D’you Hear There!: Daily Pipes of the Royal Navy  

Richard Harris 

07/05/2026 

A unique approach to describing life at sea in the Royal Navy. 
 
Despite the introduction of modern-day technology, Ships and Submarines of the Royal Navy still operate on the basis of main broadcast announcements; known in the Royal Navy as Pipes. Before the introduction of main broadcasts, a Crew (or Ship’s Company) would be alerted to forthcoming ship’s activity either using a Bosun’s Call (which is a small pipe or whistle) or a Bugle. Whilst those methods are still in place, and still used, a Pipe is now the term for any verbal announcement made over a ship’s main broadcast in the Royal Navy. 
 
This book aims to translate their meanings, not simply to make the seemingly incomprehensible understandable, but also to conjure up often humorous anecdotes that provide an insight into life at sea in the RN. Each Pipe is provided with a brief description of its meaning followed by longer observation of what it meant to different members of the Ship’s Company. 

 

An Atlas & Concise History of Victoria’s Wars, 1815–1902  

Nick Lipscombe 

16/07/2026 

A lavishly presented atlas covering the many battles and campaigns that defined the reign of Queen Victoria. 
 
In 1815 the Treaty of Vienna concluded the Napoleonic Wars and provided the basis for a general European peace that lasted for nearly a hundred year. Great Britain’s last European rival for Empire and global domination had been neutralised, and between 1815 and 1901 – Britain's imperial century – around ten million square miles of territory and roughly 400 million people were added to the British Empire. 
 
During every day of every year of Queen Victoria’s reign (1837–1901), British forces were engaged somewhere across the world, and these conflicts are explained and illustrated in this exhaustive atlas. Over this so-called period of Pax Britanica, the British Government awarded some 43 campaign medals with a total of 202 clasps for copious small wars, fought against irregular forces, as well as larger scale conflicts fought against regular armies. 
 
Featuring over 135 newly created maps, all expertly explained and put into context, this new atlas examines the role Victoria’s Army, and to a lesser extent the Royal Navy in the execution of their role as Soldiers of the Queen in the inspiring victories and dismal defeats of what Rudyard Kipling called the ‘savage wars of peace’. 

 

Soviet Cold War Destroyers 

Jan Radziemski 

16/07/2026 

Lavishly illustrated with hundreds of previously unseen photos, this is the first history of the destroyers of the Cold War Soviet Navy, the heart of its surface fleet. 
 
With ten classes and hundreds of units built, and with roles varying from nuclear strikes on NATO shipping to anti-aircraft and anti-submarine warfare, the destroyers of the Soviet Union were among the most numerous and important assets to the surface fleet. After Soviet shipbuilding overcame its severe postwar problems, the traditional destroyers of the early Cold War were replaced over the decades by increasingly capable guided-missile ships. However unlike their NATO counterparts, the details of these warships remain practically unknown in the West. 
 
In this book, Jan Radziemski, a naval historian and authority on the Soviet Navy, presents the first book in English on the fleet’s Cold War destroyers, concisely assessing each class's development and construction, its roles, technology, weaponry, sensors and seakeeping. He also draws upon his extensive photo collection to present more than 450 superb photos, illustrating all the classes and subclasses from Project 30 to the final Sovremennyj-class. 
 
Complete with data tables on the destroyer classes, the individual ships, and the capabilities of weaponry, this is the essential guide to the Soviet fleet's Cold War stalwarts. 

 

Stopping the Panzers: Breaking the Back of Germany’s Armoured Force, 1943–44  

Ben Wheatley 

10/09/2026 

A revolutionary study of the attrition of the German armoured force during later years of World War II. 
 
Following the near-annihilation of the German armoured force in the winter of 1942/43 and fall of Stalingrad in February 1943 the Panzertruppen were radically reorganized and modernized to face the challenges to come. This new study uses original methodologies to approach the subject in a new and innovative way. 
 
This, the first volume of a two-part series, covers the Tunisian campaign, battle for Italy, three of the four battles of Kharkov, Siege of Leningrad, defence of the Kuban, the battle of Kursk (both the German attack and massive Soviet counter offensives), the German retreat from Ukraine/Central Russia and the collapse of the southern portions of the Eastern Front in spring of 1944. Historian Ben Wheatley argues that the heavy losses suffered by Germany in this period led to the strategic decision to reinforce the East and neglect the West, a decision that saw the German armoured formations wasted on the battlefields of Normandy. 
 
Using primary sources including contemporary aerial photography, mapping and detailed inventories of tank strengths, this book will advance understanding of some of the most famous battles in military history. 

 

The Story of the Modern Tank: The everyday history of modern tanks and the technology that makes them work.  

Sam Cranny-Evans 

10/09/2026  

The Story of the Modern Tank explains how the technology behind the armour, weapons, mobility, and mission systems works, as well as how it has got to where it is today. The modern tank is essentially the same concept as the tanks that fought at the beginning of World War II – an armoured vehicle that can take a large gun to where it is most needed and support infantry. However, the technology that they now use is a blend between those things that would have been recognisable 80 years ago – the gun, armour, and tracks – and things that would be unimaginable, like the 1 million lines of code in an Ajax reconnaissance vehicle, or the uncrewed turret of the T-14 Armata.   

The Story of the Modern Tank explores the technical evolution of the systems that make up a modern tank through a chronological account of the major eras since 1945, and by explaining the threats that have driven these changes. It uses accounts of tank combat – collected from existing historical records or re-produced from archival footage to give life to the stories and help readers feel the importance of each technological trend. 

 

Case Green: The Birth of the Wehrmacht  

Robert Forczyk 

08/10/2026 

This fascinating new study from renowned World War II historian Robert Forczyk tells the story of the birth of the Wehrmacht from 1935 to Case Green, the German occupation of Czechoslovakia in 1938. 
 
When Adolf Hitler became Reich Chancellor in January 1933, Germany was still trying to dig itself out of a deep hole brought about by defeat in the First World War, years of domestic political discord and the global economic depression. The Treaty of Versailles had stripped Germany of territory and reduced its military to little more than a well-armed police force. To the German people who voted him into office, Hitler was a populist leader who could lead the nation back to unity, stability and prosperity. Although alarmed by some of Hitler’s Nazi Party (NSDAP) rhetoric, European leaders hoped for the best and optimistically looked to Hitler as a potential partner in crafting a new post-war peaceful order in central Europe. Most German army officers supported Hitler because he stood for a strong nation and restoring Germany’s military capabilities, which aligned well with their own organizational interests. However, the average German voter, European leaders and even Germany military leaders would soon learn to their dismay that peace and stability were not part of Hitler’s agenda for the nascent Third Reich. Instead of honouring existing diplomatic agreements, Hitler ignored or trampled them, one after the other, while clearly directing a rapid and massive re-armament program in Germany. By the time of the Munich Crisis in September1938, it was clear that Hitler was not only intent upon challenging the existing order in Europe, but overturning it. 
 
Case Green: the Birth of the Wehrmacht examines the period from Hitler’s announcement of rearmament in 1935 to the occupation of Czechoslovakia in considerable detail, demonstrating how Hitler used these early successes to consolidate his own power in Germany, browbeating his domestic opposition and forging the newly created Wehrmacht into an effective fighting force. Much of what Hitler accomplished in the period 1936–39 was done through bluff (by exaggerating his military capabilities) and deceit (claiming no more territorial demands), while simultaneously pushing Germany’s economy toward the point of expand or collapse. Military, political/diplomatic and economic factors are interwoven to provide a coherent overview of the critical trends and events in this period, including the growth of the new Panzer arm, as well as competing priorities with the Luftwaffe and Kriegsmarine. Other factors, such as the growing resistance to Hitler in the German officer corps and the belated Anglo- French rearmament are also included, as well as decision-making in London, Moscow and Rome, to produce a military-focused history of this critical period, which served as an immediate precursor to the outbreak of the Second World War. 

 

Naval Phantoms: The Definitive Visual Guide to the US Navy's F-4 Squadrons  

Mads Bangsø 

The definitive illustrated reference to the markings, camouflage and visual detail of the F-4 Phantoms of the US Navy’s Carrier Air Wings, squadron by squadron and deployment by deployment. 
 
The F-4 Phantom was arguably the US Navy’s greatest ever fighter, performing a multitude of roles at the heart of the Navy’s carrier operations. Fourteen Carrier Air Wings operated the Phantom over more than two decades. In each of those wings each Phantom squadron had its own markings, and these changed with every deployment of the wing. 
 
This book is the first complete illustrated guide to the Phantom’s appearance in US Navy service, air wing by air wing, squadron by squadron, and deployment by deployment, covering everything from markings etymology to paint repairs. With more than 300 original Phantom profiles, detail views, 3D views and action scenes by renowned illustrator and longtime Phantom enthusiast Mads Bangsø, the Phantoms’ camouflage, stencilling, and evolving squadron markings are detailed, including special aircraft such as CAG birds, and the Marine Corps squadrons that served at sea. The appearance of the Phantom’s numerous hardware upgrades is also detailed and illustrated, from chinpods to antennas. It also includes over 250 photos, data tables and information on each Carrier Air Wing’s deployments. 
 
Many years in the making, this is the complete visual reference to the Phantom squadrons that served as the teeth of the US Navy from the 1960s to the 1980s. 

 

Warsaw: A City at War, 1939–45 

Prit Buttar and Lottie Taylor  

08/10/2026 

The first major history in the English language of the entire experience of Warsaw from occupation to uprisings to liberation to the descent of the Iron Curtain.  

Warsaw: A City at War 1939 – 45 shines a light on a city ravaged by war for six long years and the indefatigable spirit that defined it. Prit Buttar and Lottie Taylor cover several themes, concentrating on the aspects of Warsaw and its inhabitants that make the story of its wartime years so unique. Poland in general, and Warsaw in particular, had endured centuries of foreign occupation and attempts to eliminate Polish identity, emerging from the disintegration of the German, Austro-Hungarian, and Russian Empires as in independent nation only at the end of the First World War. This book describes this torturous history to give context to the wartime story. 
 
Warsaw enjoyed her status as a capital city of a free, independent Poland for a mere 21 years. Then it faced a double betrayal and was invaded first by Nazi Germany and then by the Soviet Union. Poland’s resistance was fierce but brief. Warsaw was partitioned between Germany and the USSR. Almost six years of terrible war followed. Warsaw endured a systematic attempt by Germany to destroy the city entirely until Warsaw was liberated from occupation in January 1945. This is the heart of the book and it details in full the major military events throughout the occupation including the Ghetto Uprising and the Warsaw Uprising. Of course, the story does not end there. The final chapter details how Poland was trapped behind the iron curtain and faced many decades of subservience to the Soviet Union before Poland finally emerging as a fully independent member of the European family like a phoenix from the ashes. 
 
Drawing on original archive material, the compelling history of Warsaw is majestically brought to life in this new book by Eastern Front specialist Prit Buttar and his daughter historian Lottie Taylor.  

 

Italian Navy of World War II: The definitive history of its rise and fall, 1919–45  

Enrico Cernuschi 

08/10/2026 

Drawing on a lifetime’s scholarship, and featuring hundreds of rare photos, this is a new and complete history of the wartime Regia Marina, the least-known of the major World War II navies. 
 
In 1940, the Regia Marina was the fourth-largest navy in the world, equipped with a significant battle fleet and one of the largest submarine forces in the world. In the war that followed, Italy would be a major naval player in the Mediterranean and beyond. 
 
Yet until now, few books have attempted a comprehensive study of the Italian Navy of World War II, and many of those have relied on limited or biased sources. In this book, Dr Enrico Cernuschi, one of Italy’s preeminent naval historians, presents a definitive, superbly illustrated, wide-ranging, and myth-busting history of Italian seapower from Mussolini’s ascent until the peace of 1945, drawing upon Italian, British, German, French, and American primary archive sources, as well as on high-level sources unique to Dr Cernuschi’s collection. It offers a masterful account of warships, strategy, commanders and battles, as well as being packed with historical revelations, definitive new technical information, and little-known episodes of naval history. 
 
Illustrated with hundreds of rare and previously unpublished photos, bringing to life all aspects of Italian warships, naval life and action, this is the essential guide to Italy’s great fleet of World War II. 

 

Jagdverband 44: The Luftwaffe’s Mavericks  

Robert Forsyth 

05/11/2026 

Unique among Luftwaffe fighter units, Jagdverband (JV) 44 was formed as a result of conflict and dissent within the Luftwaffe’s high command. Following disagreement with Reichsmarschall Herman Göring, who was desperate to recover the Luftwaffe’s failing prestige with Hitler and the German people who were enduring daily bombing raids on their homeland, the commander of the fighter arm, Adolf Galland, was dismissed from his post and ‘exiled’. He was – purportedly – ‘given permission’ to set up a small fighter unit with which to ‘prove’ that the revolutionary Me 262 was the war-winning jet fighter he believed it to be. 
 
Assembling a small group of disillusioned and weary Luftwaffe fighter aces and flying instructors, Galland – arguably the most famous German fighter ace of World War 2 – moved his unit, JV 44, to Munich, from where it operated the Me 262 against USAAF aircraft bombing targets in Austria and southern Germany. At one time or other, some 17 of the Luftwaffe’s most renowned and combat-seasoned aces and holders of the coveted Knight’s Cross served with JV 44. Their ranks were stiffened by a cadre of experienced fighter instructors. 
 
In this reappraisal of JV 44, published 30 years after his acclaimed and bestselling first study of the unit (JV 44 – The Galland Circus), leading Luftwaffe historian Robert Forsyth assesses Galland’s motives for forming the unit and whether it can be regarded more accurately as a ‘Squadron of Aces’ or a ‘Squadron of Outcasts and Exiles’. He also compares the level of tactical success of JV 44 against the operations conducted by the other Luftwaffe Me 262-equipped fighter unit, Jagdgeschwader 7. The book will also contain numerous first-hand accounts sourced by the the author during his research in the 1990s when he met with several former pilots from JV 44. 

 

Russian and Soviet Battle Tanks 1915–1945  

Steven J. Zaloga 

05/11/2026 

A comprehensive and detailed illustrated examination of the development and combat performance of Russian/Soviet battle tanks from World War I to the end of World War II. 
 
In this, the first of two highly illustrated volumes examining the history of Russian and Soviet battle tanks, Steven J. Zaloga focuses on the history of Russian tank development from the time of Imperial Russia through the Soviet period. Early Russian tank development began with other armored vehicles, such as trains and cars. However, by the time of World War II, the Soviet Union was in the vanguard of worldwide tank development. It produced 30,000 tanks in the 1920–39 period. 
 
Expanding on material published in Osprey series, including New Vanguard, Duel and Campaign, Russian and Soviet Battle Tanks 1915–1945 explores the concepts and production of tanks such as the T-34 and KV. It describes the experiences of the crews who saw combat, the performance of each tank in battle, and how the Russian and Soviet armored fighting vehicles compared with the enemy armor it faced, as well as the key lessons learned from combat that lead to new concepts and technological breakthroughs.