification Tags

For the second time in 13 years American troops are fighting in Iraq. Two hundred and thirty-five soldiers lost their lives during Desert Storm in 1991, and by the first anniversary of Operation Iraqi Freedom 570 soldiers had been killed. Read more

The Rumble and Roar of Tanks

The Israeli Defense Force’s (IDF’s, or Zahal’s) strategic invasion of the West Bank region of Jordan began at 5 pm on June 5, 1967. Read more

Oda Nobunaga: The Rise of One of Japan’s Earliest Unifiers

By the time of his death in 1582, he controlled 30 of Japan’s 68 provinces, was the commander of the greatest samurai army in his country’s history, and had earned the distinction of being the first of the three great unifiers of Japan. Read more

“Please God and St. George”: The Battle of Sluys

English King Edward III’s ship drew out from the fog, and before him he saw such a long, deep concentration of masts that it looked like a forest rising to meet him. Read more

The Mysterious Sidney Reilly

On the evening of November 5, 1925, Prisoner #73 was taken from his cell in the infamous Lubyanka Prison and driven to a woods in the Sokolniki district outside Moscow. Read more

The Bombing of Rabaul in November 1943

In some historical circles, a mistaken impression has developed that the U.S. Navy’s Task Force 38 launched the aerial offensive on the Japanese stronghold at Rabaul, New Britain, that ultimately rendered the base useless. Read more