The obliteration of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945 brought the world to a stand still. This unimaginable shock confirmed to the world that the race to develop a working atomic weapon during World War II had been won by the American-led international effort. Horrific and controversial even today, these first uses of the atomic bomb had intense ramifications not only on the continued development of the bomb, but also on politics and popular culture. As well as the technological development, historian James Delgado also examines how the US Army Air Force had to develop the capacity to deliver the weapons, and examines the sites where development and testing took place, in order to give a comprehensive history of the dawning of the nuclear age.

Few people over the last century are better qualified to discuss leadership than Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, the charismatic and idiosyncratic Second World War leader. It was a subject to which he devoted much thought. 'In one short sentence, it is captaincy that counts', he writes. Using personal studies of famous political military and industrial figures, Monty analyses the qualities that make for effective leadership. Being, by any definition, a frank and honest man he does not hesitate to highlight perceived deficiencies. Among his case studies are the Generals of the two world wars, Haig, French, Gort, Wavell and Alexander. Political leaders include Cromwell and Nehru, Khrushchev, de Gaulle and Mao. In this edition a fascination and contentious comparison of Churchill and Eisenhower appears for the first time. This book was first published as The Path to Leadership in 1961. This is an expanded edition.

In the wake of the bloody civil war that followed Finland's independence from Russia in 1917, the border between the two countries was established across the Karelian Isthmus, an area long fought over by Russia, Finland and Sweden - and only 32km from the military and industrial city of Petrograd. As such, both sides began an intensive period of fortification and defensive planning. When the Winter War broke out in November 1939, the complex and heavily defended Mannerheim Line was fought over fiercely, with the network of fortifications coming under heavy bombardment, air attack and armoured assault.Through an analysis of the background and operational history of the Mannerheim Line, this book attempts to dispel myths and provide an accurate assessment of its great historical importance.